The Last Voyage - to India and Australia, in the 'Sunbeam'

Annie Brassey, R. T. (Robert Taylor) Pritchett, Thomas Brassey Brassey

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• Publié par: unka
• Publié le: 08 décembre 2010
• Nombre de lectures: 55
• Langue: English

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Project Gutenberg's The Last Voyage, by Lady (Annie Allnutt) Brassey

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Title: The Last Voyage to India and Australia, in the 'Sunbeam'

Author: Lady (Annie Allnutt) Brassey

Illustrator: R.T. Pritchett

Release Date: August 24, 2009 [EBook #29778]

Language: English

*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE LAST VOYAGE ***

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Transcriber's Note:Many illustration captions are missing from the original. These captions have been added in as they appear in theList of Illustrations, and all captions have been conformed to the List of Illustrations. Some illustrations have been moved so as to avoid breaking up the text; links in the List of Illustrations are to the actual locations of the illustrations.

The original contains a number of alternate spellings of proper nouns (e.g., Vasco de Gama for Vasco da Gama; Tawomba for Toowomba; Warrangarra for Wallangarra). These have been preserved as they appear in the original. Otherwise, obvious printer errors have been corrected. Where it is not clear whether something is an error, the questionable text is marked with dotted red underlining, and a pop-up Transcriber's Note has been provided.

CONTENTS LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

THE LAST VOYAGE,

TO INDIA AND AUSTRALIA,

IN THE ‘SUNBEAM.’

BY THE LATE

Lady Brassey.

ILLUSTRATED BY R.T. PRITCHETT AND FROM PHOTOGRAPHS.

The full-page plates and the headings to the chapters are printed in monotone by E. Nister, of Nuremberg. The wood engravings in the text are executed by Edward Whymper, J.D. Cooper, and G. Pearson.

PRINTED BY SPOTTISWOODE AND CO., NEW-STREET SQUARE LONDON

Track Chart [Enlarge]

CHART SHOWINGTRACK OFTHEYACHT “SUNBEAM” FROM NOV. 1886 TO DEC. 1887.

Sunbeam ‘SUNBEAM,’ R.Y.S., CHRISTMAS DAY, 1886

Title Page THE LAST VOYAGE

Annie Brassey 1887.

Fresh as the first beam glittering on a sail, That brings our friends up from the underworld; Sad as the last which reddens over one That sinks with all we love belowthe verge; So sad, so fresh, the days that are no more!

LONDON: LONGMANS, GREEN, AND CO. th NEW YORK: 15 EAST 16 STREET 1889

All rights reserved

Preface.

In giving to the reading world these pages of the last Journal of one of the most popular writers of our day, no apology can be needed, and but little explanation.

A word had better perhaps be said, and said here, as to my share in its composition. It is now twelve years ago since my friend—then Mrs. Brassey—asked my advice and assistance in arranging the Diary she had kept during the

eleven months' cruise of the 'Sunbeam.' This assistance I gladly gave, and she and I worked together, chiefly at reducing the mass of information gathered during the voyage. I often felt it hard to have to do away with interesting and amusing matter in order to reduce the book even to the size in which it appeared. It was a very pleasant and easy task, and I think the only difference of opinion which ever arose between us was as to the intrinsic merit of the manuscript. No one could have been more diffident than the writer of those charming pages; and it needed all the encouragement which both I and her friend and publisher, Mr. T. Norton Longman, could offer, to induce her to use many of the simple little details of her life, literally 'on the ocean wave.'

The success of the 'Voyage of the "Sunbeam"' need not be dwelt on here; it fully justified our opinion, surprising its writer more than any one else by its sudden and yet lasting popularity. Other works, also well received and well known to the public, followed during the next few years, with which I had nothing to do. This last Journal now comes before Lady Brassey's world-wide public, invested with a pathos and sadness all its own.

I venture to think that no one can read these pages without admiration and regret; admiration for the courage which sustained the writer amid the weakness of failing health, and regret that the story of a life so unselfish and so devoted to the welfare of others should have ended so soon.

On his return home, in December 1887, from this last cruise, Lord Brassey placed in my hands his wife's journals and manuscript notes, knowing that they would be reverently and tenderly dealt with, and believing that, on account of my previous experience with the 'Voyage of the "Sunbeam,"' I should understand better than any one else the writer's wishes.

My task has been a sad and in some respects a difficult one. Not only do I keenly miss the bright intelligence which on a former occasion made every obscure point clear to me directly, but the notes themselves are necessarily very fragmentary in places. It astonishes me that any diary at all should have been kept amid the enthusiasm which greeted the arrival and departure of the 'Sunbeam' at every port, the hurry and confusion of constant travelling, and, saddest of all, the evidences of daily increasing weakness. Great also has been my admiration for the indomitable spirit which lifted the frail body above and beyond all considerations of self. I need not here call attention to Lady Brassey's devotion to the cause of suffering shown in her unceasing efforts to establish branches of the St. John Ambulance Association all over the world. It will be seen that the last words of the Journal refer to this subject, so near the writer's heart.

I have thought it best to allow the mere rough outline diary of the first part of the Indian journey to appear exactly as it stands, instead of attempting to enlarge it, which could have been done from Lord Brassey's notes. But, unhappily, the chief interest now of every word of this volume will consist, not in any information conveyed—for that could easily be supplied from other sources—but in the fact of its being Lady Brassey's own impression jotted hastily down at the moment. After reaching Hyderabad there was more leisure and an interval of better health; consequently each day's record is fuller. After August 29th the brief jottings of the first Indian days are resumed, but I have not felt able to lay these notes before the public, for they are simple records of suffering and helpless weakness, too private and sacred for publication. They extend up to September 10th, only four days before the end.

No one but Lord Brassey could take up the story after that date, and it is therefore to his pen that we owe the succeeding pages. All through the Journal I found constant references to what are called in the family the 'Sunbeam Papers,' a journal kept by Lord Brassey and printed for private circulation. With his permission, I have availed myself of these notes wherever I could do so, and I believe that this is what Lady Brassey would have wished. There were also, with the MSS., many interesting newspaper extracts referring to public utterances of Lord Brassey, but of these want of space compels me only to give three, specially alluded to by his wife, which will be found in theAppendix.

Lady Brassey had created an extraordinarily intimate and friendly feeling between herself and her readers all over the world. It has been felt in accordance with this mutual and affectionate understanding to give little personal details, and even a memoir compiled by Lord Brassey for his children during the sad days following the 14th of September, to the friendly eyes which will read with regret the last Journal of one who has been their pleasant chronicler and chatty fellow- traveller for so long. It must always seem as if Lady Brassey wrote specially for those who did not enjoy her facilities for going about and seeing everything. I must express my thanks to Lady Brassey's secretaries for the kind help they have afforded me, not only in deciphering MSS., but in verifying dates and names of places. M.A. BROOME.

London:March1888.

CHAPTER Memoir Introductory Chapter I.Bombay to Jubbulpore II.Hyderabad and Poona III.Bombay IV.Bombay to Goa V.Colombo VI.Rangoon VII.Labuan VIII.Eleopura IX.Celebes X.Western Australia XI.Albany to Adelaide XII.Adelaide XIII.Victoria XIV.New South Wales XV. New South Wales (continued) XVI.Queensland XVII.The East Coast XVIII. East Coast (continued) XIX.Prince of Wales' Island Appendix Index

Contents.

List of Illustrations.

PAGE xiii 1 9 34 56 73 97 119 155 175 203 229 251 269 287 309 325 339 367 391 409 427 479

FULL-PAGE ILLUSTRATIONS.

'Sunbeam,' R.Y.S., Christmas Day, 1886 Port Said Coaling-Party Elephanta Caves Peshawur Coal-Depot En Route to Hunt Black-Buck with Cheetah Patiala Elephants: the Drive Religious Festival, Malabar Point Benares and the Sacred Ganges Moulmein, from the River Singapore, Entrance to Harbour Sarawak, Borneo: Opposite the Rajah's Fort Fishing-Stakes, Sarawak River Entrance to Bird's-Nest Caves, Madai Fording the Stream for Madai Kina Balu, 13,700 feet Bad Weather, West Coast of Australia Tree-Ferns, Australia North Head, Sydney Harbour Aborigines in Camp Ant-Hills, Queensland, Australia

Frontispiece To face page 1 " 18 " 26 " 40 " 62 " 70 " 84 " 132 " 140 " 148 " 162 " 184 " 196 " 210 " 226 " 244 " 306 " 370 " 422

ILLUSTRATIONS IN TEXT.

Title-page Eventide Evening Prayer Portsmouth, H.M.S. 'Hercules' Tanks at Aden Kurrachee Harbour The Mirs Falconer Bokhara Man Going to Dinner Our Home on Wheels Jubilee Illuminations, Bombay Crossing the Indus Shikarpur Bazaar Sukhur Bridge, Indus Old Sukhur Temple of the Sun, Mooltan Runjeet Singh's Tomb, Lahore Cañon, Murree Afghans at Jamrud Jamrud Fort Camel-guns and Standard Cabul Native, Lahore Lahore Camel Team Amritsar Patiala Elephants 'Cross-country Elephants Drinking Mounting The Kutub Minar Base of Kutub Minar Old Delhi and Weapons Ulwar Palace in the Ulwar Fort Sar-Bahr, Gwalior Group of Natives Water-carrier, Benares Nerbudda River—Marble Rocks Meari, the Last of the Thugs Temple at Ellora The Fort, Poonah Gun Rock One-Tree Hill Mir Alam, Hyderabad Cheetah-cart Death of the Buck Mosque Entrance The Hamyan Jump, Delhi No Coal Interior, Delhi Bengal Lancer—Rawul Pindi The Ghauts, Bombay Bodyguard and Peon, Malabar Point

PAGE xiii 1 2 3 5 5 6 6 7 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 18 19 19 20 20 21 22 22 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 31 32 34 36 37 38 40 41 44 48 51 53 56 58 60

The Apollo Bunder Bombay Harbour Omnibus-horse Tope Hindoo Girl At the Children's Ball The Arch of the Viceroys, Goa Jinjeera Fort Off Ratnagiri Vingora Rocks Vingora Lighthouse Portuguese Rowlock Cape Goa Entrance St. Xavier, Goa Inquisition Stake, Goa View in Ceylon Buddhist Priest Talipot Palm Seychelles Palm Governor's Peon, Kandy Cingalese Weapons Point de Galle Trincomalee Harbour Jumping Fish(Periophthalmus Kolreuteri) Sami Rock Coco Island Light Entrance to Caves at Moulmein Merchant Dhows, Indian Ocean Great Pagoda Court Entrance to Temple Dagon Rangoon Boat, Stern Ditto Stem Moulmein Elephants at Work Ditto Moulmein River Boat On the Irrawaddy Entrance to Moulmein Caves Ferry at Morcenatin Point Amherst, Water Temple Bound South Traveller's Palm, Singapore Junks, Singapore Navigation Boards, River Kuching Fire-tube Dyak Kuching The Fort Labuan Malay Village, Labuan Brunei Hats Pangeran's Arrival Pitcher Plants and Kina Balu Kudat On the Fore-yard, making the Land In the Bird's-Nest Caves, Madai Mr. Flint's Bungalow

65 67 68 69 70 73 75 77 79 81 82 83 87 89 97 99 101 103 104 105 106 108 110 114 116 119 120 122 123 125 126 127 129 130 131 132 133 135 136 138 139 142 144 146 148 149 152 153 155 158 161 164 169 171 173 175 177

Kapuan Timber-station Dyak Dance Borneo Weapons Sandakan, bearing N. Entering River, Madai Commissariat Department Return of the Head-Hunter Sulus at Silam Returning at Low Water Dutch Fort, Macassar The Shooting Party Under the Sun Our Coachman, Macassar Dutch (Native) Soldiers Macassar Policeman Fishing-boat, Allas Strait Our Wind-bob More Bad Weather Topmast Stunsails Effect of a Squall Fauna, W. Australia Kingia Black-Boys A Breakdown in the Bush Boomerangs or Kylies Getting under way An Aboriginal The Port Watch Running Down—Easting Cracking on Proclamation-Tree, Glenelg 'Protector' Gunboat Sunset Adelaide Stypandra umbellata On the Murray River A Buckboard Ballarat Miners' Camp Exhibition Buildings, Melbourne Victoria Defence Fleet Lancers and Soudan Contingent Selectors Ferns A Forest Bridge Sydney Harbour Banksias, &c., New South Wales Summer Hill Creek Waterfall Gully Katoomba Cook's Monument, Botany Bay Signal Station, Newcastle Kangaroo-foot(Arrigozanthus) Cattle crossing the Darling River Sheep crossing River Off the Track Rockhampton Lilies

179 181 184 185 187 189 192 198 199 203 207 209 211 212 213 216 218 220 223 225 229 233 236 243 249 251 254 257 260 261 264 267 269 272 275 278 280 282 284 287 289 292 296 302 304 307 309 313 318 320 323 325 327 333 335 337 339

Fern Forest German Waggon Turpentine-Tree Crinum asiaticum Ti-Trees Mount Morgan The Ford Native Weapons, Queensland Balloon Canvas Stowing Foretopsail Queensland Natives Cardwell School House Dead Crocodile on Snag The Train in the Bush Zamoa Tree On the Johnstone River Navigators Thursday Island Cooktown Coral on Pearl-oyster Drum from Murray Island Hammer-headed Oyster Claremont Island Lightship The Last Mill in Australia Port Darwin Darnley Island; the Shore Ditto Curios from Murray Island In the Torres Straits Church on Darnley Island St. Louis, Mauritius Off the Cape St. Helena Longwood, St. Helena Ascension. Green Mountain Sierra Leone Barque Hove-to Pico Bearing up for Shelter Tailpiece.

Track Chart Map of India

Eventide Eventide

To followHalf-title To face page72

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