HOME and BACK,

Otago Witness, Issue 2287, 30 December 1897, Page 47

HOME and BACK,

By John Clego

VIA. AUSTRALIA, CBYLON, SUEZ, NAPLES, ROME, FLORENCE, BOLOGNA, &C.

111.

I met two friends on board the Austral, also Homeward bound. Upon asking for the news, they said one passenger had already died and another had thrown himself overboard in the c iolest . possible manner. He was seen to take off his coat and waistcoat and look over the side of the steamer. Ha then walked astern and got on one of tbe boats, laid down, and quietly allowed himself to roll off into the sea. The eugines were at once stopped and boats lowered, bat it was too late — the poor fellow had gone to his last reit. Strange accidents also sometimes happen. A lady and gentleman with a' large family had come out by one of the P^ and O. steamers from England, and ware completing the final stage of their voyage between Melbourne and Sydney, when suddenly the cry was heard, "A child overboard 1 " It had been customary to spread a Tdg upon deck for the little ones to play upon, and whilst so doing tbe vessel had given a sudden lurch, and one of them rolled between the iron railings into (he sea. The child bad a print hood on, which for a time sustained its weight. Au albatross then got hold of U-, and before tbe boats arrived all was over. The sad fatality cast a gloom over both crew and passengers, and many a kindly word of sympathy was spoken to the sorrowing and grief-stricken parents. Bat, lo and behold I the yery nex's day " Another child overboard I " was shrieked out in accents of despair by an old lady passenger. At first it was not believed, but it was only too true ; another child of the same family had gone overboard In the same way. The engines were revsrsed and the boats weie lowered with incredible speed. With right good will did thoee gallant sailors poll with might and main towards the little morsel of fleah and blood, still floating Wind and tide favoured their efforts, and tbe little one was restored alive and not much tbe 'worse to its bewildered parents. Tnis was related to me as a positive fact by an eyewitness.

ACter a passage of over 1000 miles acres the Great Australian Bight, occupying from three to four daysf Albany ia reached, and the picturesque scenery of Kmg George's ! Sound, the entrance to which is defended by three islands, " of which one," says a writer in a London paper, " bearing the suggestive name of Haul-off Rock, is an immense mass of stone, strangely like such a medieval fortress as the Oastel del Ova, at Naples." The j westernmost island is Breakaea, npon which a lighthouse is erected. Oa Breakses the whole force of the ocean waves is expended, and when the wind is southerly the effect is grand in the extreme. Two or three of the curious " blow- holes " which are seen on the Atlantic coasts of Ireland may be observed here. Behind these granite heights rise b;autifnl green bills clothed with soft brushwood to the water's edge and opening into wide bays eastward, some of which, as O^s^er B iy harbonr, Tival even the sound in their convenience and safety, yet are still without settlers or cultivation. Fine park-like lands extend for 30 miles or more from the shore, interspersed with gleaming lakes and wide expanses of pasture land. The tall head of Mount Clarence, from which the inland view may be best seen, is on our right as we enter the harbour from the sound by a passage only a few hundred yards wide, yet deep enough for any ship now afloat. The wbols harbour is about three miles in width from east to west, and two from north to Boufcta, and, with the well-protected sound outside, ■would easily contain the navy of a first-rate power. As a coaling station between England and all the British possessions eastward and southward its importance cannot be exaggerated. Tbe climate is the most temperate and equible in all Australia, and even Devonshire in its greatest glory never saw snch wild flowers. They grow for the most part on evergreen shrubs, some- of which resemble the rhododendrons of oar own climate, some the myrtle, some the daphne, tome the laoristinus, though all more or leas different, and exhale, whether they are in bloom or not, the most delicate and aromatic perfume, a perfume doubly aweetf to anyone who has been sailing for weeks or months upon the sea. Albany is a pretty little town, with a rapidly-increas-ing trade and population, largely due to the exodus of people from the other colonies to the gold fields of Western Australia. We took a great number of people aboard, many of whom had had a varied experience — good, bad, and indifferent. Several had good claim?, and were going to England in hopes of collarirjg some of tbe spare cash of that übiquitous individual, the" British investor; others had made their pile, and were going to spend some of it; whilst others again were leaving the field owing to ill-health. Sj far as I could ascertain, the climate of Western Australia, though hot, is heiltby, provided pure water can be obtained and a supply of fresh vegetables. The constant use of tinned meats without fruit or vegetables is a frequent cause of ill-health. We stay a few hours at Albany, taking the last mails on board, and then bid a long goodbye to Australian soil. The voyage is now fairly begun, sea-sickness has to a great extent disappeared, and the passengers begin to settle down and make each other's acquaintance. A large ocean-going steamer contains a world in miniature; every type has its representative here. Parsons, doctors, officers, rogues, gamblers, prohibitionists, drnnkard3, men of business and men of no business, adventurers and adventuresses — all pat .in 2m appearance, and sometimes make things rather lively to say .the least of it. Even Russian spies are not absent or I am greatly mistaken. We had on board a certain Russian count with an unpronounceable name, who had letters of introduction from Eirly Kimberley, I believe, to, the various colonial' governors, who, to say the least of it, was a most suspicions and objectionable -individual. Inquiries made on my return have confirmed these suspicions.'' Daring his stay in New Zealand I am told he was

under police (surveillance. He abused the colonials in most unmeasured terms, saying that we were no better that •• dang beetles," that being the most opprobrious term be was capable of using. I told him that I did not object to bis abusing English men, bat what I did object to was that, after having eaten their salt and partaken of their hospitality, be should use such disgraceful language. I considered it cowardly and ungsntleraanly in the extreme. His appetite waa enormous— quite three times as much as' any other passenger. He would exhaust the bill of fare, and then make a sandwich a couple of inches thick, composed of beef, mutton, ham, German sausage, &\, &3, all mixed up together. He must have had the digestioa of an ostrich. Oar final quarrel was over a game of chess. I was two pawns ahead, and as it was a case oE England v. Russia I did my level best to win, taking plenty of time for my moves. This my opponent strongly objected to, and tried to bluff me into making a bad move. At last he lost bis temper, and swept all the pieces off the board, remarking that " dat vas not chess at all." So ended ray acquaintance with the Russiau cjunfc. We all sent him to Coventry, with tbe exception of one young upstart of some 18 summers, who fe'ehed and carried for him all the voyage, and- bore the sobriquet of the " count's lapdog."

Another passenger bad an unaccountable weakness for haunting his cabin, though being near the boilers the temperature, as taken by my thermomater, was 1103 eg through tbe tropics. He might have been a Silamander. Iv London the truth came out. He had a large sum of money deposited in his cabin rather than pay the small fee of 1 per cent, charged by the company for the safe "custody of money or valuable?.

My cabin mate was a retired Church of England minister, travelling for his health. He was a highly cultured English gentleman, in the best and truest sense of tbe word. We became close friends, and have continued so evir since. Amongst our other passengers was a Frenchman who bad been 12 months in New Zealand studying the best methods of gold-dredging; a, Welsh c»ptain who had brought a vessel out to Melbourne, took typhoid fever there, and had to remain behind (he was only 32 years of age, but h\d already bad command of a vessel for seven years) j a Mr Currie, a young Scotchman, who was the first to endeavour to swim ashore with a rope from the wreck of the illfated Wairarapa, off the north-east coast of New Zealand (he got ashore himself, but had to abandon the rope) ; three jolly Victorian farmers going Home for a holiday, all good men and truß ; and last, but not lealr, my excellent friend Mr James Knox, who did credit to his name. I tender him my hearty thanks for the many kindly servioas received at his baud?.

After passing Cape Leeuwin, 158 miles distant from; Albany, we say good-bye to Australian land and steer a direct course for Colombo, the capital of OeyloD, distance 3197 mvle3. Rough weather is often experienced off the Leeuwio, and a lighthouse has recently been erected. But bad weather on homeward voyages ia to me an unknown quantity. I have crossed the Indian Ocean five times via tbe R?d Sao, Suez Canal, Mediterranean, and the much-dreaded Bay of Biscay, in the months of February, April, June, July, September, and in ' every instanoe we never had a really rough day, and hardly ever a wet one. Bright sunny weather with a nice breeze, varied occasionally by a day's oalm in the Red S?a, has always predominated, the journey being more like a pleasant yachting excursion than a dreary ocean voyage of some 14,000 miles. As the Australian coast is left behind the temperature gradually rises.

For three weeks before we got to Suez the temperature aye aged about 86. As the heat increases one becomes less and less inclined for steady work, whether mental or physical. .The mornings are spent in reading, writing, and talking; the gentlemen smoke, the ladies indulge in faocy work. A siesta is taken after dinner ; then comes afternoon tea at 4 p.m , tea at 530 p.m., then an hour's brifek walk on the promenade deck in the cool of the evening, during which we are oftentimes rewarded with the most magnificent sunsets. I once saw a wonderful facsimile reproduction of the Remarkable?, a lofty range of mountains near Lake Wafeatipu, New Zaaland, bo vividly depicted with their snow-clad heights even to the " double cone" that I exclaimed in astonish meht, " Why, there are the Rsmarkables ! " Musical evenings or a game of chess or cards till supper at 9, then a tmoke and a chat or a walk tili midnight in order to make a Bhort night In bunk. •

Oa sach an occasion as this tbe thoughts o£ a traveller Homeward bound often revert; to the familiar scenes of the land he is leaving behind him, and Ihe strange illusion I have just referred to naturally turned my though' s New Zealandwards on that particular evening ; so before we set foot in Colombo I will invite my readers to contemplate the illustration of forest life reproduced last week. The picture represents three young men who have begun the task of carving out a home for themselves in the forest. Their stalwart and determined appearance gives assurance that they will succeed, and in a few yeara' time they will perhaps own a smiling homestead, a reward for their righteous labonrs.

(To be continued.)