278 SLAVERY AT ST. HELENA. connected stream: before it has fallen half the distance it appears scattered like rain; and seems to the eye to be lost, or evaporated, ere it reaches the bottom; where, however, it collects in a basin, called the Devil's Punch-bowl, and again assuming its form as a torrent, hastens through the valley, which it fertilizes, and, passing through the town, empties itself into the sea. At four o'clock we reached the hotel and sat down to dinner, which was indeed a feast; the potatoes, cauliflowers, turnips, and other vegetables, to us who, in our passage from Madras, had been ten weeks on the salt ocean, out of the reach of such articles of food, had a more delicious flavour than any artificial dishes, and excited our thankfulness while we enjoyed them. A call for brandy and water, so common a beverage in India, was answered, to our astonishment, by an assurance that they had no spirits and were not allowed to sell any; that, by a local regulation, a limited quantity, for private consumption only, was allowed to be imported: we had heard of the sobriety of the Europeans on this island; it was now accounted for: but though the fact might be instructive and the abstinence salutary, the sore complaints which were vented, bespoke any thing but admiration of the bye-law, or an intention to profit by it subsequently. Having tasted the blessings of the land for about twelve hours, we entered the Governor's barge and returned to our vessel for the night. On the following morning I re-visited the shore and remained till past noon; the Government gardens and the stone-quarry were the most interesting objects I met in my rambles; the former were necessarily small and poor, from want of earth, the latter was more in character with the nature of the island, which seems to be one great rock. I did not see any thing in the state of the people, STATE OF EDUCATION. 279 whether black or coloured, that appeared to indicate the existence of slavery; and it was with surprise I observed against the wall the following advertisement : "To be let by Public Auction, On Monday, 29th September, 1828, At For one year, Two male Slaves, one of them an excellent Fisherman. On inquiry, I was informed that slavery was fast diminishing in St. Helena; chiefly by influence of a regulation of Government, that all born subsequently to the year 1818 should be free. The waiters at the Hotel were pointed out as instances of the comfort and respectability of many of the slaves; none of them are allowed to be sold; but they may be let or hired, at the option of their owners, and, if desirous of their freedom, may usually purchase it by a few years' industrious attention to business. We saw coloured men, of very respectable appearance, who had thus liberated themselves. The Africans, and the people of mixed race, with whom I conversed, seemed very ignorant on religious subjects; many of them confessed their inability to read, though there are several schools on the island, under the auspices of Government. The whole population, about five thousand, is nominally Christian; there are two churches, supplied by two chaplains of the East India Company, who are the only Ministers on the island. Europeans appear to enjoy excellent health in St. Helena; their comparatively robust figures contrasted strikingly with the wan countenances and feeble frames of those of us who had been long resident in India. None of our party, however, were inclined to remain, and there appeared to be no regret when, at four in the afternoon of the 1st of October, we weighed anchor and set sail for our much-desired home. The report of a piracy, recently perpetrated in these 280 INCREASING INDISPOSITION-ARRIVAL. seas, which had been communicated to us at St. Helena, created a little additional bustle in our ship; the invalid soldiers on board were mustered in military order, and the arms and ammunition examined and arranged, so as to be available at the shortest notice. On the 9th of October we crossed the Equator, in 20 deg. W Long. In the course of the night of the following day, an old seaman died; he was committed to the deep in the usual manner, stitched up in his hammock, with a quantity of old iron, or other heavy material, to cause the body to sink. On the 16th I seemed to have lost all the advantage which the voyage and our touching at St. Helena had afforded me, and became increasingly unwell: my indisposition continued to the end of the voyage, but I was carefully attended by the surgeon and two other medical men, fellow-passengers. Confinement to my cabin was more tolerable to me than it would have been to many others; in the evenings I had usually the society of several of the passengers, who displayed much sympathy and kind attention. One of the greatest inconveniences I had to suffer, was the application of a large blister, when we had a great deal of motion from the violence of the wind and seas. After the usual vicissitudes of fair and foul winds, of painful anxieties and cheering hopes, we discovered the Scilly lights, on the morning of the 17th of November, and, when day broke, had our eyes gladdened by a view of our native shores. On the 22nd of November, 1828, I landed at Gravesend, from whence I had embarked in May, 1820, and soon hastened to my friends, whose attentions, with the air and comforts of my native home, have effected that restoration of health and vigour, which was the object of my return. |