Roughing it in the Bush | Page 8

party returned to
the deck.
Here a new difficulty occurred, which nearly ended in a serious quarrel.
The gentlemen requested the old sailor to give them a few feet of old
planking, to repair some damage which their boat had sustained the day

before. This the captain could not do. They seemed to think his refusal
intentional, and took it as a personal affront. In no very gentle tones,
they ordered him instantly to prepare his boats, and put his passengers
on shore.
"Stiff breeze--short sea," returned the bluff old seaman; "great risk in
making land--boats heavily laden with women and children will be
swamped. Not a soul goes on shore this night."
"If you refuse to comply with our orders, we will report you to the
authorities."
"I know my duty--you stick to yours. When the wind falls off, I'll see to
it. Not a life shall be risked to please you or your authorities."
He turned upon his heel, and the medical men left the vessel in great
disdain. We had every reason to be thankful for the firmness displayed
by our rough commander. That same evening we saw eleven persons
drowned, from another vessel close beside us while attempting to make
the shore.
By daybreak all was hurry and confusion on board the Anne. I watched
boat after boat depart for the island, full of people and goods, and
envied them the glorious privilege of once more standing firmly on the
earth, after two long months of rocking and rolling at sea. How ardently
we anticipate pleasure, which often ends in positive pain! Such was my
case when at last indulged in the gratification so eagerly desired. As
cabin passengers, we were not included in the general order of
purification, but were only obliged to send our servant, with the clothes
and bedding we had used during the voyage, on shore, to be washed.
The ship was soon emptied of all her live cargo. My husband went off
with the boats, to reconnoitre the island, and I was left alone with my
baby in the otherwise empty vessel. Even Oscar, the Captain's Scotch
terrier, who had formed a devoted attachment to me during the voyage,
forgot his allegiance, became possessed of the land mania, and was
away with the rest. With the most intense desire to go on shore, I was
doomed to look and long and envy every boatful of emigrants that

glided past. Nor was this all; the ship was out of provisions, and I was
condemned to undergo a rigid fast until the return of the boat, when the
captain had promised a supply of fresh butter and bread. The vessel had
been nine weeks at sea; the poor steerage passengers for the two last
weeks had been out of food, and the captain had been obliged to feed
them from the ship's stores. The promised bread was to be obtained
from a small steam-boat, which plied daily between Quebec and the
island, transporting convalescent emigrants and their goods in her
upward trip, and provisions for the sick on her return.
How I reckoned on once more tasting bread and butter! The very
thought of the treat in store served to sharpen my appetite, and render
the long fast more irksome. I could now fully realise all Mrs. Bowdich's
longings for English bread and butter, after her three years' travel
through the burning African deserts, with her talented husband.
"When we arrived at the hotel at Plymouth," said she, "and were asked
what refreshment we chose--'Tea, and home-made bread and butter,'
was my instant reply. 'Brown bread, if you please, and plenty of it.' I
never enjoyed any luxury like it. I was positively ashamed of asking the
waiter to refill the plate. After the execrable messes, and the hard
ship-biscuit, imagine the luxury of a good slice of English bread and
butter!"
At home, I laughed heartily at the lively energy with which that
charming woman of genius related this little incident in her eventful
history--but off Grosse Isle, I realised it all.
As the sun rose above the horizon, all these matter-of-fact
circumstances were gradually forgotten, and merged in the surpassing
grandeur of the scene that rose majestically before me. The previous
day had been dark and stormy, and a heavy fog had concealed the
mountain chain, which forms the stupendous background to this
sublime view, entirely from our sight. As the clouds rolled away from
their grey, bald brows, and cast into denser shadow the vast forest belt
that girdled them round, they loomed out like mighty giants--Titans of
the earth, in all their rugged and awful beauty--a thrill of wonder and
delight pervaded my mind. The spectacle floated dimly on my

sight--my eyes were blinded with tears--blinded with the excess of
beauty. I