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We began the year 1861
by joining our new ship, and immediately commenced such alterations as
the ‘Hecate’s’ fittings required for the work before her. We had hardly
got on board, however, and had not half “shaken down,” when the
non-appearance of the ‘Forward’ caused so much anxiety that Captain
Richards decided upon going out to look for her. Accordingly on the 4th
we were under weigh in our new ship, and steaming out of the Strait of
Fuca. The ‘Forward’ had at this time been absent quite a fortnight
longer than she ought to have been, and as we knew that heavy gales had
been prevalent outside the Straits, it was natural some anxiety should
be felt for her, although most of us as yet trusted in the general luck
of her commander, Robson (who, poor fellow! has since been killed), for
picking himself up somewhere. Browning, too, who had accompanied the
‘Forward,’ knew the coast thoroughly; and we, therefore, as yet
attributed her absence to some accident in her machinery. Subsequently,
however, we began to feel seriously alarmed for her safety.
We reached Nootka Sound in the afternoon of the following day, and,
passing Friendly Cove, steamed up to the Boca del Infierno, and anchored
in a small place called Island Harbour. Here we communicated with the
natives, but could only hear that a steamer had been there and left some
time ago. Xext day (6th) we left Island Harbour, and went to the Tasis
village, but without learning anything more. On our way out we
despatched a boat-party to Friendly Cove, and there found a board with a
broad arrow cut upon it, but no notice. This we afterwards learned had
been put up by a Mr. Lennard, who was cruising about the west coast on
the look-out for furs, in his cutter, the 'Templar.’ We remained outside
all night, jogging slowly down the coast towards Barclay Sound, which we
entered next morning, and proceeded to the settlement at the head of the
Alberni Canal. Here we remained all night, but got no further
information, and next morning steamed to Uclulet at the north entrance
of the Sound, where we found five men of the ‘Florentia,’ the vessel
which the ‘Forward’ had been despatched to look for, and which had been
wrecked 12 miles north of this point, together with several of the crew
of the American brig ‘ Consort,’ which had also been lost on the coast
90 miles beyond Nootka. From these, whom we took on board, we learned
that the ‘Forward’ had arrived at Friendly Cove on the 19th of December,
and hearing there of the wreck of the ‘Consort,’ had gone to rescue her
crew; that she returned to Friendly Cove, having-eighteen of the
‘Consort’s ’ crew on board, and, taking the ‘Florentia’ in tow, had
started with her for the Strait of Fuca. Outside Nootka Sound it
appeared that they experienced a considerable swell, and twice parted
the chain by which the ‘Florentia’ was towed, but succeeded each time in
getting it on board again. About 5 in the evening, however, the
‘Forward’ dropped close to the ‘Florentia,’ and Hobson (her commander)
hailed to say he could not tow her any longer, and immediately cast her
off,—or the chain parted again,—they were not sure which. The ‘Forward’
then ran across the ‘Florentia’s’ stem, steering for Nootka, and was
lost sight of in ten minutes, since which they had neither seen nor
heard anything of her. The ‘Florentia’ had afterwards drifted ashore
again, and been totally lost.
Captain Richards, upon a consideration of these facts, came to the
conclusion that if the ‘Forward’ had entered any of the Sounds, the
Indians would have known of it, and that she had probably by this time
got back to Esquimalt. We, therefore, returned thither, reaching it on
the 10th, but to our surprise and alarm, we found nothing had been heard
of her. It was at once determined that the ‘Plumper’ should start in
search of her, this time examining the whole of the west coast, and
communicating with Fort Rupert upon the chance of her having gone round
the island. On the 11th, therefore, the ‘Plumper’ left, and as day after
day passed without our obtaining any news of the missing gunboat from
her or any other source, we, waiting anxiously at Esquimalt, began to
give up all hope.
On the afternoon of the 15th, however, when sitting in my cabin, I was
told that an officer was coming alongside, and on going up the ladder,
great was my surprise to find Browning standing at the top of it! I have
said he had gone as pilot in the ‘Forward,’ and had he delayed making
his appearance for a few days later, it is not unlikely that he would
have found his kit sold as “dead and run men’s effects.” There he was,
however, and he told us he had come in from the ‘Forward,’ which was
outside the harbour, and would arrive in an hour. He explained that they
had parted company with the ‘Florentia,’ on account of the crown of one
of the furnaces coming down, and, returning to Friendly Cove, had
patched this up as M7ell as they could, and started for Esquimalt.
Outside they met strong easterly gales, which blew without intermission,
and so hard that they could make no head against them. After several
days’ struggle, Robson having 20 shipwrecked men on board in addition to
his own crew, began to fear that they might fall short of provisions,
and at last determined to bear up and go round the north end of the
island, knowing that they could get supplies of some sort at Rupert,
which place they reached finally with no worse mishaps on the way than
running short of provisions and coal.
On the 18th the ‘Plumper’ returned from her search, having learned at
Rupert that the gunboat had passed down the Strait, and on the 28th our
old ship sailed for England amid most vociferous cheering from those she
left behind. Our winter work in the office, which I have before made
mention of, went on much as usual; while, on board, the boats were being
fitted up, and other preparations made for the coming summer. The
‘Shark' which had before been only half-decked, was now completely
decked over, and turned into a regular schooner, capable of navigating
the west coast of the island. On the 23rd of February we had official
news of Sir T. Maitland’s assuming command of the station, and changed
our flag for the third admiral since we came out.
By the middle of March everything was ready for a start, the ship
caulked, chart-room fitted, our pinnace converted into a schooner, and
all the boats ready, and on the 22nd we left Esquimalt for the Fraser
River to lay down our second set of buoys at its entrance. The ‘Forward’
went with us to assist in this operation, and we both anchored that
night off Port Roberts. Next day we entered the Fraser and steamed up to
New Westminster, without any let or hindrance. This was subject of great
rejoicing to the people of Westminster, as no steamer of the ‘Hecate’s
size (850 tons) had before ascended the river, and it showed
unmistakeably that it was practicable for large vessels to do so. So
delighted were the people of Westminster, indeed, that they wanted to
entertain Captain Richards at a public banquet, a deputation of citizens
waiting on him with that object. This, however, he steadfastly declined,
representing that all he had done was his duty, and that he had come to
buoy the mouth of their river, not to feast. So they contented
themselves with presenting him with a complimentary address. From the
25th to the 29 th the surveying officers were employed in the ‘Forward’
placing the buoys. The difficulty of keeping these buoys in their
places, which is very great, arises from the number of large trees which
are floated off the banks of the river when the water is high, and come
down the stream carrying everything before them. The buoys now put down
were large spars fitted with a running chain through the heel, and
moored to heavy weights in such a way that anything on a line with them
would only dip them under water and pass over. The bottoms of the
"weights were hollowed out so that they might work themselves down into
the sand, and so keep in their places. Considerable difference of
opinion still exists as to whether these sands drift and change their
position. My opinion is that they do, although not to the extent that
some affirm. In thick weather the leading marks upon them are not of
course visible, and the masters of ships losing their course and
grounding are likely enough to lay their mishap to the shifting of the
sands rather than to the right cause. On the 29tli we crossed to Nanaimo
and filled up with coal, and on the 5th April went to Esquimalt, where
we found that the ‘Bacchante,’ with the new admiral, Sir T. Maitland, on
board, had arrived, together with the ‘Topaze’ and ‘Tartar.’ The spring
weather had now fairly set in, and we felt that working time had
commenced. This winter (1860-1) had been by far the finest and mildest
we had experienced since we came to the island, there being but a few
days’ frost in the month of January, while even then the thermometer
sank only a few degrees below zero. We knew, however, that the season on
the west coast, to which we were going, was later than that inside the
island, and so we waited until the 17th before we started.
We left Esquimalt on the night of the 17th, and anchored in Port San
Juan on the morning of the 18th. I have before mentioned this harbour,
which lies at the entrance of the Strait of Fuca on the north. Some gold
had recently been found in Gordon River which runs into its head, and a
party had started to work it; but although the precious mineral
undoubtedly existed there, it was not found in quantities sufficiently
remunerative to induce them to remain.
On the 19th we reached the head of the Alberni Canal, and anchored about
a mile off the saw-mills. Although we had visited this place before in
the 'Plumper,’ I have as yet given no description of it. As it is
already a considerable settlement, and likely to become of some
importance, it claims, I think, some passing notice.
Barclay Sound, as it is now spelt, at the head of which the Alberni
settlement is placed, should properly, I believe, be “Berkely,” as it
was named by Captain Berkely of the ship ‘Imperial Eagle,’ who in 1787
discovered, or rather rediscovered, the Strait of Fuca. Its eastern
entrance is a little more than 30 miles north-west of Cape Flattery, and
the whole length of the sound is 35 miles. The entrance, which is six or
eight miles across, is filled with small islands and low rocks, many
under water, over which the sea breaks with great violence during the
prevalence of southerly winds, giving to the entrance a greater
appearance of danger than really exists. Into this sound there are
passages from the west and the east, of which the latter, although the
narrower, is to be preferred, from the fact that there are no sunken
rocks in the channel. It is proposed to erect a light on Cape Beale, the
southern cape of Barclay Sound, which will no doubt be of great use to
navigators making the Strait of Fuca. In the winter time, when the
weather is so often thick and foggy, it frequently happens that
observations cannot be obtained for two or three days before making the
land, and the navigator does not like to keep in for Cape Flattery, for
fear of getting under the American coast, where there is a perfect nest
of rocks. A light on Cape Beale would enable him to make the island
shore with considerably less anxiety than at present, and he could find
shelter in Barclay Sound if he preferred waiting for clear weather
before making the Strait, as the winds winch most endanger ships here
blow on to Vancouver shore, and are consequently far into the Sound.
Like all the sounds of the west coast of Vancouver Island, Barclay is
subdivided into several smaller sounds or arms, running five or six, or
sometimes more, miles inland. Of these the Uclulet arm is just within
the west entrance, and inside this, as you coast round the west shore,
is the Toquart, Effingham, Ouchucklesit, and several others, almost all
containing good anchorage. In Ouchucklesit coal has been found, which
will probably be of great value to the settlement. The scarcely less
valuable commodity of limestone of very good quality has been discovered
here. At the mills they used large quantities of it. Previously to its
discovery they were entirely dependant on the clam-shells which the
Indians leave in very large quantities on the beaches where they dig up
the fish. Some of these arms are very curious, running in a straight
line, or very nearly so, 5 or 6 miles between mountains 3000 or 4000
feet high, with a breadth in many places of not more than 50 yards, and
yet 30 or 40 fathoms deep up to the head, which is invariably flat with
a river running through it. Fifteen miles above the entrance, the sound
narrows to half a mile, and the Alberni Canal commences. This continues
at about the same width for 20 miles, where it opens out into a large
harbour, on the east side of which is the Alberni Settlement. Extending
north-west from the settlement is an extensive valley, which terminates
in a large lake 5 or 6 miles from the head of the canal or inlet, and
above this is another large lake, separated from the lower one by a
mountain-ridge. These lakes were each estimated by Captain Stamp, wlio
examined them, to be 30 miles long and 1 to 2 miles broad.
From the southern of these lakes runs the Somass River, which, being
joined-by another river having its rise in the upper lake, flows into
the Alberni Canal. A very great volume of water comes down by this
river, so much indeed that at the end of the ebb-tide the water
alongside the ship was quite fresh, though we lay a mile from its mouth.
On both banks of the Somass, and indeed all over the valley, the soil is
very rich, and the timber magnificent — the Douglas pine (Abies
Douglasii), growing to an enormous size, and the white pine, oak, and
yellow cypress also abounding. Of these, however, more will be said when
I come to speak of the timber of the country generally. This tract of
country has been granted upon lease to the Saw Mill Company, who have a
farm upon it under cultivation, and are commencing a brisk trade in
spars and lumber. It was here that the flagstaff which is erected in Kew
Gardens was cut. As these mills are by far the largest and most
important in the colony, a short description of them may interest the
reader.
They have been erected in a most solid fashion, and at a heavy outlay,
by English labourers, and with English machinery. They contain two gangs
of saws capable of cutting about 18,000 feet of lumber (plank) daily,
and in the best way, as is proved by the high price obtained for it at
Melbourne. Seventy white men are employed at and about the premises, so
that the place has all the appearance of a flourishing little
settlement. Two schooners and two steamers are also employed by the
Company here, the former trading with Victoria and bringing the
necessary supplies to the place. One of the steamers, the ‘Diana,’ a
little tug, also trades to Victoria, and is used besides for towing
vessels up to and away from the mills. The second steamer, the ‘ Thames
’ has not yet reached the colony, but is on her way out from England. In
addition to these, several ships are employed in the spar trade between
the colony and Europe, but the desire of the company is to sell on the
spot.
The Alberni Mills possess several advantages over similar rival
undertakings in Puget Sound, which are now beginning to be appreciated
by merchants, and still more by the masters of ships. One of the chief
of these lies in its accessibility, for Alberni being situated on the
outside coast of the island, the navigator avoids all the journey in and
out of the Straits of Juan de Fuca and Admiralty Inlet, which occupies
ordinarily a week: so that a vessel bound to Alberni, making Gape
Flattery at the same time with one bound for Puget Sound, would be
half-loaded by the time the other reached its destination. Again, when
loaded, the tug takes him to the entrance of Barclay Sound, where he can
wait for a fair wind, while the other, in consequence of the more
prevalent winds blowing into the Strait, has to beat for two or three
days to get outside. In winter this is by no means a desirable spot to
beat about in, for the squalls from the Olympian Mountains are sudden
and heavy, and fogs come on very rapidly. Another consideration, which
carries much weight with the skipper, is that there are no opportunities
for men to desert at Alberni. Of course, when the trade becomes greater
and the country more opened up, this advantage will cease to exist, but
for some time to come men will be very safe there.
There are no port charges whatever at Alberni, and it is a port of
entry, so that vessels can clear from the mills; whereas in Puget Sound
they cannot, and have to call at Port Townshend or some other port to
get their clearance. The scarcity of white pine in the American
territory will probably enable the Alberni mills to compete with their
Puget Sound rivals successfully even in the San Francisco market, and
they are admirably placed for the supply of America, China, and
Australia, with the latter of which countries a remunerative trade has
already been opened. Several foreign Governments have entered into
contracts for these spars, and our own has ordered two cargoes of
topmasts to be supplied. I will now, however, quit this subject, having
to speak more particularly of the qualities of the different woods
growing on this coast, when treating of the resources of the island.
On the 29th I started by land for Nanaimo—a description of which journey
has been already given—returning on the 12th of May. I found that the
‘Hecate’ had gone to Ouchucklesit, and proceeded thither in a canoe the
same afternoon, overtaking the ship at 7 p.m. The boat-surveying parties
were busily engaged by this time at the entrance of the Sound, and the
ship had moved down to Ouchucklesit on the 9th to be nearer them. The
boat parties had returned to the ship once during my absence. Upon their
next visit on the 27th, I joined them for* a week. From this time until
the 9th of June we were all hard at work about the various inlets and
islands of Barclay Sound. On the 3rd the ship moved down to Island
Harbour in the entrance, and on the 9th we went out to sound off the
Straits of Fuca, leaving-two boats behind to finish Uclulet.
We spent a week running lines of soundings backwards and forwards over
an area of 400 square miles, to determine the limits of the bank which
runs off from the island shore for upwards of 20 miles; and a most
unpleasant week it was, and very glad we were when it was over. These
soundings proved, however, of great use, as we found the edge of the
bank to be so steep that a ship may always find her approximate position
by the soundings as she approaches the shore— the depth changing quite
suddenly from 200 fathoms or thereabouts to 40 or 50. Our task being
completed by the 14th, we went right up to the head of the Alberni again
for sights, and commenced painting the ship. On Monday, the 21th, this
necessary although unpleasant job was finished, and wo started for
Esquimalt, having in tow a main topmast for the ‘ Bacchante,’ which Mr.
Stamp sent as a present and specimen to the Admiral. We generally went
about these channels with a good string of things of some kind towing
after us, usually boats which were to be dropped at different places on
our road; and this time was no exception to the rule, for we passed down
the canal towing the topmast, with the 'Shark,’ and one of the
whale-boats, which we cast off at the entrance, they being bound for
Clayoquot to prepare, by sounding the entrance, for our arrival there as
soon as we returned from Esquimalt.
One of the whale-boats, under the charge of Mr. Browning, had been away
since we started on our sounding cruise, and we now went to pick her up
off Port San Juan. We usually took these opportunities for exercising at
gun-drill, as when we were on surveying ground we had other fish to fry;
so that on this occasion the pivot-gun was ready loaded when we opened
San Juan Harbour, and saw Browning’s tent comfortably pitched on the
shore. There is a certain amount of pleasure, I suppose, in disturbing
an unsuspecting fellow-mortal; and although we all knew, from frequent
experience, the annoyance of seeing the ship gliding round some point,
and hearing the boom of a signal-gun when it seemed reasonably certain
that a quiet, undisturbed night might be enjoyed, it was not with much
commiseration for our shipmate that we watched, through our glasses, the
figures rushing out as the boom of the pivot-gun reached them, and the
tent’s sudden disappearance. Browning, who, with the rest of us, was
pretty used by this time to decisive action in packing and shifting his
quarters, lost no time; and in 20 minutes after our signal, his boat was
cleared and hoisted up, and we were flying down the Strait with all sail
set to a fair wind.
On the 26th the mail steamer arrived, but with no mail.
Mr. Booker, our consul at San Francisco, sending instead the pleasant
news that the Americans had refused to carry the colonial mails without
payment any longer. We did not think that the Company were in the least
to blame, hut it was hard upon us, who had had nothing to do one way or
the other with the postal arrangements. The American Company had been
allowed to bring and take our mails for years without any offer of
remuneration being made, and had the colonists alone suffered, none of
us would have felt disposed to pity them. Without any reference to
politics, we could not help wishing sincerely at the time that the Derby
ministry had remained in office, as it was understood that it was their
intention to grant a mail subsidy for the colony. The Company that owns
the saw-mills at Alberni had made proposals for carrying the mails, and
their agent told me that a subsidy of 20,000?. for conveying them
between San Francisco and the colony had been promised them, and that
nothing but the formal confirmation of the contract was wanting when the
Government went out.
The agent also represented to me that the refusal of the incoming
authorities to ratify the contract arose from the fact that so few
letters left England addressed to British Columbia. The reason of this
wag, he said, that all men of business at home gave instructions that
their letters should be directed under cover to their agents at San
Francisco, on account of the uncertainty of the conveyance of the
ordinary mails beyond that place. Correspondence, indeed, with the
colony was at this time most uncertain— the majority of letters intended
for settlers there being directed, “Post Office, Steilacoom, Washington
territory.” This mode of direction used often to puzzle the post
officials and amuse us. It was printed upon all the official envelopes,
but the cause of its origin and continuance was a mystery which no one
could explain.
Steilacoom never was the post-office of Washington territory while we
were there; and even if it had been, why letters should he directed to
that place, which is 60 miles up Admiralty Inlet, when there was a
post-office at Port Towns-hend, in its entrance, was most unaccountable.
To make the matter still worse, some people took to having “Oregon”
printed or written also in a conspicuous place on the envelope —no doubt
wholly unaware of the fact that Oregon and Washington are two distinct
territories, each somewhat larger than France.
On the 2nd of July, at 9 p.m., we again left Esquimalt, having on board
five-and-twenty of the pillars which had been sent out from England to
mark the 49th parallel boundary-line. We took them to Semiahmoo Bay, and
landed them on the parallel; and, it being low-water when we arrived,
they had to be carried about a mile across the sand. Twenty-two only
wore landed at the boundary, and the other three taken to Port Roberts,
where we left them the same afternoon, and proceeded to Nanaimo. These
periodical visits to the boundary-line gave us some idea of the rapid
growth of the bush in this country, and showed us how completely futile
the mere cutting down of trees to mark a boundary in such a country is.
We knew the position of the boundary-line, but could not find the stump
which had been driven in to mark the spot; and when I tried to penetrate
along the line which could be distinguished from above easily enough by
the gap in the larger trees which, of course, had not yet grown again, I
found the undergrowth so thick as to be what people unused to that
country would consider quite impenetrable. Upon another occasion we
witnessed a still more speedy obliteration of such a trail by the
undergrowth of timber. When we were at Port Roberts about a year after
the trail had been cut, it was necessary for some purpose to pass
through it. But, although we hunted for an hour or more among the bush,
no entrance to the trail could he found.
We remained at Nanaimo coasting until the 12th; the ‘Grappler’ taking
the rest of the beacons to Smess River, and there depositing them. I
should have said that these beacons or pillars were constructed of
cast-iron, pyramidshaped, and having the words “American Boundary” on
one side, and “Treaty, 1844,” on the other. They were hollow, and fitted
to screw or bolt on to a stone or block of wood, the weight of each
being about 100 lbs.
On the 13th we left Nanaimo, reaching Cormorant Bay at nine that night;
and next day we went on to Fort Rupert (Beaver Harbour).
We occupied our time at Rupert till the 17th, getting sights, &c., and
cutting and dragging out of the bush five trees of the yellow cypress
for repairing our boats, &c., for which and similar purposes, as I have
before said, this wood is the best I have ever seen. On the 17th we went
on to Shucartie Bay, and spent the 18th there, while the cutter and one
whaler sounded on theNewittee Bar. We tried the seine (net) in Shucartie
Bay, but only caught about thirty salmon.
On the 19th we steamed through the Goletas Channel towards the north end
of the island, but the fog came on so thick that we anchored on the edge
of the Newittee Bar. We must have been nearer the edge indeed than we
thought, for we soon found ourselves drifting off it, and the ship
cruising about with 50 fathoms of chain hanging from her bows.
Fortunately, it cleared about this time, so we hove the anchor up and
proceeded out. At noon we reached Cape Scott, and then went out to look
at the Triangle Islands, which lie off it, and at dark shaped our course
for Woody Point, or Cape Cook, halfway between the north end of the
island and Nootka Sound. We passed this spot next morning at daybreak,
and by three in the afternoon were off Nootka.
We were bound, however,
for Clayoquot Sound, which lies between Nootka and Barclay Sounds; so on
we went, and reached the entrance at 8 p.m. It being then too dark to
enter, we had to do what seamen are proverbially fond of— “ stand off
and on ” for the night. At daybreak we found ourselves off Port Cos—so
named by Meares, and described by him in terms which were calculated to
lead us to suppose that, had we wanted it, safe anchorage might be found
there. When, however, the spot he had thus described was surveyed, it
was found that a sand-bar completely blocked up its entrance. The
whale-boat we had to take up was inside, and at six she came on board;
and we went back again to the northern entrance of Clayoquot Sound, and
in to an anchorage which she had found for us, where we moored,
intending to remain till we had surveyed all the Sound— little thinking
what was in store for us, and what mishap would befal us before we
should again reach Esquimalt.
We all set to work surveying the various arms of the Sound, and the
weather continuing fine our task progressed satisfactorily. We found
sundry arms and passages hitherto unknown, and discovered that one
previously marked upon the charts as Brazo de Topino was inaccurately
described— its extent proving to be not more than half that laid down by
former explorers.
On the 7th of August I returned to the ship, after a ten-days’ surveying
cruise, and walking as usual into the chart-room, was told that the
Indians had brought a mail across from Alberni, and that my letters were
in my cabin. I was going down for them, when the Captain came on deck
with a service-letter in his hand, and said, “Here is something that
concerns you as First Lieutenant of the ship.” I instantly apprehended
some question of minor punishments, and was preparing to defend my
conduct, when he read out: “I have to inform you that Lieutenant B. C.
Mayne has been promoted to the rank of Commander,” &c. This intelligence
was so sudden and wholly unexpected, that it was not until I had read
the document that I fully realised it. Only the night before my return
to the ship, as I lay by my watch-fire smoking and thinking of the
future, I had come to the conclusion that I should remain with the
‘Hecate’ until she was paid off; and now I knew that this sudden change
in my prospects would lead, upon our reaching Esquimalt, to my being
ordered to return to England. As it happened, however, my connection
with the ‘Hecate’ did not terminate so abruptly as I then expected, and
I remained with her for three months from this date.
On the 15th August we started for Alberni, to get sights again, reaching
it the same night. On the 17th we again left, intending to pick up
Gowland, who was away on surveying service off Nootka Sound, and then
going round the north end of the island, to finish some work at Cape
Scott, and return inside the island to Nanaimo and Esquimalt. The next
morning at 10 we were off Point Estevan (Nootka Sound), and Gowland
joined us. A fresh north-wester was then blowing, and during the
afternoon it increased into a gale. This put a stop, of course, to
sounding, and as the Captain knew that he would not be able to land on
the north end of the island for some days after a gale, he determined on
giving Tip work for the present, and going in by the Strait of Fuca. At
8 p.m. we were “ fixed ” and steering for the Strait, and at 10 we ran
into a thick fog. This was nothing at all unusual, and as we knew our
ground, or water—indeed I may say both—by heart, we jogged along about
seven knots, sounding every half-hour.
About 3 o’clock, as we approached the Strait, the speed was eased to
five knots, and the course altered a little; and at 4 o’clock we got a
cast of 19 fathoms. This puzzled every one. We knew the water was much
deeper than this on the south side of the Strait, and it was agreed by
all that we must have got rather far on to the north shore. The ship was
accordingly kept south a mile and a half, and then up the Strait again,
going four knots an hour, the fog continuing as thick as “pea-soup,” to
use a nautical simile. At 8.30, when I relieved the captain who had been
all night on deck, he said “Three or four hours more and you will be
packing up your traps,” and went down to his breakfast. He had hardly
reached his cabin, when he heard the orders, “Hard a port!”—“Stop her!”
—“Reverse the engines!”—shouted from the bridge, and rushed on deck just
in time to find the ship landed on a nest of rocks, over which the surf
was sullenly breaking in that heavy, dead way which it does when it has
a long drift of ocean open to it but no wind to lash it into foam. I had
jumped on to the bridge, and seeing her head fly round in answer to the
helm, thought we were going clear, but no such luck was in store for us,
and up she went. Nothing but rocks were to be seen all around us, and we
were all equally puzzled to know where we were, how we got there, and
how we should get the ship off. That we were close to the shore we soon
found, for high up over our foretopmast-head, as it appeared from aft,
the summit of a cliff, with a few pine-trees upon it, showed itself.
Fortunately for us, the noise of the steam escaping was heard by the
master of a small schooner, which we afterwards found was lying close to
us, and we soon saw two white men, in their usual costume of red flannel
and long boots, paddling to us in a small canoe. Getting them on board
we discovered that we were two miles inside Cape Flattery, that the
cliff we saw was a small island close to the main, and that about 50
yards from us lay two small schooners in a little basin formed by the
rocks. While this information was being gathered, both paddlebox boats
had been got out, the small boats lowered, and the waist anchor placed
in the paddler and laid out astern. During the time that this was being
done, the ship swung broadside to the rocks and began to bump
fearfully,—the masts springing like whips,—and we began to think it was
all up with the poor ‘Hecate.’ Presently as tlie tide, which was rising,
came in and then receded, she gave two tremendous crashes, sending us
all flying about in different directions. At the second crash the chief
engineer ran up from below with the report that the cross-sleepers had
started and the bottom of the bunker fallen in, and that another such
bump would send the engines through her bottom. This was cheerful
intelligence, and everything was got ready for a sudden departure in the
boats. Our friends in the schooner had previously informed us that if
she held together till the tide rose a few inches, she could get in
between the rocks to where his vessel lay. The stern cable had been
hauled on for this purpose, but with no effect, when suddenly she
slipped a little off the rock and then forged ahead. Instantly the stern
cable was let go, and she glided quietly in between the rocks and
alongside the schooner. Ko mortal could have put her there on the
calmest, smoothest day, but there she was, and right thankful for our
most merciful escape were wre, who a few minutes before, could see no
possible chance of saving her. We let go an anchor to hold her until the
sleepers of the engines could be cut away to enable them to move, and,
sounding the well, found she was making water at the rate of six inches
an hour. This was quite an agreeable surprise, for, from the hammering
she had received, we thought the bottom must have been half-knocked out.
Finding the engines would soon be in working condition, it was
determined to push on for Esquimalt. It was quite necessary that we
should go somewhere without delay, for had a breeze sprung up we should
have been as badly off’ where we now were as on the rocks. Here again
the master of the Yankee schooner, was of service. The passage by which
we must pass out was very little more than the ship’s breadth across,
and lay between two sunken rocks. He took two of our whale-boats,
anchoring them over the rocks between which our channel lay, and then,
assisted by an Indian, whom he brought with him, took ns out. All this
time the fog was as thick as ever, but when we got two or three miles up
the Strait we passed out of the fog-bank as suddenly as we had entered
it; all ahead being perfectly clear. This fog had, the master of the
schooner told us, hung at the entrance of the Strait for five days; and
he said it frequently occurred that a local fog of the sort kept about
there for weeks. This man showed all the readiness and nerve of his
countrymen, and was certainly of great service to us. When we were
fairly outside, he said, “Now, there is plenty of water round the ship,
and I’m almighty dry! if you’ll give me a chart, Captin, and a bottle of
rum, I’ll think of you often.” I need hardly say he was abundantly
supplied, and expressed himself very thankful. The Admiralty afterwards
sent him a spy-glass for his services, but he, falling, I fancy, into
some lawyer’s hands, sent in an exorbitant claim for salvage which has
not yet, I believe, been settled. We reached Esquimalt that evening
without further damage or accident, the leakage continuing at the same
rate,— and anchored the ship in Constance Cove, after as narrow an
escape from total loss as any ship ever had. We were altogether 35
minutes beating on the rocks, and nearly an hour from the time of
striking till we were quite clear again; our fate depending upon whether
the tide would rise, as it did, sufficiently to float her before she
gave another bump, which "would in all probability have finished her. I
should perhaps have said, the ship’s fate,—for calm as it was, and close
to shore, we should probably have got all the men to land; although an
operation of this sort, which appears quite easy as long as you have a
few planks to stand on, becomes rather difficult with a ship breaking up
under you.
Next morning, Tuesday, 21st August, an examination was commenced by the
diver and flag-ship’s carpenter. The former after two days’ examination
reported about 25 sheets of copper off under the starboard wheel, and
three heavy crushes in the ship’s side; several sheets of copper off
under the port quarter, 16 under the port wheel, and another heavy crush
there; part of the fore-foot and false keel forward gone, with several
other sheets of copper off in various places. Inside the carpenter
reported 14 floors damaged more or less, four binding-streaks requiring
shifting, one butt of binding-streak on port side leaking badly, with
the first futtocks probably started. Upon this state of affairs being
made known, it was decided by the Admiral that we must go to San
Francisco to be docked, and that before we started the diver should
patch up as well as he could, by stuffing tarred and greased oakum into
the holes, nailing over that the tarred blanket or felt supplied for
that purpose, and sheet lead above it. This took him six days, and most
capitally he did his work: I never saw a man work so long at a time as
he did, sometimes remaining down more than an hour without resting. I
may here mention, for the information of nautical readers, that we found
tarred blanket answer much better than the felt supplied by the service
for such a purpose. The felt was too thick to suck into the cracks; and
when it became saturated it swelled so much the diver could not work it,
and being pressed together, and having no weft or thread through it, the
action of the water separated it and wore it away while he was preparing
the lead to cover it. Having a great deal of lead to put on, we found it
much more convenient also to make nails for the purpose, longer than
copper (2J inch) and with flat heads, one inch in diameter. Where the
wood was much bruised the service nails proved too short, and the heads
so small that the diver could not see to hit them, and was constantly
dropping them and hitting his fingers.
On Thursday (29th) the damages were so well stopped that we were only
leaking one inch an hour; and we took in our coal and got ready for sea.
A survey was then ordered to be held, to report whether or not it was
safe for us to go to
San Francisco alone. It was decided that we ought to be attended by
another ship; for although while in harbour we appeared right enough, no
one could say what the ‘Hecate’ could or could not bear if she got into
a gale of wind. Accordingly the Admiral ordered the ‘Mutine’ to
accompany us as far as Captain Richards thought necessary.
Upon our arrival at Esquimalt, I went on board the flagship for my
commission, expecting at the same time to be told to return home. To my
surprise, however, I was informed that no orders to supersede me had
been received; and that I must remain till my relief came. This did not
disappoint me so much as it would have done had nothing happened to the
ships, for I did not like to leave her in her present dilapidated
condition, and I had determined to go to San Francisco in her even if I
were ordered home.
I will pause ere I take the reader with me on this cruise, which for me,
terminated in Southampton Docks, to give a slight summary of the
resources and capabilities of the country, and of the habits and customs
of the natives. |
