CHAPTER VII

THE CRUISE OF H.M.S. _GALATEA_

I. TO THE ANTIPODES

After a brief spell in the royal yacht, I was promoted out of her to

lieutenant, and was appointed to the _Galatea_, Captain H.R.H. Alfred

Ernest Albert, Duke of Edinburgh, K.G., K.T.

H.M.S. _Galatea_ had four months previously returned from the long

cruise of seventeen months, 24th January, 1867, to 26th June, 1868,

during which the Duke visited South Africa and Australasia. While he

was in Australia, an attempt had been made to assassinate his Royal

Highness, who had a very narrow escape. The pistol was fired at the

range of a few feet, and the bullet, entering the Duke's back, struck a

rib and ran round the bone, inflicting a superficial wound. A full

account of the voyage is contained in _The Cruise of H.M.S. Galatea_,

by the Rev. John Milner and Oswald W. Brierley (London, 1869; W. H.

Allen). The _Galatea_ frigate was built at Woolwich and launched in

1859. She was of 3227 tons burthen, 800 h.p.; she was pierced for 26

guns; maindeck, 18 guns, 10-inch, 86 cwt., and 4 guns, 10-inch, 6½

tons; on the quarterdeck, 2 guns, rifled, 64-pounders; in the

forecastle, 2 guns, rifled, 64-pounders. The 6½-ton guns threw a shot

of 115 lb., and a large double-shell weighing 156 lb. She stowed 700

tons of coal and 72 tons of water. Previously the _Galatea_, commanded

by Captain Rochfort Maguire, had been employed from 1862 to 1866 in the

Baltic, and on the Mediterranean and West Indian stations. She {74}

took part in the suppression of the insurrection at Jamaica, and, after

the loss of H.M.S. _Bulldog_, destroyed the batteries on Cape Haitien.

Her sister ship was the _Ariadne_, and Admiral Penrose Fitzgerald, who

served in the _Ariadne_, in 1861, writes: "It would not be too much to

say that she and her sister ship, the _Galatea_, were the two finest

wooden frigates ever built in this or any other country" (_Memories of

the Sea_). Personally, I am inclined to consider, that fine sailor as

the _Galatea_ was, the _Sutlej_ was finer still.

The Duke of Edinburgh was an admirable seaman. He had a great natural

ability for handling a fleet, and he would have made a first-class

fighting admiral. The Duke's urbanity and kindness won the affection

of all who knew him. I am indebted to him for many acts of kindness,

and I was quite devoted to him.

The voyage of the _Galatea_ lasted for two years and a half. We

visited Cape Town, Australia, New Zealand, Tahiti, the Sandwich

Islands, Japan, China, India, and the Falkland Islands. It is not my

purpose to describe that long cruise in detail; but rather to record

those incidents which emerge from the capricious haze of memory. In

many respects, the second long voyage of the _Galatea_ was a repetition

of her first voyage, so elaborately chronicled by the Rev. John Milner

and Mr. Brierley. In every part of the Queen's dominions visited by

her son, the Duke was invariably received with the greatest loyalty and

enthusiasm. It should be understood throughout that, when his ship was

not in company, or was in company with a ship commanded by an officer

junior to his Royal Highness, he was received as the Queen's son; but

when a senior officer was present, the Duke ranked in the order of his

seniority in the Service.

[Illustration: H.R.H. ALFRED ERNEST ALBERT, DUKE OF EDINBURGH, K.G.,

K.T.]

We left Plymouth early in November, 1868, and once more I was afloat in

a crack sailing ship, smart and well found in every detail, and once

more I entered into the charm of the life in which above all I

delighted. We touched at Madeira, where I grieve to say some of the

junior officers captured a goat and some other matters during {75} a

night on shore; touched at St. Vincent; and arrived at Cape Town on

Christmas Day.

At Cape Town, my set of tandem harness came again into requisition.

From the Cape we proceeded to Perth. The fact that an attempt upon his

life had been made in Australia, was one of the reasons why the Duke

chose to pay the Colony another visit.

Upon a part of our voyage to Australia we were accompanied by my old

ship, the _Clio_, and so admirably handled was she, that she sometimes

beat the _Galatea_ in sailing. In every place to which we went in

Australia and New Zealand, we received the most unbounded hospitality,

of which I shall always retain the most pleasant recollections. We

were asked everywhere; livery stables were put at the disposal of the

officers; we went to shooting parties, and to every kind of festivity.

At Perth I visited the convict settlement; and there I found a relative

or connection of the Beresford family, who had been so unfortunate as

to be transported for forgery. He appeared to be a most respectable

old gentleman, and (with the permission of the governor) I presented

him with a small cheque. Alas! incredible as it may seem, the sight of

my signature awoke the ruling passion; and my gentleman promptly forged

a bill of exchange for £50, and (as I found when I came home) got it

cashed.

It was in Perth, too, that I visited a prisoner, a fellow-Irishman, who

had been convicted of murder. He had been a soldier, and had slain his

corporal and his sergeant. This man inspired me with some ideas with

regard to criminals which later in life I tried to put into practice;

and also aroused in me an interest in prisons and prison discipline

which I have always retained. He was a gigantic person, of immense

physical strength, with receding forehead and a huge projecting jaw.

He was considered to be dangerous; five or six warders accompanied me

into his cell; and they spoke to him as though he were a dog. I looked

at the man's eyes; and I was convinced then, as I am convinced {76}

now, that his intellect was impaired. Criminal psychology then hardly

existed; and although it is now recognised as a science, it must be

said that existing penal conditions are still in many respects awaiting

reform. Subsequent experience has proved to me that I was right in

believing that many crimes of violence are due to a lesion of the

brain, and cannot therefore be treated as moral offences. I heard some

time subsequently that the Irishman had been shot for the attempted

murder of a warder. Perth and New South Wales were the only places in

the British Dominions in which there was a death penalty for attempted

murder.

I may here mention that in after years I was appointed, together with

the (late) Duke of Fife, as civil inspector of prisons; an office which

I held for a year or two. I was able to institute a reform in the

system then in force of mulcting prisoners of good conduct marks.

These were deducted in advance, before the man had earned them, if he

gave trouble. A prisoner sentenced to a long term--who usually gives

trouble during his first two years--found, when he began to run

straight, that good marks he earned had been deducted in advance. I

was able to change the system, so that no marks should be deducted

before they were earned.

It was after I had been placed in command of the police at Alexandria,

in 1882, that I was offered the post of chief commissioner of police in

the Metropolis; and I was honoured by a gracious message from a very

distinguished personage, expressing a hope that I would accept the

appointment; but, as I wished to remain in the Navy, I declined it.

We returned to Australia on our homeward voyage, but for the sake of

convenience I may here deal with the two visits as one. At Sydney, I

purchased a pair of horses. They were reputed to be runaways, and I

bought them for £9 a pair, and I drove them tandem with ring snaffle

bits. They never ran away with me--except once. When they came into

my possession, I found that their mouths were {77} sore, and I did what

I could to cure them. Many a drive I had, and all went well. Then one

day we all drove to a picnic. The Duke, who was very fond of coaching,

drove a coach. I drove my tandem, taking with me the commander,

Adeane. On the way home, the road was down a steep hill. We were

beginning to descend, when one of the Duke's mounted orderlies mixed

himself up with the traces between the leader and the wheeler. The

leader, taking fright, bolted, and the sudden tightening of the traces

jerked the orderly head over heels into the bush. Away we went down

the hill as hard as the horses could gallop. The next thing I saw was

a train of carts laden with mineral waters coming up the hill and

blocking the whole road. The only way to avoid disaster was to steer

between a telegraph pole and the wall. It was a near thing, but we did

it. I gave the reins of one horse to the commander and held on to the

reins of the other.

Then I was aware, in that furious rush, of a melancholy voice, speaking

close beside me. It was the voice of the commander, speaking, unknown

to himself, the thoughts of his heart, reckoning the chances of mishap

and how long they would take to repair. It said: "an arm, an arm, an

arm--a month. A leg, a leg, a leg--six weeks. A neck, a neck a

neck--O! my God!" And so on, over and over, saying the same words.

Thus did Jerry Adeane, the commander, think aloud according to his

habit. He continued his refrain until we pulled up on the next rise.

"Thank God, that's over," said Jerry Adeane.

Before leaving Australia, I sold my pair of horses for more than I gave

for them.

When the _Galatea_ was in New Zealand, Sir George Grey, who owned an

island called the Kanwah, gave me permission to shoot there. He had

stocked it for years with every sort of wild bird and beast.

Indigenous to the island were wild boar and wild cattle, which were

supposed to have been turned down there by the buccaneers. I landed

early one morning to stalk the wild cattle, with my servant, a pulpy,

{78} bulbous sort of rotten fellow who hated walking. He carried my

second rifle. We climbed to the top of a hill with the wind against

us, to get a spy round. When I came near the top, I perceived the

unmistakable smell of cattle; and, on reaching the top, there, within

thirty yards of me, were a great black bull and two cows.

The bull saw me. He shook his head savagely, bellowed, pawed the

ground, put his head about, and charged straight for me. I was

standing in a thick sort of tea scrub which was level with my

shoulders, so that I could see only the beast's back as he charged. I

thought it was of no use to fire at his back; and, remembering that the

scrub was thin, having only stems underneath, I dropped on my knee,

hoping to see his head. Fortunately, I was able to see it plainly. I

fired, and he dropped within about five yards of me.

I said to my man:

"Well, that was lucky; he might have got us."

As there was no reply, I turned round, and saw my trusty second gun

half-way down the hill, running like a hare. I was so angry that I

felt inclined to give him my second barrel. On returning on board I

dispensed with his services, and engaged a good old trusty Marine to

look after me.

I killed six of these wild cattle altogether, and a landing party

bringing them off to the ship, there was beef enough for the whole

ship's company.

There was a number of sheep on the island, under the care of a shepherd

named Raynes, who was a sort of keeper in Sir George's service. He

said to me, "You have not killed a boar yet. Come with me to-morrow,

and I will take you where we can find one." I said, "All right, I will

come at four o'clock to-morrow and bring my rifle." "No," said he,

"don't bring a rifle, bring a knife. I always kill them with a knife."

I thought he was chaffing, but I said, "All right, I will bring a

knife, but I shall bring my rifle as well."

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In the morning he met me at the landing-stage with three dogs, one a

small collie, and two heavy dogs like half-bred mastiffs, held in a

leash. We walked about three miles to a thick swampy place, with

rushes and tussocks. He chased the collie into the bush, and in about

twenty minutes we heard the collie barking furiously. Raynes told me

to follow him close, and not on any account to get in front of him.

The heavy dogs fairly pulled him through the bush. We soon came up to

the collie, and found him with an immense boar in a small open space.

Raynes slipped the heavy dogs, who went straight for the boar, and

seized him, one by the ear and the other by the throat. The boar cut

both the dogs, one badly. When they had a firm hold, Raynes ran in

from behind, seized one of the boar's hind legs, and passing it in

front of the other hind leg, gave a violent pull, and the boar fell on

its side. Raynes immediately killed it with his knife, by stabbing it

behind the shoulder. I never saw a quicker or a more skilful

performance.

I suggested to Raynes that I should like to try it.

"Well," he said, "we will try and find a light sow to-morrow. A boar

would cut you if you were not quick."

On the following day, we got a sow, but I made an awful mess of it, and

if it had not been for the heavy dogs, she would have cut me badly; as

it was, she bowled me over in the mud before I killed her.

In New Zealand, we went up to the White Springs and we all bathed with

the Maories. You stand in the water warm as milk, close beside springs

of boiling water, and occasionally a jet of steam makes you jump. The

person of one of the guests, a very portly gentleman, suggested a

practical joke to the Maori boys and girls, who dived in and swam up to

him under water, pinched him and swam away with yells of laughter. The

old boy, determined to preserve harmony, endured the torment with an

agonised pretence of enjoyment. "Very playful, very playful!" he kept

miserably {80} repeating. "Oh, very playful indeed. _Tanaqui_ (how do

you do), _Tanaqui_."

We had an excellent lunch, of pig, fowls, and yams, all boiled on the

spot in the hot springs. I saw a live pig chased by some Maori

children into a hot spring, and it was boiled in a moment.

In this region I rode over soil which was exactly like dust-shot; the

whole ground apparently consisting of ore. We visited the White

Terraces, where, if you wrote your name in pencil upon the cliffs, the

silicate would preserve the legend as if it were raised or embroidered.

Some of the signatures had been there for years. I have since heard

that the place was destroyed by volcanic eruption.

We witnessed the weird and magnificent war dances of the Maoris. Never

have I seen finer specimens of humanity than these men. When, after

leaping simultaneously into the air, they all came to the ground

together, the impact sounded like the report of a gun. A party of the

Chiefs came to pay a ceremonial visit to the Duke. It struck me that

they looked hungry, and I said so. They want cheering up, I said. I

went to forage for them. I took a huge silver bowl, and filled it with

chicken, whisky, lobster, beef, champagne, biscuits and everything else

I could find, and presented it to them. You never saw warriors more

delighted. They ate the whole, using their fingers, and were greatly

cheered.

It was in New Zealand that I had an interesting conversation with a

cannibal--or rather, an ex-cannibal. I asked him if he ever craved for

human flesh, and he said no, not now--unless he happened to see a plump

woman. In that case, he said he lusted for the flesh of the ball of

the thumb, which (he gave me to understand) was the prime delicacy.

Some of the half-caste women were of great beauty. Their savage blood

endowed them with something of the untamed, implacable aspect of their

ancestry. I heard of one such woman, who, outwardly attuned to every

tenet of white civilisation, and received everywhere in white society,

{81} suddenly reverted. A native rebellion breaking out, she rejoined

her tribe and slew a missionary with her _meri_--the native chief's

badge of office. She cut off the top of the missionary's skull, and

used it thereafter as a drinking-vessel. Poor lady, she was (I heard)

eventually captured and was executed.

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