as i grew better acquainted with the conditions of life on board the coasting steamers, i became extremely dissatisfied with my treatment on board the helen m'gregor. for while i had the usual duties of a lamp-trimmer to attend to, i was also compelled to work at all hours as one of the crew, while the heavy weights i was ordered to handle were far beyond my strength, and several times i was severely hurt. so that at a fitting opportunity i left her, taking up my abode with a shoemaker, who had a large connection among steamer-hands, and for two or three weeks led the unprofitable life of a gentleman at large. this was bad for me in many ways. the company i was thrown amongst was doubtful; i did not then know how much so, and, although i did not get involved in any of their shadier exploits, i began to drink pretty heavily, and, to put it briefly, go to the devil generally. this career was fortunately put a stop to by the emptying of my purse, which compelled me to get employment again.
my next ship was one of the finest on the coast, the last new vessel of the australasian steam navigation company's (a.s.n.) fleet, which was called the wentworth. to my juvenile ideas she was a floating palace, everything on board being on a grand scale as compared with the little helen m'gregor. the mate was a huge scotchman named wallace, rough as a bear, but very just and straightforward. when he engaged me, he gave me to understand that my duties consisted solely in attending to the lamps and polishing the ornamental brass-work about the deck, and that i was on no account to do anything else or take orders from anybody but himself or the captain. this, added to the fact that my wages were now to be three pounds ten shillings a month, made me feel quite an important personage—in fact, i was almost "too big for my boots." everything on board was so excellent in quality, and so well managed, that i felt great pride in my ship, and i determined that, as i had only one master to please, i would do all i could to succeed. the first thing i resolved was that no ship in harbour should have such dazzling brass as mine, and, after i had polished it all, i used to go round the other ships and look at theirs. if there was one that i thought looked more brilliant than mine, i would come back and go over my polishing again until i was satisfied, and so i gradually got the reputation of being smart at brass-cleaning anyhow. i lived entirely alone in a little cubicle by my lamp-room, which was a spacious apartment, well fitted and quite sheltered from the weather, being on the main-deck. in return for trimming the cook's lamps, i received all my meals from the saloon messes, and thus i lived better than i have ever done before or since. not that the men fared indifferently. the food supplied to them was of the best quality, and as for quantity—well, they had steaks, chops, and potatoes, with unlimited baker's bread, for breakfast; roast joints and potatoes for dinner, and for supper the same as for breakfast. the waste was shameful. the first two or three hands to arrive on the spot where they took their meals, would cut all the brown off a ten or twelve-pound joint. when the laggards came along, if the appearance of the meat was not to their liking, which was usually the case, they would just fling it over the side and go to the galley for more. the cook dared not complain, as the officers always took the crew's part. this partiality was owing to the system obtaining, whereby a contractor ashore supplied all provisions at so much per head, finding cooks and stewards himself. and any suggestion upon the part of his servants that food was being wasted was always fiercely resented by every member of the crew, who would immediately accuse them of trying to fatten their employer at the sailor's expense. the result was that as much food was wasted each passage as would have supplied another ship of the same size.
those were the palmy days of australian coasters. a.b.'s received £7 per month, and one shilling and sixpence per hour overtime when in harbour, while the day consisted of eight hours only. firemen got £10, and trimmers £8 per month, with overtime in addition like the sailors. and, in justice to them, it must be said that they seemed to value their privileges, and did not behave in the senseless way that deep-water sailors usually do. they spent a lot of money on dress and theatre-going, it is true; but many of them owned house-property or land. nor was their life a hard one. there was none of that tremendous drive and tear seen on the american coast, where high wages are paid—as if the officers are determined to get the last ounce of energy out of every man because he was well paid. no; take it all round, it was the most comfortable sea-service that ever i saw or heard of, and i never ceased to wonder at it, or imagine that it was much too good to last. from all reports that have reached me of late years, my ideas on the latter point seem to have been well founded, for i hear that neither pay nor conditions of service are in any degree comparable with what then obtained.
as for me, i led a gentleman's life. called at daylight to take in the lamps, i was able to finish all my work before ten a. m., and from thenceforward i was my own master. so heavily did the time hang when at sea, that i took in washing from both sailors and firemen at the rate of three shillings and sixpence per dozen, and thus earned a lot of extra money. unfortunately, i had no ideas of thrift; and so, although i must have been in receipt of at least thirty shillings weekly, i never saved a penny. my earnings used to leak away as if all my pockets were sieves. but, on the other hand, the comfortable life, abundance of good food, and freedom from ill-usage, had such an effect upon my hitherto puny body, that i began to look and feel as if i was capable of doing a good day's work, and should, therefore, not now be ashamed to ask for employment. i no longer felt like a sailor, nor did the prospect of a return to the old life ever enter my head—in fact, i am afraid i never thought of the future at all. my life was very pleasant; and there was nobody in the world who cared a row of pins what became of me—what more natural than that i should, like any other pampered animal, live contentedly in the present?
our usual trip was between sydney and melbourne, and it generally occupied from eight to ten days. anything more delightful than the ordinary run along the coast would be hard to imagine. i got to know every landmark between the two ports as intimately as one knows the route between his work and his own street-door. but, although i was always interested in the australian scenery, i felt delighted to hear one trip that we were bound to auckland next voyage. i had heard so much of new zealand that i had got to regard it as a sort of fairy-land—a group of islands of the blest. we left sydney on christmas eve for our auckland trip, much to the disgust of everybody on board except myself; but as we carried the mails no delay could be allowed. the next day we were, of course, out of sight of land, steering straight across that stretch of the pacific that lies between australia and new zealand; the sea was like a lake of glowing oil, and the sky a fleckless dome of deepest blue, with one mighty globe of molten gold hanging in its midst. festivities began early—so early, indeed, that by dinner-time some of the fellows were getting very frivolous. there was a gargantuan feed, of course; and, after that—well, it was surely expecting too much of human nature to suppose that steam would or could be kept up as usual. at any rate it wasn't. it went down, down, down, until, by four p.m., the propeller was just feebly revolving, the vessel making no more than two knots at the outside. by dusk i verily believe that the only two sober males on board were the captain and myself. drunkenness reigned supreme in saloon, stokehold, and forecastle. by-and-by the screw stopped altogether, and we lay almost motionless. a few of the more vigorous revellers made spasmodic efforts to "keep it up"; but gradually the "fun" fizzled out, and general sleep succeeded. how long it lasted i don't know, for i turned in as usual; but in the morning she was going again, though at no great speed, it is true. the only redeeming feature about the whole orgie was the absence of quarrelling. general good-humour prevailed everywhere on board, and not a word was said in recrimination after the resumption of work. a day late, we sighted the three kings—those solitary rocks off the north point of new zealand that stand up so sternly out of the blue waste about them. when we made them out, it was in the tremulous lovely light of dawn—beautiful beyond expression in those latitudes—and their rugged outlines stood out sharply against the tenderly tinted sky, through that lucent atmosphere, like the shadows cast by an electric beam. then, as the sun sprang into the smiling heaven, they were gilded, and became like some fantastic ruin in black marble fringed with fiery rays and floating on a sea of many-coloured flame. a few hours' run brought us to the gulf of hauraki, up which we steamed amidst some of the most beautiful scenery in the world. as we glided onward to where, apparently, a huge mountain completely blocked up the apex of the gulf, a lovely island was pointed out to me on the starboard hand as the earthly paradise of sir george grey—tiri-tiri. here i was told it was his custom to receive troops of his maori friends, and entertain them for days, mingling with them without the slightest consciousness of any difference of rank or colour between him and them. no wonder they loved him, and will hand his memory down to their remotest descendants as the great white chief who loved them and justice.
nearer and nearer we drew to rangitoto, the frowning peak that loomed heavily right in our path. at last, when within a very short distance of it, we made a sharp turn, and, skirting a reef that extended some distance from its base, we presently opened up auckland harbour, which, if not so picturesque as its approaches might have led one to expect, had all the merits that a good harbour should have—pre-eminently, the chief one of being safe with all winds. in a few minutes we were alongside the wharf, and besieged by an eager crowd who had been anxiously awaiting us, as we were so much over our time. as was my constant habit, i began at once to inquire as to the fishing possibilities of the place, learning, to my intense delight, that the harbour literally swarmed with fish of all kinds, and that even from the wharf they could be caught in enormous quantities. that settled my spare-time occupation for me. during our three visits to the city, although our stay lasted a week each time, i only went "up town" twice, and then strictly on business. my beloved sport claimed all my attention. for some reason, perhaps to avoid accidents, the authorities did not permit fishing from the wharf in working hours. so at daylight, enthusiastic fishermen like myself would gather along its lee edge, where the furious current boiled and bubbled around the piles, and eagerly try to "jag" a few of the tiny mackerel that clustered in shoals wherever there was an eddy. as soon as one was caught he would be impaled on a large hook, fastened to the end of a long, stout line, and cast out into the current without any other gear attached. as the line "slithered" through one's fingers an eager watch was kept where the bait might be expected to be. presently, like a bar of silver, a huge fish would leap into the air, and it was pull for your life. there was no finesse, no sport, in the angler's sense of the term, but i doubt if any angler ever enjoyed his fishing more than i did. this particular kind of fishing, however, always had to cease at six o'clock, that is, when work began. at other times i fished on the bottom from the ship, and was often at a serious loss to know what to do with the enormous numbers i caught. but even then i did not realize how vast were the shoals of fish in the harbour, until one day i took an oar in a boat conveying a pleasure party from our vessel down the bay. when near the reef which fringed rangitoto mountain, the numbers of kauwhai (a fish much like an overgrown mullet, and averaging four or five pounds in weight) were so great, that each dip of the oar slew them until the water around us was reddened with their blood. they were a fish of most delicate flavour, and would have commanded a high price in any civilized fish-market. but the people of auckland seemed quite indifferent to the piscatorial advantages they enjoyed.
so in this pleasant, easy-going fashion the months passed away, until one day we left sydney for melbourne in the teeth of a southerly gale. it was hopeless to expect that we should make any progress; but i was told, that because we had the mails on board, we were bound to "show willing." we managed to get round the south head, and there we stuck; the engines doggedly pounding away, green seas coming over all, passengers all sea-sick, and we not gaining an inch against the fierce wind that roared up from its icy breeding-place in the antarctic regions. at last the "governor" carried away, and all attempts to repair it were ineffectual. this, coupled with the fact that night was coming on, determined our skipper to run back and anchor in watson's bay, just behind the north head, for shelter. the word was given, and she spun round as if rejoicing to be freed from the enormous strain she had been undergoing. as we drew rapidly near the mouth of the harbour the sight was one of the grandest conceivable. from the summit of the north head—a gigantic cliff over four hundred feet high—fountains of spray shot up forty or fifty feet into the air, the incalculable pressure of those tremendous waves, rolling up against it from their thousand-league journey, having forced the reluctant sea upwards through the interstices of that massy cliff to such a stupendous height. we flew in through the entrance and immediately all was still. as we rounded to in the quiet little bay and dropped anchor, it was almost impossible to realize what a tormented waste of boiling sea we had just left, since here we lay perfectly motionless, without a ripple on the waters around. as it was dusk i prepared the "riding-lamp," which is always suspended from the fore-rigging of a vessel at anchor; but, for some stupid reason of my own, i did not place it in its position. then i forgot all about it. the captain was the first to discover its absence, and, blowing his whistle for the chief officer, he reproved him sternly for his inattention to this important detail. smarting at this, the mate called me and asked why i had not put the light up. i made some idiotic excuse, telling him that it was already lighted and awaited his orders. he was almost speechless with rage; but controlled himself so far that he presently said calmly, "well, go and hang it up." i did so promptly, and soon thought no more about it. there was just this shade of excuse for me—that i had never been anchored in a fairway before, since i had been a lamp-trimmer, except up the clarence river, and there the gangway-lamp sufficed.
we resumed our voyage on the morrow, and returned to sydney without incident worth remembering. on the first morning after our arrival the mate called me, and, giving me the balance of my month's money, discharged me. not a word was said, but i felt sure of the reason, and did not feel sufficiently courageous to try and appease him. nevertheless i was very sore, for i knew that, while i had had one of the best ships on the coast, i had also done my work thoroughly well, for over and over again the mate had commended me upon it. i slunk ashore like a beaten dog, not caring what became of me, and, returning to my old lodgings at the shoemaker's, set about spending my little stock of cash in reckless fashion. it did not last long, of course, and i was soon fain to look for a ship; but, strange to say, i hadn't the heart to try for another berth as a lamp-trimmer. it suddenly occurred to me that i would like to go "home" again. that is one of the most incomprehensible things imaginable to me. never, during the first thirteen years of my life at sea, did i have any home in england, or one friendly face to welcome me back there. yet, however well i was treated in foreign countries or in the australasian colonies, i always felt a longing to get back to my own country again; and the sight of my home-land never failed to make a lump come in my throat and raise a feeling of wordless love for her in my breast. why a homeless waif should thus love his native land, i do not profess to understand; but it is a solid fact, and one that has to be reckoned with, since i do not for a moment suppose that i am any different to the ordinary run of people.
in consequence of this strange longing to see the white cliffs of england once more, i neglected the intercolonial steamers altogether, and spent much of my time hanging about circular quay watching the proceedings on board the splendid clipper-ships that lay in that beautiful cove discharging their outward cargoes of merchandise, or filling their capacious holds with the wool, tin, copper, and meat of the colonies for transhipment to the mother country. but, owing to a diffidence that has always afflicted me, i did not venture on board any of them to ask whether my services were required, although i was now a sturdy youngster, well able to do a day's work and looking like it. one day, as i was prowling round one of the outlying wharves, i got into conversation with a burly londoner, who was second mate of an old barque lying there, apparently waiting for freight, which was not forthcoming for any such out-of-date craft as she was. this individual informed me that his ship was in want of two ordinary seamen, and that if i would go to a certain hotel (anglicè, public-house) in the vicinity, i should find the skipper there, and that he would probably engage me at once if i was willing. this was by no means the kind of ship that i had proposed going home in; but i was heartily weary of being ashore doing nothing (my money was all gone), so i turned my steps towards the skipper's haunt at once. i found it without any difficulty—indeed, the place was fairly well known to me by sight—and, entering, i inquired of a red-faced man (who, in his shirt-sleeves, with unbuttoned vest, was leaning over the bar from the inside, smoking a "churchwarden" pipe) if he could tell me where i might be likely to find captain bunker. he turned a liquorish eye upon me, and murmured, between the puffs of smoke, "what might ye be wantin' of him?" "i'll tell him when i see him," was my ready reply; at which he removed his pipe and laughed most unmusically, much to my annoyance, as i did not feel like being made game of. at last he said, "i'm captain bunker, m' lad; whadjer want of me?" for a moment i stared at him incredulously; and then, the conviction dawning on me that he was speaking the truth, i told him my errand. immediately he assumed a magisterial air, and began to cross-examine me as to my qualifications, etc. my replies being satisfactory, he then tried to cut me down in the wages. but i held out for three pounds per month, and, strange to say, succeeded in getting his consent to give it to me; but not before he assured me that, if i couldn't fulfil what he was pleased to call the duties of an ordinary seaman, he would stop my pay altogether. as, in addition to my confidence in my own abilities, i knew that he was talking nonsense, i made no complaint about this; and he drew me a glass of ale to clinch the bargain. then he told me i might go on board and consider myself one of the crew, and that he would "sign me on" with the other new hands in a day or two.
