J B Williams' Journey -
Arriving in South America
The weather stayed calm and as they neared the Equator it grew much hotter. The crew had erected awnings on deck to keep off some of the sun, but down below it was suffocating and many passengers slept on deck. The butcher was still killing a couple of sheep and a bullock on most days. "It takes a lot of meat to supply so many."
With the weather so hot and no modern refrigeration, the only way to keep meat fresh was to keep it alive until needed. The Galicia did apparently have some sort of cooling system because later on J.B.W. speaks of delivering ice to an island, and refrigeration was not unknown because the SS Strathleven from Australia had docked in London three years earlier, in 1880, with the first cargo of refrigerated meat. But carrying live animals for slaughter was still the norm at this time.
They passed various other vessels, some so close that "we could see the men on board quite plain" and flags were courteously hoisted in acknowledgement. No radio or radar eased the lookout's task. They crossed the line at 2pm on 12th October, but JBW does not record any celebrations; there was probably no space to hold them. Luckily the wind had freshened over the last few days and it was not unbearably hot.
J.B.W. was still faring well. A breakfast of mutton chop, bacon and potatoes, "which I relished very much" was typical, but there was still not enough to do to keep him happy and he amused himself by finding out about the ship, and recorded the following information:
Register 2449. Length of boat 415 feet. Cargo 3000. Officers and men inclusive 90. Speed average 275 knots in 24 hours, from 6 to 700 horse power. 24 fires, cleanse 2 every 24 hours.
But Sunday, 14th October, 1883, brought some drama.
"I got up about half past five, hearing the cry 'A man dead' and when I got on deck I found it was so. He was stretched out and sewed up in a piece of canvas. He died about 4am. He was Portugese. He seemed ill from the first time he came on board. About quarter past six the funeral took place. A young man read the service in their language and then the board was lifted and the dead man slipped over the side into the water and sank immediately. I don't know if he had any friends or not. I did not see any tears or signs of grief.
I thought it was a solemn thing to witness. I was led to think about the frailty of human nature and wonder who would be next. Just under the dead man, between the hatchway, was a sick woman who has been ill for near two weeks, and while the ceremony was onward she was clinging to her husband, and seemed frightened very much. I was sorry for her as it was right in sight. After the burial everyone went to his usual work as if nothing had happened. I saw the poor fellow whose wife was sick reading the bible to her while she was lying on her couch."
Word of the funeral may have affected the passengers for "...there were a good number present, including sailors, "..at the service held that morning in the saloon. Later "We Cornish boys have a place set for ourselves from the foreigners, so we have been reading the scriptures and talking about what we have read."
It grew rougher over the next day or two, enough to make J.B.W. 'quite sore' with being tossed in his bunk, but not enough to put him off his meals, which now included some fish. They were nearing Rio and J.B.W. wrote to his wife and sister, hoping to send the mail off there. By now he was friendly with the crew, having supper with the Boatswain, and accompanying some of the stewards in a small boat when they called at an island off Rio with ice and sheep for the next homeward bound boat.
"It was delightful to be on the water by moonlight in a small boat, to see the city lit up. It was a splendid sight."
On 18th October they were anchored off Rio and J.B.W. sat on deck writing a minute by minute commentary:
"...It looks a beautiful place from where we are... Just at the entrance to this natural harbour there is a large rock projecting from the sea, which is like a sugar loaf, hence it goes by that name... The cliffs and hills are covered with some sort of bush, I don't know what it is... Behind the houses are a lot of hills or rocks, rising one after another, with some bushes growing on them. There are several small trees, about 12 feet high, no branches, only a bunch of leaves on the top (i.e. palms). They look very pretty."
At Rio about 120 passengers disembarked and the ship discharged cargo, including potatoes from France, and took on two boatloads of oranges for Montevideo and vegetables for the rest of the voyage. As they left the shelter of the coast next morning the weather grew rougher, tossing several passengers out of their bunks. J.B.W. noted " a shoal of large fish" which were probably porpoises, and later, a large whale "spouting water high in the air."
Rain, thunder and lightning greeted Sunday, 21st October, and there were not many at the Church service, conducted by the chief officer. That was followed by "a splendid dinner of turkey and plum pudding" and by a night of very rough weather. The boat pitched and tossed and at four in the morning the voyagers were aroused by a loud noise and much tramping of feet and found that a heavy sea had struck the boat while the crew were making fast the jib. The men had been washed against the anchors with such force that several of them had been badly hurt, including the second officer, whose back was injured, and the boatswain's mate, who had a broken arm.
The area was notoriously dangerous. J.B.W. learned that on the previous voyage two men had been washed overboard and drowned, and on the one before that a bullock was washed over and lost. The ship was just off the mouth of the River Plate and the injured second officer was later sent to hospital at Montevideo.
By afternoon the weather moderated, though the boat still rolled enough to make it difficult to stay in a bunk. At six in the morning they were passing the lighthouse at the entrance to the river and J.B.W. wrote that "The river is so wide here that I can't see more than one side at a time." The wind was still very strong and the topsail split as it was hoisted. The bad weather had delayed the boat by a day and by the time they neared the city (presumably Buenos Aires, although he may have meant Montevideo) it was too late to do anything but anchor ten miles off. Early next morning they moved in closer:
"...we are now right in front of the city. There are lots of ships in the harbour. There is an arm of land which runs right out into the river, which forms a nice shipping place. There is a mount on the arm of land, with a castle on the top... the town is situated on a flat piece of land and can't be seen afar off. It seems to be very fertile here so everything seems to be green and we got a lot of vegetables sent on board, also sixteen bullocks and fifty sheep.
All the beds are taken out of the steerage since we got rid of the foreigners and the cattle are put to take their places, which is a great deal quieter and quite as decent. We are put in a nice room to ourselves, all we Cornish boys. It is much more comfortable than we had it before. There is a place for anyone to sit down and read or write without being molested. We went below and had a lot of music from the orguinette and went to bed about 10pm."
This is the first mention of the orguinette which, presumably, J.B.W. took with him from Cornwall. Perhaps the congested conditions on board had made it impossible for him to get it out before.
The orguinette (or organette), the poor man's organ, was a small, mechanical free-reed organ operated by a crank handle that had to be kept turning all the time by the 'player'. They were produced in large quantities in the U.S.A. and Germany and were widely advertised especially in publications read by the working classes and youth in general. In the most common orguinettes the tunes were cut on to rolls of paper which worked through the machine as the handle was turned, air being drawn through the machine at the same time to operate the reeds. When working properly, with the handler keeping a steady rhythm, the instruments gave out a satisfying sound, and they were very popular. They cost between one and two guineas, and so were within reach of those who could never aspire to paying several hundred pounds for a small organ.
Common and popular songs were the most frequently played, but all the evidence points to J.B.W.'s being fed a diet of hymn tunes. He went up on the main deck the next evening with his orguinette "and delighted the folks very much".
A dozen rabbits had been brought on board and feeding them was added to J.B.W's duties for the next day or two, but after the next port of call he makes no further mention of his daily cattle work. The wind had sharpened and:
"...we have near all the canvas set, she is gliding on beautiful, but the sea is not as smooth as it was this morning. The last 24 hours the boat has made the best run since she left Liverpool, 304 knots. The highest before was 297. We have 690 more before we reach Sandy Point. All being well we shall get there Sunday evening."
J.B.W. still needed something to occupy the evenings when he wasn't writing his diary and, after watching "the folks playing and jumping" on the deck after supper, he went below and made a draughts board "and played several games and came off best man".
On Sunday, 28th October, they sighted land at about six in the evening and anchored outside the entrance to the Magellan's Straits for the night. All the boys wrote letters home that evening, to be mailed at Sandy Point (Punta Arenas). J.B.W. was up at 4am next morning, but was too late to see the anchor weighed. The ship was already in smooth water with land on either side.
"but at a great distance, but it is getting nearer as we go on". They reached Sandy Point at mid-day and landed two passengers and luggage.
"It is a small place, and looks like a new camp near Sandy Point. It is covered with trees, which they cut down for firewood, then they cultivate the land. After we left Sandy Point the straits became narrower, with high mountains on either side, the tops covered in snow. With the clouds hanging over and the sun setting it presented a splendid appearance and I should like to be able to sketch it. We passed closed to the place where H.M.Ship Cottrel blew up off Sandy Point. There was a German Man o' War lying at anchor and a few small vessels."
Next chapter - The Coast of Chile
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