LETTER VI.
Greetings from the Ulysses! Our suspense is, at length, relieved. The day after I last wrote to you, our long-looked-for Ulysses arrived, with a fleet from the Downs, and yesterday, Doctors Henderson, Master, Cleghorn, and myself, took our births on board, finding Master’s and my baggage stowed in safety.
We left Portsmouth amidst a great scene of hurry and confusion, in consequence of a report having prevailed, on the arrival of the fleet from the Downs, that every ship, belonging to the expedition, was to sail, without further delay; those of the Leeward Island division for Barbadoes, and those of the St. Domingo division for Cork. The transports, with troops from Southampton, happening to drop down the river at the same time, to rendezvous at the Mother-bank and Spithead, seemed to confirm the report; and suddenly, all was converted into extreme hurry and activity. Multitudes, both from the newly arrived ships, and from those which had been long waiting, thronged on shore to purchase provisions and stores, to complete their stock for the voyage. Many, who had passed their hours of suspense in the town, had also their marketings to make; and hence the demand becoming, suddenly, greater than the supply, it introduced all the confusion of a general scramble. Each seized upon whatever provisions he could find, asking no questions, but paying any money that was demanded.
Not aware of the tumultuous pressure of such a moment, and considering ours to be only a short passage, we had, purposely, delayed purchasing our meat, bread, and other fresh provisions, until we should be certain that the ship, in which we were to make the voyage, was arrived. But, should we proceed to sea, immediately, and the voyage be at all protracted, we shall be reduced, by this neglect, to salt food, and the ship’s allowance; for, we were unable to obtain what we wished, and were compelled to repair on board with a very deficient supply.
All the butchers’ and bakers’ shops were quickly emptied. Not a loaf, nor a bit of meat, not even a carrot, or a cabbage remained, and many went empty away. Neither porters nor servants were required; every one who was successful enough to put his hand upon any provisions, gladly became the bearer of his own load. To shew you the extremity to which we were reduced, I may tell you that our party stopped a man, upon the street, who was carrying home a large giblet pie, hot from the oven, which we tempted him to let us take on board, by offering for the pie and the dish, more than double their value; or whatever money he might demand.
To an unconcerned spectator it must have been a most ludicrous and diverting scene, and such as might have afforded full scope to the all-animating pencil of Hogarth. We were too intimately associated in what was passing, to view it only with an eye of amusement. Still I could not but remark the oddity of the assemblage, and the varied expression of countenance, as actuated by hope, joy, disappointment, hurry, and anxiety. Military and naval officers, passengers, servants, soldiers, sailors, boys, women, and negroes, all crowded together upon the streets, formed one heterogeneous mass—one great and motley group, of which every part was in busy motion; each person feeling the apprehension of being left behind.
From the multitudes of anxious heavy-laden individuals who were seen running with their burdens down to the boats, and scrambling to embark, it might have appeared to a stranger, that the inhabitants of Portsmouth were making one great effort to carry off all the provisions, stores, and furniture of the town, before evacuating it to the possession of an enemy. One hurried off with legs and shoulders of mutton, another with half a sheep, a third with a huge piece of beef, and others with different joints of veal or pork. Here was a man running with a cheese, there one with a sugar-loaf. Others were scampering away loaded with rice, or papers of groceries. Some ran off with bags of bread, some with baskets of greens, potatoes, carrots, turnips, and the like. Many were seen bending under heavy bundles of clothes, wet from the wash; others loaded with camp-stools, deal boxes, sea-coffers, pewter utensils, and various other kinds of stores; and, amidst the throng, ourselves with the smoking giblet pie, and such other provisions as we had been able to procure. Every one was upon the alert. Necessity made all industrious, and, without any idle or scrupulous objections, each was glad to minister to his own wants.
Such was the state in which we left Portsmouth, after a residence of three weeks, during which time we had regarded it as a dull inanimate place; but the change was sudden, and will be only transient: the hurry and tumult will vanish with the sailing of the fleet, and the town will relapse into its tranquil sameness, until the recurrence of a similar occasion.
Let me return with you to the Ulysses, and tell you, that upon reaching the ship, we had so anxiously looked for, we were received as people unknown and unregarded, conducted into a large ward-room, strewed with various kinds of lumber, and there left, as in a wilderness. No births had been prepared, nor any kind of arrangement made for us. Not a cot was slung; nor any sleeping-place allotted. The ward-room was open to all, and was to serve for the whole of the passengers. We were turned in loose, with six or eight other persons, and soon found ourselves to be, only, individuals of the general herd; the whole flock being left, at large, like sheep in a common fold.
The vessel is commanded by an officer of the navy, and it was no part of his duty to prepare accommodations for passengers whom he neither knew nor expected. She is one of the old forty-four gun frigates, and carries some of her guns as an armed transport. If our ship had been a common transport, or a merchantman, we might have felt enough at home to have demanded all we required, but, from not having been passengers before on board a ship of war, Cleghorn, Master, and myself were quite at a loss how to proceed. Fortunately Henderson is more au fait to these subjects, and from understanding the necessary etiquette, kindly took upon himself the task of meliorating our condition. Having applied, with all due ceremony, to the Governor of our ocean-castle, he soon succeeded in bringing one of the lieutenants to our aid; who, very obligingly, gave immediate directions for bettering our situation, and it was gratifying, beyond all the advantages of personal convenience, to observe with what promptitude his orders were put in execution. The packages, and other incommoding lumber, were quickly removed; and a canvass partition was put up to divide the ward-room into two separate apartments; allotting to us that on the starboard side. Four cots were slung, in a row, over the cannon, and inclosed with another canvass running parallel with the former, throughout the whole length of the ward-room. This formed a general sleeping birth for our mess, allowing to each his appropriate dressing-room between the several guns; and, thus, we were speedily furnished with five distinct apartments, viz. a long narrow dining-room, and, as we were assured, four excellent bed-rooms.
We were both amused and gratified in observing the expertness of the ship’s carpenters, and all the men employed upon this occasion; and it afforded us great pleasure to remark how prompt and obedient they were in executing the commands of their officers. On board a transport, or a merchantman, several days would have been expended, in preparing what was here completed in a single hour.
As we are only fresh-water sailors, it was hinted, for our information, that the aft, or sternmost cot, being the upper birth on the starboard side, was deemed the place of honor, and hence appropriated to the use of the captain, when the officers sleep in the ward-room. My ambition did not lead me to contend for this sickening post of honor, therefore, in obedience to my poor nauseated stomach, I begged permission to take the lowest cot of the four, and am accordingly indulged with the birth nearest the centre of the ship, where I lie with my three comrades, in a row, behind me. In balance for this accommodation I find that at each movement of the ship, or the cot, my feet are struck against the bulk-head at the bottom of the ward-room; I am bumped upon the huge cannon standing under me; or have Dr. Cleghorn’s feet roughly presented to my head.