The Voyage Alone in the Yawl "Rob Roy"

APPENDIX. BOYS’ TRAINING SHIPS.

There are 18,000 seamen in our Royal Navy, and nearly a quarter of a million persons of various kinds are employed on board of British registered vessels. On the subject of training boys for sea, full and interesting information is given in ‘British Seamen,’ by Mr. T. Brassey, M.P. In former editions of ‘The Voyage Alone,’ some of the Boys’ Training Ships were briefly described, and the author’s profits from the book have been distributed yearly in prizes and medals among some hundreds of lads in these ships, approved for excellence in Seamanship, Smartness, Scripture-knowledge, Swimming, and “Sums.” In connection with the continuance of this pleasant work, a brief description is given here of all the Training Ships for boys, with the best wishes of the author for their prosperous sail over the sea of life, and their safe arrival on the happy shore above.

ROYAL NAVY TRAINING SHIPS FOR BOYS.

There are Five regular Boys’ Training Ships for the Royal Navy, accommodating 3400 boys.

The ‘Impregnable,’ and ‘Implacable’ (with ‘Lion’), at Devonport (for 700 boys); ‘Ganges,’ at Falmouth (500 boys); ‘St. Vincent,’ at Portsmouth (700 boys); and ‘Boscawen,’ at Portland (500 boys). To each is attached a brig for cruising during the summer months. The boys go through a regular course of instruction at school, in seamanship and in gunnery, till they are “rated,” after a year or a little more, as 1st Class boys, when they have a cruise in the brig. With respect to the school instruction, the principle is to give the more backward boys more schooling than the more advanced, and to this end the boys are divided into Upper School and Lower School: the Upper School boys have one forenoon and one afternoon a week in school, and the Lower School boys twice that amount. The educational attainments of the Upper School correspond to Standards VI., V., IV. of the New Code, and those of the Lower School to Standards III. and II. Of course there is the division into watches, as the routine of the ships is modelled on that of a man-of-war.

With the exception of the band boys entered from industrial schools, no boys are received who have been before a magistrate. It is gratifying to find that as many good and respectable lads as are wanted can be had for this glorious patriotic service. “The expense incurred in training seamen amounts on an average to not less than £300 to £400 for every seaman in the navy:” ‘British Seamen,’ by T. Brassey, M.P. Longmans, 1877, page 158.

For training young officers there is the ‘Britannia’ (with the ‘Hindostan’) at Dartmouth, and two sons of the Commodore of the Royal Canoe Club are among the pupils.

‘AKBAR.’—(Mersey.)

Established 1856.

The vessel is managed by “The Liverpool Juvenile Reformatory Association,” which has also a girls’ reformatory and a farm school. The report for December 31, 1877, shews that during the year 79 boys were admitted between 11 and 17 years of age (all of them under sentence of a magistrate), and 59 were discharged (of whom 43 went to sea), leaving 198 in the ship and about 100 besides “under detention,” or on license elsewhere. The total number admitted since 1856 was 1393, of whom 731 went to sea, 130 went to friends, 73 were transferred, and 59 died.

In January, 1878, the ship parted from her moorings in a gale, and this and repairs caused an expense of about £500. The ordinary expenditure of the year is about £3800; the average number on board is 190, and of these 134 could swim.

‘ARETHUSA.’—(Greenhithe, Thames.)

Opened August, 1874.

This vessel is the new sister ship of the ‘Chichester,’ and is described below with the other vessel.

‘CHICHESTER.’—(Greenhithe, Thames.)

Established 1866.

This vessel, together with the ‘Arethusa’ (already mentioned above), is managed by a committee in connection with the “National Refuges,” an institution which comprises a Refuge for homeless boys, a Refuge for homeless girls, a “Farm school and Shaftesbury school,” at Bisley, Surrey, a “Working Boys’ Home,” and “Girls’ Home” at Ealing and Sudbury. In these six homes and two ships are more than 1000 inmates, and the expense is defrayed by voluntary contributions. The Earl of Shaftesbury, K. G., is President of the Institution, and Mr. W. Williams (9, Southampton Street, Bloomsbury Square), is the Secretary.

The ‘Chichester’ was fitted up in 1866, and opened in January, 1867, for training homeless boys between 13 and 16 years of age for sea life. By the munificent gift of the Baroness Burdett Coutts, the ‘Arethusa’ was presented to the committee fully fitted up as an additional Training Ship, in 1874, and the two vessels are moored close together near the pleasant hills of Greenhithe, in Kent. The woodcut on the preceding page, representing some boys on the topsail-yard of the ‘Chichester,’ appeared in the Leisure Hour as one of the illustrations of an article on ‘Ragamuffins’ by the present writer.

The number of boys sent to sea from the ‘Chichester’ in the year 1877 was 117, and the number on board 176. The total number of boys received on the ‘Chichester,’ up to the 31st of December, 1877, was 2165. Number discharged, 2092; sent to sea, 1797.

Besides the number sent on a first voyage, the following numbers were re-shipped, not counting those who after their first voyage got ships without coming to the ‘Chichester’ ship-master. Shipped for second voyage, 686; for third, 451; fourth, 291; fifth, 180; sixth, 108; seventh, 72; eighth voyage, 55.

The total number of boys received on board the ‘Arethusa’ from 1874 to end of 1877, was 659; discharged, 450; sent to sea, 386, of whom 102 were so sent in 1877. In July, 1878, there were 400 boys on the two ships when the annual presentation of prizes took place. The total expenses for the two ships for the year 1877 amounted to £10,494 10s. 8d.

I had again the privilege of presenting the sailor boys ‘Rob Roy’ prizes in the Guildhall, in the presence of the veteran philanthropist the Earl of Shaftesbury, in 1880.

‘CLARENCE.’—(Mersey.)

Established 1863.

This is a Reformatory School Ship for Roman Catholic boys. The average number on board this vessel is 200, and the cost £20 per head per annum, paid chiefly by the Treasury. In the year 1877, 80 boys had been admitted, of whom 54 were from Liverpool, and the rest from 15 other towns; 47 of them had not been previously convicted, 58 were sent to sea “on license.” In the preceding three years 192 had been discharged, of whom 150 were “doing well” at the beginning of 1878, while 5 were “doubtful,” 8 reconvicted, 10 dead, and 19 “unknown.”

‘CLIO.’—(Menai Straits.)

Certified February, 1878.

This vessel is for 200 boys (from 11 to 15 years of age), sent under the Industrial Schools Act, or partly paid for otherwise, and the ship is managed by “The North Wales, City of Chester, and Border Counties Industrial School Training Ship Society.” The first boy was admitted in September, 1877, and on the 13th of July, 1878, there were 197 boys on board; of these, 8 are “voluntary.” About 80 were from London, 50 from Manchester, 26 from Liverpool, and the rest from ten other places.

‘CONWAY.’—(Mersey.)

Established 1859.

A new vessel (late the ‘Nile’) was substituted in 1877 for the old ‘Conway,’ but it was rechristened with the old name, and the cost of alterations was £6000.

It is managed by “The Mercantile Marine Association,” and is intended chiefly to supply officers for the merchant navy. Boys are received from 12 to 16 years of ago. The average number of boys on board was 138, of whom 54 joined the merchant service. The number of boys received since the commencement up to 1877, was 1290, of whom 40 entered the Royal Navy, and almost all the others went into the Merchant Service.

The report gives no balance-sheet, but says that the school fees (40 guineas per annum for each boy) “covered the expenses” (presumably the ordinary expenses), and left a balance of £283.

‘CORNWALL.’—(Purfleet, Thames.)

Established 1859.

This is a Reformatory Ship, managed by “The School Ship Society.” The boys enter between 13 and 15 years of age, sentenced to 3 years’ detention under the Reformatory Schools Act. The average number of boys maintained on board in 1877 was 218. Comparative cost per head on ordinary maintenance and management £32. Industrial profits, £329. Of cases discharged in 1874, 1875, and 1876, there were doing well (December, 1877) 198, doubtful 5, convicted of crime 4, unknown 18, dead 12. In July, 1878, the Captain had heard of 114 boys at sea service, all doing well, and 26 boys visited in June, equally satisfactory, one of them in command of a large ship.

An epidemic in 1875–76 caused much trouble and expense.

‘CUMBERLAND.’—(Clyde.)

Established June, 1869.

This is an Industrial School Ship. At the beginning of 1877 there were 385 boys on board, and during the year 133 were admitted, 105 were sent to sea, 11 to shore employment, 5 to their friends, 1 to a school, 6 absconded, and 1 died, leaving 389 on the roll for January 1, 1878. From the establishment up to that time, 1343 boys had been admitted, and 954 had left. Of 432 discharged in 1874, 1875, and 1876, 345 were known to be doing well, 10 indifferently, 3 convicted of crime, and 16 died of disease and casualties. The receipts for the year were £7280, including £500 on contingency account. The ship is managed by a committee, of which the President is Mr. John Burns, of Castle Wemyss, who is well known for his important position as chairman of The Cunard Company (Limited), and for his hearty liberal efforts on behalf of boys who need a friend.

‘ENDEAVOUR.’—(Feltham, Middlesex.)

Established 1866.

This is a “land ship,” with boats on the river, and the following description of it is from a paper by Captain Brookes, Royal Marines, the Superintendent of the “Middlesex Industrial Schools at Feltham,” where about 800 boys sent by magistrates are trained for the Army, the Navy, and various other modes of life:—

“The 150 boys composing the Nautical Section are dressed as sailors, and their everyday life is assimilated as much as possible to what it would be in a stationary Training Ship—they sleep in hammocks, live in messes, and are daily exercised in seamanship on board the full-sized model brig ‘Endeavour,’ built on play-ground. Boats are provided on the river at Staines for instruction in rowing, and the boys are taught to swim in a large swimming bath in the grounds.

“The brig was built in 1866, between which date and the end of last year 748 boys (about an average of 70 per annum) have been trained and sent to sea.

“There is a home at Poplar for the reception and care of boys about to be sent to sea under the charge of the shipping officer, who is duly licensed by the Board of Trade. This is a most valuable branch of the school, offering a home to lads returning from sea, who would otherwise fall into the hands of low lodging-house keepers.

“The school authorities constantly receive the most favourable accounts of the lads thus sent to sea, who are well reported on by captains of ships both as regards character and ability in seamanship.

“The result of this experiment, now extending over a period of ten years, proves beyond question that boys can be as speedily and efficiently trained on board a model training ship built on land, as on board a stationary one moored in a harbour or river.

“This opinion has been fully and publicly endorsed by Captain Burney, R.N., Superintendent of the Royal Hospital School at Greenwich, where a large model full-rigged ship (most complete and thorough in all its arrangements) has been built, and by means of which, he maintains, he can prepare boys for sea as efficiently as on board a floating training ship.

“In this, as in many other matters, there is a great deal of popular prejudice to overcome, and perhaps the most effective way to do so would be by inducing the governing bodies of such schools as Eton, Harrow, and Rugby to erect model training ships on their grounds for the use of their boys. It cannot be doubted that these ships would be as popular amongst them as their present School Volunteer Corps undoubtedly are.”

* * * * *

[After many visits to the floating training ships, and inspection of the ‘Endeavour,’ and of the Greenwich School, where 1000 boys are trained for sea without the expense and inconveniences of a ship, I fully concur in the opinions of Captain Brookes and Capt. Burney, C.B., and I consider that the best mode of training boys for the commercial navy is to have a light and roomy building on shore with one or more “tender” brigs for cruising, and plenty of boats, and a good gymnasium and swimming bath. A floating hulk is more costly to maintain. It is inconvenient for education from want of light below, and for exercise all the winter from wet decks above, and moreover, the need of a “tender” for each hulk is already acknowledged, so that her sheet anchor is only sentiment.]

J. Macgregor.

‘ENDEAVOUR.’—(Land Ship.)

About thirty-five years ago, this land-ship, with masts and sails and guns, was set up at the Norwood Poor Law Establishment, by the exertions of the late Sir J. K. Shuttleworth, Bart., and one somewhat similar and useful (to a certain extent) was established in a Union School at Stepney. Of the boys instructed by this means, 95 out of 100 voluntarily entered the Army or Navy, but doubtless the supply for sea life is now better obtained from establishments more distinctly nautical. In the report of the North Surrey District Schools “the mast and shrouds” of the Land Ship there are said to be useful in inducing boys to go to sea. (Times, September 3, 1878.)

‘EXMOUTH.’—(Grays, Thames.)

This vessel accommodates 600 boys, and was substituted for ‘The Goliath,’ which was burned two years ago (as was also the old ‘Warspite’ at Charlton). The latest report (which is more full and clear than that of several other ships) deals with the ten months ending the 31st of December, 1877, when 545 boys were under training. These were sent from the Poor Law Unions of Poplar, St. Pancras, Stepney, Marylebone, Woolwich, and others, under the special Act, which very properly requires Metropolitan Parishes to contribute towards the maintenance of the ship, whether they use it or not. A brigantine, the ‘Steadfast,’ is attached as a “training tender,” and accommodates thirty boys, who cruise in the Mouth of the Thames for a week at a time, when ten of them are changed. A causeway from the shore improves the approach to the ‘Exmouth,’ and a small house and office near the London Docks enables eight boys to be taken daily for engagement in ships.

From March, 1876, to December, 1877, 689 boys were admitted, seventy-nine were discharged to sea service, twenty-one to the Army as musicians, forty-three to their respective Unions, and one absconded.

“Every boy in the ship soaps and washes himself all over every morning with carbolic soap, and then goes through a plunge bath under inspection, having a clean towel every time he washes.” The lads are remarkably healthy—there was not one death in the year. The charge for maintenance and clothing has been at the rate of 1s. per head per day. The swimming bath is sixty feet long by thirty feet broad, and the boys are classed by the number of “bath-lengths” they can swim at a stretch. At the beginning of the swimming season, 340 could not swim at all, but there were only 56 in this predicament at the end of the season. Music is taught carefully, and a band of about 60 boys plays twice a week for the other boys to dance. Of 242 boys absent from one to seven days to see their friends, only one broke his leave, and he absconded altogether.

‘FAME.’—(Greenwich Royal Hospital School.)

Established 1872.

This land ship is part of the splendid establishment at Greenwich for training sons of seamen and marines of the Royal Navy. Candidates must be between 10½; and 13 years of age, physically fit, able to read an easy sentence, and with some knowledge of arithmetic.

The origin of the school was in 1692, when, after the victory of “La Hogue,” an asylum was established for seamen’s widows and orphans at the suggestion of Queen Mary, who died before it was accomplished.

In 1712 ten boys were instructed (in the buildings of the present Naval College, part of which had been erected in 1618), and in 1783 there were 60 boys. In 1805, there were 200 boys, and the institution was no longer a charity, but admitted officers’ sons.

Another school, “The British Endeavour,” started in 1798 as a private venture in London, was transferred to public management in Greenwich.

The “Royal Naval Asylum,” for 680 boys and 200 girls, aided by Parliamentary grant, was amalgamated in 1821 with the other (the Royal Hospital School), forming a “Lower School” and “Upper School” for 1000 boys, in the quadrangle now occupied opposite the Royal Naval College. In 1841 the girls’ school ceased. In 1860 the distinction between “Upper” and “Lower” School was given up.

In 1870 industrial work was introduced in addition to the other instruction, and the splendid land ship ‘Fame’ was erected in 1872, which, with boats on the river, large sized moveable models in lofty halls, and a fine swimming bath, gymnasium, class-rooms, and workshops, are the means for instructing 1000 boys most admirably under the supervision of Captain Burney, C.B., and an energetic staff. From the report of July, 1878, it appears that there were 39 pupil teachers, and 958 boys between 10 and 15 years of age. Total 997 in the school. The number of boys admitted during the year was 334, number discharged 333, of whom 99 went into Her Majesty’s Service, and 4 died; 329 boys between 13 and 15 years of age now in the School, have signed continuous service engagements to serve in the Royal Navy for 10 years from the age of 18. The boys’ industrial work in about 30 departments of useful labour is of great value to the school, so that the annual cost (exclusive of new buildings, but including all repairs) is under £18 per head.

The punishments are under 1 per cent., and 45 per cent. of the boys can swim.

‘FORMIDABLE.’—(Portishead, Bristol Channel.)

Established 1869.

This is an “Industrial School Ship” for boys between the ages of 11 and 14 years. During the eighteen months ending December 31, 1877, 84 boys had been admitted (including 41 from the London School Board), 18 from Bristol, and the rest from ten other towns, with 2 “volunteer” boys.

Of these there had been discharged during the eighteen months, 81 to the Merchant Service, 2 to the Royal Navy, 26 to friends, 5 to the Army, 13 elsewhere, and 2 died. The number of boys on board December 31, 1877, was 324. From the commencement of the ship, 800 boys had been admitted, including 50 “volunteers,” and of these 366 had gone to the Merchant Service, and 27 to the Royal Navy, while 11 died. The receipts for the year, including £1500 from the Treasury, and £600 from annual subscriptions, amounted to £8213.

‘GIBRALTAR.’—(Belfast.)

Established 1872.

This Industrial School Ship for Protestant boys is called “The Ulster Training Ship for Homeless and Destitute Boys.” The number on board the 31st of December, 1877, was 289, of whom about half could read, write, and cipher well; 64 had been admitted during the year, nearly all of them from Antrim, and of these, 33 could not read or write at all, while only 7 could read, write, and cipher well; 32 of these had lost their fathers, and 18 were orphans.

‘HAVANNAH.’—(Cardiff.)

Established 1855.

This is an old “man-of-war,” banked round, so as to be a “land ship,” with a causeway to the shore, and it accommodates about 70 boys, many of whom have industrial employment in gardening and as porters, &c. Of the 66 boys discharged in the three years, 1874, 1875, 1876, 58 were known to be earning honest livelihoods, 2 were convicted, 2 unknown, and 4 have died. According to the report of August, 1878, 68 boys were in the ship, of whom 61 were sent under the Industrial Schools Act. There were 2 on license, and 7 appeared to be voluntary cases. The expenditure in 1876 was about £1500, but £200 was earned by the Industrial Department. In that year 3 boys went to sea, and in 1878 6 boys.

‘INDEFATIGABLE.’—(Mersey.)

This vessel was established in 1864 to train orphan and destitute boys for sea—boys from the port of Liverpool having a preference. The report issued in March, 1878, shewed the average number on board to be 250, of whom 80 had lost both parents. About 50 boys go out to life each year. The funds are from voluntary contributions, and about £5000 a year is expended.

‘MARS.’—(Dundee.)

Established 1869.

This is an “Industrial School Ship,” under the Act of Parliament, and it has a “tender,” “which makes men of the youngsters; she has just brought 100 tons of coals to us from Shields (July 5, 1878).” The accommodation is for 350 boys. In 1877, 122 boys were admitted and 95 discharged, leaving 350 on the register, while “there is great pressure for admission.” Of the 95 boys, 6 entered the Royal Navy, 55 the Merchant Service as first class boys, 27 went to shore trades (but seven of these returned and went to sea), and 7 died. One-third of the boys admitted were unable to read at all; of 309 discharged during 3 years, 248 were “doing well.”

The expenses in 1877 were about £6800.

Donations and subscriptions about £1700.

‘MOUNT EDGCUMBE.’—(Saltash, Cornwall.)

Established June, 1877.

An Industrial School Ship for boys from Devonshire and Cornwall. The boys admitted up to July, 1878, were 201; 1 had been discharged, 6 transferred, and 2 died. The number of “voluntary cases” (from 12 to 14 years old) was 3, and the number of all on board 195. Half of these could read “fairly.”

‘SHAFTESBURY.’—(Grays, Thames.)

Established 1878.

The School Board for London has found it necessary to have a training ship of its own. More than 500 boys sent at the instance of the Board were in training on board the ‘Formidable,’ ‘Wellesley,’ ‘Southampton,’ &c., at distant ports, where visitation and supervision could not be readily exercised. After more than six years of experience in regard to training boys for sea, the Board decided to establish their own ship in the Thames. The Admiralty was unable or at least declined to lend one of the few old hulks at their disposal, so the School Board purchased for £7000 the P. and O. iron steamship ‘Nubia,’ and at an additional expense of more than £30,000, she was fitted up and moored in a berth prepared for her in July, 1878, close to the Poor Law ship ‘Exmouth,’ so as to accommodate 450 boys to be sent under the Industrial Schools Act at the instance of the Board. She is ‘certified’ for 350 boys, of whom 70 may be Roman Catholics. The first 6 boys were sent on board her on August 15, 1878. The vessel was rechristened with the name of ‘Shaftesbury,’ in honour of one who is everywhere known as the friend of the hapless and the patron of everything good. The vessel is longer and narrower than those of the old “man-of-war” type, and her four decks are lofty, giving plenty of light and air for educational and sanitary purposes, although the wider space for drill above all is necessarily curtailed. The cost of the vessel (including purchase) is repayable in 50 years by annual instalments, with interest at 3½ per cent.

The Shaftesbury has now her full number of 500 boys (May 1880.)

‘SOUTHAMPTON.’—(The Humber.)

Established 1868.

The management is amalgamated with that of “The Hull Ragged and Industrial Schools.” At the beginning of 1877, 234 boys were on board (all of them under the Industrial Schools Act), and 62 were admitted during the year (30 from 10 to 12, and 32 from 12 to 14 years of age), while 56 were discharged, of whom 27 went to sea, and 23 were returned to friends. Up to the end of that year 426 boys had been finally discharged from the ship. Half of these on entry could not read, write, or cipher, but all learned to do so. Many of the boys were sent at the instance of the School Board for London and eight other School Boards. The expenditure for the year was £6000.

‘WARSPITE.’—(Charlton, Thames.)

The Marine Society established its first ship the ‘Beatty,’ with a crew of 40 boys, 120 years ago, and it has since sent to sea about 60,000 boys trained for sailors’ life. The new ship, a fine two decker (late ‘Conqueror’), in substitution for the old ‘Warspite’ (which was burned), and rechristened with that name, had 156 boys on board in January, 1877. 304 were afterwards admitted, 43 were sent to the Royal Navy, and 137 to the Merchant Service, leaving 269 on board at the beginning of the year 1878. Most of these are orphans or boys deserted by their parents. Out of 123 boys who returned in that year from first voyages, 117 had “very good” on their certificates. The age for admission is from 13 to 16, height from 4 feet 8 inches; 93 boys learned to swim last summer. The expenditure during the year was £11,000, including £3000 for fitting up the new ship.

‘WELLESLEY.’—(South Shields.)

Established 1868.

This vessel is for homeless and destitute boys unconvicted of crime, but who are sent under the Industrial Schools Act, at the instance of one of the ten or more School Boards which have agreements with “The ‘Wellesley’ Training Ship Institution,” or who come individually. From the report in June, 1877, it appears that in the twelve months preceding, 91 boys had been received, and 59 were discharged, of whom 45 went to sea. This left 307 boys on board. Of the boys discharged during 3 years, 83 per cent. were “doing well.” Since the commencement of the Institution 702 boys had been received. About £1000 had been contributed by the School Boards during the year, and £90 for “voluntary boys,” each of whom is received for £20 per annum. The maintenance account for the year was about £5000.

‘WORCESTER.’—(Thames.)

This vessel was moored at Greenhithe in 1862; a larger vessel, a 72-gun frigate of 5000 tons, and rechristened ‘Worcester,’ was substituted in 1877. The ‘Worcester’ provides properly qualified officers for merchant vessels, and accommodates 200 boys. The terms are, for boys from 13 to 16 years old, 50 guineas, and for boys from 11 to 13 years old, 45 guineas per annum.

The Board of Trade allows two years passed on the ‘Worcester’ to count as one year’s sea service, and Her Majesty gives annually a gold medal to the boy most noted for good conduct. About 30 boys passed through the ship last year.

SUMMARY OF TRAINING SHIPS DESCRIBED.

[In this estimate the ‘Fame’ is reckoned for 250 boys.]

THE ROB ROY CUISINE.

This has been designed after numerous experiments with the various portable cooking-machines which I could procure for trial, and, as it succeeds better than any of them, and has been approved by trial in five of my own voyages, and in another to Iceland, besides shorter trips, and in the Abyssinian campaign, &c., &c., it may be of some use to describe the contrivance here.

The object proposed was to provide a light but strong apparatus which could speedily boil water and heat or fry other materials even in wet and windy weather, and with fuel enough carried in itself for several days’ use.

Fig. 1 is a section of the Rob Roy cuisine as it is made up for carrying. There is first a strong waterproof bag about one foot high, and closed at the top by a running cord. At the bottom is the cuisine itself, a, which occupies a space of only six inches by three inches (when of smaller size), and has the various parts packed inside, except the drinking cup b.

Provisions, such as bread and cold meat or eggs, may bestowed in the bag above the cuisine, and if the string of it be then attached to a nail fixed in the boat, the whole will be kept steady.

For use, when it is desired to boil water, the cuisine being opened, the lower part is a copper pan, c, fig. 2, with a handle, e, which can be fixed either into a socket in the side of the pan, or another socket in the side of the lid, as represented in figs. 2 and 6.

Three iron legs also fix into sockets and support the pan over the spirit-lamp, f, by which the pan, two-thirds full of liquid, will be boiled in five minutes.

The lamp is the main feature of the apparatus, and it is represented in section in fig. 3. It consists of two cylinders, one within the other. The space between these (shaded dark) is closed at top and bottom, and a tube b, fixed through the bottom, rises with one open end inside, and another (a small nozzle) curved upwards in the open internal cylinder. Another tube, h, opens into the annular chamber between the cylinders, and it has a funnel-shaped mouth at the outer end, through which the chamber may be filled, while a screw in the inside allows a handle, fig. 4 (in section), to have its end, i, screwed in. A small hole in the upper surface is closed by a little cork, which will be expelled if the pressure within is so high as to require escape by this safety-valve. The hole may be in any part of the annular cover (but is not shown in the sketch), and in such case the hole shown in the handle is omitted.

The outer cylinder of the lamp, being larger than the inner one, has a bottom, k, fig. 3, which forms a circular tray of about two inches wide and half an inch deep.

The original form of the lamp which was first brought to notice [325] by the Cook of the Royal Canoe Club, had a detached tray for the bottom, but now, instead of this plan for the admission of air into the lamp, two saw cuts are made, each about an inch long. One of them is shown below f, fig. 2, and thus the lamp and tray are united in one compact piece while still there is access for air.

To put the lamp in operation, unscrew its handle from the position in fig. 2, so that it will be as in figs. 3 and 4. Then from a tin flask (which has been packed with the rest of the things in the pan) pour spirits of wine—or, if the odour is not objected to, methylated spirit, into the measure m, fig. 5, and from that into the interior of the lamp through the opening at h. Next screw in the handle, and place the lamp level under the pan, and pour nearly another measure full into the interior tray. Set fire to this, and shelter it for a few seconds if there be much wind. I used this always with complete success on the Jordan, Nile, Danube, and many other rivers.

In a short time the flame heats the spirits in the closed chamber, and the spirituous steam is forced by pressure down the tube, and inflames at the nozzle, from which it issues with much force and some noise in a lighted column, which is about one foot in height when unimpeded.

This powerful flame operates on the whole of the bottom and lower edge of the pan, and it cannot be blown out by wind nor by a blast from the mouth, but may be instantly extinguished by sharply placing the flat bottom of the measure upon it.

The cover may be put on so as to rest with the flat bottom downwards, and with or without the handle. If tea is to be made with the water when it boils, the requisite quantity is to be placed in the tea vessel n, fig. 5, which has perforated sides, and, its lid being closed, this is placed in the water, where it will rest on the curved side, and can be agitated now and then for a minute, after which insert the handle in the socket of the pan and remove the lamp, allowing the tea to infuse for four minutes, when the tea vessel may be removed and the made tea may be poured out into the cup. The dry tea can be conveniently carried in a paper inside the tea vessel. Salt is carried in the box o, and the matches are in the box p. Coffee may be best carried in the state of essence in a bottle. An egg-spoon and a soup-spoon are supplied. A flat clasp knife and fork may be had extra.

If bacon is to be fried, or eggs to be poached or cooked sur le plat, they may be put into the lid and held by hand over the lamp-flame, so as to warm all parts equally, or the slower heat of a simple flame may be employed by lighting the measure full of spirits and then placing it on the bottom of the upturned pan as shown at fig. 6, where it will be observed that the three legs are placed in their sockets with the convex curve of each turned outward, so that the lid, as a frying-pan, can rest upon their three points.

The spirit-flask contains enough for six separate charges of the lamp, and the cost of using methylated spirits at 4s. 6d. a gallon is not one penny a meal. The lamp-flame lasts from ten to fifteen minutes, and the weight of the cuisine, exclusive of the bag and cup, is about two pounds.

These cuisines, improved by the suggestions obtained in their use, are made at 93, Chancery Lane, London, of the best materials and workmanship, and at the price of two and a half guineas; or if with tin boiler instead of copper, and brass lamp, £1 12s. 6d. Many of much larger size (to cook for twenty men) have been used in Australia.

The lamp above described was used daily in my yawl, but the other fittings were on a more enlarged scale, as extreme lightness was not then required.

The Norwegian Cooking Apparatus of another kind entirely will be a valuable adjunct to the yachtsman’s stores. By means of this, meat or pudding after being heated for only five minutes, and then enclosed in a box which retains the heat, will be found to be perfectly cooked after three hours, though no more heat has been applied to it.

IMPROVED ROB ROY BINNACLE AND COMPASS.

Mr. Dent, of the Strand, has made the Life Boat Liquid Compass with several improvements suggested from the Rob Roy yawl, and after experiments permitted by the Life Boat Institution. These relate to the diagram on the card, the lamp with oil or candle, the reflectors, the ventilation, and the interior colouring of the binnacle, as well as other minor matters. In a second cruise of the yawl with my new binnacle, the great advantages desired were found to be attained. A fac-simile of the new Rob Roy card is given in “The Rob Roy on the Jordan,” 6th edition.

SEA DRESS.

After six long voyages alone, a few remarks may be made on water toggery.

Flannel all over to begin with. One grey flannel suit of “Norfolk jacket” and trousers lasted for three trips, but at sea the blue colour answers. Straw hat in sun, red woollen cap in wind, sou’wester in rain, thick boating jacket, and the life-belt over it, and above that an oilskin coat with overall trousers of the same, will defy wind and water. Woven waistcoat expanding limitless. Shoes and not boots for work, white canvas boots with spring sides for show in port. No braces. Blue seamless yacht jersey a bore, though smart. Collar only with a calico shirt, and on Sundays, when that cylinder of discomfort, a black hat, is exhumed. Watch hanging in cabin, never on the person afloat. Purse with keys in the shelf. Knife and etceteras in leather pockets of the boat. So clad ye shall be ready to sail or to swim.

SWIMMING FOR GIRLS.

The following appeared in the Times, July 3rd, 1878:—

Hundreds of girls in London are learning to swim, but many hundreds more would gladly learn if teachers could be had. A healthful, cleanly, life-saving exercise like this ought not to be stinted of teachers.

The boys have twenty public baths to learn in and the open water in Victoria Park, besides the dangerous, dirty canals. More than 1500 boys are learning to swim as paying members of the London Schools Swimming Club, which is open to all public elementary schools.

Last year a class for thirty girls was begun late in the season, yet twenty-five of these were taught to swim in six lessons, and six of them won prizes.

Only five of the public baths are available for girls and female school teachers. At some of these the charge is threepence for a bathe, and at one it is a penny for members of the club. Twelve girls can be well taught in a class. For a lesson of two hours, one teacher charges fifteen shillings and another receives ten shillings, while others are paid two shillings for each girl who is taught to swim twenty-five yards, and the rest are rewarded by watches and other prizes for those who teach the most girls to swim.

Mothers and sisters who can swim will not let their boys be unwashed on the land and drowned in the water.

J. M.

The “London Schools Swimming Club” was formed in 1875, and it has already (a.d. 1880) given instruction in swimming to 12,000 boys and girls, and male and female teachers.

Footnotes:

[3] Shown by dotted lines in the sketch at p. 7. The Rob Roy is of about four tons’ burthen, but “tons,” we know well, mean one does not know what.

[10] “Swinging for the compass” is thus performed. The vessel is moored in the bight at Greenhithe, and by means of warps to certain Government buoys she is placed with her head towards the various points of the compass. The bearing by the compass on board (influenced by the attraction of the iron she carries) is taken accurately by one observer in the vessel, and the true bearing is signalled to him by another observer on shore, who has a compass out of reach of the “local attraction” of the vessel. The error in each position due to the local attraction is thus ascertained, and the corrections for these errors are written on a card in a tabulated form, thus:—

And so on. A half point looks a small matter on the compass card, but in avoiding a shoal, or in finding a harbour, it makes all the difference.

[14] The Reformatory ship ‘Cornwall’ is at Purfleet. The three vessels are within sight of each other. We shall sail back to each of them in a future page, and have a more leisurely look on board.

[20] The after part of the well is rounded at each side, and it is all boarded up. In the middle is a seat on which a large cork cushion can rest, or this may be thrown over as a life-preserver or for a buoy, while the life-belt to be worn round the waist is stowed away under the seat, and an iron basin with a handle is placed alongside it just over the flooring, below which is seen, at p. 41, a wedge of lead-ballast, and in front of this the water-well, where water collecting from leakage or dashing spray is conveniently reached by the tube of vulcanised india-rubber represented as just in front. This pump hose has a brass union joint on the top, to which we can screw the nozzle of a pump with a copper cylinder (shown at the bottom), or a piston worked by hand (but without any lever), and when in use the cylinder rests obliquely, so that the water will flow out over the combing, and on the deck, and so into the sea.

[22] Several important suggestions for the implement of the lifeboat liquid compass were obtained during my use of it in this voyage, and these have been duly appreciated by the Lifeboat Institution.

[25] However good the glass, it is very difficult to make use of it for faint or distant objects on the horizon, and on the whole I found it easier to discern the first dim line of land far off by the unaided eye. A slight mark, that would not be observed while only a short piece of it is seen in the field of view, becomes decidedly manifest if a large scope is seen at once. The binocular glass was very valuable, however, when the words on a buoy, or the colour on the chequers of a beacon had to be deciphered.

[26] See page 44 and Appendix.

[32] In yet another, the fourth visit to this stupid shallow harbour (one of the most unpleasant to lie in anywhere), I fixed an oar out at each side as a leg, and could scarcely get rest from the fear that one or other of my beautiful oars would be snapped as they bent and groaned with remonstrances against supporting several tons of weight in the capacity of a wooden leg.

[36] I had lessened her ton and a half of iron ballast by leaving two hundredweight on Dover quay; good advice agreeing with my own opinion that the Rob Roy was needlessly stiff.

[42] The relative positions of all these articles had been maturely considered and carefully arranged, and they were much approved by the most experienced and critical of the many hundred visitors who inspected the Rob Roy.

[44] In the sketch at page 41, the cook of the Rob Roy is represented as he works when rain compels him to shelter himself in the cabin under a tarpaulin, and the hatch inclined upwards. But usually—indeed, always but on two occasions—he sat in the well while he tended the caboose.

[50] I have read numerous books, pamphlets, and discussions on this subject, some of which are wonderfully clear in explaining what is perfectly easy to understand, while they are exceedingly ingenious in overlooking the only difficulty, which is, how a man on one vessel is to know whither another vessel is steering to. (March 1880.)

[52] “Caution.—During strong winds, between W.S.W., round westerly, and N.N.W., the coast to the eastward of Ailly Point is dangerous to be on, and shipwrecks are of frequent occurrence; vessels therefore of every description at that period should keep a good offing, and when obliged to approach it, must do so with great caution; for although the general mass of the above banks appear to be stationary, yet great attention must be paid to the lead, and in observing the confused state of the sea in the various eddies, so as to guard against suddenly meeting with dangers which may be of recent formation. The lights for the purpose of pointing out the position of the headlands and dangers between Capes Antifer and Gris-Nez at night, are so disposed that in clear weather two can always be seen at a time, and the greater number of the harbours have one or more tide lights shown during the time the harbour can be entered.

“It is important to notice that along the coast, between Cape de la Hève and the town of Ault (a space of 67 miles), the wind, when it blows in a direction perpendicular, or nearly so, to the direction of the coast, is reflected by the high cliffs, neutralizing in great measure its original action to a certain extent in the offing, depending upon the strength of the wind. It follows from this, that a zone is formed off the coast and parallel to it (except in front of the wide valleys, where the direct wind meets with no obstacle), where the wind is light, the sea much agitated, and the waves run towards the shore. On the contrary, when the wind forms an acute angle with the coast, the reflected wind contributes to increase the direct wind near the shore.”

[55] As a precaution, I always put on the life-belt when I had to reef, as one is liable then to be jerked overboard; also in strong winds when we ran before them, because in case of getting over board then, it would be difficult to catch the yawl by swimming; also at night when sailing, or when, sleeping on deck, as one might then be suddenly run down. But with all this prudence it happened that on each of the three occasions when I did fall into the water, I had not the life-belt on. The Life-Boat Institution had presented to me one of their life-jackets—an invaluable companion if a long immersion in the water is to be undergone. But for convenience in working the ropes and sails I was content to use the less bulky life-belt. It is conveniently arranged, and you soon forget it as an encumbrance. Indeed on one occasion I walked up to a house without recollecting that my life-belt was upon me when ashore!

[60] The account of these paddlings has been published in ‘A Thousand Miles in the Rob Roy Canoe,’ 10th edition, and in ‘The Rob Roy in the Baltic,’ 6th edition, both works being profusely illustrated (Low, Marston and Co., Crown Buildings, Fleet Street).

[77] “Fécamp Harbour is difficult to enter at all times, and dangerous to attempt when it blows hard from the westward on account of the heavy sea at the entrance; for should a vessel at that time miss the harbour and ground upon the rocks off Fagnet Point, she would be totally lost.”

[78] A mysterious shell-fish delicacy.

[85] Thick paper round my parcels of books within happily kept them dry.

[98] Very few authors can write books suitable for men with weary bodies and sleepy minds. It is remarkable to see how much attention these men will pay to the words of the Bible and the ‘Pilgrim’s Progress.’ No doubt such readers often read but the surface-sense of both these books; but then even that sense is good, and the deeper meaning is better, while the language of both is superb.

[102] If men’s vices are matched by dogs’ failings, several of our best virtues are at least equalled by those in canine characters; especially courage, fidelity, patience, and forgiveness. It is hard to believe (even if indeed we are at all warranted in believing) that these noble animals are done with existence when they die. It is harder still to see a man cruel to a dog, without feeling pretty sure that the man is not the better of the two. The dog life to be seen at the “Home for lost dogs” is a study for any thoughtful man.

Six empty collars hang in my own room. Each of them belonged to successive dogs called ‘Rob,’ who cruised with me until they were lost or killed.

[110] The soldiers liked these so much that it was the fashion to place the “Emperor’s” picture over each man’s bed. On one occasion His Majesty happened to notice this when visiting a guard-room, and he had the whole story explained to him. The late Prince Imperial also came for a ‘British Workman,’ and probably it was pinned behind His Royal Highness’ four-poster. He was a member of the Royal Canoe Club, and one of his canoes was saved from the fire at the palace of St. Cloud.

[112] A friend of mine stated that a French, gentleman of good education called upon him one day, and happened to look at a French Testament which lay open on the chimney-piece. “Tiens!” he said, “Paternoster in the Bible?” when he saw the Lord’s Prayer in the printed page.

[117] A similar Society has begun operations in France by publishing translations of English papers on Sanitary and Domestic Management.

[119] In this one particular the canoeist has to trust to the boat-builder. In others, and in those relating to the rigging and sails especially, I regret to say that I do not find any builder fulfils those requirements of strength, lightness, neatness, and simplicity combined in due proportions, upon which so much of the safety of a canoe depends, as well as comfort and pleasure in using it during the many days’ constant work of a long voyage. The proper rigging of a canoe, so as to be neither fragile like a toy nor clumsy in its small details, is well attended to at the Model Dockyard in Fleet Street.

[121] This hankering after Egypt once more ripened into the cruise of the “Rob Roy on the Jordan,” of which the sixth edition appears in April, 1880.

[128] These four gentlemen, admitted to the amateur contests declined to row against four English watermen.

[142] I recollect that old Westminster Bridge was a very dangerous one for a boat to sail through, because the joints between the voussoirs, or lines of stones under the arch, were not horizontal as in most other bridges, but in an oblique direction, and several times when my mast has touched one of these it was borne downwards with all the power of a screw.

[150] I found that a common Scotch plaid, if it was in an inclined position, resisted wet longer than any other material permeable to air, and it could be readily dried by hanging it from the mast in the wind.

[151] There was another method of cooking under shelter, and we employed it on the only other occasion when this had to be done, namely, to shut up the cabin and to cook inside it, using the portable “canoe cuisine,” which is described in the Appendix. But as this is meant to be employed only on shore, it does not answer well on board, except in a calm; and, moreover, the heat generated by the lamp was too much in a small cabin. Even a single candle heats a small apartment, and it is well known that a man can get a very good vapour-bath by sitting over a rushlight, with blankets fastened all round.

[152] The best, according to my taste, were those of “Irish stew,” “Stewed steak,” “Mulligatawny,” “Oxtail,” and “Vegetable soup,” all in the order named. “Preserved peas” were not quite so good; but the other viands were all far better than can be had at any culinary hotel, and were entirely without that metallic or other “preserved” flavour so soon discovered in such eatables, and even by a palate not fastidious. This experience was fully confirmed afterwards in my Canoe Cruises in Holland, in the Orkneys and Shetland, and in the Red Sea, Jordan, Nile, Abana, Pharpar, and Lake of Galilee.

[156] Frenchmen have a trick of anchoring thus to escape a breeze. We have seen them anchor on the African coast merely to avoid a hard-looking cloud, whereas the real danger was in anchoring there at all.

[159a] See Frontispiece.

[159b] We shall hear of this pinch again further on.

[160] This latter construction is found to be very convenient, because the cargo is at one end of the vessel and the machinery, and paddle-wheels, and steering apparatus are all at the other end, so that orders can be readily given to both by the captain. The “Express” Company on the Seine has sixty of these steamers.

[161] It was, however, only an adaptation of the same principle I had used in Swedish lakes, when my course was towards a bright sun so dazzling in the water that I invented the plan of covering my eyes with my straw hat, and steering the canoe by the bright reflection of the sun on its cedar deck, which was of course by no means so unpleasant as the beams of light glancing from the water itself. Surely it would not be impossible to make the needle of a mariner’s compass itself steer the ship at least within half a point. The motion of the needle could connect one or the other of two electro currents, and so set in instant action a powerful purchase to act on the tiller.

[171] First thoughts of people and of countries are more striking, they are only by chance at all true. I recollect asking an American, after his visit to the English House of Lords, what struck his attention most; and he said, “Their lordships don’t seem to brush their hair.” Another clever traveller, from the same land of our cousins, was asked what he noticed of our manners in London, and he replied, “I observe it is the fashion here, when a gentleman sees his friend on the other side of Pall Mall, he shakes his umbrella at him and calls out, ‘D’ye do, old fellow?’”

[188] The Rob Roy came there again next summer, up the Thames, and by the canal, and the river Wey and the Arun, and so to Southsea, with fifteen canoes, five dogs and a cockatoo—such fun.

[192] After so much experience of the yawl, tried in all points in all kinds of wind and weather, it may well be supposed that numerous improvements had been noted in my book as desirable. These, however, we need not here particularise, as the various descriptions given at intervals through this book shew what the Rob Roy is in her latest and best arrangements.

[195a] The fall of each halyard was coiled and put under the taut part. A small coil looks neatest, but the fall of it is sure to kink if coiled close, being wet and dry ten times in a day. Before nearing harbour, or in preparation to lower sail “handsomely,” I found it well to cast the coil loose on the hatch, else a kink would catch in the leading sheave.

[195b] This was forthwith invented and used and shewn to hundreds of people. After some time the very identical thing was patented, and it is now used by thousands. Most of our canoes have these “tumbling cleats,” and they are used for the cords of blinds, &c., in many houses, including my own.

[197] This is shewn in the sketch on the preceding page; the bar presented a very smooth surface for the bottom of the dingey to run over when it was shipped under the hatch, or hauled out in a hurry. Moreover, the wood was convenient to stride across in getting from the well to the cabin, and it was far more pleasant and warmer than metal to hold on by during violent lurches of the sea.

[206] A foreign sailor, examined as to a shipwreck case in Court, was asked, “How did you know it was the coast of England?” He said, “Because a lifeboat came out to us.” Rule Britannia!

[208] Three hundredweight of ballast was thrown off at Cowes, besides what we took out at Dover, and still the yawl was stiff.

[211] Other inventors, knowing the experimental turn of my crew, had sent me several instruments and things of various sorts to try in practice, and to report on. One of these was a beautiful little anchor made of bronze, and in form very peculiar and apparently an improvement, indeed an admirable novelty to look at. This, too, I heaved overboard for trial, but it simply dragged through the soft mud, and proved quite useless.

[240] He had wisely fitted a centre-board in his 14-feet canoe at my suggestion. This sliding keel answered well for sailing, and all our large canoes are now thus fitted. Mr. Berthons’ portable canoe can be carried flat under one arm. Canoe sails are dangerous unless they can be lowered in an instant. So are the sails of a frigate in a sudden squall. The ‘Eurydice,’ which I saw in Portsmouth harbour, is a warning for ever.

[242] To anchor for the night, riding by tide or stream, is not pleasant; for then the wind may cross your hatch, and blow the rain in sideways, whereas if you ride at anchor to the wind alone, the draught comes always from the front, and so it can be better provided for, and the boat does not roll much even if she pitches.

[244] Revelation xix. 7.

[246] It was hung on the port mizen shroud. To hang it in front of you is simply to cut off two of your three chances of possibly seeing ahead.

[250] I think that in a port like Newhaven the look-out man in charge ought to come to the pier-head when he sees a yacht entering in rough weather, and certainly there is more attention to such matters in France than with us.

[260] The singular volcanic eruptions in Iceland occurred also on that day.

[261] The numerous vessels met now were some of those we had been with in the morning, and they looked even more in number, for we crossed and recrossed each other frequently, and this part of the Channel is a highway for nations.

[267] In the winter this old sailor was drowned, the last of six brothers, all of whom were drowned.

[268] This event is depicted on the cover of our book, being a copy of the illustration in the excellent penny periodical, ‘The Boy’s Own Paper’ (October, 1879), one of a score of serials and a thousand books at the ‘Pure Literature Society,’ 11, Buckingham Street, Strand.

[270] One of the pranks to be prepared for in a boat is this jibing of the boom, and until by practice you know the exact range of safety for your head in relation to that swinging spar, caution should be the rule. Long ago I had learned the exact length of the Rob Roy’s boom in relation to my nose; for even in the Thames, soon after starting, it had once caught the back of my head, and knocked my face down on the deck, where a bloody nose (but no worse result) speedily settled the question as to which must yield when the boom and the captain are at loggerheads. I learned more lessons of this sort when, in 1871, I had a lonely voyage in a “yawl canoe” through Holland and the Zuyder Zee, and Friesland and the Texel. An account of it was published in the ‘Graphic’ for November of that year.

[272] At a southern watering place lately there were forty ladies each in a canoe on one afternoon.

[275] Bravely they worked to save life on the Goodwin in the fearful gale that came soon afterwards.

[280] The recent legislation for the proper care of the women and the education of the children on barges was much needed, and it was successfully accomplished by our late excellent Home Secretary, who was himself one of the best “oars” at Cambridge, when the late Foreign Secretary of France was another.

[284] The use of the word “bloody” is now general among the lowest classes all over England. The meaning intended by this is not what scholars would agree to. Hundreds of times the word is employed only for “very,” and it is strange how soon one’s first shudders at the sound become faint, and even die.

[287] The Royal Canoe Club has elected about 600 Members, including several ladies. Some of the Members are in Australia, India, Japan, China, Canada, and North and South America. H.R.H. the Prince of Wales is our Commodore, and he has several canoes. There are also several branches of the Club besides other Canoe Clubs on the Mersey, the Clyde, the Forth, the Trent, the Humber, and four Clubs in America. The Office of the R.C. Club is at 11, Buckingham Street, Adelphi, London, where also is “The Pure Literature Society,” with 3600 books and 42 periodicals all good to read and to choose from.

[291] We need not he surprised that sharks should get entangled in the Bay of Biscay. Even at Margate one was caught a short time after I had swam in the water there, and six more sharks were captured in the summer on the English south coast.

[296] As this was being urged upon friends, a telegram came from the Admiralty for “Twenty-five boys from the ‘Chichester.’”

[297] A description of these vessels will be found in the Appendix.

[325] The late Professor J. D. Forbes, who used this lamp, says it was introduced into this country from Russia by Dr. Samuel Brown, and that “the jet of burning spirit has such force as to resist the blast of a hurricane.”

london: printed by william clowes and sons, limited,
stamford street and charing cross.