Narrative of the Circumnavigation of the Globe by the Austrian Frigate Novara Volume I Part 16

The breeding-place of the penguin is about 300 feet above the level of the water in the basin of the crater.[63] Four hundred feet more of laborious, steep scrambling, brings the adventurer to the plateau at last, from the highest peaks of which he readily obtains a view of the greater part of the island, which is utterly treeless. At many places we found the ground quite warm, and at one slimy tract, about 600 feet wide, which was noticed by the naturalists on board the _Lion_, there was positive danger of sinking several feet into the hot, yielding soil, if we did not advance with great care. On the other hand, the fierce tongues of flame, which Lord Macartney alleged were visible at night from the deck of the s.h.i.+p, and which greatly resembled the celebrated nocturnal fires of Pietra Mala, in the mountains between Florence and Bologna, were nowhere visible, at least during the time we were on the island.

[Footnote 63: A second breeding-place, somewhat larger, but much more inaccessible than that described, occurs on the north-west side of the island. There among rugged fantastically broken ma.s.ses of rock, these extraordinary creatures can sun themselves undisturbed, and have hardly anything to dread from the destroying hand of man, who could only get thither with much difficulty, and not without peril to life, by clambering along the face of a precipitous wall of rock.]

On the north-west side of the islands, facing the sea, two lofty pinnacles of scoriae, with truncated summits, rise in cones of such exquisite regularity of form as speedily attracted the attention of our geologist, and became somewhat later the chief scene of his activity. In the immediate vicinity, many traces of lava-streams are visible, which plainly show the direction in which their currents had flowed. From the upper edge of the great basin of the crater the ground slopes gradually to the sea, ending abruptly in a precipice, descending sheer 150 or 200 feet into the sea.

In order to avoid retracing our steps by the same path, we directed our guide, the ever active Ferdinand, to conduct us back to the sh.o.r.e by some other track than that by which we had clambered up to this point; whereupon he stopped at a point of the upper rim of the crater, where the ground fell suddenly away quite perpendicular, grasped the rich luxuriant gra.s.s hand over hand, and having proceeded a few steps, invited us to follow. At the first glance we involuntarily recoiled at the bare idea of descending into the abyss by such a route, but presently we found our advance less dangerous and appalling than had at first appeared, when it was found we might, without any misgiving, let ourselves down by the long tough gra.s.s, the strong stalks of which supplied a safe means of descent.

In less than three-quarters of an hour we had descended from the upper margin of the crater to the settlement, and at once proceeded on our return to the frigate. A pretty fresh N.W. breeze had sprung up in the meantime, which rendered our re-embarkation in our small short boats, totally unsuited to the tremendous swell of the Indian Ocean, exceedingly uncomfortable. Arrived at the s.h.i.+p's side, the sea ran so high, and had so increased the difficulty of laying the boats alongside, that we at first endeavoured to reach the deck by the Jacob's ladders suspended at the p.o.o.p. When, however, one of the sailors (who confessedly have much greater readiness in clambering than ordinary mortals), while holding on to one of the ladders, was reached by a tremendous wave, and half his body being in the water, ran a risk of being carried off by a shark, the scientific gentlemen in the boats preferred making for the starboard side of the s.h.i.+p, whence they reached their haven of refuge by the man-ropes.

Although this accident sufficiently manifested the impracticability of our original plan of returning every evening on board, and of being able to remain beside the s.h.i.+p during the carrying out of the objects of our visit, no man supposed as yet that, at this season, the summer of St.

Paul's, the weather might suddenly become so stormy and generally unfavourable, as thus early to necessitate our re-embarkation, and that the s.h.i.+p would be compelled, with all speed, to leave her anchorage, and put to sea for a week under most uncomfortable circ.u.mstances.

On 20th November, about 6 A.M., the officers and naturalists, together with a portion of the crew, 32 in all, left the frigate with a large quant.i.ty of instruments, scientific apparatus, and baggage. This little expedition was supplied with provisions and water for six days, there being no springs of fresh water on the island, the frequenters of which are compelled to depend for their whole supply of drinking-water, partly on the rain-fall, partly during long-continued dry seasons on the water of one of the hot brackish springs which occur on the north side of the lower circuit of the crater. Long accustomed to these fluids and to their peculiar taste, the inhabitants feel no evil results from their employment, which very probably would not be the case with those persons who visit the island for the first time, and whose arduous exertions necessitate their drinking daily large quant.i.ties of water.

On a small eminence, about 150 feet high, above the fisherman's huts on the north side of the crater-basin, a small wooden cottage was erected for the protection of the astronomers; and at a distance of about 40 feet, a second for the magnetic instruments, both of which, with their contents, were entrusted to Lieutenant Robert Muller. Lieutenants Batlogg and Eugen Kronowetter, were respectively entrusted with the observations by theodolite, and with the surveying board. To the last-mentioned gentleman were also confided the observations with the meteorological instruments, the researches with the tide-gauge, the instruments for measuring the velocity of currents, as also the soundings in the basin, and on either side of the bar,--to a.s.sist him in the execution of which Cadet Count Borelli and Head Quartermaster Cian were detached. We quartered ourselves as well as we could in the wretched filthy huts which, in summer, serve the fishermen from St. Denis as a shelter. In one of these hung several pictures--one representing Napoleon I. riding the inevitable white horse, the majority consisting of female portraits and scenes of Parisian life, so that the whole place had quite a Frenchified appearance.

Hardly had the instruments, apparatus, men, and baggage been placed under shelter, when once more a strong north wind came on, which, during the night between the 20th and 21st, increased to such a height, that it blew down the two huts intended for the observations, which had not been quite finished, and in which, fortunately, the instruments had not yet been placed--exposing the work already begun to very considerable interruption.

Early in the morning, a whaler approached the island, and sent one of her boats off for fresh provisions. She proved to be the _Herald_, of New Bedford, Ma.s.sachusetts, U. S., out 27 months, and expecting to require to remain out 11 months longer, in order to complete her lading of oil and whalebone. She was last from St. Augustin's Bay (Madagascar), which place she had left two months previously. When the captain, who chanced to be in the boat, saw the activity of the scientific corps, the results of which were already beginning to be visible in the hitherto deserted island, he said that one of his crew had fallen from the mast a few days previously, and severely injured himself, and forthwith asked whether we could render him any surgical a.s.sistance. Considering the precarious circ.u.mstances under which we ourselves were on the island, we judged it more advisable to receive the unfortunate whaler on board the frigate, where we could give him all necessary a.s.sistance. As we afterwards learned, the surgeon of the frigate, Dr. Ruschitztha, notwithstanding the inclemency of the weather, was ordered from the frigate, and had the satisfaction of rendering valuable a.s.sistance to the invalid.

The foul weather continued all day, and during the night of the 21st, it became so tempestuous that the frigate was at last compelled to put to sea. About 3.30 A.M. she began to labour heavily with an unusually high sea and frequent s.h.i.+fts of wind, accompanied by showers of rain, after a heavy blow from the N.W., so that at first it was thought on board that one of these furious gusts, which for several hours past had followed each other at regular intervals, had sprung the cable, and that the anchor would be lost. The jib accordingly was hoisted, and the fore-topsail set with four reefs in it, and an attempt made to weigh anchor. This operation, at all times laborious, was now especially so, and seemed as though it would never have an end. Although the capstan was manned, as already said, at 3.30, it was not till past seven, or four hours later that the anchor hove in sight. It was the port anchor that had been weighed, and it was now perceived that one of the flukes had given way, and was entirely broken off. In such stormy weather it seemed very uncertain whether the anchor could be brought on board, as it struck with much force against the s.h.i.+p-side, in consequence of her severe rolling, and it was only secured at great risk to the life of the men employed. The cable was unbent, and the anchor slipped, so as to relieve the s.h.i.+p (for which the anchor still on board was sufficient in the meantime), from the vehement thumping. The frigate now had to encounter a regular North-wester, and only after three days of the most furious rolling or pitching, was she able, aided by northerly breezes, again to reach her former anchorage. The members of the Expedition, left at St. Paul to prosecute their scientific labours, occasionally experienced a somewhat peculiar feeling when the frigate, owing to the severity of the weather, remained invisible during these three long days; and fancy involuntarily depicted themselves in the position of men whom the stormy waves of destiny had cast away on this lonely island in the Indian Ocean, there perhaps to languish for weary months out of reach of a.s.sistance or means of rescue.

Old Viot, who had come for the sixth time to the island, alleged that such rainy tempestuous weather at this season of the year was quite an unusual phenomenon,--an opinion which somewhat later was confirmed by the reports of several North American whalers. Ordinarily the fine season commences at the beginning of November, at which period the South wind is the most prevalent, the sky often remaining clear and hot for weeks together. The hottest month of the year is January, the coldest June. From May to October it is exceedingly difficult to land with boats on the island, and cases not unfrequently occur during the continuance of the stormy season resembling that which is instanced by the historiographer of Lord Macartney's emba.s.sy to China, in which, during September, 1792, a s.h.i.+p anch.o.r.ed on the east side of the island, was only able twice, during the lapse of eight weeks, to send a boat to the island with provisions. On this station the fishery is confined to the fine season (from November to April), while for the rest of the year the various huts of the fishermen are entirely abandoned, being only inhabited by a couple of men, in whose charge are left the few but by no means valueless implements and apparatus of the island. These men lead a very monotonous life, though not one of privation, for the crater-basin supplies the whole year round the most delicious fish, and craw-fish of the finest kind.

Our sailors used to hang a basket with bait close to the edge of the crater-basin, sunk a few feet in the water, which they would draw out every time full of lobsters. In a few hours they frequently caught from eighty to one hundred pounds' weight of these large and extremely delicate species of sh.e.l.l-fish. An excursion which was got up one morning to the South side of the island, in a fisherman's boat, was rewarded in a few hours with some fifty different sorts of denizens of the deep, some of which weighed twenty to twenty-five pounds each.

According to Viot's account, snow does not fall often in winter, and in consequence of the heat inherent in the volcanic soil, never lies long on it. On the other hand, hail is a tolerably frequent visitant. Rain is of constant occurrence, and sometimes falls in immense quant.i.ties. Viot was never weary of expressing his astonishment at the enormous size of the drops of rain which for many a year he had seen fall at St. Paul. The cold is often pretty severe; while the almost entire want of firing on the island (for the dung of animals is not obtainable in sufficient quant.i.ties to make its storing worth the requisite labour), deprives the poor residents of the comfort of a fireside. "If the last storm had not blown down our hut, we should for long have had to do without fuel," was the nave remark on one occasion of the old Frenchman, as he lay stretched out on a dirty bed, carefully rolled up in his rough woollen blanket. Winter begins in May and ends in September. During this period the Northerly winds are often very strong. On 27th June, 1857, there blew for six or eight hours here so terrific a tempest that the inhabitants of St. Paul did not venture outside of their huts for fear of being rapt away by the wind. These storms of winter occasionally rage to such a degree that they drive before them into the basin of the crater huge ma.s.ses of water, which they whirl in wild confusion to an enormous height, showing that the tract in the Southern Ocean traversed by the hurricanes which occasionally do such damage about Mauritius and Rodriguez, occasionally embraces the islands of St. Paul and Amsterdam. In November, at the commencement of the fine season, the winds are rather variable, and so continue to the end of March, when the N. and N.W. winds begin once more to blow regularly; these bring heavy rains and foul weather, after which, except that it is cold when the wind changes to West with a Southerly tendency, a warmer and drier climate is experienced. During our stay we frequently had an opportunity of verifying by observation the steady return of certain winds in regular succession. For instance, after the N.E. wind had prevailed for some days, it veered to N.N.W. whence it invariably went to W. by S., where it usually stayed some little time, after which it once more went to N.E.--a phenomenon which went through its phases every six days with surprising regularity.

There are heavy mists during autumn, but thunder on the other hand is far from frequent, nor is it particularly violent when it occurs. During a residence of eighteen days we never saw the centigrade thermometer stand higher than 662 Fahr., or lower than 536 Fahr. Lord Macartney gave 62 Fahr. as the average of the thermometer during his visit in February, 1793.

As for earthquakes, a phenomenon whose occurrence at St. Paul would possess an uncommon interest, Viot averred that during sixteen years that he had visited the island, off and on, he neither himself had perceived any indications of one, nor had he at any time heard of any such having been observed.

On the contrary, Ferdinand (who, nevertheless, had lived but eight months on the island) affirmed that his predecessor, Rosemond, had told him of shocks, comparatively slight it is true, which he (Rosemond) had felt during his several years' abode here. Considering the small circ.u.mference of the island, and the violent surf on its sh.o.r.es, slight oscillations may not improbably be felt, which are caused by other than volcanic agencies.

Moreover, on the outer margin of the crater-basin, the island presents at those numerous points, from which at ebb-tide roll volumes of smoke and steam, so many natural vents for the escape of the confined subterraneous gases, that in their ordinary state, and so long as they continue open, in future, there is no especial reason to suppose there will be any upheavings of the earth's crust in consequence of volcanic agencies. The earthquake of 14th August, 1857, which was pretty severely felt in Cape Town and the vicinity, does not seem to have included St. Paul within the circle of its influence. The present inhabitants of St. Paul, at all events, unanimously a.s.sert that they cannot recall having perceived, either on the 14th August, or at any time about that period, any shocks of earthquake whatever, or to have observed any unusual appearances either in the surface of the earth or in the atmosphere.

We purposely say "at any time about that period," because the inhabitants of the island do not avail themselves of that a.s.sistance so universal now-a-days of a printed calendar, but trust to memory for keeping a reckoning of the flight of time. That mistakes should frequently occur with such a method of computing time is rendered the more probable that not one of the three denizens of the island can write. For instance, we once remarked to our worthy Viot that by his own reckoning he had marked one day more than he had actually lived. "We always get into a mess with these confounded months of thirty-one days!" was the good-humoured reply of the ancient wanderer from Nantes.

Although the volcanic soil of St. Paul is everywhere especially adapted for scientific study, it nevertheless presents few objects with which to enrich collections of natural history. An island, on which not a single tree or bush is to be found, and on whose tufa soil, though well adapted for fruit, only a few gra.s.ses, ferns, and mosses thrive, must, so far as regards the value of his researches, prove as little interesting to the botanist as the zoologist, who, as we shall see more circ.u.mstantially further on, came across but few representatives here of the animated kingdom.

At several places, the practical gardener who accompanied the frigate was ordered to plant a number of European vegetables and anti-s...o...b..tic plants, such as cabbage, horse-radish, turnips, of various a.s.sorted species, celery, garden-cress, and spoonwort,[64] it is to be hoped with favourable results. At all events, we had the satisfaction during our stay, of seeing the tender shoots of some of the vegetables already sprouting through the surface of the earth. At that time there were not above a dozen or so cultivated spots on the Island; if, however, these are carefully cultivated, they can always furnish enough excellent nouris.h.i.+ng provision for from 80 to 100 men. A quant.i.ty of potatoes, from 6 to 8 sacks, planted in June, yield, in January or February, a crop of from 60 to 80 casks of 100 lbs. each, or between 3 and 4 tons.

[Footnote 64: The vegetables planted were as follows:--_Bra.s.sica rapa_ (rape); _Bra.s.sica oleracea capitata_ (sea kail); _Bra.s.sica rapa alba_ (white turnip); _Bra.s.sica rapa flava_ (yellow turnip); _Rapha.n.u.s sativus_ (radish); _Lepidium sativum_ (dittandu); _Cochleaeia officinalis_ (scurvy gra.s.s).]

Wheat, maize, and barley, also thrive at St. Paul, and their cultivation has only been discontinued, in consequence of their conversion into bread requiring a much larger amount of fuel than is at the command of the residents. On the other hand, all attempts to cultivate beans and peas have utterly failed hitherto. All kinds of nutritive plants give but one crop in the year. So also several kinds of trees, which promised to grow well, considering the resemblance between the climate here and that to which they were indigenous--such as _Pinus maritima_, various kinds of _Protea_, &c., and the successful rearing of which would ultimately prove an extraordinary benefit to all who frequent the island, in consequence of the great scarcity of firewood--were planted as seedlings by the gardener attached to the Expedition, in the vicinity of the two huts used for the observations. a.s.suredly it will not be one of the least important benefits of the _Novara_ Expedition, which it will have conferred on St. Paul, if the growth of the seedlings, planted in its soil with such a n.o.ble purpose in view, should result in the gradual and at all events partial clothing of the island in the forest.

As to the Fauna of St. Paul, there appears to be one kind of sea-swallow (_storna_) not hitherto described, the bill and feet of which are of a coral-red colour, and delicate silver-grey plumage, undoubtedly the most beautiful of the feathered inhabitants, as the penguin is the most extraordinary and peculiar creature on the island. Besides these there is also a pretty grey diver (_Prion Vittatus_), which builds its nest among the rocks; also a brown gull (_Stercorarius antarcticus_), as also three kinds of albatrosses (_Diomedea exulans_, _D. fuliginosa_, _D.

chlororhinchos_).

The Crater-basin was somewhat less unproductive than the dry land. The depth is from 100 to 175 feet. Close to the edge, the sounding line gave a depth of 10 fathoms (60 feet). Experiments with the dredging-net, although frequently made, gave by no means satisfactory results. On the other hand, the rod and line brought up many an interesting addition to our collection, and frequent strolls at ebb-tide along the barely uncovered ma.s.ses of rock that skirted the basin of the crater were rewarded with numerous discoveries of specimens of conchology. In the centre of the basin we came upon slimy ground at a depth of 204 feet; near the hot springs (about 100 feet distant), 19 fathoms (114 feet); and at a third point, on the south side, 23 fathoms (138 feet). Viot said, that after repeated soundings at different points, he had found the depth of the basin varied from 10 to 35 fathoms (60 to 210 feet). The seals (_Arctocephalus Falclandicus_) of which, according to Macartney, at the end of last century, thousands daily came to the coast of the island to bask in the sun, have almost entirely disappeared, so that these animals are very rarely seen or captured by the inhabitants. Even of the skeletons of these marine mammals, which, when the naturalists of the _Lion_ were roaming through the island, used to lie about in such numbers that one could almost walk upon bones all round the crater, not a vestige is left, and one can hardly realize that formerly hundreds of thousands of these animals were slaughtered at this island.

Almost all the quadrupeds of the island are domestic animals that have been brought hither from Europe and the French colonies--such as swine, goats, cats, rabbits--which at present live here in a wild state. The goats, which were first introduced in 1844, are most numerous on the N.W.

of the island; the swine, on the contrary, are not so frequently met with.

During our residence, a boar and a wild cat were killed; a few days after, the five young of the cat were found, having been compelled to emerge from their lair in search of food. A female hare, which we had brought from Cape Town, was also set free on the island, and it was fortunate for the propagation of these useful animals that there was already a male hare on the island. A pair of geese was also presented to the colonists, which perhaps have continued to breed there.

As we thought the island was uninhabited, it was originally our intention to leave several kinds of domestic animals of different s.e.xes with a view to propagation; and with that object, when at Cape Town had made various purchases of useful animals; but, under the circ.u.mstances, we relinquished this intention, as there seemed but little chance of their being left undisturbed sufficiently long to secure the desired object. Occasionally cows would be landed from the whalers for the sake of the fresh fodder, and taken away again after the lapse of a month or two.

The projected scientific operations of the Expedition might easily have been carried out within eight days, had we not been so obstinately persecuted with unfavourable weather. Violent north winds, which rendered it impossible to make any use of the surveying-board in the open air, alternated in an extraordinary manner with rainbows. Our astronomical observations were as yet nothing to speak of. Observations with the barometer, thermometer, current-measurer, and tide-guage, could alone be prosecuted, the last of which especially gave the following interesting result, that the hour of high water, both at full moon and new moon, is not 11 A.M., as given by Horsburgh (7th edition, Vol. I. p. 102), but at 1.10 P.M.[65]

[Footnote 65: According to Lord Macartney, the tide rises at full and new moon, between 8 and 9 feet perpendicular. A northerly wind always causes the highest tide, the current of which is from S.E. by S. to N.W. by N., and has a velocity of about 3 miles an hour.]

The proper carrying out of the objects of the geognostic enquiries was hampered by unforeseen obstacles and difficulties. One day the rain would be so heavy, that the slight covering of our apartments would be insufficient to protect us any longer from the beating of the rain which fell in bucketsfull, and began to leak through innumerable seams and cracks on to the beds, tables, and floor. Did any one think to shelter himself in the hut of a neighbour?--ere long there commenced a regular emigration, which very speedily came to a conclusion, by each and all having the melancholy satisfaction of perceiving that Fortune had set to work with rigorous impartiality, and had resolved to let each one of us feel the weight of her displeasure. And so we pa.s.sed the long dreary hours in our comfortless huts, that gave free entrance to wind and rain, with umbrellas outspread or wrapped in our India-rubber cloaks, gazing moodily at the numerous cases full of valuable instruments, which, instead of being serviceable to science, were, by the loss of so many splendid opportunities, doomed to inactivity.

[Ill.u.s.tration: RAINY DAY AT ST. PAUL.]

Fortunately, all showed themselves animated by the utmost zeal for the undertaking and its successful issue; and, in a word, each fresh avalanche of difficulties, which sought to thwart our exertions and impair our forces, served only to reawaken the energies and reanimate the confidence of each and all amid all our calamities.

So soon as the hovel we inhabited, which had enabled us to make observations upon the direction and strength of the wind rather than secured us any accommodation for sleep, had been in some degree restored to its original condition, we availed ourselves of the slight improvement in the weather, to examine a tolerably numerous collection of very beautifully bound books, which were found stowed away in one of the recesses for books running into the four part.i.tions, and had in all probability much to dread from the rain-water trickling through the covering of the roof. These had been brought hither by a former proprietor of the island, and when it was sold were transferred with the rest of the stock of tools, &c., to M. Ottovan, who occasionally resided at St. Paul for a month or two, but seemed, so far as the condition of the books went, rarely to meddle with them. It was curious enough, however, to encounter in a lone desert island, so many evidences of the most refined civilization, so we shall cite in a note some of the most interesting of this library of about 150 different works, which deserved a better fate than to moulder away undisturbed till they fell into dust.[66]

[Footnote 66: Among these were the works on Natural History, by Charles Bonnel (Neufchatel, 1783); J. S. Laharpe's "Abrege de l'Histoire Generale des Voyages, Paris, 1816;" Dacier's "Translation of Horace into French, with Notes and Critical Remarks. Paris, 1816;" "De la Felicite Publique; ou, Considerations sur le sort des Hommes dans les Differentes epoques de l'Histoire: A. Bouillon: from the Printing Establishment of the Typographical Society, Paris, 1776;" "Essay on the Life of the Great Conde, by Louis Joseph, Prince de Conde, at present in England, London, 1st May, 1807;" "Precis des Journees 15, 16, 17, and 18 Juin, 1815, ou Fin de la Vie Politique de Napoleon Buonaparte, par M. Giraud, auteur de la "Campagne de Paris en 1814;" Paris, 1815, 1st vol. 8; "Histoire des Guerres des Gaulois et des Francais en Italie, avec le tableau des evenemens civils et militaires qui les accompagnerent et leur influence sur la civilisation et les progres de l'esprit humain." "Depuis Bellevise jusqu'a la mort de Louis XII., par lex Adjutant-General Auguste Jube, tribun." "Depuis Louis XII., jusqu'au Traite d'Amiens, par Joseph Servan, General de Division. Dediees a S. M. l'Empereur. Paris, an. XIII. (1805)."

"Manuel des habitans de St. Dominique, contenant un precis de l'histoire de cette isle depuis sa decouverte, etc., par S. J. Duc[oe]urjoly, ancien habitant de St. Dominique; Paris, 1800, an. X, 2 vols.]

Less fortunate were we in our researches for any doc.u.ment which could in any way throw any light, direct or indirect, upon the former history of St. Paul. The only piece of writing which we found that had reference to the island, was a licence drawn up during the reign of Louis Philippe, dated 20th February, 1846, to M. Adam, of St. Denis (in the Island of Bourbon), to proceed to carry out a certain undertaking in the schooner "_La Mouche_," 30 tons' burthen, under the protection of the French flag.

"_La Mouche_," is the same boat in which Viot had made so many voyages to and fro between St. Denis and St. Paul. This doc.u.ment, which the poor old Frenchman drew out one evening from a drawer thickly strewn with dust, insensibly led the conversation to the quondam owners of St. Paul, and thence naturally to an enquiry, on our part, as to the number of graves which dotted this romantic offshoot of Pere la Chaise. "The climate is far too healthy, and the island far too little frequented, to admit of there being many graves in St. Paul," replied Viot. Of the blacks, whom M. Adam had once worked so unmercifully on the island, very many perished here owing to the severity of their treatment, but no one knows where their bodies lie;--very possibly their bones lie scattered about the island, like the remains of the much persecuted petrel (_prion turton_), which the predatory gull throws carelessly from him after he has stripped off the flesh, and gorged himself on the most delicate morsels. Only two graves are known to the present residents,--one is the resting-place of an Englishwoman, who died on board a merchant-s.h.i.+p which happened to be near the island, and whose grave was dug in the earth on the north side of the crater-basin; the second covers the body of a s.h.i.+p captain, who was accidentally drowned in the basin by the upsetting of a small boat, as he was approaching the bar in heavy weather. His grave is at a short distance behind the huts of the colonists, and bears traces to this day of the solemn feelings with which it was erected; an enclosure of large stones neatly arranged, make the site and its object at once recognisable.

s.h.i.+pwrecks are unheard of at St. Paul; at least, none such have been known to occur since it has been occupied by man. On the other hand, they are of more frequent occurrence at the sister island, as has very lately been evidenced by the catastrophe of the _Meridian_. However, the elements are not always to blame for such lamentable occurrences. s.h.i.+ps are sometimes dashed to pieces on the sh.o.r.es of Amsterdam in the finest weather, so that one is almost induced to believe that these misfortunes are occasionally resorted to intentionally, so as to realize some high insurance on a vessel which has probably already become half unseaworthy--a not very conscientious method of doing business, of which, however, some of the natives of Greece and the borders thereof are not unfrequently guilty. In February, 1855, a North American whaler struck upon the north-east side of Amsterdam in a calm, and with a clear sky overhead, so that the entire crew, 30 in number, were able to secure the provisions and their kits. The captain, with one of the s.h.i.+p's small boats, made for the Island of St.

Paul, 42 miles distant, in the hope, probably, of getting a.s.sistance thence. A lucky destiny so willed it, that (the accident having occurred in the finest season of the year), a vessel of M. Ottovan's, which by a strange coincidence was named _L'Ange Gardien_ (the Guardian Angel), lay at anchor inside the crater-basin, loading with fish. The s.h.i.+pwrecked crew were indebted to his circ.u.mstance that, within 14 days more, they found themselves at Mauritius. A report circulated among the residents of St.

Paul that the captain of the stranded s.h.i.+p had landed with some of his companions in a boat on the N.E. of Amsterdam, with the intention of searching for a sum of several thousand dollars which a previous visitant to this island was said to have buried there for some mysterious reasons.

While the captain was on sh.o.r.e, vainly searching for a considerable time after the buried treasure, the s.h.i.+pmaster left in charge in his absence came too near the island, whereupon the vessel had been lost upon one of the numerous reefs which lie off the sh.o.r.e. A part, it was added, of the buried money had, in fact, been recovered. According to Viot, the captain had dug up 1000 dollars (above 200), and one of his companions 300 dollars.

At last, on the morning of 3rd December--the fifteenth of our stay at the island--the sky shone so brightly that one could, with more probability than hitherto, cherish the hope that the various operations we had been compelled to lay aside might finally be brought uninterrupted to a successful conclusion. However, the very wet day was again exceedingly unfavourable for open-air observations, especially astronomical, inasmuch as a pretty strong North-east wind incessantly drove over the island clouds of rain, the very heaviest of which, attracted by the ma.s.s of the island, broke right over our heads. Fortunately this spell of bad weather did not last as long as the first; and when, on 6th December, the _Novara_ once more made her appearance at the island, and enquired by signals as to the progress made in our appointed work, we were so fortunate as to be able to reply by the same means, that the most important portion had been completed, and that the officers and naturalists were ready to re-embark.

About 9 A.M., the frigate anch.o.r.ed in 25 fathoms, close to the spot where the English s.h.i.+p _Fly_, Captain Blackwood, lay in 1842. It was the third time that the _Novara_ anch.o.r.ed off St. Paul. Twice before had she experienced unusually tempestuous weather, which compelled her to sheer off from such a perilous coast, and expose herself to be lashed for days together by the raging giant waves of the infuriated element.

One of the boats sent by the frigate to take us off to the s.h.i.+p, brought at the same time some presents, in memory of the Expedition, for the residents of the island, who had been so hospitable and obliging during our stay. The presents consisted of s.h.i.+p biscuit, salted meat, and various other edibles, wine, a musket, woollen blankets, clothes, shoes, tools, medicines, vinegar, oil, &c. The simple, modest fellows were immensely pleased with these unexpected presents, and Viot especially seemed overjoyed on seeing a number of tools, for want of which many of the repairs necessary in the interior of their anything but air-tight wooden habitations, were daily becoming more apparent.

We left a book on the Island of St. Paul, in which the princ.i.p.al memoranda of what we had achieved were set forth in three languages (German, English, and French), with the view of supplying to future scientific visitors, data for further researches and observations, and at same time incite them to prosecute these we had ourselves made.

We insert here this doc.u.ment, which will yet give witness, probably, of the scientific activity of the Austrian Expedition at the Island of St.

Paul in the Indian Ocean, at a period when those engaged in it will long since have voyaged to

"That undiscovered country from whose bourne No traveller returns."

"The Imperial Austrian Frigate, _Novara_, 44, under the command of Commodore the Chevalier von Wullerstorf-Urbair, engaged in a voyage round the globe for scientific purposes, anch.o.r.ed at nine in the morning of 19th November, 1857, on the Eastern side of St. Paul, with the purpose of prosecuting astronomical, magnetic, meteorological, and geodesical observations and measurements, and at same time examine thoroughly the natural history of the island. Extremely unfavourable weather in great measure delayed the expedition; and, after having successfully carried out a series of observations and researches, the results of which will in due time be published, the officers and naturalists in charge of the various departments, on the 6th December of the same year, quitted St. Paul, each bearing with him the most pleasing reminiscences of that interesting island, and of its three poor, but eminently kind inhabitants.

"For the guidance of future observers the following memoranda may prove useful:--

"I. That the spot at which observations were taken was on a small eminence, north of the huts of the colonists, and which may be recognized by a small pyramid of stones, on which the Austrian Expedition marked the observed lat.i.tude 38 42' 55" S., and the longitude 77 31' 18" E. of Greenwich.[67] Further that:--

[Footnote 67: The time, which we took from the Cape Observatory by four excellent chronometers, gave, on our voyage between the Cape and St. Paul, a period of forty-six days, a difference of 3 h. 56 min. 11 sec., which the island was E. of the Cape, so that adding the Longitude of the latter East of Greenwich (by nautical almanack), 1 h. 13 min. 55 s., we have the Longitude of St. Paul 5 h. 10 min. 6 s. East of Greenwich (77 31' 30"