REMINISCENCES OF A VOYAGE TO AND FROM CHINA. 
65 
kept in the hold. The others, consisting of the same kinds with the addi¬ 
tion of a few peach, gooseberry, and currant trees were potted in com¬ 
mon soil, and placed in boxes, one of which was placed upon deck, and 
the others in the stern gallery. These were our outward bound charge ; 
and to which were added a large box of earth, planted with large roots 
of mangold wirtzel, as thick as they could stand together, for the 
purpose of yielding an occasional dish of greens for the captain’s table ; 
and also two square tablets to be covered with thick flannel, on which 
we raised a handsome dish of small salad, for every Sunday throughout 
the voyage; a stock of radish and mustard and cress seeds being ship¬ 
ped for the purpose before leaving England. 
We also carried out three sacks of moss (Sphagnum palustre ) 
to pack the plants in while at Canton. The number, size, form, and 
fittings of the boxes were to be made to our order in China, as by the 
time we got there we could observe what spaces could be best spared, 
and which would be completely out of the tvay of working the ship. 
Our passage from Gravesend round to Torbay, was by no means 
pleasant to a landsman. Besides the ship’s crew, the orlop deck was 
filled with a numerous detachment of East India Company’s recruits, 
who had been recently enlisted in Ireland, nine-tenths of whom were the 
very scum of Dublin ; and a most unruly set they were. Soon after 
rounding the South Foreland, many of the men, both sailors and 
soldiers, were observed to be drunk. The fate of the Halsewell was 
then fresh in memory ; the officers immediately commenced a search 
for the contraband spirits, which caused a dreadful commotion in the 
ship. The officers however were victorious, every keg which was 
found in private hands was consigned to the deep, and all disorderlies 
were sent to their hammocks. 
Proceeding down Channel, we encountered a heavy gale, in which 
the boltsprit was sprung, which caused us to bear away for Torbay, to 
refit. Here we lay for a week or ten days; and it was not before the 
thirtieth of January that we took our departure from the Land’s-End. 
Here in a few words we may relate an instance of the mental 
weakness of sailors : the ship had just touched the ridge of a sand¬ 
bank, before coming to anchor in the Downs; she also struck a sunken 
wreck off Beachy Head; afterward, the boltsprit was sprung, so that 
by the time we cast anchor in Torbay the hardy tars considered all 
these mishaps as certain omens of a disastrous voyage. And so much 
did this idea prevail, especially among the old and able seamen, that 
half of them would have deserted the ship, if they had been allowed an 
opportunity. 
We had a fine leading wind, which carried us quickly from the 
VOL. V.—NO. LVI 
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