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I have since heard this singular and beautiful scene likened, not
inaptly, by a lady who had witnessed it, to "a storm in a calm".
Below are the wild and foaming billows of a tempest-tossed sea, while
above all is quiet, serene and tranquil.
We reached Montreal in safety, the second day from Kingston (the
Rideau route would have occupied about six days), and Quebec the
day following, taking up temporary quarters in the Jesuit Barrack.
About ten days after that, the Premier transport arrived, after a
quick passage from England, for our conveyance to the West Indies.
She was a barque-rigged vessel of 500 tons burden, remarkably well-built,
strong and beautifully modelled, but, as some naval men
thought, somewhat over-masted. She had a great quantity of
provisions and other government stores on board, was soundly
rigged, and well found in every requisite, except the essential one
of a crew. The men who came out in her nearly all deserted on their
arrival, and the master and transport agents were compelled to ship
such hands in their stead as they could pick up about the wharfs of
Quebec; and a more worthless or ruffianly set could hardly be found
on board any British vessel. With exception of the carpenter, and
one or two others of the old hands, there was not a regular "salt"
or true "tar" on board. The captain also quitted her at Quebec, to
take charge of some other vessel, and the command devolved on the
chief mate, Mr. New.
On the 28th of October, the right wing and head-quarters of "the
Royals" marched from their barracks, for embarkation, in high
health and spirits, preceded by the bands of the 68th and 82nd
regiments, and many were the ominous dreams and warning prognostics
of old women that were afterwards foretold of the direful fate in
store for the unlucky Royals. In consequence of strict orders from
the Horse Guards, no more than the regulated number of women were
allowed to accompany their husbands, and many a destitute wife and
child were left behind. A few of these unhappy creatures succeeded
in smuggling themselves on board during the confusion, but they
were soon detected in their hiding places, and, however they might
have deplored their apparently cruel fate at the time, had ample
reason subsequently to congratulate themselves on the failure of
their enterprise.
The total number of persons embarked was about 350, including
officers, men, women and children, and the officers and crew of the
vessel. The officers who embarked were Major Bennett commanding,
Captain Davenport, Lieutenant and Adjutant Wetherall, Lieutenant
Whitmore, acting paymaster, Lieutenants Lysons, Gore and
Vansittart, Ensign Waddilove and Surgeon Dartnell, besides
Leiutenant Harris, R.N., transport agent, and the master, Captain
New. The only lady of our little party was Mrs. Bennett, whose
heroic and patient conduct, throughout the whole of the trying
scene of the subsequent shipwreck, was the theme of universal
admiration.
Two days were allowed for stowing away and securing the baggage,
laying in stock, and shaking the men into their berths, the bustle
and confusion of the crowded decks in some measure subsided, and on
the afternoon of the 31st, the Premier loosed her topsails, took
her pilot on board, and weighed anchor from the harbour of Quebec,
dropping gently down with the ebb tide and a light breeze from the
westward.
The navigation of the St. Lawrence is at all times attended with
danger, from the intricacy of its channels, its numerous reefs and
shoals, and from the sluggishness and uncertain variation of the
compass; but these perils are greatly increase, at the commencement
of the winter, by the gales which frequently prevail at this
season; the fogs, and snow-storms, and strong currents, which, from
being powerfully acted upon by the winds, are so irregular in their
force, as well as their direction, as seldom to be calculated upon
with accuracy. Innumerable accidents, accordingly, occur annually
to the late "fall" shipping in this noble but dangerous river.
During the month in which the Premier was lost, no less than nine
merchant vessels were wrecked upon its shores, with considerable
loss of life and property. The marine insurance, I believe, on
vessels navigating the St. Lawrence, is null and void after the
31st of October, and no ship of war is allowed to enter the river
after this date.
The first three or four days after sailing were passed without
any incident worth remarking. The weather, though particularly cold
for the season of the year, was tolerably fine and moderate, but
the prospect dreary in the extreme; the land on both side of the
river white with snow, the low and cultivated fields of the south,
as well as the bleak and rugged mountains of Labrador on the north
shore. We had a comfortable ship, however, an abundant and
excellent stock of provisions and stores of all kinds; all were
contented and cheerful; and we consoled ourselves with the
comforting assurance that a few days of favourable wind would
exchange our snow and ice for the genial warmth of a summer sun.
We reached Green Island, 150 miles from Quebec, on the morning of
the 3rd of November, and here (instead of accompanying us to Bic
Island, about 50 miles farther down, as he should have done), the
pilot took his leave, hoping, no doubt, as the wind was fair, and
we could hold a straight course, that we should have passed the
last dangerous parts of the river within daylight. |
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