The Last Voyage: To India and Australia, in the 'Sunbeam'

MACASSAR to ADELAIDE, SOUTH AUSTRALIA.

ADELAIDE to MELBOURNE, SYDNEY, and PORT DARWIN.

PORT DARWIN to MAURITIUS and CAPE OF GOOD HOPE.

N.B. – On this passage the 'Sunbeam' made the fastest long run she has ever made. In the fortnight Sept. 13 to 27 she did 3,073 knots.

CAPE OF GOOD HOPE to PORTSMOUTH.

[7] On Gum Mountain.

[8] By account.

SUMMARY.

Total distance under steam and sail, 36,466 miles.

(B) THE CRUISE OF THE ‘SUNBEAM.’

Reprinted from the ‘Times’ of December 15, 1887

The 'Sunbeam' reached Portsmouth Harbour on Wednesday after her long voyage of 36,000 nautical miles among the British Possessions in all parts of the world. We are enabled to give the following short account of this very interesting cruise.

For certain duties of the navy, such as protection of the revenue, supervision of fisheries, the police of the Pacific, instruction in pilotage, small vessels are required which will be thoroughly seaworthy, capable under sail of taking full advantage of the winds, and in calms making fair speed under steam with a low consumption of fuel. It is believed that such a type is represented in the 'Sunbeam,' and that her performances during an extended cruise recently completed may be of interest in a naval point of view.

The principal dimensions of the hull and spars of the 'Sunbeam' are as follows: – Length between perpendiculars, 137 ft.; beam, 27 ft. 6 in.; depth of hold, 13 ft. 9 in.; displacement in tons, 576; sail area in square yards, 9,200.

In fourteen years of active cruising in all parts of the world the seaworthiness of the 'Sunbeam' has been thoroughly tested. Neither when lying to nor scudding has she ever shipped a green sea. She can be worked with a complement of eighteen seamen and three stokers. She can carry an armament of machine and quick-firing guns.

The consumption of fuel may be taken at three tons in twenty-four hours for a speed of 7¾ knots; four tons for eight knots; and seven tons for nine knots. The measured-mile speed was 10·27 knots. Seventy tons of coal can be carried.

Under sail alone in the most favourable circumstances 13 knots is an extreme speed. Three hundred knots have been made good on a few occasions, with some contributions to the day's run from current. On a passage the average distance made good is 1,000 miles a week, of which one-third is under steam.

The recent cruise of the 'Sunbeam' included India, the Eastern Archipelago, and Australia. The outward voyage was by the Suez Canal and the return voyage by the Cape. On leaving Portsmouth calls were made at Cowes and Southampton, the departure being finally taken from Plymouth on the 19th of November. Gibraltar was reached on the 26th of November, Algiers on the 1st of December, Malta 5th, Port Said 10th, Assab Bay 19th, Aden 21st of December, and Bombay 3rd of January. From England fine weather was experienced as far as Algiers. Thence to Port Said the winds were strong from the westward, with an interval of calm lasting nearly two days. In the northern portion of the Red Sea fresh northerly winds prevailed. On leaving Aden the north-east monsoon blew with such force that it was decided to make a stretch to the eastward under sail. As the distance from the Arabian coast increased the monsoon gradually abated, and a course was laid under steam direct to Bombay. On nearing the coast of India the monsoon became more northerly, and the 'Sunbeam' fetched Bombay under sail. Having given a general description of the weather, the records of the log-book may be summarised as follows: – Distance under sail, 4,046 knots; distance under steam, 2,830 knots; the average speed in each case being within a fraction of seven knots.

On the first section of the voyage the average speed of 1,000 miles a week was maintained with remarkable uniformity. Bombay was reached on the precise day which had been estimated before leaving England.

After a few days at Bombay the 'Sunbeam' proceeded to Kurrachee, and remained in its salubrious climate from the 10th of January to the 7th of February. Lord Brassey and his family in the interval made an extended journey in North-Western India. The return passage from Kurrachee to Bombay, favoured by a brisk north-east monsoon, was made entirely under sail in less than forty-eight hours, the distance covered on the 9th of February being 268 miles. The Queen's Jubilee was celebrated during the second visit of the 'Sunbeam' to Bombay.

The voyage was resumed on the 22nd of February. Touching at Jinjeera and Goa, Colombo was reached on the 5th of March. The entire distance from Kurrachee to Cape Comorin, including both entering and leaving port, had been accomplished under sail. The monsoon was not felt on the Malabar coast. From Bombay to Cape Comorin the passage was made with the daily sea breezes, blowing fresh in the afternoon, followed by calm prolonged through the night and the first part of the day. Calling at Trincomalee en route, the 'Sunbeam' next proceeded to Burmah. March is a busy season in the rice trade, and a noble fleet of sailing ships was assembled at Rangoon.

After leaving Rangoon the 'Sunbeam' proceeded to Borneo, touching at Moulmein and Singapore. The Sarawak river was reached on the 3rd of April. Following the northern and eastern coast of Borneo, Labuan, Brunei, Kudat Bay, Sandakan, and Darvel Bay were successively visited. Macassar was reached on the 19th of April. In the section of the voyage extending from Bombay to Kurrachee, and thence by the route which has been described, the total distances covered were 4,695 knots under steam at an average speed of 8·3 knots, and 2,509 knots under sail at an average speed of 5·1 knots.

The 'Sunbeam' left Macassar on the evening of the 20th of April. The Indian Ocean was entered from the Allas Straits, which divides the islands of Lombok and Sumbawa, on the 24th. A heavy swell was encountered from the east, caused, as it was afterwards learned, by a cyclone which did great damage to the fleet engaged in the pearl-fishery on the north-west coast of Australia. The South-east Trades were picked up on the 25th, and blew steadily until the 3rd of May. On the 5th of May a gale, with furious squalls, was experienced from the south-west. It was followed by a calm, and afterwards by westerly winds. Albany was reached on the 8th of May. The 'Sunbeam' again put to sea on the 17th of May. A week was occupied on the passage to Adelaide. In the great Australian Bight north-east winds were encountered, gradually shifting to the west, and blowing a gale during the last two days before reaching port. On the day before the arrival at Adelaide the distance of 265 knots was made good; sail having been much reduced for several hours to avoid running down on Kangaroo Island in thick weather at night. Between Macassar and Adelaide a distance of 3,256 knots was covered under sail at an average speed of 6·3 knots. The distance under steam was 601 knots and the average speed seven knots.

From Adelaide the 'Sunbeam' made a smart run to Melbourne, encountering a heavy gale with furious squalls off Cape Otway. After a long stay at Melbourne the voyage was resumed to Sydney, Newcastle, and Brisbane.

On leaving Brisbane the passage was taken inside the Great Barrier Reef without the assistance of a pilot. Fourteen hundred miles of this difficult navigation were traversed under sail. The 'Sunbeam' touched at all the ports of Northern Queensland, and between Cooktown and the Albany Pass anchored in the three intervening nights under the lee of the coral reefs. A somewhat prolonged stay at Thursday Island was broken by a visit to Darnley Island and other anchorages in the Torres Straits. Port Darwin was reached on the 8th of September. Between Adelaide and Port Darwin the distance under sail was 3,311 knots, and the average speed 7·2 knots. The distance under steam was 966 knots, and the average speed 6·5 knots. On arrival at Port Darwin the 'Sunbeam' had completed successfully the circumnavigation of the Australian continent. Unhappily the cruise, so auspiciously commenced, ended with that painful event which has cast a dark shadow over all its other memories.

From Port Darwin to the Cape of Good Hope, and thence to Sierra Leone, the voyage lay for the most part within the zone of the South-east Trades. Rodriguez Island was sighted on the 26th of September, and Mauritius was reached two days later. The passage from Port Louis to Algoa Bay occupied 11 days. To the southward of the Trades, off the coast of Natal, a short but severe gale from the south-west was encountered. The gale was followed by a fresh breeze from the east, which carried the 'Sunbeam' rapidly to the westward from off Gordon Bay, her landfall on the coast of Africa. A day was spent at Port Elizabeth, and two days of rapid sailing before an easterly wind brought the yacht into Table Bay on the morning of the 15th of October, just in time to gain the anchorage before one of the hard gales from the south-east set in which are not infrequently experienced at the Cape. The construction of a noble breakwater has given complete security to the anchorage off Cape Town.

Between Port Darwin and the Cape the distance covered was 1,047 knots under steam and 5,622 knots under sail; the average speed under steam and sail was exactly eight knots. In the fortnight from September 13 to 27, 3,073 knots, giving an average speed of nine knots, were covered under sail alone, with winds of moderate strength. Balloon canvas was freely used.

The 'Sunbeam' left Cape Town on the 24th of October. She touched at St. Helena on the 3rd of November, Ascension on the 7th, and Sierra Leone on the 14th. In this section of the voyage the distance under canvas was 3,327 knots, the average speed 7·7 knots; and the distance under steam 289 knots, with an average speed of seven knots. The South-east Trades were light, and balloon canvas again proved extremely serviceable.

The 'Sunbeam' left Sierra Leone at sunset on the 15th of November, under steam. The North-east Trades were picked up in latitude 11 deg. N. A call of a few hours was made at Porto Praya on the 19th of November. On the following day the northern islands of the Cape Verde group were sighted. During the 21st and 22nd of November a great number of sailing ships were passed, outward bound. The Trades were interrupted by a calm on the 24th of November and stopped finally on the 27th. On the following day, without warning from the barometer, a strong gale commenced from the east, and lasted without intermission for four days. Under low canvas and close hauled the 'Sunbeam' gallantly struggled forward, making 130 knots on the 29th of November, and on the three following days 112, 57, and 92 knots respectively. While hove-to in this gale the canvas was severely punished. All the lower sails were more or less damaged, and sail was reduced to storm trysails. Two large barques were passed lying-to under lower main topsails and mizzen storm staysails. At dawn on the 2nd of December Fayal was sighted.

Shelter was obtained for 24 hours under the lee of the island of Pico, and on the following day the 'Sunbeam' anchored off Horta, the port of Fayal. The passage from Sierra Leone to Fayal had been accomplished, with adverse winds during a considerable part of the voyage, in 16½ days, 2,005 knots being covered under sail at an average speed of 6·3 knots, and 460 miles under steam at an average speed of six knots. Having taken in water and provisions, the voyage was resumed on the evening of the 3rd of December, with a favourable wind from the south-south-east. At midnight the wind shifted suddenly to the north-east, and on the following morning the 'Sunbeam' bore up before a severe gale for shelter under the lee of Terceira.

On the 5th of December the gale subsided to a calm, and the voyage homewards was commenced under steam. In a few hours the engines broke down, and sail was made to a light breeze from the north-east. In the succeeding days favourable winds were experienced from the westward. On the 11th the wind shifted to the south-east, accompanied by drizzling rain and fog, rendering observations impossible, which continued until the Scilly Island lights were sighted in a fortunate lifting of the haze on the evening of the 12th. The run from the Scilly Islands to Spithead was made at the rate of 11½ knots before a south-westerly gale. The total distance from Fayal, including the call at Terceira, was 1,440 miles, of which 60 only were under steam. The average speed was seven knots. The 'Sunbeam' entered Portsmouth Harbour at noon on the 14th of December. The total distance covered during the voyage was 36,709 nautical miles, 25,800 under sail and 10,909 under steam. The runs under sail only included 39 days over 200 knots, 15 days over 240, seven days over 260, three days over 270. The best day was 282 knots. The total consumption of coal was 330 tons. Though the quality taken in abroad was in many instances inferior, an average distance of 33 knots was steamed for every ton of coals consumed.

When the 'Sunbeam' reached the Cape it was found that the tubes of the boiler had been seriously injured by the great varieties of fuel burnt during the voyage. The pressure of steam was considerably reduced, with a corresponding loss of speed. On leaving Terceira the boiler broke down completely, and for the remainder of the voyage the winds were the only resource.

The crew, consisting of 24 men in various ratings, have behaved in a highly creditable manner. The offences when in port have been few, and at sea every duty has been carried out in a manner worthy of British seamen. Three men joined at King George's Sound. They had been sentenced to a short term of imprisonment for insubordination on board a yacht returning from a cruise in Australian waters. To oblige the Government Resident, Lord Brassey consented to receive these men on board on trial. Better men it would not have been possible to obtain had they been recruited through the usual agencies.

PART III

SPEECHES IN AUSTRALIA, TO WHICH SPECIAL REFERENCE IS MADE IN THE LAST JOURNAL OF LADY BRASSEY. REPRINTED FROM THE AUSTRALIAN PRESS

ROYAL GEOGRAPHICAL SOCIETY OF AUSTRALASIA

Adelaide, May 27th, 1887

The annual meeting of the South Australian Branch of the Royal Geographical Society of Australasia was held at the Society's rooms, Waymouth Street, on Friday afternoon, May 27th. Sir Samuel Davenport (Vice-President) occupied the chair.

The ordinary business of the meeting having been concluded, and speeches of welcome having been delivered by the Chairman, Lord Brassey said: 'You have spoken of the voyages that have been taken on the "Sunbeam" as adventures not unworthy of those old Northmen in whose distant fame England and Australia equally share. I cannot take to myself the credit of being an adventurer in the same sense in which our northern forefathers were adventurers. I will not speak of the morality of their proceedings, but simply of the feats of navigation in which they engaged. Those northern forefathers of ours were not provided with all the information which geographers and explorers have given to the navigators of modern days. Consider for a moment the hazards and the difficulties encountered by Captain Cook. Going about as I do with all the facilities afforded by the most recent discoveries in science, and still finding the art of navigation not made so very easy, I confess that when I look back to a great man like Captain Cook, who entered these seas with no information, and with no other resource but his general seamanship and knowledge of navigation, my admiration of his achievements grows continually stronger. I particularly rejoice that so excellent a society as this has been established in Adelaide. I understand it is a society collateral with others which exist in the other colonies of Australia. It seems to me that you are doing a most valuable work. Exploration must precede settlement. It is a necessary process, by which alone you can arrive at the proper settlement and development of this country. A previous speaker expressed deep satisfaction that the control of this fifth continent had devolved on the Anglo-Saxon race. In coming to these colonies I touched at two seaports, which, by the contrast they present, brought forcibly to my mind the advantage of a liberal policy in dealing with commerce. The two ports to which I refer are Singapore and Macassar. Singapore dates from some fifty or sixty years ago at the most, but it has grown to a magnificent emporium of trade; and how has it reached that position? By declaring on the very first day that the protecting flag of England was hoisted that equal privileges should be given to men of commerce to whatever nationality they might belong. When we turn to Macassar – a place which might be not unfairly compared in regard to facilities of position with Singapore – we find the Dutch determined to close it to the enterprise of every foreign nationality. The result of this selfish spirit is that Macassar presents all the indications of languor and decay, while Singapore presents all the indications of prosperity and wealth. Before I sit down, may I refer to some portion of the report, in which reference was made to recent spheres of exploration in which the society is interested? You refer to the exploration of New Guinea. There are some delicate questions connected with New Guinea, on which I certainly shall not now touch, but I may say that what I have seen of the world has tended to impress on my mind most deeply the conviction that latitude does fix in a very decisive manner a limitation upon the sphere of the Anglo-Saxon race for direct physical labour. I feel convinced that unless you have temperate weather, such as we are now enjoying in Adelaide, to make up for the hot season, the Anglo-Saxon race cannot undertake outdoor labour. You may direct and administer it; you may be able to go through figures in the office; but, to go out into the field to dig and delve is impossible. Despite this, however, the tropical countries may prove of inestimable benefit. Although they may not be suitable for the employment of the Anglo-Saxons as field labourers, it does not follow that they are not to be of great benefit – even a direct benefit – to our own race in regard to the employment of labour. If we can succeed in developing these tropical regions by employing the labour of the tropical races, the increasing prosperity will serve to extend the markets for the products of Anglo-Saxon labour in countries adapted to our race. A visit to Australia must be a matter of deep interest to every patriotic Englishman. In the old country we are becoming more and more sensible that it is the highest statesmanship to keep together every limb of the British Empire. There is an increasing affection to the colonies in England, and an increasing pride in their advancement. National sentiment and enlightened self-interest will bind and keep us together, so that not one limb of the great British Empire shall be severed. I have said more than strictly belongs to the motion, but I was prompted to do so by my friend in the chair. I move a vote of thanks to the Chairman.'

ADELAIDE CHAMBER OF COMMERCE

Adelaide, June 1st, 1887

The hall of the Chamber of Commerce was crowded on Wednesday afternoon, it having been announced that Lord Brassey would deliver an address. The audience included most of the prominent merchants of the city, and others interested in commerce, and Dr. Kennion, the Anglican Bishop of Adelaide. Mr. A.W. Meeks presided, and said that a special meeting of the Chamber had been called to hear Lord Brassey give an address on mercantile affairs. The Committee knew the great interest he (Lord Brassey) had taken in all matters referring to maritime and mercantile affairs, and the voyages made in the 'Sunbeam' had made Lady Brassey well known. Lord Brassey's father was well known in connection with great public works.

Lord Brassey said: 'Your Chairman did not give me any information as to the kind of subject which I should address you on, but I presumed that the Chamber of Commerce would be most interested in the labour question.

'The policy to be pursued by the Government of this colony in relation to the admission of Chinese or coolie labour into the Northern Territory is, I understand, among the pressing subjects of the hour. Approaching the subject without prejudice or bias, it does not seem difficult to determine the principles by which the action of the State should be guided. If we have faith in the superior qualities of our own people we shall do well, even at the cost of considerable delay in material development, to reserve for our own race those parts of the country in which they can succeed, in which they can not only labour, but preserve and perpetuate from generation to generation, the qualities which have made them great. While the policy seems clear in relation to regions adapted to the physical qualities of our own race, it seems not less clear for the regions beyond. To refuse the aid of the tropical populations for opening up the resources of countries where the Anglo-Saxon race cannot perform manual labour, and still less establish a permanent settlement, is not to advance but seriously to injure the true interests of this colony. By opening up portions of your Northern Territory with imported labour, a new outlet will be afforded for the investment of your capital, and a new market created under your own control for the sale of your manufactures.

'I pass to another subject which must be dealt with, not by legislation, but by mutual good feeling and by common sense. Wherever business is carried on upon a large scale, difficulties must in the nature of things be anticipated in the relations between labour and capital. Each of these elements in the operations of industry may be helpless without the other, but when we pass from the stage of production to the appropriation of profits the conflict of interests is inevitable. Strengthened by the experience in the old country, I would earnestly recommend for all your larger trades voluntary courts of arbitration and conciliation. If we go back to that dark time in England which followed the close of the long struggle with Napoleon, the hostility of classes was seen in all employments, and in none was it more conspicuous than in the collieries. A happy change has passed over the spirit of the scene. Nowhere has the method of arbitration been more successful than in Durham and Northumberland. A scale of wages for miners has been agreed upon, varying with the price of coal, and arbitrators have been found to apply the scale to the conditions of the time, in whose justice employers and employed have implicit confidence. Among these valuable men Mr. David Dale is an eminent example. He and other men of his high stamp and quality – men such as Rupert Kettle, Mundella, and Frederic Harrison – occupy a truly noble position in relation to labour questions. They have won the confidence of the masses, not by truckling to prejudices, not by disavowing the sound and well-tried rules of political economy, but by listening and by explaining with unwearied patience, by showing a sincere sympathy with the working classes, and by taking a deep interest in their welfare. The mention of these distinguished names leads me to the adjustment of difficulties by Courts of Conciliation. They may be described as committees consisting of equal numbers of employers and workmen, appointed to meet at frequent intervals, and to discuss in a friendly open way, and on terms of perfect equality, all the questions in which there is a possibility of conflict. The practicability of the plan has been proved by experience. It is impossible to exaggerate its good effects. By frequent and friendly meetings knowledge is acquired on both sides which could be gained in no other way, and suspicion is changed to sympathy. I hope that no bad influences of false pride on one side, or of unmerited distrust on the other, will deter the employers and the employed of South Australia from rapidly bringing into operation the excellent method of averting disputes, which Courts of Conciliation both in England and on the Continent of Europe have never failed to provide.

'Free trade and Protection are topics which wide-spread depression has thrust into prominence of late. The present Government in England, in deference to the demands of Protectionists, appointed a Royal Commission. Its members were the representatives of conflicting views, and after an exhaustive inquiry they separated without changing the opinions with which they entered upon their labours. We may draw the inference that the subject is not quite so simple as the most earnest partisans in the controversy would wish us to believe. For the United Kingdom I am a convinced Freetrader. I admit that the old country, where half the population subsists on imported food, which must be paid for in exported goods, is not on all fours with a colony capable of producing in abundance all the necessaries of life for a population infinitely more numerous than at present exists within its borders. But while the conditions are different the fact remains that under a protective system customers are precluded from buying in the cheapest market, agriculture is heavily charged for the benefit of a less important interest, and labour artificially diverted from those spheres of industry in which it might be employed to the greatest advantage. Certain it is that cycles of commercial depression would not be averted, but rather prolonged and aggravated, by a policy of protection. Impressed with the weight of evidence on this point, the recent Royal Commission of Trade declined to recommend Protection as a panacea for commercial depression in the United Kingdom, and I hesitate to recommend it to the Chamber of Commerce in Adelaide. While, however, I would deprecate the imposition of burdensome import duties for the purposes of Protection, I fully recognise that moderate import duties are necessary as a means of raising revenue. The first duty of every Finance Minister is to obtain an income for the State by the methods which are the least irksome to the taxpayers. In new countries, not exporters of manufactured goods, import duties are universally found to be the least irksome form of taxation. If under a moderate tariff industries are established earlier than would be possible without some Protection, the incidental advantage is secured of varied employment for the people. Where all depend on the same pursuit or the same industry, an unfavourable season or a fall in price may cause a general depression. There is less risk of universal melancholy and decline when the public wealth is derived from various and independent sources. My conclusion is against import duties on a high scale, levied, as in the United States, for the purpose of exclusion. I recognise the necessity in certain circumstances for the imposition of import duties on a moderate scale for the purposes of revenue.

'I have one more remark to offer in connection with the labour question. Among the many gratifying things which I have seen in your colony, nothing has exceeded your system of education. I congratulate your people, and I honour your Government for their efforts in the cause. It may not, however, be superfluous to refer to that tendency to look disparagingly on manual labour, which is so frequent and fatal a result of the very perfection of educational work. Education may become a curse rather than a boon if it relaxes that physical energy which in all communities, and especially in a new country, is the indispensable condition of progress. It has been truly said by the poet Browning: —

The honest earnest man must stand and work,
The woman also – otherwise she drops
At once below the dignity of man,
Accepting serfdom.
I count that Heaven itself is only work