Chapter LIV: Appendix: I

Diary of the Expedition to Monte Video, etc.

1806-7.

“E’er since reflection beam’d her light upon me
You, sir, have been my study; I have plac’d
Before mine eyes, in every light of life,
The father and the king. What weight of duty
Lay on a son from such a parent sprung,
What virtuous toil to shine with his renown,
Has been my thought by day, my dream by night:
But first and ever nearest to my heart
Was this prime duty, so to frame my conduct
Tow’rd such a father, as, were I a father,
My soul would wish to meet with from a son.
And may reproach transmit my name abhorr’d
To latest time, if ever thought was mine
Unjust to filial reverence, filial love.”

Mallet.

1806. _Nov. [Oct.?] 9th._—Sailed from Falmouth under convoy of His Majesty’s ship _Ardent_ (Capt. Donnelly), _Unicorn_ frigate, _Daphne_, 20-guns ship, _Pheasant_ and _Charwell_, Sloops-of-war, with a fleet of about 25 transports, a store-ship for the Cape of Good Hope, and a merchant ship for the East Indies. The force consists of a Company of Artillery, under Capt. Dixon; three Companies of the 2nd Battalion Rifle Regiment, under Major T. C. Gardner; 17th Light Dragoons, Col. Loyd; 40th Regiment of Foot, Col. Browne; and 87th, Col. Sir Edward Butler; the whole under Brigadier-General Sir Samuel Auchmuty. Brigadier-General the Hon. William Lumley, Brigadier of the Horse; Lieut.-Col. Bradford, Deputy Adjutant-General; Lieut.-Col. Bourke, Deputy Quartermaster-General; Captain Blake, Assistant Adjutant-General; Lt. Tylden, Brigade-Major to Sir Samuel; Captain Roach, Brigade-Major to General Lumley; Mr. Baddock, Deputy Paymaster-General; Mr. Bissett, Deputy Commissary of Accompts; Mr. Redman, Deputy Inspector of Hospitals. A fine breeze until the 12th, when we were becalmed in the Bay of Biscay. Lovely weather.

_13th._—A breeze sprung up which increased into a gale. Blew dreadfully hard. Sea ran mountains high. Continued until the 16th, when it gradually died away; a heavy sea still running, with the heavy rolling of the ship, sprang the main piece of our rudder. We made a signal of distress, which was instantly answered by the Commodore, who made a signal to the _Charwell_ to come alongside us, which she did, and hailed us. She immediately sent a boat on board with her carpenter. Soon after the _Unicorn_ came up with us. She also sent a boat on board, with a lieutenant, midshipman, and carpenter, with everything requisite to repair our rudder, which was soon done. A steady breeze until the 18th, when it again blew hard. The _Daphne_ and a Transport with 150 men of the 40th Regiment parted convoy in the night. Still continued to blow until the 23rd, when we were becalmed. Lovely weather. Captain of the ship took an observation for the first time since at sea. Latitude 47° 35′ North.

_24th._—Breeze sprung up. Lat. 39° 37′. Breeze freshened. Continued until the 30th. Commodore lost a man overboard. Lovely weather. In the evening observed two large whales close to the ship. They followed us some time and greatly amused us. Lat. 32° 9′.

_Nov. 1st._—At daybreak discovered land, to our great delight. It proved to be the Canary Isles. In sight of them the whole of the day. The ground appeared mountainous and barren, with an aspect bleak to a degree. Beautiful weather, with a fine breeze which soon carried us into the Trade winds. The flying-fish begin to be innumerable.

_Nov. 4th._—Lat. 23°. A shark passed close under our stern.

_Nov. 5th._—Lat. 21° 40′. Fine fresh breeze. The _Harriet_ Transport, with the Artillery on board, made a signal of distress, which proved to be from the death of her captain. Flying-fish so numerous, they resemble large flocks of larks. Some of them were by accurate observation seen to fly from 100 to 200 yards and upwards.

_Nov. 6th._—Lat. 18° 31′. Fine fresh breeze. In the evening an unfortunate flying-fish flew on board us, being close pursued by an enemy, which measured 8 inches from head to tail, and 9½ from the extreme of each wing. Tail forked like a mackerel. Cooked him for breakfast the next morning. Every one tasted him.

_Nov. 7th._—Lat. 16° 53′. Thermometer 80° in the shade. Weather very warm. Signal from Commodore for Commanding Officers of Corps. A fine turtle close to the ship. We wished for him on board. To our astonishment, although a considerable distance from land, we were in shoal water the whole of the day, supposed to be a sand-bank, the water by times being quite discoloured. Commodore, not meaning to put into any port, made a signal for the troops and seamen to be put on short allowance of water, two quarts per man, all ranks.

_Nov. 8th._—Lat. 15° 19′. Therm. 84°. Scorching hot. Speared some fish at the bow of the ship.

_Nov. 9th._—Lat. 15° 12′. Therm. 82°. Fine weather, but no breeze. Caught two venata with bait. They resemble a mackerel as much as possible, except that they are about twice as large. Cooked them. Coarse, hard and bad eating. A flying-fish flew on board and fell into a tub of water.

_Nov. 10th._—Lat. 14° 34′; long. 23°. Therm. 83°. _Pheasant_, Sloop-of-war, made sail in search of land, which must be the Cape de Verd Isles. Suppose she made it, as she joined convoy in the evening.

_Nov. 11th._—Lat. 12° 57′. Therm. 82°. Venata are innumerable. It is very amusing to see them leap out of the water in pursuit of the poor flying-fish.

_Nov. 12th._—Lat. 10° 49′. Therm. 82°.

_Nov. 13th._—At 10 a.m. every appearance of a storm. The clouds put on a terrible aspect. Fortunately it was not violent, going off with torrents of rain. Five minutes before 5 p.m. a waterspout was observed to the westward, which emptied itself in torrents over the bow of the _Pheasant_ without intermission, until 5 minutes past 5.

_Nov. 14th._—Dark cloudy weather. No observations.

_Nov. 15th._—Lat. 7° 53′. Therm. 83°. A boat of the _Charwell’s_ swamped as they were about to hoist it up. All hands overboard, but saved. Went on board the Commodore with returns to the General.

_Nov. 16th._—Lat. 6° 38′. Therm. 86°. Sultry close weather, with storms of thunder and lightning. Stark calm, with tremendous showers, the rain coming down in torrents, not drops.

_Nov. 17th._—Lat. 6° 17′. Therm. 82°. Weather less sultry, with heavy showers. A large flight of birds resembling ducks ahead, so close together in the water they resemble a floating island. Loaded rifles and fired at them, but to no purpose.

_Nov. 18th._—Lat. 6° 1′ Therm. 84°. No breeze. Tremendous thunderstorm, with torrents of rain.

_Nov. 19th._—No observation, being cloudy dirty weather. A signal for masters of transports to go on board Commodore. A brig sent home for inattention and not obeying signals. The troops on board her were distributed on board different ships. Wrote letters home in hopes of being able to send them by her, but a breeze springing up prevented our lowering a boat, to my great disappointment.

_Nov. 20th._—Lat. 4° 44′. Therm. 82°. Nice breeze but rather ahead. At 6 p.m. the _Pheasant_ passed us under all sail. On coming alongside the Commodore she hoisted his ensign, which was immediately returned by him. It is always done when a ship parts convoy. Suppose she is sent forward to Buenos Ayres.

_Nov. 21st._—Lat. 3° 45′; long. 26° 38′ West. Therm. 82°. Fine breeze.

_Nov. 22nd._—Lat. 3° 14′. Therm. 81°. Squally. Wind changing often and suddenly.

_Nov. 23rd._—Lat. 2° 30′. Therm. 80°. Weather cool, considering how near we are to the sun.

_Nov. 24th._—Lat. 1° 49′. Therm. 82°. Fine breeze but rather ahead. Evening squally. A strange sail to windward. Proved to be an American.

_Nov. 25th._—Dark and cloudy. No observation. Plenty of wind.

_Nov. 26th._—Lat. 15′ South; long. 32° West. One of the sailors caught an immense large albacore with a spear. Took three men to haul him in. He had a curious prickly fin upon his back, which he could completely hide in a crevice so as not to be perceived, and when hurt would set it up. Sea completely covered with flying-fish. A signal made for our ship to take in tow the _Three Sisters_, a small brig, she being to leeward. Ran down to her and obeyed the signal.

_Nov. 27th._—Lat. 1° 29′; long. 32°. Speared another large albacore, which measured 4 feet long and 2 feet 9 inches in circumference.

_Nov. 28th._—Lat. 3°. Therm. 82°. Signal made by Commodore signifying land in sight, bearing south-south-west, upon which he altered his course one point more to the westward. Supposed to be the island Ferando Noronha.

_Nov. 29th._—Lat. 4° 12′. Therm. 84°.

_Nov. 30th._—Lat. 5° 27′; long. 34° 15′. Therm. 81°. Took in tow the _Osborne_, a large ship with Dragoons on board.

_Dec. 1st._—Lat. 6° 39′. Therm. 82°. At 6 o’clock a.m. a signal made by Commodore signifying land in sight, supposed to be Cape Augustin.

_Dec. 2nd._—Lat. 8° 20′. Therm. 82°. Have observed for these two or three days the flying-fish have almost entirely disappeared.

_Dec. 3rd._—Lat. 10° 3′. Therm. 81°. The two merchant ships, the _Lincoln_ and _Loyalist_, the former bound to the East Indies, the latter store-ship for the Cape of Good Hope, parted convoy. On altering their course every ship hoisted her ensign, which was returned by them by way of farewell. Had a pretty effect.

_Dec. 4th._—Lat. 12° 42′. Therm. 81°. Lovely breeze. A signal for masters of transports to caulk and prepare their boats for landing.

_Dec. 5th._—Lat. 15° 24′. Therm. 80°. A schooner in sight to the westward bearing down for us. Overhauled by the _Charwell_, and proved to be a Portuguese bound for San Salvador.

_Dec. 6th._—Fresh breeze. No observation.

_Dec. 7th._—Lat. 19° 26′. Therm. 82°. Observed a shark which followed the ship a long time, accompanied with three pilot fish. Threw a bait to him, upon which one of his pilot fish swam to it and tasted, and reported accordingly to its master. Observed the breeze to die away by day and blow by night.

_Dec. 8th._—Lat. 20° 8′. Therm. 86°. Dreadfully hot.

_Dec. 9th_—Lat. 20° 48′; long. 39° 34′.

_Dec. 10th._—Lat. 22° 5′; long. 40° 29′.—A signal from Commodore signifying land in sight, supposed at first to be Rio Janeiro, afterwards proved to be Cape Frio, about 40 miles distant from it. Therm. 85°. A tremendous thunderstorm, louder than anything I ever heard.

“Loud thunder from the distant poles ensue,
Then flashing fires the transient light renew.”

_Dec. 12th._—Beating all day off Cape Frio, endeavouring to get into port. Wind ahead. At 9 p.m. wind came round. Weathered Cape Frio.

_Dec. 13th._—Made the bay. On the first appearance of the land it put me in mind of the following lines in Thomson’s _Hymn on the Seasons_:—

“Should fate command me to the farthest verge
Of the green earth, to distant barbarous climes,
Rivers unknown to song; where first the sun
Gilds Indian mountains, or his setting beams
Flame on th’ Atlantic Isles, ’tis nought to me,
Since God is ever present, ever felt,
In the void waste as in the city full,
And where _He_ vital spreads, _there_ must be joy.”

Appearance of the land before the entrance of the harbour, mountainous and woody. At 7 p.m. came to an anchor at the mouth of the harbour. The darkness of the night prevented our going in. The hills surrounding illuminated with the most vivid lightning I ever saw, equally beautiful as awful.

_Dec. 14th._—At 12 weighed anchor. The entrance of the harbour is very grand. On the left hand is an immense rock called the Sugar-loaf, which it correctly resembles. At the foot of it is a strong battery. On the right hand is a pretty little fort, apparently very strong, having three tiers of heavy guns. At a small distance from the mouth of the harbour is a little island with a fort upon it, which gives the bay a pretty and rather romantic appearance. As soon as the Commodore came to an anchor, he fired a salute of 19 guns, which was immediately returned by the different batteries, the echo of which in the surrounding hills was beyond description grand.

General, Staff, and Commodore went on shore to call upon the Viceroy. When in the boat the _Ardent_ fired a salute of 15 guns to them. The General obtained permission for the officers and a proportion of men to go on shore.

_Dec. 15th._—Went on shore, and was highly delighted with the town of Rio Janeiro. It is very large but irregularly built, situated on a spacious and commodious bay. You land nearly opposite the Viceroy’s palace, which stands on the south side of a large and regular square. You see nothing scarcely but poor slaves carrying immense loads, and friars in their cocked hats going to and from the monasteries. Their carriages resemble in some manner our single-horse chaises, but badly made and drawn by two mules. On the near one rides the charioteer, in a huge cocked hat; the off one is in the shafts. They go astonishingly quick. Saw but few horses, those small and bad. The mules are most beautiful animals, and the inhabitants tell you are much more serviceable then the horses. They are as clean about the legs as our race-horses, and full of spirit. Fowls and ducks plentiful, but rather dear. The oxen and sheep are small and bad. Pigs in abundance. Fruits of all sorts. Pines are larger than ours, but not so fine flavoured; you get them for 6_d._ apiece. Oranges, lemons, limes, sweet and sour, bananas, yams, etc., etc. They make no butter or cheese. They get it from England or America. The grandees, when they appear abroad, are carried in a kind of palanquin, which is borne on two negroes’ shoulders. Most of these are blue, and adorned with fringes in general of the same colour. They have a velvet pillow, and above the head a kind of tester with curtains. He may either lie down or sit up. (See Guthrie.)

I must think, from what we have seen of the inhabitants, Guthrie speaks too harshly of them. They paid us every attention—nay, so much so that they were troublesome; and were honest in their dealings. The canoes afforded us great amusement. They are rowed by two or three negroes, according to the size of them—not with oars, but a thing resembling a spade. They appear, as they go along, to be digging the water.

I went into one of their monasteries, the chapel of which was very grand. There was also a capital library. The monks were extremely polite, and showed us everything particular. Their service is in Latin. There are four monasteries, and two nunneries filled with poor wretches of girls, who are not allowed to speak to their own fathers. I dined in what they call a cooking-house. The host showed us into a miserable back room looking into the kitchen, where was a black fellow cooking. My stomach was not yet turned. No glass in the window (but that is the case with all the houses, except those of the grandees), and the light shining through the pantiles over our heads. We had for dinner first some macaroni soup, half oil, and scraped cheese to eat with it; afterwards some mutton chops swimming in grease, pork chops in a similar way, a pair of fowls we could scarcely pull to pieces, not an atom of flesh on their bones. There was also a piece of thin beef rolled up with the stuffing in it and roast—a famous dish for a hungry mastiff dog. These being removed, we then had a cold plum-pudding, which was very good. We drank at dinner bad American bottled ale, afterwards some decent port wine. When we called for our bill, we were all amazingly astonished. It came to 4880—_whats_, we could not tell. We afterwards found it was about six dollars. They give you always their bills in that way in some imaginary coin about half a farthing value.

_Dec. 16th._—Did not go on shore. At 6 p.m. a Portuguese brig came into harbour, laden with poor wretches of slaves just taken from the Guinea coast—the most horrid sight imaginable.

_Dec. 17th._—Went to see a grand review of the Portuguese troops. They performed pretty well. There was a regular regiment of militia, and a volunteer, with some dragoons and artillery, amounting in all to about 2000 men. After it was over, all the English officers were presented to the Viceroy. Nothing more worth setting down. All of us quite tired of the place, and anxious to get away.

_Dec. 23rd._—Sailed for Buenos Ayres. Nice breeze.

_Dec. 24th._—Lat. 24° 47′. Out of sight of land. Therm. 80°.

_Dec. 25th._—Lat. 25° 32′. Therm. 76.° Blows hard, with a heavy sea.

_Dec. 26th._—Lat. 26° 51′. Heavy swell and no breeze. An immense shoal of porpoises swimming towards the north. In hopes of a fair wind, as they always swim against the wind.

_Dec. 27th._—Lat. 27° 48′. Stark calm. At 4 a.m. a strong breeze sprung up, but quite ahead.

_Dec. 28th._—Lat. 27° 52′.

_Dec. 29th._—Lat. 27° 29′; long. 47° 9′. Went on board the Commodore. A large shoal of porpoises by their swimming portending a fair wind, which soon sprung up.

_Dec. 30th._—Lat. 30° 21′.

_Dec. 31st._—Lat. 32° 11′. Anxious to get along, but the wind against us.

1807. _Jan. 1st._—Lat. 32° 20′; long. 51° 15′.

_Jan. 2nd._—Lat. 32° 30′. Wind against us.

[_Remainder apparently written afterwards._]

Landed four miles north of Monte Video 16th Jan., had a sharp skirmish with the enemy.

_19th._—A regular battle. Licked them confoundedly.

_20th._—A very severe action. The enemy’s loss very great.

_3rd Feb._—Stormed the fortress of Monte Video. A severe conflict. Indeed, our loss, as well as that of the enemy, was very great.

_16th Jan., 1807._[248]—Sharp skirmishing with enemy.

_17th._—Ditto.

_18th._—Ditto.

_19th._—A regular and victorious battle in the open field.

_20th._—They made a sortie; were repulsed with great loss.

From the 20th Jan. to 3rd Feb. constant skirmishes. On the morning of the 3rd Feb. stormed the fortress of Monte Video with severe loss on both sides; but carried it.

_7th April, 1807_ [_7 June_?].—Colonel Pack made a sortie from Colonia with 1000 men to meet Colonel Elio, whose force consisted of 1500. Entirely routed him, and took six pieces of cannon.

_3rd June_ [_5 July_?].—Attacked Buenos Ayres by assault. Was made prisoner, and confined three days and three nights.

Embarked for England, and arrived at Falmouth 5th Nov.

1808.—Embarked at Harwich for Sweden latter end of May [April?]. Sailed soon afterwards. Was two months in Gottenburg harbour, when we sailed for England, and refitted at Portsmouth for Portugal. Landed about 30 miles north of Lisbon latter end of July [August?]. Marched through the south of Portugal into Spain. Had a very hot action with the French between Villa Franca and Calcavellos 3rd Jan., 1809. The loss was nearly equal on both sides. Take it all together, the most severe conflict I ever saw.

Embarked at Corunna in January, and reached England soon after.

Ready to embark again.