Family History 4.14

Joshua's journal continues:

London Street 1818

Having by the help of my friends got our affairs settled, our outfit prepared, our luggage on board, the vessel sailed from Catherine Docks the next day, January 1st 1842. My father, brother, sister and a few dear friends took passage in one of the Gravesend steamboats and joined the vessel as she lay at anchor there, taking our last farewell on shore, then went on board with our hearts too full to give utterance with our tongues, but hoping to meet again where parting shall be no more.

The morning after going on board at Gravesend, soon after daylight we weighed anchor and with a fresh breeze abeam made sail for Plymouth Harbour. The vessel appeared very deeply laden, three or four of her deck planks under water as she lay over to the breeze, the sailors telling us she would be more buoyant as we got into the brines waters and so it proved.

The next day we arrived at Plymouth and anchored inside the breakwater. There we lay three days. I went ashore, had a look round the town, bought some necessaries the ship did not provide for us and that proved very serviceable when sickness impaled our appetite, and returned to the ship. On the third day the captain and cabin passengers came on board and soon after orders were given to weigh anchor on the 5th January 1842.

There were two clergymen of the Church of England with their wives and families as passengers, one a German, the other an American. As near as I can remember there was on our final start for New Zealand eighty souls, adults and children included, about equally divided between cabin and steerage, not including the officers and crew. We were well manned, it was said she was going on leaving New Zealand into the opium trade. We had plenty of arms and a cannonade upon deck.

On leaving the harbour we spoke a ship just arrived from Port Nicholson now called Wellington, then the headquarters of the wealthy and influential New Zealand Company, to whom I had letters of introduction, but never the opportunity of delivering them. On leaving England we had fine clear frosty weather, and a favourable breeze. Most of the passengers remained on deck watching the dear old land vanishing from our view.

As its outline was fast fading away a lady passenger struck up the favourite tune of "Isle of beauty fare thee well", all joining the chorus. By the time the last line was sung, the last a mere little mount like a molehill disappeared, to most of us forever.

We had extraordinary fine weather in starting. We found things rather uncomfortable, cribbed and cornered. Some of us had marked our berths with our names in the docks, but those that went on board before us selected their berths irrespective of names written upon them. The common selfishness of human nature was too strong to respect first claims, but now the captain was on board he was appealed to, but would not interfere, saying we would all shake down into our places all right which prediction was generally verified.