Family History 4.15

Robinson Story

Joshua's diary

Shipboard

on a long voyage at the time I am writing of was a fine place to break down selfishness and unruly tempers. You can't run away or isolate yourself from your company. You have to make the best of it by forbearance and self-sacrifice.

We made good headway and soon reached the dreaded Bay of Biscay but to my astonishment we were out of it before we were in it so comparatively calm were its waters. Passing the isaldn of Teneriffe the peak of its high mountain was seen. The next land we made was the Cape Verde Islands.

We put in to the island of St Jago. There we learned that a vessel having the same destination, that preceded us a month earlier, ha had a great knocking about in the Bay, had just sailed after getting repairs done. That vessel was the Osprey.

We lay at anchor three days; parties were formed to go ashore. We visited all the sights in the town: the Marketplace, the Jail;, the Fortifications, which were in a very delapitating condition. The guard was composed of blacks and they were like the fortifications, in very ragged conditions. Most of the houses had lattice work and not glass windows.

Most of our people had never been out of England, everything was new to them and of course interesting. The people were Blacks and half-casts. The Island belongs to Portugal and of course its officials were of that country.

After viewing the town we went about seven miles up the country to a plantation. The road we travelled by was in the rainy season the bed of the river. The country generally seemed hilly and burned up, sterile, and little vegetation, but here and there were valleys with a stream of water running through, where grew all manner of tropical fruit, cocoa, nuts, bananas, yams, oranges and lemons.

The oranges looked to us very beautiful, the evergreen leaves, blossoms, and green and ripe fruit all on the same tree. One thing reminded me of the land we had left was the watercress growing on the sides of the stream. There valleys were quite refreshing like a little paradise in the wilderness.

We saw few animals, besides goats and donkeys, the produce being carried to market on pack saddles. The overseer of these cultivations treated us very kindly setting the slaves to gather fruit for our refreshment. After lending a donkey accompanied by a driver we started upon our return journey.