CHAPTER II.

H.M.S. RALEIGH-VOYAGE TO CHINA-WRECK OF THE RALEIGH-FATSHAN AND CANTON-APPOINTED COMMANDER OF H.M.S. CALCUTTA-PEIHO -JAPAN.

AFTER just two months' holiday Lieutenant Goodenough returned to England, and obtained command of the "Goshawk" gunboat, at Woolwich, which he fitted out and took to Portsmouth, and there joined the squadron of gunboats under Captain A. C. Key, being present at the great review at Spithead after the Peace. He was then sent to Plymouth, and remained there till August 4th, when he was paid off, and appointed first lieutenant of the "Raleigh" (50), bearing the broad pendant of Commodore Hon. H. Keppel. The Raleigh sailed soon after for China, making a very rapid passage, taking only thirty-five days from Madeira to the Cape, in part of which she averaged 240 knots for nine days in succession. On this voyage he began studying German, working at "Ollendorf" every evening. "For a moment," he says, "I thought it would be possible to learn to write Chinese, but a look at a dictionary soon undeceived me."

After a short detention at the Cape, the Raleigh sailed again, making over 230 knots for thirteen days in succession, touching at Penang and Singapore. On the

way thither they passed to the north of Sumatra, which he thus describes :

"The heat began the first day we saw Sumatra, since which we have passed through a narrow passage at the north end-a very pretty thing, for it was not so wide as the mouth of Portsmouth harbour at high tide, with high rocky sides clothed with trees, like a gigantic gateway, to our station. Everything was dead still as we passed through, except the loud hum of the cicadas. Several canoes of Sumatrans were paddling about, and in the afternoon a Chinese junk came past us-a regular junk, with eyes on her bows, those odd-looking sails, and a high poop stuck about with nasty-looking spears.",

When within 100 miles of Hong Kong, on the 15th of March, 1857, the Raleigh struck upon a rock not marked upon the chart, and was run ashore not far from Macao, as the only means of saving her. Lieutenant Goodenough gives the following details of the occurrence in a letter home :

KOKO ISLAND, NEAR MACAO, April 22nd, 1857. "It was a great disappointment to us all. We had just got to the end of our long journey, and were ready to go up to Canton to disembark men, or go into action on board, and had won every inch of the last part of our way with difficulty, when a vilain rocher sticks its point through our bows, and in a few hours sinks the ship, spoils our arms and ammunition, and keeps us at this dull work of recovering her in a wet, unpleasant season.

"We were coming into Hong Kong when we struck; the ship was about twenty-five miles from it, and among some islands, close to the great Ladrone, when she bumped on this stone, which was not marked on any chart that we had, and which the surveyor

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himself does not know of. It was equally distant from two islands, Jongo and Palakiki, and a well marked rock. I was writing when she struck, and of course ran up, and found a crowd of pale, inquiring faces asking what was to come next. To my surprise she did not strike again, but glanced off, and still moved through the water. No masts had come down, though the shock was violent, and we had been going seven knots. Some of the men were saying, 'She'll never recover that; it was an awful blow, and no mistake.' I rather pooh-poohed,' and said to a petty officer, 'Ah, she may stand many another like that.' But I thought I would go down to the fore store-room, where the shock seemed to have been. On getting down I heard a rush of water, and when a light was brought, saw that the timbers were evidently broken, and the inside planking all started, so that I could thrust in my hand along a space 4ft. long by 2ft. deep, about 14ft. under water. As I was leaving the deck I heard the Commander give orders to sound the well, and when the carpenter had reported, he ordered him to rig the pumps. In the store-room I got six of the strongest hands near to hand everything out of the lower part where the leak was, and before ten minutes they were over their knees in water. When the place was clear I went down again, to make sure of the extent of the damage, and thrust my hand in again. It was far too extensive to hope to repair it even temporarily inside. The Commander had given orders to prepare a sail to go over the bows, with a view of letting it down weighted till it should be sucked into the leak; so after the place was full of water I went on deck to direct its preparation. I found that the Commodore had ordered one watch of the men to go to the pumps, and the other to work the ship, make sail, &c.; and after measuring the distances on the chart from the nearest ports, and observing that the ship was settling by the head, had determined to run for a beach on this island near Macao, and to put the ship on shore here to prevent her from sinking, as the leak was gaining fast upon the pumps. The course was therefore altered, and sail was increased

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We therefore amongst the Earlier in the

with the greatest coolness and regularity, Graham, whose watch it was, carrying on the duty, while Gilford attended the pumps, and I took what men I could gather to prepare the sail for the bows, and in the intervals of altering the sails moved the forecastle guns to the quarterdeck. At two o'clock, about one hour and a quarter after striking, one of the chain-pumps broke, and the men were set to work with buckets, but of course the leak now gained faster than ever. My sail was now ready, but the Commodore feared that it might not get correctly into its place, and that it would stop the ship's way so much as to prevent our reaching the flat ground we were steering for before she sank. kept on trimming and making sail as we steered numerous rocks and islands, and getting guns aft. day we had made out a frigate and steamer at anchor in Macao Roads, and therefore commenced firing minute guns, and when we saw them again hoisted the ensign, union jack downwards. They were both French. The upper deck guns being all aft, I began the main deck, when the Commodore sent down to salute the French Admiral. This was done, and we had got several guns aft, when about 3.30 we put her on the mud, driving her into it as far as she would go with all available sails. The pumps were now left, and a party of men sent to save the bread, which was getting wet, and the remainder to take in the sails. In the three hours and a quarter between striking the rock and taking the ground she had made ten feet of water against all our endeavours to keep her free by pumps. This had deepened her till she drew twenty-six feet of water, and as we had run into the mud till we were in only eighteen feet, she appeared pretty safe.

"Five minutes afterwards the Commodore sent for me to assist in speaking to the French Flag Lieutenant, who had come on board, and told me to go to the French Admiral, ask for the Catinat' steamer to take me to Hong Kong, and there tell the Admiral what had happened, and ask for assistance. In half an hour after striking I was in the French boat. Unfortunately the Admiral was on shore, and it cost us till half-past eight to get on

shore, and ask permission, and to get back to the Catinat, which started in a quarter of an hour. The officers kindly gave me a cabin to lie down in; I was asleep by ten, and called at three to be told that we were close to Hong Kong. I got up, and when we anchored went to the 'Calcutta,' the flag-ship, saw the Flag Captain and Admiral, and told them all. The Admiral instantly ordered a steamer to prepare to move, and when she was ready sent her up the river with orders for the 'Nankin' and 'Inflexible' to come to our assistance; then got ready an old vessel to come down and take our guns. Our friend Catinat was to take me back at nine, but did not start so soon, so it was four when I saw our ship again. I could not believe my senses. She had sunk in the mud up to her main-deck guns, and I could see no one moving on board. I found the Commodore on board, his secretary, the chaplain, a guard of marines, and a boat's crew. All the rest were on shore in tents. They told me that on the night that I left she began to settle in the mud, and at seven o'clock the water came up to the lower deck. The men took their clothes and mess-traps on the main deck, and the officers' things were moved out of their cabins into the Commodore's. My old servant and my boy worked nobly, and saved nearly everything for me, except some books. At eleven the water was over the lower deck. Things remained thus till morning, when we went to the French frigate to ask for assistance in transporting our men, and to beg provisions for two days. At the same time we began unbending our sails, and sending small spars on shore to rig tents, landing boat guns, small arms, ammunition, and officers' and men's traps and beds. The French Flag Captain came over, and with the Master and Gilford, who was sent as beach-master, picked out a good place for our tents, which the French began to rig, assisted by a few of our men, who began to come ashore in each boat. Visconti was there on leave from his ship, the 'Virginie,' interpreting, rigging tents, and doing everything possible to provide for our comfort. The French boat brought us a present from the officers of wine, eggs, bread, and cooked fowls. We could not