On the evening of the 8th April, the steamer was again standing out of the Bay of Funchal, after being detained there only three days. It has been already stated that the vessel was not under the articles of war; this was well known to all the crew, although the majority of her officers belonged to Her Majesty's navy. Even in this early part of her career the difficulty had been seriously felt; and none but those who have been placed in similar circumstances, as commanding officers, can form any notion of the great forbearance, tact, and judgment which are daily required on their part, in the management of their men.

On the 11th, she passed quietly through the Canary Islands, between Palma and Teneriffe, the high peak of the latter, however, not being visible, owing to the hazy weather. The Nemesis was now entirely under canvass, and the steam was not got up for twelve or thirteen days after her departure from Madeira. The north-east trade-wind soon carried her smoothly along, as she passed about midway between the Cape de Verd Islands and the coast of Africa, and it was only in a calm, not far from Sierra Leone, that she had occasion to use her engines. She was found to sail remarkably well without steam, although so flat-bottomed.

Thus she proceeded quietly along the coast, until she reached the neighbourhood of Cape Formoso, towards which she was set by strong and unusual southerly winds and a lee-current. She was, however, not long in reaching Princes' Island, situated near the coast of Africa. This is a settlement belonging to the Portuguese, and the principal place of resort for our cruisers in that quarter, not very far from Fernando Po. She cast anchor in West Bay, Princes' Island, on the evening of the 14th May, forty-four days from England, principally under sail. Here she remained, undergoing a necessary refit, cutting wood for fuel, and preparing for sea, until the evening of the 23rd.

It is the practice here for every English man-of-war, of those stationed on the coast, which resort to the island, to leave a Krooman[3] in her pay, for the purpose of cutting wood for the ship, in readiness for her return. As there are generally several vessels on the coast, so are there also several Kroomen belonging to them, who join together, and go out to cut wood, lending each other mutual assistance. The wood is then brought down to the coast, and stacked in piles, one for each ship, the name of the particular ship being written on it.

As the Nemesis was furnished with a letter from the Admiralty, requiring all Her Majesty's ships to give her every assistance in their power, she was not long in taking on board the whole stock of wood already laid up for the little squadron. Captain Tucker, then commanding the Wolverine, was most active in lending his aid, and even gave up the supply of wood he already had on board. In this way about seventy tons of good hard wood were at last taken on board the Nemesis, and, as plenty of coal still remained, there could be little doubt that, with this reinforcement, she would be able to reach the Cape of Good Hope without difficulty. Water is easily procured in the immediate neighbourhood of the landing-place, of excellent quality; and thus two very important items for the recruiting of a ship are to be found in abundance in Princes' Island. Pigs, poultry, and goats are to be had in any quantity, as well as yams, Indian corn, coffee, bananas, pineapples, and limes. Above all, the anchorage at Princes' Island is good in all seasons, and of easy access, either by day or night. It is consequently a very valuable place of call for vessels going by the eastern passage to the Cape, which in some seasons is to be preferred to the western route, particularly for steamers.

On the side of the island opposite to West Bay, or the north-east, is the town and harbour of Port St. Antonio, where the governor of the island resides. It is tolerably secure, but confined, and by no means equal to West Bay for shipping. There is a respectable Portuguese merchant there, who is in the habit of supplying the ships at West Bay with various stores that they may require; and, with the view of furnishing all the information which could be procured, in case any other steamer should touch there, application was made to Mr. Carnaero, the reply to which was, that he would supply any quantity, at the rate of one Spanish dollar for every hundred logs;[4] but if they were required to be cut into smaller pieces it would cost more, as negroes would have to be hired for the purpose, at the rate of one dollar a day for every three men. Further, as regarded the time necessary, he thought it would require from thirty to forty days to provide five thousand logs. Coals were to be had at West Bay, of course imported from England, but only at the enormous rate of about £6 sterling per ton.

Princes' Island is being greatly benefited already by the demand for its wood. Land is, in consequence, being cleared and planted, and the coffee grown there is of good quality, and cheap. In fact, from its position and capabilities, it is likely to become a place of great resort, as steam communication, vi the Cape of Good Hope, gradually becomes more extended.

It must be mentioned here, that ships sailing much along the coast are pretty sure to get their bottoms covered with large barnacles; and the Nemesis, so far from being exempt from this annoyance, being entirely of iron, was, perhaps, more troubled with them than a coppered ship would have been. The quantity, in fact, was enormous, and they adhered so firmly, that it was with some difficulty they were taken off, commonly bringing away the paint with them. Kroomen belonging to the men-of-war were employed to dive under the ship's bottom for the purpose, and a very curious and amusing scene it was. It is quite astonishing how long these men can remain at work under water, and no light work either. Great, muscular, black, curly-headed fellows, bobbing down under water, some with brooms, some with scrapers, and others with bits of iron bar; anything, in short, with which they could attack the tenacious visiters which clung so lovingly to the iron Nemesis. The Kroomen are an active, laborious, and faithful race, as all will testify who have occasion to employ them on the coast. They are received as seamen in our men-of-war upon the station; and, on her return to Calcutta, after long and arduous service, the Nemesis had still two of them remaining on board, out of three who accompanied her from the coast, the other having died in the service.

At length, on the 22nd of May, the steam was once more got up, boats hoisted in, anchor weighed, and the word "full speed" being passed below, away went the still mysterious Nemesis, as the sun had just dipped below the horizon. Her course would necessarily lead her towards the island of St Thomas's, another Portuguese settlement, lying as nearly as possible under the Line, and, therefore, scarcely a day's voyage from Princes' Island. She accordingly approached it on the following afternoon, and did not lose the opportunity of entering the Bay of Chaves, where lies the principal town, called St. Anne de Chaves.

Some parts of this small island are very pretty and picturesque, others are wild and thickly wooded. It produces large quantities of fruit and vegetables, but is principally valuable on account of the excellence of its coffee, which, however, is not cultivated in very large quantity. St Anne, the principal town, lies at the bottom of a lovely bay. The greater part of the inhabitants of St. Anne are negro slaves and Kroomen. The latter come over from the coast to the northward of the Line, and are tall, athletic men, very industrious, (in this respect different from most other Africans,) intelligent, and, when well treated, faithful and honest. All the Kroomen are strongly attached to the English, and willingly serve on board our ships. They have great faith in an Englishman's word, and, to whatever part of the world they may be carried, they always feel confident of being sent back to their own country free of expense, whenever their services are no longer required. They are an independent people, and have never been connected with slave-dealers, whom, indeed, they seem to hold in great contempt. Nevertheless, they have the woolly hair and thick lips and nose of the true negro. Of all the Africans whom I have seen, they appear most to resemble the Abyssinians in their character and habits, though improved by more frequent contact with our countrymen.

The governor's house is the best in the place, and is distinguished from the more humble ones around it by the luxury of a green verandah. Across the entrance to the principal apartment, a large curtain or screen of drapery was hung, richly emblazoned with the arms of Portugal, and almost the only real token of her power.

It was naturally a matter of curiosity to visit his Excellency in state, and, accordingly, Captain Hall and his officers were ushered into the presence by a grand Master of the Ceremonies, who was also commandant of the island. This person was a huge black negro, "richly caparisoned" for the occasion, and, as he spoke a little English, he proceeded, immediately after the presentation, to expound to his Excellency the object of the visit. That object was, first, of course, to pay respect to so distinguished an officer, and next, to ascertain whether, in case a steamer should happen to touch there at any other time, a depÔt for coal could be formed on the island, and whether wood could be procured for fuel, and a proper place provided for storing it until required. His Excellency condescended to be extremely polite, saying that both these matters could be accomplished, and that he should be happy to lend his assistance in any manner he could. He added that he perfectly well remembered that the Enterprise, a wooden steamer, had touched there on her way to India many years before, but that he had never till now heard of an iron one.

The interview was soon ended, and was so far perfectly satisfactory. But, as the party were on the way down to the ship again, the black master of the ceremonies, aide-de-camp, commandant, &c., made a particular request that no salute should be fired, for that they happened to be "very badly off for powder" themselves, and should find it inconvenient to be obliged to return it; probably a gentle hint that a little powder would be acceptable.

Little time could be devoted to the further examination of the island, which would seem to be of very small value to its masters. There is reason, however, to believe, that to a certain degree, although unacknowledged and in secret, it is made use of as a sort of intermediate trading-place for slaves.

It was on this island that the distinguished Major Sabine conducted his scientific and interesting observations upon the swinging of the pendulum in 1822, as it lies as nearly as possible under the Line.

On the following morning, the 25th, the Nemesis crossed the Line, with the thermometer at 96°, which had been the average temperature for several days. Strong adverse winds prevailed, with a heavy swell for many days afterwards, against which she went ahead very steadily, at the rate of five to five and a half knots an hour; but, as it was desirable to save fuel as much as possible, it was at length determined to make a hitherto untried experiment—viz., to work the lee paddle-wheel only, while under sail, (the other wheel being disconnected, and allowed to revolve by the motion of the vessel,) and also to use only one boiler. She was steered about five and a half points from the wind, and in this position, with a rolling sea and steady breeze, she continued to make head at the rate of six and a half to seven knots an hour, the active or lee paddle-wheel making twelve to fifteen revolutions per minute. Thus the success of the trial was complete, particularly as it appeared to counteract the lee-way of the vessel. The helm did not seem to be materially affected by the unequal force applied to the two sides of the vessel.

Some pains have been taken to ascertain whether both engines could be worked to any good purpose with one boiler. In reply to this question, it appears that, except in the river Mersey, at Liverpool, with all circumstances particularly favourable, the Nemesis was never able to work both engines with one boiler with more than very inconsiderable effect. But it must be very evident that any vessel, having power enough to do so in case of emergency, must possess a great advantage; and there is little doubt that, with twenty or thirty horse power more, she would have been able to accomplish it in smooth water, particularly with sails set. It is therefore to be regretted that her power (only one hundred and twenty horse) was scarcely sufficient for her size and weight.

On the 2nd of June, the ship all at once seemed to be lost to the control of the helmsman, and, no other very good reason suggesting itself, the rudder was naturally examined with care. It was at once discovered that the drop or false rudder had been carried away, but by what means did not sufficiently appear, except that, on examination, there was reason to think it must have been fairly worn through at the point of junction with the lower edge of the upper or true rudder—for at this part nearly the whole strain of its action operated.

No time was to be lost in attempting to repair this injury, as the vessel became almost unmanageable, the true rudder, at times, being nearly above water, in the heavy pitching of the ship. With the utmost exertion on the part of the officers and the intelligent carpenter of the ship, a temporary false rudder was constructed, and securely fixed before nightfall. It was, moreover, found to act even better than the original one, having more hold in the water, as well as a larger surface of attachment to the upper rudder. Subjoined is a plan of this contrivance, which will almost suffice to explain its ingenuity. It was made of planks of wood, instead of solid iron, and was secured by chains, in such a manner as to grasp the upper or true rudder firmly, while it could also be raised or lowered at pleasure.

A Main Rudder.
B Side view of temporary rudder, made double, (out of six spare float-boards,) so as to clasp the main rudder on each side.
C Pigs of ballast between the floats, resting on the heel-piece.
D Lower chain guys, which pass round the heel of the rudder, crossing it at the fore part, and leading up on each quarter, with a tackle attached to each side.
E Chain-head guys, passing through bolts in the main rudder, and set up over the stern.
F Strengthening pieces of iron.