Robert Lemuel Campbell - 1858-1936 #3

I went to London to my mother who at that time was living at the corner of Tothingham Coart Road near the Sho (Soho) Square, keeping house for Mr. Bending who was a shoemaker and kept there to work for him at the back of the store. He also tended to peoples feet. When my time was nearly up, I boarded the train at Charing Cross and went to Sheerness. I reported and stayed there several months. I made several trips up to the school at Minister to see the old place. At last I was drafted to a vessel that was going to Calcutta in India.

While the ship was getting ready a bunch of us went to an old lady's place. She told fortunes, I went more or less to look on. She read the cards for each one and gave them what she could read. Some things were good and some not so good. I don't know whether theirs come to pass but I was the last and did not have any faith in it. They wanted me to have it. I would not give in, so they asked her if she could tell it without my consent. She told them yes, as I was in her house and in her presence. She went through the cards. She gave me to understand that I would not belong to that vessel very long. Something would happen that I would be punished for a thing that I did not know of at the time who it was that did it, but I would hear of it later. That was about all she said.

We went back to the ship and in about a week we left for our destination, not thinking anymore about what the old lady said. We were going leisurely down the Coast of the Western Africa towards Cape Town. The ship steward had to give a report of the ship's stores at this particular time and as I was looking after the Lieutenant's and Midshipman's rooms or berths and preparing things for the meals, I had to give the whip steward a list of what had been taken from their store room.

The keys were always hanging in the ward room when not in use and I was the only one appointed to get the things that were wanted, so this time when they came to look over what was in the store room there was a bath-chap missing and I could not give an account of it. Of course, I could not tell who had visited the place but myself, and I did not know where it had gone.

I was accused of the theft and was taken from that work and put under the Captain of the Marines charge of stealing officer's provisions. Instead of going to Cape Town first they went to Symon's Bay where there was a Prison Ship. I was tried by the Captain of the ship and the Admiral who was at Symon's bay who had charge of the dockyard. I could not defend myself so I was sentenced to 28 days. I was taken down to the sick bay to the Doctor to be examined. He told me that he knew I was not guilty and he could not tell me who it was, but if I wanted him to write to the Captain that I was not fit in his estimation they could not send me to prison, but I would have to work it out on our ship. I took it as an insult. I thanked him and told him I wanted no favors. If the Officer's could send me to prison I would show them I could go, so he said what will I tell him. I said to tell him fit and healthy.

I was sent to the prison ship for the 28 days. The next morning upon going to the dockyard to work, I had a chance to look over the bay and I found that the ship had gone and left me.

I was put to work helping dig a trench to lay a pipeline to some place. I had been about a week at this work, when the Admiral came along with his young daughter to see how we was getting along and not knowing that they were there and the trench being deep I threw the dirt up, not looking where it was going, and it struck his daughter and went over her clean clothes. What with her crying and the Admiral's anger I thought he would kill me and the more I tried to apologize the worse he got.

One of the guards came by and Admiral told him what I had done and told him to give me one hour shot drill after work in the yard. I did not know what that was, but I soon found out.

In the first place you are told to go to the shot rack and get a shot which is a round ball about 28 pounds. When you get it and take it to the place where you have to drill, you place the shot on the deck with out making any noise, then you stand erect before the Officer and with the shot near your feet he tells you how to proceed. When he says one, you bend, two is to place your hands on the shot, three is to pick it up and stand erect with the shot. When he begins counting one is to take a step forward, two another step three another step and then one again is to bend over, then lay the shot down without any noise and three to raise up again. You keep that up steady for one hour without any rest. It surely tries every part of your body especially your back and knees as you aren't supposed to bend them. I got through the time.

They did not know what to do with me as there was no ship there to put me aboard to send me to India to the ship that I belonged to so Mr. Cory who kept the Hotel there offered to take me until a ship came that they could put me on. The admiral used to come quite often to inquire as to how I was getting along. I had done my best and besides I was allowed to wear other clothes than the uniform of the Navy.

While there at the Hotel they had many parties of different clubs or societies. The one that I want to mention was the Masons and the party was carried well into the night and next morning. When they wanted to retire they had everything that could be made for a bed and some had to sleep in their chairs. After the dinner was served and the table cleared the few who waited on the table were told that there services would not be required any longer so I was told to go to the home of the cook so they could have all the beds. I went home with her as they were singing Old Angeline. I was surely thrown among the natives. She was a Mahonite. Several times I was asked to different parties of these people who called themselves Africanders and some tended the Church Dutch Reform so I was mixed in some way or another, but was treated very nice with old and young.

One day while I was at work with Mr. Corey making ginger beer he was old by the Admiral that they expected a man of war most any day. One day along about evening a captain of a fruit vessel asked if he knew where he could get a cook for this voyage as he was going up the coast. I watched my chance and made arrangements with him to go as his cook. He told me that he would be leaving during the night or early in the morning so I did not say anything to anyone because they would hold me for the war vessel that was expected anytime and I did not want to go back. I left on that fruiter and while there I got a chance to ship as able seaman on a Dutch East India man bound for Rotterdam in Holland. As it was winter when we arrived, the river was frozen and we had to stay there until it thawed out; while there we had to report every morning at the vessel because we had to stay at the Company's boarding house. That was all right to take in the sights, plenty to eat and two feather beds to lay in, on over and one under, so we passed the winter in fine shape.

When the weather moderated we set said for Liverpool, England. In a way I was afraid to stop very long around England. A vessel named Homarow loading for New Zealand was short of men and they asked our Captain if he had any men who would like to ship with him, so there was four of us went with him as our own Captain had to stop there as the company was thinking of selling that ship. That is why the vessel was at Liverpool.

We were soon out to sea again and had the fine weather until we got to the Indian Ocean. After rounding the Cape of Good Hope south of Africa we got into heavy weather. The Albatross would follow after the vessel and being hungry on account of the heavy sea, we would catch them and save the oil. By hanging them by the legs the oil would run out of their mouths and if one had a good breast of feathers the Captain would have it killed and take the breast or in other words scalp the breast, and tan the skin and make muffs doing them up in good shape and selling them to the stores who deal in those goods (when in harbor of course). I don't know what he got but we got nothing out of it. We being a sailing vessel, the wind took us far out of our course and when the storm was over we just drifted with the tide as there was no wind to fill the sails for three days. As we lay in that calm during that time we were slowly drifting toward three small islands. The sails were all spread to catch any wind. The braces were thrown off the belaying pines, lose ropes coiled so they would run to catch any little breeze that came in any direction. The sea was calm and looked like a mirror. You could see fathoms below, sharks swimming around just like they were in glass tanks, could see the rocks down in the water. The Captain was swearing and kept taking off his hat and jumping on it. The men were ready to fight for their lives, surely like facing death.

It was my turn to go to the wheel. I could not get into me why they carried on so; in a way it was death one way or another because if they got to the rocks there was nothing could grow on them. As I say it was my turn at the wheel. Everything was loose ready to run. I looked over the side in a way unconcernedly. I don't know why I took hold of the wheel. I looked at the compass to see how the vessel was headed and while I was reading the compass I heard a noise and looking up I saw the sails filling and the yard swinging so as to catch the breeze. It was so quick that everyone was taken by surprise. I got her on her right, the Captain getting things clear in his mind, as no one had seen the like before. While the Captain was below looking over his chart to get the right course to steer the mate came over to me and said that sure near a goner.

The Captain came up and looked at the compass, saying "Young man you are only half a point out of the course." I brought her up to what he told me and the breeze got a little stronger and we were traveling as near as I can remember from the reel about 6 1/2 knots.

We arrived at Auckland, discharged the cargo, went to a factory as near Christ Church as we could get and loaded it up with potted meats and some mutton. We returned to Liverpool with our cargo. We made three trips to New Zealand with the same Captain. He was a native of Sollang and I cannot remember his name. They called him skipper or Mack.

After that I joined a ship that was going to Boston with old railroad iron and pig iron for salt in exchange which was to be taken to Cadiz in Spain, unloading London. There I left the ship and went aboard another which was chartered to go to Campeachy on the east coast of Mexico for mahogany. We arrived there and found our cargo all made up in rafts ready to be taken out to the vessel.

The next morning there were about thirty natives came aboard. They cleared the hold of everything there was in it and threw it overboard in the bay. By that time the first raft was along side. We had to rig up a derrick to hoist the logs aboard. Some of them weighed from five to ten ton which called for strong tackle to hoist them aboard. After everything was ready, we had to man the winch which was a dangerous place to be in if anything should break. It was also dangerous for the native on the raft or the men in the hold that had to do the loading. It was very hot and they were stripped to the hide, only wearing a britch cloutt and while they worked they would sing and at a certain part of the song they would pull on the tackle they had arranged to pull the log in its right place. This continued until the ships hole was loaded.

When the hatches were battened down they loaded the deck which they call a deck load, just leaving enough room to work around the winch. Then chains were placed around the ship over and under so if we should encounter any heavy sea they would not move about or wash overboard, which made it very had to walk around on the ship or do any work.

We left them to go to London and arrived there without much damage to the vessel. I was released then joined the St. Nicholas belonging to the Blackball line which applied back and forth from London to New York and sometimes to California. I will give a copy of one of the discharges.

NAME AND NUMBER OF SHIP: Ship "St. Nicholas; No. of ship 2880a; Port of Registry-New York. Tonnage 1798.78.

Description of voyage or employment, from New York to San Francisco.

Name of Seaman - R. Campbell; Place of Birth - England; Age 22; For Seamanship - good; For General Conduct - good; Capacity - Seaman; Date of entry - March 1, 1880; Date of discharge - July 26, 1880. I certify that the above particulars are correct and that the above named seaman was discharged accordingly. Dated 28th day of July, Eighteen hundred and Eighty. Seaman R. Campbell. Master R.I. Tachpole. Given to the above named seaman in my presence this 29th day of July 1880. James M. Dulley, shipping Commissioner.

Also another from the same ship St. Nicholas. Port of Registry and Tonnage as above. Description of voyage: Liverpool, Age 22, Place of Birth, same, Character and ability same as other. Date of entry 13 Sept. 1880. Date of discharge 16 March 1881. Master Ph Penellope. Shipping Commissioner C E Ryberg.