Travels Through North America, During the Years 1825 and 1826. v. 1-2

The rocky English coast was in view in almost every direction; the town of Dartmouth appears to be very finely situated. After a rather long and unpleasant passage, we arrived in Plymouth Bay at 1 o’clock, P. M. We passed a little to the left of the breakwater, a dam intended to protect Plymouth road from the south-west storms, begun thirteen years ago, but not yet completed: we were gratified with the view of Mount Edgecumbe Park and Drake’s Island, on which is a small fort that forms a very beautiful view from the three towns, Plymouth, with the citadel; Stonehouse and Plymouth Dock, now called Devonport. This dock, with all the ships building and repairing there, furnishes a beautiful and imposing prospect.

After my arrival I paid a visit to the authorities of this place. The admiral in chief, Sir James Saumarez, a worthy man, seventy years of age, excited in me an extraordinary degree of interest. He has served England for fifty-six years, and during the last war commanded for five years in the Eastern Ocean. His actions are known to all the world, and caused him to be distinguished with the grand cross of the order of the Bath, which he has worn for twenty-four years.

Among the remarkable things of this place, is the court-house, which is a new, oblong building, having on one of its small sides a broad staircase leading to a portico, with four Ionic columns. The hall is large and very conveniently arranged with galleries for spectators. Beneath the dock for the prisoners is a trap-door, by which persons are brought from the prison on the ground floor, for trial, and carried back again, without being brought into contact with the public. The six cells for prisoners in the lower part of the house are all arched with stone, and furnished with iron bedsteads. The doors are of stout oak plank, studded with iron; a small opening allows air and light to enter, though very sparingly. The prisoners can walk daily for exercise in a corridor, twelve paces in length, by three in breadth: they have a miserable existence. We left this granite and marble abode of sorrow with very unpleasant impressions. Scarcely had we left it, when our eyes fell upon a monument, building upon a rock, which is to be a column one hundred and one feet high, commemorating the change of the name of the town, from Plymouth Dock to Devonport. This work did not dispel the disagreeable feeling caused by the prison. Not far distant from this monument stands a Gothic church, and near this a school-house, in the Egyptian style. The crowding together within so narrow a space of such various styles of architecture, exhibits a singular, I cannot say an agreeable sight. We also examined the market, which is furnished with numerous covered galleries, in which provisions, fish for instance, are displayed upon marble tables. But marble is so common here, that the foot-walks are paved with it: houses are also built therewith. The houses in Devonport are not handsome: some of the old ones are entirely covered with slate, which produces a disagreeable impression. In the court-house there is a fire-place made of slate.

On the 7th of May we examined the dock-yard; there are eight ships here in actual service, mounting three hundred and sixty-six guns; sixty-five in ordinary, with three thousand five hundred and twenty guns, and twenty-two building, which will mount upwards of seven hundred and twenty; making in all, four thousand six hundred and six guns.

The dock-yard, with its admirable regulation, is perfectly described by Dupin in his excellent travels in Great Britain. The work is known to most readers, and for an accurate description of the dock I refer them thereto. The entrance is really beautiful; you behold the greater part of the dock-yard, which is terrace-shaped, beneath you; on the right hand is the church and some offices, opposite to which are two cannon employed more for show than defence. The houses are built of the gray marble-like lime-stone, which is so common here. A new magazine is rendered entirely fire-proof by this stone and iron; the different store-rooms being separated by iron doors, so that in case of fire it can be insulated. The rope-walk is a building two stories high, with walks two hundred yards long. All the ships, as in other English docks, are built under roofs, which are sometimes covered with slate, though mostly with copper. To my surprise, the water is pumped out of the dry docks by a horse-mill instead of a steam-engine. In one of the dry docks we saw the unfortunate ship Fortitudo2 repairing. All her timbers were decayed; her copper destroyed, and she required three new masts; her repairs cost the house of Roelands of Antwerp eight thousand pounds. There is at this dock a huge iron kettle, in which ship timber is boiled in sea water in order to protect it from the dry rot. About two thousand two hundred men are daily employed in this yard, and some earn thirty-six shillings a week.

After a stay of about two hours at the dock-yard, I went in company with the admiral to Hamoaze, where the fleets in service and dismantled lay at anchor. We went on board the flag ship Britannia, and were received in a very friendly manner by Captain Pipon, who showed us the ship throughout: every thing was as admirable as in the ships at Portsmouth. From the Britannia, which saluted us with twenty-one guns, we went on board the St. Vincent, which in every respect resembled the Nelson at Portsmouth.

On the 6th of May, which was Sunday, and the town consequently very quiet, I went first to visit the marine barracks, and thence to Plymouth, which I had not yet seen. It is about a mile distant from Stonehouse. The entrance is agreeable, exhibiting several new houses, and a large quadrangular building, ornamented with columns, which contains the theatre and Royal Hotel. But as soon as one advances a little farther into the town the scene changes, the streets are all narrow and precipitous, badly paved, and without side-walks; the houses are badly built, and angular, and the sun cannot shine into the streets. The harbour that is forming at Catwater appears to be visited, and the bay presents a noble prospect. We passed by a road cut in the rock to the citadel, to visit the vice-governor, Major General Sir John Cameron; but he was sick. We walked round the ramparts of the citadel, and enjoyed at every point an admirable view, to which the fine weather contributed its full proportion. At noon we walked to Stoke, a village in which the inhabitants of Plymouth have country seats. At this place it is customary, as far as practicable, to bury the dead on Sunday; we therefore met funeral processions in most of the streets, which did not particularly raise our spirits.

On Monday I went with Sir James Saumarez in the Britannia’s barge to examine the breakwater. We first visited the stone quarries at Catwater, whence the stone for the breakwater is procured. The land where this quarry is situated was purchased from various proprietors. The rock, which is lime-stone, is blasted with gunpowder. Many of the blocks of stone weigh five tons and upwards. They are lifted by iron cranes, by which one workman is able to raise a ton and a half, and placed upon small four wheeled iron cars, which run on rail-roads to the quay where the vessels lay which are to convey them to the breakwater. These vessels, which are built expressly for this service, can carry eighteen of the heaviest of these blocks; the lighter stones are carried in hired vessels. At the quarry we were received by the secretary of Mr. Whitby, who planned the breakwater, and at present superintends the work. A cave was discovered in the rock containing rhinoceros bones in good preservation, and some time after, another cavern was found containing the bones and teeth of bears. From the mount above the quarry, there is an extensive and exceedingly beautiful prospect. From this place we went to Bovisand-bay, where, under the direction of Mr. Whitby, a quay and reservoir of fresh water is building for the navy. The water is collected from two springs into a reservoir twenty feet deep, situated between the hills. Thence it is to be conducted through iron pipes for nearly an English mile to the quay. These seventeen cocks will each deliver two and a half tuns of water a minute. The watering boats will land at the quay, and in a very short time return with their lading to the ships. In the valley near the reservoir is Mr. Whitby’s handsome dwelling, from which he can survey the whole work, and consequently may from his own chamber control the workmen.

The breakwater suffered exceedingly by the terrible storm of the 22d and 23d of November, 1824. It is now to be rendered more permanent in the following manner: – The stones most exposed to the waves are to be hewed and clamped together with iron. I fear, however, that this work will also be destroyed, unless a couple of perpendicular dams be built touching the principal dam, to break the force of the waves before they reach the latter. The old works are in so ruinous a condition that we were nearly wrecked upon them. On this account we stood farther off, and went on board of the Thetis frigate to pay a visit to Sir John Phillimore. Sir John, in honour of our presence, displayed all his flags. The marines, with their officers, stood near the mizen-mast, and with the crew marched round the deck; some of the latter were armed with pikes, some with sabres, and others with battle-axes. I was delighted with the perfect order and neatness which universally appeared. Both cabins were very elegantly arranged and ornamented with mahogany. As we took leave, the yards were manned, and a salute given. It was now high water, and we passed between Drake’s Island and Mount Edgecumbe through a passage called the Bridge, which is dangerous on account of rocks. We touched twice upon them without injury, as fortunately the wind was slight: we landed at the beautiful stone stairs of Mount Wise.

On the day following, I visited the Marine Hospital, in company with Sir John Phillimore. This is an admirably managed and richly endowed institution.3 The building was begun during the seven years war. It can accommodate two thousand sick or wounded: we found but about seventy persons in the hospital, and among these some officers and midshipmen. It appeared to me that the plan of having eight separate buildings, each three stories high, was a very good one, as the spreading of contagious diseases, or of a conflagration, can be so much more easily prevented. Each ward contains sixteen bedsteads, all of iron; the bedsteads for the officers are of wood, and furnished with curtains. There are also beds in the wards for the nurses, which, in all the English marine hospitals, are females, whose attendance is preferred for its greater gentleness to that of male assistants. The sick are brought from the ships to the hospital by water, and go, or are carried up a wide stone stair to the receiving office. They are then stripped and bathed in the hospital to which they are sent, and their clothes are marked, and kept in a particular magazine. An iron crane is employed to land those who are badly wounded. In all the wards, as well as in the different store-rooms, and the apothecary room, the greatest order and cleanliness is observable.

The church does not appear to me to be arranged in correspondence with the rest of the establishment. It is small, and has a store-room on the first floor, so that the patients find it occasionally very troublesome to attend upon worship. A covered colonnade surrounds the quadrangular court-yard which encloses the building, under which the patients, in bad or hot weather, can exercise. The middle of the court-yard is a well-kept grass-plot.

For maniac patients there is a proper house, built remote from the others. The wash-house stands also aloof. In bad weather, the wash is dried by steam. The wash is hung upon frames, which fold together, and may be run in and out for the convenience of taking off the dried pieces and adding the wet. Eight of such frames may be folded together and occupy a very small space. There is also a very appropriately managed bathing-house for the use of the patients, in which they may not only have all sorts of baths, but with the greatest convenience. The superintendents, physicians, and officers, have their dwellings in front of the hospital, in a spacious place planted with trees. The commissioner at the head of the institution, is Captain Creyke, a pensioner, eighty years old, who first served at sea in 1759, and accompanied Commodore Wallis in his first voyage round the world. Before we left the hospital we took a glance at his beautifully situated and tastefully arranged house. We then visited the Plymouth Library, established by subscription about twenty years ago, which does not yet appear to be very rich. The establishment consists of three apartments, the book-room, the reading-room, and the director’s meeting-room. The library serves properly for a reading club, like our literary society at Ghent. On the 10th, I dined in company with Admiral Saumarez and Sir John Phillimore, with the officer’s mess of the twenty-fourth regiment of infantry, commanded by Lieutenant Colonel Fleming.

On the ensuing day, the admiral accompanied us to Mount Edgecumbe Park; this is a truly noble situation, yet, in time of war, as this position is indispensable to the defence of the dock-yard, it is necessary to convert it into a fortification. The ground is very advantageously employed in the disposition and embellishment of the park: it is not encumbered with buildings; the green and bath-house are the principal, and in the construction of these the marble of the vicinity has been very happily used. The trees are chiefly beech, some of them apparently very old, sickly, and injured by the sea-air. There are also three great cedars of Lebanon, which do not thrive well in an English park. The Castle of Mount Edgecumbe is ancient, and externally resembles a state prison; we did not examine it internally. We saw the monument of Lady Mount Edgecumbe, who died in 1806, to whom the park is indebted for most of its improvements. It is told of her that she was twice buried; the first time she remained three days in a vault, lying in her coffin, and was aroused by a thief cutting off her finger to steal a ring: she left the grave, took refuge in a neighbouring house, made herself known, and was reconveyed to her castle, where she subsequently lived several years and gave birth to children. Relata refero. On the sea-shore, near the bridge that we passed two days since, Lord Mount Edgecumbe has erected a battery of twenty-one iron six pounders, which he fires upon all festival occasions. We embarked at this battery to visit the rock lying in front of Stonehouse, called Devil’s Point, which is to be partly levelled to make room for a new victualling office. The work is scarcely begun. A cellar was dug out of the rock and a wall built in the sea to support the foundation. This was effected by means of a diving-bell. The bell containing the workmen, remained while we were present, nearly four hours under water. Government intends to construct a new water-reservoir at this place, which will probably render that of Bovisand unnecessary. Drinking water is brought to Plymouth in iron pipes from Dartmouth, which is eighteen miles distant, so that in time of war the supply might readily be cut off.

Next day I went by land to visit the Castle of Saltroun, situated six English miles from Plymouth at the end of Catwater, and belonging to Lord Morlay, who resides in London. The road passes through a delightful valley; on the right is Catwater, to the left the ruins of castles on the heights: there are also here numerous terrace-shaped strawberry beds, the fruit of which is exceedingly good. Close to the entrance of the park we crossed the Catwater upon an old, very narrow, stone bridge of five arches. Through the park, a beautiful road leads from the valley to the loftily situated castle. It rained excessively, and as we could see nothing from the park, we restricted ourselves to the castle, which was built probably about sixty years ago, and has a very large apartment in the basement. A very spacious vestibule leads to the library, in which are a number of splendid family portraits and pictures of some once celebrated actresses. The best picture is a portrait of Sir Joshua Reynolds, painted by himself. Four plaster columns resembling verd-antique are excellent imitations. From the library a small apartment opens into the picture gallery. In both rooms are several paintings by Carlo Dolce, Andrea Del Sarto, Teniers, Wouvermans, Ostade, Kuyp, Vandermeulen, &c. I cannot assert that all these are original paintings. In the parlour, ball-room, and dining-hall, there are also numerous pictures. Some of these are attributed to Angelica Kauffman, others to Reubens, Van Dyke, Sassoferrato, Guido Rheni, Titian, Ruysdael, Parmegiano, &c. However, I have seen the originals of many of them at Antwerp and Ghent, and of one of the Parmegianos in Windsor Castle. Among the statues and busts, I especially remarked a copy of the Florentine Venus, by Canova, and a copy of Hebe by the same master. The staircase of the castle is fine, and adorned with pictures by Angelica Kauffman. The mantel-pieces, all of Italian marble, ornamented with bas-reliefs, are also very remarkable. The bad weather accompanied us throughout our return to Plymouth. On this occasion I remarked that the pavement was taken up in several streets, and Macadamized, which is much better for the horses and houses.

[Several succeeding days were spent in excursions to different places in the vicinity, in company with the Admiral and Sir John Phillimore; and one day on a water party accompanied by ladies.]

On the 19th of May, in a small boat belonging to the Fortitudo, I made, with great pleasure, an excursion to Trematon Castle, which I had formerly understood was once the residence of the ancient Princes of Cornwall. Sir John Phillimore had been so polite as to inform the proprietor, Mr. Tucker, chief director of the neighbouring mines, whose son is an officer on board the Thetis, of our coming. On landing, we found a carriage sent by Mr. Tucker to meet and convey us to the castle. I observed here a water-mill, behind which was a large walled basin that is filled by the flood tide, and closed by a gate. During the ebb tide the gate is opened and the mill set to work. It reminded me of the bassins de chasse, in some of our harbours.

Trematon Castle is situated upon a height. Besides the walls furnished with loop-holes which form a quadrangle, the castle consists of but two towers, one quadrangular, which forms the entrance, and the other a round one, somewhat higher. As Mr. Tucker holds this castle of the king, the royal arms are over the portal. In the court-yard of the castle, Mr. Tucker has built a tasteful house, and, by removing part of the adjacent wall, has obtained a beautiful prospect from his dwelling, comprising a view of most of the Hamoaze with the shipping, Anthony’s Park, Devonport, and part of Plymouth Sound. Mr. Tucker holds several important posts in the navy, and during Fox’s ministry he was secretary to the admiralty. At the overthrow of that administration, he retired to his native place with a pension of two thousand pounds per annum, and the office of secretary to the duchy of Cornwall; here he is highly esteemed, enjoys great influence, and has his property principally vested in the mines. After receiving us in a very friendly manner, and introducing his family, he took a seat in the carriage.

We went eight miles further to a silver mine, the only one in England. It belongs to a company of five stockholders, of which Mr. Tucker is the principal. The country is very hilly, the road sometimes narrow and steep, so that it was frequently necessary to lock the wheels. A part of the way was over the good road from Saltash to Callington; we also passed near to Pentilhe castle. The land is generally good, with the exception of a heath, of which England contains a number under the name of “commons.” The silver mine is situated in a deep valley of Fulliford common. The mine is named St. Vincent, in honour of the deceased admiral, who was a great patron of Mr. Tucker. The mine has been but five years in progress, and produces so little that it sinks two hundred pounds per month for the stockholders. The vein of silver, whose presence is judged of certainly by iron-stone, is cut at right angles by a vein of copper. This copper they are breaking through in hopes of greater success. The mine has five shafts; the deepest is rather more than three hundred feet deep, and serves as a working-shaft: two others are used for pumping out the water. One pump is worked by a steam-engine of seventy horse-power, the other is worked by a compound lever, which is about a quarter of a mile long, moved by a water-wheel of forty feet in diameter. The wheel is overshot, and the water for working it is obtained from a small brook, aided by the water pumped up by the steam machine, and conducted to it by a small canal. The lever is composed of long wooden beams, bound together with iron straps, and hangs by tripods placed at determinate distances.

The ore raised from the mine, is pounded, washed, and roasted in the usual manner. In order to separate the silver from the ore, the following mixture is added to an ounce of the powder; red lead, two ounces; red tartar, five pennyweights; nitre, nine pennyweights; borax, four pennyweights; lime, one-quarter of an ounce; common salt, two ounces; pounded fluor spar, one-quarter of an ounce. The whole is thrown into a red hot iron crucible, which is placed on a glowing coke fire for five minutes. The crucible is then taken off and the melted mass poured into a ladle, allowed to cool and the dross removed. Some copper still remains in the mass, so that the silver is again smelted with some lead, and poured into a small vessel made of bone ashes: the lead is oxydated and the silver remains pure. An ounce of ore produces one-fourth of an ounce of silver.

The mine is extremely damp, and as I had not felt entirely well for some days, I did not descend, neither did any of the company. We returned to Trematon, and in order to examine the noble spot to which we were going more thoroughly, I mounted the box, and enjoyed a great treat. To the left I looked down a deep valley upon the Tamer; farther off, upon the Hamoaze, and to the right, far over Cornwall. Falmouth is said also to be in sight. In his tastefully arranged house, Mr. Tucker has a very interesting collection of minerals and metals of the vicinity. He possesses a valuable library, and his wife has a remarkable collection of shells. In the quadrangular tower of the castle, he has fitted up a billiard room, and arranged on the walls numerous curiosities: ancient weapons, and implements from the South Sea Islands, the tatoed and dried head of a New Zealand chief, with his dress; pieces of worm-eaten ship-timber from the Indian Ocean, with one of the worms in spirits; Indian weapons; an American tomahawk; a human skull, found thirty feet under ground in Cornwall; a marble bullet, with which an English ship was struck in the Dardanelles, in 1807; articles from the field of Waterloo; and a weeping willow leaf from over Napoleon’s tomb! Above the clock in this tower, is placed the bell of the Spanish ship Salvador del Mundo, taken and burnt by Lord St. Vincent. The round tower, of which only the outward wall is standing, formerly served for a prison. The walls of this tower, as well as all the rest of the castle, are overgrown with ivy. A wooden staircase within, leads to a circular gallery, which affords a beautiful prospect. A narrow passage cut through the walls, leads to the garden, which contains numerous hot houses and a very fine orangery. From this spot Mr. Tucker accompanied us, by a very shady foot-path, back to our boat. I remarked near the Castle of Trematon, as about other English castles, and public walks, a vast flock of rooks, which roost there, making a great filth and noise. The rook is much esteemed, and I hear that the people foster them, and have their eggs hatched under pigeons, as they are thought to destroy vast numbers of injurious insects.

Amid all this friendly, agreeable, and learned society, these entertainments and excursions, my impatience became great, and augmented from day to day, from hour to hour. My time was precious, yet the greater part of it was lost here. I waited with increasing anxiety for the arrival of the Pallas, which still did not appear. More than once I resolved to leave behind all I had on board of the corvette, and go to the United States in a common packet. In the meanwhile various considerations deferred my departure from day to day, until finally on the 30th of May the Pallas arrived.