The Argosy — page 64: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

54 On Board the “ Batavia.” As the days went on, we found more and more reason to congra- tulate ourselves with our small table. The long tables were full and noisy. The Batavia was going out to Australia, and the human element on board was more varied than it often is in vessels proceed- ing direct to India. The social atmosphere was more colonial than imperial. Yet the noisiest party, Iam bound to say, as a truthful historian, consisted of sundry officers proceeding eastward, who appeared to think that they were not there for their own entertainment alone, but for the edification of the rest of the passengers. If loud laughter (at the dinner-table) is said to proclaim the vacant mind, their minds must have been singularly empty. Towards the end of dinner, they invariably began sleight-of-hand tricks—such as throwing up an apple, and catching it on an inverted bottle, or the prongs of a fork ; varied by two apples thrown up and cleverly caught, one on each object. I wish to be impartial, and admit that it was very clever. At length one lady suggested that the time for these ex- hibitions was a little ill-chosen ; why not give separate and evening séances ; and she was quite sure that, if they sent round the hat at the end, everyone would be happy to contribute. However, the hint was not taken; the little harmless sarcasm fell dead; and the noise and the conjuring went on. So also did a flirtation on board with two young ladies who were fellow passengers, and so far scandalised the married ladies that they consulted as to whether they should sign a round robin, requesting an improved behaviour. But it was not done, and the flirting, like the conjuring, held sway. One young lady, going out to Australia in charge of a man-servant and two maids, gave herself languishing airs and graceful attitudes : very harmless and innocent, and very amusing. We were, however, in a very slight degree, her victims. We were almost the only two on board who used campstools. Most of the passengers, bound for Australia, had their own particular chairs with them. We had not; and one of our campstools invariably disappeared to be brought into requisition for the lady’s four o’clock tea, which was always brought on deck by her man-servant, Pompey, on a silver-gilt waiter, and served in cups of delicate Sevres china. At last we had to turn ourselves into human snails, and, wherever we went, took, not our shells, but our campstools with us. One unfortunate chair, belonging to a passenger who was to join at Brindisi, long before Brindisi or even Malta was reached, had been so roughly handled that it lay about the deck in fragments. This would prove hard lines for its owner ; for I never was on board any vessel so badly provided with seats. It had absolutely nothing but campstools for those unfortunate people who had not brought their own lounges with them; and even the stools were few in number. conniclooolkks CO