Dead Reckoning (4 page)

Remember me to all my friends and believe me

Your most affectionate husband,

Richard Delancey

Delancey's second letter to his wife was dated from Table Bay on January 14th 1806, and was entrusted (like the first) to H.M. Ship
Diadem,
which also carried the dispatch in which Sir Home Popham announced his conquest of the Cape:

My dearest Fiona—Now you can be allowed to know on what particular service the
Laura
was sent overseas. I was not myself informed until after we had sailed from Madeira but had made my guess before that. The result was that my seamen were taught their arms drill by our marine sergeant and my officers and midshipmen were instructed by Mr Fenner on how to serve as infantry. There was some grumbling at first, seamen muttering that they had never reckoned on becoming sodgers or lobster-backs, but they
learnt their drill in the end and even held their own (or very nearly) in a competition against the marines with the purser holding the stopwatch and the surgeon as judge. It was as well we did this because we had to provide a detachment for service ashore and they did very well under Fitzgerald's command and were 'specially commended by Captain Byng. I myself did not go ashore until the fighting was over. When I did so it was to find the colony in our possession again—and what a lovely place it is! Capetown has a delightful climate and is overlooked by the impressive height of Table Mountain. Inland the farms are built in the Dutch style and are so picturesque that I made sketches of several and lacked only the time to turn them into proper water-colours. Do you remember drinking Constantia at a dinner given by Sir John and Lady Warren? Well, I have now visited Constantia itself, the vineyard from which it comes and where I bought some of the wine which is excellent. So I think well of our conquest and feel that we were foolish to have given it back after its previous capture. Wine of that quality is wasted on the beer-drinking Dutch and we shall do well in future to keep it for ourselves. You will be glad to know that we have lost very few men in killed or wounded, the
Laura
having lost none, and that nearly our whole damage was sustained by the
Leonidas
of 64 guns, which grounded while attempting to cover the landing with her broadside. Unfamiliar with Saldanha Bay, Captain Watson took his ship closer to the shore than was prudent, following the example of the
Encounter
and
Protector,
smaller ship for which there was depth enough. The result is that the
Leonidas,
which was to have escorted the China Fleet back from Canton, is now ordered home for
repair. Some other ship will now have to go to China in her place but the rumour is that Sir Home, having some further operation in mind, refuses to detach any ship-ofthe-line, nor even the
Diomede
of 50 guns. Should this be the truth, as seems not improbable, I may yet be able to boast that I have been to China. Nothing is decided yet and I would not have dared say so much in a letter were it not for the fact that the mail will go home with Captain Donovan together with the Commodore's dispatch and so will not fall into the enemy's hands. I could only wish that Sir Home would write another dispatch, amplifying the first, and this time make me the bearer of it. This does not seem likely! I comfort myself, however, with the thought that the Cape is now in our hands. For years past the French island of Mauritius or the Ile de France has been the base for cruisers and privateers, some of them having had great success against the country trade in the Bay of Bengal or the Straits of Malacca. Some of these marauders have been taken but the only effectual remedy, as everyone knows, must lie in the capture of Mauritius itself. Now the Cape is ours we are brought within shorter range of the French islands and can blockade them as a first step towards their eventual conquest. When they are taken, fewer men-of-war will be wanted in the Indian Ocean and the
Laura
may well be one that can be spared. That is still my hope and I comfort myself with the thought that we may be together again before the year's end. When I first knew that the
Laura
was to be stationed in the East Indies I had at first the wild idea that you might come out in an East Indiaman and join me at Madras. But this, I had to tell myself, was an idle dream for, apart from every other objection, we
could have no certainty that the
Laura
would ever be sent there. As things are, I have at least the knowledge that you are safe in your home, surrounded by friends and neighbours. That goes some way—but only a little way—to console me for the sad fate that has parted us. A little good luck may come my way but I shall not spend all my energies in seeking it. I have work to do and must end this letter by assuring you once more of my love and asking you to believe that I remain,

Your most affectionate husband,

Richard Delancey

Fiona was made happy for a while, then months followed without a letter—one had failed to arrive as she afterwards realized—and when the next came it was dated from Canton.

March 11th 1806

My dearest Fiona—Each letter of mine comes to you from a greater distance! Short of crossing the Pacific I could not be much further away from my beloved. My consolation is that all further voyaging is likely to bring me nearer to you. I see myself engaged henceforth in services which will bring me home again, first to the Straits of Malacca, then to the Bay of Bengal and so to Mauritius and back to the Cape. Or is that too much to hope? Let me tell you, in the meanwhile, of the events which brought me here. The damage sustained by the
Leonidas
led to the
Laura
being sent to take her place as escort to the China Fleet. I came here by the shortest route through the Straits of Sunda, seeing little or nothing of the Indies. So here I am in China! If I were to write for a week and make drawings for a month
I could do little justice to all here that is strange and fascinating. Let me tell you first, however, about Sir Home Popham. He would seem to have conversed at the Cape with the master of an American ship who assured him that the people of Buenos Aires are ready to rebel against Spain. On this slender evidence Popham came to the surprising conclusion that he must go to their aid, attempting in fact the conquest of South America. All this was rumoured before I left the Cape and I fancy that he put this wild plan into execution soon afterwards. We are left to wonder what their Lordships of the Admiralty will have to say about this romantic scheme! By the time you read this you may well know the whole story, court martial and all. I always felt a little doubtful about Popham but no one can accuse him of lacking enterprise. Were I to follow his example I should set off now to attack Manila or attempt the annexation of Japan, but I am a more humdrum sort of officer and will do no more than I am ordered to do. My task is merely to escort the East Indiamen back from Canton, not in itself a very hazardous adventure. Where I shall risk my life is in eating Chinese dinners and enjoying the hospitality of the East India captains. What I shall never achieve is a knowledge of the Chinese language or any real understanding of Chinese manners and etiquette. So far, you will be glad to learn, my health has not suffered from the climate. More than that, I brought my frigate here with a healthy crew, few of them sick and only one man dying from consumption. This record, I should suppose, is rather too good to last but you may depend upon my being careful about overexposure to the sun.

The Chinese, I am told, are jealous of strangers and
intent on preventing them learning much about their country. No European is now allowed to settle in China, only the Portuguese having their settlement at Macao. The East India Company maintain a group of representatives, the supercargoes, who can live in their factory at Canton during the period of the year when their business is done. The East Indiamen which form the China Fleet are of the 1200-ton class, perhaps the finest merchantmen in the world. They might pass at a distance as smaller ships-of-the-line but they are armed only as frigates, having no lower-deck guns. The captain of an East Indiaman is called the Commander and holds a rank equivalent to Colonel in the Company's service. The senior captain is called the Commodore and has the duties of Admiral for the period of the voyage. None but the Company's ships can round the Cape under the British flag but there are other merchantmen called country ships which are owned by shipowners in India and mostly in Bombay. Some of these are fine ships, built in teak which is in some ways a better timber than oak. There are country ships here as well as Indiamen and it is these which bring opium from India. One cannot approve the traffic in this drug but those engaged in it will point out that the Chinese, if not supplied by them, would obtain their opium from some other source; and this is probably true. In these seas, as in the Indian Ocean, we have the monsoons, south-westerly winds in summer, north-easterly in winter, and one does not try to work against them. So we wait in Canton River until the northeasterly monsoon begins to blow, as from which time all trade goes southwards and westwards from here to India or from here to the Cape. At the moment, with the south-westerly
still blowing, we have ships still entering the river and bringing us the news from India and Europe. I could thus have heard from you had you any reason to suppose that I should be here. But after the north-easterly monsoon begins to blow all this northward traffic stops, the flow of trade (and information) goes from here southwards and we shall go with it; the mischief being that we shall then lack warning of anything the French may intend while they know from day to day exactly where we are. Our strength is known, our approximate date of sailing is known, and so is the route we are more or less bound to follow. We are too strong for the French privateers, though, and no frigate even would dare to intercept us. A ship-of-the-line would be a very real threat but there is none at Mauritius according to our latest intelligence. The likelihood is, therefore, that our voyage will be uneventful and that Britain's tea supply may be assured for another twelvemonth together with the China-ware out of which to drink it and the bamboo tables on which some people balance their cups and saucers. The bamboo, I find, comes as what is called dunnage, the packing which fills up odd spaces in a ship's hold and so prevents the cargo shifting. The dunnage belongs to the first mate, who sells it to the dunnage merchant when the cargo is landed. You see, I am learning all the secrets of the East India trade! I have learnt, for example, what happens to much of the tin which is mined in the Malay kingdoms which face on the Straits of Malacca. Beaten out thin, it is pasted on cardboard joss-sticks which the Chinese then burn as a religious symbol. I suppose that this is no more remarkable than the growing of tobacco in
Virginia so that people can burn it in London or else (among gentlemen) use it as snuff.

This letter will go by a country ship which is to sail earlier than the main fleet. It brings with it all my love for you, all my longing that we were together and all my hopes that we may be reunited before long. Take great care of yourself and write to me some day care of the government at Prince of Wales Island (also called Penang). I think it almost certain that I shall be there before long—more probably there than at Madras. I have bought you some gifts but will not attempt to send them, resolving rather to bring them to you in person, trusting you to be patient. While asking you to be patient I may add that I am anything but patient myself. I miss you far more even than I knew I would. It seems an eternity since we parted and it will seem another eternity before we meet. Remember me kindly to my friends and believe me,

Your most affectionate husband,

Richard Delancey

T
HE HONOURABLE East India Company's Hong or Factory at Canton faced the river but with a space between in which merchandise was being checked against invoices, weighed, and sorted. A little uncomfortable in full uniform, Delancey left his launch at the quayside with Mr Northmore and threaded his way between the boxes and bales, finally reaching the palatial building which was the headquarters of the China trade. He was shown without delay to the President's office where he found assembled the Select Committee of Supercargoes, four in number, attended on this occasion by Captain Woodfall, Commodore of the season's fleet. The President or Tyepan was Mr Thornton, grey-haired, thin-faced, and elegantly dressed. Next to him, on his right, was Mr Inglis, middle-aged, red-faced, and spectacled. On his left were Mr Grant, sallow and sleepy, and Mr Baring, young and alert. They held the best-paid and most enviable appointments in the Company's service and were all closely related to the more influential directors. Delancey had met them all but had not seen much of them since his arrival. Henry Woodfall, by contrast, he knew quite well, they having dined together on four or five occasions. The Commodore he had found to be a quiet man, reserved and apparently shy but a good seaman and easy to work with. The President's office was in the Chinese-Corinthian style with high windows, expensive candelabra, and a large portrait in oils of Queen Charlotte when young.
It overlooked the river with its turmoil of junks and sampans and was next to the general office in which the clerks had their tall writing desks.