Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Off the Plate estuary the voyagers came upon a trading barque
in distress. The
Monkshaven
was out of Swansea bound for Val-
paraiso with smelting coal. Her cargo had ignited and for days a
slow, smouldering fire had been raging in the hold, forcing the crew
to batten down all hatches to deny oxygen to the inferno, and live
on deck. The captain was reluctant to abandon ship but, by the
time the
Sunbeam
appeared on the scene, the
Monkshaven
's situ-
ation was hopeless and he allowed himself and his men to be taken
aboard the schooner. For a week the fifteen crewmen of mixed na-
tionality were the Brasseys' guests. Then they were transferred to a
homeward-bound mail-boat. Annie was rather apprehensive about
taking the stranded mariners to her bosom: 'an incursion of fifteen
rough lawless spirits on board our little vessel would have been
rather a serious matter'. However, her anxiety proved ill-founded, as
the
Monkshaven
's crew turned out to be 'quiet, respectable men'.
11
When the time came for the temporary guests to leave, Annie
noted, they were very distressed, some even breaking into tears.
Well might those rough seamen be reluctant to depart the yacht.
Not only had they cause to be grateful to their deliverers, they had
also enjoyed seven days of unprecedented luxury. The Brasseys kept
a table which was little short of sumptuous. Fresh meat, fish, fruit
and vegetables were brought aboard at every opportunity. The
Sun-
beam
's 'cellar' was well-stocked. (After a particularly exhausting day
ashore at Tenerife Annie casually recorded that they went back
aboard with only enough energy to gulp down a little 'supper and
champagne' before falling into their beds.) And it was a black day, in-
deed, when they ran out of ice. As for the accommodation, that re-
sembled, in miniature, the splendid houses in which the Brasseys
normally resided. The principal cabins boasted ornate fireplaces
(and more than once during the voyage an open fire set off a minor
conflagration) and were decorated with all the fussiness of a normal
Victorian middle or upper class home - tasselled velvet drapes, rose-
