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Article PENCILLINGS FBOM THE SKETCH-BOOK OF A MA... ← Page 11 of 13 →
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Pencillings Fbom The Sketch-Book Of A Ma...
voice , the needed ^ information , " By the deep , five / 9 " Quarter less five , " and so on . A grandeur and wild majesty of outline meets the unaccustomed eye of the European on coming in view of Ceylon , which is very striking . The scenery of the Cinnamon Isle is highly picturesque : pagodas mingling their summits with lofty trees , covered with
foliage of Asiatic luxuriance along the shore , while in the background of the picture , mountainous land , clothed to its very top with jungle , the renowned haunt of the wild elephant , here so numerous , has a most pleasing effect . The word , jungle , " in the East , denotes both the magnificent forest which contains that monarch of the woods , the mighty teak-tree , and the large tracts of copse-like country , which , covered with evergreen shrubs , shelters alike the graceful antelope and the ravenous jackal .
On the 19 th of March we were off Trincomalee , passing on the following night several coasting vessels . One of these , called a dhony , sailing across our bows and carrying no light ahead , or anything whereby to indicate her approach , very nearly ran foul of us . "We were moving on with a fair breeze , at a brisk rate , and though we had a lantern at our foremast-head , her careless mariners did not
perceive it till we were close upon her : scarcely time , indeed , had we to clear her in the darkness , so that she had a narrow escape from destruction . Apropos to accidents at sea , and in review of the dangers to which many are exposed in a long voyage , I think it should be made imperative on all passengers to provide themselves with the patent life-preserver . Each man , woman , and child may , at
the mere cost of half a sovereign , have one suspended in the cabin , and to put them on and inflate them is but the work of a minute . How many a life under Providence might , if this plan were generally adopted , be saved which is now recklessly lost . If a vessel be wrecked near a shore , there would surely be a greater chance of
preservation for the individual using one ; and even if in the rare case of a vessel ' s foundering on the wide ocean , where , it is true , life might be hopelessly and miserably prolonged , the possibility of being picked up in time by other ships is afforded . In such cases , for instance , as the destruction of the Amazon and the Birkenhead
steamers , what lives might have been preserved had all been supplied with cork jackets or swimming-belts . I say not this from having any personal interest in benefiting the patentees ; but simply from a sense of humanity . Would not an Act of Parliament , requiring each commander under a penalty of £ 20 for every passenger he received on board unless thus provided , have a valuable effect in lessening the risk of life to the voyager ?
On the 21 st we came in full view of the Coromandcl coast ; and now our Indian life might be said to commence . The characteristic catamaran or canoe , in which the poor native fisherman is seated , scarce decked out in attire beyond that with which nature supplies him , and whose skin has a most wizen and weather-beaten appearance , carries with its owner stores of fruit , fish , and onions for
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Pencillings Fbom The Sketch-Book Of A Ma...
voice , the needed ^ information , " By the deep , five / 9 " Quarter less five , " and so on . A grandeur and wild majesty of outline meets the unaccustomed eye of the European on coming in view of Ceylon , which is very striking . The scenery of the Cinnamon Isle is highly picturesque : pagodas mingling their summits with lofty trees , covered with
foliage of Asiatic luxuriance along the shore , while in the background of the picture , mountainous land , clothed to its very top with jungle , the renowned haunt of the wild elephant , here so numerous , has a most pleasing effect . The word , jungle , " in the East , denotes both the magnificent forest which contains that monarch of the woods , the mighty teak-tree , and the large tracts of copse-like country , which , covered with evergreen shrubs , shelters alike the graceful antelope and the ravenous jackal .
On the 19 th of March we were off Trincomalee , passing on the following night several coasting vessels . One of these , called a dhony , sailing across our bows and carrying no light ahead , or anything whereby to indicate her approach , very nearly ran foul of us . "We were moving on with a fair breeze , at a brisk rate , and though we had a lantern at our foremast-head , her careless mariners did not
perceive it till we were close upon her : scarcely time , indeed , had we to clear her in the darkness , so that she had a narrow escape from destruction . Apropos to accidents at sea , and in review of the dangers to which many are exposed in a long voyage , I think it should be made imperative on all passengers to provide themselves with the patent life-preserver . Each man , woman , and child may , at
the mere cost of half a sovereign , have one suspended in the cabin , and to put them on and inflate them is but the work of a minute . How many a life under Providence might , if this plan were generally adopted , be saved which is now recklessly lost . If a vessel be wrecked near a shore , there would surely be a greater chance of
preservation for the individual using one ; and even if in the rare case of a vessel ' s foundering on the wide ocean , where , it is true , life might be hopelessly and miserably prolonged , the possibility of being picked up in time by other ships is afforded . In such cases , for instance , as the destruction of the Amazon and the Birkenhead
steamers , what lives might have been preserved had all been supplied with cork jackets or swimming-belts . I say not this from having any personal interest in benefiting the patentees ; but simply from a sense of humanity . Would not an Act of Parliament , requiring each commander under a penalty of £ 20 for every passenger he received on board unless thus provided , have a valuable effect in lessening the risk of life to the voyager ?
On the 21 st we came in full view of the Coromandcl coast ; and now our Indian life might be said to commence . The characteristic catamaran or canoe , in which the poor native fisherman is seated , scarce decked out in attire beyond that with which nature supplies him , and whose skin has a most wizen and weather-beaten appearance , carries with its owner stores of fruit , fish , and onions for