They would have an uphill job at first, for the sailor has been so long accustomed to being preyed upon by the class he knows, and neglected by everybody else except the few good people who want to preach to him, that he would probably, in a sheepish shame-faced sort of way, refuse to have any "truck" with you, as he calls it.If the "sailors' home" people were worth their salt, they would organize expeditions by carriage to such beautiful places as--in London, for instance--Hampton Court, Zoological Gardens, Crystal Palace, Epping Forest, and the like, with competent guides and good catering arrangements.But no;the sailor is allowed to step outside the door of the "home" into the grimy, dismal streets with nothing open to him but the dance-house and brothel on one side, and the mission hall or reading-room on the other.God forbid that I should even appear to sneer at missions to seamen; nothing is farther from my intention; but I do feel that sailors need a little healthy human interest to be taken in providing some pleasure for them, and that there are unorthodox ways of "missioning" which are well worth a trial.
I once took a party (while I was an A.B.) from Wells-street Home to the South Kensington Museum.There were six of them--a Frenchman, a Dane, a Russian Finn, two Englishmen, and an Irishman.Though continually sailing from London for years, this was the first occasion they had ever been west of Aldgate.The only mistake I made was in going too deep at one step.The journey from Shadwell to South Kensington, under the guidance of one familiar, through the hardest personal experiences, with every corner of the vast network, was quite enough for one day.
So that by the time we entered the Museum they were surfeited temporarily with sight-seeing, and not able to take in the wonders of the mighty place.Seeing this, I did not persist, but, after some rest and refreshment, led them across the road among the naval models.Ah! it was a rare treat to see them there.For if there is one thing more than another which interests a sailor, it is a well-made model of a ship.Sailors are model-makers almost by nature, turning out with the most meagre outfit of tools some wonderfully-finished replicas of the vessels is which they have sailed.And the collection of naval models at South Kensington is, I suppose, unsurpassed in the world for the number and finish of the miniature vessels there shown.
Our day was a great success, never to be forgotten by those poor fellows, whose only recreation previously had been to stroll listlessly up and down the gloomy, stone-flagged hall of the great barracks until sheer weariness drove them out into the turbid current of the "Highway," there to seek speedily some of the dirty haunts where the "runner" and the prostitute: awaited them.
But I have wandered far from the Bay of Islands while thus chattering of the difficulties that beset the path of rational enjoyment for the sailor ashore.Returning to that happy day, Iremember vividly how, just after we got clear of the town, we were turning down a lane between hedgerows wonderfully like one of our own country roads, when something--I could not tell what--gripped my heart and sent a lump into my throat.Tears sprang unbidden to my eyes, and I trembled from head to foot with emotion.Whatever could it be? Bewildered for the moment, Ilooked around, and saw a hedge laden with white hawthorn blossom, the sweet English "may." Every Londoner knows how strongly that beautiful scent appeals to him, even when wafted from draggled branches borne slumwards by tramping urchins who have been far afield despoiling the trees of their lovely blossoms, careless of the damage they have been doing.But to me, who had not seen a bit for years, the flood of feeling undammed by that odorous breath, was overwhelming.I could hardly tear myself away from the spot, and, when at last I did, found myself continually turning to try and catch another whiff of one of the most beautiful scents in the world.
Presently we came to a cottage flooded from ground to roof-ridge with blossoms of scarlet geranium.There must have been thousands of them, all borne by one huge stem which was rooted by the door of the house.A little in front of it grew a fuchsia, twelve or fourteen feet high, with wide-spreading branches, likewise loaded with handsome blooms; while the ground beneath was carpeted with the flowers shaken from their places by the rude wind.
So, through scenes of loveliness that appealed even to the dusky Kanakas, we trudged gaily along, arriving pretty well fagged at our destination--a great glade of tenderest green, surrounded by magnificent trees on three sides; the fourth opening on to a dazzling white beach sloping gently down to the sea.Looking seaward, amidst the dancing, sparkling wavelets, rose numerous tree-clothed islets, making a perfectly beautiful seascape.On either side of the stretch of beach fantastic masses of rock lay about, as if scattered by some tremendous explosion.Where the sea reached them, they were covered with untold myriads of oysters, ready to be eaten and of delicious flavour.
