Carlisle Bay

“ Barbados is made of coral, but t’other islands are volcanoes, and they’ve a nasty way of going off when you least count upon it. From Carlisle Bay you can see white houses under wooden tiles all scorched grey by the sun heat, and in the streets a great crowd goes up and down in the blazing air and shining dust. ”

“ Not a day passed but one or other of us got a kick or a blow from him or the captain. They made one young lad very nearly leap overboard, where he would have been drowned. I hauled him back, and calming him down, showed him the enormity of the sin he was going to commit, and urged him to bear his trials, as they must shortly be over.
At last we reached Carlisle Bay, where we brought up off Bridge Town, the capital of the fertile island Barbadoes. The town lies round the bay, and contains some handsome houses and broad streets. ”

“ The day was intensely hot, the sun lying bright and broad as ever I remember it in an American city; so that I was glad to get back again to the shade and shelter of the station. The heat and dust, moreover, made our journey to Carlisle very uncomfortable. It was through very pretty, and sometimes picturesque scenery, being on the confines of the hill-country, which we could see on our left, dim and blue; and likewise we had a refreshing breath from the sea in passing along the verge of Morecambe Bay. ”

“ The principal Road or Bay is call’d Carlisle Bay, and lieth on the South-West part of the Island near its Center, and is a good Road, where five hundred Ships of any Burthen may Ride safely from all but South and Westerly Winds, which seldom in these Parts happen, they generally blowing Easterly, whence it is that we call the East parts Windward, and the West parts Leeward. ”

“ Arrival in West Indies—Cruise among the French islands—Bombardment and capture of St. Pierre, Dominique—Attack on Bourbon—Capture of forts—Surrender of General Rochambeau and the French garrison.
After a pleasant passage of thirty-four days we anchored in Carlisle Bay, Barbadoes. Two days after our arrival I had permission to go on shore with the gunner, who had been here before. I found the town not very extensive. The houses are built much in the same style as those at Kingston, in Jamaica, except that they have more garden ground. ”

“ The distance from Hanway's Point to Howe's Point is between four and five miles. Close to the shore there is about thirty fathom of water; but in crossing the bay, at the distance of about two miles, we had no bottom. Having passed Howe's Point, we opened another bay or harbour, which had the appearance of a deep lagoon, and which we called Carlisle Harbour. Over-against the entrance of Carlisle Harbour, and north of the coast, we found a small island, which we called Portland's Island. On the west side of this island there is a reef of rocks that runs to the main ”

“ Carlingford Bay being so landlocked and surrounded by mountains as to resemble a large lake; and the tourist, passing through an irregular grove of tall and aged ash trees, with the sea and whitened houses glimmering between them, finds here a truly rural village retirement, commanding within its immediate vicinity more beauty than the generality of sea places; a dry soil, shady walks, diversified rides, and good bathing. ”

“ On the N.W. side of the cape the land runs in to the N.E. for four leagues, making a small bay, called Caldera Bay, at the entrance to which, at the N.W. side of the cape, a rivulet of fresh water discharges itself into the sea through very rich low lands abounding in lofty trees. This rich wooded vale extends a mile N.E. beyond the rivulet, when a savanna begins, running several leagues into the country, here and there beautifully interspersed with groves of trees, and covered with excellent long grass. Deeper into the bay, the low lands are cloathed with mangroves ”

“ Your cruising ground will be from Cape Maysi northward as far as Long Island, giving the Kays in Austral Bay an overhaul now and then, thence to windward of the Windward Passages, down as far south as, say, the Silver Kay Passage, then to the westward as far as Cape Maysi again. But you will have to be very careful, young gentleman, in your navigation of Austral Bay, or you may find yourself cast away on one or another of the shoals. You, Lascelles, I intend to put in command of that schooner, the Dauphin, which was brought in by the Minerva a few days ago ”

“ Sailing thence to the southward towards the large island we discovered a very large bay, well peopled, and very fertile in yams and fruits, pigs and fowls.
They are all black people and naked. They fought with bows, darts and clubs. They did not choose to have peace with us, though we frequently spoke to them and made presents; and they never, with their good will, let us set foot on shore.
This bay is very refreshing, and in it fall many and large rivers. It is in 15° 45' S., latitude and in circuit it is twenty-five leagues. ”

“ The shops are very poor. The English do not mix at all with the Portuguese. The Bay is a very bad anchorage; but is wide, bright and cheerful; and there are some picturesque points—one a small black island—scattered about it. ”

“ The eastern shore now took a S. by W. direction, forming shallow bights, flanked by hills of moderate elevation; our next station was an islet at the head of Collier Bay, bearing S.S.W. 1⁄2 W. 15 miles from Eagle Point: it was in the mouth of a shoal bay about three miles deep in a W.S.W. direction, the shores of which were lined with mangroves and overlooked by a high rocky ridge. The width of Collier Bay, at its entrance 20 miles, was here only six. ”

“ In and out of this harbour small sailing-vessels make their way; and certain scattered cottages, the Bridport Arms Inn, and some few recent houses, all standing in the sands and minute gravel of the Chesil Beach, which ends here, make believe that West Bay is a seaside resort. On either side of it the cliffs rise to great heights, and are partly of a friable, earthy nature, yellow in hue. ”

“ On sped the carriage, the lovely Upper Bay always in sight, until on the curve of the long Coddington's Point it turned, and retraced its course so as to strike Washington Street at the lower end. It was a delicious afternoon. The tide was flowing freshly in, and the brisk northwest breeze which met it sent little white-caps dancing all over the surface. Crafts of all kinds were traversing the harbor: yachts and cat-boats were out in numbers; schooners and barges sped up the bay, their sails shining against the green Island shores ”

“ The old Brigantes never planted their towns without due examination of the whole lie of the land, and especially with a view to its defencibleness. The river-junctions were often their favourite settling places. Hence the origin of Carlisle, and many others of the Border towns—Hawick, Selkirk, Kelso, etc. With its three encompassing streams—the Eden, the Caldew, and the Petteril, which still enclose the Castle and Cathedral hills in a sort of quasi-island, Carlisle has been aptly called "the city of the waters." ”

“ We anchored on the north shore, off a sandy bay, which I think as good a birth as any in the bay; Cape Banks bore east-south-east, and Point Solander south-south-east, the ground clear and good. The wind, either from the north-east or south-east quarters, set in a prodigious sea. Higher up the bay there is a spot of four fathoms, where a few ships might be laid in tolerable security, but they must be lightened, to enable them to pass over a flat of twelve feet, and that depth but of narrow limits. ”

“ Not a ripple disturbed the placid and glassy surface of the magnificent bay and harbour, upon which rested at anchor thirty large vessels, consisting of whalemen, merchantmen, and the U.S. sloop-of-war Portsmouth, Captain Montgomery. Besides these, there were numerous small craft, giving to the harbour a commercial air, of which some of the large cities on the Atlantic coast would feel vain. The bay, from the town of San Francisco due east, is about twelve miles in breadth. An elevated range of hills bounds the view on the opposite side. ”

“ At Port Phillip Bay the great dividing range which runs parallel at varying distances with the coast from Wide Bay, penetrating New South Wales under various names (the Blue Mountains near Sydney, the Australian Alps in Gipps's Land) , seems to sink into the sea across Bass's Straits, where its course is marked by a chain of islands, and reappears with the same character in Van Diemen's Land.
Thus it is that, sailing up the bay, the scenery changes: the rugged cliffs and alpine ranges of the east coast give way to undulating grassy plains, sprinkled with picturesque hills. ”

“ The starlings, versatile birds, may, like the dandy, have changed their habits; the old horse, whatever war service it accomplished, must surely have passed; travel, speed, and manner of travel received many unexpected jolts in the years which have intervened. Port Carlisle ceased to function, the canal emptied, the dandy vanished, but the Solway remains practically unchanged; the tide sweeps over its miles of sands, fills the gutters of its marshes, and brings its hordes of fowls. ”

“ Streams and falls of water dash by one everywhere—they have only to utilise this water-power for mills and factories; and hard by are some of the finest bays in the world, where ships can deliver and receive foreign and home produce. At Roundstone especially, where a little town has been erected, the bay is said to be unexampled for size, depth, and shelter; and the Government is now, through the rocks and hills on their wild shore, cutting a coast-road to Bunown, the most westerly part of Connemara, whence there is another good road to Clifden. ”

“ In fine weather, with the wind at north-east, spars of any dimensions may be sent off from Sydney-Bay, by mooring a boat without the reef, and hauling the spars off. I have great reason to suppose anchorage will be very safe off Sydney-Bay in the summer. I think vessels might be built and launched in Ball-Bay; and when the flax-plant can be brought to work, cordage and sails can be made of the finest and strongest sort.
Q. 9. How does your stock thrive, and what does the island produce? ”

“ Still it increased the danger of approaching the shore, and the bay afforded no shelter to the wind then blowing. We flew rapidly on; the dim outline of the coast became more and more distinct. At length we could distinguish some lofty headlands directly ahead.
Charley White knew that two such headlands mark the entrance to Port Jackson, but he reminded me that there is a third, which forms the side of False Bay, and that more than one ship had run in there, and that instead of finding a sheltering harbour they had been thrown against the rugged cliffs which form its sides. ”

“ Lastly, we take a look at the fishing-tackle, with which the light-house keeper goes out to troll for salmon. Glorious sport! The great, delicious fellows, to be caught by a fly! But we, humans, need not sermonize about being taken by small bait!
Baker's Bay is not without its little history; albeit, it is nothing romantic. In 1850, a company conceived the plan of building up a city, under shelter of the cape, and expended a hundred thousand dollars, more or less, before they became aware of the fruitlessness of their undertaking. ”

“ Off the South-East end of Legendre Island the sea is very full of reefs and dry rocks, but between Hauy and Delambre Islands there is a safe channel of nine and ten fathoms deep.
The bay in which we had anchored was called, at Mr. Roe's request, Nickol's Bay; it is open only to the North-East, and affords safe shelter, with good holding-ground. At the bottom of the bay, on both sides of a projecting point of land, on which three round-backed hills were conspicuous, the coast falls back, and forms two bights, the western of which is backed by very low land, lined with mangroves ”

“ Corio Harbour is in fact the best anchorage in Port Phillip, that at Hobson's Bay being very confined, and scarcely affording any shelter from southerly winds for large ships. Moreover, Corio Harbour lies more convenient for the western districts, there being no other place where the sheep-farmers of those parts can, with safety, ship their wool, except Portland Bay. ”

“ In the whole bay we did not see a bank, rock, or reef; but it is so deep that there is no anchorage except at the above port. It is better to approach near the river Salvador, and there is another moderate port which is distant 2 leagues from this on the N. to S. coast.
All the said beach is bordered by a dense mass of great trees, with paths leading from them to the shore. It seemed to serve as a wall, the better to carry on defensive or offensive operations against other natives coming to make war. All the rest is a level plain, with hills on either side. ”

“ The cause of this great rise of tide in the head of Collier Bay, may be attributed to there being no escape for the vast body of water flowing into it. The land over the depth of this inlet which I have before spoken of, as being barren rocky heights, bounded our view to the southward; it bore S.S.E. three miles, and lies in lat. 16° 25' S. and long. 124° 25' E. being the farthest point we determined towards the centre of the continent. The extreme position reached in that direction by Lieutenant Lushington of Lieutenant Grey's expedition, bears from this point, N. 64° E. fifty miles. ”

“ A small felucca lay at anchor a cable’s length from the shore; and when at length we reached the lip of the basin-like depression, the bottom of which formed the bay, or cove rather, I perceived, to my amazement, that a sort of village of quite respectable extent had been built along its southern margin, some of the buildings being so large that I at once set them down as storehouses. A number of people were moving about the buildings; and quite a dozen boats were hauled up on the beach above high-water mark. ”