Birds of Passage Read online

  Henrietta’s journal ended at the seaside village of Allamparva on October 11th 1800. While still on the road, she penned one last letter to Lord Clive in which she confided alarm in the physical alteration of both daughters and expressed her concern that remaining any longer in India might permanently injure their health. Recalling Lord Robert Clive’s epileptic seizures, she reminded her husband of ‘fatal instances, weak nerves, and constitution’ in the Clive family. Increasingly, she had become fearful about the state of her brother’s health. In 1788 when she and Lord Clive had been travelling in Italy, Henrietta had yielded to a similar compelling need that she described as a ‘most amazing’ longing to see her brother, noting that, ‘We have been a long time wanderers upon the face of the earth’. In the autumn of 1800, near the final stages of her South India trek, Henrietta abruptly decided that it was time for her and her daughters to turn towards home.

  PRELUDE

  ‘A Bird of Passage’

  ‘Neither you nor myself believed it prophetic when you called me a bird of passage* which I really am in preparing to take a very long flight,’ Lady Henrietta Antonia Clive wrote on November 1st 1797 to her friend, Lady Frances Douglas in Scotland, announcing the East India Company’s appointment of her husband as Governor of Madras. ‘You will easily believe in what a fidget I have been these ten days when I tell you we are going to the East Indies.’

  On December 20th 1797 Henrietta sent a progress report to Lady Douglas saying:

  My girls are not at all averse to going in a ship upon the sea with their Mother and she is not a little delighted that there does not seem a doubt that the climate is wholesome and cannot do them injury. On the contrary, it is said to be remarkably otherwise at their age. Signora Tonelli has consented to go and I have great pleasure in the idea of having her with them. She has sent me a miniature of them so very like that I wish I could show it to you just to look at for a moment that you may know what they are like as I think their dispositions are visible in their countenances … As myself, I look forward to all sorts of things – like the Arabian Nights – and put away every idea of all other places as much as possible.

  The behaviour of the Shropshire Regiment I must say is flattering to my Welsh pride. Several of the officers have desired to go and this morning a body of thirty or forty men came to desire to go with their Colonel … The band have decided the same and I am sure you will believe how sensibly we both feel it and that I really can hardly keep it in I am so much moved by their behaviour.

  On January 27th 1798 once again she wrote to her friend saying,

  I have been on the point of answering your long and pleasant letter twenty times, but a pen and ink and I have not met so much as we ought to have done, except to assist in ordering apparel. I am exactly in the situation of Moussellina, la serieuse,† in great want of the same part of dress people in London will not comprehend [a thin cotton chemise] and I am in despair, not having had, like her, eleven thousand to try on. I am now in the very act of going to London and at Oakly Park taking leave of all there with a complete persuasion I shall see nothing so beautiful as my own oaks in the East.

  I have seen the Captain of my future Bodyguard (which title makes me laugh). He has told me all sorts of things and hints that it will not be thought dignified and proper for me to march upon my hind legs at Madras in mud, if I am lucky enough to find it, as I have been used to do in much better countries … I leave my boys in the care of my brother and the Bishop of Bristol, a very old friend of his and mine, who will exactly attend to everything about them with my brother’s advice therefore as to health and education. I am at ease they will go to Eton, at least the eldest next summer … I have met with a learned man who has given me my alphabet in Persian. He says it is not difficult. How you will envy me if I can ever speak to a Brahmin in his own language.

  With departure close at hand, Henrietta sent Lady Douglas a final message on March 2nd 1798 that touched on her anxiety at being so far from home and her brother.

  We are told that on the 10th everything must be ready and the East India Company will rejoice when we are gone. But I trust the convoy will not be ready and that we may stay till the end of the month. One principal reason is that when I came to town I found my brother so unwell and so altered that it made me quite miserable. He is now infinitely better and thinks himself so, and I am especially easy about him; yet I should like to see him nearer to perfect health. I did not want this additional anxiety and it really made me uncomfortable. So many things pulling, each a different way. He is alone which he has not been for some years and I go to him every evening unless he happens to come here. Therefore I know little of the world except what I hear and see in a morning and indeed I do not much like going out as people are so civil sometimes and think it right to be sorry and to say things that I do not like by way of being civil.

  I hear I’m supposed to be delighted with the thoughts of going to the East, which is certainly not true. Yet, I have so made up my mind, and it will keep itself up I hope till I get into the ship when the hurry I am worked up to is over. I am afraid my spirits will not be very good joined to seasickness and confinement. I am afraid it will be necessary to fortify myself with all possible philosophy.

  Officially England had been at war with France since November 27th 1797. But Henrietta did not dwell on this unpleasant reality, passing lightly over the troubled situation of the world, sharing instead a few bits of gossip with her friend:

  People seem to think the French will make some attempt, but they do not fear which is saying a great deal. They must attempt to satisfy their own people if it costs the lives of their whole army, but I believe there is not the least fear or danger in this country. And Ireland I hear, is in a better state than it has been and much subdued. The rafts, as they are described, are to be worked by pullies and will depend much more on the winds than common vulgar ships, by which happy invention the whole army may be carried into the Atlantic Ocean to feed the fishes. People say the Bonaparte is much worse to the attempt and wishes much for peace but does not dare show it. Mrs Bonaparte goes to the theatre with a sort of dame d’honneur standing behind her and travels with much more state than even queens used to do. At Bologna she went to the opera with a picture of the Queen of Naples on her neck, which she had sent to Bonaparte. I think that was shabby don’t you to bribe the chief of those executioners who has murdered her sister …

  The ship is the Dover Castle and the Captain says if we set out by the end of this month, he will insure our being there in less than four months, which is comfortable though we are not to land anywhere. There is an end of the hedges of Cape Jasmine which I expected to see. The only chance of a blade of grass is at the Brasils …‡

  * A bird that migrates at the changes of season in spring and autumn; hence, anyone who roams about.

  † Count Anthony Hamilton’s (1645–1719) Tales, which ridicule infatuation with the Arabian Nights, includes a story about Moussellina the Serious who is attacked by a monster crocodile, and removes her shift so that she can swim faster.

  ‡ Although the boat was due to sail round Africa, the trade winds which were used to travel meant that the Dover Castle would have neared South America before turning east to skirt Africa for India.

  1798

  Aboard the Dover Castle

  ‘Going to the East.’

  From the fair copy of Charly’s journal made by W. H. Ramsey in 1857

  On April 2nd 1798 Henrietta’s journey East got underway when she, Lord Clive, their daughters Harry and Charly, along with the girls’ governess, Italian artist Anna Tonelli, boarded an Indiaman, the Dover Castle, at Portsmouth. An Indiaman usually was outward bound in January or March and returned by June or July of the following year. As most East India Company ships, the Dover Castle weighed four hundred and ninety-nine tons, a weight deliberately chosen, as a vessel of five hundred tons and over was compelled to carry a chaplain. The Clives, who were not particularly religious, made do with Mr
Thomas, their surgeon, who held church on deck and officiated as necessary.

  Other passengers on board the Dover Castle included, Mrs Wodehouse, Major Grant, Captain Brown, Mr Thomas, Mr Cartwright (Secretary), Mr Richard Strachey, Messrs Smith, Keen and Malton (cadets), three ladies maids, five men-servants, two cows, four goats, Friskey, a terrier, the Ship’s Officers – Captain Sampson, Mr Champion, Mr Rymer, Mr Cowls, Mr Trimmer and the Mates. Their fleet consisted of – the Leopard, Captain Surridge; a frigate, the Good Hope, Captain Hilton; the Walpole, Captain Butler; the London, Captain Looking; the Princess Charlotte, Captain Butler; the Dover Castle, Captain Sampson; the Henrietta, a Danish ship; and two little whalers.

  In the ship’s cramped space, the Clives stowed themselves and their gear as best they could. Henrietta had her own cabin carved out of the dining room. Lord Clive had the roundhouse to dress and sleep in. In the stern gallery, pots of geraniums hung before the windows. Lord Clive, Charly, Harry and Henrietta had most of the great cabin. The rest of it was for their maids.

  Henrietta began, soon after departure from Portsmouth, to chronicle her voyage in letters. Indeed the sending, receiving and waiting for letters would be of great importance throughout the journey. Charly, too, wrote the occasional letter but she also depicted the fabric of their daily lives throughout their travels in a journal which she began on board the Dover Castle. Henrietta would later record her 1800 travels in South India in two small paper-backed, Indian notebooks (one multicoloured, the other a brick-red) which she acquired after her arrival in Madras.

  April 2nd, Henrietta to her brother, George Herbert, 2nd Earl of Powis

  At four o’clock in the evening we weighed anchor, set sail, and proceeded as far as Cowes, but afterwards laid to for fear of shoals.

  Undated, Henrietta to George Herbert, 2nd Earl of Powis, continued

  I have a great wish to see dry land again. The waves are so great and so various that I confess I do long for a little quietness. I shall finish this tomorrow when I hope to be better as I have not attempted to dine since I parted with my ‘Dear Boys’ and ‘My Good Uncle’ till yesterday. Your little box sits on the bed beside me and I assure you its motto is not necessary to remind me for I am not a little subject to penses a vous.

  God bless and give you health my dearest brother and everything you wish is the wish of your sincerely affectionate

  H. A. C.

  Undated, Henrietta to George Herbert, 2nd Earl of Powis, continued

  My dearest brother – We have taken the pianoforte out of its green cover and placed it between the doors opposite to the windows with the harp, which remains in its leather cover having not yet been uncrated. The girls will be able to practise most days and their other affairs will go on as usual. I am not yet able to work, but we read all together and are as comfortable as our circumstances will allow. The heat at present is very troublesome to us.

  April 7th, Charly’s journal

  In the evening, as we were sailing very fast, a sailor, who was on the yardarm, unfortunately fell into the sea. We were sometime before we could stop the ship and as soon as he fell overboard he wished his friends farewell, and said he was sure he could not be saved; some of the sailors in the anxiety to save him jumped into the boat that was hanging at the stern, and instead of allowing the people above to lower them down, they cut the ropes, and fell headlong into the sea; the boat was consequently overturned and it was with difficulty they saved themselves by catching hold of the rudder. They came in at the windows of our cabin, and came through the round house to go upon the deck. We had some plants in the boat, and one of the sailors had taken a few of them, and put them in the stern-gallery and as he passed through the room, he pointed to them and looking at us said, ‘It was I that saved these plants.’ The Whalers took up the boat, and sent it to us the next morning. The first poor man was not to be found though the boat of another vessel was sent out likewise in search of him. You may imagine how unpleasant we felt that evening and the confusion in the ship during the time of the accident.

  April 21st, Henrietta to her brother, George Herbert, 2nd Earl of Powis

  My dearest brother – Yesterday we had a grand chase of another sort, which Lord Clive says is better even than a fox chase and bid me tell you so. A strange sail was seen. The Walpole pursued it and brought it in. The people have every appearance of being pirateers. They had sixteen guns and only four visible with musquetry and blunderbusses charged so highly that the Captain said they would not venture to fire them off. They have besides other merchandise, twenty chests of sabres. You may suppose this was a great Event. The men, two of them, were brought here in the morning and ten more in the evening. I must say their countenances are not the most favourable to them. I never saw such a set of Banditi like visages.

  We continue to be well satisfied with our Captain, but I do not know how I shall have the joy of finding myself near land. I am so entirely tired of my situation from never feeling quite well.

  May 7th, Henrietta to her brother, George Herbert, 2nd Earl of Powis

  My dearest brother – I shall conclude the history of our prize by telling you that Mr Petrie translated the list of things. He believed they had sabres, but from the little Spanish I know, I discovered that they were chests of nails, so they were released and with great joy proceeded on their voyage. Some of the sailors from the Walpole that was sent to remain in the ships pillaged it extremely. There is something in the name of Walpole, I think, but it was all returned and the principal offender punished on the spot. The chief mate, who was here and whose picture Anna Tonelli has painted, was satisfied with his treatment.

  Charly’s journal entry about the ship that was ‘almost a prize’ added the final details: ‘The sailors were so happy at having had their liberty restored; that they did not wait for ropes to help them up the ship’s side, but climbed up as they could. In the morning Papa bought a cask of wine and Captain Sampson sent one of the sailors with a guinea to buy anything from them. The chief mate sent a roll of ribbons as a present to Captain Sampson and would not receive the guinea. Captain Sampson gave the ribbon to be divided between my sister, Harry and me. We wore it last Sunday. They were out of sight on the 23rd.’

  May 7th, Henrietta to her brother, George Herbert, continued

  We have suffered a good deal from heat lately. The cabins are close in spite of all the doors, windows, and portholes being open, but we are all well and no sickness in the whole ship.

  I am much better lately. I believe from a hope of landing at Rio Janeiro. It seems we have a small leak which, though of little consequence, it is not thought safe to pass the Cape in that state. The Captains are to meet this morning, if the Wind will allow them to come on board. Captain Sampson is in hopes they will go on and leave us to go into Rio Janeiro and they will go straight on. They sail much slower than we do and are a great hindrance to us as we are obliged to take down sails and wait once or twice in the twenty-four hours with the fast winds. Lord Clive has a great longing to go into the Cape which will I hope not be done. We have orders not to stop anywhere unless for absolute necessity. All that can be wanted we may get at Rio much better than at the Cape. As to provisions though, in reality, Captain Sampson told me last night he had water and provisions for sixteen weeks more.

  I am quite delighted with the thoughts of landing anywhere and particularly in such a beautiful place as Brazil. I hope, too, we shall meet with some ships going to Europe that you may know we are alive. We are now busy in finding out what plants or animals we can get there, which is something to do. Lord Clive is quite well except now and then a bilious day or two. I believe much from not having exercise except in boxes in the boat. The girls are quite well and as anxious as myself for land. I hope it will be decided today.

  May 8th, Henrietta to the Dowager Lady Clive

  My dear Lady Clive – No vessel has appeared consequently no letters are gone. We have had a most prosperous voyage with only a few squalls and are all in good he
alth. I am much improved lately and can now work and read. We are all a good deal tired of our confinement and are most anxiously wishing for a little dry land.

  When there is a calm evening Richard Strachey insists on dancing upon deck. Our band comes forth and the girls dance with our damsels and gentlemen dancing together make seven or eight couples. It is exercise for them and amuses them much.

  We have lately seen some albatross and pintada birds, which are a great delight as they are seen as objects not a little scarce. At one time we had some sharks taken and I fished for dolphins, but I must say without success. I cannot help thinking of England with much anxiety and wishing most ardently for letters from you and everybody else there. I do not know when we shall have the sight of a letter.

  May 30th, Henrietta to the Dowager Lady Clive

  My dear Lady Clive – We have had uncertain weather: sometimes going quick with hardly any motion; sometimes calm and yesterday a great deal of wind. Today it is better. Yesterday evening we had an eclipse of the moon. We were sitting after dinner and Captain Sampson did not know it was to be till he went out. He came directly to tell us and we went upon deck. It began at six o’clock we were to learn. When we saw the moon it was more than half hid and was not entirely clear again till seven minutes before eight. We looked at it through telescopes. We wished much for Grandmama who would have explained all about it to us. I do not think I ever saw one so complete before. By Captain Sampson’s observation the timekeepers are within a minute or two right.