Is "The Bufffalo" the old ship I saw near Glenelg in South Australia?
How unbelievably tiny these old ships are. They look too small to serve 176 people afternoon tea, let alone transport them for 6 months around half the globe.
Sea-stuff: buoys, nets, boats, figureheads, promote reflection and excitement and the taste for adventure. Many figureheads are of women: enigmatic and staring.
The figurehead of "The Buffalo" is that of a poor cow: terrified, eyes rolled. Bovines do not care for swimming. I feel for this poor buffalo, breasting the oceans from England to Oz. He looks as if every moment was a moment of fear and trepidation.
I have said my farewells to people again and again and again: the same people, my dear ones, over and over, as they came and went. Bye! Take care! Have a good trip! The voice can send different messages than the heart feels.
Once, people leaving were probably never to be seen again. The emotions left behind are too big to be spoken of.
"The Dunbar", 81 days out of London, turned in at "The Gap", an opening in the cliffs that was easily mistaken for, and just a couple of miles from, Sydney Harbour and safety. All but one perished.
Such sad old stories.
1 comment:
Travel is the best way to spend money, I'll always say that. I can sit all day at an airport watching planes take off and land, feeling the excitement.
One time in Sydney I was at the docks as a large ship pulled out. Crowds were seeing it off. A bloke beside me shook his head sadly, said to a woman, "Well, may as well go now."
What was this, a final parting? Goodbye forever to some fool on board?
No, it was a cruise ship, back in a few weeks.
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