[Thomas Waters. R.M., to his wife, Elizabeth]
Addressed to Mrs. Lieut. Waters R.Marines, Mulgrave Place, Woolwich, Kent.
No 2 H.M.S.Maidstone Sierra Leone 3rd May 1824
My Sweetest Love
I am sure you will be glad to hear from me where ever I am, and I may say my greatest delight is in thinking of you, I very often pray for you and my sweet little ones, I hope you are happy I cannot say I am unhappy for I have brought myself to think that it is only six and thirty short months at most when I hope in the Almighty to have the sweet felicity of being with you again for some years. I am sure I would not exchange you for all the riches of the world, for you are every thing to me, I only wish to make you happy and to be with you and to have your affections, and then I have everything, notwithstanding, I do not regret being separated a little while from you, knowing that it is for our mutual benefit, when we meet again, I think I could never be tired of talking to you of my love, you are so dear to me, but I must say something of what we are about, My Dearest Love. We left Portsmouth 31st March and the next day got nearly as far as Falmouth when the wind was so contrary that the Commodore thought proper to put back to Plymouth, 4 April we sailed and on
the 11th arrived in Funchal road, Madeira, the Island towards the anchorage forms a crescent. The only town Funchal lays in the centre close to the water’s edge, the back ground is dotted with houses in the midst of gardens filled with vines running over sticks placed like the roof of a house, the town has a plenty of excellent water and I do not know in a hot climate a greater treat than a glass of good— the town has no sort of wheel carriage that I could see, but they have a kind of small sledge without wheels for carrying burthens [burdens], drawn by a yoke of Oxen, they have some small horses for riding and donkeys for carrying burthens up the mountain. Myself and some of my messmates dined on shore with a Wine merchant who came passenger with us he gave us an excellent dinner, and before we left Madeira he made our mess a present of a pipe [large barrel] of Wine the price of which would have been. £46 – I saw a great many women and children without shoe or stocking washing cloaths, both fine and coarse, in a large brook, the water, not very clean, running in the middle they had no kind of tub or pan to wash their cloathes in, nor any thing to heat the water in nor any fire but they soaped their cloathes on any stone was there and then rubbed and rolled the linen well on the stone, and when the dirt was hard to get out of the stockings or other things they beat the stones with it and again rub it on the stones, afterwards they lay it in the brook on each side of the water to dry. The chief Wine merchants are Scotchmen they have no vineyards but have to buy their wines from those who grow the grapes and press it, they have various sorts from very good to very bad- 13th sailed from Madeira and 14th Good Friday anchored at Santa Cruz (Holy Cross) Teneriffe
My Dearest Love I hope you and my sweet little ones are well, they are near my heart but you are much nearer, a letter from you would do me a great deal of good but I do not think it worth while to send any by Post, It will be best to direct for the Ship at Sierra Leone.
We arrived here yesterday and shall sail tomorrow for Cape Coast Castle where the Governer of this place and some of his Officers have been slain in an engagement with the savages. I remain
My Dearest Love Your Affectionate Husband
Thos. Waters