"Gratiano - I am Sir Oracle ; and when I ope my mouth, let no dog bark." - Merchant of Venice, Act I - Scene I.

Gentlemen There is a very contemptible class of people, known as the "little great," so puffed up in their ignorant conceit, that, if they do but hold a brief authority over their fellow-mortals, they forget their former insignificance, and feel so much out of place, that they are quite incapable of conducting themselves with propriety. To this wretched class of beings, belongs William Samuel Baker, master of the barque Aden, from London, who was entrusted with the charge of 172 passengers, paying their own expenses, and not free or assisted emigrants; many of them of superior origin to himself, and many more in still better circumstances.

And in what way did he exercise his authority? By taking advantage of his position, to insult his passengers by the most personal and offensive remarks; and by a bearing towards them, from the moment of quitting Gravesend to the end of the voyage, which will fully justify the epithet of an "ignorant upstart."

If Captain Baker set out with the intention of playing the character of a fine gentleman, he has most strangely studied his part; for never was character more abused. If courtesy and a civil tongue form the essentials of a gentleman, then is Captain Baker wholly guiltless of them. In fact, he must have been impressed with the idea that there was a link of sympathy between the passengers and the pigs; but if any difference was made, it was considerably in favour of the latter.

Your public spirit and benevolence, Gentlemen, towards the emigrants by the Indian, and your manifest desire to expose the enormities which are being practised with impunity on board emigrant and passenger ships on the high seas, bave induced us to address our complaints to you; and which, but for the blessings of a free press in this remote colony, might have remained to a certain extent unknown. Nevertheless, we should not have troubled you, were we unable to have proved our assertions; and being unwilling to occupy more of your space than will serve to expose Captain Baker's conduct, and that of his chief officers, we shall be as brief as possible.

The barque Aden, bound for Port Adelaide and Port Phillip, dropped down to Gravesend on the 15th May, and left Plymouth on the 27th of that month, making Port Adelaide on the 11th September, after a voyage of 120 days from London.

Our first source of complaint and grievance arose out of the manner in which the ship was provisioned. We had good meat till we left Gravesend; but as soon as we got out to sea, there arose such a stench as was quite unbearable from some flesh which was boiling in our cook's coppers. This, more than the rolling of the ship, turned us all sick, and we went into every out-of-the way place to avoid the stench. The surgeon declared it would bring on some disorder, and promised to see the Government Inspector about it on arrival at Plymouth; but he did not do so. This meat was given us on three successive days after leaving Gravesend, and we all became so ill and hungry that we threatened to kill the cats and boil them. On the third day, the stuff was left boiling in the coppers, all the passengers having agreed to allow none to be taken 'tween decks, or even out of the cook's boiler.

During our stay in Plymouth, the passengers had no fresh provisions served out to them, the captain's reason being because they refused to eat the [stinking] beef on their way down the channel.

On the 21st May, being beef day, and the beef served out not being wholesome, the passengers, by mutual consent, declined to take any of it, and (in a body) signified their determination to the captain, by whom they were very coolly received. the beef served out was of the most unwholesome kind, and stank so abominably that it was generally either rejected, or taken and afterwards thrown overboard. The captain and the first mate were the only persons, albeit it smelt so, who declared it "wholesome and good;" but even the sailors were not offered the horrible stuff. Some of the casks of beef were branded 1830. The flour given to us in lieu of potatoes consisted almost entirely of lumps as hard as chalk, and was so mildewed and, nasty, that, latterly, it was mostly thrown overboard, as we could not eat it. The biscuits were mouldy, the butter rancid, and we never had our full allowance of water.

On different occasions, after eating the mouldy biscuits and rancid butter, Mr Sloper and Mr Bennett were seized with cramp in the stomach, and suffered intensely; and other passengers suffered from the same cause.

In terms of our agreements, arbitrators were to be selected from amongst the passengers, to see that the provisions were fairly and correctly apportioned, but more than once the captain ordered away the persons so appointed and grossly abused them.

Most gross instances of dishonesty on the part of the officer serving out the stores were witnessed by several passengers. Many complaints having been made respecting short weight, one of the passengers insisted on the scales being emptied and then tried one against the other, which was for a long while refused, but when done the cheat was instantly discovered.

On the 6th August, having been without butter (rancid as it was) for a week, the captain jeeringly replied, "Very bad, very wrong indeed. It is a pity you should go short of any article after paying such a large sum for your passage," although we all paid the full amounts of passage money demanded by the agents. The captain was very fond of throwing it in our teeth "that we had paid such an extravagant amount of passage money, that certainly we had a right to be waited on and to receive all kinds of luxuries." It is true the steerage passengers paid only £15 each; but for this £15 Messrs Marshall and Edridge stipulated to supply them as well as the rest with good food, water, lights, fire, and cooking ; and yet on every score we bad serious grounds of complaint.

On September the 3rd, some of the ship's stores having been stolen (partly through the dishonesty of some of the officers) and the robbery discovered, the captain told the passengers that they were all a set of scoundrels, and he would stop their provisions till he found out the thieves. When the week's rations were served out, we were put upon half allowance of sugar, no coffee, raisins, or potatoes, though such stores (coffee excepted) were in the ship, as witnessed by several passengers, and no equivalent given. The passengers therefore went in a body to the quarter deck, and told the captain that they saw no reason why the peculations ot his officers should be visited on the passengers; that when they reached Adelaide would be the proper time to punish the guilty; that the "Passengers Act"' required 22 weeks' stores to be put on board for the Australian voyage, and as we had been out only 16 weeks there ought to be six weeks' stores on board; and that at all events, if any stores ran short, we were entitled, under the Passengers' Act, to an equivalent. Remonstrance having failed, we threatened to institute legal proceedings against him on our arrival, which at length brought the captain to his senses, and he was induced to agree to the following arrangement, viz., a full allowance of raisins, double allowance of tea in lieu ot coffee, flour for potatoes, a full allowance of sugar,and a week's butter (previously withheld). It was for having asked for this butter, that the passenger who owned the wet berth had his rations stopped for some days after they were served out to the rest. The vinegar was short several weeks, and some weeks we had none. No lime juice was served out till we reached the tropics, nor after passing Tristan d'Acubna, although there were two full jars, containing six or seven gallons each, marked "Passengers stores," left untouched when we reached Port Adelaide. There were a!so on board, on arrival, 2 casks sugar, 5 cases raisins, 2 firkins of butter, some preserved potatoes, and abundance of vinegar. Also 1 cask of sand, so that there was really no absolute occasion for beating Messrs Schneider and Co's fire-bricks to powder.

We may state generally that not a week elapsed in which some complaint of short allowance was not made, and we estimated the usual deficiencies in weight to amount to between 25 ard 30 per cent.

Besides these breaches of contract, we have to complain that our meat and puddings were always boiled in salt water, and sometimes the water used for tea was wholly or partially sea water. For days we were compelled to suffer thirst or drink water caught from the dirty poop during tropical showers, which stunk awfully of tar and the washings of the hen coops.

A steerage passenger (Mr Baldwinson) having requested the captain to notice the state of his berth (through various parts of which the water constantly dripped), he sarcastically remarked that "he (the passenger)" was very fortunate, as there would be no occasion for bringing water down there from the deck." To avoid the deck leakage, which also saturated the next berth, another pasenger (Mr Farre) was obliged to sleep, during more than two months, with his knees cramped up upon a box only four feet long, his bed having become rotten from the leakage complained of, being thrown overboard, as well as those of two young men occupying the same cabin.

On another occasion, for complaining of the shortness of our provisions, the first mate flung Mr Toller, the capta'n of the 13th mess, down on the deck, and swore he would put him in irons. After this rough usage, Mr Toller appealed to the captain, who taunted him with being "a sea lawyer," and by way of punishment ordered him to keep abaft the cook's galley during the remainder of the voyage. He also insultingly told him, when we had another appeal to make, to let it be made through a man, and not by the mouth of a boy. The foremost to complain was only regarded by the captain as a breeder of dissatisfaction, and the cause of all the existing illfeeling, and significantly reminded that he was not ashore, and that he had no higher authority to look to than the captain's.

The captain and the first mate (Mr Court) frequently urged the galley cook to scald any passengers whom he might find hanging about the galley, although it was necessary we should go there to look after our victuals. John Hartshorn, the passengers' cook (who is now in jail for insubordination) was almost always drunk and frequently offered to fight the passengers. He assaulted Mr Thomas Michelmore several times, and struck him in the face. At this time the first mate was standing behind the mainmast, and seeing the cook strike Mr Michelmore. without know ing the cause, called out to him, "Hit him again, hit him hard." The cook also threatened to stab Mr McQueen, and committed such indecencies towards that gentleman as it would not be delicate to mention in print.

Mr John Higginbottom, the ship's surgeon (a very young man) was not only professionally incompetent, but was gross and indecent in his language, and seldom sober. His general conduct was such as led the captain to put him under arrest, to thrash him, to rope's-end him, and to lash him to the rigging. In fact the passengers felt the presence of this man so objectionable on all accounts, that they signed a round robin to the captain to land him at Madeira, which the captain consented to do, on being indemnified for the incidental expenses.

This they declined, on which Mr Chaplin, a cabin passenger, with a large family on board, demanded to be put on shore captain, however, held on his course. As exhibiting the result of this state of things on board, written orders for medical comforts, issued by the doctor, were burnt by the captain, and the captain's orders were stopped by the surgeon, to the imminent danger of the health and lives of the passengers and ship's company. Throughout the voyage, the captain conducted himself in the most ungentlemanly manner. He frequently abused us, and on one occasion threatened to throw Mr Rosser overboard. He also exercised the greatest tyranny over us, as though we had been hireling menials, or slaves. He imposed work upon us from the time of quitting Plymouth, which work we were informed by Mr Fellows (Marshall and Edridge's clerk) we were only to superintend, but were not required to perform.

The steerage passengers were compelled to draw water out of the hold, for drinking and cooking, for all on hoard, including the crew, as well as going into , the hold to pump it up, which we were often obliged to do lying on our bellies. On one occasion, whilst in this posture, a passenger nearly lost his life by a full cask rolling upon him when the sea was unusually high. We were also compelled to get up the coals, to scrape, holystone, wash, and keep clean the between decks, and latterly to trim the ship's steerage lamps, which were put out at 10 p.m. (contrary to an express regulation), with the exception of the midship lamp; and very frequently we had no light at all through the 'tween decks towards the end of the voyage; and when there had been any show of resistance, the captain and Mr Court enforced their commands , by ordering that no breakfast or dinner should be served out until the work was done, and on one morning the captain came down at half-past five a.m., and threatened to stop the medical comforts of the sick if the passengers did not at once turn out, and clear up the place.

Besides these acts of drudgery Mr Court, the first mate once ordered Mr Soper to fetch him a candlestick. This he refused to do, telling him that no one should order him to do anything against his will, but especially the first mate. At this, the mate flew at him, shook him by the throat, and forced him to go on deck. His conduct towards Mr Baldwinson, the father of a family of young children, whose parental affection induced him to resist the insults he offered to his wife and offspring, infinitely surpasses description. As, for instance, for merely requesting a speedy payment, for making up and repairing Mr Court's wardrobe, he ordered him to be silent, and threatened to batten him within his own berth and put him in irons if he made himself further obnoxious. This threat was held out almost daily to various passengers, accompanied by fearful oaths. The extremely ludicrous faces which Mr Court used to make in attempting to mimic and ape the skeleton countenances of his poor dejected slaves were so extravagantly remarkable, as to be even here worthy of remark. The compulsion complained of was extraordinary enough, but not the worst that was practised, inasmuch as two respectable married females (Mrs Bennett and Mrs Hawkins) complain that, out of mere caprice and wantonness, the captain ordered them and other females to walk the deck at a time when sickness and other ailments rendered Medicine and repose desirable. He also used towards them and other female passengers coarse and indelicate remarks, which they very properly resented.

To our mortification, we were told, on reaching Port Adelaide, that the agents in London had paid two passengers (Child and Simmons) £5 each for doing the drudgery the captain compelled us to perform; and such was his impatience and irritability at seeing us even sitting on deck, instead of continuing to employ ourselves in ship's work, that, upon any reluctance on our parts, he threatened to put us into the forehold, and to pull our berths down. But the greatest outrages were perpetrated on several passengers, on the 6th July, under the pretext of performing the absurd ceremony connected with crossing the line a custom exploded on board every well-regulated merchant-ship, and Commissioners' emigrant ship, but to the performance of which our captain gave his consent, in spite of the passengers' remonstances, who had previously tendered the sailors 1s per head, alleging, as his reason, "that the crew liked to amuse themselves as well as the passengers." The barbarities complained of were inflicted more especially upon those persons who had rendered themselves obnoxious to the captain's resentment for having remonstrated with him in reference to the shortness of provisions and other irregularities. In the case of Mr Sloper (who was the first to complain of the putrid flesh at the commencement of the voyage, and recommended a general resistance), no money could avert the treatment to which he was subjected, and wbich nearly cost him his life,and for the perpetration of which they had the captain's licence. Mr Sloper was perched upon a pole, pinioned, and blindfolded. On opening his mouth to reply to questions put by Neptune's representative, it was filled with a disgusting compound of ordure, slush, tar, grease, &c, and on his refusing to answer further, a slirk-bottle was applied to his nostrils, into the cork of which three pins were inserted, which ran into his nose, producing excruciating pain, when his mouth was again filled with the filthy composition referred to. In this state of agony his sufferings were increased by the application of what is termed Neptune's best razor, specially prepared for the occasion, every stroke of the jagged edge of which inflicted painful wounds, two cuts in particular producing a deep mark extending from ear to ear; his face and chin were bleeding with the marks of the razor. But this was not all. He was then hurled backwards, still blindfolded, pisioned, and smothered with tar, into a sail filled with salt water, three feet deep, in which two executioners disguised as bears, and consequently not recognisable, submerged him, holding him, struggling, down for several moments, when all recollection left him; and when released, by order of the captain, he was more dead than alive. But the doctor was subjected to even worse treatment, although he vainly endeavoured to escape by offering an order on Adelaide for £5. The captain, all the while standing immediately opposite, encouraged the disgraceful proceedings, and evinced his delight by repeated bursts of laughter. Several other heartrending acts of cruelty were perpetrated on some of us, but space will not allow us to trouble you with their detail. One ( Mr Murden) had a tuft of his whiskers pulled out, flesh and all, although be offered 1s to be released. Another poor fellow was treated most shamefully, although he paid 2s 6d to escape, and many who strug gled the hardest paid the most.

This game lasted some time, till the spirits of some of the passengers got roused, when Mr George Wilcox, assisted by eight fellow-passengers, determined ro make an end of it.

They took possession of the 'tween decks, pulled down the gangway ladder, and, arming themselves with the legs of stools, pistols, and whatever came in their way, assumed a position of defence. This brought matters to a crisis, and the captain coming amongst us to enquire what was the matter, we told him we were determined not to submmit to any such insult, and would resist even at the expense of our lives; but we were willing, notwithstanding, to give the sailors 1s each adult if they asked us civilly. The captain in vain urged submission on the ground of custom, and at length, growing pale and frightened, he ordered "the fun" to be stopped.

We must not omit to state that the previous night much mischief was done to the females' health and wearing apparel by numerous bucketsful of water being poured from aloft by one of Neptune's mischevious sons. The fees extorted from the passengers by this disgraceful stratigem were enormous, and were subsequently spent in the purchase of spirits, wine, and beer from the captain at about twice the ordinary charges. We were given to understand that no beer or ale was put on board for sale. If this was the case, the cause why so much drunkenness and rioting occurred on Saturday evenings and Sabbath mornings, and the extreme debility of females and others from the want of "medical comforts," is self-evident. Such is a slight description of the way in which the passengers were treated on board the barque Aden in violation of specific contracts entered into with her owners, Messrs Marshall and Edridge, and which, for these and other reasons, has been abandoned by several passengers, who have proceeded to Port Phillip in other vessels at their own expense, rather than again subject themselves to the frauds and indignities of which they have been the victims. In these complaints end charges we must be understood as excepting Mr Larton, the second mate, whose conduct was quite the reverse that of those who should have been his superiors.

We are, Gentlemen,

Your humble obedient servants,

John Bennett

Maria Bennett

Samuel Hawkings

Mary Ann Hawkings

George Sloper

James Howard

Jno. Adamson

James Maddock

John Powell

William Nixon

George Nixon

Samuel Bates

Benjamin Flathers

Denis Langing

John Gaines

Thomas Madden

John Madden and wife

William Nelson

Chas. King Baldwinson

Elizabeth Baldwinson

Thomas Bartlett

William Lloyd

Evan Lloyd

David Phillips and wife

Mary Wildsmith

Robert Lethbridge and wife

Edwin Page

Thomas Michelmore

Charles Michelmore

John Murden

George Eckley

William Hagan

Mr & Mrs Howell

Thos. Stephens

John Victor

A. McQueen

Charlotte McQueen.

Frederic Leigh

Thomas N. Toller.

Source: The ADEN 1849