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Comet, a 120 ton
coasting brig registered at Port Elizabeth and
first mentioned in Cape records in October
1836 had a succession of captains: T Patterson, W T Haddon and J Rodham. Her
usual ports of call were Cape Town and Algoa Bay ,
with lengthier voyages to Batavia and Rio .
Her moment in the spotlight
of history came at Port Natal, when, after conflict with hostile Zulus,
remaining British residents there took refuge at sea on the Comet (Capt Rodham).
These events would lead to the struggle for possession of Port Natal between
the trekkers’ Republic
of Natalia
Captain William Bell and his
schooner Conch, unknowingly destined to play their part in that struggle,
meanwhile continued coastal trading activities between Table Bay and Algoa Bay
Other vessels and their masters can be tracked in similar fashion. Too
numerous to list all here, some of the latter include: D Cadenhead, J Houghton,
J Toby, W G Searles, J Pybus, J McDonald, H McDonald, J Reid. Selecting
a random example, Captain Toby’s career can be further fleshed out by archival
records held in the Cape ; he was master of the
schooner Frederick Huth in which his wife sailed with him on at least one occasion from Calcutta to Table Bay. These mariners' wives must have had good sea legs.
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