The following account of Captain Horne’s care of his boats and system for provisioning them should be a lesson for younger masters. It is taken from the _Melbourne Herald_:—
A feature of _Loch Garry’s_ equipment, in which Captain Home takes a justifiable pride, is the system for provisioning the lifeboats, should it ever be necessary to abandon the vessel. In two minutes the apprentices can place enough provisions in the boats to last all hands 14 days. The lifeboats are on the after skids and the falls are always kept rove. In each boat are two 15-gallon breakers, which are kept full of fresh water, charged about once a month. Then in a strong wooden box, fitted with beckets, is stowed a good supply of biscuits, in protected tins, whilst in another box a number of tins of meat are packed together with the necessary opening knife. A third box contains miscellaneous articles, such as medical comforts, clothing, tobacco, a hatchet, knives and a compass. The three boxes are always kept handy in the lazarette, the provisions they contain being changed each voyage, so that the biscuits and meat are always fresh. One man can easily lift either of the boxes and the equipment is completed by the lifeboats’ sails and all necessary gear being kept in a canvas bag close by. The system is simplicity itself, and Captain Horne says that he would like to see some such plan made compulsory by the B.O.T. in all ships.
The career of Captain Horne, who was the veteran skipper of the Loch Line, is worth recording. He was born in 1834, apprenticed to the sea at 15 years of age, and only retired in 1911, after 62 years at sea and 47 years in command without experiencing shipwreck, fire or collision. The motto of his life, which he always emblazoned on the cabin bulkhead, was:—“Never underrate the strength of the enemy.” Like many another old seaman, he was not pleased with the changes brought about by steam and cut-throat competition.
Just as Captain Horne’s apprenticeship finished the Crimean war broke out, and, volunteering for active service, he was appointed to the three-decker H.M.S. _Royal Albert_, the largest ship afloat. He was rated as A.B., but soon promoted to be second captain of the maintop. Sir George Tryon was a junior lieutenant on this ship. The _Royal Albert_ was in the engagement against the Kinburn Forts on the north shore of the Black Sea. At the close of the war Captain Horne received the Crimean and Turkish medals and was paid off on the _Victory_. He then returned to the Merchant Service and served in 1859 as second mate of the tea clipper _Falcon_ under Captain Maxton. Subsequently he was attached to Lord Elgin’s embassy and placed in charge of a lorcha by Lindsay & Co., of Shanghai. As a member of Lord Elgin’s staff, he was present at the taking of the Taku Forts and was on the house-boat which was towed to Tientsin by one of the gunboats; and he remained there until the treaty was signed.