There were two curious cases of somnambulism amongst the passengers of
the _Sobraon_. The first was a Church of England clergyman and he was
most methodical in his movements. He invariably appeared on deck about
midnight and would first of all go up on the poop and peer into the
compass; and then, after strolling the deck for a few minutes, would go
below to the small saloon aft where prayers were held by him on that
voyage. Here he would go over the service to an imaginary congregation,
after which he would return to his berth and turn in. In the early days
of the voyage he was spoken to about his sleep walking, and, at his
own request, was locked into his cabin one night. The result was that
when he found that he could not get out for his sleep walk, he worked
himself into a fury of rage and began smashing things in his cabin.
At last the door had to be opened for fear that he would do himself
some damage and after a great deal of coaxing he was got back to bed.
For some days after this, however, he was in a pretty bad way and no
further attempt was made to stop him walking in his sleep.
The second case was of a young man who generally appeared on deck for
about an hour each night. On one occasion the officer of the watch,
thinking that he was too close to the side of the ship and fearing
that he might get on the rail or fall overboard, touched him with a
view to getting him away. The somnambulist at once grappled with the
mate and was only mastered after over a quarter of an hour’s desperate
struggle. As on an ordinary occasion the mate in question could
probably have accounted for three men of the somnambulist’s build and
physique, the incident goes to prove that sleep walkers, if interfered
with, are possessed temporarily of a madman’s strength.
On her last trip the _Sobraon_ arrived at Melbourne about mid-December,
1891, and after discharging took in sufficient ballast to take her
round to Sydney. Here she was sold to the New South Wales Government,
who turned her into a reformatory ship, and for the next twenty years
she lay moored in Sydney harbour. In 1911 she was handed over to the
Federal Government to be converted into a training ship for boys
entering the Australian Navy. On being put into dry dock for survey, it
was found that, in spite of her age, she was as sound as a bell.
Messrs. Devitt & Moore.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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