THE FLAG OF ENGLAND.
And now our cup of misery seemed full indeed. We were friendless and
captive, and we had for our jailers two of the most inhuman beings that
ever lived to disgrace the earth, and both of them hated us with an
exceeding bitter hatred; one because I had spat in his face, the other
because we had escaped the fire. Moreover, we were chained to an oar in
a vessel which was sailing over I know not how many thousands of miles
of water, in latitudes where it was not likely we should fall in with
any ship that could rescue us. Verily there seemed before us nothing but
horror and death!
And truly our lot was hard. Hour upon hour we tugged at the oar. Where
we toiled there we slept, amongst the shrieks, sobs, groans, and
heart-rending lamentations of our fellow-captives. Up and down the
gangways that divided us walked stalwart Spaniards, armed with heavy
whips, which they scarcely ever ceased from laying about our bare
shoulders. Our food was such as is given to pigs in England--coarse
maize or meal, soaked in cold water, with bread of the blackest and
hardest description. The heat burned us to madness; the cold night-winds
blew in upon us; the salt-spray dashing through the open ports found the
raw places in our wounds and stung us as if with fire. Verily, we were
in hell! Ere many days had gone by a man dropped and died at his post.
They let him hang there by his chains till another day had gone past,
then they knocked off his irons and flung him through the port-hole. And
there was scarcely a man of us that did not envy him.
Now that Captain Manuel Nunez had us in his power there was apparently
no limit to his cruelty. Scarcely a day passed on which he did not
descend the ladder to our deck and vex our souls with some new form of
torture. Sometimes he would take his station near us, and bid the
overseers lay on to us with their whips. Sometimes he would take the
whip himself and beat us about the head and face with it until we became
senseless. Now and then he would amuse himself by pricking us with his
sword or dagger; now and then he would spit in our faces and bespatter
us with filth, pouring out upon us every foul and evil name he could
think of. And when he had worked his will upon us, there would come to
us Frey Bartolomeo, cold and cruel, and he would admonish and instruct
us, and finding that he could get naught out of us, would depart cursing
us for Lutherans and dogs.
These two presently devised a new torture, and put it into operation
upon us. They caused the ship's armorer to make an iron brand, bearing
the word "Heretic", and this being heated red, they came down to us and
branded us on back and breast, so that all men, they said, should know
us for what we were. And after that they gave us more lashes, and then
deluged us with salt water, and so left us more dead than alive.
Now, after I had undergone some weeks of this treatment, I was like to
have lost my senses, for the strength of my body was giving out, and I
felt myself powerless to resist the continued cruelties and insults
which were put upon me. Yea, I should certainly have gone mad at that
time if it had not been for my faithful companion, Pharaoh Nanjulian,
who did his best to cheer and support me, and got no reward for it but
an increase of blows and stripes from Nunez, and venomous curses from
Frey Bartolomeo.
It was one of Nunez's chief delights at this period to come down upon
our deck and goad me into a rage that closely approached madness. Thus
after exposing me to numerous insults, he would ask me what I proposed
to do when I reached England again, and what fate I was keeping in store
for my cousin Stapleton.
"It must afford you the most exquisite delight of which the human mind
is capable, Master Salkeld," he said one day, when he had tormented and
plagued me beyond endurance, "to sit here in these pleasant quarters and
think of your cousin at home. He hath doubtless entered upon the family
estates and married the lady whose affections you stole from him, and
maybe he hath by this time told her of the trick he played upon you, and
they laugh at it together."
And at that I cursed him before God and man and wept bitter tears, for I
was thoroughly broken, and had no more heart in me than a child.
"So you are broken at last?" said he, and struck me across the mouth
and went away.
And then I wished to die, for I was indeed broken; but Pharaoh did his
best to console me and bade me be of good cheer, for we should triumph
yet.
Now the next day, our voyage having then lasted some nine or ten weeks,
we were aware of a sail bearing down upon us from the south-east, and
before long it became evident that this ship was chasing us, whereupon
there was much to-do on board the Santa Filomena, and our overseers
urged us to renewed exertions with continual lashing of their whips.
Nevertheless, within three hours the ship had overhauled us, and from
our post we saw flying from her mast-head the flag of England.