No sooner was our anchor down than the boat was launched over the side;
the felucca's hatches were whipped off, and Carera, diving below, drew
forth from some mysterious recess in the little cabin a stout canvas bag
containing the two hundred doubloons which he had brought with him for
the purpose of trading, whilst the crew, including Courtenay and myself,
who were appropriately rigged for the occasion, roused up out of the
hold sundry bales of canvas and clothing, coils of rope, casks of
provisions, and other etceteras which had been purchased on Giuseppe's
account and to his especial order, and for which he would pay in booty.
These articles were at once passed over the side into the boat, and as
soon as she was loaded with as much as she could safely carry, Carera
and a couple of his most trusted hands jumped into her and pulled
ashore. As Courtenay and I were strangers, whilst all the other hands
belonging to the felucca had frequently visited the place before and
were pretty well known to the whole gang, it was deemed advisable that
we should remain on board, so as to obviate as far as possible the
propounding of perhaps awkward questions as to who and what we were,
with the contingent probability of arousing suspicion in the minds of
the pirates. To this arrangement we had no objection whatever to make,
as Carera assured us there was nothing in the least likely to interest
us on shore--nothing whatever, in fact, that we could not just as well
see from the felucca's deck with the aid of a telescope. We therefore
remained on board, busying ourselves by putting our notes into shape
whilst everything was still fresh in our minds, and making as thorough
an examination of the island, with the various buildings upon it, as was
possible without running the risk of attracting attention. The latter
part of our task was an easy one, there being only four buildings
altogether on the island; the largest, a kind of general storehouse,
being built upon the beach just above high-water mark, so as to be easy
of access from the water; whilst the remaining three, consisting of a
dwelling for Giuseppe and his principal officers, a long, rambling
barrack-like structure for the men who might happen to be left on shore,
and a cook-house, were all erected on the top of the hill. The schooner
naturally attracted a great deal of attention. She was dismantled, all
to her lower masts, and was hove right down on her beam-ends, so as to
bring her keel out of the water, so that we could not see as much of her
as we should have liked; but, judging of her size from the boats
alongside, and the men working about her, we estimated her to measure
about one hundred and fifty tons. Her bottom was turned in our
direction, and the men were busily engaged in stripping off a quantity
of her sheathing and removing several of her planks below the water-
line, which, in conjunction with the fact that we detected what looked
uncommonly like a couple of shot-holes through her bottom, led us to
believe that she, like ourselves, had recently had a very narrow escape
of being sunk. The position she was in afforded us an excellent
opportunity of inspecting her lines, and I must say I never before saw
any nearly so perfect. Looking at them from where we were, they seemed
to be absolutely faultless; and as we critically examined them the
conviction forced itself upon us that, in moderate weather and with not
too much sea on, there was nothing flying British bunting in West Indian
waters--or elsewhere, for that matter--which would stand the slightest
chance of catching her.
After an absence of about an hour the felucca's boat came off again,
without Carera, but loaded down to the gunwale with the most
heterogeneous assortment of goods it is possible to imagine, including
bales of silk and other valuable stuffs, casks of wine and spirits, and
a considerable quantity of handsome silver plate; the latter alone being
worth, according to my estimation, considerably more than Carera's bag
of doubloons and the rest of his cargo to boot. These goods were passed
on deck and from thence down into the hold; the remainder of our own
small cargo was loaded into the boat, and away she went on shore again.
When she came off the second time it was nearly sunset; Carera came with
her, bringing off the remaining price of his barter, consisting of half
a dozen bales of tobacco and fifty boxes of prime cigars. The rascal
seemed thoroughly well pleased with the result of his bargaining, as
indeed he very well might be, for he must have secured fully four times
the value of the money and goods he had brought with him to the lagoons.
He informed us that, if we had seen all we considered necessary to the
successful issue of our projected expedition, he would be off again at
daybreak next morning, as Giuseppe was in a most unamiable, and indeed
dangerous temper, having been badly mauled a week previously by a
British frigate--most probably the one which had manifested such a very
marked interest in the _Pinta's_ movements--and that he had only scraped
clear of her and made good his escape at last by the happy accident of
being close to shoal water, into which he had retreated, with his
schooner half unrigged and seven eighteen-pound shot-holes through her
sides and bottom, which he had inefficiently plugged with the utmost
difficulty, reaching the lagoons at last in a water-logged and sinking
condition. Carera further informed us that, by a lucky combination of
circumstances, he had not only discovered the locality of but had
actually been permitted to enter the pirates' treasure-house--a cellar
hollowed out of the earth beneath Giuseppe's dwelling--and that there
was a considerably larger accumulation of treasure in it than even he
had imagined; and that, further, there was no time to be lost in
organising the expedition against the pirates, as it had transpired that
many of them were growing anxious to enjoy the fruit of their nefarious
labours, and serious thoughts were entertained of a speedy general
division of the spoil and dispersion of the gang. I may as well
mention, _en passant_, that it appeared to be the fashion for everybody
visiting the lagoons to speak of Giuseppe, whenever they had occasion to
mention him, as "Captain Merlani," whilst within the limits of Santa
Clara Bay. I have not the least idea why it was so, but such is the
fact; and as the use of a man's Christian name seems to imply a closer
degree of intimacy with, and personal friendship for, him than we could
rightfully claim, I will, with the reader's kind permission, refer to
him henceforward as "Merlani" The reason why I have not done so earlier
in my story is, that it was not until our arrival within his territory,
so to speak, that we became acquainted with the fellow's surname. This
by the way.
As night closed down upon the lagoons with that rapidity which is
peculiar to the tropics and the regions immediately adjacent thereto,
our ears were assailed by that babel of sound which prevails with
scarcely a moment's intermission all through the hours of darkness
wherever there is a patch of land large enough to support a few trees
with their almost invariable attendant undergrowth, and which emanates
from the countless myriads of insects which find their home in the
ground, the long grass, the foliage, and the bark of the trees, the
chorus being swelled in the present instance by the cries of countless
lizards--from the diminutive and harmless grass-lizard up to the
alligator, the weird sounds uttered by the nocturnal birds which flitted
on noiseless wing from bough to bough, and the rattling _chirr_ of a
whole army of frogs. And very soon, too, we discovered that we were in
one of the favourite haunts of the mosquito, for the cabin lamp was
scarcely lighted when the pests made their appearance below in absolute
clouds, and so tormented us that we were fain to beat a hasty retreat to
the deck, in the vain hope of avoiding them.
We had no sooner set foot on deck, however, than we felt almost thankful
to the pertinacious little wretches for having driven us there, for a
scene at once burst upon us of such singular and bewitching beauty as I
certainly had never up to that time looked upon. The moon, nearly full,
and tinted a pale but rich crimson by the atmosphere of miasmatic fog
which overhung the lagoon, was just rising into view above the tree-tops
and flinging a long tremulous trail of blood-red colour athwart the
almost stagnant water. The trees near at hand stood up black as ebony,
and motionless as if painted upon the deep soft violet of the cloudless
sky, whilst, as they receded to the right and left, their forms
gradually became merged with and lost in the fog, which floated not in
one uniform mass but in wreaths of ever-changing and most fantastic
shape, with their upper edges here and there delicately tinged in
faintest rainbow hues as the slanting moonbeams fell upon them.
Fireflies, visible only as tiny sparks of light, flitted and glanced and
whirled hither and thither against the black shadows of the foliage,
whilst the black water, so highly phosphorescent that every tiniest
ripple was edged with its own individual and separate line of silvery
fire, glowed and darkened, sparkled and flashed, and at times seemed to
fairly throb with liquid lightning as the countless living creatures
within it stirred its sleeping depths. So insignificant a disturbance
even as the falling of a leaf into the water sufficed to evolve a
slowly-widening circle of silver light, whilst a frog, a lizard, or a
water-rat, making an aquatic excursion, revealed his form and presence
much more distinctly than would have been the case at noonday.
Our attention, however, was soon distracted from this witching scene--
the exquisite beauty of which is not to be described in mere words--by a
noise of singing and shouting on Merlani's island. Presently a feeble
flickering fame became visible on the sandy beach, which, quickly
increasing in brilliancy, revealed the evident fact that a party of the
buccaneers were intent upon a carouse. With the aid of a telescope we
could see that these men, some twenty in number, had seated themselves
round the fire--which they had probably kindled for the twofold purpose
of providing themselves with light and smoking away the mosquitoes--and
were industriously passing round a bulky jar, presumably containing
spirits, from which, as it came round, each man scrupulously replenished
his pannikin; the intervals not devoted to the more important business
of drinking being occupied in the singing, or rather _shouting_, of
ribald songs, in the performance of which every man's aim appeared to be
to out-yell everybody else. This lasted for rather more than an hour,
when a temporary lull occurred, and we were in hopes that the orgy was
about over and that the hubbub had ceased for the night, when a large
boat full of men was seen to be pulling off in our direction. I did not
like the look of this at all; the idea of being boarded there in that
out-of-the-way spot by a score of desperadoes, half crazy with drink,
and, even at the best of times, ripe for any deed of diabolical
mischief, was so uninviting that I suggested to Carera the advisability
of at once arming all hands, so as to be in readiness for any emergency.
I could see that Carera was even more discomposed than ourselves at the
approach of the boat, but he would not for a moment listen to my
proposal to arm the felucca's people, hastily explaining--and possibly
he was right--that the display of weapons would be only too likely to
further excite our coming visitors and lead to some overt act productive
of a terrible disaster. He expressed the opinion--his teeth chattering
with fear, meanwhile, to such an extent that he could scarcely
articulate--that the visit would probably prove to be no more than a
drunken frolic, and that if it were received and treated as such all
would doubtless turn out well; but he very earnestly urged upon
Courtenay and me the desirability of our retiring and keeping out of
sight so long as our visitors remained on board, which I thought good
enough advice to be acted upon, and we accordingly retreated below
forthwith. At first sight this retreat of ours smacked a little, I will
admit, of slinking off out of possible harm's way; but after all what
good could we have done by remaining on deck? And having thus far
carried our somewhat foolhardy adventure prosperously through, it was
scarcely worth while to endanger its ultimate success by courting risks
in which the remarks or questions of a drunken desperado might at any
moment involve us.
We had barely made good our retreat when the boat arrived alongside, and
her occupants were in another moment in possession of the felucca's
deck. A torrent of ribald banter and raillery--of the sort which,
coming from a drunken man, is expected to be received as jovial humour,
but which a chance word or inadvertent glance of misappreciation may in
a moment cause to be exchanged for expressions and acts of the most
diabolical ferocity--was at once discharged by these ruffians at Carera
and his crew, who, anxious to propitiate their most unwelcome visitors,
did their best to retort in kind; and for the next twenty minutes or so
the little vessel fairly rang with the most foul, blasphemous, and
blood-curdling language it has ever been my misfortune to listen to.
Fortunately for us our knowledge of the Spanish tongue, though it had
proved sufficiently thorough to deceive Carera and his crew into the
belief that we were their fellow-countrymen, was not equal to the
comprehension of one-half of the utterances to which we were just then
compelled to listen, or I have no doubt we should have been even more
thoroughly shocked and disgusted than we were.
And here let me break the thread of my story for a moment to speak an
earnest word of kindly caution to my youthful readers. Avoid the use of
foul, obscene, or blasphemous language, my lads, as you would avoid the
most deadly pestilence. I am grieved to notice that it is sometimes the
fashion among lads, ay, even in some cases those of respectable
parentage, to freely _garnish_, as they think, their conversation
habitually with language of the most vile and disgusting description.
They perhaps think it _manly_ to do so, and imagine that a bold reckless
style of conversation, freely besprinkled with obscenity and profanity,
will excite admiration. But if they think this they are making as great
and grievous a mistake as they are ever likely to make in the whole
course of their lives. The feeling excited is not admiration; it is
utter loathing and disgust. Can you think of any man the victim of this
horrible vice, for whom you entertain the smallest spark of admiration
or respect? Would you like to hear such words from the lips of your own
father or mother, your brother or your sister? Or would you like either
of them to hear you making use of such language? After all, who and
what are the men who thus habitually indulge in obscenity and profanity?
Are they not the vicious and disreputable, the brutal drunken ruffians,
the scum of the slums, the lowest of the low, the very outcasts and
pariahs of society? And is it for one of these that you would like to
be mistaken? is it with this repulsive brotherhood that you would choose
to ally yourself? Hardly, I would fain hope. No, boys, it is _not_
manly--still less is it _gentlemanly_--to be ribald and profane. No
true gentleman--let his position in life be what it may--ever degrades
himself by the use of foul language, and don't you do it, unless you are
anxious to gain for yourself the loathing and utter contempt of your
fellows.
To resume. In this horrible interchange of filthy banter the pirates
appeared to have forgotten, for the time being, the object of their trip
off to the felucca, but at length one of them exclaimed, with a
profusion of oaths, that Carera had secured an unfair advantage of them
during the afternoon's bartering transactions, and that they had come
off to demand a cask of rum with which to square the account Carera, on
his part, tried to laugh off the whole affair as an excellent joke, and
proposed to mix them a tub of grog there and then as an appropriate
finish to it; but this would by no means satisfy the ruffians, who were
firm in their demands. So at length, recognising that longer refusal
would prove dangerous, he reluctantly ordered the hatches to be lifted.
The cask of rum was hoisted out and lowered into the boat, the pirates
tumbled in after it, and, finally, with more profanity mingled with
snatches of sea-songs, which were bellowed forth at the top of their
voices in the style usual with half-tipsy men, away they went for the
shore, followed by the smothered imprecations of Carera and his fervent
prayers that the boat might capsize and drown them all.
This visit had evidently discomposed Carera's nerves to a very
considerable extent, for the boat was no sooner fairly away from the
felucca's side than our host presented himself in the cabin, to inform
us that, the land-breeze having sprung up and the night being fine and
clear, he proposed to go to sea at once instead of waiting until
morning. We accordingly went on deck again instead of turning in, as
had been our original intention; and a few minutes later--the boat being
by this time close to the beach, and so thoroughly within the circle of
the brilliant firelight that her occupants were not likely to observe
our movements--the canvas was loosed and all hands went cheerily to work
to get the anchor. This, the water being shallow, was not a long job,
and a quarter of an hour later we were stealing noiselessly away down
the lagoon; the land-breeze, which was rustling cheerily among the tree-
tops, just reaching us in a languid zephyr, mingled now and again with
fitful puffs, which sent us along at a speed of about three knots.
It was now nearly ten o'clock at night; the moon rode high in the
heavens, which were flecked here and there by small patches of fleecy
scurrying cloud; the fog had drifted away, leaving the atmosphere
delightfully pure and clear, so that, narrow as was the channel down
which we were winding our way, we had no difficulty in steering clear of
all obstruction. As we crept down the lagoon we gradually got a truer
breeze and more of it, so that by midnight we found ourselves just
passing out of the Conconil lagoons and entering Santa Clara Bay.
We now had a fine rattling breeze, which we expected would carry us
across the bay and out through the Barcos Channel within the next hour,
but, to Courtenay's and my own inexpressible chagrin, Carera now
informed us that, in order to escape the possibility of a second
rencontre with the frigate we had fallen in with on our passage up, he
had determined to go to the westward, returning round Cape San Antonio
instead of by way of Cape Maysi.
This was horribly disconcerting, for, to tell the truth, we had to a
large extent been hoping for and depending upon such a rencontre as a
means whereby we might effect our escape from the felucca. We thought
that, in the event of such a meeting, as we had on the former occasion
afforded such material assistance to the felucca's crew in their evasion
of capture, so now by a little judicious manoeuvring on our part we
might be the means of effecting it; and it was a severe disappointment
to us to find that this--the most promising opening we had so far been
able to think of--was going to slip through our fingers. We urged upon
Carera the importance of time, and reiterated, as often as we dared, our
(assumed) belief that the frigate was by that time far enough away from
the Bahama Channel; but it was all in vain, the fellow was not to be
dissuaded from his purpose, and accordingly, on leaving the Conconil
lagoons, instead of stretching away before the wind straight for the
Barcos Channel, the felucca was headed to the westward, on the larboard
tack, for the Manou Channel, leading from Santa Clara Bay into Cardenas
Bay.
As this course would take us over new ground, Courtenay and I determined
to remain on deck to pick up any information likely to be of use to us
in the future; and I went to the helm, whilst my companion busied
himself with the sounding-line. An hour's run brought us to the inner
end of the channel, which we found to be somewhat serpentine in its
course, but trending generally in a north-north-west direction, with a
minimum depth of two and a half fathoms. A run of about twenty minutes
carried us clear of this channel and we found ourselves in Cardenas Bay,
an almost landlocked sheet of water nearly double the area of Santa
Clara Bay and with slightly deeper water, though even here navigation
was only possible for vessels of very light draught. Stretching across
the bay we, half an hour later, passed through a group of small cays,
after which the water began to deepen somewhat. At two o'clock a.m. we
passed Molas Point, and, hauling sharp round it, found ourselves a
quarter of an hour later fairly out at sea and clear of all dangers.
After which, thoroughly tired out by our long and busy day, Courtenay
and I went below and turned in.
By noon next day--or rather, _the same_ day, to speak with strict
accuracy--we were off Havana; and I was in hopes that Carera would put
in there, as he seemed at first to have some idea of doing; for our
whole thoughts were now bent on effecting our escape from the felucca as
early as possible, and I considered it not improbable that in so
important a harbour some neutral ship might be found, on board which we
might succeed in taking refuge, and with the master of which we might be
able to effect an arrangement by which he would be willing to convey us
to Port Royal. But to our intense, though secret, mortification, Carera
at length resolved to keep straight on; and thus another of our
cherished hopes was disappointed. We found, however, on inspecting
Carera's well-worn chart, that the route he had adopted would take us
within some ten miles of West Point, Jamaica; and shaving the island so
closely as that there was just a possibility that we might be pounced
upon by one of our own cruisers, so that we were, after all, not exactly
in despair. Still, there was, on the other hand, the chance that the
felucca might scrape clear; and it was just this chance that we had to
provide against, the attempt to do which cost us an infinite amount of
anxious and almost fruitless thought. It was, indeed, the only thing
now left us to think about. By a curious combination of fortuitous
circumstances we had not only tumbled blindfold, as it were, into this
singular adventure, but had also been enabled to successfully avoid
awakening the suspicions of the people we were so unexpectedly
associated with, as well as to see our way clearly all through the
adventure, except to its successful ending; and, having carried the
thing smoothly forward so far, we did not intend to be beaten at last,
if there was any possibility of avoiding it. We racked our brains
perpetually on the subject, separately and together, and numerous enough
were the schemes which we evolved; but, alas, they were all so nearly
impracticable that only under the most exceptionally favourable
circumstances could we hope to carry them through successfully. The two
least impracticable were Courtenay's proposal to scuttle the felucca
when within a few miles of Jamaica, trusting to all hands being able to
make the island, as the nearest place of refuge, in the boat; and my own
scheme, which was that we should secure possession of the armoury in the
cabin, and, seizing upon the first favourable opportunity which might
present itself, arm ourselves to the teeth, and, driving the watch on
deck into the forecastle, take possession of the felucca and endeavour
to navigate her into Port Royal by our own unaided exertions. The chief
objections to the first scheme were the difficulty of obtaining the
tools necessary to the effectual performance of the scuttling, in the
first place, and, in the next, the still greater difficulty of
performing the operation undetected. As regards my own scheme, the
difficulty lay in the fact that, unless the watch could be driven below
without alarming that portion of the crew already in the forecastle, our
case was utterly hopeless; for, should these last be disturbed and come
on deck, what could two slender lads, even fully armed, do against ten
stout, sinewy, full-grown men? We might possibly shoot down three or
four; but unless the rest happened to be cowed by this--which we decided
was not by any means to be depended upon--we must then be quickly
overpowered by sheer force of numbers. This scheme was justly regarded
by us both as being of so exceedingly desperate a character, that only
as a very last resource would its adoption be justifiable.
Nevertheless, we determined to take such measures as were possible for
the carrying out of either scheme in the event of nothing better
occurring to us.
Meanwhile, day succeeded day without the slightest opportunity occurring
for us to initiate Courtenay's scheme. We required a good-sized auger
with which to bore the necessary holes in the ship's bottom, and some
soft wood out of which to fashion plugs wherewith to plug up those holes
until the proper moment should arrive for withdrawing them and letting
the water into the hull. The wood there was no difficulty about, and we
secured enough for a dozen or more plugs; but no such thing as an auger
could we lay hands upon. We even went the perilous length of inventing
a pretext for gaining access to the carpenter's tool-chest, without
success; and we were at length driven to the conclusion that, strange as
it might seem, there was no such thing on board the felucca.
To add to our chagrin and discomfiture, we were no sooner round Cape San
Antonio than we discovered that Carera, quite as acute as ourselves, had
also foreseen the possibility of a British cruiser being fallen in with
if Jamaica were shaved too closely; and he had provided against this
contingency by laying off a course for Cartagena, which would enable him
to give the island a wide berth. This move on our worthy skipper's part
we were, however, able to a large extent to frustrate; for we found that
he was no navigator, sailing his vessel by dead-reckoning only, so that
by each of us taking long spells at the tiller, as was now indeed our
regular custom, we were able to edge the felucca considerably to
windward of her course and in toward Jamaica without Carera being any
the wiser.
In this exceedingly unsatisfactory manner time progressed--and we with
it--until the sixth morning after our abrupt departure from the Conconil
lagoons; when, as day broke and the sun rose, clearing away a light bank
of grey cloud on the eastern horizon, a soft, delicate purplish hummock-
like protuberance was seen rising out of the sea broad on our larboard
bow, which was at once recognised as _land_, and so reported to Carera.
Courtenay and I were in our berths and asleep at the moment; but the cry
of "_Land ho_!" at once aroused us, and, slipping on our clothes, we
hurried on deck to see what it looked like. We found Carera there,
staring in the utmost perplexity at the small grey shape--only
discernible when the felucca rose on the crest of a sea--and audibly
wondering what on earth it could be. _We_ knew pretty well what it was;
Carera kept his small stock of charts in the after cabin, and always
spread them out on the cabin table to lay off his course and distance
run, so that we had had abundant opportunity to refer, as often as we
pleased, to the particular chart he was using on that trip, and had met
with no difficulty whatever in keeping a private dead-reckoning of our
own, from which we were already aware that we might expect to make
Dolphin Head, the highest point of land at the extreme westernmost end
of Jamaica, on this particular morning. The report that other land had
just become visible about a point further to the southward--and which we
judged to be the lofty hill behind Blewfields Bay--confirmed us in our
belief that our calculations had proved correct. Carera, in his
perplexity, went aloft as far as our stumpy mast-head--a thing we had
never known him do before--to get a clearer view of the land, the
bearings of which were then taken, after which our skipper, accompanied
by Courtenay and me, descended to the cabin to consult the chart. On
reference to this, there was of course only one conclusion to be arrived
at, which was that the land in sight was none other than Jamaica. It
now turned out that he had never visited the island, had never indeed
sighted it from the westward before; hence his difficulty in identifying
it; but whilst we were all three discussing the matter down below Manuel
came to the open sky-light in great trepidation to report shoal water
all round the ship. This of course caused us to rush straightway on
deck again, though Courtenay and I, knowing that we must be just about
crossing the edge of the Pedro bank, felt no apprehension whatever.
With Carera and the rest of the felucca's people the matter was very
different; they were all out of their reckoning, and confused
accordingly; and the sudden sight of the bright-green water all about
us, and the shorter, more choppy character of the sea, whilst only a
short time before the water had been as purely blue as the heaven above
us, and the sea long and regular, completed their discomfiture. For a
minute or two disorder reigned supreme on board the little craft;
everybody had an opinion to express and advice to give, everybody was
jabbering excitedly at the same moment; no man paid the slightest
attention to his neighbour; and as all hands were by this time on deck
the result may be imagined. Even the helmsman deserted his post at last
to join in the general clamour; a circumstance of which Courtenay took
immediate advantage by springing to the tiller and ramming it hard down.
The lively little craft at once shot into the wind with her canvas
loudly flapping; and this stilled the tumult in a moment.
"'Bout ship!" shouted Courtenay, as every man stopped short in the midst
of his gabbling; "'bout ship! there is blue water away there to windward
of us, and if we can once reach it we are safe."
The men sprang at once like cats to their stations, and the immense
lateen sail was trimmed over on the other tack with an amount of
alacrity which showed how intense was their relief at finding somebody
on board equal to the occasion.
So far, this was well; the felucca was now heading about north-north-
east and straight for the land, so that our chance of falling in with a
British cruiser was a shade better than before. But, alas, no cruiser,
or sail of any kind, was just then in sight; for, giving way to my
anxiety, I in my turn shinned aloft to take a good look round. But the
land was there, plainly enough, not only the two peaks already
reported--the second of which was now directly ahead--but also five
others, ranging from three to five points on our weather bow.
We stood on as we were going for a couple of hours, so as to get well to
windward of the shoal--though, as a matter of fact, there was plenty of
water over it everywhere to have floated us, or even a frigate, for that
matter--going about again when the men had taken their breakfast. The
high land was by this time well in sight all along our larboard beam,
being certainly not more than forty miles distant; and the circumstance
that Carera was afraid of the shoal and determined to keep off it was
greatly in our favour, since in order to clear Portland Rock, at its
north-eastern extremity, we should have to draw even closer still in
with the island. I was at first terribly afraid that some suspicion
would attach to my comrade and myself as the authors of the error in the
course we had been steering, but I was agreeably disappointed; so far,
indeed, was Carera from suspecting anything that he confided to us at
breakfast--to which we had invited him--that, though he could not in the
least account for our being so far to windward, he was most heartily
glad of it, since we appeared to have the sea all to ourselves. He was
still a trifle uneasy, however, at being so near the very stronghold and
head-quarters of the dreaded British in those waters; and when we all
went on deck after breakfast, his first act was to order a hand aloft to
the mast-head to keep a bright lookout. It was just ten o'clock in the
forenoon, and the man at the mast-head was in the very act of descending
the rigging--another man getting ready meanwhile to relieve him--when he
uttered an excited exclamation which at once attracted all eyes toward
him.
"Look over there, captain, broad on our weather bow. Do you see that
turtle lying there asleep on the water?"
Carera sprang on to the weather rail, and, steadying himself with one
hand by the shroud whilst he shielded his eyes with the other, peered
eagerly to windward. The rest of the watch also dropped whatever they
happened to be busied with, and, exclaiming "A turtle! a turtle!"
unceremoniously ranged themselves alongside their skipper.
"No," said Carera, after a long look in the direction indicated, "I
don't see anything of him; where is--"
"There he is; I see him!" exclaimed one of the men. "Ah! now he is gone
again, settled into the trough. Look a bit further out in that
direction, captain--there he is again; Madre de Dios, what a monster!
don't you see him?"
"Yes, yes; I see him now," answered Carera excitedly; "down with your
helm, my man, and let her shoot into the wind. We will have that
fellow. Get the boat into the water, smartly now, men. Give the watch
below a call."
"To what purpose?" I interposed: "No, no, let the poor fellows finish
their sleep in peace; my friend and I will look after the felucca whilst
you are away in the boat."
"To be sure we will," said Courtenay, with a quiet wink at me; and
springing aft to the tiller, he laid his hand upon it, saying to the man
who held it:
"Away with you, Jose, my fine fellow, into the boat, and lend a hand to
secure that turtle; it is not every day we sailors get such a chance."
Meanwhile, the rest of us unshipped the lee gangway, and getting the
boat athwart the deck, sent her stern first overboard with a splash
which I was in an agony of fear would awake the turtle, and so frustrate
the scheme which had darted into my brain--and Courtenay's also, I
fancied, by the knowing wink he had bestowed upon me--when it was
proposed to go away in the boat after the creature. But no; there he
was still, apparently fast asleep, rising and falling upon the surface
of the restless waters, his capacious shell glistening brightly as the
sunbeams flashed upon it.
The four men constituting the watch stepped as quietly as possible into
the boat, and, followed by Carera, took their places at the oar; Carera
standing up in the stern-sheets to look out for the quarry and to direct
his men how to pull. I was in a perfect fever of anxiety lest the
flapping of the sail and the bustle on deck should awaken the watch
below and bring them out of the forecastle to see what was the matter;
but seamen seldom pay any attention to these things, so far at least as
to leave their bunks in their watch below; and when at length the boat
shoved off and paddled gently round the felucca's quarter, Courtenay and
I found ourselves most unexpectedly in the very situation for which we
had so long been ineffectually scheming, namely, in undisputed
possession of the little craft's deck.
Without wasting a single moment in watching the progress of the boat, I
at once slipped forward, and, gently drawing over the slide of the fore-
scuttle, slipped the hasp over the staple, stuffed a few doubled-up
rope-yarns through the latter to keep the former in position, and then
quietly walked aft.
"Well, old boy," said I, as I joined Courtenay at the tiller, "the
felucca is ours; and that, too, without a single particle of all that
trouble which we anticipated. If we had planned the thing ever so
elaborately we could not have managed half so well. Up stick, my
hearty, fill on her; and hey for Port Royal, which I hope we shall see
to-morrow morning."
"Ay, ay," said Courtenay with a puzzled air, "that is all very well.
But what about those poor beggars adrift there in the boat? What are
they to do without food and water?"
"Well," said I, "to tell you the truth I never thought about that. It
is true they are only forty miles from the land, with fine weather and
every prospect of its lasting, but I suppose we ought not to leave them
without a mouthful of bread or a drop of water. Just jog the felucca
gently along, taking care that the boat is not allowed to come alongside
again, and I'll see what I can do. I wonder how they are getting on in
the matter of the turtle!"
I jumped on the rail in the wake of the rigging and looked out to
windward. Apparently they were too much engrossed with their chase to
take any notice of us, for I could see them paddling warily along,
evidently purposing to get to windward of their sleeping prey and then
drift with the wind noiselessly down upon him. Carera was still
standing up in the stern-sheets peering eagerly over the boat's larboard
bow; and the men were all intently looking over their right shoulders.
Presently I saw them lay their oars cautiously inboard, and then all
hands ranged themselves along the larboard side of the boat, careening
her almost gunwale-to as they stretched their arms over her side. Then
followed a short pause of evidently breathless suspense, succeeded by a
simultaneous _grab_! and in another instant I saw that they had secured
the turtle--and a splendid fellow he was--and were dragging him inboard
by main strength.
"All right!" I exclaimed; "they have caught him. Now, I will see what
I can do toward providing them with some food and water."
As I turned away to do this a large wash-deck tub caught my eye; and it
immediately struck me that this would be a capital thing to turn adrift
with a supply of food, as it was sufficiently capacious to hold as much
as would last them, with care, two or three days, instead of the twenty
hours or so which it would take them to reach the land. The tub was
quite dry inside and perfectly water-tight, as I happened to know, so I
dragged it to the lee gangway for convenience in launching, and then
hurried away to the cabin in search of provender. Opening the store-
room door, I rummaged about until I found a bread-bag half full. I
turned the bread out of this until there was only enough left to serve
them amply for the time they were likely to be afloat, and in on top of
this I popped half a cheese, together with a cooked ox-tongue, which we
had only cut into that morning at breakfast, and a piece of boiled salt
beef. This cargo I conveyed on deck and deposited in the tub, which I
considered was then loaded as fully as was desirable, considering that
we intended to set it afloat in a roughish sea for a craft of that
build. I then went below again for an empty vinegar keg which I had
stumbled over in the store-room; and, taking it on deck, I filled it
with water from the scuttle-butt, bunged it securely, and my
preparations were complete.
Meanwhile Courtenay had been very cleverly dodging the felucca along
almost in the wind's eye, so that she had made but little progress, and
the boat, which had been tearing after us as hard as the oarsmen could
pull her through the water, was not more than half a mile astern. I
told Courtenay what I had done, and what I proposed to do; and whilst I
passed a couple of rope's ends through the handles of the tub, in
readiness to launch it overboard at the proper moment, my companion wore
the felucca round and stood back toward the boat.
Seeing us returning directly toward them, the men laid upon their oars,
possibly imagining that we were about to pick them up. Straight as a
line for them we ran until they were only about a cable's length
distant, when Courtenay sprang his luff, and we darted away considerably
to windward of them, upon which they took to their oars once more, and
began to force the boat heavily ahead against the sea. Seeing that we
had ample time to launch the tub, I now signed Courtenay to shoot the
felucca into the wind, when, waiting until she had all but lost her way,
we very cleverly launched the tub and the keg over the side without
causing the former to ship so much as a drop of water, and then filled
away once more. The occupants of the boat, by this time thoroughly
mystified, paddled quietly up to the floating tub, and transferred its
contents to the boat. Meanwhile we in the felucca, having stood on to a
sufficient distance, once more wore round, and again made for the boat,
luffing and shaking the wind out of our sail when within hailing
distance of her. Then, whilst Courtenay narrowly watched the boat, and
held himself ready to fill on the felucca again in good time to avoid
being boarded, I sprang into the lee rigging and hailed:
"Boat ahoy! We are sorry to take the felucca from you, but
circumstances, which we have now no time to explain, oblige us to do so.
We are going to take her to Port Royal. Yonder is the land, not more
than forty miles away; the weather is fine and settled, so you will have
no difficulty in reaching the shore by this time to-morrow. When you
land make at once for Port Royal. We will arrange that, on reaching
there, you shall be properly cared for until such time as the _Pinta_
can be restored to you. You will find provisions in the tub and fresh
water in the keg, which we have dropped overboard. And now, adieu! we
wish you a pleasant passage."
Carera and his comrades seemed to take in my meaning even before I had
finished speaking, for, with a whole torrent of sonorous Spanish
maledictions, they once more dashed their oars into the water and made
for the felucca. But Courtenay promptly kept her away and filled the
sail, and we slid foaming past the boat at a distance of some five-and-
twenty feet; and of course, once fairly moving in such a breeze and sea,
no boat that was ever built would have had the slightest chance with the
_Pinta_. They pulled desperately after us for fully half an hour,
however, and then we lost sight of them.
We were hardly well clear of the boat when a hammering and shouting at
the fore-scuttle told us that the watch below had awakened to the
suspicion that something was amiss on deck, and that they were anxious
to know why they were battened down. I accordingly went forward and,
without opening the scuttle, shouted to them that the felucca had been
surprised and captured by the British, which in a sense was quite true,
and that, unless they wished to be treated as pirates, the best thing
they could do would be to remain perfectly quiet and give no trouble
whatever. That the vessel was being taken into Port Royal, and that on
our arrival there I would make it my business to see the proper
authorities and so explain matters to them that the worst thing likely
to befall the felucca's crew would be their temporary detention only.
It is very likely that this communication puzzled them considerably, but
if so, it also had the effect of keeping them quiet, for we never heard
another sound from them. Indeed, had they tried to give us trouble, it
is probable we should have mastered them before they could all have
gained the deck, for our first act, after quieting them, was to arm
ourselves each with a whole beltful of loaded pistols and the best of
the swords in the felucca's armoury, after which we pitched the whole of
the remaining weapons overboard.
Next morning, at daybreak, we took on board a black pilot off Portland
Point, reaching Port Royal just in time to hear eight bells struck on
board the various ships lying at anchor in the harbour.