But who is this? What thing of sea
Comes this way sailing,
Like a stately ship
With all her bravery on, and tackle trim?
SAMSON AGONISTES.
The privateer was called the _True-blooded Yankee_. She was first
bound to the island of Tristan d'Acunha, where she expected to meet
her consort, belonging to the same owners, and who had preceded her
when their directions were to cruise between the Cape and Madagascar,
for certain homeward bound extra Indiamen, one or two of which she
hoped would reward all the trouble and expense of the outfit.
We reached the island without any material incident. I had observed,
with concern, that the second mate, whose name was Peleg Oswald, was
a sour, ferocious, quarrelsome man; and that although I was kindly
treated by the captain, whose name was Peters, and by the chief mate,
whose name was Methusalem Solomon, I never could conciliate the good
will of Peleg Oswald.
Green, the captain, who came with me, was, from the time I saved
his life, an altered man. He had been, as I was informed, a drunken
profligate; but from the moment when I received him into my boat,
his manners and habits seemed as completely changed as if he were a
different being. He never drank more than was sufficient to quench his
thirst--he never swore--he never used any offensive language. He read
the Scriptures constantly, was regular in his morning and evening
devotion, and on every occasion of quarrel or ill-will in the brig,
which was perpetually occurring, Green was the umpire and the
peace-maker. He saved the captain and chief mate a world of trouble;
by this system, violent language became uncommon on board, punishment
was very rare, and very mild. The men were happy, and did their duty
with alacrity; and but for Peleg Oswald, all would have been harmony.
We made the island about the 15th of December, when the weather was
such as the season of the year might induce us to expect, it being
then summer. We hove off to the north or windward side of the island,
about two miles from the shore; we dared not go nearer on that side,
for fear of what are called the "Rollers"--a phenomenon, it would
appear, of terrific magnitude, on that sequestered little spot. On
this extraordinary operation of nature, many conjectures have been
offered, but no good or satisfactory reason has ever been assigned to
satisfy my mind; for the simple reason, that the same causes would
produce the same effect on St Helena, Ascension, or any other island
or promontory exposed to a wide expanse of water. I shall attempt
to describe the scene that a succession of Rollers would present,
supposing, what has indeed happened, that a vessel is caught on the
coast when coming in.
The water will be perfectly smooth--not a breath of wind--when,
suddenly, from the north, comes rolling a huge wave, with a glassy
surface, never breaking till it meets the resistance of the land, when
it dashes down with a noise and a resistless violence that no art or
effort of man could elude. It is succeeded by others. No anchorage
would hold if there were anchorage to be had; but this is not the
case; the water is from ninety to one hundred fathoms deep, and
consequently an anchor and cable could scarcely afford a momentary
check to any ship when thus assailed; or, if it did, the sea would, by
being resisted, divide, break on board, and swamp her. Such was the
fate of the unfortunate ----, a British sloop of war; which, after
landing the captain and six men, was caught in the rollers, driven on
shore, and every creature on board perished, only the captain and his
boat's crew escaping. This unfortunate little vessel was lost, not
from want of skill or seamanship in the captain or crew, for a finer
set of men never swam salt water; but from their ignorance of this
peculiarity of the island, unknown in any other that I ever heard
of, at least to such an alarming extent. Driven close in to the land
before she could find soundings, at last she let go three anchors; but
nothing could withstand the force of the "Rollers," which drove her in
upon the beach, when she broke in two as soon as she landed, and all
hands perished in sight of the affected captain and his boat's crew,
who buried the bodies of their unfortunate shipmates as soon as the
sea had delivered them up.
There is another remarkable peculiarity in this island: its shores, to
a very considerable extent out to sea, are surrounded with the plant,
called _fucus maximus_, mentioned by Captain Cook; it grows to the
depth of sixty fathoms, or one hundred and eighty feet, and reaches in
one long stem to the surface, when it continues to run along to the
enormous length of three or four hundred feet, with short alternate
branches at every foot of its length. Thus, in the stormy ocean, grows
a plant, higher and of greater length than any vegetable production of
the surface of the earth, not excepting the banyan tree, which, as its
branches touch the ground, takes fresh root, and may be said to form a
separate tree. These marine plants resist the most powerful attacks
of the mightiest elements combined; the winds and the waves in vain
combine their force against them; uniting their foliage on the bosom
of the waters, they laugh at the hurricane and defy its power. The
leaves are alternate, and when the wind ruffles the water, they flap
over, one after the other, with a mournful sound, doubly mournful
to us from the sad association of ideas, and the loneliness of the
island. The branches or tendrils of these plants are so strong and
buoyant, when several of them happen to unite, that a boat cannot pass
through them; I tried with my feet what pressure they would bear, and
I was convinced that, with a pair of snow shoes, a man might walk over
them.
Captain Peters kindly invited me to go on shore with him. We landed
with much difficulty, and proceeded to the cottage of a man who had
been left there from choice; he resided with his family: and, in
imitation of another great personage on an island to the northward of
him, styled himself "Emperor." A detachment of British soldiers had
been sent from the Cape of Good Hope to take possession of this spot:
but after a time they were withdrawn.
His present Imperial Majesty had, at the time of my visit, a black
consort, and many snuff-coloured princes and princesses. He was in
other respects a perfect Robinson Crusoe; he had a few head of cattle,
and some pigs; these latter have greatly multiplied on the island.
Domestic fowls were numerous, and he had a large piece of ground
planted with potatoes, the only place south of the Equator which
produces them in their native perfection; the land is rich and
susceptible of great improvement; and the soil is intersected with
numerous running springs over its surface. But it was impossible to
look on this lonely spot without recalling to mind the beautiful lines
of Cowper--
"O Solitude, where are the charms
That sages have seen in thy face?"
Yet in this wild place, alarms and even rebellion had found their way,
the Emperor had but one subject, and this Caliban had ventured, in
direct violation of an imperial mandate, to kill a fowl for his
dinner.
"Rebellion," said the enraged emperor, "is the son of witchcraft, and
I am determined to make an example of the offender."
I became the mediator between these two belligerents. I represented to
his imperial majesty, that, as far as the matter of example went, the
severity would lose its effect; for his children were as yet too young
to be corrupted; and, moreover, as his majesty was so well versed in
scripture, he must know that it was his duty to forgive. "Besides," I
said, "her majesty the queen has a strong arm, and can always
assist in repelling or chastising any future act of aggression or
disobedience." I suspect that the moral code of his majesty was not
unlike my own it yielded to the necessities of the time. He must have
found it particularly inconvenient not to be on speaking terms with
his prime minister and arch chancellor, whom he had banished to
the opposite side of the island on pain of death. The sentence was
originally for six months; but on my intercession the delinquent was
pardoned and restored to favour. I felt much self-complacency when I
reflected on this successful instance of my mediatorial power, which
had perhaps smothered a civil war in its birth.
The emperor informed me that an American whaler was lying at the east
side of the island, filling with the oil of the walrus, or sea-horse;
that she had been there at an anchor six weeks, and was nearly full. I
asked to be shown the spot where the ---- was wrecked; he took me to
her sad remains. She lay broken in pieces on the rocks; and, not far
from her, was a mound of earth, on which was placed a painted piece of
board by way of a tombstone. The fate of the vessel, together with the
number of sufferers, were marked in rude but concise characters. I
do not exactly remember the words, but in substance it stated, that
underneath lay the remains of one hundred as fine fellows as ever
walked on a plank, and that they had died, like British seamen, doing
their duty to the last. This was a melancholy sight, especially to a
sailor, who knew not how soon the same fate awaited him.
We rafted off several casks of water during that day, and on the
following we completed our water, and then ran to the east end of
the island to anchor near, and wait for our consort the whaler, the
captain of which had come in his boat to visit us: I conversed with
him, and was struck with one remark which he made.
"You Englishmen go to work in a queerish kind of way," said he; "you
send a parcel of soldiers to live on an island where none but sailors
can be of use. You listen to all that those red coats tell you; they
never thrive when placed out of musket-shot from a gin-shop: and
because _they_ don't like it, you evacuate the island. A soldier likes
his own comfort, although very apt to destroy that of other folks; and
it a'n't very likely he would go and make a good report of an island
that had neither women nor rum, and where he was no better than a
prisoner. Now, if brother Jonathan had taken this island, I guess he
would a' made it pay for its keep; he would have had two or three
crews of whalers, with their wives and families, and all their little
comforts about them, with a party of good farmers to till the land,
and an officer to command the whole. The island can provide itself, as
you may perceive, and all would have gone on well. It is just as easy
to 'fish' the island from the shore as it is in vessel, and indeed
much easier. Only land your boilers and casks, and a couple of dozen
of good whale-boats, and this island would produce a revenue that
would repay with profit all the money laid out upon it, for the
sea-horses have no other place to go to, either to shed their coats in
the autumn, or bring forth their young in the spring. The fishing and
other duties would be a source of amusement to the sailors, who, if
they chose, might return home occasionally in the vessels that came to
take away the full casks of oil and land the empty ones."
The captain of the whaler returned to his ship, but, I suppose, forgot
to give our captain very particular directions about the anchorage. We
ran down to the east end of the island, and were just going to bring
up, when, supposing himself too near the whaler, Peters chose to run
a little further. I should have observed, that as we rounded the
north-east point, the breeze freshed, and the squalls came heavy out
of the gullies and deep ravines. We therefore shortened sail, and,
passing very near the whaler, they hailed us; but it blew so fresh
that we did not hear what they said; and, having increased our
distance from the whaler to what was judged proper, let go the anchor.
Ninety fathoms of cable ran out in a crack, before she turned head
to-wind; and, to our mortification, we found we had passed the bank
upon which the whaler had brought up, and must have dropped our anchor
into a well, for we had nineteen fathoms water under the bows, and
only seven fathoms under the stern. The moon showed her face, just at
this moment, and we had the further satisfaction of perceiving, that
we were within fifty yards of a reef of rocks which lay astern of us,
with their dirty, black heads above water.
We were very much surprised to find, notwithstanding the depth of
water, that, during the lulls, we rode with a slack cable; but about
two o'clock in the morning the cable parted, being cut by the foul
ground. All sail was made immediately, but the rocks astern were so
close to us, that you might have thrown a biscuit on them, and we
thought the cruise of the _True-blooded Yankee_ was at an end; but it
proved otherwise, for the same cause which produced the slack cable
preserved the vessel. The _fucus maximus_ we found had interposed
between us and destruction; we had let go our anchor in this
sub-marine forest, and had perched, as it were, on the tops of the
trees; and, so thick were the leaves and branches, that they held us
from driving, and prevented our going on shore when the cable had
parted. We dragged slowly through the plants, and were very glad to
see ourselves once more clear of this miserable spot.
"Better dwell in the midst of alarms,
Than reign in this horrible place."
But I sincerely wish all manner of success to this little empire,
though I hope my evil stars will never take me to it again. We shaped
our course for the Cape of Good Hope, for Captain Peters would not run
further risk in waiting for the consort privateer.
Poor Thompson, notwithstanding all my exertions in his favour, was
exposed to much ill-treatment on board the vessel, on account of his
firm and unshaken loyalty. He seldom complained to me, but sometimes
vindicated himself by a gentle hint from one of his ample fists on the
nose or eye of the offender, and here the matter usually ended, for
his character was so simple and inoffensive, that all the best men in
the vessel loved him. One night, a man fell overboard--the weather was
fine, and the brig had but little way; they were lowering down the
jolly-boat from the stern, when one of the hooks by which she hung by
the stern, broke, and four men were precipitated with violence into
the water. Two of them could not swim, and all screamed loudly for
help as soon as they came up from their dive. Thompson, seeing this,
darted from the stern like a Newfoundland dog, swam to the weakest,
supported him to the rudder chains, and, leaving him, went to another,
bringing him to the stern of the vessel, and making a rope fast under
his arms. In this way he succeeded in saving the whole of these poor
fellows. Two of the five would certainly have sank but for his timely
assistance, for they were some time before another boat could be got
ready; and the other three owned that they much doubted whether they
could have reached the vessel without help.
This conduct of Thompson was much applauded by all on board, and some
asked him why he ventured his life for people who had used him so ill:
he answered, that his mither and his Bible taught him to do all the
good he could: and as God had given him a strong arm, he hoped he
should always use it for the benefit of his brother in need.
It might have been supposed that an act like this would have prevented
the recurrence of any further insult; but the more the Americans
perceived Thompson's value, the more eager were they to have him as
their own. The second mate, whom I have already described as a rough
and brutal fellow, one day proposed to him to belong to their vessel,
certain, he added, that he would make his fortune by the capture of
two, if not three, extra Indiamen, which they had information of on
their passage.
Thompson looked the man fully in the face, and said, "Did ye no hear
what I telled the captain the ither day?"
"Yes," said the man, "I knew that, but that's what we call in our
country 'all my eye.'"
"But they do not call it so in my country," said the Caledonian, at
the same time planting his fist so full and plump in the left eye of
the mate, that he fell like the "_humi bos_," covering a very large
part of the deck with his huge carcase.
The man got up, found his face bleeding plentifully, and his eye
closed; but instead of resenting the insult himself, went off and
complained to the captain. Many of the Americans, either from hatred
or jealousy, went along with him, and clamorously demanded that the
Englishman should be punished for striking an officer. When the story,
however, came to be fairly explained, the captain said he was bound
to confess that the second mate was the aggressor, inasmuch as he had
acknowledged that he knew the penalty of the transgression before he
committed the act; that he (the captain) had told Thompson, when
he made the declaration, that he thought him perfectly right, and,
consequently, he was bound to protect him by every law of hospitality
as well as gratitude, after his services in saving the lives of their
countrymen.
This did not satisfy the crew; they were clamorous for punishment, and
a mutiny was actually headed by the second mate. There was, however,
a large party on board who were in no humour to see an Englishman
treated with such indignity. Of what country they were may readily be
conjectured. The dispute ran high; and I began to think that serious
consequences might ensue, for it had continued from the serving of
grog at twelve o'clock till near two; when casting my eyes over the
larboard quarter, I perceived a sail, and told the captain of it;
he instantly hailed the look-out-man at the mast head; but the
look-out-man had been so much interested with what was going on upon
deck, that he had come down into the main top to listen.
"Don't you see that sail on the larboard quarter?" said the captain.
"Yes, Sir," said the man.
"And why did you not report her?"
The man could make no reply to this question, for a very obvious
reason.
"Come down here," said the captain; "let him be released, Solomon; we
will show you a little Yankee discipline."
But before we proceed to the investigation of the crime, or the
infliction of punishment, we must turn our eyes to the great object
which rose clearer and clearer every five minutes above the horizon.
The privateer was at this time under top sails, and top-gallant-sails,
jib, and foresail, running to the north-east, with a fine breeze and
smooth water.
"Leftenant," said the captain, "what do you think of her?"
"I think," said I, "that she is an extra Indiaman, and if you mean
to speak her, you had better put your head towards her under an easy
sail; by which means you will be so near by sunset, that if she runs
from you, you will be able, with your superior sailing, to keep sight
of her all night."
"I guess you are not far wrong in that," said the captain.
"I guess he is directly in the face of the truth," said the chief
mate, who had just returned from the main top, where he had spent the
last quarter of an hour in the most intense and absorbed attention to
the cut of the stranger's sails. "If e'er I saw wood and canvas put
together before in the shape of a ship, that there is one of John
Bull's bellowing calves of the ocean, and not less than a forty-four
gunner."
"What say you to that, leftenant?" said the captain.
"Oh, as to that," said the mate, "it isn't very likely that he's going
to tell us the truth."
"Because you would not have done it yourself in the same situation,"
said I.
"Just so," said the mate.
And in fact, I must own that I had no particular wish to cruise for
some months in this vessel, and go back for water at Tristan d'Acunha
I therefore did not use my very best optical skill when I gave my
opinion; but as I saw the stranger was nearing us very fast, although
we were steering the same way, I made my mind up that I should very
soon be out of this vessel, and on my way to England, where all my
happiness and prospects were centred.
The chief mate took one more look--the captain followed his example;
they then looked at each other, and pronounced their cruise at an end.
"We are done, sir," said the mate; "and all owing to that d----d
English renegado that you would enter on the books as one of the
ship's company. But let's have him aft, and give him his discharge
regularly."
"First of all," said the captain, "suppose we try what is to be
done with our heels. They used to be good, and I never saw the
brass-bottomed sarpent that could come anear us yet. Send the royal
yards up--clear away the studding-sails--keep her with the wind just
two points abaft the beam, that's her favourite position; and I think
we may give the slip to that old-country devil in the course of the
night."
I said nothing, but looked very attentively to all that was doing. The
vessel was well manned, certainly, and all sail was set upon her in a
very expeditious manner.
"Heave the log," said the captain.
They did so; and she was going, by their measurement, nine and six.
"What do you think your ship is doing?" said the captain to me.
"I think," said I, "she is going about eleven knots; and, as she is
six miles astern of you, that she will be within gunshot in less than
four hours."
"Part of that time shall be spent in paying our debts for this
favour," said the captain. "Mr Solomon, let them seize that
_no-nation_ rascal up to the main rigging, and hand up two of your
most hungry cats. Where is Dick Twist, he that was boatswain's mate of
the _Statira_; and that red-haired fellow, you know, that swam away
from the Maidstone in the _Rappahanock?_"
"You mean carroty Sam, I guess--pass the word for Sam Gall."
The two operators soon appeared, each armed with the instruments of
his office; and I must say that, in malignity of construction, they
were equal to any thing used on similar occasions even by Captain
G----. The culprit was now brought forward, and to my surprise it was
the very man whom Thompson, when in the boat, had thrown overboard for
mutiny. I cannot say that I felt sorry for the cause or the effect
that was likely to be produced by the disputes of the day.
"Seize him up," said the captain; "you were sent to the mast-head in
your regular turn of duty; and you have neglected that duty, by which
means we are likely to be taken: so, before my authority ceases, I
will show you a Yankee trick."
"I am an Englishman," said the man, "and appeal to my officer for
protection."
The captain looked at me.
"If I am the officer you appeal to," said I, "I do not acknowledge
you; you threw off your allegiance when you thought it suited your
purpose, and you now wish to resume it to screen yourself from a
punishment which you richly deserve. I shall certainly not interfere
in your favour."
"I was born," roared the cockney, "in Earl Street, Seven Dials--my
mother keeps a tripe-shop--I am a true born Briton, and you have no
right to flog me."
"You was a Yankee sailor from New London yesterday, and you are a
tripe-seller, from Old London to-day. I think I am right in calling
you a no-nation rascal, but we will talk about the right another
time," said the captain; "meanwhile, Dick Twist, do you begin."
Twist obeyed his orders with skill and accuracy; and having given the
prisoner three dozen, that would not have disgraced the leger-de-main
of my friend the Farnese Hercules in the brig, Sam Gall was desired
to take his turn. Sam acquitted himself _à merveille_ with the like
number; and the prisoner, after a due proportion of bellowing, was
cast loose. I could not help reflecting how very justly this captain
had got his vessel into jeopardy by first allowing a man to be seduced
from his allegiance, and then placing confidence in him.
"Let us now take a look at the chase," said the captain; "zounds, she
draws up with us. I can see her bowsprit-cap when she lifts; and half
an hour ago I only saw her foreyard. Cut away the jolly-boat from the
stern, Solomon."
The chief mate took a small axe, and, with a steady blow at the end of
each davit, divided the falls, and the boat fell into the sea.
"Throw these here two aftermost guns overboard," said the captain; "I
guess we are too deep abaft, and they would not be of much use to us
in the way of defence, for this is a wapper that's after us."
The guns in a few minutes were sent to their last rest; and for the
next half-hour the enemy gained less upon them. It was now about
half-past three P.M.; the courage of the Yankees revived; and the
second mate reminded the captain that his black eye had not been
reckoned for at the main rigging.
"Nor shall it be," said the captain, "while I command the
_True-blooded Yankee_; what is, is right; no man shall be punished for
fair defence after warning. Thompson, come and stand aft."
The man was in the act of obeying this order, when he was seized on
by some six or eight of the most turbulent, who began to tear off his
jacket.
"Avast there, shipmates!" said Twist and Gall, both in a breath. "We
don't mind touching up such a chap as this here tripeman; but not the
scratch of a pin does Thompson get in this vessel. He is one of us; he
is a seamen every inch of him, and you must flog us, and some fifty
more, if once you begin; for d----n my eyes if we don't heave the log
with the second mate, and then lay-to till the frigate comes along
side."
The mutineers stood aghast for a few seconds; but the second mate,
jumping on a gun, called out,
"Who's of our side? Are we going to be bullied by these d----d
Britishers?"
"You are," said I, "if doing an act of justice is bullying. You are in
great danger, and I warn you of it. I perceive the force of those whom
you pretend to call Americans; and though I am the last man in the
world to sanction an act of treachery by heaving the ship to, yet I
caution you to beware how you provoke the bull-dog, who has only broke
his master's chain 'for a lark,' and is ready to return to him. I
am your guest, and therefore your faithful friend; use your utmost
endeavours to escape from your enemy. I know what she is, for I know
her well; and, if I am not much mistaken, you have scarcely more time,
with all your exertions, than to pack up your things; for be assured,
you will not pass twelve hours more under your own flag."
This address had a tranquillising effect. The captain, Captain Green,
and Solomon, walked aft; and, to their great dismay, saw distinctly
the water line of the pursuing frigate.
"What can be done?" said the captain; "she has gained on us in this
manner, while the people were all aft settling that infernal dispute.
Throw two more of the after guns overboard."
This order was obeyed with the same celerity as the former, but not
with the same success. The captain now began to perceive, what was
pretty obvious to me before, namely, that by dropping the boat from
the extreme end of the vessel, where it hung like the pea on the
steelyard, he did good; the lightening her also of the two aftermost
guns, hanging over the dead wood of the vessel, were in like manner
serviceable. But here he should have stopped; the effect of throwing
the next two guns overboard was pernicious. The vessel fell by the
head; her stern was out of the water; she steered wild, yawed, and
decreased in her rate of sailing in a surprising manner.
"Cut away the bower anchors," said the captain.
The stoppers were cut, and the anchors dropped; the brig immediately
recovered herself from her oppression, as it were, and resumed
her former velocity; but the enemy had by this time made fearful
approaches. The only hope of the captain and his crew was in the
darkness; and as this darkness came on, my spirits decreased, for I
greatly feared that we should have escaped. The sun had sunk some time
below the horizon; the cloud of sail coming up astern of us began to
be indistinct, and at last disappeared altogether in a black squall:
we saw no more of her for nearly two hours.
I walked the deck with Green and the captain. The latter seemed in
great perturbation; he had hoped to make his fortune, and retire from
the toils and cares of a sea-life in some snug corner of the Western
settlements, where he might cultivate a little farm, and lead the life
of an honest man; "for _this_ life," said he, "I am free to confess,
is, after all, little better than highway robbery."
Whether the moral essay of the captain was the effect of his present
danger, I will not pretend to say. I only know, that if the reader
will turn back to some parts of my history, he will find me very often
in a similar mood, on similar occasions.
The two captains and the chief mate now retired, after leaving me
meditating by myself over the larboard gunwale, just before the main
rigging. The consultation seemed to be of great moment; and, as I
afterwards learned, was to decide what course they should steer,
seeing that they evidently lost sight of their pursuer. I felt all my
hopes of release vanish as I looked at them, and had made up my mind
to go to New York.
At this moment, a man came behind me, as if to get a pull at the
top-gallant sheets; and while he hung down upon it with a kind of
"yeo-ho," he whispered in my ear--"You may have the command of the
brig if you like. We are fifty-Englishmen--we will heave her to and
hoist a light, if you will only say the word, and promise us our free
pardon."
I pretended at first not to hear, but, turning round, I saw Mr Twist.
"Hold, villain!" said I; "do you think to redeem one act of treachery
by another? and do you dare to insult the honour of a naval officer
with a proposal so infamous? Go to your station instantly, and think
yourself fortunate that I do not denounce you to the captain, who has
a perfect right to throw you overboard--a fate which your chain of
crimes fully deserves."
The man skulked away, and I went off to the captain, to whom I related
the circumstance, desiring him to be on his guard against treachery.
"Your conduct, Sir," said the captain, "is what I should have
expected from a British naval officer; and since you have behaved so
honourably, I will freely tell you that my intention is to shorten
sail to the topsails and foresail, and haul dead on a wind into that
dark squall to the southward."
"As you please," said I; "you cannot expect that I should advise, nor
would you believe me if I said I wished you success; but rely on it
I will resist, by every means in my power, any unfair means to
dispossess you of your command."
"I thank you, Sir," said the captain, mournfully; and, without losing
any more time in useless words, "Shorten sail there," continued
he, with a low but firm voice; "take in the lower and topmost
studding-sail--hands aloft--in top-gallant studding-sails, and roll up
the top-gallant sails."
All this appeared to be done with surprising speed, even to me who
had been accustomed to very well conducted ships of war. One mistake,
however, was made; the lower studding-sail, instead of being hauled
in on deck, was let to fall overboard, and towed some time under the
larboard bow before it was reported to the officers.
"Haul in the larboard braces--brace sharp up--port the helm, and bring
her to the wind, quarter-master."
"Port, it is, Sir," said the man at the helm, and the vessel was close
hauled upon the starboard tack; but she did not seem to move very
fast, although, she had a square mainsail, boom mainsail, and jib.
"I think we have done them at last," said the captain; "what do you
think, leftenant?" giving me a hearty but very friendly slap on the
back. "Come, what say you; shall we take a cool bottle of London
particular after the fatigues of the day?"
"Wait a little," said I, "wait a little."
"What are you looking at there to windward?" said the captain, who
perceived that my eye was fixed on a particular point.
Before I had time to answer, Thompson came up to me and said, "there
is the ship, Sir," pointing to the very spot on which I was gazing.
The captain heard this; and, as fear is ever quick-sighted, he
instantly caught the object.
"Running is of no use now," said he; "we have tried her off the wind,
our best going; she beats us at that; and on a wind, I don't think so
much of her; but still, with this smooth water and fine breeze, she
ought to move better. Solomon, there is something wrong, give a look
all round."
Solomon went forward on the starboard side, but saw nothing. As he
looked over the gangway and bow, coming round on the lee side of
the forecastle, he saw some canvas hanging on one of the
night-heads--"What have we here?" said he. No one answered. He looked
over the fore chains, and found the whole lower studding-sail towing
in the water.
"No wonder she don't move," said the mate; "here is enough to stop the
Constitution herself. Who took in this here lower studding-sail?--But,
never mind, we'll settle that to-morrow. Come over here, you
forecastle men."
Some of the Americans came over to him, but not with very great
alacrity. The sail could not be pulled in, as the vessel had too much
way; and while they were ineffectually employed about it, the flash of
a gun was seen to windward; and as the report reached our ears, the
shot whistled over our heads, and darted like lightning through the
boom mainsail.
"Hurra for old England," said Thompson; "the fellow that fired that
shot shall drink my allowance of grog to-morrow."
"Hold your tongue, you d----d English rascal," said the second mate,
"or I'll stop your grog for ever."
"I don't think you will," said the North Briton, "and if you take a
friend's advice, you won't try." Thompson was standing on the little
round-house or poop; the indignant mate jumped up, and collared him.
Thompson disengaged him in the twinkling of an eye, and with one blow
of his right hand in the pit of the man's stomach, sent him reeling
over to leeward. He fell--caught at the boom-sheet--missed it, and
tumbled into the sea, from whence he rose no more.
All was now confusion. "A man overboard!"--another shot from the
frigate--another and another in quick succession. The fate of the
man was forgotten in the general panic. One shot cut the aftermost
main-shroud; another went through the boat on the booms. The frigate
was evidently very near us. The men all rushed down to seize their
bags and chests; the captain took me by the hand, and said "Sir, I
surrender myself to you, and give you leave now to act as you think
proper."
"Thompson," said I, "let go the main-sheet, and the main-brace."
Running forward myself, I let go the main-tack, and bowlines; the
main-yard came square of itself. Thompson got a lantern, which he held
up on the starboard quarter.
The frigate passed close under the stern, shewing a beautiful pale
side, with a fine tier of guns; and, hailing us, desired to know what
vessel it was.
I replied, that it was the _True-blooded Yankee_ of Boston--that she
had hove-to and surrendered.