CONSEQUENCES OF THE ACTION--A SHIP WITHOUT A FIGHTING CAPTAIN IS LIKE A
THING WITHOUT A HEAD--SO DO THE SAILORS THINK--A MUTINY, AND THE LOSS OF
OUR FAMOUS SHIP'S COMPANY.
During our stay at Yarmouth, we were not allowed to put our foot on
shore, upon the plea that we must repair damages, and proceed
immediately to our station; but the real fact was, that Captain Hawkins
was very anxious that we should not be able to talk about the action.
Finding no charges preferred against him, he recommenced his system of
annoyance. His apartments had windows which looked out upon where the
brig lay at anchor; and he constantly watched all our motions with his
spy-glass, noting down if I did not hoist up boats, etcetera, exactly at
the hour prescribed in his book of orders, so as to gather a list of
charges against me if he could. This we did not find out until
afterwards.
I mentioned before, that when Swinburne joined us at Plymouth, he had
recommended a figure-head being put on the brig. This had been done at
O'Brien's expense--not in the cheap way recommended by Swinburne, but in
a very handsome manner. It was a large snake coiled up in folds, with
its head darting out in a menacing attitude, and the tail, with its
rattle, appeared below. The whole was gilded, and had a very good
effect; but after the dock-yard men had completed the repairs, and the
brig was painted, one night the head of the rattlesnake disappeared. It
had been sawed off by some malicious and evil-disposed persons, and no
traces of it were to be found.
I was obliged to report this to the captain, who was very indignant, and
offered twenty pounds for the discovery of the offender; but had he
offered twenty thousand he never would have found out the delinquent.
It was, however, never forgotten; for he understood what was implied by
these manoeuvres. A new head was carved, but disappeared the night
after it was fixed on.
The rage of the captain was without bounds: he turned the hands up, and
declared that if the offender were not given up, he would flog every
hand on board. He gave the ship's company ten minutes, and then
prepared to execute the threat. "Mr Paul, turn the hands up for
punishment," said the captain in a rage, and descended to his cabin for
the articles of war. When he was down below, the officers talked over
the matter. To flog every man for the crime of one, was the height of
injustice, but it was not for us to oppose him; still the ship's company
must have seen, in our countenances, that we shared their feelings. The
men were talking with each other in groups, until they all appeared to
have communicated their ideas on the subject. The carpenters, had been
slowly bringing aft the gratings, left off the job; the boatswain's
mates, who had come aft, rolled the tails of their cats round the red
handles; and every man walked down below. No one was left on the
quarter-deck but the marines under arms, and the officers.
Perceiving this, I desired Mr Paul, the boatswain, to send the men up
to rig the gratings, and the quarter-masters with their seizings. He
came up, and said that he had called them, but that they did not answer.
Perceiving that the ship's company would break out into open mutiny, if
the captain persisted in his intention, I went down into the cabin, and
told the captain the state of things, and wished for his orders or
presence on deck.
The captain, whose wrath appeared to render him incapable of reflection,
immediately proceeded on deck, and ordered the marines to load with
ball-cartridge. This was done; but, as I was afterwards told by
Thompson, who was standing aft, the marines loaded with the powder, and
put the balls into their pockets. They wished to keep up the character
of their corps for fidelity, and at the same time not _fire_ upon men
whom they loved as brothers, and with whom they coincided in opinion.
Indeed, we afterwards discovered that it was a _marine_ who had taken
off the _head_ of the snake a second time.
The captain then ordered the boatswain to turn the hands up. The
boatswain made his appearance with his right arm in a sling.--"What's
the matter with your arm, Mr Paul?" said I, as he passed me.
"Tumbled down the hatchway just now--can't move my arm; I must go to the
surgeon as soon as this is over."
The hands were piped up again, but no one obeyed the order. Thus was
the brig in a state of mutiny. "Mr Simple, go forward to the main
hatchway with the marines, and fire on the lower deck," cried the
captain.
"Sir," said I, "there are two frigates within a cable's length of us;
and would it not be better to send for assistance, without shedding
blood? Besides, sir, you have not yet tried the effect of calling up
the carpenter's and boatswain's mates by name. Will you allow me to go
down first, and bring them to a sense of their duty?"
"Yes, sir, I presume you know your power, but of this hereafter."