THE LAND OF LIBERTY.
We came to an anchor near the middle of the roadstead in seamanlike
fashion, every sail being furled before the anchor was dropped, and the
old tub brought-to as if going into dock. Then, as it was understood
that our cargo was ready for us, preparations were immediately made for
its reception. A stout spar was rigged across the forecastle, protruding
twenty-five feet on the starboard side, with a big block lashed to its
end through which ran a five-inch rope. A derrick was rigged over the
main-hatch with a double chain purchase attached, and a powerful winch
bolted to the deck, round which the chain revolved. Numbers of iron
spikes (dogs), with rings in them, were fitted with tails of rope about
three feet long, and lengths of hawser cut for "mother-ropes." The rafts
of mahogany and cedar logs are made by driving a tailed "dog" firmly
into the side of each log a foot or so from the end. As each one is thus
spiked it is secured by a "rolling-hitch" of the tail to the
"mother-rope" (_cabo madre_ of the Spaniards), until as many are
collected as required. This operation is always performed in the river
just inside the bar, where the logs are sorted after their long drift
from the interior. Then the raftsmen, who are equipped with capacious
boats pulling six oars, and carrying about three hundred fathoms of
grass rope, secure one end of their tow-line to the mother-rope, and
pull away seaward in the direction of the ship, the steersman casting
out line as they go. Arriving at the end of their tether they anchor,
and all hands turn-to with a will to haul the raft up to the boat. This
operation is repeated as often as is necessary to cover the three or
four miles between ship and shore, until at last the long line of
tumbling logs are brought alongside their destined vessel, and secured
to the big spar on the forecastle. At whatever time they arrive all
hands must turn out to receive them, and on board the American ships the
uproar used to be fearful; oaths, yells, and showers of belaying pins
rattling against the bulwarks, bearing eloquent testimony to the
persuasive methods of discipline in vogue on board of them. The
stevedores, or stowers of the timber, arrived on board shortly after we
anchored; like the rest of the population, they were a mixed crowd of
Latins and Greeks, but all speaking Spanish. Owing to their presence we
fared much better than we should otherwise have done, for they were fed
by the ship, and by no means to be offered any such carrion as usually
fell to our lot. Their pay was high, five dollars a day; but they
certainly worked well, besides being very skilful. With our first raft
there was trouble. Flynn, the "blue-nose" Irishman, was sent upon the
uncertain row of logs alongside to sling them; but after several narrow
escapes from drowning or getting crushed between the rolling ponderous
masses, some of them over five tons in weight, he clambered on deck
again, and flatly refused to risk his bones any longer. Nor, in spite of
the skipper's fury, could any other man be persuaded to attempt so
dangerous a task. Finally, the old man turned to one of the Greeks of
the stevedore gang, and ordered him to act as slingsman. "Oah yez,
capane," said Antonio, "sposa you giva me eight dolla day." After a
little more language the old man said, "All right, 'Tonio, I'll give you
eight dollars. An' I'll stop it out of your pay, you skulking sojer you"
(to Flynn). Which was mirthful, seeing that eight dollars represented a
fortnight's pay for our shipmate.
However, Antonio proved a most expert raftsman, being almost amphibious
and smart as any eel. But the work was exceedingly severe. Lifting such
great masses of timber tried the old sticks terribly, and when she
rolled suddenly to windward, tearing the log out of water with a jerk,
you almost expected her to fall apart. When, at last, the log showed
above the rail, if she started her antics, all hands near stood by for a
run, for the log would suddenly slue inboard, and come across the deck
like a gigantic battering ram. The whole process was a series of
hairbreadth escapes. Down in the hold, where the stevedores toiled with
tackles, rousing the logs about, there were many casualties; but these
dagoes never seemed to care. For every hurt they had one remedy: plenty
of "cana," a fiery white spirit, fresh from the still. Poured into a
gash, or rubbed on a bruise, with half a pint to drink, this vitriolic
stuff seemed to meet every emergency.
The enormous rate of pay prevailing here during the height of the
season, had the inevitable effect of causing frequent desertions; so
that as much as three hundred dollars was freely offered for the run to
New York or Europe for seamen. Consequently a vigilant watch was kept by
the officers of ships, lest any of the crew should take French leave,
although getting ashore was difficult. We, however, had a very large
long-boat, for which there was no room on deck, and, contrary to the
usual practice it was put overboard, and kept astern at the end of a
small hawser. The temptation was too much for my friend Joe, who,
accompanied by the Eurasian, slipped over the bows one dark night, and
swam aft to the unwieldly ark, unheard by the officer on watch. Poor
fellow! he couldn't keep awake night and day. At daybreak, when the
skipper came on deck, and looked over the taffrail, always his first
move, the idle rope hung down disconsolately--the long-boat was gone!
Seizing his glass he mounted to the cross-trees, and scanned the
horizon, discovering the derelict far out at sea. The gig was lowered
and manned by Flynn and Jem, the skipper himself taking the tiller, and
off they went in pursuit. It was nearly noon when they returned, towing
the runaway, and half dead with thirst and fatigue. Then only did the
skipper learn that two of his best men were gone. In his hurry he had
not stayed to inquire, and now his rage knew no bounds. Judge, then, how
he felt when he discovered, by the aid of his glass, that the deserters
were no further away than our nearest neighbour, an American brig that
lay less than half a mile away. Anger overcame his prudence, and he
actually went alongside the Yank, intending to go on board and claim his
men. He was received with contumely, the American skipper refusing to
allow him over the rail. His state of mind on his return must have been
pitiable; but he sought his cabin without a word, and remained there all
the rest of the day.
In some way the news spread round the fleet, and that evening we were
boarded by the captain of the _Panuca_, a Liverpool barque, who came to
condole and relate his woeful experiences. He said that his men had
refused duty altogether, upon which he was advised to take them ashore
to the "Commandant," who would deal with them in summary fashion.
Accordingly he took them, finding the _soi-disant_ official to be a
stalwart Greek, who held the position by virtue of his election by his
fellow rascals, for law there was none. El Senor Commandante, however,
told him to leave his men with him, and he would soon bring them to
their bearings. Very reluctantly he followed this advice, since he had
no choice, and returned on board, cursing his stupidity for ever taking
them there. To his joyful surprise they returned on board, next morning,
as meek in their demeanour as if they had, indeed, been taught a lesson.
But two nights afterwards there was a desperate hubbub raised, during
which the rascals looted the cabin, and, getting into the whale-boat
hanging at the davits, went ashore with their plunder. They had strictly
followed the instructions given them by the commandant, who made them a
handsome present in return for the fine boat they brought him. When the
half-frantic captain arrived on shore, and learned the truth, he was so
enraged that he actually tried to take his boat off the beach where she
lay, narrowly escaping being shot for his pains. This tale, poured into
our skipper's sympathetic ears, somewhat reconciled him to his loss,
since he still retained his boat.
But one disaster succeeded another. A curious malady of the feet
attacked every one of the crew. It caused the legs and feet to swell
enormously, and culminated in a suppurating wound horribly painful and
slow to heal. Then a deadly encounter took place between the cook and
You Sing, which was only settled by sending the Chinaman ashore, since
the two seemed bent upon murdering one another. Worst of all, when the
ship was half-full, the timber ceased to arrive. Ship after ship sailed
away, until there were only three of us left; and the season of the
"Northers" being close upon us, when those destructive gales blow right
home all along the coast, every one began to look very glum. The
unfortunate invalid, George Harris, after lingering longer than any one
could have believed possible, was set free from his misery at last, to
the manifest relief of his shipmates, who were heartily tired of his
taking so long to die. Sounds horrible, doesn't it? But it is the naked
truth. Under such circumstances as ours were, the better part of
humanity generally disappears, or only shines in individuals who are
often, almost always, powerless to help.
Miserable as the time had been, it was not all lost upon me. As far as
the hardship went it was no worse, if as bad, as I had endured in the
London streets; and here, at any rate, it was always warm. I had learned
to chatter Spanish fluently, although much of it I would gladly unlearn
if it were possible, for I have always noticed that, in picking up a
language colloquially, one learns easiest and remembers longest the
vilenesses. And how vile the Latin tongues can be, few Englishmen can
realize. I did not grow much, not being well-enough nourished; but I was
wiry, hard as nails, and almost as brown as an Indian, being half naked
from want of clothes. At last, one morning, my uncle sent for me.
Although unconscious of any offence I was terribly frightened, but went,
shaking with dread, to meet him. To my utter amazement he spoke kindly,
saying that the ship was so old, and the season so late, that he feared
there was great danger of her never reaching home. Therefore he had
decided to send me on board the barque _Discoverer_, commanded by a
friend of his, in which, as she was a splendid vessel, I should be far
safer. She was to sail the next day, so I must go on board that night. I
only said, "Thank you, sir," but volumes could not have expressed my
gratitude. To leave this awful den, to be once more treated to a kind
word occasionally--for, since Joe was gone and Jem had been driven
ashore (which I have forgotten to mention), I had no friends at all on
board; the prospect was too delightful for contemplation.
My wardrobe being on my back I was spared the labour of packing up.
Farewells there were none to say, although, being naturally a
tenderhearted little chap, I should have been glad of a parting
God-speed. But no one said anything to me as I bundled into the boat and
was rowed alongside my new home. As soon as I climbed on board I was met
with a very chorus of welcome. The warmth of my reception amazed me,
accustomed as I had been for so long to the miserable state of affairs
on board my old ship. But I soon overcame a strong temptation to cry for
joy, and, steadily choking down the lump in my throat, set about taking
stock of my new vessel. To my inexperience she seemed a most noble ship.
Everything was on a much finer scale than anything I had yet seen in my
brief travels. She had been built for the purpose of Arctic exploration,
and consequently presented a somewhat clumsy appearance outside from the
doubling of the bow planks and stern bends, and the diagonal oaken
sheathing with which she was protected. Inboard, though, she was roomy,
clear, and comfortable as could be imagined, while her rigging and spars
were all of the very best, and in tip-top condition.
Quarters were assigned to me in the comfortable cabin of the steward,
whose helper I was supposed to be, although, from the first, I had the
free run of the ship fore and aft. Next morning we weighed with a
gentle favouring breeze, homeward bound. But I soon discovered that
there was one drawback to all this comfort--the captain was a confirmed
drunkard. While the process of getting under weigh was going on, he was
mooning about the deck with a fishy eye and an aimless amble, getting in
everybody's way, and causing much confusion by giving ridiculous orders.
Had he confined himself to that all would have been well, for the men
humoured him good-temperedly, and took no notice of his rubbish. But
when they had "catted" the anchor, they were obliged to leave it hanging
while they got some sail on her, the fall of the cat-tackle being
stretched across the deck and belayed to the opposite rail, as there was
no fo'lk'sle-head, and consequently no capstan. All hands being aft, the
skipper maundered forrard, to find his further progress stopped by this
rope. Muttering unintelligibly, he cast it off the pin to which it was
belayed. The result staggered even himself, for there was a rush and a
roar, a perfect blaze of sparks, a cloud of dust, and, with a jerk that
almost threw everybody flat, the last link of one hundred and twenty
fathoms of cable brought the ship up all standing. All hands had flown
forrard at the first bang, but they were powerless to do anything except
pray that the cable might part. It was too good for that, bearing the
terrible strain to which it was subjected of bringing a ship up, in
twenty fathoms of water, that was going nearly four knots an hour.
The mate got the old man aft into his cabin while the fellows clewed up
the canvas again, and then issued the order to man the windlass once
more. But this the men flatly refused to do, alleging that after their
forenoon's work, it was unreasonable to expect such a thing. The mate
was powerless to insist, so nothing further was done till next day but
give the sails the loosest kind of a furl. At daybreak next morning the
heavy task of getting the anchor was begun, the skipper keeping out of
sight. There was a great deal of growling and bad language; but the mate
managed to get hold of a demijohn of the old man's whisky. This he
dispensed with no niggard hand, and so the peace was kept; but it was
late in the day when she was again fairly under way for home.
After that, everything went on smoothly enough. Although, as usual, the
crew were of several nationalities, they all pulled together very well,
nor did they take the advantage they might have done of the utter
absence of any shadow of discipline on board. The whole working of the
ship devolved upon the mate, for the skipper was always more or less
drunk, and the second mate was helpless, having had his right foot
smashed by a log of mahogany in loading. What work was necessary during
the daytime was done cheerfully enough, and a general air of peace and
contentment pervaded the ship. For one thing the food was really good
and plentiful, and none of the men were of that blackguardly kind that
glory in taking every advantage of any weakness aft. Of course the
watch-keeping at night was bad. A big London boy, who was much disliked
for his lazy, dirty habits, was made to keep the look-out always in his
watch--a duty which he usually performed with his head between his
knees. The rest of the men slept the night through, seldom knowing whose
watch on deck it was; so that if sail required trimming all hands
generally turned out to it after a good deal of inviting. The captain
was supposed to keep the second mate's watch, but he set a shining
example to his crew, by sleeping it out wherever he happened to drop
when he came on deck.
I was very happy. Never since the time my troubles began, that is, at
about eight years old, had I been treated so well. Being very small, and
fairly knowing, besides having a rather sweet treble voice, I was made a
sort of plaything--an universal pet. And in the dog-watches, when seated
upon the main hatch surrounded by the crew I warbled the songs I knew,
while not another sound disturbed the balmy evening but the murmur of
the caressing waters alongside and the gentle rustle of a half-drawing
sail overhead, I felt as if my halcyon days had dawned at last. That
fortnight is one of the pleasantest recollections of my life. The
weather was delightfully fine, and by day the ship was like a huge
aviary, a multitude of brilliant-hued little birds being continually
about her, although we were out of sight of land. They were of many
kinds, but all so tame that they freely came and went through cabin and
forecastle, hunting for the cockroaches with which she was infested. On
the upper yards a small colony of kestrels kept vigilant watch,
descending like a flash upon any unwary birdling that dared to venture
far into the open. The men made many nocturnal excursions aloft after
the "pirates," as they called them, giving them short shrift when they
caught them. So the days drowsed on quietly and peacefully, seeming, to
my youthful ignorance, as nearly perfection as they could possibly be.
Not but what I felt an occasional twinge of sorrow at the continual
drunkenness of the captain. Mixing with the men forrard freely as I did,
their rough but half-pitying comments upon him and his behaviour could
not fail to impress me, although I often wondered how it was that, being
so well aware of the danger they ran by reason of such general neglect,
they were not themselves more watchful, instead of taking such advantage
as they did of the captain's fault, to sleep all night.
At last, on the fifteenth day from leaving port, on a clear starlit
night with a gentle, fair wind blowing, and all hands, including the
captain--whose watch it was--asleep, the vessel ran upon a coral reef
and became a total wreck. Having told the story in another place, I
cannot enlarge upon the circumstances attendant upon her loss here; it
must suffice to say that, after many perils, all hands escaped safely to
land upon the "cay" or sandy islet which crowned the highest point of
the reef. A fairly large quantity of food and water was saved; so that
we ran no risk of privation, even had the islet failed to furnish us
with fish, fowl, and eggs in plenty as it did. One circumstance I must
record in passing as being well worthy of notice. As soon as it was
evident that the vessel was hopelessly lost, the seamen forrard, though
perfectly well behaved, insisted that every drop of intoxicating liquor
should be thrown overboard, and, in order that it should be done
thoroughly, themselves carried it out. As the giant breakers destroyed
the upper works of the ship, much useful wreckage came ashore, and one
calm day a visit was paid to her, which was rewarded by the salvage of
several sails and a quantity of cordage. With these, comfortable tents
were rigged, and I have no doubt that, had it been necessary, we could
have put in several months on that barren patch of sand quite happily.
Huge turtle came ashore to deposit their eggs, and were easily caught.
Sea-fowl of many kinds, principally boobies and frigate-birds, swarmed
in thousands, whose eggs, especially those of the frigate-birds, were
delicious eating, although, never being pressed by hunger, we left their
rank, fishy flesh severely alone. Fish of course abounded, while the
crevices of the rocks concealed great numbers of clams and oysters, and
at night the lighting of our beacon fire attracted quite a host of crabs
from the sea, who fell victims in great numbers to their curiosity.
Hardships there were none, and I would far rather have lived there for
six months than for one week on board the old _Arabella_.
Ten days passed gaily away, during which the sail-maker and carpenter
had made a fine seaworthy craft of the pinnace in which most of us
reached the shore. Fitted with new sails and rigging and half-decked,
she was fit for a much longer voyage than was necessary to reach the
mainland of Campeche, the nearest town of which, Sisal, was barely a
hundred miles distant. But one morning as the look-out man was ascending
the rocky promontory, where a flag-staff was erected to hoist the signal
of distress we always kept flying by day, he saw a handsome barque
lying-to only about two or three miles away. The French ensign was
flying at her peak, and a boat had left her side which was being rapidly
pulled shorewards. They soon landed, and by expressive signs the officer
in charge gave us to understand that he was prepared to take us all on
board, but that we must make haste, as the vicinity was much too
dangerous to linger in longer than was absolutely necessary. Not one
word of each other's language did we understand, yet we found no
difficulty in getting at one another's meaning sufficiently near for all
practical purposes. To my amazement, however, the skipper, the mate, and
four others, refused to avail themselves of the opportunity to escape.
They said they did not want to go to Havana, where the barque would land
us, preferring to sail in the pinnace to Sisal and take their chance
there. When the French officer realized this, he looked as if he thought
the small party refusing to come with him were mad. But after an
outburst of volubility, quite wasted upon our misunderstanding, he
shrugged his shoulders and retreated towards his boat, followed by all
who were ready to go with him. His men had made good use of their time
by getting a goodly quantity of birds and eggs collected, and now
disposed themselves, with a perfect uproar of chattering, in as small a
compass as they could, while our fellows took the oars and pulled away
for the barque. Looking back, I saw the little group of our late
shipmates standing watching us from the beach: a sight so pathetic that
I could not help bursting into tears, quite forgetting that it was
entirely in accordance with their own desires that they were thus
abandoned.
[Illustration: We could have put in several months on that barren patch
of sand quite happily.]
We soon reached the ship, swarmed on board, and swung the boat up to the
davits in a twinkling, while the officer who had brought us--the chief
mate--held an animated colloquy with the captain on the poop. From the
expressive gestures used, we had no doubt but that they were discussing
the incomprehensible resolve of our captain and his followers. They
terminated their conversation by mutual shoulder-shruggings, as who
should say, "But what would you, my friend? they are English, whose ways
are past finding out." Nothing could be more cordial than our reception
by all hands. The big long-boat was cleared out for our sleeping-place,
as the barque's fo'lk'sle accommodation was too limited to admit any
more than at present occupied it; and a bountiful meal of _fazhole
blanc_, a delicious _puree_ of haricot beans, good biscuit, and _vin
ordinaire_ was served out to us.