At once the winds arise,
The thunders roll, the forky lightning flies;
In vain the master issues out commands,
In vain the trembling sailors ply their hands:
The tempest unforeseen prevents their care,
And from the first they labour in despair.
DRYDEN'S FABLES.
Halifax is a charming, hospitable place: its name is associated with so
many pleasing recollections, that it never fails to extort another glass
from the bottle which, having been gagged, was going to pass the night
in the cellaret. But only say "Halifax!" and it is like "Open
sesame!"--out flies the cork, and down goes a bumper to the "health of
all good lasses!"
I related, in the last chapter, an adventure with an Irish Guinea-man,
whose cargo my right honourable captain converted to the profitable uses
of himself and his country. Another of these vessels had been fallen in
with by one of our cruisers, and the commander of His Majesty's sloop
_Humming Bird_ made a selection of some thirty or forty stout Hibernians
to fill up his own complement, and hand over the surplus to the admiral.
Short-sighted mortals we all are, and captains of men-of-war are not
exempted from this human imperfection! How much, also, drops between
the cup and the lip! There chanced to be on board of the same trader
two very pretty Irish girls of the better sort of _bourgeoisie_; they
were going to join their friends at Philadelphia: the name of the one
was Judy, and of the other Maria. No sooner were the poor Irishmen
informed of their change of destination, than they set up a howl loud
enough to make the scaly monsters of the deep seek their dark caverns.
They rent the hearts of the poor tender-hearted girls; and when the
thorough bass of the males was joined by the sopranos and trebles of the
women and children, it would have made Orpheus himself turn round and
gaze.
"Oh, Miss Judy! Oh, Miss Maria! would ye be so cruel as to see us poor
craturs dragged away to a man-of-war, and not for to go and spake a word
for us? A word to the captain wid your own pretty mouths, no doubt he
would let us off."
The young ladies, though doubting the powers of their own fascinations,
resolved to make the experiment; so, begging the lieutenant of the sloop
to give them a passage on board, to speak with his captain, they added a
small matter of finery to their dress, and skipped into the boat like a
couple of mountain kids, caring neither for the exposure of legs nor the
spray of the salt water, which, though it took the curls out of their
hair, added a bloom to the cheeks which, perhaps, contributed in no
small degree to the success of their project.
There is something in the sight of a petticoat at sea that never fails
to put a man into a good humour, provided he be rightly constructed.
When they got on board the _Humming Bird_, they were received by the
captain, and handed down into the cabin, where some refreshments were
immediately prepared for them, and every kind attention shown which
their sex and beauty could demand. The captain was one of the best
natured fellows that ever lived, with a pair of little sparkling black
eyes that laughed in your face.
"And pray, young ladies," said he, "what may have procured me the honour
of this visit?"
"It was to beg a favour of your honour," said Judy.
"And his honour will grant it, too," said Maria; "for I like the look of
him."
Flattered by this little shot of Maria's, the captain said that nothing
ever gave him more pleasure than to oblige the ladies; and if the favour
they intended to ask was not utterly incompatible with his duty, that he
would grant it.
"Well then," said Maria, "will your honour give me back Pat Flannagan,
that you have pressed just now?"
The captain shook his head.
"He's no sailor, your honour; but a poor bog-trotter: and he will never
do you any good."
The captain again shook his head.
"Ask me anything else," said he, "and I will give it you."
"Well then," said Maria, "give us Phelim O'Shaugnessy?"
The captain was equally inflexible.
"Come, come, your honour," said Judy, "we must not stand upon trifles
nowadays. I'll give you a kiss, if you'll give me Pat Flannagan."
"And I another," said Maria, "for Phelim."
The captain had one seated on each side of him; his head turned like a
dog-vane in a gale of wind; he did not know which to begin with; the
most ineffable good humour danced in his eyes, and the ladies saw at
once that the day was their own. Such is the power of beauty, that this
lord of the ocean was fain to strike to it. Judy laid a kiss on his
right cheek; Maria matched it on his left; the captain was the happiest
of mortals.
"Well, then," said he, "you have your wish; take your two men, for I am
in a hurry to make sail."
"Is it sail ye are after making; and do ye mane to take all those pretty
craturs away wid ye? No, faith! another kiss, and another man."
I am not going to relate how many kisses these lovely girls bestowed on
this envied captain. If such are captains' perquisites, who would not
be a captain? Suffice it to say, they released the whole of their
countrymen, and returned on board in triumph. The story reached
Halifax, where the good-humoured admiral only said he was sorry he was
not a captain, and all the happy society made themselves very merry with
it. The captain, who is as brave as he is good, was promoted soon
after, entirely from his own intrinsic merit, but not for this action,
in which candour and friendship must acknowledge he was defeated. The
Lord-Chancellor used to say, he always laughed at the settlement of
pin-money, as ladies were either kicked out of it or kissed out of it;
but his lordship, in the whole course of his legal practice, never saw a
captain of a man-of-war kissed out of forty men by two pretty Irish
girls. After this, who would not shout "_Erin go bragh_!"
Dashing with a fine breeze out of the harbour, I saw with joy the field
of fortune open to me, holding out a fair promise of glory and riches.
"Adieu!" said I, in my heart, "adieu, ye lovely Nova Scotians! learn in
future to distinguish between false glitter and real worth. Me ye
prized for a handsome person and a smooth tongue, while you foolishly
rejected men of ten times my worth, because they wanted the outward
blandishments."
We were ordered to Bermuda, and on our first quitting the port, steered
away to the southward with a fair wind at north-west. This breeze soon
freshened into a gale at south-east, and blew with some violence; but
after awhile it died away to a perfect calm, leaving a heavy swell, in
which the ship rolled incessantly. About eleven o'clock the sky began
to blacken; and, before noon, had assumed an appearance of the most
dismal and foreboding darkness; the sea-gulls screamed as they flew
distractedly by, warning us to prepare for the approaching hurricane,
whose symptoms could hardly be mistaken. The warning was not lost upon
us, most of our sails were taken in, and we had, as we thought, so well
secured everything, as to bid defiance to the storm. About noon it came
with a sudden and terrific violence that astonished the oldest and most
experienced seamen among us: the noise it made was horrible, and its
ravages inconceivable.
The wind was from the north-west--the water, as it blew on board, and
all over us, was warm as milk; the murkiness and close smell of the air
was in a short time dispelled: but such was the violence of the wind,
that, on the moment of its striking the ship, she lay over on her side
with her lee guns under water. Every article that could move was danced
to leeward; the shot flew out of the lockers, and the greatest confusion
and dismay prevailed below, while above deck things went still worse;
the mizen-mast and the fore and main top-mast went over the side; but
such was the noise of the wind, that we could not hear them fall; nor
did I, who was standing close to the mizen-mast at the moment, know it
was gone, until I turned round and saw the stump of the mast snapped in
two like a carrot. The noise of the wind "waxed louder and louder;" it
was like one continued peal of thunder; and the enormous waves, as they
rose, were instantly beheaded by its fury, and sent in foaming spray
along the bosom of the deep; the storm stay-sails flew to atoms; the
captain, officers, and men stood aghast, looking at each other, and
waiting the awful event in utter amazement.
The ship lay over on her larboard side so heavily as to force the gun
ports, and the nettings of the waist hammocks, and seemed as if settling
bodily down; while large masses of water, by the force of the wind, were
whirled up into the air; and others were pouring down the hatchways,
which we had not had time to batten down, and before we had succeeded,
the lower deck was half full, and the chests and hammocks were all
floating about in dreadful disorder. The sheep, cow, pigs, and poultry
were all washed overboard out of the waist and drowned; no voice could
be heard, and no orders were given; all discipline was suspended; every
man was equal to his neighbour; captain and sweeper clung alike to the
same rope for security.
The carpenter was for cutting away the masts, but the captain would not
consent. A seaman crawled aft on the quarter-deck, and, screaming into
the ear of the captain, informed him that one of the anchors had broken
adrift, and was hanging by the cable under the bows. To have let it
remain long in this situation, was certain destruction to the ship, and
I was ordered forward to see it cut away; but so much had the gale and
the sea increased in a few minutes, that a passage to the forecastle was
not to be found; on the weather side, the wind and sea were so violent
that no man could face them. I was blown against the boats, and with
difficulty got back to the quarter-deck; and going over to leeward, I
swam along the gangway under the lee of the boats, and delivered the
orders, which with infinite difficulty at last were executed.
On the forecastle I found the oldest and stoutest seamen holding on by
the weather-rigging, and crying like children: I was surprised at this,
and felt proud to be above such weakness. While my superiors in age and
experience were sinking under apprehension, I was aware of our danger,
and saw very clearly, that if the frigate did not right very shortly, it
would be all over with us; for in spite of our precautions, the water
was increasing below. I swam back to the quarter-deck, where the
captain, who was as brave a man as ever trod a plank, stood at the
wheel, with three of the best seamen; but such were the rude shocks
which the rudder received from the sea, that it was with the utmost
difficulty they could prevent themselves being thrown over the ship's
side. The lee quarter-deck guns were under water; but it was proposed
to throw them overboard and as it was a matter of life and death, we
succeeded. Still she lay like a log, and would not right, and settled
down in a very alarming manner. The violence of the hurricane was
unabated, and the general feeling seemed to be, "To prayers!--to
prayers!--all lost!"
The fore and mainmasts still stood, supporting the weight of rigging and
wreck which hung to them, and which like a powerful lever, pressed the
labouring ship down on her side. To disengage this enormous top-hamper
was to us an object more to be desired than expected. Yet the case was
desperate, and a desperate effort was to be made, or in half an hour we
should have been past praying for, except by a Roman Catholic priest.
The danger of sending a man aloft was so imminent, that the captain
would not order one on this service; but calling the ship's company on
the quarter-deck, pointed to the impending wreck, and by signs and
gestures, and hard bawling, convinced them that unless the ship was
immediately eased of her burden, she must go down.
At this moment every wave seemed to make a deeper and more fatal
impression on her. She descended rapidly in the hollows of the sea, and
rose with dull and exhausted motion, as if she felt she could do no
more. She was worn out in the contest, and about to surrender, like a
noble and battered fortress, to the overwhelming power of her enemies.
The men seemed stupefied with the danger, and I have no doubt, could
they have got at the spirits, would have made themselves drunk, and in
that state, have met their inevitable fate. At every lurch, the
mainmast appeared as if making the most violent efforts to disengage
itself from the ship; the weather shrouds became like straight bars of
iron, while the lee shrouds hung over in a semicircle to leeward, or
with the weather-roll, banged against the mast, and threatened instant
destruction, each moment, from the convulsive jerks. We expected to see
the mast fall, and with it the side of the ship to be beaten in. No man
could be found daring enough, at the captain's request, to venture
aloft, and cut away the wreck of the main top-mast, and the main yard,
which was hanging up and down, with the weight of the top-mast and
topsail-yard resting upon it. There was a dead and stupid pause, while
the hurricane, if anything, increased in violence.
I confess that I felt gratified at this acknowledgment of a danger which
none dared face. I waited a few seconds to see if a volunteer would
step forward, resolved, if he did, that I would be his enemy for life,
inasmuch as he would have robbed me of the gratification of my darling
passion--unbounded pride. Dangers, in common with others, I had often
faced, and been the first to encounter: but to dare that which a gallant
and hardy crew of a frigate had declined, was a climax of superiority
which I had never dreamed of attaining. Seizing a sharp tomahawk, I
made signs to the captain that I would attempt to cut away the wreck,
follow me who dared. I mounted the weather-rigging; five or six hardy
seamen followed me; sailors will rarely refuse to follow where they find
an officer lead the way.
The jerks of the rigging had nearly thrown us overboard, or jammed us
with the wreck. We were forced to embrace the shrouds with arms and
legs; and anxiously, and with breathless apprehension for our lives, did
the captain, officers, and crew gaze on us as we mounted, and cheered us
at every stroke of the tomahawk. The danger seethed passed when we
reached the catharpings, where we had foot room. We divided our work;
some took the lanyards of the top-mast rigging; I, the slings of the
main yard. The lusty blows we dealt were answered by corresponding
crashes; and at length, down fell the tremendous wreck over the larboard
gunwale. The ship felt instant relief; she righted, and we descended
amidst the cheers, the applauses, the congratulations, and, I may add,
the tears of gratitude of most of our shipmates. The work now became
lighter, the gale abated every moment, the wreck was gradually cleared
away, and we forgot our cares.
This was the proudest moment of my life, and no earthly possession would
I have taken in exchange for what I felt when I once more placed my foot
on the quarter-deck. The approving smile of the captain--the hearty
shake by the hand--the praises of the officers--the eager gaze of the
ship's company, who looked on me with astonishment and obeyed me with
alacrity, were something in my mind, when abstractedly considered, but
nothing compared to the inward feeling of gratified ambition--a passion
so intimately interwoven in my existence, that to have eradicated it the
whole fabric of my fame must have been demolished. I felt pride
justified.
Hurricanes are rarely of long continuance; this was succeeded by a gale,
which, though strong, was fine weather compared to what we had seen. We
fell to work, rigged our jury-mast, and in a few days presented
ourselves to the welcome gaze of the town of Halifax, which, having felt
the full force of the hurricane, expressed very considerable alarm for
our safety. My arms and legs did not recover for some time from the
effects of the bruises I had received in going aloft, and for some days
I remained on board. When I recovered, I went on shore, and was kindly
and affectionately received by my numerous friends.
I had not been long at Halifax before a sudden change took place in the
behaviour of my captain towards me. The cause I could never exactly
discover, though I had given myself some room for conjecture. I must
confess with sorrow, that notwithstanding his kindness to me on every
occasion, and notwithstanding my high respect for him, as an officer and
a gentleman, I had raised a laugh against him. But he was too
good-humoured a man to be offended at such a harmless act of youthful
levity; and five minutes were usually the limits of anger with this
amiable man on such occasions as I am about to relate.
The fact was this; my truly noble captain sported a remarkably wide pair
of blue trousers. Whether he thought it sailor-like, or whether his
tailor was afraid of putting his lordship to short allowance of cloth,
for fear of phlogistic consequences, I know not; but broad as was the
beam of his lordship, still broader and more ample in proportion were
the folds of this essential part of his drapery, quite enough to have
embraced twice the volume of human flesh contained within them, large as
it undoubtedly was.
That "a stitch in time saves nine," is a wise saw, unhappily, like many
others of the same thrifty kind, but little heeded in this our day. So
it was with Lord Edward. A rent had, by some mischance, been made in
the central seam, and, on the morning of the hurricane, was still
unmended. When the gale came, it sought a quarrel with anything it
could lay hold of, and the harmless trousers of Lord Edward became
subject to its mighty and resistless devastation; the blustering Boreas
entered by the seam aforesaid, and filled the trousers like the cheeks
of a trumpeter. Yorkshire wool could not stand the inflated pressure,
the dress split to ribbons, and soundly flagellated the very part it was
intended to conceal. What could he do, "in sweet confusion lost, and
dubious _flutterings_"--the only defence left against the rude blast was
his shirt (for the weather was so warm that second garments were
dispensed with), and this too being old, fled in tatters before the
gale. In short, clap a sailor's jacket on the Gladiator in Hyde Park,
and you have a fair view of Lord Edward in the hurricane.
The case was inconvenient enough; but as the ship was in distress, and
we all expected to go to the bottom in half an hour, it was not worth
while to quit the deck to replace the dress, which would have availed
him nothing in the depths of the sea, particularly as we were not likely
to meet with any ladies there: nor if there had been any, was it a
matter of any moment whether we went to Davy's locker with or without
breeches; but when the danger was passed, the joke began to appear, and
I was amusing a large company with the _tale_, when his lordship came
in. The titter of the ladies increased to a giggle, and then by regular
gradation, to a loud and uncontrollable laugh. He very soon discovered
that he was the subject, and I the cause, and for a minute or two seemed
sulky; but it soon went off, and I cannot think this was the reason of
his change of sentiments; for, although it is high treason in a
midshipman to look black at the captain's dog, much less to laugh at the
captain under any circumstances, still I knew that my captain was too
good a fellow to be offended with such a trifle. I rather suspect I was
wished out of the ship by the first lieutenant and gun-room officers;
and they were right, for where an inferior officer is popular with the
men, discipline must suffer from it. I received a good-natured hint
from Lord Edward that another captain in a larger frigate would be happy
to receive me. I understood him; we parted good friends, and I shall
ever think of him with respect and gratitude.
My new captain was a very different sort of man, refined in his manner,
a scholar, and a gentleman. Kind and friendly with his officers, his
library was at their disposal; the fore cabin, where his books were
usually kept, was open to all; it was the school-room of the young
midshipmen and the study of the old ones. He was an excellent
draughtsman, and I profited not a little by his instructions; he loved
the society of the ladies, so did I; but he being a married man was more
select in his company and more correct in his conduct than I could
pretend to be.
We were ordered to Quebec, sailed through the beautiful Gut of Canso,
and up the spacious and majestic St. Lawrence, passing in sight of the
Island of Anticosta. Nothing material occurred during the passage, save
that a Scotch surgeon's assistant, having adopted certain aristocratic
notions, required a democratical lecture on heads, which was duly
administered to him. He pretended that he was, by birth and education
(at Edinburgh), entitled to be at the head of our mess. This I
resisted, and soon taught the ambitious son of Esculapius that the
science of defence was as important as the art of healing; and that if
he was skilful in this latter, I would give him an opportunity of
employing it on his own person: whereupon I implanted on his sinciput,
occiput, os frontis, os nasi, and all other vulnerable parts of his
body, certain concussions calculated to stupify and benumb the
sensorium, and to produce under each eye a quantity of black,
extravasated blood; while, at the same time, a copious stream of carmine
fluid issued from either nostril. It was never my habit to bully or
take any unfair advantage; so, having perceived a cessation of arms on
his part, I put the usual interrogatives as to whether the party
contending was satisfied, and being answered in the affirmative, I laid
by my metacarpal until they might be further wanted, either for reproof
or correction.
We anchored off Cape Diamond, which divides the St. Lawrence from the
little river St. Charles. The continuation of this cape, as it recedes,
forms the Heights of Abraham; on which the immortal Wolfe defeated
Montcalm, in the year 1759, when both the generals ended their glorious
career on the field of battle. The city stands on the extremity of the
cape, and has a very romantic appearance. The houses and churches are
generally covered with tin, to prevent conflagration, to which the place
was remarkably subject when the houses were covered with thatch or
shingle. When the rays of the sun lay on the buildings, they had the
appearance of being cased in silver.
One of our objects in going to Quebec was to procure men, of which the
squadron was very deficient. Our seamen and marines were secretly and
suddenly formed into pressgangs. The command of one of them was
conferred on me. The officers and marines went on shore in disguise,
having agreed on private signals and places of rendezvous; while the
seamen on whom we could depend acted as decoy-ducks, pretending to
belong to merchant vessels, of which their officer was the master, and
inducing them to engage, for ten gallons of rum and three hundred
dollars, to take the run home. Many were procured in this manner, and
were not undeceived until they found themselves alongside of the
frigate, when their oaths and execrations may be better conceived than
described or repeated.
It may be proper to explain here that the vessels employed in the timber
trade arrive in the month of June, as soon as the ice is clear of the
river, and, if they do not sail by or before the end of October, are
usually set fast in the ice, and forced to winter in the St. Lawrence,
losing their voyage, and lying seven or eight months idle. Aware of
this, the sailors, as soon as they arrive, desert, and are secreted and
fed by the crimps, who make their market of them in the fall of the year
by selling them to the captains; procuring for the men an exorbitant sum
for the voyage home, and for themselves a handsome _douceur_ for their
trouble, both from the captain and the sailor.
We were desired not to take men out of the merchant vessels, but to
search for them in the houses of the crimps. This was to us a source of
great amusement and singular adventure; for the ingenuity in concealing
them was only equalled by the art and cunning exercised in the discovery
of their abodes. Cellars and lofts were stale and out of use: we found
more game in the interior of haystacks, church-steeples, closets under
fireplaces where the fire was burning. Some we found headed up in
sugar-hogsheads, and some concealed within bundles of hoop-staves.
Sometimes we found seamen, dressed as gentlemen, drinking wine and
talking with the greatest familiarity with people much above them in
rank, who had used these means to conceal them. Our information led us
to detect these excusable impositions.
I went into the country, about fifteen miles from Quebec, where I had
heard of a crimp's preserve, and after a tedious search, discovered some
good seamen on the rafters of an outhouse intended only to smoke and
cure bacon; and as the fires were lighted, and the smoke ascending, it
was difficult to conceive a human being could exist there: nor should we
have discovered them if one of them had not coughed; on which he
received the execrations of the others, and the whole party was
instantly handed out. We immediately cut the strings of their trousers
behind, to prevent their running away (this ought never to be omitted),
and, placing them and ourselves in the farmer's waggon, made him put his
team to and drive us all to Quebec, the new-raised men joining with our
own in all the jokes which flew thick about on the occasion of their
discovery. It was astonishing to me how easily these fine fellows
reconciled themselves to the thoughts of a man-of-war; perhaps the
approaching row with the Yankees tended very much to preserve good
humour. I became an enthusiast in man-hunting, although sober
reflection has since convinced me of its cruelty, injustice, and
inexpediency, tending to drive seamen from the country more than any
measure the government could adopt; but I am not going to write a
treatise on impressment. I cared not one farthing about the liberty of
the subject, as long as I got my ship well manned for the impending
conflict; and as I gratified my love of adventure, I was as thoughtless
of the consequences as when I rode over a farmer's turnips in England,
or broke through his hedges in pursuit of a fox.
A tradesman at Quebec had affronted me, by refusing to discount a bill
which I had drawn on my father. I had no other means of paying him for
the goods I had purchased of him, and was much disconcerted at his
refusal, which he accompanied with an insult to myself and my cloth,
never to be forgotten. Turning the paper over and over, he said, "A
midshipman's bill is not worth a farthing, and I am too old a bird to be
caught with such chaff."
Conscious that the bill was good, I vowed revenge. My search-warrant
enabled me to go wherever I could get information of men being
concealed--this was easily obtained from a brother mid (the poor man
might as well have been in the hands of the holy brotherhood). My
companion stated his firm conviction that sailors were concealed in the
house: I applied to the captain, and received orders to proceed by all
means in execution of my duty. The tradesman was a man of consequence
in Quebec, being what is there called a large storekeeper, though we in
England should have called him a shopkeeper. About one o'clock in the
morning, we hammered at his door with no gentle tap, demanding
admittance in the name of our sovereign lord the king. We were refused,
and forthwith broke open the door, and spread over his house, like a
nest of cockroaches. Cellars, garrets, maids' rooms, ladies' rooms, we
entered _sans ceremonie_; paid little regard to the Medicean costume of
the fair occupants; broke some of the most indispensable articles of
bedroom furniture; rattled the pots and pans about in the kitchen; and,
finding the two sons of the master of the house, ordered them to dress
and come with us, certain, we said, that they were sailors.
When the old tradesman saw me he began to smell a rat, and threatened me
with severe punishment. I showed him my search-warrant, and asked him
if it was a _good bill_. After having inspected every part of the
house, I departed, leaving the two young cubs half dead with fear. The
next day a complaint was lodged at the government house; but
investigation is a long word when a man-of-war is ordered on service.
Despatches from Albany reached Quebec, stating that the President of the
United States had declared war against England; in consequence of which,
our captain took leave of the governor, and dropped down the river with
all speed, so I never heard any more of my tradesman.
We arrived at Halifax fully manned, and immediately received orders to
proceed to sea, "to sink, burn, and destroy." We ran for Boston Bay,
when, on the morning we made the land, we discovered ten or twelve sail
of merchant vessels. The first we boarded was a brig; one of our boats
was lowered down; I got into her, and jumped on the deck of the Yankee,
while the frigate continued in chase of the others. The master of the
vessel sat on a hen-coop, and did not condescend to rise or offer me the
least salute as I passed him; he was a short, thick, paunchy-looking
fellow.
"You are an Englishman, I guess?"
"I guess I am," I said, imitating him with a nasal twang.
"I thought we shouldn't be long in our waters afore we met some of you
old-country sarpents. No harm in what I said, I hope?" added the
master.
"Oh, no," said I, "not the least; it will make no difference in the long
run. But where do you come from, and where are you bound?"
"Come from Smyrna, and bound to Boston, where I hope to be to-morrow
morning, by the blessing of God, and a good conscience."
From this answer, I perceived that he was unacquainted with the war, and
I therefore determined to play with him a little before I gave him the
fatal news. "And pray," said I, "what might your cargo consist of? You
appear to be light."
"Not so light neither, I guess," said the man; "we have sweet-oil,
raisins, and what we calls notions."
"I have no notion," said I, "what they might be. Pray explain
yourself."
"Why you see, notions is what we call a little of all sorts like. Some
likes one thing, you know, and some another: some likes sweet almonds,
and some likes silk, and some likes opium, and some" (he added, with a
cunning grin) "likes dollars."
"And are these the notions with which you are loaded?" said I.
"I guess they are," replied Jonathan.
"And what might your outward cargo have been?" said I.
"Salt fish, flour, and tobacco," was his answer.
"And is this all you have in return?" I asked. "I thought the Smyrna
trade had been a very good one."
"Well, so it is," said the unwary Yankee. "Thirty thousand dollars in
the cabin, besides the oil and the rest of the goods, ain't no bad
thing."
"I am very glad to hear of the dollars," said I.
"What odds does that make to you?" said the captain; "it won't be much
on 'em as'll come to your share."
"More than you may think," said I. "Have you heard the news as you came
along?"
At the word "news," the poor man's face became the colour of one in the
jaundice. "What news?" said he, in a state of trepidation that hardly
admitted of utterance.
"Why, only that your president, Mr Madison, has thought fit to declare
war against England."
"You're only a joking?" said the captain.
"I give you my word of honour I am serious," said I; "and your vessel is
a prize to His Britannic Majesty's ship, the ---."
The poor man fetched a sigh from the waistband of his trousers. "I am a
ruined man," said he. "I only wish I'd known a little sooner of the war
you talk about: I've got two nice little guns there forward; you
shouldn't a had me so easily."
I smiled at his idea of resistance against a fast-sailing frigate of
fifty guns; but left him in the full enjoyment of his conceit, and
changing the subject, asked if he had anything he could give us to
drink, for the weather was very warm.
"No, I ha'n't," he replied, peevishly; "and if I had--"
"Come, come, my good fellow," said I, "you forget you are a prize;
civility is a cheap article, and may bring you a quick return."
"That's true," said Jonathan, who was touched on the nicest point--self;
"that's true, you are only a doing your duty. Here, boy, fetch up that
ere demi-John of Madeira, and for aught I know, the young officer might
like a drop o' long cork; bring us some tumblers, and one o' they claret
bottles out o' the starboard after locker."
The boy obeyed--and the articles quickly appeared. While this dialogue
was going on, the frigate was in chase, firing guns, and bringing-to the
different vessels as she passed them, dropping a boat on board of one,
and making sail after another. We stood after her with all the sail we
could conveniently carry.
"Pray," said the captain, "might I offer you a bit of something to eat?
I guess you ha'n't dined yet, as it isn't quite meridian."
I thanked him, and accepted his offer: he ran down instantly to the
cabin, as if to prepare for my reception; but I rather thought he wished
to place some articles out of my sight, and this proved to be the case,
for he stole a bag of dollars out of the cargo. In a short time, I was
invited down. A leg of cured pork, and a roasted fowl, were very
acceptable to a midshipman at any time, but particularly so to me; and,
when accompanied by a few glasses of the Madeira, the barometer of my
spirits rose in proportion to the depression of his.
"Come, captain," said I, filling a bumper of claret, "here's to a long
and bloody war."
"Damn the dog that won't say amen to that," said the master; "but where
do you mean to carry me to? I guess to Halifax. Sha'n't I have my
clothes and my own private _venter_?"
"All your private property," said I, "will be held sacred; but your
vessel and cargo are ours."
"Well, well," said the man, "I know that; but if you behave well to me,
you shan't find I'm ungrateful. Let me have my things, and I'll give
you a bit o' news as will be of sarvice to you."
He then told me, on my promising him his private venture, that we had
not a moment to lose, for that a vessel, just visible on the horizon,
was from Smyrna, richly laden; she was commanded by a townsman of his,
and bound to the same place. I turned from him with contempt, and at
the same moment made the signal to speak the frigate. On going on
board, I told the captain what I had heard from the master of the prize,
and the promise I had given. He approved of it; the proper number of
men were instantly sent back to the brig, the prisoners taken out, and
the frigate made sail in chase of the indicated vessel, which she
captured that night at nine o'clock.
I would not willingly believe that such perfidy is common among the
Americans. On parting with the master of my brig, a sharp dialogue took
place between us.
"I guess I'll fit out a privateer, and take some of your merchanters."
"Take care you are not taken yourself," said I, "and pass your time on
board one of our prison ships; but, remember, whatever may happen, it's
all your own fault. You have picked a German quarrel with us, to please
Boney; and he will only spit in your face when you have done your best
for him. Your wise President has declared war against the
mother-country."
"Damn the mother-country," muttered the Yankee; "stepmother, I guess you
mean, tarnation seize her!!!"
We continued following the ship, and by night-time the frigate had
secured eight prizes; one of them being a brig in ballast, the prisoners
were put on board of her, my Yankee friend among the number, and turned
adrift, to find their way home. We took care to give to all of them
their private ventures and their clothes. I was in hopes of being
allowed to go to Halifax with my prize; but the captain, knowing how I
was likely to pass my time, kept me with him. We cruised two months,
taking many privateers, some large and some small; some we burned, and
some we scuttled.
One day we had one of these craft alongside, and having taken everything
out of her that was worth moving, we very imprudently set her on fire
before she was clear of the ship's side; and as we were on a wind, it
was some minutes before we could get her clear. In the meantime the
fire began to blaze up in a very alarming manner under the mizen chains,
where, by the attraction of the two floating bodies, she seemed resolved
to continue; but on our putting the helm up I and giving the vessel a
sheer the contrary way, as soon as we were before the wind, she parted
from us, to our great joy, and was soon in a volume of flame. Our
reason for setting her on fire alongside was to save time, as we wanted
to go in chase of another vessel, seen from the mast-head, and lowering
a boat down to destroy this vessel would have detained us.
Before the end of the cruise, we chased a schooner, which ran on shore
and bilged; we boarded her, brought away her crew and part of her cargo,
which was very valuable. She was from Bordeaux, bound to Philadelphia.
I was sent to examine her, and endeavour to bring away more of her
cargo. The tide rising in her, we were compelled to rip up her decks,
and discovered that she was laden with bales of silk, broad cloths,
watches, clocks, laces, silk stockings, wine, brandy, bars of steel,
olive-oil, etcetera, etcetera. I sent word of this to the captain; and
the carpenter and plenty of assistants arriving, we rescued a great
quantity of the goods from the deep or the Yankee boats, who would soon
have been on board after we left her. We could perceive in the hold
some cases, but they were at least four feet under water. It was
confoundedly cold; but I thought there was something worth diving for,
so down I went, and contrived to keep myself long enough under water to
hook one end of a case, by which means we broke it out and got it up.
It was excellent claret, and we were not withheld from drinking it by
any scruples of conscience; for if I had not dived for it, it would
never have come to the mouth of an Englishman. We discussed a
three-dozen case among just so many of us, in a reasonable short time;
and as it was October, we felt no ill effects from a frequent repetition
of the dose.
I never felt colder, and diving requires much stimulant. From practice
at this work, I could pick up pins and needles in a clear, sandy bottom;
and, considering the density of the medium, could litre like a beaver
under water; but I required ample fees for my trouble. When we returned
on board, we were very wet and cold, and the wine took no effect on us;
but as soon as we thawed, like the horn of the great Munchausen, the
secret escaped, for we were all tipsy. The captain inquired the cause
of this the next day, and I very candidly told him the whole history.
He was wise enough to laugh at it; some captains would have flogged
every one of the men, and disgraced the officers.
On our return into port, I requested permission to go to England in
order to pass my examination as lieutenant, having nearly completed my
servitude as a midshipman. I was asked to remain out, and take my
chance for promotion in the flag-ship; but more reasons than I chose to
give induced me to prefer an examination at a sea-port in England, and I
obtained my discharge and came home. The reader will no doubt give me
credit for having written some dozen of letters to Eugenia: youth,
beauty, and transient possession had still preserved my attachment to
her unabated. Emily I had heard of, and still loved with a purer flame.
She was my sun; Eugenia my moon; and the fair favourites of the western
hemisphere, so many twinkling stars of the first, second, and third
magnitude. I loved them all more or less; but all, their charms
vanished, when the beauteous Emily shone in my breast with refulgent
light.
I had received letters from my father, who wished me to come home, that
he might present me to some of the great men of the nation, and secure
my promotion to the highest ranks of the service. This advice was good,
and, as it suited my views, I followed it. I parted with my captain on
the best terms, took leave of all my mess-mates and the officers in the
same friendly manner; and last, not least, went round to the ladies,
kissing, hugging, crying, and swearing love and eternal attachment.
Nothing I declared, should keep me from Halifax, as soon as I had
passed; nothing prevent my marrying one, as soon as I was a lieutenant;
a second was to have the connubial knot tied when I was a commander; and
a third, as soon as I was made a captain. Oh, how like was I to Don
Galaor! Oh, how unlike the constant Amadis de Gaul! But, reader, you
must take me as I was, not as I ought to have been.
After a passage of six weeks, I arrived at Plymouth, and had exactly
completed my six years' servitude.