"As you value your life, sir," said he, "stop the boat."
"Why?" asked I, eagerly.
"Because, sir," said he, "the ship has been scuttled by the men, and
will sink in a few hours: you cannot save her, for you cannot get at her
leaks."
I now did indeed see the necessity of stopping the boat; but it was too
late: she was out of sight. The lantern, the signal for her return, had
been hauled down, a proof that she had got on board. I hoisted two
lights at the mizen peak, and ordered a musket to be fired; but,
unfortunately, the cartridges had either not been put in the boat which
brought me, or they had been taken back in her. One of my lights went
out; the other was not seen by the frigate. We hoisted another light,
but it gained no notice: the ship had evidently made sail. I stood
after her as fast as I could, in hopes of her seeing us that night, or
taking us out the next morning, should we be afloat.
But my vessel, deeply laden, was already getting waterlogged, and would
not sail on a wind more than four miles an hour. All hope in that
quarter vanished. I then endeavoured to discover from the captain where
the leaks were, that we might stop them; but he had been drinking so
freely, that I could get nothing from him but Dutch courage and
braggadocio. The poor black man who had been left with the captain was
next consulted. All he knew was, that, when at Bordeaux, the captain
had caused holes to be bored in the ship's bottom, that he might pull
the plugs out whenever he liked, swearing, at the same time, that she
never should enter a British port. He did not know where the leaks were
situated, though it was evident to me that they were in the after and
also in the fore parts of the ship, low down, and now deep under water,
both inside as well as out. The black man added that the captain had
let the water in, and that was all he knew.
I again spoke to the captain, but he was too far gone to reason with: he
had got drunk to die, because he was afraid to die sober--no unusual
case with sailors.
"Don't tell me; damn me, who is afeard to die? I ain't. I swore she
should never enter a British port, and I have kept my word."
He then began to use curses and execrations; and at last fell on the
deck in a fit of drunken frenzy.
I now called my people all together, and having stated to them the peril
of our situation, we agreed that a large boat which lay on the booms
should be instantly hoisted out, and stowed with everything necessary
for a voyage. Our clothes, bread, salt meat, and water, were put into
her, with my sextant and spy-glass. The liquor which was in the cabin I
gave in charge to the midshipman who was sent with me; and, having
completely stowed our boat, and prepared her with a good lug-sail, we
made her fast with a couple of stout tow-ropes, and veered her astern,
with four men in her, keeping on our course in the supposed track of the
frigate till daylight.
That wished for hour arrived, but no frigate was to be seen, even from
the mast-head. The ship was getting deeper and deeper, and we prepared
to take to the boat. I calculated the nearest part of South America to
be seven hundred miles from us, and that we were more than twice that
distance from Rio Janeiro. I did not however despond, for, under all
circumstances, we were extremely well off: and I inspired the men with
so much confidence, that they obeyed in everything with the utmost
alacrity and cheerfulness, except in one single point.
Finding the ship could not in all, probability float more than an hour
or two, I determined to quit her, and ordered the boat alongside. The
men got into her, stepped the mast, hooked on the lug-sail, ready to
hoist at my orders; and, without my bidding, had spread my boat cloak in
the stern-sheets, and made a comfortable place for me to repose in. The
master proceeded to get into the boat, but the men repulsed him with
kicks, blows, and hisses, swearing most dreadfully that if he attempted
to come in, they would throw him overboard. Although in some measure I
participated in their angry feeling, yet I could not reconcile myself to
leave a fellow-creature thus to perish, even in the pit which he had dug
for others; and this too at a time when we needed every indulgence from
the Almighty for ourselves, and every assistance from His hand to
conduct us into a port.
"He deserves to die; it is all his own doings," said they; "come into
the boat yourself, sir, or we must shove off without you."
The poor captain--who after sleeping four hours had recovered his senses
and felt all the horror of his situation--wept, screamed, tore his hair,
laid hold of my coat, from which only the strength of my men could
disengage him. He clung to life with a passion of feeling which I never
saw in a criminal condemned by the law; he fell on his knees before me,
as he appealed to us all collectively and separately; he reminded us of
his wife and starving children at Baltimore, and he implored us to think
of them and of our own.
I was melted to tears, I confess; but my men heard him with the most
stoical unconcern. Two of them threw him over to the opposite side of
the deck; and before he could recover from the violence of the fall,
pushed me into the boat, and shoved off. The wretched man had by this
time crawled over to the side we had just left; and throwing himself on
his knees, again screamed out, "Oh, mercy, mercy, mercy!--For God's
sake, have mercy, if you expect any!--O God! my wife and babes!"
His prayers, I lament to say, had no effect on the exasperated seamen.
He then fell into a fit of cursing and blasphemy, evidently bereft of
his senses; and in this state he continued for some minutes, while we
lay alongside, the bowman holding on with the boat-hook only. I was
secretly determined not to leave him, although I foresaw a mutiny in the
boat in consequence. At length, I gave the order to shove off. The
unhappy captain, who, till that moment; might have entertained some
faint hope from the lurking compassion which he perceived I felt for
him, now resigned himself to despair of a more sullen and horrible
aspect. He sat himself down on one of the hen-coops, and gazed on us
with a ghastly eye. I cannot remember ever seeing a more shocking
picture of human misery.
While I looked at him, the black man, Mungo, who belonged to the ship,
sprang overboard from the boat and swam back to the wreck. Seizing a
rope which hung from the gangway, he ascended the side, and joined his
master. We called to him to come back, or we, should leave him behind.
"No massa," replied the faithful creature; "me no want to lib: no takee
master Green no takee me! Mungo lib good many years wi massa cappen.
Mungo die with massa, and go back to Guinea!"
I now thought we had given the captain a sufficient lesson for his
treachery and murderous intentions. Had I, indeed, ever seriously
intended to leave him, the conduct of poor Mungo would have awakened me
to a sense of my duty. I ordered Thompson, who was steering the boat,
to put the helm a starboard, and lay her alongside again. No sooner was
this command given, than three or four of the men jumped up in a
menacing attitude, and swore that they would not go back for him; that
he was the cause of all their sufferings; and that if I chose to share
his fate, I might, but into the boat he should not come. One of them,
more daring than the rest, attempted to take the tiller out of
Thompson's hand; but the trusty seaman seized him by the collar, and in
an instant threw him overboard. The other men were coming aft to avenge
this treatment of their leader; but I drew my sword, and pointing it at
the breast of the nearest mutineer, desired him, on pain of instant
death, to return to his seat. He had heard my character, and knew that
I was not to be trifled with.
A mutineer is easily subdued with common firmness. He obeyed, but was
very sullen, and I heard many mutinous expressions among the men. One
of them said that I was not their officer--that I did not belong to the
frigate.
"That," I replied, "is a case of which I shall not allow you to be the
judges. I hold in my pocket a commission from the king's lord high
admiral, or the commissioners for executing that duty. Your captain,
and mine also, holds a similar commission. Under this authority I act.
Let me see the man that dares dispute it--I will hang him at the
yard-arm of the wreck before she goes down;" and, looking at the man
whom Thompson had thrown overboard, and who still held by the gunwale of
the boat, without daring to get in, I asked him if he would obey me or
not? He replied that he would, and hoped I would forgive him. I said
that my forgiveness would depend entirely on the conduct of himself and
the others: that he must recollect that if our own ship or any other
man-of-war picked us up, he was liable, with three or four more, to be
hanged for mutiny; and that nothing but his and their future obedience
could save them from that punishment whenever we reached a port.
This harangue had a very tranquillising effect. The offenders all
begged pardon, and assured me they would deserve my forgiveness by their
future submission.
All this passed at some little distance from the wreck, but within
hearing; and while it was going on, the wind, which had been fair when
we put off, gradually died away, and blew faintly from the south-west,
directly towards the sinking wreck. I took advantage of this
circumstance to read them a lecture. When I had subdued them and worked
a little on their feelings, I said I never knew any good come of
cruelty; whenever a ship or a boat had left a man behind who might have
been saved, that disaster or destruction had invariably attended those
who had so cruelly acted; that I was quite sure we never should escape
from this danger if we did not show mercy to our fellow-creatures.
"God," said I, "has shown mercy to us in giving us this excellent boat
to save us in our imminent danger; and He seems to say to us now, `Go
back to the wreck, and rescue your fellow-sufferer.' The wind blows
directly towards her, and is foul for the point in which we intend to
steer; hasten then," pursued I, "obey the divine will; do your duty, and
trust in God. I shall then be proud to command you, and have no doubt
in bringing you safe into port."
This was the "pliant hour;" they sprang upon their oars, and pulled back
to the wreck with alacrity. The poor captain, who had witnessed all
that had passed, watched the progress of his cause with deep anxiety.
No sooner did the boat touch the ship than he leaped into her, fell down
on his knees, and thanked God aloud for his deliverance. He then fell
on my neck, embraced me, kissed my cheek, and wept like a girl. The
sailors, meanwhile, who never bear malice long, good-naturedly jumped
up, and assisted him in getting his little articles into the boat; and
as Mungo followed his master, shook hands with him all round, and swore
he should be a black prince when he went back to Guinea. We also took
in one or two more little articles of general use, which had been
forgotten in our former hurry.
We now shoved off for the last time; and had not proceeded more than two
hundred yards from the ship, when she gave a heavy lurch on one side,
recovered it, and rolled as deep on the other; then, as if endued with
life and instinct, gave a pitch, and went down head foremost into the
fathomless deep. We had scarcely time to behold this awful scene, when
the wind again sprang up fair, from its old quarter, the east.
"There," said I, "heaven has declared itself in your favour already.
You have got your fair wind again."
We thanked God for this; and having set our sail, I shaped my course for
Cape St. Thomas, and we went to our frugal dinner with cheerful and
grateful hearts.
The weather was fine--the sea tolerably smooth--and as we had plenty of
provisions and water, we did not suffer much, except from an
apprehension of a change of wind, and the knowledge of our precarious
situation. On the fifth day after leaving the wreck we discovered land
at a great distance. I knew it to be the island of Trinidad and the
rocks of Martin Vas. This island, which lies in latitude twenty degrees
south, and longitude thirty degrees west, is not to be confounded with
the island of the same name on the coast of Terra Firma in the West
Indies, and now a British colony.
On consulting Horsburgh, which I had in the boat, I found that the
island which we were now approaching was formerly inhabited by the
Portuguese, but long since abandoned. I continued steering towards it
during the night, until we heard the breakers roaring against the rocks,
when I hove-to to windward of the land, till daylight.
The morning presented to our view a precipitous and rugged iron-bound
coast, with high and pointed rocks, frowning defiance over the
unappeasable and furious waves which broke incessantly at their feet,
and recoiled to repeat the blow. Thus for ages had they been employed,
and thus for ages will they continue, without making any impression
visible to the eye of man. To land was impossible on the part of the
coast now under our inspection, and we coasted along in hopes of finding
some haven into which we might haul our boat, and secure her. The
island appeared to be about nine miles long, evidently of volcanic
formation, an assemblage of rocky mountains towering several hundred
feet above the level of the sea. It was barren, except at the summit of
the hills, where some trees formed a coronet at once beautiful and
refreshing, but tantalising to look at, as they appeared utterly
inaccessible; and even supposing I could have discovered a
landing-place, I was in great doubt whether I should have availed myself
of it, as the island appeared to produce nothing which could have added
to our comfort, while delay would only have uselessly consumed our
provisions. There did not appear to be a living creature on the island,
and the danger of approaching to find a landing-place was most imminent.
This unpromising appearance induced me to propose that we should
continue our course to Rio Janeiro. The men were of another opinion.
They said they had been too long afloat, cooped up, and that they should
prefer remaining on the island to risking their lives any longer in so
frail a boat on the wide ocean. We were still debating, when we came to
a small spot of sand on which we discovered two wild hogs, which we
conjectured had come down to feed on the shell fish; this decided them,
and I consented to run to leeward of the island, and seek for a
landing-place. We sounded the west end, following the remarks of
Horsburgh, and ran for the cove of the Nine-Pin Rock. As we opened it,
a scene of grandeur presented itself, which we had never met with
before, and which in its kind is probably unrivalled in nature. An
enormous rock rose, nearly perpendicularly, out of the sea, to the
height of nine hundred or one thousand feet. It was as narrow at the
base as it was at the top, and was formed exactly in the shape of a
nine-pin, from which it derives its name. The sides appeared smooth and
even to the top, which was covered with verdure, and was so far above us
that the sea-birds, which in myriads screamed around it, were scarcely
visible two-thirds of the way up. The sea beat violently against its
base--the feathered tribe, in endless variety, had been for ages the
undisturbed tenants of this natural monument; all its jutting points and
little projections were covered with their white dung, and it seemed to
me a wonderful effort of nature which had placed this mass in the
position which it held in spite of the utmost efforts of the winds and
waves of the wide ocean.
Another curious phenomenon appeared at the other end of the cove. The
lava had poured down into the sea, and formed a stratum; a second river
of fused rock had poured again over the first, and had cooled so rapidly
as to hang suspended, not having joined the former strata, but leaving a
vacuum between for the water to fill up. The sea dashed violently
between the two beds, and spouted magnificently through holes in the
upper bed of lava to the height of sixty feet, resembling much the
spouting of a whale, but with a noise and force infinitely greater. The
sound, indeed, was tremendous, hollow, and awful. I could not help
mentally adoring the works of the Creator, and my heart sunk within me
at my own insignificance, folly, and wickedness.
As we were now running along the shore, looking for our landing-place,
and just going to take in the sail, the American captain, who sat close
to the man at the helm, seemed attentively watching something on the
larboard bow of the boat. In an instant he exclaimed, "Port your helm,
my good fellow, port hard." These words he accompanied with a push of
the helm so violent as almost to throw overboard the man who sat on the
larboard quarter. At the same moment, a heavy sea lifted the boat, and
sent her many yards beyond and to the right of a pointed rock just flush
or even with the water, which had escaped our notice, and which none
suspected but the American captain (for these rocks do not show breakers
every minute--if they did they would be easily avoided). On this we
should most certainly have been dashed to pieces, had not the danger
been seen, and avoided by the sudden and skilful motion of the helm; one
moment more, and one foot nearer, and we were gone.
"Merciful God!" said I, "to what fate am I reserved at last? How can I
be sufficiently thankful for so much goodness!"
I thanked the American for his attention--told my men how much we were
indebted to him, and how amply he had repaid our kindness in taking him
off the wreck.
"Ah, lieutenant!" said the poor man, "it is a small turn I've done you
for the kindness you have shown to me."
The water was very deep, the rocks being steep; so we lowered our sail,
and getting our oars out, pulled in to look for a landing. At the
further end of the cove, we discovered the wreck of a vessel lying on
the beach. She was broken in two, and appeared to be copper-bottomed.
This increased the eagerness of the men to land; we rowed close to the
shore, but found that the boat would be dashed to pieces if we attempted
it. The midshipman proposed that one of us should swim on shore, and,
by ascending a bill, discover a place to lay the boat in. This I agreed
to; and the quarter-master immediately threw off his clothes. I made a
head-line fast to him under his arms, that we might pull him in if we
found him exhausted. He went over the surf with great ease, until he
came to the breakers on the beach, through which he could not force his
way; for the moment he touched the ground with his foot, the recoil of
the sea, and what is called by sailors the undertow, carried him back
again, and left him in the rear of the last wave.
Three times the brave fellow made the attempt, and with the same result.
At last he sank, and we pulled him in very nearly dead. We, however,
restored him by care and attention, and he went again to his usual duty.
The midshipman now proposed that he should try to swim through the surf
without the line, for that alone had impeded the progress of the
quarter-master; this was true, but I would not allow him to run the
risk, and we pulled along shore, until we came to a rock on which the
surf beat very high, and which we avoided in consequence. This rock we
discovered to be detached from the main; and within it, to our great
joy, we saw smooth water; we pulled in, and succeeded in landing without
much difficulty, and having secured our boat to a grapnel, and left two
trusty men in charge of her, I proceeded with the rest to explore the
cove; our attention was naturally first directed to the wreck which we
had passed in the boat, and, after a quarter of an hour's scrambling
over huge fragments of broken rocks, which had been detached from the
sides of the hill, and encumbered the beach, we arrived at the spot.
The wreck proved to be a beautiful copper-bottomed schooner, of about a
hundred and eighty tons burthen. She had been dashed on shore with
great violence, and thrown many yards above the high-water mark. Her
masts and spars were lying in all directions on the beach, which was
strewed with her cargo. This consisted of a variety of toys and
hardware, musical instruments, violins, flutes, fifes, and bird-organs.
Some few remains of books, which I picked up, were French romances, with
indelicate plates, and still worse text. These proved the vessel to be
French. At a short distance from the wreck, on a rising knoll, we found
three or four huts, rudely constructed out of the fragments; and, a
little further off, a succession of graves, each surmounted with a cross
I examined the huts, which contained some rude and simple relics of
human tenancy: a few benches and tables, composed of boards roughly hewn
out and nailed together; bones of goats and of the wild hog, with the
remains of burnt wood. But we could not discover any traces of the name
of the vessel or owner; nor were there any names marked or cut on the
boards, as might have been expected, to show to whom the vessel
belonged, and what had become of the survivors.
This studied concealment of all information led us to the most accurate
knowledge of her port of departure, her destination, and her object of
trade. Being on the south-west side of the island, with her head lying
to the north-east, she had, beyond all doubt, been running from Rio
Janeiro towards the coast of Africa, and got on shore in the night.
That she was going to fetch a cargo of slaves was equally clear, not
only from the baubles with which she was freighted, but also from the
interior fitting of the vessel, and from a number of hand and leg
shackles which we found among the wreck, and which we knew were only
used for the purposes of confining and securing the unhappy victims of
this traffic.
We took up our quarters in the huts for the night, and the next morning
divided ourselves into three parties, to explore the island. I have
before observed that we had muskets, but no powder, and therefore stood
but little chance of killing any of the goats or wild hogs, with which
we found the island abounded. One party sought the means of attaining
the highest summit of the island; another went along the shore to the
westward; while myself and two others went to the eastward. We crossed
several ravines, with much difficulty, until we reached a long valley,
which seemed to intersect the island.
Here a wonderful and most melancholy phenomenon arrested our attention.
Thousands and thousands of trees covered the valley, each of them about
thirty feet high; but every tree was dead, and extended its leafless
boughs to another--a forest of desolation, as if nature had at some
particular moment ceased to vegetate! There was no under wood or grass.
On the lowest of the dead boughs, the gannets, and other sea-birds, had
built their nests in numbers uncountable. Their tameness, as Cowper
says, "was shocking to me." So unaccustomed did they seem to man, that
the mothers, brooding over their young, only opened their beaks in a
menacing attitude at us, as we passed by them.
How to account satisfactorily for the simultaneous destruction of this
vast forest of trees was very difficult: there was no want of rich earth
for nourishment of the roots. The most probable cause appeared to me, a
sudden and continued eruption of sulphuric effluvia from the volcano; or
else, by some unusually heavy gale of wind or hurricane, the trees had
been drenched with salt water to their roots. One or the other of these
causes must have produced the effect. The philosopher, or the geologist
must decide.
We had the consolation to know that we should at least experience no
want of food--the nests of the birds affording us a plentiful supply of
eggs, and young ones of every age; with these we returned loaded to the
cove. The party that had gone to the westward reported having seen some
wild hogs, but were unable to secure any of them; and those who had
attempted to ascend the mountain returned much fatigued, and one of
their number missing. They reported that they had gained the summit of
the mountain, where they had discovered a large plain, skirted by a
species of fern tree, from twelve to eighteen feet high--that on this
plain they had seen a herd of goats; and among them, could distinguish
one of enormous size, which appeared to be their leader. He was as
large as a pony; but all attempts to take one of them were utterly
fruitless. The man who was missing had followed them further than they
had. They waited some time for his return; but as he did not come to
them, they concluded he had taken some other route to the cove. I did
not quite like this story, fearing some dreadful accident had befallen
the poor fellow, for whom we kept a watch, and had a fire burning the
whole night, which, like the former one, we passed in the huts. We had
an abundant supply of firewood from the wreck, and a stream of clear
water ran close by our little village. The next morning, a party was
sent in search of the man, and some were sent to fetch a supply of young
gannets for our dinner. The latter brought back with them as many young
birds as would suffice for two or three days; but of the three who went
in quest of the missing man, only two returned. They reported that they
could gain no tidings of him: that they had missed one of their own
number, who had, no doubt, gone in pursuit of his shipmate.
This intelligence occasioned a great deal of anxiety, and many surmises.
The most prevalent opinion seemed to be that there were wild beasts on
the island, and that our poor friends had become a prey to them. I
determined, the next morning, to go in search of them myself, taking one
or two chosen men with me. I should have mentioned, that when we left
the sinking vessel, we had taken out a poodle dog, that was on board,
first, because I would not allow the poor animal to perish; and
secondly, because we might, if we had no better food, make a dinner of
him. This was quite fair, as charity begins at home.
This faithful animal became much attached to me, from whom he invariably
received his portion of food. He never quitted me, nor followed anyone
else; and he was my companion when I went on this excursion.
We reached the summit of the first mountain, whence we saw the goats
browsing on the second, and meant to go there in pursuit of the objects
of our anxious search. I was some yards in advance of my companions,
and the dog a little distance before me, near the shelving part of a
rock, terminating in a precipice. The shelf I had to cross was about
six or seven feet wide, and ten or twelve long, with a very little
inclined plane towards the precipice, so that I thought it perfectly
safe. A small rill of water trickled down from the rock above it, and,
losing itself among the moss and grass, fell over the precipice below,
which indeed was a frightful depth.
This causeway was to all appearance safe, compared with many which we
had passed, and I was just going to step upon it, when my dog ran before
me, jumped on the fatal pass--his feet slipped from under him--he fell,
and disappeared over the precipice! I started back--I heard a heavy
squelch and a howl; another fainter succeeded, and all was still. I
advanced with the utmost caution to the edge of the precipice, where I
discovered that the rill of water had nourished a short moss, close and
smooth as velvet, and so slippery as not to admit of the lightest
footstep; this accounted for the sudden disappearance, and, as I
concluded, the inevitable death of my dog.
My first thoughts were those of gratitude for my miraculous escape; my
second unwillingly glanced at the fate of my poor men, too probably
lying lifeless at the foot of this mountain. I stated my fears to the
two seamen who were with me, and who had just come up. The whole bore
too much the appearance of truth to admit of a doubt. We descended the
rocks by a circuitous and winding way; and, after an hour's difficult
and dangerous walk, we reached the spot, where all our fears were too
fully confirmed. There lay the two dead bodies of our companions and
that of my dog, all mangled in a shocking manner: both, it would appear,
had attempted to cross the shelf in the same careless way which I was
about to do, when Providence interposed the dog in my behalf.
This singular dispensation was not lost upon me; indeed, latterly, I had
been in such perils, and seen such hair-breadth escapes, that I became
quite an altered and reflecting character. I returned to my men at the
cove, thoughtful and melancholy; I told them of what had happened; and,
having a prayer-book with me in my trunk, I proposed to them that I
should read the evening prayers, and a thanksgiving for our deliverance.
In this, the American captain, whose name was Green, most heartily
concurred. Indeed, ever since this poor man had been received into the
boat, he had been a very different character to what I had at first
supposed him; he constantly refused his allowance of spirits, giving it
among the sailors; he was silent and meditative; I often found him in
prayer, and on these occasions I never interrupted him. At other times,
he studied how he might make himself most useful. He would patch and
mend the people's clothes and shoes, or show them how to do it for
themselves. Whenever any hard work was to be done, he was always the
first to begin, and the last to leave off; and to such a degree did he
carry his attention and kindness, that we all began to love him, and to
treat him with great respect. He took charge of a watch when we were at
sea, and never closed his eyes during his hour of duty.
Nor was this the effect of fear, or the dread of ill-usage among so many
Englishmen, whom his errors had led into so much misfortune. He very
soon had an opportunity of proving that his altered conduct was the
effect of sorrow and repentance. The next morning I sent a party round
by the sea-shore, with directions to walk up the valley and bury the
bodies of our unfortunate companions. The two men who had accompanied
me were of the number sent on this service; when they returned, I
pointed out to them how disastrous our residence had been on this fatal
island, and how much better it had been for us if we had continued our
course to Rio Janeiro, which being only two hundred and fifty or two
hundred and sixty leagues distant, we should by that time nearly have
reached: that we were now expending the most valuable part of our
provisions, namely--our spirits and tobacco; while our boat, our only
hope and resource, was not even in safety, since a gale of wind might
destroy her. I therefore proposed to make immediate preparations for
our departure, to which all unanimously agreed.
We divided the various occupations; some went to fetch a sea-stock of
young birds, which were killed and dressed to save our salt provisions;
others filled all our water-casks. Captain Green superintended the
rigging, sails, and oars of the boat, and saw that everything was
complete in that department. The spirits remaining were getting low,
and Captain Green, the midshipman, and myself, agreed to drink none, but
reserve it for pressing emergencies. In three days after beginning our
preparations, and the seventh after our landing, we embarked, and after
being nearly swamped by the surf, once more hoisted our sail on the wide
waters of the Atlantic Ocean.
We were not destined, however, to encounter many dangers this time, or
to reach the coast of South America: for we had not been many hours at
sea, when a vessel hove in sight; she proved to be an American privateer
brig, of fourteen guns and one hundred and thirty men, bound on a cruise
off the Cape of Good Hope. As soon as she perceived us, she bore down,
and in half an hour we were safe on board; when having bundled all our
little stock of goods on her decks, the boat was cut adrift. My men
were not well treated until they consented to enter for the privateer,
which, after much persuasion and threats, they all did, except Thompson,
contrary to my strongest remonstrances, and urging every argument in my
power to dissuade them from such a fatal step.
I remonstrated with the captain of the privateer, on what I deemed a
violation of hospitality. "You found me," I said, "on the wide ocean,
in a frail boat, which some huge wave might have overwhelmed in a
moment, or some fish, in sport, might have tossed in the air. You
received me and my people with all the kindness and friendship which we
could desire; but you mar it, by seducing the men from their allegiance
to their lawful sovereign, inducing them to become rebels, and
subjecting them to a capital punishment whenever they may (as they most
probably will) fall into the hands of their own government."
The captain, who was an unpolished, but sensible, clear-headed Yankee,
replied, that he was sorry I should take anything ill of him; that no
affront was meant to me; that he had nothing whatever to do with my men,
until they came voluntarily to him, and entered for his vessel; that he
could not but admit, however, that they might have been persuaded to
take this step by some of his own people. "And now, leftenant," said
he, "let me ask you a question. Suppose you commanded a British vessel,
and ten or twelve of my men, if I was unlucky enough to be taken by you,
should volunteer for your ship, and say they were natives of Newcastle,
would you refuse them? Besides, before we went to war with you, you
made no ceremony of taking men out of our merchant-ships, and even out
of our ships of war, whenever you had an opportunity. Now, pray, where
is the difference between your conduct and ours?"
I replied, that it would not be very easy, nor, if it were, would it
answer any good purpose, for us to discuss a question that had puzzled
the wisest heads, both in his country and mine, for the last twenty
years; that my present business was a case of its own, and must be
considered abstractedly; that the fortune of war had thrown me in his
power, and that he made a bad use of the temporary advantage of his
situation, by allowing my men, who, after all, were poor, ignorant
creatures, to be seduced from their duty, to desert their flag, and
commit high treason, by which their lives were forfeited and their
families rendered miserable; that whatever might have been the conduct
of his government or mine, whatever line pursued by this or that
captain, no precedent could make wrong right; and I left it to himself
(seeing I had no other resource) to say, whether he was doing as he
would be done by.
"As for that matter," said the captain, "we privateersmen don't trouble
our heads much about it; we always take care of number one; and if your
men choose to say they are natives of Boston, and will enter for my
ship, I must take them. Why," continued he, "there is your best man,
Thompson; I'd lay a demi-John of old Jamaica rum that he is a
true-blooded Yankee, and if he was to speak his mind, would sooner fight
under the stripes than the union."
"Damn the dog that says yon of Jock Thompson," replied the Caledonian,
who stood by. "I never deserted my colours yet, and I don't think I
ever shall. There is only one piece of advice I would wish to give to
you and your officers, captain. I am a civil-spoken man, and never
injured any soul breathing, except in the way of fair fighting; but if
either of you, or any of your crew, offer to bribe me, or in any way to
make me turn my back on my king and country, I'll lay him on his back as
flat as a flounder, if I am able; and if I am not able, I'll try for
it."
"That's well spoken," said the captain, "and I honour you for it. You
may rely on it that I shall never tempt you, and if any of mine do it,
they must take their chance."
Captain Green heard all this conversation; he took no part in it, but
walked the deck in his usual pensive manner. When the captain of the
privateer went below to work his reckoning, this unhappy man entered
into conversation with me--he began by remarking--"What a noble specimen
of a British sailor you have with you."
"Yes," I replied, "he is one of the right sort--he comes from the land
where the education of the poor contributes to the security of the rich;
where a man is never thought the worse of for reading his Bible, and
where the generality of the lower orders are brought up in the honest
simplicity of primitive Christians."
"I guess," said Green, "that you have not many such in your navy."
"More than you would suppose," I replied; "and what will astonish you
is, that though they are impressed, they seldom, if ever, desert; and
yet they are retained on much lower wages than those they were taken
from, or could obtain; but they have a high sense of moral and religious
feeling, which keeps them to their duty."
"They must needs be discontented, for all that," said Green, "Not
necessarily so," said I: "they derive many advantages from being in the
navy, which they could not have in other employments. They have
pensions for long services or wounds, are always taken care of in their
old age, and their widows and children have much favour shown them, by
the government, as well as by other public bodies and wealthy
individuals. But we must finish this discussion another time,"
continued I, "for I perceive the dinner is going into the cabin."
I received from the captain of the privateer every mark of respect and
kindness that his means would allow. Much of this I owed to Green, and
the black man Mungo, both of whom had represented my conduct in saving
the life of him who had endangered mine and that of all my party.
Green's gratitude knew no bounds--he watched me night and day, as a
mother would watch a darling child; he anticipated any want or wish I
could have, and was never happy until it was gratified. The seamen on
board the vessel were all equally kind and attentive to me, so highly
did they appreciate the act of saving the life of their countryman, and
exposing my own in quelling a mutiny.
We cruised to the southward of the Cape, and made one or two captures;
but they were of little consequence. One of them, being a trader from
Mozambique, was destroyed; the other, a slaver from Madagascar, the
captain knew not what to do with. He therefore took out eight or ten of
the stoutest male negroes to assist in working his vessel, and then let
the prize go.