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