When, through the captain of the _Haarlem_, as interpreter, I explained
to the Dutch crew that it was my intention to call upon them to continue
to work the ship, they seemed disposed at the outset to refuse; but I
soon brought them to a more reasonable frame of mind by giving them the
choice of remaining in their own forecastle and enjoying the liberty of
the _Haarlem's_ deck, on the one hand, and being transferred to the
frigate and confined below, on the other, when it took them but a few
minutes to make up their minds that the first alternative was by far the
more desirable of the two.
Having arrived at this understanding I filled away, and, with the cutter
in tow, stood after the _Europa_, which was now in full pursuit of the
second Indiaman--the _Schelde_, of 950 tons, also from Batavia, and with
an even more valuable cargo than that carried by the _Haarlem_, as I now
learned from the chief mate of the latter. But oh, it was weary work to
attempt to turn to windward in a light breeze in the deep, bluff-bowed,
squat-sterned, Dutch-built _Haarlem_, after my experience of the smart,
lively, swift-sailing British frigate; it was, therefore, with a feeling
of the utmost satisfaction that shortly before the end of the second
dog-watch I heard the _Europa_ once more booming out her summons to
surrender, and saw the mainyard of the _Schelde_ swing slowly aback in
response. For now, the business of taking possession of this third
prize once over, we could at least bear up and crowd sail for home, with
a free wind to help us over the ground; for by this time Mr Percival
had so far made good the damage sustained by the _Gelderland_ that he
once more had the vessel under command, and was working out toward us on
the port tack. And from what I could see of the behaviour of the ship
it appeared to me that, even in the guise of a brig, she would be quite
able to hold her own with the slow-moving Indiamen.
The _Schelde_ and the frigate having hove-to, we were able to close with
them in the course of about an hour, when I sent away Jack Millet and
two men in the cutter with my report to Captain Vavassour, giving him
the name, tonnage, and nature of the cargo of the _Haarlem_, together
with such other particulars as I thought he would like to know, and also
acquainting him with the fact that the Dutch crew had consented to work
the ship. Meanwhile the _Europa_ had taken in all her light sails and
clewed up her courses, with the evident intention of keeping close
company with her prizes.
As soon as the _Schelde_ had been taken possession of, and a prize-crew
put on board her, Captain Vavassour sent away his gig to me, in charge
of young Millet, with written instructions that I was to remain in
charge of the _Haarlem_, retaining Jack to help me, and to crowd all
sail for Plymouth, taking care to keep in close touch with the rest of
the squadron. Jack--good boy--upon receiving his instructions to join
me, had had the sense and forethought not only to bring along his own
dunnage but mine also; and as soon as we had hoisted in the two chests I
sent back the gig, and we proceeded to make ourselves comfortable by
taking possession of two staterooms in the cuddy that by good fortune
happened to be vacant.
It was close upon four bells in the first watch when at length, all
arrangements being completed, the _Europa_ hoisted the night signal for
us to make sail, upon which, the wind having meanwhile freshened up
again a trifle, we wore round and, crowding all sail upon the two
Indiamen, shaped a course for Ushant. I remained on deck until I had
seen the topgallant, topmast, and lower studdingsails set aboard my
command, and then, having had a busy and very tiring day, turned over
the charge of the deck to Bateman, a steady old quartermaster who had
been spared to me by Mr Howard, laying strict injunctions upon him to
keep a very sharp eye upon the Dutch crew, and then turned-in. Five
days later, at daylight, we made the land, and came safely to anchor in
Plymouth Sound, just as the breakfast-bell was being rung on board the
two Indiamen.
The appearance of the _Europa_ in the Sound, accompanied by three
prizes, one of which was a more powerful vessel than herself, created
great excitement ashore, and we were speedily surrounded by a whole
flotilla of boats, the occupants of which clamorously besought
permission to come on board and dispose of, either by sale or barter,
the varied assortment of goods and commodities that they had brought
off; but the strictest orders had been given that no strangers were on
any account to be allowed on board, and that no boats or other craft
were to be permitted to come alongside, or even approach the prizes; we
were, therefore, obliged to possess our souls in patience, and see fresh
meat, soft tack, and many other dainties that we would gladly have
purchased, taken back to the shore again. Two days later, however, the
prizes were taken into the Hamoase and their crews landed, after which
the prize-crews returned to the _Europa_, where the joyous news was
communicated to us that we were to proceed at once to Portsmouth to
refit. We weighed forthwith and stood up channel with a slashing
westerly breeze, arriving at Portsmouth on the following day, when all
hands were turned over to the guardship, and the frigate was taken into
dock.
I obtained leave, without the slightest difficulty, and spent a very
happy month with my father, at the expiration of which I was notified
that the _Europa_ was once more ready for sea, and was requested to join
forthwith.
On this occasion I left home and journeyed down to Portsmouth alone, my
father happening at the time to be suffering from an attack of gout
which, while not sufficiently serious to be alarming, was nevertheless
painful enough to preclude travelling. Upon arriving at my destination
I called at the George Hotel, where Captain Vavassour usually put up,
with the intention of reporting myself to him, but, learning that he was
on board the frigate, I at once proceeded to the harbour and, engaging a
wherry, transported myself and my belongings to Spithead, where the
_Europa_ lay at anchor. I was just in time to catch the Captain and
report myself before he left the ship for the night, and then I
descended to the midshipmen's berth, where I was joyously welcomed by my
former shipmates.
Upon inquiring for the latest news, it appeared that certain changes had
occurred in the personnel of the ship since we had last all met
together. For instance, Mr Howard had most deservedly obtained his
promotion and been given a command, while Mr Galway now reigned in his
stead aboard the _Europa_. As second and third lieutenants we had two
new men, namely, Mr William Gadsby and Mr Edward Sutcliffe, both of
whom seemed to have made a fairly favourable impression, on the whole,
although--as was, perhaps, only natural--the occupants of the
midshipmen's berth seemed just a little inclined to regard them askance
as newcomers of whom but little was thus far known. But when, an hour
or so later, I again went up on deck and, through Mr Galway, made the
acquaintance of the new men, I speedily came to the conclusion that
though our new second luff might possibly turn out to be rather a "taut
hand," and perhaps a little inclined to be intolerant of the practical
joking to which midshipmen are so prone, yet, on the whole, we should
not have much cause to regret the arrival of either himself or Mr
Sutcliffe among us, for both of them impressed me as being exceedingly
well-bred men. Whether or not they would turn out to be capable seamen,
however, was a matter which only time and more intimate association
would prove.
As I have already intimated, the frigate had been reported as ready for
sea when I received orders to join her; and so she was, save in one most
important particular, namely, that she was short-handed. For although,
upon our arrival home, all hands had been turned over to the guardship
and placed upon her books while our own ship was in the hands of the
dockyard people, the admiral had drawn upon them pretty freely, in order
to enable other ships to complete their complement and go to sea; so
that when the time came for the _Europa_ to receive back her crew, it
was found that she was nearly fifty men short of her full number. This
was all the more unfortunate, in that we had very little time left us in
which to make up the deficiency; for we were to sail in three days' time
for Plymouth, there to form part of the escort of a large fleet of
merchantmen and transports bound to the West Indies under convoy. But
now it was that our new second and third lieutenants showed their
mettle, for on the very night of my arrival on board they organised two
formidable pressgangs, which they led ashore, one party landing at
Portsmouth and the other at Gosport; and between them they managed to
make a clean sweep of pretty nearly all the crimps' houses within a
radius of four miles of the harbour, returning to the ship shortly
before daylight the next morning considerably battered and the worse for
wear--for they had been engaged in a series of desperate hand-to-hand
fights--but bringing with them sixty-three fine, able-bodied merchant
seamen, who had been in close hiding while awaiting a berth. A few of
these men had already served on board a man-o'-war, and they did not
need very much persuasion to induce them to enter again; when the ball
having once been set rolling, as it were, the rest followed suit in
little batches of twos and threes until by midday the whole of them had
"volunteered," and we had completed our complement.
At daylight, on the third morning after my arrival on board, Blue Peter
was hoisted, the fore-topsail was loosed, and a gun was fired as a
signal that we were about to proceed to sea; and from that moment until
the anchor was lifted all was bustle and confusion--hoisting in and
securing the boats, stowing away stock of all descriptions, and clearing
the ship of women--wives and sweethearts of the crew--and traders who
were anxious to obtain a settlement of accounts. The Captain's gig had
been sent ashore immediately after breakfast; and about ten o'clock she
returned, bringing off Captain Vavassour; the boatswains piped "All
hands up anchor!" and half-an-hour later we were bowling away down the
Solent before a fine easterly breeze.
We arrived in Plymouth Sound the next morning, and found assembled there
about one hundred and twenty sail of merchantmen bound to various ports
on the other side of the Atlantic, in the safe convoy of which to their
destination we were to take part. We also found my old ship _Colossus_,
the frigate _Astarte_, of thirty-six guns, and two 14-gun-brigs--the
_Hebe_ and the _Naiad_--at anchor outside the merchant fleet, being the
remaining ships of the squadron detailed for convoy duty.
On the day following our arrival at Plymouth the wind shifted and blew
hard from the south-west, with almost continuous rain. As these weather
conditions prevailed for eight consecutive days, we remained at anchor,
awaiting a change of wind, since it was useless to take to sea a fleet
of merchantmen, the greater number of which were so deeply laden and
such poor sailers that it would have been impossible for them to make
any progress against a wind that was blowing dead in their teeth.
During this period of inaction some thirty additional sail arrived at
the rendezvous, anxious to avail themselves of the protection of convoy;
when, therefore, on the ninth day the weather cleared and the wind
hauled round from the south-east, the merchant fleet of which we were to
take care during their passage across the Atlantic numbered in all
exactly one hundred and fifty-four sail.
The change of weather occurred shortly after midnight, with a steadily
rising barometer; at daylight, therefore, the commodore fired a gun and
hoisted the signal to weigh, and by eight o'clock the leading ships in
the fleet were under way and beating out to sea, led by the _Colossus_,
their departure being hastened by much firing of guns and continuous
displays of signal flags. The two gun-brigs went out with the first of
the fleet, their duty being to marshal the merchantmen into something
like order when they got outside; but the _Astarte_ and ourselves
remained at anchor to quicken up the movements of the laggards and
expedite matters generally; and a hard time we had of it, for so
short-handed were some of the vessels that we were obliged to send
working-parties on board them to assist in making sail and breaking
their anchors out of the ground. But by noon the last of them were
fairly under way, and as soon as they had passed outside of us we too
weighed and stood out after them, flitting hither and thither, hailing
first this ship and then that, with imperative orders for them to crowd
sail. But oh, what weary, heart-breaking work was this business of
whipping-in; for so sluggish were some of the craft that it seemed as
though they would never be able to make their way out to the main fleet,
which was by this time hove-to in the offing. However, by eight bells
in the afternoon watch we had contrived to hustle the last one out to
windward of the Eddystone, when the commodore made the signal to fill
away; and off we all went, with the wind a couple of points free, the
weather braces checked, and the slower coaches among the merchantmen
with all their larboard studdingsails set. Then came a signal from the
commodore to regulate rate of sailing by that of the slowest craft in
the fleet and to keep as close together as prudence would permit; and,
finally, a signal to the men-of-war to take the stations assigned to
them and to keep a sharp lookout for marauders. This last signal was
made purely as a matter of form and duty, and not because it was
actually necessary; for although none of us had sighted any
suspicious-looking craft on our way round to Plymouth, we felt pretty
certain that news of the assembling of the convoy, and of its probable
sailing date, would find its way across the Channel, and that, sooner or
later, we should discover that a few enterprising privateers were
hovering upon its skirts, watching for a favourable opportunity to cut
in and secure a prize or two.
The south-easterly wind held long enough to enable us and our charges to
get well clear of the Channel and to the southward of Ushant before it
changed, and then it gradually veered round until it came out strong
from the north-west, when away we all went for Madeira, the slowest
ships carrying every rag of canvas that they could stagger under, while
the faster craft were unwillingly compelled to shorten down in order
that all might keep together, while as for ourselves and the _Astarte_,
the utmost that we could show, without running ahead of our station, was
double-reefed topsails.
We sighted and passed Madeira on the eighth day out from Plymouth, and
two days later, to our great joy, picked up the "Trades," blowing fresh;
and thus far we had not sighted a single suspicious sail. Most of us
were of opinion that, having been permitted to come thus far without
interference, we were now safe, and that with a strong trade-wind
wafting along even the slowest coaches among us, at a pace of from six
to seven knots an hour, our troubles were all over. But the more
knowing ones shook their heads, smiled compassionately at our ignorance,
and said, "Wait a bit!"
And they were right. For at daylight on a certain lovely morning, when
we were, by our reckoning, some three hundred and twenty miles from the
island of Barbadoes, upon going up to the main-topmast crosstrees to
take a look round generally, and count the number of sail in sight, I
discovered that at last the wolves had entered our fold and were already
playing havoc with it. For, to start with, one of our finest and
fastest merchantmen had hauled out from the main body, and under a heavy
press of canvas was already hull-down in the south-eastern board, being
evidently in possession of a prize-crew, while, in the thickest of the
ruck, was a very large brigantine, under exceedingly short canvas, yet
keeping pace with the slow-sailing merchantmen, first sheering alongside
one and hugging her affectionately for a few minutes, and then turning
her attention to another and doing likewise. But this was not all, for
on the northern flank of the convoy there was a small full-rigged ship,
which I felt certain was a stranger, apparently pursuing the same
tactics as the brigantine; while far away to the north were both our
man-o'-war brigs cracking on in chase of five craft--whether a portion
of our convoy or not, I could not at the moment say--which seemed to be
manoeuvring with the deliberate purpose of drawing the brigs away from
the convoy and so affording the brigantine and the ship an opportunity
to put in a good morning's work unmolested.
"On deck, there!" I hailed. "There are two strange sail astern which
seem to be running alongside and taking possession of a number of our
craft; one large ship is heading south-east and already hull-down from
the crosstrees here; and the two brigs--the _Hebe_ and the _Naiad_--are
about fifteen miles off, in the northern board, chasing five other
craft."
"Thank you, Mr Delamere," answered the first lieutenant. "Can you
count the number of merchantmen in sight?"
"I'll try to do so, sir," I replied; "but I'm afraid it will be a little
difficult, for they are all bunching together, astern, as though for
mutual protection, in a manner that is very confusing."
"Still, I shall be glad if you will do your best to get the
information," hailed the first luff; to which I replied, as in duty
bound--"Ay, ay, sir; I'll have a try."
Therewith I set to work upon my somewhat awkward task, in the middle of
which some of the merchantmen began firing their signal guns to attract
our attention. The example seemed contagious, for in about five minutes
the popping of their 4-pounders was almost continuous, and the smoke
became as thick as though a small battle were raging, while ship after
ship hoisted the signal for "Enemy in sight!" At length, after being
compelled to begin my work all over again two or three times, I managed
to complete my count, making of them one hundred and forty-eight. This
number I reported to the first lieutenant, down on deck.
"Does that include the six craft which appear to have parted company,
Mr Delamere?" hailed Mr Galway.
"No, sir," I replied; "it is the number which are still sailing in
convoy."
The first lieutenant conferred for a few minutes with the Captain, who
had meanwhile been sent for, and had come on deck, and then hailed
again, directing me to come down.
Meanwhile a good deal of signalling had been proceeding between the
_Colossus_, ourselves, and the _Astarte_; and just as I reached the deck
the order was given to make sail, the two frigates having been
instructed to chase the strangers, and for us, in addition, to pursue
and recapture the large ship which had by this time vanished altogether
in the south-eastern board.
We at once hauled our wind and, acknowledging the signal from the
commodore, crowded sail, standing to the southward upon the port tack.
We set everything to our royals, although the moment that the ship was
brought upon a wind, and the yards braced sharp up, we became conscious
of the fact that the Trades were blowing quite strong enough to justify
us, under ordinary circumstances, in keeping our topgallantsails stowed.
But this was no time for prudence; valuable property was being stolen
under our very noses--ay, and murder being committed, too, for aught
that we could tell to the contrary--and the marauders must be caught and
punished; we therefore cracked on, pressing the beautiful frigate to the
utmost limit of her endurance.
And, oh, what a joyous, exhilarating sensation it was to feel the ship
alive once more, as it were, heeling steeply over to the shrill piping
of the strong salt breeze, bounding from wave to wave, plunging her
sharp stem deep into the heart of each oncoming surge, and cleaving its
indigo crest asunder in a perfect storm of sparkling foam above which
played a miniature rainbow, after being compelled for weeks to moderate
our paces to those of the sluggish merchantmen!
Our shift of helm brought that portion of the convoy, in the midst of
which the big brigantine was pursuing her nefarious trade, square upon
our weather-beam, but as we were now going off practically at right
angles to the course steered by the convoy, and as both they and we were
sailing at a good rate, our relative positions very quickly altered; and
as the brigantine had not yet seen fit to haul out from among the
merchantmen, we were beginning to hope that she was too busily employed
to notice our movements, and that, before she did so and took the alarm,
we should gain the weather-gage of her. But no, they were not going to
be quite so easily caught as all that! It happened, however, that at
the precise moment when we hauled out from the main body she had run
alongside a large transport, carrying troops out to the West Indies; and
the officers on board her, having got timely notice of what was
happening, had prepared for her visit by turning up the soldiers, some
five hundred in number, serving out ball cartridge to them, and causing
them to crouch low behind the bulwarks. Then, just as the brigantine
ranged up alongside to board, the soldiers at a blast from the bugle had
poured in a fire of musketry that had literally swept her crowded decks
and filled them with killed and wounded, causing her to haul off in a
tremendous hurry, the soldiers continuing to gall her until she
contrived to escape by hauling her wind and interposing some of the
other ships between herself and the transport. But, even as it was,
when at length she hauled out clear of the convoy, and proceeded to make
sail, she was a good three miles to windward of us, though about three
points abaft the beam.
Of course we heard faintly the rattling crash of the musketry volleys,
and were thus able to make a pretty shrewd guess as to what was
happening, but it was not until the brigantine had cleared the convoy,
and began to make sail, that we could form any idea of the extent to
which she had been punished by the soldiers. For these picarooning
craft usually go as heavily manned, in proportion to their tonnage, as a
man-of-war, and are generally able to make sail quite as smartly. But
now sail was made as slowly aboard her as though she had been a
short-handed merchantman, seven hands only--for I counted them through
my glass--going aloft to shake out the reefs from her topsail, and to
loose her topgallantsail and royal, while two more appeared to be as
many as could be spared to lay out and loose her standing and
flying-jibs. But when at length she was under all plain sail, like
ourselves, we saw that we should have our work cut out to catch her, for
she developed a most extraordinary turn of speed, although the strong
breeze and heavy sea were all in our favour.
By the time that she had got the reefs out of her immense mainsail, and
had set an enormous gaff-topsail above it, we had drawn so far ahead of
her as to bring her a couple of points upon our weather quarter,
whereupon we tacked, the advantage gained being solely due, I imagined,
to the slowness of her crew in making sail. When we were round, and
full upon the other tack, she was still quite three miles distant, and
bore about a point on our lee-bow; but of course she very soon drew out
athwart our hawse, and now everything seemed to depend upon which was
the more weatherly craft of the two. Seen from the fore-topmast
crosstrees--to which I ascended for the purpose of getting a good look
at her--she appeared to be one of those immensely beamy, shallow craft,
copied from the slavers; and those vessels, I knew, although they
generally sailed like witches, were often anything but weatherly. Yet I
had heard of vessels thus modelled for the sake of securing speed, and
fitted with a very deep keel to ensure weatherliness, where light
draught of water was not a consideration; and it remained to be seen
whether the brigantine was a craft of this class.
Now that all her canvas was at length set, the heavy loss of men that
she had sustained was no very serious disadvantage to her; for with one
good man to steer her, she would sail as well with a dozen hands as with
a hundred on deck, and there could be no doubt that she was going very
fast through the water. The point now was whether, as we converged
toward each other--as we were now doing, the two craft being on opposite
tacks--we could persuade her, by means of our bow guns, to give in, and
so save us the time that would be consumed in a long stern-chase.
Mr Purvis, the gunner, believed that we could, and, having obtained
permission from the Captain to try his hand, soon proved himself right
by shooting away the chase's fore-topgallant-mast, when the loss of
topgallantsail, royal, and flying-jib so far reduced her speed that it
quickly became evident she must either strike or run the gauntlet of our
entire broadside. She wisely chose the former alternative; and twenty
minutes later she was hove-to, with her topsail aback, on the _Europa's_
lee quarter.