II

“I don't know where I was born--for, as I daresay Randle has told you,

I was only five years of age when I was picked up at sea in a boat,

the only other occupant of which was a Swedish seaman. The vessel which

rescued us was one of the transports used for conveying convicts to New

South Wales, and was named the _Britannia_, but when she sighted the

boat she was on a voyage to Tahiti in the Society Islands. I imagine

this was sometime about 1805, so I must now be about seventy years of

age.

“The Swedish sailor told the captain of the _Britannia_ that he and I

were the only survivors of a party of six--among whom were my father and

mother--belonging to a small London barque named the _Winifred_, She was

employed in the trade between China and Valparaiso, and my father was

owner as well as captain. On the voyage from Canton, and when within

fifty miles of Tahiti, and in sight of land, she took fire, and the

Chinese crew, when they saw that there was no hope of the ship being

saved, seized the longboat, which had been prepared, and was well

provisioned, and made off, although the cowardly creatures knew that the

second boat was barely seaworthy. My father--whose name the Swede did

not know--implored them to return, and at least take my mother and

myself and an officer to navigate their boat to land. But they refused

to listen to his pleadings, and rowed off. The second boat was hurriedly

provisioned by my father and his officers, and they, with my mother and

myself and the Swede--all the Europeans on board--left the burning ship

at sundown. A course was steered for the eastern shore of Tahiti, which,

although the wind was right ahead, we hoped to reach on the evening of

the following day. But within a few hours after leaving the barque the

trade wind died away, and fierce, heavy squalls burst from the westward

upon the boat, which was only kept afloat by constant bailing. About

dawn the sea had become so dangerous, and the wind had so increased in

violence, that an attempt was made to put out a sea-anchor. Whilst this

was being done a heavy sea struck the boat and capsized her. The night

was pitchy dark, and when the Swede--who was a good swimmer--came to

the surface he could neither see nor hear any of the others, though he

shouted loudly. But at the same moment, as his foot touched the line

to which the sea anchor was bent, he heard the mate's voice calling for

assistance.

“'I have the child,' he cried. 'Be quick, for I'm done.'

“In another minute the brave fellow had taken me from him; then the poor

mate sank, never to rise again. Whether I was alive or dead my rescuer

could not tell, but being a man of great physical strength, he not only

kept me above water with one hand, but succeeded in reaching first the

sea-anchor-four oars lashed together--and then the boat, which had been

righted by another sea.

“How this brave man kept me alive in such a terrible situation I do not

know. By sunrise the wind had died away, the sea had gone down, and he

was able to free the boat of water. In the stern-sheet locker he found

one single tin of preserved potatoes, which had been jammed into a

corner when the boat capsized--all the rest of the provisions, with the

water-breakers as well, were lost. On this tin of potatoes we lived--so

he told the master of the _Britannia_--for five days, constantly in

sight of the land around which we were drifting, sometimes coming

to within a distance of thirty miles of it. All this time, by God's

providence, we had frequent heavy rain squalls, and the potato tin,

which was about eighteen inches square, and was perfectly water-tight,

proved our salvation, for the potatoes were so very salt that we would

have perished of thirst had we been unable to save water. Ohlsen cut

down one of his high sea-boots, and into this he would put two handfuls

of the dried potatoes, and then fill it up with water. It made a good

sustaining food after it had been softened by the water and kneaded into

a pulp.

“An hour before dawn, on the sixth day, Ohlsen, who was lying on the

bottom boards of the boat, was awakened by hearing me crying for my

mother. The poor fellow, who had stripped off his woollen shirt to

protect my little body from the cold, at once sat up and tried to

comfort me. The sea was as smooth as glass, and only a light air was

blowing. Drawing me to his bare chest--for I was chilled with the keen

morning air--he was about to lie down again, when he heard the creaking

of blocks and then a voice say, 'Ay, ay, sir!' and there, quite near us,

was a large ship! In a moment he sprang to his feet, and hailed with all

his strength; he was at once answered, the ship was brought to the wind,

a boat lowered, and in less than a quarter of an hour we were on board

the _Britannia_.

“On that dear old ship I remained for five years or more, for the

captain had his wife on board, and although she had two young children

of her own, she cared for and loved me as if I had been her own

daughter. Most of this time was spent among the Pacific Islands, and

then there came to me another tragedy, of one of which I have a most

vivid remembrance, for I was quite eleven years old at the time.

“The _Britannia_, like many South Seamen of those times, was a letter of

marque, and carried nine guns, for although we were, I think, at peace

with Spain, we were at war with France, and there were plenty of French

privateers cruising on the South American coast, with whom our ships

were frequently engaged. But none had ever been seen so far eastward

as the Galapagos Islands, and so we one day sailed without fear into a

small bay on the north-west side of Charles Island to wood and water.

“On the following morning the captain, whose name was Rossiter, ordered

my old friend Ohlsen, who was now gunner on the _Britannia_, to take

four hands and endeavour to capture some of the huge land tortoises

which abound on the islands of the group. I was allowed to go with them.

Little did I think I should never again see his kindly face when I took

my seat in the boat and was rowed ashore. Besides Ohlsen and myself,

there were two English seamen, a negro named King and a Tahitian native.

The youngest of the English sailors was named Robert Eury; he was about

twenty-two years of age, and a great favourite of the captain who knew

his family in Dorset, England.

“We hauled the boat up on a small sandy beach, and then started off into

the country, and by noon we had caught three large tortoises which we

found feeding on cactus plants. Then, as we were resting and eating, we

suddenly heard the report of a heavy gun, and then another and another.

We clambered up the side of a rugged hill, from the summit of which we

could see the harbour, a mile distant, and there was the _Britannia_

lying at anchor, and being attacked by two vessels! As we watched the

fight we saw one of the strange ships, which were both under sail, fire

a broadside at our vessel, and the second, putting about, did the same.

These two broadsides, we afterwards heard, were terribly disastrous,

for the captain and three men were killed, and nine wounded. The crew,

however, under the mate, still continued to work her guns with the

utmost bravery and refused to surrender. Then a lucky shot from one

of her 9-pounders disabled the rudder of the largest Frenchmen, which,

fearing to anchor so near to such a determined enemy, at once lowered

her boats and began to tow out, followed by her consort. At the entrance

to the bay, however, the smaller of the two again brought-to and began

firing at our poor ship with a 24-pounder, or other long-range gun, and

every shot struck. It was then that the mate and his crew, enraged at

the death of the captain, and finding that the ship was likely to be

pounded to pieces, determined to get under weigh and come to close

quarters with the enemy, for the _Britannia_ was a wonderfully fast

ship, and carried a crew of fifty-seven men. But first of all he sent

ashore Mrs. Rossiter, her two children, a coloured steward, and all the

money and other valuables in case he should be worsted. His name was

Skinner, and he was a man of the most undaunted resolution, and had at

one time commanded a London privateer called the _Lucy_, which had

made so many captures that Skinner was quite a famous man. But his

intemperate habits caused him to lose his command, and he had had

to ship on the _Britannia_ as chief mate. He was, however, a great

favourite with the men, who now urged him to lead them on and avenge the

loss of the captain; so the moment the boat returned from landing Mrs.

Rossiter he slipped his cable, and stood out to meet the enemy.

“We, from the hill, watched all this with the greatest interest and

excitement, and then Ohlsen turned to the others and said, 'Let us get

back to the boat at once. The captain has got under weigh to chase those

fellows, and we should be with him.'

“So we descended to the beach, where we met the poor lady and her

children, and heard that her husband was dead. She begged Ohlsen not

to leave her, but he said his duty lay with his shipmates; then

she besought him to at least leave Robert Eury with her, as she was

terrified at the idea of having to spend the night on such a wild island

with no one but the coloured steward to protect her and her children.

At this time--although we could not see them--we knew the ships were

heavily engaged, for the roar of the cannon was continuous. So, much to

his anger, young Eury was bidden to remain with the captain's wife,

her son aged twelve, her daughter Ann, who was three years younger, the

coloured steward, and myself. Then, bidding us goodbye, Ohlsen and his

three men went off in the boat, and were soon out of sight.

“Young as he was, Robert Eury had good sense and judgment. He was angry

at Mr. Skinner venturing out to attack such well-armed vessels with

our poor 9-pounders, and although he had been most anxious to join

his shipmates, he was, he afterwards told me, pretty sure that the

_Britannia_ would have to strike or be sunk. The first thing he did,

however, was to make all of our party comfortable. At the head of the

bay there was an empty house, which had been built by the crews of the

whaleships frequenting the Galapagos as a sort of rest-house for the men

sent to catch tortoises. To this place he took us, and set the steward

to work to get us something to eat, for Mr. Skinner had sent provisions

and wine ashore. Then he took the ship's money, which amounted to about

thirteen hundred pounds, and buried it a little distance away from the

house. I helped him, and when the bags were safely covered up he turned

to me with a smile lighting up his brown face.

“'There, Molly. That's done, and if Mr. Skinner has to strike, and the

Frenchmen come here, they'll get nothing but ourselves.'

“By this time it was well on towards the afternoon, and we only heard

a cannon shot now and then. Then the sound of the firing ceased

altogether. We got back to the house and waited--we knew not for what.

Poor Mrs. Rossiter, who was a very big, stout woman, had sobbed herself

into a state of exhaustion, but she tried to brace herself up when she

saw us, and when Robert Eury told her that he had buried the money, she

thanked him.

“'Try and save it for my children, Robert I fear I shall not be long

with them. And if I am taken away suddenly I want you to bear witness

that it was my husband's wish, and is mine now, that Mary here is to

share alike with my son Fred and my daughter Ann. Would to God I had

means here to write.'

“Robert tried to comfort her with the assurance that all would be well,

when as he spoke we saw a sight at which I, girl of twelve as I was,

was struck with terror--the two French ships appeared round the headland

with the _Britannia_ following with French colours at her peak. The

three came in together very slowly, and then dropped anchor within a

cable's length of the beach. The captain's wife looked at them wildly

for a moment, and then fell forward on her face. She died that night.

“The two French captains treated us very kindly, and they told Robert,

who spoke French well, that Mr. Skinner had made a most determined

attempt to board the larger of the two vessels, but was killed by a

musket-shot, and that only after thirty of the _Britannia's_ crew had

been killed and wounded, and the ship herself was but little more than a

wreck, did Ohlsen, who was himself terribly wounded by a splinter in

the side, haul down his flag. Then the elder of the two Frenchmen asked

Robert which was the child named 'Marie.'

“'This is the child, sir,' said Eury, pointing to me.

“'Then let her come with me and see the gunner of our prize,' said he;

'he is dying, and has asked to see her.'

“I was taken on board the Britannia, over her bloodstained decks, and

into the main cabin, where poor Ohlsen was lying breathing his last. His

face lit up when he saw me, and he drew me to his bosom just as he had

done years before in the open boat off Tahiti. I stayed with him till

the last, then one of the French privateer officers led me away.

“In the morning Mrs. Rossiter was buried; the French captains allowing

some of the surviving members of the crew of the _Britannia_ to carry

her body to her grave. There was a young Spanish woman--the wife of the

older captain--on board the larger of the privateers, and she took care

of us three children. I cannot remember her name, but I do remember that

she was a very beautiful woman and very kind to us, and told us through

an interpreter that we should be well cared for, and some day go home to

England; and when she learned my own particular story she took me in her

arms, kissed, and made much of me.

“About noon the crew of the _Britannia_ were ranged on deck, and the

elder of the two French captains called on Robert Eury to step out.

“'This man here,' he said in English, indicating the coloured steward,

tells me that you have buried some money belonging to the prize. Where

is it?'

“'I cannot tell you,' replied Robert; 'the captain's wife told me it

belonged to her children and to the little girl Mary.'

“The Frenchman laughed. 'It belongs to us now; it is prize money, my

good boy.'

“Eury looked at him steadily, but made no answer.

“' Come,' said the captain impatiently, 'where is it?'

“'I cannot tell you.'

“The younger of the captains laughed savagely, and stepped up to him,

pistol in hand.

“'I give you ten seconds to tell.'

“'Five will do, monsieur,' replied Robert, in French, 'and then you will

be losing five seconds of your time. I shall not tell you. But I should

like to say goodbye to my dead captain's children.'

“'The young Frenchmen's face purpled with fury. 'Very well then, you

fool!' and he raised his pistol to murder the young man, when the older

captain seized his arm.

“'Shame, Pellatier, shame! Would you kill such a brave man in cold

blood? Let us be satisfied with getting such a good ship. Surely you

would not shoot him for the sake of a few hundred dollars?'

“'There may be thousands. How can we tell?' replied Pellatier.

“Robert laughed, and then raised his hand in salute to the elder

captain.

“'Captain Pellatier is right, sir. Madame Melville told me that there

were thirteen hundred pounds in the bags which I have buried. And on

certain conditions I will tell you where to find it.'

“'Name them.'

“'The money is fair prize money. That I admit. But you will never see

it, unless you agree to my conditions, and pledge me your word of honour

to observe them honourably. I am not afraid to die, gentlemen.'

“'You are a bold fellow, and ought to have been a Frenchman--but be

quick, name the conditions.'

“'Half of the money to be given to these orphan children, whose pitiable

condition should appeal to you. And promise me on your honour as men

that you will land them at Valparaiso, or some other civilised place,

from where they may reach England. If you will not make this promise,

you can shoot me now.'

“'And what of yourself?' said Pellatier, who was a little dark man

with very ugly monkey-like features; 'you would be the guardian of this

money, no doubt, my clever fellow.'

“The insulting manner in which he spoke exasperated Eury beyond

endurance, and he made as if he would strike the man; but he stopped

suddenly, and looking contemptuously at the Frenchman uttered the one

word--

“'_Babouin!_'

“It nearly cost him his life, for Pellatier, stung to fury by the loud

laughter of his fellow-captain, again levelled his pistol at the young

man, and again the older captain seized his arm.

“'By Heaven, you shall not harm him!' he cried, amid a murmur of

applause from the crew. Then addressing Eury he said. I give you my

promise. The children and yourself are under my protection, and when we

reach Valparaiso I will put you all on shore.' Then he ordered one of

his officers to escort Robert ashore and get the money.

“Eury thanked him quietly, and then he turned to Pellatier, and said he

was sorry he used an offensive word to him; but Pellatier received his

apology with a scowl, and turned away. In half an hour Eury returned

with the officer, carrying the money. It was counted and divided, and

it was easy to see that Dupuis, the elder captain, was very pleased

when the young man asked him to take charge of the half of the money

belonging to the Rossiter children and myself.

“The three ships sailed in company for South America a week later. I

remained on board the _Britannia_ together with Robert Eury and six

others of her original crew, the Rossiter children being taken by

the Spanish lady on board the larger of the privateers, the second

lieutenant of which, with about twenty men, were drafted to the prize.

After keeping in close company for four or five days we lost sight of

the privateers, much to the annoyance of our captain, who was a very

indifferent navigator, as he soon showed by altering his course to E. by

S. so as to pick up the coast of South America as soon as possible.

This was a most fortunate thing for us, for at daylight on the following

morning two sail were seen, not five miles distant, and to our intense

delight proved to be English letters of marque--the barque _Centurion_

of Bristol and the barque _Gratitude_ of London. They at once closed in

upon and engaged us, and although the Frenchmen made a good fight,

they had to strike after a quarter of an hour's engagement, for the

_Centurion_ was a very heavily armed ship.

“Her captain was a very old man named Richard Glass. He came on board

the _Britannia_ and spoke very good-humouredly to the French lieutenant,

for on neither side had any one been killed, and he saw that the

_Britannia_ was a fine ship. He told the Frenchmen to take the longboat,

and as much provisions and water as they liked, and make for the coast,

which was less than seventy miles distant. This was soon done, and

our former captors parted from us very good friends, every one of

them coming up and shaking hands with Robert Eury and calling him _bon

camarade_.

“Captain Glass put his own chief officer in charge of the _Britannia_

(with Robert as his mate) and ordered him to proceed to Port Jackson and

await the arrival there of the _Centurion_ and her consort. We arrived

at our destination safely, and as soon as my story was known many kind

people wanted to adopt me; but the agent of the _Britannia_ took me

to his own home, where I lived for many happy years as a member of his

family. Robert Eury was then appointed mate of a vessel in the China

trade, but I saw him every year. Then when I was seventeen years of age

he asked me to marry him, and I did so gladly, for he was always present

in my thoughts when he was away, and I knew he loved me.”