THE GALLEY SLAVES.
The great heats were past; the climate along the Panama littoral was
bearable, and the governor decided to pay official visits to the
stations along the coast. The bishop thought the occasion favourable
for a tour of pastoral inspection, and decided to go with his
excellency. Other functionaries, with other duties to perform, hinted
to the governor's secretary or the bishop's chaplain that the official
progress would be more imposing if they were included. Thus it came to
pass that a notable company embarked on the _Santa Maria_ on a certain
cool October day.
Besides those that went aboard the galley willingly, hoping for
pleasure and profit, there were about one hundred and fifty hapless
wretches who were dragged down to the water-side in chains, and then
chained to the place they must occupy during the whole of the voyage.
Amongst these were Morgan, Jeffreys, and the three sailors from the
_Golden Boar_.
The _Santa Maria_ was about one hundred and thirty feet long and
fifteen feet beam, a galley of a somewhat broad and clumsy make. In
the fore-part was a small raised deck, with three guns, and rough
hatches underneath for the sailors, soldiers, and servitors concerned
in the working of the sails and helm, the defence and the comfort of
the dignitaries aboard. In the after-part was another raised deck of
more generous dimensions, and on it were the cabins and state-rooms
belonging to the governor, the bishop, the captain, and the gentlemen
of the retinues belonging to the great personages. Midway between the
two decks were the human engines that propelled the unwieldy craft.
Twenty-five benches ran down along the starboard side and the larboard,
and from each bench a great oar or sweep projected into the water. To
each bench were chained three luckless slaves--seventy-five down each
side, and a hundred and fifty in all. The benches were intended for
four rowers apiece, and could at a pinch accommodate five. The supply
of able-bodied prisoners was small, and the Indians refused to
undertake the work at a wage, so three men were compelled to manage
oars that were a heavy tax on the strength of four. There was a slight
compensation in this--the three had room to lie more comfortably at
night-time. Between the two lines of benches ran a narrow raised
platform, and along this two boatswains walked, whip in hand, to keep
the rowers up to their work, and to visit severely any attempt at
shirking the forced duties of their unhappy position. About a score of
the slaves were white men: there were two Englishmen besides the five
from the _Golden Boar_, the rest being Spaniards or Portuguese
convicted of some crime; but the majority of the rowers were Indians,
who on some pretext or other had been enslaved and sent in chains to
the oars.
The company were all aboard; some in satins and velvets, in glistening
armour; some in modest fustian; and as many in nothing but a dirty
waist-cloth. The guns from the castle roared out; those of the galley
spoke in answer. The trumpeters blew a fanfare; the chief boatswain
sounded his whistle; there was a simultaneous crack of two long,
cowhide whips, and the human machine in the waist of the galley began
its rhythmic work that put life and motion into the vessel.
At number three oar on the starboard side Morgan and Jeffreys tugged,
and a Spaniard sat between them. In a line with them were the three
sailors of Captain Drake's crew, and at benches numbers one and two
larboard and starboard Europeans slaved. Behind them streamed brown
lines of meek-faced Indians. In the ordering of his rowers, the
Spanish captain did not forget those whose skins were of the same hue
as his own, and he spared himself and them the degradation of toiling
and suffering side by side with the inferior race; the white men had
the fore-part of the benches to themselves. All were stripped to the
waist; that was necessary down in the stifling den: moreover the
boatswains objected to putting the whip to any back that was covered;
they liked to see the effect of the lash, and judge whether the blow
was sufficient.
The galley moved out of the harbour in stately fashion; at the peak of
the foremast floated the banner of Spain; on either side of the helm
the flags of the governor and the bishop fluttered gaily--fraternal
strips of emblazoned silk. It was a fair sight and a fair day, and
there were proud eyes watching it; but, as is too often the case, the
tinsel and show of human vain-glory enshrouded many aching hearts.
The Spaniard that sat between Morgan and Jeffreys was a powerful,
black-bearded fellow, inured to his lot by three years of slavery at
the oar. The Englishmen were also of uncommon size and strength, so
they could keep their sweep going without putting all their energies
into their stroke as some of the rowers were forced to do. Behind
them, where the Indians rowed, there was more than one stinging lash
and squeal of pain before the harbour was cleared. Morgan's cheek
flushed at the first cry, and he almost lost grip of his oar. The slip
was noted instantly, and a warning, "Steady at number three," recalled
him to his task. Jeffreys gave him a look, and the Spaniard cursed
volubly at his companion's clumsiness.
"Keep a civil tongue, Hernando," called out the boatswain; "your friend
has not had as much practice as yourself; he'll improve."
Hernando spat on the floor. "Dog! son of a dog!" he muttered. "I'll
choke 'Hernando' out of his throat. Time was when he addressed me as
'Signer,' and grovelled for favours."
"Pardon, comrade," said Johnnie.
"Granted! granted!" replied the Spaniard. "I meant no offence to you;
but you will see that if anything goes wrong at this oar, yonder
villain will visit my back with his whip. He always does so."
"I'll do my best to keep the whip from all of us," answered the
Englishman. He bent his back to the shameful work, and felt, in the
bitterness of his degradation, something less than human. The thoughts
that surged through his brain are too pitiful to be set down here.
Chained down in a filthy den, liable to be whipped like a beast of
burden, fed upon stuff that was but one remove from offal--how
horrible! And he could not forget that about a year before he had
stood in the court of his sovereign, proud, happy, praised; great men
shook him familiarly by the hand, and a winsome maiden smiled upon him.
Now he was a chained slave, doomed to work, eat, and sleep on a narrow
plank for ten long years. Ten years! could he survive ten days of the
horror and squalor and degradation?
The morning wore on. The upper decks were radiant with sunshine, cool
with fresh breezes, and gay with laughter. The hold steamed like an
oven, stank most offensively, and groaned with anguish. The rowers
began to feel the strain, and the captain ordered the broad, lateen
sails to be set on both masts. The breeze was well behind, the galley
under good way, and for half an hour or so the sweeps were ordered in,
and the slaves fed with a lump of coarse biscuit and refreshed with a
pannikin of tepid water. Morgan and Jeffreys sat and talked quietly,
and called out a cheery word to the three sailors, whose British hearts
were bursting with shame and anger.
In the heat of noon the breeze dropped, and the oars were set
vigorously to work again. His excellency wanted quicker progress to be
made, so the boatswains commenced to chant a rude song as they walked
up and down, and called on the rowers to keep time to the swing of the
tune. The fellows did their best, and some of the Spanish slaves
joined in the chorus. The song, poor as it was heartened them a
little; but the spurt did not last long and the singing ceased. The
boatswains used other means. Sometimes it was a sharp word or an angry
oath, at others a crack of the whip in the air; too often the thong
came down with a cruel cut on bare flesh, and there was a cry or an
oath from the victim and a frantic tugging at the great oar.
Thus the day wore on; long spells of rowing, short periods of rest; and
all the while the slaves grew fainter and yet fainter in their horrible
workroom, and the lash of the whips resounded the more often. Hernando
was lashed twice, for no real reason that his companions could
discover. The second blow curled across the muscle of his arm and
benumbed it for a while, and Johnnie whispered him to move in rhythm
with them, whilst he and Jeffreys did the actual rowing. The fellow
was grateful, and vowed by the Virgin never to forget the kindness.
The late afternoon brought the governor to his first place of call.
Rowing ceased; the anchor was dropped, and the slaves were given their
supper of biscuit, a scrap of meat, and a pannikin of water just
coloured with wine--this last was a special gift from the governor.
Then, wearied and aching, they curled up like tired dogs on the
benches, adjusted their chains so as to relieve themselves of as much
weight as possible, and fell asleep.