Schooner Price.--Fourth Voyage.
The Price being now ready for sea, about the first of August we got
under weigh and proceeded on our voyage towards Old Providence, St.
Andreas, Corn Island and the Main. We made our passage to Old Providence
in seventeen days, where we remained about three days bartering off
goods in our usual manner. We then sailed for St. Andreas. On the
passage we, in a squall, carried away the head of the schooner's
main-mast, above the eyes of the shrouds. On our arrival at that port I
repaired the mast-head by cutting off five or six feet, and forming a
new one. This altered the appearance of the vessel very much, when
viewed from a distance. We remained some time at St. Andreas, selling
goods, collecting debts, taking in all the cotton and other freight we
could procure. Here I took on board a captain and crew belonging to
Jamaica, whose schooner had been upset in a squall and lost near this
island. I agreed to carry them to the Main, where they expected to get
on board of some of their own country vessels. We got under weigh and
sailed for Corn Island with a light breeze. When we arrived within seven
or eight miles of Great Corn Island the wind died away to a dead calm,
and we lay drifting at the mercy of the sea. I was in great haste to
get on shore at the island, as I had ordered Captain Teft, who commanded
the sloop Traverse, to meet me there in the Price on the tenth of
September, which time had expired some days before. Fearing he would be
discouraged by waiting, and sail for some other port, which would cause
a great delay in our meeting, and there being no signs of a wind that
would carry the Price into the harbor that night, I was advised to hoist
out the new boat which we carried out for Captain Mitchell; having a
double boat's crew with the Englishmen, we could man her with six oars
and soon row in. The boat was accordingly hoisted out and manned, and we
proceeded toward the shore. It being a star-light evening, and the
harbor having some rocks and stones on the bottom, I seated myself on
the taffrail of the boat, which raised my head some two feet above the
heads of the crew, and enabled me to see any dangerous rocks, and steer
clear of them, it being what seamen call a bright bottom. I had on my
head a large brimmed white Panama hat, of course a good mark to shoot
at. A few days previous to my leaving Corn Island, on my last voyage, it
was currently reported there that the United States man-of-war Schooner
Fire Brand was cruising in these seas. We approached the harbor about
nine o'clock in the evening. As we came near the shore we were hailed by
one of the gang who were there, saying, "What boat is that?" My schooner
always carried canoes instead of boats, which we found much better to
land in the surf, and for that reason I had abandoned the use of the
latter in this trade, for the last three years, and all the inhabitants
of that island knew it. My boat being long, and much resembling what is
called on board of a man-of-war the captain's gig, I answered, "United
States Schooner Fire Brand." They said, "pull in then." At that instant
fourteen men fired into us, the shot whistling past my head so close
that it appeared to deafen me for a moment. As soon as they hailed us, I
told the men in the boat to stop rowing, so that the questions and
answers could be distinctly heard. As soon as they had fired, a favorite
old sailor in the boat, who pulled the after oar, with his back toward
the shore, being between me and those who fired at us, spoke to me in a
very mild tone, saying, "Captain, I am wounded." I then told the crew to
pull away, they all gave way upon their oars except this man, who laid
still in the bottom of the boat; this irritated me so much, thinking
that my favorite old tar should be the first to skulk from danger, not
supposing from the mildness of his expression that he was much wounded,
I jumped from the tiller of the boat in great haste, caught him by the
collar and gave him a shake, saying, "Pull away, you skulking fellow."
You may imagine my astonishment when I found that he was a lifeless
corpse. In the meantime I heard the company on shore ramming down their
cartridges into their guns, preparing for another fire. All the time
keeping a bright look-out alongside of the boat, for fear of running
her on the rocks, I discovered that we had got into two or three feet
water, and were not more than one hundred and fifty feet from those who
were preparing to fire a second time. I ordered my men to stop rowing
and follow me, which they immediately did. I jumped overboard into the
water, my crew following me. We then made our way to our assailants,
when I found my own clerk, and Captain Tefts, of the little sloop
Traverse, who were here waiting for my arrival, Captain Mitchell, for
whom I brought the boat, and Benjamin Downs, father of a colored
apprentice boy I had then on board. In short, they were all old
acquaintances of mine. I was highly excited on the occasion. They made a
long apology by saying, that the royalists in Porto Bello had fitted out
two armed schooners to scour the coast, and that they had captured two
English vessels found trading with the Indians: that they mistook the
Price for one of them, her appearance being so much altered by the loss
of the head of her main-mast, that they supposed I had been captured by
one of these vessels and was a prisoner in the boat, and compelled to
answer their questions, as they all knew my voice, and that if they
suffered a crew to land they would all be butchered, as they had given
aid and shelter to the patriots for a long time. I landed the body of my
unfortunate man and placed it under the care of some of my friends,
procured a pilot, went on board the Price, and brought her into the
harbor the next morning. I then buried the poor sailor in as decent a
manner as the country would admit of, collecting most of the inhabitants
of the island to join the funeral procession. There being no clergymen
in the island, I read the burial service at the grave, this being my
usual custom at sea on committing dead bodies to the ocean.
[Illustration: Captain Dunham landing at Corn Island.]
I fitted out the Traverse for another cruise by giving Captain Teft a
new supply of goods, when he proceeded on a trading voyage to the Main.
I took Mr. Smith, the clerk of the store on board, and sailed for the
Lagoon, when we took on board all the goods we had there, and proceeded
to a small harbor, called Salt Creek, supposed to be a better place for
our trade. I also took a few Indians to assist in building the store,
which I landed there, with myself and crew, and erected a comfortable
building in less than four days, modeled after the houses of that
country, landed a supply of goods, and left Mr. Smith to dispose of
them, sold the Sloop Traverse, and took Captain Teft and his crew on
board. Having learned that the royal governor of Porto Bello had fitted
out one or two man-of-war schooners, which had captured two English
traders on the coast of St. Blas, where it was necessary for me to
proceed, I hired three men in addition to Captain Tefts and his little
crew, to proceed with me to that place. My schooner being armed with a
six-pound cannon, with about thirty fowling guns, plenty of cutlasses,
and some boarding pikes, we proceeded to the coast of St. Blas, where
we were advised by the Indians to put the schooner into a small river,
about two hundred feet wide, and wait a few days before we proceeded to
the River De Ablo, our port of destination. We warped the schooner into
the mouth of the river, in shoal water, where we supposed the enemy's
vessels could not come near enough to injure us, and prepared ourselves
for an encounter with their boats if they sent them to attack us, by
making cartridges of musket-balls and buck-shot, put up in bags of six
pounds each, in addition to round balls and cannister-shot. I likewise
supplied about thirty Indians with ammunition, who promised to come to
my assistance if the enemy disturbed me. I divided my men into two
watches, and kept a good look-out four days and nights. About the fifth
night we heard the sound of a horn a number of times; about 12 o'clock
all hands were called to quarters. We soon discovered, however, that the
sound proceeded from a canoe, which when we had let it approach within
hail, we found to contain the crew of an English trader, who had been
captured by a royal privateer and carried into Porto Bello, where they
had escaped from their prison, stolen a canoe, and then paddled to this
place, a distance of about sixty miles, without food. Soon after, we
learned from the Indians that the cruisers had left the coast. We then
proceeded to the River De Ablo, where I found my traders waiting my
arrival. They brought their returns, goods, &c. on board, and a
settlement was made in a satisfactory manner on both sides in less than
one hour. I purchased a few thousand cocoa-nuts and some fustic, which I
took on board, and sailed for Cape Gracios a Dios, touching at Corn
Island.
On my arrival at the Cape I took on board all the return cargo I could
procure, and proceeded to the Lagoon, stopping at the different harbors,
as usual. When at the Lagoon I made known my intention of leaving the
trade, when a number of sookermen assembled to bestow their farewell
benediction upon me, saying that I had traded a long time with them, and
that they were much pleased with me, and did not blame me for leaving
them, as they supposed I wanted to stop at home and mind my wife and
pickaninies (meaning children) for a time, but should never die until I
returned to that country, and would never die there, but return to my
own country, after I had visited them, and die at my own home. After
taking an affectionate leave of them all, we took our departure toward
home.
After buffeting the storms and tempests of the ocean for nearly four
years, carrying on an average, a crew of six persons, including the mate
and myself, and having lost six, viz: one by desertion, one by death on
board, one shot, and three by drowning, I thought it best to seek some
more comfortable trade in which to gain a support for myself and family,
and one less exposed to hardships, and such constant risk of health and
life. I was always compelled, while on this trading business, to sleep
on deck, my cabin being small and dark, having no windows. If I laid
down in the cabin I was soon covered with cock-roaches, musquittoes, and
fire-ants, besides being exposed to centipedes, scorpions, &c. which
terrified me so much that I dare not take lodging there while we were in
the tropical climes, although I needed shelter from the excessive rains
which visit that country from May until November. Having a good awning,
which was always spread when the vessel was anchored, we generally ate,
drank and slept on deck until we arrived in the cold latitudes, when
those insects became torpid, and cold weather compelled me to seek
shelter in the cabin. On parting with the Indians I felt distressed, and
could not avoid showing my gratitude toward them for their native
kindness, and the many evidences of friendly intent which they had shown
for me. I had often called at their hovels when out on excursions, being
fatigued and hungry, needing food and rest, when the poor Indian, having
but one plate and one old knife and fork in his house, would place them
on his little table, or some substitute for one, and cook the best meal
he could procure, making me take a seat by the table, and with a hearty
good will urging me to eat, while he, sharpening the end of a stick that
he might take the meat out of the pot with it, would sit down on the
ground-floor and eat his dinner, refusing to come to the table with me,
because he had but one set of dishes. Having but one hammock to sleep in
himself, he invariably left that for me, while he would take his
lodging on a cow-skin placed on the ground-floor.
The whole furniture of each Indian family would not cost ten dollars.
We stopped at Corn Island, collected all the return we could obtain, and
sailed for New-York, where we arrived about the first of January, 1820,
without any particular incident worth notice, discharged the cargo,
settled with my owners, and returned to Catskill, where I found my
family in the enjoyment of their usual health. I now determined to
remain at home during the winter, and enjoy some repose from the toils
of the sea, having spent but five or six weeks with my family during the
last five years.
I now entered into an agreement, in company with Mr. Apollos Cooke,
merchant, of Catskill, to open a trade from that place to the West
Indies. During the winter we purchased a cargo of lumber for that
market, intending to charter or purchase a vessel to carry it there as
soon as the navigation of the Hudson River opened.