IN WHICH IT IS PROVED THAT SAILORS HAVE VERY CORRECT IDEAS AS TO
METEMPSYCHOSIS.
The day after my return to Deal I again embarked with Bramble and three
others, to follow up our vocation. The second day we were abreast of
the Ram Head, when the men in another pilot boat, which had come out of
Plymouth and was close to us, waved their hats and kept away to speak to
us. We hove-to for them.
"Have you heard the news?" cried one of the men.
"No."
"Lord Nelson has beat the French and Spanish fleet."
"Glad to hear it--huzza!"
"Lord Nelson's killed."
"Lord Nelson's killed!!" The intelligence was repeated from mouth to
mouth, and then every voice was hushed; the other boat hauled her wind
without further communication, nor did we at the time think of asking
for any more. The shock which was given to the whole country was
equally felt by those who were seeking their bread in a small boat, and
for some little while we steered our course in silence.
"What d'ye say, my lads," said Bramble, who first broke silence; "shall
we haul up for Cawsand, and get a paper? I shan't be content till I
know the whole history."
This was consented to unanimously; no one thought of piloting vessels
for the moment, and earning food for their families. When the country
awarded a public funeral to our naval hero, it did not pay him a more
sincere tribute than was done in this instance by five pilots in a
galley. At Cawsand we obtained the newspaper, and after a few pots of
beer, we again made sail for the mouth of the Channel. It hardly need
be observed, that the account of this winding-up, as it proved, of our
naval triumphs, with the death of Nelson, was the subject of
conversation for more than one day. On the third, we were all
separated, having fallen in with many wind-bound vessels who required
our services. The one I took charge of was a West Indiaman, deeply
laden with rum and sugar, one of a convoy which were beating about in
the Chops of the Channel. As we were standing out from the English
coast, the captain and one of the passengers were at the taffrail close
to me.
"What do you think of the weather, pilot?" said the captain.
"I think we shall have a change of wind, and dirty weather before twelve
hours are over our heads," replied I.
"Well," said he, "that's my opinion; there is a cloud rising in the
south-west; and, look, there are some Mother Carey's chickens dipping in
the water astern."
"Where?" said the passenger, a curly-headed Creole, about twenty years
old.
"Those small birds," replied the captain, walking forward. The
passenger went down below, and soon returned with his double-barrelled
fowling-piece.
"I have long wished to shoot one of those birds," said he; "and now they
are so near, I think I may get a shot."
He raised his piece several times without firing, when the captain came
aft, and perceiving his intention, caught his arm as he was about to
level again.
"I beg your pardon, Mr Higgins, but I really must request that you will
not fire at those birds."
"Why not?"
"Because I cannot permit it."
"But what's to hinder me?" replied the young man, colouring up; "they
are not in your manifest, I presume."
"No, sir, they are not; but I tell you frankly, that I would not kill
one for a hundred pounds. Nay, I would as soon murder one of my
fellow-creatures."
"Well, that may be your feeling, but it's not mine."
"Nevertheless, sir, as it is, to say the least of it, very unlucky, you
will oblige me by yielding to my request."
"Nonsense!--just to humour your superstitious feeling."
"We are not in port yet, Mr Higgins; and I must insist upon it you do
not fire. You have taken my gunpowder, and I cannot allow it to be used
in that way."
During this altercation I observed that many of the sailors had come
aft, and, although they said nothing, were evidently of the same opinion
as the captain. I was aware that there was a superstitious feeling
among the seamen relative to these birds, but I had never seen it so
strongly exemplified before.
The mate gave a wink to the captain, behind the passenger's back, and
made a motion to him to go forward, which the captain did.
The passenger again raised his gun, when it was seized by two of the
seamen.
"You must not fire at these birds, sir!" said one of them.
"Why, you scoundrel?--I'll give you the contents of both barrels if you
don't leave my gun alone."
"No, you won't--you're not among niggers now, master," replied the
seaman; "and as you have threatened to shoot me, I must take the gun
from you."
A scuffle ensued, during which both barrels were discharged in the air,
and the gun taken from Mr Higgins, who was boiling with rage: the gun
was handed forward, and I saw it no more. Mr Higgins, in state of
great excitement, went down into the cabin.
The captain then came aft to me, when I observed that I had no idea that
seamen were so very particular on that point; and I thought that they
had gone too far.
"You may think so, pilot," replied he, "but when I tell you that I fully
believe that these birds are as good as ourselves, you will not be
surprised--"
"How do you mean, as good as ourselves?"
"I believe that they _were_ every one sailors like ourselves in former
times; they are now the sailors' friends, come to warn us of the
approaching storm, and I can tell you a circumstance which occurred in
the West Indies, which fully proves to me that they are not wantonly
killed without a judgment upon those who do so. I never believed it
myself till then; but old Mason, who is now on board, was one of the
seamen of the vessel in which the circumstance happened."
"Indeed!" replied I, "I should like to hear it."
"I can't tell you now," said he; "I must go down and satisfy that puppy
Creole, whose sugars are on board; he will otherwise make such a row
between me and the owners, that I may lose the command of the vessel.
And yet, would you imagine it? although he will not credit what I tell
him about Mother Carey's chickens, the foolish young man firmly believes
in the Obi."
I did not think one superstition more ridiculous than the other, but
still, as I always found that it was useless to argue such points, I
said nothing, and the captain went down into the cabin to pacify. Mr
Higgins.
It was late in the first watch, and when the passengers had retired to
bed, that the captain came on deck. "Well," said he, "I told Mr
Higgins my story, and as there was a bit of Obi nonsense in it, he
believed it, and he has not only made friends, but thanked me for not
having allowed him to shoot the birds; and now I'll tell you the real
story:--
"A schooner was coming down from the Virgin Isles with sugar and
passengers to Antigua, where I was lying with my ship. She had a fine
young fellow of the name of Shedden on board; and, besides other
passengers, there was an old black woman, who, where she resided, had
always been considered as an Obi woman. I saw her afterwards; and you
never beheld such a complication of wrinkles as she was, from her
forehead to her feet, and her woolly head was as white as snow. They
were becalmed as soon as they were clear of the islands; and, as it
happened, some Mother Carey's chickens were flying about the stern.
Shedden must needs get at his gun to shoot them. The old black woman
sat near the taffrail; she saw him with his gun, but she said nothing.
At last he fired, and killed three of them.
"`There are three down!' cried out some of the other passengers.
"`How many?' said the old woman, raising her head; `_three_! Then count
the sharks which are coming up.'
"`Count the sharks, mother! why count them? There's plenty of them,'
replied Shedden, laughing.
"`I tell you that there will be but three sent,' replied the old woman
who then sunk down her head and said no more.
"Well, the negroes who were passengers on board, most of them Mr
Shedden's slaves, look very blank, for they knew that old Etau never
spoke without reason. In about ten minutes afterwards, three large
sharks swam up to the vessel, with their fins above water.
"`There's the three sharks, sure enough!' said the passengers.
"`Are they come?' said Etau, raising her head.
"`Yes, moder, dere dey be--very large shark,' replied one of the
negroes.
"`Then three are doomed,' said the old woman, `and here we stay, and the
waves shall not run, nor the wind blow, till the three sharks have their
food. I say three are doomed!'
"The passengers were more or less alarmed with this prophecy of old
Etau's, according as they put faith in her; however, they all went to
bed quite well, and the next morning they got up the same. Still there
was not a breath of wind, the whole sea was as smooth as glass, and the
vessel laid where she was the night before, in about six fathoms water,
about a mile from the reef, and you could see the coral rocks beneath
her bottom as plain as if they were high and dry; and what alarmed them
the next morning was that the three large sharks were still slowly
swimming round and round the schooner. All that day it remained a dead
calm, and the heat was dreadful, although the awnings were spread.
Night came on, and the people, becoming more frightened, questioned old
Etau, but all the answer she gave was, `_Three_ are doomed!'
"The passengers and crew were now terrified out of their wits, and they
all went to bed with very melancholy forebodings, for the elements
appeared as if they were arrested till the penalty was paid. For, you
observe, pilot, there is always a light breeze as regular as the sun
rises and goes down; but now the breezes only appeared to skirt the
land, and when they came from the offing invariably stopped two or three
miles from the schooner. It was about midnight that there was a stir in
the cabin, and it appeared that Mr Shedden had the yellow fever, and
shortly afterwards another white man, a sailor belonging to the
schooner, then one of Mr Shedden's slaves. Well, there the fever
stopped,--no one else was taken ill,--the usual remedies were applied,
but before morning they were all three delirious. At sunrise it was
still calm, and continued so till sunset; and all the day the passengers
were annoyed by the back fins of the three sharks, which continued to
swim about. Again they went to bed, and just before one o'clock in the
morning Mr Shedden, in his delirium, got out of his bed, and, rushing
on the deck, jumped overboard before any one could prevent him; and old
Etau, who never left where she sat, was heard to say, `_One_!' and the
bell was struck _one_ by the sea man forward, who did not know what had
happened. Morning came on again, and there were but two sharks to be
seen. About noon the other white man died, and he was thrown overboard;
and as one shark seized his body and swam away, old Etau cried out,
`_Two_!' An hour afterwards the negro died, and was thrown overboard
and carried away by the third shark, and old Etau cried out, `_Three_!
the price is paid!'
"Well, every one crowded round the old woman to hear what she would say,
and they asked her if all was over, and whether they should have any
wind? and her reply was, `When the three birds come from the sea to
replace those which were killed.' For you see, pilot, if one of these
birds is killed, it is certain that some one of the crew must die and be
thrown overboard to become a Mother Carey chicken, and replace the one
that has been destroyed. Well, after a time, although we never saw them
rise, three Mother Carey's chickens were seen dipping and flying about
astern of the schooner; and they told old Etau, who said, `You'll have
wind and plenty--and plenty of waves to make up for the calm;' and so
they had, sure enough, for it came on almost a hurricane, and the
schooner scudded before it under bare poles until she arrived at
Antigua, with her bulwarks washed away, and a complete wreck. I was
there at the time, and old Mason, who was on board, told me the story,
and asked me to take him, as he would not remain on board of the
schooner. And now I leave you to judge, after knowing this to be a
fact, whether I was not right in preventing Mr Higgins from shooting
the Mother Carey chickens?"
"Why, yes," replied I, "with such a _fact_ before my eyes, I should have
done the same."
Mr Higgins not venturing to kill any of these receptacles for the souls
of departed seamen, we arrived safely at the Downs, where I gave up
charge to a river pilot, for the other vessels which Bramble and our
companions had taken charge of were all bound to the Downs, and arrived
at nearly the same time that I did, and we had agreed to embark again in
the galley, and run out in quest of the remainder of the convoy. This
we did on the following day, much to the vexation of Bessy, who declared
we only came on shore to be off again. I ought to observe that Bessy
and I had become much more intimate since the explanation which had
taken place; and although it never entered my head that I should ever
feel towards her more than as a brother to a sister, I was pleased and
soothed with the touching proofs of kindness and commiseration which she
took every opportunity of showing towards me.