MORNING--THE FRIGATE NOT IN SIGHT--AGAIN PRISONERS--THE MATE OF THE
"VULTURE" TAKES COMMAND--ORDERS US TO DO DUTY AS SEAMEN--THE LIEUTENANT
AND CHARLEY KEPT BOUND--WE GO BELOW TO SLEEP--AWAKENED AND SEE CAPTAIN
RODERICK WITH PISTOL IN HAND APPROACHING THE LIEUTENANT AND CHARLEY--WE
SPRING UP, OVERPOWER HIM, AND RELEASE OUR FRIENDS--SUPPOSE THE CAPTAIN
TO BE MAD--A DISCUSSION AMONG THE CREW--HOPES OF RECOVERING THE SHIP--
THE "VULTURE" COMES TO AN ANCHOR--A SINKING BOAT GETS, ADRIFT--FEARFUL
DEATH OF ONE OF THE CREW--MANY OF THE SLAVES DIE--A GALE COMES ON--
DANGEROUS POSITION--ATTEMPT TO BEAT OFF THE LAND--DRIVEN TOWARDS THE
SHORE--THE SHIP AMONG THE BREAKERS--WE SET THE CAPTAIN AT LIBERTY--THE
SHIP STRIKES--WE KNOCK THE SHACKLES OFF THE SLAVES' LIMBS--THEY RUSH ON
DECK--WE FORM A RAFT AND LAND THE SURVIVORS--RETURN ON BOARD AND SUPPLY
OURSELVES WITH GUNS, AMMUNITION, AND STORES--REGAIN THE SHORE--THE
BLACKS, WITH ONE EXCEPTION, HAVE DISAPPEARED.
As the day advanced the wind decreased, and the ship closehauled was
headed up towards the coast. How far off we were I could not tell, but
Tubbs told me he should not consider that we were less than a hundred
miles, perhaps more.
"So far that's satisfactory. It is possible that the `Rover' may
overtake us," I observed.
"If she finds out the course we have steered, sir; but we had run
seventy or eighty miles at least before she was likely to discover the
trick the pirates played her. Besides, to tell you the truth, I'd
rather she didn't overtake us. The fellows on board would fight with
ropes round their necks, and they would not give in as long as a plank
held together, and then we should have to go down with them. I would
rather run the chance of getting on shore and making our escape
afterwards."
I at once agreed with him, and we made up our minds that it would be
well for us to get out of the ship without the risk of another battle.
The mate, I observed, remained on deck, issuing all the necessary
orders; the boatswain of the "Vulture" and one of the man-of-war's men,
with one of the mutineers, acting as his subordinates. He ordered Harry
and me about, treating us like the common seamen, and if we were not as
smart as he wished us to be, he sent the boatswain or the mutineer from
the "Rover" with a rope's end to start us. Tubbs at once fell into his
ordinary duty of boatswain. The mate, it appeared to me, wished to win
him over, and always spoke civilly to him, although he was not very
particular in regard to his language when he addressed us. The evening
was drawing in, we had been on deck all day. I was, of course, very
anxious to know how it fared with poor Charley, who was kept a prisoner
below. Whenever Harry or I attempted to leave the deck, the mate called
us back and told us to attend to our duty. We got some food, however,
for the cook, a good-natured black fellow, gave us some at the caboose,
or we should have starved. Still, it was much better than being shut up
in the dark hold, and, of course, we wished to avoid being sent below to
our former place of confinement. I saw some messes of soup and porridge
being cooked and carried into the cabin, and I concluded, therefore,
that Lieutenant Hallton and Charley would be fed. Harry and I agreed
that it would be wiser for us to obey the orders of the mate as long as
he thought fit to issue them.
"I shall go and lie down in the cabin," said Harry to me. "I can but be
sent up again, and I have no fancy to go and sleep among the men."
Accordingly, as soon as it grew dark, while the mate was looking another
way, we slipped into the cabin, and coiled ourselves up on the sofas we
had before occupied. Tired as I was, however, the heat and the
cockroaches and the thoughts of our dangerous position kept me awake,
although I tried hard to go to sleep. A lamp hung from the deck above,
but the part of the cabin where we were was in perfect shade. I had not
lain long when I saw the door of Captain Roderick's cabin open, and out
he stepped, looking round him as if trying to recover his scattered
senses. Presently he advanced across the cabin, when, by the light
which fell upon him, I saw that he held a pistol in his hand; what he
was about to do with it I could not tell. To my horror, he opened the
door of the cabin in which the lieutenant and Charley were confined.
Although he had looked unusually calm as the light fell on his
countenance, the moment I saw his movements I felt convinced that he had
some evil intention. Springing up, I grasped Harry by the arm, and
rushed towards the open door. I could see the lieutenant and Charley
standing upright close together, with their arms bound behind them
against the opposite bulkhead.
"Oh, oh!" exclaimed the captain, fixing his eyes on the lieutenant; "you
thought to capture me and hang me at your yard-arm; but the yarn's not
spun nor the bullet cast which is to take my life. I might order you on
deck and run you up to the yard-arm before five minutes are over; but I
intend to have the satisfaction of shooting you myself."
Lieutenant Hallton, unprincipled man as I believe he was, stood calm and
unmoved. Charley was endeavouring to draw his arms out of the ropes
which bound them. Twice Captain Roderick lowered his pistol as if he
had changed his mind, but still he went on taunting the unfortunate
officer. It would have been prudent in the latter to have held his
tongue, but instead he went on answering taunt for taunt, rather than
endeavouring to calm the rage of the pirate captain, which increased
till I feared every instant that he would pull the trigger.
Harry and I stood ready to spring upon him, but I saw that in doing so
we might run the risk of making him fire the pistol, and bring about the
very catastrophe we desired to prevent Charley in the meantime caught
sight of us. I made a sign to Harry to get out his knife. I knew that
to cut the ropes which bound my brother's hands would be the work of a
moment, and I hoped, by the suddenness of the attack we were about to
make, to keep Captain Roderick down until that object was effected. We
should then be three to one, or four to one if we saved the lieutenant's
life.
Harry understood perfectly what he was to do. One bound would carry him
to where the pirate stood. The moment came, I sprang forward, and
throwing my arms round his neck, kicked him violently behind the knees.
Although I was so much lighter, the effect was what I expected. Down he
fell, and his pistol went off, the ball grazing the lieutenant's
forehead. The lashings which held Charley were cut, and he immediately
came to my assistance, while Harry performed the same office for the
lieutenant without difficulty. The sound of the pistol would, I feared,
bring some of the crew down upon us. Fortunately at that moment a
strong breeze had struck the ship. The officers were issuing their
orders, so that we had hopes we might be undisturbed. No time, however,
was to be lost. We quickly lashed the pirate's arms and legs, and
crammed a handkerchief into his mouth. Lieutenant Hallton proposed to
throw him overboard, and then, rushing together on deck, to master the
officers, and try to recall the crew back to their duty. To the first
part of the proposal none of us agreed, but we forthwith dragged the
unhappy man back to his cot and lifted him in. He appeared to me to be
insensible. At all events, when Charley took the handkerchief out of
his mouth, he did not cry out or utter a word, although his eyes glared
at us.
"We might have put you to death," said Charley, "but you are safe if you
will remain quiet, and not attempt to summon any one to set you free."
The pirate did not reply, and I was doubtful if he understood what was
said to him. He must indeed have been surprised at finding himself
again a prisoner at the very moment he supposed that he had regained his
authority. We had now to decide what to do. We might certainly master
one or two officers, but it was a question if the men from the "Rover"
would return to their duty, and still less likely that the pirates would
yield to our authority. Lieutenant Hallton then suggested that we
should drag the pirate up on deck, and, holding a pistol to his head,
threaten to shoot him if he did not order the crew to obey us. To this
I for one strongly objected.
Charley thought that Captain Roderick was perfectly mad, and I also was
very unwilling to injure a brother of Mr Trunnion's, villain as he was.
"If he is really mad, he will not know what has happened," said Charley.
"The best thing you can do is to return on deck, and try and negotiate
yourself with the mate, who has now the command, and will probably wish
to keep it. Tell him that I am your brother, and as he has no one on
board who understands navigation, that I shall be happy to assist him in
navigating the ship; that we have no wish to inform against him and his
men if we obtain our liberty, and that all we request is that he will
set us on shore at the first place we touch at."
This seemed the only feasible plan, and Harry and I set off to try and
find Tubbs and consult him, while Charley and the lieutenant returned to
the cabin in which they had been confined. Harry and I, as agreed on,
went on deck.
Our absence had not been discovered. Slowly groping now on one side,
now on the other, we at length discovered Tubbs. Taking him by the arm,
I led him away apart from where any one was standing.
"To my mind, sir, the mate will be very much obliged to you for what you
have done. He has no wish to give up the command, I can see that; and
if you can persuade Captain Roderick--should he come to his senses--that
such is the case, we should have him on our side. I suspect, also, that
there are two or three of the `Rover's' men who are sorry for their
conduct, and would join us. The truth is, I believe, when Captain
Roderick is in his right mind, that he wishes he had a better calling,
but when the mad fit comes over him, he goes back to his bad ways."
"That may be true," I could not help remarking, "but it is no excuse for
him; he must have an evilly-disposed mind to have taken to such a
calling; he should seek for strength from Heaven to overcome his wicked
propensities. Even the worst men at times regret the harm they have
done on account of the inconvenience and suffering it has caused them,
but the next time temptation is presented they commit the same crime,
and so it goes on to the end."
It was settled, therefore, that the next day Harry and I should go
boldly up to the mate and speak to him as agreed on, while we were to
see that no one in the meantime came down to set the captain at liberty,
though, as Tubbs observed, "The mate would take very good care of that."
Soon after this a fresh watch was set, and as we were supposed to be in
the first watch, we took the opportunity, accompanied by Tubbs, of again
slipping down below. Scarcely had we stowed ourselves away out of
sight, than the mate came down and looked into the captain's cabin. As
not a word was spoken by either, we concluded that he had not discovered
the state of things; for, locking the door and taking away the key, he
returned to his own cabin, which was further forward on the opposite
side. Altogether, as must be seen, affairs were in a curious state on
board that ship. I at length dropped off to sleep. How long it was
after I closed my eyes I know not, when I heard a sound like that of a
cable running out Tubbs started up at the same moment. "Why, we have
just come to an anchor," he exclaimed. "We must have been closer in
with the land than we supposed."
Harry being awakened, we both stole quietly on deck. The crew had
furled sails, the night was perfectly calm, the stars shone brightly
overhead. Looking over the larboard side, we saw the shore, a high land
with a point running from it, off which we lay. By the ripple of the
water against the bows, I knew that a strong current was running, which
accounted for the ship having been brought up. Looking forward, I saw
that a bright light was burning at the bowsprit end, and presently it
was answered by a rocket fired from the shore, which rose high in the
air, scattering its drops as it fell. Exclamations of satisfaction
escaped the mate and several of the crew who were on deck.
"Lower the starboard quarter-boat," shouted the mate.
"She's well-nigh knocked to pieces, and can't swim," was the answer.
"Lower the larboard boat."
This was done, and several of the crew jumped into her, but most of them
as quickly hauled themselves on board again. She sank beneath their
feet, as she too had been injured by the frigate's shot. The boat
getting adrift, one of the men, before he could spring up the side, was
drifted away in her, the current of which I have spoken carrying him
rapidly astern. The longboat amidships was in a worse condition, being
riddled with shot.
"I hope that the people on shore will send off to us," observed the
mate; "it's very certain we cannot get to them until the boats are
repaired."
"They'll not do that in a hurry; for, as it happens, the carpenter and
his crew are all killed, and there is not a man on board able to do the
work," I heard Tubbs observe.
In the meantime, the cries of the poor fellow in the sinking boat
reached our ears, but it was impossible to render him any assistance.
Farther and farther he drifted at a rapid rate, until he and the boat
were lost sight of, although, we could hear his shouts every minute
becoming fainter and fainter. At last there arose a dreadful shriek,
which, although from a distance, was piercingly clear.
"Poor fellow! Jack shark has got him," said Tubbs. "There are plenty
of those creatures about here, and I was sure that it wouldn't be long
before they had hold of him."
I have not mentioned the poor slaves all this time. The wounded were
suffering dreadfully, and since they had again been sent down to the hot
slave-deck, several had died. The mate, while waiting for the expected
boat, ordered some hands below to overhaul them. Six dead bodies were
brought up, which were without ceremony thrown overboard, as if they
were so many rotten sheep, and the men reported several more not likely
to live out the night. The mate, hardened villain as he was, did not
order them to be got rid of, as was sometimes done by slavers to save
themselves trouble, and to economise the food the poor creatures might
have consumed. He became impatient when, after waiting some time, no
boat appeared. The weather, too, although so fine and calm when we
brought up, gave indications of a change. The sky was overcast, and
heavy undulations began to roll in towards the shore. Though as yet the
wind had not increased, our position was becoming dangerous, and I for
one wished that we were miles off the coast.
"If there's no harbour into which we can run, we shall be in a bad way,"
said Tubbs. "I suspect that the mate doesn't know of one, or we should
have steered in for it at once."
"What had we better do?" I asked.
"Do, sir! Why, there's nothing we can do but ask God to take care of
us. If it comes on to blow, as I believe it will, ten to one but that
the ship is driven on shore, and with the heavy surf there will be,
before many hours are over, breaking on the coast, and the sharks
waiting for us outside, there won't be many who will reach the shore
alive. The best swimmers could not help themselves, and that's all I
can say."
I was convinced of the truth of what Tubbs said. That he was right with
respect to a gale approaching was soon proved; the wind, bursting
suddenly on us, striking the ship, and, although all her sails were
furled, making her heel over before it, and at the same time the rollers
which came in from the offing increased in height, and we could hear
their roar as they broke on the shore to leeward. The ship pitched
fearfully into them, and every moment I expected to see the cable part.
Should such be the case, I was very sure that not many minutes
afterwards all on board would be struggling for their lives. I thought
of my brother and the lieutenant, and of the unhappy captain. I
intended, should the cable part, immediately to rush below and set them
all at liberty. Although the captain had so cruelly ill-treated us, I
could not reconcile it to my conscience to allow him to perish without a
chance of escaping, which he would do were he left bound hand and foot.
I told Harry what I thought of doing.
"No doubt," he said. "Should the captain escape, he would scarcely fail
to be grateful to us for saving his life; and if he is drowned
notwithstanding, we have done our duty."
The mate, who had been below, now came on deck. He evidently did not
like the look of things. Two or three times he went forward and
examined the cable, at which the ship seemed to be tugging with all her
might as she rose on the summits of the heavy foaming swells. He then
got another cable ranged to let go should the first part.
"If I were him, I'd get ready to make sail. The sky looks to me as if
the wind were coming more to the south'ard; and if so, we may chance to
stand off shore should the ship cast the right way."
"I would not hesitate to tell him so," I observed; "when his life may
depend upon it, he may perhaps take your advice, although he will not
follow that of any other man."
"At all events, I'll try it," said Tubbs; and going up to the mate, he
told him what he thought. I had very little hope, however, that the
mate would listen to him.
"You think yourself a better seaman than I am. Just go and attend to
your duty," was the answer. Not two minutes had elapsed, however,
before the mate ordered the crew to stand by the halyards. Presently he
shouted, "All hands make sail."
The boatswain went forward, axe in hand, to cut the cable. The
topsails, closely-reefed, were let fall, the fore-staysail and jib
hoisted.
"Cut!" shouted the mate.
The ship cast the right way to starboard, the helm was put to port, and
she begun to stand off from the shore.
"She'll do it, and we shall have a new lease of life," observed Tubbs
when he rejoined Harry and me; "that is to say, if the wind holds as it
is; but if not, the chances of our hauling off the shore are doubtful."
For some minutes the ship stood on with her head to the north-west, all
hands anxiously watching the sails, and casting a look every now and
then towards the dark outline of the shore, which could be distinguished
through the gloom. The current was all this time drifting us to the
northward, but it appeared to me that we were getting no farther from
the coast. Of that, however, it was difficult to judge by the rate at
which we were sailing, as although she might be moving fast through the
water, she might really be making but little way over the ground. Tubbs
several times went aft to the binnacle.
"She has fallen off two points, I'm sorry to say," he observed; "still
it is possible that we may beat off, as the wind may shift again; but I
wish that it had kept steady, and we should have done it."
Scarcely, however, had he spoken, when the sails gave a loud flap.
"No higher!" shouted the mate to the man at the helm, "or you'll have
her aback."
The helm was put up in time to prevent this danger.
On looking over the starboard side, we now saw that the land was broad
on the beam, and that we were thus standing almost parallel with the
coast, towards which it was too evident that the heavy rollers were
gradually setting us. Still it was possible, as Tubbs thought, to keep
off the shore until daylight, when the mouth of a river might be
discovered and we might run into it; or the wind might again shift, and
we should, once more, be able to stand off, and get to a safe distance
from the hungry breakers, which we could hear roaring under our lee. I
was struck by the change which had come over the crew. Generally, when
on deck together, they were shouting and swearing, and exchanging rough
jokes or laughing loudly. Now scarcely a man spoke, all stood at their
stations turning their gaze towards the shore. It was evident they were
fully aware of the dangerous position in which the ship was placed. I
asked Tubbs how long he thought the ship could be kept off the land,
standing as she was now.
"Oh, maybe for half an hour, maybe for less," he answered. "The current
is sending her along at the rate of two or three knots an hour, and we
may fall in with some headland which we are unable to weather, or we may
find ourselves standing across a wide bay which will lengthen the time
before she drives on shore."
"At all events, I will tell my brother and Mr Hallton. It will be
wrong to let them remain longer in ignorance of the danger we are in.
Perhaps we ought to set the captain at liberty."
"No, no, sir; let him stay until the last, we don't know what mad things
he will do if he comes on deck. Perhaps he will be shooting the mate or
one of us. It will be time enough to let him out of the cabin when all
chance of saving the ship is gone."
I saw at once the prudence of this, and settled to act accordingly.
Taking an opportunity, I slipped below, and found Charley and Mr
Hallton asleep. Having roused them up, "I have not got very pleasant
information to give you," I said; and I then told them that Tubbs
considered the ship would drive on shore in less than half an hour.
Mr Hallton, though supposed to be a brave man, was much more agitated
than was Charley.
"The ship cast on this abominable coast in less than half an hour!" he
exclaimed. "Why, even down here, the sound of the breakers reaches us."
"Well, Dick, if the worst comes to the worst, we must have a struggle
for life," said my brother calmly. "You stick to me, and I'll do my
best to help you. I am well accustomed to the sort of work we shall
have to go through, and I hope that we shall manage somehow or other to
get on shore." Of course, they were both unwilling to remain longer
below, and as neither the mate nor the crew were likely to interfere,
they made up their minds to come on deck with me. I had some hopes that
Mr Hallton, who was a first-rate seaman, might devise some means for
escaping. I first consulted Charley about setting the captain at
liberty, but he thought that it would not be prudent to do so until the
last moment, when it would be right to give him a chance of saving his
life with the rest of us. We soon gained the deck. Whether Charley or
the lieutenant were observed, I could not tell. I waited anxiously to
hear what opinion Mr Hallton might offer as to the state of affairs.
"If we get much nearer the shore, we must bring up, and perhaps the
anchor will hold until the wind moderates. It is the only chance we
have of saving the ship. If we were to go about now, we might miss
stays, and there is not room to weal without getting perilously close to
the breakers," he observed.
At the rate we were sailing, we must have gone over thirty or forty
miles from the point where we exchanged signals with the shore, and as
most probably the country was inhabited by a different tribe, who might
be at enmity with the white men, those of us who might reach the shore
would run a great chance of being slaughtered or carried off into
slavery. I said as much to Harry and Charley. The same idea had
occurred to them.
"It may be the case, but we may fall among friends, and we will hope for
the best," observed Charley.
Dawn was at length approaching, but there was no abatement of the gale,
while it was too clear that we were drifting nearer and nearer to the
coast. Every moment I expected to hear the mate give the word to furl
the sails and let go the anchor. I suggested to Tubbs that he should
advise him to do so.
"He would not listen to me; although he may know it is the best thing to
be done, he'll just put off doing it until it's too late," he answered.
Gradually the coast became more and more distinct, and we could make out
the white line of breakers as they burst upon it. We stood watching it
with straining eyes, the minutes turned into hours, the ship all the
time rushing through the water at a furious rate. Presently a headland
appeared on the starboard bow. It seemed impossible that we could
weather it. Still the mate issued no order except to the man at the
helm.
"Luff all you can," he shouted out; "we don't want to cast the ship away
on that point if we can help it."
In a few minutes--how many I cannot say--we saw the breakers close under
our lee, the ship was almost among them, but on she stood. Again the
land appeared to recede.
"Can there be a harbour in anywhere here?" I asked of Tubbs.
"The mate doesn't think so, or we should be running into it," was the
answer.
It was only a small bay across which we were passing. Not a quarter of
an hour afterwards another point appeared. As we had succeeded in
weathering the first, the mate evidently expected to pass this in the
same way.
Mr Hallton, convinced that we could not do so, shouted out, "Down with
the helm--shorten sail--let go the anchor--let fly everything."
"Who dares give orders on board this ship?" cried the mate.
The crew, however, were convinced that the first order was the wisest.
The tacks, sheets, and halyards were let go, the stoppers of the cable
cut, the helm put down to bring her up to the wind. She pitched into
the seas, but the anchor held. The crew now flew aloft to try and
gather in the canvas, fluttering wildly in the gale.
"In three minutes more we should have been knocking to pieces on the
rocks," observed Mr Hallton. "It is a question whether the anchor will
hold now; if it doesn't, we sha'n't be much better off."
Scarcely had he spoken when a loud report was heard. "The cable has
parted!" shouted several voices.
"Let go the last hope."
The anchor so called was let go, and although it brought the ship up in
a couple of minutes, it also parted, and the helpless ship now drifted
rapidly towards the breakers, which could be seen curling up along the
shores of the bay into which we had driven.
"Come aft," said Charley to Harry and me. "The moment the ship strikes
the masts will go, and we shall chance to be crushed as they fall."
"The time has come to set Captain Trunnion at liberty," I said.
Charley and I hurried below and burst open the door of the cabin. The
unhappy man was still sleeping, with his dog Growler at his feet. Surly
as the animal was to others, he was faithful to his master, and he
seemed to understand that we had come with no evil intentions, for
though he uttered a low bark, he did not attempt to fly at us. By the
light of the lamp we saw that the captain had no arms near him. To cut
the ropes which bound his limbs was the work of a moment.
"Captain Trunnion," I exclaimed, "we have come to warn you that the ship
will be in the midst of the breakers in the course of a minute or two.
If you wish to save your life you must come upon deck."
Not, however, until Harry and Charley had shaken him well did he wake
up. He gazed around him with a bewildered look.
"What is that you say?" he asked.
In a few sentences I told him.
"Then it is time to look out to save our lives," he said springing up,
apparently quite himself. He looked as cool and composed as he had ever
been. We were about to return on deck, when there came a fearful crash
overhead, followed by several others. The ship had struck and the masts
had all gone together by the board. Shrieks and cries arose, but many
of the voices were speedily silenced, as the sea, breaking over the
ship, washed several men from the deck into the seething cauldron into
which she had been driven. The captain, followed by Growler, sprang up
the companion ladder, and we saw no more of them. The cries of the
helpless slaves below, uniting in one fearful chorus, overwhelmed the
voices of the white crew.
"We must set these poor wretches at liberty. It would be a fearful
subject of thought if we were to leave them to perish," observed
Charley. "There is a hatch, I know, which leads from the main cabin to
the slave-deck, although it is kept closed."
"Ay, ay, sir! But we can't do it without the instruments," said Tubbs.
Hunting about, he discovered some irons used for the purpose, with which
we each supplied ourselves. With this means we soon opened the hatch.
There was great risk in the merciful task we were about to perform, but
Charley, setting the example, we quickly knocked off the manacles of
Aboh and the slaves nearest to us, and, with the assistance of the
former, made them understand that they were to perform the same
operation to their fellow-captives. Some obeyed, but others rushed
immediately on deck. However, we persevered, and, faster than I could
have believed it possible, we contrived to set all the slaves free.
Many of the poor wretches enjoyed their liberty but for a few seconds,
for they were quickly washed off the deck, or were drowned in a vain
attempt to reach the shore by swimming. All the time the sea was
striking with terrific force against the sides of the ship. The loud
crashing sound overhead showed us that her bowsprit and bulwarks and
everything on deck was being rapidly carried away.
While we were thus engaged daylight appeared, and when we reached the
deck we saw that the wind had greatly gone down. Although there were
rocks on either side of us, there was a clear piece of sand, on which,
could a raft be formed, those who could not swim might land. The blacks
were mostly clustered aft, the part least exposed to the fury of the
seas. Several persons were in the water, some swimming, others floating
apparently lifeless. The greater portion of the crew had disappeared;
many had been crushed by the falling masts, others washed overboard, and
a few on pieces of wreck were trying to reach the beach One thing was
certain, there was no time to be lost, as the ship could not long hold
together, lashed as she was by the fury of the seas which rolled in from
the ocean. The surviving blacks recognised us when we appeared as the
persons who had set them at liberty and we made them understand that if
they would remain quiet, we would endeavour to provide the means for
enabling them to reach the shore. I thought that among the people
clinging to pieces of wreck I saw Captain Trunnion, but I was not
certain. The mate had disappeared, and had, I concluded, been washed
overboard, and, as far as we could learn, Mr Hallton had shared the
same fate. We had reason to be thankful that we had been below, or we
also might have lost our lives. We immediately set about forming the
raft from some spars which still remained lashed to ring bolts on the
deck and from fragments of the bulwarks. Every instant the wind was
going down, rendering our task less difficult. The tide too was
falling, and as it did so rocks rose out of the water, which further
protected us from the fury of the breakers. When the blacks saw what we
were about, some of the more intelligent among them offered to assist
us. At length a raft capable of holding a dozen people at one time was
constructed. We also obtained a rope of sufficient length to reach the
shore, so that we might haul it backwards and forwards. This we made
the blacks understand that we intended to do, and that we could only
take off a certain number at a time. The head men, who had all along
held an authority over the rest of their fellow-slaves, now came forward
to maintain discipline. By this means only the number which the raft
could carry were allowed to descend at a time. As soon as we had a
cargo we commenced our passage to the shore, and happily landed all
those we had taken on board, who at once squatted down on the beach
waiting for their companions. We immediately put back and took in
another cargo, and thus we continued going backwards and forwards until
we had placed the whole of the slaves on shore.
"We must look out for ourselves now," observed Charley. "I saw some
firearms in the cabin; we must secure them, as well as some ammunition,
clothes, and provisions. It will not do to trust those black fellows
when they at once find themselves at liberty."
Of course we all agreed to Charley's proposal, and climbing up the side,
made our way into the cabin. We each got a fowling-piece or musket, a
brace of pistols, and a good supply of ammunition. We also found some
dollars, which we stowed away in our pockets.
"The money may not be of much use while we are among the savages, but it
will come in very handy when we get into a more civilised region," said
Charley. "Hurrah! here are some things which will be of immediate use,"
and he produced a boxful of strings of beads of various colours.
We each stowed away as many of them as we could carry. Under the
circumstances in which we were likely to be placed, they would prove of
the greatest value.
As the ship it appeared probable would hold together for some time, we
hunted about until we found as many things as we could carry likely to
be of use. Among others, were a pocket compass, a knife apiece, and
other things. Tubbs produced a cooked ham and a box of biscuits, which
were divided and put into some canvas bags well suited for the purpose.
We were still engaged in our search, when a loud crashing sound reached
our ears. We rushed on deck, and found that the sea had made a breach
clean through the ship. Fortunately the raft was secured to the after
part. We quickly lowered ourselves down on it, and shoved off in time
to escape another sea, which came rolling in, and committed further
damage, sending fragments of the wreck floating about in the
comparatively smooth water between us and the shore. We had great
difficulty in avoiding the pieces of timber which were driven towards
our frail raft. Every moment it seemed as if we were about to be
overwhelmed. On looking towards the beach, we found that the blacks had
disappeared, with the exception of one man, who stood ready to assist us
in getting on shore. A few more hauls on the raft, and we, with our
packs, were able to spring on the sand, the black seizing our hands as
we did so, one after the other, and dragging us up out of the seething
water, which came foaming up around us.