PERILS BY SEA AND LAND.
After enjoying a few weeks at home, I was appointed to the Naval Brigade
on service in Spain, acting with the English army, who were there by way
of assisting Queen Christina against Don Carlos.
The army was a curious collection of regular troops and volunteer
soldiers, the latter what would be called 'Bashi-Bazouks.' The naval
part of the expedition consisted of 1,200 Royal Marines, and a brigade
of sailors under the orders of Lord John Hay. The army (barring the
regulars, who were few in numbers) was composed of about 15,000 of the
greatest rabble I ever saw, commanded by Sir De Lacy Evans.
For fear any objection or misapprehension be applied to the word
'rabble,' I must at once state that these volunteers, though in
appearance so motley and undisciplined, fought splendidly, and in that
respect did all honour to their country and the cause they were
fighting for.
Very soon after we had disembarked I received what is usually called my
'baptism of fire,' that is to say, I witnessed 'the first shot fired in
anger.' The Carlists were pressing hard on the Queen's forces, who were
returning towards the sea; it was of the greatest importance to hold
certain heights that defended San Sebastian and the important port of
Passagis.
The gallant marines (as usual to the front) were protecting the hill on
which Lord John was standing; the fire was hot and furious. I candidly
admit I was in mortal fear, and when a shell dropped right in the middle
of us, and was, I thought, going to burst (as it did), I fell down on my
face. Lord John, who was close to me, and looking as cool as a cucumber,
gave me a severe kick, saying, 'Get up, you cowardly young rascal; are
you not ashamed of yourself?'
I did get up and _was_ ashamed of myself. From that moment to this I
have never been hard upon those who flinched at the first fire they were
under. My pride helped me out of the difficulty, and I flinched no more.
For an hour or so the battle raged furiously.
By degrees all fear left me; I felt only excitement and anger, and when
we (a lot I had to do with it!) drove the enemy back in the utmost
confusion, wasn't I proud!
When all was over Lord John called me, and after apologising in the most
courteous manner for the kick, he gave me his hand (poor fellow! he had
already lost one arm while fighting for his country), and said: 'Don't
be discouraged, youngster; you are by no means the first who has shown
alarm on being for the first time under fire.' So I was happy.
It is not my intention to give in detail the events that I witnessed
during that disastrous civil war in Spain; suffice it that after much
hard fighting the Carlists were driven back into their mountains so much
discouraged that they eventually renounced a hopeless cause; and at all
events for a long period order was restored in Spain.
After serving under Lord John Hay for six or seven months, I was
appointed to another ship, which was ordered to my old station, South
America.
The captain of my new ship was in every sense a gentleman, and although
a strict disciplinarian, was just and kind-hearted. From the captain
downwards every officer was the same in thought and deed, so we were all
as happy as sand-boys. It was then that I began to realise a fact of
which before I had only a notion--namely, that discipline can be
maintained without undue severity, to say nothing of cruelty, and that
service in the navy could be made a pleasure as well as a duty to one's
country.
After visiting Rio de Janeiro, we were sent to the River Plate; there we
remained nearly a year, during which time several adventures which I
will relate occurred, both concerning my duties and my amusements.
I must tell my readers that from earliest boyhood I had a passionate
love for shooting; and, through the kindness of my commanding officer
while at Monte Video, I was allowed constantly to indulge in sport.
On one occasion my captain, who was a keen sportsman, took me with him
out shooting. We had a famous day's sport, filled our game bags with
partridges, ducks, and snipe, and were returning home on horseback when
a solitary horseman, a nasty-looking fellow, armed to the teeth, rode up
to us. As I knew a little Spanish we began to talk about shooting, &c.
&c.; then he asked me to shoot a bird for him (the reason why he did
this will be seen immediately). I didn't like the cut of his jib, so
rather snubbed him. However, he continued to ride on with us, to within
half a mile of where our boat was waiting to take us on board. I must
explain our relative positions as we rode along. The captain was on my
left, I next to him, and the man was on my right, riding very near to
me. All of a sudden he exclaimed in Spanish, 'Now is the time or never,'
threw his right leg over the pommel of his saddle, slipped on to the
ground, drew his knife, dashed at me, and after snatching my gun from my
hand, stuck his knife (as he thought) into me. Then he rushed towards
the captain, pulling the trigger of my gun, and pointing straight at the
latter's head; the gun was not loaded, having only the old percussion
caps on. (Now I saw why he wanted me to fire, so that he might know
whether my gun was loaded; but the old caps evidently deceived him.)
All this was the work of a very few seconds. Now what was my chief
doing? Seeing a row going on, he was dismounting; in fact, was half-way
off his horse, only one foot in the stirrup, when the man made the rush
at him. Finding me stuck to my saddle (for the ruffian's knife had gone
through my coat and pinned me), and the fellow snapping my gun, which
was pointed at him, he as coolly as possible put his gun over his
horse's shoulder and shot the would-be murderer dead on the spot. Then
turning to me he said quite calmly, 'I call you to witness that that
man intended to murder me.' How differently all would have ended had my
gun been loaded! The villain would have shot my chief, taken both guns,
and galloped off, leaving me ignominiously stuck to my saddle.
The audacity of this one man attacking us two armed sportsmen showed the
immense confidence these prairie people feel in themselves, especially
in their superior horsemanship. However, the fellow caught a Tartar on
this occasion.
As for me, the knife had gone, as I said, through my loose shooting
jacket just below the waist, through the upper part of my trousers, and
so into the saddle, without even touching my skin. I have kept the knife
in memory of my lucky escape.
While laying at Monte Video there was on each side of us a French
man-of-war, the officers of which were very amiably inclined, and many
were the dinners and parties exchanged between us.
In those days the interchange of our respective languages was very
limited on both sides, so much so, that our frantic efforts to
understand each other were a constant source of amusement. A French
midshipman and myself, however, considered ourselves equal to the
occasion, and professed linguists; so on the principle that in the 'land
of the blind the one-eyed man is king,' we were the swells of the
festivities.
I remember on one occasion, when the birthday of Louis Philippe was to
be celebrated, my French midshipman friend came on board officially and
said, 'Sir, the first of the month is the feast of the King; you must
fire the gun.' 'All right,' said we. Accordingly, we loaded our guns in
the morning, preparatory to saluting at noon. It was raining heavily all
the forenoon, so we had not removed what is called the tompions (to my
unprofessional reader I may say that the tompion is a very large piece
of wood made to fit into the muzzle, for the purpose of preventing wet
from penetrating). To this tompion is, or used to be, attached a large
piece of wadding, what for I never rightly understood.
Now it seems that those whose duty it was to attend to it had neglected
to take these things out of the guns.
On the first gun being fired from the French ship we began our salute.
The French ships were close alongside of us, one on either side. The
gunner who fires stands with the hand-glass to mark the time between
each discharge. On this occasion he began his orders thus: 'Fire, port;'
then suddenly recollecting that the tompions were not removed he added,
'Tompions are in, sir.' No one moved. The gunner could not leave his
work of marking time. Again he gave the order, 'Fire, starboard,'
repeating, 'Tompions are in, sir,' and so on till half the broadside had
been fired before the tompions had been taken out. It is difficult to
describe the consternation on board the French vessels, whose decks were
crowded with strangers (French merchants, &c.), invited from the shore
to do honour to their King's fête. These horrid tompions and their
adjuncts went flying on to their decks, from which every one scampered
in confusion. It was lucky our guns did not burst.
This was a most awkward dilemma for all of us. I was sent on board to
apologise. The French captain, with the courtesy of his nation, took the
mishap most good-humouredly, begging me to return the tompions to my
captain, as they had no occasion for them. So no bad feeling was
created, though shortly after this contretemps an affair of so serious a
nature took place, that a certain coldness crept in between ourselves
and our ci-devant friends.
It seems that there had been of late several desertions from the French
vessels lying at Monte Video, great inducements of very high wages being
offered by the revolutionary party in Buenos Ayres for men to serve
them. The French commander therefore determined to search all vessels
leaving Monte Video for other ports in the River Plate--a somewhat
arbitrary proceeding, and one certain to lead to misunderstanding sooner
or later.
On the occasion I refer to, a vessel which, though not under the English
flag, had in some way or other obtained English protection, was leaving
the port; so we sent an officer and a party of armed men to prevent her
being interfered with. I was of the party, which was commanded by our
second lieutenant. Our doing this gave great offence to the French
commander, who shortly after we had gone on board also sent a party of
armed men, with positive orders to search the vessel at all risks. On
our part we were ordered not to allow the vessel to be searched or
interfered with. The French officer, a fine young fellow, came on board
with his men and repeated his orders to Lieutenant C----. The vessel, I
may mention, was a schooner of perhaps a couple of hundred tons, about
130 feet long. We had taken possession of the after-part of the deck,
the French crew established themselves on the fore-part.
Never was there a more awkward position. The men on both sides loaded
and cocked their muskets. The English and French officers stood close to
one another. The former said, 'Sir, you have no business here, this
vessel is under English protection. I give you five minutes to leave or
take the consequences.' The other replied, 'Sir, I am ordered to search
the vessel, and search her I will.' They both seemed to, and I am sure
did, mean business; for myself, I got close to my lieutenant and cocked
a pistol, intending to shoot the French officer at the least show of
fighting. Nevertheless, I thought it a shockingly cruel and inhuman
thing to begin a cold-blooded fight under such circumstances.
However, to obey orders is the duty of every man. Lieutenant C----
looked at his watch; two minutes to spare. The marines were ordered to
prepare, and I thought at the end of the two minutes the deck of the
little vessel would have been steeped in blood. Just then, in the
distance, there appeared a boat pulling towards us at full speed; it
seems that wiser counsels had prevailed between the captains of the two
ships: the French were told to withdraw and leave the vessel in our
hands.
I was much amused at the cordial way in which the two lieutenants shook
hands on receiving this order. There would indeed have been a fearful
story to tell had it not arrived in time; for I never saw determination
written so strongly on men's countenances as on those of both parties,
so nearly engaged in what must have proved a most bloody fight.
After this incident cordial relations were never re-established between
ourselves and our French friends; fortunately, shortly afterwards we
sailed for Buenos Ayres.
Buenos Ayres, that paradise of pretty women, good cheer, and all that is
nice to the sailor who is always ready for a lark! We at once went in
for enjoying ourselves to our heart's content; we began, every one of
us, by falling deeply in love before we had been there forty-eight
hours--I say every one, because such is a fact.
My respectable captain, who had been for many years living as a
confirmed bachelor with his only relative, an old spinster sister, with
whom he chummed, and I fancy had hardly been known to speak to another
woman, was suddenly perceived walking about the street with a large
bouquet in his hand, his hair well oiled, his coat (generally so loose
and comfortable-looking) buttoned tight to show off his figure; and then
he took to sporting beautiful kid gloves, and even to dancing. He could
not be persuaded to go on board at any cost, while he had never left his
ship before, except for an occasional day's shooting. In short, he had
fallen hopelessly in love with a buxom Spanish lady with lustrous eyes
as black as her hair, the widow of a murdered governor of the town.
Our first and second lieutenants followed suit; both were furiously in
love; and, as I said, every one, even a married man, one of my
messmates, fell down and worshipped the lovely (and lovely they were,
and no mistake) Spanish girls of Buenos Ayres, whose type of beauty is
that which only the blue blood of Spain can boast of. Now, reader, don't
be shocked, I fell in love myself, and my love affair proved of a more
serious nature, at least in its results, than that of the others,
because, while the daughter (she was sixteen, and I seventeen) responded
to my affection, her mother, a handsome woman of forty, chose to fall in
love with me herself.
This was rather a disagreeable predicament, for I didn't, of course,
return the mother's affection a bit, while I was certainly dreadfully
spoony on the daughter.
To make a long story short, the girl and I, like two fools as we were,
decided to run away together, and run away we did. I should have been
married if the mother hadn't run after us. She didn't object to our
being married, but, in the meantime, she remained with us, and she
managed to make the country home we had escaped to, with the intention
of settling down there, so unbearable, that, luckily for me as regards
my future, I contrived to get away, and went as fast as I could on board
my ship for refuge, never landing again during our stay at Buenos Ayres.
Fortunately, shortly afterwards we were ordered away, and so ended my
first love affair.
I shall never forget the melancholy, woebegone faces of my captain and
brother officers on our re-assembling on board. It was really most
ludicrous. However, a sea voyage which included several sharp gales of
wind soon erased all sad memories; things gradually 'brightened,' and
ere many weeks had passed all on board H.M.S.---- resumed their usual
appearance.