HOW WE ENCOUNTER GREAT DANGERS, THE SPANIARDS ATTACKING US.
I have said that the bay on which we lived was part of the mouth or
estuary of the river Marmousette, which, rising in distant mountains,
falls into the sea, between Port Plate, a great land-bound gulf, and
a high cape called Point de Cas Rouge. A mile or so further up the
country than the Buccaneer settlement, the coast was low and marshy;
the mangroves here grew in great abundance, and divers deep channels
of salt water ran away from the main branch of the sea, and led, some
of them, to great open savannahs, covered with rich grass, where the
wild cattle loved to come and feed. One day, five of us started in a
small pirogue, which could barely contain such a crew, to seek for
bulls and cows in these swampy prairies—a Buccaneer called Walshe,
who perfectly knew the mangrove canals, acting as pilot. We paddled
up alongside of the bank, and having come to the swampy ground,
directed the canoe through certain intricate channels in the forest
of mangroves, with the intent of coming to a bit of the savannah
favourable for our sport, which Walshe knew. It was curious, thus
rowing, as it were, through a submerged forest. The water beneath us
was very deep—for we were obliged to keep in the channels by reason
of the mangroves growing on the muddy banks—and quite transparent,
so long as the fat black slime remained undisturbed. Over head, the
mangroves formed a complete canopy, so that we paddled in a hot green
twilight, looking through long vistas of this natural alcove, or else
trying in vain to make our eyesight penetrate more than a few yards
athwart the infinity of grey, slimy stems. At this time, the tide was
flowing inward, floating alongside of us broad layers of thick, rich
scum, which gradually, as it were, clung to the trees on either side,
leaving the mid-passage clear.
I, happening to be in the bow of the canoe as look-out man, amused
myself by gazing down into the green, translucent sea, ahead of
the ripples caused by the progress of the canoe. The channel could
not have been less than three fathoms deep, yet I saw, as clearly
as though there were nothing but air beneath me, the broad, moving
leaves of great plants at the bottom, and the heaps, and coils, and
meshes of twisted stalks, and long, serpent-like withes springing
from the fat mud, and which waved with a slow and sickly motion as
the passing tide stirred them. There were also great shoals of fish
of divers kinds, which fled away on all sides as we advanced; but
what fascinated my gaze was the appearance of a huge blue shark,
which I could distinctly see cleaving the water about half way
between the boat’s keel and the bottom, and keeping pace with us very
exactly. I was in the very act of raising my head to tell what I had
seen, when I heard a loud exclamation from Walshe, who was steering,
and who exclaimed that there was a rope stretched across the passage.
The words were hardly out of his mouth, when the canoe struck the
obstacle, broached to with the swing of the tide, and in an instant
turned over, tilting us all, with a huge splash, into the water. As
I went souse into the sea, the vision of the horrible monster which
I had just seen shot through my very heart and brain, and striking
out with convulsive strokes, in a moment I clutched a mangrove stem,
and then, almost unknowing how I did it, I swung myself into the
tree. Turning round, I looked for my companions; two were clinging
to the canoe, which was drifting rapidly away with the tide. Nicky,
my comrade, was in a similar position to myself, but on the opposite
side of the creek; but poor Walshe was struggling in mid-channel,
vainly trying, in his flurry, to swim against tide. We both shouted
to him to sheer to one side; but just as he was attempting to do so,
I saw a bluish white glimmer shoot through the troubled water beneath
him, and at that moment, the poor fellow gave such an unearthly yell,
that the woods echoed, flinging his arms about, and dashing the water
into a foam, in the midst of which he disappeared, his cry ending in
a loud, choking gurgle. Then there rose and rolled a great smooth,
boiling wave, tinged with blood, as the shark, having secured his
prey, turned again on his belly, and dived into the deep water. Nicky
and I sat looking at each other for near the space of ten minutes
without uttering a syllable. Then we began, I know not why, to talk
in low whispers, and to consult upon our own situation. Our hope was,
that the two hunters, who had stuck by the canoe, would be able to
right it, and return for us, and so, joining our voices, we shouted
loud and long, but the only answer which came back was the clamour of
parrots and other birds, and the hissing sound of the water pouring
between the slimy mangrove stems. We had no fire-arms, they having
gone to the bottom when the canoe upset; so, having shouted ourselves
hoarse, we had nothing for it but painfully to converse with each
other. Our discourse turned upon the cause of our mishap. The rope
was, by this time, far beneath the water, but we could observe the
tremor of the two stout mangroves to which it was attached. It was
Nicky’s opinion that there were Spaniards upon the coast, and that we
had fallen into one of their traps—they being aware that we sometimes
used these canals to paddle to the savannahs, and return with the ebb
of the tide. ‘If so,’ said my comrade, ‘we shall not be left long
here, and shall come by a fate not much better than that of poor Sam
Walshe.’ I inquired if there was no hope of escape at low water,
when we might wade through the water to firm ground; but my comrade
replied, that unless we were giants, we could hope nothing from that.
Neither would it be practicable to clamber shorewards from tree to
tree, on account of the great multiplicity of canals and passages
which traverse the mangroves, the smaller of which harboured caymans
in their muddy depths. ‘No, no,’ concluded Nicky, ‘we can do nothing;
we must wait and take our chance.’
Presently the tide began silently to ebb, and in due time it left the
marsh bare. But, oh! what a dismal spectacle that was! Everywhere
fat banks of black mud, nourishing everlasting mangroves, the obscene
slime here piled up in great rotting masses, there smooth in beds,
from which bubbles of impure air would come bursting to the surface,
and sending up hideous smells of putrefaction. The air, indeed,
became as the air of a pest-house. Dank vapours began to roll amid
the trees, a sort of seething steam boiled up from the pools and
canals, and by night-time a wet grey fog, which was as the very
breath of fever, brooded all through the marsh. The night wind was
hardly felt amid these woody solitudes; and if a gust sometimes swept
by us, it only brought the unwholesome vapour in fresh supplies. From
time to time, we called to each other. Nicky recommended me to keep
the collar of my doublet between my teeth, so as to breathe through
the stuff, but we suffered terribly from hunger. With the morning,
the fog lifted, and the tide, which had of course flowed and ebbed
during the night, began to flow again. Still, there was no appearance
of relief. We would even have welcomed the arrival of the Spaniards,
but not an oar or paddle-splash broke the terrible silence. We were
both, I think, falling into a sort of stupor, when Nicky suddenly
shouted to me.
‘There—see, there!’ he cried; ‘down the channel!’
I looked, and lo! our canoe, still floating on her side and full of
water, was coming drifting up, rubbing the mangrove stems, on my side
of the channel.
‘Now or never, Will Thistle!’ cried Nicky. ‘This is life or death!
Catch her as she passes!’
I roused all my strength, and slipped down from the fork, where I
had been sitting, until my legs were in the water. The canoe drifted
close in, and I had no difficulty in catching the rope, which yet
hung from her bow, and making it fast to a tree. At this Nicky gave
a great hurrah, and slipping from his perch, swam boldly across
the deep water, having grasped my hand before I was aware of his
proximity. ‘Here,’ says he, ‘let me right the boat, a Mosquito man
taught me the art.’ And, sure enough, in a minute or two the canoe
was swimming properly, only still half full of water. This, however,
we speedily baled with our hats, and getting into the canoe, found
it none the worse. By good chance a couple of spare paddles had
been secured in the boat, with a piece of spun-yarn. We, being so
far fortunate, shook hands with each other very heartily; and after
bestowing a few sorrowful words upon our unhappy comrades, all of
whom were indeed lost, we set ourselves to consider what was our
best course to return again to the settlement. We could either have
gone on with the flowing tide, and landed upon the savannah, as
we originally purposed, from whence we could have made our way by
land, although the journey would be toilsome, or we might return
into the open lagoon in the canoe, and so paddle down the coast.
This last plan we determined upon, even although to follow it there
would be a necessity for waiting some hours, until the force of the
flood tide had spent itself. But to wait in hope is another matter
from remaining in despair; and so, making ourselves as comfortable
in the canoe as we could, we tarried patiently. At length, the
stream beginning to slacken, we pushed off, and paddled cautiously
seaward. Coming to the spot where the rope had been stretched across
the channel, we paused, and after some search, having found it, we
managed to cast loose either end, although it was then near two feet
under water, with the intention of carrying it away as a memorial
of our escape. Hardly, however, had we got it into the canoe, when
we heard the sound of oars and voices rapidly approaching, as if
from the landward side. We paused to listen, hoping it might be our
comrades coming in search of us; but presently the sound approached
so near as to enable us to distinguish the Spanish accent of the
speakers.
‘Give way for the love of God!’ I exclaimed, tossing the rope aside.
We both seized the paddles, but ere the canoe had got headway, a
large boat, full of men, suddenly appeared behind us at a winding of
the channel. At sight of the canoe they set up a great shout, called
upon us in Spanish, French, and English, to surrender. But we only
plied our paddles the harder, working fast to seaward.
Oh, thought I, that we had not removed the rope, and then the
Spaniards, in their eagerness, would have been caught in their own
snare; but a minute’s reflection told me that the tide was then too
high for the line to have stopped the pursuing boat. The chase was
now a most eager one. True, we were tired and faint; but the sight
of our deadly enemies nerved our arms; the paddles bent and cracked
and the light canoe flew over the water with a speed which the heavy
boat astern could not hope long to cope with. At this moment the
Spaniards fired at us, the bullet flashed in the water alongside, and
Nicky cried to zig-zag the canoe—that is, to pull her by jerks from
side to side, out of her true course, so as to make the object a more
difficult one to hit. We accordingly paddled in this fashion, and
it was completely effectual: not a shot struck us. Now a ball would
sing overhead; now one would tear up the still water alongside of us;
but neither the canoe nor ourselves were hit, although the Spaniards
must have fired a score of shots. Still the efforts we were making
were too severe to be long continued; and, in spite of our exertions,
our muscles began to flag. It was then that, ahead of us, we saw a
bend in the channel, on the right of which grew a huge mangrove, with
dozens of long cord-like withes depending into the water. ‘Thank
God, we shall do yet,’ said Nicky, who knew the channel well. ‘Pull
for the other side of that big mangrove!’ And in a moment the canoe
glanced round the corner in question, and we were shut out from the
view of the Spaniards. Here a small muddy creek almost covered with
foliage, diverged from the main channel.
‘I know not where it leads,’ said my comrade, ‘but we must take it.
The strait is too narrow to row in, so we cannot be followed.’
The advice was good, and the canoe speedily flew up the tributary
creek, urged on, not only by our paddles, but a favouring current.
This last circumstance gave us good heart, for the tide being now
ebbing, and the current along the passage in our favour, it was
evident that it led to the open sea. The Spanish boat had, no doubt,
passed the outlet of the small creek without observing it, for as
we sat silently to listen, we heard the dash of the oars and the
shouts of our pursuers to the left, but could see nothing through
the thicket of mangrove stems. We were about to resume our paddles
again when the distant sound of musquetry struck our ears. We both
listened breathlessly; volley after volley was fired, and mingling
with it came the deep roar of culverins and other heavy ordnance. In
a moment the crew of the boat near us, as though they had also heard
the noise of conflict, gave a great shout of ‘Death to the Pirates!’
for so they called the Buccaneers, and shot off their pieces in a
loud straggling volley.
‘The settlement is beset,’ said Nicky; ‘the Spaniards are on us in
great force, and they must have been lurking in the lagoon for days;
this explains the cowardly treachery of the rope,’ and he broke
into loud invectives against our enemies, to all of which I most
heartily said ‘Amen.’ For was not this attack most wanton? Here were
we, living in a wilderness belonging to no man, killing those wild
animals which God hath appointed to be human food, and so far surely
performing a service to our fellows, when down come the Spaniards
upon us out of pure arrogance and ill-blood, hanging and shooting
our defenceless hunters, and, as we had no doubt, now attempting to
destroy our huts and the property, for the accumulation of which we
had honestly sweated and toiled. But such it has been ever since
any flag but that of Spain floated in these seas. The mariners of
many nations came naturally to enrich themselves with the produce of
the new-discovered lands; but Spain arrogantly desired to squeeze
in her greedy gripe the whole New World! Therefore, is it wonderful
that we—the sailors of England, Scotland, France, Holland, and
Portugal—should give the Spaniards fierce and eager battle? It was
they who began the warfare; and such being the case, we paid them
back in their own coin—usually, indeed, giving them the worst of the
bargain.
Such were the natural thoughts which passed through my head as we sat
listening to the roar of battle, which we could hear but faintly,
being more than a league distant from home. Presently, without
speaking, we addressed ourselves steadily to our paddies, and it
was not long before, to our great joy, we shot out of the dreary
forest of mangroves, and found ourselves in the clear water of the
lagoon. The boat which had given us chase was not anywhere to be
seen; but we now heard the firing distinctly, for it was kept up
very hot and constant. By this time the tide was running out like
a mill stream, and the canoe was swept down with great rapidity
before it. There was no wind, and the current had a glassy look; the
air, too, was inexpressibly sultry. Great wreaths of dense vapour
hung upon the hills, and the firmament was one louring sea of black
clouds piled one above another, as though climbing up on each other’s
vapoury shoulders from the horizon to the zenith. Presently the
gloom increased to a foreboding blackness, which hung upon land and
sea. The sounds of the birds and the insects were hushed, and in
the intervals of the firing we heard only the low continuous rush
of the turbid tide washing amid the mangroves. All at once a great
flash of lightning tore, as it were, the black firmament into a
blue gulf of flame, and at the same instant the thunder came, not
rumbling or pealing, as I have heard it in Britain, but exploding
with a splitting crash which seemed right above us, and which went
through and through our ears. A quick succession of flashes and peals
followed, so that I was almost blinded and deafened, for I had never
seen or heard such terrible thunder or lightning; and then, at the
recommendation of Nicky, who said that the storm would probably clear
up with a squall, which we were ill prepared to face in the open
lagoon, we paddled into a little opening in the amphibious forest,
and made the canoe fast amid the trees. Here we abode for more than
half-an-hour, the thunder and lightning continuing to be fearful;
and the effect of each flash, gleaming down through the thick leaves
and branches of the network of boughs above us, and lighting up with
a grim glare the unwholesome marsh, with its slimy stake-like boles
of trees, its long twisting withes, and its black oily pools and
channels,—the effect of all this was, I say, very fearfully grand.
But at length the rain began to fall; the gloom deepened, so that
under the mangroves it was as murk as midnight; but gazing from
beneath them to the opposite side of the lagoon, we saw dimly a sort
of moving and rending of the vapoury clouds, and then a sudden and
perpendicular descent upon the hills of what appeared to be countless
streaks of mist or vapour, binding, as it were, the green earth by
webs of watery thread to the firmament. This, Nicky said, was the
rain, and truly we found it so; for the misty appearance spread fast
and far, and we heard a mighty rustling sound, which became louder
and louder, until the windows of heaven above us were opened, and
down, not in mere drops, as it appeared to me, but in opaque sheets
and masses of falling water, tumbled that blinding rain, lashing the
sea as though it were smitten by rods into churning foam, and beating
with a continuous assault our leafy canopy, until it poured through
the drenched branches in tiny waterfalls. Meanwhile we cowered in
the canoe dripping from every limb, and watching the weather over
the lagoon. Before long, there was a sudden rift or opening torn
through the veiling fog, and the perpendicular lines of the rain
became slanting, or were broken and dispersed. At the same moment,
we saw distant ridges which were hid and lost before in the vapour,
now standing out clearly and rigidly in the thinning air, and Nicky
whispered to me to note how the feathery palms were bending and
shaking, as though great airy hands were seeking to drag them up by
the roots. It was the clearing squall, and a few moments only passed
away ere heavy dank puffs sighed through the mangroves with a wet,
warm, unwholesome savour, as the steams of a caldron where masses of
putrid vegetation were simmering, and then, driving before it a broad
belt of tumbling foam, and whistling and hurtling through the air
with a sound as of rushing wings and blowing trumpets, the blast came
down from the far-off mountains and fell upon the sea. I have often
seen more violent squalls since, I have also been afloat and ashore
during a hurricane or tornado, but this was the first West Indian
tempest I encountered, and I did not soon forget the great grandeur
of the elements—the torn clouds flying in misty fragments—the blast
whizzing through the trees, with a long loud eldritch cry—the foam
gathered up from the sea, like the drift from the great wreaths
of snow at Christmas on a Scottish muir—the rustling hosts of
leaves, and rent and riven foliage scattered through the air—all
the confusion of wild noises, the dash of the troubled sea, and the
constant crackling and smashing of boughs and branches, torn out and
blown fast away to leeward.
In the midst of the elemental strife there shone upon the waving and
dripping woods, and the torn and tumbling sea, a pale watery ray of
sunlight. This was the indication that the fury of the storm was
over. The broken clouds showed patches of deep azure here and there;
the mists had been rolled away to sea in the impetuous currents
of air; presently the gust lulled; the foam flew no longer about
the water; and the birds began to cry from out the thickets. Nicky
therefore counselled that we should again put to sea.
‘The squall,’ he said, ‘must have put an end to the fight, and if
the Spaniards be attacking our huts from their ships, which is most
likely, they may well have been either driven ashore upon the bluff,
or blown out to sea.’
So we paddled cautiously along the edge of the mangroves, listening
for any sound of the renewal of the combat, but heard none. It was
obvious that, one way or another, the matter was decided—either
that our comrades had been overpowered, or that the Spaniards had
been forced by the weather to discontinue the attack. At length,
we approached a point in the shore where the character of the bank
changed—the ground heaving itself boldly above the high-water mark,
and the mangroves ceasing to grow; a little further on, a bluff of
limestone rock, overgrown with brush and creeping trees, and its
base green with tangled and slippery sea-weeds, stretched out into
the water, and from the top of this we knew our settlement was
visible. Having, therefore, made fast the canoe in a suitable place,
we clambered through the dripping grass and leaves to the summit,
and there saw a piteous sight. The rock being high, we overlooked
several small capes and bays which stretched between us and our
late habitation, and saw plainly the green bank upon which our huts
stood, and the pretty clear bay, with its crescent of white sand
and shingle beneath. In this bay—with her top-gallant-masts struck,
and top-masts and yards lowered—there lay a great Spanish ship,
carrying not less than thirty guns, with immensely high forecastle
and poop. Moored somewhat nearer the beach was the smaller Spanish
ship which had already attacked us, riding also very snugly with her
top hamper lowered; and astern of them, and ashore upon the rocky
bluff which formed the seaward horn of our bay, was a small sloop,
which, as we conjectured, had been driven from her moorings by the
force of the tempest, and now lay bodily upon the rocks, the sea
beating and breaking over her. But the piteous sight was our huts
and storehouses—some lay in ruins on the ground, torn and shattered
by cannon-balls, others had been set on fire, but the rain having so
plenteously descended, had extinguished the flames, which, however,
still smouldered in the blackened ashes and amid the charred timber,
sending up thin volumes of bluish-grey smoke. All over the beach were
scattered the bales and casks in which we had been used to store the
provisions we made; and the principal of these the Spanish robbers
were removing into the great ship; but, saddest sight of all, round
the burning huts, and upon the shingle down to the water’s edge, were
strewn the corpses of our late comrades, they having evidently sold
their lives dear, for many Spanish soldiers and seamen were stretched
out starkly among them.
We long remained crouched amid the brushwood, regarding this sad
spectacle as though fascinated by its horrors. Who had escaped? we
thought; and, if any, where, and how? Not a man in our company but
who was brave as the steel he wielded; but what could a handful of
undisciplined hunters and sailors do against the broadsides of two
Spanish men-of-war?
Nicky and I looked at each other mournfully—unarmed, and fainting
with hunger and thirst, what were we to do. Under the torments of
the latter infliction, however, we found that we need not long
suffer. In the hollow’s of the rocks, and the reservoirs of the large
green leaves of divers plants, the heavy rain had left abundance
of water, of which we drank and were refreshed. After this, we sat
down in a sheltered nook to hold a council of war. The Spaniards
were still busy upon the beach, and occasionally straggling into the
woods. Boats were continually passing from the ships to our shingle
wharf, and we saw preparations being made to warp the sloop off the
rocks, from which we concluded that she had not been, much damaged.
Nicky and I had hardly begun to consult upon our condition, when
we suddenly heard the voices of men in a suppressed tone, not far
from us in the thick underwood. As the speakers might be Spanish, we
ceased to talk, and lay close, burying our persons, as it were, in
the long coarse grass, and listening with all our ears. The distant
talking continued, but in what tongue we could not tell, for the wind
still blew in gusts, and ever and anon carried away the sound. At
length, just as we were despairing of making out who our neighbours
were, I felt something wet and cold glide from under my bare leg,
and turning sharply round, I saw the grass moving, and the green
glistening skin of a snake gliding over my flesh. Involuntarily, and
with a great shout, I started up. ‘It is all over,’ said Nicky; ‘we
are discovered.’ But in a moment a gruff voice hallooed—
‘Who goes there?’
And we both joyfully cried out in reply, that we were friends and
comrades. Immediately there was a great rustling in the boughs, and
running up thither we presently found a remnant of our own company,
who grasped our hands, and could scarce speak for joy at seeing us.
The men who thus joined us were five in number: Ezra Hoskins, an
English seaman of Dover, called by us Stout Jem, not only for his
size and muscle, which were prodigious, but because of his boldness
and fearlessness of heart; then there was another Englishman, from
Newcastle, whose real name I know not, because I never heard him
called by any appellation but that of Black Diamond; and a Hollander,
a sturdy slow-witted fellow, from Helvoetsluys, near the Brill, whom
we called Meinheer; the other two persons were the Mosquito Indians,
Blue Peter and Jack, skilful strikers of fish and manatee, and very
attached, faithful fellows.
You may be sure that we had much to tell each other of our
adventures. First, Nicky narrated our mischance in the Mangrove
Creek, from the devil-like snares of the crafty and cowardly
Spaniards. And then, Stout Jem told how, in the evening of the
previous day, the Indians being fishing towards the open sea, saw
the sloop working up with the last of the sea-breeze, but considered
her to be a friend, from one of the windward islands, come to load;
and how the Buccaneers, being thus thrown off their guard, had
hoisted lights upon the headland, to guide her after it fell dark.
It had certainly surprised them to see answering lights, as it
appeared, further up the lagoon, and they had set a good watch, and
were wakeful in consequence, not well knowing what to expect. As
the night wore on, and our canoe did not make its appearance, their
anxiety increased, and towards morning a Mosquito man, who had been
hunting manatee in the sedgy banks of the savannahs, came into the
settlement, and reported that he had heard the oars of boats pulling
in the Mangrove Channels, and that he had seen lights glimmering amid
the night-fog. It was now evident that there was something in the
wind, but they never reckoned on being attacked by such a force as
came against them. Besides, the strangers might be all French from
Tortugas, or St. Christopher’s, or Dutch from Curaçoa, and might not
exactly know how the old settlers would relish an intrusion in their
hunting-grounds. It was not until almost day, that our comrades saw
a great ship coming into the bay, being towed against the land-wind
or _terral_, which was then waxing faint, by her boats. A pirogue
went off to her, but not returning, those on shore concluded that the
arrival was friendly, and that their comrades had stayed on board
to carouse, and they were only undeceived upon the rising of the
sun, when they saw two Spanish men-of-war, besides the sloop, lying
in the bay, and were saluted with hot salvos of artillery. Seeing
their mistake, the Buccaneers, following their usual tactics, leaped
into their canoes and tried to board. But the Spaniards hove great
stones and cold shot into the boats, keeping up at the same time a
sharp discharge of musketry, so that the canoes being broken and
swamped, those who were not maimed or killed of their crews, were
fain to swim to land, where they were again attacked by a body of
Spaniards, who, with loud shouts, issued from the woods, proving how
skilfully the whole position had been invested. The Buccaneers, being
thus sorely discomfited, retreated into the cover of the brushwood
and trees, and maintained a distant fight, aiming chiefly at the
Spaniards who showed themselves on board the ships, and those who
emerged from the seaward-side of the huts. This lasted nearly all the
morning, when the weather becoming threatening, the Spaniards, who
were until then held as it were in check, determined to make a great
effort, and calling to their men ashore to take care of themselves,
opened a great fire upon the huts, the balls crashing through and
through them, and, at the same time, flinging fire-balls and other
combustibles, so that presently one-half of the settlement was in
flames, and the other demolished. Then the Dons landed in great
force, and were met by the remnant of our comrades, who fought
desperately. But the Spaniards having overwhelming numbers, finally
routed them, and drove them by small parties into the woods. It was
at the conclusion of this affray that the storm came on, and since
its abatement our comrades had been roving along the shore, seeking
any other survivors of the fight, but hitherto finding none.