the crew had been stationed in our remaining mast-head, to look out for
any vessel that might come in sight; even yet several continued to crawl
up, to gaze over the expanse of waters, in hopes of relief. Often
through this day had my imploring eyes been fixed on them with anxious
looks. Even while I felt weary of my suspense and wished it over, hope
would steal over my mind; there was yet some space ere sunset, and my
prayers for pardon, spite of myself, would end in supplications for
deliverance. Suddenly a faint shout arose from the mast-head. It was
repeated. I started up, and in voluntarily joined, as it ran along the
deck, the blessed cry, 'A sail in sight!' There was life in the sound.
Many wept, while others laughed aloud. Some clasped their hands in
silence, and raised their eyes to heaven. I sank upon my knees; tears of
gratitude to God poured from my eyes; words were denied me, but my heart
burned within me with love. I arose and joined the crew, who were gazing
over the side at the welcome sight, which was nearing us fast. We fired
a gun and hung out a signal of distress, as the sun was now fast sinking
in the west. She still neared us; but darkness was coming fast, and
fearing to lose her, a lantern was fixed on the top, and minute guns
were fired. The strange vessel occasionally replied; and during this
last night of our misery no eye was closed. Each flash of her gun, less
distant as she replied, acted upon our depressed minds, inspiring hope.
Faint as the wind was, it was evident that she neared us, and we
steered our almost waterlogged hulk towards the flash of her guns,
in the best manner we could. When morning dawned, she was within a
quarter-of-a-league of us. We now made her out to be a Portuguese
merchantman; but had she been an Algerine cruiser, we would have hailed
her with delight. A boat put off from her, and was soon alongside. The
officer who came on board was shocked to witness our misery; for indeed
we resembled spectres more than men. She proved to be a Portuguese
trader of the largest class, bound for Brazil, laden with supplies.
Captain H----, who was acquainted with the captain, and spoke a little
Portuguese, having been several times in Lisbon, acted as interpreter.
Language was not required to tell our miserable state. The Portuguese
acted with the utmost humanity, and stayed by us for two days. The
captain himself came on board with the first boat load of supplies, and
superintended their serving out--as great an act of humanity as
furnishing them; for the people on board the Traussean, now that
provisions were on board, became actually mutinous to obtain them--each
man thinking he alone could have eat the whole supply, so ravenous did
our appetites feel. We were, at first, only served with half a biscuit
each, steeped in wine. Impatient as we were for this and much more, as
soon as it was given by our benefactors, numbers loathed it, and could
not swallow the morsel. I thought, upon receiving my portion, it was
cruel mockery of our wants to give so little. My desires were all for
food, food; yet, when I put the first bit into my mouth, a sickness came
over me--my stomach refused to receive it. Thus I sat with what my soul
longed for in my hand, yet unable to enjoy it, conscious that my
existence depended upon it; yet it was by several violent efforts I
succeeded in swallowing it. Soon after I fell sound asleep. All were not
affected in the same manner. Some devoured their allowance and pleaded
for more, which was, for a space, refused, until it was thought safe to
gratify the calls of hunger with more solid food. In about four hours I
awoke from my sleep, with the most intense craving for food, much more
so than I had felt during the famine. Captain H---- I found still asleep
in his berth, to which he had retired. Ten of the crew of the Portuguese
vessel were at our pumps and in charge of the vessel; for our own crew
were incapable of any exertion. All energy seemed to have forsaken us,
now that help had been so mercifully bestowed upon us. Gradually the
allowance of food was increased to us, and next morning our vigour began
gradually to return. Fortunately the weather was very fine. Our
deliverers lay close to us during the night; their boats had been
passing between the vessels with all they could spare to supply our
wants, and their own men cheerfully undertook the task we ourselves were
incapable of. Having done all for us they could, even assisting to refit
and search for the leak, on the evening of the second day they bade us
farewell, and proceeded on their voyage, amply rewarded for their
kindness. The Portuguese captain made, at parting, a present to Captain
H---- of six bottles of wine and some other necessaries; for he was now
confined to his berth, the privations he had so long endured having made
him very feverish and unwell.
"On the third day after we parted from the generous Portuguese, we
reached the mouth of the Tagus, when the pilot came on board. He had
almost left the vessel again, so great was his alarm and surprise at our
wretched appearance. We resembled a spectre ship. The Traussean was
refitted and ready to sail; but we resolved not to proceed farther in
her. We could as readily get a passage from Lisbon to Britain as from
Amsterdam; and what would have induced me to leave her more than what I
had suffered in her was the presence of the hated Satan. A feeling of
horror crept over me every time I saw him, after that fearful day during
which I was doomed to death. His malign eyes were never off me, as he
sat like a rattlesnake fascinating a poor squirrel or bird. I did not
fear him; it was loathing that made me recoil from him. I could have
encountered him in single combat with a feeling of satisfaction; but he
gave me or no one a just ground of quarrel, and it was not my nature to
fix one on him.
"Having settled with the captain of the Dutch vessel, and removed our
luggage to the hotel, we remained several weeks, during which Captain
H---- rapidly recovered. To amuse ourselves, we visited the English
resident in the town; but our chief resort was to the house of Mr.
B----, a Scottish merchant, who had a family of two sons and a
daughter--the young lady a most engaging girl, and very beautiful.
Captain H---- used to spend the most of his time in this family; and
gradually I could observe a change in his manner and conversation. He
became more gay and cheerful in his manner, at times; then, again, he
would resume all the melancholy he felt at our first acquaintance. I
was, for some time, at a loss to imagine what caused this change of
temper in him. One day, as we sat at breakfast, talking over old
adventures, he said--
"'Square, I have observed that you have been rather surprised at my
manner of late. In truth, I do not wonder at it. I am not less surprised
at it myself. That bewitching girl, Helen, has made a fool of me, I
believe. The truth is, I love her to distraction, and fear to
acknowledge it to myself; yet truth will out.'
"Then, leaning his head upon his hand, he sighed heavily, 'Poor Eliza!'
I made no reply for a few minutes, as I was taken by surprise, and knew
not what to say. I was, involuntarily on my part, made his confidant. He
told me that he had not as yet declared his passion to Helen, and feared
to do so, lest he should be rejected by her, as there was a young
Portuguese noble very marked in his attentions. Jocularly, I began to
laugh him out of his fears, and urged a bold attempt to win her, if she
was his choice, now that he was rich enough to forego all toil and
care; for Bachelor Hall was but a lonely dwelling. Before noon, we
parted--he to declare his unalterable love; I to make some calls upon a
few Scotch friends I had picked up. The day passed on cheerfully. I was
returning to our hotel as the shades of evening began to fall, having an
appointment with Captain H---- to attend a party in the evening. I was
posting quickly along, when, at the Church of St. Geremino, a little
distance from our hotel, I saw a crowd collect suddenly. My way led
through the narrow thoroughfare. I passed on, resolved not to stop, when
the words 'Assassinated; poor gentleman!' fell upon my ear. Urged by
curiosity and humanity, I bustled through the crowd. In the centre lay
the captain, weltering in his blood. In a moment, he was supported in my
arms. Opening his eyes, he recognised me, and said--
"'Square, I have been cowardly murdered by some villain.'
"Urging silence upon him, I had him immediately conveyed home to our
hotel, and the surgeon sent for to examine his wound. To my great joy,
it proved not fatal, but dangerous. The poniard had taken, fortunately,
an upward direction--entering the left breast, and passing outwards to
the top of the shoulder. For several days he lay dangerously ill. In
such a city as Lisbon, it was of no use to offer a reward or make
inquiries after the assassin, even had death ensued. Mr. B---- and his
sons called regularly upon him every day, to inquire after him and visit
his sick-bed. After he was able to sit up, Helen, attended by her
brothers, waited upon him. I was present at their interview. The
captain, on the day of which I have spoken before, had called upon
Helen, resolved to know her sentiments of him, and either declare his
love or to banish her from his mind. The Portuguese noble was also
present when he called. Helen's preference had been too apparent; yet no
opportunity offered for him to declare his passion. His rival watched
with jealous care, and seemed determined to wait him out; yet no
animosity appeared in his manner; all was, to appearance, joy and mirth.
The captain bade Helen adieu, to keep his appointment at the British
Consul's; Helen gave him her hand to kiss: an interchange of looks had
fired the Portuguese to madness; quickly he had followed; and, as he
thought, slain his hated rival. All this had been discovered shortly
after the event. But to return.
"When Helen and her brothers entered, the captain lay upon his couch,
propped up with pillows. She approached, pale, and evidently overcome by
emotion; joy beamed in the captain's eye; he stretched forth his hand to
welcome her, and she was in the act of presenting hers, when the
captain's hand sank, and he fell back upon the pillows, pale and
overcome. His eye was fixed upon her hand, which had sunk by her side.
We looked on in astonishment. In a few minutes the captain recovered,
and was the first to speak--
"'Excuse this burst of feeling I cannot control; this moment has
recalled to memory the most miserable event of my life. Lady, that
ring?' pointing to her hand with a melancholy smile.
"'I got it from my poor cousin at her death,' she said.
"'Thank God!' the captain ejaculated. 'It was once mine; the gift of one
I loved dearer than life--my dear Eliza, now no more."
"While he said this, the brothers looked upon each other astonished,
while Ellen hung her head, and turned deadly pale. The whole party were
much embarrassed, until the captain gave them an account of his first
love, and its fatal issue. During the recital I could see the tears swim
in Helen's eyes. She took the ring from her finger, and presented it to
the captain, who kissed it with fervour, and placed it upon his bosom
for a moment, saying--
"'Dearest Helen, will you be to me all that Eliza was, and allow me to
keep this as a token of your promise, until I am thought by you and your
relations worthy of you?'
"Helen blushed, and made no reply; but her eyes were eloquent. Her
brothers said they felt themselves honoured, and would consult their
father. All were now happy. The elder brother told us the history of the
ring, as far as he knew, as follows:--
"Their cousin Katherine, a young lady of great expectations and good
fortune, had been betrothed to a Scotchman in Holland, where she resided
with her mother, a widowed sister of their father's; before their
marriage, her lover, who had fallen in a duel on the frontiers of
France, had given her the ring. After his premature death, she had
fallen into a bad state of health, and come to Lisbon to reside, where
she breathed her last in the arms of Helen, bequeathing her the ring and
other jewels of value.
"Captain H---- now removed to the house of Mr B----, his acknowledged
father-in-law to be. I remained no longer in Lisbon than a few weeks
after the ceremony, when I bade adieu to Captain H---- and his bride,
and embarked on board the Emelie for London, many pounds the poorer for
my stay in Lisbon; yet rich: I was possessed of several hundred pounds;
my mind was more harassed how to lay them out to advantage than it had
been to earn them. In truth I was so unstable in my resolves, I
sometimes wished I was once again as poor as I was when I left Edinburgh
first with Captain H----"
END OF VOL. VII