HOW TO MAKE A DAY'S WORK EASY--RALPH AVOIDETH TROUBLE BY ANTICIPATING
LAND, BUT IS ANTICIPATED BY THE ENEMY--A CHAPTER ALTOGETHER OF CHASING,
WHICH IT IS HOPED WILL PLEASANTLY CHASE AWAY THE READER'S ENNUI.
We had now the usual indications of approaching the land. In fact, I
had made it, by my reckoning, a fortnight before. The non-nautical
reader must understand, that the young gentlemen are required to send
into the captain daily, a day's work, that is, an abstract of the course
of the ship for the last twenty-four hours, the distance run, and her
whereabouts exactly.
Now, with that failing that never left me through life, of feeling no
interest where there was no difficulty to overcome, after I had fully
conquered all the various methods of making this calculation, to make it
all became a great bore. So I clapped on more steam, and giving the
ship more way, and allowing every day for forty or fifty miles, of
westerly currents, I, by my account, ran the _Eos_ high and dry upon the
Island of Barbadoes, three good weeks before we made the land. Thus, I
had the satisfaction of looking on with placid indolence, whilst my
messmates were furiously handling their Gunter's scales, and straining
their eyes over the small printed figures in the distance and departure
columns of John Hamilton Moore, of blessed (cursed?) memory, in a cabin
over 90 degrees Fahrenheit, that was melting at the same time the
youthful navigator, and the one miserable purser's dip that tormented
rather than enlightened him with its flickering yellow flame.
As we neared the island, greater precautions were taken to preserve the
convoy. We sailed in more compact order, and scarcely progressed at all
during the night. The whippers-in were on the alert, for it was well
known that this part of the Atlantic was infested with numerous small
French men-of-war, and some privateer schooners.
That morning at length arrived, when it was debated strongly whether the
faint discoloration that broke the line of the western horizon as seen
from the mast-head, were land or not. As daylight became more decided,
so did the state of our convoy. The wolves were hovering round the
sheep. Well down to the southward there was a large square-rigged,
three-masted vessel, fraternising with one of our finest West Indiamen.
The stranger looked tall, grim, and dark, with his courses up, but his
top-gallant sails and royals set. The white sails of the merchant
vessel, and she was under a press of sail, were flying in all
directions; she was hove-to, with her studding-sails set, and many of
her tacks and sheets were flapping to the wind. Both vessels were hull
down from the deck, and we well understood what was going forward.
Right astern, and directly in the wind's eye of us, was a flat, broad
schooner running before the wind, with nothing set but her fore
stay-sail. As she lifted to the sea, at the edge of the horizon, her
strength of beam was so great, and her bulwarks so little above the
water, that she seemed to make way broadside on, rather than to sail in
the usual position. There was no vessel particularly near her. Those
of the mercantile navy that most enjoyed her propinquity did not seem,
by the press of sail that they were carrying, to think the situation
very enviable. However, the Falcon, one of our men-of-war brigs, was
between this schooner and all the convoy, with the signal flying, "May I
chase?"
But this was not all; a whitish haze cleared up; to the northward there
was a spanking felucca, with her long lanteen sails brailed up, and
sweeping about in the very centre of a knot of dull sailing merchant
vessels, four of which, by their altered courses, had evidently been
taken possession of. Reversing the good old adage, first come first
served, we turned our attention to the last appearance. We made the
signal to the other man-of-war brig, the _Curlew_, to chase and capture
the felucca, she not being more than two miles distant from her.
No sooner did the convoy generally begin to find out how matters stood,
than like a parcel of fussy and frightened old women, they began to pop,
pop, pop, firing away their one and two-pounders in all directions, and
those farthest from the scene of action serving their guns the quickest,
and firing the oftenest. It seemed to them of but little consequence,
so long as the guns were fired, where the shot fell. Now this was a
great nuisance, as it prevented, by the smoke it raised, our signals
from being distinguished, even if these belligerents in a a small way,
had not been so occupied by these demonstrations of their valour from
attending to them. Indeed, the volumes of smoke the popping created,
became very considerable. I do not now know if there be any convoy
signal in the merchant code equivalent to "cease firing." If there were
at that time, I am sure it was displayed, but displayed or not, the
hubbub was on the increase. We were at last compelled to fire shot over
these pugnacious tubs to quiet them, and there was thus acted the
singular spectacle of three vessels capturing the convoy, whilst the
artillery of its principal protector appeared to be incessantly playing
upon it.
Having our attention so much divided, there was a great deal of activity
and bustle, though no confusion on our decks. We were hoisting out the
boats to make the recaptures, and dividing the marines into parties to
go in each. In the midst of all this hurry, when Mr Farmer, our
gallant first-lieutenant, was much heated, a droll circumstance
occurred, the consequence of the indiscriminate firing of the convoy. A
boat pulled alongside, and a little swab-man, with his face all fire,
and in an awfully sinful passion, jumped on the quarter-deck, with
something rolled up in a silk handkerchief. He was so irritated that
whilst he followed the first-lieutenant about for two or three minutes,
he could not articulate.
"Out of my way, man. Mr Burn, see that all the small arms are ready,
and handed down into the boat in good order. Out of my way, man--what
the devil do you want? Muster the pinnace's crew on the starboard
gangway--move all these lubberly marines, Mr Silva, if that stupid fool
don't cease firing, send a shot right into him. Man, man, what do you
want--why don't you speak?"
"There, sir," at last stammered out the little angry master of a brig,
unfolding his handkerchief, and exhibiting a two-pound shot in a most
filthy condition, "What--what do you think of that, sir. Slap on board
of me, from the _Lady Jane_, sir--through, clean through my bulwarks
into the cook's slush-tub. There's murder and piracy for you on the
high seas--my slush-tub, sir--my bulwarks, sir."
"Damn you and your slush-tub too--out of my way! Sail trimmers aloft,
and get ready the topmast and top-gallant studding-sails."
"Am I to have no redress, sir? Is a British subject to have his
slush-tub cannonaded on the high seas, and no redress, sir? Sir, sir, I
tell you, sir, if you don't do me justice, I'll go on board and open my
fire upon that scoundrelly _Lady Jane_."
Now this was something like a gasconade, as our irritated friend
happened to have but three quakers (wooden guns) on each side, that
certainly were not equal to the merits of that apocryphal good dog, that
could bark, though not bite--however, they looked as if they could.
"You had better," said Captain Reud, "go on board the _Lady Jane_, and
if you are man enough, give the master a hiding."
"If I'm man enough!" said he, jumping with his shot into his boat, with
ireful alacrity. Shortly after, taking my glass, I looked at the _Lady
Jane_, and sure enough there was a pugilistic encounter proceeding on
her quarter-deck, with all that peculiar _gout_ that characterises
Englishmen when engaged in that amusement.
In answer to the signal of the _Falcon_, which was astern of the convoy,
and between it and the gigantic schooner, "Shall I chase?" we replied,
"No." By this time we had thrashed our convoy into something like
silence and good order. We then signalled to them to close round the
_Falcon_, and heave-to. To the _Falcon_, "to protect convoy."
We had now been some time at quarters, and everything was ready for
chasing and fighting. But the fun had already begun to the northward.
Our second man-of-war brig, the _Curlew_, had closed considerably upon
the felucca, which was evidently endeavouring to make the chase a
windward one. The brig closed more upon her than she ought. It
certainly enabled her to fire broadside after broadside upon her, but,
as far as we could perceive, with little or no effect. In a short time
the privateer contrived to get into the wind's eye of the man-of-war,
and away they went. After the four ships had been taken possession of
and which were each making a different course, we sent three of the
boats--the barge, yawl, and pinnace--under the command of Mr Silva, in
order to recapture them, of which there was every prospect, as the
breeze was light, and would not probably freshen before ten o'clock;
for, however the captured vessels might steer, their courses must be
weather ones, as, if they had attempted to run to leeward, they must
have crossed the body of the convoy. Having now made our arrangements,
we turned all our attention to leeward, upon the large dark,
three-masted vessel, that still remained hove-to, seeming to honour us
with but little notice. She had taken possession of the finest and
largest ship of the convoy. Long as I have been narrating all these
facts, I assure the reader they did not occupy ten minutes in action,
including the monomachia on board of the _Lady Jane_. Just as we had
got the ship's head towards the stranger, with every stitch of canvas
crowded upon her, and the eight-oared cutter, manned, armed, and
marined, towing astern, they had got the captured West Indiaman before
the wind, with everything set. The stranger was not long following this
example; but steered about a S.W. and by W course, whilst his prize ran
down nearly due south.
I have always found in the beginning, that the size of the chase is
magnified, either by the expectations or the fears of the pursuers. At
first, we had no doubt but that the flying vessel was a French frigate,
as large, or nearly as large, as ourselves. We knew from good authority
that a couple of large frigate-built ships had, evading our blockading
cruisers, escaped from Brest, and were playing fine pranks among the
West India Islands. Everybody immediately concluded the vessel in view
to be one of them. If this conjecture should turn out true, there would
be no easy task before us, seeing how much we had crippled ourselves, by
sending away, in the boats, so many officers and men.
It now became a matter of earnest deliberation, to which of the two
ships we should first turn our attention, as the probabilities were
great against our capturing both. The _Prince William_, the captured
West Indiaman, I have before said, was the largest and finest ship of
the convoy. Indeed, she was nearly as large as ourselves, mounted
sixteen guns, and we had made her a repeating ship, and employed her
continually in whipping-in the bad sailers.
The chase after her promised to be as as long as would have been the
chase after the Frenchman.
Mr Farmer, who was all for fighting, and getting his next step of
promotion, was for nearing the West Indiaman a little more, sending the
cutter to take possession, and then do our best to capture the frigate.
Now, the cutter pulled eight oars, there were two good-looking jollies,
with their muskets between their knees, stuck up in the bows, six in the
stern-sheets, Mr Pridhomme, the enamoured master's mate, and the Irish
young gentleman, who had seen as much service and as many years as
myself; with the coxswain, who was steering. Mr Farmer, of course,
measured everybody's courage by his own; but I think it was taxing
British intrepidity a little too much, to expect that nineteen persons,
in broad daylight, should chase in an open boat, and which must
necessarily pull up a long stern-pull of perhaps two or three hours,
exposed to the fire of those on board, and then afterwards, supposing
that nobody had been either killed or wounded by the ball practice that
would have been certainly lavished on the attacking party, to get
alongside, and climb up the lofty side of a vessel, as high out of the
water as a fifty-gun ship. We say nothing of the guns that might have
been loaded by the captors with grape, and the number of men that would
infallibly be placed to defend and to navigate so noble a vessel.
Captain Reud weighed all this, and decided upon making with the frigate,
the recapture first, and then trusting to Providence for the other: for
which decision, which I thought most sound, he got black looks from the
first-lieutenant and some of the officers, and certain hints were
whispered of _dark_ birds sometimes showing white feathers.
The sequel proved that the captain acted with the greatest judgment. To
our utter astonishment, we came up hand over hand with a vessel which we
before had shrewd suspicions, could, going free sail very nearly as well
as ourselves. Of course, we were now fast leaving the convoy; we found
that the felucca had worked herself dead to windward, and was, by this
time, nearly out of gun-shot of the _Curlew_, and, that the _faineant_
strange schooner had now made sail, and was on such a course as
approximated her fast to the other privateer.
The large vessel, perceiving our attention solely directed to the
capture, shortened sail and made demonstrations of rescue. At this, Mr
Farmer grinned savage approbation, and, not yet having had a good view
of her hull, we all thought, from her conduct, that she was conscious of
force. We were, therefore, doubly on the alert in seeing everything in
the very best order for fighting. The bulk-heads of the captain's cabin
were knocked down, and the sheep, pigs, and poultry, gingerly ushered
into the hold, preparatory to the demolition of their several pens,
styes, and coops, on the main deck. All this I found very amusing, but
I must confess to a little anxiety, and, younker as I was, I knew, if we
came to action, that the eighty or ninety men, away in the boats, would
be very severely felt. I was also sorry for the absence of Mr Silva,
as I had a great, yet puerile curiosity, to see how a man that had
written a book, would fight.
The run of an hour and a-half brought us nearly alongside the _Prince
William_, when we expected, at the least, a ten hour's chase. It was
well we came up so soon; the Frenchman had clapped forty as ill-looking
savage vagabonds on board of her, as ever made a poor fellow walk the
plank. They had fully prepared themselves for sinking the cutter, as
soon as she could come alongside, and their means for doing so were most
ample.
As our prisoners came up the sides, we soon discovered by the shabby,
faded, and rent uniforms of the two officers among them, that they
belonged to the French imperial service. They bore their reverse of
fortune, notwithstanding they belonged to a philosophical nation, with a
very despicable philosophy. They stamped with rage, and ground their
_sacres_ unceasingly between their teeth. They could not comprehend how
so fine a looking vessel should sail so much like a haystack. The
mystery was, however, soon solved. The third mate, with about half a
dozen men, had been left on board of her; and the provident and gallant
young fellow had, whilst the Frenchmen were so pre-occupied in preparing
to resist the threatened attack of the boat, contrived to pass,
unobserved, overboard from the bows, a spare-sail loaded with shot, that
effectually had checked the ship's way. Had the Frenchmen turned their
attention to that part of the vessel, without they had examined
narrowly, they would have perceived nothing more than a rope towing
overboard. He certainly ought to have shared with us prize-money for
the recapture; but after all, he sustained no great loss by not having
his name down on the prize-list, as nobody but the captain ever got
anything for what we did that day. He, lucky dog, got his share in
advance, many said much more, for appointing the Messrs. Isaiahsons and
Co as our agents. They got the money, and then, as the possession of
much cash (of other people's) is very impoverishing, they became
bankrupts, paid nothing-farthing in the pound, were very much
commiserated, and the last that we heard of them was, that they were
living like princes in America, upon the miserable wreck of their (own?)
property.
We made, of course, most anxious and most minute inquiries of Messieurs
les Francois, as to the class of vessel to which they belonged, and
which we were in turn preparing to pursue. As might be expected, we got
from them nothing but contradictory reports; but they all agreed in
giving us the most conscientious and disinterested advice, not to think
of irritating her, as we should most certainly be blown out of the
water. We read this backwards. If she were strong enough to take us,
it was their interest that we should engage her, and thus their
liberation would be effected.
As it was, notwithstanding these many occurrences, only eight a.m. when
we made the re-capture, and as the convoy were all still in sight, we
only put six men in the _Prince William_ which, in addition to the
English still on board, were sufficient to take her to the _Curlew_,
near which vessel the merchantmen had all nestled, and orders were
transmitted to her commanding officer to see that men enough were put on
board the re-capture to insure her safety.