Commencement of the War of 1815. Embark for Rotterdam. Ship's
Stock. Ship struck. A Pilot, a Smuggler, and a Lawyer. A Boat
without Stock. Join the Regiment at Brussels.
I have endeavoured, in this book of mine, to measure out the peace and
war in due proportions, according to the spirit of the times it speaks
of; and, as there appears to me to be as much peace in the last
chapter as occurred in Europe between 1814 and 1815, I shall, with the
reader's permission, lodge my regiment, at once, on Dover-heights, and
myself in Scotland, taking a shot at the last of the woodcocks, which
happened to be our relative positions, when Bonaparte's escape from
Elba once more summoned the army to the field.
The first intimation I had of it was by a letter, informing me of the
embarkation of the battalion for the Netherlands, and desiring me to
join them there, without delay; and, finding that a brig was to sail,
the following day, from Leith to Rotterdam, I took a passage on board
of her. She was an odd one to look at, but the captain assured me that
she was a good one to go; and, besides, that he had provided every
thing that was elegant for our entertainment. The latter piece of
information I did not think of questioning until too late to profit by
it, for I had the mortification to discover, the first day, that his
whole stock consisted in a quarter of lamb, in addition to the ship's
own, with a few cabbages, and five gallons of whiskey.
After having been ten days at sea, I was awoke, one morning before
daylight, with the ship's grinding over a sand-bank, on the coast of
Holland; fortunately, it did not blow hard, and a pilot soon after
came alongside, who, after exacting a reward suitable to the
occasion, at length, consented to come on board, and extricated us
from our perilous situation, carrying the vessel into the entrance of
one of the small branches of the river leading up to Rotterdam, where
we came to anchor. The captain was very desirous of appealing to a
magistrate for a reduction in the exorbitant demand of the pilot; and
I accompanied him on shore for that purpose. An Englishman made up to
us at the landing-place, and said that his name was C----, that he had
made his fortune by smuggling, and, though he was not permitted to
spend it in his native country, that he had the greatest pleasure in
being of service to his countrymen. As this was exactly the sort of
person we were in search of, the Captain explained his grievance; and
the other said that he would conduct him to a gentleman who would soon
put that to rights. We, accordingly, walked to the adjoining village,
in one of the houses of which he introduced us, formally, to a tall
Dutchman, with a pipe in his mouth and a pen behind his ear, who,
after hearing the story, proceeded to commit it, in large characters,
to a quire of foolscap.
The cautious nature of the Scotchman did not altogether like the
appearance of the man of business, and demanding, through the
interpreter, whether there would be any thing to pay for his
proceedings? he was told that it would cost five guineas. "Five
devils," said Saunders; "What is it for?" "For a protest," said the
other. "D--n the protest," said the captain; "I came here to save five
guineas, and not to pay five more." I could stand the scene no longer,
and rushed out of the house, under the pretence of seeing the village;
and on my return to the ship, half an hour afterwards, I found the
captain fast asleep. I know not whether he swallowed the remainder of
the five gallons of whiskey, in addition to his five-guinea grievance,
but I could not shake him out of it, although the mate and I tried,
alternately, for upwards of two hours; and indeed I never heard
whether he ever got out of it,--for when I found that they had to go
outside to find another passage up to Rotterdam, I did not think it
prudent to trust myself any longer in the hands of such artists, and,
taking leave of the sleeper, with a last ineffectual shake, I hired a
boat to take me through the passage in which we then were.
We started with a stiff fair wind, and the boatman assured me that we
should reach Rotterdam in less than five hours (forty miles); but it
soon lulled to a dead calm, which left us to the tedious operation of
tiding it up; and, to mend the matter, we had not a fraction of money
between us, nor any thing to eat or drink. I bore starvation all that
day and night, with the most christian-like fortitude; but, the next
morning, I could stand it no longer, and sending the boatman on shore,
to a neighbouring house, I instructed him either to beg or steal
something, whichever he should find the most prolific; but he was a
clumsy hand at both, and came on board again with only a very small
quantity of coffee. It, however, afforded some relief, and in the
afternoon we reached the town of Dort, and, on lodging my baggage in
pawn with a French inn-keeper, he advanced me the means of going on to
Rotterdam, where I got cash for the bill which I had on a merchant
there. Once more furnished with the "sinews of war," with my feet on
_terra firma_, I lost no time in setting forward to Antwerp, and from
thence to Brussels, when I had the happiness of rejoining my
battalion, which was then quartered in the city.
Brussels was, at this time, a scene of extraordinary preparation, from
the succession of troops who were hourly arriving, and in their
formation into brigades and divisions. We had the good fortune to be
attached to the brigade of our old and favourite commander, Sir James
Kempt, and in the fifth division, under Sir Thomas Picton. It was the
only division quartered in Brussels, the others being all towards the
French frontier, except the Duke of Brunswick's corps, which lay on
the Antwerp road.