sailors he could meet if any of them had heard anything of his brother
Ned. Mr Charlton knew this, and arranged that he might have the
opportunity of carrying out his plans as far as possible. Whenever a
boat left for the shore, Ben was therefore allowed to go in her. Soon
after their arrival, a boat in which Ben went was sent from the frigate
under command of a midshipman, who had some commission to perform in the
town. On leaving the boat, the midshipman said, "Two of you will remain
as boat-keepers; the rest may step on shore, but are not to stray out of
sight of the boat. Remember, these are the captain's orders."
"Ay, ay, sir," was the answer; but no sooner had the midshipman
disappeared up the street, than the men all jumped on shore to look out
for a grog-shop. Not one was to be seen, and on that account the place
had been selected by the captain for the landing of the boat's crew. In
vain they searched.
"Now, Ben Hadden, here's a job for you," said the coxswain of the boat,
when they had come back and sat down in rather a sulky mood. "Just you
scud up the street, and bring us down a couple of bottles of
arguardiente. You are certain to find some place where they sell it,
and there's five shillings for yourself. I know you want money to send
to your mother; Tom told me so. Very right in you. Come, be sharp
about it, there's a good lad."
"Thank you, Brown," said Ben, not moving from his seat; "but you forget
that Mr Manners said it was the captain's orders no one should go out
of sight of the boat. Even if you were to offer me five pounds for
mother, I couldn't go--"
"Oh, nonsense, boy!" answered Brown; "it isn't the money you care about,
I know, but do it just to oblige us."
"No, no, Brown. I have been taught always to do right, whatever comes
of it, and never to do wrong, even if it seems as if no harm would come
of it," said Ben firmly.
"All right, I daresay, boy; but surely there's no harm in getting some
grog in this hot weather," argued Brown.
"It's against orders, it's against the regulations, it's disobedience,"
returned Ben. "We were ordered not to go out of sight of the boat, and
unless we do the arguardiente cannot be got."
"Oh, this is all shilly-shallying humbug!" exclaimed Brown angrily.
"Come, a couple of you, with me, and we'll have the liquor, and be back
in a jiffy."
"Remember, Brown, if you do, and I am asked, I'll speak the truth, I'll
warn you," said Ben undauntedly.
"And I'll break your head, if you do!" exclaimed Brown, springing out of
the boat, followed by two of the other men, while the rest soon
scattered themselves about the quay, leaving Ben sitting in the boat.
He, at all events, determined not to move, though the proper
boat-keepers deserted their post. He sat on for some time, watching
people passing on shore: blacks, and brown men, the aboriginal natives
of the country, and white people descended from Spaniards, in their
varied and picturesque costumes; and two or three processions passed, of
priests, in white and purple dresses, and some in gold and scarlet, with
banners of the Virgin Mary and saints, and crucifixes, and images, and
bells tinkling, and men and boys chanting and swinging about incense,
just as Ben had read used to be done in heathen days, but quite
different to the custom of Protestant England. Some of the priests were
going to visit the sick and dying, and others were on their way to
attend funerals; indeed, there seemed to be a good deal of commotion on
shore among the ecclesiastics. Ben could not, however, exactly tell
what it all meant.
A considerable time thus passed, and he wished that his shipmates would
return to the boat, lest Mr Manners should come down before them. The
boat had begun to move about a good deal lately, and Ben, on looking
round, discovered that a heavy sea was rolling into the harbour.
Directly after this she struck with a loud noise against the stone pier.
Ben sprang to his feet, and with the boat-hook did his best to fend off
the boat, shouting at the same time to the crew to come to his
assistance; but they were too much occupied with what was going forward
on shore to listen to him. Still he continued to exert himself to the
uttermost, for he saw that, if he did not do so, the boat would be
dashed to pieces. Again and again he shouted, till he was almost worn
out with his labours. He might at any moment have jumped on shore, and
left the boat to her fate; but he never thought of doing so. While he
was thus engaged, he heard his name called, and, looking up, he saw the
good-natured face of Mr Manners, who was watching him from the quay
above.
"Why, boy Hadden, how comes it that you are left in the boat alone?" he
asked. "Where are the rest?"
"There, sir," said Ben, pointing to where a few were to be seen.
The midshipman ran towards them, shouting out at the same time. They
came, at length, very unwillingly.
"See, you have allowed the boat to be almost stove in!" exclaimed the
generally quiet young midshipman. "Jump in, now, and keep her off.
Where are the rest?"
The men, after getting into the boat, were silent for some time. The
midshipman repeated the question.
"Just round the end of that street," said one of the men. "Shall I go
and call them, sir? What keeps them, I don't know."
"No," answered the midshipman firmly. "We will pull off a short
distance, and wait for them. If they do not come down immediately, I
will go on board without them."
The officer was just about to utter the words, "Give way!" when the
missing men were seen hurrying down, with uneven steps, towards the
quay. The boat put in, and took them on board. Their countenances were
flushed, and their manner wild; but they did not venture to speak much.
The midshipman saw that they were endeavouring to conceal something, as
they took their seats. "Heave those bottles overboard!" he exclaimed
suddenly, when they had got a little way from the quay.
The men hesitated. "Not till they are empty," cried one. "Not till we
have had what is in them," exclaimed another, putting a bottle to his
lips.
The midshipman, a spirited lad, sprang from his seat, and, passing the
intervening men, with a boat-stretcher which he had seized dashed the
bottle from the man's lips ere a drop could have been drunk. This so
exasperated the already tipsy sailor, that he flung himself on the young
officer, and, seizing him in his arms, threw him overboard.
Ben, though not in time to prevent this, jumped from the boat, holding
on by one of the tiller-ropes, and grasped his young officer by the
collar. "Haul us in, mates!" he cried. "You won't surely add murder to
what that man has done!"
Even the worst men were somewhat sobered when they saw what had
happened, and the other man who had the bottle to his lips stopped
drinking; and, fearful of consequences to themselves, they began to haul
the officer and Ben together on board.
"Quick! quick, mates! or it will be too late!" cried the coxswain, who
had remained on the quay, though he had been guilty of letting the other
men go.
A dark object was seen in the water. It darted towards them.
"A shark! a shark!" was the cry.
Ben quickly sprang into the boat; but barely was Mr Manners hauled on
board than a flash of white appeared, a huge mouth opened and closed
again with a loud snap, and a shark darted away, disappointed of its
prey. Even the most drunken of the men were sobered, and the bottles of
spirit they had procured at so much risk were thrown overboard. The
midshipman quickly recovered.
"They are all gone, sir," said the coxswain in a humble tone. "The men
hope that you won't say anything about what has happened."
"I would gladly avoid doing so, so far as I am myself concerned,
although, no thanks to Dick Nolan, I am a living man, instead of a dead
one in the body of a shark; but discipline must be maintained. I should
be neglecting my duty if I did not report those who disobeyed orders. I
shall speak of you in no vindictive spirit, and it will not be my fault
if the man who threw me into the water receives the punishment which is
justly his due: that punishment would be nothing short of death--
remember that, my men! I have been taught by a Book, which I wish that
you all would read, to forgive my enemies and those who injure me; and
therefore I will, for the sake of our loving Saviour, endeavour to save
Nolan's life."
The men hung down their heads. This was a very different style of
address from what they were accustomed to. No one expected it; even
Ben, who had frequently been with Mr Manners, did not. The most
hardened felt ashamed of themselves; they were certain that the young
officer would not injure them if he could help it, but they also knew
that he must report them.
At length the boat reached the ship, and Mr Manners went into the cabin
to give an account of the mission on which he had been sent on shore.
Ben felt very anxious for the boat's crew; and the culprits, especially,
felt very anxious for themselves. Ben forgot all about himself, and he
did not suppose that he was likely to gain credit for the part he had
acted. He was therefore very much surprised when he was sent for into
the cabin.
"I find, Hadden, that you have behaved admirably on two occasions
to-day, once in staying by the boat when the proper boat-keepers had
left her, and preventing her from being stove in; and secondly, in
jumping into the sea and saving Mr Manners when he fell overboard. I
wish you to know how highly I approve of your conduct, and will consider
how I can best reward you."
Ben was highly pleased at hearing this. He kept pulling away at the
front lock of his hair, and thanking the captain, till he was told that
he might leave the cabin.
Seamen generally know what has taken place among each other, even when
the officers do not. Tom soon heard all that had occurred, and told his
father. It was reported the next day that the captain proposed flogging
three of the men who had been on shore with Mr Manners. Then it was
known that several of the boat's crew were down with a severe fever, and
it was reported that the captain knew that there was a fever on shore,
and that therefore he had not given leave to the men to go as they had
been accustomed to do. Nolan, who had thrown Mr Manners overboard, was
the very worst of them. It was said that he was talking very
frantically, and accusing himself of the deed. In this dreadful state
he continued raving for two days, when he was silent from exhaustion,
and died. The captain, hoping to prevent the spread of the fever among
the crew, put to sea. Many more, however, were taken ill, of whom
several died, and were buried at sea.
One day, Mr Martin called Ben and Tom into his cabin. "Now, boys, I
just want to point out to you what you must remember to the end of your
days; that is, the terrible effects of disobedience. Those poor fellows
whose corpses we have lowered overboard, I daresay, thought that they
were doing no great harm when they ran off to the grog-shop. They knew,
of course, that they were disobeying the orders of Mr Manners, the
midshipman in command of the boat; but they said to themselves, `Oh, he
is only a midshipman, no harm can come of it. We shall be back before
he is, and he need know nothing about the matter.' They forgot that the
midshipman was acting under the orders of the captain, and the captain
under those of the Government of our country, and that Governments and
authorities were instituted by God for the well-being and happiness of
the community. They thought that they were committing a little sin, but
they were in reality guilty of a great crime. See the result. One of
them nearly committed murder, and if he had lived, and the captain had
been informed of what he had done, he would have been hung. I know all
about it, though the crew think I don't. Then they catch the fever,
bring it aboard, some of them lose their own lives, and they risk the
lives of all the ship's company. Just in the same way people go on in
the world. God has given us orders what we are to do, and what we are
not to do. How do we act? We neglect to do what He has commanded us to
do, and do the very things He has told us not to do, saying all the time
to ourselves, `It is only a little sin, it is only a slight
disobedience; so slight, God won't notice it; no harm can come of it.'
That is one of Satan's most cunning and most successful devices for
destroying the souls of men. He tried it with Adam and Eve, and has
tried it on all their descendants ever since, and will try it as long as
he `goes about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour.' Oh,
boys, remember that `not a sparrow falls to the ground' but God sees it,
and that He therefore knows all that you do; and that, though a sin may
appear a trifle in your sight, it is not a trifle in God's sight, for He
abhors all sin. `He cannot look on iniquity.'"
Tom looked very grave when his father spoke, and felt very serious. Ben
clearly understood and remembered the important lesson given him, and
prayed silently that he might always make use of it when, temptation
should come in his way. He was very happy, and he knew it, in being in
a ship with such good men as Mr Charlton and Mr Martin, to whom he now
found that he might add Mr Manners. These men, though only a few among
many, had a great effect on the mass, and helped to leaven in some
degree the whole ship's company. Ben himself produced a good effect not
only on Tom, but among the other boys of the ship, and even with many of
the men, though he was not aware of it, and would not have talked about
it if he had been.
In consequence of the fever, the frigate did not go back to Valparaiso,
but stood away to the northward, looking in at other ports along the
coast where any British merchantmen were to be found. It is thus
England protects her commerce, by showing the inhabitants of the various
ports in the world to which her merchants trade, that she has the power
to punish those who may venture to ill-treat them; her consuls and any
other authorities are supported; and any seamen or other British
subjects who misbehave themselves on board English ships can be brought
to punishment. If British subjects break the laws of the country in
which they are residing, they are left to be punished according to those
laws. It is, however, the duty of the consul, supported by the
authority of the captain of a man-of-war, to see that they are not
punished except justly, according to those laws.
Callao, the port of Lima, the capital of Peru, was the last place on the
west of America at which the frigate touched. She anchored in a large
bay, guarded by forts, and opposite the modern town of Callao, which
stands near the beach. Upwards of a hundred years ago a fearful
earthquake occurred, which shook Lima to the ground; and a huge wave
rolling in towards the shore at the same time, overwhelmed the old town
of Callao, and destroyed the greater part, if not the whole, of the
inhabitants.
Peru was taken by the Spaniards three hundred years ago from the native
Indians, who lived happily under their own princes and chiefs. The
latter were treated with the greatest cruelty and injustice by their
conquerors, and compelled to work in the silver and copper mines which
exist along the whole range of the Andes. The Spaniards were, in their
turn, dispossessed of the government of the country by the descendants
of the early settlers, who were assisted by the natives and the people
descended from natives and Spaniard. Unhappily, the Roman Catholic
religion is established throughout the whole of Chili and Peru, for the
history of the two countries is nearly the same; and the people have the
characteristics which are to be found wherever that religion prevails.
The great mass are ignorant and superstitious; their priests, of whom
there are great numbers, grossly impose on their credulity.
The mines, as from the first, are worked by the natives, who are,
however, from their delicate constitutions, so unfitted for that sort of
labour that they have rapidly decreased in numbers. The consequence is,
that many of the mines have been closed for want of hands to work them.
While the Ajax lay at Callao, Captain Bertram heard that, shortly
before, an expedition of a dozen or more vessels had been fitted out to
entrap and carry off the natives of the various islands of the Pacific,
for the purpose of making them work in the mines of Peru. What mattered
it to these wretches whether the islanders they proposed to enslave were
Christians and civilised, or cannibal savages? They would have
preferred the former as more likely to be docile under the treatment to
which they proposed to subject them. At first Captain Bertram would
scarcely believe that people professing to be civilised and Christians
could be guilty of an act of such atrocious barbarity. He remembered,
however, who these Chilians are; that in their dispositions and
education they differ in no way from Spaniards, and that the Spanish
have been to the last the most active agents in the African slave-trade.
Those who know the high state of civilisation of which the natives of
Eastern Polynesia are capable, and the remarkable fitness of their minds
for receiving the truths of the gospel, will naturally feel unmitigated
horror at the thought of their being made the victims of so abominable a
scheme. This was especially the feeling of Mr Charlton when he heard
the account, and he resolved to use every exertion to capture the
slavers, and to bring their crews to justice.
CHAPTER NINE.
ADVENTURES AMONG THE ISLANDS.
The Ajax had remained at Callao in order that Captain Bertram might
obtain more information respecting the slaving expedition of which he
had received notice. All he could learn, however, was that a dozen or
more vessels had sailed, fully armed, with stores for a long cruise, and
a larger quantity of rice and other provisions than could be required by
their crews. Where they had gone no one could tell. Probably the
islands they were to attack were left to the choice of their commanders.
On putting to sea, the Ajax steered to the westward. As the frigate
approached the numerous groups of islands which lay in her course, it
became necessary to keep a very bright look-out, by day as well as by
night. The first group consisted of low coral islands, which rise but a
few feet above the water.
Ben was anxious to make himself useful as before, and was continually at
the masthead, when his watch was over, looking out for land. One day,
when he was as usual aloft, turning his eyes round in every direction,
he saw right ahead what seemed to be a grove of trees rising directly
out of the water. He reported what he saw. Sail was immediately
shortened, and the lead hove, and, as the ship sailed on, the lead was
again frequently hove.
"It is the Minerva coral island," Ben heard the captain observe to Mr
Charlton, after he and the master had been looking over the chart.
As the ship rose and fell with the swell of the ocean, the trees were
now seen and now again lost sight of alternately for some time; this had
a very curious effect. As the frigate drew near, a white sandy beach
was seen, and, higher up, a belt of land of a light clay colour, on
which grew a few shrubs not more than fifteen feet high, above which
towered the pandanus, cocoa-nut, and palms. The whole island was about
ten miles long, and a mile and a half wide, the centre part being
occupied by a lagoon, or lake, of smooth deeply blue water, thus leaving
a belt of land not more than six hundred feet across. This lagoon had
no opening or entrance to it, but Ben heard that the lagoons of most of
the coral islands have a communication with the sea, so that boats and
canoes can enter. Outside the island, at some little distance, rose a
second or outer reef, over which the sea flowed at high water. This
served in heavy gales, when the waves rolled in furious to break their
force, and to protect the shore over which they might otherwise have
swept, carrying away the trees and shrubs which made it a fit habitation
for man.
Mr Martin gave Ben and Tom an account of the way these coral islands
are formed. "Coral, you will understands is made by very small sea
insects, who form it for their habitation," he observed. "God has given
them the instinct to build in certain ways and places, just, as if they
knew what they were about, and that they were building up an island fit
to be inhabited by human beings. They seem to choose the tops of rocks
from one hundred to two hundred fathoms below the surface, for the
foundation of their structure. They have toiled on for ages, placing
storey upon storey, till the surface has been reached, when they have
been compelled to cease; for out of the water, whence they draw their
materials--their bricks and mortar, so to speak--they can do nothing.
The outer edge breaks the force of the sea, but not altogether. Enough
strength is exerted during storms to tear off the outer edge of the
coral, and to throw it on the top of the wall. Seaweed and driftwood
and dead fish are next thrown up on it, which, when they decay, form
soil. Birds next come and rest on the island, and further enrich the
soil. They bring seeds of grass and small shrubs at first, and
afterwards of larger trees, which take root and spring up, and in their
turn, when they decay, form more earth to nourish a larger species of
trees, such as the tall palms, and cocoa-nut, and pandanus, which we
have seen growing on them. The sandy beach is formed of the broken
coral and shells, ground small by the constant action of the waves. I
have heard that the lagoons are often very deep, so that the island is
exactly like a circular wall built up from the bottom of the sea, or
rather from a rock far down in it."
Mr Martin promised the boys that he would tell them more about other
islands which they were likely to visit another time. He had also with
him some most interesting accounts of the progress which the
missionaries had made among the heathen in those seas, which he promised
also to give them.
People were seen on the shore, though no habitations were visible, and
Captain Bertram wished to communicate with them. While the frigate was
hove to, to leeward of the island, two boats were sent on shore under
Mr Charlton's command. Ben went in one of them. A native of Tahiti,
called Tatai, had been shipped at Callao to act as interpreter, as
without one very little intercourse could have been held with the
natives. Ben had told him all about Ned, and how he hoped to find him
on one of the islands they expected to visit Tatai said that he must not
be too sanguine, as it was very like looking for a pearl in a bed of
oysters, though there were great numbers of white men scattered about
among the islands, and even living among the most savage natives. He
promised, however, to make inquiries, and to help on his object as far
as he had the power.
The boats had to coast along for some time before an entrance through
the reef could be found. The sea dashed against the reef, and, curling
over, fell back in a shower of spray. A boat striking it would have
been instantly overwhelmed or dashed to pieces. The passage between the
two walls of water which thus rose up on either side of the entrance was
very narrow. It seemed indeed that the boats could not pass through
without the oars touching the rocks. Mr Charlton, however, considered
that the passage was practicable, so also did Tatai. Mr Charlton led,
and as his boat was cautiously feeling its way, a smooth roller
majestically approached the shore. "Give way, lads," he cried. The
boat glided on, the water broke with a thundering roar on the reef; but
the boat, like an arrow, had shot through and was floating safely within
the reef. The other boat immediately followed.