We made wonderful progress with our French, in spite of our want of
books. Indeed, I have reason to believe that information attained under
difficulties, is not only acquired more rapidly, but most certainly more
completely mastered, than with the aid of all the modern appliances of
education, which, like steam-engines at full speed, haul us so fast
along the royal road to knowledge, that we have no time to take in half
the freight prepared for us. We found, too, that the old colonel knew
considerably more about English than we had at first suspected, and at
last we ascertained that he had before been captured, and shut up in a
prison in England. He did not seem to have any pleasing recollections
of that period of his existence. One day, after we had annoyed him more
than usual with our pranks, and stirred up his bile, he gave vent to his
feelings--
"Ah, you betes Anglais," he exclaimed. "You have no sympathe vid des
miserables. Vous eat ros beef vous-memes, and vous starve vos
_prisonniers_."
He then went on gravely to assure us, that when the inspector of prisons
one day rode into the yard of the prison, and left his horse there while
he entered the building, the famished prisoners rushed out in a body and
surrounded the animal. Simultaneously they made a rush at the poor
beast, and stabbed it with their knives. In an instant it was skinned,
cut up, and carried off piecemeal. When the inspecting officer came
back, he found only the stirrups and bit and hoofs. The prisoners were
busily occupied cooking their dinners, and had already produced most
delicious fricassees, so that the English officer could not believe that
they were formed out of the animal on whose back he had galloped up to
the prison not an hour before.
"That's pretty well up to one of Mr Johnson's yarns," observed Grey to
me. "I wish the old fellow could understand him; the boatswain would
take the shine out of him I suspect."
"Bah, dat is noting," said the colonel. "I vill tell you many more
curieuse tings. You talk much of de Anglish ladies. Vel, des are
passablement bien; but des all get dronk ven des can. Je sais bien vy
des go upstairs before de gentlehommes!--it is dat des may drink at dere
ease. Ha, ha, dat is vot des do; you drink downstairs, des drink
upstairs."
"Come, come, Monsieur colonel," exclaimed Duncan McAllister, starting up
and striking his fist on the table. "Ye may tell what crammers ye like
and welcome, but if ye dare to utter your falsehoods about the ladies of
Scotland and England, matrons or maids, prisoner though you be, I'll
make your two eyes see brighter lightning than has come out of them for
many a day; and if ye want satisfaction, ye shall have as much as ye can
get out of a stout ash stick. Vous comprennez, don't ye?"
The colonel shrugged his shoulders, and wisely said nothing. Though he
did not understand all McAllister's remarks, he saw that he had gone too
far, and that it would be wiser in future, whatever might have been his
belief, not to utter any remarks disparaging to the women of England
among a party of English sailors.
"I dinna think that colonel ever did a bolder thing than brave a litter
of young lions in their den," exclaimed McAllister, who, for some
especial reason, held France and Frenchmen in utter detestation and
abhorrence, though he knew more of their language than most of us.
We did not mind the poor old colonel's stories, for we remembered that
he was a prisoner suffering from sea-sickness, and that he had no other
way of venting his spleen.
At length we reached Port Royal, and our prize under charge of Perigal
arrived at the same time. Colonel Pinchard begged so hard that he might
stay on board while the frigate remained in harbour, that in
consideration of the instruction he was affording the youngsters he was
allowed to do so.
"Ah, I do like de ship ven she stay tranquil," he exclaimed, spreading
out his hands horizontally, and making them slowly move round. "But ven
she tumble bout, den," he put his hands on his stomach, exhibiting with
such extraordinary contortions of countenance the acuteness of his
sensations, that we all burst into hearty fits of laughter.
Indeed the colonel was a never failing source of amusement to us. From
the wonderfully prolonged cackles in which he indulged, he also
evidently enjoyed the jokes himself. The schooner, which required but
little refitting, was soon ready for sea. It was understood that
Perigal was to have the command, and Grey and I hoped to be allowed to
accompany him. The captain had not as yet let us know his intentions.
We should have been ready enough, probably, to have spent our time on
shore; but as we should have but little chance of that, we fancied that
we should prefer sailing in search of adventures on the ocean. There
are few more beautiful spots on the earth's surface than Jamaica, with
its exquisite verdure, its lofty hills, known as the Blue Mountains, its
round-topped heights covered with groves of pimento, its vast savannahs
or plains, its romantic vales, its rivers, bays, and creeks, and its
dense and sombre forests, altogether forming one of the most lovely of
tropical pictures.
Entering the harbour, we had Port Royal on the starboard hand, at the
end of a long spit of land called the Palisades. On the opposite side
of the narrow entrance was Rock Fort, just under a lofty hill, and as
the batteries of Fort Charles at Port Royal bristled with guns, while
those of Fort Augusta faced us with an equal number, we agreed that an
enemy would find it no easy task to enter the harbour.
The dockyard was at Port Royal, opposite which we brought up. The
Palisades run parallel with the mainland, thus forming a vast lagoon,
not running inland, but along the coast as it were. Towards the upper
end, the commercial town, called Kingston, with its commodious harbour,
is situated. Some way inland, again, is Spanish Town, the capital,
where the residence of the Governor and the House of Assembly are to be
found. It is a very hot place, and the yellow fever is more apt to pay
it a second visit than strangers who have once been there, if they can
help it.
The admiral on the Jamaica station lives on shore, at a house called the
Admiral's pen, on the Palisades, whence he commands a view of the
harbour, roadstead, and the ocean. He is better off than the Governor,
because he does get the sea breeze, which is the best preventive to the
yellow fever. It takes an hour or more pulling up from Port Royal to
Kingston, the distance being five or six miles or more. Spellman once
induced me to ride round along the Palisades, but we agreed that we
would never do it again; for, as it was a calm day, and the rays of the
sun beat down on the white sands, we were very nearly roasted alive, and
how we escaped a sunstroke I do not know. From what I have said, it
will be understood that Port Royal harbour is a very large sheet of
water, and what with the shipping, the towns and ports on its shores,
and the lofty mountains rising up in its neighbourhood, is a very
picturesque place.
We had not been there long, when yellow jack, as the yellow fever is
called, made its appearance, both at Kingston and Port Royal, and all
visits to the shore were prohibited. Grey and I, therefore, had to make
ourselves as happy on board as we could, till we received our expected
orders to join the schooner. We had not had a yarn for some time from
Mr Johnson. One evening, when work was over, we found him walking the
forecastle, taking what he called his sunset food shaker, in a more than
usually thoughtful mood. As Grey, Spellman, and I, with one or two
others, went up to him, he heaved a sigh, which sounded not altogether
unlike the roar of a young bull.
"What is the matter, Mr Johnson?" I asked, approaching him. "You seem
melancholy to-day."
"I have cause to be so, Mr Merry; I have indeed," he answered, in a
tone of deep pathos, again sighing. "Whenever I look on the blue waters
of this harbour, and those whitewashed houses, and those lofty
mountains, I think of a strange and sad episode of my eventful history."
Of course we all exclaimed with one voice, "Do tell it to us, Mr
Johnson!" To which I added, "If it would not break your heart, we
should so like to hear it."
"Break my heart, Mr Merry!" exclaimed the boatswain, striking his bosom
with his open palm, and making it sound like the big drum in a
regimental band. I could not help fancying that there was a
considerable amount of humour lurking in the corner of his eye.
"Break my heart! Jonathan Johnson's heart is formed of tougher stuff
than to break with any grief it may be doomed to bear. You shall hear.
But it strikes me forcibly, young gentlemen, that it may be as well to
finish one part of my history before I begin another. Who can tell
where I left off?"
"You were just going to be swallowed by the big sea-serpent, Mr
Johnson; ship, and crew, and all," said Grey.
"It would be more correct, Mr Grey, to say that you believed we were
going to be swallowed up; because you will understand that had we been
swallowed up, I should not, in all human probability, be here, or ever
have attained the rank of boatswain of His Britannic Majesty's frigate
Doris," said Mr Johnson, with a polite bend of the head. "However, not
to keep you longer in suspense, I will continue my narrative:--
"The good ship Diddleus was bowling away under all sail, and the
sea-serpent, with mouth agape, following us. It's my opinion, and
others agreed with me, that if he'd kept his mouth shut he would have
caught us; for the hot wind coming out of his throat filled our sails,
just as if it had been blowing a heavy gale of wind, and drove us ahead
of him; but he was too eager, do you see, and thought every moment he
was going to grab us. We guessed that he had been aroused at finding
his back smart from the scratch we made in it. We thus ran on till
daybreak, keeping ahead, but not dropping him as much as we could have
wished. It was very awful, let me tell you, young gentlemen, to see his
big rolling eyes, to feel his hot breath, to smell a smell of sulphur,
and to hear his loud roaring. It was painfully evident that he was in a
tremendous rage at the liberty we had taken with his back; and there was
no doubt that had he come up with us, he could have swallowed the ship
and crew, and his own fat into the bargain, with as much ease as he
swallowed the whale. If it was a terrific sight to see him at night, it
was still worse in the daytime. His immense jaws were wide open,
showing a dozen rows of teeth, while his large eyes projected on either
side; and I don't think I exaggerate when I say that the tip of his
upper jaw was fully sixty feet above the surface of the water. As you
all well know, young gentlemen, I am not a man to be daunted; so I
loaded our stern-chasers, and kept blazing away at the monster, to make
him turn aside, but to no effect. I trained the guns myself, and every
shot went into his mouth; but he just rolled his eyes round, and
swallowed them as if they were so many pills. It was a fine sight,
though a terribly fearful one, I own, to see him coming along so
steadily and stately, with the water curling and foaming under his bows,
and flying high up into the air as he cut through it. It was neck or
nothing with us; so we kept blazing away as fast as we could load. I
confess that every moment I expected he would make a spring and grab us,
just as an ordinary fish does the bait held over him; but it was
necessary that I should set an example of coolness to my crew; and,
under the circumstances, I believe that mortal man could not have been
cooler. I could not hide from myself the consequences, should he catch
us; and yet I scarcely dared to hope that we should escape. We had
expended, at last, all our round-shot, and the greater part of our
powder, and we had to load with bags of nails and any langrage we could
find. We had half emptied the carpenter's chest, and, except some
copper bolts, there seemed to be nothing else we could fire off, when,
by my calculations, I found that we were approaching the line. Life is
sweet; and so, that we might keep off the fatal moment as long as
possible, we determined to fire away as long as we had a tin-tack or a
bradawl to put into our guns, when, on a sudden, he uttered a fierce
roar--it did make us jump--and down went his head right under the water,
and up went his tail like a huge pillar, when flop it came down again,
sending the sea flying over us and very nearly pooping the ship. We
felt very uncomfortable, for we naturally expected to see him come up
alongside; but he didn't, and two minutes afterwards we made him out
close to the horizon, to the southward. It was my opinion at the time--
and I have held it ever since--that either he did not like the mouthful
of big nails and bradawls he swallowed, or that he had some objection to
crossing the line from not knowing the navigation on the other side. At
all events, we were clear of him. We had a quick run to Liverpool,
where the oil sold at a very high price, and I got a monstrous amount of
credit from all who believed my wonderful narrative. As is always the
case, some didn't, in spite of the oil I exhibited in proof of the
occurrence; but I treated the incredulous fellows with the scorn they
deserved, and from that day to this, I'll answer for it, no one has ever
caught sight of so much as the tail of the real sea-serpent."
"Vell, Mistre Johnson, dat is von very vondeful, vot you call it!"
exclaimed Colonel Pinchard, who had joined us.
"A big, thundering bouncer!" cried a voice from behind the boatswain's
back. He turned sharply round, but did not discover the speaker. He
shook his fist in that direction, however, with a comic expression in
his eye, saying--
"Bouncer or no bouncer, mister whoever you are, I beg that you'll
understand clearly, that I will allow no man, whoever he may be, to
labour under the misapprehension that I ever depart one tenth of a point
from the strict line of truth; and that reminds me that I promised you,
Mr Merry, and you, Mr Grey, to narrate an event which occurred during
the next voyage I made. I wasn't long in finding a ship, for the
certificates with which the owners of the Diddleus had furnished me were
highly satisfactory; in fact, merit like mine couldn't, in those days,
languish in obscurity; though, by the bye, I ought not exactly to sing
my own praises; but when a man has a due consciousness of his own
superior talents, the feeling will ooze out now and then, do all he can
to conceal it. Things are altered now: merit's claims are no longer
allowed, or I should be living on shore now." Mr Johnson pointed
significantly at the Admiral's pen.
"Ah! oui! I vonce read of von great man, Sinbad de Sailor, and von oder
man, Captain Lemuel Gulliver. You vary like dem gentlemen," observed
Colonel Pinchard, with the politest of bows, to the boatswain.
"Sinbad! and Gulliver!" shouted the boatswain indignantly. "If there
are two fellows whose names I hate more than others, they are those.
Take them all in all, I consider them, without exception, the biggest
liars who have ever lived; and if there is a character I detest more
than another, it is that of a man who departs in the slightest degree
from the truth; no one can longer have confidence in what he says: and,
for my own part, I'd rather lose my right hand, and my head into the
bargain, than have the shadow of a reason for supposing that the words I
was uttering would run the remotest chance of not being implicitly
believed."
The boatswain's eye kept rolling round on his auditory with a
self-satisfied glance, and a twinkle withal, as much as to say, "You I
care about understand me perfectly, and if there are any geese who
don't, they are welcome to swallow all they can digest."
"Ah! I had just found a fresh ship. She was the Lady Stiggins, a fine
brig, well armed, and bound round Cape Horn. We had a somewhat roving
commission, and were first to touch out here at Jamaica, and one or two
others of these gems of the tropics--these islands, full of sugar-candy
and blackamoors.
"I was not at first a favourite with the crew, for not having had an
opportunity of testing my qualifications, but having heard some of my
veracious narratives, they were inclined to look upon me as an empty
braggadocio, a character they very naturally despised; but I soon gave
them reason to alter their opinion, when I was quickly raised to that
position in their estimation which I ever after enjoyed.
"We were about a day's sail from this same harbour of Port Royal, and
were expecting to make the land next morning, when it fell calm. It was
the hottest time of the year. The sun sent his rays down on our heads
as if he were a furnace a few yards off, making the pitch in the seams
of our decks bubble and squeak, like bacon in a frying-pan; and I
remember that a basket of eggs in the cabin were hatched in a few
minutes, and looking up from a book I was reading, I saw a whole brood
of chickens and ducks squattering about the deck, not knowing where
they'd come from, or what to do with themselves. The chickens, however,
soon went to roost in a corner, for it was too hot to keep awake, and
the ducks waddled up on deck, and were making the best of their way over
the vessel's side into the element in which they delight, when we turned
them into a water-butt, which contented them mightily.
"But this was not the story I was going to tell you. Everyone on board
felt like the ducks and chickens, overcome by the heat; so that at last,
not considering the risk they ran, many of the men stripped off their
clothes and jumped overboard.
"I, however, kept mine on, and so did several others. The fact was,
that we had only, in that hot weather, to give ourselves a shake, and to
turn once round in the sun, and we were dry through and through.
"We had frolicking and swimming about for some time, enjoying the
comparatively cool water, though, for the matter of that, it was pretty
well hot enough to boil a lobster, when suddenly our ears were assailed
with a terrific cry of `A shark! a shark!'
"The outside man was a fine young fellow, Tom Harding by name. The poor
fellow saw his danger, for the shark was making directly for him. I
sang out to him not to be afraid, but to swim as fast as he could
towards the ship, and he didn't require to be told twice. Meantime I
was making a circle round, so as to approach the beast in the rear; for,
as you all know, I am a first-rate swimmer, and I never heard of the man
who could keep up with me. Why, I once swam from Dover to Calais, and
back again, for a wager, and danced a hornpipe on the top of
Shakespeare's cliff, to the astonishment of all who saw me--but that's
neither here nor there."
"Vel, I vonder de shark did not eat you," observed the colonel, with a
grin.
"Eat me, mounseer! I should like to see the shark who would venture to
attempt it, unless he found me snoozing on the top of a wave," exclaimed
the boatswain, in a tone of pretended indignation. "If it hadn't been
for me, however, he would have bolted Tom Harding, and no mistake.
Well, Tom was swimming for dear life, and all the rest of the crew were
scrambling up the side of the vessel, thinking that it was all over with
both of us, when I saw the monster turn on his back, his white belly
shining in the sun, as he made a grab at Tom's leg. It was now time for
me to interfere; so, striking out with all my might, I seized the shark
by the tail, and slewing him round, just as he expected to make a
mouthful of Tom, he missed his aim, and his jaws met with a crack which
sounded like the report of a hundred muskets. Tom gave a shriek, for he
thought--as well he might--that his last hour had come; but, still more
from instinct than from any hope of escape, he swam on, and was very
much surprised to find himself alongside the ship. In fact, when he was
hauled on deck, it was some time, I was told, before he could be
persuaded that he hadn't lost both his legs, so firmly convinced was he
that the shark had got hold of them.
"I meantime kept a taut hold of the fish, who was whisking about his
tail, and snapping his jaws in his disappointment; and hard work I had,
you may depend on't. As he went one way I pulled the other, and acting
like a rudder, brought him round again, till I worked him nearer and
nearer to the ship. At last I got him alongside, and singing out for a
rope, which was quickly hove to me, I passed it dexterously over his
tail, and told the men on deck to haul it taut. He was thus partly
secured, but the difficulty was to make his head fast, for I had no
fancy to get within the power of his jaws. I should observe that he was
the largest shark I ever saw. I was almost despairing of securing him,
when one of the men, Bill Jones, I remember, was his name, made fast a
big hook with a lump of pork to the topgallant halyards, and hove it
before him. The shark grabbed it in a moment, and we had him fast.
Those on deck had just before been endeavouring to pass a rope under his
head, and this now slipped up and caught in his jaws. No sooner did he
feel the iron in his mouth, than, darting forward, away he went ahead of
the vessel. As I sprang on deck the idea struck me that I would make
him of use. There was no great difficulty, for, passing another line
over his jaws, we had a regular pair of reins on him. One end of the
line was brought in on the starboard and the other on the larboard bow
port, while the hook in the nose served to bring him sharp up, when he
ran too fast. No sooner were these arrangements made than away he went
at a rapid pace ahead, towing us at the rate of at least six knots an
hour--I like always to be under the mark, for fear of being thought
guilty of exaggeration. By hauling in, now on one side, now on the
other, we managed to steer him very well on our proper course.
"The calm continued, but on we glided through the water, to the
inexpressible astonishment of the crews of several craft we passed, who,
of course, thought the Lady Stiggins must be the Flying Dutchman. As we
entered the harbour, the surprise of people on shore was equally great;
and no sooner did we drop our anchor than the brig was surrounded by
boats full of people, eager to hear an explanation of the phenomenon.
They could scarcely credit our assertions when we told them how we had
got along, till we showed them the monster frisking about under the bows
almost as tame and docile as a dog.
"I had always a wonderful knack of managing pets of all sorts, and by
kindly treating Jack Shark he became very fond of me, and whenever I
went on shore, he would swim after the boat, and remain frolicking about
near her till my return. At last I thought I would make him of use; so,
rigging a pair of short reins, I slipped them over his jaws, and then
jumped on his back. He understood in a moment what was expected of him,
and away he went with me at a rapid rate through the water. After that,
lighting my pipe quite comfortably, I invariably went on shore on his
back, and throwing my reins over a post, I used to leave him till my
return. You may depend on it, none of the little blackamoors ever
played tricks with him.
"There are many of the principal merchants and others at Kingston even
now who would, young gentlemen, if you were to ask them, vouch for the
truth of the circumstance. Just ask them, and hear what they'll say.
The curious part of it was, that though so tame with me, he would attack
anybody else, and not a seaman from any of the ships dared to attempt
swimming on shore as they had frequently before done. In fact he did
swallow one or two; and I believe that he was voted a perfect nuisance,
so that everyone was glad when we and our pet left the harbour to
prosecute our voyage. Of course he followed us; and I used every
morning to heave him a piece of pork for his breakfast, a few casks of
which I bought cheap of a Jew on purpose. It was measly, but he didn't
mind that. And now I'm coming to the melancholy part of the history
connected with my pet shark. But I have talked a good deal, and in this
warm weather it's an exertion even to use one's jaws; so, young
gentlemen, you must excuse me from continuing my veracious narrative for
the present."
"Oh, do go on, Mr Johnson--do go on," we all exclaimed; but the
boatswain was inexorable, and, as it happened, it was some time before
we heard the sequel to his history of the shark.
The next day, Grey, and I, and Spellman were ordered to join the
schooner with twenty hands. Perigal still kept command, and at the last
moment McAllister came on board to act as his first-lieutenant, with the
assistant-surgeon Macquoid, and a clerk, Bobus, as purser. Of course
the schooner did not require so many officers and men to navigate her,
but we hoped to take many prizes, and hands of course would be wanted to
bring them home. We invited the old colonel to accompany us. With a
most amusing grimace, and an inimitable shake of the head and shrugs of
the shoulders, he answered,--"Ah, mes jeunes gentlemens, I do love vous
va-a mosh; but de mer--de terrible mer. I do vish de verld ver von big
earth and no vater." So we had to leave the colonel and our French
lessons behind; but we assured him that we would study hard during our
absence. Good as were our intentions, it was not very likely that we
could adhere to them, and, by the expression of his countenance, the
colonel showed that he was strongly of that opinion.
We sailed at daybreak, and had the land breeze to take us out of the
harbour. Our course was to the southward, towards the well-known
Spanish Main. Our schooner was the Espoir. She sailed well, and
carried two eighteen-pounders and six long eights, so that we had every
reason to hope that we should pick up some prizes, if we did not get
taken ourselves. That last contingency did not occur to us. Though it
was hot, and we were rather crowded in the cabin, we had a very pleasant
time on board. We naturally messed together, and had secured all the
good things from the shore, in the shape of fruits and vegetables, and
poultry and liquor, which we could collect. It is very well for poets
and authors to make their heroes contented with hard fare. I can only
say that midshipmen are not, if they know that better is to be got; and
I have observed, whenever I have been in the society of poets and other
authors, that, practically, they have enjoyed a good dinner as much as
any class of people could do, and been very much inclined to grumble if
they did not get it, too. We were out some days without sighting a
single sail, but we were not the less merry, living upon hope, and the
good fare our caterer, Macquoid, had collected. At length a sail was
seen, and chase made. It was some time before we could make out whether
the stranger was a man-of-war or merchantman, a friend or foe. She was
a brig we soon discovered, and when we saw her up helm and run off
before the wind, we had no doubt as to her pacific character. Still she
might be English, and, if so, we should have had our chase for nothing.
She was a slow sailer, for we came up with her rapidly. We had showed
no colours, and had got her within range of our long guns, when up went
the French ensign. A cheer burst from our throats. It would have been
more hearty if we had thought she had been armed. We showed our colours
in return. On we stood, firing a shot wide of her as a signal for her
to heave-to. She obeyed, and we heaving-to near her, McAllister, with
Spellman and a boat's crew, was sent to take possession. The boat was
sent back with several of the French crew. The prize was not a rich
one, but she was too valuable to be destroyed, so Perigal directed
Spellman to take her to Jamaica, allowing him four hands. Miss Susan
did not at all like having his cruise cut so short, but we congratulated
him on the honour of having a separate command, being ourselves very
well contented to continue on board the Espoir. For two days more we
stood south, when, at daybreak, another sail was descried from the
mast-head. She was a schooner, and from the squareness of her yards,
her taut masts, and her white canvas, we suspected that, should she be
an enemy, she would prove a very different sort of customer to the
slow-sailing brig we had just before captured. That she was not afraid
of us was very evident, for, throwing her head sails aback, she awaited
our coming. In a short time we made out the French ensign flying at her
peak, and we concluded that she was a privateer, probably with a large
crew, and well armed. Perigal, on this, called all hands aft. "Now, my
lads," said he, "that craft is an enemy; very likely twice as many men
dance on her decks as on ours; but they are Frenchmen, and I want to
show that we are English, every one, to the backbone, and see how
quickly we can take her. I have nothing more to say, except to tell you
not to throw your shot away, and, if it comes to boarding, when you
strike, strike home." Three hearty cheers was the response to this
address. The old mate was not much given to oratory, but, when he
spoke, he never failed to speak to the purpose. Arms were served out,
and pistols were stuck in belts, and cutlasses buckled on; muskets were
loaded, and arranged in readiness for use; powder and round-shot were
brought on deck, and the men, stripped to the waist, with handkerchiefs
bound round their heads, stood ready for action. They looked as grim
and determined a set as a commanding officer would wish to see; but
still, jokes were bandied about, one from the other, and it did not seem
to occur to any of them that, before another hour of time had slipped
by, in all probability several might be numbered with the dead. Ned
Bambrick was at the helm, with his eye cast ever and anon at the canvas,
and then at the Frenchman, as we glided on rapidly towards him, just as
cool and unconcerned as if he was standing up to speak to a friend. We
had the weather-gauge, and Perigal resolved to keep it. Supposing the
enemy superior to us in strength, it would give us an important and
necessary advantage. To a sailor's eye it was a pretty sight to see the
two schooners approaching. The Espoir was a handsome craft, and so was
her antagonist. We did not at first show our colours. No sooner,
however, did we hoist them than the Frenchman filled his sails and
tacked, in the hope of weathering on us, firing at the same time a gun
of defiance. We suspected that he had not till then known exactly what
to make of us, and possibly had taken us for a friend. However, the
Frenchmen were now in for it, and, like brave men, were resolved to
fight it out. We were now near enough for our long eights to tell, and
the very first shot, flying high, knocked away the jaws of the enemy's
main gaff, wounding at the same time the head of the mainmast. At
seeing this, a hearty cheer rose from all on board. It was a prognostic
of success.
"If we'd tried to do that same we could not have succeeded," observed
McAllister. "I say, Perigal, you must let me take that craft to
Jamaica."
"With all my heart, my boy, when she's ours; but it's ill-luck to give
away what doesn't belong to us," answered our skipper.
"Never mind; but she will be before many minutes are over," persisted
McAllister. "Now, lads, just follow suit to that shot, and we'll do for
the mounseers in a very short time."
By this fortunate shot we had the enemy almost in our power. She ran
off before the wind, and we soon came up with her, and hung on her
quarter, so that she could rarely bring more than one gun at a time to
bear on us. She had fired several shots without effect, but at last, to
make amends, one came flying diagonally across our deck, taking off the
head of one of our men, and knocking over a second, who survived but a
few moments. A few more such fatal shots would sadly have thinned our
numbers. The enemy had a good number of men on deck, but not so many as
we expected. Some were sent aloft to try and repair the damage to the
gaff, and this, as we had got within musket range, we did our best to
prevent by keeping up a fire of small-arms at them. I had seized a
musket, and with others was blazing away, not very effectually, for the
men continued their work, and no one appeared to be hurt, when, just as
I had fired, I saw a man drop stone dead upon the deck. It was my shot
had done the deed. A sickening sensation came over me. I felt as if I
had committed a murder. It would have been different had I hit one of
the men at the guns, but the poor fellow was performing, so it seemed,
but an ordinary piece of a seaman's duty; my blood was cool, I did not
feel that he was an enemy. Perhaps the idea was foolish; it did not
last long. The rest of the men aloft were soon driven on deck, and
shooting ahead, we ranged up alongside, and poured in the whole of our
broadside. The enemy returned our fire, but our men worked their guns
almost twice as quickly as the Frenchmen did, aiming much better, and
the effect was soon apparent in their shattered bulwarks, decks strewed
with slain, and torn sails.
"Blaze away, lads," shouted McAllister, as he went from gun to gun,
pointing one, lending a hand to run out another, or to load a third.
Still the gallant Frenchmen fought on. They were very unlike old
Pinchard and his men; but there was this difference, they were sailors,
whereas the others were soldiers, and it was the _mal de mer_ in that
instance deserved the credit of the victory more than we did. This
close firing soon got our blood up, and I now felt anxious to run the
enemy aboard, that we might be at them with our cutlasses. I have not
often found Frenchmen foolhardy: they know when they are beaten.
Englishmen don't, and so sometimes stumble against all rule into
victory. Just as Perigal had ordered Bambrick to put the helm to
starboard, to run the enemy aboard, the French captain hauled down his
flag, and, coming to the gangway, made us a profound bow, as an
additional sign that he had struck. We immediately ceased firing, and
as our boats had escaped damage, one was lowered, and McAllister and I
went on board to take possession. We had certainly contrived in a short
hour considerably to spoil the beauty of the French schooner, and
dreadfully to diminish the number of her crew. Her brave captain and
most of his officers were wounded, and six men were killed and ten
wounded. Her captain received us on the quarter-deck, where he stood
ready to deliver his sword with the greatest politeness, as if it was
really a pleasant act he was performing, and assured us that it was the
fortune de la guerre, and that he had learnt to yield to fortune without
a murmur.
"He really is one of the pleasantest Frenchmen I have ever met,"
observed McAllister. "We must treat him with all consideration."
Curiously enough, this remark of my messmate kept continually running in
my head, and I could not help repeating it. We had plenty to do to bury
the dead, wash the decks, repair the masts, and spars, and bulwarks, and
to splice the rigging, and bend fresh sails. McAllister was directed to
go as prize-master, and I with Bambrick, Foley and four other hands
accompanied him; some of the French crew were removed on board the
Espoir, but the captain, two officers, and eight men remained with us as
prisoners.
Perigal had, in fact, already, more prisoners than his own crew now
mustered. Our new prize was the Audacieuse, a larger vessel and better
armed than the Espoir. By nightfall we had made great progress in
getting the prize to rights, and as our own vessel had suffered but
little, we were able to bestow all our strength upon her. Both Perigal
and McAllister were very anxious to continue the cruise together. The
objection to this was the number of our prisoners. Still, as McAllister
argued, the commander of the prize, Lieutenant Preville was a very quiet
sort of fellow, and the men left on board were orderly and well-behaved,
so that he should have no difficulty in keeping them under.
"But, remember, McAllister, that crews have sometimes risen against
their captors, and retaken their vessels. It will be necessary to be
very careful," observed Perigal.
"Oh, never fear, my old fellow; I should think that we seven Englishmen
could keep a dozen or more Frenchmen in order," answered McAllister,
with a somewhat scornful laugh. "If we go into action, we will clap
them under hatches, and they will be quiet enough, depend on that."
At length Perigal yielded, and the Audacieuse's mast-head having been
fished, and all other damages made good, we continued our cruise
together. Lieutenant Preville was a gentleman, and really a very
pleasant fellow; and, to show our appreciation of his good qualities, we
invited him to live in his own cabin and to partake of the delicacies
which he had laid in for his own especial use, which was generous on our
part; and which conduct he did not fail to acknowledge by doing ample
justice to the viands. He frequently, too, would tuck up his sleeves,
and, going into the galley, would cook dishes, which I doubt that any
Parisian chef could have surpassed.
"Ah, ma foi," he observed in French, when we complimented him on his
success, "in my opinion a man has no right to claim the character of a
civilised being, much less of a chef, unless he can produce a complete
dinner from an old tom-cat and a bundle of nettle-tops. He should
depend on the fire and the sources managed by his own skill. The rest
of the materials are nothing. The fire brings everything to the same
condition." Certainly Lieutenant Preville managed to give us an
infinite variety of dishes, to all appearance, the foundation of which,
to the best of my belief, was salt pork, and beef of a very tough and
dry nature. Of course, such a man would soon win his way into the good
graces of far more stoical beings than English midshipmen are apt to be
at present, or were in those good old days.