We had received orders to hold ourselves in readiness to embark--as I
then imagined, for foreign parts; and the idea made my heart bound for
joy. In a few days we embarked on board a small sloop, at about four
o'clock in the afternoon, and in an hour after got under weigh. When the
sun had retired to his western chamber, the sky looked gloomy, and
indicated wind; and, in another hour, there arose so terrific a gale,
that we were obliged to put the tarpaulins over the hatches, to protect
us against the large seas which broke over us. The scene was enough to
frighten a person of greater courage than I possessed. There were
soldiers crying--women screaming--children squalling--sailors
swearing--the storm all the while continuing to increase, until at
length it blew a perfect hurricane; the rain came down in torrents, and
the vivid lightning's flash exhibited the fear depicted on every
countenance. At this juncture a poor frightened soldier mustered up
courage enough to ask the captain or master of the sloop, if there was
any danger. At this question every ear was open, and the son of Neptune
gruffly replied, "Danger, shipmate! If the storm continues another hour,
I would not give a rope-yarn for all your lives. When we reach that
point on the larboard-bow, you must throw out your grappling-irons, and
hold in, for she will be then close-hauled and go under water like a
duck, and you will all be in David's locker before you can say, Luff,
boy!" Then, addressing himself to one of his men, "Steady, Tom, steady;
don't let her go off; don't you see the light ahead? run it down.
Steady, boy, steady! luff a little, luff!" At this moment an awful sea
broke over us. My mouth was full, and I was wet to the skin; but,
strange to say, I felt no alarm. Our little vessel dived like the gull
after its prey. As soon as she righted, I said, "Captain, that was a
wetter." He replied, "Ay, boy; you will get plenty of them before we
make the port."--"Very consoling, truly," thought I to myself. I had
just squeezed myself up into a small compass, head and knees together,
close to the helm, when we shipped another tremendous sea, which carried
away our foresail, and made so terrific and dreadful a flapping, that an
officer bellowed out from below, "Is there anything the matter?"--"Yes,"
replied the captain, "the devil to pay, and no pitch hot." These words
were scarcely spoken, when we shipped another awful sea, which washed
three soldiers overboard. At this crisis, a sailor bellowed out, "Light
ahead, sir."--"The devil there is! what does it look like?" roared the
captain.--"Like a light," replied the sailor.--"A Frenchman, I suppose,"
vociferated the captain. These words caught the ear of the military
captain on board, who holloed out from below, "What did you say about a
Frenchman?"--"Why, that if it gets clear, we may have a bit of a fight;
for I see there is a Frenchman ahead," replied the sea captain.--"Then,"
said the soldier, "I had better get my men ready. Sergeant, get the
bugler! Sound to arms! Call the drummer, and tell him to beat to arms!"
But the devil a drummer, drum, bugler, or bugle was forthcoming. All the
men were busily engaged below, and by no means in a condition to come to
the scratch, French or no French. Notwithstanding this, the noble
soldier strutted about on deck by himself, with a cocked hat, and sword
in hand, when a merciless sea washed off his gay hat, and the gallant
captain lost his balance, and fell into the hold, bawling out most
lustily for his three-cornered scraper, which was buffeting the raging
billows. "I say, captain, have the goodness to send down my hat. Is my
hat upon deck? Have you seen my hat?" "Your hat, sir," replied the son
of Neptune, with infinite _sang-froid_, "has got under sail, and I
should not be surprised if it made port before you." Here he changed the
subject, by hailing the man on the forecastle. "Tom, where is the
strange sail?"--"Sheered off to leeward; but she is a Frenchman, by the
cut of her gib," replied the sailor. "Steady," said our naval commander,
and on we went; but by no means steadily, for I never saw a little bark
more unsteady, though she really seemed to dive through the water like a
duck. Morning now began to dawn, which only threw light (as even the
captain confessed) upon the heaviest sea he had ever seen. The black
clouds seemed to fly, and the thunder and lightning to rend the very
atmosphere asunder. Our distant haven was in sight; but the wind was
foul, and it was therefore impossible to avoid making several tacks
before we could get in. Our poor fellows, what from fear, cold, hunger,
want of sleep, and being wet through, were completely worn out. I kept
my station the whole night, more from fear than from any attachment to
it; although I certainly did not feel the great alarm that was so
visibly depicted on the countenances of most of my comrades. From
extreme cold, and being quite wet through, I cut but a sorry figure by
the time we began to near the land. The prospect, from about three or
four miles off, was extremely beautiful. Some little cottages studded
the high and lofty rocks, and, here and there, small bays and little
villages enlivened the scene, and consoled us with the idea that we were
not going to be landed on a barren rock. We soon after saw the extensive
town of Guernsey. Part of it seemed hanging on an eminence, and the view
of the old castle, which is built of stone, and calculated to buffet
with many a wintry storm, was extremely picturesque. In the distance we
could see Fort George; and, in ten minutes after, we ran into the bay,
which, being sheltered and protected by surrounding high lands, was
tranquil indeed, when compared with the main ocean. Boats were in
attendance, and we soon set our wet limbs on _terra firma_. Having
landed, I could not help viewing my person, of which I at all times had
a good opinion. I looked, for all the world, like a squeezed lemon, or
the bag of a Scotch pipe; and I should have been glad to have taken the
edge off my appetite, and the dirt off my clothes, instead of dancing
through the town; but I was, of course, obliged to obey orders, and when
I struck up my tune--for I still led the fifers--I tipped Monsieur "The
Downfall of Paris." I found the march did me a great deal of good; and,
by the time I reached the barracks, I was in prime order for my
breakfast.
We were stationed in Fort George, in exceedingly good quarters, though I
could not bring myself to be reconciled to the ponderous drawbridges in
use there, which foreboded no great stretch of liberty. I was
particularly fond of rural and pensive wanderings, to muse on nature's
beauties; and the sight of an orchard, in particular, was at all times
hailed by me with great delight, for I could feast upon its beauties for
hours together, to the gratification of more faculties than my vision.
The drawbridges seemed to cut off these delightful prospects. It was
true, I could see them from the fort; but then the prospect was too far,
and I lost all relish in the distance; and, being in consequence
compelled to steal out, I was apprehensive that some of my solitary
rambles would get me into disgrace. My doubts and forebodings on this
head were soon verified; for, in less than a week, I saw my name posted
up at the gate--"John Shipp, confined to his barracks for one week." A
week was to me an age. Confinement was to me intolerable; deprived of
the pure air, of the delightful ramble along an orchard's edge, and of
the salubrious smell of the orange groves. Oft have I, from the
rampart-top, sighed at the distant prospect, and, while my longing eye
lingered on the golden produce of the orchard within sight, my heart
panted to be at liberty, to take a nearer view, and taste again of
nature's beauties. The word _confinement_ haunted me from one bastion to
another, and I saw no refuge for the future but a more circumspect line
of conduct, on which I firmly resolved. When three long days of my week
had been numbered with the dead, the drum-major was taken seriously ill,
and on the morning parade the colonel inspected the drummers. I was
always remarkably clean--that was my pride: the colonel eyed me from
head to foot, and at last told the adjutant that I was to act as
drum-major. I was nearly shouting "Liberty" in the colonel's face, but I
checked myself just in time. He at the same time gave me a ticket for a
play, which was to be acted in the town; and, in the evening, several
boys were committed to my care, to accompany me to the theatre. Thus,
for a brief interval, I was restored to favour; but, whenever fickle
fortune deigned to smile upon me, some untoward circumstance was sure to
happen, and nip the fair promise in its bud. I had scarcely got the
stick of office into my hands, before I cut so many capers with it, that
I soon capered myself back to the dignity and full rank of fifer, was
deprived of my staff of office, and, of what I considered even much
worse, my liberty. My name was again exhibited to public gaze at the
drawbridge-gate, for seven long days, during which I was obliged to kick
my heels along the ramparts, contenting myself with contemplating the
distant prospect. One day I effaced my name from the list of the
confined, unobserved by the sentinel; but in this I was detected by the
sergeant, for which I had the felicity of attending drill three times
a-day with my musket reversed and my coat turned inside out;[5] and, in
this manner, for several hours each day I was obliged to comply with the
mandates of a little bandy-legged drill-sergeant, who did not fail to
enforce his authority and dignity in a manner by no means agreeable to
my feelings, especially to those of my back. This I could bear well
enough: indeed, I was obliged to bear it; but my turned coat seemed to
hang upon me like some badge of ignominy, and I imagined that every eye
was upon me. Had I been a depraved and callous-hearted youth, this
method of disgracing me would have only served to harden me in vice; and
I cannot deny, that at this treatment I felt the seeds of disobedience
rankling in my heart, and had almost resolved within my mind, that the
next time I was doomed to wear this garb of infamy, it should be for a
crime worthy of such disgrace. I found my disposition soured, and the
spark of revenge kindling in my bosom; and I am persuaded that this
method of disgracing youth, instead of eradicating vice, serves only to
nurture those rancorous feelings which irritation, arising from a sense
of degradation, is sure to excite, and which, in the young mind, might,
by a more judicious and conciliatory treatment, be either totally
repressed in their birth, or at least easily extinguished.
Our regiment being now ordered to prepare for embarkation for
Portsmouth, my garb of disgrace was thrown off, and I embarked as
sprightly as any, having been disgraced in this way for a misdemeanour
that would scarcely have disgraced a schoolboy. We reached our old
barracks at Portsmouth, without any other occurrence save a little
casting-up of accounts, and a few distorted faces from sea-sickness.
[Illustration]
[Illustration]
FOOTNOTES:
[5] Wearing the coat turned inside out (whence "turncoat"), an old
military punishment now long since forgotten. It survived as a
punishment for drunkenness among Chelsea and Greenwich in-pensioners for
years after it had been discontinued in the service.--ED.