From this sleep I was aroused--in a few minutes, it seemed to me,
although really it was nearly two hours later--by a boisterous banging
upon the mess-table, followed by the voice of the marine who executed
the functions of steward to the mess, exclaiming--
"`All hands,' gentlemen, please! The captain and the first liftenant is
already on deck."
This was followed by the rasping scrape of a lucifer match, by the
feeble light of which the man's face was seen bending over the lantern
which he was endeavouring to light.
"Ay, ay, Jerry, look alive with the lantern, man!" responded the
master's mate. "What is the night like?" he continued, as he swung
himself out of his hammock and hastily proceeded to thrust his long legs
into his breeches.
"Dark as pitch, sir; blowing more than half a gale of wind, and
threatening rain," was the cheering answer.
"A pleasant prospect, truly," muttered Good, my especial chum, as we
jostled each other in the confined space wherein we were struggling into
our clothing.
"It might be worse, however," responded Gowland, as he knotted a black
silk handkerchief tightly about his loins. "The darkness and the roar
of the wind among the trees will help capitally to mask our approach,
while I dare say that the craft which we are going to attack will be in
such a snug berth that nobody will think it worth while to keep a
look-out, blow high or blow low. I say, Pierrepoint, are you told off
for the boats?"
Pierrepoint intimated that he was.
"Then put that rubbishy toasting-fork away and get a cutlass, boy, as
Dugdale has. Of what use do you suppose a dirk would be in a
hand-to-hand fight with a great burly Spaniard? Why, none at all. I
can't understand, for my part, why such useless tools are supplied for
active service! Get a good honest cutlass, boy; something that you can
trust your life to. And look sharp about it! Hurry up there, you
loafers! Come, Burdett, my boy, stir your stumps if you don't want a
wigging from the first luff! Hillo, Jerry! what's that, hot coffee?
Well done, my man, I'll owe you a glass of grog for that! Pour it out
quickly, and rouse out the bread barge."
Jerry was a smart fellow and looked after us well, I will say that for
him. In less than a minute a cup or pannikin of steaming coffee stood
ready for each of us, with the bread barge, well supplied, in the centre
of the table.
"There's no time for eating now, but take my advice and slip a biscuit
into your pocket, each of you, to eat as soon as the boats shove off,"
advised Gowland. "There is nothing worse for a man, in this climate--or
_any_ climate, for the matter of that--than to turn out and go into the
open air in the middle of the night upon an empty stomach." And,
suiting the action to the word, he thrust a biscuit into each of his
side-pockets, placed a morsel in his mouth, and, with the exclamation,
"Well, I'm off!" darted up the ladder and disappeared.
I followed, and, upon reaching the deck, found that all hands were
mustered and waiting for inspection previous to being told off to the
boats. The skipper was in his cabin, but a few minutes later--by which
time all the laggards had put in an appearance--he emerged from the
companion-way and the inspection at once began, great attention being
given, I noticed, to those who were to go in the boats, to insure that
their weapons were in serviceable order, their pistols loaded, and that
each man had his due supply of cartridges. The inspection was conducted
by the first lieutenant, accompanied by the captain and a sergeant of
marines, the latter carrying a lantern, by the rather dim and uncertain
light of which the inspection was made. The moment that this was over
the men who were to participate in the expedition were told off, each to
his proper boat, the boats were lowered and brought to the gangway, and
in less than a quarter of an hour from the moment of our being called we
were off.
The expedition consisted of four boats; namely, the gig, the pinnace,
and the first and second cutters. The gig was a very fine, handsome
boat, beautifully modelled, and exceedingly fast; she was commanded by
the captain himself, who led the expedition--a sure indication of the
important character, in his opinion, of the impending encounter. She
pulled six oars, and in addition to the skipper, my chum, Good, and her
crew of seamen, carried half-a-dozen marines, four in the stern-sheets,
and two forward. The pinnace was a big, roomy, and rather heavy boat,
pulling ten oars, double banked, and mounting a nine-pounder gun in her
bows. She was commanded by Mr Michael Ryan, the second lieutenant, a
rollicking, high-spirited Irishman, whose only fault was that he lacked
discretion and was utterly reckless; albeit this fault was to a great
extent condoned by the effect of his influence upon the men, who would
follow him anywhere. His crew, in addition to the ten oarsmen and a
coxswain, consisted of little Pierrepoint and ten marines, six aft and
four forward. The first and second cutters were sister boats, precisely
alike in every respect, each pulling eight oars, double banked. They
were rather smarter boats than the pinnace, being nearly as long but
with less beam and freeboard, and finer lines. The first cutter was
commanded by Gowland, the master's mate, and carried, in addition to her
crew of ten men and a coxswain, eight marines. The second cutter was
entrusted to me, and carried the same complement as her consort, the
first cutter. It will thus be seen that the expedition numbered
seventy-seven souls in all--nearly the half of our ship's company, in
fact--the brig being left in charge of the first luff, with the master,
the purser, the surgeon, young Burdett of the midshipmen's mess, the
cook and his mate, captain's, gun-room, and wardroom stewards, and
seventy-eight seamen.
The weather, although favourable enough for such an expedition as that
upon which we were engaged--and which, if our anticipations should prove
correct, would depend largely for its success upon our ability to take
the enemy completely by surprise--was decidedly disagreeable; for, as
Jerry had reported, it was dark as pitch, the wind was sweeping athwart
the river in savage gusts that roared among the trees with a volume of
sound that rendered it necessary to raise the voice to a loud shout in
order to make an order heard from one end of the boat to the other, and
we had scarcely left the ship when it came on to rain with a fury that
rendered the preservation of our ammunition from damage a serious
difficulty and a source of keen anxiety. Fortunately for us, we reached
the mouth of the creek a few minutes before the rain began to fall, but
for which circumstance we should have met with the utmost difficulty in
discovering the entrance, and might possibly have lost a considerable
amount of valuable time in the search for it. Even as it was, so
intense was the darkness that, although the creek was only some two
hundred yards wide, we found it impossible to keep the boats in the
centre of the channel, and for a little while were constantly running
foul of each other or the banks. Luckily for us, we were no sooner in
the creek than its eastern bank afforded us a shelter from the direct
violence of the wind, the bush and trees growing so thickly right down
to the water's edge that close inshore we were completely becalmed; and,
thus sheltered, our sense of hearing helped us somewhat despite the deep
roar of the gale overhead, while we quickly caught the knack of steering
along the outer edge of the narrow belt of calm, in this way avoiding to
a great extent the difficulties and petty mishaps that had at first so
seriously hampered our movements.
In this way, and exposed all the while to the pelting of the heavy
tropical downpour, which quickly drenched us to the skin in spite of the
protection of our oil-skins, we slowly groped our way along the creek
with muffled oars for rather more than an hour, when we unexpectedly
found ourselves at the entrance of a fairly spacious lagoon, in the
centre of which we speedily made out not one, but _four_ craft moored
right athwart the channel, completely barring our further passage. From
their disposition it looked very much as though they had been moored
with springs upon their cables--for their broadsides were presented fair
at us--and, if so, it argued at least a suspicion on their part of a
possible visit from an enemy, with doubtless a corresponding amount of
precaution against the chance of being surprised.
Scarcely had we made this discovery when the gig, which was leading,
found her further progress unexpectedly interrupted by a boom composed
of tree-trunks, secured together with chains, stretching right across
the water-way. As she struck it a loud cry was heard proceeding from
the river bank on our starboard hand, immediately followed by a
musket-shot. The next moment a spark of light appeared in the same
quarter, quickly increasing in size and intensity until in less than a
minute a large fire, evidently caused by the ignition of a very
considerable quantity of highly combustible material, was blazing
fiercely in the shelter of a thick clump of overhanging bush, that
seemed to almost completely shield it from the rain, which, however, had
considerably moderated by this time. The dense mass of bush behind and
on either side of the blazing mass acted in some sort as a reflector,
concentrating the light of the fire upon the boom and our four boats
clustered closely together about it, and defining them with very
unpleasant distinctness against the background of impenetrable darkness.
That this was so, and that our projected surprise had proved a
lamentable failure, was made clear by the sounds of commotion and the
sharp cries of command that at once arose on board the slavers, almost
instantly followed by a smart and well-directed musketry fire, the
bullets from which came dropping about us in very unpleasant proximity,
although, fortunately, nobody was actually hit.
"Separate at once!" cried the skipper, rising in the stern-sheets of the
gig as he realised that the time for silence and secrecy was past;
"separate at once; spread yourselves along the boom, and let each boat's
crew do its best to make a passage through it. Try the effect of a shot
from your gun upon it, Mr Ryan. Marines, return the fire of those
craft, aiming at the flashes from their pieces. The first boat to force
the boom will report the fact to me before passing through."
We spread well along the boom, maintaining open order, so that we might
afford as small a target as possible, and devoted our energies to
breaking through the obstruction at points where the trunks were united
by chains; but we found this by no means an easy matter, staples being
driven home through the links into the tenacious wood so closely
together that it was impossible to find a space wide enough to take the
loom of an oar--the only lever at hand, as we had not anticipated or
provided for such a contingency. Meanwhile, our adversaries proved
themselves fully alive to the advantage which our situation afforded
them, and fully prepared to make the most of it, for they kept up a
brisk though irregular fire of musketry upon us from which we soon began
to suffer rather severely, two of my men being hit within the space of
as many minutes, while sharp cries of pain to our right and left told us
that the occupants of the other boats were receiving their full share of
the slavers' attentions. This was only the beginning of the conflict,
however, for before our marines had had time to fire more than thrice in
reply to the slavers' musketry fire, five fierce flashes of flame burst
simultaneously from the side of the largest of the four craft,
accompanied by the sharp, ringing roar of brass nine-pounder guns, and
instantly a perfect storm of grape tore and whistled about our ears,
splintering the planking of the boats and bowling over our people right
and left. Three more of my men went down before that discharge, and the
cries of anguish from the other boats told that they too had suffered
nearly or quite as severely. The gig fared worst of all, however, for
an entire charge, apparently, plumped right into her bows, where the men
were clustered pretty thickly, helping two of their comrades who were
kneeling upon the boom endeavouring to tear asunder its fastenings, and
no less than six of her crew fell before that withering discharge,
including the two men upon the boom, who both fell into the water, and
were never seen again.
"By Jove! this will never do," cried the captain. "Out oars, men, and
pull alongside the pinnace!"
This was done; and as the two boats touched, our gallant leader sprang
on board the larger of the two, crying to the second lieutenant--
"Here, Mr Ryan, I will change places with you. Take the gig, if you
please, and see if you can cast the boom adrift at its shore end; I will
look after matters here meanwhile. Mr Gowland, go you to the other end
of the boom, and see what you can do there. Now then, lads, what is the
best news there with that gun?"
"Just ready, sir," came the answer. "Poor Jim Baker was struck, and
fell athwart the breech, wettin' the primin' with his blood just as we
was about to fire, so we've had to renew it; but we're ready now, sir."
"Very well," cried the skipper. "Bear the boat off from the boom, and
fire at the chain-coupling; that ought to do the business for us."
The order was promptly obeyed, and a few seconds later the gun spoke
out, the shot hitting fair and square, and dividing the two parts of the
chain that formed the coupling between two contiguous tree-trunks. A
loud hurrah proclaimed this result, yet when the pinnace pulled up to
the boom again, and tried to force her way through, it was found that
the logs could not be forced apart; evidently they were still united
under water.
"Load the gun again, lads, as smartly as you can," exclaimed the
skipper; "and then we must try to roll the logs over, and get the chains
above water. Well, what news, Mr Gowland?" as the first cutter was
seen approaching us.
"It's no good, sir," answered Gowland. "We can't get within twenty
yards of dry ground for the mud, which is too stiff to permit of our
forcing the boat through it, but not stiff enough to support a man. I
made the attempt, and went in up to my arm-pits before they could get
hold of me to pull me out."
Meanwhile, a hot fire of grape and musketry--the latter from all four of
the craft--was being maintained upon us; our men were falling fast; and
the matter to my mind began to look very serious. Still, those who were
not hurt, or whose hurts were not very severe, worked away manfully in
an endeavour to break the boom; but it was clear--to me at least--that
our only hope lay in the pinnace's gun. If that failed, it seemed
probable that every man of us would be placed _hors de combat_ before we
could force a passage through.
Our nine-pounder was soon ready again; and then--Gowland and I having
meanwhile stationed our respective boats one on each side of the
pinnace, and by the united efforts of our crews succeeded in rolling the
logs so far over as to bring the remaining pair of coupling chains out
of the water--a second effort was made to divide the boom. The shot was
a successful one, both chains being completely cut through. Another
ringing cheer proclaimed the good news just as the gig rejoined us with
a similar piece of intelligence to that already brought by Gowland, as
to the impossibility of landing and getting at the shore-fasts of the
boom. That obstacle was now, however, happily severed, and drawing his
sword, the skipper waved it over his head as he shouted--
"Out oars, men, and give way for your lives! Follow me, the rest of the
boats. We will tackle the big fellow first, and bring the other three
to their senses afterwards with the aid of her guns."
The words were scarcely out of his mouth when another broadside of grape
hurtled in among us, now once more huddled closely together about the
breach in that deadly boom, and from the dreadful outcry that
immediately arose, the tossing of arms aloft, and the dropping of oars,
it was evident that fearful havoc had been wrought by it among our
already seriously diminished company. And, to make matters worse, it
was instantly followed by a louder, deeper report, and a crash on board
the pinnace as an eighteen-pound shot struck her gun fair upon its
starboard trunnion, dismounting the piece and sending it overboard,
while a shower of splinters of wood and metal flew from the slide,
wounding and maiming at least four more men. And then, as though that
were not enough, the shot glanced and swept the boat fore and aft,
crushing in the side of one poor fellow's head like an egg-shell,
smashing in the ribs of another, and whipping the captain's sword out of
his hand, with all four of his fingers, as it flew over his head into
the darkness beyond.
In the teeth of this new disaster the pinnace forced her way through the
now divided boom, closely followed by Ryan in the gig, then myself, with
Gowland bringing up the rear. "Give way for your lives!" was now the
word; and at racing pace--or as near it as we could get with our sadly
diminished crews--we headed for the biggest craft of the four, which we
now made out to be a large brig, very heavily rigged and with immensely
square yards. We opened out a little to port and starboard as we went,
in order that we might show as small a mark as possible for our
antagonists to fire at, and, having already passed the heavy pinnace, I
was fast creeping up into the leading position, when Ryan, who saw what
I was after, sheered alongside and in sharp, terse language ordered me
to change places with him. Of course I could but obey, and the fiery
Irishman, finding himself in the best-manned boat of the lot, speedily
passed ahead, despite the utmost efforts of the rest of us to keep pace
with him. One more broadside of grape greeted us as we pushed somewhat
heavily across the lagoon, and that put the poor unfortunate gig
practically out of the combat, for it reduced her oarsmen to two, while
she had already been so badly knocked about that it needed the utmost
efforts of the least severely wounded of her crew to keep her afloat by
baling. We kept on, however, in the wake of the other boats, and had at
least a good view of the short, sharp fight that followed. The brig was
lying with her starboard broadside presented to us, and as the boats
advanced toward her they gradually passed out of the broad line of light
cast by the still fiercely blazing fire that had been kindled on the
shore. No sooner did this happen, however, than half-a-dozen men
provided with port-fires sprang, three into her main and three into her
fore port rigging, illumining the brig herself brilliantly, it is true,
but at the same time revealing the whereabouts of our boats distinctly
enough to enable her people to keep up a most galling pistol and
musketry fire upon us, besides giving them the advantage that the light
was at their backs, while it shone in the faces of our marines with such
dazzling effect that they were able to reply but ineffectively to the
fire with their own muskets.
The second lieutenant was first alongside, closely followed by Gowland,
the pinnace making a bad third and ranging up under the bows of the
brig, while the other boats attempted to board her in the waist. But
the brig--and the three schooners as well for that matter--was well
protected by boarding nettings triced up fore and aft, and as our men
made a dash at her they were met by pikes thrust at them out through the
ports, by the snapping of pistols in their faces, and the fierce lunge
of cutlasses through the meshes of the netting. Nevertheless they
persevered gallantly, hacking away at the netting with their cutlasses,
and occasionally delivering a thrust through it at any one who happened
to come within arm's-length of them. But it was clearly a losing game;
our losses had been so heavy during our attack upon the boom that we
were already far out-numbered by the crew of the brig alone, and they
possessed a further important advantage over us in that they fought upon
a spacious level deck, while our lads were obliged to cling to the
bulwarks as best they could with one hand while they wielded their
weapons with the other; moreover, the slavers were able to make a
tolerably effective use of their pikes and still keep beyond the reach
of our cutlasses.
"If it were not for that diabolical netting," thought I, "there would be
some chance for us still." And as we ranged laboriously up alongside,
my eye travelled up the face of the obstruction to its upper edge, and I
saw that it was suspended at four points only, two on the port and two
on the starboard side, in the wake of the main and foremasts.
"A sharp knife," thought I, "ought to divide each of those tricing-lines
at a single stroke, when down would go the net upon the defenders' heads
and hamper their movements long enough to give our people a chance."
And then I remembered that only a day or two before I had sharpened my
own stout clasp-knife--at that moment hung about my neck on a lanyard--
to almost a razor edge, and that consequently I had in my possession
just the weapon for the purpose.
As my meditations reached this point the gig touched the brig's side,
and whipping out my knife and opening it, I made one spring from the
boat's gunwale into the netting, up which I at once swarmed with all the
agility I could muster--and I was fairly active in those days, let me
tell you--a musket-shot knocking my cap off as my head rose above the
level of the bulwarks, while a moment later a fellow made a lunge at me
with his pike as I skipped up the meshes, and drove its head half
through the calf of my left leg. I felt the wound, of course, but was
at the moment much too excited and intent upon the task which I had set
myself to give it a second thought, and in another instant, so it seemed
to me, I had reached the tricing line, which I grasped tightly with one
hand while I hacked away vigorously with the other. The rope parted at
the third stroke of the knife, and down dropped the net, sagging so much
in the wake of the main-rigging that our lads were easily able to
surmount the obstacle, and I saw Ryan, with a wild, exultant "Hurroo!"
half fall, half leap down to the brig's deck, where he laid about him so
ferociously with fist and cutlass that he at once cleared a space around
himself for his followers.
As for me, I was left dangling by one hand at the bare end of the
severed tricing line, but within easy reach of the starboard
main-topsail sheet, which I promptly grasped and began to lower myself
hand over hand down to the deck. Even as I glided down the sheet, I saw
that one of our lads had followed my example, and, cutting the fore
tricing line, had let the whole of the starboard netting down on deck,
while his comrades were pouring in over the bulwarks like an avalanche.
The brig's crew still offered a gallant resistance, but the British
blood was by this time fairly at boiling point, and, grimly silent, the
blue-jackets laid about them in such terrible earnest with fist and
cutlass, belaying-pin, clubbed musket, sponge, rammer, or any other
effective weapon that they could lay hands upon, that their rush became
irresistible, and their antagonists gave way before them in terror.
At this juncture, and while I was still some twelve or fourteen feet
above the deck, I noticed a man, whose dress and appearance suggested to
me the idea that he might possibly be the leader of this band of
outlaws, quietly separate himself from the combatants, and with a
certain sly, secretive manner, as though he were desirous of avoiding
observation, slink along the deck to the companion, down which he
suddenly vanished. There was an indescribable something about the air
and movements of this fellow that powerfully aroused my curiosity and
excited an irresistible impulse within me to follow him; and
accordingly, swinging myself to the deck abaft the main-mast, which was
deserted, the fight still being confined to the waist and forecastle of
the brig, I made a dart for the companion, kicked off my shoes before
entering, animated by some instinct or idea which I did not stop to
analyse at the moment, and drawing my cutlass from its sheath, crept
cautiously and noiselessly down the companion-ladder. The moment that I
entered the companion-way I was saluted by a whiff of moist, hot air
loaded with a powerful, foetid, musky odour, of which I had already
become vaguely conscious, accompanied by a deep, murmuring sound that
seemed to proceed from the vessel's hold; and although this was my first
experience with slavers, I knew in an instant that the brig had her
human cargo on board, and that the sound and the odour proceeded from
it.
The companion-way was in complete darkness, but at the foot of the
ladder, and to starboard of it, there was a thin, horizontal line of dim
light marking the presence of a door that I had heard slam-to as I
kicked off my shoes previous to descending. Making for this, I groped
for the door-handle, found it, and, grasping it firmly, suddenly turned
it and flung the door open. As I did so I found myself standing at the
entrance to a fine, roomy cabin, which seemed to be handsomely, nay,
luxuriously furnished. It was but dimly illuminated, however, the only
light proceeding from an ordinary horn lantern, which, kneeling upon the
deck, the man I had followed was holding open with one hand, while with
the other he was applying the end of a slender black cord to the flame
of the enclosed candle. The other end of the cord referred to led down
an open hatchway close to the fore-bulkhead of the cabin; and as I took
in the whole scene in a single comprehensive glance--the open hatchway,
the black cord, and the dimly-burning lantern--I realised with lightning
intuitiveness that every soul on board the brig was tottering upon the
very brink of eternity; the reckless villain before me was in the very
act of exploding the powder magazine, and blowing the ship and all she
contained into the air.
This surmise was confirmed as, turning his head at the sound of the
opening door, the fellow withdrew from the lantern the end of the black
cord--which was of course a length of fuse composed of spun-yarn well
coated with damp powder, now fizzing and spluttering and smoking as the
fire swiftly travelled along it. So rapidly did the fire travel indeed,
that during the second or so that the desperado paused in surprise at my
unexpected appearance, it reached his fingers, causing him to drop it to
the deck with a muttered curse. I knew that in twenty or thirty seconds
at most that hissing train of fire would run along the guiding line of
the fuse down the hatchway to the powder in which the other end of it
was certain to be buried; and bounding forward I placed one foot upon
the blazing fuse as I dealt a heavy downward stroke with the hilt of my
cutlass upon the upturned temple of the man who, crouching before me,
was clearly on the point of springing to his feet. Then, dashing down
my cutlass as the fellow sank back with a groan upon the deck, I
wrenched my still open knife from my neck, and, while the struggling
flame scorched and seared the sole of my naked foot, slashed the blade
quickly through the fuse, and with the same movement whirled the severed
and unlighted part as far away from me as possible. This done, I knew
that the danger was past; and, drawing the short burning fragment of
fuse from beneath my foot, I carefully deposited it in the lantern,
where it instantly flamed itself harmlessly away. My next act was to
secure the remainder of the fuse and cautiously withdraw it from the
dark hatchway down which it led; and, this safely accomplished, I closed
the aperture by drawing over the hatch, and then sat down to nurse my
seared and blistered foot and to await the progress of events; my
companion or adversary, or whatever he should be rightly called, still
lying motionless where he had fallen, with a large blue lump on his
white temple from which a thin stream of blood slowly oozed.
During the few brief seconds that had elapsed between my entrance into
the cabin and the flinging of myself upon one of its sofas, I had lost
all cognisance of what was happening elsewhere; but as I took my
scorched foot upon my knee and ruefully contemplated its injuries, I
once more became aware of the sounds of conflict on deck; the fierce,
confused stamping of many feet; the cries and ejaculations of
encouragement or dismay; the quick jar and clash of blade upon blade;
the occasional explosion of a pistol; the dull, crushing sound of
unwarded blows; the sharp scream of agony as some poor wretch felt the
stroke of the merciless steel; the cries and groans of those who had
been smitten down, and, still conscious, were being trampled underfoot
by the combatants; the deep muttered curse; the sharp word of command;
and the occasional cheer that broke from the lips of our own gallant
lads. Suddenly there was a louder hurrah, a quick scurrying rush, a
loud shout of command in Spanish for every man to save himself, an
outcry of terrified ejaculations in the same tongue, a quick succession
of splashes in the water alongside, and a sudden silence, broken the
next instant by a gasping but triumphant shout from Ryan of--
"Hurroo, bhoys! By the blessed--Saint--Pathrick--but--that's nately
done! Ugh!--pouff!--we've--drove them--clane overboard! Murther! but
it's meltin' I am--and as dhry--as a limekiln!"