Matadi's "town" was situate, as Lobo had informed us, on the south bank
of the stream, on the sloping side of a hill that rose rather steeply
from the water's edge; the scenery of this part of the river being
totally different from that of the mouth; the change occurring
gradually, but becoming quite decided about the point where the chain of
islands is left behind on the traveller's upward way. For whereas on
the lower reaches of the Congo--that is to say, for the first forty
miles or so from its mouth--the banks of the river are low and flat, and
to a great extent mangrove-lined, beyond this point their tendency is to
become higher and steeper, in some places, indeed, quite precipitous,
until where we now were the ground sloped up from the river margin to a
height of fully four hundred feet, for the most part densely covered
with bush interspersed here and there with masses of noble forest trees.
Matadi's town was situate, as I have said, upon the sloping hillside
that constituted the south bank of the river, and consisted of some four
or five hundred buildings arranged with tolerable regularity on either
side of two broad streets or roads that crossed each other at right
angles, their point of intersection being a spacious square, in the
centre of which stood a circular structure with a high-peaked, pointed
roof of thatch, that Lobo informed me was the fetish-house. I was
greatly surprised at the neatness and skill displayed in the
construction of the buildings in this important town; for while they
were insignificant in size, as compared with the dwellings of a
civilised race, being about the size of a small two-roomed cottage, such
as may be found in almost any rural district in England, they were very
considerably larger and more carefully and substantially-built than the
huts that we had noticed in King Plenty's town, when we made our
disastrous attack upon Mendouca and his consorts. There was even a
certain attempt at ornamentation discernible in the larger structures,
many of which had what I believe is called in England a barge-board,
elaborately carved, under the projecting eaves of the roof that formed
the verandah, the wooden posts that supported those same projecting
eaves being also boldly sculptured. These particulars I noted through
my telescope on rounding the bend of the river just beyond the town; and
I could not help feeling that a community of savages intellectual enough
to find pleasure in the adornment of their houses would be likely to
prove very difficult to deal with unless I could contrive to make their
inclination coincide with my own wishes.
Our appearance--the _Felicidad_ being probably the first ship that had
ever penetrated so far up the river--created a profound sensation in the
town, the inhabitants rushing in and out of their dwellings and about
the streets for all the world like an alarmed colony of ants, and
finally congregating along the margin of the river to the extent of
fully one thousand, most of them being men, every one of whom, so far as
I could make out, was armed; the weapons being spears, bows and arrows,
and clubs with heavy knobs on the end. They seemed to be a fine,
powerful race, evidently accustomed to warfare, if one might judge by
the readiness with which, at the command of an immensely stout and
powerful man--whom Lobo declared to be none other than Matadi himself--
they formed themselves up into compact and orderly squadrons, and I
thought, ruefully, that if it became necessary to resort to forcible
measures for the release of our countrymen, we were likely to have a
pretty bad time.
To attempt to open communications with a thousand armed savages, whose
evident purpose in mustering on the river bank immediately in front of
their town was to resolutely oppose any attempt at landing on our part,
was a rather delicate operation; still, it had to be done, and it was
worse than useless to exhibit any sign of trepidation or hesitation. I
therefore ordered the gig to be lowered, and with four men, fully armed,
at the oars, and Lobo and myself in the stern-sheets, pushed off for the
shore. This bold action on our part created a profound sensation upon
the savages massed upon the shore, the boat being no sooner under way
than they raised their spears above their heads, shook them furiously
until the blades clashed upon each other with the sound of a falling
torrent of water, and emitted a blood-curdling yell that almost drove
poor Lobo out of his senses. We had, however--at Lobo's suggestion--
provided ourselves with palm branches, cut on the night before at our
previous anchorage, and now, seizing one of these, the Portuguese
scrambled forward into the eyes of the boat and stood there, waving the
branch violently and pointing it toward the savages. This demonstration
had the effect of quelling the tumult, the blacks subsiding into
quietude almost instantly, at the command of Matadi; but it was evident
that they had no intention of permitting us to land, for at a second
command from the chief they advanced, as steadily as a band of civilised
troops, across the short intervening space of greensward between
themselves and the water's edge, at which they halted, forming up three
deep in a long, compact line along the river margin.
We continued to pull shoreward until we were within easy speaking
distance; when the boat's bows were turned up-stream, and while the men
continued to paddle gently ahead, using just sufficient strength to
enable the boat to stem the current and maintain her position abreast
the centre of the line of savages, Lobo opened the palaver by informing
Matadi that we were there by command of the Great White Queen to procure
the release of the white men held by him as prisoners, and that we were
fully prepared to pay a handsome ransom for them; it was only for Matadi
to name his price, and it should be cheerfully paid.
To this the chief replied by inquiring what white men we referred to; he
knew nothing about white men, and indeed had never seen any except
ourselves. And he strongly advised us to lose no time in making our way
back down the river again, as his soldiers were very angry at our
presumption in invading his territory, and he could not answer for it
that he would be able to restrain them should they take into their heads
to actively resent our intrusion by attacking the ship.
I knew from this reply, which Lobo duly translated to me, that our
friend Matadi was an adept in the art--so peculiarly characteristic of
the African savage--of lying, and must be dealt with accordingly. So I
said to Lobo--
"Tell him that he is mistaken. Say that the circumstance was doubtless
of so trivial a character as to escape the recollection of a great chief
like Matadi; but that, nevertheless, we _know_ it to be a fact that
about six moons ago some thirty or forty white men were sold to him by
one Mendouca, a slave-buyer; and that it is those men we are seeking,
our instructions being that we are not to return without them, even
should we be obliged to destroy Matadi's town with our thunder and
lightning in the process of securing them."
My scarcely-veiled threat to destroy his town was received by Matadi
with scornful laughter, the savage declaring in set terms that he did
not believe in the power of the white men to produce either lightning or
thunder; and as to our accomplishing the threatened destruction without
those means--why, there were a few of his warriors present who would
have a word to say upon that matter. Touching the question of the white
men said to have been sold to him, Matadi admitted that he now thought
he remembered some transaction of the kind, but had not the remotest
idea of what had become of them; he would make inquiries, however, and
if we would go away, and return again about the same time next moon he
would perhaps be able to give us some news of them. But before
troubling himself to make any such inquiries he must be propitiated with
a present; and he would also like to know what price we were prepared to
pay for each white man, should any be found.
"Tell him," said I, "that this is a case of `no white man, no present';
but that if the white men are found, I will not only buy them of him at
so much per head, but also make him a handsome present into the bargain.
Say that the goods to be paid as ransom are aboard the schooner, and
that they consist of guns, beads, brass wire, beautiful printed
calicoes, suitable for the adornment of any African king's wives;
handsome red coats with resplendent brass buttons and gorgeous worsted
epaulettes, admirably calculated to set off Matadi's own kingly figure;
and superb blankets, red, blue, green--in fact, all the colours of the
rainbow. If he and two or three of his chiefs would like to come aboard
and see these magnificent articles, I shall be very pleased to exhibit
them."
This speech being translated by Lobo, there ensued a long palaver, the
result of which was that Matadi declined to go on board the schooner,
but had no objection to come off alongside and inspect them from a
distance, provided that we would first return and hoist up our own boat.
The fact evidently was that the fellow, treacherous himself, suspected
everybody else of being the same, and was clearly indisposed to put
himself in our power, while he was at the same time devoured with
curiosity to see the articles of which I had given such a glowing
description. Of course, as I wished above all things to excite his
cupidity to the point of determining to possess the goods, even at the
cost of having to give up the white men, I readily agreed to his
proposal; and at once returned to the schooner and ordered the boat to
be hoisted to the davits.
It was evident that my endeavour to excite Matadi's curiosity had been
completely successful; for no sooner was the gig out of the water than a
large canoe was launched, into which Matadi and three or four other
negroes--presumably subordinate chiefs--scrambled, when she was at once
shoved off and, paddled by twenty natives, brought to within about
twenty yards of the schooner, that being considered, I suppose, about
the shortest distance within which it would be safe to approach us. I
tried to persuade them to come a little nearer, if not actually on
board, but Matadi resolutely refused; and as he seemed half inclined to
go back again without even waiting to see what I had to show him, I
ordered the steward to open the boxes at once, and forthwith proceeded
to exhibit my coils of wire, strings of beads, bandana handkerchiefs,
rolls of gaudily-coloured prints, old military uniforms, and muskets,
and other odds and ends, the exhibition proving so attractive that
before its conclusion the canoe had been gradually sheered nearer and
nearer to the schooner until she was brought fairly alongside, and they
had even consented to accept a rope's-end to hang on by. Matadi badly
wanted us to pass some of the articles down over the side that he might
examine them still more minutely, but I would not permit this, thinking
it best to still leave some of his curiosity unsatisfied, and at length,
after they had been alongside nearly an hour and a half, and had asked
for a second and even a third sight of most of the goods, they
reluctantly retired, their eyes glistening with cupidity, Matadi
promising to institute an immediate inquiry as to the whereabouts of the
white men, and to let me know the result as soon as possible.
I was very well satisfied with this interview, for I felt convinced that
I had so powerfully excited the covetousness of the savages that they
would determine to possess the goods that I had shown them at any cost.
And so, as it turned out, I had, although, consequent upon my omission
to take into consideration the natural treachery of the savage
character, I was wholly mistaken as to the form in which that
determination would manifest itself.
It was clear that Matadi still entertained a wholesome, whole-souled
distrust of us; for when he landed the troops of warriors were still
left drawn up along the river bank, with the evident intention of
preventing any attempt on our part to go ashore and satisfy our
curiosity by an inspection of his town; we therefore accepted the
palpable hint thus conveyed, and stuck to the ship, which, I need
scarcely say, had been cleared for action and held ready for any
emergency from the moment of our arrival abreast the town.
It was by this time growing late in the afternoon, and as I was anxious
to obtain possession of my unfortunate countrymen and leave Matadi's
rather dangerous neighbourhood before nightfall, we watched the
proceedings in the town narrowly and with a great deal of interest. But
although we were enabled with the aid of our telescopes to follow Matadi
and his little coterie of chiefs to a large building abutting on the
square at the intersection of the cross streets, and which we took to be
the "palace," we were unable to detect anything of an unusual character
in the appearance or movements of the people until close upon sunset,
when we observed a small canoe coming off to the schooner--a craft
propelled by four paddlers, with a single individual sitting in the
stern. This person we presently recognised as one of the chiefs who had
accompanied Matadi alongside earlier in the day; and he brought a
message to the effect that the king had ascertained that the white men
about whom we had inquired were all safe in a village a day's march
distant, and that Matadi would send for them on the morrow, unless we
were prepared to make him a present of a musket, five strings of beads,
a bandana handkerchief, and a roll of printed calico, in which case he
would so far discommode himself as to send off a messenger at once.
This was of course very annoying, and I did not at all like the idea of
giving these savages anything without a tangible return for it; still,
after considering the matter a little, I arrived at the conclusion that
to expedite affairs by twelve hours was quite worth the price asked, and
the articles were accordingly handed over, not without grave misgivings
as to the wisdom of the proceeding. Soon after this it fell dark, the
stars sparkled out one after another, lighting up the scene with their
soft effulgence, the noises in the town became hushed, save for the
occasional barking of a dog here and there, and a deep, solemn hush fell
upon us, in which the deep, hoarse, tumbling roar of a whirl-pool at no
great distance, and the gurgle and rush of the turbid river past the
schooner's hull became almost startlingly audible. But as long as we
were able to see them the lines of native warriors still stood, silent
and motionless, guarding the whole river front of the town. As a matter
of precaution, I now ordered the boarding nettings to be triced up all
round the ship, the guns to be loaded with grape and canister, the small
arms to be prepared for immediate service, a double anchor-watch to be
kept, and the men to hold themselves ready for any emergency, after the
bustle of which preparations the schooner subsided again into silence
and darkness, the men for the most part "pricking for a soft plank" on
deck, and coiling themselves away thereon in preference to seeking
repose in the stifling forecastle. As for Gowland and myself, we paced
the deck contemplatively together until about ten o'clock, discussing
the chances of getting away on the morrow, and then, everything seeming
perfectly quiet and peaceful, we had our mattresses brought on deck, and
stretched ourselves out thereon in the small clear space between the
companion and the wheel.
I had been asleep about two hours, when I was awakened by a light touch,
and, starting up, found that it was one of the anchor-watch, who was
saying--
"Better go below, sir, I think, because it looks as though it was goin'
to rain. And Bill and me, sir, we thinks as you ought to know that we
fancies we've heard the dip o' paddles occasionally round about the ship
within the last ten minutes."
"The dip of paddles, eh?" exclaimed I, in a whisper. "Where away,
Roberts?"
"Well, first here and then there, sir," answered the man, in an equally
low and cautious tone of voice; "both ahead and astarn of us; sometimes
on one side, and then on t'other. But we ain't by no means certain
about it; that there whirl-pool away off on our port-quarter a little
ways down-stream is makin' such a row that perhaps we're mistaken, and
have took the splash of the water in it for the sound of paddles. And
it's so dark that there ain't a thing to be seen."
It was as the man had said. It was evident that a heavy thunderstorm
was about to break over us, for the heavens had become black with
clouds, and the darkness was so profound that it was impossible to see
from one side of the deck to the other. I scrambled to my naked feet
and went first to the taffrail, then along the port side of the deck
forward, returning aft along the starboard side of the deck, listening
intently, and I certainly fancied that once or twice I detected a faint
sound like that of a paddle stroke, but I could not be certain; and as
to seeing anything, that was utterly out of the question.
"Find Warren, and tell him to bring a port-fire on deck, and light it,"
said I. "It can do no harm to take a look round, just to satisfy
ourselves; and it is never safe to trust these savages too much. Look
alive, Roberts; moments may be precious if it be as you suspect."
"Ay, ay, sir," answered the man, as he trundled away forward to find the
gunner. And meanwhile, as it was evident that a heavy downpour was
imminent, I roused up Gowland, and we carried our mattresses below, I
repeating to him, as we went, what Roberts had told me.
By the time that we got back on deck again the gunner was aft, waiting
for us, with the port-fire all ready in his hand, and I instructed him
to go aloft as far as the fore-cross-trees and light it there. A few
seconds elapsed, and then, with startling distinctness, came down to us
the cry--
"All ready, sir, with the port-fire!"
"Then light it at once," answered I, "and we will see what there is to
be seen."
The livid, blue-white glare of the port-fire almost instantly burst
forth, shedding its unearthly radiance far across the glassy, swirling
surface of the rushing stream, and by its light we saw a startling sight
indeed, the schooner being surrounded by a flotilla of at least twenty
large canoes, each manned by from thirty to forty dusky warriors, fully
armed with spears, bows, and war-clubs. They were about a cable's
length from us, and had evidently taken up their positions with the
utmost care, so that they might close in upon and reach us
simultaneously, as they were now doing. As the brilliant light of the
port-fire blazed forth, a shout of astonishment, not very far removed
from dismay, burst from the occupants of the canoes, and a momentary
tendency to sheer off precipitately became apparent; but this was
instantly checked by a loud and authoritative call from the largest
canoe--the voice sounding very much like that of Matadi himself--and
with an answering yell the savages at once turned the bows of their
canoes toward the schooner and began to paddle for dear life.
"Call all hands," shouted I, "and pipe to quarters. Pass the word that
the men are not to wait to dress. Another minute and the savages will
be upon us!"
The men needed no second order; they had all been sleeping on deck, and
had awakened at the gunner's call from aloft, and the glare of the
port-fire striking through their closed eyelids, and before the words
were well out of my lips they were standing to their guns and awaiting
my next order.
"Depress the muzzles of your guns as much as you can, and give the
treacherous rascals their contents as you bring them to bear," cried I.
"We shall only have time for one round, and if that does not stop them
we shall be obliged to fight them hand to hand!"
The whole of the schooner's guns were fired, one after the other, but
the port-fire unfortunately burnt out just about that time, so that we
were unable to ascertain what effect had been produced, and before
another could be found and lighted we heard and felt the light shocks of
collision as the canoes dashed alongside, and in a moment found
ourselves engaged in attempting to check the onset of a perfect _wall_
of savages that hemmed us in on every side, and surged, and struggled,
and writhed, and panted as they endeavoured to force a way through the
stubborn boarding nettings. It was just the tricing up of those
nettings that saved us; but for them the schooner's decks would have
been overrun, and we should have been massacred in a moment. As it was,
this unexpected obstacle, which of course none of them had observed in
the afternoon--the nettings not being then triced up--daunted them, for
they could neither displace it nor force a way through it, and while
they clung there, like a lot of bees, vainly striving to find or make a
passage through it, our men were blazing away with musket and pistol at
the black wall of writhing, yelling humanity, and bowling them over by
dozens at a time. When at length another port-fire was found and
lighted, it disclosed to us an appalling picture of dusky, panting
bodies, blazing eyeballs, waving skins and plumes, gleaming
spear-points, and upraised war-clubs hemming us in on both sides, from
stem to stern, every separate individual glaring at us with demoniac
hate and fury as he strove ineffectually to get at us.
The savages fell in scores at a time beneath our close and withering
fire, and at length, finding the netting impassable, and themselves
being shot down to no purpose, they suddenly abandoned the attack and
flung themselves back into their canoes, in which they made off with all
speed for the shore, subjected meanwhile to a galling fire of grape and
canister from our guns, which I very regretfully allowed to be
maintained, believing that our only chance of safety lay in inflicting
upon them a severe enough lesson to utterly discourage them from any
renewal of the attack. We continued firing until the last canoe had
reached the shore, by which time eleven of them had been utterly
destroyed and several others badly damaged, resulting in a loss to
Matadi of, according to my estimate, not far short of three hundred men.
We had just ceased firing, and the men were busy securing the guns
again, when the threatened storm burst forth, and our fight terminated
with one of the most terrific tempests of thunder, lightning, and rain
that I had ever been exposed to. It; lasted until about three o'clock
the next morning, and then passed off, leaving the heavens calm, clear,
and serene once more, and the stars even more brilliant than they had
been before the gathering of the storm. Of course, after the attempted
surprise of the schooner by the savages, there was no more sleep for me
that night, and before dawn I had resolved to send a boat ashore,
demanding the surrender of Matadi and his chiefs, as hostages for the
good behaviour of their people until the delivery of the English
prisoners, the alternative, in case of refusal, being the destruction of
the town.
Accordingly, as the rising sun was gilding the hill-tops, I ordered the
boat to be lowered, and sent her away in Gowland's charge, with Lobo to
act as interpreter, with a message to that effect. The guard of
warriors still held the landing-place, and to the chief in command of
them the message was given; its receipt, as Gowland subsequently
informed me, producing a very considerable amount of consternation. The
reply was that Matadi had been very severely wounded in the _accidental_
engagement of the previous night, and was believed to be dying; but that
the chief to whom the message had been given would communicate with his
brother chiefs, and that we should receive their reply on the following
morning. And to this Gowland had replied that if the white prisoners
were not surrendered, safe and sound, or the whole of the chiefs, Matadi
included, on board the schooner when the sun stood over a certain
hill-top--which would be in about an hour from that moment--the
schooner's guns would open fire upon the town and continue its
bombardment until every house in it was razed to the ground. And
therewith the gig returned to the ship, and was again hoisted to the
davits.
This peremptory message, coupled no doubt with the experiences of the
preceding night, had its desired effect; for while the sun was still a
quarter of an hour distant from that part of the heavens that Gowland
had indicated, we saw a procession issue from the fetish-house in the
centre of the town, which our telescopes enabled us to make out as
consisting of a group of white men, closely guarded by a body of some
two hundred armed warriors, detailed, it would appear, for the purpose
of guarding the whites from the fury of the witch-doctors, or priests,
who were thus most unwillingly deprived of their prey, and who
accompanied the party right down to the shore, doing their best to
instigate the people to attack the escort and recapture the released
prisoners. There was a terrific hubbub over the affair, repeated rushes
being made at the party; but the guards appeared to use their clubs with
great freedom, and eventually the cortege reached the river, and the
whites were safely embarked in three large canoes which, manned by
natives, and apparently in charge of some authoritative person, at once
shoved off for the schooner.
Upon the arrival of this little flotilla alongside it was found that the
white prisoners brought off for surrender numbered twenty-eight, all of
whom were in a most wretched plight from sickness and the barbarous
neglect with which they had been treated during their long and wearisome
captivity. They consisted of the _Sapphire's_ late second and third
lieutenants, one midshipman, nine marines, and sixteen seamen; one
midshipman, three marines, and two seamen having died of fever during
the time that they had been in Matadi's hands. So frightfully were they
reduced by suffering and despair, that when the poor little surviving
mid--a mere lad of sixteen--was helped up the side to the schooner's low
deck his nerve entirely gave way, and he fell upon the planks in a
paroxysm of hysterical tears, and wild, incoherent ejaculations of
gratitude to God for having delivered him from a living death; while as
for the others, they were too deeply moved and shaken to utter more than
a husky word or two for the moment, but the convulsive grip of their
emaciated hands, their quivering lips, and the look of almost
incredulous delight with which they gazed about them and into our faces,
spoke far more eloquently than words. Needless to say, we gave them a
most hearty and fraternal welcome, at once and before every thing else
providing as far as we could for their physical comfort, while
Armstrong, our warm-hearted Scotch surgeon, immediately took them in
hand with a good-will that promised wonders in the way of speedy
restoration to health and strength.
During all this while the three canoes had remained alongside; and by
and by, when I had once more time to think of other matters than those
more immediately concerning my guests, Lobo came to me and informed me
that the chiefs who had brought off the released white men were waiting
for the payment of the promised ransom. I thought this tolerably cool,
after the treacherous manner in which they had attacked us during the
preceding night; but I was too greatly rejoiced at the success of my
mission to be very severe or retributive in my behaviour just then. I
therefore paid the full amount agreed upon, but directed Lobo to say
that although I paid it I did not consider that Matadi was entitled to
claim a single article in view of his unprovoked attack upon the
schooner, and the miserable condition in which he had delivered up his
captives. But I paid it in order that he might practically learn that
an Englishman never breaks a promise that he has once made. And having
duly impressed this upon them, I gave them further to understand that,
should it ever happen that other white men fell into their hands, they
would be expected to treat them with the utmost kindness and
consideration, upon pain of condign punishment should they fail to do
so, and that upon delivering any such whites, safe and sound, to the
first warship that might happen to enter the river, they would be
handsomely rewarded.
This matter settled, our business with Matadi was at an end, and
although there happened to be not a breath of wind stirring, I
determined to make a start down the river at once, and get to sea as
soon as possible, in order that the rescued men might not be deprived,
for one moment longer than was absolutely necessary, of the restorative
effects of the pure salt breeze. We accordingly manned the capstan
forthwith, hove short, and then proceeded down-stream by the process of
navigation known as "dredging"; that is to say, we kept the schooner in
the proper channel by means of the anchor and the rudder combined,
allowing the anchor to just touch and drag along the ground when it
became necessary to sheer the ship away from a danger, and at other
times heaving it off the ground a few feet and allowing the craft to
drift with the current. And so strong was the rush of the river just
then, that by its means alone we accomplished a descent of no less than
thirty miles that day before sunset, anchoring for the night in a very
snug cove on the northern bank of the river, under the shadow of some
high hills. Then, during the night, a light southerly air sprang up,
freshening towards morning into a spanking breeze that soon became half
a gale of wind, and under its welcome impulse--although we found it
rather shy with us in some of the narrowest and most intricate parts of
the navigation--we contrived to complete the descent of the remaining
portion of the river on our second day out from Matadi's town, arriving
off the mouth of Banana Creek about an hour before sunset. Here, in
fulfilment of my promise, I released Lobo, who, to do him justice, had
served us well when he found that it was to his interest to do so. And
I may now dismiss him finally from my story by saying that when one of
the ships of our squadron put into the river about three weeks later, it
was found that Senor Lobo had profited by my advice to the extent that
he had disposed of his factory and other property, just as it stood, to
his former manager--the purchase-money being paid three-fourths down,
the remainder to be paid by instalments at three and six months' date.
And a very excellent bargain he contrived to make, too, so I understood,
the unfortunate buyer suffering a heavy loss when the captain of the
cruiser made it his first business to destroy the barracoon, which
formed a portion of the property, although the aforesaid buyer of course
made a point of vowing most emphatically that he had no intention
whatever of using the structure for slave-dealing purposes, to which
also, as a matter of course, he declared that he had a most righteous
aversion.
Having landed Lobo, we proceeded to sea that same night, carrying the
southerly breeze with us all through the night, and then falling in with
a regular twister from the eastward that carried us right across the
Line to about latitude 0 degrees 47 minutes North. From thence we had
light and variable breezes to Sierra Leone, despite which we made an
excellent passage, arriving in the anchorage in just three days short of
a month from the date of our leaving it upon our rescuing expedition;
and I am happy to say that when we landed the rescued party they had all
so far rallied as to render their perfect recovery merely a matter of
time, provided, of course, that the deadly fever of the coast did not
carry them off in the meanwhile.
On our arrival in Sierra Leone I was greatly surprised to find the
_Barracouta_ still in harbour; and I of course lost no time in going on
board to report myself and, incidentally, to find out the reason of her
prolonged stay in port. But on presenting myself on board I discovered
that I had been mistaken in supposing her to have lain there idle during
the whole period of my cruise--on the contrary, she had only arrived
three days before the _Felicidad_; and after I had told my story and
received the compliments of the captain and the rest of the officers
upon what they were pleased to term the boldness and judgment with which
I had executed my mission, I had to listen in return to a story as
gruesome as can well be imagined, although it was told in very few
words. It appeared, then, that a day or two after my departure, the
_Barracouta_ again put to sea with the fixed but unexpressed
determination to prosecute a further search for the _Francesca_, the
wind and weather having meanwhile been such as to encourage Captain
Stopford in the hope that by adopting certain measures he might yet
contrive to fall in with her. And he had done so, though by no means in
the manner that he had expected, the cruise being without result in the
direction in which he had hoped to meet with success. Some days later,
however, after the search had been reluctantly abandoned, and while the
brig was edging in towards the coast again, hoping to pick up a prize to
recompense them in a measure for their disappointment, they had
unexpectedly fallen in with the _Francesca_, again, and were not long in
coming to the conclusion that something was seriously wrong on board
her, both her topmasts being carried away close to the caps and hanging
suspended by the rigging, with no apparent effort being made to clear
away the wreck, although the weather was then quite fine. Sail was of
course at once made to close with the dismantled craft, and then another
surprise met them, for although the intention of the brig must have been
from the first moment unmistakable, no attempt was made to avoid the
encounter, which, however, was accounted for a little later by the fact
that the _Francesca_ appeared to be in an unmanageable condition. Then,
as the brig neared her still more closely, it was seen that the sweeps
were rigged out but not manned, although the deck was crowded with
people, unmistakably blacks. And then it was that for the first time
the dreadful surmise dawned upon Captain Stopford's mind--a surmise that
soon proved to be true--that the negroes, doubtless goaded to frenzy by
their continued ill-treatment, had risen upon and massacred the entire
crew and taken possession of the brigantine, which of course they had
not the remotest idea how to handle.
The _Barracouta_ soon arrived upon the _Francesca's_ weather quarter,
and the evidences of the fearful deed then became unmistakable, the
scuppers still bearing the stains of the ensanguined stream that had
poured from them, while among the whole of that crowd of yelling,
fiercely gesticulating blacks, not a single white face was to be seen.
Boats were at once lowered and a strong crew sent away to take
possession of the disabled vessel, but the emancipated slaves, maddened
at the thought of again falling into the hands of the hated whites, and,
of course, unaware of the fact that the brig's crew were anxious only to
render them a service, offered so desperate a resistance to the boarders
that Young, who led the latter, recognising the impossibility of taking
the brigantine without serious loss of life, withdrew to consult with
Captain Stopford as to the best course to pursue. Meanwhile, the wind
fell away to a calm, of which circumstance the slaves took advantage by
manning the sweeps and gradually withdrawing from the vicinity of the
_Barracouta_, This was about sunset; and three hours later a bright
blaze upon the horizon proclaimed that the notorious _Francesca_ had
either caught or been set on fire in some inexplicable way. The brig's
boats were at once manned and dispatched to the rescue of the unhappy
blacks, or as many of them as it might be possible to save; but the
brigantine was by this time some nine miles away, the flames burnt with
ever-increasing fury, and while the boats were still some three miles
distant the doomed ship blew up, and the occupants of the boats saw the
bodies of the miserable blacks hurled high in the air in the midst of a
dazzling sheet of flame and a cloud of smoke. When the boats arrived
upon the scene of the disaster, all that remained of the once gallant
but guilty _Francesca_ consisted of a few charred timbers and fragments
of half-burnt planking, in the midst of which floated some forty or
fifty dead bodies of negroes; the rest had vanished--whither?
Such, reader, is the story, and such was the end of the Pirate Slaver,
the terrible doom of which, when it became known, caused such a thrill
of horror in the breasts of those who had emulated her crew in their
career of crime, that from that time forward there was a noticeable
falling-off in the number of vessels frequenting the West African rivers
in search of slaves; and finally, a year or two later, the appearance of
fast steamers in the slave-squadron rendered the chances of success so
remote that but a few of the most enterprising had heart to continue the
pursuit of so risky and unprofitable a business. And when these were
one by one captured and their vessels condemned, the infamous trade
dwindled more and more, until it finally died out altogether, never, let
us hope, to be revived again.