"Phew!" ejaculated Mr Perry, first lieutenant of His Britannic
Majesty's corvette _Psyche_, as he removed his hat and mopped the
perspiration from his streaming forehead with an enormous spotted
pocket-handkerchief. "I believe it's getting hotter instead of cooler;
although, by all the laws that are supposed to govern this pestiferous
climate, we ought to be close upon the coolest hour of the twenty-four!
Just step aft to the skylight, Mr Fortescue, and see what the time is,
will ye? It must surely be nearing two bells."
"Ay, ay, sir!" I dutifully answered; and, moving aft to the skylight,
raised the canvas cover which had been placed over it to mask the light
of the low-turned lamp which was kept burning all night in the fore
cabin, and glanced at the clock which, screwed to the coaming on one
side of the tell-tale compass, balanced the barometer which, hung in
gimbals, was suspended on the other side. The clock marked the time as
two minutes to five a.m., or within two minutes of two bells in the
morning watch.
Dropping the canvas screen back into place, I was about to announce the
time to my superior officer, when I thought I caught, through the faint
creak of the ship's timbers and the light rustling of the canvas aloft,
a slight, far off sound, like the squeak of a sheave on a rusty pin.
Therefore, instead of proclaiming the time aloud, I stepped quietly to
the side of the first luff, and asked, almost in a whisper--
"Did you hear anything just then, sir?"
"Hear anything?" reiterated Mr Perry, unconsciously lowering his
usually stentorian voice in response to the suggestion of secrecy
conveyed by my whisper; "no, I can't say that I did. What d'ye mean,
Mr Fortescue?"
"I mean, sir," I replied, "that I thought I caught, a moment ago, a
sound like that of--ah! did you hear _that_, then, sir?" as a voice,
uttering some words of command, apparently in the Spanish language, came
floating to us, faint but clear, across the invisible water upon which
the _Psyche_ lay rolling almost imperceptibly.
"Ay, I did," answered Mr Perry, modulating his voice still further.
"No mistake about that, eh? There's a craft of some sort out there,
less than a mile distant, I should say. Did you catch the words? They
sounded to me like some foreign lingo."
"No, sir," I replied, "I did not quite catch them, but, as you say, they
appeared to be foreign, and I believe they were Spanish. What about
striking two bells, sir? It only wanted two minutes--"
"On no account whatever, Mr Fortescue," hastily interrupted my
companion. "On the contrary, have the kindness to slip for'ard and
caution the watch not to sing out, or make the slightest noise, on any
account, but to come quietly aft if they happen to have anything to
report. And when you have done that, kindly go down and call Captain
Harrison."
"Ay, ay, sir!" I answered; and, kicking off my shoes, lest the sound of
them upon the deck should reach the stranger through that still and
breathless atmosphere, I proceeded upon my twofold errand.
But it is time to tell the reader where the _Psyche_ was upon this dark
and stifling night; what she was doing there; and why the precautions
above referred to were deemed necessary.
As has already been mentioned, the _Psyche_ was a British man-o'-war.
She was a sloop, armed with fourteen long 18-pounders; and carried a
crew which had originally consisted of one hundred and thirty men, but
which had now been reduced by sickness and casualties to one hundred and
four, all told. She was a unit in the somewhat scanty Slave Squadron
which Great Britain had stationed on the West African coast for the
suppression of the infamous slave-trade; and when this story opens--
namely, about the middle of the year 1822--had been upon the station
nearly two years, during the whole of which period I, Richard Fortescue,
hailing from the neighbourhood of the good town of Plymouth, had been on
board her, and now held the responsible position of senior midshipman;
being, at the above date, just turned seventeen years of age.
The _Psyche_ was a fine, stout, roomy, and comfortable craft of her
class; but about as unsuitable for the work upon which she was now
engaged as could well be, for she was a converted merchant ship, built
for the purpose of carrying the biggest possible cargo that could be
packed into certain prescribed limits, and consequently, as might be
expected, phenomenally slow. To commission such a vessel to chase and
capture the nimble craft that were usually employed to transport the
unhappy blacks across the Atlantic was simply a ghastly farce, and
caused us, her unfortunate crew, to be the laughing-stock of the entire
coast. Yet, considering all things, we had not done so very badly; for
realising, early in the commission, that we need never hope for success
from the speed of our ship, we had invoked the aid of strategy, and by
dint of long practice had brought the trapping of slavers almost up to
the level of high art. Consequently the _Psyche_, despite the
disabilities arising from her astonishing lack of speed, had acquired a
certain reputation among the slave-dealing fraternity, and was as
intensely detested by them as any ship on the station.
At the moment when the reader first finds himself a member of her crew
the _Psyche_ was lying near the mouth of the Benin river, some two miles
off the shore and about twice that distance from the river's mouth, at
which point we had arrived at midnight; having made our way thither in
consequence of "information received," which led us to believe that a
large ship was at that moment in the river taking on board a full cargo
of blacks. We had drifted down to the position which we then occupied
under the impulse of the last of the land-breeze, which had died out and
left us becalmed some two miles short of the precise spot for which we
were aiming. Still, we were near enough for all practical purposes, or
believed that we were; for we thought that if a thoroughly smart look-
out were maintained--and we had grown to be adepts at that sort of
thing--it would be impossible for a slaver to attempt to slip out of the
river without our becoming cognisant of the fact. And now, to return to
my story.
Having first stolen forward and warned the watch that a craft of some
sort was within hearing distance of us, and that they were therefore
carefully to avoid crying out, or making any other sound that might
betray our presence, I returned aft, in the same cautious manner, and
was on the point of descending the companion ladder to call the captain,
when _ting-ting_ came the soft chiming of a ship's bell, mellowed by
distance, from somewhere in the offing, evidencing--or so it seemed to
me--the fact that the stranger had not as yet discovered our proximity.
The skipper, accustomed to being disturbed at all hours of the night,
awoke at the first touch of my knuckles upon his cabin door.
"Yes!" he called; "what is it?"
"There is a strange craft not far from us, sir," I answered; "and Mr
Perry considered that you should be apprised of the fact. We know
nothing whatever about her, except that she is there; for the night is
so intensely dark that we have been unable to catch the faintest glimpse
of her, but we have just heard them strike two bells aboard her. We
have not struck our own bell, sir, thinking--"
"Yes, of course, quite right," interrupted the skipper, as he landed
with a soft thud on the floor of his state-room. "Tell Mr Perry that
I'll be on deck in a brace of shakes."
He followed close at my heels up the companion ladder, having paused
only long enough to slip into his nether garments, and came groping
blindly out on deck.
"Phew!" he muttered, as he emerged from the companion; "it's as dark as
the inside of a cow. Where are you, Mr Perry?"
"Here I am, sir; close alongside you," answered the first luff,
stretching out his hand and lightly touching the skipper's arm. "Yes,"
he continued, "it certainly _is_ dark, unusually so; so dark that I am
in hopes of keeping our presence a secret from the fellow out yonder
until you shall have decided what is to be done."
"Mr Fortescue tells me that you have not seen anything of him thus
far," remarked the captain. "Whereabout is he, and how far off, do you
reckon?"
"Somewhere away in that direction," indicated the lieutenant, with a
flourish of his arm. "As to the distance--well, that is rather
difficult to judge. Sound travels far on such a night as this; but I
should say that the craft is not more than half a mile distant, or
three-quarters, at the utmost."
"Um!" commented the captain meditatively. "I suppose it is not, by any
chance, the craft which we are after, which has slipped out of the river
in the darkness, eh?"
"I should scarcely think so, sir," answered Perry. "A man would
literally have to be able to find his way about blindfolded to attempt
to run out of the river on such a night as this. No, I am inclined to
think that it is some inward-bound craft, becalmed like ourselves. We
caught the sound of some order spoken on board her when we first became
aware of her presence, and Mr Fortescue here was of opinion that the
words used were Spanish, although the distance was too great to enable
us to distinguish just what was said."
"Ay," responded the skipper; "two out of every three slavers doing
business on this coast are either Spaniards or Portuguese. Now, the
question is, What are we to do with regard to our unknown friend out
yonder? Either she is, or is not, the craft that we are on the look-out
for. If she _is_, we must take her, by hook or by crook, before the
sea-breeze sets in and gives her the chance to run away from us; and
that means a jaunt in the boats. On the other hand, if she is not the
craft that we are after, she is still in all probability a slaver, and
in any case will doubtless pay for an overhaul, which again means a boat
trip. Therefore, Mr Perry, be good enough to have the hands called,
and the boats got into the water as silently as possible. If the men
are quick we may be able to get away, and perhaps alongside her, before
the dawn breaks. I will take charge of this little pleasure-party
myself, and you can stay here and keep house during my absence."
"Ay, ay, sir," answered Perry, in tones which clearly betrayed his
disappointment at the arrangement come to by the skipper. "I will put
matters in hand."
"Yes, do," returned the skipper; "and meanwhile I will go and dress. It
shall be your turn next time, Perry," he chuckled, as he turned away to
go below again.
"Ay," grumbled the lieutenant to himself, but audibly enough for me to
hear. "Same old yarn--`your turn next time, Perry.' This will make the
third time running that I have been left behind to `keep house,' but
there's not going to be a fourth, I'll see to that; it is time that this
child stood up for his rights. Now, Mr Fortescue, have the goodness,
if you please, to pass the word for all hands to arm and man boats; and
to be quiet about it, too, and show no lights."
"Ay, ay, sir," I briskly responded, as I turned to hurry away; "I'll see
that our lambs don't bleat too loudly. And--I suppose--that I may take
it for granted that--"
"That you will make one of the `pleasure-party'?" interrupted the
lieutenant, with a laugh, as he put his disappointment and ill-humour
away from him. "Oh, yes, I suppose so. At all events there will be no
harm in making your preparations; the captain is pretty certain to take
you."
Still on my bare feet, I hurried forward and found the boatswain.
"That you, Mr Futtock?" I inquired, as I made out his burly form.
"Ay, ay, Mr Fortescue, it's me, right enough," was the answer. "I
presoom, sir, it's another boat job, eh? You heard that bell?"
"We did, Mr Futtock; yes, we heard it distinctly, seeing that we don't
`caulk' in our watch on deck," I retorted. "Yes, it's another boat
affair; so be good enough to have all hands called at once, if you
please. And kindly make it your personal business to see that nobody
raises his voice, lets anything fall, or otherwise creates row enough to
wake the dead. This is going to be a little surprise visit, you
understand."
"Ay, ay, Mr Fortescue, I understands," answered Futtock, as he moved
toward the open hatchway; "I'll see that the swabs don't make no noise.
The man that raises his voice above a whisper won't go. That's all."
"Just one word more, Mr Futtock," I hastily interposed, as the
boatswain stepped over the coaming to descend the hatchway. "You may do
me a favour, if you will. Kindly ask the armourer to pick me out a nice
sharp cutlass, if you please. You can bring it on deck with you when
you come up."
To this request the boatswain readily enough assented; and matters being
thus far satisfactorily arranged I descended to the cockroach-haunted
den wherein we mids. ate and slept, to find that little Tom
Copplestone--who shared my watch, and who was a special favourite of
mine because of his gentle, genial disposition, and also perhaps because
he hailed from the same county as myself--having overheard the
conversation between Mr Perry and myself, had already come below and
roused the occupants of the place, who, by the smoky rays of a flaring
oil lamp that did its best to make the atmosphere quite unendurable,
were hastily arraying themselves.
"Murder!" I ejaculated, as I entered the pokey little place and got my
first whiff of its close, reeking, smoke-laden atmosphere; "put out that
abominable lamp and light a candle or two, somebody, for pity's sake.
How the dickens you fellows can manage to breathe down here I can't
understand. And, boy," to the messenger outside, "pass the word for
Cupid to bring us along some cocoa from the galley."
"There's no need," remarked Nugent, the master's mate, as he struggled
ineffectively to find the left sleeve of his jacket. "The word has
already been passed; I passed it myself when Master Cock-robin there,"
pointing to Copplestone, "came and roused us out. And, as to candles,
I'm afraid we haven't any; the rats appear to have eaten the last two we
had in the locker. However--ah, here comes the cocoa. Put the pot down
there, Cupid--never mind if it _does_ soil our beautiful damask table-
cloth, we're going to have it washed next time we go into Sierra Leone.
And just see if you can find us a biscuit or two and some butter, will
ye, you black angel? Here, avast there,"--as the black was about to
retire--"produce our best china breakfast-set before you go, you swab,
and pour out the cocoa."
The black, a herculean Krooboy, picked up when we first arrived on the
Coast, and promptly christened "Cupid" by the master's mate, who,
possibly because of sundry disappointments, had developed a somewhat
sardonic turn of humour, grinned appreciatively at Nugent's sorry jest
respecting "our best china breakfast-set," and proceeded to rout out the
heterogeneous assortment of delf and tin cups, basins, and plates that
constituted the table-equipage of the midshipmen's berth, poured out a
generous allowance of cocoa for each of us, and then departed, with the
empty bread-barge, in quest of a supply of ship's biscuit. By the time
that Cupid returned with this, we had gulped down our cocoa and were
ready to go on deck. I therefore helped myself to a couple of biscuits
which, breaking into pieces of convenient size by the simple process of
dashing them against my elbow, I crammed into my jacket pocket, and then
rushed up the ladder to the deck, leaving my companions to follow after
they had snatched a hasty bite or two of food; for there was now no
knowing when we might get breakfast.
Upon my arrival on deck I found the hands already mustering under the
supervision of the first lieutenant, and a moment later I encountered
the boatswain, who handed over to me a good serviceable ship's cutlass--
worth a dozen of the ridiculous little dirks which were considered
suitable weapons for midshipmen--which I promptly girded about my waist.
At this moment all was bustle and animation throughout the ship, yet so
sedulously had we been trained to act in perfect silence that I am
certain the stealthy footfalls of the men hurrying to their stations,
and the whispered words of command, were quite inaudible at a distance
of twenty yards from the ship. Within a minute or two, however, even
these faint sounds had subsided, the crew were all mustered, and the
first lieutenant, assisted by a quartermaster who carried a carefully
masked lantern, was carefully, yet rapidly, inspecting each man's
weapons and equipment, scrutinising the flints in the locks of the
pistols, and otherwise satisfying himself of the efficiency of our
hurried preparations. While the inspection was still in progress the
captain came on deck, with his sword girded to his side and a brace of
pistols thrust into his belt, and stood quietly looking on until the
inspection was completed and Mr Perry had reported that everything was
in order.
Then the skipper announced that he would personally lead the attack in
his own gig, manned by eight oarsmen, a coxswain, and a midshipman--
myself; while the first cutter, manned by sixteen oarsmen, a coxswain,
and a midshipman--Jack Keene--was to be commanded by Mr Purchase, the
second lieutenant; and the second cutter, with twelve oarsmen, a
coxswain, and Nugent, the master's mate, was to be under the command of
the boatswain. Thus the attacking party was to consist of forty-five
persons, all told, which was as many, I suppose, as the skipper felt
justified in taking out of the ship under the circumstances.
Then ensued a busy five minutes, during which the boats were being
noiselessly lowered and manned, the oars muffled, and every possible
precaution observed to enable us to take our unseen but doubtless
vigilant enemy unawares. This was just then regarded as of especial
importance, for at the time of which I am now writing the traffic in
slaves was regarded as piracy, and rendered its perpetrators liable to
capital punishment, in consequence of which almost every slaver went
heavily armed, and her crew, knowing that the halter was already about
their necks, resisted capture by every means which their ingenuity could
devise, whenever they had the chance, and often fought with desperate
valour.
As I hurried aft to attend to the lowering of the gig, which hung from
davits over the stern, a hand was suddenly laid upon my arm, and,
turning, I found myself confronted by Cupid, the Krooboy servant who
"did for us" in the midshipmen's berth. His eyes were aglow with
excitement, he carried a short-handled hatchet, with a head somewhat
bigger and heavier than that of a ship's tomahawk, in his hand, and he
was naked, save for a pair of dungaree trousers, the legs of which were
rolled up above his knees.
"Mr Fortescue, sar, I fit for go in dem boat wid you, sar," he
whispered eagerly.
"Yes, I quite believe it, Cupid," I replied. "But you know perfectly
well that I cannot give you permission to join the gig's crew. If the
captain had been anxious to have the pleasure of your company I feel
sure that he would have mentioned the fact. Besides, if you should
happen to be killed, what would become of us poor midshipmen?"
A suppressed chuckle, and a gleam of white teeth through the darkness,
betrayed Cupid's appreciation of the compliment subtly conveyed in the
suggestion that the budding admirals inhabiting the midshipmen's berth
aboard H.M.S. _Psyche_ would suffer, should he unhappily be slain in
the impending conflict, but he hastened to reassure me.
"No fear, sar," he whispered. "Dem slaber no lib for kill me. I,
Cupid, too much plenty black for see in de dark; an' if dey no see me,
dey no kill. Savvey? _Please_, Mr Fortescue, sar. I no lib for fight
too much plenty long time."
"Look here, Cupid," I replied. "It is no use for you to ask me for
permission to go in the gig, for I cannot give it you. But,"--
meaningly--"if you were to stow yourself away in the eyes of the gig it
is just possible that the captain might not notice you until we had got
too far from the ship to turn back. Only don't let me see you doing it,
that's all."
"Dat all right, sar," answered the black, with a sigh of extreme
content. "If you no look for dem Cupid you no see um." And he turned
and ostentatiously walked away forward.
The boats having been gently and carefully lowered into the water
without a splash, or so much as a single tell-tale squeak from the
tackle-blocks--the pins and bushes of which were habitually overhauled
at frequent intervals and kept well lubricated with a mixture of melted
tallow and plumbago--the crews took their places, each man carefully
depositing his drawn cutlass on the bottom-boards between his feet, and
we shoved off with muffled oars, the three boats pulling abreast, with
about a ship's length between each; so that if perchance we should
happen to be seen, we should present as small a target as possible to
aim at.
We pulled slowly and with the utmost caution, for the twofold reason
that we had not yet caught sight of our quarry and only knew in a
general sort of way that she was somewhere to seaward of us, and because
we were anxious to avoid premature discovery from the splash of our
oars. It was of course perfectly right and proper that we should
observe all the precautions that I have indicated; for if we could but
contrive to creep up alongside the stranger without being detected, it
would undoubtedly mean the prevention of much loss of life. But,
personally, I had very little hope of our being able to do so; for the
night was so breathlessly still that, if any sort of look-out at all
were being kept aboard the stranger--and slavers usually slept with one
eye open--they must surely have caught some hint of our proximity,
careful as we had been to maintain as complete silence as possible while
making our preparations. Besides, as ill-luck would have it, the water
was in an unusually brilliant phosphorescent condition just then, the
slightest disturbance of it caused a silvery glow that could be seen a
mile away; and, be as silent as we might, the dip of our oars and the
passage of the boats through the water set up such a blaze as could not
fail to betray us, should a man happen to glance in our direction.
At length, when we had pulled about half a mile, as nearly as I could
judge, I detected a slight suspicion of a softening in the velvety
blackness of the sky in the eastern quarter. It brightened, even as I
looked, and a solitary star, low down in the sky, seemed to flicker,
faintly and more faintly, for half a dozen seconds, and then disappear.
"The dawn is coming, sir," I whispered to the skipper, by whose side I
was sitting, "and in another minute or two we ought to--ah! there she
is. Do you see her, sir?" And I pointed in the direction of a faint,
ghostlike blotch that had suddenly appeared at a spot some three points
on our port bow.
"Where away?" demanded the skipper, instinctively raising his hand to
shade his eyes; but he had scarcely lifted it to the height of his
shoulder when he too caught sight of the object.
"Ay," he exclaimed, "I see her. And a big craft she is, too; a barque,
apparently. Surely that cannot be the craft that we are after? Yet it
looks very like her. If so, she must have slipped out of the river with
the last of the land-breeze last night, and lain becalmed all night
where she is. Now what are the other boats about that they have not
seen her? Parkinson," to the coxswain, "show that lantern for a moment
to the other boats, but take care to shield it with--ah! never mind,
there are both their lights. Give way, men. Put me alongside under her
mizen chains, my lad. Either side; I don't care which."
While the captain had been speaking the faint, ghostly glimmer that I
had detected had resolved itself into the spectral semblance of a large
ship clothed from her trucks down with canvas upon which the rapidly
growing light of the advancing dawn was falling and thus rendering it
just barely visible against its dark background of sky.
In the tropics day comes and goes with a rush, and, even while the
skipper had been speaking, the object which had first revealed itself to
me, a minute earlier, as a mere wan, ghostly suggestion had assumed
solidity and definiteness of form, and now stood out against the sky
behind her as a full-rigged ship of some seven hundred and fifty tons
burthen, her hull painted bright green, and coppered to the water-line.
She was lying stern-on to us, and sat deep in the water, from which
latter fact one inferred that she had her cargo of slaves on board and
had doubtless, as the skipper conjectured, come out of the river with
the last of the land-breeze during the previous night, and had remained
becalmed near us, and, we hoped, quite unaware of our proximity all
night. She was now within a cable's length of the boats, but, lying as
she was, dead stern-on to us, we in the gig were unable to see how many
guns she carried, which was, however, an advantage to us, since, however
many guns she might mount on her broadsides, she could bring none of
them to bear upon us. We saw, however, that she carried two stern-
chasers--long nine's, apparently--and now, in the hope of dashing
alongside before those two guns could be cast loose and brought to bear
upon us, the captain stood up in the stern-sheets of the gig and waved
his arm to the other boats as a signal to them to give way--for, with
the coming of the daylight we could not possibly hope to remain
undiscovered above a second or two longer.
Indeed the boats' crews had scarcely bent their backs in response to the
signal when there arose a sudden startled outcry on board the ship,
followed by a volley of hurried commands and the hasty trampling of feet
upon her decks. But we were so close to her, when discovered, and the
surprise was so complete, that her crew had no time to do anything
effective in the way of defence; and in little over a couple of minutes
we had swept up alongside, clambered in over her lofty bulwarks, driven
her crew below, and were in full possession of the _Dona Isabella_ of
Havana, mounting twelve guns, with a crew of forty-six Spaniards,
Portuguese, and half-castes, constituting as ruffianly a lot as I had
ever met with. She had a cargo of seven hundred and forty negroes on
board, and was far and away the finest prize that had thus far fallen to
the lot of the _Psyche_. So valuable, indeed, was she that Captain
Harrison decided not to trust her entirely to a prize crew, but to
escort her to Sierra Leone in the corvette; and some two hours later,
having meanwhile made all the necessary dispositions, the two craft
trimmed sail with the first of the sea-breeze and hauled up for Sierra
Leone, where we arrived a week later after an uneventful passage.