BRAVERY
Amid the many sides of the average sailor's character there
is none that stands out so prominently as that of bravery
and resourcefulness. Here is an instance of both qualities.
Three or four years ago a Russian Nihilist made his escape
from the Siberian mines and travelled to Vladivostock. A
British ship was lying there, and the poor refugee came
aboard and claimed the protection of her captain. The vessel
could not sail for a few days, which gave his pursuers an
opportunity of overtaking him. They got to know where he
was, and proceeded to demand that he should be given up.
They relied, as many other whipper-snappers do, on the
importance of their official position and the glitter of
their elaborate uniform to strike awe and terror into the
soul of the British captain! They soon found out what a
mistake they had made. "Gentlemen," said the resolute
commander, "the person whom you call your prisoner has
placed himself under the protection of the British flag. A
British ship is British territory, hence he is a free man,
and I must request that you cease to molest us or make any
attempt to take him by force." They urged Imperial penalties
and international complications; but this brave and
resourceful man disregarded their threats, again reminding
them that he stood on the deck of a British vessel; and that
if they did anything in violation of his power and
authority, complications would arise from his side instead
of from theirs. He was allowed to sail with his interesting
passenger aboard, and I hope the latter was genuinely
grateful to his heroic protector for ever after. The name of
such a man should be covered with imperishable fame.
Here is another bit of quiet bravery, loftier than the
slaughter, in hot or cold blood, of one's fellow-creatures!
About twenty-eight or twenty-nine years ago, a German vessel
ran into and sank off Dungeness an emigrant ship called the
_North Fleet_. She was a fine vessel. Her commander had
married a young lady a few days before sailing from London,
and she accompanied him on the voyage. When the collision
occurred there was a rush made for the boats. Men clamoured
for a place to the exclusion of women and children! The
captain called out that he would shoot the first man who
prevented or did not assist the women to save themselves,
and I believe he had reason to put his threat into
practice. He stood on the poop with his revolver in hand
ready for action. When the proper time came, he asked his
bride to take his arm, and led her to the gangway. They
kissed each other affectionately. He whispered in her ear,
"Courage, dear, I must do my duty." Then he handed her into
the boat which was in charge of an officer, and exhorted him
to take special care of her whom he had so recently led from
the altar and to whom he had said his last farewell! He then
proceeded to his post on the quarter-deck, and stood there
until the vessel sank and the sea flowed over him. The
opinion at the time was that he could have saved his life if
he had made an effort to do so. I question this very much,
as many of the people were picked up in the water, clinging
to wreckage; the boats being overcrowded. The only way by
which he could have been saved was to displace some one or
clutch at a piece of wreck. He preferred death to the
former, and there is no evidence that he did not attempt to
save himself by means of the latter. The probability is that
he gave any such opportunity to some drowning man or woman,
and sacrificed himself. Honour to this brave man who died,
not while taking life, but in saving it!