his _Pen_ on the slope of the hill at the back of the town of Kingston;
so no sooner was our anchor down than I engaged a negro boatman to take
me up the harbour. Arrived at Kingston, I procured a vehicle, and,
driving to the Pen, was fortunate enough to catch the great man just as
he was about to sit down to breakfast. The announcement that I was the
bearer of important intelligence relating to the enemy secured my
immediate admission to his presence, and, despite the fact that I was
only a privateersman, the genial old seadog accorded me a hearty
welcome, and insisted upon my sitting down to table with him directly he
had elicited from me the fact that I had not yet broken my fast. He
was, of course, profoundly interested in the intelligence that I was
able to furnish him, relative to the presence of a combined French and
Spanish fleet in the Atlantic, my information being the first that had
reached him of the fact, and he was good enough to say that, in
hastening to him with the news, I had rendered a service of the utmost
importance to my country. Scarcely less interested was he in the
narration of my adventures from the time of the abandonment of the
_Manilla_ to the moment of the capture of the _Jean Bart_. He
complimented me highly upon my conduct throughout, and, while promising
to immediately relieve me of the charge of my prisoners, incidentally
expressed his regret that I had not selected the navy as my profession.
I answered him that I was but an obscure individual, with no influence
or patronage whatever at my command, and that, therefore, had I entered
the navy, I should probably never have been allowed to rise in my
profession, the influence and patronage which I lacked causing other and
more fortunate ones to be promoted over my head. His reply was
characteristic.
"Influence! patronage!" he exploded. "Ay, sir, you speak truly; there
is too much of it altogether. It amounts to a very serious drawback and
injury to the service in many ways. But, as for you, and men like you,
you do not require either influence or patronage. You possess the best
of all influence in this," lightly touching the hilt of my sword, "and
it is a thousand pities that greater facilities are not afforded to men
of your kidney for entrance into the service. But perhaps the profits
derivable from successful privateering outweigh your patriotism, and you
would rather be as you are than become the wearer of His Majesty's
livery?"
"You are mistaken, sir," answered I hotly. "To serve on His Majesty's
quarter-deck would be the height of my ambition, but I confess I prefer
my present position, as commander of a privateer to that of a warrant-
officer aboard a man-o'-war."
He answered me with a "Umph!" which afforded me no clue whatever to his
opinion of my outspoken reply; and, my business with him being at an
end, I took my leave.
"Have you any engagement for to-night?" he asked, extending his hand
very cordially. And upon my answering that I had not, he said: "Then
come and dine with me; seven sharp. I want to see a little more of
you."
Of course I gladly accepted so flattering an invitation, and then
hurried away to appoint an agent and return to the schooner.
I was anxious to get to sea again as quickly as possible, for I looked
upon the loss of the _Manilla_ as so much leeway, and a very serious
amount too, that could not be too speedily made up. But I foresaw that
my chief difficulty in so doing would arise from my lack of a crew, and
how to scrape together a decent complement in a small town like Kingston
I knew not, for I was fully aware that our men-o'-war kept the place
pretty well swept of men. I was therefore greatly pleased when, having
called upon the individual who had been recommended to me by the Admiral
as an agent, he informed me, upon the conclusion of my business proper
with him, that he knew a man who he believed would be willing, for a
consideration, to find me as many good men as I might require. I at
once asked for the address of this person, but was informed that it
would be utterly useless for me, a total stranger, to call upon him, as
he would most certainly decline to treat with me; but that if I felt
disposed to leave the matter in his, the agent's, hands, he would do his
best for me. I thought I understood pretty well what this meant. The
system of impressment had done more than anything else to render our
navy unpopular, and men were constantly deserting whenever and wherever
they found a chance. And when they had once succeeded in making good
their escape from the ship on board which they had been compelled to
serve, their best chance of safety from recapture lay in getting to sea
as quickly as possible, until which they were perforce obliged to lie in
close hiding. This state of affairs soon produced a set of men known as
"crimps", who kept boarding-houses for the especial accommodation and
concealment of seamen who either had deserted from their ships, or who,
having been paid off, were anxious to find other employment without the
risk of impressment while openly looking for it. These crimps were to
be found in every British seaport, abroad as well as at home, and a very
good thing they made of it, what with their exorbitant charges for board
and lodging on the one hand, and, on the other, the premiums or head-
money that they received from ship-masters for the supply of men. It
was, of course, to their interest to be loyal to the men, and hence they
hedged themselves and their houses about with so many safeguards against
undesirable intrusion that it became a matter of almost impossibility to
approach them except through certain channels. I suspected that my
agent was in touch with one or more of these men, and although I
thoroughly hated the system, which was nothing short of the most
audacious robbery, both of the unfortunate men whom it professed to
befriend, and of the ship-masters who were compelled to avail themselves
of it, my prospects of procuring a crew by any other means were so
remote that I unwillingly assented to my agent's suggestion, stipulating
only that I should see the men and have the option of refusing such as I
deemed unsuitable. And with this understanding the agent undertook to
do his best to find me at least forty thoroughly good men.
This important matter put in train, I hastened back on board the
schooner, and soon had the satisfaction of seeing Renouf and his
scoundrel crew passed over the side into the boats that were to convey
them to the prison-hulk. I had the still greater satisfaction of
learning, not very long afterwards, that Renouf, his brother, and half a
dozen more of the party had been hanged as pirates upon the evidence of
Dumaresq, myself, and the other survivors of the gig's crew. This,
however, is anticipating my story somewhat.
That same night I dined with the Admiral, and had the honour of meeting
the Governor and some half-dozen more of the principal personages of the
island. I was rather astonished, I must admit, at the perfect
equanimity with which my portentous tidings had been received. The
Admiral had, of course, had a busy day of it in preparing and sending
off despatches to the other islands belonging to the crown, as well as
in arranging for the defence of our possessions generally; but I soon
found that there was an utter absence of apprehension on the score of an
attack.
"No, no," exclaimed the Admiral confidently. "Villeneuve has escaped
from Toulon, it is true, but he will be like a canary that has slipped
out of its cage, he will be so frightened at unexpectedly finding
himself free that he will not dare to make the least use of his freedom;
his greatest anxiety will be to escape the pursuers that he knows must
be on his track. For, d'ye see, Nelson will become aware of his escape
in less than twelve hours, and will be after him forthwith. The only
wonder to me is that he has not overtaken him and brought him to action
before now. I would give a good deal for the power to let Nelson know
the whereabouts of this fleet; but I haven't another ship at my
disposal. By the way, Mr Bowen, what are you going to do next?"
"I shall proceed to sea again without a moment's unnecessary delay,
sir," I answered. "All I want is a crew."
"_All_ you want!" echoed the Admiral. "By George, sir, I don't know
where you will find a crew in Jamaica. I believe every available man
has already been hunted out and appropriated by our men-o'-war. Have
you no men at all?"
"Four only; and I am not yet by any means certain that they will consent
to ship with me. I have no authority whatever over them. They formed
part of the crew of the _Manilla_."
"Well," observed the Admiral, "I am afraid it is a bad look-out for you.
At the same time if you should succeed in picking up enough to enable
you to handle your schooner, let me know. I may find you some work to
do, if you care to undertake it."
I slept ashore that night; and upon calling upon my agent next day was
as much astonished as gratified to learn that "his friend" was prepared
to furnish me with sixty prime seamen,--every one of whom had served on
board a man-o'-war,--upon payment of a guinea a head for them. It was a
tolerably stiff premium to pay; but, as times then were, they would be
fully worth it, should they turn out to be as represented, so I agreed
to go and see them that night; with the result that--not to dwell at
unnecessary length upon this part of my story--I next morning found
myself in command of as smart a crew as a man need wish to have at his
back. I found that I was indebted for this slice of good fortune
principally to the fact that the crew of a privateer were exempt from
impressment, which exemption was allowed to hold good in the West
Indies, although the exemption was frequently little better than a dead
letter at home and in other parts of the world. I now went to work to
provision and water the schooner for a three-months' cruise; and so well
did my agent work for me that, within seventy-two hours of my arrival at
Port Royal, I was able to report myself ready for sea and at the
Admiral's service.
"That is well!" exclaimed the Admiral, rubbing his hands, when I so
reported myself. "I congratulate you upon your smartness, Mr Bowen,
and also upon your good fortune in finding a crew; it is a good deal
more than our own people could have done. And now, if you are willing
to render your country a further important service, I can afford you the
opportunity. I am convinced that Lord Nelson will not remain inactive
at home, now that Admiral Villeneuve has contrived to give him the slip,
he will chase the combined fleet round the world, if need be. But it is
important that Villeneuve should be watched. What, therefore, I want
you to do is to sail in search of the combined fleet, and find them;
ascertain as much as you can relative to their projected movements, and
then find the British fleet and acquaint Nelson with all that you have
been able to learn. When you have done that, you will be free to cruise
wherever you please; but make an excuse to return to Jamaica at your
earliest convenience, and do not fail to call on me."
I thanked the Admiral for his kindness, promised to execute his
commission to the best of my ability, and took my leave. Two hours
later the schooner, which I had rechristened the _Sword Fish_, was
outside the Pallisades, working her way to the eastward under as heavy a
press of canvas as I dared pile upon her.
CHAPTER TWENTY.
I PERFORM AN IMPORTANT SERVICE.
The task with which I had been intrusted was one of the very greatest
responsibility; for the descent of a combined French and Spanish fleet
upon West Indian waters could only be assumed to point to an intention,
on the part of our enemies, to wrest at least some of our West Indian
possessions from us; an intention which our available resources on the
spot would be utterly inadequate to frustrate, in view of the formidable
force possessed by the enemy. It was therefore of the last importance
that any British reinforcements which might be hastening to the support
of the colonies should be quickly found and communicated with; and it
was equally important that they should be furnished with the latest
possible intelligence with regard to the movements of the enemy. The
duty, therefore, that I was asked to perform, single-handed, was such as
actually called for the employment of several vessels. Unfortunately,
however, there were absolutely none available for the Admiral at this
juncture, the only ship in port at the moment of my arrival in Jamaica
being the schooner _Firefly_, which vessel had immediately been
despatched to the several islands belonging to the British Crown with a
warning that a formidable force was approaching; for the reception of
which the best possible dispositions were to be made. It thus came
about that I, a young, untried hand, found myself called upon to perform
a service of almost national importance with only my own discretion to
guide me. My instructions, however, were simple and explicit enough,
and I resolved to carry them out to the letter.
After giving the subject the best consideration of which I was capable,
I came to the conclusion that if Monsieur Villeneuve really intended to
attack the islands in our possession, he would probably begin with the
Windward Islands. Instead, therefore, of working my way out into the
Atlantic, through the Windward Passage between Cuba and Saint Domingo, I
stretched across the Caribbean Sea on a taut larboard bowline, and noon
on the fourth day after sailing from Port Royal found us some ninety
miles west-north-west of the French island of Martinique, and while I
was at dinner the mate stuck his head through the skylight to report
land right ahead. I went up on deck to get a look at it, and soon
identified it as the summit of Mont Pelee, the highest point in the
island. We stood on, keeping a sharp look-out for vessels, but saw
nothing; and about two bells in the first watch that night we found
ourselves within the influence of the land breeze which was blowing off
the island. Half an hour later saw us off the mouth of the bay of Fort
Royal, and as the night was dark I came to the conclusion that it might
be worth my while to stand inshore a little closer, upon the chance of
being able to pick up some information. Accordingly, we worked in
against the land breeze, and had arrived within half a mile of Pigeon
Island, when we encountered a small trading felucca coming out. We
allowed her to get to seaward of us, when we bore up in chase, and a few
minutes later we were alongside the craft, and had secured quiet
possession of her. The felucca carried five hands, whom I caused to be
transferred to the schooner; and my first business was to get the master
of the craft down into the cabin, where I informed him that all I wanted
from him was some information, and that if he would answer my questions
truly, I would at once release him and return his vessel to him; but if
I found that he was attempting to deceive me, I would burn his felucca,
and retain him and his crew as prisoners. The man was eager in his
protestations that he would tell me everything that I wanted to know,
and begged me not to destroy his vessel, as she represented his entire
possessions, and was his sole means of earning a livelihood; a piece of
information that led me to hope he would not attempt to deceive me; so I
went to work to question him forthwith, jotting his answers down upon a
piece of paper.
The information I obtained from the fellow was important enough to have
justified me in running a far greater risk than I had actually incurred
to procure it, and was to the effect that the combined fleets had been
off the island that very day, with some forty prizes, comprising the
Antigua convoy, in company; that it had captured Diamond Rock; and that,
in consequence of certain information supposed to have been received
from a schooner that had that day arrived from Europe, it had made all
sail to the eastward. As to the character of the information, however,
that had caused so powerful a force to take so unexpected a step, the
man professed to know nothing. Having obtained this information from
him, I sent the skipper on deck and had him conveyed forward, where he
was placed in charge of two men, while I had his crew down into the
cabin, one by one, and questioned them. Their answers bore out what the
skipper had already told me. I therefore concluded that the news was
true, and accordingly released the felucca, with a strict caution that
he was to proceed forthwith on his voyage to Mariegalante--the island to
which he was bound--and on no account to attempt to re-enter the harbour
of Fort Royal, under penalty of instant recapture. The fellow was
evidently only too glad to get out of our hands upon such easy terms;
and no sooner found himself once more safely on the deck of his little
hooker than he made all sail to the northward, and was soon lost in the
darkness. Dumaresq, who had remained with me thus far, thought this a
good opportunity to rejoin his countrymen, and, with my cordial
permission, took a passage in the felucca.
So far I had done very well; the combined fleet was only a few hours
distant; and I had no doubt that, with so nimble-heeled a craft as the
_Sword Fish_, I should have very little difficulty in overtaking them in
the course of a day or two. The question now was whether I should
proceed forthwith in pursuit of Monsieur Villeneuve, or whether I should
devote an hour or two to an endeavour to ascertain the precise nature of
the information said to have been brought from Europe by the schooner.
This information might be of value, or it might not; but after giving
the matter brief but careful consideration I came to the conclusion that
it was hardly worth while troubling about; as, if the vessel had brought
out despatches, they would have been delivered long since; and in any
case, the captain and crew would know nothing of their contents. I
therefore filled away forthwith, and by midnight had brought the island
over our larboard quarter.
There was now another question that bothered me somewhat, and it was
this: I could not understand why the combined fleet should be steering
east, or why they should have gone off in such a hurry as had been
represented to me. I racked my brains for a long time in search of a
satisfactory solution of this problem, as I felt that until I had found
such I should be quite in the dark as to the course which I ought to
steer in order to overtake them. For although I had been informed that,
when last seen, the fleet was steering to the southward and eastward,
close-hauled, I had no data upon which to base an opinion as to the
length of time during which they would continue to steer in that
direction, for the simple reason that there was no apparent object in
their steering in that direction at all. We had no possessions in that
quarter to tempt them, unless it might be Barbados; and even that island
lay considerably to leeward of the course that Monsieur Villeneuve was
said to be steering. At length, however, a possible explanation
suggested itself. It occurred to me that the schooner, which was
supposed to have brought the information leading to the precipitate
departure of Monsieur Villeneuve, might have fallen in with and
succeeded in eluding the British pursuing fleet, of the existence of
which the admiral at Jamaica had felt so certain; and if she had, and
had brought news to Martinique of the approach of such a fleet, I could
understand Monsieur Villeneuve's anxiety to be off; for we were all
fully persuaded that there was nothing the French admiral desired so
little as to encounter Nelson. And, upon considering the matter
further, the conviction forced itself irresistibly upon me that, if
Monsieur Villeneuve had been given good reason to believe that he was
pursued, his chief anxiety would be to get back to Europe as quickly as
possible. Such a desire would fully account for everything in his
movements that I had found difficult to understand, and it would also
account for the course that he was said to be steering; that course
being the only one that would at once lead him homeward and at the same
time enable him to avoid a meeting with the suppositious British fleet.
So thoroughly at length did I convince myself that this represented the
actual state of the case that I unhesitatingly set the _Sword Fish's_
head in the same direction that I believed the combined fleet to be
steering; and then, having issued orders that the schooner was to be
driven at the highest speed consistent with safety to her spars, I went
below and turned in.
During the remainder of that night and the whole of the next day we
carried on, without sighting anything in the shape of a sail; but at
dawn of the second day my persistence was rewarded by the sight of a
large fleet of ships strung out along the horizon, and by mid-day we had
approached them near enough to enable us to identify them as the fleet
of which we were in search. There was a big fleet of merchantmen in
company, which I assumed to be the captured Antigua convoy; and by and
by one of these--a fine full-rigged ship--wore round, in response to a
signal, and headed for us. I allowed her to approach within a couple of
miles of us, when we in turn shifted our helm and going round upon the
starboard tack, assumed all the appearance of being in precipitate
flight. But I was particular to flatten in all sheets and braces to
such an extent that, by careful and persistent wind-jamming, the
schooner became as sluggish as a log; and in this way we played with the
ship until we had decoyed her a good twenty miles away from the rest of
the fleet, sometimes allowing her to gain upon us a trifle, and then
drawing away from her again, my object, of course, being to capture her
if I could. And of my ability to do this--provided that I could decoy
her far enough away from all possible support--I had very little doubt;
for I did not consider it in the least likely that she would have more
than sixty Frenchmen on board her as a prize crew, while I had an equal
number of Englishmen.
At length, about an hour before sunset, we allowed the ship to approach
us within gun-shot, and shortly afterwards she opened fire upon us with
a six-pounder. The shot flew wide; but all the same I caused our helm
to be put down, and as the schooner slowly luffed into the wind I gave
orders for all our sheets to be let fly, presenting an appearance of
terrible confusion. The ruse was successful; the ship ceased firing,
and came booming along toward us under _every_ inch of canvas that she
could spread. Meanwhile our lads, hugely delighted at the fun in
prospect, armed themselves, got the grappling-irons ready, and prepared
for boarding the stranger. The weather was quite fine enough to admit
of our running alongside in the schooner, there being very little swell
on; so as soon as we were ready the men stationed themselves at the
sheets and braces, and by a little judicious manipulation of these and
the helm we contrived to get sternway upon the schooner just as the ship
came booming down upon our weather quarter. Nobody on board her seemed
to think of shortening sail until she was fairly abreast of us, and then
a terrific hullabaloo broke out as her crew endeavoured to clew up and
haul down everything at once--they even let run their topsail-halliards
in their excitement. Then, in the midst of it all, just as the ship
went surging past us, with a great rustling of canvas and lashing of
loose cordage in the wind, a man sprang into her mizzen-rigging and
hailed us in French, ordering us to follow until he could heave-to, when
he would send a boat on board us. This suited my plans to a nicety; so
we filled upon the schooner and followed the ship closely, luffing up
for her lee quarter as we did so; and so well had everything worked with
us that I believe none of the Frenchmen had the slightest suspicion that
anything was wrong until we had actually run them aboard and thrown our
grappling-irons. Then the excitement was even more distracting than
before, everybody crying out at once; officers and men vying with each
other in giving the most contradictory orders, and nobody dreaming of
obeying any single one of them. The surprise was complete; and when our
lads followed me over the ship's bulwarks, with drawn cutlasses, we
found as our opponents only a shouting, shrieking, gesticulating mob,
who reviled us for our perfidious mode of fighting in one breath, and in
the next passionately conjured us not to overlook the fact that they
surrendered. It was as amusing a bit of business as I had been engaged
in for many a day.