"GOOD-BYE" TO THE CONVOY.
"Hillo! who have we here?" I heard one of the mates exclaim, as I was
taking a last look of our receding antagonist. "Is this a dead man?"
"No, not entirely, as yet," said a voice which proceeded, I found, from
a person lying on the deck.
I remembered my prisoner, and ran to lift him up. He recognised my
voice. "If it hadn't been for you I should have been dead enough by
this time," he said, getting on his feet.
"Who are you?" I asked, "a friend or a foe?"
"A friend; or I wouldn't be here at all," he answered, in a tone which
made me feel certain that he spoke the truth.
"Well, come into the cabin, and tell me all about the matter," I said;
for though he spoke broad Irish, I saw by his manner that he was above
the rank of a common seaman. His appearance when he came into the light
justified me in my opinion.
"It's just this; I was first mate of a fine brig, the _Kathleen_. We
had been down in the eastern seas, and away into the Pacific, over to
America, trading for some time with the natives, and bringing hides,
seal-skins, and sandal-wood to the Chinamen; and at last, having made a
successful voyage, we were on our homeward passage, when yonder
piratical craft fell in with us. Each man had been promised a share of
the profits, so that we had something to fight for. Fight our poor
fellows did, till there was scarcely one of them left unhurt. We none
of us thought of striking, though; but at last the rascally pirates ran
us aboard, and as they swarmed along our decks cut down every man who
still stood on his legs. How I escaped without a hurt I don't know. I
soon had other troubles; for, being uninjured, I was at once carried
aboard our captor, but before the Frenchmen could secure their prize,
she blew up, with every soul on board, and there was I left a prisoner
alone. I almost envied the fate of our crew. The loss of the prize,
which had cost them so many lives and so much trouble, made the
Frenchmen very savage, especially their captain, who is about as daring
a villain as ever ploughed salt water. This determined him, when he
fell in with your convoy, to try and cut one of them out. He fixed on
you because you were of a size which he thought he could tackle easily,
and he hoped to take you by surprise. Why he did not kill me outright I
do not know, for he treated me like a brute from the moment he got me in
his power; and when we ran you alongside he made me get into the rigging
that I might be shot at; and I thought to myself, The safest plan is to
jump aboard, and if I escape a knock on the head I may stow myself away
before any one sees me. Such is the end of my history at present."
The name of the vessel which had attacked us was the _Mignonne_,
privateer, of twenty guns and eighty men, Captain Jules La Roche, of the
port of Brest, we learned from the stranger. "And your own name, my
friend?" I asked, not feeling very sure that the truth had been told
us. "Dennis O'Carroll. My name will tell you where I hail from, and
you may look at me as a specimen of one of the most unfortunate men in
the world," he answered. If O'Carroll's account of the size of our
antagonist was correct, we had good reason to be thankful that we had
escaped so easily. Our chief anxiety was now about finding the fleet.
We had no business to have separated from them; for though we might
easily have run out to the East without encountering an enemy, yet,
should any accident have happened to us, our insurers might have
considered our charter invalidated, and Garrard, Janrin and Company
would have been the sufferers.
We were much relieved by seeing a blue light suddenly burst forth in the
darkness. It came from the deck of the frigate, which had stood after
us to ascertain the cause of the firing. Our adventure had the effect
of keeping the convoy much closer together; for no one could tell when
Captain La Roche would take it into his head to pounce down upon us and
pick up a stray bird, should the frigate be at a distance. He would
have had no chance, however, with the Indiamen, whose officers were in a
very combative mood. Not long before a very gallant action had been
performed by a squadron of them in the Eastern seas--indeed, no country
ever possessed a body of officers in her mercantile marine equal to
those of the Honourable East India Company.
I heard all about the action on board the _Cuffnells_. One morning,
when I went on deck, I found that there was what might well be called a
calm; the sails of the ships hung up and down the masts without moving,
except every now and then, as they slowly rolled from side to side to
give a loud thundering clap, and once more to subside into sullen
silence. The sea, smooth as a mirror, shone like burnished silver, its
surface ever and anon broken by the fin of some monster of the deep, or
by a covey of flying fish, which would dart through the air till, their
wings dried by the sun, they fell helpless again into their native
element.
Looking round I recognised the _Cuffnells_ not far off, and, remembering
my promise, asked for a boat to go on board. I was received in the most
friendly manner, and was asked to stop to tiffin and to dinner, if I
could remain as long.
"Yes, sir, he richly deserved it; every rupee he got--that's my
opinion," observed a yellow-faced gentleman in nankeens and white
waistcoat, sitting at the other end of the table. "I was on board the
_Earl Camden_ on my way home, and I know that, including public and
private investments, the cargoes of our ships could not have been of
less value than eight millions of pounds sterling. We had fifteen
Indiamen and a dozen country ships, with a Portuguese craft and a brig,
the _Ganges_; Captain Dance, our captain, was commodore. This fleet
sailed from Canton on the 31st January, 1804. After sighting Pulo Auro,
near the Straits of Malacca, the _Royal George_, one of the Indiamen,
made the signal for four strange sail in the south-west. On this the
commodore directed four of the Indiamen to go down and examine them.
Lieutenant Fowler, of the navy, who was a passenger on board the _Earl
Camden_, offered to go also in the _Ganges_ to inspect the strangers
more nearly. It was a time of no small anxiety, you may be sure. The
_Ganges_ was a fast sailer, and before long Lieutenant Fowler came back,
with the information that the squadron in sight was French, and
consisted of a line-of-battle ship, three frigates, and a brig. The
question was now, Should we fight or not? If we attempted to make our
escape the enemy would pursue us, and very likely pick us off in detail.
Our safest plan was to put a bold face on the matter, and show that we
were prepared for fighting. This was our gallant commodore's opinion,
and all the other captains agreed with him, especially Captain Timins,
of the _Royal George_, who acted as his second in command. The look-out
ships were now recalled by signal, and the line of battle formed in
close order. As soon as the enemy could fetch in our wake they put
about, and we kept on our course under easy sail. At near sunset they
were close up with our rear, which it seemed as if they were about to
attack. On seeing this Captain Dance prepared with other ships to
hasten to the assistance of that part of our line. Just as the day was
closing, however, the French, not liking our looks, and unwilling to
risk a night engagement, hauled their wind. Lieutenant Fowler was now
sent in the _Ganges_ to station the country ships on our lee bow, by
which means we were between them and the enemy. He brought back some
volunteers, whose assistance was acceptable. We lay to all night--our
men at their quarters. At daybreak of the 15th we saw the enemy also
lying to, and so, hoisting our colours, we offered them battle if they
chose to come down. At nine, finding that they would not accept our
challenge, we formed the order of sailing, and steered our course under
easy sail. The enemy on this filled their sails and edged down towards
us. Now was the time that the mettle of our merchant skippers was to be
tried. Did they, flinch?--Not a bit of it! The commodore, finding that
the enemy proposed to attack and cut off our rear, made the signal for
the fleet to tack and bear down on him, and engage in succession--the
_Royal George_ being the leading ship, the _Ganges_ next, and then the
_Earl Camden_. This manoeuvre was beautifully performed, and we stood
towards the Frenchmen under a press of sail. The enemy then formed in a
very close line and opened fire on the headmost ships, which was not
returned till they got much closer. What do you think of it? Two
merchantmen and a brig engaging a line-of-battle ship, two frigates, and
two other ships of war--for the rest of the fleet had not yet got up.
The _Royal George_ bore the brunt of the action, for Captain Timins took
his ship as close to the enemy as they would let him, and the _Ganges_
and _Earl Camden_ opened their fire as soon as their guns could take
effect. Before, however, any of the other ships could get into action
the Frenchmen hauled their wind and stood away to the eastward, under
all the sail they could set. On this, at about two p.m., the signal was
made for a general chase, and away went the fleet of merchantmen after
the men-of-war. We pursued them for two hours, when the commodore,
fearing that we might be led too far from the mouth of the straits, made
the signal to tack, and in the evening we anchored ready to pass through
the straits in the morning. We afterwards found that the squadron we
had engaged was that of Admiral Linois, consisting of the _Marengo_, 84
guns, the _Belle Poule_ and _Semillante_, heavy frigates, a corvette of
28 guns, and a Batavian brig of 18 guns. That the Frenchmen either took
some of our big ships for men-of-war, or fancied that some men-of-war
were near at hand and ready to come to our assistance, is very probable,
but that does not detract from the gallantry of the action. The
Patriotic Fund voted swords and plate to Captain Dance and other
officers, and the East India Company presented him with 2,000 guineas
and a piece of plate worth 500, and Captain Timins 1,000 guineas and a
piece of plate, and all the other captains and officers and men rewards
in plate or money, the whole amounting to not less than 50,000. But
they deserved it, sir--they deserved it; and I suspect that Admiral
Linois and his officers must have pulled out the best part of their hair
when they discovered the prize they had lost. Besides the reward I have
mentioned, Commodore Dance was very properly knighted. In its result,"
continued the speaker, "the action was most important."
"But it was scarcely so annoying to the enemy as another in which some
Indiamen were engaged in 1800," observed a military officer, laying down
his knife and fork, and wiping his moustache. "I was on my passage out
on board the _Exeter_, one of the Indiamen of 1,200 tons, commanded by
Captain Meriton. We had in company the _Bombay Castle, Coutts_, and
_Neptune_, of the same tonnage, besides other ships under the convoy of
the _Belligeux_, of 64 guns, Captain Bulteel. A French squadron of
three large frigates, it appeared, after committing a good deal of
mischief on the coast of Africa, had crossed over to Rio de la Plata to
refit, and had just again put to sea, when, early in the morning, they
made out a part, and some of the lighter ships, probably, of our convoy.
Hoping to pick up some prizes, the Frenchmen stood towards us, and we,
quite ready for the encounter, bore down towards them. No sooner,
however, did the Frenchmen see our big China ships, with their two tiers
of ports and warlike look, than they bore up under a press of sail, and
by signal separated. While the _Belligeux_ steered for the largest of
the French ships, she signalled to the Indiamen I have mentioned to
proceed in chase of the others, we and the _Bombay Castle_ of one of
them, the _Medee_, and the other two of the _Franchise_. We, at the
time, were nearer the _Medee_ than was the _Bombay Castle_, and we also
sailed better. The chase was a long one, but we kept the enemy in
sight, and it was near midnight before we came up with her. The _Bombay
Castle_ was a long way astern, and the frigate might have handled us
very severely, if not knocked us to pieces, before she could have come
up to our assistance. Captain Meriton was not a man to be daunted.
With the decks lighted and all our ports up, he ran alongside the
Frenchman--`Strike, monsieur, to a superior force, to his Britannic
Majesty's ship _Thunderaboo_' he shouted out. `Strike, I say, or--' We
did not know whether the Frenchman would reply with a broadside, which
would have greatly staggered us. Instead of that the Frenchman politely
replied that he yielded to the fortune of war. `Come aboard
immediately,' was the order our bold captain next gave. Not to be
surpassed by the Frenchman, we had a guard ready to assist the captain
up our high side. With the profoundest of bows he delivered his sword,
and he was then asked into the cabin. Immediately we had him safe,
keeping the frigate under our guns, we sent armed boats on board, and
brought away part of her people. When the _Bombay Castle_ came up she
received the remainder, and we then placed a prize crew on board.
Meantime the suspicions of the French captain had been aroused. He had
observed the small size of our guns. The appearance of the Indiaman's
cuddy and the gentlemen and lady passengers--not that there were many of
the latter--must have raised curious doubts in his mind. Suddenly he
jumped up and asked to what ship he had struck.
"`To the Honourable East India Company's ship _Exeter_,' answered
Captain Meriton, with a bow which beat the Frenchman's.
"`What, to a merchantman?' exclaimed the Frenchman, with a look of
dismay.
"`Yes, monsieur, to a merchantman,' said Captain Meriton, with a gentle
smile, which it would have been difficult to repress.
"`It is not fair; it is vile! it is a cheat!' exclaimed the Frenchman,
beginning to stalk up and down the cabin, to grind his teeth, and to
pull out his hair. `I say it is a cheat; give me back my ship, send on
board my men, and I will fight you bravely. You will soon see if you
take me again.'
"`I am ready to acknowledge that you would very likely take me, as I
should certainly deserve to be taken for my folly in agreeing to your
proposal. You will excuse me if I therefore decline it,' was the
answer. Though we pitied the feelings of the poor man, it was very
difficult to keep our countenance as he uttered his expressions of
indignation and anger. He did not recover his spirits till his frigate
was out of sight."
This anecdote was followed by several others. Those were pleasant hours
I spent on board the old Indiaman. My visits to her were indeed an
agreeable change from the sea-life routine of my own ship. I was amused
by the progress in intimacy made among themselves by the younger portion
of the passengers since I first went aboard at Spithead. The captain
confided to me the fact that it cost him much more trouble to maintain
discipline in the cuddy than among his crew. "What with my young ladies
and my chronometers, it is as much as an elderly gentleman can well
accomplish to keep all things straight," he observed, glancing at
several young couples who were pacing the deck, the gentlemen being
cadets or writers. "The friends of those girls now--nice young
creatures they are too,--have sent them out fully expecting that they
would marry nabobs or colonels at least, and in spite of all my
precautions, they have gone and engaged themselves to those young
fellows who have only just got their feet on the ratlines. Small blame
to the gentlemen, however, for a more charming consignment I never had,
only the more charming the more difficult to manage."
While the calms lasted, I paid daily visits to my friends, but at length
a breeze springing up we proceeded on our voyage, as I must with my
narrative, or I may chance not to get to the end of it. We called off
the beautiful island of Madeira, with its picturesque town of Funchal--
more attractive on the outside than within; we procured, however, a
welcome supply of fresh meat, vegetables, and fruits. On our crossing
the line, Neptune and his Tritons came on board and played their usual
pranks. Jack little thinks that on such occasions he is performing a
very ancient ceremony, practised by those bold voyagers, the
Carthaginians; to them there is little doubt that the secret of the
mariner's compass was known. On sailing between the Pillars of Hercules
into the wide Atlantic they were visited, not by Hercules himself, but
by his representative priests, to whom they were wont to deliver certain
votive offerings that the propitiated divinity might protect them on
their perilous voyage. The custom of performing ceremonies of a like
description was continued to later times by the mariners of the Levant,
Greece, and Italy, long after the temple of Hercules was in ruins. When
they, and those northern seamen who had learned the scientific parts of
navigation from them, extended their voyages across the line, they
continued the practices, substituting Neptune for Hercules, and adding a
few caricatures to suit their own more barbarous taste.
Having crossed the line, and there being no longer much risk of our
meeting the cruisers of the enemy, Captain Hassall, who had long fumed
at being kept back by the slow sailing of our companions, determined to
part company. We accordingly hoisted our colours, gave a salute of nine
guns in acknowledgment of the civilities we had received, and under all
sail soon ran the dignified moving convoy out of sight. Light and
contrary winds and calms kept us so long under the sun of the tropics
that the seams of our decks began to open, and, to get them caulked and
other repairs executed, we bore up for Saint Salvador on the coast of
Brazil, belonging to Portugal. We saluted the fort on entering, and
paid every necessary respect to the authorities; but we soon found that
they either suspected our character, or were not inclined, for some
other reason, to treat us in a friendly spirit. A guard was put on
board, and we were told that neither officers nor crew must leave the
ship.
We were still ignorant of the cause of this treatment, when the master
of an English whaler came alongside with his men armed to the teeth. He
told us that he had a letter of marque, and that on the strength of it,
having fallen in with a Spanish merchantman some way to the south-west,
he had chased and captured her, and found a large number of dollars on
board. Having come into Saint Salvador he found there no less than
seven other Spanish vessels, the masters and crews of which were
favoured by the Portuguese, and he heard that they threatened to follow
him out and capture him and his prize. Our arrival had turned the
scales in his favour, and he offered to remain if we would accompany him
out when we were ready. This Captain Hassall readily promised to do.
As the whaler was strongly manned, a good-sized crew had been put on
board the prize, and thus our three vessels were somewhat of a match for
the Spaniards, we hoped. At length the Governor of the place ordered
the officers of the ship to appear before him. Accordingly Captain
Hassall, the first mate, and I, accompanied by Dennis O'Carroll, who
seemed to be able to speak every language under the sun except pure
English, as interpreter, went on shore under an escort. The Governor, a
fat, swarthy personage in the full dress uniform of a general, received
us in a haughty manner, and cross-questioned us in the most minute and
tedious manner. Dennis somewhat puzzled him by the style of his
answers, which were anything but literal translations of what Captain
Hassall said. The result, however, was favourable, and we were allowed
to go wherever we chose about the city, and to get the necessary repairs
of our ships executed, and to obtain all the stores and provisions we
required.
Much relieved, we made our bows, and then took a turn through the place
before going on board. I was much struck with the number of churches,
of priests and monks, and black slaves, the latter habited in the most
scanty garments, and the former perambulating the streets in parties,
dressed up in the richest attire of coloured silks and gold, with
banners and crosses, and statues of saints, or representations of events
mentioned in the Scriptures, the figures as large as life. A large
number of friars in black, or brown, or grey gowns of coarse cloth, with
ropes round their waists, were going about two and two, with small
figures of saints on money boxes. The figures they literally thrust
into the faces of the passers-by to be kissed. We saw no one refuse to
drop a coin into the box.
"These must be a very religiously disposed people," I observed to
Dennis.
"If you knew what I do you wouldn't say that," he answered. "They're
fond of sinning, and they are ready to pay for it. The reason that all
these priests and monks flourish is this--they have succeeded in
teaching the people that they can buy pardon for all the sins they
commit. The only scrap of real religion the poor people are allowed to
possess is the knowledge that sin must be punished if not forgiven.
Instead, however, of showing them how forgiveness can alone be obtained,
they make them believe that money can buy it through the prayers of the
saints; but when they've got the money in their own pockets, it's very
little trouble they give the saints about the matter at all."
"How did you learn all this, Mr O'Carroll?" I asked.
"Just because I believed it all myself," he answered quickly. "I'll
tell you some day how I came to find out that I had been sailing on a
wrong tack; but you think me now a harum-scarum Irishman, and I'm afraid
to talk about the matter."
On our way we passed through the dockyard, where a fifty-gun ship was
building, and several smaller vessels of war. We were looking at one
repairing alongside the quay, when I saw O'Carroll start, and look
eagerly at the people on board.
"That's her, I'm certain of it!" he exclaimed. "She has got into
trouble since she parted from you, or you may have done her more harm
than you thought for, and she has put in here with false papers and
under false colours to repair damages."
"What vessel do you mean?" I asked.
"Why, the _Mignonne_ to be sure, or by what other name she may go," he
answered. "Probably she is now the _San Domingo_, or some other saint
under Spanish colours, and hailing from some port on the other side of
the Horn. Our friend, Captain Brown, of the whaler, had better make
haste, or she will be after him and his prize."
"Why not after us then?" I asked.
"Because Captain La Roche has had enough of your quality, I suspect," he
replied. "He is a fellow who only fights when he is sure of booty, and
though I daresay that he would like to send you to the bottom, he would
not go out of his way either for revenge or glory."
To satisfy ourselves we examined the stranger as narrowly as we could,
and O'Carroll was thoroughly convinced that he was right in his
suspicions. While thus employed a man appeared at the companion watch.
"Why, there is La Roche himself!" he cried out. Scarcely had he spoken
than a bullet whizzed by his head. "That settles the matter," he said,
quite coolly. "Let us be out of this, or he will be following up this
compliment." We hurried out of the dockyard. I proposed making a
complaint to the authorities.
"And be detained here several weeks and gain nothing in the end," he
answered, shaking his head. "My advice is, get ready for sea as fast as
you can, and if you wish to serve Captain Brown see him safe out of
sight of land before the _Mignonne_ can follow. We'll keep a watch on
him in the meantime, or he'll play us some trick or other. Above all
things, don't be on shore after dark. La Roche has plenty of friends
here, depend on that, and he will find means to pick us off if he thinks
that we are likely to inconvenience him."
Following O'Carroll's suggestions I immediately returned on board.
Captain Hassall at first scarcely credited the account we gave him--
indeed, he did not, I saw, put thorough confidence in O'Carroll.
However, he agreed that we ought to warn Captain Brown, and that it
would be well for us also to sail before the supposed privateer was
ready for sea.