Join the bark at Montevideo--A good crew--Small-pox breaks
out--Bear up for Maldonado and Flores--No aid--Death of sailors--To
Montevideo in distress--Quarantine.
As soon as the case was over I posted on for Montevideo by steamer,
where the bark had arrived only a few days ahead of me. I found her
already stripped to a gantline though, preparatory to a long stay in
port. I had given Victor strict orders to interfere in no way with the
Spaniard, but to let him have full charge in nearly everything. I could
have trusted the lad with full command, young as he was; but there was a
strange crew of foreigners which might, as often happens, require
maturer judgment to manage than to sail the vessel. As it proved,
however, even the _cook_ was in many ways a better man than the
sailing-master.
Victor met me with a long face, and the sailors wore a quizzical look as
I came over the vessel's side. One of them, in particular, whom I shall
always remember, gave me a good-humoured greeting, along with his shake
of the head, that told volumes; and next day was aloft, crossing yards,
cheerfully enough. I found my Brazilian crew to be excellent sailors,
and things on board the _Aquidneck_ immediately began to assume a
brighter appearance, aloft and alow.
Cargo was soon discharged, other cargo taken in, and the bark made ready
for sea. My crew, I say, was a good one; but, poor fellows, they were
doomed to trials--the worst within human experience, many of them giving
up to grim death before the voyage was ended. Too often one bit of bad
luck follows another. This rule brought us in contact with one of these
small officials at Montevideo, better adapted to home life; one of those
knowing, perhaps, more than need a cowboy, but not enough for consul.
This official, managing to get word to my crew that a change of master
dissolved their contract, induced them to come on shore and claim pay
for the whole voyage and passage home on a steamer besides, the same as
though the bark had been sold.
What overwhelming troubles may come of having incompetent officials in
places of trust, the sequel will show. This unwise, even stupid
interference, was the indirect cause of the sufferings and deaths among
the crew which followed.
I was able to show the consul and his clerk that sailors are always
engaged for the ship, and never for the master, and that a change of
master did not in any way affect their contract. However, I paid the
crew off, and then left it to their option to re-ship or not, for they
were all right, they had been led to do what they did, and I knew that
they wanted to get home, and it was there that the bark was going,
direct.
All signed the articles again, except one, a long-haired Andalusian,
whom I would not have longer at any price. The wages remained the same
as before, and all hands returned to their duty cheerful and
contented--but pending the consul's decision (which, by the way, I
decided for him), they had slept in a contagioned house, where, alas,
they contracted small-pox of the worst type.
We were now homeward bound. All the "runaway rum" that could be held out
by the most subtle crimps of Montevideo could not induce these sober
Brazilian sailors to desert their ship.
These "crimps" are land-sharks who get the sailors drunk when they can,
and then rob them of their advance money. The sailors are all paid in
advance; sometimes they receive in this way most of their wages for the
voyage, which they make after the money is spent, or wasted, or stolen.
We all know what working for dead horse means--sailors know too well its
significance.
As sailing day drew near, a half-day liberty to each watch was asked for
by the men, who wanted to make purchases for their friends and relatives
at Paranagua. Permission to go on shore was readily granted, and I was
rewarded by seeing every one return to his ship at the time promised,
and every one sober. On the morrow, which was sailing day, every man was
at his post and all sang "Cheerily, ho!" and were happy; all except one,
who complained of slight chills and a fever, but said that he had been
subject to this, and that with a dose of quinine he would soon be all
right again.
It appeared a small matter. Two days later though, his chills turned to
something which I knew less about. The next day, three more men went
down with rigor in the spine, and at the base of the brain. I knew by
this that small-pox was among us!
We bore up at once for Maldonado, which was the nearest port, the place
spoken of in "Gulliver's Travels," though Gulliver, I think, is mistaken
as to its identity and location, arriving there before a gathering storm
that blew wet and cold from the east. Our signals of distress, asking
for immediate medical aid were set and flew thirty-six hours before any
one came to us; then a scared Yahoo (the country was still inhabited by
Yahoos) in a boat rowed by two other animals, came aboard, and said,
"Yes, your men have got small-pox." "_Vechega_" he called it, but I
understand the lingo of the Yahoo very well, I could even speak a few
words of it and comprehend the meanings. "_Vechega_!" he bellowed to
his mates alongside, and, turning to me, he said, in Yahoo: "You must
leave the port at once," then jumping into his boat he hurried away,
along with his scared companions.[2]
To leave a port in our condition was hard lines, but my perishing crew
could get no succour at Maldonado, so we could do nothing but leave, if
at all able to do so. We were indeed short-handed, but desperation
lending a hand, the anchor was weighed and sufficient sail set on the
bark to clear the inhospitable port. The wind blowing fair out of the
harbour carried us away from the port toward Flores Island, for which we
now headed in sore distress. A gale, long to be remembered, sprang
suddenly up, stripping off our sails like autumn leaves, before the bark
was three leagues from the place. We hadn't strength to clew up, so her
sails were blown away, and she went flying before the mad tempest under
bare poles. A snow-white sea-bird came for shelter from the storm, and
poised on the deck to rest. The incident filled my sailors with awe; to
them it was a portentous omen, and in distress they dragged themselves
together and, prostrate before the bird, prayed the Holy Virgin to ask
God to keep them from harm. The rain beat on us in torrents, as the bark
tossed and reeled ahead, and day turned black as night. The gale was
from E.S.E., and our course lay W.N.W. nearly, or nearly before it. I
stood at the wheel with my shore clothes on, I remember, for I hadn't
yet had time to change them for waterproofs; this of itself was small
matter, but it reminds me now that I was busy with other concerns. I was
always a good helmsman, and I took in hand now the steering of the bark
in the storm--and I gave directions to Victor and the carpenter how to
mix disinfectants for themselves, and medicines for the sick men. The
medicine chest was fairly supplied.
Flores, when seen, was but a few ship's lengths away. Flashes of
lightning revealed the low cliffs, amazingly near to us, and as the bark
swept by with great speed, the roar of the breakers on the shore, heard
above the din of the storm, told us of a danger to beware. The helm was
then put down, and she came to under the lee of the island like a true,
obedient thing.
Both anchors were let go, and all the chain paid out to both, to the
bitter end, for the gale was now a hurricane. She walked away with her
anchors for all that we could do, till, hooking a marine cable, one was
carried away, and the other brought her head to the wind, and held her
there trembling in the storm.
Anxious fear lest the second cable should break was on our minds through
the night; but a greater danger was within the ship, that filled us all
with alarm.
Two barks not far from us that night, with pilots on board, were lost,
in trying to come through where the _Aquidneck_, without a pilot and
with but three hands on deck to work her, came in. Their crews, with
great difficulty, were rescued and then carried to Montevideo. When all
had been done that we three could do, a light was put in the rigging,
that flickered in the gale and went out. Then wet, and lame, and weary,
we fell down in our drenched clothes, to rest as we might--to sleep, or
to listen to groans of our dying shipmates.
When daylight came (after this, the most dismal of all my nights at
sea), our signals went up telling of the sad condition of the crew, and
begging for medical assistance. Toward night the gale went down; but, as
no boat came off, a gloom darker than midnight settled over the crew of
the pest-ridden bark, and in dismay they again prayed to be spared to
meet the loved ones awaiting them at home.
Our repeated signals, next day, brought the reply, "Stand in."
_Carramba!_ Why, we could hardly stand at all; much less could we get
the bark underway, and beat in against wind and current. No one knew
this better than they on the island, for my signals had told the whole
story, and as we were only a mile and a half from the shore, the flags
were distinctly made out. There was no doubt in our minds about that!
Late in the day, however, a barge came out to us, ill-manned and
ill-managed by as scared a set of "galoots" as ever capsized a boat, or
trembled at a shadow! The coxswain had more to say than the doctor, and
the Yahoo--I forgot to mention that we were still in Yahoodom, but one
would see that without this explanation--the Yahoo in the bow said more
than both; and they all took a stiff pull from a bottle of
_cachazza_,[3] the doctor having had the start, I should say, of at
least one or two pulls before leaving the shore, insomuch as he appeared
braver than the rest of the crew.
The doctor, having taken an extra horn or two, with Dutch courage came
on board, and brought with him a pound of sulphur, a pint of carbolic
acid, and some barley--enough to feed a robin a few times, for all of
which we were thankful indeed, our disinfectants being by this time
nearly exhausted; then, glancing at the prostrate men, he hurried away,
as the other had done at Maldonado. I asked what I should do with the
dead through the night--bury them where we lay? "Oh, no, no!" cried the
Yahoo in the bow; but the doctor pointed significantly to the water
alongside! I knew what he meant!
That night we buried José, the sailor whose honest smile had welcomed me
to my bark at Montevideo. I had ordered stones brought on deck, before
dark, ostensibly to ballast the boat. I knew they would soon be wanted!
About midnight, the cook called me in sore distress, saying that José
was dying without confession!
So poor José was buried that night in the great River Plate! I listened
to the solemn splash that told of one life ended, and its work done; but
gloomy, and sad, and melancholy as the case was, I had to smile when the
cook, not having well-secured the ballast, threw it over after his
friend, exclaiming, "Good-bye, José, good-bye!" I added, "Good-bye, good
shipmate, good-bye! I doubt not that you rest well!"
Next day, the signal from the shore was the same as the day before,
"Stand in," in answer to my repeated call for help. By this time my men
were demoralized and panic-stricken, and the poor fellows begged me, if
the doctor would not try to cure them, to get a priest to confess them
all. I saw a padre pacing the beach, and set flags asking him to come on
board. No notice was taken of the signal, and we were now left entirely
to ourselves.
After burying one more of the crew, we decided to remain no longer at
this terrible place. An English telegraph tender passing, outward-bound,
caught up our signals at that point, and kindly reported to her consul
at Maldonado, who wired it to Montevideo.
The wind blowing away from the shore, as may it always blow when friend
of mine nears that coast, we determined to weigh anchor or slip cable
without further loss of time, feeling assured that by the telegraph
reports some one would be on the look-out for us, and that the
_Aquidneck_ would be towed into port if the worst should happen--if the
rest of her crew went down. Three of us weighed one anchor, with its
ninety fathoms of chain, the other had parted on the windlass in the
gale. The bark's prow was now turned toward Montevideo, the place we had
so recently sailed from, full of hope and pleasant anticipation; and
here we were, dejected and filled with misery, some of our number
already gone on that voyage which somehow seems so far away.
At Montevideo, things were better. They _did_ take my remaining sick men
out of the vessel, after two days' delay; my agent procuring a tug,
which towed them in the ship's boat three hundred fathoms astern. In
this way they were taken to Flores Island, where, days and days before,
they had been refused admittance! They were accompanied this time by an
order from the governor of Montevideo, and at last were taken in. Two of
the cases were, by this time, in the favourable change. But the poor old
cook, who stood faithfully by me, and would not desert his old
shipmates, going with them to the Island to care for them to the last,
took the dread disease, died of it, and was there buried, not far from
where he himself had buried his friend José, a short time before. The
death of this faithful man occurred on the day that the bark finally
sailed seaward, by the Island. She was in sight from the hospital
window when his phantom ship, that put out, carried him over the bar!
His widow, at Paranagua, I was told, on learning the fate of her
husband, died of grief.
The work of disinfecting the vessel, at Montevideo, after the sick were
removed, was a source of speculation that was most elaborately carried
on. Demijohns of carbolic acid were put on board, by the dozen, at $3.00
per demijohn, all diluted ready for use; and a _guardo_ was put on board
to use it up, which he did religiously over his own precious self, in my
after-cabin, as far from the end of the ship where the danger was as he
could get. Some one else disinfected _el proa_, not he! Abundant as the
stuff was, I had to look sharp for enough to wash out forward while aft
it was knee-deep almost, at three dollars a jar! The harpy that alighted
on deck at Maldonado sent in his bill for one hundred dollars--I paid
eighty.
The cost to me of all this trouble in money paid out, irrelevantly to
mention, was over a thousand dollars. What it cost me in health and
mental anxiety cannot be estimated by such value. Still, I was not the
greatest sufferer. My hardest task was to come, you will believe, at the
gathering up of the trinkets and other purchases which the crew had
made, thoughtful of wife and child at home. All had to be burned, or
spoiled with carbolic acid! A hat for the little boy here, a pair of
boots for his mamma there, and many things for the _familia_ all
around--all had to be destroyed!
FOOTNOTES:
[2] In our discourse, Yahoo was spoken, but I write it in
English because many of my readers would not understand the original.
The signals that we used were made by universal code symbols. For
example, two flags hoisted representing "P" "D" signified "want (or
wants) immediate medical assistance." And so on, by hoists of two, three
or four flags representing the consonants, our wants and wishes could be
made known, each possessing the key to the code.
Our commercial code of signals is so invented and arranged that no
matter what tongues may meet, perhaps those utterly incomprehensible by
word of mouth, yet by these signs communications may be carried on with
great facility. The whole system is so beautifully simple that a child
of ordinary intelligence can understand it. Even the Yahoos were made to
comprehend--when not colour-blind. And, lest they should forget their
lesson, a gunboat is sent out every year or two, to fire it into them
with cannon.
[3] This _cachazza_ is said to be death to microbes, or even to
larger worms; it will kill anything, in fact, except a Yahoo!