Frank Mildmay Part 23

This harangue had a very tranquillising effect. The offenders all begged pardon, and a.s.sured me they would deserve my forgiveness by their future submission.

All this pa.s.sed at some little distance from the wreck, but within hearing; and while it was going on, the wind, which had been fair when we put off, gradually died away, and blew faintly from the south-west, directly towards the sinking wreck. I took advantage of this circ.u.mstance to read them a lecture. When I had subdued them and worked a little on their feelings, I said I never knew any good come of cruelty; whenever a ship or a boat had left a man behind who might have been saved, that disaster or destruction had invariably attended those who had so cruelly acted; that I was quite sure we never should escape from this danger if we did not show mercy to our fellow-creatures.

"G.o.d," said I, "has shown mercy to us in giving us this excellent boat to save us in our imminent danger; and He seems to say to us now, 'Go back to the wreck, and rescue your fellow-sufferer.' The wind blows directly towards her, and is foul for the point in which we intend to steer; hasten then," pursued I, "obey the divine will; do your duty, and trust in G.o.d. I shall then be proud to command you, and have no doubt in bringing you safe into port."

This was the "pliant hour;" they sprang upon their oars, and pulled back to the wreck with alacrity. The poor captain, who had witnessed all that had pa.s.sed, watched the progress of his cause with deep anxiety.

No sooner did the boat touch the ship than he leaped into her, fell down on his knees, and thanked G.o.d aloud for his deliverance. He then fell on my neck, embraced me, kissed my cheek, and wept like a girl. The sailors, meanwhile, who never bear malice long, good-naturedly jumped up, and a.s.sisted him in getting his little articles into the boat; and as Mungo followed his master, shook hands with him all round, and swore he should be a black prince when he went back to Guinea. We also took in one or two more little articles of general use, which had been forgotten in our former hurry.

We now shoved off for the last time; and had not proceeded more than two hundred yards from the ship, when she gave a heavy lurch on one side, recovered it, and rolled as deep on the other; then, as if endued with life and instinct, gave a pitch, and went down head foremost into the fathomless deep. We had scarcely time to behold this awful scene, when the wind again sprang up fair, from its old quarter, the east.

"There," said I, "heaven has declared itself in your favour already.

You have got your fair wind again."

We thanked G.o.d for this; and having set our sail, I shaped my course for Cape St. Thomas, and we went to our frugal dinner with cheerful and grateful hearts.

The weather was fine--the sea tolerably smooth--and as we had plenty of provisions and water, we did not suffer much, except from an apprehension of a change of wind, and the knowledge of our precarious situation. On the fifth day after leaving the wreck we discovered land at a great distance. I knew it to be the island of Trinidad and the rocks of Martin Vas. This island, which lies in lat.i.tude twenty degrees south, and longitude thirty degrees west, is not to be confounded with the island of the same name on the coast of Terra Firma in the West Indies, and now a British colony.

On consulting Horsburgh, which I had in the boat, I found that the island which we were now approaching was formerly inhabited by the Portuguese, but long since abandoned. I continued steering towards it during the night, until we heard the breakers roaring against the rocks, when I hove-to to windward of the land, till daylight.

The morning presented to our view a precipitous and rugged iron-bound coast, with high and pointed rocks, frowning defiance over the unappeasable and furious waves which broke incessantly at their feet, and recoiled to repeat the blow. Thus for ages had they been employed, and thus for ages will they continue, without making any impression visible to the eye of man. To land was impossible on the part of the coast now under our inspection, and we coasted along in hopes of finding some haven into which we might haul our boat, and secure her. The island appeared to be about nine miles long, evidently of volcanic formation, an a.s.semblage of rocky mountains towering several hundred feet above the level of the sea. It was barren, except at the summit of the hills, where some trees formed a coronet at once beautiful and refreshing, but tantalising to look at, as they appeared utterly inaccessible; and even supposing I could have discovered a landing-place, I was in great doubt whether I should have availed myself of it, as the island appeared to produce nothing which could have added to our comfort, while delay would only have uselessly consumed our provisions. There did not appear to be a living creature on the island, and the danger of approaching to find a landing-place was most imminent.

This unpromising appearance induced me to propose that we should continue our course to Rio Janeiro. The men were of another opinion.

They said they had been too long afloat, cooped up, and that they should prefer remaining on the island to risking their lives any longer in so frail a boat on the wide ocean. We were still debating, when we came to a small spot of sand on which we discovered two wild hogs, which we conjectured had come down to feed on the sh.e.l.l fish; this decided them, and I consented to run to leeward of the island, and seek for a landing-place. We sounded the west end, following the remarks of Horsburgh, and ran for the cove of the Nine-Pin Rock. As we opened it, a scene of grandeur presented itself, which we had never met with before, and which in its kind is probably unrivalled in nature. An enormous rock rose, nearly perpendicularly, out of the sea, to the height of nine hundred or one thousand feet. It was as narrow at the base as it was at the top, and was formed exactly in the shape of a nine-pin, from which it derives its name. The sides appeared smooth and even to the top, which was covered with verdure, and was so far above us that the sea-birds, which in myriads screamed around it, were scarcely visible two-thirds of the way up. The sea beat violently against its base--the feathered tribe, in endless variety, had been for ages the undisturbed tenants of this natural monument; all its jutting points and little projections were covered with their white dung, and it seemed to me a wonderful effort of nature which had placed this ma.s.s in the position which it held in spite of the utmost efforts of the winds and waves of the wide ocean.

Another curious phenomenon appeared at the other end of the cove. The lava had poured down into the sea, and formed a stratum; a second river of fused rock had poured again over the first, and had cooled so rapidly as to hang suspended, not having joined the former strata, but leaving a vacuum between for the water to fill up. The sea dashed violently between the two beds, and spouted magnificently through holes in the upper bed of lava to the height of sixty feet, resembling much the spouting of a whale, but with a noise and force infinitely greater. The sound, indeed, was tremendous, hollow, and awful. I could not help mentally adoring the works of the Creator, and my heart sunk within me at my own insignificance, folly, and wickedness.

As we were now running along the sh.o.r.e, looking for our landing-place, and just going to take in the sail, the American captain, who sat close to the man at the helm, seemed attentively watching something on the larboard bow of the boat. In an instant he exclaimed, "Port your helm, my good fellow, port hard." These words he accompanied with a push of the helm so violent as almost to throw overboard the man who sat on the larboard quarter. At the same moment, a heavy sea lifted the boat, and sent her many yards beyond and to the right of a pointed rock just flush or even with the water, which had escaped our notice, and which none suspected but the American captain (for these rocks do not show breakers every minute--if they did they would be easily avoided). On this we should most certainly have been dashed to pieces, had not the danger been seen, and avoided by the sudden and skilful motion of the helm; one moment more, and one foot nearer, and we were gone.

"Merciful G.o.d!" said I, "to what fate am I reserved at last? How can I be sufficiently thankful for so much goodness!"

I thanked the American for his attention--told my men how much we were indebted to him, and how amply he had repaid our kindness in taking him off the wreck.

"Ah, lieutenant!" said the poor man, "it is a small turn I've done you for the kindness you have shown to me."

The water was very deep, the rocks being steep; so we lowered our sail, and getting our oars out, pulled in to look for a landing. At the further end of the cove, we discovered the wreck of a vessel lying on the beach. She was broken in two, and appeared to be copper-bottomed.

This increased the eagerness of the men to land; we rowed close to the sh.o.r.e, but found that the boat would be dashed to pieces if we attempted it. The midshipman proposed that one of us should swim on sh.o.r.e, and, by ascending a bill, discover a place to lay the boat in. This I agreed to; and the quarter-master immediately threw off his clothes. I made a head-line fast to him under his arms, that we might pull him in if we found him exhausted. He went over the surf with great ease, until he came to the breakers on the beach, through which he could not force his way; for the moment he touched the ground with his foot, the recoil of the sea, and what is called by sailors the undertow, carried him back again, and left him in the rear of the last wave.

Three times the brave fellow made the attempt, and with the same result.

At last he sank, and we pulled him in very nearly dead. We, however, restored him by care and attention, and he went again to his usual duty.

The midshipman now proposed that he should try to swim through the surf without the line, for that alone had impeded the progress of the quarter-master; this was true, but I would not allow him to run the risk, and we pulled along sh.o.r.e, until we came to a rock on which the surf beat very high, and which we avoided in consequence. This rock we discovered to be detached from the main; and within it, to our great joy, we saw smooth water; we pulled in, and succeeded in landing without much difficulty, and having secured our boat to a grapnel, and left two trusty men in charge of her, I proceeded with the rest to explore the cove; our attention was naturally first directed to the wreck which we had pa.s.sed in the boat, and, after a quarter of an hour's scrambling over huge fragments of broken rocks, which had been detached from the sides of the hill, and enc.u.mbered the beach, we arrived at the spot.

The wreck proved to be a beautiful copper-bottomed schooner, of about a hundred and eighty tons burthen. She had been dashed on sh.o.r.e with great violence, and thrown many yards above the high-water mark. Her masts and spars were lying in all directions on the beach, which was strewed with her cargo. This consisted of a variety of toys and hardware, musical instruments, violins, flutes, fifes, and bird-organs.

Some few remains of books, which I picked up, were French romances, with indelicate plates, and still worse text. These proved the vessel to be French. At a short distance from the wreck, on a rising knoll, we found three or four huts, rudely constructed out of the fragments; and, a little further off, a succession of graves, each surmounted with a cross I examined the huts, which contained some rude and simple relics of human tenancy: a few benches and tables, composed of boards roughly hewn out and nailed together; bones of goats and of the wild hog, with the remains of burnt wood. But we could not discover any traces of the name of the vessel or owner; nor were there any names marked or cut on the boards, as might have been expected, to show to whom the vessel belonged, and what had become of the survivors.

This studied concealment of all information led us to the most accurate knowledge of her port of departure, her destination, and her object of trade. Being on the south-west side of the island, with her head lying to the north-east, she had, beyond all doubt, been running from Rio Janeiro towards the coast of Africa, and got on sh.o.r.e in the night.

That she was going to fetch a cargo of slaves was equally clear, not only from the baubles with which she was freighted, but also from the interior fitting of the vessel, and from a number of hand and leg shackles which we found among the wreck, and which we knew were only used for the purposes of confining and securing the unhappy victims of this traffic.

We took up our quarters in the huts for the night, and the next morning divided ourselves into three parties, to explore the island. I have before observed that we had muskets, but no powder, and therefore stood but little chance of killing any of the goats or wild hogs, with which we found the island abounded. One party sought the means of attaining the highest summit of the island; another went along the sh.o.r.e to the westward; while myself and two others went to the eastward. We crossed several ravines, with much difficulty, until we reached a long valley, which seemed to intersect the island.

Here a wonderful and most melancholy phenomenon arrested our attention.

Thousands and thousands of trees covered the valley, each of them about thirty feet high; but every tree was dead, and extended its leafless boughs to another--a forest of desolation, as if nature had at some particular moment ceased to vegetate! There was no under wood or gra.s.s.

On the lowest of the dead boughs, the gannets, and other sea-birds, had built their nests in numbers uncountable. Their tameness, as Cowper says, "was shocking to me." So unaccustomed did they seem to man, that the mothers, brooding over their young, only opened their beaks in a menacing att.i.tude at us, as we pa.s.sed by them.

How to account satisfactorily for the simultaneous destruction of this vast forest of trees was very difficult: there was no want of rich earth for nourishment of the roots. The most probable cause appeared to me, a sudden and continued eruption of sulphuric effluvia from the volcano; or else, by some unusually heavy gale of wind or hurricane, the trees had been drenched with salt water to their roots. One or the other of these causes must have produced the effect. The philosopher, or the geologist must decide.

We had the consolation to know that we should at least experience no want of food--the nests of the birds affording us a plentiful supply of eggs, and young ones of every age; with these we returned loaded to the cove. The party that had gone to the westward reported having seen some wild hogs, but were unable to secure any of them; and those who had attempted to ascend the mountain returned much fatigued, and one of their number missing. They reported that they had gained the summit of the mountain, where they had discovered a large plain, skirted by a species of fern tree, from twelve to eighteen feet high--that on this plain they had seen a herd of goats; and among them, could distinguish one of enormous size, which appeared to be their leader. He was as large as a pony; but all attempts to take one of them were utterly fruitless. The man who was missing had followed them further than they had. They waited some time for his return; but as he did not come to them, they concluded he had taken some other route to the cove. I did not quite like this story, fearing some dreadful accident had befallen the poor fellow, for whom we kept a watch, and had a fire burning the whole night, which, like the former one, we pa.s.sed in the huts. We had an abundant supply of firewood from the wreck, and a stream of clear water ran close by our little village. The next morning, a party was sent in search of the man, and some were sent to fetch a supply of young gannets for our dinner. The latter brought back with them as many young birds as would suffice for two or three days; but of the three who went in quest of the missing man, only two returned. They reported that they could gain no tidings of him: that they had missed one of their own number, who had, no doubt, gone in pursuit of his shipmate.

This intelligence occasioned a great deal of anxiety, and many surmises.

The most prevalent opinion seemed to be that there were wild beasts on the island, and that our poor friends had become a prey to them. I determined, the next morning, to go in search of them myself, taking one or two chosen men with me. I should have mentioned, that when we left the sinking vessel, we had taken out a poodle dog, that was on board, first, because I would not allow the poor animal to perish; and secondly, because we might, if we had no better food, make a dinner of him. This was quite fair, as charity begins at home.

This faithful animal became much attached to me, from whom he invariably received his portion of food. He never quitted me, nor followed anyone else; and he was my companion when I went on this excursion.

We reached the summit of the first mountain, whence we saw the goats browsing on the second, and meant to go there in pursuit of the objects of our anxious search. I was some yards in advance of my companions, and the dog a little distance before me, near the shelving part of a rock, terminating in a precipice. The shelf I had to cross was about six or seven feet wide, and ten or twelve long, with a very little inclined plane towards the precipice, so that I thought it perfectly safe. A small rill of water trickled down from the rock above it, and, losing itself among the moss and gra.s.s, fell over the precipice below, which indeed was a frightful depth.

This causeway was to all appearance safe, compared with many which we had pa.s.sed, and I was just going to step upon it, when my dog ran before me, jumped on the fatal pa.s.s--his feet slipped from under him--he fell, and disappeared over the precipice! I started back--I heard a heavy squelch and a howl; another fainter succeeded, and all was still. I advanced with the utmost caution to the edge of the precipice, where I discovered that the rill of water had nourished a short moss, close and smooth as velvet, and so slippery as not to admit of the lightest footstep; this accounted for the sudden disappearance, and, as I concluded, the inevitable death of my dog.

My first thoughts were those of grat.i.tude for my miraculous escape; my second unwillingly glanced at the fate of my poor men, too probably lying lifeless at the foot of this mountain. I stated my fears to the two seamen who were with me, and who had just come up. The whole bore too much the appearance of truth to admit of a doubt. We descended the rocks by a circuitous and winding way; and, after an hour's difficult and dangerous walk, we reached the spot, where all our fears were too fully confirmed. There lay the two dead bodies of our companions and that of my dog, all mangled in a shocking manner: both, it would appear, had attempted to cross the shelf in the same careless way which I was about to do, when Providence interposed the dog in my behalf.

This singular dispensation was not lost upon me; indeed, latterly, I had been in such perils, and seen such hair-breadth escapes, that I became quite an altered and reflecting character. I returned to my men at the cove, thoughtful and melancholy; I told them of what had happened; and, having a prayer-book with me in my trunk, I proposed to them that I should read the evening prayers, and a thanksgiving for our deliverance.

In this, the American captain, whose name was Green, most heartily concurred. Indeed, ever since this poor man had been received into the boat, he had been a very different character to what I had at first supposed him; he constantly refused his allowance of spirits, giving it among the sailors; he was silent and meditative; I often found him in prayer, and on these occasions I never interrupted him. At other times, he studied how he might make himself most useful. He would patch and mend the people's clothes and shoes, or show them how to do it for themselves. Whenever any hard work was to be done, he was always the first to begin, and the last to leave off; and to such a degree did he carry his attention and kindness, that we all began to love him, and to treat him with great respect. He took charge of a watch when we were at sea, and never closed his eyes during his hour of duty.

Nor was this the effect of fear, or the dread of ill-usage among so many Englishmen, whom his errors had led into so much misfortune. He very soon had an opportunity of proving that his altered conduct was the effect of sorrow and repentance. The next morning I sent a party round by the sea-sh.o.r.e, with directions to walk up the valley and bury the bodies of our unfortunate companions. The two men who had accompanied me were of the number sent on this service; when they returned, I pointed out to them how disastrous our residence had been on this fatal island, and how much better it had been for us if we had continued our course to Rio Janeiro, which being only two hundred and fifty or two hundred and sixty leagues distant, we should by that time nearly have reached: that we were now expending the most valuable part of our provisions, namely--our spirits and tobacco; while our boat, our only hope and resource, was not even in safety, since a gale of wind might destroy her. I therefore proposed to make immediate preparations for our departure, to which all unanimously agreed.

We divided the various occupations; some went to fetch a sea-stock of young birds, which were killed and dressed to save our salt provisions; others filled all our water-casks. Captain Green superintended the rigging, sails, and oars of the boat, and saw that everything was complete in that department. The spirits remaining were getting low, and Captain Green, the midshipman, and myself, agreed to drink none, but reserve it for pressing emergencies. In three days after beginning our preparations, and the seventh after our landing, we embarked, and after being nearly swamped by the surf, once more hoisted our sail on the wide waters of the Atlantic Ocean.

We were not destined, however, to encounter many dangers this time, or to reach the coast of South America: for we had not been many hours at sea, when a vessel hove in sight; she proved to be an American privateer brig, of fourteen guns and one hundred and thirty men, bound on a cruise off the Cape of Good Hope. As soon as she perceived us, she bore down, and in half an hour we were safe on board; when having bundled all our little stock of goods on her decks, the boat was cut adrift. My men were not well treated until they consented to enter for the privateer, which, after much persuasion and threats, they all did, except Thompson, contrary to my strongest remonstrances, and urging every argument in my power to dissuade them from such a fatal step.

I remonstrated with the captain of the privateer, on what I deemed a violation of hospitality. "You found me," I said, "on the wide ocean, in a frail boat, which some huge wave might have overwhelmed in a moment, or some fish, in sport, might have tossed in the air. You received me and my people with all the kindness and friendship which we could desire; but you mar it, by seducing the men from their allegiance to their lawful sovereign, inducing them to become rebels, and subjecting them to a capital punishment whenever they may (as they most probably will) fall into the hands of their own government."

The captain, who was an unpolished, but sensible, clear-headed Yankee, replied, that he was sorry I should take anything ill of him; that no affront was meant to me; that he had nothing whatever to do with my men, until they came voluntarily to him, and entered for his vessel; that he could not but admit, however, that they might have been persuaded to take this step by some of his own people. "And now, leftenant," said he, "let me ask you a question. Suppose you commanded a British vessel, and ten or twelve of my men, if I was unlucky enough to be taken by you, should volunteer for your ship, and say they were natives of Newcastle, would you refuse them? Besides, before we went to war with you, you made no ceremony of taking men out of our merchant-ships, and even out of our ships of war, whenever you had an opportunity. Now, pray, where is the difference between your conduct and ours?"

I replied, that it would not be very easy, nor, if it were, would it answer any good purpose, for us to discuss a question that had puzzled the wisest heads, both in his country and mine, for the last twenty years; that my present business was a case of its own, and must be considered abstractedly; that the fortune of war had thrown me in his power, and that he made a bad use of the temporary advantage of his situation, by allowing my men, who, after all, were poor, ignorant creatures, to be seduced from their duty, to desert their flag, and commit high treason, by which their lives were forfeited and their families rendered miserable; that whatever might have been the conduct of his government or mine, whatever line pursued by this or that captain, no precedent could make wrong right; and I left it to himself (seeing I had no other resource) to say, whether he was doing as he would be done by.

"As for that matter," said the captain, "we privateersmen don't trouble our heads much about it; we always take care of number one; and if your men choose to say they are natives of Boston, and will enter for my ship, I must take them. Why," continued he, "there is your best man, Thompson; I'd lay a demi-John of old Jamaica rum that he is a true-blooded Yankee, and if he was to speak his mind, would sooner fight under the stripes than the union."

"d.a.m.n the dog that says yon of Jock Thompson," replied the Caledonian, who stood by. "I never deserted my colours yet, and I don't think I ever shall. There is only one piece of advice I would wish to give to you and your officers, captain. I am a civil-spoken man, and never injured any soul breathing, except in the way of fair fighting; but if either of you, or any of your crew, offer to bribe me, or in any way to make me turn my back on my king and country, I'll lay him on his back as flat as a flounder, if I am able; and if I am not able, I'll try for it."

"That's well spoken," said the captain, "and I honour you for it. You may rely on it that I shall never tempt you, and if any of mine do it, they must take their chance."

Captain Green heard all this conversation; he took no part in it, but walked the deck in his usual pensive manner. When the captain of the privateer went below to work his reckoning, this unhappy man entered into conversation with me--he began by remarking--"What a n.o.ble specimen of a British sailor you have with you."

"Yes," I replied, "he is one of the right sort--he comes from the land where the education of the poor contributes to the security of the rich; where a man is never thought the worse of for reading his Bible, and where the generality of the lower orders are brought up in the honest simplicity of primitive Christians."

"I guess," said Green, "that you have not many such in your navy."

"More than you would suppose," I replied; "and what will astonish you is, that though they are impressed, they seldom, if ever, desert; and yet they are retained on much lower wages than those they were taken from, or could obtain; but they have a high sense of moral and religious feeling, which keeps them to their duty."

"They must needs be discontented, for all that," said Green, "Not necessarily so," said I: "they derive many advantages from being in the navy, which they could not have in other employments. They have pensions for long services or wounds, are always taken care of in their old age, and their widows and children have much favour shown them, by the government, as well as by other public bodies and wealthy individuals. But we must finish this discussion another time,"

continued I, "for I perceive the dinner is going into the cabin."