The Two Supercargoes Part 4

We had just time to shake hands with Captain Magor, whose countenance showed the sorrow and anxiety he felt, when, at a sign from Captain Roderick, several of his men seized us by the shoulders, and hurried us on board the "Vulture." Tubbs then, giving an involuntary shrug of his shoulders, as if resigned to his fate, followed us; the savage growls of the dog making us dread that he would seize one of us by the leg, and so I have no doubt that he would have done at a sign from his master. The deck of the pirate presented much the same scene as did that of the "Arrow." Our shot had done no little damage to the hull and rigging, while several of her crew were dead or dying. Their shipmates were in the act of heaving the bodies overboard, although they did not treat those who were still breathing as they did our poor fellows. A few of them, more compa.s.sionate than the rest, were endeavouring to staunch the blood flowing from the limbs and sides of the wounded men. Harry, Tubbs, and I, finding that no one interfered with us, knelt down beside three of the men who were unable to move on the after part of the deck.

The wretched beings were crying out for help and mercy. Two of them were evidently suffering fearfully from thirst. "I'll get some water; it will do them good," said Tubbs, and making his way to a water-cask which stood on deck, from which he filled a tin mug, he brought it back to the men. They all drank eagerly, one of them, however, in the very act, fell back and expired. The others cast a look at their shipmate.

Such might be their fate. "Take him away," groaned one of them. "I cannot help casting my eyes on him, and he is terrible to look upon."

In truth, the man's countenance, distorted with pain, bore a horrible expression. We dragged the body forward, that his shipmates might dispose of it as they thought fit. We were so eagerly engaged in attending to the wounded men, that we did not observe that the vessels had been cast loose from each other, and that Captain Roderick had returned on board. We were aroused by hearing his voice issuing orders to his crew to make sail. We cast a look over the bulwarks, where we saw the "Arrow," from which we were greatly increasing our distance, her people busily employed in repairing damages, knotting and splicing the running rigging, getting fresh yards across, and bending new sails. The work was still going on when the "Vulture," having made sail and steering to the south-east, ran her out of sight.

CHAPTER FOUR.

OUR LIFE ON BOARD THE PIRATE SHIP--WE TEND THE WOUNDED--DISCUSS PLANS FOR ESCAPING--LAND IN SIGHT--ENTER THE RIVER--AT ANCHOR--PREPARATIONS FOR RECEIVING SLAVES ON BOARD--WOUNDED MEN LANDED--WE ACCOMPANY THEM-- TOM AGREES TO TRY AND ESCAPE WITH US--COMFORTABLY LODGED--SLAVE BARRAc.o.o.nS--A VISIT ON BOARD TO SEE TOM--OBTAIN ARMS AND ESCAPE FROM THE VILLAGE--OUR FLIGHT--REACH A RIVER--FALL IN WITH FRENCH TRADERS--KINDLY TREATED--INTENDED TREACHERY OF OUR PIRATE COMPANIONS--DEFEATED BY THE FRENCHMEN--SURPRISED BY A BAND OF SAVAGES--A FEARFUL Ma.s.sACRE--SAVED BY THE MATE OF THE "VULTURE"--AGAIN MADE PRISONERS.

We were treated with more leniency than we could have expected on board the "Vulture," in consequence, I believe, of our having attended to the wounded.

"We have no doctor on board, and you and your friends may look after those fellows, and try to patch them up," said the pirate captain to me the day after the action. "I cannot spare the boatswain, as he is wanted to do duty as a seaman. Remember that I might have clapped you down in the cable-tier, or, had I chosen, made you walk the plank, as many have done before; but I don't want to have the deaths of more men than I can help at my door, even though I run the risk of losing my life in consequence of my leniency."

"We will continue to look after the wounded as long as we are able," I answered. I thought it prudent not to expend any thanks on him, for which he would not have cared, nor to show any very great satisfaction at being left at liberty, as he might have suspected that we were contemplating plans for our escape, nor would he have been far off the truth. Harry and I, when we were certain that no one was listening, had discussed the matter, intending to let Tom Tubbs into our plan, and invite him to join us. At present, however, we had no means of holding communication with him. He was sent forward, while we remained either on the quarter-deck, or in a sort of c.o.c.kpit to which the wounded had been carried. It was a dark, close place, its only advantage being that it was out of the way of shot in action. In the course of a few hours, death removed all but six of our patients and Harry and I had enough to do to attend to them. They were groaning and complaining all day long, and constantly calling out for liquor, though, when we supplied them with water instead, they drank it greedily, sometimes fancying that it was what they had asked for. We kept them constantly supplied with liquid, which, although often hot and tepid, appeared like nectar to their fevered lips. No one interfered with us. How the poor fellows would have fared had they been left to themselves I know not, but I suspect that they would have been allowed to suffer with very little commiseration felt for them. Still all this time our position was far from comfortable. I was doubtful how Captain Roderick might treat Harry. I had no doubt that he knew who he was, though he had never addressed him by name; indeed, after having spoken to us about the wounded men, he took no further notice of us, allowing us to take our food in the c.o.c.kpit, and to sleep in a couple of hammocks which were slung there, which had belonged to two of the men who had been killed.

We had to do everything for ourselves, the seamen being either surly to us or rude. Harry and I separately, on two different occasions, endeavoured to speak to Tubbs, but a man immediately stepped up and asked us what we wanted, he having, I suppose, been directed by the Captain to watch us and Tubbs, to see that we held no communication, while Growler--for so we found that the captain's dog was called--came snuffing and growling round and round us, ready to fall to and tear us to pieces at the word of command. We fortunately had fine weather as we continued our voyage towards the Bight of Biafara, for which we were bound. All this time we did not lose the hope of falling in with a British man-of-war by which we might be rescued. Day after day pa.s.sed by, but not a sail hove in sight. That Captain Roderick thought such might be the case seemed probable, as he was constantly on the watch, and exercising his men both at the guns, and with small arms and cutla.s.ses; and I felt certain that, sooner than surrender, he would fight to the last, and then blow up the ship. It appeared to me that he had become more desperate than he had been when he last paid a visit to Liverpool. Indeed, he must have known that he could never again show his face there, should either Harry or I, or Captain Magor, or the boatswain, find our way back. Probably, however, he counted on our never doing so. It was not a pleasant feeling to know that he might consider his interest advanced by effectually preventing us from again seeing our native land. The wounded men made fair progress towards recovery under our care, but when not attending them, Harry and I found time hang very heavily on our hands. We had no books, and were afraid of conversing except on indifferent subjects, for fear of being overheard. Even the men we were attending might betray us should we say anything at which the captain might take offence. Our life was therefore, as may be supposed, anything but a pleasant one. We went on deck occasionally very early in the morning or after sunset, when the shades of night prevented our being observed, and generally managed to get a few turns together to stretch our legs and breathe the fresh air; for had we always remained in the close hold, do not suppose that we could have retained our health. Our thief amus.e.m.e.nt was endeavouring to win our way into the good graces of Growler, and gradually we succeeded in doing so, though we of course took good care not to let it be seen that we were on friendly terms with him. We were very thankful when at length, early one morning, we heard the cry from the look-out at the masthead--

"Land, oh!"

Both Harry and I felt a strong impulse to run aloft and have a look at it, but this we dared not do. It was some time, therefore, before we saw the sh.o.r.e from the deck. We could then make out a line of mangrove-trees, with blue hills rising to a considerable height in the distance. The mangrove-trees marked the entrance of the river up which we were bound. We stood on until within about four miles of the sh.o.r.e, when it fell a dead calm. There the brig lay, rolling her sides in the smooth burnished water on which she floated. We could now perceive, projecting from among the mangrove bushes, a long spit of white sand, from which to the opposite sh.o.r.e ran a line of foam, marking the bar which we had to cross. The heat was intense, making the pitch bubble up between the seams of the deck, while down below the air was horribly stifling. It seemed surprising that the poor wounded fellows could live in it; but they had got accustomed to a close atmosphere, I suppose, and were, at all events, saved from feeling the direct rays of the sun. The whites of the crew sought shelter wherever a particle of shade existed, although the black and brown men, of whom there were several, appeared indifferent to the heat--the black cook and his mate actually sitting on the top of the caboose and smoking their pipes, with the advantage of a fire beneath them. I expected to see them begin to broil, but they were evidently enjoying themselves. Thus it lasted for a couple of hours, until the sea-breeze set in, when all sail was instantly made, and the ship was headed up for the bar. The breeze increased. As we got nearer we caught sight of a canoe and half a dozen black fellows coming off to a.s.sist us. We accordingly hove to, that they might be able to get up the side, when a huge fellow in a broad-brimmed straw hat and a pair of trousers with pink stripes came on deck, and walking up to the captain, shook hands with him as with an old friend.

"Ah, ma.s.sa cap'n, glad to see you 'gain. You take plent slavy--him dare all ready;" and he pointed up the river.

"All right, Master Pogo. Take care that you don't put my ship ash.o.r.e though, as you did Captain Watman's. I wonder he did not shoot you through the head for your carelessness. I wouldn't scruple to do so, let me tell you."

Pogo grinned and shrugged his shoulders. "Me take good care, cap'n," he answered; and stepping up to the break of the p.o.o.p, he took his post there that he might con the vessel. He looked around him and then surveyed the sh.o.r.e.

"Starboard a little," he sung out. "Now steady, dat will do. Now we go in like shot," he added, turning to the captain, who significantly touched the b.u.t.t of one of the pistols in his belt.

As the line of surf was approached, Pogo became more energetic in his actions. He shouted to the crew, "Stand by the braces, tacks, and sheets!" The wind began to fail, and he knew well that a puff coming down the river might take the ship aback, and drive her on sh.o.r.e before there was time to drop an anchor. For an instant her sails fluttered.

He began to dance about and wring his hands, looking at the captain's belt as if he expected every moment to see the pistol sticking in it pointed at his head; but happily for him the sails again filled, and the breeze increasing, the ship, after pitching three or four times, glided on into smooth water. We were now free of all danger for the present.

There was nothing very attractive in the appearance of the river. As far as the eye could reach, we could distinguish only mangrove bushes rising apparently out of the water itself. Except a hut or two at the inner end of the sandy point I have described, not a human habitation was to be perceived, and scarcely a canoe dotted the broad expanse of the river as we glided up it, stemming the current with the strong sea-breeze which had now set in. As we got higher up, an occasional opening in the mangrove bushes showed us a more attractive looking country, with cocoa-nut, fig, and other trees, and native huts nestled beneath them; but it was not until we had got about twenty miles from the mouth of the river that any sign of a numerous population appeared.

At length we prepared to come to an anchor off a village from which a wooden stage projected into the river. Beyond it were several long sheds of considerable extent, which were ere long discovered to be barrac.o.o.ns or sheds for the reception of slaves brought down from the interior to be embarked. The anchor was dropped, the sails were furled.

What now was to be our fate? The captain had interfered so little with us, that we hoped he would allow us to go on sh.o.r.e, and that we might be able from thence to make our way down the river, and get on board a lawful trader or man-of-war. I proposed to Harry that I should at once ask him. Just as I was about to do so, I heard him order the wounded men to be brought up and placed in a boat alongside. I thought that now was a good opportunity, "I am afraid, sir, that these men are scarcely in a fit state to be removed; unless they have some one to look after them, they are very likely to lose their lives."

"You may accompany them," he said, "but remember that you do not go beyond the village, or you will stand a chance of being knocked on the head. The blacks are not very fond of strange white men hereabouts."

Of course Harry and I did not consider ourselves bound to follow his directions in this instance, nor had we given any promise to do so.

Before we left the ship, we found that the crew were preparing her for the reception of slaves. Some were hoisting up her cargo and placing it either on deck or in the after-cabin ready for trade, and others were fixing in a slave-deck fore and aft, while casks of water and bags of farina were being brought on board in large quant.i.ties. I was thankful to see Tom Tubbs in the boat which was to convey the wounded men on sh.o.r.e. He gave us a wink as we went down the side, and I saw that he took the stroke oar, so that he would have an opportunity of speaking to us. The ship was some distance off the bank, for there was not sufficient depth of water to enable her to come nearer. It took us, therefore, nearly ten minutes to reach the spot. "I'll lend a hand to carry one of these poor fellows," observed Tom, giving me a meaning look as he pulled away. "I suppose Mr Bracewell will help us?"

I turned to Harry, and of course he said "yes." Two of the men were able to walk, but the other three were still too weak to help themselves. The crew of the boat, therefore, took two of the latter up on their shoulders, and Tubbs, Harry, and I lifted the third. Harry carried the man's feet; Tubbs and I supported him by our arms and shoulders.

"We shall be here for more than a week, I suspect," said Tubbs as we walked along. "I must come on sh.o.r.e to see how these poor fellows are getting on, and may be you may fancy a walk into the country, either up the river or down the river, as you wish."

The habitation selected for the accommodation of the wounded was far superior to what I expected to find. It was, indeed, the house of a white slave-dealer and general trader, who, with his clerks, was now away, and Captain Roderick had thought fit to take possession of it. A large airy room in which eight hammocks were slung, afforded quarters for our five patients and to Harry and me.

"I wish that you could occupy the other," I said to Tubbs; "we should be glad to have your a.s.sistance. Couldn't you ask the captain's leave, and say that we want you to help us to look after the wounded?"

The boatswain shook his head. "Not much chance of his granting it; he would suspect that there was something in the wind; but I'll keep my weather eye open, and if I have a chance I'll come on sh.o.r.e. If you determine to try and make your escape, it must be just before the 'Vulture' sails, or the captain will be sending to look for you," he whispered. "Good-bye, gentlemen," he added aloud; "glad to see you on board again."

We found a couple of blacks in the house--an old man and a woman, servants of the owner--to look after it. They appeared well disposed, and brought us food and everything we required for ourselves and the wounded men. The latter--ruffians as they may have been--were very grateful to us, and one and all declared that they would not have received such attention from their own shipmates.

"I should think you must be pretty well sick of the life you have been leading," I ventured to say in a low voice to one of them, who appeared to be of a better disposition than the rest. "That indeed I am, sir,"

he answered, the tears coming into his eyes. "I'd leave it to-morrow if I could, for I know a sudden death or a bowline-knot will be my lot some day or other."

"What do your wounded shipmates think about the subject?" I asked.

"I cannot say positively; but my idea is that they would be glad enough to get free if they had the chance," was the answer.

I did not venture to make any remark in return, but the thought then occurred to me that we might possibly all escape together. If we could procure arms, we should form a pretty strong party, and might fight our way in any direction in which it might be advisable to go. The French had a settlement on that part of the coast, so had the Portuguese further south; but the English had none except a long way to the north.

Still, as ships of war and traders occasionally appeared off the coast, could we once reach it, we might make signals and be taken on board. I do not mean to say that Harry or I had much hope of thus escaping, still it was possible, and that a.s.sisted to keep up our spirits.

Captain Trunnion appeared much disappointed at not finding the number of slaves he had expected in the barrac.o.o.ns, as it would compel him to wait until they could be obtained from the interior, and his crew he knew were as liable to coast fever as that of any other vessel.

Next to the house in which we lived was a large store where the cargo of the "Vulture" was stored when landed. At a short distance off were several barrac.o.o.ns. I may as well describe one of them. It was a shed composed of heavy piles driven deep into the earth, lashed together with bamboos, and thatched with palm-leaves. Down the centre was another row of piles, along which was a chain. In this, at intervals of about every two feet, was a large neck-link, which, being placed round the necks of the slaves, was padlocked. When I looked in, the barrac.o.o.n contained only about twenty slaves. Some of them were fine athletic looking men, and were shackled three together, the strongest being placed between two others, and heavily ironed. The walls of the building were about six feet in height, and between them and the roof was an opening of about four feet to allow the free circulation of air. The floor was planked, not, as I found, from any regard for the comfort of the slaves, but because a small insect, a species of chigoe, which is in the soil, might get into the flesh of the poor creatures, and produce a disease which might ultimately kill them. Half a dozen armed men, two being mulattoes, the others blacks, were guarding the barrac.o.o.n and watching the slaves, so that any attempt to free themselves from their irons was impossible. These slaves were the property of a dealer with whom the captain now commenced bargaining. As there was time to spare, he chose to select each one separately, lest any sick or injured people might be forced upon him, as is often the case where slaves are shipped in a hurry. He and the trader stood at a dignified distance, while their subordinates carried on the active part of the business, a half naked black acting for the trader, while the captain was represented by a mulatto, who felt the arms and legs of each man, and struck him on the chest and back to ascertain that he was sound in wind, before he consented to pay over his price in goods. Another slave was then summoned, and, if found satisfactory, pa.s.sed at a fixed price; but otherwise, a less sum was offered, or the slave was sent back to await the arrival of some other slaver likely to be less particular. Women and children were treated in the same way, but there were comparatively few of them in the lot now offered for sale.

I had to return on board the "Vulture" to obtain some medicines for our wounded men, and also to get some articles belonging to Harry and myself which we had left on board. Great alterations had taken place in the fitting of the ship between decks. Huge casks called _leaguers_ had been placed in the hold; in these were stowed the provisions, wood for fuel, and other stores; above them was fitted a slave-deck, between which and the upper deck there was a s.p.a.ce of about four feet. On this the slaves were to sit with shackles on their feet, and secured to iron bars running from side to side. They were divided in gangs, about a dozen in each, over which was a head man, who arranged the place each slave was to occupy. The largest slaves were made to sit down amidships, or the furthest from the ship's side, or from any position in which their strength could avail them to secure a larger s.p.a.ce than their neighbours. As I was to see more of the system, I need not now describe it. On my return on sh.o.r.e, I looked into the barrac.o.o.n hired by Captain Trunnion, in which I saw from forty to fifty slaves a.s.sembled, and even more heavily ironed and secured than they had been before. They were mostly sitting with their heads between their knees, bowed down with blank despair. Having seen the ship which was to convey them from their native land to a region they knew nothing of, and observed the savage countenances of the men who were to be their masters during the voyage, all hope of escape had fled. Every day after this, fresh batches of slaves arrived, their hands secured behind their backs, and walking in a long line fastened together by a rope, strictly guarded by blacks with muskets in their hands and swords by their sides, with which they occasionally gave a prod to any of the laggards. The wretched beings were marched, in the first instance, to the trader's barrac.o.o.ns, where they could be sorted and regain some of their strength. Harry and I were paying all the attention we could to the wounded men, who, enjoying the advantage of fresh provisions, were quickly recovering their health. Caspar Caper, the man who seemed to be the most grateful to Harry and me, was quite himself again, and was certainly fit to return on board, but he begged hard that we would not inform the captain.

"If I had my will, sir, I'd never go back to that craft; nor would you if you knew the dreadful deeds which have been done on board her or by her crew."

"I have no wish to go back, you may be sure of that," I answered; "but what do your companions say?"

"Well, sir, three of them are pretty well agreed with me; but there is one, Herman Jansen, the Dutchman, who has a fancy for the buccaneering life we have led, and I don't like to trust him."

This showed me that the man to whom I was speaking, Caspar Caper, had thought the subject over, and was himself fully prepared to try and escape from the pirates. I told him to speak to his shipmates while Harry and I were out of the way, and not to say that we entertained the idea, but simply to state his belief that we would accompany them if they made up their minds to run off from the slave village. Before doing anything, I was very anxious to see Tubbs; but he was so busily employed on board that he could not manage to come on sh.o.r.e. It was very probable, I thought, that the captain would not give him leave, and that he must come at night if he came at all. I thought again of all sorts of excuses for visiting the ship, although I feared, if I did so, that I might be detained on board. Several days pa.s.sed; the "Vulture"

was ready for sea, but a sufficient number of slaves to form her cargo had not yet arrived; others, however, were coming in, sometimes twenty or thirty at a time. It would not take more than a couple of hours to stow them all away on board. Although by this time all the wounded men had recovered, they pretended to be too weak to get out of their cots.

Once or twice the captain looked in to see how they were getting on, when they all groaned and spoke in feeble tones, as if they were very little better.

"I can't say much for your doctoring, young sirs," he observed, turning to Harry and me. "I believe if you had left the men alone they would have got well of themselves. I never have had a surgeon on board my ship, and never intend to have one. Nature is the best surgeon, and if she can't cure a man he must die."

"I don't know what you would say if you were wounded, captain, and there was no one to extract the ball," observed Harry.

"I should have to take my chance with the rest," answered the captain in a tone which showed, however, that he did not like the remark. "But, whether cured or not, these fellows must come on board and try and do their duty," he exclaimed as he left the house.

"I must get some stronger medicines then," I said, the thought suddenly striking me that this would be the best excuse for visiting the ship; for although the captain spoke in the way he did, he had a medicine-chest on board well stored with drugs, with a book of directions for their use.

"I thought that you before took enough physic on sh.o.r.e to cure a dozen fellows," he remarked.

"And so I did, sir, but I remember seeing on the last visit a mixture, the name of which I forget, for restoring strength to people who have been brought down, and that's just what these men want."

I spoke the truth in regard to the drugs, the only question was how much the men required of them. As the captain did not forbid me, as soon as he was out of sight I hurried down to the beach, and got a black fellow to paddle me on board in his canoe. I soon found a big bottle, and made up the mixture according to the recipe, which I took good care to keep in my hand, so that anybody could see what I had been about. I looked round for Tubbs, and when I returned on deck, much to my satisfaction I found him working at the mizen rigging with no one else near. I hastened up to him, and in a low voice said--

"The rest are ready. Will you come to-night or to-morrow night?

although I fear if we put it off till to-morrow you may be too late. We will, however, wait for you if you will come."

"Yes," he answered, "wait! I will be on sh.o.r.e an hour before midnight.

By that time the black fellows will have turned in. Tell the negro who brought you off that there will be a couple of doubloons for him if he comes alongside at the hour I name. If he fails me, I must swim on sh.o.r.e, although there is a risk of being snapt up by a shark or a stray crocodile. However, I may find another chance before that of getting on sh.o.r.e. Now you'd better be off, for it won't do for you to be seen lingering about talking with me."