JAMES BRAITHWAITE 
 
 THE SUPERCARGO. 
 
 of ps ^bfrmtores Qsfyan mtb 
 
 W. H. G. KINGSTON, 
 
 AUTHOR OF 
 
 'PETER TRAWL'; OR, THE ADVENTURES OF A WHALER,' 
 "HENDRICKS THE HUNTER," 'JOVINIAN,' ETC. 
 
 WITH EIGHT FULL-PAGE ILLUSTRATIONS. 
 
 gorfe: 
 
 A. C. ARMSTRONG & SON, 
 714 BROADWAY. 
 
 1884.
 
 STACK 
 ANNEX 
 
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 '-^ 
 
 
 
 INTBODUCTION. 
 
 readers of this book may like to know some- 
 thing about the author, whose name is so well 
 known as the writer of many stories for boys. 
 
 WILLIAM HENRY GILES KINGSTON was the eldest 
 son of the late L. H. Kingston, Esq., and grandson of 
 the Hon. Mr. Justice Rooke (Sir Giles Rooke). He 
 was born in Harley Street, London, on February 24th, 
 1814. The family resided many years in Oporto, 
 where his father was then in business as a merchant,
 
 vi Introduction. 
 
 and he had many voyages in boyhood between his 
 home in Portugal and school in England. His educa- 
 tion was carefully attended to, both at school and 
 with private tutors. What he was taught from books 
 was amply supplemented by what he learned in con- 
 versation and travel. 
 
 From his earliest boyhood young Kingston evinced 
 a strong liking for the sea. In consequence of family 
 connections, and his father's occupation, he had much 
 opportunity of being in the society of seafaring men, 
 and their tales of peril and adventure fostered his own 
 inclination for the life of a sailor. At one time he was 
 nearly joining the navy, but circumstances required 
 him to remain in his father's business house at Oporto 
 till he was beyond the age for entering the King's 
 service. He never, however, lost his first taste, and 
 he had opportunity for several voyages. To the end 
 of his days he cherished an ardent affection for sea- 
 men, and took deep interest in everything that tended 
 to their welfare. He was proud, also, of the history of 
 the British navy, as he has shown in many of his 
 spirit-stirring sea-stories. When the Boy's Oiun 
 Paper was started, in 1879, he led off with a 
 characteristic story of the navy in the time of the 
 great wars of the reign of George III., under the title 
 of " From Powder Monkey to Admiral." 
 
 Mr. Kingston's preference for literary over business 
 life early asserted itself. He published various books
 
 Introduction. vii 
 
 of history and travel, but he soon found that his 
 special calling was to write sea-stories for the young. 
 His first boys' book was " Peter the Whaler," which 
 was followed in rapid succession by a whole series of 
 tales of travel and adventure by land and sea. The 
 sea-stories were the most popular, many of which 
 appeared first in magazines, to be afterwards reprinted 
 as separate volumes. One of the best of these stories 
 is now presented to the reader. 
 
 The sub-title requires a word of explanation. The 
 name of supercargo has now almost disappeared from 
 the nautical vocabulary. Changes in commerce and in 
 navigation have made obsolete many persons, as well 
 as things, once familiar. In the old days of mercantile 
 venture and trade, ships sailed with great variety of 
 cargo, to be disposed of in various ports, either by 
 arrangement of the owners or at the discretion of the 
 captain. There was an officer specially charged with 
 the management and the sale of the goods shipped by 
 the merchants, and he was called the Supercargo. It 
 was a responsible and difficult post to fill, and gave 
 scope for much knowledge and tact, as well as requir- 
 ing good character, from the valuable goods entrusted 
 to his charge. There was a partial revival of the 
 name and the duty during the American civil war. 
 The blockade-runners had sometimes a very miscel- 
 laneous cargo to dispose of, requiring the tact and 
 knowledge of a special Supercargo. In ordinary
 
 viii Introduction. 
 
 times the more mechanical part of this duty is 
 performed by a ship's clerk. An experienced and 
 clever Supercargo in old times was not only a shrewd 
 merchant and man of business, but he was sure to 
 have seen many aspects of life in different parts of 
 the globe. It was therefore a happy thought in Mr. 
 Kingston to make a Supercargo the narrator of a 
 voyage, and this at a time when the perils of war 
 were added to the ordinary risks and adventures of 
 the sea. The illustrations accompanying the story 
 are, with permission, taken from the pages of the 
 Leisure Hour and the Boy's Own Paper. 
 
 Having referred to the early life of Mr. Kingston, it 
 may be well to speak also of his closing years. Till 
 the last he retained his love of the sea, and his love of 
 boys. He wrote recently, in addition to a book on the 
 "Life and Voyages of Captain Cook," and a "Yacht 
 Voyage round England," a capital story reprinted from 
 the Boys Own Paper, entitled, " Peter Trawl ; or, The 
 Adventures of a Whaler;" and at the time of his 
 being seized with the fatal illness which removed him 
 on the 5th of August, 1880, he was engaged in pre- 
 paring a story of Arctic adventure. Only three days 
 before his death he wrote a touching letter, which was 
 sent by him for publication to the Boy's Own Paper. 
 Although many have seen it there, this striking and 
 affectionate farewell letter cannot be too widely 
 known, and we have pleasure in quoting it :
 
 Introduction. ix 
 
 " STOKHONT LODGE, WILLESDEN, 
 Aug. 2nd, 1880. 
 
 " MY DEAR BOYS, I have been engaged, as you know, for a 
 Very large portion of my life in writing books for you. This 
 occupation has been a source of the greatest pleasure and 
 satisfaction to me, and, I am willing to believe, to you also. 
 
 " Our connection with each other in this world must, how- 
 ever, shortly cease. 
 
 " I have for some time been suffering from serious illness, 
 and have been informed by the highest medical authorities 
 that my days are numbered. 
 
 " Of the truth of this I am convinced by the rapid progress 
 the disease is making. It is my desire, therefore, to wish 
 you all a sincere and hearty farewell ! 
 
 " I want you to know that I am leaving this life in unspeak- 
 able happiness, because I rest my soul on my Saviour, 
 trusting only and entirely to the merits of the great Atone- 
 ment, by which my sins have been put away for ever. 
 
 " Dear Boys, I ask you to give your hearts to Christ, and 
 earnestly pray that all of you may meet me in Heaven." 
 
 }
 
 CONTENTS, 
 
 I. 
 
 PAGB 
 
 IN SEAECH OF THE "BABBAEA" ..... 1 
 
 II. 
 THE FIGHT ... 15 
 
 in. 
 
 'GOOD-BYE" TO THE CONVOY 31 
 
 IV. 
 
 THE "BABBABA" ON FIEE ...... 48 
 
 V. 
 
 A DESPEBATE ENCOTJNTEB 04 
 
 VI. 
 
 IN TBOUBLED WATEES . . ... 81 
 
 vn. 
 
 " BBEAKEES AHEAD ! " . . . o . .95 
 
 VIII. 
 
 A COMPLETE WBECK 112
 
 xii Cvntents. 
 
 IX. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 LIFE ON THE ISLAND 127 
 
 X. 
 
 AN ANXIOUS TIME 142 
 
 XL 
 
 ATTACKED BY TIIE FEENCII FLEET .... 156 
 
 XII. 
 
 A GLOEIOUS VICTORY ....... 172 
 
 XIII. 
 
 AEEIVAL AT JAVA 188 
 
 XIV. 
 
 A PEISONEB OF WAS 203 
 
 XV. 
 
 MEATES . 220 
 
 XVI. 
 
 MUTINY ON BOAED THE " BAEBAEA " .... 238 
 
 XVII. 
 
 HOME AGAIN! . . 251
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 IN SEARCH OF THE "BARBARA." 
 
 " TTT HAT'S the name of the craft you want to get 
 * aboard, sir ? " asked old Bob, the one-legged 
 boatman, whose wherry I had hired to carry me out 
 to Spithead. 
 
 " The Barbara," I answered, trying to look more at 
 my ease than I felt; for the old fellow, besides having 
 but one leg, had a black patch over the place where 
 his right eye should have been, while his left arm was 
 partially crippled ; and his crew consisted of a mite of 
 a boy whose activity and intelligence could scarcely 
 make up for his want of size and strength. The ebb 
 tide, too, was making strong out of Portsmouth Har- 
 bour, and a fresh breeze was blowing in, creating a 
 tumbling, bubbling sea at the mouth ; and vessels and 
 boats of all sizes and rigs were dashing here and there, 
 madly and without purpose it seemed to me, but at 
 all events very likely to run down the low narrow 
 craft in which I had ventured to embark. Now and 
 then a man-of-war's boat, with half-a-dozen reckless 
 midshipmen in her, who looked as if they would not 
 have the slightest scruple in sailing over us, would 
 pass within a few inches jDf the wherry ; now a ship's 
 
 1
 
 2 James Braithwaite. 
 
 launch with a party of marines, pulling with uncertain 
 strokes like a huge maimed centipede, would come 
 right across our course and receive old Bob's no very 
 complimentary remarks ; next a boatful of men-of- 
 war's men, liberty men returning from leave. There 
 was no use saying anything to them, for there wasn't 
 one, old Bob informed me, but what was " three sheets 
 in the wind," or " half seas over," in other words, very 
 drunk ; still, they managed to find their way and not 
 to upset themselves, in a manner which surprised me. 
 Scarcely were we clear of them when several lumber- 
 ing dockyard lighters would come dashing by, going 
 out with stores or powder to the fleet at Spithead. 
 
 Those were indeed busy times. Numerous ships of 
 war were fitting out alongside the quays, their huge 
 yards being swayed up, and guns and stores hoisted 
 on board, gruff shouts, and cries, and whistles, and 
 other strange sounds proceeding from them as we 
 passed near. Others lay in the middle of the harbour 
 ready for sea, but waiting for their crews to be col- 
 ected by the press-gangs on shore, and to be made 
 up with captured smugglers, liberated gaol-birds, and 
 broken-down persons from every grade of society. 
 Altogether, what with transports, merchantmen, lighters, 
 and other craft, it was no easy matter to beat out with- 
 out getting athwart hawse of those at anchor, or being 
 run down by the still greater number of small craft 
 under way. Still it was an animated and exciting 
 scene, and all told of active warfare. 
 
 On shore the bustle was yet more apparent. Every-
 
 In Search of the " Barbara" 3 
 
 body was in movement. Yellow post-chaises convey- 
 ing young captains of dashing frigates, or admirals' 
 private secretaries, came whirling through the streets 
 as if the fate of the nation depended on their speed. 
 Officers of all grades, from post-captains with glittering 
 epaulets to midshipmen with white patches on their 
 collars and simple cockades in their hats, were hurrying, 
 with looks of importance, through the streets. Large 
 placards were everywhere posted up announcing the 
 names of the ships requiring men, and the advantages 
 to be obtained by joining them : plenty of prize money 
 and abundance of fighting, with consequent speedy 
 promotion; while first lieutenants, and a choice band 
 of old hands, were near by to win by persuasion those 
 who were protected from being pressed. Jack tars, 
 many with pig-tails, and earrings in their ears, were 
 rolling about the streets, their wives or sweethearts 
 hanging at their elbows, dressed in the brightest of 
 colours, huge bonnets decked with flaunting ribbons 
 on their heads, and glittering brass chains, and other 
 ornaments of glass, on their necks and arms. As I 
 drove down the High Street I had met a crowd sur- 
 rounding a ship's gig on wheels. Some fifty seamen 
 or more were dragging it along at a rapid rate, leaping 
 and careering, laughing and cheering. In the stern 
 sheets sat a well-known eccentric post-captain with 
 the yoke lines in his hands, while he kept bending 
 forward to give the time to his crew, who were 
 arranged before him with oars outstretched, making 
 believe to row, and grinning all the time in high glee
 
 4 James Braithwaite. 
 
 from ear to ear. It was said that he was on his way 
 to the Admiralty in London, the Lords Commissioners 
 having for some irregularity prohibited him from leav- 
 ing his ship except in his gig on duty. Whether he 
 ever got to London I do not know. 
 
 On arriving at Portsmouth, I had gone to the Blue 
 Posts, an inn of old renown, recommended by my 
 brother Harry, who was then a midshipman, and who 
 had lately sailed for the East India station. It was 
 an inn more patronised by midshipmen and young 
 lieutenants than by post-captains and admirals. I 
 had there expected to meet Captain Hassall, the 
 commander of the Barbara, but was told that, as he 
 was the master of a merchantman, he was more 
 likely to have gone to the Keppel's Head, at Port- 
 sea. Thither I. repaired, and found a note from him 
 telling me to come off at once, and saying that he 
 had had to return on board in a hurry, as he found 
 that several of his men had no protection, and were 
 very likely to be pressed, one man having already 
 been taken by a press-gang, and that he was certain 
 to inform against the others. Thus it was that I 
 came to embark at the Common Hard at Portsea, and 
 had to beat down the harbour. 
 
 " Do you think as how you'd know your ship when 
 you sees her, sir ? " asked old Bob, with a twinkle in 
 his one eye, for he had discovered my very limited 
 amount of nautical knowledge, I suspect. " It will 
 be a tough job to find her, you see, among so many." 
 
 Now I had been on board very often as she lay
 
 In Search of the " Barbara." 5 
 
 alongside the quay in the Thames. I had seen all 
 her cargo stowed, knew every bale and package and 
 case ; I had attended to the fitting-up of my own 
 cabin, and was indeed intimately acquainted with 
 every part of her interior. But her outside that 
 was a very different matter, I began to suspect. I 
 saw floating on the sea, far out in the distance, the 
 misty outlines of a hundred or more big ships ; 
 indeed, the whole space between Portsmouth and 
 the little fishing village of Ryde seemed covered 
 with shipping, and my heart sank within me at the 
 thought of having to pick out the Barbara among them. 
 
 The evening was drawing on, and the weather did 
 not look pleasant ; still I must make the attempt. 
 The convoy was expected to sail immediately, and 
 the interests of my employers, Garrard, Janrin and 
 Company, would be sacrificed should the sailing of 
 the ship be delayed by my neglect. These thoughts 
 passed rapidly through my mind and made me reply 
 boldly, " We must go on, at all events. Time enough 
 to find her out when we get there." 
 
 We were at that time near the mouth of the 
 harbour, with Haslar Hospital seen over a low sand- 
 bank, and some odd-looking sea-marks on one side, 
 and Southsea beach and the fortifications of Ports- 
 mouth, with a church tower and the houses of the 
 town beyond. A line of redoubts and Southsea 
 Castle appeared, extending farther southward, while 
 the smooth chalk-formed heights of Portsdown rose 
 in the distance. As a person suddenly deprived of
 
 6 James Braithwaite. 
 
 sight recollects with especial clearness the last objects 
 he has beheld, so this scene was indelibly impressed 
 on my mind, as it was the last near view I was des- 
 tined to have of old England for many a long day. 
 For the same reason I took a greater interest in old 
 Bob and his boy Jerry than I might otherwise have 
 done. They formed the last human link of the chain 
 which connected me with my native land. Bob had 
 agreed to take my letters back, announcing my safe 
 arrival on board that is to say, should I ever get there. 
 My firm reply, added to the promise of another five 
 shillings for the trouble he might have, raised me again 
 in his opinion, and he became very communicative. 
 
 We tacked close to a buoy off Southsea beach. 
 "Ay, sir, there was a pretty blaze just here not many 
 years ago," he remarked. " Now I mind it was in '95 
 that's the year my poor girl Betty died the mother 
 of Jerry there. You've heard talk of the Boyne a fine 
 ship she was, of ninety-eight guns. While she, with 
 the rest of the fleet, was at anchor at Spithead, one 
 morning a fire broke out in the admiral's cabin, and 
 though officers and men did their best to extinguish it, 
 somehow or other it got the upper hand of them all ; 
 but the boats from the other ships took most of them 
 off, though some ten poor fellows perished, they say. 
 One bad part of the business was, that the guns were 
 all loaded and shotted, and as the fire got to them they 
 went off, some of the shots reaching Stokes Bay, out 
 there beyond Haslar, and others falling among the 
 shipping. Two poorfellows aboard the Queen Charlotte
 
 In Search of the "Barbara" 7 
 
 were killed, and another wounded, though she and the 
 other ships got under way to escape mischief. At about 
 half-past one she burnt from her cables, and came slowly 
 drifting in here till she took the ground. She burnt 
 on till near six in the morning, when the fire reached 
 the magazine, and up she blew with an awful explosion. 
 We knew well enough that the moment would come, 
 and it was a curious feeling we had waiting for it. Up 
 went the blazing masts and beams and planks, and 
 came scattering down far and wide, hissing into the 
 water ; and when we looked again after all was over, 
 not a timber was to be seen." 
 
 Bob also pointed out the spot where nearly a century 
 before the Edgar had blown up, and every soul in her 
 had perished, and also where the Royal George and 
 the brave Admiral Kempenfeldt, with eight hundred 
 men, had gone down several years before the destruc- 
 tion of the Boyne. " Ay, sir, to my mind it's sad to 
 think that the sea should swallow up so many fine 
 fellows as she does every year, and yet we couldn't very 
 well do without her, so I suppose it's all right. Mind 
 your head-sheets, Jerry, or she'll not come about in 
 this bobble," he observed, as we were about to tack 
 round the buoy. 
 
 Having kept well to the eastward, we were now 
 laying up to windward of the fleet. There were line- 
 of-battle ships, and frigates, and corvettes, and huge 
 Indiamen as big-looking as many line-of-battle ships, 
 and large transports, and numberless merchantmen 
 ships and barques, and brigs and schooners; but as to
 
 8 James Braithwaite. 
 
 what the Barbara was like I had not an idea. I fixed 
 on one of the largest of the Indiamen, but when I told 
 old Bob the tonnage of the -Barbara he laughed, and 
 said she wasn't half the size of the ship I pointed out. 
 
 It was getting darkish and coming on to blow pretty 
 fresh, and how to find my ship among the hundred or 
 more at anchor I could not possibly tell. 
 
 " Well, I thought from your look and the way you 
 hailed me that you was a sea-faring gentleman, and 
 on course you'd ha' known your own ship," said old 
 Bob, with a wink of his one eye. " Howsomever, we 
 can beat about among the fleet till it's dark, and then 
 back to Portsmouth ; and then, do ye see, sir, we can 
 come out to-morrow morning by daylight and try 
 again. Maybe we shall have better luck. The convoy 
 is sure not to sail in the night, and the tide won't serve 
 till ten o'clock at earliest." 
 
 " This comes of dressing in nautical style, and assum- 
 ing airs foreign to me," I thought to myself, though I 
 could not help fancying that there was some quiet 
 irony in the old man's tone. His plan did not at all 
 suit my notions. I was already beginning to feel very 
 uncomfortable, bobbing and tossing about among the 
 ships ; and I expected to be completely upset, unless 
 I could speedily put my foot on something more stable 
 than the cockle-shell, or rather bean-pod, of a boat 
 in which I sat. I began to be conscious, indeed, that 
 I must be looking like anything but "a seafaring 
 gentleman." 
 
 "But we must find her," I exclaimed, with some
 
 In Search of the " Barbara" 9 
 
 little impetuosity ; " it will never do to be going back, 
 and I know she's here." 
 
 " So the old woman said as was looking for her 
 needle in the bundle of hay," observed old Bob, with 
 provoking placidity. "On course she is, and we is 
 looking for her : but it's quite a different thing whether 
 we finds her or not, 'specially when it gets dark ; and 
 if, as I suspects, it comes on to blow freshish there'll 
 be a pretty bobble of a sea here at the turn of the 
 tide. To be sure, we may stand over to Ryde and 
 haul the boat up there for the night. There's a pretty 
 decentish public on the beach, the Pilot's Home, 
 where you may get a bed, and Jerry and I always 
 sleeps under the wherry. That's the only other thing 
 for you to do, sir, that I sees on." 
 
 Though very unwilling to forego the comforts of 
 my cabin and the society of Captain Hassall, I agreed 
 to old Bob's proposal, provided the Barbara was not 
 soon to be found. We sailed about among the fleet 
 for some time, hailing one ship after another, but mine 
 could not be found. I began to suspect at last -that 
 old Bob did not wish to find her, but had his eye on 
 another day's work, and pay in proportion, as he 
 might certainly consider that he had me in his power, 
 and could demand what he chose. I was on the 
 point of giving up the search, when, as we were near 
 one of the large Indiamen I have mentioned, a vessel 
 running past compelled us to go close alongside. An 
 officer was standing on the accommodation-ladder, 
 assisting up some passengers. He hailed one of the
 
 io fames Braithwaite. 
 
 people in the boat, about some luggage. I knew the 
 voice, and, looking more narrowly, I recognised, I 
 thought, my old schoolfellow, Jack Newall. I called 
 him by name. "Who's that?" he exclaimed. "What, 
 Braithwaite, my fine fellow, what brings you out here ?" 
 When I told him, "It is ten chances to one that 
 you pick her out to-night," he answered. " But come 
 aboard ; I can find you a berth, and to-morrow morn- 
 ing you can continue your search. Depend on it your 
 ship forms one of our convoy, so that she will not sail 
 without you." 
 
 I was too glad to accept Jack Newall's offer. Old 
 Bob looked rather disappointed at finding me snatched 
 from his grasp, and volunteered to come back early 
 in the morning, and take me on board the Barbara, 
 promising in the meantime to find her out. 
 
 The sudden change from the little boat tumbling 
 about in the dark to the Indiaman's well-lighted 
 cuddy, glittering with plate and glass, into which my 
 friend introduced me filled, moreover, as it was, with 
 well-dressed ladies and gentlemen was very startling. 
 She was the well-known Cuffnels, a ship of twelve 
 hundred tons, one of the finest of her class, and, 
 curiously enough, was the ' very one which, two 
 voyages before, had carried my brother Frederick 
 out to India. 
 
 I had never before been on board an Indiaman. 
 Everything about her seemed grand and ponderous, 
 and gave me the idea of strength and stability. If 
 she was to meet with any disaster, it would not be
 
 In Search of the "Barbara" n 
 
 for want of being well found. The captain remem- 
 bered my brother, and was very civil to me ; and 
 several other people knew my family, so that I spent 
 a most pleasant evening on board, in the society of 
 the nabobs and military officers, and the ladies who 
 had husbands and those who had not, but fully ex- 
 pected to get them at the end of the voyage, and the 
 young cadets and writers, and others who usually 
 formed the complement of an Indiaman's passengers 
 in those days. Everything seemed done in princely 
 style on board her. She had a crew of a hundred 
 men, a captain, and four officers, mates, a surgeon, 
 and purser; besides midshipmen, a boatswain, car- 
 penter, and other petty officers. I was invited to 
 come on board whenever there was au opportunity 
 during the voyage. 
 
 " We are not cramped, you see," observed Newall, 
 casting his eye over the spacious decks, " so you will 
 not crowd us ; and if you cannot bring us news, we 
 can exchange ideas." 
 
 True to his word, old Bob came alongside the next 
 morning, and told me that he had found out the 
 Barbara, and would put me on board in good time for 
 breakfast. 
 
 I found Captain Hassall very anxious at my non- 
 appearance, and on the point of sending the second 
 officer on shore to look for me, as it was expected 
 that the convoy would sail at noon; indeed, the Active 
 frigate, which was to convoy us, had Blue Peter 
 flying at her mast-head, as had all the merchantmen.
 
 12 James Braithwaite. 
 
 " You'd have time to take a cruise about the 
 fleet, and I'll spin you no end of yarns if you like to 
 come, sir," said old Bob, with a twinkle in his eye, as 
 his wherry was see-sawing alongside in a manner 
 most uncomfortable to a landsman. 
 
 '' No, thank you, Bob ; I must hear the end of your 
 yarns when I come back again to old England ; I'll 
 not forget you, depend on it." 
 
 Captain Hassall had not recovered his equanimity 
 of temper, which had been sorely ruffled at having 
 had two of his best men taken off by a press-gang. 
 He had arrived on board in time to save two more 
 who would otherwise also have been taken. He 
 inveighed strongly against the system, and declared 
 that if it was continued he would give up England 
 and go over to the United States. It certainly 
 created a very bad feeling both among officers and 
 men in the merchant service. While we were talk- 
 ing, the frigate which was to convoy us loosed her 
 topsails and fired a gun, followed soon after by 
 another, as a signal to way. The merchantmen at 
 once began to make sail, not so quick an operation as 
 on board the man-of-war. The pipe played cheerily, 
 round went the capstan, and in short time we, with 
 fully fifty other vessels, many of them first-class 
 Indiamen, with a fair breeze, were standing down 
 Channel ; the sky bright, the sea blue, while their 
 white sails, towering upwards to the heavens, shone 
 in the sunbeams like pillars of snow. 
 
 The Barbara proved herself a fast sailer, and could
 
 In Search of the "Barbara" 13 
 
 easily keep up with our Active protector, which kept 
 sailing round the majestic-looking but slow-moving 
 Iridiamen, as if to urge them on, as the shepherd's dog 
 does his flock. We hove-to off Falmouth, that other 
 vessels might join company. Altogether, we formed 
 a numerous convoy some bound to the Cape of 
 Good Hope, others to different parts of India two 
 or three to our lately-established settlements in New 
 South Wales, and several more to China. 
 
 I will not dwell on my feelings as we took ^our 
 departure from the land, the Lizard lights bearing N. 
 half E. I had a good many friends to care for me, 
 and one for whom I had more than friendship. We 
 had magnificent weather and plenty of time to get 
 the ship into order ; indeed I, with others who had 
 never been to sea, began to entertain the notion that 
 we were to glide on as smoothly as we were then 
 doing during the whole voyage. We were to be 
 disagreeably undeceived. A gale sprang up with 
 little warning about midnight, and hove us almost 
 on our beam ends; and though we righted with the 
 loss only of a spar or two, we were tumbled about in 
 a manner subversive of all comfort, to say the least 
 of it. 
 
 When morning broke, the hitherto trim and well- 
 behaved fleet were scattered in all directions, and 
 several within sight received some damage or other. 
 The wind fell as quickly as it had risen, and during 
 the day the vessels kept returning to their proper 
 stations in the convoy. When night came on several
 
 14 James Braithwaite. 
 
 were still absent, "but were seen approaching in the 
 distance. Our third mate had been aloft for some 
 time, and when he came into the cabin he remarked 
 that he had counted more sail in the horizon than 
 there were missing vessels. Some of the party were 
 inclined to laugh at him, and inquired what sort of 
 craft he supposed they were, phantom ships or enemy's 
 cruisers. 
 
 " I'll tell you what, gentlemen, I think that they 
 are very probably the latter," said the captain. "I 
 have known strange things happen ; vessels cut out 
 at night from the midst of a large convoy, others 
 pillaged and the crews and passengers murdered, 
 thrown overboard, or carried off. We shall be on our 
 guard, and have our guns loaded, and if any gentry of 
 this sort attempt to play their tricks on us they will 
 find that they have caught a tartar."
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 THE FIGHT. 
 
 T MAY as well here give an account of the Barbara, 
 -- and how I came to be on board her. Deprived of 
 my father, who was killed in battle just as I was going 
 up to the University, and left with very limited means, 
 I was offered a situation as clerk in the counting- 
 house of a distant relative, Mr. Janrin. I had no 
 disinclination to mercantile pursuits. I looked on them, 
 if carried out in a proper spirit, as worthy of a man 
 of intellect, and I therefore gladly accepted the offer. 
 As my mother lived in the country, my kind cousin 
 invited me to come and reside with him, an advantage 
 I highly appreciated. Everything was conducted in 
 his house with clock-work regularity. If the weather 
 was rainy, his coach drew up to the door at the exact 
 hour ; if the weather was fine, the servant stood ready 
 with his master's spencer, and hat, and gloves, and 
 gold-headed cane, without which Mr. Janrin never 
 went abroad. Not that he required it to support his 
 steps, but it was the mark of a gentleman. It had 
 superseded the sword which he had worn in his youth. 
 I soon got to like these regular ways, and found them 
 far pleasanter than the irregularity of some houses
 
 1 6 James Braithwaite. 
 
 where I had visited. I always accompanied Mr. 
 Janrin when he walked, and derived great benefit from 
 his conversation, and though he offered me a seat in 
 the coach in bad weather, I saw that he was better 
 pleased when I went on foot. "Young men require 
 exercise, and should not pamper themselves," he 
 observed ; " but, James, I say, put a dry pair of shoes 
 in your pocket therein is wisdom ; and don't sit in 
 your wet ones all day." 
 
 Thus it will be seen that I was treated by my 
 worthy principal from the first as a relative, and a 
 true friend he was to me. But I was introduced into 
 the mysteries of mercantile affairs by Mr. Gregory 
 Thursby, the head clerk. He lived over the counting- 
 house, and on my first appearance in it, before any of 
 the other clerks had arrived, he was there to receive 
 me. He took me round to the different desks, and 
 explained the business transacted at each of therri. 
 " And there, Mr. James, look there," he said, pointing 
 to a line of ponderous folios on a shelf within easy 
 distance of where he himself sat : "see, we have Swift's 
 works, a handsome edition too, eh ! " and he chuckled 
 as he spoke. 
 
 " Why, I fancied that they were ledgers," said I. 
 
 " Ha ! ha ! ha ! so they are, and yet Swift's works, 
 for all that, those of my worthy predecessor, Jeremiah 
 Swift, every line in them written by his own hand, in 
 his best style ; so I call them Swift's works. You are 
 not the first person by a great many I have taken in. 
 Ha! ha! ha!"
 
 The Fight. 17 
 
 This was one of the worthy man's harmless conceits. 
 He never lost an opportunity of indulging in the joke 
 to his own amusement ; and I remarked that he 
 laughed as heartily the last time he uttered it as the 
 first. 
 
 I set to work diligently at once on the tasks given 
 me, and was rewarded by the approving remarks of 
 Mr. Janrin and Mr. Thursby. Mr. Garrard had long 
 ago left, not only the business but this world ; the 
 " Co." was his nephew, Mr. Luttridge, who was absent 
 on account of ill-health, and thus the whole weight of 
 the business rested on the shoulders of Mr. Janrin. 
 But, as Thursby remarked, " He can well support it, 
 Mr. James. He's an Atlas. It's my belief that he 
 would manage the financial affairs of this kingdom 
 better than any Chancellor of the Exchequer, or other 
 minister of State, past or present; and that had he 
 been at the head of affairs we should not have lost our 
 North American Colonies, or have got plunged over 
 head and ears in debt as we are, alack ! already ; and 
 now, with war raging and all the world in arms 
 against us, getting deeper and deeper into the mire." 
 Without holding my worthy principal in such deep 
 admiration as our head clerk evidently did, I had a 
 most sincere regard and respect for him. 
 
 Our dinner hour was at one o'clock, in a room over 
 the office. Mr. Janrin himself presided, and all the 
 clerks, from the highest to the lowest, sat at the 
 board. Here, however, on certain occasions, hand- 
 some dinners were given at a more fashionable hour 
 
 2
 
 1 8 James Braithwaite. 
 
 to any friends or correspondents of the house who 
 might be in London. Mr. Thursby took the foot of 
 the table, and I was always expected to be present. 
 At length I completed two years of servitude in the 
 house, and by that time was thoroughly up to all the 
 details of business. I had been very diligent. I had 
 never taken a holiday, and never had cause to absent 
 myself from business on account of ill-health. On the 
 very day I speak of we had one of the dinners men- 
 tioned. The guests were chiefly merchants or planters 
 from the West Indies, with a foreign consul or two, 
 and generally a few masters of merchantmen. The 
 guests as they arrived were announced by Mr. Janrin's 
 own servant, Peter Klopps, who always 'waited on 
 these occasions. Peter was himself a character. He 
 was a Dutchman. Mr. Janrin had engaged his services 
 many years before during a visit to Holland. He had 
 picked Peter out of a canal, or Peter had picked him 
 out, on a dark night I never could understand which 
 had rendered the service to the other ; at all events, it 
 had united them ever afterwards, and Peter had after- 
 wards nursed his master through a long illness, and 
 saved his life. The most important secrets of State 
 might have been discussed freely in Peter's presence. 
 First, he did not understand a word that was said, 
 and then he was far too honest and discreet to 
 have revealed it if he had. 
 
 Several people had been announced. Ten minutes 
 generally brought the whole together. I caught the 
 name of one Captain Hassall. He was a stranger, a
 
 The Fight. 19 
 
 strongly-built man with a sunburnt countenance and 
 bushy whiskers; nothing remarkable about him, except, 
 perhaps, the determined expression of his eye and 
 mouth. His brow was good, and altogether I liked 
 his looks, and was glad to find myself seated next to 
 him. He had been to all parts of the world, and had 
 spent some time in the India and China seas. He 
 gave me graphic accounts of the strange people of those 
 regions; and fights with Chinese and Malay pirates, 
 battles of a more regular order with French arid 
 Spanish privateers, hurricanes or typhoons. Ship- 
 wrecks and exciting adventures of all sorts seemed 
 matters of everyday occurrence. A scar on his cheek 
 and another across his hand, showed that he had been, 
 at close quarters, too, on some occasion, with the 
 enemy. 
 
 Air. Janrin and Mr. Thursby both paid him much 
 attention during dinner. Allusions were made by 
 him to a trading voyage he had performed in the ser- 
 vice of the firm, and it struck me from some remarks 
 he let drop that he was about to undertake another of 
 a similar character. I was not mistaken. After dinner, 
 when the rest of the guests were gone, he remained 
 behind to discuss particulars, and Mr. Janrin desired 
 rne to join the conclave. I was much interested in all 
 I heard. A large new ship, the Barbara, had been 
 purchased, of which Captain Hassall had become part 
 owner. She was now in dock fitting for sea. She 
 mounted ten carriage guns and four swivels, and was 
 to be supplied with a proportionate quantity of small
 
 2O aines Braithwaite. 
 
 arms, and to be well manned. A letter of marque was 
 to be obtained for her, though she was not to fight 
 except in case of necessity ; while her cargo was to be 
 assorted and suited to various localities. She was to 
 visit several places to the East of the Cape of Good 
 Hope, and to proceed on to the Indian Islands and 
 China. 
 
 " And how do you like the enterprise, James ? " 
 asked Mr. Janrin, after the^captain had gone. 
 
 " I have not considered the details sufficiently to 
 give an opinion, sir," I answered. " If all turns out as 
 the captain expects, it must be very profitable, but 
 there are difficulties to be overcome, and dangers 
 encountered, and much loss may be incurred." 
 
 I saw Mr. Janrin and the head clerk exchange 
 glances, and nod to each other. I fancy that they 
 were nods of approval at what I had said. 
 
 " Then, James, you would not wish to engage in it 
 in any capacity ? " said Mr. Janrin. " You would 
 rather not encounter the dangers and difficulties of 
 such a voyage ? " 
 
 "That is a very different matter, sir," I answered. 
 " I should very much like to visit the countries you 
 speak of, and the difficulties I cannot help seeing 
 would enhance the interest of the voyage." 
 
 Again the principal and clerk exchanged glances 
 and nodded. 
 
 " What do you say, then, James, to taking charge of 
 the venture as supercargo ? My belief is that you will 
 act with discretion and judgment as to its disposal,
 
 The Fight. 21 
 
 and that we shall have every reason to be satisfied 
 with you. Mr. Thursby agrees with me, do you not, 
 Thursby ? " 
 
 " I feel sure that Mr. James will bring no discredit 
 on the firm, sir," answered Mr. Thursby, smiling at me. 
 " On the contrary, sir, no young man I am acquainted 
 with is so likely to conduce to the success of the 
 enterprise." 
 
 I was highly gratified by the kind remarks of my 
 friends, and expressed my thanks accordingly, at the 
 same time that I begged I might be allowed two days 
 for consideration. I desired, of course, to consult my 
 mother, and was anxious also to know what another 
 would have to say to the subject. She, like a sensible 
 girl, agreed with rne that it would be wise to endure 
 the separation for the sake of securing, as I hoped to 
 do, ultimate comfort and independence. I knew from 
 the way that she gave this advice that she did not 
 love me less than I desired. I need say no more than 
 that her confidence was a powerful stimulus to exertion 
 and perseverance in the career I had chosen. My 
 mother was far more doubtful about the matter. Not 
 till the morning after I had mentioned it to her did 
 she say, " Go, my son ; may God protect you and bless 
 your enterprise ! " 
 
 I was from this time forward actively engaged in 
 the preparations for the voyage. My personal outfit 
 was speedily ready, but I considered it necessary to 
 examine all the cases of merchandise put on board, 
 that I might be properly acquainted with all the
 
 22 James Braithwaite. 
 
 articles in which I was going to trade. " It's just 
 what I expected of him," I heard Mr. Janrin remark 
 to Mr. Thursby, when one evening I returned late 
 from my daily duties. " Ay, sir, there is the ring of 
 the true metal in the lad," observed the head clerk. 
 
 Captain Hassall was as active in his department as 
 I was in mine, and we soon had the Barbara ready 
 for sea with a tolerably good crew. In those stirring 
 days of warfare it was no easy thing to man a mer- 
 chantman well, but Captain Hassall had found several 
 men who had saifed with him on previous voyages, 
 and they without difficulty persuaded others to ship 
 on board the Barbara. 
 
 Our first officer, Mr. Randolph, was a gentleman in 
 the main, and a very pleasant companion, though he 
 had at first sight, in his everyday working suit, that 
 scarecrow look which tall gaunt men, who have been 
 somewhat battered by wind and weather, are apt to 
 get. Our second mate, Ben, or rather "Benjie" Stubbs, 
 as he was usually called, was nearly as broad as he 
 was long, with puffed-out brown cheeks wearing an 
 invincible smile. He was a man of one idea : he was 
 satisfied with being a thorough seaman, and was 
 nothing else. As to history, or science, or the interior 
 of countries, he was profoundly ignorant. As to the 
 land, it was all very well in its way to grow trees and 
 form harbours, but the sea was undoubtedly the 
 proper element for people to live on ; and he seemed 
 to look with supreme contempt on all those who had 
 the misfortune to be occupied on shore. The third
 
 The Fight. 23 
 
 mate, Henry Irby, had very little the appearance of a 
 sailor, though he was a very good one. He was slight 
 in figure, and refined in his manners, and seemed, I 
 fancied, born to a higher position than that which he 
 held. He had served for two years before the mast, 
 but his rough associates during that time had not been 
 able in any way to alter him. Our surgeon, David 
 G vvynne, was, I need scarcely say, a Welshman. He 
 had not had much professional experience, but he was 
 an intelligent young man, and had several of the 
 peculiarities which are considered characteristic of his 
 people ; but I hoped, from what I saw of him when he 
 first came on board, that he would prove an agreeable 
 companion. Curious as it may seem, there were two 
 men among the crew who by birth were superior to 
 any of us. I may, perhaps, have to say more about 
 them by-and-bye. We mustered, officers and men, 
 forty hands all told. 
 
 I will pass over the leave-takings with all the dear 
 ones at home. I knew and felt that true prayers, as 
 well as kind wishes, would follow me wherever I 
 might go. 
 
 " James," said my kind employer as I parted from 
 him, " I trust you thoroughly as I would my own son 
 if I had one. I shall not blame you if the enterprise 
 does not succeed ; so do not take it to heart, for I 
 know that you will do your best, and no man can do 
 more." Mr. Tlmrsby considered that it was incum- 
 bent on him to take a dignified farewell of me, and to 
 impress on me all the duties and responsibilities of my
 
 24 James Braithwaite. 
 
 office ; but he broke down, and a tear stood in Ins eye 
 as he wrung my hand, and said in a husky voice, 
 " You know all about it, my dear boy ; you'll do well, 
 and we shall have you back here, hearty and strong, 
 with information successfully to guide Garrard, Janrin 
 and Co. in many an important speculation ; and, 
 moreover, I hope, to lay the foundation of your own 
 fortune. Good-bye, good-bye ; heaven bless you, my 
 boy!" 
 
 I certainly could not have commenced my under- 
 taking under better auspices. Having obtained the 
 necessary permission of "the Honorable East India 
 Company to trade in their territories, the Barbara 
 proceeded to Spithead, and I ran down to pay a flying 
 visit to my friends, which was the cause of my joining 
 the ship at Spithead in the way I have described, and 
 where I left my readers to give these necessary ex- 
 planations. 
 
 The convoy was standing on under easy sail to 
 allow the scattered vessels to come up, and as long as 
 there was a ray of daylight they were seen taking up 
 their places. Now and then, after dark, I could see a 
 phantom form gliding by ; some tall Indiaman, or 
 heavy store-ship, or perhaps some lighter craft, to part 
 with us after crossing the line, bound round Cape 
 Horn. The heat was considerable, and as I felt no 
 inclination to turn in, I continued pacing the deck till 
 it had struck six bells in the first watch.* Mr. Ean- 
 
 * This ordinary watch consists of four hours, and the bell is 
 struck every half-hour. As the first watch commences at eight,
 
 The Fight. 25 
 
 dolph, the senior mate, had charge of the deck. He, 
 I found, was not always inclined to agree with some 
 of the opinions held by our captain. 
 
 "He's a fine fellow, our skipper, but full of fancies, 
 as you'll find ; but there isn't a better seaman out of 
 the port of London," he observed, as he took a few 
 turns alongside me. " I have a notion that he believes 
 in the yarns of the Flying Dutchman, and of old Boody, 
 the Portsmouth chandler, and in many other such bits 
 of nonsense, but as I was saying " 
 
 " What, don't you ? " I asked, interrupting him ; " I 
 thought all sailors believed in those tales." 
 
 The captain had been narrating some of them to us 
 a few evenings before. 
 
 " No, I do not," answered the first mate, somewhat 
 sharply. " I believe that God made this water beneath 
 our feet, and that He sends the wind which sometimes 
 covers it over with sparkling ripples, and at others 
 stirs it up into foaming seas, but I don't think He lets 
 spirits or ghosts of any sort wander about doing no 
 good to any one. That's my philosophy. I don't in- 
 tend to belief in the stuff till I see one of the gentlemen ; 
 and then I shall look pretty sharply into his character 
 before I take my hat off to him." 
 
 " You are right, Mr. Randolph, and I do not sup- 
 pose that the captain differs much from you. He only 
 wishes to guard against mortal enemies, and he has 
 
 it was then eleven. There are two dog-watches from four to 
 six and from six to eight p.m., in order that the same men may 
 not be on duty at the same hours each day.
 
 26 James Braithwaite. 
 
 shown that he is in earnest in thinking that there is 
 some danger, by having come on deck every half-hour 
 or oftener during the night. There he is again." 
 
 Captain Hassall stood before us : " Cast loose and 
 load the guns, Mr. Kandolph, and send a quarter- 
 master to serve out the small arms to the watch," 
 he said quietly ; " there has been a sail on our quarter 
 for some minutes past, which may possibly be one of 
 the convoy, but she may not. Though she carries but 
 little canvas she is creeping up to us." 
 
 The mate and I while talking had not observed the 
 vessel the captain pointed out. " The skipper has 
 sharp eyes," said the first mate, as he parted from me 
 to obey the orders he had received. Our crew had 
 been frequently exercised at the guns. Having loaded 
 and run them out, the watch came tumbling aft to the 
 arm chest. Cutlasses were buckled on and pistols 
 quickly loaded, and boarding pikes placed along the 
 bulwarks ready for use. The men did not exactly 
 understand what all this preparation was for, but that 
 was nothing to them. It signified fighting, and most 
 British seamen are ready for that at any time. The 
 captain now joined me in my walk. " It is better to 
 be prepared, though nothing come of it, than to be 
 taken unawares," he observed. "It is the principle I 
 have gone on, and as it is a sound one, I intend to 
 continue it as long as I live." I agreed with him. 
 We walked the deck together for twenty minutes or 
 more, engaged in conversation. His eye was constantly 
 during the time looking over our starboard quarter.
 
 The Fight. 27 
 
 Even I could at length distinguish the dim outline of 
 a vessel in that direction. Gradually the sails of a 
 ship with taut raking masts became visible. 
 
 " That craft is not one of our convoy, and I doubt 
 that she comes among us for any good purpose," 
 exclaimed the captain. " I should like to bring the 
 frigate down upon the fellow, but we should lose our 
 share of the work, and I think that we can manage 
 him ourselves. Call the starboard watch, Mr. Stubbs. 
 
 The men soon came tumbling up from below, rather 
 astonished at being so soon called. The other officers 
 were also soon on deck. Mr. Randolph agreed that 
 the stranger, which hung on our quarter like some ill- 
 omened bird of prey, had an exceedingly suspicious 
 appearance, and that we were only acting with ordinary 
 prudence in being prepared for him. 
 
 " The fellow won't fire, as he would bring the 
 frigate down upon him if he did," observed the first 
 mate; " he will therefore either run alongside in the 
 hopes of surprising us, and taking us" by boarding 
 before we have time to fire a pistol, which would 
 attract notice, or, should the wind fall light, he may 
 hope to cut us out with his boats." 
 
 Eight bells struck. We could hear the sound borne 
 faintly over the waters from two of the Indiarnen to 
 windward of us, but no echo came from the deck of 
 the stranger. The men were ordered to lie down 
 under the bulwarks till wanted. Had Captain Hassall 
 thought fit, he might, by making sail, have got out of 
 danger, but he had hopes that instead of being taken
 
 28 James Braithwalle. 
 
 by the stranger he might take him. It struck me that 
 we might be running an unwarrantable risk of getting 
 the vessel or cargo injured by allowing ourselves to be 
 attacked. 
 
 " Not in the least," answered the captain ; " we 
 serve as a bait to the fellow, and shall benefit directly 
 by catching him. If we were to give the alarm he 
 would be off like a shot, and depend on it he has a fast 
 pair of heels, or he would not venture in among us, so 
 that the frigate would have little chance of catchin^ 
 
 O O 
 
 him." 
 
 The truth is, Captain Ilassall had made up his mind 
 to do something to boast of. Orders were now given 
 to the men to remain perfectly silent ; the stranger 
 was drawing closer and closer ; grapnels had been got 
 ready to heave on board him, and to hold him fast 
 should it be found advisable. It was, however, pos- 
 sible that his crew might so greatly outnumber ours 
 that this would prove a dangerous proceeding. As to 
 our men, they knew when they shipped that they 
 might have to fight, and they all now seemed in good 
 heart, so that we had no fear on the score of their 
 failing us. Our officers were one and all full of fight, 
 though each exhibited his feelings in a different way. 
 The surgeon's only fear seemed to be that the stranger 
 would prove a friend instead of a foe, and that there 
 would be no skirmish after all. 
 
 " She's some craft one of the other vessels has fallen 
 in with, and she has just joined company for protec- 
 tion," he observed. " For my part I shall turn in, as
 
 The Fight. 29 
 
 I am not likely to be wanted, either to fight or to 
 dress wounds." 
 
 JThe wind, which had much fallen, had just freshened 
 up again. " Whatever he is, friend or foe, here he 
 comes," exclaimed Mr. Randolph. " Steady, lads ! " 
 cried the captain, " don't move till I give tho 
 word." 
 
 As he spoke the stranger glided up, her dark sails 
 appearing to tower high above ours. We kept on our 
 course as if she was not perceived. With one sheer 
 she was alongside, there was a crash as her yards 
 locked with ours, and at the same moment numerous 
 dark forms appeared in her rigging and nettings about 
 to leap on to our deck. " Now give it them ! " cried 
 our captain. Our men sprang to their feet and fired 
 a broadside through the bulwarks of the enemy. The 
 cries and shrieks which were echoed back showed the 
 havoc which had been caused. Shouts and blows, the 
 clash of cutlasses, the flash of pistols, immediately 
 followed. I felt a stinging sensation in my shoulder, 
 but was too excited to think anything of it as I stood, 
 cutlass in hand, ready to repel our assailants. Many 
 of those who were about to board us must have sprung 
 back, or fallen into the water ; a few only reached our 
 deck, who were at once cut down by our people. One 
 man sprang close to where I stood. I was about to 
 fire my pistol at him, when I saw that he was un- 
 armed, so I dragged him across the deck out of harm's 
 way. The next instant the vessels parted. 
 
 " Give it them, my lads ! ' Load and fire as fast as
 
 3O James Braithwaite. 
 
 you can, or they will escape us," cried the captain in 
 an excited tone. 
 
 " Wing them ! wing them ! knock away their spars, 
 lads ! " He next ordered the helm to be put down, 
 the tacks hauled aboard, and chase to be made after 
 our flying foe, while a blue light was burned to show 
 our locality, and to prevent the frigate from firing 
 into us when she followed, as we hoped she would. 
 
 We had no doubt that the enemy, when he met with 
 the warm reception we had given him, took us for a 
 man-of-war corvette, and on this came to the conclusion 
 that prudence was the best part of valour. There 
 could be little doubt, however, that he would soon 
 discover that our guns were of no great size ; and then 
 possibly he might turn on us, and give us more of his 
 quality than would be desirable. Still we kept on 
 peppering away at him as fast as we could, in the 
 hopes of bringing down one of his masts, and enabling 
 the frigate to come up. The lights of the convoy were, 
 however, by this time almost lost sight of. In vain 
 we looked out for a signal of the approach of the 
 frigate. No gun was heard, no light was seen. We 
 were afraid of losing the convoy altogether, and 
 certainly it would have been against the spirit of our 
 instructions to have attempted to deal single-handed 
 with our opponent. Giving the enemy a parting shot 
 most reluctantly, Captain Hassall therefore ordered 
 the helm to be put up, and we ran back in the direc- 
 tion in which we expected to find the convoy.
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 "GOODBYE" TO THE CONVOY. 
 
 " "1 TILLO ! 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 pro- 
 ceeded, 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 an- 
 swered, 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
 
 32 James Braithwaite. 
 
 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 with- 
 out 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 1 thought to myself, The safest 
 plan is to jump aboard, and if I escape a knock on
 
 " Good-bye" to the Convoy. 33 
 
 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 Co. 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 
 
 3
 
 34 James Braithwaile. 
 
 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 Honor- 
 able 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 gentle- 
 man 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
 
 " Good-bye" to the Convoy. 35 
 
 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, 1801. 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. Lieu- 
 tenant 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 es'cape 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 
 I^oyal 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
 
 36 James Braithwaite. 
 
 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 manoauvre 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
 
 " Good-bye " to the Convoy. 37 
 
 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
 
 38 James Braithwaite. 
 
 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 
 ver}'- 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 India-
 
 " Good-bye " to the Convoy. 39 
 
 men 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, mon- 
 sieur, 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.
 
 40 James Brailhwaite. 
 
 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 Honorable East India Company's ship 
 Exeter,' answered Captain Meriton, with a bow which 
 beat the Frenchman's. 
 
 " ' What, to a merchantman ? ' exclaimed the French- 
 man, 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.
 
 " Good-bye" to the Convoy. 41 
 
 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 gentle- 
 man 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 pro- 
 ceeded on our voyage, as 1 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
 
 42 James Braithwaite. 
 
 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 cere- 
 mony, practised by those bold voyagers, the Cartha- 
 ginians; 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 de- 
 scription 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
 
 " Good-bye " to the Convoy. 43 
 
 to open, and, to get them caulked and other repairs 
 executed, we bore up for St. 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 St. 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,
 
 44 James Braithwaite. 
 
 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.
 
 " Good-bye " to the Convoy. 45 
 
 " 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 know- 
 ledge 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 dock-yard, 
 where a fifty-gun ship was building, and several 
 smaller vessels of war. We were looking at one re- 
 pairing 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
 
 46 James Braitkwaite. 
 
 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
 
 " Good- dye" to the Convoy. 47 
 
 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 re- 
 turned 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.
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 THE " BARBARA " ON FIRE. 
 
 "VTT E had got our decks caulked, our rigging set up, 
 * * and other repairs finished, when, one forenoon, 
 O'Carroll, who had at length ventured on shore, re- 
 turned in a great hurry with the information that 
 there was much bustle on board the Mignorme, and 
 that her people were evidently hurrying to the utmost 
 to get ready for sea. Had Captain Hassall followed 
 his own inclinations, he would have given the piratical 
 Frenchman the opportunity of trying his strength with 
 the Barbara ; but as that would have been decidedly 
 objected to by Garrard, Janrin and Co., we, with the 
 whaler and her prize, and another English vessel, 
 cleared out as secretly as we could, and, with a fair 
 breeze, put to sea. We had to lay to for the other 
 vessels, and after they had joined us Captain Brown 
 hailed us, to say that the look-out from his maintop- 
 gallant masthead had seen a large ship coming out of 
 the harbour under all sail, and that he thought it 
 
 o 
 
 possible she might be the Mignonne. As, however, 
 a mist had soon afterwards arisen, she was concealed 
 from sight. We promised, however, to stand to the 
 northward with Captain Brown during the night, and
 
 The " Barbara " on Fire. 49 
 
 in the morning, should no enemy be in sight, let him 
 and his consorts proceed on their voyage homewards, 
 while we kept on our course for the Cape of Good 
 Hope. Nothing could have given our people greater 
 satisfaction than to have found the Frenchman close 
 to us at daybreak. I spent most of the night in 
 writing letters home, to send by the whaler. When 
 morning dawned, not a sail, except our own little 
 squadron, was to be seen. We kept company till 
 noon, and then, with mutual good wishes, stood away 
 on our respective courses. We hoped that the Mlg- 
 nonne would follow the Barbara rather than our 
 friends, should she really have sailed in chase of any 
 of us. The possibility of our being pursued created 
 much excitement on board. At early dawn, till the 
 evening threw its mantle over the ocean, we had 
 volunteers at the mastheads looking out for a strange 
 sail. At the end of four or five days all expectation 
 of again meeting with the Mignonne ceased, somewhat 
 to the disappointment of most of the crew, who were 
 wonderfully full of fight. Having beaten the French- 
 man once, they were very sure that they could beat 
 him again. We had other good reasons for having 
 our eyes about us first, to avoid in time any foe too 
 big to tackle; and then, as we had the right to capture 
 any Spanish vessels we might fall in with, to keep a 
 look-out for them. However, the ocean is very broad, 
 and though we chased several vessels, they all proved 
 to be Portuguese. After sighting the little rocky and 
 then uninhabited island of Tristan D'Acunha, we made 
 
 4
 
 50 James Braithimite. 
 
 the Cape of Good Hope, and, entering Table Bay, 
 dropped our anchor off Capetown. 
 
 The colony had lately been recaptured from the 
 Dutch by Sir David Baird and Sir Home Popham, 
 with a well-appointed force of 5,000 men. The two 
 armies met on the plain at the foot of Table Mountain ; 
 but scarcely had the action been commenced by General 
 Ferguson, at the head of the Highland brigade, than 
 the wise Hollanders, considering that the English were 
 likely to prove as good masters as the French, retreated, 
 and soon after offered to capitulate, which they were 
 allowed to do with all the honours of war. The Dutch, 
 French, and English were now living on very friendly 
 terms with each other. The Cape colony, with its 
 clean, well-laid-out English capital, its Table Moun- 
 tain and Table Cloth, its vineyards, its industrious 
 and sturdy Boers, its Hottentot slaves, and its warlike 
 Kaffirs, is too well known to require a description. I 
 did a good deal of trading a matter of private interest 
 to Garrard, Janrin and Co., so I will not speak of it. 
 The ship was put to rights, we enjoyed ourselves very 
 much on shore, and were once more at sea. Strong 
 easterly winds drove us again into the Atlantic, and 
 when we had succeeded in beating back to the latitude 
 of Capetown, the weather, instead of improving, looked 
 more threatening than ever. I had heard of the pecu- 
 liar swell off the Cape, but I had formed no conception 
 of the immense undulations I now beheld. They came 
 rolling on slow and majestically, solid-looking, like 
 mountains of malachite, heaving up our stout ship as
 
 The "Barbara" on Fire. 51 
 
 if she were a mere chip of deal cast on the face of the 
 ocean. We were alone on the waste of waters, no 
 other objects in sight besides these huge green masses, 
 which, as the clouds gathered, were every instant 
 becoming of a darker and more leaden hue. 
 
 " We shall get a breeze soon, and I hope that it 
 will be from the right quarter for us," I remarked to 
 Benjie Stubbs, the second mate, who had charge of 
 the deck. 
 
 " We shall have a breeze, and more than we want, 
 Pusser" (intended for Purser, a name Benjie always 
 persisted in giving me), he answered, glancing round 
 the horizon. " You've not seen anything like this 
 before, eh ? A man must come to sea to know what's 
 what. There are strange sights on the ocean." 
 
 " So I have always heard," I remarked. 
 
 " Yes, you'd have said so if you had been on deck 
 last night in the middle watch," he observed, in a 
 low tone. 
 
 " How so ! what happened ? " I asked. 
 
 " Why, just this," he answered. " There was not 
 more wind than there is now, and the sky was clear, 
 with a slice of a moon shining brightly, when, just as 
 I was looking along its wake, what did I see but a 
 full-rigged, old-fashioned ship, under all sail, bearing 
 down towards us at a tremendous rate. When she 
 got within a couple of hundred fathoms of us she 
 hove-to and lowered a boat. I guessed well enough 
 what she was, so, running forward, I cast loose one of 
 the guns and pointed at the boat. They aboard the
 
 5 2 James Braithwaite. 
 
 stranger knew what I was after ; the boat was hoisted 
 in again, and away she went right in the teeth of the 
 wind." 
 
 " Did you see this last night ? " I asked, looking the 
 mate in the face. " I should like to speak to some of 
 the men who saw it at the same time." 
 
 " I don't say all saw it. You may ask those who 
 did, and you won't get a different story from what 
 I've told you," he replied. 
 
 " And what think you was the ship you saw ? " I 
 asked. 
 
 " The Flying Dutchman* of course, and no manner 
 of doubt about the matter," he answered promptly. 
 " If you had been on the look-out you would have 
 seen him as clearly as I did. Remember, Pusser, if 
 you ever fall in with him, don't let him come aboard, 
 that's all. He'll send you to the bottom as surely as 
 if a red-hot shot was to be dropped into the hold." 
 
 " Who is this Flying Dutchman ? " I asked, wishing 
 to humour Benjie by pretending to believe his story. 
 
 " Why, as to that, there are two opinions," he an- 
 swered, as if he was speaking of authenticated facts. 
 " Some say that he was an honest trader, that he was 
 bound in for Table Bay, when he was ordered off by 
 the authorities, and that, putting to sea, he was lost; 
 others say that he was a piratical gentleman, and that 
 
 * We never hear of the Flying DutcJiman now-a-days. The fact 
 is that he had the monopoly of sailing or going along rather in the 
 teeth of the wind. Now steamers have cut him out, and he is fain to 
 hide his diminished head.
 
 The "Barbara" on Fire. 53 
 
 on one occasion, when short of provisions, being driven 
 off the land by contrary winds, he swore a great oath 
 that he would beat about till the day of doom, but 
 that get in he would. He and all his crew died of 
 starvation, but the oath has been kept ; and when 
 gales are threatening, or mischief Of any kind brewing, 
 he is to be met with, trying in vain to accomplish his 
 vow." 
 
 I smiled at Benjie's account, whereat he pretended 
 to look very indignant, as if I had doubted his veracity. 
 I afterwards made inquiries among the seamen. Two 
 or three asserted that they had witnessed an extra- 
 ordinary sight during the night, but they all differed 
 considerably in their accounts. It may be supposed 
 that they were trying to practise on the credulity of a 
 greenhorn. My belief is that they really fancied that 
 they had seen what they described. 
 
 The clouds grew thicker and thicker till they got as 
 black as ink. The sea became of a dark leaden hue, 
 and the swell increased in height, so that when we 
 sank down into the intermediate valley, we could not 
 see from the deck-beyond the watery heights on either 
 side of us. 
 
 " Ah, the skipper is right ; we shall have it before 
 long, hot and furious." 
 
 This remark, made by Benjie Stubbs, followed the 
 captain's order to send down all our lighter spars, and 
 to make everything secure on deck, as well as below. 
 The ship was scarcely made snug before the tempest 
 broke on us. The high, smooth rollers were now
 
 54 James Braithwaite. 
 
 torn and wrenched asunder as it were, their summits 
 wreathed with masses of foam, which curled over as 
 they advanced against the wind, and breaking into 
 fragments, blew off in masses of snowy whiteness to 
 leeward. I scarcely thought that a fabric formed by 
 human hands could have sustained the rude shocks we 
 encountered till the ship was got on her course, and 
 we were able to scud before the gale. Often the sea 
 rose up like a dead wall, and seemed as if it must fall 
 over our deck and send us to the bottom. The scene 
 was trying in the daytime, but still more so when 
 darkness covered the face of the deep, and it needed 
 confidence in the qualities of our ship, and yet greater 
 in God's protecting power, not to feel overcome with 
 dread. There was a grandeur in the spectacle which 
 kept me on deck, and it was not till after the steward 
 had frequently summoned me to supper that I could 
 tear myself from it. Curious was the change to the 
 well-lighted, handsome cabin, with the supper things 
 securely placed between fiddles and puddings * on the 
 swing table. The first mate had charge of the deck. 
 Stubbs was busily employed fortifying his nerves. 
 "You now know, Pusser, what a gale off the Cape 
 is," he observed, looking up with his mouth half full 
 of beef and biscuit. 
 
 " Yes, indeed," said I. " Fine weather, too, for your 
 friend the Dutchman to be cruising." 
 
 " Ay, and likely enough we shall see him, too," he 
 answered. " It was just such a night as this, some 
 * Contrivances to prevent articles falling off a table at sea.
 
 The "Barbara" on Fire. 55 
 
 five years back, that we fell in with him off here ; and 
 our consort, as sound a ship as ever left the Thames, 
 with all hands, was lost. It's my belief that he put a 
 boat aboard her by one of his tricks." I saw Captain 
 Hassall and Irby exchange glances. Stubbs was getting 
 on his favourite subject. 
 
 " Well, now, I've doubled this Cape a dozen times or 
 more, and have never yet once set eyes on this Dutch 
 friend of yours, Benjie," exclaimed O'Carroll. " Mind 
 you call me if we sight his craft ; I should like to ' ya, 
 ya' a little with him, and just ask him where he comes 
 from, and what he's about, and maybe if I put the 
 question in a civil way I'll get a civil answer." By- 
 the-bye, Captain Hassall and I had been so well pleased 
 with O'Carroll, and so satisfied as to his thorough 
 knowledge of the regions we were about to visit and 
 the language of the people, that we had retained him 
 on board as supernumerary mate. 
 
 " Don't you go and speak to him now, if you value 
 the safety of the ship, or our lives," exclaimed Stubbs, 
 in a tone of alarm. "You don't know what trick 
 he'll play you if you do. Let such gentry alone, 
 say I." 
 
 We all laughed at the second mate's earnestness, 
 though I cannot say that all the rest of those present 
 disbelieved in the existence of the condemned Dutch- 
 man. The state of the atmosphere, the strange, wild, 
 awful look of the ocean, prepared our minds for the 
 appearance of anything supernatural. The captain 
 told me that I looked ill and tired from having been
 
 56 James Braithwaite. 
 
 on deck so many hours, and insisted on my turning 
 in, which I at length unwillingly did. 
 
 In spite of the upheaving motion of the ship, and 
 the peculiar sensation as she rushed down the watery 
 declivity into the deep valley between the seas, I fell 
 asleep. The creaking of the bulkheads, the whistling 
 of the wind in the rigging, the roaring of the seas, and 
 their constant dash against the sides, were never out of 
 my ears, and oftentimes I fancied that I was on deck 
 witnessing the tumult of the ocean now that the 
 Flying Dutchman was in sight, now that our own good 
 ship was sinking down overwhelmed by the raging seas. 
 
 " Mr. Stubbs wants you on deck, sir ; she's in sight, 
 sir, he says, she's in sight," 1 heard a voice say, while 
 I felt my elbow shaken. The speaker was Jerry Nott, 
 our cabin-boy. I slipped on my clothes, scarcely know- 
 ing what I was about. 
 
 " What o'clock is it ? " I asked. " Gone two bells in 
 the morning watch," he answered. I sprang on deck. 
 The dawn had broke. The wind blew as hard as ever. 
 The sky and sea were of a leaden grey hue, the only 
 spots of white were the foaming crests of the seas and 
 our closely-reefed foretop sails. " There, there ! Do 
 you see her now ? " asked Stubbs, pointing ahead. As 
 we rose to the top of a giant sea I could just discover 
 in the far distance, dimly seen amid the driving spray, 
 the masts of a ship, with more canvas set than I should 
 have supposed would have been shown to such a gale. 
 While I was looking I saw another ship not far beyond 
 the first. We were clearly nearing them.
 
 The u Barbara " on Fire. 57 
 
 " What do you think of that ? " asked Stubbs. 
 
 "That there are two ships making very bad weather 
 of it, Mr. Stubbs," answered the captain, who at that 
 moment had come on deck. He took a look through 
 his glass. 
 
 " She is a large ship a line-of-battle ship, I suspect," 
 he observed. 
 
 "Looks like one," said Stubbs. "She'll look like 
 something else by-and-by." 
 
 The rest of the officers had now joined us except 
 Mr. Randolph, who had the middle watch. We were 
 all watching the strangers together. Now, as we sank 
 down into the hollow, the masses of spray which blew 
 off from the huge sea uprising between us and them, 
 hid them from our sight. Some differed with the 
 captain as to the size of the largest ship. One or two 
 thought that she was an Indiaman. However, she 
 was still so distant, and in the grey dawn so misty- 
 looking and indistinct, that it was difficult to decide 
 the question. The captain himself was not certain. 
 " However, we shall soon be able to settle the matter," 
 he observed, as the Barbara, now on the summit of a. 
 mountain billow, was about to glide down the steep 
 incline. Down, down, we went it seemed that we 
 should never be able to climb the opposite height. 
 We were all looking out for the strangers, expecting to 
 settle the disputed point. " Where are they ? " burst 
 from the lips of all of us. " Where, where ? " We 
 looked, we rubbed our eyes no sail was in sight. 
 "I knew it would be so," said Stubbs, in a tone in
 
 58 James Braithwaite. 
 
 which I perceived a thrill of horror. O' Carroll as- 
 serted that he had caught sight of the masts of a ship 
 as if sinking beneath the waves. 
 
 "Very likely," observed Stubbs, "that was of the 
 ship he was sending to the bottom, the other was 
 the Dutchman, and you don't see her now." 
 
 " No, no, they were craft carrying human beings, 
 and they have foundered without a chance of one man 
 out of the many hundreds on board being saved ! " 
 exclaimed the captain. 
 
 Stubbs shook his head as if he doubted it. We 
 careered on towards the spot where the ships had 
 gone down, for that real ships had been there no 
 doubt could be entertained. A strict look-out was 
 kept for anything that might still be floating to prove 
 that we had not been deceived by some phantom 
 forms. Those on the look-out forward reported an 
 object ahead. ' ' A boat ! a boat ! " shouted one of them. 
 " No boat could live in such a sea," observed the 
 captain. He was right. As we approached, we saw 
 a grating, to which a human being was clinging. It 
 was, when first seen, on the starboard bow, and it was, 
 alas ! evident that we should leave him at too great 
 a distance even to heave a rope to which he might 
 clutch. By his dress he appeared to be a seaman. He 
 must have observed our approach ; but he knew well 
 enough that we could make no attempt to save him. 
 He gazed at us steadily as we glided by his counte- 
 nance seemed calm he uttered no cry still he clung 
 to his frail raft. He could not make up his mind to
 
 The " BCD bar a " on Fire. 59. 
 
 yield to death. It was truly a painful sight. We 
 anxiously watched him till we left the raft to which 
 he still clung far astern. No other person was seen, 
 but other objects were seen floating spars, planks, 
 gratings to prove that we were near a spot where a 
 tall ship had gone down. " It is better so," observed 
 the captain ; " unless the sea had cast them on our 
 deck we could not have saved one of them." We 
 rushed on up and down the watery heights, Stubbs as 
 firmly convinced as ever that the Flying Dutchman 
 had produced the fearful catastrophe we had witnessed. 
 On we went the gale in no way abating. I 
 watched the mountain seas till I grew weary of look- 
 ing at them ; still I learned to feel perfectly secure a 
 sensation I was at first very far from experiencing. 
 Yet much, if not everything, depended on the sound- 
 ness of our spars and rigging: a. flaw in the wood or 
 rope might be the cause of our destruction. I went 
 below at meal-time, but I hurried again on deck, 
 fascinated by the scene, though I would gladly have 
 shut it out from my sight. At length, towards night, 
 literally wearied with the exertion of keeping my feet 
 and watching those giant seas, I went below and 
 turned in. I slept, but the huge white-crested waves 
 were still rolling before me, and big ships were found- 
 ering, and phantom vessels were sailing in the wind's 
 eye, and I heard the bulkheads creaking, the wind 
 whistling, and the waves roaring, as loudly as if I was 
 awake ; only I often assigned a wrong sign to the up- 
 roar. Hour after hour this continued, when, as I had
 
 6o James Braithwaite. 
 
 at last gone' off more soundly, a crash echoed in my 
 ears, followed by shrieks and cries. It did not, how- 
 ever, awake me. It seemed a part of the strange 
 dreams in which I was indulging. I thought that the 
 ship had struck on a rock, that I escaped to the shore, 
 had climbed up a lofty cliff, on the summit of which 
 I found a wood fire surrounded by savages. They 
 dragged me to it I had the most fearful forebodings 
 of what they were about to do. Then I heard the 
 cry, " Fire ! fire ! " That was a reality the smell of 
 fire was in my nostrils I started up I was alone in 
 the cabin. The ship was plunging about in an awful 
 manner. I hurried on my clothes and rushed on 
 deck. Daylight had broke. The ship lately so trim 
 seemed a perfect wreck. The foremast had been 
 carried away, shivered to the deck, and hung over the 
 bows, from which part of the crew were endeavouring 
 to clear it. The main and mizen topmasts had like- 
 wise been carried away. Smoke was coming up the 
 fore hatchway, down which the rest of the people 
 were pouring buckets of water. I went forward to 
 render assistance. The foremast had been struck by 
 lightning, and the electric fluid, after shattering it, had 
 descended into the hold and set the ship on fire. We 
 worked with the desperation of despair. Should the 
 fire once gain the mastery, no human power could 
 save us. The sea was running as high as ever; it was 
 with difficulty that the ship could be kept before it. 
 I exchanged but a few words with my companions ; a 
 bucket was put into my hands, and I at once saw
 
 The "Barbara" on Fire. 61 
 
 what I had to do. The smoko after a time had de- 
 creased, for as yet no flames had burst forth. " Now, 
 lads, follow me," cried Kandolph, the first, officer, 
 leaping below with his bucket and an axe in his hand. 
 Irby and four men sprang after him. With his axe 
 the mate cut a way to get at the heart of the fire. 
 We handed down buckets to his companions, who 
 kept emptying them round where he was working. 
 The smoke was still stifling. Those below could 
 scarcely be seen as they worked amidst it. The bulk- 
 head was cut through. The seat of the mischief was 
 discovered. Flames were bursting forth, but wet 
 blankets were thrown on them. The buckets were 
 passed rapidly down. The smoke was decreasing. 
 " Hurrah, lads ! we shall have it under ! " cried the 
 first mate, in an encouraging tone. We breathed 
 more freely. The fire was subdued. The peril had 
 indeed been great. We had now to clear the wreck 
 of the mast, which threatened to stave in the bows. 
 " The gale is breaking," cried the captain, after looking 
 round the horizon; "cheer up, my lads, and we shall 
 do well ! " Encouraged by the captain the men la- 
 boured on, though from the violent working of the 
 ship it was not without great difficulty and danger 
 that the mass of spars, ropes, and canvas could be 
 hauled on board or cast adrift. As a landsman my 
 assistance was not of much value, though I stood by 
 clinging to the bulwarks, to lend a hand in case I 
 should be required. 
 
 While glancing to windward, as I did every now
 
 62 James Braithwaite. 
 
 and then, in hopes of seeing signs of the abatement of 
 the gale, I caught sight of v/hat seemed the wing of 
 an albatross, skimming the summit of a tossing sea. 
 I looked again and again. There it still was as at first. 
 I pointed it out to the captain. "A sail running 
 down towards us, " he observed ; " it is to be hoped 
 that she is a friend, for we are in a sorry plight to 
 meet with a foe." The captain's remark made me feel 
 not a little anxious as to the character of the approach- 
 ing stranger. After a time it became evident that the 
 wind was really falling. The wreck of the mast was 
 at last cleared away, but a calm sea would be required 
 before we could attempt to get up a jurymast. We 
 had watched the approach of the stranger : she was 
 steering directly for us. As she drew nearer I saw 
 0' Carroll examining her narrowly through the glass. 
 "Here comes the Flying Dutchman again," I ob- 
 served to Stubbs. 
 
 "Not at all certain that she isn't," he answered, 
 quite in a serious tone. 
 
 " No, she's not that, but she's ten times worse," ex- 
 claimed O'Carroll ; " she is the Mignonne, as I am a 
 seaman, and will be bothering us pretty considerably, 
 depend on that." 
 
 We heartily hoped that he was mistaken, but cer- 
 tainly she was very like the craft we had seen at St. 
 Salvador. She passed us as near as the heavy sea 
 still running would allow her to do without danger 
 to herself. A man was standing in the mizen rigging. 
 I caught sight of his face through my telescope. I
 
 The ^Barbara" 1 " 1 on Fire. 63 
 
 thought that I distinguished a look of satisfaction in 
 
 O O 
 
 his countenance as he gazed at us. " That's La Roche ; 
 I know the villain !" cried O' Carroll; " I thought from 
 what I heard that he was bound out here. He'll 
 work us ill, depend on that." We now wished that 
 the sea had continued to run as high as it had hitherto 
 been doing, when it would have been impossible for 
 the privateer to have boarded us. It was now, how- 
 ever, rapidly going down, though as yet it was too 
 rough to allow her to attempt to run alongside. It 
 was possible that she might pass us. No ! After 
 running on a short distance her yards were braced 
 sharp up, and she stood back, with the evident inten- 
 tion of attacking our helpless craft.
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 .4 DESPERATE ENCOUNTER. 
 
 /"VCARROLL'S alarm increased as he saw the 
 ^-^ privateer approaching. " We shall all have our 
 throats cut to a certainty," he cried out. " They will 
 not leave one of us alive to go home to our discon- 
 solate widows to tell them all that has happened. I 
 know them too well, the villains ! Arrah ! it was an 
 unfortunate moment that ever I was brought to tumble 
 twice into the hands of such gentry." 
 
 " We are not in their hands yet, and if we make 
 u good fight of it, maybe we never shall," exclaimed 
 Captain Hassall. " My lads, if you'll stand by me, I'll 
 hold out as long as the craft can float. We beat off 
 this same fellow once before let's try if we can't beat 
 him off again." 
 
 This brief address inspirited our crew, and, almost 
 worn out with fatigue as they were, they promised to 
 defend themselves to the last. My sensations, as we 
 saw the enemy approach, were not altogether pleasant. 
 We might beat him off in the end ; but even that, in 
 our present condition, was not likely ; and how many 
 of our number might not be struck down in the 
 struggle ! In the meantime, the men armed them-
 
 A Desperate Encounter. 65 
 
 selves with pistols and cutlasses, powder and shot 
 were got up, and every preparation made for the fight. 
 The enemy approached, but as he had run to leeward, 
 it was some time before he could work up to pass us 
 to windward. We had carried a stay from the main- 
 mast to the bowsprit, and on this we managed to set 
 a sail, so that the ship was tolerably under control. 
 When the enemy, therefore, at last passed under our 
 stern, we were able to luff up and avoid the raking 
 fire he poured in. No damage was done to any of our 
 people, but a shot struck the mainmast, and wounded 
 it so badly that it was evident that, with any addi- 
 tional strain, it would be carried away altogether. 
 Putting up the helm, we again ran off before the wind. 
 The enemy was soon after us, but though he came up 
 abeam in the heavy sea still running, his aim was of 
 necessity uncertain, and for some time not a shot struck 
 us, while several of ours struck him. This encouraged 
 our men, who gave vent to their satisfaction whenever 
 he was hulled, or a shot went through his sails. Our 
 hopes of success were, however, soon brought to an 
 end, for, as we were compelled to luff up suddenly, to 
 avoid being raked, as he was about to cross our bows, 
 the heavy strain on our wounded mast carried it away, 
 and with it the mizen topmast, and there we lay a 
 helpless wreck in the trough of the sea, at the mercy 
 of the enemy. Still, as we could work our guns we 
 would not give in, but hoisting our flag on the mizen- 
 mast we continued firing' as long as we could bring 
 our guns to bear. A loud cheer burst from the throats 
 
 5
 
 66 James Braithwaite. 
 
 of our crew; the Frenchman was standing away. This 
 exultation was rather too precipitate. As soon as he 
 got out of range of our guns, he hove-to and began 
 firing away from a long gun, the shot from which 
 occasionally hit us. One poor fellow was killed and 
 two wounded. It was clear that the privateer was 
 merely waiting till the sea should go down, when he 
 would run alongside and capture us without difficulty. 
 
 Captain Hassall at last, seeing what must inevitably 
 occur, called the officers round him, and proposed sur- 
 rendering. " The villains will cut all our throats if we 
 do, that's all," observed O'Carroll. "I would rather 
 hold out to the last and sell our lives dearly." Most 
 of us were of O'Carroll's opinion. 
 
 " Very well, gentlemen, so let it be," said the captain. 
 " I have done my duty in offering to surrender, when 
 I consider that successful resistance is hopeless ; still 
 I agree with you that it would be better to die fight- 
 ing than to be murdered in cold blood." 
 
 When our guns became useless, the crew had been 
 set to work to clear the wreck of the mainmast, and 
 to prepare sheers for a jury foremast. "And this is to 
 be the termination of our enterprise," I thought. I 
 must own I gave way to some bitter reflection. While 
 all hands were busily employed, I turned my eyes 
 westward, and there, in the very place where the 
 Mignonne had appeared, I saw another white sail. 
 I pointed her out to the captain. " She may be a 
 friend, and turn the tables," he observed. " If a foe 
 we shall not be worse off than at present."
 
 A Desperate Encounter. 67 
 
 It soon became known that a sail was in sight. The 
 crew came to the conclusion that she was a friend. 
 The Frenchmen at last saw her. Whatever opinion 
 they formed, they judged that it would be wise to 
 finish the fight and take possession of us. Once more 
 the enemy drew near. The firing became hotter than 
 ever. I turned many an anxious glance at the ap- 
 proaching sail. I felt sure that, in spite of the staunch- 
 ness of our men, we must inevitably be overpowered. 
 The stranger was getting closer and closer. 
 
 "She is a frigate !" cried the captain. "She shows 
 English colours ! hurrah ! hurrah ! " The enemy saw 
 that the chance of capturing us was gone. Sweeping 
 round us, with diabolical malice he gave a parting 
 broadside, which killed one man and wounded another, 
 and then under all the sail he could set ran of! before 
 the wind. The frigate had now also made more sail 
 and closed as rapidly. She came close to us. " Are 
 you in a sinking state ? " asked a voice from the frigate. 
 "I hope not," answered Captain Hassall. "Then hold 
 on and we'll come back to you," said the voice, which 
 we took to be that of the captain. As I was watching 
 the frigate through my glass, as she rushed by us, who 
 should I see standing in the main rigging but my own 
 midshipman brother William ! I waved heartily to him, 
 but he did not make me out. From my usual sedate 
 manners, my shipmates seeing my gestures thought 
 that I had gone mad, and was waving to be taken on 
 board the frigate. " She is the P/tcebe frigate," I ex- 
 claimed, jumping out of the rigging on deck. " No fear
 
 68 James Braithwaite. 
 
 that we shall be deserted now ! " I then explained 
 how I came to know the name of the frigate. All 
 hands were now set to work to get the ship to rights. 
 
 The chase, meantime, became very exciting. " The 
 captain does not know what a fast pair of heels that 
 privateering scoundrel possesses, or he would not have 
 much hopes of catching him," observed Captain Hassall, 
 as he watched the two vessels. The topsails of the 
 Frenchman soon disappeared beneath the horizon, and 
 the shades of evening at length closing down, we were 
 left alone on the world of waters, into which the heavy 
 swell made us roll our sides till we almost dipped our 
 bulwarks under each time showers of spray being 
 sent dripping off them. The enemy had made several 
 shot holes in our sides, and those were now, we found, 
 taking in the water faster than was altogether agree- 
 able. The carpenter and his mates had indeed hard 
 work to stop them. I have heard of people's hair 
 turning white in a single night. I felt as if mine 
 would, for it became doubtful if after all the ship 
 would swim, from the quantity of water she was tak- 
 ing in. We, indeed, had reason to regret that we had 
 allowed the frigate to leave us. At last the morning 
 broke. We eagerly looked round the horizon. No 
 sail was in sight. Would the ship float another day ? 
 The shot holes had been stopped, but should bad 
 weather again come on it would be impossible to say 
 what would be the effect on the vessel. Noon came, 
 but no sail was in sio'ht. We were afraid that the 
 
 o 
 
 cunning privateer had led the frigate a long chase,
 
 A Desperate Encounter. 69 
 
 perhaps among shoals and reefs, and that she had got 
 on shore, and that we might not see the frigate again. 
 
 " More likely that she was only the Flying Dutch- 
 man, taking a longer cruise than usual," muttered 
 Stubbs. " There's no saying what tricks that fellow 
 is not up to." 
 
 " What, not got the Dutchman out of your head 
 yet, Stubbs ? " said Randolph. " Why, Biddulph saw 
 his brother on board, and two or three of our people 
 know the Phoebe, and recognised her." 
 
 "Yes, I know that's what often happens. The 
 Dutchman can make his ship look like &ny vessel he 
 chooses," persisted Stubbs ; " naturally that is to 
 say as she generally appears she is a curious old- 
 fashioned rigged craft you may depend on that." 
 
 While we were speaking taking a breath between 
 our labours, for all hands had been working hard " A 
 sail, a sail ! " was shouted by one of the seamen. We 
 all looked in the direction in which he pointed, and 
 there appeared the upper sails of a ship. Our hopes 
 made us believe that it was the frigate. " As likely 
 the Frenchman come to finish us off, or maybe only 
 the Flying Dutclunan again," said Sbubbs. I thought 
 that I detected a gleam of humour in his eye, as if he 
 was not quite so credulous as he pretended to be. As 
 the stranger approached, the belief that she was the 
 Phoebe gained ground. At length those who knew 
 her best said that there was no doubt about the matter. 
 They were right. Before dark she hove-to close to us, 
 and a boat with a midshipman in her boarded us.
 
 70 James Braithwaite. 
 
 The midshipman was my brother William. He almost 
 tumbled back with surprise at seeing me, for he did 
 not even know that I was coming out. 
 
 " Why, James, where have you sprung from ? " he 
 exclaimed. " I am thankful to see you unhurt, for we 
 have been anxious about you all day. Couldn't tell 
 how much damage the rascal might have done you. 
 Well, he escaped after all. He has a fast pair of 
 heels, indeed, and he led us a pretty chase, till he got 
 in among some reefs, on which we were nearly leaving 
 our bones. We saw our danger, however, and by the 
 time we were clear he was out of sight." 
 
 The boat's crew were directed to remain on board 
 to put the ship to rights. When, however, Captain 
 Young found that this would occupy some time, he 
 offered to take us in tow. A hawser was accordingly 
 passed on board, and away we went in the wake of 
 the frigate. Our course was for the Isle of Bourbon, 
 lately captured from the French. At the end of a 
 week we anchored in the Bay of St. Paul in that 
 island. On our way there we had done our best to 
 get the ship in order. Our crew were now set to 
 work in earnest, aided by some of the men of the 
 Phoebe, who were kindly spared to us by her captain. 
 I took the opportunity of seeing something of the 
 island. My brother William and some of the other 
 midshipmen of the Phoebe got leave to accompany me, 
 and merry parties we had. 
 
 Bourbon is about one hundred and fifty miles in 
 circumference, and rises rapidly from the sea, forming
 
 A Desperate Encounter. 71 
 
 one huge blunt-topped mountain in the centre ; indeed, 
 the whole island is not unlike a big tea-cup in the 
 middle of the ocean, with some rather large cracks, 
 however, in it. It is generally fertile, coffee and 
 cotton being grown on it. On the south side, a few 
 miles from the sea, there is a volcano, which grumbled 
 and growled, but seldom did more than send forth a 
 little smoke. The inhabitants did not appear to be 
 at all soured at having been placed under British rule. 
 Probably, indeed, it was a matter of indifference to 
 them, for they have themselves sprung from a mixture 
 of half the races under the sun. Many of the inhabi- 
 tants are descended from some of those English pirates 
 whose headquarters were, for nearly a hundred years, 
 on the island of Madagascar, but who, about the 
 middle of the seventeenth century, growing weary of 
 their lawless calling, settled here. As their wives 
 were mostly from Madagascar, they are somewhat 
 darkish, but not bad-looking. They are a lively, 
 merry race, fond of dancing, and their climate is 
 delightful. The names of some of the families be- 
 
 o 
 
 longing to the island are derived from the English, as 
 are those of several places. I remember a bay in 
 Madagascar, Antongil Bay, which clearly takes its 
 name from the well-known pirate-leader, Antony Gill, 
 who robbed and murdered on the high seas early in 
 the seventeenth century. 
 
 A squadron and troops were collecting here, the 
 latter under General Abercrombie, for an expedition 
 to the Mauritius. We were greatly disappointed, I
 
 72 James Braithwaite. 
 
 must own, that our ship was not in a condition to 
 proceed to sea, or we should have been chartered to 
 convey troops and been witnesses of the triumphs we 
 hoped they would achieve. My object is, however, 
 to describe my own adventures in the pursuit of 
 pacific commerce. I will thus only briefly say that 
 the expedition arrived speedily off the Mauritius, the 
 troops were landed, and that after some sharp fighting, 
 by which we lost one hundred and fifty men killed 
 and wounded, the French General, De Caen, capitulated. 
 "We had several sepoy regiments, and the French general, 
 in order to inspire the colonial troops with contempt for 
 them, publicly promised that whoever should capture 
 a sepoy should have him for a slave ; but the militia 
 appear to have thought that by so doing they might 
 possibly catch a Tartar, for not a sepoy was made 
 prisoner. 
 
 I made some satisfactory sales at Bourbon, and as 
 soon as the ship was repaired she followed the men-of- 
 war to the Isle of France. The island is about thirty- 
 five miles long, and one hundred and fifteen in 
 circumference, with a surface greatly diversified by 
 hill and plain, wood and plantation, with several con- 
 siderable mountains, the chief of which, Le Pouce and 
 Pieter Botte, in the neighbourhood of Port Louis, are 
 well known. The harbour was a complete forest of 
 masts, filled with vessels of all sorts and sizes, from the 
 huge line-of-battle ship to the humble canoe, not unlike 
 a butcher's tray, scooped out of a single log. The British 
 flag waved triumphantly on all the batteries; and India-
 
 A Desperate Encounter. 73 
 
 men, transport prizes, merchant craft of all descriptions, 
 displayed English colours, in most cases flying over 
 the French. Numerous boats, too, were plying to and 
 fro filled with naval and military officers, captains of 
 Indiamen, sailors, lascars, negroes, and Frenchmen, 
 some on business, some on pleasure, but all seeming to 
 be in a hurry. I looked out with no little curiosity 
 for any craft which might answer the description of 
 our late antagonist, the Mignonne. If she had entered 
 the harbour, she had again escaped before the capture 
 of the place, for she was nowhere to be seen. It would 
 have been satisfactory to have seen our friend caged, 
 but it was too probable that he was still roving over 
 the ocean, on the watch to plunder any English craft 
 he could venture to attack. 
 
 The scene on shore was even more animated than 
 on the water. The streets were crowded with people 
 of many nations : naval and military officers, English 
 and French Government civilians, merchants and 
 other traders, Asiatics and negroes, almost naked 
 slaves dragging along horse-loads in carts, with 
 mongrels of every shade of colour. The town, though 
 in a bustle, was perfectly orderly ; the shops were all 
 open, and their owners seemed to be driving a thriving 
 trade, as were also the keepers of taverns, which were 
 tull of visitors from fleet and camp. We fortunately 
 had several articles among the cargo of the Barbara, 
 of which our countrymen were much in want, not to 
 be found in the stores of the place. They were, how- 
 ever, quickly disposed of, and I was then at leisure to
 
 74 James Braithwaite. 
 
 amuse myself as I thought fit. I made several 
 excursions on shore with my brother when he could 
 get leave, and I had thus an opportunity of learning 
 the productions of the island. The chief food of the 
 lower orders and slaves is yams and the jatropha, or 
 cassada, of which there are two species commonly 
 known, the jatropha janipha, and the jatropha 
 manihot. The former contains a strong vegetable 
 poison, which is destroyed by boiling; the latter is 
 merely slightly narcotic in its effects, and both are 
 easily converted into wholesome food. The root, after 
 being well washed and dried in the sun, is usually 
 scraped into a coarse powder, from which the juice is 
 expressed : it is then dried a second time and formed 
 into thin cakes, very similar in appearance to Scotch 
 barley-cakes. The bread thus made is called manioc. 
 Tapioca is also a preparation of the root. Plantains, 
 bananas, melons, and mangoes abound, and the last 
 are especially fine. The climate is healthy, but the 
 Mauritius is occasionally visited by terrific hurricanes, 
 which commit great damage both afloat and on shore. 
 We soon made friends among the French residents, 
 and one of them, with whom I had had some trans- 
 actions, invited William and me, and a military ac- 
 quaintance, Captain Mason, to his house in the country. 
 We were most hospitably entertained by our worthy 
 host. The house was large and airy, with a verandah 
 running round it on one side sufficiently broad to 
 enable us to sit out and enjoy the cool breeze, while 
 we sipped our coffee. We had proposed returning
 
 A Desperate Encounter. 75 
 
 that evening, but the wind got up, it rained heavily, 
 and became very dark. Our host pressed us to stay, 
 and as William's leave extended to the next morning 
 we accepted his invitation, he undertaking to put my 
 brother on board in time. Our companion, Captain 
 Mason, was a quiet, amiable man. He was married, 
 and as he expected to remain on the island, he had, he 
 told us, sent for his wife from the Cape of Good Hope, 
 where he had left her. I cannot now describe the 
 incidents of our visit. 
 
 The next morning, soon after daybreak, having 
 taken an early breakfast of a lighter character than 
 suited our English appetites, we drove back to Port 
 Louis. The weather had grown worse instead of im- 
 proving, and as we drew near the town we saw in the 
 distance two vessels with English colours approaching 
 the harbour. William had to hurry on board his ship, 
 but Mason and I drove on to a spot where we could 
 see them enter. One gained an anchorage in safety, 
 but the other still continued outside, steering wildly, 
 as if uncertain what course to take. It was soon 
 evident that she was in great danger. While we were 
 looking on, Captain Hassall joined us. There were a 
 number of naval officers, masters of merchantmen, and 
 others collected on the shore. " She is said to have a 
 pilot on board, and an ignorant fellow he must be, or 
 he would have anchored outside ere this if he could 
 not get in," observed Captain Hassall. While he was 
 speaking, the vessel got into the swell of the sea which 
 was dashing on the roaks close at hand. Rapidly she
 
 76 James Braithwaite. 
 
 came drifting towards them. Probably the master 
 then asserted his authority, for two anchors were let go. 
 The fate of the ship, and probably of all on board, 
 depended on the anchors holding. With deep anxiety 
 we watched her as the huge swells came rolling in 
 towards the rocks. A cry arose from the collected 
 crowd " The cables have parted the cables have 
 parted!" The hapless craft was lifted by the next 
 surge, and hurried on amid the foaming breakers 
 towards the rocks. At that instant the foresail was 
 set, in the hopes of its helping to force her over them. 
 It was useless; down she came with a tremendous 
 . crash on the black rocks. For a few minutes she 
 continued beating on them, rocking to and fro in the 
 wildest agitation ; then a huge surge, which appeared 
 to have been for some time collecting its strength, 
 struck her on the side, and rolled her over, as if she 
 had been merely a child's plaything, towards the shore, 
 to all appearance overwhelmed, so as never to rise again. 
 The wild breakers dashed triumphantly over her, but 
 she was not conquered, though it seemed a wonder that 
 wood and iron should hold together under the tremen- 
 dous shocks she was receiving. Once more she rose 
 to an erect position, and it was seen that her dauntless 
 crew were endeavouring to cut away her masts. " It 
 is the only thing they can do to save their lives," 
 observed Hassall, watching them through his glass. 
 "And see, yes there is a woman on board a lady by 
 her dress. She is clinging to the windlass probably 
 secured to it." As he was speaking, the mizenmast
 
 A Desperate Encounter. 77 
 
 came down, followed quickly by the mainmast, which 
 happily fell towards the shore. Again a surge covered 
 the vessel. We feared that all on board would be 
 swept from the decks ; but when again the surge 
 receded, the people were seen clinging fast as before. 
 A boat from one of the men-of-war now approached 
 the wreck, but the officer in command soon saw that 
 he should only throw away his own life and the lives 
 of those with him if he should attempt to go near 
 enough to receive any one on board. The foremast 
 now fell, and still the stout ship hung together. Other 
 boats came up and got as near as it was possible to go. 
 That those on board thought she would not hold 
 together much longer was evident by the efforts they 
 began to make to escape. 
 
 First we observed a man descend the foremast as if 
 with the intention of swimming ashore. His courage, 
 however, forsook him ; he paused and returned. Again 
 he climbed along the mast, but hesitated it was 
 indeed a desperate undertaking. At length he cast 
 himself into the water : immediately he was over- 
 whelmed. Would he ever again reach the surface ? 
 " Yes ! yes ! there he is," cried out several. For a 
 moment he was seen struggling bravely. A groan 
 escaped from the spectators : " He's gone ! he's gone 
 "No, no, he is still floating," many shouted out. So 
 he was; but whirled here and there, blinded and 
 confused, he was unable to guide himself. He was 
 seen, happily, from one of the boats: she dashed 
 forward, and he was hauled on board without
 
 78 James Braithwaite. 
 
 apparently having struck a rock. All this time the 
 
 people on the wreck had been watching him with 
 
 intense anxiety, especially the poor lady : " If a strong 
 
 and bold swimmer could scarcely be saved, what 
 
 chance had she ? " Hassall made the remark. " Not 
 
 one would have a prospect of being saved if trusting 
 
 only to his own strength ; but there is a Ruler above," 
 
 said Captain Mason, who had hitherto been watching 
 
 the wreck without speaking ; " He may save that poor 
 
 woman on the wreck as easily as the strongest 
 
 seaman." I have often since thought of my friend's 
 
 remark. It is not our own right arm, but God in 
 
 heaven, without whose knowledge not a sparrow falls 
 
 to the ground, who preserves us in many dangers. 
 
 Captain Mason begged for the use of Hassall's glass, 
 
 and looked steadfastly through it at the wreck. " It 
 
 is impossible, yet the figure is like I cannot make it 
 
 out," I heard him say. The success of the first man 
 
 induced another to attempt reaching the shore. He 
 
 hurried along to the end of the mast and threw 
 
 himself into the water. The boiling surges whirled 
 
 him round and round now he was concealed by the 
 
 foam now he appeared struggling onward still it 
 
 seemed scarcely possible that he could escape from the 
 
 boiling cauldron just then a broken spar floated near 
 
 him. Had the end struck him he must have been 
 
 lost, but it came on so that he could clutch the middle. 
 
 Tightly he grasped it till like his shipmate he was 
 
 floated near one of the boats and taken on board. 
 
 Two other men, encouraged by the success of the first,
 
 A Desperate Encounter. 79 
 
 attempted to reach the boats by the same means, but 
 scarcely had they committed themselves to the water 
 when a huge roller came roaring on, dashing over the 
 ship, and as it receded swept them off far away to 
 sea; for a moment their forms were seen struggling 
 amidst the foam, and then they were hid for ever 
 from human eye. The lives of the remainder on board 
 seemed more than ever in danger. Should the storm 
 increase, of which there seemed every probability, the 
 ship must go to pieces, even if they were not first 
 washed off the deck, and then what effort could save 
 them ? I was more than ever interested in their fate, 
 when suddenly the idea occurred to me that the lady 
 on board might be the wife of my friend Mason. I 
 thought that he had the same idea, though he would 
 not allow himself to entertain it, by the agitation he 
 exhibited, and which he in vain tried to control. As 
 yet the men who had been saved had not been brought 
 on shore. More boats were coming down the harbour. 
 At length a fine whale-boat was brought down not far 
 from where we were standing. A naval officer, whose 
 name I regret that I did not note, volunteered to take 
 the command, and to go alongside the wreck, if 
 volunteers could be found to man her. Hassall at 
 once offered his services, as did several other masters 
 of merchantmen standing by, and they were accepted. 
 Mason and I also volunteered. " Not unless you are 
 seamen," was the answer. " This work requires firm 
 nerves and skilful hands." 
 
 I must observe here that I have ever found the
 
 8o James Braithwaite. 
 
 officers of the mercantile marine ready to go forth, in 
 spite of all dangers, to save the lives of their fellow- 
 creatures. Though there are exceptions, the greater 
 number are as gallant fellows as any of those who 
 have fought the battles of our country. 
 
 The boat was manned and ready to go off, but it 
 became a question whether it would be wise to wait 
 on the prospect of the sea going down, or to risk all 
 and to go off at once on the possibility of the gale 
 increasing. The men who had been rescued were 
 brought on shore. Mason hurried to them, and eagerly 
 inquired who was the woman on board. They were 
 common seamen, and did not know her name. She 
 was a lady, and had come on board at Cape Town 
 just as the ship was sailing. That was all they knew. 
 The naval officer had earnestly been watching the 
 huge rollers as they came tumbling on towards the 
 shore. Suddenly he cried out, " Now, gentlemen, 
 we'll be off." Away went the boat amid the foaming 
 seas towards the hapless wreck.
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 IN TROUBLED WATERS. 
 
 "1 TASSALL had left me his telescope. I could see 
 -* *- the people on board the wreck stretching out 
 their hands towards the boat as she left the shore on 
 her errand of mercy. Mason every now and then 
 asked for the glass and looked towards the wreck. 
 He seemed more and more convinced that the lady on 
 board was his wife. Yet could he do nothing ? Yes, 
 he could. Though he could not exert his body I saw 
 that he was doing all that man in his utmost extremity 
 can do. His lips were moving, his head was bent 
 forward, his eyes glancing at times at the boat and 
 the ship, his hands were clasped tightly in prayer, 
 forgetful of the crowds surrounding him. The boat, 
 impelled by lusty strokes, darted on. She reached 
 the wreck. The lady was lifted in. No one seemed 
 inclined to follow. The danger was fearful. Not 
 before, since she struck, had one of the huge rollers 
 failed at much shorter intervals to dash over and over 
 the ship. Should one of them overtake the boat her 
 fate would be sealed. On came the boat towards the 
 beach. A number of seamen rushed down into the 
 surf to receive her and haul -her upas soon as she 
 
 6
 
 82 James Braithwaite. 
 
 should touch the sand. The excitement among the 
 crowd was tremendous. Far off I saw one of these 
 huge billows rushing onwards. If it broke before the 
 boat could reach the beach it would overwhelm her. 
 The least excited of the crowd, to all appearance, was 
 my friend Captain Mason. He advanced slowly 
 towards the spot which it seemed probable the boat 
 would reach, then he stopped for a moment. On she 
 came, her keel grated on the sand, sturdy shoulders 
 bore her along upwards, and ere the coming roller 
 burst she was safe beyond its reach. The lady lay 
 almost overcome in the stern sheets. Mason uttered 
 his wife's name, she looked up, and in another moment 
 she was placed in his arms. A communication was 
 afterwards established between the wreck and the 
 shore, and most of the crew landed before the gale 
 again came down with redoubled fury. By the 
 morning scarce a vestige of the ship remained. I had 
 the pleasure of seeing Mrs. Mason completely recovered 
 two days afterwards, and thankful for her providential 
 escape. 
 
 My brother William got leave of absence for three 
 or four days, and he was anxious to spend the time in 
 a cruise along the coast, and to get me to accompany 
 him. I had wound up my mercantile business at the 
 place, but as the Barbara would be detained a few 
 clays longer to complete her repairs, in a weak moment 
 I consented to his proposal, as if we had not enough 
 knocking about on salt water in the pursuit of our 
 professional duties. It is difficult to put old heads on
 
 In Troubled Waters. 83 
 
 young shoulders. We did not remember that it was 
 still the stormy season, and that the natives might not 
 be so inclined to be civil to us, their late conquerors, 
 coming in a half-decked boat with fowling-pieces, as 
 they would had we appeared under the protection of 
 he frigate's guns. 
 
 We agreed that it would be as well to have com- 
 panions. I asked 0' Carroll, who was very ready to 
 come, and William brought a friend, whom he intro- 
 duced as " My messmate, Toby Trundle." His name 
 was a curious one at first I did not suppose that it 
 was anything but a nickname and he himself was 
 one of the oddest little fellows I ever met. From the 
 first glance I had of him, I fancied that he was rather 
 a young companion" for my brother, but a second look 
 showed me that he was fully his age. We had hired a 
 craft, a schooner-rigged, half-decked boat, about five- 
 and-twenty feet long, with a well aft, in which we 
 could sit comfortably enough. She was not a bad 
 boat for smooth water, but if caught in a heavy sea, 
 very likely to drown all on board. 
 
 Our crew consisted of a Frenchman, Paul Jacotot, 
 the owner of the Dore, as our craft was called, his son 
 Auguste, a boy of thirteen, and Jack Nobs, a boy I 
 brought from the Barbara. The Frenchman was to 
 act as pilot and cook. The boys were to scrape the 
 potatoes or rather prepare the yams, for we had none 
 of the former root and tend the head- sheets. A 
 boatswain's mate, Sam Kelson, who had been in 
 hospital, had been allowed to accompany the midship-
 
 84 James Braithwaite. 
 
 men before returning on bpard. The two midshipmen 
 were to act as officers. 0' Carroll, whom they did not 
 know was a sailor, and I, were to be passengers, and 
 the rest of the party were rated as crew. We had laid 
 in all sorts of provisions, an ample supply for the few 
 days we were to be away. Port Louis, it must be 
 remembered, is on the north side of the island, and we 
 had agreed to make our cruise to the eastward, where 
 there are some small islands Gunners Coin and Flat 
 Island. If the wind should prove favourable we hoped 
 to circumnavigate the island. With a fair breeze off 
 the land, and Le Pouce seen standing up astern beyond 
 the town, we sailed out of the harbour, the weather 
 being as fine as heart could desire. William and Toby 
 Trundle took it by turns to steer, Jacotot pointing out 
 the dangers to be avoided, for we kept close in shore 
 for the sake of the scenery. Toby Trundle sat aft 
 steering, looking, in a broad-brimmed straw hat, a 
 white jacket and trowsers, contrasting with his sun- 
 burnt complexion, more like a monkey than a midship- 
 man. Jacotot, when not engaged in any culinary 
 matter below, was jabbering away at a rapid rate to 
 us, if we would listen ; if not, he was addressing his 
 son, whom he kept constantly on the move, now 
 scolding, now praising with terms of tender endear- 
 ment. 
 
 We enjoyed ourselves, and lunched and dined with 
 great contentment, voting Jacotot a first-rate chef, 
 which he undoubtedly was. He was, however, a 
 better cook than seaman we before long discovered.
 
 In Troubled Waters. 85 
 
 " The next prize we take I hope that we shall find 
 some cooks on board ; we must secure one for our 
 mess," observed Toby, helping himself to one of the 
 dishes Jacotot had sent aft. I had not been long on 
 board before I found out, what seemed to have escaped 
 the midshipmen's observation when they hired the 
 boat, that the rigging was sadly rotten, and that she 
 herself was in a somewhat leaky condition. They, 
 however, only laughed at the leaking. " It will keep 
 the boat sweet, and give Jack Nobs and Auguste 
 something to do," observed Master Trundle, cocking 
 his "eye at me. Notwithstanding this, we stood on, 
 the breeze shifting conveniently in our favour till 
 nightfall, when we put into a small harbour, the 
 entrance to which our pilot for a wonder knew. The 
 next day we continued our course, landing in a bay, 
 up which we ran to have a look at the country, and 
 to get some goat's milk and fruit. We found a small 
 farm, the only white people being an old-fashioned 
 Frenchman, with a somewhat dingy wife, and two 
 grown-up daughters. All the rest of the people were 
 either brown Orientals or black Africans. The old 
 Frenchman was very civil, merely shrugged his 
 shoulders when he saw our flag, and observed that it 
 was the fortune of war, and that, as we were the most 
 numerous, France had 'lost no honour, though she lost 
 the dependency. He supplied us for a trifle with a 
 bottle of goat's milk, and as many melons, pines, and 
 mangoes as we could manage to eat. He politely 
 assisted in taking them down to the boat. As he did
 
 86 James Braithwaite. 
 
 so lie looked round the horizon seaward, and up at the 
 sky. " Messieurs will do well to remain at anchor for 
 a few hours longer," he observed. " We are going to 
 have a change of weather. It may be slight, or it may 
 be very great, and you will be more content on shore 
 than at sea." We thanked him for his advice, but the 
 midshipmen asserting that if we stopped they might 
 not be able to rejoin their ship at the right time, it 
 was disregarded. On standing out again, however, we 
 saw that the hope of getting round the island was 
 vain, and that our surest course would be to return by 
 the way we had come. The weather soon changed ; 
 ugly clouds collected and came sweeping up from the 
 west and south, though as yet but little wind filled 
 our sails. 
 
 " I am afraid that we are going to have a storm," 
 I observed. 
 
 "Oh, no fear; I don't think that there will be 
 anything in it," answered Toby Trundle. 
 
 " I think that there'll be a great deal in it, and I 
 would advise you gentlemen to make the best of your 
 way back to the bay we have just left," said O'Carroll. 
 The midshipmen looked at him as much as to say, 
 What do you know about the matter ? Jacotot was 
 too busy cooking an omelette to attend to the weather, 
 or he should have warned us. The question was 
 settled by a sudden gust which came off the land, and 
 laid the boat on her beam-ends. I thought we were 
 going to capsize, and so we should, but crack away 
 went both our masts, and the boat righted, one-third
 
 In Troubled Waters. 87 
 
 full of water. We all looked at each other for a 
 moment aghast. It was a mercy that no one was 
 washed overboard. A second and stronger gust 
 followed the first, and on drove the boat helplessly 
 before it. " You'll pump and bale out the water, 
 and get on board the wreck of the masts," said 
 'Carroll, quietly. 
 
 We followed his advice as best we could. Jacotot, 
 who was attending to his little stove below when the 
 squall struck us, popped up his head with his white 
 nightcap on, and his countenance so ludicrously ex- 
 pressive of dismay that, in spite of the danger we 
 were in, Trundle burst into a fit of laughter. The 
 Frenchman had not time to get out before the vessel 
 righted. He now emerged completely, and frantic- 
 ally seizing his cap, tore it off his head and threw it 
 into the boiling water. He then joined in hauling on 
 board the wreck of the rigging. 
 
 " If we are to save our lives we must forthwith rig 
 a jurymast, so as to keep the boat before the gale," 
 observed 'Carroll. 
 
 With the aid of a wood-axe we knocked out the 
 stump of the foremast, and making a fresh heel to 
 the broken spar, managed, in spite of the rolling of 
 the boat, to slip it into its place. This was done not 
 a moment too soon. The wind increased so rapidly, 
 and blew with such fearful violence, that we should 
 have been unable to accomplish the task, though as 
 yet there w r as not much sea. 
 
 'Carroll showed that he was a man for an emer-
 
 88 James Braithwaite* 
 
 gency. " This will be more than a gale," he observed ; 
 " it will be a regular hurricane ! we may expect that. 
 But still, if we manage properly, we may save our 
 lives." 
 
 Close-reefing the foresail, we got it ready to hoist 
 as a square sail ; the rest of the spars we lashed fore 
 and aft on either side, while we cut up the mainsail 
 and raised the gunwale a foot or more all round to 
 help keep out the water. We also, as far as we could, 
 covered in the after-part of the little craft. While we 
 were thus engaged the boys were pumping and baling, 
 This task was scarcely accomplished before the wind 
 had blown us helplessly so far off the land that we 
 became exposed to the full violence of the sea, which 
 had rapidly risen. The water was leaping on every 
 side tumultuously the foam flying in thick masses 
 off it each sea, as it rose high above our heads, 
 threatening to overwhelm us. 
 
 We gazed wistfully at the land which we had so 
 unwisely left, but we had no power of returning 
 there. Our only prospect of passing amidst the heavy 
 seas now rolling around us was to hoist our sail and 
 scud before the wind. 
 
 O'Carroll now took the helm. "I have had more 
 experience in these seas than you, young gentlemen, 
 and the slightest want of care may send such a craft 
 as this to the bottom ! " he observed. 
 
 Without a word, they set to work to pump and 
 bale. Even Trundle grew serious. Jacotot every 
 now and then stopped pumping or baling, or what-
 
 In Troubled Wattrs. 89 
 
 ever he was about, and pulled his hair, and made a 
 hideous face, scolded Auguste, telling him to depechez 
 vites, and then set to work himself harder than ever. 
 The English seamen worked away without saying a 
 word beyond what was absolutely necessary. Jack 
 Nobs behaved very well, but cried in sympathy when 
 Auguste was scolded. The latter always blubbered 
 on till his father ceased speaking. I could not help 
 remarking what I have described, notwithstanding 
 the fearful danger we were running. The sky was 
 of an almost inky hue, while the sea was of the colour 
 of lead, frosted over with the driving spray torn off 
 from the summits of the tossing seas by the fury of 
 the wind. Our stump of a mast, as well as our sail, 
 had been well secured, though I dreaded every instant 
 to see the ring-bolts, to which the ropes had been 
 made fast, dragged out of the sides, and the rotten 
 boat torn to pieces. 
 
 Thus on we flew, right into the Indian Ocean, 
 though in what direction we could only guess, for 
 our compass, like everything belonging to the craft, 
 was defective. Intending only to make a coasting 
 trip, we had no chart, except one of the island from 
 which we were now being driven rapidly away. To 
 be in a gale of wind on board a stout ship in the 
 open sea, is a fine thing once in one's life, but to have 
 to sit in a rotten boat, with a hurricane driving her, 
 one knows not where, across the ocean, is a very 
 different matter. Our only prospect of saving our 
 lives, humanly speaking, was to keep the boat dead
 
 go James Braithwaile. 
 
 before the wind ; a moment's careless steering might 
 have caused our destruction. 
 
 We were all so busy in pumping or baling that we 
 had no time to watch each other's countenances, or 
 we might have seen alarm and anxiety depicted on 
 them as the rising seas came following up astern, 
 threatening to engulf us. I felt for the young brother 
 who was with me, so lighthearted and merry, and yet 
 so little perpared for the eternity into which any 
 moment we might be plunged. After fervent inward 
 prayer, my own mind was comforted, so much so that 
 I was able to speak earnest words, not only to my 
 young brother, but to the others. Trundle and Jack 
 looked very serious, but rather bewildered, as if they 
 could not comprehend what was said. 
 
 Such is, I fear, too often the case under such circum- 
 stances. I remembered how, a few days before, I had 
 seen Mason praying at a time of the utmost extremity, 
 and I urged my companions to pray for themselves. 
 Jacotot was the only person who seemed averse to 
 listen to the word of truth. Though he had raged 
 and pulled his hair with grief at the injury done to 
 his vessel, he could not bring himself to care for any- 
 thing beyond the passing moment. But while the 
 rest grew calm and resigned, he became more and more 
 agitated and alarmed. In each sea which rolled up 
 after us in the distance he saw the messenger which 
 was to summon him to destruction. Poor little 
 Auguste could only cry with fear of the undefined. 
 He had never been taught to believe in anything,
 
 In Troubled Waters. 91 
 
 and tlms he could not even believe in the reality of 
 death till he was in its grasp. 
 
 Under the circumstances in which we were placed, 
 people can talk but little, though the thoughts crowd 
 through the mind with frightful rapidity. Unless 
 when occupied, we for most of the time sat silent, 
 watching the ocean. Night was coming on, and the 
 fury of the tempest had in no way decreased. It 
 was difficult to steer in the daytime it was doubly 
 difficult and dangerous at night. After O'Carroll had 
 been steering for some time, Trundle begged that he 
 might again take the helm. 
 
 " Trust me," he said, " I have been in a gale of 
 wind in an open boat before now, and know how to 
 steer carefully." 
 
 "But you've not steered in a hurricane in the 
 Indian seas, Mr. Trundle," answered O'Carroll. " Any 
 moment the wind may shift round, and if we were to 
 be taken aback, it would be all over with us. As 
 long as I can keep my eyes open I'll stay where I am, 
 if you please." And O'Carroll was as good as his 
 word ; hour after hour he sat there, as we rushed on 
 up and down the watery hills through the pitchy 
 darkness it was indeed a long, long night. Though 
 we had eaten nothing since the hurricane came on, 
 we were all of us rather weary than hungry. As for 
 sleepiness, that was very far from any one. When 
 compelled to rest, we could employ our thoughts in 
 little else than wishing for daylight, and hoping that 
 the storm would soon cease. It was a relief to be
 
 g 2 James Braithwaite. 
 
 called on to pump or bale, for the increasing leaks 
 required three of us at a time to be actively engaged 
 in both operations. But I am wrong in saying that 
 I could think of nothing except my own fearful peril. 
 Frequently I thought of my dear mother and other 
 loved ones at home. The thought gave me comfort 
 and courage, and cheered me up through the horrors 
 of the night. Daylight came at last, and revealed the 
 tumultuous ocean on every side, but not a speck of 
 land was visible. Trundle was the first to exclaim 
 that he was hungry ; but to light a fire was almost 
 impossible, and even Jacotot could not have cooked 
 by it had it been lighted. We managed, however, 
 to serve out some bread and the old Frenchman's fruit 
 to all hands, and then we had to turn to and clear 
 the craft of water, which was finding its way in 
 through every seam. It seemed scarcely possible that 
 she could float much longer, should the hurricane 
 continue, with the violent working to which we were 
 exposed. Had we been stationary, the tempest would 
 have passed over us ; but driven along with it, we had 
 for a much longer time to endure its fury. It seemed, 
 indeed, surprising that the boat should have floated so 
 long. As far as we depended, indeed, on our own 
 exertions, the most careful steering could alone have 
 saved us. We had been longing for daylight ; now 
 that it had come, the dangers of our condition ap- 
 peared more evident, and we almost wished again 
 for night. We could not calculate, either, in what 
 direction we were being driven, but we feared it
 
 In Troubled Waters. 93 
 
 might be where rocks and coral banks and islets 
 abound, and that at any moment we might be hurled 
 on one of them. O'Carroll still sat at his post. I 
 asked if he did not feel tired. " Maybe, but till the 
 gale is over, here I'll stick !" he answered. " And sure 
 it's as pretty a sample of a hurricane as any of you'll 
 be after wishing to see for many a day to come." 
 
 At length, towards noon, the wind began to fall, 
 and in a very short time, though it still blew hard, 
 and the sea ran almost as high as before, and was 
 consequently as dangerous, it was evident that the 
 hurricane was over. Our hopes revived. Still, we 
 were obliged to run on before the wind ; and to avoid 
 the danger of being pooped by the quickly-following 
 sea, we had to hoist more of our sail : indeed, we now 
 dreaded not having wind enough to avoid the sea. 
 Thus passed the day, and before nightfall we were 
 rolling on a tolerably smooth swell with a moderate 
 breeze. Still we had to exert ourselves as before to 
 keep the boat afloat. The moment, however, that 
 one of us was relieved at the pump or baling bucket, 
 he dropped off to sleep. I was even afraid, at first, 
 that we should all go to sleep together. Nothing, 
 indeed, for some hours could rouse up the two boys. 
 My young brother and Trundle were, however, after 
 a short snooze, as lively as ever, and as merry too. 
 Midshipmen-like, they did not seem to trouble them- 
 selves about the future. I, however, still felt very 
 anxious about it. The Southern Cioss and many 
 another bright constellation not long familiar to my
 
 94 James Braithwaite. 
 
 eyes were shining forth in the clear sky. Had we 
 known our position, even though we had no compass, 
 we might have shaped a course for the Mauritius. 
 We calculated that we had been driven two hundred 
 miles away from it in the direction of the equator. 
 Should we steer south we were as likely to miss as to 
 find it. We proposed, therefore, to steer to the west, 
 knowing that we must thus reach some part of the 
 coast of Madagascar, where the English had at that 
 time a fort and a garrison. "But we must have our 
 craft rigged before we talk of the course we'll steer," 
 observed O'Carroll, who at that moment awoke from 
 a long sleep. With the morning light we set to work 
 to fit a mainmast, and to rig the boat as best we 
 could. There was a light breeze, but as it was from 
 the west we lay without any canvas set. 
 
 While all hands were busily employed fitting the 
 rigging, I looked up and saw a brig under all sail ap- 
 proaching us at no great distance. Beyond her was 
 another vessel, a ship I pointed her out. O'Carroll 
 took the telescope. 
 
 " She's an English vessel chased by an enemy," he ob- 
 served. " She'll not stop to help us, so the closer we lie 
 the better." He kept after this continually taking up the 
 glass for some time, when suddenly he exclaimed, " As 
 I'm an Irishman, it's that villain La Roche again ! " 
 
 His countenance fell as he spoke. He handed me 
 the glass I took a steady look at the ship, and had 
 little doubt that it was our old antagonist the 
 Miynonne in sight.
 
 CHAPTER VII 
 
 " BREAKERS AHEAD ! " 
 
 /~\TJR chief hope of escaping an unpleasant examina- 
 ^-^ tion by the pirate existed in the possibility that 
 we had not been observed from her deck. Had we 
 had any sail set we could not fail to have been so. 
 Not, we knew, that so small a craft as ours would be 
 considered worth overhauling ; but in case we might 
 give information of the pirate's whereabouts, it might 
 be thought expedient to put us out of the way. So 
 we feared. We therefore watched the progress of the 
 Mignonne and the brig with intense interest, earnestly 
 hoping that the latter would lead the pirate a long 
 chase before she was captured, if she could not escape 
 altogether, which of course we hoped she would. La 
 Roche had certainly managed to inspire O'Carroll with 
 an extraordinary dread and hatred of him, for brave 
 and calm in danger as our friend had lately shown him- 
 self to be, he was now completely unnerved, and I saw 
 him crouching down in the boat as if, even had she 
 been seen, he could have been distinguished. On 
 sailed the brig ; gradually her sails began to disappear 
 below the horizon. The pirate still continued the 
 chase. For some time no one in the boat thought of
 
 g5 " James Braithwaite. 
 
 working. We were roused up by finding that the 
 water was rapidly gaining on us, and we all had to 
 turn to and pump and bale harder than ever. We 
 were in hopes that after all the brig might escape, 
 when the boom of a gun came over the water, followed 
 by another and another. It was too probable that the 
 pirate had got her within range. Both vessels had 
 now disappeared below the horizon, at the same time 
 the wind where we were had completely died away. 
 As far as the pirate was concerned, we began to breathe 
 more freely ; it was not likely that he would again 
 pass near us. But the sun shone forth from the clear 
 sky with intense heat, roasting our heads and the brains 
 within them, and making whatever pitch remained 
 between the planks of our deck bubble up as if it had 
 been boiling. There we lay, our boat rolling from 
 side to side, without a particle of shade to shelter us. 
 Our little cabin was like an oven. When we were to 
 rest it became simply a question whether in making 
 the attempt we should be roasted on deck or baked 
 below. We had not much time for idleness yet : 
 though we worked very hard, it was not till nightfall 
 that our rigging was set up sufficiently to enable us to 
 make sail. 
 
 When the sun set there was not a breath of air, 
 while the surface of the ocean was as smooth as a 
 sheet of glass, though every now and then a swell 
 rose under the boat's keel, making her roll for ten 
 minutes afterwards, while it glided slowly away in 
 the distance. The only sounds were the clank of the
 
 "Breakers Ahead!" 97 
 
 pump and the dash of water from the scuppers or 
 buckets, and an occasional snort of some huge fish, or 
 the splash it made when plunging down into its liquid 
 home. Thus the hours of the night passed away. We 
 were so weary and sleepy that the instant we were 
 relieved from the pump we lay down and were lost in 
 forgetfulness. The day broke, the sun rose higher and 
 higher, and beat hotter and hotter, and all around us 
 was the same smooth, glassy ocean. Now and then 
 the surface was broken by a flight of flying fish as 
 they rose out of it and darted along through the air, 
 glittering bright in the sunbeams, like a covey of 
 silver birds. 
 
 "Ah, now! if some of you would just have the 
 goodness to come aboard here, you would serve us 
 nicely for breakfast," exclaimed Trundle, as he ob- 
 served them. 
 
 He had scarcely spoken when upwards of a dozen 
 out of a large shoal leaped, or flew rather, right in 
 among us, while as many more passed clean over the 
 boat. It was a curious coincidence, and at all events 
 afforded us not only a substantial, but a very delicious 
 meal, cooked by the skilful hands of Monsieur Jacotot. 
 It put us- all in good spirits, and we began to look at the 
 future in a tolerably hopeful spirit, till my midship- 
 man brother exclaimed, 
 
 " I say, if this sun lasts much longer, what shall we 
 do for grub ? The sea-pie we have brought has gone 
 bad, and 1 am afraid that the beef and pork won't 
 keep good many hours out of the brine." 
 
 7
 
 9 8 James Braithwaile. 
 
 " You may put them in the past instead of the 
 future tense, my boy," observed Trundle, who had 
 been examining the lockers ; " I doubt if any stomach 
 with less powers than a shark's could swallow a bit of 
 the meat we have got on board." 
 
 " Then on what have we got to exist till we can 
 reach the shore ? " I asked, with a feeling of serious 
 anxiety. 
 
 " Why," answered William, "we have biscuits and 
 half a cheese at least we had half when we sailed, 
 but it is rather gone and a few mangoes, and 
 bananas, and plantains, and a melon or two, and some 
 tea and coffee, and sugar. I am afraid we haven't 
 much else, except a cask of water, and that was rather 
 leaky, like this craft." 
 
 " Then let us look to the cask, gentlemen," said 
 O'Carroll. " And don't throw the meat away, putrid 
 though it may be. The Frenchman may cook it so as 
 to make it go down, and we don't know how hard we 
 may be pressed for food." 
 
 The water-cask was examined, happily not alto- 
 gether too late, but a third of the precious liquid had 
 run out. I said nothing, but sad forebodings filled my 
 mind. Even with a compass to steer by and a good 
 breeze to carry us along, we might be several days 
 reaching Port Louis, or, indeed, any habitable coast 
 we could make. We might be kept out much longer, 
 and then how could we exist ? We could scarcely 
 hope that another covey of flying fish would come on 
 board, though we might catch some others if we could
 
 "Breakers Ahead!" 99 
 
 manufacture hooks, for I was afraid we had none on 
 board. This calm might continue for a week, and 
 then we might have another gale, for we were in the 
 hurricane season. I advised that we should at once 
 go on an allowance of food and water, a suggestion 
 which was, of course, adopted. We had no fishing 
 lines or hooks on board ; a bit of an old file was, how- 
 ever, discovered, and with it and a hammer Jacotot 
 undertook to make some hooks, while Kelson spun 
 some fine yarn for lines. 
 
 " I shall have plenty of time," observed the French- 
 man, with a wan smile and a shrug of the shoulders, 
 " for without the fish I shall have nothing to cook." 
 
 Two days passed, and though the hooks were in use 
 we caught nothing, and some of the party began to 
 wish that the pirate had picked us up. Two clays 
 more passed : matters had become very serious. 
 Hunger was gnawing at our insides, and what seemed 
 even worse, thirst was parching our lips and throats. 
 With the intense heat we were enduring, gallons of 
 water would scarcely have satisfied us, and we each 
 had but a small wineglass full three times a day. 
 When that was gone, as long as our fuel lasted we 
 could get a little water by condensing the steam from 
 our kettle. Our thirst became intolerable; yet the 
 few drops we did get kept us, I believe, alive. I do 
 not wish to dwell on that time. My own sufferings 
 were great, but they were increased by seeing those of 
 my young brother and his lighthearted companion, 
 both of them about, as I feared, to pass away from the
 
 IOO James Braithwaite. 
 
 world they had "found so enjoyable. The sun rose, 
 and set, and rose again, and each day it appeared to 
 send down its heat with an increased intensity of 
 strength as we grew weaker and weaker. A new 
 danger threatened us : we could even now scarcely 
 keep the boat clear of water ; should our strength fail 
 altogether, as seemed but too probable, she would sink 
 below us. Our lot was that which many poor seamen 
 have endured, but that did not make it more support- 
 able to us. 
 
 Our last particle of food had been eaten, the last 
 drop of water nearly exhausted. The strongest might 
 endure for a day or two, the weakest ones must sink 
 within a few hours. Even O'Carroll, strong as he 
 seemed, was giving way. He sat dull and uncon- 
 scious, his eyes meaningless, only arousing himself by 
 a great effort. My brother's head rested on my arm, 
 and I was moistening his lips with the few drops 
 obtained from the cask. Suddenly Kelson, who had 
 been gazing round the horizon, started up, crying out, 
 " A breeze ! a breeze ! I see it coming over the water ! u 
 
 I turned my eyes to the west, the direction to which 
 he pointed. There I saw a dark-blue line quickly 
 advancing towards us. Even already, on either side, 
 cat's-paws were to be seen just touching the surface, 
 then vanishing again, once more to appear in a dif- 
 ferent direction as the light currents of air, precursors 
 of the main body of the wind, touched the surface. 
 The effect on our fainting party was magical; even 
 the poor boys tried to lift up their languid eyes to
 
 " Breakers Ahead!" 101 
 
 look around. Another shout from Kelson a few 
 minutes afterwards roused us all still more. " A sail ! 
 a sail ! She's standing this way too ! " 
 
 Even Jacotot, who had completely given way to 
 despair, started to his feet at the sound, and, weak 
 though he was, performed such strange antics ex- 
 pressive of his joy on the little deck that I thought 
 he would have gone overboard. 
 
 " If you've got all that life in you, Mounseer, just 
 turn to at the pump again and make some use of it, 
 instead of jigging away like an overgrown jacka- 
 napes ! " growled out Kelson, who held the poor 
 Frenchman in great contempt for having knocked 
 under, as he called it, so soon. 
 
 Jacotot gave another skip or two, and then, seizing 
 the pump-handle, or break, as it is called, burst into 
 tears. The two midshipmen and boys soon relapsed 
 into their former state, while O'Carroll seemed to for- 
 get that relief was approaching, till on a sudden the 
 idea seized him that the stranger which was now 
 rapidly nearing us was no other than the Mignonne, 
 though she had been last seen in an opposite direction, 
 and there had been a dead calm ever since. " Arrah ! 
 we'll all be murdered entirely by that thief of the 
 world, La Roche, bad luck to him ! " he cried out, 
 wringing his hands. " It was an unlucky day that I 
 ever cast eyes on his ugly face for the first time, and 
 now he's after coming back again to pick me up in 
 the middle of the Indian Ocean, just as a big black 
 crow does a worm out of a turnip-field ! "
 
 IO2 James Braithwaite. 
 
 In vain I tried to argue him out of the absurdity of 
 his notion. He turned sharply round on me. 
 
 " It's desaving me now ye are, and that isn't the 
 part of a true friend, Mr. James Braithwaite ! " he ex- 
 claimed. " Just try how he'll treat you, and then tell 
 me how you like his company." 
 
 I saw that there was not the slightest use reasoning 
 with him, but that it would be necessary to watch 
 him, lest in his frenzy he should jump overboard. As 
 the dreadful idea came on me that he might do so, I 
 saw the black fin of the seaman's sworn foe, a shark, 
 gliding toward us, and a pair of sharp eyes looking 
 wistfully up towards me, so I fancied, as if the creature 
 considered the leaky boat and its contents a dainty 
 dish prepared for his benefit. It made me set to work 
 to bale with all the strength I could muster. Seeing 
 me so employed, 'Carroll for a moment forgot his 
 mad idea, and followed my example. Often and often 
 I turned my gaze towards the approaching ship. It 
 seemed even still open to doubt whether she would 
 pass near enough to observe us. 
 
 At length the breeze reached us, and hoisting our 
 sails as well as our strength would allow, we stood in 
 a direction to come across the course the stranger was 
 steering. I told Kelson, in a whisper, to assist me in 
 keeping a watch on O'Carroll, for as we drew nearer the 
 stranger, so did his uneasiness increase, and he was 
 evidently still under the impression that she was the 
 dreaded Mlgnonne. William and Trundle looked at 
 her with lack-lustre eyes. I asked Kelson what he
 
 "Breakers Ahead!" 103 
 
 thought she was. " A small Chinaman, or a store-ship, 
 maybe, sir," he answered. " She's English, certainly, 
 by the cut of her sails." 
 
 "You hear what he says," I observed to O'Oarroll. 
 " I think the same myself. We shall be treated as 
 friends when we get on board." 
 
 "Ye are after desaving me, I know ye are," cried 
 the poor fellow, turning round and giving a reproach- 
 ful glance at me. " Don't ye see the ugly villain La 
 Roche himself standing on the cathead ready to order 
 his crew of imps to fire as soon as we get within range 
 of their guns ? " 
 
 This notion so tickled Kelson's fancy that he fairly 
 burst into a fit of laughter, in which I and the rest of 
 the party faintly joined, from very weakness, for most 
 of them had not heard what was said. Even O'Cairoll 
 himself imitated us. Suddenly he stopped. " It's no 
 laughing matter, though, let me tell you," he observed 
 gravely, after some time had elapsed, and the stranger 
 had neared us so that we could see the people on deck. 
 " But where's La Roche ? Oh, I see, he's aft there, 
 grinning at us as usual." He pointed to a most re- 
 spectable-looking old gentleman, who was, I supposed, 
 the master of the ship. 
 
 " You are mistaken in that," said I, feeling the im- 
 portance of keeping him quiet till he could be got on 
 board. " If that is the Mignonne, she has been 
 captured, and is in possession of a British crew. You'll 
 see that I am right directly." 
 
 The ship was shortening sail as I spoke. We were
 
 IO4 James Braithwaile* 
 
 soon alongside. Even at a distance our pitiable con- 
 dition had been observed. We were one after the 
 other hoisted on deck, for even Kelson could scarcely 
 get up without help. I gave a hint to the doctor to 
 look after O'Carroll. "I am right," I remarked to my 
 friend. "If La Roche is on board, he is safe under 
 hatches ; so the best thing you can do is to turn in, 
 and go to sleep. You want rest more than any of us." 
 
 Led by the surgeon, he went quietly below, and I 
 hoped with soothing medicine and sleep would be soon 
 all to rights again. 
 
 The ship proved to be, not what Kelson had sup- 
 posed, but a vessel with free emigrants bound out to 
 the rising town of Sydney, in New South Wales a 
 colony generally called Botany Bay, established some 
 few years before, by Captain Phillips of the navy, 
 chiefly with convicts and the necessary soldiers to. look 
 after them. We had just told our tale, and the pas- 
 sengers had expressed their sympathy for us, when I 
 heard Jacotot give a loud cry of dismay. On looking 
 over the side the cause was explained the masts of 
 our unhappy little craft were just disappearing under 
 the surface. This was the natural consequence of our 
 neglecting to pump her out, and the ship, which was 
 going ahead, dragging her through the water, when of 
 course it rushed in through her open seams with re- 
 doubled speed. Poor Jacotot tore his hair and wrung 
 his hands, and wept tears of grief for his wretched 
 craft; but he did not gain as much sympathy as would 
 have been shown him had he been more quiet, though
 
 "Breakers Ahead!" 105 
 
 our new friends congratulated us the more warmly in 
 having got out of her before she met her fate. Food 
 and rest quickly set most of us to rights, and the fol- 
 lowing day William and Trundle and I were able to 
 take our places at the cabin table with the rest of the 
 passengers. O' Carroll was kept in bed with fever, 
 though he had got over his idea that La Roche was on 
 board. The old gentleman he had mistaken for him 
 proved to be a minister of the gospel, who had been 
 invited to accompany a party of the emigrants. 
 
 We found that things were not going on in at all 
 a satisfactory way on board. The master had died 
 before the ship reached the Cape : the first officer, Mr. 
 Gregson, who had now charge, was obstinate and self- 
 opinionated when sober, and he was very frequently 
 intoxicated ; the second was a stupid fellow and no 
 navigator; and both were jealous of the third, who 
 was a superior, intelligent young man, and in numerous 
 ways they did their utmost to annoy him. This ac- 
 counted for the good ship, the Kangaroo, being very 
 much out of her proper course, which was far to the 
 southward of where she picked us up. Most disastrous 
 consequences were to occur. William and Trundle 
 told me that they had been making their observations ; 
 that they wondered how the ship had got thus far, 
 and that they should be much surprised if she got 
 much farther. A very large proportion of the ships 
 cast away and lives sacrificed are so in consequence 
 of the habitual intoxication of the masters and their 
 officers. I venture to make this distinct assertion from
 
 io6 James Braitkwaite* 
 
 the very numerous instances I have known and heard 
 of. We did not wish to alarm the passengers, none of 
 whom had been at sea before, and were not aware of 
 the danger they were running. Had our schooner still 
 floated, I should have proposed taking her to the first 
 island we could make and there repairing her. We 
 asked Mr. Gregson if he would undertake to land us 
 at Port Louis, offering him at the same time payment 
 if he would do so ; but he positively refused, declaring 
 that nothing should induce him to go out of his course, 
 and that we must stick to the ship and work our pas- 
 sage till she reached her destination. 
 
 Believing that, as he was short-handed, his object in 
 detaining us was to get more hands to work the ship, 
 this we positively refused to do. " Very well, then, 
 we'll see who is master on board the Kangaroo" he 
 replied, with an oath. " You tell me that three of you 
 belong to a man-of-war ; but I find you in a French 
 boat, and how do I know that 'you are not deserters or 
 convicts ? and I'll treat you as such if you don't look 
 out." This conduct was so unexpected, and so different 
 from the kind way in which we had been treated by 
 the passengers, that we did not know what to say. 
 We agreed to wait till we could consult O'Carroll ; and 
 Trundle undertook to get a look at the chart the cap- 
 tain was using, and to try and find out where he had 
 placed the ship. The wind had hitherto continued 
 very light, so that we had made but little way since 
 we came on board. The day following the unpleasant 
 conversation I have described, O'Carroll was so much
 
 " Breakers Ahead!" 107 
 
 recovered that he was able to come on deck. Though 
 Irishmen have not the character in general of being 
 good seamen, I considered from what I had seen of 
 him that he was an exception to the general rule. I 
 told him what we had remarked. 
 
 " When the time comes I'll see what I can do," he 
 answered ; " but it is ticklish work interfering with 
 such fellows as the present master of this ship, unless 
 one advises the very thing one does not want done." 
 
 " We may soon require the exercise of your skill," I 
 remarked. " It appears to me that there will speedily 
 be a change in the weather." 
 
 " Little doubt about that, and we shall have it hot 
 and strong again soon," he answered, looking round 
 the horizon. 
 
 " Not another hurricane, I hope," said I. 
 
 " Not quite sure about that," he answered. " Were 
 I master of this ship I should make all snug for it ; 
 but if I were to advise Gregson to do so, he'd only 
 crack on more sail to show his superior seamanship. 
 I've had a talk with the surgeon, M'Dow, a very decent 
 sort of young fellow, and so I know the man we have 
 to deal with." 
 
 An hour or two after this, the wind had increased 
 to half a gale, and the Kangaroo was tearing away 
 through the sea with a great deal more sail than a 
 prudent seaman would have carried. Unfortunately 
 William or Trundle had remarked that it was much 
 more important to shorten sail on the appearance of 
 bad weather on board a short-handed merchantman,
 
 io8 James Braithwaite. 
 
 than on board a rnan-of-war with a strong crew. I 
 saw O'Carroll looking anxiously aloft, and then again 
 to windward. At last he could stand it no longer. 
 
 " You'll let the wind take the topmasts out of the 
 ship if you don't look out, Captain Gregson," he re- 
 marked. 
 
 " What business have you to come aboard this ship 
 and to pretend to teach me ? " answered the master, 
 who was more than half drunk. " If you do, take care. 
 I'll turn you out of her, and let you find your own 
 way ashore." 
 
 While he was speaking a loud crack was heard, and 
 the mizen-topmast was carried over the side. This 
 made him order the crew aloft to shorten sail. " You 
 go too, 3'ou lazy youngsters ! " he exclaimed, seeing 
 William and Trundle on deck. 
 
 They sprung up the rigging without a word of 
 reply. I watched them with great anxiety, for the 
 masts bent like whips, and I was afraid every moment 
 to see the main share the fate of the mizen-mast, to 
 the destruction of all on the yards. Still the master, 
 as if indifferent to what might happen, was not even 
 looking aloft. The two midshipmen had just reached 
 the top, and were about to lie along the yard, when 
 O'Carroll shouted: "Down, all of you; down, for your 
 lives ! " 
 
 His voice arrested their progress, and two of the 
 men already on the yards sprang back into the top ; 
 but the warning came too late for the rest. A tre- 
 mendous squall struck the ship. Over she heeled, till
 
 "Breakers Ahead!" 109 
 
 the lee bulwarks were under water. A loud crash 
 followed. Away went the main-topmast, and yard, 
 and struggling sail, carrying six human beings with it. 
 Five were hurled off into the now foaming sea. We 
 saw them for an instant stretching out their arms, a? 
 if imploring that help which it was beyond our power 
 to give. The ship dashed onward, leaving them far 
 astern. One still clung to the rigging towing with 
 the spar alongside. The ship still lay almost on her 
 beam-ends. 
 
 O'Carroll saw the possibility of saving the poor 
 fellow. Calling out to me to lay hold of a rope, one 
 end of which he fastened round his waist, he plunged 
 overboard. I could scarcely have held it, had not 
 William and Trundle with Kelson come to my assist- 
 ance. O'Carroll grasped the man. "Haulaway!" he 
 shouted. In another instant he was on board again, 
 with the man in his arms. The helm was put up, the 
 ship righted, the man had got off the foreyard, and away 
 the ship flew, with the foretop-sail wildly bulging out 
 right before the wind. In a few minutes it was blown 
 from the bolt-ropes in strips, twisted and knotted 
 together. The main-sail, not without difficulty, was 
 handed, and we continued to run on under the foresail, 
 the only other sail which remained entire, and it 
 seemed very probable that that would soon be blown 
 away. 
 
 All this time the terror of the unfortunate pas- 
 sengers was very great the more so that it was un- 
 defined. They saw the captain, however, every now
 
 no James Braithwaite. 
 
 and then come into the cabin and toss off a tumbler 
 of strong rum-and-water, and then return on deck, and 
 shout out with oaths often contradictory orders. The 
 gale all this time was increasing, until it threatened to 
 become as violent as the hurricane from which we had 
 escaped. I could not help wishing that we had not 
 left our leaky little schooner. We might have reached 
 some land in her. Now we did not know where we 
 were going, except towards a region of rocks and sand- 
 banks on which any moment the ship might be hurled. 
 For ourselves it would be bad enough; but hard indeed 
 for the poor women and children, of whom there were 
 a dozen or more on board, several of them helpless 
 infants. 
 
 As I looked on the man who was thus perilling the 
 lives of his fellow-creatures by his senseless brutality, 
 I could not help thinking what a load of guilt rested 
 on his head. His face was flushed, his features dis- 
 torted, his eyes rolling wildly, as he walked with irre- 
 gular steps up and down the deck, or ever and anon 
 descended to the cabin to gaze stupidly at his chart, 
 which was utterly useless, and to take a fresh draught 
 of the liquor which had brought him to that state. 
 Yet he was a fine, good-looking fellow, and pleasant- 
 mannered enough when sober and not opposed. I 
 have known several such, who have for years deceived 
 their owners and others on shore, led by outward 
 appearance, till some fearful catastrophe has been the 
 result of their pernicious habits. 
 
 Night came. The ship continued her mad career
 
 * ' Breakers Ahead / " 1 1 1 
 
 through the darkness ; the wind howling and whist- 
 ling, the loose ropes lashing furiously against the masts, 
 and the sea roaring around. Below all was confusion. 
 Numerous articles had broken adrift and were rolling 
 about, the passengers crouched huddled together in 
 the cabin endeavouring to avoid them. Mothers 
 pressed their children to their bosoms ; the men were 
 asking each other what was next to happen. The 
 answer came with fearful import. " Breakers ahead ' 
 Breakers ahead ! " There was a tremendous crash, 
 every timber in the ship shook. She was on the 
 rocks.
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 A COMPLETE WRECK. 
 
 away the masts the shrouds first ! Be 
 smart, my men ! " cried a voice. 
 
 " Who dares give that order ? " shrieked out the 
 captain ; " she'll be over this in no time." 
 
 " I dare obey it ! " exclaimed one of the seamen. 
 " Come, lads, it's the best chance of saving our lives." 
 
 The men listened to the advice of their messmate, 
 and, knowing where to find the axes, quickly severed 
 the shrouds of the mizenmast, and some attacked it, 
 while others went to the mainmast, in spite of the 
 mad cries of the captain to " hold fast." Their object 
 was thus to force the ship over the reef if it was a reef 
 we were on head first, or closer to the shore if we 
 were on an island. The seas came thundering against 
 our sides, often dashing over the decks, so that with 
 difficulty any of us could save ourselves from being 
 carried away by them. Several poor people were thus 
 swept away soon after the ship struck, and their 
 despairing shrieks rang in our ears as they were borne 
 away or hurled on the rocks amid the foaming 
 breakers. We could see nothing beyond the ship 
 except the troubled waters. Our chief hope rested
 
 A Complete Wreck. 113 
 
 on her not being wedged in the rocks. Now she lifted 
 and drove on her bottom, grinding over the coral ; now 
 down she came again, and rocked to and fro in the 
 surges. Directly the after masts were cleared away, 
 her head paid off, and we drove on stern first. It was 
 pitiable to hear the cries which rose from the terror- 
 stricken passengers, but as we could as yet give them 
 no comfort, I refrained from going below. William 
 and Trundle, O'Carroll and I, stood together holding 
 on to the stump of the mainmast ; the Frenchman and 
 his son had gone below at the commencement of the 
 gale. I hoped that they were still there. The ship 
 continued alternately grinding and bumping along, 
 but still evidently progressing over the reef. She 
 must have been new and well built, or she would have 
 gone to pieces with the treatment she was receiving. 
 Our anxiety was thus prolonged, for it was impossible 
 to say, supposing the ship should drive over the reef, 
 whether we should find land, and if not whether she 
 would float. It seemed as if each blow she received 
 must be knocking a hole through her planks. Oh ! 
 how we longed for daylight, at all events to see and 
 face the dangers which beset us ! In the dark we 
 could do nothing but hold on for our lives and pray 
 to be preserved from destruction. 
 
 At length the ship was lifted by a huge wave. On 
 she drove. It seemed that the next time she came 
 down on the hard rocks it must be to her destruction. 
 On, on she went ; the waters roared and hissed around 
 her. Instead of the expected catastrophe, suddenly 
 
 <R
 
 H4 James Braithwaite. 
 
 she appeared to be floating with comparative calmness ; 
 she had been forced over the reef, but the furious 
 wind was still driving her before it. 
 
 " We should anchor this instant ! " said O'Carroll ; 
 but neither the master nor his mates were on deck to 
 give the necessary orders. "Stand by to anchor!" 
 cried O'Carroll. 
 
 The two midshipmen, with Kelson and several of 
 the crew, hurried to carry out the order. Some delay 
 occurred in consequence of the darkness. At length 
 the anchor was let go, but as the ship's stern swung 
 round it struck heavily on a rock. Again cries of 
 terror came up from the passengers in the cabins ; I 
 therefore, as I could be of no use on deck, went below 
 in the hopes of tranquillising their minds. They clung 
 round me as I appeared, entreating to be told the 
 truth. I assured them that there was no immediate 
 danger, and that, though the ship had again struck 
 on the rocks, there was so much less sea inside the 
 reef than what she had already gone through, I hoped 
 she might continue to hold together. In all proba- 
 bility we were not far off land. Some, on hearing 
 this, especially those who had been most overcome 
 with terror, expressed their joy in all sorts of extra- 
 vagant ways, and seemed to consider that there was 
 no longer any danger to be apprehended ; others, 
 again, would scarcely credit what I told them, and 
 inquired what the captain thought on the subject. 
 
 " The captain ! What does he know about any- 
 thing ? " exclaimed a young man, who appeared to be
 
 A Complete Wreck. 115 
 
 superior in education to most of the passengers. " If 
 the ship is lost, and our lives sacrificed, on him will 
 rest the blame. Look there ! " 
 
 He threw open the door of the captain's cabin, where 
 he and the first mate sat, both far too tipsy to move, 
 yet still trying to pour spirits down their throats. 
 
 " What's that you say ? " growled out the captain, 
 with an indistinct utterance ; " I'll have no mutiny 
 aboard this ship." 
 
 He endeavoured to rise, but fell forward across the 
 table, upsetting the bottle and tumblers. The mate 
 was too far gone even to attempt to rise. He gazed at 
 us with an idiotic glance for a minute or two, then his 
 head dropped down on the little table at which he was 
 sitting. It must be understood that all this time the 
 ship was far from quiet ; she was still grinding and 
 striking heavily against the rocks, though the sea had 
 not sufficient force to lift her over them. I hurried 
 again on deck ; my fear was that the ship would fill 
 with water and drop off the rocks and sink. After 
 hunting about we found the carpenter, and with his 
 help sounded the well ; already there were six feet of 
 water in the hold. After waiting a short time we 
 found that the water was increasing, the pumps must 
 be set to work. Some of the crew said it was of no 
 use, and refused ; others came to our summons ; and 
 to help us we called up all the men passengers, while 
 we set the example by labouring as hard as we could. 
 Thus the night passed. It was indeed better for 
 everybody that we had something to do. Dawn cauie
 
 n6 James Braithwaite. 
 
 at last. We eagerly looked out for the prospect which 
 daylight was to reveal, whether we were to find our- 
 selves amidst reefs just rising from the water, or near 
 a mere sandbank, or on an inhabited shore. At first 
 we could only see, as before, the white foam dancing 
 up, then dark rocks and yellow sand, and beyond it 
 brown hills and a few trees. As the light still further 
 increased we discovered that the country was in a 
 state of nature ; in vain we looked for traces of 
 inhabitants. 
 
 The passengers, hearing that we were close to land, 
 came crowding on deck, all eager to get on shore. It 
 was, however, no easy matter to do so. The sea came 
 rushing round the ship, between which and the dry 
 rocks the distance was considerable, so that anybody 
 attempting to swim to them would have been swept 
 away. One small boat alone remained, the rest had 
 been knocked to pieces. In this only two rowers 
 could sit, and a couple of passengers at the most. As 
 far, however, as we could see on either side the surf 
 broke too furiously to allow her to land, so that she 
 could, we feared, be of no use. 
 
 At length my brother cried out, " We'll go in her ; 
 there is one place just inside the ship where we can 
 jump on shore with a line. If we can do that we'll carry 
 a hawser to the rocks, and all the people may land." 
 
 The two mids and Kelson agreed to go in the boat, 
 towing a light line. We watched them anxiously. 
 The water tossed and foamed around them, and they 
 had hard work to contend with the reflux of the sea.
 
 A Complete Wreck. 117 
 
 Earnestly I prayed that they might be protected and 
 succeed, both for their sakes and ours. A shout of joy 
 and thankfulness burst from the lookers-on as Kelson 
 leaped on the rock, followed by the two midshipmen, 
 who instantly hauled the boat up out of harm's way. 
 A hawser had been prepared, which they at once 
 hauled on shore and secured. A cradle was next fitted 
 to it by the seamen, under O'Carroll's directions. It 
 was a question who was to go forth to prove it. At 
 that moment Jacotot made his appearance on deck. 
 He was told that he must go on shore. He was 
 secured forthwith to the cradle. In vain he struggled 
 and protested : he was quickly drawn across. His son 
 and Jack followed. Two men then went to assist in 
 hauling the passengers across. They were placed, one 
 after the other, in the cradle and landed in safety. I 
 was thankful when they were all on shore. There 
 they stood, grouped together, gazing helplessly at the 
 ship, not knowing what to do. There was no one to 
 guide them. Those wretches, the master and his mate, 
 still remained utterly helpless in the cabin. Half the 
 crew of the ship had been lost, and the young mate, 
 who might have exercised some authority. From 
 what I saw of the remainder of the crew I was afraid 
 that they were mostly a very bad set. I dreaded their 
 breaking into the spirit-room which seamen often do 
 under such circumstances. To prevent this it was 
 necessary to keep them amply employed ; we urged 
 them, therefore, to land all the provisions that could 
 be got out of the hold.
 
 1 1 8 James Braithwaite. 
 
 To expedite this proceeding we got another hawser 
 carried on shore. Oar lives might depend on the 
 amount of provisions we could save. All day we 
 worked on, till towards evening the water had risen so 
 much in the hold that nothing more could be got out. 
 The heat was intense, but so important was the work 
 that we scarcely stopped even to take food. No one 
 had thought all this time of the captain and mate, the 
 real cause of their misfortunes. Suddenly I recollected 
 that they had been left in a side-cabin asleep. I 
 hurried down. I was but just in time; the water was 
 up to their heads, and in another minute would have 
 washed over their faces and drowned them as they lay 
 sleeping off their debauch. I shouted out their names, 
 and called them to come on deck. They started up, 
 their countenances exhibiting their horror and alarm, 
 as they believed that the ship was sinking beneath 
 them. Out into the water they tumbled. The mate 
 slipped, and caught hold of the captain to save himself. 
 Over they went, struggling together. I fancy that 
 they thought themselves overboard ; right under the 
 water they dragged each other, once more to get their 
 heads out, spluttering and shouting, and swearing most 
 fearfully. At last, fearing that they might after all be 
 drowned, I seized the mate, who was the smaller man 
 of the two, and dragged him on deck, calling out to 
 O'Carroll to assist in getting up the captain. He came 
 to my assistance, and we hauled both the men on deck. 
 Their sea bath and the struggle had brought them to 
 their senses ; but when, after staring around for some
 
 A Complete Wreck. 119 
 
 time, they saw that the ship was a hopeless wreck, 
 cast away on an apparently barren island, they very 
 nearly lost them again. To find fault with them at 
 such a moment would have been folly. " Come, I 
 advise you to go on shore, for very likely the ship will 
 go to pieces during the night, if the wind rise again," 
 I said quietly. They were far from disposed to thank 
 me for my advice, though, after looking about for a 
 few minutes, they took it, and were hauled on shore. 
 After collecting everything of value to be found in the 
 cabin, compass, charts, and some nautical books, I fol- 
 lowed. O'Carroll was the last man to leave the ship. 
 William and his messmate had been very active on 
 shore, and got a tent rigged for the poor women and 
 children, and some food cooked for them by Jacotot. 
 
 No sooner was a fire lighted than the Frenchman 
 was himself again, hurrying about in search of the 
 utensils necessary for his calling. He had cooked a 
 capital supper for them, and he now offered to cook 
 one for us. On collecting all the sails we had landed, 
 we were able to form a shelter for ourselves, as well as 
 for the seamen ; and at length, weary with our exer- 
 tions, we lay down to rest. The captain and mate 
 were very silent, and I hoped ashamed of themselves. 
 During the night there was a good deal of wind and 
 sea. I was thankful that we were on shore, and when 
 I looked out I almost expected to find that the ship 
 had gone to pieces. There, however, she was, still 
 holding fast together. Seeing this, the captain de- 
 clared that he would get her off, and that if trees
 
 I2O James Braithwaite. 
 
 could be found in the island suitable for new spars, he 
 could proceed on his voyage. 
 
 " If he knew of the bumping she got he wouldn't 
 say so," observed O'Carroll. " That ship will never 
 float again, and, strong as she is, another gale such as 
 we had last night will break her to pieces." 
 
 As there was nothing more to be done, we started 
 
 o * 
 
 to explore the island. It seemed to be the chief of a 
 group of rocky islets, being about six miles long and 
 half as broad. Though we made diligent search as we 
 walked on, we could find no water. A few small casks 
 of the precious liquid had been landed, but sufficient 
 only for another day or two. 
 
 " And what shall we do when that is gone ? " asked 
 William. It was a serious question. 
 
 " We must trust in God, for vain is the help of man 
 in such a case," I answered; "at all events, we must 
 use what we have got with the greatest economy." 
 
 On returning to the camp and reporting our want 
 of success in finding water, what was our dismay to 
 find that every drop in the casks had been consumed ! 
 All the poor people could say was that they were so 
 thirsty, and the children were so constantly crying out 
 for water, that they could not help giving it to them. 
 We were ourselves already suffering greatly from 
 thirst after our ramble, yet not a drop of water did we 
 obtain. Our lips were parched, our tongues dry : 
 without water we could not eat, we loathed food, 
 supperless we lay down to sleep. All night long I 
 was dreaming of sparkling fountains and running
 
 A Complete Wreck. 121 
 
 brooks. As soon as it was daylight we again set out 
 with a spade and pickaxe, prepared, if we could find 
 no running stream, to dig wherever verdure showed 
 that moisture was at hand. We walked on and on, 
 searching in every direction round the shore, but no 
 sign of a stream emptying itself into the sea could we 
 discover, and when we dug we soon met the hard rock. 
 Faint and weary we turned to the camp. We found 
 a fire blazing, and Jacotot with several men standing 
 round it : two were working a rough pair of bellows, 
 others hammers and tongs. All were employed under 
 his directions, while he was engaged in riveting a pipe 
 into a large copper vessel. 
 
 " Why you trouble to look for water ? " he asked. 
 " There is salt water, there is wood to make fire, then 
 we have plenty of fresh water. We make steam, 
 steam come out and leave the salt in de kettle, and 
 then find a cold piece of iron and drop, drop, down 
 into this tub all fresh and good for drink." He told 
 us that he had seen a French doctor obtain fresh 
 water from salt in that manner. 
 
 " Most men have their merits, if we could but dis- 
 cover them and put them in their right places," I 
 thought to myself. "We were inclined to laugh at 
 Jacotot, but if he. can produce fresh water out of salt, 
 he may be the means of saving all our lives. " 
 
 We watched him anxiously, all eager to help him, but 
 he would not be hurried. At length the machine was 
 finished, and we hastened to fill it with salt water. 
 It was placed on the fire, and slowly the drops of fresh
 
 122 James Braithwaite. 
 
 water were distilled from it. How eagerly were they 
 sought for by the poor creatures who stood round 
 with lack-lustre eyes and parched lips. Jacotot in- 
 sisted that the youngest should be served first. I 
 think he was influenced by the wish to get his boy 
 Auguste an early draught. That was but natural. 
 Some of the crew grumbled, and so did the captain 
 and mate, who were, in consequence of their late 
 debauch, suffering fearfully from thirst ; but O'Carroll, 
 "William, Trundle, Kelson, and two or three of the pas- 
 sengers formed a body-guard round the Frenchman, to 
 enable him to do as he thought right. Only half a 
 little liqueur glass of the precious fluid was served out 
 to each person. It was pleasant to see the eyes of the 
 poor children brighten as the pure water touched their 
 lips. The younger ones, however, directly their al- 
 lowance was gone, cried out for more. Several times 
 we had to stop till more water was distilled. 
 
 While we were thus engaged, the wind had again 
 got up, and the sea, dashing over the reef, began to 
 burst with violence against the shore. The effect 
 produced on the wreck was soon apparent. The re- 
 maining upper works began to give way. As the sea 
 rolled in with increasing violence, plank after plank 
 was torn off, then larger portions were wrenched from 
 the hull, the deck burst up, and was soon dashed into 
 pieces against the rocks. As soon as we had swal- 
 lowed enough water somewhat to slake our burning 
 thirst, we hastened to the beach to save what we 
 could from the wreck. We hauled on shore ah 1 the
 
 A Complete Wreck. 123 
 
 planks and timber we could get hold of, with the 
 vague idea that we might be able to build a raft of 
 some sort, in which to make our escape. At all 
 events the wood would be useful to construct huts 
 for the women, or to burn. As darkness set in, a 
 large portion of the wreck had disappeared, and even 
 the captain was convinced that her keel would never 
 leave its present position, except to be cast up in 
 fragments on the rocks. He and the mate had been 
 very quiet and lowspirited. They were craving for 
 their accustomed stimulants, and several times I heard 
 them grumbling at us for not having landed any 
 liquor for them. Neither they nor the larger portion 
 of their crew had exerted themselves in the slightest 
 degree to assist us in our labours. Most of them 
 sauntered along the beach with their hands in their 
 pockets, or sat coolly watching us. Fatigued with 
 our exertions, we at last returned to the camp, where 
 Jacotot was able to give us a glass of water, and we 
 then, thankful even for that small supply, lay down 
 to rest. 
 
 It was not till late that any of us awoke ; we then 
 found that the captain and mate, and several of their 
 men, had withdrawn themselves to a distance from 
 the camp. We were glad to be rid of their company, 
 though why they had gone away so suddenly we 
 could not tell. We could not help suspecting, how- 
 ever, that they had done so with the intention of 
 hatching mischief. When I speak of ive, I mean our 
 party from the Lore, for we of necessity kept very
 
 124 James Braithwaite. 
 
 much together. I have not particularly described the 
 emigrants, for there was nothing very remarkable 
 about them. Two or three were intelligent, enter- 
 prising men, who had made themselves acquainted 
 with the character of the country to which they were 
 going, and had tolerably definite plans for the employ- 
 ment of their capitals. The rest had mostly failed in 
 England, and were rather driven by want into exile 
 than attracted by the advantages the new colony had 
 to offer. They were all married men with families, 
 and this made them associate with each other for 
 mutual assistance. The steerage passengers were 
 generally small tradesmen, and had emigrated for 
 much the same reason as the others. Three gentlemen 
 of the first class, who were bachelors, had begged 
 leave to join our mess. One of them had already 
 been in New South Wales, and was able to give us 
 much interesting information about it. So much 
 taken was I, indeed, with what I heard, that I resolved, 
 should I be unable to find the Barbara, to visit the 
 colony before returning home. We thus, as I have 
 explained, formed three chief messes. We were not 
 as yet either very badly off. We had saved provisions 
 from the wreck sufficient, with economy, to last us a 
 couple of months or more ; and now that we could 
 obtain fresh water, though but in small quantities, we 
 were not afraid of dying of thirst. We were in hopes, 
 too, of finding turtles and turtles' eggs, and perhaps 
 wild fowl, and we might also catch fish to add to our 
 stock of provisions. Could we only find water, and
 
 A Complete Wreck. 125 
 
 some sort of vegetables, we might be able, we thought, 
 to support existence for any lengih of time; and as 
 far, indeed, as we could judge we might not have 
 an opportunity of escaping from the island for months, 
 or it might be for years. This was not, however, a 
 subject pleasant to contemplate. I thought of my 
 merchandise, William of his promotion, and of the 
 opportunities he might lose of distinguishing himself, 
 while Jacotot, though not idle, was unable to make 
 money where he was. Toby Trundle, however, took 
 things very easily. He laughed and joked as much as 
 ever, and declared that he never was more jolly in his 
 life. He used to say the same thing in the midship- 
 men's berth; he had said it on board the boat, and 
 I believe he would have said it under nearly any 
 circumstances in which he could have been placed. 
 The poor emigrants, on the contrary, were very far 
 from content. Most of them had lost all they possessed 
 in the world, and knew that, should they even ul- 
 timately arrive at their destination, they must land as 
 beggars, dependent on the bounty of others. They 
 were therefore naturally very loud in their complaints 
 of the captain and his mate, while they were con- 
 tinually bewailing their own hard lot. Those persons 
 had, as I observed, removed themselves to a distance 
 from the rest of our shipwrecked band. 
 
 "We had retired to tents for the night, and had lain 
 down to sleep, when after some time I was awoke by 
 sounds of shouting and laughter, followed by shrieks 
 and cries, which seemed to come up from the beach
 
 126 James Braithwaite. 
 
 where the captain and his associates had taken up 
 their quarters. The noises increased, and O'Carroll 
 awoke. He got up, and we went together to the 
 entrance of our tent. The night was very calm. The 
 stars shone forth from the dark sky with a brilliancy 
 I have never seen surpassed ; even the restless sea was 
 quiet, and met the shore with an almost noiseless 
 kiss ; all nature seemed tranquil and at rest. A shot 
 was heard, and then another, and another, followed 
 by shouts and execrations. " There will be bloodshed 
 among those madmen," exclaimed O'Carroll. "They 
 have got hold of some liquor unknown to us, and 
 are fighting with each other : we must try and sepa- 
 rate them. ;J Calling my brother and the rest of the 
 party to come to our assistance, we hurried off in the 
 direction whence the sounds proceeded.
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 LIFE ON THE ISLAND. 
 
 "VY7"HEN we got sufficiently near the beach to dis- 
 * * tinguish objects, we saw the captain standing 
 with a pistol in his hand, which was pointed at the 
 mate, who held a long knife in his hand, with which 
 he was about, it seemed, to make a rush at his op- 
 ponent, while three or four men had arranged them- 
 selves on either side, and were flourishing various 
 weapons. The shots we heard told us that they had 
 already fired at each other several times, but were too 
 tipsy to take a steady aim. One man, however, lay 
 wounded on the ground, and from the gestures of the 
 mate, he would in another instant plunge his knife in 
 the bosom of the captain, unless stopped by the latter's 
 bullet. 
 
 "You knock up the skipper's arm, while I seize 
 the other fellow," exclaimed O'Carroll to me, springing 
 forward. 
 
 I did as he bid me ; he ran a great risk of being 
 shot. The mate turned on O'Carroll with an oath, and 
 the captain snapped his pistol at me, but fortunately 
 he had already discharged it, and in another instant I 
 brought him, as he attempted to grapple with me, to
 
 128 James Braithwaite. 
 
 the ground. O'Carroll had mastered the mate, and 
 the other men stood staring at us, but offering no 
 opposition. " Is this the way for men to behave who 
 have just been, saved from death, to make yourselves 
 worse than the brute beasts ? This this is the cause 
 of it ! " exclaimed O'Carroll, kicking a cask from 
 which a stream of spirit was even then running out. 
 "It would have been no loss to us if you had killed 
 each other, but we could not see our fellow-creatures 
 perish without trying to save them." 
 
 The bold and determined tone in which O'Carroll 
 spoke, aided by the arrival of the rest of our friends, 
 had such an effect on the seamen, that those who 
 were still able to move slunk away to a distance, 
 while the captain and his mate, when we let them go, 
 sat down helplessly on the sand, forgetting entirely 
 their quarrel and its cause. There they sat, laughing 
 stupidly at each other, as if the affair had been a good 
 joke. While O'Carroll was emptying the rum cask, 
 which it appeared had been washed on shore and 
 secreted by the captain, his men went to the wounded 
 rnan. He did not speak : he seemed scarcely to 
 breathe. I took his hand : it was already cold. All 
 this time he had been bleeding to death : an artery 
 had been shot through. We did our best in the dark 
 to bind up the wound and stop the bleeding; the 
 spirit which might have kept his heart beating till 
 nature, in her laboratory, had formed more blood, was 
 gone ; indeed, probably in his then condition it would 
 not have had its due effect. The wretched man's
 
 Life on the Island. 129 
 
 breath came fainter and fainter. There was no re- 
 storative that we could think of to be procured. We 
 lifted him up to carry him to the camp, but before we 
 had gone many paces, we found that we were bearing 
 a corpse. 
 
 "That man has been murdered," exclaimed O'Car- 
 roll, turning to the captain. " By whose hand the shot 
 was fired which killed him I know not, but I do know 
 that his blood is on the head of the man who ought 
 to have set a good example to his inferiors, and pre- 
 vented them from broaching the cask they had found." 
 
 Whether this address had any good effect we could 
 not tell, but hoping that the men would remain quiet 
 and sleep off the effect of their debauch, we returned 
 to our tent, leaving the body on the ground. The 
 next morning we returned to the beach. The captain 
 and his drunken companions still lay on the sand 
 asleep. They were out of the reach of the sea, but 
 the hot rays of the rapidly rising sun, which were 
 striking down on their unprotected heads, would, I 
 saw, soon give them brain fever or kill them outright, 
 if they were to be left long exposed to their influence. 
 I therefore proposed that we should rouse them up, 
 and advise them to go and lie down in the shade of 
 some shrubs and rocks at a little distance. 
 
 " Before we do so, we'll take away their weapons, 
 and at all events make it more difficult for them to 
 do mischief to us or to themselves," said O 1 Carroll. 
 Some of the men grumbled on being disturbed, as we 
 turned them round to take away their knives. We 
 
 9
 
 130 James Braithwaite. 
 
 left the unloaded pistols, which, as they had no 
 powder, could do little harm. Having taken their 
 arms to our tents, we returned and awoke them, not 
 without difficulty, by shaking them and shouting in 
 their ears. One after the other they got up, lazily 
 rubbing their eyes and stretching themselves, and 
 staring stupidly about them. The captain was one 
 of the last to come to his senses. He started when 
 he saw the dead body of his companion. 
 
 " Who killed that man ? " he exclaimed, in an 
 anxious tone. 
 
 "You did, most probably," answered O'Carroll. 
 " We heard shots fired and found the man dead." 
 
 The captain felt in his pocket, and drew out a 
 pistol with the hammer down : it had been discharged. 
 " Then I am a murderer ! " he exclaimed, in a tone of 
 horror, his countenance expressing his feelings. " It 
 wanted but that to make up the measure of my 
 crimes." 
 
 " It is but too true, I fear," said O'CarrolL 
 
 " Yes, too true, too true ! " cried the captain, rushing 
 oft towards the sea, into which he would have thrown 
 himself, had not O'Carroll, William, and I held him 
 back. It was some time before we could calm him 
 sufficiently to leave him alone. He then went and 
 sat down in the shade at a little distance from his 
 companions, who looked on at him with dull apathy, 
 while he gave way to the feelings which the prickings 
 of his awakened conscience had produced. How he 
 and the mate had got possessed of the pistols we could
 
 Life on the Island. 131 
 
 not guess, till we found the chest of one of the emi- 
 grants, a young man, broken open, and from this they 
 had helped themselves. One of them soon after came 
 for a spade which had been landed, and we saw them 
 hurriedly bury the corpse, as if eager to get the silent 
 witness of their crime out of sight. For the remainder 
 of the day they were perfectly quiet, the mate coming 
 humbly when the provisions were served out to ask 
 for their share ; still we could not trust them, as we 
 knew that if they could get at more liquor, they 
 would very quickly again be drunk. In the evening, 
 indeed, they were seen walking along the beach, 
 evidently watching for the chance of another cask 
 being washed on shore. They did not find one, 
 however, and the next morning were excessively 
 sulky, keeping together and evidently plotting mis- 
 chief. They, with the rest of us, were aroused, 
 however, soon after breakfast by the appearance of 
 a sail in the offing. The more sanguine at once 
 declared that she was standing towards us, and that 
 our fears regarding a prolonged stay on the island 
 were groundless ; others thought that she would pass 
 by and leave us to our fate. Every spyglass was in 
 requisition, and numerous were the surmises as to 
 the character and nationality of the stranger. 
 
 " What if she is an enemy ? " observed William. 
 
 " She will not find much plunder, at all events," 
 answered Trundle. " There is nothing like being at 
 the bottom of the hill, so that you cannot be kicked 
 lower."
 
 132 James Braitkwaite. 
 
 "Even an enemy would respect our condition," 
 remarked O'Carroll ; " we have nothing to fear from 
 one, I should hope." 
 
 " No, but an enemy would leave us where we are : a 
 friend would carry us away, or send us assistance," said I. 
 
 It was dinner-time, and Jacotot had prepared our 
 messes with his usual skill; but so eager were the 
 people watching the approaching stranger, that the 
 food was scarcely touched, except by the children, 
 who of course little knew how much depended on 
 her character. At length there was no doubt that 
 she was standing for the island, and the exhibitions 
 of joy and satisfaction became general among the 
 unfortunate emigrants. They would now be able to 
 leave the island and reach their land of promise ; 
 every countenance beamed brightly except O'Carroll's. 
 After some time I saw his fall. It gained a more and 
 more anxious look. He scarcely withdrew the glass 
 from his eye. 
 
 " What do you make her out to be, O'Carroll ? " I 
 asked. 
 
 " Braithwaite, as I am a living man, she's the 
 Mignonne," he answered, in a hoarse voice, his coun- 
 tenance still further ' showing the agitation of his 
 mind : " if that villain La Roche gets hold of me 
 again, he'll not let me escape with my life. And 
 those poor emigrants to have his lawless crew come 
 among them, it will be terrible ; better rather that 
 they had all gone to the bottom in their ill-fated 
 ship with their drunken captain."
 
 Life on the Island. 133 
 
 Notwithstanding O'Carroll's opinion, I doubted 
 whether the stranger was the Mignonne, for she was 
 still too far off, I thought, for him to be certain on 
 the subject. I therefore tried to tranquillise his mind, 
 wondering that a man so brave, and cool, and collected, 
 as he generally was, should have such a dread of the 
 French captain. 
 
 " I tell you yonder vessel is the Mignonne, and if 
 you had been treated as I was, and had witnessed 
 the scenes I saw enacted on board, you would not 
 have a less horror of La Roche and his scoundrel 
 crew than I have. My reason does not help me ; I 
 cannot think of that man without trembling." 
 
 I understood him, for I have myself been affected 
 in the same way with regard to one or two people 
 who have done me some injury, or would, I have had 
 reason to believe, do me one should they have the 
 opportunity. 
 
 "The only way to escape the pirates is to remain 
 concealed while they are passing," he observed. " As 
 there is no harbour here, and there are no signs of 
 them having been here, they will, in all probability, 
 go to the other side of the island, and we may escape 
 them." 
 
 As I still further examined the stranger I began to 
 fear that O'Carroll was right in his conjectures, and I 
 therefore agreed to assist him in trying to persuade 
 the rest of the people to hide themselves till the 
 privateer was out of sight. The emigrants, frightened 
 out of their wits by the account O'Carroll gave of
 
 134 James Braithwaite. 
 
 the privateer's men, were ready enough to do as he 
 advised, and began running here and there, not know- 
 ing where to hide themselves. We advised them 
 simply to pull down the tent, to put out the fire, and 
 to sit quiet among the rocks and shrubs till the ship 
 had passed. 
 
 We then went on to see the - captain and his men. 
 As we got in sight of where they were, we saw that 
 they had already got up a spar, which had been 
 washed on shore, and were in the act of hoisting a 
 man's shirt to the top of it in order to attract the 
 attention of the stranger. On this O'Carroll shouted 
 out to them in no very gentle tones, " Fools ! idiots ! 
 what are you about ? would you bring an enemy on 
 shore to murder us ? " I then told them the character 
 of the vessel in sight. " What's that to us ? " answered 
 one of the men. " All masters are much the same to 
 us; they'll use us while they want us, and cast us 
 adrift when they've done with us. Whether French 
 or Spaniards, they'll not harm us. They'll have liquor 
 aboard, and that is what we shan't have as long as we 
 remain here." 
 
 It was useless attempting to argue with such men. 
 I turned to the captain. He had lost all authority 
 over his people, who treated him as an equal, or 
 rather as an inferior. He shrugged his shoulders and 
 walked away without speaking. I saw that it was 
 time, therefore, to interfere, and William and I, rushing 
 forward, hauled down the signal, which one of the men 
 was on the point of hoisting. " If you are willing to
 
 Life on the Island. 135 
 
 become slaves, we are not ! " I exclaimed, in a deter- 
 mined tone, seizing the halliards and hauling down the 
 signal. The men threatened, but as they had no arms, 
 and we were firm, they did not attempt to prevent us 
 from carrying off the spar. 
 
 The ship approached, and as she passed along the 
 coast so that we had a broadside view of her, I had 
 no longer any doubt that she was the Mir/nonne. I 
 observed that even the seamen, notwithstanding their 
 bravado, kept so far among the rocks, that unless the 
 privateer's men had been especially examining the 
 shore there was not much probability of our being 
 discovered. We watched the vessel from the highest 
 point of ground we could reach, and we conjectured 
 that she must have touched at the other side of the 
 island, concealed by an intervening ridge of elevated 
 land. " If we are careful we shall escape all moles- 
 tation from the privateer's men," I remarked, address- 
 ing the emigrants. " They are not likely to come to 
 our part of the island." 
 
 It was curious to observe the change which had 
 come over O'Carroll. He was no longer the bold and 
 sagacious seaman, but an anxious, nervous, timid man. 
 At night I frequently heard him crying out in his 
 sleep, thinking that the dreaded La Roche was on 
 him, and was aboul to carry him on board the privateer. 
 As we could not do without a fire to obtain fresh water, 
 we were compelled to light one, though we thus ran 
 the risk, should any of the privateer's men wander 
 into the country, of being discovered. Still that was
 
 136 James Braithwaite. 
 
 a risk which must be run. It was curious, also, to 
 observe the humble way in which, after a few hours, 
 the seamen came to beg for a draught of the pure 
 liquid. I was very glad of this, as I saw that it 
 would enable us to exert an influence over them and 
 to keep them in order. The wretched captain held 
 out for some time, but at last came, with parched lips 
 and bloodshot eyes, entreating even for a few drops of 
 the precious fluid to cool the tip of his tongue. It 
 raised our pity to see how the wretched man suffered, 
 physically and mentally, and all the time without 
 hope. In vain I urged him to seek for mercy as a 
 penitent. " Impossible ! impossible ! " he exclaimed, 
 with a wild laugh. " You do not know what I have 
 done, what I am doomed to do." And tearing himself 
 away from me, he rushed off, and was hid from sight 
 among the rocks and bushes. Day after day passed 
 by, and we kept anxiously hoping that the privateer 
 would take her departure. It was suggested that if 
 she came to the island to refit, the Frenchman might 
 possibly have a storehouse, with boats, perhaps, or 
 means of building one, and that we might thus be 
 assisted to make our escape. At last, so long a time 
 had elapsed since her arrival, that we began to fancy 
 that she had gone out of harbour during a moonlight 
 night, and reached the offing without our perceiving 
 her. To settle the point, William and Trundle volun- 
 teered to reconnoitre, and I, afraid that they might 
 venture too far, resolved to go with them. We fixed 
 on that very afternoon to start, our intention being to
 
 Life on the Island. 137 
 
 get as close to the harbour as we could before dark, 
 and then to rest till the moon rose and afforded us 
 light. 
 
 " I hope that you'll have success, but it is a dan- 
 gerous work you are going on, young gentlemen," 
 observed one of the emigrants, a Mr. Peter Lacy, or 
 Lazy, as he was generally called, for it was most diffi- 
 cult to arouse him to any exertion. 
 
 " Never fear, Mr. Lazy, danger is a sweet nut we 
 midshipmen are fond of cracking to get at the kernel 
 honour. We shall be back all safe before morning, and 
 able to give a satisfactory report." 
 
 In good spirits we set off, for a considerable part of the 
 distance keeping along the shore, to avoid the tangled 
 bush and rocks of the interior. As, however, we ap- 
 proached the harbour, or rather the place where we 
 supposed the harbour to be, we left the beach and kept a 
 more inland course, taking advantage of all the cover 
 we could find to conceal ourselves. At last the sun went 
 down and it quickly grew dark, so we called a halt, 
 and ate some of our provisions with a good appetite. 
 We listened attentively, but could hear no sound, so 
 we agreed to push on directly the moon got up. As 
 we did not speak above a whisper, a very soporiferous 
 proceeding, I was not surprised that both Toby and 
 William fell asleep. It was more necessary, therefore, 
 that I should keep my e} r es and ears open. At last I 
 saw what looked like the illuminated dome of some 
 vast cathedral slowly emerge from the dark line of the 
 horizon ; up it rose, till it assumed a globe-like form,
 
 138 James Braithwaite. 
 
 and appeared to decrease in size, while it cast a bright 
 silvery light over the hitherto obscured landscape. I 
 roused up the two midshipmen, who were sleeping as 
 soundly as if they had been in their hammocks. We 
 worked our way onward among tangled underwood, 
 not without sundry scratches and inconvenient rents 
 in our clothing, till we reached a hill, up which we 
 climbed. From the top we looked down, as we had 
 expected to do, on the harbour. Below us lay the 
 Mignonne, or a ship very like her ; her sails were 
 loose and bulging out with the land breeze, while from 
 the sounds which reached us it was evident that her 
 crew were heaving up the anchor preparatory to 
 sailing ; boats were moving backwards and forwards 
 over the surface of the calm water of the harbour, on 
 which the moon shone with a refulgence which enabled 
 us to see all that was taking place. The anchor was 
 shipped, the sails were sheeted home, and the privateer 
 slowly glided out of the harbour on her errand of 
 mischief; two, if not more, boats returned to the 
 shore fully manned. Farther up the harbour lay 
 three large hulks, with their lower masts only stand- 
 ing; they were high out of the water, showing that 
 they had no cargoes in them. There were also several 
 smaller craft, but all were dismantled, and looked as if 
 they had been there for some time. The French, then, 
 had a settlement on the island. The inhabitants were 
 sure to be armed, and probably were as numerous as 
 our party. If so, it would be unwise to attempt 
 gaining anything by force, though of course we might
 
 Life on the Island. 139 
 
 surprise them. We waited till the people in the boats 
 had had time to turn in and go to sleep, and then 
 descended to reconnoitre the place more nearly. We 
 crept cautiously on till we reached several scattered 
 cottages, or huts rather, built, without any regularity, 
 as the nature of the ground seemed most suitable. 
 There were also two or three storehouses close to the 
 water; indeed, we saw enough to show us that there 
 was a regular settlement made by the French for the 
 purpose of refitting their ships. The barking of 
 several poodles in the cottages made us afraid of 
 moving about much, lest their inmates should look 
 out and discover us. We therefore retraced our steps 
 to the hill. 
 
 " A magnificent idea," exclaimed Trundle, as soon as 
 we called a halt. " We'll surprise and capture the 
 place and hold it for the King of England. You'll be 
 made governor, Braithwaite, to a certainty." 
 
 " To be turned out by the first French privateer 
 which enters the harbour to be thrown into prison 
 and perhaps shot. Thank you," said I, " I would rather 
 not." 
 
 "This establishment solves a mystery," observed 
 William. " We have often been puzzled to know what 
 has become of vessels which have disappeared, and 
 which, from the fineness of the weather, and for other 
 reasons, we did not suppose had been lost. We should 
 do good service if we could get away without being 
 discovered, and send some of our cruisers to watch in 
 the neighbourhood."
 
 140 James Braithwaite. 
 
 I agreed with William ; at the same time the idea 
 of capturing the place was very attractive. If we 
 should make the attempt and succeed, however, we 
 should find liquor there, and the seamen would cer- 
 tainly get drunk and mutinous. No object would be 
 gained, either, unless we could immediately send a 
 vessel to sea, to give notice at the Mauritius of our 
 success and obtain assistance. Discussions on these 
 points occupied us till daylight, when we recommenced 
 our journey to the tents. The news we brought was 
 so far satisfactory to our companions, that we were 
 not likely to be starved to death, and as peace would 
 come some day or other, we might then hope to make 
 our escape. No one, however, seemed at all desirous 
 of attacking the French settlement ; the risk was con- 
 siderable, the gain problematical. It was finally agreed 
 that we should remain quiet where we were, and only 
 in case of extremity make ourselves known to our 
 foreign neighbours. The more energetic of the party 
 became, as may be supposed, very impatient of the 
 inactive life we were compelled to lead. We could do 
 little else than fish all day, and make expeditions in 
 search of water. In this we were at last successful; 
 the spring was more than a mile away, and it became 
 a question whether we should move our camp- there, 
 the objection to our so doing being that it was so 
 much nearer the French settlement. The next morn- 
 ing, on going near the spot where the captain and his 
 companions had erected their tent, I saw no one moving. 
 I called to them. There was no reply. I went to the
 
 Life on the Island. 141 
 
 tent. It was empty ! It was supposed that they had 
 gone to the newly-discovered spring, but those who 
 had gone to bring water from it told us that they were 
 not there. While we were wondering what had become 
 of the men, as William happened to be sweeping the 
 horizon with his telescope, he cried out that he saw a 
 sail in the offing. In a short time afterwards another 
 was descried, her topsails gradually rising out of the 
 water. She was pronounced to be larger than the 
 first which had appeared. 
 
 " It is that scoundrel La Koche again ! " exclaimed 
 O'Carroll, after eyeing the nearest stranger for some 
 time. " I knew that it would not be long before he 
 would be back again, and there he comes with a big 
 prize, depend on it." 
 
 " But suppose, instead of the big ship being his prize, 
 he has been captured by one of our cruisers, and has 
 been sent in first to show the way ? " I suggested. 
 
 ''No, no, the headmost craft is the Mignonne, and 
 the big one is an Indiaman, her prize, depend on that," 
 said O'Carroll. 
 
 There seemed every probability that he was right, 
 but this did not increase our satisfaction. The only 
 thing that could be said was that we should now have 
 companions in our misfortune. As may be supposed, 
 however, we watched the approach of the two ships 
 with the greatest interest, feeling assured that in some 
 way or other they would have a Considerable influence 
 on our fate.
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 AN ANXIOUS TIME. 
 
 OUR anxiety to ascertain the fate of those on board 
 the ship which the Mignonne had brought in as 
 a prize induced me, with my brother William and 
 Trundle, to make another expedition to the French 
 settlement. We ventured much nearer during day- 
 light than we had done the first time, as we were 
 certain that the people would be watching the arrival 
 of the privateer and her prize. We were able, indeed, 
 to reach a spot overlooking the harbour, where, among 
 some thick bushes, we concealed ourselves before the 
 ships came to an anchor. William had brought his 
 telescope, and we could almost see the countenances of 
 the people on the decks of the ships. The large one 
 was, we saw at once, an Indiaman outward bound. 
 We knew that by the number of young men and the 
 young ladies on board, and their clear ruddy com- 
 plexions. Had she been homeward bound, there would 
 be old yellow-faced generals and judges, black nurses, 
 sickly ladies, and little children. 
 
 We anxiously watched the proceedings of those on 
 board. The passengers were walking up and down 
 in a very disconsolate mood : the crew were clustered
 
 An Anxious Time. 143 
 
 forward. By their looks and gestures as they cast 
 their eyes towards the privateer, we thought that even 
 then they were about to attack the Frenchman, and 
 attempt to regain their liberty. 
 
 "I hope they will. I should like to help them," 
 exclaimed William and Trundle, starting up simulta- 
 neously. 
 
 I drew them back. " Nonsense ! we could not help 
 them, and they will not make the attempt," I said. 
 " See, the Frenchmen are going on board armed. They 
 know what they are about." 
 
 Two large boats with armed men were pulling from 
 the privateer to the Indiaman to strengthen her prize 
 crew, while Captain La Roche was going on board her 
 in his gig. He was soon up her side, and began bow- 
 ing and scraping away most politely to the passengers, 
 especially to the ladies. We could almost fancy that 
 we heard him apologising to them for the inconvenience 
 and disappointment he was causing them, with a spice 
 of mockery in his tone, suggesting that it was the 
 fortune of war, and that another day their turn might 
 come uppermost. The crew of the Indiaman were 
 then sent down the side, and rowed off to one of the 
 hulks, while the passengers were conveyed to another. 
 
 " Then those hulks are prison ships after all," ob- 
 served William, when the operation was concluded. 
 " We may get on board them and let out the prisoners 
 some day." 
 
 In this I partly agreed with him, though I could 
 not help seeing the difficulties in the way. Even this
 
 144 James Braithwaite. 
 
 hope was likely to be frustrated, for as we watched 
 the Frenchmen who came on shore, we saw that they 
 were joined by several men whom we had little 
 difficulty in recognising as the crew of the wrecked 
 ship, the very people who had lately deserted us. The 
 mate was with them, but we did not see the captain. 
 Perhaps, drunkard as he was, he was ashamed to go 
 over to the enemy. All the party now entered a 
 drinking-house together, being evidently on the most 
 friendly terms. 
 
 We had therefore no longer any doubt that our 
 existence would be made known to the privateer's 
 men, and that the difficulty of surprising them would 
 consequently be much greater than we had calculated 
 on. We found that it was time to retrace our steps, 
 all we had gained from our expedition being the 
 knowledge that many of our countrymen and country- 
 women were in even a worse condition than we were. 
 Our report when we got back to the tents put our 
 companions very much out of spirits. What were we 
 to do ? was the question. Some proposed that we 
 should go at once and deliver ourselves up to the 
 French, petitioning for their clemency. O'Carroll 
 strongly opposed this. 
 
 " We are at liberty now, boys : if we once get into 
 the hands of these French they will be our masters, 
 and make us do what they like," he observed ; and his 
 influence, supported as he was by us, carried the point. 
 
 We wondered that Jacotot did not betake himself 
 to his countrymen ; but he laughed and said that he
 
 An Anxious Time. 145 
 
 was now an English subject, that he should then be 
 only one atnong many, that he was with us not only 
 the principal cook, but the only man worthy to be 
 called a cook; indeed, that he was perfectly content 
 to continue to share our fortunes. 
 
 As several days passed and we received no visit 
 from the Frenchmen, we began to hope that the sea- 
 men had not betrayed us. So far that was satisfactory, 
 but had they remained faithful, I think that there is 
 little doubt that we should have attempted the rescue 
 of the. prisoners. At last once more we saw the 
 Mignonne put to sea ; and immediately on this, with 
 O'Carroll and Sam Kelson in company, after watching 
 for some time without seeing anything of the English 
 sailors, we therefore conjectured that either they had 
 quarrelled with the French and been put in prison, or 
 had gone on board the privateer too probably the 
 latter. After a consultation, we agreed that we would, 
 at all events, pay a visit to the passengers of the India- 
 man. The French could scarcely think it necessary to 
 keep guards constantly watching them, and we might 
 therefore easily accomplish the undertaking. We ac- 
 cordingly set off to move round the harbour, intending 
 to conceal ourselves in some spot near the Indiaman, 
 that we might watch our opportunity for getting on 
 board. We had gone on for some distance, and were 
 approaching the spot, concealing ourselves carefully 
 as we advanced, when sounds of laughter reached 
 our ears honest English laughter. We stole on, very 
 much inclined to join in it, considering that we had not 
 
 10
 
 146 James BraithwaiU. 
 
 had a good laugh for some time, when from some rocks 
 up which we climbed we saw below us a large party of 
 ladies and gentlemen engaged in discussing a dinner in 
 picnic fashion on the grass. They all seemed remark- 
 ably merry and happy. The younger gentlemen were 
 running about helping the ladies, and doing the polite 
 in the most approved fashion. 
 
 Trundle smacked his lips so loudly at the sight that 
 some of the party turned a hasty glance in the direc- 
 tion where we lay hidden, supposing probably that 
 the noise was made by some bird in the foliage above 
 their heads. In a short time one of the young gentle- 
 men was called on for a song. He without hesitation 
 complied. I forget the strain. It was a right merry 
 one. Another followed him, and then another. 
 
 "I say, Braithwaite," whispered Toby Trundle, "just 
 let me go down and introduce myself, and then you 
 know I can introduce you all, and I'm sure that they 
 will be glad to make your acquaintance." 
 
 I nodded to Toby, and in an instant he slid down 
 the rock, and was in the very midst of the party 
 before any one observed where he had come from. 
 Their looks of astonishment at finding an English 
 midshipman among them were amusing. 
 
 " Why, where have you dropped from, youngster ? " 
 exclaimed a civilian, a judge returning from what 
 was more unusual in those days than at present a 
 visit to England. " The clouds ? " 
 
 "Not exactly; 'tis but from up there, where I have 
 a number of friends who would be glad to make 'your
 
 An Anxious Time. 147 
 
 acquaintance," answered Toby promptly. " May I in- 
 troduce them ? " 
 
 " By all means very happy to see them," answered 
 the nabob, as all civil servants of the Company were 
 called in those days if they were well up the tree, and 
 had made money. " Bring them down at once." 
 
 " I have not a gun, sir, or I might do it ; but I'll 
 hail them, which will answer the purpose," answered 
 Master Toby, with a twinkle in his eye. 
 
 We scarcely waited for his call, but tumbling down 
 one after the other, we stood before the assembled 
 company, to whom Toby, looking 'as grave as a judge, 
 introduced us formally by name, finishing off with 
 "Sam Kelson, boatswain's mate of his Britannic 
 Majesty's frigate Phoebe? 
 
 " The very ship we spoke the day before we were 
 captured," observed our friend the judge. " She was 
 on the look-out for Captain La Roche and his merry 
 men, and if she falls in with them, they will have a 
 hard matter to escape ; but sit down, gentlemen, we 
 are very glad to make your acquaintance. We are 
 companions in misfortune, though in some respects 
 you have the advantage over us, by being at liberty." 
 
 We found that the passengers were allowed to live 
 as before on board the Indiaman, and were under no 
 sort of restraint, they having given their word not to 
 attempt to escape from the island while the French 
 had possession of it. We were treated in the most 
 friendly manner by all the party, Sam Kelson finding 
 a companion in a corporal, the servant of a military
 
 148 James Braithwaite. 
 
 "^*s* 
 
 officer going out to rejoin his regiment. Trundle soon 
 let out to our new friends the intention we had enter- 
 tained of trying to release them. They thanked us, 
 but said that the attempt would have been useless, as 
 the mouth of the harbour was strongly guarded. There 
 were a good many other people on board the ships, 
 while the officers and seamen remained strictly guarded, 
 and were not allowed to visit the shore, except when the 
 Mignonne or some other privateer ship of war was in 
 the harbour. Their only fear was that they might run 
 short of provisions before they were released, or that 
 at all events they should have to live on very coarse 
 and scanty food. They advised us to keep out of the 
 Frenchmen's sight, lest we should be pounced on and 
 treated as searncn and belligerents ; this we very 
 readily promised to do. Altogether we had a very 
 pleasant and merry meeting, and were sorry when 
 our friends told us that the hour for their return on 
 board had arrived. It was arranged that they should 
 have another picnic party in the same spot in three 
 days, and they kindly invited us to join them. On 
 our way back we had, as may be supposed, plenty of 
 subjects for conversation. 
 
 " That Miss Mary Mason," said Toby, " is a sweetly 
 pretty girl. I would go through fire and water to 
 serve her." 
 
 " And Julia Arundel is one of the most lively, ani- 
 mated girls I have met for a long time," remarked 
 William, with a sigh. I had observed O'Carroll in 
 conversation with a lady who seemed to be a former
 
 An Anxious Time. 149 
 
 acquaintance. He told me that he had known her in 
 her younger and happier days, that she had married 
 an officer in India, had come home with three children, 
 who had all died, and that she was now on her way 
 to rejoin her husband. 
 
 " Her case is a very hard one," he remarked. 
 
 " So I suspect we shall find are the cases of many," 
 I answered. " Sad indeed are the effects of war ! 
 The non-combatants suffer more even than the com- 
 batants. That is to say, a far greater number of 
 people suffer who have nothing to do with the fight- 
 ing than those who actually carry on the murderous 
 work. Oh, when will war cease throughout the 
 world ? " 
 
 " Not until the depraved heart of man is changed, 
 and Satan himself is chained, unable further to hurt 
 the human race," answered O'Carroll. " What has 
 always struck me, besides the wickedness of war, is 
 its utter folly. Who ever heard of a war in which 
 both sides did not come off losers ? The gain in a 
 war can never make amends for the losses, the men 
 slain, the physical suffering, the grief: the victorious 
 side feel that only in a less degree than the losers." 
 
 I cordially agreed with him. Yet how many 
 hundreds were daily falling at that time in warfare 
 how many thousands and tens of thousands were yet 
 to fall, to gratify the insane ambition of a single man, 
 permitted to be the fearful scourge that he was to 
 the human race ? We said as little about our ex- 
 pedition as we could, for the emigrants, as soon as
 
 150 James Braithwaite. 
 
 they heard of so many of their countrymen being in 
 the neighbourhood, were eager to set out to see them. 
 "We, however, persuaded them to remain where they 
 were, for a visit of so large a party would not fail to 
 be discovered by the French, and greatly increase 
 the annoyances of our position. We, however, paid 
 our second visit to the passengers of the Indiaman, 
 and found them on shore at the place where we had 
 first met them. Their spirits, however, had already 
 begun to flag ; their guards had been less courteous 
 than at first, sickness had attacked two or three, 
 gloomy apprehensions were troubling the minds of 
 many. Still we had a pleasant dinner, and the song 
 and the jest went round as before. The two mid- 
 shipmen were the merriest of the party, and paid, 
 as may be supposed, the most devoted attention to 
 the two young ladies whom they thought fit to admire. 
 Their happiness was, however, disagreeably inter- 
 rupted by the appearance in our midst of half-a-dozen 
 armed Frenchmen. They nodded familiarly at us. 
 " Bien, messieurs ; you have saved us the trouble of 
 going to fetch you," said one of them, in a sarcastic 
 tone. "You will not leave this, but as you are 
 seamen, you will accompany us to the prison ship." 
 
 We soon found that they had been made acquainted 
 by the seamen of the Kangaroo of our being on the 
 island, and had only waited for leisure to go and 
 bring us to the settlement. Another party had al- 
 ready been dispatched to bring in the emigrants, and 
 from the rough unmannerly way in which these
 
 An Anxious Time. 151 
 
 treated our new friends, we could not but feel the 
 gravest apprehensions as to the indignities to which 
 they might be subjected. Our own existence in the 
 hands of lawless ruffians would be very different from 
 what it had hitherto been. The appearance of these 
 unwelcome visitors completely broke up the picnic 
 party, and while our friends returned to their ship, 
 we were marched off towards one of the hulks. We 
 soon had evidence of the bad disposition of our captors 
 towards us, for Toby Trundle, who was very indig- 
 nant at being thus caught, beginning to saunter along 
 as if he had no intention of hurrying himself to please 
 them, one of them threatened to give him a prog with 
 his bayonet. As we were walking along as slowly 
 as Trundle could contrive to go, the sound of a shot 
 reached our ears. It came from the sea. Our guards 
 started and talked rapidly to each other. Several 
 other shots followed in succession, some close together. 
 
 " There are two at it, of that I am sure," exclaimed 
 O'Carroll. 
 
 The Frenchmen continued their gesticulations with 
 increased animation. They were evidently eager to 
 get to the mouth of the harbour, whence they could 
 look seaward. 
 
 " They think that there is something in the wind, 
 depend on that," observed Trundle. 
 
 Presently the firing became more and more rapid, 
 seeming to our ears to come nearer and nearer. The 
 Frenchmen could no longer restrain their eagerness to 
 learn the cause of the firing, and totally disregarding,
 
 152 James Braithwaite. 
 
 probably indeed forgetting us, off they set running 
 towards the shore as fast as their legs could carry 
 them. We waited for a few minutes to let them have 
 a fair start, and then followed in their wake for some 
 distance, turning off, however, after a time, to the 
 right, so that, should they come back to look for us, 
 we might not so easily be found. We in a short 
 time reached a high rocky mound, whence we got a 
 view of the sea spread out before us. Within a mile 
 and a half of the land were two ships, both with top- 
 gallant sails set, standing in close-hauled towards the 
 harbour. The wind was somewhat off the land, but 
 yet, if it continued steady, it was possible that they 
 might fetch the harbour-mouth. Such, it appeared 
 evident, was the object of the one, while to prevent 
 her so doing was the aim of the other, which was the 
 larger and nearer to us. As soon as the two midship- 
 men set eyes on the latter, they clapped their hands 
 like children with delight, exclaiming at the top of 
 their voices, " The Phcehe ! the Phoebe ! hurrah ! 
 hurrah !" O'Carroll took a more steady glance at the 
 other ship, and then shouted, with no less delight, 
 "And that's the Mignonne, and La Roche's day has 
 come at last." 
 
 " I should hope so, indeed," cried Trundle ; " depend 
 on it the Phoebe won't have done with him till she 
 has made him eat a big dish of humble pie." 
 
 The frigate kept firing rapidly her foremost guns 
 at the Frenchman, who replied to them in a spirited 
 manner with his aftermost ones, as they could be
 
 An Anxious Time. 153 
 
 brought to bear. He was all the time luffing up, 
 trying to eat into the wind, as it were ; but as that was 
 scant, it gave the Phoebe, which was well to windward, 
 a great advantage, and she was now rapidly coming 
 up with him. As she did so, she every now and then 
 luffed up for an instant, and let fly her whole broad- 
 side, doing considerable execution. We eagerly 
 watched the effect of the shot. The Frenchman's 
 sails were soon riddled, and several of his spars 
 seemed to be wounded, many of his ropes, too, hang- 
 ing in festoons. At last, directly after another 
 broadside, down came his spanker gaff, shot away 
 in the jaws, while the mizen topsail braces shared 
 the same fate. In vain the crew ran aloft to repair 
 the damage ; the ship rapidly fell off, and all prospect 
 of her fetching up to the harbour was lost, unless by a 
 miracle the wind should suddenly shift round. The 
 instant the sail came down, the midshipmen gave vent 
 to their feelings of exultation in a loud " Hip, hip, 
 hurrah ! " in which we could not help joining them, 
 and the crew of the Phoebe, whom we could fancy at 
 the moment doing the same thing. 
 
 "Don't be too sure that the Mignonne is taken, 
 however," cried 'Carroll. " I never saw a faster 
 craft, and see, she is keeping away, and going to try 
 what her heels can do for her, dead before the wind." 
 
 The Mignonne, however, could not keep away 
 without being raked by the Phoebe, whose shot, now 
 delivered low, must have told with fearful effect along 
 her decks. This done, the Phozbe instantly bore up
 
 154 James Braithwaite. 
 
 in chase, and not having lost a spar, though her sails 
 had several shot-holes through them, rapidly gained 
 on her. The Frenchmen, to give themselves every 
 chance of escape, were now busily employed in getting 
 out studden-sail booms, in spite of the shot which 
 went whizzing after them. In a marvellously short 
 space of time a wide spread of canvas was exhibited 
 on either side, showing that, though many of her 
 men had fallen, she had a numerous and well-trained 
 crew. 
 
 "They are smart fellows, indeed," I remarked. 
 " Many of them fight with halters round their necks." 
 
 "That makes fellows smart in more senses than 
 one," answered O'Carroll. 
 
 The PJioebe, of course, had to set her studden-sails, 
 and away the two ships glided before the freshening 
 breeze. We watched them with breathless interest. 
 Their speed at first seemed so equal that the chased 
 had still, it seemed, a chance of escaping. 
 
 " Trust to our captain, he'll stick to her till he has 
 made her strike, or he will chase her round the 
 world," said the two midshipmen, in the same breath. 
 
 The Mignonne was firing away all the time with 
 her stern chasers, while the frigate was replying from 
 those at her bows. They were both firing at each 
 other's spars, the one hoping, by crippling her op- 
 ponent, to escape, the other to prevent her doing so. 
 What had become of our guards all this time we had 
 not for a moment thought, while we hoped that they 
 had equally forgotten us. The chase, indeed, probably
 
 An Anxious Time. 155 
 
 absorbed their attention as it did ours. Few of us 
 doubted that the English frigate would ultimately 
 capture the Frenchman; but should she do so would 
 she of necessity come back with her prize to our 
 island, or would she sail away, and, perhaps ignorant 
 of our existence, leave us to our fate ? One thing 
 was evident, that we ought to guard ourselves against 
 the insolence of the French garrison. The men were 
 evidently the scum of society, and should they find 
 themselves without restraint, it was impossible to say 
 what atrocities they might not commit. Anxious 
 as we were to know the result of the chase, we agreed 
 at once to go back to our friends to give them warning, 
 and to consult with them what steps to adopt. Be- 
 fore leaving our look-out place we took one more 
 anxious glance at the two ships. Both O'Carroll and 
 the midshipmen declared that the Phoebe was positively 
 overhauling the Mignonne, and that in a short time 
 we should see the latter haul down her flag. I 
 doubted it.
 
 o 
 
 CHAPTER XL 
 
 ATTACKED BY TUE FRENCH FLEET. 
 
 TJR friends on board the Indiaman were thrown 
 into high spirits on hearing of the prospect of 
 being released. They advised us, however, to get on 
 shore again as fast as we could, and hide ourselves, 
 lest the soldiers, hoping to be ultimately successful, 
 should ill-treat us for having run away from them. 
 We told them that our intention had been to release 
 all the English prisoners, and to overpower the 
 Frenchmen. 
 
 "Blood will be shed if you do, to no purpose," 
 observed the judge; "should the frigate be successful 
 and come back here, as I have no doubt she will, we 
 shall be released ; if the Mignonne escapes and returns, 
 her crew would quickly again overpower us and 
 obtain what they wish, a good excuse for ill-treating 
 us, of which they will not fail to avail themselves." 
 
 The judge's opinion carried the day, and we hurried 
 on shore, and returned by a circuitous route to the 
 spot whence we had witnessed the engagement between 
 the two vessels. William eagerly swept the dark 
 well-defined line of the horizon with his telescope. 
 
 " Hurrah ! there is one yes, there are two sails !
 
 Attacked by the French Fleet. 157 
 
 Here, O'Carroll, see what you can make out of them, " 
 he exclaimed, handing him the glass. 
 
 It was some time before O'Carroll would pronounce 
 an opinion. He then declared positively that there were 
 two ships, and that they were approaching the land. 
 There was a strong breeze. We sat down on the 
 ground, watching anxiously. They came nearer and 
 nearer. We had no longer any doubt that the Phoebe, 
 had captured the privateer. The midshipmen de- 
 clared positively that the largest was their ship. 
 
 " We ought to know her, though, to be sure, it is 
 more of the inside than the out we see of her," observed 
 Toby. 
 
 All our doubts were set.at rest at length, when the 
 British ensign was seen flying proudly over that of 
 the French. 
 
 Three cheers burst almost involuntarily from our 
 throats, which could hardly have failed to have shown 
 our whereabouts to the French soldiers ; but if they 
 guessed the cause, they thought it prudent to take no 
 notice of our proceedings, but, as we supposed, hurried 
 back to their abodes, to conceal any property of value 
 which they might possess. William and Trundle 
 meantime were unable to resist the temptation of 
 going on board the Indiaman, to give our new friends 
 the joyful news. They said that they should be back 
 in plenty of time to see the ships enter the harbour. 
 O'Carroll and I preferred waiting to watch proceedings. 
 At length the frigate and privateer got close in with 
 the land, when both hove to. What was now to
 
 158 James Braithwaite. 
 
 happen ? Boats were seen passing between the two 
 vessels, and then the Mignonnes head came slowly 
 round towards the mouth of the harbour, and on she 
 glided towards it. The flags remained as they were, 
 and men, we saw, were stationed at the guns. Some 
 opposition was 'probably expected. There was a fort 
 at the entrance of the harbour not a very formidable- 
 looking affair with five ship's guns mounted in it. 
 Round them we saw the greater part of the mongrel 
 garrison clustering as if they were going to show fight, 
 but if so, they thought better of it, for, after a short 
 consultation, they sneaked away, leaving the fort to 
 take care of itself. The Mignonne came gliding on, 
 bearing evident traces in her masts and rigging of the 
 punishment she had received, and of the obstinacy 
 or what would have been valour in a better cause 
 with which she had been defended. We met the mid- 
 shipmen running down towards the landing-place, and 
 jumping into the first boat we could find, we got 
 alongside her directly she dropped anchor. 
 
 " Why, Braithwaite, Trundle ! where have you come 
 from?" exclaimed several voices, as the midshipmen 
 clambered up the side. 
 
 They soon gave an account of themselves, and I need 
 scarcely say that we were heartily welcomed by the 
 officers of the Phoebe in charge of the prize, who were 
 in high spirits at having captured a vessel which had 
 proved one of the greatest pests to British commerce 
 in the Eastern seas. The Frenchmen had not yielded 
 till more than a third of their number lay dead or
 
 Attacked by the French Fleet. 159 
 
 desperately wounded on her decks. Among them 
 were several of the seamen of the unfortunate Kan- 
 garoo, including her wretched captain and mate. 
 The survivors of the Englishmen declared that they 
 had been forced on board and compelled to fight. We 
 declined to express any opinion on the subject. All 
 we could say was that we had missed them from the 
 encampment, and had every reason to suppose that 
 they had fallen into the hands of the French. They 
 thus escaped hanging, which I certainly believe they 
 deserved. The chief offenders had already paid the 
 penalty of their crimes. I need scarcely describe the 
 delight of the passengers of the Indiaman on finding 
 that they could now proceed on their voyage, or of the 
 prisoners who were released from the different hulks. 
 They were the officers and seamen taken in different 
 prizes by the Mignonne. The excuse the Frenchmen 
 gave for treating them thus barbarously was that the 
 French taken by English cruisers were shut up on 
 board hulks in English harbours without good food 
 or any exercise. They pretended not to understand 
 that, in one instance, the prisoners would inevitably 
 have escaped had they been left at liberty, while in 
 the present they had had no opportunity of escaping. 
 The mouth of the harbour having been surveyed, the 
 frigate came in the next day, that her crew might 
 assist in repairing the Mignonne and getting the 
 Indiaman and the other vessels ready for sea. I Was 
 curious to ascertain what O'Carroll would say to 
 finding La Roche at length a prisoner. I asked him
 
 160 James Braithwaite* 
 
 if he would go on board the frigate with me to see 
 the French captain. 
 
 " I would not do so to triumph over a fallen foe, but 
 perhaps if I was to set eyes on him again for a few 
 times I might get over the intense dislike even more, 
 the dread, I feel for him," he answered. "I have reason 
 to feel dislike. He ruined my prospects, he killed my 
 companions, and he treated me with every indignity 
 and cruelty he could devise while I remained on board 
 his ship. He made me serve him as a menial wait 
 behind his chair, clean his shoes, arrange his cabin, 
 and if I displeased him he ordered his men to flog 
 me. Ay ! I never told you that before, I was ashamed 
 to do so. He well-nigh broke my spirit. Had I re- 
 mained much longer with him he would have done so, 
 or I should have gone mad and jumped overboard. 
 Still I will see him. " 
 
 We went on board the frigate and enquired for the 
 privateer captain. Having already, it appeared, 
 broken his parole in England when he had once 
 before been taken, Captain Young had refused to 
 receive it, and he was therefore confined below in 
 a cabin, with a sentry placed over him. It was natu- 
 rally supposed that he would otherwise take some 
 opportunity of getting on shore, and, knowing the 
 locality, might remain concealed till he could escape 
 from the island altogether. Accompanied by the 
 master-at-arms, we entered the cabin. La Roche 
 was seated in an easy-chair reading a book when 
 the door opened. He did not rise, but, looking up,
 
 Attacked by the French Fleet. 161 
 
 nodded to O'Carroll, whom he seemed instantly to 
 recognise. 
 
 " Ah, mon ami ! it's the fortune of war, you see. 
 Once I had you in my power, now your countrymen 
 have me,'' he said, in a cool, unconcerned manner. 
 " It is pleasant, is it not ? pleasanter for you than 
 for me. However, my turn may come next, and 
 then " 
 
 " I hope not. I hope while I live that I may never 
 again be in your hands !" exclaimed O'Carroll, inter- 
 rupting him. " You remember how you treated me ? " 
 
 " Oh, well ! and it is in your power to inform the 
 captain of this frigate, and probably he will treat 
 me in the same way." 
 
 " No, indeed ! Englishmen never treat their prisoners 
 as you treated me, " answered O'Carroll ; " Monsieur 
 knows that well enough. I did not come here to 
 insult you ; I did not come to triumph over you. You 
 had inspired me with a horror I could not get over. 
 I came here to be cured. I am so, thoroughly. 
 You have done much injury to the commerce of 
 my country, and the only ill I wish you is that you 
 may be kept a close prisoner till the termination of 
 the war, and never again be able to do an injury 
 to Englishmen. " 
 
 La Roche shrugged his shoulders at this address, 
 and smiled. " Well, you Irishmen are indeed curious. 
 I should have thought that you would have liked to 
 see me hung up to the yard-arm, " he observed, 
 in the same cool tone as before. "However, your 
 
 11
 
 1 62 James Braithwaite. 
 
 moderate wishes may be gratified, or I may make my 
 escape; and if I do, and ever capture you again, I 
 promise you that I will remember your moderation, 
 and treat you to the best of everything I have on 
 board." 
 
 We soon after this brought our interview with the 
 famous privateer captain to an end, and O'Carroll 
 assured me that all his unpleasant monomaniacal 
 feelings with regard to him had been, as he hoped, 
 completely dissipated. As we were about to leave 
 the ship Captain Young politely invited us to remain 
 and dine with him. He showed much interest in 
 O'Carroll's account of his misfortunes, and finally 
 arranged that he should take the command of one of 
 
 o 
 
 the vessels in the harbour to convey the emigrants to 
 New South Wales. I, of course, received no direct 
 communication from Captain Hassall, but from the in- 
 formation Captain Young gave me I had great hopes 
 that the Barbara, instead of sailing immediately for 
 the east, had gone to the coast of Madagascar, in which 
 direction the PJioebe herself was bound. Captain 
 Young offered me a passage should I wish to rejoin 
 my ship. The Indiarnan being refitted for sea by the 
 united exertions of all the crews, we all sailed out of 
 the harbour in succession, the Phoebe leading. The 
 Mignonne, with her prize crew and some of the pri- 
 soners on board, was bound for the Mauritius, to give 
 information of the capture of the island ; the emigrant 
 ship was bound for New South Wales, the Indiaman 
 for Calcutta, we for Madagascar. I went on board the
 
 Attacked by the French Fleet. 163 
 
 Argo, the ship commanded by O'Carroll. I found him 
 well satisfied with his change of circumstances. There 
 was only one thing about which he was concerned. 
 La Roche, though still a captive, was alive, and might 
 soon regain his liberty. 
 
 " If he does I'm sure that he will cause me trouble 
 again, " he observed. " I don't know what causes it, 
 but I even now cannot think of the venomous little 
 man without a feeling of dread a creeping sensation, 
 Braithwaite. Do you know what it is ? " 
 
 " Not exactly, " said I. " But the remedy I suggest 
 is not to think of him. Whenever his image appears 
 banish him with a kick. Or, let me be serious, 
 O'Carroll. Is it not our own fault if we go on living 
 in fear of death all our life long ? Put your trust in 
 God, and fear not what man can do to you." 
 
 " You are right ! you are right ! " exclaimed O'Carroll, 
 warmly; "it is just the want of doing that has made 
 me no coward, as you know constantly tremble at 
 unseen dangers. Henceforward I will try to follow 
 your advice. " 
 
 " Do," said I ; " and depend on it your dread of the 
 little Frenchman will completely and for ever vanish." 
 
 I parted from O'Carroll as honest a man as ever 
 broke a biscuit with the sincere hope that we should 
 meet again. The crews of our respective ships gave 
 three hearty cheers as we separated on our respective 
 courses. We accompanied the Mlgnonne for some 
 distance towards the Mauritius, when several sails 
 were reported in sight from the masthead.
 
 164 James Braithwaite. 
 
 "I hope that they are enemies!" I heard Trundle 
 thoughtlessly exclaim. " Glorious fun to have a fight, 
 We, too, should soon give a good account of them. " 
 
 Both ships were speedily got ready for action, for 
 in those days it was difficult to sail far without meet- 
 ing an enemy. It might be one to be captured 
 snapped up in an instant ; it might be one of equal or 
 not of vastly superior size, to be fought bravely, and 
 taken in the end ; or, mayhap, one so much larger that 
 it would be necessary to make all sail and run away, 
 a proceeding not very often practised in those days by 
 British naval commanders. It was rather doubtful, 
 however, from the number and size of the ships in 
 sight, whether we should not find it necessary to have 
 recourse to the last expedient. We continued, how- 
 ever, steering as before, and rapidly nearing the 
 strangers, when, to the relief of the less pugnaciously 
 disposed, first one and then the others made their 
 number, and we discovered, as we got sufficiently near 
 to exchange telegraph signals, that they were three 
 frigates the Galatea,, Racehorse, and Astrea on their 
 way to the coast of Madagascar to look after a French 
 squadron, which, having been driven away from the 
 Mauritius, had gone in that direction. We should 
 now be a fair match for the Frenchmen whenever we 
 should meet them. Having put most of our prisoners 
 well guarded on board the Mignonne, we parted from 
 her, she to continue her passage to the Mauritius, we 
 to accompany our consorts in search of the enemy. 
 
 A bright look-out was now kept for the enemy, and
 
 Attacked by the French Fleet. 165 
 
 from sunrise to its setting the mastheads were adorned 
 with eager watchers, each wishing to be the first one 
 to espy the Frenchmen. However, the lofty moun- 
 tain ridges of Madagascar hove in sight before any 
 of them were seen. I had become very anxious about 
 the fate of the Barbara. Had she prosecuted her 
 voyage to this coast, and fallen in with the enemy ? 
 If so, she must have been captured, and too pro- 
 bably sent away to one of the settlements. In spite 
 of my advice to O'Carroll, this idea took complete 
 possession of my mind, and I felt convinced that the 
 voyage from which so much had been expected would 
 come to nought. 
 
 Night closed in on us, and the usual answer was 
 given to the watch below by those who had come off 
 deck, "Not a sign of a sail in sight." The next 
 morning the sun arose out of his ocean bed brighter 
 even than is his wont in that bright clime, first light- 
 ing up the topmost heights of the mountains with a 
 roseate tinge, while a purple hue still lay spread over 
 the calm ocean. As usual, officers and men were going 
 aloft, with telescopes over their shoulders, to take a 
 look round for the enemy, when, as the sun rose 
 higher, a shout of satisfaction burst from many a 
 throat, for there lay, well in with the land, their white 
 canvas shining brightly in his beams, the French 
 frigates of which we were in search. The wind came 
 off the land, and we were far to leeward. They thus 
 had greatly the advantage of us. We did our utmost, 
 however, to beat up to them. Every sail that could
 
 1 66 James Braithwaite. 
 
 draw was set, and we continued to tack and tack hour 
 after hour, hoping to reach them, and that some 
 fortunate shift of wind would give us the weather- 
 gauge and enable us to choose our own time for' 
 action. As I went along the decks I was struck by 
 the bold and determined appearance of the men as 
 they stood at their quarters, stripped to the waist, and 
 mostly with handkerchiefs of many colours tied round 
 their heads. The costume was appropriate, for the 
 heat was excessive, besides which, sailors know well 
 that the suffering is much less, should they be wounded, 
 if no pieces of cloth are carried into the body with the 
 shot. They were chatting and laughing, and many 
 of them were cutting all sorts of jokes. I had volun- 
 teered to serve as the captain's aide-de-camp, to carry 
 messages for him to any part of the ship, or to assist 
 the surgeons in the cockpit. 
 
 "You would do good service on deck, and I 
 respect your feeling in offering to be there," he an- 
 swered ; " but you are a noncombatant. You have 
 nothing to gain by exposing your life. You will 
 therefore oblige me by performing the far more 
 painful task of assisting the surgeons." 
 
 I bowed with a feeling of disappointment at my 
 heart, which .1 probably exhibited. 
 
 He smiled and said, " It is possible, after all, that 
 there may be very little employment for your 
 talents." 
 
 There was a shout on the upper deck, taken 
 speedily up by the men on the main deck. The enemy
 
 Attacked by the French Fleet. 167 
 
 were seen bearing down on us. On they came, nearer 
 and nearer. Where we lay it had fallen a perfect calm, 
 and our sails kept flapping against the masts. Still 
 the breeze favoured them. I felt very queer, I confess. 
 I had no intention of going below till I was wanted, 
 and it did not occur to me that I might be turned into 
 a patient myself. The delight of the sailors at seeing 
 the French thus boldly approaching was excessive, nor 
 did they fail to praise them for their courage. 
 
 " Bravo ! Johnny Crapaud. That's more than I 
 thought of you. Come along ! Don't leave us again. 
 We won't hurt ye more than we can help. You are 
 brave fellows, that you are ; we always thought so. 
 Now you show it. Bear a hand, though." 
 
 I heard such and similar expressions from most of 
 the men as I passed along the decks. Suddenly there 
 was a gloom from one end of the ship to the other. 
 The breeze which had been bringing the Frenchmen 
 along suddenly dropped. It had served, them, how- 
 ever, well enough to bring them pretty close up to us. 
 
 "Now," I thought to myself, "I shall see what a 
 regular stand-up sea fight is like." 
 
 Still I could not help feeling all the time that my 
 vocation was one of peace, and that I had no business 
 to be where I was. That is not a pleasant sensation. 
 The great thing for a man to feel in time of danger is 
 that he is at his post and doing his duty. As I was 
 in for it, I determined to do my best to be of use, and 
 to trust to the God of mercy for protection. The 
 enemy soon showed us that they had no intention of
 
 1 68 James Braithwaite. 
 
 being idle. A shot came whistling over our heads, 
 and fell a considerable distance on the other side 
 of us. This showed them .that we were within gun- 
 shot range of each other, and immediately they opened 
 fire in earnest. Some of the shot flew over our heads, 
 others on one side or the other, but hitherto none had 
 struck us. I had a hope that, after all, there would 
 be no bloodshed. We meantime had commenced fir- 
 ing, but either the Frenchmen's powder was better or 
 their guns longer, for our shot mostly appeared to fall 
 short, greatly to the vexation of our crew. The enemy 
 also having had the last of the wind, while we were 
 becalmed, were able to take up a better position than 
 we had, and continued warmly engaging us, we often 
 being scarcely able to return a shot. 
 
 As I had nothing to do below, I remained on deck. 
 More than once, however, I could not help ducking my 
 head as a shot whistled above it. Possibly it might 
 have been too high to have struck me. However, I 
 soon got accustomed to that, and as no one had as yet 
 been hurt, I began to fancy that after all a sea-fight 
 was not so terrible an affair as I had supposed, and 
 that possibly we and the Frenchmen might part 
 without doing much harm to each other. I had been 
 standing near a fine young fellow, Jem Martin by 
 name, captain of a gun, who had for some time past 
 been cutting, with more than ordinary humour, 
 numbers of jokes on the enemy. I was struck by his 
 bold attitude and thoroughly sailor-like look. His 
 bright blue eye beamed with life and animation. I
 
 Attacked by the French Fleet. 169 
 
 had turned my head away from him when a shot 
 whistled by, and I heard a piercing shriek, such as 
 a strong man utters but once, wrung from his bosom 
 by mortal agony. I looked round, and on the deck 
 lay the shattered body of a human being. There were 
 a few spasmodic movements of the limbs, and all that 
 remained of Jem Martin was the mangled corpse at 
 my feet. I shuddered, for I could not help feeling 
 that such as he was I might now have been. 
 
 The event seemed to affect his shipmates but little ; 
 another seaman took his place, and the gun was loaded, 
 run out, and fired. The fact was that they had no 
 time just then for thought or the indulgence of feeling. 
 The enemy's shot now came thicker and thicker ; 
 many went through the sails, others wounded the 
 masts and spars and cut away the rigging, and several 
 more of our men were hit. As soon as they were 
 carried below, I followed, to assist the surgeon in 
 attending to their wounds. I had lon before this 
 
 o o 
 
 forgotten all about the danger to which I was myself 
 exposed, but I could not forget that I had a young 
 brother on board who might any moment be numbered 
 among the killed or wounded. It seemed to me, in- 
 deed, that we were getting so much the worst of it, 
 that I began to dread that the flag of England might 
 have to strike to that of France. The idea was not a 
 pleasant one ; it was not, however, shared in by others 
 on board. 
 
 After we had received a pretty severe battering for 
 the space of two hours, the breeze got up, and the
 
 i jo James Braithwaite. 
 
 Frenchmen hauled off to repair damages. On seeing 
 this the rage of our men became very great, and they 
 cried out to the officers that they might be allowed to 
 go after them. As the enemy were to windward this 
 was not easily to be done, and we had to wait patiently 
 in the hope that the enemy would choose to renew 
 the fight, while in the meantime our top-men were 
 knotting and splicing rigging, and the carpenter's 
 crew were strengthening the wounded yards and 
 stopping shot-holes. At length the breeze reached us, 
 and as it filled our sails the crew cheered in anticipa- 
 tion of being able soon to get to- closer quarters with 
 the enemy. After making numerous tacks, two of our 
 squadron got up to two of the French ships, which 
 seemed in no way disposed to refuse battle. While 
 our gallant commodore closed with the Renommd we 
 engaged the Clorinde. The fight soon gave work for 
 our surgeons, and I went below, as I had undertaken 
 to do, to help them. As I left the deck I cast a glance 
 at my young brother, who had charge of a division of 
 the guns, and was- standing on the deck cheering on 
 the men, full of life and animation. The shots were 
 thickly flying about his head ; any moment one 
 might lay him low. I could but offer up a prayer 
 for his safety. 
 
 The surgeon and" his mates were already at work. 
 I hung up my coat and tucked up my sleeves, prepared 
 to assist them. I will not describe the scene of suffer- 
 ing I witnessed. Most of the poor fellows bore their 
 agony with wonderful fortitude. Two officers had
 
 Attacked by the French Fleet, 171 
 
 been brought below wounded. I kept looking up 
 anxiously every time I saw the feet of men descending 
 the ladder, dreading that they might be bringing 
 down my young brother. Still I kept praying for his 
 safety while I followed the surgeons' directions. A 
 young seaman had been brought down fearfully 
 wounded. I had remarked him on several occasions 
 among the most active and zealous of the crew. The 
 surgeon examined him. He did not groan indeed, 
 he did not appear to suffer much pain. 
 
 The surgeon shook his head. " I can do nothing for 
 him," he whispered to me. " You may be able, per- 
 haps, to speak a word of comfort, and there is nothing 
 just now for you to do." 
 
 I was rather surprised at the surgeon saying even 
 thus much. Perhaps the light of the lantern, which 
 at that moment fell on my countenance, revealed my 
 thoughts, for he added, " I was asked to look after the 
 lad, whose mother is a widow, and, God help me ! I 
 have done little for him, and now it is too late." 
 
 The young seaman was placed on a hammock opened 
 out on the deck of the cockpit. I knelt down by his 
 side, and, after repeating such passages out of the 
 Word of life as occurred to me, I engaged in prayer. 
 He followed me in a low voice. Suddenly he was 
 silent. I looked toward him ; the immortal spirit had 
 taken its night from his frail body. Still the battle 
 raged; more of our poor fellows were brought down, 
 and I once more was called on to assist the surgeons 
 in their painful task.
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 
 A GLORIOUS VICTORY. 
 
 T~ BEGAN seriously to fear that we were getting the 
 -*- worst of it. Shot after shot came crashing on 
 board, and several more men were brought down. I 
 expressed my fears aloud to the surgeon. A poor 
 fellow already on the table about to undergo amputa- 
 tion overheard me. "Don't think of that, sir," he 
 exclaimed ; " they are tough ones, those mounseers, 
 but we'll go down with our colours flying sooner 
 than strike them." 
 
 At that instant our ears were saluted by loud cheers, 
 which burst from the crew on deck. Still the firing 
 was kept up, and it was evident that our ship con- 
 tinued in action. At last, another wounded man being 
 brought down, we heard that the Renomme, the 
 French commodore's frigate, had struck. 
 
 In a few minutes another cheer was heard, the firing 
 ceased, and we had the satisfaction of finding that the 
 Clorinde had also struck her colours to us. My heart 
 felt intense relief when I found that the action was 
 over, and that my young brother had escaped without 
 a wound. Then I recollected that those who had been 
 killed had not been brought below. I wondered that
 
 A Glorious Victory. 173 
 
 he had not come below to relieve my anxiety. Those 
 of whom I inquired could not tell me what officers had 
 been killed. The instant, therefore, I could leave the 
 poor suffering fellows I had undertaken to assist, I 
 hurried on deck. When I went below the frigate had 
 presented a trim and orderly appearance. Now her 
 sails were torn and full of shot-holes, her running 
 rigging hung in loose festoons, with blocks swaying 
 here and there, her bulwarks were shattered, her 
 lately clean deck ploughed up with round shot covered 
 with blood and gore, and blackened by powder. The 
 thickening shades of evening threw a peculiar gloom 
 over the whole -scene. I looked anxiously round for 
 William. I could not see him. My heart sank within 
 me. Could he be among the slain ? A midshipman 
 hurried past me. 
 
 " Where is Braithwaite, my brother ? " I asked, in 
 a trembling voice. 
 
 " There ; don't you see him on the forecastle ? " 
 
 I looked in the direction to which he pointed. My 
 heart bounded up again as I saw him directing the 
 men engaged in bending a fresh foresail, which had 
 before concealed him from my sight. My voice trem- 
 bled with emotion as I ran forward, and, shaking him 
 by the hand, congratulated him on our victory and 
 his safety. He seemed scarcely to understand my 
 agitation. 
 
 " Yes, I am thankful to say we have thrashed the 
 enemy, and I wish there were a few more to treat in 
 the same way. There is one fellow making off, and I
 
 174 James Braithwaite. 
 
 am afraid the Astrea will not be able to work up to 
 bring her to action." 
 
 I looked out as he spoke. One of our frigates, to 
 which he pointed, was a long way to leeward, while a 
 French frigate was standing under all sail to the north- 
 west. Our two antagonists appeared fearfully shat- 
 tered, both the French commodore's ship and the 
 Clorinde, which was even in a worse condition than 
 we were. All our boats had been so injured by shot 
 that we were unable to send one to take possession of 
 our prize, and as the night was now rapidly coming on } 
 we could not hope to do much to repair damages till 
 the morning. As long, however, as- the men could 
 work, the carpenter's crew continued putting the ship 
 to rights. The rest of the already overworked crew 
 were then piped below, that they might be able to* 
 renew their labours on the morrow. I had plenty to 
 do in assisting the surgeons in attending on the 
 wounded, till at last, well wearied out, I turned into 
 my hammock, thankful that my dear brother and I 
 had escaped the perils of the fight, and sincerely hoping 
 that, as it was my first battle, so it might be the last 
 in which I should be engaged. Before going below I 
 took a look towards our prize, whose light I saw 
 burning brightly at no great distance from us. I had 
 now time to think of my own affairs, and of course was 
 not a little anxious about the fate of the Barbara, for 
 it was too probable that she had fallen into the hands 
 of the Frenchmen. If so, they would probably have 
 sent her to France, as she was well provisioned for a
 
 A Glorious Victory. 175 
 
 long voyage, or to one of their settlements, where she 
 could be disposed of to advantage. My sleep was 
 sadly disturbed with these thoughts and with the 
 scenes of pain and suffering I had witnessed. I awoke 
 soon after it was light, and dressing quickly went on 
 deck. It was to find everybody there in a state of no 
 small anger and vexation. 
 
 " She is off, gone clean out of sight," I heard people 
 saying. 
 
 I inquired what was the matter. 
 " Why, it is enough to vex a man, Mr. Braithwaite," 
 observed the first lieutenant. " As we could not send 
 on board last night to take possession of our prize, 
 she has managed to slip away during the darkness. 
 She left a light burning astern on a cask to deceive 
 us. If we ever come up with her we'll make her pay 
 dearly. The other fellow, too, has got clear away ; 
 however, we will find him out, wherever he has hid 
 himself." 
 
 Soon after this the commodore signalled to us to 
 send our boats to assist in removing the prisoners 
 from the Renomme. Thanks to the exertions of the 
 carpenter and his crew, three were already made 
 capable of floating. I asked to take an oar, as I 
 wished to go on board the prize. No sooner did I 
 step on board than I regretted having come. Terrible 
 was the scene of slaughter I witnessed. The frigate 
 had been crowded with troops, nearly one-half of whom 
 had been cut down by the Galatea's shot, which she 
 had poured into the Frenchman's hull. The crew were
 
 1 76 James Braithwaite. 
 
 only now beginning to throw the dead bodies of their 
 shipmates overboard. The French commodore, a gal- 
 lant officer, and many others, were killed. But the 
 wounded nearly doubled the killed, and they chiefly ex- 
 cited our sympathy. Their own surgeons were already 
 almost worn out with attending to them, and of 
 course we could not spare any of ours to render them 
 assistance. The more of the effects of war I saw, 
 even on this small scale, the more I longed for the 
 time when wars are to cease and nations to live at 
 peace with each other. It was not, however, the 
 fashion to speak on that subject in those days, nor 
 do the nations of the world, alas ! appear more in- 
 clined now than then to bring about that happy 
 state of things ! 
 
 When taking some of the prisoners on board the 
 Galatea, I found she had also suffered severely, though 
 not at all in proportion to the Renommd. Captain 
 Schomberg ordered us, as soon as our damages were 
 repaired, to make sail for the port of Tamatave, on 
 the east coast of Madagascar, where he suspected the 
 other French frigate had taken refuge, her captain 
 supposing probably that we should return at once 
 with our prizes to the Mauritius. The Astrea coming 
 up, her crew went on board the Renomme, to put her 
 to rights, and this being done, all four frigates made 
 sail together for Tamatave. It is merely a reef-formed 
 harbour, and by no means a secure or good one. The 
 English had sent a force of about fifty men there after 
 the reduction of the Mauritius, and they had, we un-
 
 A Glorious Victory. 177 
 
 derstood, built a fort, or taken possession of an old 
 one. It was a question whether they had been able 
 to hold it against the French, or had been compelled 
 to surrender. As we approached the coast, all our 
 glasses were in requisition, to ascertain whether any 
 ships were at anchor off the place. There were two, 
 certainly, one larger than the other. The wind was 
 light, but we at length got in close enough to see that 
 the Frenc^ flag flew at their mastheads, as also over 
 the fort, and that there were several smaller vessels. 
 I thought that there would be more fighting, but 
 instead of proceeding to that extremity, the commo- 
 dore sent in a boat with a flag of truce, pointing out 
 the overpowering force he had under him, and demand- 
 ing the instant surrender of the ships and fort. 
 
 We anxiousty watched for the return of the boat, 
 for if the demand were not acceded to we should have, 
 it was understood, to go in and cut out the ships with 
 our boats. Many liked the thought of such an ex- 
 ploit, in spite of its dangerous character. It was very 
 possible that the French captain might hope, with 
 the support of the fort, to be able to beat off the 
 boats, and to hold out until the squadron should be 
 driven off by a storm. At last the boat was seen re- 
 turning. The frigate was the one which had escaped 
 from us. Her captain wisely agreed to yield to the 
 fortune of war, and to give her up with all her prizes, 
 and the fort into the bargain. 
 
 " And what is the name of the other ship ? " I 
 asked. 
 
 12
 
 178 James Braithwaite* 
 
 " The Barbara merchantman," answered the lieu- 
 tenant. " She was on the point of sailing with a 
 French crew when we appeared, so that her owners 
 have had a narrow chance of losing their property." 
 
 This was, indeed, satisfactory news. I was, of 
 course, very eager to go on board and hear from 
 Captain Hassall what he intended doing. The ac- 
 coun.t brought off as to the state of the English 
 garrison was melancholy. The fort was built in an 
 especially unhealthy spot, with marshy undrained 
 land close round it. The consequence was, that of 
 the fifty men who had been sent there, when the 
 French appeared not a dozen were alive, and that 
 sad remainder were scarcely able to lift their muskets. 
 They had therefore at once yielded to the enemy. 
 Several others had since died, but the sickly season 
 being now over, it was hoped that the remainder would 
 live on till the next year, when in all probability 
 during the same season they would share the fate 
 of their comrades. I got a passage in one of the next 
 boats which pulled in. Captain Hassall had been 
 allowed by the French to return to his ship, and he 
 was taking a turn on deck when I went alongside. 
 He looked at me curiously two or three times when I 
 stepped on deck, and, raising his hat, inquired what I 
 wanted. Suddenly he stopped when he got close up 
 to me, exclaiming, " What ! James Braithwaite, my 
 dear boy, is it really you ? I am delighted to see 
 you, for to say the truth, I had given you up as lost. 
 I never supposed that cockleshell of a boat in which
 
 A Glorious Victory. 179 
 
 you left the ship would have survived the hurricane 
 which came on directly afterwards." 
 
 There was one question above all others I wished 
 to ask him, " Have you written home to tell my 
 friends of my loss ? " 
 
 " No," he answered ; " I have so often found people 
 turn up whom I thought had been lost, that I am 
 very unwilling to send home bad news till it is ab- 
 solutely necessary, and as I did not require your 
 signature, I was able to avoid mentioning that you 
 were not on board." 
 
 This answer greatly relieved my mind, and I was 
 in a short time able to talk over our arrangements 
 for the future. The capture of the Barbara would, 
 of course, be a heavy expense to the owners ; but if 
 the voyage should prove as successful as we still 
 hoped it would, a handsome profit might yet be 
 realised. To that object we had now to bend all 
 our energies. We were therefore anxious as soon as 
 we could to proceed on our voyage. I had heard 
 from the captain of the Phoebe that an expedition 
 was fitting out in India for the capture of Batavia, 
 the chief town in Java, of which the French now 
 held possession ; and we had great hopes, if we could 
 reach it soon after the English had gained the place, 
 which of course we expected they would do, that we 
 should sell a large portion of our cargo to great ad- 
 vantage. Before sailing, however, we determined to 
 see what trade could be carried on with the natives. 
 Fortunately, the French had not touched our cargo
 
 180 James Braithwaite. 
 
 for that purpose. Though they had made frequent 
 attempts to form settlements in Madagascar, they had 
 never succeeded in gaining the confidence and good- 
 will of the natives. Had the plans of the Count 
 Benyowsky been carried out when he offered his 
 services to France, they might possibly have obtained 
 a powerful influence in the affairs of the country, if 
 not entire possession of it. His plans were, however, 
 completely defeated by the governor of the Mauritius, 
 who, looking on Madagascar as a dependency of that 
 island, was jealous of his the Count's proceedings, 
 and finally drove him to make common cause with 
 the natives against the French Government. I heard 
 some details of the life of that extraordinary adven- 
 turer. The Count Benyowsky was a Polish nobleman, 
 who for some political reason was banished by the 
 Russian Government to one of its settlements in the 
 extreme eastern part of Siberia, whence it seemed 
 impossible for him ever to find his way back to 
 Europe. The governor of the town in which the 
 Count was compelled to reside had a daughter, young 
 and lovely, who had conceived a warm affection for 
 him, which appears to have been fully returned. 
 Through the means of this young lady he was able 
 to gain information as to everything which was taking 
 place. He heard, among other things, that two large 
 Russian ships were expected at the neighbouring 
 port. He had long been looking out for the means 
 of making his escape from Siberia. 
 
 Here was an opportunity. None but a man of
 
 A Glorious Victory. 181 
 
 great boldness and energy would, however, have con- 
 sidered it one. He was a prisoner in a fortified town ; 
 it contained a considerable number of his countrymen, 
 but they were prisoners strictly watched. Still he 
 was determined to make the attempt. He set to 
 work and gained over a hundred men to assist in 
 his dangerous undertaking. By some means they 
 were able to provide themselves with arms. The 
 governor's fair daughter undertook to obtain the keys 
 of the fortress, provided her father's life was spared. 
 The adventurers found it impossible to make their 
 escape without first mastering the garrison. The 
 conspirators were mustered, and were ready for the 
 enterprise. The young lady brought her lover the 
 keys. Her last words were, "Do not injure my 
 father." 
 
 " Of course not, if he makes no resistance," was 
 the Count's answer. 
 
 The gates were opened ; the conspirators rushed in. 
 The old governor was, however, not a man to yield 
 without a struggle. Putting himself at the head of 
 some of his men, he endeavoured to keep back the 
 assailants. Again and again he charged them, calling 
 on the troops to rally round him. It was evident to 
 the Count and his companions that if he were allowed 
 to live their undertaking would fail. He therefore, 
 pressed on by numbers, was killed, with all who stood 
 by him. 
 
 The adventurers, now putting all who opposed them 
 to the sword, became complete masters of the place,
 
 1 82 James Braithwaite. 
 
 and without difficulty obtained possession also of the 
 two ships which had just arrived. A sufficient number 
 of officers and seamen were found to navigate the 
 ships, and, having provisioned them for a long voyage, 
 the Count, taking the daughter of the governor with 
 him, went on board them, with a hundred compan- 
 ions, and made sail to the southward. The Count 
 had taken precautions against pursuit ; indeed, there 
 were probably no Russian men-of-war in those waters 
 at the time, and thus he made good his escape. He 
 touched at a variety of places. He reached Canton 
 in safety. Here he wisely sold his ships, as, had he 
 fallen in with any Russian men-of-war, his destruc- 
 tion would have been certain. At Canton he and his 
 companions embarked on board two French vessels, 
 in which they proceeded to the Isle of France. Here 
 he announced his intention of forming a colony in 
 Madagascar, or perhaps of conquering the country for 
 France. 
 
 His plans, as I have said, excited the jealousy of 
 the governor of the Mauritius, and of other people of 
 authority in that island, who determined to oppose 
 him. Notwithstanding, he proceeded to France, 
 where he so completely gained the good opinion of 
 the French minister that he was appointed to take 
 command of an expedition to found the proposed 
 settlement, with the title of governor-general. He 
 had married the daughter of the Russian governor, 
 and she accompanied him in all his travels, but what 
 was her ultimate fate I do not remember having heard.
 
 A Glorious Victory. 183 
 
 After returning to the Isle of France, where the 
 governor still kept up his hostility, and opposed him 
 by every means in his power, he set sail with about 
 three hundred men for Madagascar. He landed at 
 Antongil Bay, where he was well received by the 
 chiefs, but he at first was subject to a good deal of 
 opposition from the natives generally. He did his 
 best to conciliate them, but as he had often to employ 
 force, and to keep up a strict military rule at the 
 same time, it must have been difficult to persuade 
 them that his intentions were pacific and philanthro- 
 pic. He seems to have met with heroic courage all 
 the innumerable difficulties by which he was beset. 
 He lost many of his officers and men by sickness, 
 as the position where he attempted to found his first 
 settlement, from being surrounded by marshes, was 
 very unhealthy. Among othei's, his only boy lost 
 his life by fever. He was left without the necessary 
 supplies he expected from the Isle of France, the 
 governor purposely neglecting to send them. The 
 natives also were incited by emissaries of the governor 
 to oppose him, while, of the officers sent to him, some 
 were incapable, and others came with the express 
 purpose of betraying him. Notwithstanding all these 
 difficulties, by the middle of 1775 the settlers had 
 built a fort in a more healthy situation, which was 
 called Fort Louis, had constructed all the necessary 
 buildings for the town of Louisbourg, and had formed 
 a road twenty-one miles in length and twenty-four 
 feet in breadth. The Count had also done something
 
 184 James Braithwaite. 
 
 towards civilising the people, and among other im- 
 portant measures had persuaded the women to give 
 up their practice of infanticide, which had been ter- 
 ribly prevalent. They, however, refused to ratify the 
 engagement without the presence of the Count's wife, 
 who was residing at the Isle of France. She was 
 accordingly sent for, and on her arrival the women 
 of the different provinces, assembling before her, bound 
 themselves by an oath never to sacrifice any of their 
 children. They agreed that any who should break 
 this oath should be made slaves, while they were to 
 send all deformed children to an institution which 
 had been founded by the Count in the settlement 
 for that purpose. 
 
 He had by this time formed alliances with many 
 of the surrounding chiefs, who ever afterwards re- 
 mained faithful to him. In other parts of the island 
 combinations were formed against him. He accord- 
 ingly mustered his forces, and marching against his 
 enemies, who had brought forty thousand men into 
 the field, put them to flight. Those who fell into 
 his hands he treated with so much leniency and 
 kindness that he ultimately attached them to his 
 cause. A curious superstition of the natives was the 
 cause of his being at length raised to the dignity 
 of the principal chief of the island. It appears that 
 the hereditary successor to the title was missing, 
 when some of the natives took it into their heads 
 that the Count Benyowsky was the lost heir. The 
 idea gained ground at the very time that the affairs
 
 A Glorious Victory. 185 
 
 of the Count were in a very precarious condition. 
 His own health was failing, the more faithful among 
 his European officers were dead, his enemies in the 
 Mauritius had succeeded in prejudicing the minds of 
 the members of the French Government against hirn, 
 and two, if not more, vessels bringing out supplies had 
 been lost. Under these circumstances it is not sur- 
 prising that he should have accepted the proffered 
 dignity, which shortly led to his being recognised as 
 the principal chief and supreme ruler of the whole 
 island. 
 
 Commissioners had been sent out from France to 
 investigate the affairs of the settlement. While they 
 were there he took the opportunity of giving up the 
 command of the setttlement to another officer, and 
 entirely dissolved his connection with it and with 
 France, though he at the same time, with the other 
 chiefs, expressed his desire to live on friendly terms 
 with the inhabitants, and to support the settlement 
 to the best of his ability. He employed some time 
 after this in consolidating his power and in improv- 
 ing the condition of the people. He also drew up a 
 constitution, which for those days was of the most 
 liberal character. Having done all he could to civilise 
 the people, he resolved to go to Europe to establish 
 mercantile relations with different countries for the im- 
 provement of the commerce of his adopted country. 
 
 In France, though he had some friends who wel- 
 comed him cordially, he was coldly received by those 
 in power, though his course was supported by the
 
 1 86 James Braithwaite. 
 
 celebrated Dr. Franklin, who was at that time in 
 Paris. At length, quitting the country, he went to 
 England; but though he offered to place the country 
 under the protection of the English Government, no 
 encouragement was afforded him. All his hopes in 
 Europe having failed, he set sail for the United States, 
 in the vessel he chartered with a cargo of goods 
 suited to the markets of Madagascar. After remain- 
 ing for some time in the United States and obtaining 
 another ship and cargo, he reached Antongil Bay in 
 July 1785. He was here cordially welcomed by the 
 chiefs, but instead of going into the interior and 
 assuming the reins of government, he remained on the 
 coast for the purpose of establishing trading-posts 
 where his goods might be disposed of. He had cap- 
 tured one port from the French, and was engaged in 
 repairing a fort built by them, when a body of troops 
 landing from a French frigate attacked him. He 
 retired with some few Europeans and natives into 
 the fort, where he attempted to defend himself. The 
 French advanced, he was shot through the body, and 
 being ignominiously dragged out, directly afterwards 
 expired. Poor Count Benyowsky ! I could not help 
 feeling sorrow when I heard of his sad fate. 
 
 The climate of the low lands near the seashore was, 
 from what we heard, very unhealthy, but in the hill 
 country of the interior it is as healthy as any part of 
 the world. We heard a good deal of the English and 
 French pirates, who had formed, a century before, 
 some flourishing settlements on the northern coasts.
 
 A Glorious Victory. 187 
 
 The name of a bay we visited (Antongil) was derived 
 from one of the most celebrated, Anthony Gill. 
 Several other places also obtained their names from 
 members of the fraternity of freebooters. While the 
 pirates continued their depredations on the ocean, 
 they in general behaved well to the natives, but when 
 being hotly pressed by the men-of-war of the people 
 they had been accustomed to rob, they entered upon 
 the most nefarious of all traffics, that of slaves, and 
 to obtain them instigated the people of one tribe to 
 make war on those of another. This traffic has ever 
 since been carried on, greatly contributing to retard 
 the progress of civilization.
 
 CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 ARRIVAL AT JAVA. 
 
 ~T WAS very sorry to have to part from my brother 
 -*- William, and not a little so from that merriest of 
 merry midshipmen, Toby Trundle. 
 
 " We shall meet again one of these days, Trundle," 
 I said, as I warmly shook hands with him. " I hope 
 it will be in smooth water, too ; we have had enough 
 of the rough together." 
 
 I did my best to express to the captain and officers 
 of the Phoebe my sense of the kindness with which 
 they had treated me from the first moment I had 
 stepped on board their frigate to the last. We all sailed 
 together, the men-of-war and their prize, to proceed 
 to the Mauritius, then to refit and get ready for the 
 expedition to Java. We also were bound for Java, 
 but intended first to visit Antongil Bay for the purpose 
 of trading with the natives. I was pleased to find 
 myself among my old shipmates again. They had had 
 no sickness on board, and not a man had been lost. 
 The officers were the same in character, while their 
 individual peculiarities seemed to stand out more 
 prominently than before. 
 
 We found the natives at Antongil Bay very honour-
 
 Arrival at Java. 189 
 
 able in their dealings. Many of the chiefs spoke French 
 perfectly well, and looked like Frenchmen. They 
 were, we found, indeed, descendants of some of the 
 Count Benyowsky's followers, who had married native 
 women. The children of such marriages were generally 
 highly esteemed by the natives, who had raised them 
 to the rank of chiefs. From what I saw of all classes 
 of the natives of Madagascar, but especially of the 
 upper ranks, I should say that they were capable of 
 a high state of civilization, and I see no reason why 
 they should not some day take their place among the 
 civilized nations of the east. When that time will 
 come it is impossible to say. Neither adventurers, 
 like the brave and talented Benyowsky, nor French 
 settlements, will bring it about. One thing, indeed, 
 only can produce it that is, the spread and the firm 
 establishment of true Christianity among the people. 
 
 Some days after our departure we had a distant 
 view of the island of Rodriguez. In about a fortnight 
 afterwards we were glad to put on warm clothing in- 
 stead of the light dress suitable to the tropics ; yet we 
 were only in the same parallel of latitude as Madeira. 
 It showed us how much keener is the air of the southern 
 hemisphere than that of the northern. We soon after 
 fell in with the monsoon, or trade wind, which sent 
 us flying along at a good rate; till early in August, 
 on a bright morning, the look-out at the masthead 
 shouted at the top of his voice, " Land ho ! Land 
 ahead !" It was the north-west cape of New Holland, 
 or Australia, a region then, as even to the present day,
 
 I go James Braithwaite. 
 
 almost a terra incognita to Europeans. As we neared 
 it, we curiously looked out with our glasses for some 
 signs of the habitations of men, but nothing could be 
 seen to lead us to suppose that human beings were to 
 be found there. The shore was low, sandy, and deso- 
 late, without the least intermixture of trees or verdure. 
 A chain of rocks, over which the sea broke furiously, 
 lined the coast. We continued in sight of this most 
 inhospitable-looking land till the next morning. I 
 could not help thinking of the vast extent of country 
 which intervened between the shore at which we were 
 gazing and the British settlement at Port Jackson, of 
 which we had lately heard such flattering accounts. 
 Was it a region flowing with milk and honey ? one of 
 lakes and streams, or of lofty mountains ? did it contain 
 one vast inland sea, or was it a sandy desert of burning 
 sands, impassable for man ? 
 
 This was a problem some of my emigrant friends 
 had been discussing, and which I longed to see solved. 
 After losing sight of the coast of New Holland, we 
 had to keep a bright look-out, as we were in the sup- 
 posed neighbourhood of certain islands which some 
 navigators, it was reported, had seen, but no land ap- 
 peared. One clear night we found ourselves suddenly, 
 it seemed, floating in an ocean of milk, or more properly, 
 perhaps, a thick solution of chalk in water. The sur- 
 face was quite unruffled, nor was there the slightest 
 mixture of that phosphoric appearance often seen on a 
 dark night when the sea is agitated. The air was still, 
 though it was not quite a calm, and the sky was per-
 
 Arrival at Java. igi 
 
 fectly clear. It took us some hours to slip through it. 
 We drew up some in buckets, and found it to contain 
 a small, scarcely perceptible, portion of a fine filamen- 
 tuous substance, quite transparent, such as I have 
 occasionally seen where seaweed is abundant. Whether 
 this was the cause of the milky appearance of the sea 
 or not we could not determine. We were now sailing 
 almost due north, for the Straits of Bally, as the pas- 
 sage is called between that small island and the east 
 end of the magnificent island of Java. About the 
 middle of August, early in the morning, again land 
 was seen from the masthead, and in a few hours we 
 entered the Straits I have just mentioned. We could 
 see the shores on both sides, that of Bally somewhat 
 abrupt, while the Java shore, agreeably diversified by 
 clumps of cocoa-nut trees and hills clothed with ver- 
 dure, looked green and smiling, contrasting agreeably 
 with that of New Holland, which we had so lately left. 
 A large number of small boats or canoes were moving 
 about in all directions, those under sail going at great 
 speed. They were painted white, had one sail, and 
 were fitted with outriggers. We had to keep a bright 
 look-out lest we should run suddenly into the jaws 
 of any French or Dutch man-of-war, which, escaping 
 from our cruisers, might be pleased to snap up a richly- 
 . laden merchantman like the Barbara. We could not 
 tell at the time whether the proposed expedition had 
 arrived, or, if it had, whether it had been successful. 
 
 As we were coasting along, a hill appeared in sight, 
 early in the morning, the summit thickly surrounded
 
 1 92 James Braithwaite 
 
 by clouds. As this nightcap of vapours cleared away, 
 a remarkable cone was exposed to view, the base 
 covered with the richest vegetation. Soon after this 
 we got so entangled among clusters of rocky islands 
 and coral reefs that we were very much afraid we 
 should be unable to extricate ourselves, and that our 
 ship would get on shore. Though there was not much 
 risk of our losing our lives, the dread of having our 
 ship and cargo destroyed was enough to make us 
 anxious. Fortunately the wind fell, and by keeping 
 look-outs at each forc-yardarm and at the masthead, 
 we were able to perceive the dangers with which we 
 were surrounded before we ran on any of them. At 
 length we got into seemingly more clear water, but 
 there being still several reefs and islands outside of us, 
 Captain Hassall thought it prudent to anchor for the 
 night. The shore off which we lay was lined with 
 cocoa-nut and. other palrn-trees, rivulets were seen 
 flowing down the sides of the hills, which were clothed 
 with spice-bearing and other shrubs, the whole land- 
 scape presenting a scene of great tropical beauty. 
 
 " If I ever had to cast anchor anywhere on shore, 
 that's the sort of country I should choose, now," ob- 
 served Benjie Stubbs, our second officer, who had been 
 examining the coast for some time through his glass. 
 
 " I wouldn't change one half-acre of any part of our 
 principality for a thousand of its richest acres," said 
 David Gwynne, our surgeon, to whom he spoke. 
 "Poets talk of the spicy gales of these islands; in 
 most cases they come laden with miasma-bearing
 
 Arrival at Java. 193 
 
 fevers and agues on their wings ; while if a fellow has 
 to live on shore he gets roasted by day, with a good 
 chance of a sunstroke, and he is stewed at night, and 
 bitten by mosquitoes and other winged and crawling 
 things, and wakes to find a cobra de capella or green 
 snake gliding over his face." 
 
 "Oh, a man would soon get accustomed to those 
 trifling inconveniences, as the natives must do ; and 
 money goes a long way in these regions for all the 
 necessaries of life," answered Stubbs. 
 
 I must confess that, lovely as I had heard are 
 many parts of those eastern isles, I was inclined to 
 agree with the surgeon. 
 
 It was discovered this evening that in consequence 
 of the heat, or from careless coopering, our water-casks 
 had let out their contents, and that we had scarcely 
 any fresh water in the ship. At Batavia it was very 
 bad, and it might be some days before we should get 
 there, or we could not tell when, should the ex- 
 pedition not have succeeded. It was therefore 
 necessary to get water without delay, and as a river 
 was marked on the chart near to where we lay, we 
 agreed the next morning to go up, and, should we see 
 no fort, to run in and obtain water and any fresh 
 provisions we might require. Accordingly we weighed 
 by sunrise, and, standing in, ran along the coast till 
 we arrived off the mouth of the river we hoped to 
 find. Some native houses were seen, but no fortifica- 
 tions and no buildings of an European character We 
 therefore thought that we should be perfectly safe in 
 
 is
 
 1 94 James Braithwaite. 
 
 going ashore. On dropping our anchor, several canoes 
 came off laden with turtles, ducks, fowls, cockatoos, 
 monkeys, and other small animals and birds ; besides 
 sweet potatoes, yams, and other vegetables, grown by 
 the natives for the supply of the ships passing along 
 the coast. They found plenty of customers among 
 our men, and the ship was soon turned into a per- 
 fect menagerie. We without difficulty made the people 
 in the canoes understand that we wanted to replenish 
 our water-casks, and we understood them to say that 
 they would gladly help us. Two boats were therefore 
 lowered and filled with casks ; Stubbs took charge of 
 one of them, and I went in the other, accompanied by 
 little Jack Nobs, intending to exchange a few articles 
 which I took with me suitable to the taste of the 
 natives for some of the productions of their country. 
 As we pulled up the river we saw the low shores on 
 either side lined with houses built on high piles, by 
 which they were raised a considerable distance above 
 the ground, some, I should think, fully twenty feet. 
 The only means of entering them was by a ladder, 
 which we found it was the custom of the inhabitants 
 to lift up at night to prevent the intrusion of strangers, 
 but more especially, I should think, of wild beasts. 
 The chief object, however, of their being built in this 
 way is to raise them above the miasma of the marshy 
 ground, which often rises only two or three feet. 
 They were all on one floor, but had numerous parti- 
 tions or rooms. The roofs, which were covered with 
 palm leaves, projected some distance beyond the walls,
 
 Arrival at Java. 195 
 
 so as to form a wide balcony all round. The ground 
 beneath was also in many instances railed in, and 
 thus served for the habitation of ducks, poultry, and 
 cattle. 
 
 At the landing-place some way up a number of 
 natives were collected, who received us in a very 
 friendly way. We saw no Dutchmen nor other Euro- 
 peans. As we could not make ourselves understood 
 by the natives, we were unable to ascertain what had 
 occurred at the other end of the island. The men in 
 the canoes had for clothing only a cloth round their 
 waists, but the people who now received us were 
 habited in a much more complete fashion. They wore 
 the sarung, a piece of coloured cloth about eight feet 
 long and four wide, part of which was thrown over 
 the shoulder like a Highlander's plaid, the rest bound 
 round the waist serving as a kilt. They all had on 
 drawers secured by a sash, and several wore a short 
 frock coat with buttons in front, called a baju. All 
 had daggers, and several, who were evidently people 
 of some consequence, had two in copper or silver 
 sheaths. The latter had their teeth blackened, which 
 was evidently looked on as a mark of gentility. They 
 also wore turbans, while the lower orders only had 
 little caps on their heads. The watering-place was 
 some little way up the river, and while the mates 
 proceeded there with the boats, I landed at the village 
 or town. I had not proceeded far when I was gi^en 
 to understand that a chief or some person of conse- 
 quence wished to see me, for the purpose, I supposed,
 
 196 James Braithwaite. 
 
 of trading. His habitation was pointed out to me on 
 the summit of some high ground at a distance from 
 the river. It appeared to be far larger than the houses 
 of the village. Without hesitation I set off, followed 
 by Jack, and accompanied by several of my first ac- 
 quaintance, towards it. I now more than ever re- 
 gretted liaving lost O'Carroll, for understanding as he 
 did the languages of the people of the Archipelago, 
 he would greatly have facilitated our proceedings. 
 
 The house or palace of the great man was sur- 
 rounded, as are all the island habitations of every 
 degree which I saw in Java, with gardens. We 
 entered on the north side into a large square court, on 
 either side of which were rows of Indian fig-trees, 
 with two large fig-trees nearly in the centre. Passing 
 through this we found ourselves in a smaller court, 
 surrounded by pillars, and covered in by a light roof. 
 Here most of my companions remained, but I was 
 conducted up a flight of steps to a handsome terrace 
 in front of a building of considerable size, in the 
 centre of which was a spacious hall, the roof richly 
 painted with red and gold. This hall of audience 
 was on the top of the hill ; steps from it led down to 
 other houses which composed the dwelling of the 
 chief and his family. 
 
 As I looked down from the terrace, I could see the 
 tops of the houses of the poorer class of people, which 
 surrounded the palace of the chief. They were all 
 in the midst of gardens, and had walls round them. 
 I found, indeed, that I was in the centre of a town, or
 
 Arrival at Java. 197 
 
 large village, though in coming along I had scarcely 
 seen any habitations, so completely shut in were they 
 by trees and shrubs. I had thus an example of the 
 fertility of Java, and of the industry of its inhabitants. 
 With regard to the habitations of the barbarians whose 
 lands I visited, I must observe that, though there 
 were exceptions to the rule, they were generally far 
 superior in respect to the wants of the occupants than 
 are the dwellings of a large number of the poorer 
 classes in Scotland, and especially in Ireland, and in 
 some districts even in England. They are in good 
 condition, clean, sufficiently furnished, and well venti- 
 lated. Granted that the materials of which they are 
 built are cheap, that from the fertility of the land a 
 man by labouring three days in the week can supply 
 all his wants for the remaining four, and has time 
 to repair his house and furniture, and that he has 
 no rates and taxes to pay, still I cannot help be- 
 lieving that there is something wrong somewhere, 
 that God never intended it to be so, and that it is a 
 matter it behoves us to look to more than we have 
 done. Though distance seeme'd to increase my love 
 for Old England, it did not blind me to her faults, and 
 I often blushed when I found myself among heathen 
 savages, and saw the superiority of some of their 
 ways to ours. These or similar thoughts occupied me 
 while I stood on the terrace gazing on the fine pros- 
 pect around, and waiting for the appearance of the 
 chief. 
 
 After some time the chief appeared at the entrance
 
 198 James Braithwaite. 
 
 of the hall of audience, with a gay coloured umbrella 
 borne over his head, a slave carrying the indispensable 
 betel-box by his side, a handsome turban on his head, 
 and his sash stuck full of jewel-hilted daggers with 
 golden scabbards, while all his attendants stood round 
 with their bodies bent forward and their eyes cast to 
 the ground, as a sign of reverence. I thus knew that 
 I was in the presence of a very important person. 
 I was rather puzzled to discover who he took me for, 
 that he treated me with so much state. How we were 
 to understand each other, and I was to ascertain the 
 truth, I could not tell. I think I mentioned that 
 I learned a little Dutch, which I had practised occa- 
 sionally with Peter Kloops, my old cousin's butler. 
 
 I tried the chief with some complimentary phrases in 
 that language, but he shook his head ; I then tried him 
 with French. He shook his head still more vehe- 
 mently, and, from the signs he made, I thought that 
 he was annoyed that I had not brought an inter- 
 preter with me. After a time, however, finding that he 
 could get nothing out of me, he said something to one 
 of his attendants, who, raising his hands with his palms 
 closed till his thumbs touched his nose in rather a 
 curious fashion, uttered a few words in reply, and then 
 hurried oft' by the way I had come. I was after this 
 conducted into the hall, where on a raised platform 
 the chief took his seat, making signs to me to sit near 
 him, his attendants having done the same. Slaves 
 then brought in some basins of water, in one of which 
 the chief washed his hands, I following his example.
 
 Arrival at Java. 199 
 
 Trays were then brought in, with meat and rice and 
 fish, and certain vegetables cut up into small frag- 
 ments. There were no knives, or forks, or spoons. 
 The chief set an example, which I was obliged to follow, 
 of dipping his fingers into the mess before him, and , 
 as it were, clawing up a mouthful and transferring it 
 to his mouth. Had his hands not first been washed, I 
 certainly should not have liked the proceeding, but as 
 I was by this time very hungry, and the dishes were 
 pleasant tasted and well cooked, I did ample justice to 
 the repast. 
 
 The chief and his attendants having eaten as much 
 as they well could, my young attendant Jack, who sab 
 somewhat behind me, having done the same, water 
 was again brought in, that everybody might wash 
 their hands. 
 
 I heard Jack Nobs in a low tone give rough 
 colloquial expressions of his satisfaction. 
 
 " They don't seem much given to talking, though," 
 he added to himself. " I wonder whether it is that 
 they think we don't understand their lingo, or that 
 they don't understand ours; I'll just try them, though." 
 
 Whereon in a half whisper he addressed the person 
 sitting next to him, who bowed and salaamed very 
 politely in return, but made no reply. 
 
 " What I axes you, mounseer, is, whether you feels 
 comfortable after your dinner," continued Jack, in a 
 loud whisper. " And, I say, will you tell us who the 
 gentleman in the fine clothes is, for I can't make out 
 nohow ? Does he know that my master here is a
 
 2OO James Braithwaite. 
 
 great merchant, and that if he wishes to do a bit of 
 trade, he is the man to do it with him ? " 
 
 The same dumb show on the part of the Javanese 
 went on as before. Jack's attempt at opening up a 
 conversation was put a stop to by the return of the 
 servant with dishes containing a variety of vegetables 
 and fruits, which were as welcome, probably, to him 
 as to me. One dish contained a sweet potato cooked. 
 It must have weighed from twelve to fifteen pounds. 
 I have heard of one weighing thirty pounds. The 
 natives appeared very fond of it. We had peas and 
 artichokes and a dish of sago, the mode of obtaining 
 which I afterwards saw, and will describe presently. 
 I heard Jack cry out when he saw one of the dishes 
 of fruit. It was, I found, the durian, a fruit of which 
 the natives are very fond, and which I got to like, 
 though its peculiarly offensive odour at first gave me a 
 dislike to it. It is nearly of the size of a man's head, 
 and is of a spherical form. It consists of five cells, 
 each containing from one to four large seeds enveloped 
 in a rich white pulp, itself covered with a thin pellicle, 
 which prevents the seed from adhering to it. This 
 pulp is the edible portion o'f the fruit. However, a 
 dish of mangostins was more to my taste. It is one 
 of the most exquisite of Indian fruits. It is mildly 
 acid, and has an extreme delicacy of flavour without 
 being luscious or cloying. In external appearance it 
 resembles a ripe pomegranate, but is smaller and more 
 completely globular. A rather tough rind, brown 
 without, and of a deep crimson within, encloses three
 
 Arrival at Java. 201 
 
 or four black seeds surrounded by a soft, semi-trans- 
 parent, snow-white pulp, having occasionally a very 
 slight crimson plush. The pulp is eaten. We had 
 also the well-known Jack-fruit, a great favourite with 
 the natives ; and the champadak, a much smaller fruit, 
 of more slender form and more oblong shape. It has a 
 slightly farinaceous consistency, and has a very delicate 
 and sweet flavour. I remember several other fruits ; 
 indeed, the chief seemed anxious to show to me, a 
 stranger, the various productions of his country. 
 There were mangoes, shaddocks, and pine-apples in 
 profusion, and several other small fruits, some too 
 luscious for my palate, but others having an agreeable 
 sub-acid taste. 
 
 We sat and sat on, waiting for the return of the 
 messenger. I observed that whereas a calabash of 
 water stood near the guests, from which they drank 
 sparingly, a jug was placed close to the chief, and that 
 as he continued to sip from it his eyes began to roll 
 and his head to turn from side to side in a curious 
 manner. Suddenly, as if seized with a generous im- 
 pulse, or rather having overcome a selfish one, he 
 passed the jug with a sigh over to me, and made signs 
 that if I was so inclined I was to drink from it. I did 
 so without hesitation, but my breath was almost taken 
 away. It was the strongest arrack. I could not 
 ascertain how the chief, who was a Mohammedan, 
 could allow himself to do what is so contrary to the 
 law of the prophet. I observed that his attendants 
 looked away when he drank, as they did when I put
 
 202 James Braithwaite. 
 
 the cup to my lips ; so I conclude that they knew 
 well enough that it was not quite the right thing 
 to do. All the inhabitants of Java are nominally 
 Mohammedans, but, in the interior especially, a 
 number of gross and idolatroas practices are mixed 
 up with the performance of its ceremonies, while the 
 upper orders especially are very lax in their principles. 
 Most of them, in spite of the law of their prophet pro- 
 hibiting the use of wine and spirits, drink them when- 
 ever they can be procured. The rich have as many 
 wives as they can support, but the poor are obliged to 
 content themselves with one. I should say that my 
 host, when I returned him the jar of arrack, deprived 
 of very little of its contents, gave a grunt of satisfaction, 
 from which I inferred that his supply had run short, 
 and that he was thankful that I had not taken more. 
 I kept anxiously waiting all the time for the arrival 
 of an interpreter, for whom I was convinced the 
 chief had sent. After we lost Captain O'Carroll we 
 returned to our original intention of procuring one at 
 Batavia. This must account for my being at present 
 without one. I had come on shore in the hope that 
 I might make myself sufficiently understood to carry 
 on a trade by means of signs, as I knew was often 
 done. As, however, my new friends would not make 
 the attempt to talk by sign^or in any other way, I 
 liad to wait patiently till somebody should arrive to 
 help us out of our dilemma.
 
 CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 A PRISONER OF WAR. 
 
 ~T AT length lost all patience at the non-arrival of the 
 expected interpreter, and, rising, made a profound 
 salaam to the chief, which was, I saw, accurately 
 imitated by Jack, who was at my side with a comical 
 expression of countenance not indicative of much 
 respect for the great man. The chief said something 
 which I understood to mean that he hoped I would 
 remain longer, but as I really was anxious to return 
 on board, I only bowed again lower than before, and 
 pointed towards the harbour, continuing to move in 
 the direction of the entrance. He did not attempt to 
 stop me, and the people who had come with me were, 
 I saw, prepared to accompany me back. 
 
 I had just reached the outside, when I saw approach- 
 ing an individual dressed in the native shirt and 
 sarung, or kilt, whom I naturally took to be a 
 Javanese. 
 
 He stopped and look*ed at me attentively, saying in 
 Dutch, " I was sent for by the chief to come and inter- 
 pret for a French gentleman who has arrived here on 
 some diplomatic business of importance. I shall be 
 happy to do my best, but you are aware that some of
 
 2O4 James Braithwaite. 
 
 the troops of your countrymen will be here soon, and 
 that then there will be no lack of people better able 
 to interpret for you than I am. You of course know 
 that the English attempted to make a landing, but 
 have been defeated, and it is thought probable that 
 they will make another attempt in this direction." 
 He appeared to say this in a very significant manner. 
 The information he gave might or might not be correct, 
 but there was a friendliness in his look and tone which 
 led me to suppose that he knew I was English, and 
 that he wished to warn me of my danger. I was 
 doubtful what to say in return, but quickly resolved 
 to hurry down to the watering party to advise them 
 to return on board and to warn Captain Hassall, that 
 he might be ready immediately to get under way. 
 I turned to the seeming native, whom I now discovered 
 to be a Dutchman, and thanked him for what he had 
 told me, remarking that our business was of no con- 
 sequence, and that as it was possible the wind might 
 change, I proposed returning on board at once. He 
 smiled, and said he thought it was the best thing I 
 could do. This convinced me of his good feeling, and 
 that he knew I was English. Just at that moment 
 a guard of soldiers emerged from the palace, and their 
 officer, addressing the Dutchman, made signs to me 
 that I was forthwith to return. 
 
 " I am sorry," observed the Dutchman to me in 
 English; "we must attend the summons, but your 
 boy need not, and you may send him to let your 
 companions know."
 
 A Prisoner of War. 205 
 
 I took the advice and ordered Jack to find his way 
 down to the boats, and to tell the mates to hurry on 
 board with or without water, and to advise Captain 
 Hassall to get under way immediately. I added, 
 " Tell him to stand off and on for a couple of hours. 
 If I am at liberty I will put off in a native boat, but if 
 I am detained, tell him to save the ship and cargo, and 
 that I hope before long to make my escape." 
 
 Jack fully understood my message, but I must say, 
 to his credit, that he seemed very unwilling to leave 
 me to my fate. 
 
 " I am in no danger," I remarked ; " I may possibly 
 be detained a few days, but I am not likely to suffer 
 any other inconvenience. Now, quick, my lad, or the 
 ship and all hands may be caught in a trap." 
 
 Jack gave me a nod, and was off like a shot. I 
 scarcely expected, however, that he would be allowed 
 to go free ; but no one, I suppose, had received orders 
 to stop him, and so he pursued his way unmolested. 
 The officers of the guard had, in the meantime, been 
 speaking to the Dutchman, who told me that I must 
 return forthwith, as the chief was waiting to receive 
 me. I of course could do nothing else than face about, 
 and with my new friend accompany the guard. The 
 men were armed with formidable long spears and 
 daggers, but the officer carried a musket, which looked 
 more like an ensign of authority than a weapon to be 
 used. As I returned through the courtyard I considered 
 what I should say to the chief. " Tell the truth and be 
 not afraid," said conscience. I determined to do so.
 
 206 James Braithwaite. 
 
 When I re-entered the hall of audience, the chief 
 was seated on his divan, and evidently intended to 
 receive me in greater state. Some of the assemblage 
 sat down cross-legged on cushions in front of the 
 divan, while others stood with their bodies bent for- 
 ward on either side, the guards who remained turning 
 their backs on the great man. The Dutchman and I 
 took our seats on cushions directly below the divan. 
 I found afterwards that among the Javanese a sitting 
 posture is considered more respectful than an upright 
 one. The chief, through the Dutch interpreter, now 
 asked me a number of questions, which, according to 
 my previous determination, I answered correctly. 
 The great man, I thought, looked somewhat surprised 
 at finding that I was not so important a person as he 
 had at first supposed. 
 
 Occasionally my Dutch friend remarked that I had 
 better not reply to some of the questions put to me, 
 but I answered that I was perfectly ready to stand 
 by the consequences of anything I might say. Such 
 has been my practice through life I might say, more 
 modestly, my endeavour to do right on all occasions, 
 to avow whatever I have done, and to take the con- 
 sequences, whatever they may be. I do not say that 
 such a mode of proceeding may not occasionally get a 
 man seemingly into trouble, but I do say that it is the 
 only right course, and that he is equally certain to get 
 out of it again ; whereas an opposite course must lead 
 him into difficulties, and involve him more and more 
 as he tries to extricate himself by prevarication, sub-
 
 A Prisoner of War. 207 
 
 terfuge, or falsehood. I therefore told the chief that I 
 had come on shore hoping to open up a trade with 
 him, under the belief that the country was no longer 
 either in possession of the Dutch or French, but that 
 it was now under the rule of England. If I was 
 mistaken I was ready to undergo the penalty, and 
 must run the risk of being treated as a prisoner of 
 war should I fall into the hands of the French, but 
 that as the English were the friends of the rulers and 
 people of Java, I expected to be treated by him as a 
 friend. 
 
 This answer, which I had reason to believe the 
 Dutchman faithfully interpreted, seemed to please the 
 chief. However, he made no direct reply to me, but 
 spoke for some time aside to his companions, whom 
 I took to be officially counsellors or advisers. One 
 made a remark, then another, and at last one said 
 something at which I thought my friend the Dutch- 
 man looked rather blank. A good deal of discussion 
 took place, when I heard the chief issue some orders 
 to the officers of the guards. Immediately on this 
 two of the counsellors got up, and with the officer and 
 several other persons, and part of the guard, left the hall. 
 
 The movement seemed to give great satisfaction to 
 the counsellors, especially to the gentleman who had 
 made the suggestion, as I fancied, which led to it, 
 while a pleased smile played over the countenance 
 of the chief. All the time the honest Dutchman 
 looked very much annoyed. At length I asked him 
 what it was aD about.
 
 2o8 James Braithwaite. 
 
 " I suppose that I shall not be found fault with for 
 telling you," he answered. " And I assure you that 
 I would much rather not have to give you such un- 
 pleasant information. Do not look surprised or 
 annoyed, and no harm can come of it. The fact is 
 that the chief here, the governor of this district, 
 Mulock Ben Azel, is not a bright genius, and though 
 he had made up his mind to detain you, it had not 
 occurred to him to detain your vessel. The idea, how- 
 ever, was suggested to him just now by one of these 
 cunning gentlemen, and he has sent a party to stop 
 her. The Javanese are rather daring fellows, so that 
 the captain must be smart if he would get away from 
 them." 
 
 This was indeed a disagreeable announcement. I 
 congratulated myself, however, at having sent off 
 Jack to warn Captain Hassall, and I had great hopes 
 that he would have followed my advice and got the 
 Barbara under way before the Javanese could reach 
 her. I thanked the Dutchman for his sympathy and 
 kindness. 
 
 "I have a warm regard for the English," he an- 
 swered : " I have received much kindness at the hands 
 of your countrymen, and am glad of an opportunity of 
 proving my gratitude. As far as you are concerned 
 I may be of service, but if these gentry get hold of 
 your vessel, I am afraid that they will not let her go 
 till they have cleaned out her hold." 
 
 I, of course, on hearing all this became very im- 
 patient to go and see whether the Barbara was
 
 A Prisoner of War. 209 
 
 leaving the harbour, but as far as I could I concealed 
 ray feelings, and desired my Dutch friend to inquire 
 of Mulock Ben Azel whether he desired my presence 
 any longer ; and if not, I begged leave to go forth into 
 the open air that I might gaze on the beautiful scen- 
 ery amidst which he had the happiness of dwelling 
 and I had the happiness of finding myself. I fancy 
 that the interpreter gave my request a more oriental 
 turn. The chief was at all events pleased to comply 
 with it, and directed some of his attendants and my 
 Dutch fiiend to accompany me. I made a profound 
 salaam, as if I was highly pleased at all that had 
 occurred. The act was somewhat hypocritical, I must 
 confess, but, at all events, I was heartily glad to get 
 over the audience, which was becoming very tedious. 
 
 As soon as I got out on the terrace I have before 
 described as affording a magnificent view of the 
 surrounding country, I eagerly looked seaward in 
 search of the Barbara. I almost gave a shout of 
 satisfaction as I saw her with a strong breeze off shore, 
 standing away under all the canvas she could carry. 
 She had good reason to make the best use of her heels, 
 for a whole fleet of boats, some of considerable size and 
 full of men, were in hot chase after her. I stood with 
 my companions eagerly watching the chase, though 
 the objects of our interest were very different. I was 
 anxious that the Barbara should escape, they that 
 she should be caught. I knew for one, though, that 
 if good seamanship would enable him to get away, 
 Captain Hassall would give his pursuers the slip. 
 
 14
 
 2io James Braithwaite. 
 
 I knew too that he would not be taken, even if the 
 boats should catch him up, without a fight. My 
 earnest hope was therefore that the breeze might con- 
 tinue. In that climate, however, the land wind often 
 falls towards the evening, and if it should do so, it 
 would give the Javanese a great advantage. I found 
 my new friend by my. side, and I glanced at him. 
 
 " Your vessel sails well, and I am glad of it," he 
 observed. "The orders were to bring her in at all 
 risks ; at the same time, if her captain shows a bold 
 front I do not think the natives will dare to attack 
 him at a distance from the land." 
 
 My hopes and fears alternately rose and fell as I 
 watched the chase. Sometimes the boats seemed to 
 be gaining on her. At other times she appeared to be 
 obtaining the advantage. She continued to increase 
 her canvas till every stitch she could carry was set on 
 her, studding sails on either side, royals, and even still 
 lighter sails above them, which we used to call sky- 
 scrapers. I now observed that although there were 
 several large boats engaged in the chase, they were 
 but slow sailers, and that the small ones were draw- 
 ing ahead of them. These of course would be more 
 easil} T dealt with by the Barbara's crew than the 
 larger craft. 
 
 The latter were vessels of about forty tons, carrying 
 fifty or sixty persons. The hulls of those I had seen 
 on landing were neatly built, with round heads and 
 sterns ; and" over the hulls were light small houses, 
 composed of bamboos, and divided into three or four
 
 A Prisoner of War. 2 1 1 
 
 cabins. The sides were formed of split bamboos about 
 four feet high, with windows in them to open and 
 shut at pleasure ; the roofs were almost flat, and 
 thatched with palm leaves. The oars are worked by the 
 crew standing at the fore and after part of the vessel. 
 I thought that probably the boats now in chase of 
 the Barbara were modifications of this sort of craft, 
 and more adapted to warlike purposes than they were. 
 The natives became at length even more excited than 
 I was as the breeze occasionally fell and gave their 
 boats an advantage. They knew also that the land 
 breeze would soon set in, which I did not. They 
 probably fancied that when it did the vessel would be 
 caught in a trap, not knowing that she could haul her 
 wind and still keep ahead of them. 
 
 I stood watching the various circumstances of the 
 chase, till at length, greatly to my relief, I saw the 
 boats, as if by signal, begin to return together towards 
 the shore, while the Barbara, continued standing off 
 shore till she met the sea breeze, when she hauled her 
 wind and stood away to the northward. My Dutch 
 friend congratulated me on her escape. 
 
 "And as it appears that you are not to be detained 
 as a prisoner, the sooner you get out of this place the 
 better," he observed. " I will gladly welcome you to 
 my abode, where you can remain till we gain further 
 information as to the result of the British expedition 
 against Batavia. If it is ultimately successful, your 
 ship will put in at that place, and you can rejoin 
 her."
 
 212 James Braithwaite* 
 
 I gladly accepted his offer. As we passed through 
 the large entrance court he pointed out two large 
 Indian- fig-trees, and told ine that under them was 
 the place where criminals were executed. On each side ' 
 of the court was a row of the same description of 
 tree. We descended the hill towards the harbour. 
 On approaching it I heard the shrill voice of a boy 
 crying out loudly amid the shouts and chattering of 
 a number of natives. I soon recognised the voice of 
 Jack Nobs, who had, I had hoped, made his escape 
 in the boats. The people, seeing me accompanied by 
 guards, made way for Jack, who ran towards me, 
 crying out, 
 
 "Oh, save me, Mr. Braithwaite! save me, sir! 
 These savinges are a-going to cut off my head, or to 
 hang me up and cook and eat me. They eat people 
 in these parts, and they look as if they would make 
 nothing of devouring me." 
 
 In vain I tried to pacify him. He seemed to fear 
 that the natives were going to treat me in the same 
 way he thought that they were about to treat him. 
 
 " But what made you come back, Jack ? " I asked. 
 " I thought that you had gone off to the ship." 
 
 "What, leave you all alone among the savinges !" he 
 answered, looking up reproachfully at me. " No, no, 
 sir. After you have been so kind to me, and always 
 took me with you wherever you've been, and we was 
 nearly all drowned together ! No, no, if harm is to 
 come of it, I says to myself, I'll go shares with Mr. 
 Braithwaite, whatever happens; so, when the boats
 
 A Prisoner of War. 213 
 
 shoved off, I scud away, and when the men called me 
 to coine along with them, and not to mind you, for 
 that I could do you no good, I wouldn't go back, but 
 .kept beckoning them to be off; so away they went, 
 and I ran up in shore and hid myself. The savinges, 
 howsorndever, found me out at last, and as long as 
 they thought that they should get hold of the ship 
 they treated me civil enough, as they might a pet 
 monkey ; but when they found that they could not 
 catch her, they turned their rage on me, and what 
 they're going to do with us I'm sure I don't know. 
 Oh dear ! oh dear ! " 
 
 Jack's fears were very natural, for the dark-skinned, 
 half-naked Javanese, with their glittering kreeses or 
 daggers in their hands, which they nourished about 
 while they vociferated loudly, were very ferocious- 
 looking fellows. 
 
 " They are disappointed," said the Dutchman, " at 
 the escape of your ship, and they accuse the boy of 
 being the cause of the boats going off and giving her 
 warning. Let him, however, keep close to me, and I 
 will do my best to protect him." 
 
 My new friend, who, by-the-bye, told me his name 
 was Peter Van Deck, now addressed the people and 
 told them that the boy was not to blame ; whatever 
 he had done was in consequence of the orders lie 
 had received, and that he had no intention of offending 
 them. I had slipped a few small pieces of coin, which 
 I had fortunately in my pocket, into his hand, and on 
 his distributing these among the most influential of
 
 214 James Braithwaite. 
 
 the assemblage, public opinion was turned completely 
 in our favour, and we were allowed to proceed with- 
 out further molestation. A small sum bestowed on 
 the officer of the guard had a like beneficial effect, and 
 after receiving an assurance from Mynheer Van Deck 
 that we would not run away, and would be found at 
 his house if wanted, he and his men, very much to my 
 relief, took their departure, while the Dutchman, Jack, 
 and I set off in an opposite direction. 
 
 The island of Java, it must be remembered, runs 
 about due east and west. Our course was towards 
 the west, or in the direction of Batavia. There was, 
 however, not far off about twenty miles I understood 
 a town and fort, garrisoned by French troops, called 
 Cheribon. The scenery was very fine, heightened by 
 the luxuriance of tropical vegetation. On our left rose 
 a succession of heights, beyond which appeared the sum- 
 mits of the ridge of lofty mountains which runs down 
 the centre of the island, dividing it longitudinally 
 into two parts, of which, however, the northern is the 
 largest, most fertile, and best known. My Dutch 
 friend was very communicative respecting the pro- 
 ductions of the country, and the manners and customs 
 of the inhabitants. I noted down, therefore, the in- 
 formation I received from him, which I give in as 
 concise a form as I can. 
 
 The climate is certainly hot, as might be expected 
 from being so near the equator, but it is much more 
 endurable than I had expected to find it, and on the 
 sides of the mountains it is often quite cool, so that thick
 
 A Prisoner of War. 215 
 
 clothing is necessary. As also the nights are nearly the 
 same length as the days, there is time for the air to cool 
 while the sun is below the horizon. The bad or un- 
 healthy monsoon blows from the west, from the end 
 of November to the beginning of March. This is 
 the rainy season. After it the easterly winds blow 
 for some time. The breaking up of the monsoon is 
 the most unhealthy season of all. There are no 
 navigable rivers, but numerous streams descend from 
 the mountains and irrigate the land. One of the chief 
 productions of this country is pepper. It is produced 
 from a plant of the vine kind, Piper nigrum, which 
 twines its tendrils round poles or trees, like ivy or 
 hops. The pepper-corns grow in bunches close to 
 each other. They are first green, but afterwards turn 
 black. When dried they are separated from the dust 
 and partly from the outward membranous coat by 
 means of a kind of winnow, and are then laid up in 
 warehouses. The white pepper is the same produc- 
 tion as the black. It undergoes a process to change 
 its colour, being laid in lime, which takes off the outer 
 black coat and leaves it white. 
 
 Rice is also produced in large quantities. It grows 
 chiefly in low fenny ground. After it has been sown, 
 and has shot up about half a foot from the ground, 
 it is transplanted by little bundles of one or more 
 plants in rows; then, by damming up the many 
 rivulets which abound in this country, the rice is in- 
 undated in the rainy season, and kept under water 
 till the stalks have attained sufficient strength, when
 
 2 1 6 James Braithwaite. 
 
 the land is drained by opening the dams, and it is 
 soon dried by the great heat of the sun. At the time 
 of the rice harvest the fields have much the same ap- 
 pearance as our wheat and barley fields, and indeed 
 are uniformly covered with a still more brilliantly 
 golden hue. The sickle is not used in reaping the 
 rice, but instead of it a small knife, with which the 
 stalk is cut about a foot under the ear ; this is done 
 one by one, and the ears are then bound in sheaves, 
 the tenth of which is the pay of the mower. The 
 paddee, which is the name given to the rice while 
 in the husk, does not grow, like wheat and barley, 
 in compact ears, but, like oats, in loose spikes. It is 
 not threshed to separate it from the husks, but 
 pounded in large wooden blocks hollowed out, and 
 the more it is pounded the whiter it becomes when 
 boiled. Rice, with fish or a little meat chopped up, 
 constitute the chief food of the inhabitants. Sugar, 
 coffee, and indigo are also largely produced. 
 
 For the purposes of agriculture buffaloes are used 
 instead of horses. They are very large animals, bigger 
 and heavier than our largest oxen, furnished with 
 great ears, and horns which project straight forward 
 and bend inwards. A hole is bored through the 
 cartilage of the nose, and these huge animals are 
 guided by a cord which is passed through it. They 
 have little eyes, and their colour is generally ashy 
 grey. They are so accustomed to be led three times 
 a day into the water to cool themselves, that they 
 cannot without doingf so be brought to work- The
 
 A Prisoner of War. 217 
 
 people themselves, by-the-bye, are great bathers, both 
 men and women, the children, who seldom wear 
 clothes till they are seven or eight, being constantly 
 in the water. That said custom must be a great 
 saving of expense to the parents of a large family. 
 The people are generally of a light brown colour, 
 of the middle height, and well proportioned, with a 
 broad forehead and a nattish nose, which has a slight 
 
 ' O 
 
 curve downward at the tip. Their hair is black, and 
 is always kept smooth and shining with cocoa-nut oil. 
 The dress of the women consists of a piece of cotton 
 cloth wrapped round the body and covering the 
 bosom, under which it is secured ; it then hangs down 
 to the knees, and sometimes to the ankles, while the 
 shoulders and part of the back remain uncovered. 
 The hair of their head, which they wear very long, 
 is turned up and twisted round like a fillet, fastened 
 with long bodkins of different sorts of wood, tortoise- 
 shell, silver, or gold, according to the rank of the lady. 
 It is often adorned with a variety of flowers. The 
 Javanese are nominally Mohammedans, but in the- 
 interior especially a number of idolatrous practices are 
 still kept up. 
 
 Pleasantly conversing we at length reached the 
 residence of Mynheer Van Deck. It was built in 
 the best style of native architecture, that is to say, 
 on a raised platform of stone or brick ; the outer 
 walls were of brick, with a verandah of bamboo, all 
 round which the partitions, as was most of the 
 furniture, were of bamboo, which had a very cool
 
 218 James Braithwaite. 
 
 appearance, and was sufficient for a hot climate. My 
 host was a bachelor, not from choice, he assured me, 
 but from necessity, on account of the scarcity of 
 European ladies in the island. 
 
 " Those who are born here are so ill-educated, and so 
 indolent, that a man is better without their society," 
 he remarked. 
 
 In spite of this drawback he received me very 
 hospitably and kindly, and though I was vexed at 
 having again been separated from my ship, I confessed 
 to myself that I had very little cause to complain 
 of my lot. I was leaning back on an easy bamboo 
 chair and gazing out through a vista of palm-trees 
 on the deep blue sea, when the clatter of horses' feet 
 coming along the road caught our ears. As they 
 drew near the clank of sabres was heard at the same 
 time. The voice of an officer crying " Halt " was 
 next heard, and soon afterwards we saw him ap- 
 proaching the house. My host, with a look of con- 
 siderable annoyance, rose to receive him. He was 
 a young and pleasant-looking man. 
 
 " Ah, Mynheer Van Deck, bon jour," he said. " You 
 have in your house, I am given to understand, a 
 foreigner, supposed to be an English spy. I am come 
 to demand him from you." 
 
 " I am the person to whom you allude, monsieur," 
 I said, rising from my seat and going forward " You 
 are, however, wrongly informed. I am an English- 
 man, but not a spy. I landed, not knowing that 
 this part of the island was in possession of the French,
 
 A Prisoner of War. 219 
 
 and had I not been detained I should have returned 
 to ray ship." 
 
 " I am not here to dispute the point, monsieur," 
 he said, bowing politely. " I must perform my duty, 
 and that is to convey you with me to Cheribon, 
 where my superior officers will investigate the matter. 
 You have supped, I conclude ; we will therefore take 
 advantage of the cool of the evening, and make good 
 as much of our journey as the waning day will allow 
 us to perform." 
 
 My Dutch friend shrugged his shoulders. There 
 was not much time for consideration. I saw that 
 I had no resource but to obey, though I must own 
 that 1 diet so with a very bad grace.
 
 CHAPTER XV. 
 
 PIRATES. 
 
 "\ /TY host, in spite of his annoyance, did not forget 
 -*-'-*- the duties of hospitality, and warmly pressed 
 our unwelcome visitor to take some refreshment. The 
 young officer, however, declined, on the plea that the 
 day was already far spent, and that he had no time 
 to spare. On going round to the front of the house, 
 I found two led horses under the charge of a soldier. 
 They were absurdly small for cavalry, and would 
 have been quickly ridden over by any one of our 
 heavy regiments. 
 
 I was about to bid Mynheer Van Deck farewell. 
 
 "No, not yet, my friend," he answered. "I purpose 
 accompanying you to Cheribon, that I may render 
 you any service in my power. I have a horse, and 
 will follow immediately." 
 
 The officer made a sign of impatience, so I mounted 
 one of the steeds, and Jack sprang on the back of the 
 other, where he sat very much as a big monkey would 
 have done, fully resolved, it seemed, to enjoy any fun 
 which might be forthcoming. As the French soldiers 
 treated him kindly, and spoke in a good-natured tone 
 to him, though he could not understand what they
 
 Pirates. 221 
 
 said, his fears quickly vanished, and he was speedily 
 " hail fellow well met " with them all. 
 
 The officer I found a very gentlemanly young man. 
 He rode up alongside me after we had proceeded a 
 little way, and seemed eager enough to talk about 
 La Belle France and Paris ; but when I endeavoured 
 to draw any information from him respecting the 
 proceedings at the west end of the island, he closed 
 his mouth, or gave only vague answers. From this 
 I argued that affairs had not gone with the French 
 in quite as satisfactory a manner as they wished. I 
 asked him at last whether he thought that I should 
 be detained or be otherwise inconvenienced by the 
 commandant at Cheribon. 
 
 "We shoot spies," he answered laconically, at the 
 same time shrugging his shoulders as a Frenchman 
 only can do. " C'est la fortune de la guerre." 
 
 " But, my dear sir, I am no spy," I answered. " The 
 governor, or native chief, purposed to seize my vessel, 
 and I was left on shore while she made her escape. 
 I am but a supercargo anxious to sell the goods en- 
 trusted to me." 
 
 The young officer gave a smile of incredulity, yet 
 with an air of so much politeness that I really could 
 not be angry with him ; indeed it would have done 
 me no good if I were. We were in a short time 
 joined by Mynheer Van Deck, who came galloping 
 up on a much finer horse than any possessed by the 
 French soldiers. I found from my captor that the 
 journey would be far longer than I had expected, as
 
 222 James Braithwaite. 
 
 we bad to make a considerable detour to visit a native 
 chief, or prince, to whom he had a message. My belief 
 was that he was beating up for native recruits to 
 oppose the British force, which, if not arrived, must 
 have been hourly expected. We had several natives 
 with us, armed with long spears and daggers, a few 
 only having firelocks. Van Deck told me that we 
 should soon have to pass a river, rather a dangerous 
 spot, on account of the number of tigers which came 
 there to drink, and which had already carried off 
 several natives. 
 
 "But surely they would not venture to attack so 
 large a body of men as this," I remarked. 
 
 " Not if we could keep together, unless they happen 
 to be very hungry," he answered. " Unfortunately, 
 however, the path in some places is so narrow that 
 we have to proceed in single file, and as there are 
 fallen trees and other impediments in the way, 
 travellers are apt to get separated, when, of course, 
 they are more liable to be picked off. I always keep 
 my pistol cocked in my hand, that I may have a 
 chance of shooting my assailant." 
 
 "But I came on shore unarmed, and have no 
 pistols," I answered. 
 
 "Then keep ahead of me, and if I see a tiger spring 
 at you I will fire at him, and do my best to save you." 
 
 "But the poor boy who is with me he has a 
 poor chance, I am afraid," I observed, after I had 
 thanked my friend for his offer. 
 
 " Oh, he is safe enough if he keeps close to the
 
 Pirates. 223 
 
 soldiers; the clatter of their arms frightens the 
 beasts." 
 
 While the Dutchman was speaking we came in 
 sight of the river. It was fordable, though rather 
 deep, and as the leading men on their small horses 
 plunged in the water was up to their saddle-girths. 
 I naturally looked out on either side for our expected 
 enemies. Three or four large animals sprang off just 
 as the leading horses reached the opposite bank. I 
 thought they were tigers. 
 
 " Oh, no, they are only wild cats," said Van Deck. 
 "Rather unpleasant to be caught by one of them 
 asleep, but they are easily frightened." 
 
 I thought to myself, If those creatures are Java 
 wild cats, what must Java tigers be like ? We all 
 passed across the stream without any accident, a 
 small body of half-clad natives bringing up the rear. 
 They were climbing up the somewhat steep bank, 
 when a fearful shriek, followed by loud shouts and 
 cries, made me turn my head, and I caught sight of 
 a monster bounding along the bank, with the writh- 
 ing, struggling body of a human being between his 
 huge jaws. The poor wretch's sarung, or plaid, 
 had become loose, and dragged after him. Already 
 several natives were setting off in chase, while others 
 were discharging their firearms at the animal, though 
 at the risk of killing the man. The French officer 
 called out to them to desist, and seizing a lance from 
 one of the people, gallantly dashed after the tiger. 
 I naturally wished to join in the chase, but Van
 
 224 James Braithwaite. 
 
 Deck entreated me to stop, telling me that I should 
 very likely, if I went, be picked off by another tiger 
 on my return. As it would have been folly to dis- 
 regard his advice, we pushed on as fast as we could 
 to get out of the narrow defile. We could for several 
 minutes hear the shouts of the natives still in pursuit 
 of the tiger. After some time they rejoined us, but 
 they had not saved the poor man, and had, moreover, 
 lost another of their number, who had been carried 
 off by a tiger just as the first leaped over a cliff fifty 
 feet above the valley, with the man still in its mouth. 
 It was followed triumphantly by its companion. 
 
 " This is not the country I should choose to travel 
 in, still less to live in," I said. 
 
 " It cannot be helped," observed the Dutchman. " I 
 am well off here, a great man among small people. 
 I should be a beggar elsewhere. This is not, however, 
 the country in which a man of education and mind 
 would choose to pitch his tent." 
 
 Torches were lit for the latter part of our journey. 
 It will be remembered that so nearly under the equator 
 as we were the days and nights are of equal length 
 all the year round; we therefore did not enjoy the 
 delightful twilight of a northern clime. 
 
 Notice had been given of our proposed visit to 
 the chief, or prince, who was, I was told, of Malay 
 descent. Preparations were therefore made for our 
 reception, and very handsome they were. Though 
 a prisoner, I was treated like the rest of the guests. 
 The house was much in the style of those I have
 
 Pirates. 225 
 
 before described. But I was not prepared to find a 
 table elegantly set out and spread with fine linen and 
 beautiful silver plate. It was lighted by four large 
 wax flambeaux in massive silver candlesticks. The 
 provisions were dressed in the Malay fashion, many 
 of the dishes being very palatable, and toasts were 
 drunk with three times three, the Malays of inferior 
 rank, who sat round the room on the ground against 
 the walls to the number of thirty, joining in the 
 huzzas. It was altogether a curious scene of barbaric 
 splendour. The prince escorted us to our rooms, 
 where we found capital beds, beautiful linen, and 
 very fine mosquito-nets, ornamented with fringe. The 
 Malay servants slept under the beds on mats, or in 
 the corners of the rooms, to be in readiness if required. 
 Breakfast was prepared at daybreak, that we might 
 continue our journey in the cool of the morning. 
 
 We rested under the shade of some trees during 
 the day, the soldiers keeping up a fearful din to 
 scare away any wild beast who might chance to be 
 prowling about in search of a dinner. The young 
 officer had fortunately a French cook among his men, 
 who very soon contrived to place before us a capital 
 dinner, though of what it was composed I could 
 not discover. I rather think that hashed monkey 
 formed one of the dishes. As, towards night, we 
 approached Cheribon, my kind Dutch friend did his 
 best to keep up my spirits, assuring me that he 
 would spare no pains to prove that I was not a spy. 
 He was not quite sure that the accounts received of 
 
 15
 
 226 James Braithwaite. 
 
 the defeat of the English were correct ; and the French 
 commandant would scarcely venture to hang me 
 without very strong proofs of my guilt, and with 
 the possibility of being made a prisoner himself by my 
 countrymen ere long, should they have been victorious. 
 Still it was with no very pleasant feelings that I was 
 formally conducted into the fort as a prisoner. 
 
 The forts of Cheribon had been allowed to fall into 
 decay by the Dutch, but since the French occupation 
 of the island had been repaired and considerably 
 strengthened. I was told that the commandant 
 boasted that he could hold out against any force 
 likely to be sent against him, even should my 
 countrymen gain the day. I was taken at once before 
 him and examined, but though he had no evidence to 
 prove me guilty, as I was accused of being a spy he 
 would not take my parole. I was by his orders 
 accordingly locked up in a cell with iron bars to the 
 windows, a three-legged stool, and a heap of straw 
 in a corner for a bed. Mr. Van Deck had not entered 
 the fort. In a little time Jack was thrust into the 
 cell with very little ceremony. He brought me a 
 message from my Dutch friend, saying that there had 
 been a battle, and he suspected that the French had 
 been defeated. I heartily hoped that he was correct. 
 I had reason to believe that my prison, bad as it was, was 
 the best in the fort, for Jack told me that he had seen 
 guards going round with messes of food which they 
 had put into wretched dark holes, and in one, as he 
 was led along, he saw a miserable gaunt man, with
 
 Pirates. 227 
 
 long matted hair, put out a lean yellow hand to take 
 the food. This information made me hope more than 
 ever than Van Deck was right in his suspicions, for 
 I had no fancy to be shut up in a dark cell for months 
 in such a climate, with the possibility of being taken 
 out and shot as a spy. Had I been a naval or mili- 
 tary man I should not have been thus treated. 
 Several very unpleasant days and nights passed by, 
 a scanty allowance of coarse food only being brought 
 to me and my young companion. 
 
 At length, one day the sergeant threw open my 
 prison door, and Van Deck appearing, took me by 
 the hand and led me out of my noisome dungeon, 
 followed by Jack, who gave a shout of joy as he 
 found himself in the open air. 
 
 " I sent to Batavia, where your ship has arrived, 
 and where your statement was fully corroborated, and 
 the commandant had therefore no further excuse for 
 keeping you a prisoner/' said my friend. " But there 
 is another reason why he would not venture to do 
 so much longer. Look there ! " 
 
 He pointed seaward, where several large ships were 
 seen approaching the land. He handed me a glass. 
 I examined them eagerly ; they were frigates, with 
 the flag of Old England flying at their peaks. Jack, 
 when he heard this, gave a loud huzza, and threw up 
 his cap with delight, jumping and clapping his hands, 
 and committing other extravagances, till I ordered 
 him to be quiet lest the French soldiers should put 
 a sudden stop to the exhibition of his feelings.
 
 228 James Braithwaite. 
 
 The frigates approached till they had got just 
 within long gunshot range of the fort, when after 
 some time a boat put off from one of them and ap- 
 proached the fort, bearing a flag of truce. That was, 
 at all events, pleasant. There was a chance of a battle 
 being avoided, yet the commandant had so loudly sworn 
 that nothing should make him yield to the English 
 that I was afraid he might be obstinate and insist 
 on holding out. We were on the point of hurrying 
 down to meet the boat, when a sergeant with a guard 
 stopped us and told us politely enough that we must 
 stay where we were, or that Jack and I must go back 
 to prison. 
 
 " We must obey orders," observed Van Deck. "The 
 fact is, that the commandant is aware that you are 
 acquainted with the weak points of the fort, that 
 the gun-carriages are rotten, and many of the guns 
 are themselves honeycombed or dismounted." 
 
 We were conducted out of the way when the officer 
 with the flag of truce entered the fort. Looking from 
 the ramparts, however, we could see the boat and the 
 people in her through Van Deck's glass, and a young 
 middy was amusing himself, so it appeared to me, 
 by daring some little Dutch, or rather native boys 
 to come off and fight him, which they seemed in no 
 way disposed to do, for whenever he held up his fists 
 they ran off at a great rate. Of one thing I was very 
 sure, that if the French commandant did not yield 
 with a good grace he would be very soon compelled 
 to do so. That squadron of frigates had not come
 
 Pirate*. 229 
 
 merely to give a civil message and to sail away again. 
 We walked up and down, impatiently waiting to hear 
 what was to be done. 
 
 At length, after an hour's delay, the officer who 
 had brought the message Captain Warren, of the 
 President issued from the commandant's house with 
 his coxswain bearing a flag under his arm. Down 
 came the tricolour of France, and up went the glo- 
 rious flag of England. Jack was beside himself on 
 seeing this, and I could scarcely refrain from joining 
 in his " Hurra ! hurra I" as I hurried forward to meet 
 the English captain, whose acquaintance I had made 
 at the Mauritius. The French commandant intimated, 
 on this, that I was at liberty; but as I felt it would be 
 ungrateful to leave my friend Van Deck abruptly, I 
 resolved to remain on shore for the present with him. 
 
 In a very short time the marines came on shore to 
 secure the thus easily acquired possession, but scarcely 
 had they formed on the beach than it was ascertained 
 that a large body of the enemy had entered the town. 
 The order was given to charge through them, and, 
 taken by surprise, the French and Dutchmen threw 
 down their arms, and several officers and others were 
 taken prisoners. Among them was General Jumel, 
 second in command to General Janssen, and Colonel 
 Knotzer, aide-de-camp to the latter, who with others 
 were at once carried off to the ships. 
 
 Cheribon I found to be a much larger place than 
 I at first supposed ; the streets are narrow but numer- 
 ous, and in the outskirts especially the houses of the
 
 230 James Braithwaife. 
 
 natives are so completely surrounded by trees and 
 bushes that it is impossible to calculate their number. 
 I heard that the Phoebe was one of the squadron, and 
 soon had the satisfaction of shaking hands with my 
 brother William, Toby Trundle, and other officers 
 belonging to her. From them I heard a full account 
 of the engagement which had given the greater part 
 of the magnificent island of Java to the English. I 
 was the more interested as my military brother had 
 taken part in it, and distinguished himself. I hoped 
 to meet him when I got to Batavia. 
 
 The army which was commanded by Sir Samuel 
 Auchmuty, consisting of 11,000 men, half being 
 Europeans, disembarked on the evening of the 5th of 
 August at the village of Chillingchin, twelve miles 
 north of Batavia. Colonel Gillespie advanced on the 
 city of Batavia, of which he took possession, and beat 
 off the enemy, who attempted to retake it. A general 
 engagement took place on the 10th at Welteureden, 
 when the French were defeated and compelled to 
 retire to the strongly entrenched camp of Cornelis. 
 It was supposed to contain 250 pieces of cannon. 
 Here General Janssen commanded in person, with 
 General Jumel, a Frenchman, under him, with an 
 army of 13,000 men. Notwithstanding this, the 
 forts were stormed and taken, and the greater number 
 of the officers captured. The commander-in-chief, 
 with General Jumel, escaped the latter, as I have 
 mentioned, to fall very soon afterwards into our 
 hands.
 
 Pirates. 23 1 
 
 An expedition, consisting of marines and blue- 
 jackets, was now organised to meet a body of the 
 fugitive army said to be marching from Cornelis. As 
 William was of the party, I got leave to accompany 
 it. That we might move the faster, horses had been 
 obtained, and both marines and blue -jackets were 
 mounted that is to say, they had horses given them 
 to ride, but as the animals, though small, were frisky 
 and untrained, they were sent very frequently sprawl- 
 ing into the dust, and were much oftener on their feet 
 than in their saddles. Our force, as we advanced, 
 certainly presented a very unmilitary appearance, 
 though we made clatter enough for a dozen regiments 
 of dragoons. We were in search of the military chest 
 said to be with the fugitives. We fell in with a large 
 party, who, however, having had fighting enough, 
 sent forward a flag of truce and capitulated. We got 
 possession, however, of some waggon-loads of 'ingots, 
 but they were ingots of copper, and were said to be of 
 so little value in the country as to have been fired as 
 grape-shot from Cornelis. The moon shone brightly 
 forth for the first part of the march, but no sooner did 
 it become obscured than a considerable number of the 
 marines were seized with a temporary defective vision 
 very common within the tropics, called, " Nyctalopia," 
 or ni^ht blindness. The attack was sudden ; the 
 
 O 
 
 vision seldom became totally obscured, but so indistinct 
 that the shape of objects could not be distinguished. 
 While in this state the sufferers had to be led by their 
 comrades. With some it lasted more than an hour,
 
 232 James Braithwaite. 
 
 with others cot more than twenty minutes, and on the 
 af proach of day all traces of it had disappeared. 
 
 On our march, during the heat of the day, we passed 
 through a wood, every tree in which seemed to have 
 been blasted by lightning. Not a branch nor leaf re- 
 mained to afford us shelter from the scorching rays 
 of the sun. Had I not known that the story of the 
 noxious effects produced by the upas-tree was a fiction, 
 I might have supposed that the destruction had been 
 caused by a blast passing amid the boughs of one of 
 those so-called death-dealing trees in the neighbour- 
 hood. Probably the forest had been destroyed partly 
 by lightning and partly by the conflagration it had 
 caused. 
 
 On returning to Cheribon, I found that my friend 
 Van Deck was anxious to proceed to Batavia, and I 
 was fortunate in being able to procure him a passage 
 on board the Phcebe, which was going there at once. 
 
 " Well, Braithwaite, I shall never despair of your 
 turning up safe ! " exclaimed Captain Hassall, shaking 
 my hand warmly as I stepped on the deck of the Bar- 
 bara. "You saved the ship and cargo by your 
 promptness, for had I not got your message by young 
 Jack there I should have been captured to a certainty. 
 Garrard, Janrin and Co. have reason to be grateful to 
 you, and I have no doubt that they will be so." 
 
 Everybody knows that Batavia is a large Dutch 
 town built in the tropics that is to say, it has broad 
 streets, with rows of trees in them, and canals in the 
 centre of stagnant water, full of filth, and surrounded
 
 Pirates. 233 
 
 by miasma-exuding marshes. But the neighbourhood 
 is healthy, and the merchants and officials mostly only 
 come into the town in the daytime, and return to their 
 country houses at night. Some seasons are worse 
 than others, nobody knows why. Captain Cook was 
 there on his first voyage round the world during a 
 very bad one, and, in spite of all his care, lost a number 
 of people. We were more fortunate, but did not 
 escape without some sickness. 
 
 Captain Hassall had disposed of most of that portion 
 of our cargo suited for the Batavian market, so that I 
 soon got rid of the rest. I then made arrangements 
 for the purchase of sugar, tea, coffee, spices, and several 
 other commodities which I believed would sell well at 
 Sydney, to which place we proposed to proceed, touch- 
 ing at a few other points perhaps on our way. 
 
 The articles had, however, first to be collected, as 
 the army had consumed the greater portion in store at 
 Batavia. Part of the purchase I made from a brother 
 of my friend Van Deck. He was On the point of sail- 
 ing in a brig he owned along the coast to collect pro- 
 duce, and invited me to accompany him. I gladly 
 accepted his offer, as the Barbara could not sail till 
 his return. 
 
 In those days, as well, indeed, as from the memory 
 of man, these seas swarmed with pirates, many of whom 
 had their headquarters on the coast of Borneo. Among 
 them was a chief, or rajah, named Raga, notorious for 
 the boldness and success of his undertakings. We, 
 however, believed that with so many British men-of-
 
 234 James Braithwaile. 
 
 war about he would seek some more distant field for 
 his operations. The harbour was full of native craft of 
 all sorts. Of the native prahus alone there are many 
 varieties, some built after European models, and carry- 
 ing sails similar to those of our English luggers. 
 Others are of native construction, with lateen sails; 
 and many, built with high stems and sterns, have the 
 square mat-sail, such as impels the Batavian fishing 
 prahus. Of course, among so many craft a pirate chief 
 could easily find spies ready to give him information 
 of all that was going forward. However, we troubled 
 our heads very little about the pirates. 
 
 By-the-bye, I have not said anything about the 
 alligators of Java, which are, I believe, larger than in 
 any other part of the world. The Government will not 
 allow those in the harbour of Batavia to be disturbed, 
 as they act the part of scavengers by eating up the 
 garbage which floats on the water, and might other- 
 wise produce a pestilence. I often passed them float- 
 ing on the surface, and snapping at the morsels which 
 came in their way, quite indifferent to the boats going 
 to and fro close to them. Captain Beaver, of the 
 Visits frigate, described to me one he saw in another 
 part of the island when on an exploring expedition. 
 It was first discovered basking on a mud-bank, and 
 neither he nor the officers with him would believe that 
 it was an animal, but thought at first that it was the 
 huge trunk of a tree. At the lowest computation it 
 was forty feet in length. The circumference of the 
 thickest part of the body seemed nearly that of a
 
 Pirates. 235 
 
 bullock, and this continued for about double the length. 
 The extent of the jaws was calculated to be at least 
 eight feet. The eyes glistened like two large emeralds, 
 but with a lustre which nothing inanimate could ex- 
 press. The officers examined it through their glasses, 
 and came to the conclusion that it was asleep, but the 
 native guides assured them that it was not. To prove 
 this, one of them fearlessly leaped on shore and ap- 
 proached the creature, when it glided into the water, 
 creating a commotion like that produced by the launch 
 of a small vessel. 
 
 I bade farewell to William and my friends of the 
 Phoebe, not without some sadness at my heart. In 
 those time of active warfare it might be we should 
 never meet again. Of my soldier brother I got but a 
 hurried glimpse before he embarked on an expedi- 
 tion which was sent to capture Sourabaya, at the 
 other end of the island. A few words of greeting, and 
 inquiries and remarks, a warm long grasp of hands, 
 and we parted. Directly I stepped on board Van 
 Deck's brig the Theodora, the anchor was weighed, 
 and we stood out of the harbour with a strong land 
 breeze. The easterly monsoon which prevailed was 
 in our teeth, so that we were only able to progress by 
 taking advantage of the land and sea breezes. The 
 
 o o 
 
 land breeze commenced about midnight, and as it blew 
 directly from the shore, we were able to steer our course 
 the greater part of the night ; but after sunrise the 
 wind always drew round to the eastward, and we were 
 consequently forced off the shore. The anchor was
 
 236 James Braithivaite. 
 
 then dropped till towards noon, when the sea breeze 
 set in. Again we weighed, and stood towards the 
 shore, as near as possible to which we anchored, and 
 waited for the land breeze at night. 
 
 We had thus slowly proceeded for three or four days, 
 having called off two estates for cargo, when, as we lay 
 at anchor, a fleet of five or six prahus was seen stand- 
 ing towards us with the sea breeze, which had not yet 
 filled our sails. Van Deck, after examining them 
 through his glass, said that he did not at all like their 
 appearance, and that he feared they intended us no 
 good. On they came, still directly for us. We got up 
 all the arms on deck and distributed them to the crew, 
 who, to the number of thirty, promised to fight to the 
 last. Then we weighed anchor and made sail, ready 
 for the breeze. It came at last, but not till the prahus 
 were close up to us. Under sail we were more likely 
 to beat them off than at anchor. They soon swarmed 
 round us, but their courage was damped by the sight 
 of our muskets and guns. Of their character, however, 
 we had not a shadow of doubt. After a short time of 
 most painful suspense to us they lowered their sails 
 and allowed us to sail on towards the shore. Here we 
 anchored, as usual, to wait for the land breeze. Had 
 there been a harbour, we would gladly have taken 
 shelter within it, for the merchant, the elder Van 
 Deck, said that he knew the pirates too well, and that 
 they might still be waiting for an opportunity to attack 
 us. There was, however, no harbour, and so we had 
 to wait in our exposed situation, in the full belief that
 
 Pirates. 237 
 
 'the pirates were still in the offing, and might any 
 moment pounce down upon us. The Van Decks agreed 
 that we might beat them off, but that if they should 
 gain the upper hand they would murder every one 
 on board the vessel. " We might abandon the vessel 
 and so escape any risk," observed the merchant not 
 in a tone as if he intended to do so. " You, at all events, 
 Mr. Braithwaite, can be landed, and you can easily get 
 back to Batavia." Against this proposal of course my 
 manhood rebelled, though I had a presentiment, if I 
 may use the expression, that we should be attacked. 
 " No, no ! I will stay by you and share your fate, what- 
 ever that may be," I replied. Night came on, and 
 darkness hid all distant objects from view. 
 
 We were in the handsome, well-fitted-up cabin, en- 
 joying our evening meal, when the mate, a Javanese, 
 put his head down the skylight and said some words 
 in his native tongue, which made the Dutchmen start 
 from their seats, and, seizing their pistols and swords, 
 rush on deck. I had no difficulty, when I followed 
 them, in interpreting what had been said. The pirate 
 prahus were close upon us.
 
 CHAPTER XVI. 
 
 MUTINY ON BOARD THE "BARBARA." 
 
 "YTTE have learned from the sad experience of cen- 
 * * turies that nominal Christianity, which men 
 call religion, is utterly powerless to stop warfare ; it 
 may, in a few instances, have lessened some of its 
 horrors, but only a few. The annals of the wars which 
 have taken place for the last three hundred years since 
 the world has improved in civilization, show that 
 nations rush into war as eagerly as ever, and that 
 cruelties and abominations of all sorts, such as the 
 fiercest savages cannot surpass, are committed by men 
 who profess to be Christians. Read the accounts of the 
 wars of the Duke of Alva and his successors in the 
 Netherlands, the civil wars of France, the foreign wars 
 of Napoleon, the deeds of horror done at the storming 
 and capture of towns during the war in the Peninsula, 
 not only by Frenchmen and Spaniards, but by the 
 British soldiers, and indeed the accounts of all the 
 wars in the pages of history, and we shall learn what 
 a fearful and dreadful thing war is, and strive to assist 
 the spread of the true principles of the Gospel as the 
 only means of putting a stop to it. 
 
 Such thoughts as these had been occupying my
 
 Mutiny on Board the "Barbara" 239 
 
 mind on board the brig, on the morning of that event- 
 ful day of which I have just been speaking. Here 
 was I, a peace-loving man, engaged in a peaceable 
 occupation, and yet finding myself continually in the 
 midst of fighting, and now there was every probability 
 of my having to engage in a desperate battle, the ter- 
 mination of which it was impossible to foretell. As 
 I reached the deck I could see a number of dark 
 phantom-looking objects gliding slowly over the water 
 towards us almost noiselessly, the only sound heard 
 being that produced by their oars as they dipped into 
 the water. The pirates, for such we were still certain 
 they must be, expected, perhaps, to find us asleep. 
 The guns were loaded and run out as before. The 
 men stood with their muskets in their hands, and 
 pikes and cutlasses ready for use. The strangers drew 
 closer and closer. They still hoped, we concluded, to 
 catch us unprepared. We, however, did not wish to 
 begin the combat unless they gave us indubitable 
 signs of their intentions. 
 
 The elder Van Deck, who had, I found, been a naval 
 man, took the command, and everybody on board 
 looked up to him. We were not left long in doubt 
 that the strangers were pirates, and purposed to 
 destroy us. Not, however, till they "were close to us 
 with the evident intention of boarding did our chief 
 give the order to fire. The effect was to make them 
 sheer off, but only for a moment. Directly afterwards 
 they arranged themselves on our starboard bow and 
 quarter, and commenced a fire with girigalls, match-
 
 240 James Braithwaite. 
 
 locks, and guns of various sorts, sending missiles of all 
 shapes and sizes on board us. Our men kept firing 
 away bravely, but in a short time, so rapid was the 
 fire kept up on us, that three or four were killed and 
 several wounded. I was standing near the brave 
 Dutchman when a dart shot from a gun struck him, 
 and he fell to the deck. I ran to raise him up, but 
 he had ceased to breathe. His death soon becoming 
 known among the crew, their fire visibly slackened. 
 The pirates probably perceived this, and with fearful 
 cries came dashing alongside. The Javanese are brave 
 fellows, and though they knew that death awaited 
 them, they drew their swords and daggers and met 
 the enemy as they sprang upon our deck. On came 
 the pirates in overwhelming numbers, their sharp 
 kreeses making fearful havoc among our poor fellows. 
 I saw that all was lost. I was still unwounded. 
 Rather than fall alive into the hands of the pirates, 
 as with the survivors of the crew I was driven across 
 the deck, I determined to leap overboard, and endea- 
 vour to swim to land. That was not a moment for 
 considering the distance or the dangers to be en- 
 countered. Death was certain if I remained in the 
 ship. Unnoticed by the enemy, I threw myself over- 
 board, and struck out in the direction, as I believed, 
 of the shore. I was a good swimmer, but light as 
 were my clothes, I was not aware of the impediment 
 they would prove to me. Already I was beginning 
 to grow tired, and to feel that I could not reach the 
 shore. Yet Jife was sweet, very sweet, in prospect.
 
 Mutiny on Board the "Barbara" 241 
 
 I prayed for strength, and resolved to struggle on as 
 long as I could move an arm. I threw myself on my 
 back to float. I could see the brig, at no great dis- 
 tance, surrounded by the prahus. All sounds of strife 
 had ceased. Only the confused murmurs of many 
 tongues moving at once reached my ears. Now that 
 I had ceased for a few minutes to exert myself, two 
 fearful ideas occurred to me : one, that I might be 
 swimming from the land, the other, that at any 
 moment a shark might seize me and carry me to the 
 depths below. Had I allowed my mind to dwell on 
 these ideas, I should speedily have lost courage, but 
 instead I had recourse to the only means by which, 
 under similar trials and dangers, a man can hope to 
 be supported. I turned my thoughts upwards, and 
 prayed earnestly for protection and deliverance. 
 
 I was striking out gently with my feet to keep my- 
 self moving through the water when my head struck 
 something floating on the surface. I turned round, 
 and found that it was one of the long bamboo buoys 
 employed by the native fishermen on the coast to mark 
 where their nets, or fish traps, are placed. They are 
 very long and buoyant, and capable of supporting 
 more than one man with ease. I threw my arms over 
 the one I had found, and was grateful that I had thus 
 found an object by means of which my life might 
 possibly be preserved. 
 
 I looked round me ; the prahus and brig were still 
 to be seen, but after watching them for some time, they 
 appeared to be drifting away with the faint land breeze 
 
 16
 
 242 James Braithwaite. 
 
 from the spot where I lay. Thus was the danger of 
 being seen by them at daylight lessened. Hitherto I 
 had feared, among other things, should I be unable to 
 swim on shore, that when the pirates discovered me 
 in the morning they would send a boat and give me a 
 quieting knock on the head. Still my position was 
 a very dreadful one. Any moment a passing shark 
 might seize hold of me ; that I escaped was owing, I 
 think, humanly speaking, to my having on dark 
 clothes, and my having kept constantly splashing 
 with my legs. I was afraid of resting, also, lest I 
 should lose consciousness, and, letting go my hold of 
 the bamboo, be swept away by the tide. 
 
 At length, when my legs became weary of moving 
 about, I thought that I would try the effect of my 
 voice in keeping the sharks at a distance. I first 
 ascertained that the pirate prahus had drifted to such 
 a distance that I was not likely to be heard by them, 
 then I began shouting away at the top of my voice. 
 
 What was my surprise, as soon as I stopped, to hear 
 an answer ! For a moment I fancied that it must be 
 some mockery of my imagination ; then again I heard 
 the voice say, " What, Braithwaite ! is that you ? " 
 
 It must be, I knew, my friend Van Deck who 
 spoke, yet the voice sounded hollow and strange, 
 very unlike his. 
 
 I can scarcely describe the relief I felt at discover- 
 ing, in the first place that my friend had escaped, and 
 then on finding that a civilized human being was near 
 me. I could not tell whether he knew that his brother
 
 Mutiny on Board the "Barbara" 243 
 
 was killed. I did not allude to the subject. We did 
 our best to encourage each other. We /would gladly 
 have got nearer together to talk with more ease, but 
 were afraid of letting go our hold of the support, frail 
 though it seemed, to which we clung. Van Deck en- 
 couraged me by the assurance that it would soon be 
 daylight, and that at early dawn the fishermen would 
 come off to examine the nets. 
 
 " They bear the Dutch, I am sorry to say, no good 
 will," he observed. "We are accused too justly of 
 laying the produce of their industry under tribute ; 
 but they will respect you as an Englishman, and for 
 your sake save the lives of both of us. Till I found 
 that you had escaped I was very anxious on that 
 score." 
 
 As I have said, we talked continually, for silence 
 was painful, as I could not tell when my companion's 
 voice was silent whether he had been drawn down 
 suddenly by a shark, or had sunk overcome by fatigue. 
 Even with conversation kept up in this way the time 
 passed very slowly by. How much worse off I should 
 have been alone ! At length Van Deck exclaimed 
 that he saw the dawn breaking in the sky. Rapidly 
 after this objects became more and more distinct ; the 
 tall bamboo buoys, with their tufts of dry grass at the 
 top, floating on the glassy water; then I could distin- 
 guish my companion's head and shoulders just above 
 the surface ; and the land about two miles off, on 
 which, however, a surf broke which would have made 
 landing difficult, if not dangerous. The tall trees and
 
 244 James Braithwaite. 
 
 the mountains, range above range, seemed to rise 
 directly out of it. 
 
 Soon the fishermen's voices, as they pulled out, 
 singing in chorus, towards their buo} T s, greeted our 
 ears. Two boats came close to us. The fishermen 
 exhibited much surprise at finding us, but instead ol 
 at once coming up and taking us on board, they lay 
 on their oars, and appeared to be consulting what they 
 should do with the strangers. How the discussion 
 might have terminated seemed doubtful, had not Van 
 Deck told them that I was an Englishman, whose 
 countrymen had just conquered the island; that he was 
 my friend ; and that if any harm happened to us my 
 people would come and cut off all the people in the dis- 
 trict, whereas if we were well treated they would be 
 munificently rewarded. This address, which, taken in 
 its oriental meaning, was literally true, had the desired 
 effect; one of the boats approached me. Immediately 
 that I was in the boat I fainted, and I believe that 
 my friend was much in the same condition. He, how- 
 ever, quickly recovered, and by the promise of an 
 increased reward induced the fishermen to return at 
 once to the shore. I did not return to consciousness 
 till I found myself being lifted out of the boat and 
 placed on a litter of wicker-work. Van Deck was 
 carried in the same way, as he was too weak to walk. 
 We were thus conveyed to the house of a chief, who 
 resided not far from the shore, built on the summit of 
 a rising ground overlooking the sea. 
 
 The chief, who was every inch a gentleman, received
 
 Mutiny on Board the "Barbara" 245 
 
 us with the greatest hospitality, and, seeing what we 
 most required, had us both put into clean, comfortable 
 beds in a large airy room, where, after we had taken a 
 few cups of hot coffee, we fell asleep, and did not awake 
 again till the evening. Our host had then a sump- 
 tuous repast ready for us, of which by that time we 
 were pretty well capable of partaking. Poor Van 
 Deck was naturally very much out of spirits at the 
 loss of his brother, but the necassity of interpreting 
 for me kept him from dwelling on his own grief. 
 
 At the time of which I have hitherto been speaking, 
 when I was in the east, the spot on which Singapore, 
 with its streets of stone palaces, its superb public 
 edifices and rich warehouses, now stands, was a sandy 
 flat, with a few straggling huts inhabited by fishermen 
 or pirates. I am about to give a piece of history 
 posterior to my voyage as a supercargo. After the 
 peace of 1814, when Java and its dependencies were 
 given up to the Dutch, their first act was to impose 
 restrictions on British commerce in the Archipelago. 
 They were enabled to effect this object from the 
 position of their settlements, those in the Straits of 
 Malacca and Sunda commanding all the western en- 
 trances to the China and Java seas, and it therefore 
 became evident that, without some effort to destroy 
 their monopolies, the sale of British manufactures in 
 the eastern islands would soon cease. Sir Stamford 
 Raffles, who was at that time Governor of Bencoolen, 
 represented the case so strongly to the Supreme 
 Government at Bengal that the governor-general gave'
 
 246 James Braithwaite. 
 
 him the permission he asked to make a settlement 
 near the north-east entrance of the Straits of Malacca. 
 He accordingly, in the year 1819, fixed on Singapore, 
 which stands on the south side of an island, about 
 sixty miles in circumference, separated by a narrow 
 strait from the Malay peninsula. Of course the esta- 
 blishment was opposed by the Dutch, who so strenu- 
 ously remonstrated with the British Government that 
 the latter declined having anything to do with it, and 
 threw the whole responsibility on Sir Stamford Raffles. 
 It was not until it had been established for three 
 years in the last of which the trade was already 
 estimated at several millions of dollars that Singa- 
 pore was recognised by Great Britain. 
 
 After a rest of a couple of days, poor Van Deck and 
 I were sufficiently recovered to commence our journey 
 back to Batavia. He was anxious to be there that he 
 might take charge of his late brother's affairs I, that 
 I might report the loss of the brig, and make fresh 
 arrangements for securing a cargo for Sydney. We 
 met with no adventures worthy of note on our 
 journey. 
 
 On our return to Batavia much sympathy was ex- 
 cited for my friend Van Deck among the merchants at 
 the loss of his brother, and the naval commander-in- 
 chief, returning soon after from Sourabaya, dispatched 
 two frigates and a brig of war in search of the pirates. 
 They were supposed to belong to some place on the 
 coast of Borneo, which has for many years abounded 
 with nests of these desperadoes. The fleet in question
 
 Mutiny on Board the "Barbara" 247 
 
 was supposed to belong to a famous chief, the very 
 idol of his followers on account of the success of his 
 expeditions. His title was the Rajah Raga, and he 
 was brother to the Sultan Coti, a potentate of Borneo. 
 The Raja Raga had subsequently some wonderful 
 escapes, for he probably got due notice that an English 
 squadron was looking after him, and took good care 
 to keep out of their way. He was afterwards cruising 
 with three large prahus, when he fell in with an 
 English sloop-of-war, which he was compelled to en- 
 gage. Two of his prahus, by placing themselves be- 
 tween him and the enemy, held her in check a sufficient 
 time to enable him to escape, and were themselves 
 then sent to the bottom ; indeed, they must have 
 expected no other fate. 
 
 On another occasion the rajah remained on shore, 
 but sent his own prahu, which carried upwards of a 
 hundred and fifty men and several large guns, on a 
 cruise, under the command of his favourite panglima, 
 or captain. Falling in after some time with a brig 
 merchantman, as he supposed, and wishing to distin- 
 guish himself by her capture, he fired into her, and 
 made preparations to board. Great was his dismay 
 when he saw a line of ports open in the side of his 
 expected prize, and he found himself under the guns 
 of a British man-of-war. The panglima hailed, and 
 with many apologies tried to make it appear that he 
 had acted under a misapprehension, but his subterfuge 
 was of no avail ; a broadside from the man-of-war sent 
 his vessel at once to the bottom, and he and all his
 
 248 James Braithwaite. 
 
 crew perished, with the exception of two or three who, 
 clinging to a piece of the wreck, were picked up by a 
 native craft, and carried an account of the disaster to 
 their chief. 
 
 Piracy had been the bane of these seas for years. 
 
 We were fortunate in obtaining the full amount of 
 the goods we required without having to wait much 
 longer at Batavia. There is an old proverb, " It is an 
 ill wind that blows no one good." The vessel for 
 which they were intended had lost her master and 
 both mates by sickness, and the merchant therefore 
 sold them to me. We had not altogether escaped, and 
 several of our men who were perfectly healthy when 
 we entered the harbour fell victims to the fever 
 engendered by the pestiferous climate. We were com- 
 pelled to fill up their places with others, who after- 
 wards gave us much trouble. 
 
 It was with sincere regret I parted from my friend 
 Van Deck. I was glad, however, to find that he was 
 likely to obtain employment suited to his talents 
 under the English Government. The most direct 
 course for New South Wales would have been through 
 Torres Straits, but the east trade wind still blowing, 
 compelled us to take the longer route round the south 
 of New Holland, and through Bass's Straits, not many 
 years before discovered, between that vast island and 
 the smaller one of Van Diemen's Land. A northerly 
 breeze at length coming on, enabled us to sight the 
 south-west point of New Holland, and thence we 
 sailed along the coast, occasionally seeing tall columns
 
 Mutiny on Board the "Barbara" 249 
 
 of smoke ascending from the wood, showing the pre- 
 sence of natives. 
 
 On approaching Bass's Straits, the captain was one 
 day expressing his regret to me that we had not time 
 to anchor off' one of the islands in it to catch seals, 
 great numbers of which animals frequented the place 
 in those days. He had known, he remarked, con- 
 siderable sums made in that way in a very short time. 
 Our conversation, it appeared, was overheard by one 
 of the men we had shipped at Batavia. We had had 
 a good deal of insubordination among the crew since 
 we left that place, and we traced it all to that man, 
 Miles Badham, as he called himself. He was about 
 thirty, very plausible and insinuating in his manner, 
 a regular sea-lawyer, a character very dangerous -on 
 board ship, and greatly disliked by most captains. 
 He had managed to gain a considerable influence over 
 the crew, especially the younger portion. His ap- 
 pearance was in his favour, and in spite of the qualities 
 I have mentioned, I would not have supposed him 
 capable of the acts of atrocity which were with good 
 reason laid to his charge. Ben Stubbs, the second 
 mate, had charge of the deck one night, and, unable 
 to sleep, I was taking a turn with him, when Mr. 
 G wynne, the surgeon, came up to us. 
 
 " There is something wrong going on among the 
 people below," he whispered. "I cannot make out 
 what it is exactly, but if we do not look out we may 
 possibly all have our throats cut before morning." 
 
 "You must have been dreaming, G wynne," answered
 
 250 James Braithwaite. 
 
 Stubbs ; " there isn't a man in the ship would dare do 
 such a tiling." 
 
 " I am not certain of that," I observed ; " at all 
 events, let us be on the right side. Fore-warned, fore- 
 armed. We will let the captain know, and I trust 
 thatwe may thus defeat the plot, whatever it is."
 
 CHAPTER XVII. 
 
 HOME AGAIN! 
 
 WENT down into the captain's cabin, and, awaken- 
 ing him, told him what the surgeon had said. 
 /'Mutiny!" he exclaimed, as he dressed himself 
 with the usual rapidity of a seaman. " We will soon 
 settle that matter." He stuck his pistols into a belt 
 he put on for the purpose, and took a cutlass in his 
 hand. " Here, Braithwaite, arm yourself," he said. 
 " Tell the officers to do so likewise. We will soon see 
 which of the two, that sea-lawyer or I, is to command 
 the Barbara." 
 
 Telling Gwynne and Toby to guard the arm-chest, 
 and Randolph to rally round him the most trustworthy 
 men on deck, he desired Stubbs and me to follow him 
 forward. Without a word of warning he suddenly 
 appeared among the men, who were supposed to be in. 
 their berths asleep. Going directly up to the berth 
 Badham. occupied, he seized hold of him and dragged 
 him on deck, with a pistol pointed at his head, exclaim- 
 ing at the same time, " Shoot any one who offers to 
 interfere ! " 
 
 The captain was very confident that he had the 
 ringleader, and that the rest would not move without
 
 252 James Braithwaite* 
 
 him. "Now!" he exclaimed, when he had got him 
 on the quarterdeck. "Confess who are your accom- 
 plices, and what you intended to do ! Remember, no 
 falsehood ! I shall cross- question the others. If you 
 are obstinate, overboard you go/' 
 
 Badham, surprised by the sudden seizure, and con- 
 fused, was completely cowed. In an abject tone he 
 whined out, " Spare my life, sir, and I will tell you 
 all." 
 
 " Out with it then ! " answered the captain. " We 
 have no time to spare." 
 
 "Well, sir, then I will tell you all. We didn't 
 intend to injure any one, that we didn't, believe me, 
 sir ; but some of us didn't want to go back to Sydney, 
 so we agreed that we would just wreck the ship, and 
 as there are plenty of seals to be got hereabouts, go 
 sealing on our own account, and sell the oil and skins 
 to the ships passing through the straits, and, when we 
 should get tired of the work, go home in one of them." 
 
 " And so, for the sake of gaining a few hundred 
 dollars for yourself, you deliberately planned the de- 
 struction of this fine ship, and very likely of all on 
 board. Now, understand, you will be put in irons, and 
 if I find the slightest attempt among the crew to rescue 
 you, up you go to the yard-arm, and the leader of the 
 party will keep you company on the other." 
 
 Badham, in his whining tone, acknowledged that 
 he understood clearly what the captain said, and hoped 
 never again to offend. On this he was led by two of 
 the mates to one of the after store-rooms, where he
 
 Home Again ! 253 
 
 could be under their sight, when irons were put on 
 him, and he was left to his meditations, the door being 
 locked on him. The next morning the crew went 
 about their work as usual, Badham's dupes or accom- 
 plices being easily distinguished by their downcast, 
 cowed looks, and by the unusual promptness with 
 which they obeyed all orders. The officers and I 
 continued to wear our pistols and side-arms as a 
 precautionary measure, though we might safely 
 have dispensed with them. 
 
 A short time before this, in 1802, a settlement had 
 been formed in Van Dieinen's Land, and lately 
 Hobart Town, the capital, had been commenced. It 
 was, however, a convict station, and no ships were 
 allowed to land cargoes there except those which came 
 from England direct with stores or were sent from 
 Sydney, in consequence of which restriction the 
 colonists were several times nearly on the point of 
 starvation. 
 
 The heads of Port Jackson at length hove in sight, 
 and we entered that magnificent harbour, the entrance 
 of which Cook saw and named. Wanting in his usual 
 sagacity, he took it for a small boat harbour, and 
 passed by without further exploring it. Having first 
 brought up in Neutral Bay, that we might be reported 
 to the governor, we proceeded some miles up to Sydney 
 Cove, where we anchored in excellent holding ground 
 ab'out half-pistol-shot from the shore. Sydney had 
 already begun to assume the appearance of a town of 
 some consideration, and contained fully 5,000 inhabit-
 
 254 James Braithwaite. 
 
 ants, though still called the camp by some of the old 
 settlers. It is divided into two parts by a river which 
 runs into the cove, and affords it unrivalled advantages 
 of water communication. Several settlements in the 
 country had already been established, among the chief 
 of which were Paramatta and Hawkesbury. The 
 latter settlement was about six miles long, and about 
 forty miles from Sydney ; vessels of two hundred tons 
 could ascend by the river up it a distance of at least 
 forty miles. The town, such as it then was, covered 
 about a mile of ground from one end to the other, and 
 already gave promise of becoming a place of consider- 
 able extent. A wise and active governor, Lieutenant- 
 Colonel Lachlan Macquarie, had ruled the settlement 
 for about a year, during which period it had made 
 rapid progress. The previous governor was the 
 notorious Captain Bligh, whose tyrannical conduct 
 when in command of the Bounty produced the dis- 
 astrous mutiny which took place on board that ship. 
 The same style of conduct when governor of New 
 South Wales, especially in his treatment of Mr. John 
 McArthur, the father, as he was called, of the settle- 
 ment, induced the colonists to depose him. The officers 
 and men of the New South Wales corps marched up 
 to the Government House, and, after hunting for him 
 for some time, found him concealed under a bed. 
 His person and property were, however, carefully 
 protected, and he was shortly afterwards put on board 
 the Porpoise sloop-of-war, and sent off to England. 
 The settlement, however, quickly recovered from the
 
 Home Again! 255 
 
 mismanagement of this unhappy man, and was at 
 the time of my visit in a flourishing condition. 
 
 I was fortunate in disposing of the larger part of 
 the cargo under my charge at good prices. Hassall 
 and I agreed, however, that more might be done for 
 our owners, and we proposed, therefore, visiting some 
 of the islands in the Pacific, and either returning home 
 the way we had come, or continuing on round Cape 
 Horn. We had not been long in harbour before O'Carroll 
 made his appearance on board. He had brought the 
 ship of which he had taken charge in safety into 
 harbour, when the emigrants presented him with so 
 handsome a testimonial that he resolved to settle in 
 the colony and lay it out to advantage. The governor 
 had made him a grant of a large extent of farm land, 
 and assigned him some twenty convict servants, land 
 in those days being given away to free settlers, and 
 labour of the nature I have described found them 
 gratis. 
 
 " Altogether I am in a fair way of some day becom- 
 ing a rich man," he observed, " the which I should 
 never have been had I continued ploughing the salt 
 ocean. Besides," he added, with a twinkle in his eye, 
 " how do I know, if I did, that I should not some day 
 fall into the clutches of that fearful little monster La 
 Roche ? and if I did, I know that he would not spare 
 me. Do you know that even to this day I cannot 
 altogether get over my old feelings, and often con- 
 gratulate myself as I ride through the bush that I am 
 far out of his reach."
 
 256 James Braithwaite. 
 
 O'Carroll kept to his resolution, and became a very 
 successful and wealthy settler. I frequently received 
 letters from him after my return home. In one of 
 them he told me that he had had a surprise. The 
 governor asked him one day, as he could speak French, 
 whether he would like to have some French convicts 
 assigned to him. He had no objection, as he thought 
 that he could manage them easily. What was his 
 astonishment, when the party arrived at the farm, to 
 recognize among them, in a little wizened-looking old 
 man, his once dreaded enemy La Roche ! He deter- 
 mined to try and melt the man's stony heart by 
 kindness. At first he was almost hopeless in the 
 matter, but he succeeded at last. La Roche confessed 
 that he had placed himself within the power of the 
 British laws in consequence of a visit he paid to 
 England after the war, for the purpose of carrying out 
 a speculation which ended unfortunately. It was 
 satisfactory to hear that he lived to become a changed 
 man, truly repenting of his misspent life, and thank- 
 ful that he had been spared to repent. 
 
 I have not spoken of the would-be mutineer, Bad- 
 ham. It must be remembered that he had committed 
 no overt act of mutiny, and though Captain Hassall 
 was perfectly right in putting him in irons, he could 
 not have been brought to trial on shore. The day 
 before we reached Sydney he pleaded so hard to be 
 forgiven, and so vehemently promised amendment in 
 all respects, that the captain resolved to give him a 
 trial. It must be confessed that he was not altogether
 
 Home Again! 257 
 
 disinterested in this, as it would have been impossible 
 to get fresh hands at Sydney, the temptation to settle 
 in the country having by that time become very great, 
 so that it was with difficulty we could keep several of 
 our people who had come from England. 
 
 Once more we were at sea. We touched at Norfolk 
 Island, to which convicts from New South Wales were 
 sent. It seemed a pity that so fertile a spot, so per- 
 fect a little paradise, should be given up for such a 
 purpose. We obtained here a supply of vegetables 
 and pork, which were not to be got at that time at 
 any price at Sydney. After a rapid voyage from this 
 lovely little island we anchored in Matavai Bay, in 
 the island of Otaheite. It was at an interesting time 
 of the history of the island and its king, Otoo, who 
 since the death of his father had taken the name of 
 Pomarre. For many years the band of zealous mis- 
 sionaries who had come out in the ship Duff had 
 laboured on among the people, but though they taught 
 the king, the young prince Otoo, and some of their 
 people, to read and write, they confessed that they 
 had not made one satisfactory convert. In 1808 the 
 greater number of the missionaries retired from 
 Otaheite to the island of Huahine, and the following 
 year all the married ones left that island for New 
 South Wales, in consequence of the wars in which 
 the king was constantly engaged, the destruction of 
 all their property, the risk they ran of losing their 
 lives, and the seeming hopelessness of introducing 
 Christianity among such a people. After an absence 
 
 17
 
 258 james Braithwaite. 
 
 of between two and three years, several of them, 
 having wished to make a fresh attempt to carry out 
 the work, sailed from Sydney for Tahiti, but stopped 
 at the neighbouring island of Eimeo, where the king 
 was residing, as Tahiti was still in a state of rebellion. 
 They taught the people as before, and now some began 
 to listen to them gladly. They still seemed to have 
 considered the king as a hopeless heathen ; but mis- 
 fortune had humbled him, he felt his own nothingness 
 and sinfulness, and the utter inability of the faith of 
 his fathers to give him relief. After the missionaries 
 had lived in the island about a year, the king came to 
 them and offered himself as a candidate for baptism, 
 declaring that it was his fixed determination to wor- 
 ship Jehovah, the true God, and expressing his desire 
 to be further instructed in the principles of religion. 
 The king proved his sincerity, and ever after remained 
 a true and earnest Christian. He still resided at 
 Eimeo, but a considerable number of people in Tahiti 
 had by this time been converted, and the old heathen 
 gods were falling into disrepute. 
 
 So devastating had been the character of the late 
 wars in Tahiti, that we found it impossible to obtain 
 supplies, and we therefore sailed for Ulitea, the largest 
 of the Georgian group, where we were informed that 
 we should probably be more successful. No sooner 
 had we dropped anchor within the coral bed which 
 surrounds the island than the king and queen came 
 off to pay us a visit. They were very polite, but not 
 disinterested, as their object was to collect as many
 
 Home Again / 259 
 
 gifts as we were disposed to bestow. This island was 
 the chief seat of the idolatry of the Society Islands. 
 It was looked upon as a sacred isle by the inhabitants 
 of the other islands of the group, and more idols existed 
 and more human sacrifices were offered up there than 
 in all the others. We were so completely deceived by 
 the plausible manners of the king and queen and those 
 who accompanied them, that the captain and I, the 
 surgeon, and two of the mates, went on shore to visit 
 them in return, accompanied by several of the crew, 
 leaving the ship in charge of Mr. Randolph, the first 
 mate. We fortunately carried our arms, though deem- 
 ing it an unnecessary measure of precaution. The 
 king had an entertainment ready for us, and after- 
 wards we were allowed to roam about the island 
 wherever we pleased. I observed the people at length 
 pressing round us, and not liking their looks, advised 
 Captain Hassall to order our men to keep together, 
 and to be prepared for an attack. AVhether or not 
 they saw that we were suspicious of them we could 
 not tell, but from this time their conduct changed, and 
 they would only allow us to proceed in the direction 
 they chose. At length, however, we got down to the 
 landing-place. As we approached the boats we saw 
 a band of armed natives making for them. We rushed 
 down to the beach, and reaching the boats just before 
 they did, we jumped in and shoved off. These savages, 
 though savage as ever, were also more formidable 
 enemies than formerly, as many of them had firearms, 
 and all had sharp daggers or swords.
 
 260 James Braithwaite. 
 
 On reaching the ship we found that Badham and 
 his associates had, soon after we left, seized a boat, 
 and, in spite of all Mr. Randolph could say or do, had 
 taken all their clothes and other property with them, 
 and gone on shore. Although by this conduct Badhara 
 showed that he could no longer be trusted, and there- 
 fore that we were well rid of him, it was important 
 that we should get back the other men, and we agreed 
 to go on shore the next morning to recover them. 
 Accordingly, the chief mate and I went on shore as 
 we proposed, with eight well-armed men, and de- 
 manded an interview with the king. He did not 
 comp himself, but sent his prime minister, who agreed, 
 for six hatchets and a piece of cloth, to deliver them 
 up. We waited for some hours, but the deserters 
 were not forthcoming, and at last the minister and 
 another chief appeared, and declared that as the men 
 were likely to fight for their liberty, it would be 
 necessary that we should lend them our arms. 
 
 " Very likely, indeed, gentlemen," answered Mr. 
 Randolph, at once detecting the palpable trick to get 
 us into their power. 
 
 " I say, Braithwaite, what say you to seizing these 
 fellows and carrying them on board as hostages ? It 
 could easily be done." 
 
 " Cook lost his life in making a similar attempt, 
 and we might lose ours," I answered. " I would rather 
 lose the men than run any such risk." 
 
 In vain we endeavoured by diplomacy to recover 
 the men, and at last we returned on board, the min-
 
 Home Again! 261 
 
 ister losing the hatchets and piece of cloth. A feeling 
 of anxiety prevented me from turning in, and I 
 walked the deck for some time with Benjie Stubbs, 
 the officer of the watch. At length I went below and 
 threw myself on my bed, all standing, as sailors say 
 when they keep their clothes on. I had scarcely 
 dropped asleep when I was awoke by hearing Stubbs 
 order the lead to be hove. I was on deck in a moment, 
 followed by the captain and the other officers. 
 
 " We are on shore to a certainty," exclaimed Stubbs, 
 in an agitated tone. 
 
 " Impossible ! " observed the captain, " the anchors 
 are holding." 
 
 " We'll haul in on the cables and see, sir," answered 
 Stubbs, calling some of the crew to his assistance. 
 The cables immediately came on board. They had 
 been cut through. Still there was a perceptible 
 motion of the ship towards the shore. Another anchor 
 with an iron stock was immediately cleared away, but 
 some time was lost in stocking it, and before it could 
 be let go we felt the ship strike against a coral reef 
 with considerable force. Happily there was no 
 wind, or she would speedily have gone to pieces. At 
 last we carried the anchors out, and 'hauled her off, 
 but not without unusual difficulty. -Suddenly tiie 
 captain jumped into a boat and pulled round the 
 ship. 
 
 " I thought so ! " he exclaimed ; " the villains have 
 fastened a rope to her rudder, and were towing us on 
 the rocks." He cut the rope as he spoke, and with
 
 262 James Braithwaite. 
 
 comparative ease we got the ship out of her perilous 
 position. Still she was so near the high cliffs which 
 almost surrounded us that we might be seriously 
 annoyed, not only by musketry but by stones and 
 darts. It was evident, also, that should a breeze set 
 in from the sea, the single anchor would not hold, 
 and that we must be driven back again on the coral 
 rocks. 
 
 We were not left long in doubt as to the intention 
 of the savages and the deserters, their instigators. 
 Suddenly fearful shouts burst from the cliffs above 
 us, and we were assailed by a fire of musketry and by 
 darts and stones hurled on our deck. To return it 
 would have been useless, for we could not see our 
 enemies. Meantime we kept the men under cover as 
 much as possible, and got another anchor stocked and 
 ready to carry out ahead. The savages must have 
 seen the boat, for as soon as she was clear of the ship 
 they opened fire on her, and it was not without dif- 
 ficulty that the anchor was carried out to the required 
 distance, and the crew of the boat hurriedly returned 
 on board. 
 
 Owing to Badham's machinations, some of the crew 
 had at first been disaffected, but a common danger 
 now united them, as they saw full well the treatment 
 they might expect should the savages get possession 
 of the ship. Besides the ship's guns we had four 
 swivels, thirty muskets, and several blunderbusses and 
 braces of pistols. These were all loaded and placed 
 ready for use, with a number of boarding-pikes, for
 
 Home Again! 263 
 
 we thought that at any moment the savages would 
 come off in their canoes and attempt to board us. 
 The whole night long they kept us on the alert, howl- 
 ing and shrieking in the most fearful manner. Soon 
 after day broke their numbers increased, and as they 
 could now take aim with their firearms our danger 
 
 C3 
 
 became greater. Fortunately they were very bad 
 marksmen, or they would have picked us all off. 
 Strange as it may seem, no one was hit, though our 
 rigging and boats received much damage. After the 
 crew had breakfasted we sent two boats out ahead to 
 tow off the ship, but the bullets and other missiles 
 flew so thickly about them that they returned, the 
 men declaring that the work was too dangerous. 
 
 o o 
 
 However, Benjie Stubbs, jumping into one of the 
 boats, persuaded them to go again, while we opened a 
 fire from the deck of the ship. As soon as the savages 
 saw us ready to fire, they dodged behind the rocks, so 
 that none of them were wounded. Still we hoped 
 that by this means the boats would be allowed to tow 
 ahead without molestation. We were mistaken, for 
 the savages shifted their ground, and once more drove 
 the boats on board. We clearly distinguished Badharn 
 and the rest of the deserters among the savages, and 
 several times they were seen to fire at us. Happily 
 they also were wretched shots, and their muskets 
 thoroughly bad also. That they should venture to 
 fire showed that they had no doubt of getting us into 
 their power, for should we escape and inform against 
 them, they would run a great chance of being captured
 
 264 James Braithwaite. 
 
 and hanged. Later in the day, Jack and I again 
 made attempts to tow out the ship from her perilous 
 position. 
 
 The savages all the day continued howling and 
 shrieking and working themselves into what seemed 
 an ungovernable fury, while they were, however, 
 biding their time, knowing that probably a strong 
 sea-breeze would soon spring up and cast the ship 
 helpless into their power. Thus another night closed 
 on us. Ere long great was our joy to feel a light air 
 blowing off the shore. The pauls of the windlass 
 were muffled, and not a word was spoken. The 
 anchors were lifted, the top-sails were suddenly let 
 drop, and slowly we glided off from the land. The 
 weather becoming very thick and dark, we were com- 
 pelled again to anchor, lest we might have run on one 
 of the many reefs surrounding the island. Here we 
 remained on our guard till daylight, when we could 
 see the natives dancing and gesticulating with rage at 
 finding that we had escaped them. The favourable 
 breeze continuing, we were soon able to get far out 
 of their reach, I for one deeply thankful that we had 
 not only escaped without loss ourselves, but without 
 killing any of the unhappy savages. The treatment 
 we received was such as at that time might have been 
 expected from the inhabitants of nearly all the islands 
 of the Pacific, including those of New Zealand, and 
 numberless were the instances of ships' companies and 
 boats' crews cut off by them. 
 
 A very few years after our visit, this same island
 
 Home Again ! 265 
 
 was brought under missionary influence, the idols were 
 overthrown, heathenism and all its abominable practices 
 disappeared, and the inhabitants became a thoroughly 
 well-ordered, God-fearing, and law-obeying Christian 
 community. The same account may be given of the 
 larger number of the islands which stud the wide 
 Pacific, and ships may now sail from north to south, 
 and east to west, without the slightest danger from 
 the inhabitants of by far the greater portion of 
 them. 
 
 But it is time that I should bring my narrative to 
 a conclusion. This adventure at Ulitea was amongst 
 my last. Finding that our trading expedition to the 
 Pacific Islands was not likely to prove of advantage 
 to our owners, Captain Hassall and I resolved to pro- 
 ceed home at once round Cape Horn. 
 
 We happily accomplished our voyage without acci- 
 dent and without any further occurrence worthy of 
 note. Our path was no longer beset by hostile 
 cruisers, for there was a lull in the affairs of Europe. 
 After the many excitements of the past few months, 
 the days seemed long and tedious as I had never 
 known them before ; and it was with a sense of relief, 
 as well as of real pleasure, that I again saw in the 
 early morning light the shores of old England looming 
 clear in the distance. I need not dwell on all the 
 happy circumstances of my return, or on the special 
 satisfaction with which I looked again on one familiar 
 face. Suffice it to say that I had the gratification of 
 receiving the commendation of my kind friend Mr.
 
 266 James Braithwaite. 
 
 Janrin for the way in which I had carried out his 
 instructions and performed my duties as Supercargo ; 
 and that this voyage prepared the way for more sub- 
 stantial proofs of his favour.
 
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