LIBA 
 
 UNIV6* 
 
 w 
 
 SAHWEGO
 
 9 
 
 THE AUTOBIOGRAPHY 
 OF 
 
 A MAN-O'-WAR'S BELL.
 
 I stepped forward, eagerly seized a paper, when, oh, horror! there appeared 
 Ijelore my eyes, us I bn&tily opened the slip, the single word Death.' "
 
 THE 
 
 AUTOBIOGRAPHY 
 
 OF 
 
 A MAN-O'-WAR'S BELL 
 
 Jl Sato af tk ja 
 
 BY 
 
 LIEUT. C. R. LOW (LATE) I.N. 
 
 WITH ILL USTRA TIONS 
 
 LONDON AND NEW YORK 
 
 GEORGE ROUTLEDGE AND SONS 
 
 1875 
 
 \All rights reserved."]
 
 LONDON : 
 
 Printed by Simmons & Botten, 
 Shoe Lane, E.C.
 
 THE 
 
 of a 
 
 I\ 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 THE autobiography of most bells, of those, indeed, 
 with which the generality of the kind folk, who will 
 favour me by perusing the following pages, are 
 familiar, would deal with subjects far dissimilar from 
 those of which I am about to treat. In this category 
 of bells, I do not allude to such humble productions 
 of human ingenuity as the household implements 
 which lie in rows in the basement floors of all 
 modern houses ; though, doubtless, were the tongues 
 of many such to give utterance to their feelings, they 
 could tell some unpleasant truths of the opinions of 
 " their betters," freely ventilated by the servant-kind, 
 who "live and move and have their being" in the 
 kitchen, and the regions that "thereunto adjacent 
 lie." Dear me ! what tales of cross-grained mis- 
 tresses and dyspeptic masters, could not these bells, 
 
 x
 
 2 The Autobiography of a Man-o'- War's Bell. 
 
 well-nigh dinned to death by continuous and violent 
 tintinnabulations, unfold to mortal ears. No, I pass 
 by the domestic bell as unworthy my muse ; I tune 
 my lyre to a more pretentious lay than the retailing 
 of the adventures of such very small fry. Neither 
 am I about to sing of the experiences of the solemn 
 and highly respectable class that are to be heard, but 
 not seen, in contradistinction to the golden rule laid 
 down for the guidance of all little boys and girls, and 
 of which we have a lively remembrance from, our 
 earliest infancy, high up in the ivy-gro\vii church 
 tower. These bells speak of time and eternity, of 
 births, marriages, and of deaths; and their voices 
 recall to mind the saddest and most solemn, as well 
 as the happiest moments of our life. But upon this 
 theme I will not dwell. It is of the bell of a man-of- 
 war, the great bell of a majestic ship of the. line, that 
 I now propose to write; and, after just premising the 
 circumstances under which I heard the narrative I 
 am about to relate, I will stand on one side, and 
 allow the time-honoured tongue (I cannot degrade it 
 by applying to it the homely title of clapper) to wag 
 in its cavernous old jaws and speak for itself, as it 
 has so often and so effectually done midst the battle 
 and the breeze in days long, long gone by. 
 
 One hot summer day it was just such another
 
 The Autobiography of a Man-o'- War's Bell. 3 
 
 grilling afternoon as Charles Dickens describes with 
 marvellous graphic power in ' ' Little Dorrit " I was 
 strolling about the museum of the Royal United 
 Service Institution, and inspecting the interesting 
 and curious collection of odds and ends in the naval 
 department of the museum. I say inspecting, 
 advisedly, for had it been the winter-time of year, 
 or had the thermometer marked a range some 
 twenty degrees lower, one would have been inclined 
 to wonder at and admire the models, and particu- 
 larly the Nelson and Franklin relics, but with the 
 mercury at eighty and something or another degrees 
 I forget the odd number, it was too hot to count 
 how could any mortal be expected to do aught that 
 militated against the adoption of the nil admirari 
 principle of viewing things. No, the one thing a 
 man could do with success, under conditions that 
 would have melted the stoutest frame, was to, in 
 short, take a nap ; so I thought at the time, and as 
 there was no one in that portion of the museum, and 
 I felt overcome with sleep, I thought I would just 
 indulge in forty winks ! Vast heaving ! paul,* there. 
 When I said just now, there was no one, I should 
 have excepted the worthy porter, an old petty officer 
 
 * The " pauls " are stops in the capstan, which prevent it 
 from going back when heaving round.
 
 4 The Autobiography of a Man-o]- War's Bell. 
 
 of the navy, for whom I entertained a regard, having 
 had many a chat with him about matters and models, 
 nautical ; but still he was of no account on this occa- 
 sion, as I know from testimony, auricular as well as 
 optical, that he was sleeping the sleep of the weary, 
 for he was snoring in the most uncompromising 
 manner. By the by, I hope this revelation, given in 
 strict confidence, may not fall under the observation 
 of any of the authorities at the Royal United Service 
 Institution, so that it may in any way prejudice the 
 interests of the old petty officer in question. 
 
 Feeling overcome with the heat, I looked about 
 for a seat, and, at length, " brought myself to an 
 anchor " near a great bell, an inscription over which 
 informed me that it was the bell of the French line- 
 of-battle ship, "Ville de Paris," the flag-ship of 
 Admiral Count de Grasse, in his memorable action 
 with Lord Rodney, on the I2th of April, in the year 
 1782. I gazed long and curiously at this interesting 
 relic of that famous fight, and of the brave men who 
 immortalized themselves on that day, so long, indeed, 
 that I found myself musing over the stirring events 
 that were enacted beneath its shadow on the high 
 forecastle, and the tales it could tell were its iron 
 tongue gifted with language. From first musing, 1 
 found myself nodding bad examples, we know, are
 
 The Autobiography of a Man-o'- War's Bell. 5 
 
 contagious ; and just then I was startled by a loud 
 snort from my friend the porter, followed by a 
 renewal of the gentle snoring, indicative of profound 
 repose, so nothing loth, I resigned myself to the 
 blandishments of the " sleepy god/' and fell into a 
 deep slumber. 
 
 "What, you would like to hear something of my 
 early life/' said a deep muffled voice at my side. 
 Now, though this question proceeded from the bell 
 that I had been so attentively regarding, the pheno- 
 menon of an inanimate object, like a ship's bell, 
 entering into conversation, did not strike me as in 
 the least singular ; indeed, in our dreams, though we 
 deal almost exclusively with phenomena, and discard 
 common sense views of everything, nothing strikes us 
 as extraordinary. 
 
 " Yes/' I replied ; " I should like nothing better 
 than to hear the story of your life." 
 
 " Listen, then," said the bell ; and straightway, 
 without more ado, it unfolded in deep sepulchral 
 tones, the following veracious narrative, being the 
 Autobiography of a Man-of- War's Bell : 
 
 I was cast in the year 1757 at a foundry in the 
 south of England, and I remember debating with a 
 lot of my brothers and sisters who first saw the
 
 6 The Autobiography of a Man-o'- War's Bell. 
 
 light, as you would say, at the same time as myself, 
 as to what might be the fate of each of us. I wonder 
 how many of them are in the land of the living now. 
 Though most of the number were destined for peace- 
 ful purposes, and not to ring forth war's alarms, and 
 calls to "fire quarters," yet, I doubt not, many came 
 to grief, and gave evidence of a flaw, or " cracked their 
 cheeks/' diseases to which we are, from our composi- 
 tion, peculiarly susceptible, long years ere this. 
 However that may be, I must not be indulging in 
 sentiment, as if you have only patience to listen, I 
 have a great deal to tell you. 
 
 I was taken down with a wagon-load of others 
 to Portsmouth, and speedily found myself on board 
 one of the frigates of His late Majesty King George 
 the Second. The " Melpomene " was fitting out for 
 service in the year 1757, and I was proud enough, I 
 assure you, to be selected for duty on board such a 
 handsome ship, one of the crack frigates of the ser- 
 vice. I saw some queer sights during the time she 
 was being fitted out. Those were the days of press- 
 gangs, and in seaport towns it was a dangerous 
 thing for a man who could not give a satisfactory- 
 account of himself, to be seen wandering about. 
 Often such fellows were brought on board, quite 
 insensible with drink, the man-o'-war perhaps sailed
 
 The A tetobiography of a Man-o'- War's Bell. 7 
 
 the following morning, and the deluded wretches did 
 not regain their consciousness until the ship was far 
 out on the blue waters, and all chance of return to 
 their friends was at an end. Several such instances 
 came under my personal cognizance, and on 
 numerous occasions daring the many years after 
 this, my first induction to a seafaring life, I have 
 been shipmates with gentlemen of good birth, who 
 were thus entrapped into the navy ; such cases 
 occurred during the commission of the " Melpomene," 
 and the romantic history attachiner to these men, of 
 
 v O x 
 
 which I propose now to speak, will, I trust, interest 
 the readers of my autobiography, as much as they 
 interested me during its development. 
 
 In 1757, there was a great want of foremast 
 hands for the navy, and, in consequence, the press- 
 gangs were particularly busy at their detestable trade, 
 now happily abolished. No less than seventy-eight 
 of the hands out of the frigate's crew of four hundred 
 and seventy men, all told, had been impressed into 
 the navy at different seaports, and sent down to 
 Portsmouth to be drafted on board the ships of war 
 in which there might be a paucity of seamen. Strong 
 guards were required to escort pressed men, in con- 
 sequence of the indignation the system excited in 
 the minds of the populace, who frequently turned
 
 8 The Autobiography of a Matt-o'- War's Bell, 
 
 out in mobs, and released the 'unhappy fellows who 
 had been seized or cajoled into " fighting the French," 
 which was the seductive phraseology used by the 
 " crimps/' in seeking to induce landsmen to join His 
 Majesty's fleet, though a portion of the navy was 
 serving in distant climes, where the French and 
 prize-money were not to be found. There was 
 another method also of recruiting for the service 
 besides pressing, and that was by the time-honoured 
 mode of cajolery, which, indeed, is out of date now- 
 a-days. Soldiers and sailors had to be procured, and 
 they were procured in the same way as the Jew is said 
 to have directed his son to get money "honestly, 
 Moses, if you can, but get it." The manner of 
 recruiting, therefore, not being closely scrutinized, 
 the results only being looked to, a school of harpies, 
 or land-sharks, sprang into existence, who lived by 
 inveigling " likely," but unwary, men into the hands 
 of the recruiting parties, getting a portion of the 
 bounty for each fresh hand they shipped. 
 
 No sooner had I joined the " Melpomene '' than 
 I commenced to adopt the habit I have since prac- 
 tised all my life, and which is now in me a second 
 nature namely, that of studying the faces of those 
 with whom I may be thrown into contact, and form- 
 ing therefrom my own opinion of their characteristics.
 
 The Autobiography of a Man-o'- War's Bell. 9 
 
 I then watch with interest the gradual development 
 of character, as shown by acts, which are the great, 
 and, indeed, the only touchstone of what is in a man, 
 and what a man is. From long observation I have 
 become such an adept in the art, which like every 
 other is perfected by practice, that I find I am now 
 rarely at fault in the estimate I first form of those 
 falling under the scope of my personal observation. 
 I was scarcely settled in my place at the back of the 
 top-gallant forecastle, a fine position for observing all 
 that went on around, than I began to take notice of 
 the men and boys whose duty it was to strike the 
 hours upon me. This was done by means of a short 
 line or lanyard that was fastened to the knob at the 
 end of my tongue, and was the work of one of the 
 quartermasters, a friend of mine, who took the 
 greatest interest in keeping me clean and bright as a 
 new pin. The lanyard was a perfect work of art, 
 manufactured of the finest cords, which the quarter- 
 master had bought with his own private money, and 
 worked up at some expenditure of time and trouble, 
 and then studded at intervals with fancy knots, that 
 only an experienced seaman could have wrought. 
 While making this elaborate ornament, and, after it 
 was finished, when cleaning me every morning with 
 bits of rag dipped into a small saucer filled with lamp
 
 io The Autobiography of a Man-o '-War's Bell. 
 
 oil, cunningly concocted with other ingredients, he 
 would talk to me just as if I was one of his own 
 species and could answer him. However, he used to 
 say I amply repaid him for all the time and trouble 
 expended on my adornment, for he was never tired of 
 reiterating that I was the sweetest-sounding bell he 
 had ever been shipmates with. To be candid, I think 
 he was not very wide of the mark, for fi though I say 
 it as shouldn't," I was never tired of hearing the 
 mellifluous sounds ring out, as my tongue sounded 
 loud and clear the hours and the half hours, or " the 
 bells," as they call them on board ship. During the 
 years I was on board the " Melpomene," they echoed 
 through the frigate, day and night without once 
 ceasing, except when in action. 
 
 Aha! I think I hear some one of my readers 
 exclaim, "Though your voice was strong and melli- 
 fluous, you had your weak points, and we have not 
 been long in finding out that personal vanity is one 
 of them." 
 
 To the sharp individual who has probed my 
 "weak point," as he calls my self-complacency, I can 
 only reply that " it is a fault I have in common with 
 a large majority of mankind, who love to hear them- 
 selves talk on all occasions and in all places ; and I 
 suppose, my kind censor, I contracted the bad habit
 
 The Autobiography of a Man-o'- War's Bell. i r 
 
 from having been thrown all my life among your 
 fellow-creatures." As Lord Palmerston once said to 
 Mr. Cobdcn, when they had a sharp and acrimonious 
 encounter across the table of the House of Commons, 
 " I always like to give as good as I get." 
 
 The " Melpomene " was a crack 48-gun frigate ; 
 this was her first commission, and the captain was 
 considered exceedingly fortunate in having been 
 appointed to command the latest accession to the 
 navy a ship in all respects as handsome as any in 
 the service. He was given almost carte llanche in 
 his requirements while fitting her out for his 
 pennant, and having good interest witli my Lords 
 Parliamentary interest which was everything in 
 those daySj and by the same "token" (as the Irish 
 say) is not a bad thing in the present year of grace 
 he found the dockyard and harbour authorities very 
 amenable, and had no difficulty in securing all the 
 stores he required for a long commission. Captain 
 the Honourable Jasper Gaisford, was a fine, sailor-like 
 officer, and worthy the confidence reposed in him, 
 and the high responsibility of commanding in a time 
 of war one of the representative ships, as it were, 
 of the service, a heavily armed frigate, specially 
 designed and manned beyond her proper com- 
 plement, by more than a hundred hands, with the
 
 1 2 The A utobiog raphy of a Man-o '- War 's Bell. 
 
 avowed object of engaging frigates of the enemy 
 in single combat. 
 
 The times in which our tale is laid were stirring 
 times. In the month of May of the previous year, 
 war had been declared against France, and on the 
 14th March, 1757, was consummated one of the 
 most disgraceful acts in the history of this country. 
 On that day Admiral Byng was shot on the quarter- 
 deck of the flagship of the Admiral Commanding- 
 in-chief at Portsmouth. The brave but unfortunate 
 officer met his doom with the calm courage of a 
 sailor. Having taken leave of his friends, he came 
 up on deck at noon under a guard of marines, and 
 handing to a friend a paper exculpating himself from 
 all blame in regard of the disgraceful charges laid to 
 his door, sat down on an armchair, bandaged his 
 own eyes, and giving the signal to the firing party, 
 dropped dead pierced by five bullets, the whole 
 transaction having occupied only three minutes. 
 Thus was committed a foul judicial murder, for 
 though Byng showed want of enterprise, if not 
 pusillanimity, in not renewing the indecisive en- 
 gagement off Minorca, yet it was owing to the 
 neglect of the ministry of the day in sending to the 
 Mediterranean a fleet notoriously ill-fitted for service 
 and undermanned, and this notwithstanding the pro-
 
 THE DKATH oy AHMIHAI. BvNC. 
 
 or WAH s IIKI.I..
 
 The Autobiography of a Man-o '- War's Bell. 13 
 
 test of the Admiral himself, that success was rendered 
 impossible. After some changes in the ministry, 
 the elder Pitt, better known as Earl of Chatham, re- 
 turned to office, nominally under the premiership of 
 the Duke of Newcastle, but in reality he wielded all 
 power. William Pitt found the country disgraced 
 and dispirited, and by his splendid talents and won- 
 derful energy raised it to the highest pinnacle of glory 
 it has perhaps ever attained. It was at this juncture 
 of affairs that Captain Gaisford commissioned the 
 " Melpomene." The dockyards and arsenals of the 
 kingdom resounded with the clang of preparation, 
 and the Parliament voted money without stint to 
 carry on the war against the ancient foe. The 
 captain strove his utmost to fit his ship out before 
 other commanding officers who had got the start of 
 him, and he succeeded ; for one morning when the 
 flagship " made daybreak " with one of her guns, the 
 " blue Peter " was seen fluttering at our fore-royal 
 mast-head, and before noon the gallant ship was 
 under way down the Channel with her complement of 
 hands filled up, and every man and boy on board 
 anxious to have a brush with any Frenchman that 
 might heave in sight, short of a first-rate. 
 
 Of course much had to be done after getting 
 out into blue water, in the way of drilling at the
 
 14 The Autobiography of a Man-o 1 - War's Bell. 
 
 guns those of the crew who had never served in the 
 navy. As far as handiness aloft went, the men who 
 had been bred in the merchant service required little 
 teaching beyond learning those habits of smartness 
 and cleanliness that mark at once the old man-o'- 
 war's man ; but in handling the great guns and the 
 small arms (under which are enumerated cutlass, 
 pike, and musket), the merchantmen were as much 
 novices as the greenhorns who began to feel, for the 
 first time, the direful effects of sea-sickness. How- 
 ever, healthy Englishmen quickly get over this tem- 
 porary ailment, and my shipmates soon got all right. 
 They formed as fine a body of men as ever I saw 
 together; and I remember the first morning they 
 mustered at divisions, toeing a line on the quarter- 
 deck in double rows on the starboard and port 
 sides, being struck with the gallant appearance they 
 presented, all dressed in their spick-and-span new 
 slops served out to them by the purser, who took 
 care to cut their wages for the same to a pretty tune, 
 for pursers in those days were not very particular as 
 to pounds, shillings, and pence that is, where Jack's 
 balance was concerned, for I never heard complaints 
 of punctuality and accuracy in paying No. i. This 
 was the first occasion on which I had an opportunity 
 of observing the captain, who appeared to great ad-
 
 The Autobiography of a Man-o'- War's Bell. 15 
 
 vantage, as he marched down the lines of noble 
 fellows, all bound to obey his every word and look. 
 
 Captain Gaisford was not what is called a fine 
 man, but he was just of the stature and bulk that 
 make the smartest seamen. Somewhat below the 
 middle height, he was well knit and muscular, and 
 looked every inch a sailor. There was an air of com- 
 mand about him that at once stamped him as one ac- 
 customed to be obeyed, and the self-confidence with 
 which he gave his orders and carried on the duties of 
 the ship, on such occasions as "general quarters," 
 for the captain of a vessel .of war always leaves the 
 details of the management of the discipline and 
 working of the ship to the first lieutenant this self- 
 confidence was inspiring to the officers and men, as 
 nothing tends so much to a lax state of discipline and 
 general inefficiency among the hands before the mast 
 as the knowledge from personal observation, of the 
 fact that "the skipper doesn't know what he is 
 about." Captain Gaisford knew well what he was 
 about, and all " malingerers " soon discovered that they 
 had come to the wrong ship for shams, when the 
 captain came down into the "sick bay" with the 
 doctor, and closely questioned them, while his dark, 
 piercing eyes looked through and through them, 
 bringing the blush of shame to the cheeks of the
 
 1 6 The Autobiography of a Man-o'-War's Bell. 
 
 detected " sham Abraham men. The first-lieutenant 
 was a first-rate seaman, and one of the " old school/' 
 for even in those days it was becoming antiquated ; 
 I refer to the school that habitually swore at men, 
 and indulged in a quid of tobacco. This manner of 
 naval officer is popularly known as the " Benbow " 
 school, but it would ill become us were we to sneer 
 at a class that has produced redoubtable warriors like 
 Cloudesley Shovel, and scores of others. Now-a- 
 days one never meets with an officer who has made 
 his way to the quarter-deck " through the hawse- 
 pipes," and yet in holding up to admiration our 
 present practice of excluding forecastle men, we 
 ought not to forget that the proudest triumphs of 
 our navy were gained in the days when such strict 
 rules of exclusiveness were not enforced. Nelson, 
 no mean authority in naval matters, as I suppose 
 even the staunchest upholder of competition for 
 naval cadetships will allow, had a saying " more 
 honour abaft, more seamanship forward/' The other 
 officers scarcely call for any comment here, as they do 
 not form prominentmembers of our dramatis per sonce. 
 While the captain, accompanied by the first 
 lieutenant, is inspecting the ranks of 
 
 " The twice two hundred iron men 
 Who all his will obey, 1 '
 
 The Autobiography of a Man-o'- War's Bell. 17 
 
 we will take advantage of our privilege and jot down 
 notes of any that may attract our attention. There 
 is nothing in the appearance of the seamen proper 
 those I mean that have been in the navy, or merchant 
 service to call for especial notice ; there is the usual 
 liberal allowance of broad shoulders and muscular 
 limbs, with bronzed cheeks and full whiskers, be- 
 tokening the hardy tar who has fought his country's 
 battles, or weathered the breeze in all climes, from 
 the frozen north and the Baltic in midwinter to the 
 tropics and the coast of India, where some of them 
 have met the traditional foe of Britain in the struggle 
 for the mastery of that fair empire, at that time in 
 progress under the auspices of 'Clive on shore, and 
 Watson at sea; indeed, this year, 1757, was 
 signalized by the most memorable event in Indian 
 history, the victory of Plassey, gained over the 
 "subadar" of Bengal, by the soldiers and sailors 
 under those two great commanders. 
 
 But when we come to the ranks of the lands- 
 men, those who have been recruited by the press- 
 gang, or voluntered for service, there are two or thre<' 
 faces that immediately arrest one's attention, as in 
 fact they attracted the notice of the captain, who 
 stayed his step in each instance, and asked his first 
 lieutenant some questions as to the name and prc-
 
 1 8 The Autobiography of a Man-o' -War's Bell. 
 
 vious occupation of the persons alluded to. As three 
 of these individuals will play important parts in the 
 incidents that passed under my observation, I will 
 not apologize for describing them to my readers, as 
 they appeared to me on this my initiation into naval 
 routine. 
 
 After passing, without a remark, some half a 
 dozen raw young men, who looked as if they had 
 taken to the sea simply because they did not know 
 what in the world else to do with themselves, 
 Captain Gaisford suddenly brought up opposite an 
 aristocratic and very handsome, though dissipated- 
 looking man, the last person you would ever have 
 expected to find voluntarily partaking of the exceed- 
 ing hard fare of "weevily" biscuits and "salt horse," 
 and performing the uncongenial work of a seaman 
 onboard one of His Majesty's ships. So, evidently, 
 thought the captain, who, himself of aristocratic con- 
 nections, knew a born and bred gentleman when he 
 Saw him, notwithstanding the attempt made by this 
 man to disguise himself in order to baffle the curiosity 
 that inspired his superior, and which appeared to be 
 anything but agreeable to him. 
 
 " What is your name ? " asked Captain Gaisford. 
 
 " John Mullins, sir," was the reply, accompanied 
 by a graceful bow, which so greatly amused some
 
 The Autobiography of a Man-o '- WL 11 's Bell. 19 
 
 weather-beaten, genuine sons of Neptune on the 
 opposite side of the deck, that they could not control 
 themselves, but hiding their honest faces in their 
 hands, grinned hugely and audibly behind those 
 " horny " extremities. His attention being then called 
 to the mistake he had made, John Mullins, quickly 
 raised his hand, and, naval fashion, touched the rim 
 of his hat, with the forefinger and thumb of his right 
 hand, while, with the extreme sensibility of a gentle- 
 man unaccustomed to ridicule, his face flushed a bright 
 crimson all over. The captain, and Mr. Higham, 
 his first lieutenant, smiled, and the former asked 
 him why he came to sea, and where he came from ? 
 Answering the latter question only, he said some- 
 what curtly, " From London, sir." 
 
 A pause ensued, while Captain Gaisford waited 
 for a response to his first interrogation. " Well, and 
 why have you come to sea ? Have you no friends on 
 shore who could have helped you to some employ- 
 ment ? " 
 
 This close questioning disconcerted John Mullins, 
 as he called himself. He had clearly not prepared 
 himself for more than the first two interrogatories, 
 or if he had, the piercing glance of his superior 
 confused him in his replies. 
 
 " Yes, sir," he stammered out, in an unequal
 
 2O The Autobiography of a Man-o'-War's Bell. 
 
 attempt to keep up the vulgar accent he had assumed. 
 ( ' I have no friends." 
 
 The officers saw the man was for some object 
 concealing the truth, and as neither of them was in- 
 quisitive, they passed on, the commander merely 
 remarking to his first lieutenant, "Queer sort of 
 fellow ; don't know what to make of him. Is a 
 gentleman though; keep your eye on him, Higham." 
 
 " Yes, sir/' promptly replied that officer. " I'll 
 knock it out of him, or my name isn't Jacob," and 
 he turned on one side, and squirted some tobacco 
 juice through one of the open gunports. Had the 
 commander of the " Melpomene " seen the expression 
 that animated the face of the seaman he had just 
 been addressing, as he turned away and continued his 
 inspection, he would have pondered longer on the 
 lineaments of his countenance, and have taxed his 
 memory as to whether he had ever seen that face 
 before. Had he done so, he would have answered 
 the question in the affirmative, though the first 
 meeting took place under widely different auspices 
 from the second. But I must not anticipate. 
 
 The brave sailor thought nothing more of the 
 circumstance. I, however, from my vantage ground, 
 noted well the entire scene, and was astonished to 
 watch the demoniac expression that, like a dark
 
 The Autobiography of a Man-o'- War's Bell. 21 
 
 cloud, swept over the handsome but hitherto stolid 
 features of the " landsman/' while his eyes fol- 
 lowed the retreating figure of his unsuspect- 
 ing superior, with a gleam of malignity that 
 betokened, I thought at the time, a condition of 
 insanity. 
 
 The two officers passed several men who looked 
 like mechanics, or shopmen ; clearly, some at least 
 of them were the fruits of the press-gang, and 
 Captain Gaisford prudently forebore to ask any 
 questions, but stilled the promptings of his con- 
 science by a reference to the " exigencies of the 
 service." Crossing over to the port side of the deck, 
 where they were joined by the second lieutenant, who 
 was in charge, the officers began the inspection ot 
 the port division, and beginning from forward, com- 
 menced with the boys and inexperienced seamen, 01 
 " landsmen," as they were rated on the ship's books 
 There were boys of all sorts country boys and town 
 boys, strong, healthy youngsters who would do well 
 under the hardships and privations of sea life, and a 
 few puny, and delicate-looking lads, who it didn't 
 require prophetic foresight to predict w r ould languish 
 and fade away, or at least do no good in the pro- 
 fession they had selected. Among the number was 
 a tall, slim youth, with a fine, frank, engaging face
 
 22 Tnc Autobiography of a Man-o '-War's Bell. 
 
 that at once arrested the notice of the observant 
 captain. 
 
 He was a boy of that description, judging from 
 his outward appearance, who would do well anywhere 
 where manliness and resolution were required for 
 success in life. On Captain Gaisford questioning 
 him as to his name and object in coming to sea, he 
 replied with the most amusing frankness and in un- 
 exceptionable English, that his name was James 
 Duckworth, and that he wanted to see the world, and 
 was sick of the hum-drum routine of school ; but 
 on a second query being put to him as to the name 
 of the school, he laughed, changed colour, and looked 
 disconcerted. The captain, evidently pleased with 
 his nai've manner and manly bearing, did not press 
 for a reply, but directed the first lieutenant to station 
 him at quarters with the signal quartermaster, as he 
 appeared intelligent and smart. There was a third 
 man who drew the attention of Mr. Higham, 
 though this was on account of his commanding 
 stature and muscular development, which description 
 of endowment alone took the fancy of the first 
 lieutenant, who regarded his new hands with ap- 
 proval, only in so far as they promised to be smart 
 at the " lee-yardarm in a breeze of wind," or good at 
 need when boarding a Frenchman in action. The
 
 The Autobiography of a Man-o'- War's Bell. 23 
 
 thews and sinews of this man were all that could be 
 desired for an athlete or champion of the prize ring, 
 and the lieutenant, as he passed on, made a mark 
 opposite his name in the roll of seamen he held in 
 his hand. 
 
 The inspection finished, the men were told off 
 to their respective stations at " general quarters/' 
 "aloft," "at the boats," and in the "fire bill;" in 
 which latter I was to play a very prominent part, for 
 any one was authorized, on the discovery of a fire, to 
 depart from the decorum of man-o'-war routine, and 
 arouse all hands with my alarum tones. 
 
 Some little time passed without anything oc- 
 curring to vary the monotony of daily life in the 
 navy. We had, of course, the usual amount of 
 exciting reports of suspicious-looking craft in sight, 
 that make a time of war at sea so exhilarating to 
 those who play the hounds in the sport; and on 
 several occasions we gave chase to ships of the mer- 
 cantile marine of the enemy, whose feelings, like 
 those of the hare, cannot be of quite so jubilant a 
 character, but on every occasion we were rewarded 
 with ill success. We always happened to sight th^ 
 most promising looking craft so late in the evening 
 that they managed to effect their escape during the 
 darkness of night, by adopting one of the numerous
 
 24 The Autobiography of a Man-o '-War's Bell. 
 
 stratagems in vogue at sea' among merchantmen 
 seeking to escape an enemy. This was all very 
 annoying, for the " Melpomene " was a new frigate, 
 and considered the swiftest in the service ; however, 
 the more philosophic among us made up our minds 
 for better luck, and only bided our time, which was 
 certain to come. On one occasion we chased a fine, 
 full-rigged ship all day, and, thanks to a stiff breeze, 
 having gradually overhauled her, were almost within 
 cannon-shot, when the wind towards sunset died 
 away, and at nightfall we found ourselves in the same 
 relative positions. The vexatious part of the busi- 
 ness was that the captain more than once had 
 almost decided to man and arm the boats, and send 
 them off to take possession of her, but the sky 
 looked so full of wind, that he was afraid by doing 
 so he might lose us altogether, for were the breeze to 
 spring up during the absence of the boats, she would 
 quickly show them a clean pair of heels. So he 
 waited the advent of the wind, which, when it came, 
 as it did during the early part of the middle watch, 
 enabled the stranger to elude us altogether, for the 
 heavens being overcast with heavy clouds, we lost 
 sight of her, and when daybreak broke she was 
 nowhere to be seen. These repeated disappoint- 
 ments made the captain, whose chief failing was
 
 The Autobiography of a Man-o'-War's Bell. 25 
 
 hastiness of temper, not so amiable as could have 
 been wished. He used to stride rapidly up and down 
 the quarter-deck, or poop, with his glass under his 
 arm ; on the slightest provocation he would sweep 
 the horizon with it, and hail the look-out man with 
 the oft-reiterated question, whether anything was in 
 sight yet. Woe betide the seaman on the masthead 
 if he, the captain, first sighted a sail from the deck ! 
 
 On one occasion this happened, and he imme- 
 diately called the unfortunate fellow down from aloft, 
 and forthwith gave him two dozen lashes with the 
 cat-o'-nine tails. He was in a particularly bad 
 humour that day, for it was the morning succeeding 
 the escape of the large French ship I have spoken 
 of above; but I knew he regretted his hastiness, 
 and indeed would have let the unhappy fellow off his 
 flogging, but that he promised it to him on the first 
 discovery of his negligence, and was too proud a 
 man to withdraw from his word. 
 
 Notwithstanding this, Captain Gaisford was no 
 tyrant, and was immensely popular with his officers 
 and men, who would go anywhere or undertake 
 anything at his bidding. The landsmen " being 
 knocked into shape," had no easy time of it, and 
 some lazy " ne'er-do-weels," who came on board ship 
 to skulk, quickly discovered their mistake. Drill
 
 26 The Autobiography of a Man-o'- War's Bell. 
 
 was the order of the day, both aloft in all the various 
 nautical manoeuvres, such as " bending," and " un- 
 bending " sails, sending masts and yards up and 
 down, when the fine weather admitted of it, reefing, 
 furling, etc., and on alternate days at quarters with 
 the ship's guns, and in the use of the cutlass and 
 musket. 
 
 I watched everything that went on with lively 
 interest, and flatter myself I soon became well up 
 in the details of drill. I was glad to see that the 
 boy James Duckworth justified the good opinion 
 formed of him by the captain and myself, and taking 
 an interest in all his duties, quickly mastered the 
 rudiments of his profession ; but I was not so 
 pleased to find that he had fallen into what I con- 
 sidered bad company, for John MullinS, who had 
 given such an unsatisfactory account of his past life, 
 had so ingratiated himself with the boy, that the pair 
 were always to be seen together off duty. Though 
 displeased at this, I was not surprised, for Mullins 
 had the most winning w r ay with him, and as he had 
 repelled, with hauteur singularly out of place, and 
 unusual before the mast, the friendly advances of 
 some of the seamen, who in their rough way were 
 prepared to fraternize with him, young Duckworth 
 was flattered at this preference.
 
 The Autobiography of a Man-o'- War's Bell. 27 
 
 It was not long before the frank-hearted youth 
 divulged to his newly-made friend his previous 
 history, and as the recital took place one fine even- 
 ing, when they were sitting together close beside me 
 on the break of the forecastle, I was an attentive 
 listener, but observed with suspicion that his asso- 
 ciate always avoided any reference to his own life, 
 though he let drop expressions which satisfied me 
 that he was a man of good family, and that his con- 
 science was ill at ease, either on account of some 
 crime committed or meditated. The friends were 
 sitting, as I have said, close beside me, when James 
 Duckworth said in reply to a question, " Well, you 
 have been kind to me, so I don't mind letting you 
 into a secret, and indeed I am glad enough to do so, 
 for I hate mystery, and all that sort of thing, as I 
 hate a certain black gentleman. The truth is, I have 
 run away from Eton, to which my guardians sent 
 me, on the death of my parents. I hate school, 
 though I like sports, and more particularly boating. 
 I daresay you wondered at my proficiency at boat duty 
 with the remainder of the boys the other day, when 
 the first lieutenant said he wished to see which of us 
 could pull the best oar, so that he might select the 
 coxswain of the jolly boat. Well, I owe my promo- 
 tion to the tiller of the c jolly ' over the heads of those
 
 28 The Autobiography of a Man-d 1 - War's Bell. 
 
 other chaps, who, because they had been pulling 
 about Portsmouth Harbour when attached to the 
 guard ship, considered themselves quite old sailors 
 I owe this good luck entirely to my Eton training, as 
 I was stroke of one of the school boats for nearly a 
 year before I left. Well, you see, I made up my 
 mind to bolt from school, as I had had enough of it; 
 so one night I lowered myself out of one of the 
 windows by a piece of rope I had concealed during 
 the day under my mattrass in the dormitory. 
 Another fellow went with me, and we agreed to 
 walk to Portsmouth and ship on board a man-o'- 
 war, but just as we cleared the college gates by 
 climbing no joke it was, I assure you, for I cut 
 one of my ankles and split my trousers the lodge- 
 keeper's son, who was coming home, gave the alarm 
 at the lodge, and then chased us. The beggar had 
 been poaching, I know, for he had his gun over his 
 shoulder, and it was pretty well known that he was 
 a loose screw, as far as the law of meum and tuum 
 went. We took to our heels, and as it was a fine 
 starry night, I rather liked the chase than other- 
 wise, and thought it a good beginning for a life of 
 adventure, though I hope when we see a Frenchman 
 we will not show our stern quite so smartly as I did. 
 The fellow who was running after us, finding we
 
 The Autobiography of a Man-a'- War's Bell. 29 
 
 would not stop for all his shouting, got into a rage, 
 and said he would fire at us. ( I say/ said Wilkins, 
 who was running like a deer by my side, 'we must 
 stop, and give ourselves up.' 
 
 " ' Not I/ I replied, ' he dare not fire at us/ 
 " Hardly had I said so, than the gatekeeper's 
 son bellowed out again at the top of his voice, and 
 swore that he would bring us down, unless we sur- 
 rendered. I did not say a word, for I was getting 
 blown, having a small bundle of clothes under my 
 arm. Crack went a fowling-piece, and a lot of shot 
 passed whizzing over our heads, proving that, over- 
 come with passion, he was as good as his word. 
 
 " ' I say, I can't stand this/ said Wilkins, in a 
 terrible funk, while the perspiration stood on his face 
 with fright. 
 
 " ' What/ said I, ' can't you stand fire ? You'll 
 never do for the navy/ 
 
 "Just then our friend in the rear (he had not 
 given up the pursuit) hailed us again with a second 
 volley of oaths, finishing up by an announcement 
 that he would let fly the other barrel at us, and that 
 he had got the l elevation this time, by 
 
 " ' I say, Duckworth, I didn't bargain for this/ 
 gasped out my companion; 'I am going to give 
 myself up/
 
 30 The Autobiography of a Man-a'-Wat 's Bell. 
 
 " ' You fool/ I replied, ' he hasn't another barrel 
 to his gun ; come on, and don't be a coward.' 
 
 " But it was no use. The threat had its desired 
 effect, and Wilkins surrendered at discretion. My 
 pursuer returned with his prize, and finding I was 
 not chased, I slackened my speed, and walking all 
 night, crept into a barn soon after daylight. As it 
 was Sunday, there was no likelihood, I thought, of 
 my being discovered, so I turned in among the 
 straw and slept for several hours. But I wasn't 
 clear of danger of discovery yet. I had brought a 
 little food with me, and had some few pounds in my 
 pocket to purchase what I required while making my 
 way to Portsmouth. About mid-day I made a frugal 
 repast out of my little store, and feeling thirsty, 
 determined to make my way to the neighbouring 
 farm-house and get some milk. Climbing over the 
 barrier that did duty for a door in the barn, I heard 
 the wheels of a carriage of some sort driving rapidly 
 along the road, and nearing the building. Lifting 
 my head carelessly to see who was passing, I was 
 horrified at observing it was no other than the gate- 
 keeper's son, who was driving a little trap in which 
 also was seated one of the under-masters. Luckily 
 it was near a turn in the road, and they were looking 
 ahead at the time, so they did not see me. Didn't I
 
 The Autobiography of a Man-o'- War's Bell. 31 
 
 let go my hold and drop backwards into the straw, 
 with the agility of a practised acrobat ? That young 
 sneak, Wilkins, must have betrayed me, for how 
 could they have known that I had taken the road 
 that led in the direction of Portsmouth ? My 
 amiable friend, the poacher, was not animated with 
 very Christian feelings towards me, for as the chaise 
 whirled past at a quick pace, I heard him exclaim, in 
 response to some remark of the under-master, "Yes, 
 sir, and I'll screw his neck " the rest of the sen- 
 tence, relating to his obliging intentions towards me 
 in the event of his laying hands on me, was lost in 
 the distance ; but I chuckled inwardly as I recom- 
 mended him, at a perfectly safe distance, to catch 
 his hare first. This incident, however, taught me 
 caution, and I took to the fields by the side of the 
 road, and eventually after some days' walking arrived 
 at Portsmouth. Now I was obliged to be more care- 
 ful than ever, for I had little doubt but that my pur- 
 suers were on the alert, and only awaiting my arrival 
 at the 'Hard/ or in the quarters most frequented 
 by seafaring men, to pounce upon me, and bear me 
 back to Eton, where I would become the laughing- 
 stock of my late schoolfellows. However, I was 
 soon relieved from all anxiety as to my recapture and 
 removal back to the irksome studies of school-life.
 
 32 The Autobiography of a Man-o'- War's Bell. 
 
 " The very evening of my arrival at Portsmouth, 
 as I was taking some refreshment at the bar of a 
 public house in the suburbs of the town, I was 
 accosted by a rough-looking fellow, who asked me 
 where I was bound to with a wallet over my back. 
 Like a robber who thinks he sees in f every bush an 
 officer/ I replied, with assumed nonchalance, that I 
 was going to see a relative on board a man-o'-war. 
 
 " ' What name, mate ? ' asked my pertinacious* 
 companion. 
 
 " ' Johnson/ I replied, promptly ; one name I 
 thought would do as well as another, and Johnson 
 wasn't a very uncommon patronymic. 
 
 " ' No, boy, the name of the ship/ persisted my 
 interrogator. 
 
 "Here was a puzzler, and for a moment my 
 courage failed me. I had not the remotest idea 
 what ships were lying at Spithead or refitting in the 
 harbour, so seeing that boldness was the only 
 policy, I answered in as gruff a tone as I could 
 assume, ' Come, now, what's that to you, mind your 
 own business / so saying, I tunied my face aside to 
 hide the flush of alarm that overspread my features. 
 Recovering myself instantly, I cast a guinea piece 
 down on the counter, demanded my change of the fat 
 old woman at the bar, and, taking up my bundle,
 
 The Autobiography of a Man-o '- War's Bell. 33 
 
 prepared to leave the house. But I was not to get 
 off so cheaply. I felt a heavy hand on my shoulder, 
 while the same voice saluted me, with ' This won't 
 do, young gentleman/ and he laid particular stress 
 on the two latter words ; ' I see through it all, as 
 plain as a pike-staff. You have run away from 
 school, you have ; and you want to ship on board a 
 man-o'-war, you do. That's just about it ; make a 
 clean breast of it, and we can come to terms ; other- 
 wise, you shall go before the mayor along with me/ 
 
 " I saw it was no use riding the high horse with 
 a great powerful fellow who could pitch me over his 
 shoulder and carry me, bag and baggage, before the 
 magistrate aforesaid, so with a deep feeling of 
 humiliation I asked what he wanted. 
 
 " ' Well, boy/ he had dropped the young gen- 
 tleman now ' I'll not be hard on you. How much 
 of the rhino have you got ? ' 
 
 " I put my hand in my pocket, and pulled out my 
 purse containing all my riches, and counted it out 
 before him ; six pounds four shillings and eightpence 
 there was in all. At this juncture the fat old land- 
 lady interfered. 
 
 "' Don't rob the boy, Jerry/ she said. 'You 
 remember you got into trouble about that business 
 of the " Vanguard." It ought to have taught you 
 
 3
 
 34 The Autobiography of a Man-o'- War's Bell. 
 
 better nor that. If you hurt a hair of the head of 
 that child, Fll inform against you, that I will.' 
 
 " ' Who's going to hurt him ? ' growled out the 
 individual who went by the name of Jerry ; adding, 
 with a sneer, ' I 'spose you are going to stick up for 
 him because he is a pretty boy/ 
 
 " ' Never you mind,' she answered ; ' I'll not see 
 him harmed, and if you don't account for him, you 
 know who'll make you.' 
 
 " It was perhaps fortunate the good dame had 
 thus befriended me; for these crimps, I hear, are a 
 dangerous lot, and are not particular how they come 
 by their money, and I saw by the avaricious gleam of 
 Jerry's eyes that he was naturally not so inclined to 
 let me off cheaply as he would have me believe. The 
 mysterious allusion, however, to the person who could 
 make him account for my safety had its effect, and 
 telling the old woman she knew where to find him in 
 case she wanted to see the pretty boy, he told me to 
 follow him, and he would get me a berth in the ship 
 of which he had spoken. I must own to having felt 
 somewhat crestfallen at the ignominious treatment I 
 had received, more particularly at being called a pretty 
 boy, for^ I am fourteen years old. I followed him 
 through some dirty lanes until he got into the 
 nautical quarter of the town, and soon arrived at his
 
 The Autobiography of a Man-o'- War's Bell. 35 
 
 house. Inviting me in, he told me not to mind what 
 the old woman had said, but to keep quiet, and he 
 would go out immediately and see some of the petty 
 officers of the frigate, who were on shore every day 
 about this hour looking out for hands, and particu- 
 larly young boys like me. He soon returned, and 
 said when the coast was clear a little later, he would 
 take me on board the man-o'-war, and once shipped, 
 he added, no man could remove me from her. T 
 agreed to give him three pounds for his trouble, and 
 he appeared quite satisfied, and I may say behaved 
 very well in the matter. That night he pulled me on 
 board the frigate in a light wherry, received a sovereign 
 for shipping me from the captain, and asked me, 
 before taking his leave, to give him a line to the old 
 woman who had taken my part, as she would not 
 leave him alone unless I satisfactorily accounted for 
 my disappearance. He made his request in a jocular 
 manner, and with a knowing wink ; but, nevertheless, 
 I saw he feared the old woman, who knew more 
 about him than he liked. I willingly did as he 
 v/ished, and so bidding me good-bye, I saw the last 
 of Jerry. This was the way in which I came to join 
 the ' Melpomene/ and I have no cause to regret the 
 step." The boy stopped, but cheerily added 
 
 " Hallo, there is eight bells going. It is our
 
 36 The Autobiography of a Man-o' -War's Bell. 
 
 watch below ; I am going to turn in, as it is our 
 middle watch to-night." 
 
 " Sail, ho ! " just then sang out the look-out 
 man, whose voice chimed in with the last notes rung 
 out by my iron tongue. 
 
 "Where away ? " asked the officer of the watch. 
 
 " Half a point on the starboard bow, sir," was 
 the reply. 
 
 " What do you make her out to be ? " 
 
 There was a long pause, while the look-out man 
 gazed at the tiny speck on the horizon long and care- 
 fully. On learning that a sail was sighted, a great 
 number of the sailors came tumbling up the ladders 
 in hot haste, and lined the rails, and stood in clusters 
 on the topgallant forecastle as they strove to make 
 her out from the deck, but all in vain. Again was 
 heard the voice from the topgallant cross-trees, 
 " Can't make her out, sir ; seems a largish, square- 
 rigged craft." 
 
 Many of the men rubbed their hands with glee 
 at the prospect of her proving a prize, or, better still, 
 enemy. The officer of the watch having descended 
 to the ward -room and reported ( the circumstance to 
 the first lieutenant, left the deck in charge of a mate, 
 and sprang up the rigging with a glass slung round 
 his neck. Some little time elapsed before he had
 
 The Autobiography of a Man-o' 1 - War's Bell. 37 
 
 made out sufficient of the stranger to enable him to 
 report to his superior; [nearly half an hour passed 
 away, and it was getting rather late to see clearly, 
 though being midsummer we had some hours of day- 
 light yet. One bell, half-past four, struck before the 
 lieutenant of the watch returned to the deck, and 
 when he did so, he communicated to Mr. Higham 
 his suspicion that the stranger was a Frenchman, as 
 she had altered her course, and was steering; in the 
 
 7 O 
 
 direction of the French coast. In the state of 
 preparation for eventualities in which the " Melpo- 
 mene " was kept, there was time enough for clearing 
 for action ; a few minutes sufficed for that. \ So the 
 first lieutenant, who was not in the least excited at 
 the prospect of fighting why should he be, indeed, 
 for he was confident his ship would come off vic- 
 torious, and as to his own safety, that never entered 
 into his calculations leisurely made his way to the 
 Hon. Captain Gaisford's cabin, and stated his belief 
 that the strange sail was a Frenchman. The captain 
 took the matter with equal nonchalance, and merely 
 looking up, said, u All right, Higham, you know what 
 to do ; let me know when she comes within reach of 
 our bow-chasers, though perhaps I may come on 
 deck before that/' So saying he stretched out his 
 legs in his swing-cot, with an air of satisfaction as a
 
 38 The Autobiography of a Man-o'- War's Bell. 
 
 man might do, who has had a good dinner and in- 
 tends to digest it at leisure, and resumed his perusal 
 of a pamphlet he held in his hand, Dr. Samuel John- 
 son's u Defence of Admiral Byng." Two, three, four 
 bells struck/'and, as Mr. Higham had not yet re- 
 ported that the strange craft was within range of his 
 foremost guns, the captain, glass in hand, made his 
 appearance on deck, and coming forward on the fore- 
 castle, surveyed the vessel attentively. 
 
 " Higham," at length he ejaculated to his second 
 in command, "she's a Frenchman. Clear the ship 
 for action. Beat to quarters;" and shutting up his 
 telescope with a sharp click, he turned on his heel, 
 and was preparing to leave the forecastle. Near him 
 with his eyes fixed upon his officer, and with a look of 
 fierce hate, stood John Mullins, and, beside the latter, 
 the boy James Duckworth. The captain for a 
 moment regarded the seaman, who dropped his eyes 
 under the searching scrutiny, while an expression of 
 surprise was distinctly observable on the captain's 
 face, and he muttered a few words, which I just 
 caught, as he brushed past me ; " Like a face I have 
 seen somewhere," was all I heard. He turned and 
 was descending the ladder, when he noticed the fair, 
 frank face of the boy, lit up with a smile. " Well, 
 boy/' he called out, stopping a moment, with one
 
 The Autobiography of a Man-o'- War's Bell. 39 
 
 hand leaning on his telescope, which rested on the 
 deck, while the other held the man -rope, " aren't you 
 frightened ? That's a Frenchman, and we are going 
 to fight her/' 
 
 Frightened, sir/' replied the youth, while he 
 )roke out into a ringing, boyish laugh it was pleasant 
 
 to hear, ' ' not a bit ; I ran away from ," and he 
 
 quickly checked himself, as he had found in his glee 
 he had well nigh betrayed his secret, and confusedly 
 added, " I came to sea, because I wanted to fight the 
 French." 
 
 " Bravo, boy," said the captain with a hearty 
 laugh, " you are made of the right stuff," adding, as 
 he went below to the first lieutenant, " that youngster 
 has run away from school." 
 
 " And quite right, too, sir," replied that officer, 
 " if he wanted to come to sea." 
 
 Duckworth had risen amazingly in the estima- 
 tion of the latter by this confession, and calling him 
 down, he ordered his servant to give him a stiff glass 
 of grog, and told the boy to come to his cabin after 
 the action was over, and they had taken the rascally 
 Frenchman, and inform him all about it. 
 
 They decks were now the scene of bustle of pre- 
 paration for the stern ordeal of battle. The drums 
 and fifes beat merrily, and the seamen repaired with
 
 40 The Autobiography oj a Man-o'-IVar's Bell. 
 
 responsive cheeriness to their stations. Perfect 
 order and discipline was there. The manoeuvre of 
 clearing for action had been gone through a hundred 
 times before, and now occupied no more time than 
 it daily did at general quarters. The hatches were 
 covered with gratings, the magazines, shell-rooms, 
 and shot-lockers thrown open, and their contents 
 passed up rapidly by the ship's-cook, his assistant, 
 and other non-combatants, under the directions of the 
 gunner and his mates ; the hammocks had not been 
 piped down yet, so were all stowed in neat rows as 
 usual in the nettings, where they are so serviceable 
 in screening the men from the musketry fire of an 
 enemy. The boatswain and his mates passed up 
 stoppers -for the running and standing rigging that 
 might be shot away, with plenty of spare rope for 
 lanyards and other purposes ; the carpenter and his 
 crew had his shot-plugs all handy; the sailmaker, 
 his mates, and a party of men were told off under 
 the directions of the boatswain, to keep the sails 
 trimmed during the fight, as .the successful issue 
 of the approaching engagement would depend as 
 much upon the prompt and seamanlike manoeuvring 
 of the ship as upon the skilful gunnery of the brave 
 fellows at the guns ; the marines (or soldiers, who 
 in those days were embarked on board ships of war,
 
 The Autobiography of a Man-o' -War's Bell. 41 
 
 to do duty as marines, for the latter gallant corps 
 did not then exist) were drawn up on the poop under 
 their officers, a few of the crack marksmen being in 
 the tops. The guns were " wormed/' " sponged/' 
 loaded, and run out in a trice, the side tackles were 
 coiled down in readiness for the recoil, the hand- 
 spikeman stood by the " rear chocks/' handspike in 
 hand, the " rear tackleman," not to be behindhand, 
 held the end of the tackle ready to gather in the 
 slack, when the gun recoiled ; last of all, the captain 
 of the gun stood waiting for the order to prime. 
 All was attention, and the most perfect, almost 
 peaceful stillness reigned throughout the ship even 
 to the cock-pit, where the surgeon with his assistant 
 and dressers stood waiting for patients to commence 
 his ghastly work, and knife in hand, spoke in 
 whispers, and gave directions by signs, as if fearful 
 to break the solemn quiet that brooded around on 
 sea and air. 
 
 Thus we neared the Frenchman, who with his 
 courses hauled up, was forging slowly a-head on our 
 port bow, awaiting the action that it was seen was 
 inevitable.
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 THE " Melpomene " was, as I have said, built for a 
 48-gun frigate. Her armament was as follows : 
 26 long twenty-four pounders on the main deck, 
 16 thirty-two pounder carronades on the quarter- 
 deck and poop, 6 guns of the same class and 
 calibre on the forecastle, i long eighteen pounder 
 used as a bow-chaser, and a twelve-pounder boat 
 carronade, which made a total of fifty guns. The 
 enemy appeared to be a heavy frigate of at least 
 equal size and weight of armament with ourselves, 
 as well as we could gather. 
 
 At length we were near enough to commence the 
 deadly duel. Two bells of the second dog-watch 
 had been struck in plain English, it was about a 
 quarter past seven o'clock when the action com- 
 menced by the " Melpomene " firing a shot as a 
 summons to the enemy that she must haul down her 
 colours and surrender, or fight. The Frenchman 
 preferred the latter course, to our very great relief.
 
 The Autobiography of a Man-o' -War's Bell. 43 
 
 But the fates were adverse still. Before the enemy 
 fired a gun in return, as a notice that she had ac- 
 cepted our challenge, three or four sail were descried 
 in the distance bearing down upon the scene of 
 action. Whoever they might be, whether friend or 
 foe, it was clear they were not wanted, but might be 
 classed with that "third party/' who obtrudes 
 himself or herself at the critical moment when an 
 anxious and timid lover is making his declarations 
 to an equally coy mistress. Seeing what was up in 
 the wind, the Frenchman trimmed her yards to the 
 wind, and so we found ourselves baulked. 
 
 The "Melpomene" was quickly under all sail in 
 chase, and so night closed in, and found all hands 
 disappointed, and not in a very amiable mood, while 
 we blessed the interlopers, whoever they were. 
 
 We chased all that night, and as it was clear and 
 starlight, with a full moon, we never lost sight of the 
 enemy. When morning dawned it discovered us 
 under all sail, steering about east by north, with the 
 wind now at north-east by north. To our great relief 
 we found that our obsequious friends had disappeared, 
 and we were once more alone with the stranger, so 
 that we might settle our little account amicably to- 
 gether. But to our disgust, our friend, the enemy, 
 declined to accept our invitation to adjust our differ-
 
 44 The Autobiography of a Man-o '-War's Bell. 
 
 en ccs by the exchange of powder and shot, no doubt 
 fearing a repetition of the untoward interference of 
 yesterday. Hence, though we fired a gun or two at 
 about half-past six, as a delicate notice that we were 
 prepared to give her a warm reception, she treated 
 the attention with a silence more painful to be borne 
 than the noisiest responses. Towards noon the 
 wind decreased, and the " Melpomene," in conse- 
 quence, began to draw up to the Frenchman, which 
 made every effort to escape. At about one, the latter 
 commenced lightening herself, by starting the water 
 out of her tanks, cutting away the anchors, throw- 
 ing overboard provisions, spare spars, boats, and 
 every article of the sort that could be got at ; to 
 make her sails draw better, she also adopted the plan 
 of keeping them constantly wet, from the royals 
 downwards. This change in her tactics would have 
 been extraordinary were it not that it was attributable 
 to her fear that were she engaged with us, and lost 
 any of her masts, our consorts, guided by the thunder 
 of the cannon, might come up during the action, and 
 then, even were she victorious, she would fall a prey 
 into their hands owing to her crippled state. That 
 portion of the coast of France, in the neighbourhood 
 of Bordeaux, was not very far distant, and she doubt- 
 less also counted upon running in under the protec-
 
 The Autobiography of a Man-o '-War's Bell. 45 
 
 tion of land batteries, from the superior force which 
 she feared would overhaul her did she engage us. 
 
 At two o'clock the Frenchman opened fire from 
 her stern guns at the " Melpomene/' which half-an- 
 hour later we returned with our bow-chaser. The 
 enemy's fire was at first ineffectual, but in a few 
 minutes a shot came through the port lower-studding 
 sail, the foot of the mainsail, and the stem of the 
 barge, which was stowed on the booms, and sweep- 
 ing the quarter-deck, without doing any damage to 
 life or limb, passed out to sea. So matters pro- 
 gressed till five o'clock ; at that hour, owing to our 
 advance on her starboard quarter, the stranger luffed 
 up occasionally, so as to bring her stern guns to bear, 
 and was evidently much galled by the fire of our bow- 
 chaser, while the greater part of her shot passed over 
 . the " Melpomene." At half-past five, we having for 
 the last twenty-minutes maintained a position within 
 half point-blank range on the quarter of the Frenchman 
 she "brailed " up her spanker, and bore away to the 
 southward, in order to bring her antagonist upon her 
 beam, and so enable herself to escape to leeward. 
 But Captain Gaisford was not to be done out of his 
 prize by the display of any amount of seamanship ; 
 so putting his helm " hard a-weather," the "Melpo- 
 mene " met the manoeuvre, and the two frigates thus
 
 46 The Autobiography of a Man-o'-lVar's Bell. 
 
 came to close action in a parallel line of sailing. At 
 four minutes past six, the Frenchman commenced 
 with musketry fire from her tops, to which our 
 marines replied with alacrity. Captain Gaisford 
 manoeuvred to close his adversary *by occasionally 
 hauling up, though without losing the bearing of his 
 broadside upon the enemy. The two ships were now 
 not more than half musket-shot apart; the "Melpo- 
 mene " with her rigging and sails considerably cut, 
 and the Frenchman with the principal part of her 
 damage in the hull, as betrayed by the slackened state 
 of her fire. 
 
 Captain Gaisford now looked forward for a 
 favourable opportunity to board, as he was afraid of 
 the enemy, from the comparatively uninjured state of 
 her rigging, might escape. For some little time the 
 opportunity sought for did not offer, but at forty 
 minutes past six, the Frenchman hauled up, ap- 
 parently to avoid her opponent's fire. The captain of 
 the " Melpomene," profiting by this, poured in two 
 raking broadsides, and, hauling up, also placed his 
 ship on the starboard quarter of the enemy. Soon 
 after this some good practice on their part, and I 
 will do them the justice to say that they carried on 
 the action against the splendid gunnery of the " Mel- 
 pomene " with the greatest spirit, shot away a
 
 The Autobiography of a Man-o '-War's Bell. 47 
 
 cutter from our port quarter, as also our lower and 
 main top-gallant studding sails. Satisfied with this, 
 or bent on repairing damages, the Frenchman kept 
 up a feeble fire for some little time, while our brave 
 fellows on their mettle, blazed away with the utmost 
 vigour, and plumped the round shot into her in fine 
 style. Recommencing again at about half-past seven, 
 the enemy shot away our maintopmast, studding sail, 
 and main brace, which was, however, quickly rove 
 afresh by the practised riggers, under the direction of 
 the boatswain. Having effected all this damage to 
 our rigging, the Frenchman suddenly hauled to the 
 wind, as if to try the strength of our masts. We 
 had no fear for them, however, as they were not 
 seriously wounded ; so we also trimmed sails and 
 hauled up, giving her at the same time a raking 
 broadside, to which our adversary, who was evidently 
 much shattered, only replied with a discharge from a 
 stern gun. Just then her maintopsail halliards were 
 shot, and the yard came down on the cap by the run, 
 carrying away the topgallant sheets. 
 
 At this moment Captain Gaisford thought it high 
 time to lay the enemy on board, so at about a quarter 
 to eight he bore down upon her, and ran his bow- 
 sprit between the Frenchman's main and mizen rigg- 
 ing on the starboard side. The heavy swell lifting
 
 48 The Autobiography of a Man-o'-Wat 's Bell. 
 
 the "Melpomene" ahead, her bowsprit, after carrying 
 away the former's mizen shrouds, stern davits, and 
 spanker boom, broke in two, and our foremast went 
 at the same moment, falling inboard right upon the 
 foremast and waist guns on the port or engaging 
 side. These guns became in consequence completely 
 disabled, but we still kept up a hot fire from the main- 
 deck guns, whose muzzles were almost locked in 
 those of the enemy. Our gallant tars did not care 
 one jot, but, leaving their guns, prepared to follow 
 their officers to board the Frenchman. The first 
 lieutenant, Jacob Higham, calling away the first 
 division of boarders, swang himself over the ship's 
 rail, close to me in the fore part of the ship, with 
 about seventy fine fellows at his back, while the 
 captain leaving his ship in charge of the second lieu- 
 tenant, was about to board from the quarter-deck as 
 soon as the two ships came" alongside, when a 
 musket ball broke his right arm, and his sword fell 
 out of his grasp. With the utmost calmness he 
 picked his weapon up with his left hand, and refused 
 to go below, or to allow the surgeon, who, with his 
 assistants, was busily engaged in the cock-pit, to 
 attend to him. Declining to have him summoned 
 up, the captain got one of his seamen to bind up his 
 shattered arm, and, once more waving his sword,
 
 The Autobiography of a Man-o'-War's Bell. 49 
 
 and encouraging the gallant fellows round him by 
 voice and example, led them to the forecastle to 
 follow the first lieutenant's party, as the enemy's 
 ship appeared as though about to fall off, and there 
 seemed to be no immediate probability of his being 
 able to board from abaft. 
 
 In. a short time Captain Gaisford joined his first 
 lieutenant in the deadly struggle progressing on the 
 Frenchman's deck ; all the great guns were hushed, 
 and the cutlass and bayonet did their more silent, but 
 no less deadly work. Not only were the decks the 
 scene of a sanguinary and determined struggle, but 
 the topmen were engaged in the exciting contest in 
 which the lives and honour of all were at stake. The 
 marksmen who crowded the main and mizen tops 
 kept up a hot fire, while the foretopmen of the " Mel- 
 pomene/' taking advantage of the foreyard of their 
 ship becoming locked in that of the enemy, ran along 
 the yards like cats, and carrying their cutlasses in 
 one hand, balanced themselves by the lifts with the 
 other, as they boarded the Frenchman's foreyard. 
 
 Only one man of the latter waited to receive 
 them, the remaining number preferring to seek 
 safety, if such a thing could be had anywhere just 
 then, on the deck, where at least they would have 
 standing ground, and, if they had to fight, would not
 
 5o The Autobiography of a Man-o' -War's Bell. 
 
 be exposed to the additional peril of being hurled 
 from a great height, with the certainty of being either 
 drowned or mangled by the fall. The gallant fellow 
 who remained behind and prepared singly to contest 
 the possession of the top it was his duty to defend, 
 made ready to receive the midshipman and half a 
 dozen seamen of the " Melpomene " who now ap- 
 proached him. Stepping nimbly, almost running, 
 along the yards, they made their way in Indian file 
 until they reached the slings of the Frenchman's 
 foreyard ; to encounter them Johnny Crapeaud knelt 
 down on the top, and grasping the rim with one 
 hand, leant over to deal a blow with his cutlass on 
 the head of the first man he could reach. The Eng- 
 lish party was headed by a brawny fellow who looked 
 rather puzzled when he approached near enough to 
 engage his adversary. 
 
 " Go ahead, Sawyer/' laughingly said the young 
 midshipman, a gallant youth, who treated as a 
 monstrous good joke what many people would have 
 considered a serious business; "go ahead, and drag 
 the rascally Frenchman down. You are big enough, 
 and ugly enough too." 
 
 At the same time he drew his pistol, which he 
 had taken care to load before leaving the top of the 
 i( Melpomene/' and steadying himself with one
 
 The A utobiography of a Man-o '- War's Bell. ' 5 1 
 
 hand on the lift, covered the unlucky Gaul, and was 
 about to fire, when the latter seeing certain death 
 before him, threw his sword overboard, and putting 
 his hands together in an attitude of supplication, 
 prayed the young officer to spare him, as he would 
 surrender himself a prisoner. Tfhus the enemy's 
 foretop was gained, and soon the others were cleared. 
 But a desperate fight was meantime progressing on 
 the decks below. 
 
 The enemy's ship as was the case in the French 
 navy in the old days of the monarchy, when the 
 Bourbons reigned on the throne of France was 
 commanded and officered by the scions of the old 
 aristocracy ; the maxim of noblesse oblige held good 
 in war, if not in court morals, and the young nobles 
 of France were taught to meet death fearlessly, even 
 if it was in a losing cause. A baron of ancient 
 lineage commanded the French frigate, and he, 
 surrounded by his officers, as gallant a band of 
 gentlemen as ever drew a sword, met the British 
 boarders as they sought to set foot on their decks, 
 and did all brave men could do to drive them back. 
 
 It was useless ; the French sailors were no match, 
 individually or collectively, for the British tars, and 
 were borne back inch by inch, and foot by foot, until 
 any furthur resistance appeared to be wanton obsti-
 
 52 The Autobiography of a Man-o'-War's Bell. 
 
 nacy, and a useless effusion of blood. Still the 
 French captain would not yield, though at length he 
 found the death he seemed, by the exhibition of the 
 most desperate valour, to be frantically determined to 
 win. He fell overpowered by a dozen seamen, in a 
 last effort to lead on men who would not follow, and 
 then the senior officer who succeeded to the command 
 by his death, flung down his sword, and calling to a 
 subordinate to haul the colours down, surrendered 
 his ship, the "Marechal Turenne," to the victors. 
 
 The decks, on the conclusion of the hard fought 
 action, presented a spectacle that could never have 
 been forgotten by those who witnessed it, while the 
 cries and groans of the wounded and dying were 
 harrowing in the last degree to me, who had now, 
 for the first time, seen the dire effects of a naval 
 action, in which a large proportion of the wounds, 
 being occasioned by splinters and grape shot, are of 
 an unusually ghastly character. 
 
 A prize crew was put on board the " Marechal 
 Turenne," and then both ships commenced to repair 
 damages. The principal injuries received by the 
 " Melpomene " have been detailed in the description 
 of the action. Her foremast was badly hit, but none 
 of her other masts to any serious degree. Our sails 
 were, however, cut to ribands by the bar and chain
 
 The Autobiography of a Man-o'- War's Bell. 53 
 
 shot used by the enemy, one of which had torn away 
 twelve or fourteen cloths of the foresail stripping 
 it almost from the yard. 'In the short space of fifty- 
 four minutes, our seamen, besides repairing the run- 
 ning rigging, bent new courses, main topsail, jib, fore 
 topmast staysail, and spanker, and having trimmed 
 them to the wind, hove the ship to, looking as fresh 
 as when she began the action, and as ready to en- 
 counter a second Frenchman, should another be good 
 enough to heave in sight. Out of our complement 
 of four hundred and seventy men and boys, we had 
 lost one officer, (a master's mate,) twelve seamen, 
 and one corporal of marines killed, and three officers, 
 twenty-four seamen, and three privates wounded. 
 
 On the other hand it may be said regarding the 
 Frenchman, that if high firing displayed its effects in 
 the disordered state of the rigging and sails of the 
 " Melpomene/'' the low firing of the latter was equally 
 conspicuous in the shattered condition of the hull 
 and lower masts of the " Marechal Turenne.". The 
 starboard side of the ship was riddled from end to 
 end. Almost every port sill and port timber, both 
 on the main and quarter-decks, exhibited marks of 
 round shot. These shot had entered the lower deck, 
 and had knocked away the bulkheads of the after 
 powder magazine. Several had struck between wind
 
 54 The Autobiography of a Man-o'-War's Bell. 
 
 and water, and some under water, which had cut the 
 knees and timbers. A great many had also passed 
 through the ship, between the main and quarter- 
 decks, and in the waist. With so many shot holes 
 in her hull, it will not be surprising that the ship, 
 when she surrendered, had six feet of water in the 
 hold, and that it required all the exertions- of the 
 carpenter and his crew to plug up the holes in time 
 to prevent her from sinking under their feet. 
 
 We found that her complement before the action 
 consisted of five hundred and sixty-five men and 
 boys, and out of this she had her captain, two lieu- 
 tenants, four midshipmen, and other officers, with 
 forty-two petty officers, seamen, and marines killed, 
 and her first lieutenant, and six junior officers, with 
 seventy-six seamen and marines wounded. She was 
 of slightly greater tonnage than the " Melpomene/' 
 and carried two more guns, but the difference of 
 force between the two ships was so small that it may 
 be said they were equally matched, and our victory 
 was in every way a most creditable one to ourselves, 
 while it must be owned that the enemy did all brave 
 men were capable of, though fortune did not crown 
 their efforts with success. 
 
 I had plenty of opportunity of observing the 
 demeanour of the individuals whom I have introduced
 
 The Autobiography of a Man-o'-lVar's Bell. 55 
 
 to the notice of the reader. They all conducted 
 themselves as brave men should, and this eulogium 
 applied equally to the boy James Duckworth, who 
 followed close on the first lieutenant's footsteps when 
 he boarded the French frigate. If he was not the 
 first man to plant his foot on her decks, at least he 
 was the first boy, and that in spite of the injunction 
 of the good Lieutenant Higham, who spying him out 
 by his side as he sprang up the top-gallant forecastle 
 ladder, bade him peremptorily to remain where he 
 was. 
 
 Young Duckworth had pluck enough to disobey 
 his superior, and when the action was over, Captain 
 Gaisford, at his first lieutenant's request, rewarded 
 the boy by conferring on him the rating of a first- 
 class volunteer, which in those .days was a similar 
 rank to that of naval cadet in the present year of 
 grace. Being now an officer, he was removed from 
 his quarters among the ship's crew to the midship- 
 man's berth, and quickly rose to popularity among 
 his new messmates. Of course, he had to fight his 
 way into the good opinions of these youngsters, and 
 being good-natured and manly, and, above all things, 
 fearless, as I think is shown in the incidents of his 
 career we have already related, he was able to take 
 as well as give a fair share of the hard blows that are
 
 56 The Autobiography of a Man-o' -War's Bell. 
 
 always going on in a well-constituted middy's berth. 
 Fortunately for himself too, he was a gentleman by 
 birth and breeding, and so the oldsters let him oft' 
 cheaply in his initiation into the mysteries of a 
 frigate's gun-room. 
 
 I was surprised to see that his partiality for the 
 companionship of John Mullins did not end with his 
 removal from his mess. Of course, he had not the 
 same facilities for associating with him this the 
 regulations of the service forbid but still whenever 
 he had an opportunity for a minute's conversation, 
 he never failed to avail himself of it. 
 
 This partiality on the part of Duckworth was not 
 astonishing, for from closely observing his friend, I 
 found that the seaman was not only a man of refined 
 tastes, but also a most accomplished scholar, and 
 possessing a mind stored with the information of a 
 well-read and travelled man. Now Duckworth, 
 though a runaway from school, and fond of adven- 
 ture, had the desire for intellectual improvement, 
 which is generally found in boys trained in our great 
 public schools ; as scholarship was a thing scoffed at 
 in the navy, more particularly in the midshipman's 
 berth, as a sign of effeminacy and want of manliness, 
 he would seek to improve his mind by conversation 
 with his friend who, having similar tastes, was
 
 The Autobiography of a Man-o'-War's Bell. 57 
 
 delighted with the companionship of the young 
 Etonian. This was the link that bound together in 
 friendship souls in other respects utterly dissimilar, 
 for there could not well be a stronger marked con- 
 trast than that existing between the boy, frank and 
 high-spirited, and the man, handsome but somewhat 
 effeminate-looking, and with a strange restless 
 manner, and a sinister expression of eye and mouth 
 that would have repulsed any person of more mature 
 years, or greater experience of mankind. 
 
 William Morris, the third character of whom I 
 have spoken, was a brave, jovial fellow, who made 
 the best of his position, though he clearly felt it very 
 irksome. I could not make him out, or the reasons 
 that had induced him at his time of life (he must 
 have been thirty-five years of age) to ship on board 
 a man-of-war, and encounter all the hardships and 
 dangers of the sea. He was, I felt convinced, a 
 gentleman, and the more I observed him, and I did 
 so closely, the better I liked him. 
 
 One day an incident occurred that nearly cost 
 Morris his life. He was stationed in the mizen top 
 and prepared to go aloft one evening, with the rest 
 of the topmen, to reef topsails at sunset, as men-of- 
 war usually do when not chasing an enemy or sailing 
 against time.
 
 58 The Autobiography of a Man-o'-War's Bell. 
 
 " Man the rigging," called out the first lieutenant, 
 after the boatswain and his mates had piped the 
 hands to reef topsails, and the master-at-arms had 
 cleared the main and lower decks. 
 
 Up sprang all the topmen, some crowding on 
 the rails, others on the lower ratlines of the rigg- 
 ing. 
 
 "Away aloft/' sang out Mr. Higham in his sten- 
 torian tones, and up streamed the cluster of Jacks 
 vicing with each other, and the hands of the other 
 tops, in a generous rivalry as to who was the smart- 
 est. Round the broad rims of the great tops, which 
 in those days were made much larger than in the 
 present year of grace, scrambled helter-skelter the 
 rough fellows, tumbling over one another in a way 
 that would have made a landsman's hair stand on 
 end, for it seemed morally certain that some of them, 
 as they clustered and climbed like bees, would inevit- 
 ably be pitched headlong from their giddy elevation, 
 unless like those interesting little creatures, they were 
 also gifted with wings which would bear them in 
 safety away, or back again to the busy swarm. But 
 matters .aloft were safer than they looked, and the 
 seamen accustomed to this rough and tumble sort of 
 game, reached the tops without accident, and spring- 
 ing up the topmast rigging were soon assembled in
 
 The Autobiography of a Ma/t-o'-lVar's Bell. 59 
 
 dense masses round the "parrals"* and quarters of 
 the yards ready to lay out along the foot ropes at the 
 word of command. All the details of manoeuvring 
 are worked in this method of uniformity in the navy, 
 in this, so greatly differing from the merchant service, 
 in order that the duties aloft may be carried out with 
 precision and steadiness, besides giving a more ship- 
 shape look to eyes nautical. 
 
 " Stand by your booms," was now the order of 
 the officers from the deck, followed after a moment's 
 pause by " Trice up ; lay out, and take in the first 
 reef/' 
 
 And the jolly tars did carry out the nautical opera- 
 tion of " laying out," with most commendable 
 celerity. Before they had well settled themselves in 
 their respective stations they commenced picking up 
 the topsails, the first reef bands of which their ship- 
 mates on deck had previously hauled out "taut" 
 along the yards by means of reef tackles. While all 
 this was going on, the wind had quickly increased in 
 strength, and was blowing in strong gusty squalls 
 that felt chilly as if they had come from the farther 
 confines of the North Pole. 
 
 * A parral is a sort of collar, by which the yards are 
 fastened at the slings to the masts, so that they may be 
 hoisted and lowered with facility.
 
 60 T^i? Autobiography of a Man-o' -War's Bell. 
 
 The look out to windward altogether seemed 
 gloomy and unpromising. In a minute the reefers 
 aloft had hurled out the weather reef earrings, and 
 the captains of the tops had given the word to their 
 fellow topmen 011 the lee-yardarms to " haul out to 
 leeward," when the accident to which I have referred 
 took place. As the sailor next to the captain of the 
 maintop of the starboard watch, who as the ship was 
 on the port tack was on the lee-yardarm, was help- 
 ing the petty officer to haul out the lee reef earring, 
 the ship gave a sudden weather lurch, and then as 
 suddenly righting herself, rolled with a sharp jerk 
 over to leeward. The sailor of whom I have spoken, 
 was intent on the duty of finishing with smartness 
 the reefing of the maintopsail, and like all seamen 
 worth their salt, thought chiefly of his top being first 
 in concluding the evolution, for the maintop men 
 were generally the smartest in the ship, a rather un- 
 usual thing in the navy, where the foretop generally 
 carries off the palm. The sudden sway over to lee- 
 ward caused him to lose his footing. Unfortunately 
 he was employing both hands in assisting the cap- 
 tain of the top, and was resting on the yard some- 
 what sideways on his chest, so before he could 
 recover himself with his hands, having already lost 
 his foothold, he reeled for a moment in the unstable
 
 The Autobiography of a Man-o'-War's Bell. 6 1 
 
 foot-rope, clutched wildly at the air, and then tumbled 
 headlong down into the waters that seethed and 
 hisse'd alongside the ship. 
 
 There was an instantaneous cry of " man over- 
 board;" and almost before his form disappeared 
 beneath the waves, one man at least prepared to save 
 his comrade, William Morris it was none other 
 than he from a watery grave. The instant Morris's 
 chum, the captain of the maintop of the starboard 
 watch, saw what had occurred, he seized the starboard 
 topmast backstay, which he was able to do, the yard 
 being braced in as the ship was close hauled on the 
 port tack, and sliding down it stood in the hammock 
 nettings below ; but only for a moment, for raising 
 his hands over his head, he sprang overboard, and in 
 coming to the surface struck out astern after his 
 friend. 
 
 It was a bold deed, and right promptly done. 
 From the deck we could see Morris struggling wildly 
 with the waves ; nothing but a miracle could save 
 him, for he could not swim, still those who knew the 
 gallant fellow who had plunged in after him, hoped 
 for the best, for he was the most powerful swimmer 
 in the ship, and had before now saved a fellow 
 creature from a similar death. But it must not be 
 thought that all this time the officers and ship's com-
 
 62 The Autobiography of a Man-o'-War's Bell. 
 
 pany were idly looking on at this exciting scene ; on 
 the contrary, no sooner were the words " man over- 
 board " sung out and taken up by the people below, 
 than the first-lieutenant piped the topmen in from the 
 yardarms, and down to the deck, and putting the* 
 helm " hard up," and squaring in the after yards, 
 "wore ship." The jib sheets were flattened in, and 
 the gallant frigate's head flew off from the wind. 
 Now the head yards were squared away, she was 
 soon before the wind when, bracing up, first the 
 " after " and then the " head " yards on the starboard 
 tack, the " Melpomene " stood back in her former 
 track. 
 
 One of the quarter- masters had run up the mizen 
 rigging in order that he might not lose sight of the 
 unfortunate men, and now when the first lieutenant 
 asked him if he could see them, he was enabled to 
 reply in the affirmative, and point out the spot where 
 their heads could be descried above the wild and 
 boisterous sea, as occasionally they rose on the crest 
 of a huge wave, and until they once more descended 
 its precipitous sides. All hands breathed again 
 when they learned that the petty officer had suc- 
 ceeded in reaching Morris before the latter was 
 exhausted with his efforts to keep himself afloat, and 
 great hopes were expressed that both would be
 
 The Autobiography of a Man-d 1 -War's Bell. 63 
 
 saved. The second cutter, which was hoisted on the 
 port, or lee-side of the ship, was quickly got ready so 
 as to be lowered, when the frigate approached near 
 enough to enable the crew to pick the two men up. 
 
 Swiftly the " Melpomene " approached them, and 
 she seemed as if eagerly desirous of carrying out 
 the errand of mercy as she sped before the favour- 
 ing gale. Now we n eared the drowning men, and 
 expectation rose to fever height, as all eyes watched 
 the small specks that appeared one moment only to 
 disappear the next, as the gigantic ocean rollers rose 
 like a wall between the two struggling seamen and 
 their anxious shipmates. Soon the " Melpomene " 
 was close enough to essay the task of rescuing the 
 brave fellows ; she was hove to, and almost instantly, 
 before indeed she had lost her way, the cutter was 
 lowered away with her crew on board. 
 
 Both Morris and his preserver were such great 
 favourites with all hands, that when the crew w r ere 
 called out the boat might have been manned three 
 times over, so many volunteers stepped forward 
 anxious to take part in the rescue. Hundreds of 
 heads anxiously peered over the rail, or scanned the 
 scene from the rigging, for it was felt, even now, at 
 the eleventh hour, every effort might be in vain, and 
 the boat arrive too late ; indeed, it denoted the pos-
 
 64 The Autobiography of a Man-o'-lVar's Bell. 
 
 session of a wonderful degree of strength and 
 dexterity in the art of swimming on the part of the 
 captain of the maintop, that he should thus be able 
 not only to keep himself afloat in such a sea, and for 
 so long a time, but that he could support his ship- 
 mate as well, under circumstances as trying as can 
 be conceived. But he was destined to receive his 
 reward for this noble act of unselfish devotion. 
 Every one on board the " Melpomene " drew a long 
 breath of relief as the boat ran up alongside the two 
 sailors, and it was seen that they were drawn in by 
 many willing and stout arms. 
 
 But sighs of relief could not altogether dispel the 
 overwrought feelings of honest Jack, and cheer broke 
 forth upon cheer, as he greeted this happy consum- 
 mation of what was nearly proving a tragedy. The 
 men were both speechless with exhaustion, and it 
 took a considerable time to bring them round. How- 
 ever, this was brought about by rubbing, and by the 
 administration of copious libations of grog, which 
 taken " neat," helped to qualify the nauseous doses 
 of salt water previously imbibed. The British sailor 
 must indeed be far gone in his journey towards the 
 confines of " Davy Jones's locker/' if Jamaica rum 
 taken hot and often does not neutralize the effect of 
 any amount of exhaustion.
 
 The Autobiography of a M 'an- a'- War's Bell. 65 
 
 When they were able to speak and many ques- 
 tioners asked the captain of the maintop how he 
 ever managed to keep Morris who could not swim a 
 stroke above water he replied that the credit was 
 due entirely to Morris himself, who had showed the 
 greatest self-possession, and after the first minute or 
 two succeeded in keeping himself afloat, by adopting 
 the method pointed out by his preserver. The former, 
 on the other hand, attributed his preservation to his 
 friend's assistance ; but there can be little doubt 
 that had Morris been at all flurried, and seized his 
 preserver by the throat or the limbs, the struggle 
 would have been very soon over, and old ocean would 
 have added two more victims to the countless 
 thousands immolated on his altar owing to the want, 
 on their part, of a little self-possession. Perhaps it 
 is easier to preach the desirability of exercising this 
 virtue from the comfortable depth of an arm-chair 
 than to practise it in the terrific gorges of a moun- 
 tainous sea ; and this, the writer of these lines, as 
 having had some little experience in that line, will 
 not gainsay. However that may be, Morris always 
 declared that he learnt to swim on this occasion, and 
 it is certain that he was enabled to practise this 
 manly accomplishment ever after. 
 
 Let us hope that none among my readers may 
 
 5
 
 66 The Autobiography of a Man-o'- War's Bell. 
 
 have so terrible a lesson, but that, should such be 
 their fate, they may. equally well profit by it. After 
 this, as may be imagined, William Morris and John- 
 son, as the captain of the maintop was called, 
 became the fastest and firmest of friends, and the 
 former took his preserver into h'S confidence. It 
 had been a long time evident to me, as I watched 
 these men, that in spite of a roughness which, 
 though not exactly assumed, was, even when most 
 exaggerated, not the roughness of ill-bred men 
 Morris had not always been in the position of life in 
 which he now found himself, but I could not for the 
 life of me account for my idea, except that his speech 
 was that of a man of education and a gentleman, 
 even though he occasionally swore, which in those 
 clays was no uncommon thing for any one " to the 
 manner born/' 
 
 As the two friends took their pipes together in 
 the fine evenings, or the rough nights on the fore- 
 castle, Morris often spoke of what he hoped to do 
 for his chum, and sometimes half hinted at his not 
 being what he seemed; but Johnson, honest old 
 fellow as he was, did not apprehend the drift of his 
 friend's remarks, and being well satisfied in his con- 
 science, and as he considered, amply repaid by the 
 approval and admiration of his officers and ship-
 
 The Autobiography of a M an- a* -War's Bell. 67 
 
 mates for what he had done, did not seek for any 
 other reward, but listened to his companion's dis- 
 jointed proposals with the good-natured indifference 
 of a man who attributed them to the gratitude of one 
 who would do much if he could. 
 
 However, my curiosity was soon destined to be 
 satisfied, and from my eyrie on the break of the 
 forecastle, I became the interested, but unsuspected 
 confidant of the history of Morris's life. As some 
 events of great importance, and of a stirring nature, 
 preceded the date of this disclosure, I will keep to my 
 plan of narrating this history in its strict chrono- 
 logical sequence.
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 THE "Melpomene" continued her cruise off the 
 French coast in the waters of Bordeaux, and one 
 morning descried a frigate which ran down towards 
 us, and, on learning our nationality, signalled us 
 to close. This we did, and were then informed that 
 a fleet was mustering at Halifax, in Nova Scotia, 
 under the chief command of Admiral Boscawen, for 
 the conquest of the French possessions in Canada, 
 and that he, the captain of the frigate, had received 
 orders from the Admiral at Gibraltar to whip in all 
 single ships he might encounter, and make the best 
 of his way to the rendezvous. All hands on board 
 the " Melpomene " were delighted at the prospect of 
 a change, for we were getting disgusted of the 
 monotony of cruising off a coast where neither 
 prize-money nor glory seemed very plentiful, and 
 where scurvy appeared to be the chief memento of 
 their cruise our fellows were doomed to carry off. 
 We sailed in company with the "Jason/' 44-gun
 
 The Autobiography of a Man-o'- War's Sell. 69 
 
 frigate, and arrived at Halifax without the occurrence 
 of any event worth chronicling. On dropping anchor 
 in the port, we found an enormous armament 
 assembled, perhaps the most powerful England had 
 ever gathered together for any conquest. It con- 
 sisted of 157 ships, including transports. The naval 
 part of the expedition was, as I have said, under the 
 command of Boscawen, one of the most redoubtable 
 of British admirals, while the land forces were led by 
 Major-General Amherst, and numbered 12,000 men. 
 This estimate does not include the troops under 
 Generals Abercrombie and Forbes, consisting respec- 
 tively of 16,000 and 8,000 men, with which, how- 
 ever, we have nothing to do here, as their points of 
 attack were Crown Point, a fort situated on Lake 
 Champlain, and Fort du Quesne, which stood a long 
 way to the southward, near the river Ohio. The 
 object the joint naval and military expedition had in 
 view was the reduction of Louisburg, and the entire 
 island of Cape Breton. 
 
 The armament sailed from the harbour of Halifax 
 on the 28th of May, 1758, and on the 2nd of June, 
 part of the transports anchored in the Bay of 
 Gabarus, about seven miles to the westward of 
 Louisburg, while the ships of war, the " Melpo- 
 mene" among the number, proceeded towards the
 
 jo The A utobiog raphy of a Man-o '- War 's BelL 
 
 town. The commanders learned that the garrison of 
 Louisburg, led by Chevalier Drucour, consisted of 
 2500 regular troops and 300 militia; towards the 
 end of the siege, they were further reinforced by 350 
 Canadians and Indians. The harbour was secured 
 by six Trench ships of the line and five frigates, 
 three of which the enemy sunk across the harbour's 
 mouth, in order to render it inaccessible to the Eng- 
 lish ships. The governor had taken all the pre- 
 cautions in his power to prevent a landing of our 
 troops, by establishing a chain of posti that extended 
 two leagues and a half along the beach ; intrench- 
 ments were also thrown up, and batteries erected. 
 But the French commander, though a brave officer 
 and skilful commander, had to deal with sailors led 
 by a Boscawen a man remarkable, even among the 
 many brilliant officers the navy numbered in those 
 days, for it was the age of Rodney, and Hood, and 
 Hawke, for his splendid dash and by such soldiers 
 as Amherst, and his lieutenant, the immortal 
 Wolfe. 
 
 The dispositions being made for landing, a de- 
 tachment in several sloops under convoy passed by 
 the mouth of the harbour towards Lorembec, in 
 order to draw the enemy's attention that way, while 
 the landing, it was intended, should be effected on
 
 The Autobiography of a Man-o'- War's Bell. 71 
 
 the other side of the town, in one of the interme- 
 diate spaces on the beach between the intrenchments 
 and batteries that the enemy had thrown up. 
 
 All the night of the 7th of June, the fleet was 
 busy in making preparations for the disembarkation, 
 and when day broke on the 8th, the troopS^were all 
 assembled in the boats in three divisions, while 
 several sloops and frigates that were stationed along 
 shore in the Bay of Gabarus, began to sweep the 
 beach with their shot. After -the fire had lasted 
 about a quarter of an hour, the boats containing the 
 left division of troops, commanded by Major-General 
 Wolfe, among which were those of the "Melpo- 
 mene," pulled towards the shore, while the two other 
 divisions, on the right and centre, commanded by 
 Brigadiers Whitmore and Lawrence, made a show 
 of landing, in order to distract the attention of 
 the enemy, and so take off a portion of their fire. 
 Nothing daunted by the very severe discharge of 
 cannon and musketry from the enemy's batteries, 
 which did considerable execution both among the 
 seamen and soldiers, and the heavy surf by which 
 many boats were upset and numbers of lives lost, 
 the gallant Wolfe pursued his course towards the 
 shore with unflinching determination, and was well 
 backed up by both services, who vied with each
 
 72 The Autobiography of a Man-o'-Wars Bell. 
 
 other in courage and enthusiasm. As soon as the 
 water was knee-deep, the soldiers leaped out of the 
 boats with the utmost alacrity, and, gaining the 
 shore, attacked the enemy so fiercely, that in a few 
 minutes they abandoned their works and guns, and 
 fled in the utmost confusion. The other divisions 
 landed also, but not without an obstinate resistance, 
 and the stores, with the artillery, being brought on 
 shore, the town of Louisburg was regularly in- 
 vested. 
 
 The sailors of the fleet had a most arduous task 
 before them, in landing stores and equipment, with 
 all the heavy material of war necessary to carry on 
 siege operations. The weather set in very boisterous, 
 and the nature of the ground being marshy, was unfit 
 for the conveyance of cannon. 
 
 The Governor of Louisburg, perceiving that he 
 would have to stand a siege that would tax all his 
 energies and military resources, destroyed the grand 
 battery that was detached from the body of the place, 
 recalled his outposts, and prepared for making a 
 vigorous defence. The French troops maintained a 
 severe and well-directed fire against the besiegers 
 from their works in the town, the island battery, and 
 the ships in the harbour, while numerous sallies were 
 made though without much effect. In the meantime
 
 The Autobiography of a Man-a' -War's Bell. 73 
 
 our people were not idle. General Amherst made 
 his approaches with great judgment and success ; 
 while Bragadier-General Wolfe inarched round the 
 north-east part of the harbour with a strong de- 
 tachment, and took possession of the Lighthouse 
 Point, upon which he erected several batteries against 
 the ships in the harbour and the island fortifications, 
 which last he soon silenced. On the I9th of June, 
 one of the French frigates escaped from the harbour, 
 and attempted to elude the vigilance of the fleet, but 
 she was intercepted by two line-of-battle ships, and 
 taken possession of. She was discovered to be the 
 " Echo," and from her officers the admiral learned 
 that another frigate had sailed on the day of the dis- 
 embarkation of the troops, and that a third had since 
 successfully followed her example. Admiral Bos- 
 cawen was anxious that his sailors should earn dis- 
 tinction by taking a prominent part in the operations 
 for the reduction of the place, and was soon fortu- 
 nate enough to have the coveted opportunity. On 
 the aist of July, three of the French line-of-battle 
 ships were set on fire by a bomb-shell projected by 
 one of the batteries raised by General Wolfe's 
 division, and all three ships were speedily reduced to 
 ashes. None remained now in the harbour but the 
 " Prudent," of 74, and the " Bienfaisant," of 64
 
 74 The Autobiography of a Man-o 1 -War's Bell. 
 
 guns, and old Boscawen undertook to destroy these, 
 though moored in the middle cf the harbour and 
 surrounded by the enemy's batteries. 
 
 Accordingly, on the night of the 25th of July, 
 the boats of the squadron were mustered in two 
 divisions, and placed under the command of two 
 young and enterprising post-captains of the names of 
 Balfour and Laforey. The night of the 25th of 
 July was dark, and the boats' crews of the " Melpo- 
 mene" as they mustered on her quarter-deck were 
 inspected by Captain Gaisford, who examined their 
 arms and accoutrements by the aid of lanterns. It 
 was a desperate service, that on which the seamen of 
 the fleet were about to embark, but it was not ex- 
 pected that it would be attended with more risk than 
 most cutting-out expeditions, which in those days 
 were a common description of enterprise, and, 
 perhaps, more than any others, have added a dis- 
 tinctive feature to the glory of our naval annals. 
 
 My young friend, James Duckworth, was most 
 anxious to be sent, but both the captain and first- 
 lieutenant were obdurate, and refused to accede to 
 his request, for the boat in which he was midship- 
 man in charge was not ordered on service, and, 
 moreover, both these officers discouraged the sending 
 on such a hazardous duty a boy of his age.
 
 " He lowered himself rapidly down."
 
 The Autobiography of a Man-o' -War's Bell. 75 
 
 However, the youngster was not to be thwarted, 
 and when the men had " laid into " the boats, and 
 just before they were starting, he managed in the 
 darkness to elude the observation of any one, and 
 swinging himself over the ship's side by the life-line 
 that hung from the davit-head near the foremost 
 boat's fall,* lowered himself rapidly down and whis- 
 pered to his friend, John Mullins, who pulled bow, 
 and who was in the secret, to receive him. The 
 latter caught the young officer as his feet touched 
 the boat, and stowed him away in the bottom under 
 his thwart. The boat's crew saw the transaction, 
 but only grinned and expressed their admiration of 
 the pluck of the middy in the terse and forcible 
 ejaculations usually employed by Jack to vent his 
 satisfaction. 
 
 The fourth lieutenant, the officer who took charge 
 of the boat, having received his final instructions 
 from the captain, now stepped into the boat, and the 
 word being passed that all was ready, the cutter 
 shoved off, and joining two other boats from the 
 "Melpomene," under the chief command of the 
 second lieutenant, took up their stations in Captain 
 Balfour's division. 
 
 All the boats were divided into subdivisions and 
 * See Illustration.
 
 76 The Autobiography of a M an- 0'- War's Bell. 
 
 sections, according to a plan drawn up by the 
 admiral, and then rowed off with muffled oars in the 
 direction of the harbour. The divisions, pulling a 
 good, ordinary stroke, so as to avoid fatiguing the 
 men, were not long in finding themselves at the 
 mouth of the harbour, but no sooner had they 
 entered than they became the object of the lively 
 attention of the enemy. Their approach had been 
 discovered notwithstanding the darkness and the 
 noiselessness of their advance, and the French bat- 
 teries, as well as the line-of-battle ships, opened a 
 terrific fire of cannon and musketry. There was no 
 thought, however, of backing out of the enterprise. 
 The boats' crews cheered with one accord, and the 
 loud British hurrahs could be heard, clear as a clarion, 
 above the din of the tempest of shot that rained upon 
 them. The fire of the ships which formed the object 
 of this cutting-out affair, directed the boats to their 
 position, and they made for them, the crews giving 
 way with frantic energy and enthusiasm. Captain 
 Balfour's division, with which were the boats of 
 the "Melpomene," being the smaller in point of 
 numbers, made for the 64-gun ship, the "Bien- 
 faisant," but they had nevertheless the more arduous 
 task to perform. 
 
 The " Prudent," of 74 guns being aground, was
 
 The Autobiography of a Man-v' -War's Bell. 77 
 
 set on fire and destroyed, the crew escaping ashore 
 as best they could; but the "Bienfaisant " was 
 afloat, and received the advancing boats with a 
 deadly fire from her guns, while every port-hole and 
 her top-sides were illuminated with the volleys of 
 her small-arm men. Notwithstanding every species 
 of opposition, the boats closed, and the British tars, 
 drawing their cutlasses and clutching them between 
 their teeth, clambered up the lofty sides of the line- 
 of-battle ship, and jumping, or forcing their way 
 through the ports, carried the great vessel by storm. 
 
 It was like magic, the celerity with which was 
 worked the transformation scene, to borrow a 
 theatrical simile, -of the conversion of a French 
 ship-of-vvar into an English prize. The trick was 
 done in a few minutes, and the enemy either 
 killed, driven overboard, or compelled to sur- 
 render with the swords of the British seamen at 
 their throats. 
 
 The " Bienfaisant" was now cut adrift from her 
 moorings, and then a number of the boats pro- 
 ceeded to tow her out from under the batteries. 
 This was done successfully in spite of the works on 
 shore, the guns from which kept up an indignant 
 roar at the disgrace that had befallen the Gallic 
 arms. Thus was this affair brought to a triumphant
 
 78 The Autobiography of a Man-o' -War's Bell. 
 
 conclusion, though not without a heavy loss to the 
 victors. 
 
 Among the killed at the very commencement of 
 the action, was the fourth lieutenant of the u Mel- 
 pomene/' who commanded the cutter in which 
 Duckworth had secreted himself. This young 
 officer was shot through the breast, as, sword in 
 hand, he was in the act of leading his men on board 
 the " Bienfaisant." The musket was fired by a 
 Frenchman who leant out of a gun-port and took 
 deliberate aim, and so close was the muzzle of the 
 gun to his victim's body, that the clothes of the 
 latter were set on fire by the discharge. Young 
 Duckworth saw his officer fall, and, springing for- 
 ward, extinguished the fire, but, finding that he was 
 already past human aid, he laid his body gently 
 down on the boat's thwarts, and releasing the sword 
 from out of the grasp of the fingers of the dead man, 
 followed the gallant band who were making their way 
 on board the line-of-battle ship. 
 
 The command of the boat's crew now devolved 
 upon him, and he assumed it in sober earnest, boy 
 as he was, and was fortunate enough to get through 
 the fighting without receiving a scratch, which was a 
 marvel, for, notwithstanding his courage, one would 
 have thought the physical weakness of so young an
 
 The Autobiography of a Man-o '-War's Bell. 79- 
 
 antagonist, must have brought him to grief in so 
 desperate an affair. 
 
 On his return on board his ship, he sprang up 
 the rope ladder on the port side with all the assur- 
 ance of his nature, and reported his return in com- 
 mand of the cutter, to the first lieutenant and captain, 
 who were both waiting at the gangway to learn par- 
 ticulars of the affair. The latter feigned displeasure 
 at the disobedience of orders, but Lieutenant Higham 
 could not contain his admiration of the hardihood 
 and pluck of the " younker," as he called him, and 
 asked Captain Gaisford to forgive the breach of 
 discipline in consideration of the gallantry he had 
 displayed ; to which the coxswain of the boat, anxious 
 to screen the young officer from the consequences of 
 his fault, bore witness. 
 
 "I axes your parding, sir/' said this worthy, 
 addressing the first lieutenant, and touching his hat, 
 while he pointed to the youth, who stood by, having 
 in one hand the sword, so disproportionate to his 
 size, of the lieutenant he had succeeded, his face 
 flushed with excitement, " I axes your parding, sir, 
 but this 'ere young gentleming was among the first 
 on us as boarded the ' Ben Pheasant/ as them French 
 chaps call the line-o'-battle ship as we cut out, arter 
 Mr. Harness was knocked over. He led us on to
 
 8o The Autobiography of a. Man-o' -War's Bell. 
 
 wictory, and no mistake, he did your honours, arter 
 that distressing ewent." 
 
 This burst of eloquence concluded, the honest 
 fellow appeared so overcome at his apparently un- 
 wonted flow of words, that he stood as if rooted to 
 the spot, while his face bore the expression of a 
 schoolboy who has been caught in the very act ot 
 committing some offence. 
 
 However, Holroyd was speedily re-assured by the 
 captain, who replied, " All right, you can go forrard ; 
 Mr. Duckworth shan't suffer for what he has 
 done." 
 
 Turning to the abashed midshipman, Captain 
 Gaisford invited him and the first lieutenant to 
 accompany him to his state cabin, as he wished to 
 learn particulars of the action and also of the death 
 of Mr. Harness, for, being a kind-hearted man and 
 taking a deep interest in his officers, he always made 
 a point of personally communicating the intelligence 
 of the death of any of them to their relatives. The 
 captain also invited the officers who commanded the 
 other two boats to join them, and then the party 
 adjourned to the comfortable and roomy quarters of 
 the commander of the " Melpomene," where our 
 young hero, over a good stiff glass of grog, ' ' fought 
 his battle o'er again," and related what he saw of
 
 The Autobiography of a Man-o'-War's Bell. 81 
 
 the affair that had ended so propitiously. The cap- 
 tain, though the strictest of officers on duty, indeed 
 he was regarded as somewhat of a martinet, could 
 relax on such occasions, and play the part of a host 
 with all the grace and bonhomie of a polished gentle- 
 man. 
 
 Young Duckworth's adventurous conduct came 
 to the ears of Admiral Boscawen, and that gallant 
 officer, who could sympathize with the eagerness of 
 the youngster to acquire fame (his own career from 
 his childhood having been passed amidst scenes of 
 bloodshed) sent a note to Captain Gaisford, asking 
 him to dine on board his flag-ship, and bring the boy 
 with him. 
 
 The honour of having attracted the attention of 
 the commander-in-chief of His Majesty's ships and 
 vessels, was enough to turn the brain of most young 
 middies, but Duckworth fortunately was gifted with 
 common sense, that rarest of all good qualities, and 
 though pleased, he refrained from giving himself any 
 petty airs of superiority, but "bore his honours 
 meekly/' and so avoided giving offence to his mess- 
 mates, who though perhaps individually jealous, were 
 still unanimous in speaking of him as " a right good 
 fellow." 
 
 THe admiral not only praised the boy and drank
 
 82 The Autobiography of a Man-o' -War's Bell. 
 
 his health at dinner, but offered to take him on board 
 his own flag-ship and keep an eye upon him. This 
 flattering offer, however, James Duckworth declined 
 with many thanks, saying that he liked his ship and 
 all the officers so much, that he would rather remain 
 where he was. This refusal, though unexpected, 
 tended to raise our hero still further in the estima- 
 tion of the commander-in-chief, as it did, you may 
 be sure, in the good opinion of Captain Gaisford and 
 all the officers of the frigate. 
 
 The siege of Louisburg still continued with un- 
 abated resolution, on the part of the general and 
 admiral respectively commanding the sea and land 
 forces, between whom also the utmost harmony 
 existed. The admiral cheerfully assisted General 
 Amherst with cannon and other implements for con- 
 ducting the siege operations, and sent on shore 
 detachments of marines to maintain posts on shore, 
 and otherwise assist the soldiers who were greatly 
 harassed, owing to the extent of ground over which 
 the necessary works were spread. Not content with 
 thus aiding his colleague, Admiral Boscawen formed 
 a strong naval brigade to act on shore as pioneers, 
 but chiefly to assist in working the heavy guns and 
 mortars. On their part the besieged displayed great 
 pertinacity and resolution of purpose as well as skill.
 
 The Autobiography of a Man-o' -War's Bell. 83 
 
 The fire of their guns was kept up with ceaseless 
 activity and great perseverance, but at length it 
 became evident to the Chevalier Drucour, that he 
 could not hold out much longer with any prospect of 
 success. The French shipping had been all taken or 
 destroyed, the two principal bastions were in ruins, 
 while two or three practicable breaches had already 
 been effected ; to render matters desperate, forty out 
 of fifty-two pieces of cannon had been either dis- 
 mounted or rendered unserviceable by the British fire. 
 The commandant, therefore, in a letter to General 
 Amherst, proposed a capitulation by which he and 
 his garrison should be allowed to march out with all 
 the honours of war ; that is, with their arms, and 
 flags flying. These were the terms that had been 
 accorded to the English troops at Port Mahon in the 
 Balearic Isles in the previous year, after Byng's un- 
 successful attempt to relieve them. To this proposal, 
 however, General Amherst declined to accede, but 
 informed the Chevalier that he, together with his 
 garrison, must surrender themselves unconditionally 
 as prisoners of war, otherwise he must prepare to 
 expect, on the following morning, a general attack by 
 the fleet under Admiral Boscawen. The French 
 commander, a high-spirited man, piqued at the 
 severity of these terms, replied that rather than 

 
 84 The A utobiography of a Man-o ' War's Bell. 
 
 comply with them, he would stand an assault, and be 
 buried in the ruins of the fortress it was his duty to 
 lefend. Such was his fixed determination, when the 
 commissary-general and intendant of the colony pre- 
 sented a petition from the merchants and inhabitants 
 of the place, requesting him to accede to the terms 
 of the English commander, and pointing out the 
 futility of further resistance. Sorely against his 
 grain, the Chevalier yielded to this prayer, and 
 agreed to capitulate on the original terms. 
 
 On the ayth of July, three companies of grena- 
 diers, commanded by Major Farquhar, took posses- 
 sion of the western gate, while Brigadier Whitmore 
 was detached into the town, to see the garrison lay 
 down their arms and deliver up their colours on the 
 esplanade, and to post the necessary guards on the 
 stores, magazines, and ramparts. Thus the English 
 obtained possession of the important town of Louis- 
 burg, together with the whole island of Cape Breton, 
 and to this day it has never changed masters. The 
 victors became possessed of two hundred and twenty- 
 one pieces of cannon with eighteen mortars, and a 
 considerable quantity of military stores and ammu- 
 nition, while the total loss incurred in achieving 
 these' great results did not exceed four hundred men 
 killed and wounded. The merchants and those of
 
 The Autobiography of a Man-o'-War's Bell. 85 
 
 the inhabitants who were non-combatants, were 
 shipped off to France in English vessels, but the 
 garrison, together with all the naval officers, seamen, 
 and marines, to the number of 5637 men, were 
 transported to England as prisoners of war. 
 
 The loss of Louisburg and of the ships in the 
 harbour, was keenly felt by the French people and by 
 their King (Louis), while in England the nation was 
 carried away with feelings of exultation proportionate 
 to the depression of their neighbours. The despatches, 
 giving particulars of the event, were immediately sent 
 to England in a vessel detached for that purpose, and 
 Captain Amherst, brother to the successful general, 
 was also entrusted with eleven pairs of colours. 
 These were, by order of his Majesty, old King 
 George II., then in the declining ? years of his life, 
 carried, with every circumstance of pomp, escorted 
 by detachments of horse and foot-guards, with 
 kettle-drums and trumpets, from his residence, the 
 palace at Kensington, to St. Paul's Cathedral, where 
 they were deposited as trophies under a salute of 
 cannon and amid other noisy expressions of national 
 triumph. But these rejoicings were not confined to 
 the capital; the joy was universal throughout tht 
 British dominions, and addresses of congratulation 
 on the conquest of Louisburg and reduction of Cape
 
 86 The Autobiography of a Man-o' -War's Bell. 
 
 Breton, were presented to the King by a great 
 number of considerable towns and corporations. 
 
 After the occupation of Louisburg, some ships, 
 among which was the l< Melpomene/' together with 
 a body of troops, were despatched to take possession 
 of the Island of St. John, which also lies in the Gulf 
 of St. Lawrence, and, by its fertility in corn and 
 cattle, had, since the beginning of the war, supplied 
 Quebec with considerable quantities of provisions. 
 This island was likewise the asylum to which the 
 French neutrals of Annapolis fled for shelter from 
 our Government, and the retreat from whence they, 
 and the Indians, made their sudden incursions into 
 Nova Scotia, where the latter perpetrated the most 
 inhuman barbarities on the subjects of Great Britain. 
 What these barbarities were, may be gathered from 
 the fact, that several scalps of our countrymen were 
 actually found in the governor's quarters, proving 
 the truth of the allegations of the English settlers, 
 that the savages received not only encouragement to 
 perpetrate these outrages, but even a premium for 
 every scalp they produced. The inhabitants of St. 
 John showed themselves as cowardly as they were 
 cruel, and did not attempt any resistance against the 
 English force. They submitted to the number of 
 4100, and brought in their arms. The island was
 
 The Autobiography of a Man-o '-War's Bell. 87 
 
 stocked with 10,000 head of black cattle, with vast 
 quantities of corn. This concluded for that year the 
 naval part of the operations against the French pos- 
 sessions in North America. 
 
 The "Melpomene" returned to England with 
 Admirals Boscawen and Hardy, and a small 
 squadron, the greater part of the fleet being left at 
 Halifax. We arrived in England in the beginning 
 of November, after having given chase to six large 
 French ships which were descried to the westward of 
 the Scilly Isles, but were unable either to overhaul 
 them, or bring them to action. The gallant Bos- 
 cawen was received with applause by his King and 
 country, as were also the captains and crews of the 
 ships of his squadron. Not many months elapsed 
 before both he and they were engaged in fresh enter- 
 prises, but I must leave my readers to learn details of 
 Admiral Boscawen's later achievements from the 
 naval histories that treat of that period, and will con- 
 fine myself to the autobiography of so uninteresting 
 an object as a man-o'-war's bell.
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 AT this time the whole English people were nearly 
 beside themselves with a war fever, chiefly directed 
 against the country's old traditional foe, France. 
 The nation was filled with pride and triumph at the 
 recent successes, not only as we have seen in 
 America, under Amherst and Boscawen, but with 
 the news of the great victories achieved by Clive and 
 Admirals Watson and Pocock in the East Indies. 
 Parliament voted large subsidies, and increased the 
 taxes to raise the sinews of war, and the people, so 
 far from being restive under the additional burdens, 
 acquiesced in the imposition of these new and bur- 
 densome imposts. The arsenals resounded with the 
 clang of preparation ; the ships of the Navy were 
 repaired, and their number augmented ; and, in order 
 to man the different squadrons with which our dock- 
 yards were crowded, the administration resorted with 
 greater rigour and success than ever to the practice 
 of pressing a proclamation was issued offering a
 
 The Autobiography of a Man-o '-War's Bell. 89 
 
 considerable bounty for every seaman and every lands- 
 man that should by a certain day enter voluntarily into 
 the King's service. As an additional encouragement 
 to this class of his subjects, George II. promised his 
 pardon to all seamen who had deserted from their 
 ships, provided they returned before the 3rd of July ; 
 while those deserters who neglected to surrender 
 themselves would be tried by court-martial on appre- 
 hension, and suffer the penalties of military law 
 without any hope of mercy. 
 
 William Morris and his friend Johnson, the cap- 
 tain of the maintop, had together concocted a plan 
 for deserting from the ship at Plymouth, where she 
 was refitting for foreign service on some distant 
 station, as was manifest by the large amount of 
 stores and war material she was embarking ; but so 
 strict was the supervision kept over the men, even 
 when they went on shore on leave, that their chance 
 of escape appeared a very slender one. The Govern- 
 ment issued a mandate to all justices of the peace, 
 mayors, and magistrates of corporations throughout 
 Great Britain, commanding them to make particular 
 search for straggling seamen fit for service, and to 
 forward all that should be found to the nearest port, 
 that they might be sent on board whatever ship lying 
 there that might be in want of hands.
 
 9O The Autobiography of a Man-o'-War's Bell. 
 
 As there was almost a certainty of being captured 
 should they attempt to escape, the friends came to the 
 determination to give up the scheme, but not without 
 great reluctance on the part of Morris. However, he 
 had become accustomed to the discomfort of a nau- 
 tical life, and on learning that the "Melpomene" 
 had been ordered to proceed to the East Indies to 
 reinforce the fleet of Admiral Pocock in those waters, 
 reconciled himself to the prospect of a further length- 
 ened period of service. The frigate was to go out for 
 ji period of two years, the remainder of his commis- 
 sion, as Captain Gaisford informed his officers and 
 men one morning when they were all assembled on 
 the quarter-deck for grand divisions. The gallant 
 captain promised his men lots of prize-money, as 
 well as a " bellyful of fighting/' The announcement 
 was received with a grin of delight from one end of 
 the double line of seamen to the other ; the rules of 
 the service did not allow Jack a more demonstrative 
 method of testifying his approval of the .object and 
 prospects of the forthcoming cruise, or else he would 
 have cheered ; as it was, he simply grinned, and 
 touched his hat in respectful acquiescence. 
 
 So the " Melpomene," having filled up with 
 stores and secured her proper complement of men by 
 a moderate application of the press-gang system,
 
 The Atitobiograpky of a Man-o' War's Bell. 91 
 
 sailed from Plymouth in the latter part of April, 
 leaving, doubtless, many sorrowing hearts behind in 
 old England, and carrying away 011 board her some 
 that were heavy also at the thought of the long part- 
 ing, with all the chances and dangers of war time, 
 and the ordinary perils of the sea; yet I should say 
 that the major part of the gallant fellows, both 
 officers and crew, were unspeakably relieved when, 
 as the nautical saying has it, the " fore-topsail paid 
 their debts/' a rather unpromising method of liquidat- 
 ing one's liabilities as far as the unhappy creditor 
 was concerned. 
 
 Nothing of moment occurred during the first days 
 of the passage to the southward. No French ships 
 were sighted, but one morning a large fleet was seen 
 standing to the nor'-westward. This was soon made 
 out to be the squadron commanded by Admiral Sir 
 Edward Hawke, who had been dispatched to block- 
 ade the harbour of Brest, in which was shut up a 
 powerful fleet, which the French Government pro- 
 posed to send to sea under M. de Conflans, with the 
 object of effecting a descent on the Irish coast. After 
 exchanging signals, the "Melpomene" proceeded 
 on her course, and ran down with a fair wind nearly 
 to the line. Here she was detained some two weeks 
 with variable and light airs, known as the " dold-
 
 92 The Autobiography of a Man-o'-War's Bell. 
 
 rums j" but at length edging away to the southward, 
 she caught a fine south-east trade-wind, and stood 
 away a couple of points to the westward of south, 
 with her yards braced sharp up on the port tack, and 
 every stitch of plain sail drawing. For many days 
 not a rope-yarn was touched in the way of trimming 
 sail. During these pleasant long days, many and 
 tough were the yarns I heard recounted under my 
 shadow. Some, I assure you, were beyond my 
 capacity to swallow. There was only one, however, 
 that would greatly interest my readers, and as it 
 relates to William Morris, who has played so 
 prominent a part in these pages, and whose history 
 I had long entertained a curiosity to learn, I will give 
 it to my friends as nearly as possible in the language 
 employed by the narrator himself : 
 
 " You must know then, in the first place, that my 
 real name is not William Morris. I need scarcely 
 tell you that I am not a sailor by profession, for you 
 are seaman enough to know that. When I came on 
 board, you will remember I was rated in the ship's 
 books a landsman. What will surprise you, how- 
 ever, is, that I am a country gentleman or 'squire, 
 as you call them and that I have considerable 
 landed property in one of the midland counties. My 
 name is Cavendish, and the Cavendishes of shire
 
 The Autobiography of a Ma/t-o'- War's Bell. 93 
 
 are one of the first families of that county. My 
 father died a few years ago, and left me, his eldest 
 son, heir to the entailed estates, which brought me 
 in an income of ^7000 a year. I have two brothers 
 and three sisters living, and the curious fact of it is 
 that they are all more or less well married, and have 
 large families ; while I, who am the head of the 
 family and possess the largest income, have neither 
 wife nor child, and, who knows, before we are out of 
 this war or return to England again, but that a 
 French bullet or cutlass will hand over to a brother 
 or nephew the rent-roll, which, indeed, I have turned 
 to precious little good account, beyond supplying my- 
 self with the enjoyments that ordinarily form the 
 staple amusements of an English 'squire. No, 1 
 have passed my days in hunting, and coursing, and 
 shooting, and my nights in card playing and drink- 
 ing; though, to do myself but justice, I must say 
 that I never cared for London frivolities and dis- 
 sipations, or indeed took any part in them during 
 the visits to town, unfrequent and paid at long in- 
 tervals as they were." 
 
 The narrator paused a minute, and then pro- 
 ceeded, as if soliloquizing, and seeking to excuse to 
 his conscience the utterly selfish life he had led during 
 the few years he had enjoyed the ancestral estates ;
 
 94 The Autobiography of a Man-o'- War's Bell. 
 
 but he was cut short by his companion, who after 
 the surprise occasioned by the discovery that his friend 
 was a gentleman, and the still greater astonishment 
 aroused at his expression of regret that he had 
 thoroughly enjoyed himself with the means placed 
 at his disposal had fallen into a doze, from which 
 he was suddenly awakened by the noise resulting 
 from his pipe smashing to pieces as it slipped out of 
 his relaxed jaws. Finding his chum still descanting 
 on his shortcomings as a country gentleman, he 
 sprang, up, and gazing at Morris (as we will still 
 call him) with an expression of countenance de- 
 noting an opinion that he was non compos, or had 
 been at the grog bucket, he bawled out in his ear, 
 " Paul* there now, Bill, ye've been getting the 
 weather-gage of the purser, or, may be, it's the 
 doctor ye want. What's wrong o' you?" and 
 accompanied the rousing-tip process by a slap 
 on the back, that would have made the 
 shoulders of any man gifted with ordinary 
 sensibility ache for a week. It had the de- 
 sired effect, and Morris moralized no more 
 to his unsympathizing friend, whom, after his 
 recent discreditable exhibition, he had some diffi- 
 
 * A "paul" is a stop in the capstan, and the expression, 
 " paul there," as used above, means to cease talking.
 
 The Autobiography of a Man-o' -Wars Bell. 95 
 
 culty in inducing to credit his narrative. Morris 
 now resumed : 
 
 " Nothing occurred to disturb my enjoyment 
 until only a few days before I embarked on board 
 the ' Melpomene/ when the circumstance took 
 place that has changed the whole current of my life. 
 I must tell you I hunted the county fox-hounds, and 
 one evening, after a fine day's sport ending with a 
 splendid spin over the country, in which I was in at 
 the death, and carried off the brush, I asked the 
 gentlemen of the hunt to drink the evening out and 
 the morning in at my house, near to which the finish 
 had taken place. They all heartily agreed to the 
 proposal, for the greater number of them had tasted 
 the hospitalities of the old Hall, and the remaining 
 few knew by repute, I suppose, of the existence of the 
 fine wines in the Hall cellars; so they all followed 
 me to the house, and prepared to make a night of it, 
 according to our bad bachelor habits; for you must 
 know, Tim Johnson^ that on these occasions ladies 
 are strictly excluded." 
 
 " Well, and quite right too/' chimed in the 
 captain of the maintop ; " I never know'd a woman 
 who didn't spoil sport when grog was to the fore. 
 There was my owd 'oman, as has ( kicked the 
 bucket' now this nine y;ar, she couldn't a-bear 'a.
 
 96 The Autobiography of a Man-o '-War's Bell. 
 
 wet night,' as me and my messmates, the boys of 
 the ' Hairythusa/ called our grog parties ashore ; 
 and one night, soon after we was paid off (we got a 
 haul o' prize-money that commission, I tell ye), one 
 night she walks in, just as a lot of us starboardines 
 (I was on the starboard watch, ye must know, aboard 
 the ' Hairythusa '} had brewed three buckets full of 
 the finest Jamaiky ye ever clapped eyes on, and she 
 just walks into the big cabin, or mess-room, or 
 whatever you call it, of the ' La Hogg ' grogshop, at 
 which we always had our conwiwials, and she just 
 kicks over the bucket without a word, and sets the 
 place a-swimmin' with the best liquor as Ben 
 Bobstay ever brewed at his best, and he could mix 
 it, could Ben, I tell ye." At the memory of the 
 liquor, the honest fellow wiped his mouth with the 
 back of his horny hand, as if he felt very dry indeed ; 
 but when the thought of the waste of the Jamaica 
 rum recurred to him, he seemed much discomposed, 
 and ejaculated. " It was a cruel thing, Bill, and I 
 never forgave her." 
 
 "What did your messmates do to your wife, 
 Tim ?" asked his friend, who had much difficulty in 
 restraining his mirth at the distressed look the face 
 of the petty officer wore as he dwelt sorrowfully on 
 the painful reminiscence.
 
 The Autobiography of a Man-o'- War's Bell. 97 
 
 " Do, do you say ?" he asked, defiantly. ff Why, 
 they just took her up, and dropped her out of the 
 windy. Pitched her out neck and crop, I think it 
 was, for she was taken to the hospital with a broken 
 leg, and serve her right too for capsizing them three 
 poor buckets of grog mixed by Ben Bobstay, which 
 never did her no harm." 
 
 The subject was painful as regarded the fate of 
 the "poor" buckets of liquor, so Morris, in order 
 to divert his friend from contemplation of this bitter 
 recollection, proceeded with his narrative : 
 
 "Well, we passed a jolly evening, drinking 
 heavily, and singing songs with rattling choruses, 
 until at length the merits of the respective hunters 
 came on for discussion. Some of the gentlemen 
 had sent their horses home, intending to return in 
 their gigs, which they had ordered their grooms to 
 bring to my house at two in the morning; while 
 others, who were more sure of their ability to ride 
 home on their hunters or hacks, had put them up in 
 my stables. An adjournment to these offices was 
 therefore proposed, to decide a question which had 
 arisen between two of rny guests regarding some 
 trivial points in dispute one of which was, I re- 
 member, the height of their horses. I thought 
 these points were all satisfactorily settled by ex- 
 
 7
 
 98 The Autobiography of a Man-tf -War's Bell. 
 
 amination and measurement, when, on our return to 
 table to finish the carouse with a parting glass, one 
 of these two gentlemen renewed the discussion. I 
 had before sought to put a stop to it, for I perceived 
 that one of the disputants was ' half seas over,' as 
 sailors say. This gentleman resented my effort at 
 making peace, which he regarded in the light of an 
 attempt at interference, and this he stated to me in 
 the most offensive language. 
 
 " My other guests, shocked at the insult thus 
 gratuitously levelled at their host, sought to induce 
 him to offer an apology. Instead of doing this, 
 however, he said that had the affair not taken place 
 at my table, he would have called me out. Upon 
 this I informed him that a message sent to me at 
 Cavendish Hall, would always meet with a response; 
 and the upshot of the whole affair was that after a 
 few minutes' more altercation, it was agreed that the 
 matter should be settled then and there. Duelling 
 pistols I had in the house no gentleman's neces- 
 saries were considered complete in those days 
 without these instruments. They were now pro- 
 duced and quickly loaded, but a difficulty arose as to 
 seconds. Without any trouble I induced a gentle- 
 man to act for me, but no one would consent to be 
 ' the friend ' of my opponent, and this, notwithstand-
 
 Tfie Autobiography of a Man-o'- War's Bell. 99 
 
 ing an earnest request addressed to several among 
 them to act in this capacity as a personal favour. 
 No one in fact, knew him in the room, though in 
 the course of conversation with his neighbour at 
 table, he stated that he had served in the army, and 
 his manner and speech were those of a gentleman. 
 It would never do to let the matter have an abortive 
 conclusion, for want of a second, so as none of my 
 guests would act in that capacity most of them 
 indeed saying, I ought not to go out with a fellow 
 of whom I knew nothing and for such a paltry 
 cause to place my opponent on an equality in every 
 point with myself, I called in my butler and footman, 
 and directed them to fill the post of seconds, one to 
 each of us. I was determined not to be baulked, or 
 to give the man who had insulted me in my own 
 house the opportunity of saying I had declined to 
 resent an injury because of the difficulty of securing 
 a second for himself, an utter stranger. On seeing 
 my fixed determination to fight, some of my friends 
 conjured me to pause, if only till the morning, but I 
 persisted, and they left the house ; the great number, 
 however, although indignant with my adversary, re- 
 mained to see the sport to the finish. My two 
 domestics were dismayed at the unexpected part they 
 were called upon to play, and at first timidly de-
 
 ioo The Autobiography of a Man-o' -War's Bell. 
 
 murred ; but I was accustomed to have my orders 
 obeyed, and at length their scruples were over- 
 come. 
 
 " The preliminaries satisfactorily settled, we re- 
 tired to the opposite sides of the room, distant only 
 some ten paces apart. The lights were put on one 
 side so as not to obstruct our vision. The seconds 
 having been previously instructed in their duties, 
 took their assigned places. The dropping of a hand- 
 kerchief was to be the signal. A death-like stillness 
 pervaded the large apartment. I felt no feeling of 
 fear, but I must own my heart beat quickly, though 
 perhaps, this was as much due to indignation as to 
 anxiety at the possible, and but too probable result 
 as regarded myself; for it was evident to me as I 
 glanced at my opponent, and marked the calm, 
 business-like way in which he comported himself, 
 and the experienced manner in which he handled 
 the pistols, that this was not in all probability the 
 first time he had been a principal in the deadly 
 duello. 
 
 " I cast a hurried look round the well-lighted 
 apartment, and marked the anxious or pitying ex- 
 pression on faces familar to me on the country side, 
 and a pang of sorrow shot through my heart as I 
 thought I might perhaps never more join them in
 
 The Autobiography of a Man-o'-War's Sell. 101 
 
 the merry chase, and cheer the hounds on to the 
 death. But I checked the thought as calculated to 
 unnerve my hand, which must be steady, and turned 
 away from the contemplation of the faces of friends 
 to steel my heart by the sight of the man who had 
 so causelessly insulted me, his host, and not content 
 with this injury, sought to wipe out his offence 
 against the laws of hospitality by thirsting for the 
 blood of that host. It was enough, and my heart 
 and hand were steady as a rock. I felt confidence 
 in myself, though I had seldom practised with a 
 pistol, and had never been out "before" rather 
 an uncommon thing for a gentleman to be able to 
 say. 
 
 " Our eyes were fixed on the man holding the 
 handkerchief; 'one, two/ were the words that 
 greeted my ears. The handkerchief was dropped, 
 and two quick, sharp reports rang out through the 
 still apartment. I felt I was untouched, and looked 
 eagerly at my adversary, but he also did not move a 
 muscle or change countenance, so it appeared we 
 had both fired ineffectively. Our seconds proceeded, 
 under inspection of some of my friends who doubted 
 their ability, to reload the weapons, when several of 
 my guests stepped forward and appealed to me to 
 express myself as satisfied. My honour and courage
 
 102 The Aiitobiography of a Man-o'-War's Bell. 
 
 they argued had been placed beyond doubt, as 
 indeed they stood before, and they hoped I would 
 shake hands with my opponent. I merely re- 
 ferred them to the gentleman on the opposite 
 side of my dining-room, who stood with a 
 sardonic smile calmly awaiting the reloading of his 
 pistol. To that appeal the latter contemptuously 
 replied that he was very far from satisfied, that he 
 did not commence the duel with the object of letting 
 me off so cheaply, and that it was childish talking 
 about satisfaction, when no blood had been spilt, 
 without which his honour, at least, could not be 
 cleansed from the imputations cast upon it. I, be 
 it observed, had cast no imputations upon his honour, 
 but as I saw that he regarded me as a poltroon, who 
 would back out of the business if he could by any 
 means, I made no observation on hearing these in- 
 sulting remarks, which were delivered in a loud tone 
 of voice, but resolved to fight it out to the bitter end. 
 "Again we stood opposite each other, again 
 was heard, 'are you ready'? and on our replying 
 in the affirmative, ' one/ ' two/ in the voice of my 
 worthy butler whose tones I had always associated 
 with a cheery response on receiving my orders re- 
 garding some new bin or old vintage of port, but 
 which had now acquired a solemn, not to say funereal
 
 r. 
 
 'His right arm hung motionless by his side.
 
 The Autobiography of a Maii-o '-War's Bell. 103 
 
 intonation as he repeated the duellist's formula. 
 Again, almost as one report, rang out the sharp 
 crack of our pistols ; again I looked, and this 
 time it seemed as if my fire had not been without 
 effect. 
 
 " My antagonist's body was turned full towards 
 me, and was leaning back towards the wall, while 
 his face still glared at me with its former expression 
 of malignity, though a palor was creeping over it. 
 His right arm hung motionless by his side, but the 
 hand yet clutched the pistol with desperate tenacity, 
 while his left hand was convulsively clasped over his 
 breast. Two or three gentlemen rushed towards him, 
 but as I was not sure he was wounded, I did not 
 move. 
 
 " Presently I heard one say, ' Lay him down/ 
 then I knew I had not delivered my fire without 
 effect, and I also moved hastily round the table, and 
 bent over the wounded man. He was breathing 
 heavily and with seeming difficulty, while with every 
 inhalation, the thick blood slowly streamed down his 
 closely buttoned-up coat and formed in a small pool 
 at his side. He appeared to be in a fainting condi- 
 tion, but on seeing me his features flushed slightly, 
 but it was the flush of an|,er, not of forgiveness or 
 sorrow. Seeing the tragic turn affairs had taken,
 
 104 The Autobiography of a Man-o '-War's Bell. 
 
 all my guests, with the exception of three, took their 
 departure, most of them without even taking leave 
 of me. One of my most intimate friends merely 
 ejaculated across the table, ' Serious business, 
 Pm sorry for you, Cavendish/ and walked off 
 without offering to be of any assistance, or even 
 to shake me by the hand and express a word of 
 sympathy. 
 
 " In the same way nearly all my friends, as they 
 called me in the hour of my good fortune, served 
 me, and of the three who remained, two were newly- 
 formed acquaintances. These gentlemen had even 
 less sympathy for the misguided wretch who lay 
 weltering in his gore, on the carpet of my dining- 
 room. One or two among them merely glanced at 
 him as he lay writhing in his agony, and, with the 
 sympathetic exclamation of ' Poor wretch/ qualified 
 in one instance by ' served him right, though' they 
 left us alone with the dying man, for dying we soon 
 discovered him to be. 
 
 "The wound it was at once seen was mortal. 
 The ball had passed through his right breast, of 
 course penetrating the lung, and hence every respira- 
 tion caused him intense pain. We removed his 
 clothes from the region of the injury, and sought 
 to staunch the flow of blood, but as we were thus
 
 The Autobiography of a Man-o'-War's Bell. 105 
 
 employed, he gave one gasp and expired, his eyes 
 still riveted on me with an expression of undying 
 hate. He was, or rather had been, a decidedly 
 handsome man, but though only two or three and 
 thirty, his features wore a most dissipated, worn-out 
 look. On searching his pocket for some token of 
 his identity we found a card-case, and on the cards, 
 were engraved the name of Captain Belmont, while 
 on one of them was written in ink, quite recently 
 evidently, f late of the Hussars, 14, Marl- 
 borough Place, York/ 
 
 " My friends advised me strongly to fly to 
 Holland, or at least remain in hiding until the affair 
 was blown over, and they promised to take charge 
 of the body of the dead man, and convey it to his 
 people at the above address. I took the advice and 
 started off for Portsmouth, intending to take ship 
 for Holland, and on my arrival there to write to my 
 friends of my whereabouts. To avoid notice, I 
 shunned all the fashionable hotels and took up my 
 quarters in a public house. I kept very quiet for 
 some days, but unfortunately got drinking one night, 
 and they say I took the King's bounty and agreed to 
 serve in the navy, during the commission of the 
 'Melpomene' by Captain Gaisford. However, that 
 may be, here I am, and here I must remain until
 
 io6 Tlie Autobiography of a Man-o'- War's Bell. 
 
 - i ' 
 
 we get back to old England. I suppose it is a 
 punishment for my sins, and I must make the best 
 of it ; anyway, Johnson, you shall share my fortune, 
 and if this war soon ends, we will make our escape 
 when we touch English soil, and I will see if I can 
 make it all right at the Admiralty, where my county 
 influence will be of service, and you shall want for 
 nothing the remainder of your life, old boy, not 
 forgetting any number of buckets of the oldest 
 Jamaiky." 
 
 On hearing this, the captain of the maintop 
 sprang off the forecastle, and after performing a 
 few steps of the hornpipe, so overcome was he with 
 ecstasy at the thought of killing himself with drink, 
 exclaimed, " By the piper that played before Moses, 
 ye don't say so. I'd jump every week off the main- 
 top-gallant yardarm in a gale of wind, to save your 
 life, for one bucket of that same/' Just then the 
 officer of the watch came up, and was thunderstruck 
 at the pas seul performance from one ordinarily so 
 grave as Tim Johnson. 
 
 So it was that I learned the history of the lives 
 of two more of the crew of the " Melpomene" who 
 had interested me. You see my autobiography, the 
 interest of which does not centre so much in 
 what I myself did, as I am a passive sort of
 
 The Autobiography of a Man-o '- Wai ,'j Bell. 107 
 
 individual, but in what I saw and heard, is inter- 
 spersed with episodes, which however, many of 
 my readers will doubtless regard with greater in- 
 terest than what passed under my immediate 
 cognizance.
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 THE " Melpomene " arrived at Madras Roads on the 
 apth of August, 1759, and found a strong fleet 
 assembled there under the command of Vice- Admiral 
 Pococke, who was preparing his ships with the in- 
 tention of proceeding to sea forthwith, and attacking 
 the French fleet, which was known to be somewhere 
 off the Coromandel Coast under a distinguished 
 officer, M. d'Apche.* 
 
 When fighting was on the tapis, Captain Gais- 
 ford was not the man to be backward, and though 
 the British Admiral intended to sail on the jst of 
 September in quest of his French antagonist, the 
 gallant commander of the frigate expressed his deter- 
 mination that the " Melpomene " should form part 
 of his squadron even if she sailed without rilling up 
 with wood and water, and had to borrow these 
 necessaries from her consorts during the voyage. 
 However, the authorities at Fort St. George used the 
 
 *This name is also indifferently spelt by historians D'Ache".
 
 The Autobiography of a Man-o* -War's Bell. 109 
 
 most creditable alacrity in responding to the requisi- 
 tion of Captain Gaisford, and all that he indented 
 for from every department of the local government 
 was so quickly supplied, that at daybreak on the 
 morning of the ist September the "Melpomene" 
 sailed in perfect preparation for any of those eventua- 
 lities with the enemy or the elements, that befall His 
 Majesty's ships in war time. Admiral Pococke 
 made sail to the southward in search of the French 
 fleet, and had not long to beat about, for on the follow- 
 ing day the hostile squadron, consisting of fifteen sail, 
 were sighted standing to the northward. The admiral 
 immediately signalled the fleet to clear for action, on 
 the supposition that the enemy being numerically 
 superior, would at once accept the challenge ; but M. 
 d'Apche considered discretion the better part of 
 valour, and bore away in the contrary direction. The 
 British Admiral now signalled the chase, and the 
 entire fleet soon flung out to the winds all the canvas 
 they could carry. Unfortunately the wind fell light, so 
 that the relative distance between the squadrons did 
 not change. How the officers and men of the " Mel- 
 pomene" chafed at the delay, and whistled, and, 
 like Shakespeare's lover, sighed "like a furnace" for 
 a wind, but the much wooed breeze would not come. 
 The daylight waned into night, and the sun rose in the
 
 no The Autobiography of a Man-o-Wars BelL 
 
 morning, and poured its hot rays upon the heads 
 of the impatient sons of Neptune, who,, I am sorry 
 to say, after the manner of their kind, exchanged 
 their gentle wooings for fierce objurgations and 
 frequent invocations upon their eyes and limbs, 
 which were consigned to a place not usually con- 
 sidered mentionable to ears polite, or desirable as a 
 resting-place for those members of the human form 
 divine. But yet the wind refused as obstinately to 
 yield to threats and curses as it had previously to 
 blandishments and soft utterances; and so three 
 days succeeded the 2nd of September, on which day 
 the Frenchmen had commenced to tantalise their 
 antagonists by the sight of their hulls, and yet the 
 fiery tars of England were as far off the realization ot 
 their hopes as when the foreign craft first hove in 
 sight. To crown the disappointment on the fourth 
 morning, when the looks-out cast their glances in the 
 direction the French fleet had hitherto occupied, they 
 were nowhere to be seen. The experienced seamen 
 employed on this duty that morning on board each 
 ship, rubbed their eyes, and once more scanned the 
 horizon, but it was only to confirm the first hasty 
 glance. M. d'Apche was non est. A slight breeze 
 springing up during the night, he had made sail, 
 and borne aways towards Pondicherry. Thanks
 
 The Autobiography of a Man-o'-Wars Bell. u i 
 
 to the friendly screen of night, he succeeded in 
 eluding the vigilance of his pertinacious enemy, 
 and had thus successfully and incontinently " ske- 
 daddled." 
 
 If the officers, petty officers, seamen, and marines 
 of the British uttered curses, not loud but deep, before 
 this unhappy event had disturbed their equanimity, 
 the reader will not discredit me when I say that, like 
 the " army in Flanders," they used very bad language 
 in connection with this disappearance of the tradi- 
 tional foe, whom they appeared to regard as made 
 and provided by a wise Providence, only for them to 
 defeat and drive in confusion into their harbours. 
 However, old Pococke was not to be done out of his 
 fighting so easily, if it could be had under another 
 latitude upon the same conditions, and so, craftily 
 concluding that the French admiral had " made 
 tracks " for Pondicherry, he bore up for that harbour 
 under a press of sail. On the 8th of September, the 
 French fleet were once more sighted, standing to the 
 southward, and our fellows again prepared for action, 
 though it was not until the loth that they were suc- 
 cessful in bringing on an encounter. At one o'clock 
 on the afternoon of that day, M. d'Apche succeeded 
 in overcoming his extreme coyness so far as to face 
 his importunate adversaries. Throwing out the
 
 1 12 The Autobiography of a Man-o- Wars Bell. 
 
 signal for the battle at that hour, he commenced the 
 action, without further delay, by firing his guns as 
 fast as he could bring them to bear. At the com- 
 mencement of the action, the British fleet numbered 
 nine ships, including the " Melpomene " (the only 
 frigate), while that of the enemy consisted of eleven 
 sail, the French admiral having detached four vessels 
 some days previously ; but the disparity of force was 
 much greater than this statement alone would imply. 
 Ship for ship, the enemy carried heavier guns, and 
 larger crews to man them. 
 
 The action at once became general, and the 
 cannonading that ensued was very furious. The 
 captain of the "Melpomene" singled out a 74-gun 
 ship as his antagonist, there being no frigate, and, 
 running up, engaged her at pistol-shot. It was about 
 a quarter-past one that the French 74 opened fire, 
 while the riflemen from her lofty tops kept up an 
 incessant and well-directed fusillade, that quickly 
 made it very hot work for every living soul on the 
 spar-deck of the " Melpomene." 
 
 Luckily the hostile gunners being too eager to 
 demolish our small craft, fired so rapidly that their 
 guns were discharged before they bore on us. The 
 24-pound shot, therefore, ranged mostly ahead of us, 
 and crashed into the flag-ship of Admiral Pococke,
 
 The Autobiography of a Man-o '- W ar's Bell. \ 13 
 
 which was engaging the French commander-in- 
 chief 's ship on our beam. 
 
 Our well-trained fellows were not in such a hurry, 
 but reserved their fire until we could bring our star- 
 board broadside to bear well. Captain Gaisford and 
 his lieutenants were " as cool as cucumbers," and 
 the latter, with the junior officers in command of 
 sections, gave the order "Fire" to the captains of 
 their guns, as deliberately and steadily as if practising 
 at an old tar barrel, during general quarters. The 
 whole fleet was soon wrapped in one vast pall of 
 smoke, out of which the incessant flashes of fire 
 from the guns, were belched forth ; occasionally a 
 puff of wind would blow away a corner of the thick 
 veil that thus obscured the scene of strife, but it was 
 only for a passing moment, and soon again all was 
 obscured. The enemy fired chiefly at our rigging, 
 with the intention, doubtless, of rendering us un- 
 manageable, so that she might either carry us by 
 boarding which she flattered herself could be easily 
 effected with her superior numbers or she might 
 range ahead, and take up whatever position would 
 enable her to rake us effectually. Captain Gaisford, 
 on the other hand, directed the attention of his 
 gunners almost exclusively to the hull of his gigantic 
 opponent, and right smartly and well our brave boys
 
 114 TJte Autobiography of a Man-o' -War's Bel!. 
 
 poured the round shot and grape into the lower deck 
 batteries of the line-of-battlc ship. The fire from 
 these quarters visibly slackened under the "Melpo- 
 mene's" efforts to silence the guns, but the main- 
 deck batteries kept up a galling and destructive 
 cannonade that began to tell heavily upon us, owing 
 to our inferior weight of metal. 
 
 We had commenced the action under top-sails 
 only, having hauled up our courses and clued up the 
 topgallant sails. The captain being anxious to get 
 ahead a little, out of the enemy's fire, which was 
 cutting up his men more than he liked, sent aloft 
 some hands to overhaul the fore and main gear. 
 There was some delay, however, owing to the star- 
 board main tack and sheet, with the blocks through 
 
 * O 
 
 which they were rove, having been shot away, but 
 the riggers, under the supervision of the boatswain, 
 took the end of the sheet up the rigging, and fitting 
 it with clip-hooks, very soon had all ready, and let 
 the main gear run, when it was discovered that 
 owing to a blow from a piece of grape or bar shot, 
 the "clew garnet" would not travel through the 
 block in the slings of the yard. The delay in clear- 
 ing this, kept the " Melpomene " still longer under 
 the fire of her formidable antagonist; the men were 
 falling fast at the guns, and the action had become
 
 The Autobiography of a Man-o' -War's Bell. \ 1 5 
 
 hotter than was quite comfortable. The captain not 
 liking this condition of affairs, ordered the " clew 
 garnet " to be cut, and at length the gear ran freely, 
 and the mainsail was set. This, together with the 
 foresail caused the frigate to forge slowly ahead, 
 when the commander of the Frenchman followed 
 suit and overhauled his fore and main gear, in order 
 to keep us under the terrific fire he had been pouring 
 into us, at such short range, from his heavy main- 
 deck guns. 
 
 " Set the top-gallant sails," shouted out the cap- 
 tain, anxious to secure the advantage he had almost 
 within his grasp. Hardly had he uttered the words, 
 when a shot from the enemy struck the end of the 
 jibboom, carrying it away, and at the same moment 
 a puff of wind brought clattering about our ears the 
 foretopgallant mast, the backstays of which had 
 early been shot away. For a moment I thought the 
 maintop-gallant mast would follow, when we should 
 have been without the upper sails, which are most 
 essential, circumstanced as we now were with a light 
 breeze, and what little there was almost driven away 
 by the heavy cannonading. The foretop'man, who 
 had run up aloft to obey the order of his superior, 
 was hurled down from aloft amidst the ruin of stand- 
 ing and running rigging, but, happily, fell overboard,
 
 1 1 6 The Autobiography of a Man-o '- War's Bell. 
 
 and hence was enabled to regain the ship by dint of 
 good swimming, and a handy rope's end that was 
 trailing alongside. 
 
 Fortunately the maintop-gallant sail was set with- 
 out further delay, and then the " Melpomene," under 
 the influence of this sail, which caught the air that 
 in the upper regions was not so subject to the deaden- 
 ing effects of the tempest of "villanous saltpetre" 
 raging below, drew gradually ahead of her huge oppo- 
 nent. Now seizing his opportunity, Captain Gais- 
 ford ported his helm, and skilfully bringing his ship 
 on the port bow of the Frenchman, poured into her, 
 broadside after broadside, raking her from stem to 
 jtern. The captain of the enemy, in his turn, sought 
 to set his top-gallant sails, so as to place himself 
 once more on an equality with his f puny adversary ; 
 but the British commander, anticipating this inten- 
 tion, was not going to allow himself to be placed a 
 second time, if he could help it, in the clutches of the 
 line-of-battle ship. He sent up some young mid- 
 shipmen with strict orders to the marines and rifle- 
 men in the "Melpomene's" tops to devote their 
 attention exclusively to shooting any men engaged 
 aloft in assisting to set the top-gallant sails, while 
 the fire of the small swivels or wall-pieces, which in 
 those days were fitted in the tops, as a component
 
 The Autobiography of a Man-o'- War's BelL 1 1 7 
 
 part of the armament of a ship-of-war, was directed 
 at the top-gallant gear, and with such good effect 
 that very soon those sails were rendered useless for 
 sailing purposes. 
 
 The seamen of the " Melpomene," quickly 
 observant of the comparative immunity from the 
 ravages of the enemy's shot they now enjoyed, 
 thanks to the superior seamanship of their officers, 
 worked their guns with enthusiasm, and it appeared 
 as if their efforts would be rewarded with success, 
 when the French Admiral made the signal to his fleet 
 to discontinue the action. The opponent of the " Mel- 
 pomene " hauled her wind on the starboard tack, and 
 another ship of the enemy just then making her 
 appearance on the scene, the British frigate was 
 robbed of the glory of having silenced the hre of her 
 unwieldly antagonist. It was about ten minutes past 
 four that the enemy's rear began to give way ; this 
 example was soon followed by the centre, and finally 
 by the van-division led by M. d'Apche. Thus the 
 whole fleet were defeated, and bore away to the 
 S.S.E. with every stitch of canvas they could spread. 
 
 The British squadron was so much damaged in 
 the masts, spars, and rigging that they could not 
 pursue, so that M. d'Apache retreated at his leisure 
 unmolested. On counting up the losses sustained
 
 u8 The Autobiography of a Man-o'-War''s Bell. 
 
 by his fleet, Admiral Pococke found that more than 
 300 men had been killed in the engagement, in- 
 cluding Captain Miehe who commanded the "New- 
 castle/' Captain Gore of the Marines, with two 
 lieutenants, a master gunner and boatswain, while 
 more than 250 seamen and marines were wounded, 
 among the number being Captains Somerset and 
 Brereton. The loss of the enemy must have been 
 much more considerable, not only on account of 
 their ships being crowded with men, but because 
 their fire had been directed chiefly at our vessels 
 aloft. This they certainly did to a great extent, for 
 many of our ships were seriously crippled, and were 
 scarcely in a condition to renew the action. 
 
 The " Melpomene " lost twenty-nine men killed 
 and thirty-three wounded; none of her officers were 
 numbered in the former category, but both Captain 
 Gaisford and his first lieutenant, Jacob Higham, were 
 slightly wounded. The former gallant officer could 
 not account for the singular manner in which he 
 received his wound. It was during the heat of the 
 action that a musket-ball struck the wrist of his 
 right hand ; luckily for him he had his sword in his 
 grasp, for it was at a time when the enemy appeared 
 bent upon boarding the English frigate, and the hilt 
 of his weapon broke the force of the bullet, which
 
 The Autobiography of a Man-o'- War's Bell. 1 19 
 
 moreover, Captain Gaisford declared came from the 
 fore-part of his own ship. It was put down to the 
 clumsiness or trepidation' of one of the crew, and no 
 more was thought of the incident. Of three seamen 
 whom I have more particularly described in the 
 earlier chapters of this work, all escaped with their 
 lives, but both John Mullins and Tim Johnson were 
 wounded the former, slightly by the recoil of one 
 of the carronades which bruised and lacerated his 
 legs, and the latter more severely by a piece of 
 grape-shot which carried away three fingers of his 
 left hand ; however, they both recovered and returned 
 to their duties within three weeks, though Johnson 
 was shifted from his post of captain of the maintop, 
 for which the loss of his fingers disqualified him, to 
 that of quarter- master of the starboard watch. 
 
 On the 1 5th of September, Admiral Pococke 
 returned to Madras, where his fleet was placed under 
 repair, but such a penchant had the old sailor for 
 fighting, that he directed the captains of his fleet to 
 have " all ataunto " by the 26th, on which day he 
 expressed his determination to proceed to sea again 
 in search of the enemy. Sure enough, on the morn- 
 of the 26th, he gave the signal to weigh, and stood 
 towards Pondicherry. On our arrival off that city, 
 then the chief stronghold of the French in India, we
 
 izo The Autobiography of a Man-o^ -War's Bsll. 
 
 saw the whole of M. d'Apche's fleet in the roadstead, 
 lying at anchor in line of battle. The British ad- 
 miral drew up his fleet, and the wind being oft' shore, 
 waited for his adversary to sally out to meet him. 
 At length, after a short period of doubt and un- 
 certainty, the French commander-in-chief weighed, 
 and came forth, but not to battle. Instead of bear- 
 ing down upon the English fleet, which had fallen 
 somewhat to leeward, he kept close to the w r ind, and 
 setting a press of sail stretched away to the south- 
 ward. Admiral Pococke, finding him averse to 
 another engagement, and his own squadron being in 
 no condition to pursue with any chance of success, 
 took counsel with his captains and returned to 
 Madras. 
 
 The French fleet, having on board the famous 
 General Lally and some other military officers, made 
 the best of their way to the island of Mauritius, then 
 in their occupation, with the intention of refitting. 
 Thus, though superior in number and force, they left 
 the English undisputed masters of the Indian coast, 
 in which they were confirmed by the arrival in Mad- 
 ras Roads on the i8th of October, of a reinforcement 
 of four ships of the line, under Rear-Admiral 
 Cornish. 
 
 About the latter part of the year 1759, Colonel
 
 The A utobiography of a Man-o '- War's Bell. \ 2 r 
 
 (afterwards Sir Eyre) Coote arrived from England, 
 and taking command of the British troops, captured 
 Wandewash and other forts; defeated in the open 
 field at Arcot, General Lally (who had returned from 
 Mauritius) with the loss of 800 men and 22 pieces 
 of cannon ; captured the strong fort of Arcot early 
 in February, 1760; and overran and conquered the 
 entire province of that name in an incredibly short 
 space of time. 
 
 Colonel Coote, after having defeated the French 
 General Lally in the field, and reduced most of the 
 enemy's settlements on the Coromandel Coast, at 
 length cooped them up within the walls of Pondi- 
 cherry, the principal seat of the French East India 
 Company ; this city, large, populous, and well- 
 fortified, was held by a numerous garrison under the 
 immediate command of Lally. 
 
 In the month of October, 1760, Admiral Stevens, 
 who had succeeded Admiral Pococke in the command 
 in these waters, sailed for Trincomalee in the island 
 of Ceylon, the chief Royal naval station, in order to 
 have his fleet refitted, and left a division of five sail 
 of the line and the "Melpomene," under the command 
 of Commodore Haldane, to blockade Pondicherry, 
 and carry on the operations by sea, while Colonel 
 Coote pressed the siege by land, which he did with
 
 122 The Autobiography of a Man-o'- War's Bell. 
 
 all his wonted zeal and vigour. By this disposition, 
 and the vigilance of the Commodore and the captains 
 of the ships of his squadron, the place was so closely 
 invested, as to be greatly distressed for want of pro- 
 visions, even before the siege operations were fairly 
 inaugurated. Heavy rains, unusually protracted this 
 year, rendered all regular approaches impracticable. 
 On their abatement Colonel Coote, on the 26th of 
 November, directed the engineers to commence the 
 formation of the batteries. 
 
 We will pass over the operations connected with 
 the prosecution of the siege of Pondicherry, and speak 
 of the imminent danger to which all on board the 
 " Melpomene" were subjected about this time. On 
 the 25th of December, Admiral Stevens, with four 
 ships of the line, joined the blockading - squadron 
 under Commodore Haldane, and assumed the chief 
 command. He had a few days previously parted, in 
 stormy weather, with Rear- Admiral Cornish and his 
 division, though the latter rejoined the fleet at Pondi- 
 cherry before the place was surrendered. But His 
 Majesty's sailors and ships had other enemies to 
 contend with more powerful than any number of 
 Frenchmen ashore or afloat. On the ist January, 
 1761, a violent gale broke forth, and as there is no 
 breakwater or shelter for shipping in Madras Roads,
 
 The Autobiography of a Man-o' -War's Bell. 
 
 123 
 
 Admiral Stevens had to slip his cables, and with the 
 rest of the fleet, proceed to sea, and battle against 
 this ancient enemy where there was a " fair field and 
 no favour/' such as might be afforded to the sailors' 
 natural enemy by the proximity of a "lee shore " 
 that most terrible of all allies to the cause of the 
 " Storm Fiend. " Each ship now had to fight it out 
 alone and unaided, for so malignant was the assault 
 of the aforesaid demon, that the entire fleet was 
 scattered on the face of the waters, and having lost 
 sight of each other, was driven by the fury of the 
 tempest hither and thither each ship striving to the 
 utmost of her ability to weather the fury of the old 
 yet ever new enemy. 
 
 The men of the " Melpomene " met the furious 
 onset of the gale, with the calmness engendered by 
 the knowledge that the gallant old frigate was pre- 
 pared for eventualities at all points, like a knight 
 clad in a suit of mail. The alarming rapidity with 
 which the mercury fell in the barometric tube, gave 
 ample warning of what was brewing, so that when 
 Captain Gaisford slipped his cable, obedient to a 
 signal from the flagship, he at once sent down his 
 top-gallant masts, bent storm sails, close reefed his 
 topsails, secured his guns with double lashings, had 
 life-lines fitted on deck, " preventer braces aloft/*
 
 1 24 The A utobiography of a Man-o '- War's Bell. 
 
 hoisted his boats "chock up" to the davits and 
 lashed them securely there, and in fact took every 
 precaution that good seamanship and lengthened ex- 
 perience suggested as a wise provision against one of 
 those terrible cyclones that periodically occasion not 
 only lamentable loss of life and shipping at sea, but 
 desolate coasts of the Indian peninsula in a manner 
 and to an extent of which we Europeans can form no 
 conception from experience. Notwithstanding all 
 that could be done to mitigate the dire consequences 
 of this visitation, for so these furious circular storms 
 may be termed, the " Melpomene" did not come out 
 of the encounter without signal marks of the severity 
 of die struggle. Her starboard cutter was washed 
 away during the night, so neatly and thoroughly, 
 that when day dawn broke and displayed the havoc 
 of the storm, not a chip was left on the davit heads, 
 which stood out in the morning air like a couple of 
 gallows. During the night the tiller ropes were also 
 carried away, and one man received a blow on the 
 head that fractured his skull, while a second was 
 hurled overboard and was never seen again. For a 
 
 O 
 
 minute or so the ship was in imminent danger of 
 having her decks swept, and indeed of foundering 
 with all hands on board ; for, released from the re- 
 straint of the rudder, she fell off rapidly from before
 
 The A uiobiy^r.iphy of a Afzn-9 '- War 's Bell. 125 
 
 the wind, and like a runaway horse that has got the 
 bit between his teeth, and starts off at mad speed to 
 dash his brains out against the first stone wall, the 
 
 O f 
 
 frigate appeared as if now that she had "got her 
 head," she intended to work mischief to herself and 
 all concerned. But there were brave hearts among 
 the crew of the " Melpomene," as well as cool heads 
 among the officers, and before she could make away 
 with herself in this discreditable manner, and so not 
 only put an end to many valuable lives, but sink the 
 man-o'-war's bell in a thousand fathoms of water, 
 and so have prevented the recital of this veracious 
 autobiography, I say, before she could do this, a 
 dozen hands, headed by William Morris, sprang up 
 the poop, and made a dash at the wheel, which was 
 flying round, and backward and forwards in a manner 
 terrible to behold. Quick as thought the quarter- 
 master of the watch, Tim Johnson (for it was none 
 other than he) seized some spare rope, he had all 
 ready at hand to be used in the event of such or 
 similar accidents, and running it through the blocks 
 with the aid of a shipmate or two, quickly got the 
 wheel under control. Jamming the helm hard down, 
 the brave fellows brought the runaway up to the 
 wind again, and there she stood, dipping her bows 
 deep into the churning seas, and casting her crest up
 
 126 The Autobiography of a Ma/i-0'- War's Bell. 
 
 again with a fierce jerk, as if, like the high mettled 
 steed to which I have already likened her, she was 
 champing with impotent rage the bit that had got 
 the better of her, and tacitly owned the superior might 
 of the "taut" hands that had gained the mastery, 
 and had the helm well in hand. 
 
 After the cyclone a heavy gale of wind lasted for 
 three days, and left its mark not only on the hull 
 and rigging of the frigate, but also in the diminished 
 crew that answered to their names at divisions on 
 the following morning. While the forecastle-men 
 of the port watch were flattening the sheets of the 
 storm fore-topmast staysail, a gigantic sea came 
 tumbling on board the fore part of the ship ; it met 
 the frigate before she had had time to raise herself 
 from the deep dive she made, after the previous wave 
 had receded from under her bows. The flood burst 
 upon her, and hurling three of the seamen who were 
 " taking a pull " on the fore topmast staysail sheet 
 backwards on to the spar-deck with a force that one 
 would have thought must have broken their backs or 
 heads, and deluging the decks with its vast volume 
 of water, carried back into the sea over to leeward 
 five fellows, whose gallant hearts, after a feeble and 
 ineffectual struggle against the choking waves, soon 
 ceased to beat for ever.
 
 The Autobiography of a Man-o'-War's Bell. 127 
 
 At length, after three days, Captain Gaisford 
 was able to set sail, and make his way back to 
 Pondicherry, when he learned a terrible tale of 
 damage and disaster. The line-of- battle ships, 
 "Duke of Acquitaine" and " Sunderland " had 
 foundered in the tempest with every soul on board. 
 The " Newcastle " and the " Queenborough," line- 
 of- battle ships, and the " Protector," fireship, were 
 driven ashore, and had gone to pieces, but the men 
 were saved, together with the guns, stores, and pro- 
 visions. Many, indeed all the other ships had 
 sustained considerable damage. Notwithstanding 
 these heavy obstacles to the proper discharge of 
 their duties as a blockading fleet, none of the 
 captains sought permission to retire to Trincomalee 
 to refit, but repaired their ships as best they could, 
 with the means at their disposal, and showing a bold 
 front to the enemy, continued to blockade Pondi- 
 cherry. So effective was the mode in which this 
 investment was carried out by sea, that Lally was 
 driven to the most desperate straits to procure sup- 
 plies. To give an instance. One day Admiral 
 Stevens intercepted a letter from the French General 
 to Monsieur Raymond, the French Resident at 
 Pullicat, the contents of which were couched in the 
 following terms :
 
 128 The Autobiography of a Man-o '-Wars Bell. 
 
 " MONSIEUR RAYMOND, The English squadron 
 is no more, sir. Of the twelve ships they had in our 
 road, seven are lost, crews and all ; the other four 
 dismasted ; and no more than one frigate has 
 escaped. Therefore, lose not an instant in sending 
 chelingoes upon chelingoes laden with rice. The 
 Dutch have nothing to fear now. Besides, accord- 
 ing to the law of nations, they are only restricted 
 from sending us provisions in their own bottoms, 
 and we are no longer blockaded by sea. . The salvation 
 of Pondicherry hath been.once in your power already; 
 if you neglect this opportunity, it will be entirely 
 your own fault. Don't forget some small chelingoes 
 also ; offer great rewards ; in four days I expect 
 17,000 Mahrattas. In short, risk all attempt all 
 force all, and send us some rice, should it be but 
 half a garse at a time." 
 
 On receipt of this note ; so characteristic of the 
 unfortunate Lally, Admiral Stevens immediately 
 dispatched letters to the Dutch and Danish settle- 
 ments on the coast, intimating that, notwithstanding 
 the insinuations of the French general, he had eleven 
 sail of the line, with two frigates, under his com- 
 mand, all fit for service, in Pondicherry roadstead, 
 which was, moreover, closely invested by sea and
 
 The Autobiography of a Man-o'-War's Bell. 129 
 
 land. He therefore declared that, as in that case it 
 was contrary to the law of nations for any neutral 
 power to relieve or succour the besieged, he was de- 
 termined to seize any vessel that should attempt to 
 throw provisions into the place. 
 
 The garrison and inhabitants of Pondicherry 
 were, by the I5th of January, 1761, reduced to the 
 utmost extremity of famine, and General Lally was 
 driven to the necessity of sending to the British 
 commander a colonel, attended by the chief of the 
 Jesuits and two civilians, with proposals having for 
 their object the surrender of the garrison as prisoners 
 of war, and demanding a capitulation on behalf of 
 the French East India Company, of which he was 
 the chief. On this last head, Colonel Eyre Coote 
 made no reply, but next morning took possession of 
 the town and citadel, where he found a great supply 
 of artillery, ammunition, small arms, and military 
 stores. The garrison, amounting to two thousand 
 Europeans, were also made prisoners of war. Thus 
 was effected the capture of Pondicherry, and so 
 virtually may be said to cease the existence of the 
 French East India Company, whose power at one 
 time exceeded that of its rival, the English Company, 
 with which it had so long run a close race for Empire. 
 Poor Lally, who had made such a gallant defence, 
 
 9
 
 130 The Autobiography of a Man-o'-War's Bell. 
 
 was treated with the utmost ignominy on his return 
 to his native land, and was at length put to a cruel 
 death by an enraged populace and weak govern- 
 ment. Regarding the part taken by the fleet in the 
 reduction of the chiefest of French strongholds in 
 India, Smollett, in his " History of England/' 
 writes : 
 
 " It may be doubted, however, whether Colonel 
 Coote, with all his spirit, vigilance, and military 
 talents, could have succeeded in this enterprise 
 without the assistance of the squadron which co- 
 operated with him by sea, and effectually excluded 
 all succour from the besieged. It must be owned, 
 for the honour of the service, that no incident inter- 
 rupted the good understanding which was maintained 
 between the land and sea officers, who vied with each 
 other in contributing towards the success of the 
 expedition." 
 
 Thus it was that both soldiers and sailors co- 
 operated in the. grand work of laying the foundations 
 of that superb empire in the East India Company, 
 which now forms the brightest jewel in the imperial 
 diadem of Queen Victoria. 
 
 Though naturally British seamen played a sub- 
 ordinate part in the drama that ended in the disper- 
 sion of the French, and the reduction of the entire
 
 The A utobiography of a Man-o '- War's Bell. 131 
 
 peninsula; though Admirals Watson and Pococke, 
 and their brother sailors, were not in a position to 
 undertake the roles so ably filled by Clive, Coote, 
 Forde, and their associates, yet their great deeds, 
 not only afloat in numberless engagements, but also 
 ashore under Clive at Plassy, and also at Severn- 
 droog, attest the claims of the navy to no inconsi- 
 derable share of the glory of adding Hindostan, with 
 its countless millions of inhabitants, as an appanage 
 to that empire on which the sun never sets.
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 THE DUEL ON THE FORECASTLE. 
 
 AFTER serving on the East India station for a further 
 period of a year, the ' ' Melpomene " was ordered home, 
 and sailed for England on the 5th of March, 1763. 
 Nothing very remarkable occurred during the return 
 voyage, until we got to the line, when an event took 
 place, which, as it concerns Mr. James Duckworth 
 (for he was no longer a boy, being now in his nine- 
 teenth year), I will not apologize for laying before 
 my readers. 
 
 For some time previous to the occurrence of this 
 
 incident, there had been a feud between the young 
 
 officer of whom I have just spoken, and the senior 
 
 mate in the gun-room. It arose, I believe, through 
 
 a feeling of jealousy entertained by the latter against 
 
 young Duckworth, owing to his being a favourite 
 
 both with the captain and the ward-room officers. 
 
 It was usually customary that the senior mate, as 
 
 representative of the gun-room, should be asked to
 
 The Autobiography of a Man-o"- Wars Bell. 133 
 
 dinner by the captain on certain holidays, such as 
 the King's birthday, and he always stood first on the 
 list for invitations not only on board ship, but at any 
 official entertainment or ball ashore. Henderson, the 
 officer in question, was not a gentleman either by 
 birth or breeding, and his appearance and bearing 
 were altogether so vulgar and unprepossessing, that 
 the Honourable Captain Gaisford, himself a well- 
 bred man, recoiled from his society, and, naturally 
 jealous of the good name of his ship as a school for 
 gentlemen as well as seamen, made a practice of 
 passing over the senior mate whenever he could do 
 so with a decent pretext, or without any pretext at 
 all, if one was not to be found. The captain did not 
 on this account favour James Duckworth more than 
 others of the mates and midshipmen, though he 
 clearly preferred the society of the former, who acted 
 as a sort of aide-de-camp, or flag-lieutenant, to that 
 of the senior mate. 
 
 Mr. Henderson, a great burly fellow, having a 
 sinister expression in his heavy deep-set eyes, which 
 were shaded by a pair of overhanging eyebrows, hated 
 Duckworth with all the force of his envious heart, but 
 did not care openly to insult him, though greatly his 
 superior in physical strength. But the most singular 
 feature in the physiognomy of this gentleman was his
 
 134 The Autobiography of a Man-<f- War's Bell. 
 
 nose. Now I take it as a well established fact, that 
 the nasal organs of most folk are modelled on those 
 of their parents, but in the case of Henderson, on 
 surveying what is generally regarded as the most 
 prominent feature in the human face divine, it was 
 irresistibly borne home to me, that Dame Nature 
 had been seized with a comic fit, and despairing of 
 moulding an organ in consonance with the duplicate 
 models set before her, had in an access of humour 
 just incontinently dabbed [(that is the most appro- 
 priate expression as applied to the protuberance or 
 excrescence in question) a lump of flesh "in the 
 place where the nose ought to be." " Not to put 
 too fine a point upon it/' it was a lusus natures. But 
 whereas in Mr. Dickens' immortal novel of " Oliver 
 Twist," a certain Mr. Chickweed was denominated 
 by his familiars, " Conky," which Mr. Blathers, that 
 shrewd Bow Street runner, was at the pains to 
 explain, was a synonym for " Nosey " so Mr. Hen- 
 derson, who was very unpopular with the foremast 
 hands, went by the nickname of " Conky," though 
 that pleasing sobriquet was applied in his case 
 ironically, as his nose was of dimensions the 
 smallest compatible with its fulfilling the require- 
 ments for which noses were made and provided. 
 
 Henderson, notwithstanding his cowardice, often
 
 The Autobiography of a Man-o 1 - Wars Bell. 135 
 
 appeared inclined to pick a quarrel with Duckworth, 
 for his envy and malice at times seemed quite to 
 overpower him, though he always thought better of 
 it, and swallowed his spite. For a long time they 
 had not been on speaking terms ; it was certainly 
 very aggravating for Henderson, and would have 
 been so even to a more amiable man, to watch the 
 calm indifference and aristocratic hauteur with which 
 the younger officer treated his more mature mess- 
 mate. Henderson was the head of the mess, and 
 as such, in authority over his juniors, but Duckworth 
 scorned the fellow, and would have none of his bully- 
 ing ways. There was a clique in the gun-room also, 
 who, although they hated Henderson, yet were 
 jealous of the favourable position in the estimation 
 of his officers attained by their young rival, and they 
 egged on the senior mate to do something either in 
 the way of insulting or thrashing, or keeping in his 
 place by any means the whilom Etonian, who 
 offended them mightily every hour of the day by 
 being handsomer, and braver, and smarter, and 
 altogether superior to themselves. The feeling 
 between the two officers grew so hostile that it was 
 evident it only required a spark to cause an explosion 
 among the combustible matter with which they were 
 charged. A very trivial circumstance caused the
 
 136 The Autobiography of a Man-o'- War's Bell. 
 
 explosion that all had foreseen, and which Duck- 
 worth at least was anxious to have over without 
 further delay. 
 
 One forenoon James Duckworth feeling drowsy 
 for he had been up half the night, owing to all 
 hands having been turned out to shorten sail when a 
 squall had struck the ship turned in "all standing," 
 or rather took a nap on the chests that were stowed 
 in the gun-room. Now it was the peculiar privilege 
 of the mates, and one or two senior midshipmen, to 
 have their sea-chests in the gun-room, while there 
 not being space in this apartment for all the huge 
 trunks in which the juniors kept their worldly goods, 
 these latter were ranged in the steerage, and here the 
 owners washed and performed all their ablutions, 
 as well as dressed. It was rather public, it must be 
 owned, being under the eyes of the whole crew, whose 
 messes were ranged on the same deck, but, bless 
 you ! who cared ? certainly not the middies, who 
 though perhaps when they first joined as " green- 
 horns " just caught from school, might not have 
 quite liked the publicity, now that they had been 
 knocking about all the seas between Canada and the 
 Coromandel coast, had long got used to it, and would 
 have laughed heartily had you spoken of schoolboy 
 modesty. There is nothing like habit in these
 
 The Autobiography of a Man-o- Wars Bell. 137 
 
 things, and if you have been cruising about a couple 
 of years in the tropics, and have become accustomed 
 to seeing all hands piped " to bathe/' when " Jack " 
 and "Joey" the marine, multiplied three hundred- 
 fold, jump overboard in the condition in which they 
 came into the world, it certainly matters very little 
 whether you wash in steerage or gun-room. 
 
 This forenoon, then, James Duckworth sought 
 to avoid the noise and racket of the steerage, and the 
 clatter of the cutlasses, for a division of the sailors 
 were going through the sword drill on the upper 
 deck, under the direction of the gunner, whose sten- 
 torian voice echoed through the ship as he bawled 
 out, " Right [cheek/' " Left cheek/' " Right side," 
 " Left side/' "Wrist," "Parry;" looking about then 
 for a quiet nook, our hero laid down on a couple of 
 chests in the gun-room one being that of his chum, 
 the second senior mate. The other, however, was 
 the property of his bitter foe Henderson, and this 
 temporary occupation of the lid of his chest aroused 
 the ire of this individual, who, as luck would have it, 
 came in soon after the tired midshipman had fallen 
 into a heavy sleep, with the object of getting some 
 article out of his box. 
 
 Henderson gazed for a minute in stupid astonish- 
 ment, as if paralyzed at the audacity of the youngster,
 
 138 Tht Autobiography of a Man-o'-War's Bell. 
 
 as he still persisted in calling Duckworth, when 
 speaking of him to his messmates. 
 
 " Come," he called out, roughly; "just be good 
 enough to move your carcase off my chest, or 
 
 I'll ," and he left the sentence unfinished, as if 
 
 he was undecided what he would do in the event of 
 his orders not being complied with, which it was, 
 indeed, very probable they would not be. 
 
 But Duckworth did not move. He was in too 
 deep a slumber to hear the request, but had he done 
 so, he would assuredly not have acted up to its 
 requirements, when couched in such offensive 
 terms, or with so menacing a manner. Henderson 
 thought that the latter was the reason that the 
 sleeper did notarise at his bidding, so merely ejacu- 
 lating, "D'ye hear, youngster, d you?" pre- 
 pared to oust him from his position. At this 
 moment a number of the seamen, with half a dozen 
 of the members of the gun-room mess, came down 
 below, having been released from cutlass drill, which 
 had concluded for that day. Henderson was beside 
 himself with rage at the idea of his junior refusing to 
 move off his chest, and so openly insulted him before 
 the whole mess, a thing he had before never attempted 
 to do. Receiving no reply, and completely carried 
 away by passion, he without further parley, roughly
 
 Tiie Autobiography of a Man V- War's Bell. 139 
 
 raised the lid of his sea-chest, thus jamming Duck- 
 worth's legs against the bulk head that divided the 
 gun-room from the narrow slip that did duty as 
 pantry for the mess. Thus rudely awakened from 
 his slumber, the young officer, raising himself, gazed 
 round the assembled circle of his messmates with an 
 expression in which unfeigned astonishment was 
 blended with rising indignation. He made an 
 evident effort to calm himself, however, and extri- 
 cated his legs from the unpleasant position in which 
 they still remained, owing to Henderson's keeping 
 the lid of his box raised with one hand, while with 
 the other he proceeded to ransack one of the tills 
 with which midshipmen's chests are always well 
 garnished, for the article of which he was in quest. 
 Springing to his feet, Duckworth calmly asked the 
 senior mate if he had dared to do this out of rude- 
 ness intentionally; though the voice in which this 
 question was put was not elevated beyond its ordi- 
 nary pitch, there was a tremulousness in its tones 
 which he could not disguise. Without lifting his 
 head, which was bent over the contents of his box, 
 Henderson, quietly putting a pipe which he had 
 charged with tobacco into his coat pocket, sneeringly 
 replied in the affirmative, adding; "What then ? " 
 He had barely time to conclude his sentence,
 
 140 The Autobiography of a Man-o'-Wars Bell. 
 
 when the individual he addressed struck him 
 straight from the shoulder, and with a speed that 
 rivalled the lightning a blow that took effect on the 
 side of the face and head of the insulter, and sent 
 him headlong into his chest, the lid of which fell on 
 him as he lost his balance. There was an excla- 
 mation of astonishment from all the lookers-on, at 
 the celerity and terrific force of the blow, and they 
 fell back with the expectation of a mill. These two 
 young men, now placed in such direct antagonism 
 to each other, had notwithstanding the disparity in 
 their ages, led the two cliques into which the mess 
 was divided, for though no one liked Henderson, 
 many rallied to his side, both because as senior he 
 had some authority vested in him, and was feared 
 as a ruthless bully, and on account of the jealousy 
 with which some among them regarded his an- 
 tagonist. 
 
 Henderson quickly extricated himself from his 
 undignified position, and rushed at his opponent 
 with the fury of a mad bull. The latter was prepared 
 to receive him, which he did in the most artistic style 
 by a duplicate of No. i, on the jaw, that must have 
 unsettled some of his " teeth." But nothing could 
 overbear the brute strength of Henderson, and there 
 being no space for a stand-up fight in the mess-
 
 " He ciutcheil hiiu by the throat with both hands."
 
 The Autobiography of a Man-o'-War's Belt. 141 
 
 room, which was small and crowded with tables and 
 boxes, Duckworth was unable to avoid his onset, as 
 he might have done in a properly constituted ring. 
 As it was, he was knocked over, and the pair rolled 
 on the floor together, struggling and striking as if in 
 mortal strife. And, truth to say, it was in mortal 
 strife as far as one of the combatants was con- 
 cerned. Henderson was 59, transported with fury, 
 that when he got the upper hand, he clutched his less 
 muscular antagonist by the throat with both hands, 
 and sought to strangle him. At first Duckworth hit 
 him repeatedly with his fist on the head and face to 
 make him relax his hold, but the other disregarded 
 the punishment he thus received, and clung to the 
 throat of the midshipman with the tenacity of a bull- 
 dog, which not all the blows and threats of bystanders 
 will induce to loosen its hold. The combatants rolled 
 under the table, the senior mate uppermost now, for 
 James Duckworth was growing faint with exhaustion, 
 and the fell pertinacity of his enemy was doing its 
 work. Duckworth, indeed, was fast being strangled 
 under the very noses, if not the eyes (for they could 
 not see him) of his friends and messmates, and not 
 a hand was raised to save him, for the desire of fair 
 play so characteristic of Englishmen restrained them 
 from interfering, and, moreover, like all uneducated
 
 142 The Autobiography of a M an- J -Wars Bell. 
 
 men (and in those days naval officers who went to 
 sea at the age of ten might with truth be classed in 
 this category), they were naturally cruel. The gene- 
 ration who could look on at all the barbarities inci- 
 dental to bull-baiting, cock-fighting, and such like 
 exciting sports, loved not less a mill truth compels 
 us to add, no matter who were engaged in it, for 
 these worthy people, our ancestors, in the good old 
 times were not chary of their own blood if they 
 thought little of spilling, or seeing spilt, that of their 
 friends. 
 
 But we must return to James Duckworth, whom 
 we have left choking under the gun-room mess table. 
 It is certain that he would have died under the iron 
 grip of Henderson, who was at least twelve years his 
 senior, but that one of his friends not quite compre- 
 hending the reason for the quiet under the table, that 
 had now succeeded the previous furious struggling, 
 and, moreover, being attracted by a convulsive 
 twitching of the legs of his friend, which were the 
 only members of his body that remained in view, 
 had the curiosity to look under the table, when to his 
 horror he found his chum lying quite still and black 
 in the face with the agonies of suffocation, while the 
 wretch above him was kneeling with both knees 
 firmly planted on the chest of his antagonist, whose
 
 The Autobiography of a Man-o' -War's Bell. 143 
 
 face, moreover, he was critically watching while it 
 changed its hues from blue to the deepest shades of 
 black. The chivalrous young Duckworth was almost 
 gone ; he had scorned to cry out for help while he 
 could do so, and when he had become exhausted with 
 his struggle to extricate himself, Henderson had con- 
 tinued his grip with one hand, which was enough to 
 complete the strangling, while with the other, he 
 covered the mouth of his helpless enemy, so that he 
 could not make himself heard. 
 
 But it was not yet too late. Tn a moment the 
 friend in need had sprung upon the would-be mur- 
 derer, and by a supreme effort dragged the wretch 
 backwards, so that he was forced to relax his hold, 
 while he called out to his messmates that murder 
 was being wrought. It was some time before Duck- 
 worth completely regained consciousness, but towards 
 the afternoon he was himself again, though pale and 
 weak. He refused to allow the surgeon to be called 
 in to see him, and merely pleading temporary indis- 
 position, obtained leave for a messmate to perform his 
 ordinary duties on watch. But he had not done with 
 the coward, Henderson, and sent word to him 
 through the friend who had so opportunely rescued 
 him from a fearful death, that he, Duckworth, gave 
 him the alternative of meeting him that night in the
 
 144 The Autobiography of a Man-a' -War's Bell. 
 
 middle watch, on the forecastle, and fighting the 
 quarrel out with swords the crack of the pistol 
 rendered it an undesirable weapon to go out with 
 or of having the whole circumstance reported to the 
 captain immediately; the challenger gave the other 
 half an hour to make his decision, but there was no 
 necessity for the concession of this indulgence, as 
 the officer who acted as Henderson's friend, returned 
 with the reply (a gratifying one to our hero) that he 
 would be on the forecastle at any hour, and with any 
 weapon he liked, and only stipulated that they did 
 not hold their hands until one or the other lay dead, 
 or mortally wounded. 
 
 The preliminaries were soon settled by willing 
 seconds and kind messmates, anxious to show their 
 friendship by this touching exhibition of unselfish 
 devotion, and true British love for sport. The 
 officers, it was agreed, were to fight with their regu- 
 lation swords, and as Duckworth, being a midship- 
 man, was only entitled to wear a dirk, his friend and 
 chum, Stanley, lent him his sword ; not a word was 
 said about the projected encounter, but every one, 
 including the principals, equally with their mess- 
 mates, was in a fever of doubt and fear, lest some 
 one among them, seized with a humane fit, or dread- 
 ing the extreme probability of a fatal issue to the
 
 The Autobiography of a Man-d* -War's Bell. 145 
 
 approaching duel, might "blow the gaff," as Hender- 
 son expressed it, in idiomatic but not choice English. 
 However, he was mistaken ; the members of the gun- 
 room mess proved staunch " to a man " or " boy," 
 and were far too anxious for the occurrence of an 
 event that would pleasantly vary the monotony of 
 this long sea voyage, to spoil sport. 
 
 The night at length closed in, it seemed to all 
 the mess that it would never succeed the long and 
 dreary day, and the first watch passed away. Few 
 eyes were closed that night in the gun-room, though 
 it was agreed that only the seconds were to accom- 
 pany the combatants to the scene of action, in order 
 to avoid the chance of discovery. There was a fresh 
 breeze that night, which blowing right aft, would 
 carry the sound of the strife away, and the foresail 
 was out, which tended still further to deaden the 
 noise inseparable from the use of steel weapons. 
 Every soul in the ship, with the exception of the 
 officers on duty (fortunately Henderson as senior 
 mate had charge of the middle watch), the quarter- 
 master, the helmsman, and the look-out man, was 
 wrapped in a profound slumber. The previous 
 night had been a fatiguing one, owing to squally 
 weather, and all hands had turned out to shorten 
 sail, and to secure the guns ; hence, every one slept 
 
 10
 
 146 The Autobiography of a Man-o'-Wars Bell. 
 
 particularly heavy, and the watch on deck either 
 wrapped themselves in their blankets, and lay down 
 on deck, or contrary to rule, sneaked down below, 
 and turned into their hammocks, " all standing," and 
 ready for a call. 
 
 It was half-past one a.m., when Henderson, 
 giving over charge of the deck temporarily to one of 
 the midshipmen, "until he had settled the hash of 
 this bumptious cabin-boy," as he said to his junior, 
 walked quickly forward, and springing up the ladder 
 that led to the topgallant forecastle, found that he 
 had been anticipated, and the " bumptious cabin- 
 boy" was already waiting for him, as calm and col- 
 lecte.d to all outward appearance, as if he had been 
 going to dine with the captain. Strikingly different 
 was the demeanour of the two duellists. Of Duck- 
 worth's bearing we have already spoken. Hender- 
 son's, on the contrary, was characteristic of the 
 man, bullying and offensive to a degree that was 
 aggravating to a sensitive nature like that of the 
 youth he was going to fight. He swaggered about 
 the confined space, and dropped ejaculations and 
 inuendoes expressive of his contempt for his adver- 
 sary, while the seconds made the necessary prepara- 
 tions and agreed to certain preliminaries in a low 
 tone of voice. Duckworth took no notice of him,
 
 The Autobiography of a Man o'- War's Bell. H7 
 
 but stripping himself to the shirt, turned back his 
 cuffs, and testing for the last time the temper and 
 strength of his sword for the trial it was about to 
 undergo, quickly informed his second he was ready, 
 
 O ' J 
 
 and placed himself in position, His opponent also 
 said he was prepared, garnishing the statement with 
 an oath, and then the two messmates, without even 
 the interchange of the customary shake of the hand, 
 or salute of the sword, to show they bore no malice 
 to each other, were at once and eagerly engaged in 
 the stern ordeal of battle. 
 
 They commenced the conflict with widely different 
 feelings and intentions as to the course proposed to 
 adopt, though they both entertained confidence in 
 their ability to bring it to a successful conclusion. 
 It was Duckworth's purpose to " wing/' or other- 
 wise wound his adversary, but not to kill him ; 
 whereas the latter proposed to himself not to stay his 
 hand until he had slain outright, or, better still, 
 mortally wounded the young man who had been his 
 messmate and rival for four years. Henderson was 
 wild with passion and malignant hate, and, while in 
 this devilish fit, cared nothing for the consequences 
 to himself, though he knew, had he thought a 
 moment, that they must be of the most serious 
 character. Though a bully, and at heart a coward,
 
 148 Jfu Autobiography of a M an- J -Wars Bell, 
 
 as all bullies are, he entered without any misgivings 
 into the duel, as he was assured, after the events of 
 the morning, of his greatly superior strength, and 
 also counted on his adversary not only being demora- 
 lized by the recent exhibition of this strength, but 
 on his not having recovered from the weakness inci- 
 dental to the desperate assault he had committed on 
 him. He was aware of the finished swordsmanship 
 for which Duckworth was remarkable in the ship, 
 out he intended to force the fighting, and, by dint of 
 sheer strength, to bear down all opposition; no un- 
 common thing, I may observe, in passing, to befall 
 the most accomplished fencers if once they lose their 
 nerve. 
 
 On the other hand, Duckworth relied on the 
 superb skill he had attained. Unerring of eye, quick 
 of hand, and bold of heart, there was no want of 
 nerve in his breast; rather, as he dwelt on the insult 
 and well-nigh murder to which he had been subjected, 
 the only difficulty he experienced was to prevent his 
 running into the other extreme, and losing himself 
 in an access of indignation. But he calmed down 
 when he reflected how much was at stake, antl 
 watching the line of action his formidable opponent 
 intended to adopt, proposed to bide his time. 
 
 After a few passes and cuts, which the junior
 
 The Autobiography of a Man-o'- War's Bell. 149 
 
 officer easily parried, Henderson struck furiously and 
 fast, and so occupied Duckworth with the fury of 
 the assault, that he was forced to give ground. Hav- 
 ing fallen back a few paces, the latter turned his head 
 for a moment, and found that he was on the brink 
 of the forecastle, and that another step would launch 
 him on to the deck below. Quickly altering his 
 tactics, he watched his opportunity, and, with a 
 clever parry and a turn of the wrist, whirled the 
 sword of his adversary out of his hand, and sent it 
 flying over his shoulder into the sea. Henderson 
 became livid with rage on discovering the deft 
 manner in which his weapon had been whipt out of 
 his clutch ; he stamped his feet, and swore horribly 
 that he would be avenged yet, calling at the same 
 time for another sword. Duckworth, who, like a 
 brave fellow, scorned to take advantage of the de- 
 fenceless condition of his adversary, stood calmly 
 waiting to renew the contest, and dropped the point 
 of his weapon so as to recruit his strength. The 
 seconds came forward, and sought to obtain an ad- 
 mission from Henderson that he was satisfied ; but 
 he replied, with a shower of oaths, that he did not 
 come there to play at single-stick like a fencing- 
 master, but to fight, and to fight it out, too, to the 
 bitter end. Another sword was at hand, and was
 
 150 The Autobiography of a Man-o' -War's Bell. 
 
 quickly supplied, and the exciting game went on 
 Duckworth, on his part not uttering a word nor 
 changing a muscle; that his hand was well in, his 
 friends saw with satisfaction. 
 
 The combat was renewed. The senior mate 
 adopted his old tactics, though with more wariness ; 
 he used his weapon freely, cutting and slashing, 
 but, though always considered proficient in the use 
 of the. cutlass, he had never practised with the small 
 sword, and knew not the mysteries of carte and 
 tierce. Duckworth, on the other hand, was, as I 
 have said, a finished swordsman, and excelled in the 
 use of the rapier, which he had learnt from his former 
 friend, Mullins, whom he now surpassed in the noble 
 art. At length, the midshipman, taking advantage 
 of an unguarded moment, made a lunge at his ad- 
 versary, which took effect on his right shoulder, and 
 drew blood freely. Maddened with pain, and still 
 more with the disgrace of this second contretemps, 
 Henderson made fiercely at his foe, and pressed him 
 back. The impetuosity of the onset was so great 
 that the latter gave way, and it employed every 
 energy, and " took all he knew," to parry and elude 
 the shower of blows which almost broke down his 
 guard. Calm and collected, he stepped back, when 
 suddenly, in avoiding a trenchant blow, he came in
 
 The Autobiography of a Man-o'-Wars Bell. 1 5 1 
 
 contact with the structure from which the narra- 
 tor of this autobiography was suspended, and was 
 so taken up with defending himself, that he was 
 unable to recover his equilibrium. He stumbled, 
 and fell with one knee against me; to save himself 
 from falling headlong on to the deck, he caught at 
 at the woodwork from which I was slung. His 
 cowardly opponent, heedless of the fact that he was 
 disarmed, and forgetful of the quarter he himself 
 only a few minutes before had extended to him, 
 raised his weapon to cleave the head of the youth, 
 who, wholly unsuspicious of such a cowardly advan- 
 tage being taken of him, was leisurely raising himself 
 up, and stretching forth his hand to pick up his sword. 
 I could see a smile on the honest, handsome face of 
 the boy I had known so many years, whom I had 
 learnt to admire, and in whose career I had so long 
 taken a hearty interest. I could see all this, and I 
 could see (but he could not) his burly and merciless foe 
 lift his sword for the foul blow, that in another moment 
 would have laid that young head low, and deluge 
 in a torrent of blood the fair curling locks. All this 
 I could see, and I sickened at the sight of the immi- 
 nence of the stroke I was helpless to avert.
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 AT this terrible and, to me, agonizing crisis, a 
 figure, which for the last few minutes had, unre- 
 garded by principals and seconds, watched the course 
 of the combat, sprang forward, and knocked up 
 Henderson's arm with a tremendous blow that 
 almost paralyzed that member, and, indeed, would 
 have well-nigh shattered it had it appertained to a 
 less robust personage than that burly warrior. 
 
 " Who the foul fiend are you ?" ejaculated 
 Henderson, turning upon this new comer with a 
 fierce wrath; "and how dare you interfere, you 
 infernal scoundrel ?" he added, seeing it was only 
 a seaman, being, indeed, none other than William 
 Morris, or Cavendish. "Go below, and I'll not 
 forget you." 
 
 "I was bound to interfere," the latter replied, 
 " when I saw you about to take a cowardly advan- 
 tage of Mr. Duckworth." 
 
 " Cowardly, do you dare to say, you blackguard ?"
 
 The Autobiography of a Man-o' -War's Bell. 153 
 
 broke in Henderson, white with passion. " Fll re- 
 member you for this." 
 
 Morris took no notice of this ebullition, but, 
 turning to the seconds, said, with the air and manner 
 of a polished man of the world, " Excuse me, gen- 
 tlemen, I regret extremely that I interfered with you 
 in the execution of your duties as seconds, but 
 1 saw that murder, and not justifiable homicide, 
 would have been the inevitable result. I have been 
 
 myself " But he stopped, and added, " I like, 
 
 as does every Englishman, to see fair play." 
 
 The seconds, colouring with vexation, stepped 
 forward and thanked him ; Duckworth's friend 
 adding that he did not anticipate that Henderson 
 would have taken such an unmanly advantage of his 
 friend, and was not therefore prompt enough in 
 warding off what he now saw would have been a 
 foul blow. 
 
 The two principals once more stood facing each 
 other. Henderson had regained his weapon, and 
 looked more malignant than ever at thus having 
 been twice baffled in taking the life of his enemy ; 
 while the latter, on whose mind began to dawn a 
 faint perception of the narrow escape he had just 
 had, looked from one to the other for an explanation 
 of this interruption. His second, Stanley, a good
 
 154 The Autobiography of a Man-o' -War's Bell. 
 
 and brave officer, and very much attached to Duck- 
 worth, but who was as unprepared for such treachery 
 as his principal, did not care to enlighten him, as it 
 would reflect upon the careless way in which he had 
 discharged his duties, though he inwardly promised 
 to take care that there should not be a repetition of 
 the act. No such compunction worked in the mind 
 of Morris, who stepped up to the young officer 
 whose life he had saved, and whispered in his ear, 
 " For God's sake, take care, sir; that murdering 
 ruffian wants your heart's blood, and will have 
 nothing less." 
 
 James Duckworth started, looked hard at the 
 sailor, and replied slowly, as if weighing every 
 word,, "Will he? Then, by the living God, I 
 will have his !" 
 
 Again the duel was renewed ; and this time it 
 was patent to all lookers-on that the end was not 
 far off. Henderson was beside himself in his fury, 
 and even Duckworth, hitherto so calm, was roused; 
 his blood was up, and it portended a " short shrift '' 
 for one of them, when the latter met his antagonist's 
 furious onslaught, not with his ordinar^passiveness, 
 but with an -eagerness which showed that he was 
 only waiting his first opportunity to end that scene 
 of treachery and blood ; and it soon came. More
 
 The Autobiography of a Man-o- War's Bell. 155 
 
 impetuous than ever, Henderson gave repeated 
 chances, until a blow he aimed at his adversary 
 having been evaded rather than parried for the 
 young midshipman 'merely sprung on one side 
 his whole body was left defenceless. His sword, 
 missing its object, had struck the narrator with the 
 full force of a blow that would have cleft the skull 
 of any living man, even had he the pate of a negro, 
 causing an indent, and making my metal emit a 
 sharp sound. It was his own funeral knell that he 
 thus unconsciously rang with his weapon. Before 
 he could recover himself, young James Duckworth 
 moved lightly, but swiftly, up again towards him, 
 and drawing his sword arm back until his hand 
 touched his shoulder, delivered the point, and drove 
 the weapon with resistless force through the body of 
 his opponent. The latter stood still for a moment ; 
 a shudder swept through his frame as the cold steel 
 was drawn reeking from his body, and with a single 
 groan he fell dead at the feet of his victorious, 
 adversary. The thick, dark gore rushed in a 
 hot flood from the breast of the dead man, who 
 had been run through the heart the sword's 
 point having been only checked from passing out 
 at the back by the shoulder-blade, against which 
 the extreme point of the weapon had broken off,
 
 156 The Autobiography of a Man-o'-Wars Bell. 
 
 with such force had the fatal thrust been de- 
 livered. 
 
 It was all over now. To the fury and fell pas- 
 sions that animated the combatants, and the fever 
 of anxiety that filled the breasts of the lookers-on, 
 succeeded the awe inspired by the presence of death, 
 and the chilling thought of what was in store on the 
 morrow for them all, principal and seconds, for the 
 latter would be regarded as abettors, and called to 
 account for thus breaking through the bonds of dis- 
 cipline, and turning the deck of His Majesty's ship 
 into an arena for the adjustment of a private quarrel. 
 They were now joined by some of their messmates; 
 one or two bent over the dead officer out of whose 
 body the blood still poured, gathering into a pool at 
 the break of the forecastle, and thence trickling, 
 drop by drop, on to the deck beneath, with a chill, 
 heavy splash, that sounded loud and measured in 
 the stillness that reigned around and heedless of 
 the futility of what they were doing, sought to 
 staunch the flow of the life stream, as if they could 
 thereby bring the soul back into the tenement out 
 of which it had been reft with violence scarce one 
 minure before. These officers had been accustomed 
 to death in all its most horrid forms, and though in 
 its consequences this business might cost them their
 
 The Autobiography of a Man-o' -War's Bell. 157 
 
 commissions, and close the naval career for ever to 
 them, yet they were not the sort of men to waste 
 time in vain lamentations, but rousing up the first 
 lieutenant and surgeon, informed the one of all that 
 had taken place, and brought the latter to the body 
 of the late senior mate. 
 
 Duckworth retained his composure throughout 
 the subsequent trying scene. He went aft, yielded 
 up his sword to Lieutenant Higham, and was placed 
 under arrest. The captain was informed in the 
 morning of what had occurred, and sending for the 
 unfortunate young officer on to the quarter deck, 
 upbraided him for the gross breach of discipline in 
 fighting a duel on board his ship, accused him of 
 ingratitude, and ended by the announcement that he 
 would be tried for his life on the arrival of the ship 
 at Plymouth. 
 
 James Duckworth said not a word until charged 
 with ingratitude, when his face flushed up, and he 
 was about to speak, but was stopped by Captain 
 Gaisford, who thundered out, " Silence, sir; go 
 below, under close arrest." 
 
 The first lieutenant lost no time in learning all 
 the particulars of the quarrel, and when the captain 
 had calmed down a little towards the evening, sought 
 him out, and laid before him the gross provocation
 
 158 The Autobiography of a Man-o-Wars Bell. 
 
 his favourite had received, and the cowardly conduct 
 of his aggressor, whom he maintained had been 
 properly served. Captain Gaisford was somewhat 
 mollified on hearing all that his executive officer had 
 said to him ; but he replied that he cared nothing 
 for the fate of Henderson, who was a brute and a 
 bad officer, and he would not forgive the breach of 
 discipline ; but he said the martial law that governed 
 the Navy must take its course, and he could not 
 depart from his word. 
 
 Now-a-days, the articles of war are very severe, 
 and award death as a punishment for what are con- 
 sidered very trivial offences ; but in the times of 
 which we write, it may be said with truth that the 
 code was written in characters of blood. Death, 
 therefore, would certainly be the sentence that would 
 be meted out to Duckworth by any court-martial that 
 sat to hear the charges preferred against him ; and, 
 notwithstanding every plea put forward in his de- 
 fence by Lieut. Jacob Higham, the captain remained 
 inflexible, and persisted that justice must be carried 
 out. So matters stood. 
 
 Sailors are notorious for their love of story- 
 telling or " spinning yarns /' and in those days of 
 wars, I have heard many most thrilling accounts of
 
 The Autobiography of a Man-o -War's Bell. 159 
 
 adventures in the battle and the breeze; of cutting- 
 out affairs, and other desperate deeds in which the 
 narrators no boasters, as the scars they bore testi- 
 fied had taken prominent parts; of lengthened 
 confinement in French prisons, with hard fare and 
 harder treatment; of adventures in uninhabited 
 islands on which they had been shipwrecked ; and 
 of numberless hair-breadth escapes in " battle, fire, 
 and wreck." It was during the pleasant evenings, 
 while running for " the line " with the " south-east 
 trades," that a knot of old salts and youngsters 
 would assemble in a favourite spot close to me; 
 here sitting on the break of the forecastle, with 
 their legs dangling over the deck or seated on the 
 rail, but always with pipes in their mouths, the 
 " watch below would listen by the hour to some- 
 yarn, " tough" as the "old horse" they had for 
 dinner that day, while the younger hands of the 
 watch on duty, when not engaged, would swallow 
 with equal eagerness the stories of "antres vast and 
 deserts idle." This the latter were enabled to 
 do almost without interruption during those jolly 
 tropical evenings, for the south-east trade, when once 
 you get fairly into it, will carry you nearly from the 
 latitude of the Cape to within a few degrees of the 
 line, without you having to "touch a rope-yarn."
 
 160 The Autobiography of a Man-o' -War's Bell. 
 
 After all the stormy weather we had experienced, and 
 the hard actions we had been engaged in, it was a 
 great relief even to the most fire-eating tar on board, 
 to have for a brief space neither Frenchmen to fight 
 nor " stormy winds to blow " and harass them night 
 as well as day in trimming sails, reefing topsails, 
 sending masts and yards down, and securing the 
 guns. Among stories that impressed themselves 
 on my memory, was one told by the master-at- 
 arms.* 
 
 The sea is full of mysteries and unrevealed 
 secrets ; but no man can have followed a sailor's life 
 for many years without encountering incidents that 
 appeared inexplicable. Often have we passed, and 
 perhaps picked up, floating on the wide expanse of 
 sea, articles, valueless in themselves, but once 
 cherished by warm hearts. These waifs of the 
 sea were, doubtless, relics of human passions, and 
 links in a chain of human interest now snapped for 
 ever, and have never been traced ; though, perhaps, 
 
 * The title of this petty officer is a relic of the old days 
 when there was no regular navy, but merchant ships were 
 hired, fitted with guns, and manned by the king's soldiers, 
 the ship being worked by her own crew, under their master. 
 It was only in Henry the Eighth's reign that the first regular 
 man-o'-war was built and retained in the service of the 
 country for fighting purposes only.
 
 The A utobwgraphy of a Man-d- Wars Bell. 1 6 1 
 
 some heart mourned long and faithfully the owner 
 who never more returned. 
 
 The master-at-arms' tale partakes of this charac- 
 ter of mystery, and has the merit of truth still 
 further to recommend it : 
 
 " We had been knocking about the Indian seas 
 for some weeks seeking to make Trincomalee, for 
 soon after leaving Madras Roads, a heavy westerly 
 gale drove us far out of our course, and for days we 
 were unable to take observations, owing to the sun 
 being obscured. I was then serving on board a 
 brig-of-war, an old tub that had long seen her day, 
 and ought by rights to have been in the ship- 
 breaker's yard, instead of knocking about the high 
 seas. However, we managed to weather the gale, 
 and tried to patch the brig up and refit aloft, for the 
 state of the barometer showed only too plainly that 
 we had in all likelihood not seen the last of the bad 
 weather. That evening we sighted something that 
 looked like the hull of a vessel floating about. On 
 nearing her we found that all her masts and the 
 bowsprit had gone by the board. We hailed her, but 
 got no answer; but to make sure that none of her 
 crew were still on board, the captain lowered a boat, 
 and as I was one of the crew holding the rating of 
 ordinary seaman in the books of the ' Thalia' I
 
 1 62 The Autobiography of a Man-d -War's Bell. 
 
 proceeded in the boat. The lieutenant commanding 
 the cutter hailed the derelict as we approached her, 
 but received no answer. In another minute we were 
 alongside, and swinging ourselves on board the best 
 way we could, with the aid of a rope's end or two 
 hanging over the ship's side, half a dozen of us were 
 soon standing on the decks of the silent ship. The 
 cause of this quiet soon became apparent. A more 
 dismal scene than that presented on board that 
 vessel I have never seen during my forty-four years' 
 service afloat. Splintered spars entangled in canvas 
 and rigging were scattered around in confusion ; 
 the decks were lumbered up with the debris of gear, 
 while the planks and fittings of a boat probably 
 the launch, which had been stowed amidships were 
 lying about. The wind and the waves had worked 
 sad havoc ; but more terrible than the destruction of 
 a once noble ship were the scenes which further in- 
 vestigation brought to light. Below a heap of 
 rigging, and broken by the weight of a spar which 
 lay across it, were the bones of a human being. It 
 was an entire skeleton, the skull and ribs of which 
 had been crushed almost on a level with the deck. 
 
 "Further search revealed a more hideous 
 spectacle : five other skeletons were discovered ; 
 and on four of these there yet remained a slight
 
 The Autobiography of a Man-o 1 - War's Bell. 163 
 
 covering of crisp flesh, showing that they had died 
 more recently than the other two. Many pots and 
 cooking vessels were found on board, but not one of 
 them contained the least particle of food. This cir- 
 cumstance seemed to denote that these wretched 
 men had all died by the most agonizing and linger- 
 ing of human deaths, and proportionately excited 
 our pity. 
 
 "The vessel, which bore no name over the taff- 
 rail, as merchant ships do, had been brig-rigged, but 
 all her spars were gone. The foremast had been cut 
 away to save her from foundering a step only taken 
 as a last resort ; the mainmast had gone by the board, 
 and the bowsprit close by the ' gammoning.' 
 Altogether the ship was as complete a wreck as ever 
 floated on the waters, and so she was pronounced by 
 the most experienced among us. 
 
 "We now continued our researches. A most 
 overpowering stench assailed us as we prepared to 
 enter the forecastle, which was filled with water; it 
 was only with some difficulty that two of us, I being 
 one, consented to enter, and remain long enough 
 inside to report on its contents. There were two 
 corpses on the floor, and one stretched across a 
 1 bunk/ partially covered with bed clothes all three 
 bodies being in the most digusting stage of decom-
 
 164 The Autobiography of a Man-tf -War's Bell. 
 
 position. Proceeding aft, we found the wheel-house 
 had been carried away, no doubt by a tremendous 
 sea which had swept the decks ; and looking over the 
 taffrail, the rudder was seen to be no longer in its 
 place. The brig was flush, having no poop, but we 
 proceeded down the companion leading into the 
 cabin, for the purpose of continuing our investiga- 
 tions below. At the bottom of the companion was 
 a pool of fetid water, through which we had to wade 
 in order to search every portion of the interior. On 
 passing into the cabin, a foul odour was discovered, 
 but not so bad as assailed us while investigating the 
 secrets of the forecastle, and we were all able to 
 enter. The following was the scene that met our 
 gaze : 
 
 " Between a stationary table and a couch, the 
 head of a corpse protruded from a sleeping-berth in 
 the bulkhead, in a state of decay, and presenting the 
 most ghastly spectacle. A buttoned jacket of good 
 material, blue serge pantaloons, a flannel shirt, 
 marked J. F., and one boot, formed the clothing of 
 the corpse, which lay outside the bed. The chrono- 
 meter in the cabin pointed to half-past four o'clock, 
 and on the table was an open Bible turned down- 
 ward, a pair of loaded pistols in a case, as if placed 
 ready for use, and a small bottle. On taking it up,
 
 The Autobiography of a Man-o-Wars Bell. 165 
 
 we found that it contained a piece of paper, on which 
 was scrawled in scarely legible characters, ' Lord, 
 guide us to some helper ! Merciful God ! why let us 
 perish ?' The words, irrespective of their meaning, 
 expressed in the most pathetic manner the extremity 
 of human suffering and earnest supplication; they 
 were written in a detached form, and a hiatus 
 occurred between every two or three words, evidently 
 showing that the ill-fated writer must have been 
 either in the lowest stage of debility, or driven to 
 madness by hunger. Proceeding into the cabin 
 beyond, evidently that of the captain, we came upon 
 his corpse. There it lay on the floor, mouldering 
 and doubled up as if he had fallen from weakness, 
 and died where he fell. This completed the ghastly 
 remains of the gallant men once forming the crew of 
 the nameless derelict now floating unheeded on the 
 troubled waters of that distant eastern sea. 
 
 " On making search we soon found some 
 articles, by which we hoped to trace the identity of 
 the brig and her late crew. On the captain's bed 
 were scattered books and papers, but one sheet 
 attracted particular notice. It was dated ' At sea, 
 14th January, 1731,' and ran as follows: 'Dear 
 Emma I will post this letter on arriving at Madras, 
 to assure you of my well-being, and that though so
 
 1 66 The Autobiography of a Man-o -War's Bell. 
 
 many years have elapsed since we parted in Old 
 England, that my affection for you remains un- 
 dimmed, indeed, is perhaps increased by time and 
 absence. I have got on famously, and have at 
 length reached the summit of my ambition. I am 
 my own master, and the master, too, of a fine brig, 
 which though old and rather cranky for these seas, 
 will, I daresay, last my time and enable me to make 
 enough money in three voyages to return to England, 
 when I hope we shall never part again. Your father 
 will not turn me away from his door when I show 
 him a bag of 2000, which 1 hope to clear before I 
 return home. I have kept all my promises to you in 
 spite of a thousand temptations, and many bad, 
 drinking shipmates. Your picture and letters I keep 
 always beside me ; scarcely a day passes but I look 
 at them and read a letter. Direct to Mr. Haver's at 
 Madras, as before, when^you can find opportunity to 
 write a few lines. Good-bye, and God bless you. 
 Yours for ever and ever. JAMES H. HOLLAND/ 
 
 " There was no address on the letter; the ship's 
 regular papers were not found, but there was a 
 writing-desk, which, as it was locked, the lieutenant 
 in charge of the boat took with him unopened on 
 board the brio-. There was a slate on the table in 
 
 D 
 
 the cabin, which was, no doubt, used for taking
 
 The Autobiography of a Man-o '-Wars Bell. 167 
 
 down the log in rough, but we could decipher only 
 blurred figures, the writing being totally illegible. 
 The table was covered by guards, such as are used in 
 rough weather to prevent the dishes and plates from 
 being carried away, and which are known at sea as 
 ' fiddles.' In the captain's trunk, which was un- 
 locked, were found numerous letters, but they and 
 everything portable that was of any value or interest, 
 were removed into the boat for the purpose of being 
 taken on board the brig. Having hailed the latter, 
 which lay-to close by, the lieutenant received permis- 
 sion to perform the last sad offices for the remains 
 of our unfortunate countrymen, 
 
 " The boat was sent on board the ' Thalia/ and 
 returned with the sail-maker and his tools, a prayer- 
 book, and some other necessaries ; and as night was 
 closing in, and the weather looked threatening, we 
 quickly made the necessary preparations for a 
 ' funeral at sea/ A quantity of old canvas lying 
 about the decks was cut up and sewn into bags, 
 which formed coffins for the dead. A long board 
 was laid upon a sound portion of the bulwarks, and 
 round shot were attached to the bags ; the service for 
 the Burial of the Dead at Sea was now reverently 
 performed by the uncertain light of two lanthorns, 
 held one on each side of the officer by a sailor for it
 
 168 The Autobiography of a Man-o'-War's Bell. 
 
 was now dark ; and as the plank was tilted upward, 
 one by one the skeletons in their shotted bags fell 
 with a dull splash into the sea. The ceremony con- 
 cluded, we all, almost without exchanging a word, 
 for the sad duty had struck a chill to the hearts ot 
 the most careless of us, returned to the cutter, and 
 pulled back to the ' Thalia/ 
 
 "Although the conduct of all engaged in the 
 performance of these last melancholy offices to our 
 fellow-seamen was marked with an unusual degree 
 of solemnity, little did any of my messmates think 
 that no friendly hand would ever consign them to 
 the grave, and no voice repeat over their remains the 
 consolitory words from Holy Writ, selected by the 
 Church for this most solemn of all the ceremonies 
 in which we can take part. 
 
 "But the tragic fate that was to overtake the 
 crew of the ' Thalia ' was even now pursuing them, 
 and before another night fell, the sea had engulfed 
 another holocaust of Britain's best and bravest 
 seamen. 
 
 " Hardly had we placed our feet on the deck of 
 the brig, and the boats were hoisted up, than the 
 storm which had been brewing, was upon us. 
 Warned by the distant mutterings of the thunder 
 and the vivid flashes on the horizon, which por.
 
 The Autobiography of a Man-o'-Wars Bell. 169 
 
 tended what is called in those seas a ' Sumatra/ 
 from their usually coming off the island of that 
 name,, our captain shortened sail, and made all 
 preparations for the tempest. Everything was 
 secured below and aloft, and all hands would have 
 been quite at their ease had we had a sound plank 
 under our feet. Sailors care not how hard it blows, 
 if they have plenty of sea-room and a tight ship; 
 but a lee- shore appals the bravest heart, and a leak 
 is the most terrible spectre that can haunt the breast 
 of poor Jack. Unhappily, we all knew that we had 
 grave cause for anxiety as regarded the condition of 
 the ' Thalia' on the latter point; but our v/orst fears 
 were soon more than realized, and we found that 
 the brig had sustained so much damage in the recent 
 bad weather, that she was little better than a sieve. 
 
 " Before midnight the wind was blowing a strong 
 gale, and the sea had risen with surprising rapidity. 
 Early in the gale a sea broke on board abaft, and 
 carried away the mainsail, which we had set reefed ; 
 soon another sea tumbled on board at the waist, and 
 shattered the pinnace, which was secured on the 
 chocks, carrying away with it, as it receded to 
 leeward, three hands, who were busy over some job 
 amidships. 
 
 " The brig began to strain heavily, and made
 
 1 70 The A utobiography of a Man-o'- War's Bell. 
 
 water fast ; strong gangs were put on to the pumps, 
 but all their efforts were fruitless, and the water 
 gained on us slowly at first, but quicker the longer 
 the ship remained exposed to the fury of the storm. 
 A little after midnight, a strong squall split the 
 foresail. We unbent it, and bent another, but it 
 also was carried away while we were setting it. The 
 brig now lay-to under a foretopmast-staysail and 
 close-reefed foretopsail, but the wind at times blew 
 with such intensity and suddenness, that momen- 
 tarily we thought every rag would be blown away. 
 To lighten the vessel and enable her to ride more 
 buoyantly, the guns were, one after another, thrown 
 overboard, until only two six-pounders (boat-guns) 
 were left. This sensibly relieved the brig, and she 
 appeared more easy; but unless the storm decreased, 
 we began to see there was little hope of her weather- 
 ing it, for the leak gained on us with alarming- 
 rapidity. All efforts to reduce the water were 
 fruitless, and the captain determined to have re- 
 course to baling as well. Accordingly, the tarpau- 
 lins and gratings were removed, a barrel was rigged, 
 and a party told off" to bale the ship ; but a terrible 
 mishap soon put a stop to this. A huge ' green 
 sea' was seen to rear itself on our quarter ; a cry of 
 warning was raised by the officer on duty, and all
 
 The Autobiography of a Man-o'-Wars Bell. 171 
 
 hands on deck rushed for protection and shelter 
 where they could, clinging to the bulwarks, to ropes, 
 to anything that afforded a hold ; but vain was any 
 help against such an enemy. The vast volume of 
 water burst on board with a mighty roar, and the 
 decks were in a moment deluged with the flood. 
 Smiting down the puny form of every man on the 
 deck, it swept off every living soul, and poured down 
 the open hatch in a cataract. The brig-of-war 
 shook and groaned in every timber, and fell over 
 almost on her beam ends, and would certainly have 
 gone down there and then, had not the foremast 
 snapped oft' short by the deck, and gone over the 
 side, thus relieving her in a measure from the pres- 
 sure of the wind. 
 
 " I was down on the lower deck at the time, it 
 being my watch below, but, in common with every- 
 body, rushed up the fore-hatch, as I thought the 
 ship was going down. Merciful Heaven ! what a 
 scene met my gaze. The ship was a wreck, like 
 the ill-fated vessel we had boarded the previous day, 
 while the sea ran literally mountains high. I can 
 use no other expression to describe the enormous 
 masses of water heaving around, and under us, as 
 if impelled by the forces of a submarine earthquake. 
 A dreadful sight caught my eye to leeward : the
 
 172 The Autobiography of a Man V- War's Bell. 
 
 receding wave was carrying off on its angry crest 
 half the ship's company, and in the last hurried 
 glimpse I caught sight of many a well-known face 
 which had beamed with light-hearted jollity on 
 Saturday evenings when some of us would have 
 our song and rattling chorus, and others call upon 
 the ship's fiddler to strike up ' Jack's the lad/ or 
 some other tune, while we footed it smartly on the 
 deck. The captain was also gone, and half the 
 officers ; while alone on the deck stood the helms- 
 man two seamen who were assisting him and the 
 quartermaster having disappeared. Still the bonds 
 of discipline were not relaxed. 
 
 " The first lieutenant gave the necessary orders, 
 and when the ship slowly righted herself, we secured 
 the hatches, and battened them down. Nothing 
 could be done in the way of baling, and though a 
 party stuck manfully to the pumps, we could not be 
 blind to the fact that our peril from foundering was 
 most imminent, and that, unless the tempest speedily 
 abated, all hope of the brig weathering the gale must 
 be abandoned. She had fallen off the wind, but we 
 managed to lay her to again, though her water-logged 
 condition and the loss of the foremast rendered her 
 unmanageable. 
 
 " Drenched through, and almost without hope,
 
 The Autobiography of a Man-o -War's Bell. 173 
 
 we continued to work the pumps, though, with five 
 feet of water on board and the desperate condition 
 of affairs, it was like combating against the in- 
 evitable. The sea raged around us with unabated 
 fury, and swept away the bowsprit ; and soon after- 
 wards the ship giving a fearful lurch, the mainmast 
 went by the board, killing one or two poor fellows. 
 The brig tossed and surged on her spars with great 
 violence, and it seemed as if they would knock holes 
 in her sides. At length, with some difficulty, we 
 were able to cut the rigging, and disengage the 
 wreck, which floated clear. The brig now lay help- 
 less on the water, dismasted, and with the rudder- 
 head disabled. We wedged the rudder, and repaired 
 damages as well as possible; and the brig was kept 
 with her head to wind by some tarpaulins spread 
 abaft. So the night passed away; but when the 
 morning broke, so far from the light bringing us 
 any hope, it only plunged us into a deeper abyss of 
 despair. 
 
 " By the grey streaks of dawn we could discern, 
 within a mile or so of the ship, the shore of a low- 
 lying island on which could be seen some palm-trees. 
 All hope of safety now vanished, for the sea was 
 raging so violently that we knew we could not pass 
 through the white line of breakers without being
 
 174 Tfie Autobiography of a Man-o" -War's Bell. 
 
 dashed lifeless on the strand. Our boats were all 
 gone; the ship was drifting helplessly towards the 
 land, and we could not tack while we had not room 
 to wear. Thus we watched and waited for the 
 minutes now fast approaching, when, the brig 
 having stranded and gone to pieces, we should be 
 precipitated into the boiling surf, and left to fight, 
 each man as best he might, his way to the unknown 
 shore we were approaching. 
 
 " I will pass over the few minutes that inter- 
 vened, all the more agonizing as we could make no 
 effort to avert the fate that was reserved for us. A 
 heavier wave than almost any before, and the ill- 
 fated ( Thalia ' was hurled on the beach, but, owing 
 to the shallow water, too far out for an attempt to 
 land being made with any chance of success. A 
 few men in desperation jumped overboard to swim 
 to land with lines round them, so that we might 
 haul them back if unsuccessful ; but they were killed 
 or drowned almost immediately, and the lines parted. 
 Some were dashed back against the ship, others were 
 overtaken by the gigantic rollers, and were cast about 
 like corks, and seen no more. The rest of us re- 
 mained aboard, but it was only for death to meet us 
 instead of cur going forward to seek him. The brig 
 was overwhelmed by wave after wave, three following
 
 The A utobiography of a Man-o- Wars Bell. 1 7 5 
 
 in rapid succession ; and at the last she parted with 
 a crash, and went into a thousand pieces, ' like 
 matchwood. 
 
 " I saw nothing more of my companions, and 
 found myself battling wildly with the surf. I was a 
 powerful swimmer, but all my efforts to reach the 
 shore appeared vain. One moment, indeed, owing to 
 superhuman exertions and my being forced forward 
 by the advancing sea, I felt my feet tread terra 
 firma; but then, as the receding wave carried me 
 back, I was swept out again. But my hour had not 
 yet come. I had struggled thus desperately for some 
 minutes for dear life, and had escaped, as by a 
 miracle, death or injury from the heavy spars and 
 timbers which were washing about, when once again 
 I was borne on the crest of a great wave, and dashed 
 half-senseless and bleeding on the beach. I tried 
 eagerly to rise, but felt one of my legs give way 
 under me. A feeling of despair took possession of 
 me, and I gave myself up for lost; and so I should 
 have been, but that the boot on my right leg had 
 caught in a crevice between some large boulders 
 lying on the beach, and the receding wave was thus 
 prevented from dragging me back. At this moment 
 occurred one of those periodical lulls which may often 
 be noted in the severest gales. I was thus enabled to
 
 176 The Autobiography of a Man-d 1 -War's Bell. 
 
 drag this boot off the other one had been washed 
 away already ; and having thus disengaged my leg, I 
 raised myself, and managed to crawl high enough up 
 the beach to be out of the reach of the sea, which in 
 a minute or so roared more fiercely than ever, as if 
 furious at having allowed a single victim to escape. 
 
 " I looked round to see if any of my shipmates 
 were saved, but I could not see a living soul. Some 
 few bodies were washing about hither and thither 
 amongst the wreckage, and one it was that of a 
 ship's boy was flung by a sea at my feet, as if in 
 exultation at the destruction wrought ; not one of the 
 gallant hearts, recently instinct with life and hope, 
 but now lay cold and pulseless. I cried out the 
 names of some of them, but the howling wind only 
 answered my voice. I was alone, the sole survivor 
 of 115 officers and men. All were gone to their rest, 
 with no one to mourn over them, while the wind and 
 sea sang their requiem : 
 
 ' There's on the lone, lone sea, 
 A spot unmarked, but holy, 
 For there the gallant and the free 
 In their ocean bed lie lowly. 
 
 ' Down, down beneath the deep, 
 
 That oft to triumph bore them, 
 They sleep a calm and peaceful slesp, 
 The salt waves dashing o'er them.
 
 The Autobiography of a Matt-o'-Wars Bell. 177 
 
 ' And though no stone may tell 
 
 Their name, their work, their glory, 
 They rest in hearts that loved them well, 
 They grace Britannia's story.' 
 
 "After recovering from the condition of extreme ex- 
 haustion into which my efforts at escape had brought 
 me, I began to look about me, but the prospect was 
 drear indeed. I had been cast upon a small, and, 
 as appeared, an uninhabited island, the entire extent 
 of which was apparent at the first glance. It could 
 not be more than about one mile across, and the 
 highest point scarcely exceeded an elevation of 
 twenty feet above the level of the sea. There were 
 no animals, and the only living things, besides shell- 
 fish in a small group of rocks, were sea birds, which, 
 in countless myriads, made this desert island their 
 home. The only vegetation, in addition to short 
 scrubby-looking grass, was a few clumps of palm- 
 trees. 
 
 '' Before nightfall, I had walked round mv new 
 
 O * J 
 
 domain, and though, unhappily, I was lord of all I 
 surveyed, the prospect before me, and the condition 
 of my kingdom were equally dismal and unpromising. 
 The ground inland was covered with sea birds' nests, 
 and I had eggs in abundance to eat. The birds them- 
 selves were so tame, owing to never before having 
 
 12
 
 178 The Autobiography of a Man-o -War's Bell. 
 
 seen one of my species, that I was easily able to 
 knock over as many as I wanted. I determined not 
 to frighten them, however, by useless slaughter, but 
 having killed one, lit a fire with a flint and some dried 
 sticks, and cooked him upon it. I found the flavour 
 of what was to be my staple article of diet anything 
 but agreeable to the palate ; the eggs were better, 
 and altogether, after all' I had gone through, I felt 
 deeply thankful that I had even this hard fare. It 
 might have been worse, and my home might have 
 been a coral reef, when it would speedily have been 
 transformed into my grave. Here life could be sup- 
 ported, for there was spring water in abundance in 
 one of the groves, and plenty of food, such as it was. 
 '' I will not give details of my solitary life in this 
 spot, which I afterwards found was one of the Cocos, 
 a group of islands in the Bay of Bengal, about forty 
 miles from the Andamans. Luckily, I was not cast 
 upon one of the latter, or I should have been speedily 
 consigned to the cannibal's pot, and transformed into 
 black man; indeed, the same dreadful fate would 
 have awaited me on some of the Cocos group, of 
 which the larger, I believe, are inhabited. Week 
 after week passed away, but there appeared no pros- 
 pect whatever of my being rescued and brought 
 back to civilization. I only sighted one vessel
 
 The Autobiography of a Man-o'-War's Bell. 179 
 
 during all that time, and she passed so far from the 
 island, that though I set fire to a great stack of dried 
 wood I had raised, neither the flame nor the dense 
 volume of smoke attracted the notice of the crew. 
 At all events, if it did, they doubtless thought it was 
 raised by the aborigines, and, sailing away, left me 
 alone. I shall never forget the sensations of despair 
 and grief with which I watched the ship grow- 
 ing smaller and smaller 011 the distant horizon, 
 then saw the setting sun just bringing the white 
 speck into prominence for a brief moment, only to 
 disappear in the darkness of night. 
 
 " I had often thought of building for myself a hut 
 from the wreckage of the old ' Thalia ' still strewing 
 the beach, but owing to want of energy, had deferred 
 commencing it from day to day, now intending to 
 wait for fine weather, and then putting it off because 
 the sun was too hot. The temperature was so uni- 
 formly warm that I could sleep in the open air without 
 discomfort, but as it might get colder, I resolved to set 
 about constructing some sort of a house. At length, 
 one day I determined to begin on the morrow, but when 
 that morrow dawned, I felt so indisposed that I once 
 more put off commencing operations till the next day. 
 It was, indeed, providential that I had been so unde- 
 cided, or rather lazy, for when I awoke on the following
 
 180 The Autobiography of a Man-o* -War's Bell. 
 
 morning, I descried, making for the island, a small 
 canoe under sail, and manned by three men. The 
 wind was blowing fresh on to the island, and probably 
 they had been fishing, and were driven by the stress 
 of weather to shelter here. Had I built a hut they 
 would have seen it easily from any part of the beach, 
 as the groves of palms, with their tall trunks devoid 
 of leaves, except at the top, afforded no concealment. 
 Still my position became most perilous, as I could 
 only conceal myself in a clump of these palms, and 
 any search among them would lead to my detection. 
 Luckily, the savages, who were perfectly naked and 
 appeared of short stature, did not commence an ex- 
 ploration, but, lighting a fire, proceeded to cook their 
 dinners. All that day I remained hid in the grove 
 in a state of trepidation, and praying earnestly for 
 fair weather, that I might get rid of my objectionable 
 visitors. The wind fell with the setting sun, and to 
 my unspeakable joy the savages launched their canoe 
 soon after, and paddled off by the light of the moon. 
 They must have come some distance, though the 
 land whence they came, if low-lying, might have 
 been nearer than I had imagined. 
 
 11 On the following morning, I climbed up one of 
 the tall palms, cutting notches in the stem with a 
 hatchet that had been washed ashore ; and looking in
 
 The A utobiography of a Man-o- War ^Bell. \ 8 1 
 
 the direction the canoe had taken, easily made out 
 two islands lying close together, and certainly not 
 distant more than about fifteen or twenty miles. 
 
 " I now gave up my design of building myself a 
 house,, and as I occasionally saw canoes with natives in 
 them, fishing not many miles distant, I considered it 
 prudent to avoid lighting fires to attract the attention 
 of passing ships. This proximity of savages not 
 only rendered my safety extremely precarious, but 
 took away all hope of my ever being rescued. As I 
 recognized my real position, my heart for the first 
 time gave way to feelings of utter despair. For days 
 I scarcely ate anything, but roamed about my small 
 domain in a purposeless sort of way. I bitterly 
 regretted now that I had not perished with my ship- 
 mates, instead of being permitted to linger on here 
 without hope of ever returning to my native country 
 and friends, and tortured with the never ceasing 
 danger of being discovered by savages, and put to a 
 cruel death. But my rescue was nearer than I 
 expected, or could for a moment have hoped. 
 
 " On waking one morning and taking my first 
 glance around the horizon for a sail which I did 
 every morning, from habit, I could hardly believe 
 my eyes when I saw anchored within half a mile of 
 the shore, a large " country " barque, as the native
 
 1 82 The Autobiography of a Man-o' -War's Bell. 
 
 owned and manned vessels of the Eastern seas are 
 called. I could not credit my senses, but stood as 
 one transfixed. My brain appeared to reel, and I 
 momentarily lost the use of my eyesight. Making 
 an effort, I aroused myself, rubbed my eyes to make 
 sure I was not dreaming, or subject to an hallucina- 
 tion, and looked round me to see if nature wore its 
 ordinary aspect. Everything looked as usual, and T 
 turned again quickly towards the direction in which 
 the ship lay. There she was, sure enough, at her 
 anchorage, rising and falling on the long swell, and 
 with her sails not furled, but hanging in the bunt- 
 lines. 
 
 " It was true, then, and I was neither dreaming 
 nor mad. It meant that I was saved. The next 
 moment, however, I found myself screaming out 
 something, and running down to the beach very 
 much like a maniac. I took off the sorry rags cloth- 
 ing my body, the sole remnant I had saved or picked 
 up from the wreck, and waved them in the breeze, 
 hallooing at the top of my voice. Some minutes 
 passed, but no one appeared attracted by the sound 
 of my voice. Strange to say, I was not noticed, 
 and, to my dismay, I saw two or three men slowly 
 making their way up the rigging, as if to overhaul the 
 buntlines previous to making sail. I looked on
 
 The Autobiography of a Man-o'-War's Bell. 183 
 
 aghast, and my car caught the distant click of the 
 windlass, as the anchor was being hove up. Seized 
 with despair, and resolved not to be forsaken, I 
 determined to make one last effort to escape the 
 fearful fate awaiting me on that desert island. I 
 plunged into the sea for the purpose of swimming off 
 to the ship. This was not beyond my powers when 
 in health, for I had often swam even longer distances ; 
 but I was weakened by privations, and the mental 
 sufferings I had latterly endured had affected my 
 strength, equally with the want of proper nourish- 
 ment. I found I could swim with difficulty, and 
 with none of that buoyant elasticity I had often 
 prided myself upon. I felt I was totally unequal to 
 the effort, but yet resolved to persevere or perish in 
 the attempt. I screamed out as loud as I could. I 
 was seen, for a boat which was astern of the barque 
 was pulled alongside, and some men jumped into it. 
 
 " Oh_, what happiness ! The prospect of succour 
 nerved my arm, and I struck out with redoubled 
 energy; but my strength was already spent. Though 
 full of hope, I felt my head every now and then sink- 
 ing beneath the surface; making strenuous exertions, 
 I breathed again freely. Again my head was below 
 the wave, and I felt half-choked. I struck out 
 wildly over my head and around ; a moment more,
 
 184 The Autobiography of a Man-d" -War's Bell. 
 
 and my arm appeared as if paralyzed. I felt myself 
 going; the water closed over me; one final effort 
 more, but it was ineffectual, The bitter thought 
 coursed rapidly though my brain that my rescuers 
 would, after all, come too late, and I should die. I 
 remember it was the last effort of the mind, as con- 
 sciousness was leaving me. But I was mistaken. 
 
 " I learned afterwards that, as I was sinking for 
 the third time, the bowman in the ' dingey ' that had 
 put off from the country ship, plunged his hand 
 beneath the surface of the water, and seized the hair 
 of my head. I was ill a long time, and recovered 
 but slowly, for my health and strength had been 
 sapped by the bad diet and the terrible anxiety of 
 mind I had gone through during the past eight 
 weeks. 
 
 " I learned from my preservers that the barque 
 was bound from Manilla to Bombay, between which 
 ports she traded. I received every kindness from 
 the captain who was a half-caste, and could speak 
 English fluently and from his officers, and felt very 
 grateful for all their attentions. I was too weak to 
 crawl up to the deck for a long time, and a few days 
 after I made my first appearance there, to inhale the 
 fresh breezes after sunset, the high land about Car- 
 inja was sighted. My troubles were now at an end.
 
 The Autobiography of a Mana 1 War's Bell. 185 
 
 We arrived at Bombay on the following day, when I 
 landed, and reported myself as the sole survivor of 
 the crew of the 'Thalia/ I was subjected to many 
 examinations, and at length proceeded to England 
 in the first of His Majesty's ships homeward 
 bound."
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 THE Captain of the Forecastle gave us some expe- 
 riences of his life, which, as actual occurrences in our 
 naval history, speak of the matchless hardihood of 
 British seamen. Napoleon used to laud as the 
 rarest description of bravery what he called, " Two- 
 o'clock-in-the-morning courage," alluding to an 
 anecdote related of a gentleman of Avignon, named 
 Grillon, who sustained his reputation for coolness 
 and resolution during a sudden surprise at that 
 early hour of the morning.* The stories we are 
 about to tell are good examples of this "Two- 
 o'elock-in-the-morning courage." 
 
 11 In one of my voyages from Glasgow to 
 America," said the Captain of the Forecastle, "I 
 had a narrow escape from experiencing the hardships 
 of the interior of a French prison. I was a foremast- 
 hand on board the ' Euphemia/ a small merchant 
 
 * The anecdote is told in " Sully's Memoirs," vol. iii. p. 
 409 ; note. See edition of 1812.
 
 The Autobiography of a Man-o- War's Bell. 187 
 
 brig, and at daylight one morning, when nearing the 
 latitude of Gibraltar, was the first to sight a large 
 ship astern, close-hauled on the starboard tack, 
 standing to the southward. Soon after I reported 
 the circumstance to our captain, a young man of 
 twenty-two, it was observed that the stranger had 
 bore up, and was making sail in chase. As we were 
 running before the wind, and the stranger was a con- 
 siderable distance astern, plenty of time was given 
 for anxious consideration of the course we should 
 adopt. We ' took stock ' of our strength, and 
 hazarded guesses at that of the enemy, who, it was 
 evident, even at that great distance, was a ship-of- 
 war ; for the practised eye of a sailor can tell the 
 difference by the cut of the canvas, and other pecu- 
 liarities. Our means of defence were very limited. 
 The crew of the 'Euphemia/ including boys and 
 officers, mustered 25 hands, and her armament con- 
 sisted of eight 12-pounder carronades, and two 
 3-pounders, most diminutive pieces of ordnance. 
 
 " At 1 1 a.m., when the stranger was about two 
 miles distant, she hoisted an English ensign and 
 pendant, which only increased the suspicion pre- 
 viously existing, that she was an enemy. In another 
 hour, when she was within pistol-shot range, she 
 threw off the mask, and, showing French colours,
 
 1 88 The A utobiography of a Man-o- War's Bell. 
 
 fired a gun athwart our fore-foot. She appeared to 
 be a large corvette, mounting 22 guns, with her 
 decks and tops crowded with men. 
 
 " On board the ' Euphemia } we had made every 
 preparation for resistance ; and now, notwithstand- 
 ing the overpowering force of the enemy, the crew, 
 true to the character of British seamen, stood to 
 their guns, resolved not to strike without a fight for 
 it. Our young captain, 'a regular fire-eater, who I 
 believe cared for nothing above ground, or, for the 
 matter of that, ' in the waters under the earth/ 
 coolly examined his huge antagonist, and having 
 satisfied himself that there was no chance of success- 
 ful resistance, but that we must strike sooner or 
 later in the conflict, called out to his men, ' Now, 
 lads, you see exactly the enemy's force. What do 
 you say ? Shall we fight her, or haul the colours 
 down ? ' 
 
 " One strapping big Irishman, the captain of one 
 of the guns, took upon himself to answer for the 
 crew, and sang out in reply, ' We'll stand by you, 
 sir, every man of us ; and we'll go down with you/ 
 It was like the cheek of this fellow, who was not 
 remarkable for the possession of the virtue of 
 modesty." 
 
 " Ah ! " broke in one of the auditors of the
 
 The Autobiography of a Man-o' -War's Bell. 189 
 
 Captain of the Forecastle, " I'll go bail I know who 
 that same chap was. It was Bob Lyde, cap'n of the 
 fo'castle aboard the ' Melpomene/ " 
 
 The narrator blushed like a "bread-and-butter" 
 school-girl, and did not deny the soft impeachment. 
 After two or three queries from his listeners, he pro- 
 ceeded with his narrative. 
 
 "The crew, though gallant fellows enough, evi- 
 dently did not relish the idea of an encounter with 
 so strong an opponent; but no man liked to put 
 himself forward as the spokesman. The captain 
 looked at his handful of men, who were all at their 
 stations under his eyes ; but there was no further 
 response. Our flag still fluttered aloft, and every 
 moment we expected a broadside to be poured into 
 us. At last, after a few moments of painful sus- 
 pense, the man at the wheel, who, from his station, 
 and the sheer of the deck, was very much exposed, 
 pointed out the hopelessness of the contest, and con- 
 jured the captain not to expose his crew to certain 
 destruction. The remainder of the men now 
 plucked up heart to speak, and expressed their 
 willingness to fight when there was any chance of 
 success, but considered themselves overmatched in 
 the present instance. 
 
 " I can say now, that the men of the ' Euphemia'
 
 The Autobiography of a Man-o -War's Bell. 
 
 were perfectly right in the course they pursued; and 
 no sane man would have been justified in engaging 
 a regular ship-of-war with such a disparity of force. 
 Where success is hopeless, there is no disgrace in 
 yielding to the fortune of war. 
 
 " The captain, seeing that he could do nothing 
 with a crew who were opposed to fighting, ordered 
 the colours to be hauled down, and we became the 
 prize of the ' Saint Louis/ of 22 guns, and a crew of 
 220 men. 
 
 " A couple of boats were sent to take possession 
 of us, and we laid down our arms at the dictation of 
 the officer commanding the prize crew. By the same 
 token, I threw my cutlass down in a transport of 
 rage, and drew down upon myself the abuse of the 
 French lieutenant; at least, I am told that the 
 shower of ' sacres ' was intended for such. I was 
 directed by this officer (through a French sailor, who 
 acted as interpreter) to pick up my weapon, and give 
 it into his hands, but I refused, and returned the com- 
 pliment of the 'sacres' by a volley of the choicest 
 Billingsgate. I was in a terrible rage, and gave him 
 all I knew ; indeed, I couldn't have kept my hands 
 off him, but that our captain seized me round the 
 waist, and held me by main force. 
 
 " First telling me that if T had struck him, he
 
 The Autobiography of a Man-o"- Wars Bell. 191 
 
 would have shot me like a dog, Johnny Crapeaud 
 ordered his men to seize me up to the rigging, and 
 give me fifty lashes with the cat. I resisted ; but 
 most certainly I should have been either flogged or 
 brained, had it not been for our captain, who indig- 
 nantly pointed out to the French officer that he was 
 violating the law of nations, as regarded prisoners of 
 war, by inflicting corporal punishment on me, and 
 that the act would bring eternal disgrace on himself 
 and his nation, whom the English hitherto regarded 
 as a chivalrous enemy. At the same time, the cap- 
 tain conjured me to be calm ; and at length matters 
 were compromised by my permitting myself to be 
 put in irons. 
 
 "All the ship's company were now removed to 
 the Frenchman, and also the carronades and three- 
 pounders ; only small arms were left on board, 
 sufficient for a prize crew of eleven men and a boy, 
 who were sent to navigate the ' Euphemia/ I should 
 have sud that there were three of us who were not 
 sent on board the Frenchman, and these were the 
 captain, an old man who had been cook, and was 
 allowed to remain as his servant, and I; the two 
 former were suffered to move about the ship unmo- 
 lested, but I was kept in close confinement as a 
 dangerous character.
 
 192 The Autobiography of a M an- J -War's Bell. 
 
 " The boats having been hoisted up, both 
 vessels shaped their course for Brest. The follow- 
 ing day proved stormy, with the wind westerly, 
 as before ; gradually the wind increased until it 
 blew a strong gale of wind. We burned lights 
 and threw up rockets during the night, so as 
 to keep together, but when the morning dawned 
 there was no sign of the ' Saint Louis/ In order 
 that I might assist in working the vessel, the 
 French prize-master not my friend, who had re- 
 turned to his ship offered me my liberty, which I 
 gladly accepted. No sooner were the captain and 
 I together, and we saw that the ' Saint Louis ' 
 had parted company, than we began to plot 
 means of recapturing the 'Euphemia/ It was a 
 most hazardous, not to say harebrained, project, 
 but this recommended it perhaps all the more to our 
 attention. 
 
 " The firearms were kept on deck in racks round 
 the masts ; but we knew that the prize-master had 
 stowed away, somewhere, two brace of pistols and a 
 sword, and to obtain possession of these became our 
 primary object. The magazine being, as is usual in 
 this class of vessel, below the cabin floor, to which 
 access was had through a hatch under the table, we 
 anticipated little trouble in providing ammunition.
 
 The Autobiography of a Man-o-War's Bell. 193 
 
 The great difficulty was to ascertain the exact position 
 of the concealed arms. 
 
 " As it was manifest that the successful termina- 
 tion of the enterprise depended solely on the advan- 
 tage taken of the first moments of panic, it was 
 desirable that the enemy should have no time for 
 consideration, and that the surprise should be com- 
 plete. Fortunately, we could mature our plans with 
 little chance of detection, as we knew only one man 
 on board was conversant with English. While one 
 of us during favourable opportunities searched for 
 the hidden arms, another kept watch above without 
 exciting observation. This was rendered easy in 
 consequence of an opening over the cabin door, large 
 enough for a person sitting on the lockers in the 
 cabin to see the companion ladder ; this opening had 
 been made after the vessel was a prize, by a pet 
 parrot, which had worked away with its bill, thus 
 constituting itself a valuable auxiliary to its master's 
 enemies. 
 
 "At length the arms were found concealed 
 beneath the mattrass in the prize-master's bunk. 
 They were taken possession of in the morning, and 
 we then resolved to carry out our enterprise immedi- 
 ately, before their loss could be discovered. As the 
 captain thought it better not to load all the pistols 
 
 13
 
 194 The Autobiography of a Man-o' -War's Bell. 
 
 with ball cartridge, one pistol of each brace was 
 charged with slugs, made of a pair of pewter tea- 
 spoons, broken up hastily just when they were 
 wanted. We each took a brace, intending to make 
 use of the slug-loaded pistols first, and the others if 
 absolutely required. After having loaded them and 
 seen that they were in an efficient state, as far as we 
 could without firing them off, the captain concealed 
 them in the bed-clothes in his berth, which was on 
 the starboard side of the cabin. Opposite him, on 
 the port side, slept either the prize-master or his 
 mate. The crew's quarters were partly forward in 
 the forecastle and partly abaft in the steerage, where 
 I also slept ; the passage to this was through the 
 companion, in consequence of the steerage hatch 
 being kept closely battened down on account of the 
 cold. 
 
 "At length the hour, 4 p.m., at which we had 
 resolved to make the attempt to regain our liberty, 
 was struck on the ship's bells. I confess I felt a 
 little nervous, and I think the captain did so too, for 
 he looked pale, and his fingers and mouth worked 
 convulsively. Not for a moment did either of us 
 think of giving up the project, although it was as 
 desperate a one as men could well be engaged in. 
 T>vo against twelve were long odds, for we had not
 
 The Autobiography of a Afan-0'-War's Bell. 195 
 
 taken into our confidence the old cook, who had 
 neither enterprise nor strength to be of any use, 
 while the fewer confidents we had the better chance 
 we had of ever making the trial. No sooner had the 
 hour struck than we commenced operations. Three 
 of the crew were known to be in the steerage, and 
 the prize-master had just turned in; thus eight only, 
 including the boy, formed the watch on deck. At a 
 preconcerted signal, we made our way quickly down 
 to get our arms. The prize-master was asleep, and 
 we left him to hi slumbers, locking the cabin door 
 upon him, while the captain remained below at the 
 companion to warn the watch off duty against mak- 
 ing any resistance. I sprang up the ladder, and on 
 reaching the deck, shouted out that the ship was 
 English property again, and discharged the pistol at 
 the helmsman, followed it up by a blow from my 
 cutlass which laid him low. At this time all the 
 people on deck appeared to be collected on the port 
 side of the quarter-deck, talking with the man at the 
 helm. They immediately ran round the opposite 
 side of the companion on their way forward, and I 
 pursued, discharging the remaining charge of slugs 
 among them. 
 
 "On reaching the windlass, I found the mate, a 
 tall, muscular man, with a boarding pike in his hand.
 
 196 The Autobiography of a Man-o'-War's Bell. 
 
 On perceiving me, he instantly charged, but I 
 knocked the weapon on one side with my cutlass, 
 and placing the muzzle of a pistol to his head it 
 was not loaded, for had it been I should have blown 
 his brains out without further palaver I ordered him 
 instantly below, on pain of sudden death. Think- 
 ing himself wholly in my power, and, doubtless, 
 blessing me for my clemency, he promptly obeyed. 
 His countrymen thereupon quickly followed suit, 
 tumbling down the hatchway one on top of the 
 other in hot haste, to the manifest danger of their 
 limbs. 
 
 " I now drew the hatch over, and secured it from 
 the possibility of removal. Coming aft, I found that 
 the watch below were inclined to be obstreperous, so, 
 having loaded my pistols again, I showed myself to 
 them, and warned them that the brig was ours, and 
 any attempt at mutiny would meet with instant 
 death to those concerned. The prize-master, who 
 had woke up and was thundering at his door, which 
 had been locked, I brought out with a pistol at his 
 head, and having marched him round the deck just 
 to satisfy him that he and I had changed places, I 
 marched him back again. After a short consulta- 
 tion, the captain, commander once more of the brig 
 'Euphemia/ offered him his choice of being locked
 
 The Autobiography of a Man-o-War's Bell. 197 
 
 up where he was or regaining his liberty, provided he 
 gave his parole, as a French officer, not to make any 
 attempt at recapture. He spoke a good deal of his 
 honour, so we locked him up to consider the matter, 
 as if it was a matter of perfect indifference to us; 
 but the captain knew his man when he declared to 
 me that he was only a boaster, and would be only too 
 glad of an excuse to pledge his honour not to trust 
 himself to the perilous chances of a recourse to arms. 
 Within an hour's time, he called out that he was 
 willing to accept his freedom on the stipulated terms ; 
 but so strangely constituted was this man, that he 
 prayed us not to insist on his giving the required 
 bond in the presence of one of his own men. Thir, 
 however, we insisted upon, for the word of a gentle- 
 man of such a pusillanimous spirit could not be 
 relied upon. This precaution was a very politic 
 movement on the part of the captain, for on the 
 shameful compact entered into by their superior 
 officer becoming known to the crew, they expressed 
 their disgust, and appeared inclined to think they had 
 no choice but to obey. The only one to dissent was 
 the mate, who showed a fine spirit, and bitterly de- 
 plored the conduct of the prize-master, which he said 
 nothing should induce him to follow ; his liberty of 
 action he declared he would reserve, and would, like
 
 198 The Autobiography of a Man-o-Wars Bell. 
 
 ourselves, make a blow for freedom the first favour- 
 able opportunity. 
 
 " Our position was, truth to tell, a very critical 
 one, for we must have sleep, and, as we were only 
 mortal, one of us might fall ill, and then what could 
 the other do ? 
 
 " Our first considerations were the navigation of 
 the ship and the care of the wounded men, for I was 
 certain a man had been wounded by my second pistol- 
 shot, as I had heard an exclamation of pain. On 
 examining the helmsman, I found he had been 
 seriously, but not mortally, wounded, and would 
 probably recover with care. The other wounded man 
 .was called up, and we found that the slug-shot had 
 entered his arm, but the injury was of little con- 
 sequence. After dressing his wound, we sent him 
 down again to the forecastle, to which all the three 
 men in the steerage were likewise transferred. The 
 prize-master was allowed to remain with us in the 
 cabin, in which also a bed was made up for the 
 wounded helmsman. The whole of the small arms 
 were thrown overboard, with the exception of the two 
 brace of pistols and the cutlasses we wore. 
 
 The weather had been nearly calm all day, but as 
 it could not be expected to remain so long, for the 
 sky looked lowering, and a swell had set in portend-
 
 The Autobiography of a Man-o-Wars Bell. 199 
 
 ing strong winds in no very distant quarter, we 
 called up from below a man and a boy to assist in 
 reefing topsails and working the ship. When, with 
 these inadequate means, everything aloft was made 
 secure, the captain examined the log-book, whence 
 the ship's present position on the chart could be ap- 
 proximately marked out. As no observations had 
 been taken for several days, we had to trust to dead 
 reckoning alone. The prize-master, when questioned, 
 knew, or professed to know, nothing, and very little 
 confidence could be placed on the conjecture we 
 formed, as we could not ascertain the course the ship 
 had been steered during our incarceration below in 
 the early part of our captivity. A course was, how- 
 ever, shaped for Gibraltar, as the most convenient 
 port. During the night it came on to blow heavily 
 from the north-east, and for some days the weather 
 was as unpropitious and trying for men in our pre- 
 carious position as could be imagined. It became 
 exceedingly cold, and the spray washing over the deck 
 kept us continually wet to the skin. We tried at 
 first to work the brig with the assistance of only two 
 extra hands, but we became tired out with the con- 
 stant watching and hard work this involved. At 
 length we found it absolutely necessary to have six of 
 the enemy to assist us, three being on deck at a time
 
 zoo The Autobiography of a Man-o- Wars Bell. 
 
 to work the ship. Daily, nay hourly, we expected 
 the French seamen would overpower us, and re- 
 capture the ship ; and that they did not do so showed 
 extraordinary lack of enterprise, though I think the 
 chief reason was, as I have before said, owing to their 
 disgust at the conduct of their superior. 
 
 " We were now in the extremity of misery. 
 Worn out with want of rest, for that could be 
 hardly called sleep which consisted of a hasty doze 
 snatched at odd times with pistols in one's belt, and 
 one's fingers clutching the cutlass by one's side, 
 more than once we thought seriously of surrendering 
 the ship back into the hands of the enemy, on the 
 single stipulation that our liberty should be assured 
 us ; and indeed without conditions at all, for it became 
 evident that the least effort at resistance on their part 
 must be successful. However, we were ashamed 
 to make the proposal and held on, hoping for we 
 knew not what. But at length our long-suffering, 
 or whatever you may call it, was rewarded. 
 
 " Owing to the requisitions made on the brig's 
 stores by the < Saint Louis,' the wine and spirits 
 were soon exhausted after she left us; the oil for 
 the binnacles was all expended, and we had to use 
 lights made from the cook's skimmings. The sea 
 washed the galley fires out, and we had been unable
 
 The Autobiography of a Man-d- War's Bell. 201 
 
 to cook any food for days, and altogether, what with 
 the want of the common necessaries of life, and the 
 hardships we endured from want of sleep and anxiety, 
 we were plunged into the extremity of despair, when 
 we found ourselves, not less unexpectedly than sud- 
 denly, delivered from all our troubles. A shift of 
 wind occurred one night, and on the following morn- 
 ing a large fleet of merchantmen was seen under 
 convoy of one of His Majesty's ships, from whose 
 mizen-peak was flying the flag of ' Old England/ 
 We immediately hoisted the Ensign, Union down, as 
 A signal of distress, and firing a gun bore up for the 
 man-of-war, which proved to be the ' Alert,' gS-gun 
 frigate. Very soon she had lowered a boat, and a 
 smart young officer leapt on board, and asked what 
 we wanted. All we required was that he should take 
 possession, and this he did, and relieved us of further 
 anxiety. We requested permission to be taken on 
 board the ' Alert,' which was granted. We were 
 received on board with the utmost kindness by all 
 hands, from the captain downwards. I immediately 
 entered my name 011 her books as A.B. ; and as 
 soon as the rules of the service permitted, the 
 captain promoted me to petty officer. This was 
 the way I entered the navy, and from that day 
 to this I have always been rated as a first-
 
 2O2 The Autobiography of a Man-o' -War's Bell. 
 
 class petty officer. A few words will conclude 
 my tale. 
 
 " The captain of the ' Euphemia * was landed at 
 Gibraltar, and made his way to England by the first 
 opportunity ; and as for the old brig, it was lucky 
 indeed that we asked to be taken out of her, for 
 after parting company with us on her way home, she 
 was captured off Cape La Hogue by a French man- 
 of-war, and her prize crew of ten men, with the smart 
 dandy of a lieutenant in command, soon found 
 themselves in a French prison, where they remained 
 till peace was concluded." 
 
 "Well done, Bob," chimed in a chorus of voices, 
 when the Captain of the Forecastle had finished his 
 yarn ; " That was as plucky a thing as we have yet 
 heard/' 
 
 "Well, I suppose," replied Bob aforesaid, "it 
 runs in the blood of my family to hate Frenchmen, 
 and think a Briton is a match for any three of them. 
 At least I was told so when a boy, and by hearing 
 the thing so often dinned into my cars, I believed it, 
 and, what is more, I believe it still. I was saying it 
 runs in the blood, and you would agree with me if I 
 was to tell you a circumstance that occurred to my 
 grandfather, and which is as true as gospel." 
 
 " Let's hear it," sang out a dozen voices. " It's
 
 1 'he Autobiography of a Man-o'- War's Bell. 203 
 
 only three bells yet, and lots of time for another 
 twister !" 
 
 " Twister," broke in the petty officer; " I tell you 
 it's as true as gospel. A book was published about 
 it, and I have a copy down below in my toggery, 
 though perhaps you would rather I told the adven- 
 ture than that it should be read to you, for half of 
 you would not understand it, and the other half 
 would get tired before I had finished. You see you 
 chaps don't understand French, which my grand- 
 father, who had been in a French prison, spoke, and 
 used in his book as naturally as ' Bermuda Jack ' 
 there" pointing to a negro, who grinned and 
 nodded in response, proud of being so pointedly 
 referred to " patters his broken lingo/' 
 
 This he said in a contemptuous and self-com- 
 placent tone that was highly diverting, but which 
 did not appear to offend any of his auditory, except 
 the individual who had cast a doubt on its authen- 
 ticity, by speaking of the incident as a "twister," 
 and who now expressed further doubts as to the 
 elder Lyde having spoken French, or the younger 
 scion of the family understanding it better than any 
 of his shipmates. This ignorance will perhaps be 
 shared by the reader of the following narrative, even 
 though he may be familiar with the purest Parisian ;
 
 2O4 The Autobiography of a Man-o' -War's Bell. 
 
 and we feel ourselves bound to express an opinion 
 that his admiration for the linguistic attainments of 
 this gifted Lyde family, which formed so pleasing a 
 subject for reflection to Bob of " that ilk/' will not 
 be increased by a perusal of the specimens now to 
 be laid before him. 
 
 A few recriminations, couched in expressive but 
 unparliamentary language, passed between Bob and 
 his interlocutor, and it was not until the exchange of 
 mutual explanations, to the effect that the opprobrious 
 epithets and playful expletives were applied in a 
 strictly " Pickwickian " sense, that the equanimity 
 of the Captain of the Forecastle was restored, and 
 harmony once more reigned in the assemblage 
 centred round the Man-o'- war's Bell. 
 
 It was carried, nem. cow., that Bob should narrate 
 in his own unsophisticated vernacular the adventure 
 that befell his grandfather, and which brought about 
 the contempt for " frog-eating Frenchmen," which 
 formed one of the idiosyncrasies of the Lyde family, 
 and that the book referred to should be brought up 
 and placed in the hands of one of the quartermasters 
 who was pronounced a "scholard" for reference, 
 and in corroboration of the truth of the narrative. 
 
 As my readers, however, would prefer to peruse 
 the incidents in the quaint phraseology of the gallant
 
 The Autobiography of a Man-o'-War's Bell, 205 
 
 seaman himself, garnished with his amusing French, 
 I will give an extract from the book in question. 
 After perusal, they will not wonder that Bob held 
 our neighbours across the channel in such cheap 
 estimation ; that one Englishman was equal to three 
 Frenchmen, was an article in the creed of all the 
 members of his glorious profession, including Lord 
 Nelson himself, who not only asserted, but proved, 
 its truth on a hundred occasions.
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 THE following narrative will be found fully detailed 
 in a very rare pamphlet,* published about 1692, by 
 " Richard Baldwin, near the Oxford Arms, in War- 
 wick Lane/' and entitled, " A true and exact account 
 of the retaking a ship called the ' Friends' Adven- 
 ture,' of Topsham, from the French, after she had 
 been taken six days, and they were upon the coasts 
 of France with it four days. Where one English- 
 man and a boy set upon seven Frenchmen, killed 
 two of them, took the other five prisoners, and 
 brought the ship and them safe to England. Per- 
 formed and written by Robert Lyde, mate of the 
 same ship." 
 
 " In the month of February, 1689," says this 
 seaman, " I shipped myself on board of a Pink, in 
 Topsham, burthen 80 tons, Mr. Isaac Stoneham, 
 
 * We believe only two or three copies of this pamphlet 
 are extant. One, of course, exists in the library of the 
 British Museum.
 
 The Autobiography of a Man-o'- War's Bell. 207 
 
 toaster, bound for Virginia, and from thence to 
 Topsham again; and on the i8th May following we 
 arrived there, and, after we had taken in our lading, 
 we set sail homewards-bound, with 100 sail of 
 merchantmen, under the convoy of two men-of-war; 
 and about a fortnight after the wind separated us 
 from our convoy, so that our ship, with several 
 others, made the best of our way for England, but 
 soon left each other's company; and on the f9th 
 October following, we came up with two Plymouth 
 vessels that were of our said fleet, being then about 
 40 leagues to the westward of Scilly, having the 
 wind easterly; and on the 2ist of the same month, 
 we saw four other ships to leeward of us, which we 
 took to be some of our said fleet; but one of them 
 proved to be a French privateer, who came up under 
 our lee quarter, and went ahead of us, and took a 
 Vimneaman of our former fleet, belonsnno; to London, 
 
 O ' O O * 
 
 which gave us three an opportunity to make our 
 escape from the said privateer; but the two Plymouth- 
 men being in great want of provisions, and an easterly 
 wind like to continue, they bore away for Galicia, in 
 Spain. 
 
 " But our ship kept on her way for England ; 
 and the mate of our ship and I made an agreement 
 (in case we should be taken by the French, and left
 
 2o8 The Autobiography of a Man-o '- War's Bell. 
 
 on board our own ship), although they should put 
 ten men on board with us, to carry the ship and us 
 to France, yet. (if we lost sight of the privateer) to 
 stand by each other and attack them (and if it did 
 please God that we should overcome them), and carry 
 home the ship. 
 
 "On the 24th of this month we were (as I feared) 
 taken by a privateer of St. Malo, of twenty-two guns, 
 eight pattereroes, and one hundred and odd men. 
 But the mate's design and mine were spoiled ; for 
 we were put on board the privateer with three more 
 of our men, and the master with four men and a boy 
 left on board, and eight Frenchmen were put on 
 board to navigate the prize to St. Malo. On the 
 26th, we had as much wind as could well blow at 
 south-south-west, that the privateer could not take 
 care of the prize, and so left her, and in some time 
 after she arrived at Havre-de-Grace. Then I made 
 it my endeavour to persuade our mate and the other 
 prisoners to attack the Frenchmen on board the 
 privateer, being very positive (with the assistance of 
 God and theirs) to overcome them, and carry home 
 the ship (with less trouble to my share than I found 
 in this which I have done). But they concluded it 
 impossible, and so we continued attempting no 
 resistance at all.
 
 The Autobiography of a Man-o'- War's Bell. 209 
 
 " On the 28th of October we arrived at St. Malo, 
 and were carried on shore and imprisoned; and in 
 all respect during the space of seventeen days were 
 used with such inhumanity and cruelty, that if we 
 had been taken by the Turks, we could not have 
 been used worse. For bread we had six pounds and 
 one cheek of a bullock for every twenty-five men for 
 a day; and it fell out that he that had half of a 
 bullock's eye (for his lot) had the greatest share. 
 This makes me wish that I could u be the prison- 
 keeper, and have my liberty to do the Frenchmen 
 that are brought in, their justice; they daily adding 
 to our number, until the prison was so full that 
 swarms of vermine increased amongst us (not only 
 here at St. Malo, but also at Dinan, whereunto we 
 were removed) ; insomuch that many of our fellow- 
 prisoners died, three of which were our mates, and 
 two more out of the five of our company, and all 
 that did survive were become mere skeletons. I was 
 so weak that I could not put my hand to my head ; 
 and there died out of 600 men upwards of 400 
 through their cruelty in three months' time. They 
 plundered us of our clothes when we were taken, and 
 some of us that had money purchased rugs to cover 
 our rags by day and keep us warm by night ; but 
 upon our return home from France, the Deputy-
 
 2 io The A utobiography of a Man-o '- War's Bell. 
 
 Governor of Dinan (in hopes either to kill us with 
 cold or to disable us for their Majesties' service at 
 our return) was so cruel as to order our said rugs to 
 be taken from us, and staid himself and saw it per- 
 formed. And when some of our fellow-prisoners 
 lay a-dying, they inhumanly stript off some of their 
 clothes three or four days before they were quite 
 daad. These and other barbarities made so great an 
 impression upon me, that I did then- resolve never to 
 go a prisoner there again; and this resolution I did 
 ever since continue in, and by the assistance of God 
 always will. 
 
 "And so I xvas released, and through the good- 
 ness of God got to England ; and after 1 had been 
 at home so long as to recover my health and strength, 
 fit to go to sea again, I shipt myself as a mate of a 
 vessel of Topsham, burthen 80 tons, Roger Briant, 
 master, bound from thence to Oporto, in Portugal, 
 and from thence to London ; and accordingly, on the 
 ^cth day of September, 1691, we began our voyage, 
 and on the 27th day of December following we 
 arrived at Oporto, and on the 24th of February 
 following we set sail from thence to London ; and 
 on the 29th day, being then about 25 leagues north- 
 west from Cape Finisterre, about six in the morning, 
 we saw a ship, which came up with us at a great
 
 The Autobiography of a Man-o' -War's Bell. 211 
 
 pace. At ten in the morning he was within half a 
 league of us, and then put out French colours and 
 fired a gun, whereby we knew he was a Frenchman. 
 
 "Then I took a rope-yarn, and seized two parts 
 of the topsail-hilliers together, that our men might 
 not lower the topsail, for I was desirous to have as 
 much time as possible I could to hide some neces- 
 saries to attack the Frenchmen ; at which the master 
 (perceiving and knowing my intention) said, ( Mate, 
 are you in the same mind now as you have been in 
 all the voyage ?' (for I had often been saying what I 
 would do towards the retaking of our ship.) I 
 answered, ' Yes,' and said that I did not question 
 but with God's assistance to perform what I had said. 
 The master said he believed I could not do it; but if I 
 should he thought it was impossible for me to carry 
 home the ship. Notwithstanding all this, I was not 
 discouraged, but desired him to pray fora strong gale 
 of wind after we were taken, that we might be sepa- 
 rated from the privateer, and be out of sight of her. 
 
 "Then I went down in the forecastle, and hid a 
 blunderbuss and ammunition betwixt decks amongst 
 the pipes of wine, and before I went aft again the 
 topsails were lowered ; and I, perceiving that it would 
 not be long before the enemy would be on board us, 
 took a five-gallon vessel of my own wine, and with a
 
 212 The Autobiography of a Man o'- War's Bell. 
 
 hammer beat in one head, and put several pounds of 
 sugar in it, and then drank to the master, and said 
 that I designed that I would drink my fill of it while 
 T had the command of it; and if it should p'ease God 
 that I should be continued on board, I hoped that I 
 should not be long dispossest of the rest. 
 
 " Between ten and eleven o'clock, by the priva- 
 teer's command, we haul'd up the coasts, and brac't 
 to; then the privateer's boat full of men came on 
 board us, and I stept over the side, with my hat 
 under my arm, handing the French gentlemen in, till 
 one of them took hold of my coat, and, I not daring 
 to resist him, helpt it off, and ran aft into the cabin, 
 and saved myself from further damage. 
 
 " After they had taken away almost all our 
 clothes, and what else they pleased, the lieutenant 
 ordered me and a boy to stay on board, which I was 
 very glad of, but could heartily have wished they had 
 left a man in the boy's room. Before the master 
 and I parted (for he and four of our men and a boy 
 were carried on board the privateer), I asked him 
 privately what he had done with the money he had 
 in a bag ? He told me he had given it to the lieu- 
 tenant, and withal would know of me why I made 
 that inquiry ; I answered, because I did not question 
 but that I should secure that on board by retaking
 
 The Autobiography of a Man-o'-War's Bell. 213 
 
 our ship. But the master said it was an impossible 
 thing to be done; but I replied, although it seemed 
 to him to be so, yet nothing was impossible to be 
 effected by God, in whom I put my trust. 
 
 " Soon after, the lieutenant and our men returned 
 aboard the privateer, having left seven of his men 
 on board our ship to navigate her to St. Malo, who 
 in three hours' time was out of our sight, which I 
 was very glad of, and askt the master if I should 
 fetch a barrel of wine up, in hopes to make them 
 drunk, and then I should command them with the 
 less trouble. He said I might if I could find one; 
 then I fetched a barrel of five gallons of sweet strong 
 wine, and kept it tapt in the steerage, and I drank freely 
 of it, hoping that they thereby would be induced to 
 do the like, and to drink to excess ; but that strata- 
 gem failed me (for they never were the worse for 
 drinking all the time I was their prisoner), and then 
 I acquainted the boy with my intent, and persuaded 
 him to assist me in overcoming them, and I would, 
 with the assistance of God, carry the ship to Galicia, 
 in Spain. I continued soliciting him for his compli- 
 ance in that, and spoke to him of England, but could 
 not prevail with him. 
 
 " On the 3rd of March we saw Ushant in the 
 night, we being within two ships' length of the
 
 214 The A utobiography of a Man-<? - War's Bell. 
 
 Fern Rock, and in great danger of being lost. They 
 called up me and the boy to save our lives ; and when 
 I came up and saw that the Frenchmen had got the 
 tackle in the boat, and going to hoist her out, I told 
 the boy to stay aft, for when the boat is overboard 
 they may all go in her if they will, but they shall not 
 come aboard again ; for I will not leave the ship, 
 because I shall get the ship off presently, for the 
 wind was west-north-west, and the Frenchmen 
 never minded to trim the sails close by the wind. 
 And I could not tell them of it (because I would get 
 them out of the ship) till I saw that they did not get 
 out the boat, but gaz'd at the rock, and some cry'd 
 and others call'd to saints for deliverance, then I 
 desir'd (and helpt) them to trim the sails, and got 
 the ship soon off again. On Friday at noon, we 
 being about ten leagues to the eastward of Brest, 
 with the wind easterly, they bore away for Portbean 
 (or some such name they call'd it), which was about 
 four or five leagues to the eastward of Brest; then 
 I call'd the boy down betwix't decks, and read two 
 or three chapters in the Bible, and then used all my 
 endeavour to persuade him to assist me; but, by all 
 the arguments I could use, I could not prevail at this 
 time. Then I took a brick, and wet my knife upon 
 it, and told the boy I would not use my knife upon
 
 The A utobiography of a Man-o '- 1 Var "s Bell. 2 1 5 
 
 any account until I was carried into France, except 
 it were to cut the throats of the Frenchmen; at 
 which words the boy startled as if his own throat 
 had been cut, and then left me, and went upon deck. 
 
 "At four in the afternoon, we were within half 
 a mile of the aforesaid harbour ; then the Frenchmen 
 fired a pattereroe for a pilot to come off, whereupon 
 I went upon deck, with a sorrowful heart, to see 
 how near we were to the shore (but the Frenchmen 
 were as joyful as I was melancholy) ; and then, 
 considering the inhuman usage I formerly had in 
 France, and how near I was to it again, struck me 
 with such terror that I could stay no longer upon 
 deck, but went dDwn betwixt decks, and prayed to 
 God for a southerly wind to prevent her going into 
 that harbour, which God was graciously pleased im- 
 mediately to grant me, for which I returned my 
 unfeigned thanks. 
 
 " Friday night the wind was westerly, and Satur- 
 day southerly, so that in the evening; I heard the 
 Frenchmen say that they saw Cape Farril. At 
 eight on the Saturday night I prayed again for a 
 south-west wind, that we might not be near the shore 
 in the morning, and immediately I heard them put 
 the helm a-lee, and put her about, and get the lar- 
 board tacks aboard. The boy then lying by my side,
 
 2l6 The Autobiography of a Man-o'-Wnr's Bell. 
 
 I bid him go up and see if the wind was not south- 
 west; which he accordingly did, and at his return 
 told me it was, and that the ship lay off north -north- 
 west. Then I rejoiced and gave God thanks for this 
 second signal providence. 
 
 " The nearer we came to St. Malo, the surlier 
 the Frenchmen were to me. At twelve o'clock on 
 Saturday night they call'd me to the pump (as they 
 had done several times before) ; although I never 
 went but when I pleased ; nor would I do anything 
 else for them, thinking it much inferior for an Eng- 
 lishman to do anything for a Frenchman. But they 
 calling on me several times, at last I turned out, and 
 stood in the gun-room scuttle, and told the master 
 that I had served two years for the French already ; 
 and if I went to France again I should serve three 
 years. ' That's lien !' said the master. Then I told 
 him I had nothing in the ship to lose, and if they 
 would not pump themselves, the ship should sink for 
 me. Then I went and laid myself down again, fully 
 resolved that if they came to hawl me out by force, 
 that I would make resistance, and kill or \vound as 
 many of them as I could before I died myself; but 
 they let me alone, and all that night when the boy 
 was awake I endeavoured to persuade him to assist 
 me, but still could not pervail, though I used (as I
 
 The Autobiography of a Man-o'- War's Bell. 217 
 
 had done ever since we were taken) many arguments ; 
 so that that night I slept but very little, and when I 
 did slumber at all I dreamt that I was attacking the 
 Frenchmen ; for, sleeping or waking, my mind ran 
 upon the attacking of them. 
 
 " Sunday, at seven in the morning, we being then 
 about five leagues off from Cape Farril, I then prayed 
 heartily for a south-east wind, and immediately I 
 heard them take in their topsails and hauld up the 
 foresail, and brac't them aback, and lash't the helm 
 a-lee, and let the ship drive off with her head to the 
 westward. Then I sent the boy up again to see if 
 the wind was not come at south- south-east, and he 
 brought me word it was. Then I gave God thanks, 
 and rejoiced at His signal providential mercy on me, 
 and for so immediately strengthening my faith, and 
 confirming my hopes of redeeming myself from 
 slavery ; and then I renewed my solicitation to the 
 boy to yield to me, but still he would not consent, 
 which made me think of attempting it myself. And 
 then I went and took a pint of wine and half a pint 
 of oil, and drank it to make me more fit for action. 
 
 " At eight in the morning all the Frenchmen sat 
 round the table at breakfast, and they called me to 
 cat with them; and, accordingly, I accepted of their 
 invitation ; but the sight of the Frenchmen did im-
 
 218 The Autobiography or a Man-o'- War's Bell. 
 
 mediately take away my stomach, and made me sweat 
 as if I had been in a stove, and was ready to faint 
 with eagerness to encounter them ; which the master 
 perceiving, and, seeing me in that condition, asked 
 me (in French) if I were sick, and because he should 
 not mistrust anything I answered, ' Yes/ But I 
 could stay no longer in sight of them, and so went 
 immediately down betwixt decks to the boy, and did 
 earnestly entreat him to go up presently with me 
 into the cabin, and to stand behind me, arid knock 
 down but one man in case two laid hold on me, and 
 I would kill and command all the rest presently. 
 For now, I told him, was the best time for me to 
 attack them while they be all round the table ; for 
 now I shall have them all before me purely, and it 
 may be never the like opportunity again. 
 
 " After many importunities, the boy asked me 
 after what manner I intended to encounter with 
 them. I told him I would take the crow of iron, 
 and hold it on to the middle with both hands, and 1 
 would go to the cabin and knock down him that 
 stood at the end of the table on my right hand, and 
 stick the point of the crow into him that sat at the 
 end of the table on my left hand, and then for the 
 other five that sat behind the table. But still he 
 not consenting, I had second thoughts of under-
 
 The Autobiography of a Man-o' -War's Bell. 219 
 
 taking it without him ; but the cabin was so low 
 that I could not stand upright in it by a foot, which 
 made me at that time desist. 
 
 " By this time they had eaten their breakfast. 
 I went out upon the deck ; then I told the boy, with 
 much trouble, we had lost a brave opportunity, for by 
 this time I had had the ship under my command. 
 
 " ' Nay/ says the boy, ' I rather believe that by 
 this time you and I should have both been killed.' 
 
 " In a little time after they had been upon deck 
 they separated from each other ; viz., the master lay 
 down in his cabin, two of the men lay down in the 
 great cabin, one in a cabin between decks, another 
 sat down upon a low stool by the helm to look after 
 the glass, to call to pump (which they were forced to 
 do every half-hour, by reason of the leakiness of the 
 ship), and the other two men walked upon the decks. 
 Then, hoping I should prevail with the boy to stand 
 by me (if not, resolved to attack them by myself), I 
 immediately applied myself to prayer; and then I 
 endeavoured again to persuade the boy, telling him 
 that we should bring a great deal of honour to our 
 native country, besides the particular honour that 
 would accrue to ourselves. But all this, and much 
 more, would not prevail with him to consent. 
 
 " Then the glass was out, it being half-an-hour
 
 220 The Autobiography of a Man-o' -War's Bell. 
 
 . 1 
 
 after eight, and the two men that were upon deck 
 went to pump out the water. Then I also went up 
 on deck again to see whether the wind and weather 
 were like to favour my enterprise, and casting my 
 eyes to windward, I lik'd the weather, and hoped the 
 wind would stand. I begged of the boy again to 
 stand by me while two of the men were at the pump, 
 but I could by no persuasions prevail upon the boy, 
 so that by that time the men had done pumping; 
 whereupon, losing this opportunity caused me again 
 to be a little angry with the boy for not yielding to 
 me, telling him that I had prayed three times for the 
 change of the wind, and Heaven was pleased to hear 
 my prayer, and to grant my request, and thereupon I 
 had a firm belief wrought in me that I should not be 
 carried a prisoner again into France, where I had 
 suffered great hardship and misery ; our allowance of 
 food at St. Malo, where we were kept prisoners for 
 seventeen days, was only one cheek of a bullock, and 
 eight pounds weight of bread, for twenty-five men a 
 day, and only water to drink ; and at Dinan, where 
 we were kept close prisoners for three months and 
 ten days, our allowance was three pounds weight of 
 old cow beef, without any salt to savour it with, for 
 seven men a day ; but I think we had two pounds 
 of bread for each man, but it was so bad that dogs
 
 The Autobiography of a Man-o' -War's Bell. 221 
 
 would not eat it, neither could we eat but very little, 
 and that we did eat did us more hurt than good, for 
 'twas more oats than bread, so we gave some of it to 
 the hogs, and made pillows of the rest to lay our 
 heads on, for they allow'd us fresh straw but once 
 every five weeks, so that we bred such swarms of 
 vermin in our rags, that one man had a great hole 
 eaten through his throat by them, which was not 
 perceived till after his death ; and I myself was so 
 weak that it was fourteen weeks after my releasement 
 before I recovered any tolerable measure of strength 
 again. And all this through their cruel tyranny in 
 not allowing us as their men are allowed in England. 
 " Said the boy, ' If I find it so bad as you do say 
 when I am in France, I will go along with them in a 
 privateer/ 
 
 " These words of his struck me to the heart, 
 which made me say, ' You dog; what, will you go 
 with them against your king and country, and father 
 and mother ? Sirrah, I was in France a prisoner 
 four months, and my tongue cannot express what I 
 endured there, yet I would not give up my country 
 and go with them ; yet they came daily, persuading 
 me and others to go out, and the time that I was 
 there T think seventeen did so, and were kept in a 
 room by themselves; but Heaven was pleased to
 
 222 The Autobiography of a Man-o'- War's Bell. 
 
 make an example of them, for I think twelve of 
 them died while I was there. And if thou dost turn 
 traitor, thou rnay't fare as they did, and if thou or 
 any of them that be turn'd be ever taken again, you 
 will certainly be hanged in England by the law ; but 
 if I had the command of a privateer, and should 
 take my brother in a French privateer after he had 
 sail'd willingly with them, 1 would hang him imme- 
 diately.' 
 
 " Seeing the boy seem'd to be reconcil'd, I told 
 him that he should not go into France, if he would 
 do as I would have him to do. The boy ask't what 
 I would have him to do. I told him to knock down 
 that man at the helm, and I will kill and command 
 all the rest presently. 
 
 " Saith the boy, ' If you be -sure to overcome 
 them, how many do you count to kill ?' 
 
 " I answered that I intended to kill three of 
 them. 
 
 " Then the boy replied, ' Why three, and no 
 more?' 
 
 " I answered, that I would kill three for three of 
 our men that died in prison when I was there. And 
 if it should please God that I should get home safe 
 to England, I would, if I could, go in a man-of-war 
 or fire-ship, and endeavour to revenge on the enemy,
 
 7%i? Autobiography of a Man-o'-War's Bell. 223 
 
 for the death of those four hundred men that died ui 
 the same prison of Dinan. 
 
 " ' But/ the boy said, ' four alive would be too 
 many/ 
 
 " I then replied, ' I would kill but three, but I 
 would break the legs and arms of the rest, if they 
 won't take quarter, and be quiet without it/ Then 
 the boy asked which three I designed to kill 1 I told 
 him I designed to kill those three that I judged to be 
 the strongest, which were those that carried them- 
 selves most surly towards me; but if any one of the 
 rest did take hold on me, and that my life were in 
 danger, I would then endeavour to kill a fourth, and 
 not otherwise. I told him I would take the crow of 
 iron, and go into the cabin and knock down one with 
 the claws, and strike the point into the other that 
 lay by his side in his cabin, and I would wound 
 the master in his cabin ; and so then take the 
 drivebolt, and be sure to knock down the man at 
 the helm, so soon as you hear me strike the first 
 blow, for otherwise if he should hear the blow he 
 may come into the cabin, and lay hold on me before 
 I shall overcome them three. 
 
 " Then the boy asked what he should do when he 
 had knock't down the man at the helm 1 I told him 
 he should stand without the cabin door, and not stir
 
 224 Tfo Autobiography of a Man-o 1 -Wat's Bell. 
 
 i 
 
 from thence, but to have his eye upon the two 
 Frenchmen that were upon deck, and not to come 
 into the cabin to me, unless he observed them coming 
 towards the cabin, and then he should tell me of it, 
 and come into the cabin. 
 
 "At nine in the morning, the two men upon 
 deck went to pumping; then I turned out from the 
 sail, where the boy and I then lay'd, and pull'd off 
 my coat that I might be the more to the action ; and 
 having little hair, I hauPd off my cap, that if they 
 had the fortune to knock me in the head, they might 
 kill me with it. Having fitted myself for the action, 
 I went up the gun-room scuttle into the steerage to 
 see what posture they were in, and being satisfied 
 therein, I leapt down the scuttle, and went to the 
 boy (who seeing me resolv'd upon the action) with 
 an earnest entreaty to him to join with me; he at 
 last did consent. 
 
 "Then the boy coming to me, I leapt up the 
 gun-room scuttle, and prayed for help and strength ; 
 and I told the boy that the drivebolt was by the 
 scuttle, in the steerage, and then I went softly aft 
 into the cabin, and put my back against the bulkc- 
 head, and took the iron crow (it lying without the 
 cabin door), and held it with both my hands in the 
 middle of it, and put my legs abroad to shorten
 
 The Aittobiography of a Man-o'-War's Bell. 225 
 
 myself (because the cabin was very low). But he 
 that lay nighest to me, hearing me, opened his eyes, 
 and perceiving my intent, and upon what account I 
 was coming, he endeavoured to rise, to make resistance 
 against me ; but I prevented him by a blow upon his 
 forehead, which mortally wounded him, and the other 
 man, which lay with his back to the dying man's side, 
 hearing the blow, turned about and faced me, and as he 
 was rising with his left elbow upon the deck, very fiercely 
 endeavouring to come against me, I struck at him, and 
 he let himself fall from his left arm, and held his arm 
 for a guard, whereby he did keep off a great part of the 
 blow, but still his head received a great part of the blow. 
 "The master lying in his cabin on my right 
 hand, hearing the two blows, rose, and sate in his 
 cabin, and seeing what I had done, he called me 
 Boogra and Footra, but I having my eyes every way, 
 I push't at at his ear betwixt the turn-pins with the 
 claws of the crow, but he falling back for fear thereof, 
 it seem'd afterwards that I struck him a severe blow 
 which made him lie still, as if he had been dead; 
 and while I struck at the master, the fello^v that 
 fended off the blow with his arm rose upon his legs, 
 and, running towards me, with his head low, for I 
 suppose he intended to run his head against my 
 breast to overset me ; but I push't the point at his 
 
 15
 
 226 The Autobiography of a Man-o 1 -War's Bell. 
 
 head, and stuck it an inch and a half into his fore- 
 head (as it appeared since by the chirurgeon that 
 searched the wound), and as he was falling down I 
 took hold of him by the back, and turn'd him into 
 the steerage. 
 
 " I heard the boy strike the man at the helm two 
 blows after I knocked down the first man, which two 
 blows made him lie very still; and as soon as I 
 turn'd the man out -of the cabin, I struck one more 
 blow at him that I struck first (thinking to leave no 
 man alive further aft than myself), and killed him 
 outright. 
 
 "The master all this time did not stir, which 
 made me conclude that I had killed him with the 
 blow I had struck him. Then I went out to attack 
 the two men that were at the pump, where they con- 
 tinued pumping, without hearing or knowing what I 
 had done ; and as I was going to them I saw that 
 man that I had turnM out of the cabin into the 
 steerage crawling out upon his hands and knees 
 upon the deck, beating his hands upon the deck to 
 make a noise that the men at the pump might hear 
 (for he could not cry out nor speak), and when they 
 heard him they came running aft to me, grinding 
 their teeth as if they would have eaten me; but we 
 met them as they came within the steerage door, and
 
 The Autobiography of a Man-o'- War's Bell. 227 
 
 struck at them, but the steerage being not above four 
 feet high, I could not have a full blow at them, 
 whereupon they fended off the blow, and took hold 
 of the crow with both their hands close to mine, 
 striving to haul it from me; then the boy might have 
 knocked them down with much ease while they were 
 contending with me, but that his heart failed him, so 
 that he stood like a statue at a distance on their left 
 side, and two foot's lengths off the crow being behind 
 their hands, on their left side. I called to the boy to 
 take hold of it, and haul as they did, and I would let 
 it all go at once ; which the boy accordingly doing, I 
 pushM the crow towards them and let it go, and was 
 taking out my knife, to traverse amongst them, but 
 they seeing me put my right hand into my pocket, 
 fearing what would follow, they both let go the crow 
 to the boy, and took hold of my right arm with both 
 their hands, grinding their teeth at me. 
 
 " The master that I had thought I had killed in 
 his cabin coming to himself, and hearing they had 
 hold of me, seized me with both his hands round my 
 middle. Then one of the men that had hold of my 
 right arm let go, and put his back to my breast, and 
 took hold of my left hand and arm, and held it close 
 to his breast, and strove to cast me upon my back ; 
 and the master let go from my middle, and took hold
 
 228 The Autobiography of a Mati-o'- War's Bell. 
 
 of my right arm, and he, with the other that had 
 hold of my right arm, did strive to turn me over 
 from the other's back, thinking to get me off from 
 my legs; but I, knowing that I should not be long 
 in one piece if they got me down, I put my left foot 
 against the ship side, on the deck, for a supporter, 
 and, with a great effort, I kept upon my feet, when 
 they three and one more did strive to throw me 
 down (for the man that the boy knock't down at the 
 helm rose up, and put his hands about my middle, 
 and strove to haul me down). The boy, seeing that 
 man rise and take hold of me, cried out, fearing then 
 that I should be overcome by them, but did not 
 come to help me, nor did not strike one blow at any 
 of them, neither did they touch him all the time. 
 
 " When I heard the boy cry out, I said, ' Do you 
 cry, you villain, now I am in such a condition ? 
 Come quickly, and knock this man on the head that 
 hath hold on my left arm/ The boy, perceiving that 
 my heart did not fail me, he took some courage from 
 thence, and endeavoured to give that man a blow on 
 his head with the drivebolt, but struck so faintly that 
 he mist his blow, which greatly enraged me against 
 him; and I feeling the Frenchman that held about 
 my middle hang very heavy, I said to the boy, ' Do 
 you miss the blow, and I in such a position ! Go
 
 The Autobiography of a Man-o' -War's Bell. 229 
 
 round the binnacle, and knock down that man that 
 hangeth upon my back, which was the same man 
 the boy knock't down at the helm. So the boy did 
 strike him one blow upon the head, which made him 
 fall, but he rose up again immediately ; but being 
 uncapable of doing any further resistance, he went 
 out upon deck staggering to and fro, without any 
 further protestance from the boy. Then I look't 
 about the beams for a marlin-speek, or anything 
 else, to strike them withal; but seeing nothing, I 
 said to myself, ' What shall I do ? ' and then casting 
 my eye upon my left side, and seeing a marlin-speek 
 hanging with a strap to a nail on the larboard side, 
 I jerk't my right arm forth and back, which cleared 
 the two men's hands from my right arm, and took 
 hold of the marlin-speek, and struck the point four 
 times about a quarter of an inch deep into the skull 
 of that man that had hold of my left arm, before 
 they took hold of my right arm again ; but I struck 
 the marlin-speek into his head three times after they 
 had hold of me, which caused him to screech out. 
 But they having hold of me, took off much of the 
 three last blows, and he being a strong-hearted man, 
 he would not let go his hold of me, and the two men, 
 finding that my right arm was stronger than their 
 four arms were, and observing the strap of the
 
 230 The Autobiography of a Man-o'- War's Bell. 
 
 marlin-speek to fall up and down upon the back of 
 rny hand, as struck him that had his hands nearest 
 to mine, he let go his right hand, and took hold of 
 the strap, and hauled the marlin-speek out of my 
 hand ; and I, fearing what in all likelihood would 
 follow, I put my right hand before my head for a 
 guard, although three hands had hold of that arm, 
 for I concluded that he would knock me on the 
 head with it, or else throw it at my head ; but 
 (through the help of a wonderful providence) it 
 either fell out of his hand or else he threw it down, 
 for it did fall so close to the ship side that he could 
 not reach it again, without letting go his other hand 
 from mine, so he did not attempt the reaching of it, 
 but took hold of my arm with his other hand again. 
 
 "At this time I gained strength enough to take 
 one man in one hand and push at the other's 
 head, and looking about again to see for anything to 
 strike them withal ; but seeing nothing, I said to 
 myself, 'What shall I do now?' And then the 
 thought suddenly came into my mind of my knife in 
 my pocket, and, although two of the men had hold 
 of my right arm, yet I felt so strengthened that I 
 put my right hand into my right pocket, and took 
 out my knife and sheath, holding it behind my hand 
 that they should not see it, but I could not draw it
 
 The Autobiography of a Man-o'- War's Bell. 231 
 
 out of the sheath with my left hand, because the 
 man that I struck in the head with the marlin- 
 speek had still hold of it, with his back to my breast; 
 so I put it between my legs, and drew it out, and 
 then killed the man that had his back to my breast, 
 and he immediately dropt down, and scarce ever 
 stirred after. Then, with my left arm, I gave both 
 the men a push from me, and hauled my right arm 
 with a jerk to me, and so cleared it of both of them, 
 and fetching a stroke with an intent to put an end 
 to them both at once. They, ^immediately appre- 
 hending the danger they were in, both put their 
 hands together, and held them up, saying, ' Cort, 
 corte, monsieur, moy allay pur Angleterre si vous 
 plea/ With that I stopt my hand, and said, ' Good 
 quarter you shall have, alle a pro ;' and then I put 
 up my knife into the sheath again, but they not 
 obeying my command, but standing still, I con- 
 cluded they had a mind to have the other bout with 
 me; but I drew out my knife again, but then their 
 countenances immediately changed, and they put off 
 their hats and said, ' Moy alle pro, monsieur, moy 
 travallay pur Angleterre, si vous plea.' Then I stopt 
 my hand again, and they went out upon deck, and 
 went forward s. e 
 
 " Then I held fast the steerage door, and ordered
 
 232 The Autobiography of a Mau-c'- War's Bell. 
 
 the boy to stand by it, and to look out through the 
 
 blunderbuss holes, and if he did see any man 
 
 coming towards the door with anything in his hand 
 
 to open the door, he should tell me of it, and come 
 
 into the cabin for the blunderbuss and ammunition, 
 
 which I hid away before we were taken. The 
 
 Frenchmen had found and kept it in the cabin, 
 
 which, after I had loaded, I came out with it into 
 
 the steerage, and look't forward (out the companion) 
 
 to see if any man did lie over the steerage-door with 
 
 a bait of a rope to throw over me, or any other thing 
 
 that might prejudice me, as I should go out; but 
 
 seeing no man there, I went out upon deck, and 
 
 lookt up to the maintop, for fear the two wounded 
 
 men were there, and should throw down anything 
 
 upon my head to do me an injury ; but seeing no 
 
 man there, I asked the boy if he could tell what was 
 
 become of the two wounded men that came to 
 
 themselves, and went out upon the deck while I was 
 
 engaged with the three men in the steerage. The 
 
 boy told me they scrambled overboard, for he said he 
 
 lookt through the blunderbuss-holes in the bulke- 
 
 head, and saw them staggering to and fro like men 
 
 that were drunk ; but I thought it very strange that 
 
 they should be accessory to their own, deaths. 
 
 " Then I ordered the boy to stand by the steerage-
 
 The Autobiography of a Man-o'-War's Bell. 233 
 
 door to see if that man betwixt decks did come up, 
 and if he did to tell me of it, and come forward to 
 me, which he promised me to do. Then I went 
 forward to the two men that cried for quarter, who 
 stood by the boat side, but they being afraid ran 
 forwards, and were going up in the fore-shrouds ; but 
 I held up the blunderbuss at them, and said, ' Veni 
 aban et monte a cuttelia, et ally aban / and they then 
 put off their hats, and said, ' Monsieur, moy travalli 
 pur Angleterre, si vous plea / but I answered, ' Alle 
 aban, for I don't want your help / and then they 
 said, f Oui, monsieur/ and undid the scuttle, and 
 went down. Then I went forward, and as I came 
 before the foot of the mainsail, I look't up to the 
 foretop, and seeing no man there I went and look't 
 down in the forecastle, and showed the two men a 
 scuttle on the larboard side that went down into 
 the fore-peak, and said, l Le monte cuttelia, et 
 ally aban/ They answered, 'Oui, monsieur/ and 
 then undid the scuttle, and put off their hats, 
 and went down, giving me great thanks for my 
 mercy towards them, and giving them a longer 
 life. 
 
 " Then I called down to them, and asked them if 
 they saw any men betwixt decks before they went 
 down, and they answered no. Then I called forward
 
 234 The Autobiography of a Man-o'- War's Bell. 
 
 the boy, and gave him the blunderbuss, and bid him 
 present it down the forecastle, and if he saw any men 
 take hold of me, so that I could not get clear of 
 them, or if I called on him for his help, then he 
 should be sure to discharge the blunderbuss at us, 
 and kill us altogether, if he could not shoot them 
 without me. The boy promised he would, but he 
 would not shoot me. 
 
 11 Then I took the boy's bolt, and put my head 
 down the scuttle, and look't all round, and seeing no 
 man there I leapt down in the forecastle, and look't 
 that round also ; but seeing no man betwixt decks, I 
 laid the scuttle and nailed it fast, and thought myself 
 safe, seeing two men killed and two secured. Then 
 I went upon deck, and took the blunderbuss from 
 the boy, and gave him the bolt, and went aft and 
 ordered the .boy as before to stand by the steerage- 
 door, and give me an account if he saw any man 
 come towards him with a hand-spike; and then I 
 went aft into the cabin, and cut two candles in four 
 pieces, and lighted them ; one I left burning upon the 
 table, the other three I carried in my left hand, and 
 the blunderbuss in my right hand ; and I put my 
 head down the gun-room scuttle and look'd round, 
 and, seeing no man there, I leapt down, and went to 
 the man that lay all this time asleep in a cabin
 
 The Autobiography of a Man-o '-War's Bell. 235 
 
 betwixt decks, and took him by the shoulder with 
 my left hand and wakened him, and presented the 
 blunderbuss at him with my right hand, and com- 
 manded him out of his cabin, and made him stand 
 still till I got up into the steerage ; then I call'd the 
 man, and he standing in the scuttle, and seeing the 
 man that had been killed on deck, he wrung his 
 .hands, crying out and calling upon some saints. I 
 told him I had nothing to do with them, ' Monte, 
 monte et ally a pro ;' then he came up, and went 
 forward, looking round to see for his companions ; 
 but I followed him, and made him go down into the 
 forecastle, and stand on the starboard side. Then I 
 gave the boy the blunderbuss, and ordered him to 
 present it at the man, and if he perceived him either 
 to come towards me, or to take anything to throw at 
 me while I was opening the scuttle, then to shoot 
 him. 
 
 " Then I took the crow of iron, and leapt down 
 with it into the forecastle, and drew the spikes, and 
 opened the scuttle, and went upon deck, and bid the 
 man go down, which he readily did, and rejoiced 
 when he had found two of his companions there ; 
 and after I had nailed down the scuttle again I went 
 aft and ordered the boy to stand by the steerage-door 
 again, and I took the candles and the blunderbuss,
 
 236 The Autobiography of a Man-o'-JVar's Bell. 
 
 and went down betwixt decks, and went forward and 
 aft, and look't in all the holes and corners for the 
 two wounded men, but found them not ; and finding 
 the gun-room scuttle open that went down into the 
 hold, I call'd down, but hearing none make answer 
 I laid the scuttle ; and there being about twenty bags 
 of Shumack in the gun-room, I rolled two of them 
 upon the scuttle of six hundredweight, and rolled 
 more close to them, that if the men were there and 
 did lift up one side of the scuttle the bags might not 
 roll off. Then I went upon deck, and told the boy I 
 could not find the two men betwixt decks, and he 
 said they were certainly overboard. I told him I 
 would know what was become of them before I 
 made sail. 
 
 "Then I told the boy I would go up into the 
 maintop and see if they were there, and then I 
 should be sure to see them if they were in the 
 foretop. So I gave him the blunderbuss, and bid 
 him present it at the maintop, and if he saw any man 
 look out over the top with anything in his hand to 
 throw at me, he should shoot him. Then I took the 
 boy's bolt and went up ; andVhen I was got to the 
 puddick-shrouds I look't forwards to the foretop ; I 
 saw the two men there, covered with the foretopsail, 
 and their sashes bound about their'heads to stanch
 
 The Autobiography of a Man-o'-War's Bell. 237 
 
 their wounds and keep their heads warm. Then I 
 call'd to them, and they turned out, and went down 
 upon their knees, and wrung their hands, and cried, 
 ' O, corte, corte, mounsieur ; moy allay pur Angle- 
 terre, si vous plea/ 
 
 "Then I said, 'Good quarter you shall have/ 
 and I went down, and call'd to them to come down ; 
 and he that the boy wounded came down and kist 
 my hand over and over, and went down into the 
 forecastle very willingly. But the other man was 
 one of the three that I designed to kill, and the same 
 that I struck the crow into his forehead; and he 
 knew that he had said ill-things of the Prince of 
 Orange meaning our gracious King, and that an 
 English man-of-war was unfit for a man, and did 
 always call me up to pump ; these things, I suppose, 
 he thought I had not forgot, and that, therefore, I 
 would not give him quarter, notwithstanding I in- 
 tended to do ; but I suspected him to be an English 
 or Irishman, and I resolved if he proved so, that I 
 would hang him myself when I was fortunate enough 
 to have help coming aboard from England. So I 
 call'd him down, but he, being unwilling, delayed his 
 coming. I took the blunderbuss, and said that I 
 would shoot him down, and then he came a little 
 way, and stood still, and begged me to give quarter,
 
 238 TJie Autobiography of a Man-o '- War's Bell. 
 
 and if I would, he then would ' trevally pur Angle- 
 terre/ and also pump the water. I told him if he 
 would come down he should have quarter, and I pre- 
 sented the blunderbuss at him again; and then he 
 came a little lower, and said, ' O mounsieur, vou 
 battera moy/ I told him that I would not beat him, 
 and withal I would discourse with him no longer. If 
 he would come down, he might; if not, I would 
 shoot him down. And then he came down, and I 
 gave the boy the blunderbuss, and the Frenchman 
 took up my hand and wrung it, and kist it over and 
 over, and calPd me his ' boon mounsieur/ and told 
 me he would help me to carry the ship for England. 
 I told him I did not want his help, and commanded 
 him down in the forecastle. Then I made them 
 both stand on the starboard side, and ordered the 
 boy to shoot them if they offered to throw anything 
 at me, or come near to me, while I went down in the 
 forecastle to unnail the scuttle. 
 
 " Then I took the crow of iron, and leapt down 
 into the forecastle and unnailed the scuttle, and 
 commanded the two Frenchmen down into the hold, 
 and I call'd one of the men up that cried first for 
 quarter, to help me to sail the ship for England. 
 This man was not wounded at all, and was not above 
 twenty-four years of age, and I had least fear of him,
 
 The Autobiography of a Man-o'- War's Bell. 239 
 
 because he was indifferent kind to me while I was 
 their prisoner ; . but he was very unwilling to come 
 up, but with much importunity I prevailed with him 
 to come up, and I sent him aft, and then laid the 
 scuttle, and nailed a piece of oaken plank to each 
 beam with spikes over it, and I bid them get from 
 under . the scuttle, and I split the scuttle with the 
 crow, and drove it down into the hold to give them 
 air. 
 
 " Then I wenLaft, and commanded the man to 
 help haul out the two men that were dead, which he 
 accordingly did, and so we threw them overboard ; 
 but before I threw them both, I took a sash from one 
 of them because it was red, on purpose to make fast 
 about the white antient,* which the Frenchman put 
 on board, and put it out for a whiflf,t when occasion 
 should require it, and I searched his pocket for a 
 steel and flint, but found none ; for want whereof, I 
 was forced to keep two candles always burning in the 
 cabin till I got the pilots on board from Topsham. 
 Having secured all the men, I ordered the boy to put 
 the blunderbuss in the boat, for him to command 
 the Frenchman withal, when I was doing anything. 
 Then I sent the Frenchman to loose the helm and 
 
 * Ensign. 
 
 t A whiff is a long, narrow flag, like a streamer.
 
 240 The Autobiography of a Man-a 1 -War's Bell. 
 
 put him a-weather, and wared the ship, and then, 
 almost without assistance, I had three topsails, the 
 spritsail and mizen trimmM in less than an hour's 
 time, to make the most of a fair wind. 
 
 " Then I gave down to them in the hold a basket 
 of bread and butter, and a gimlet and spikes, and 
 ordered them to draw and drink of one of my own 
 casks of wine which I had there, because if they 
 should draw out a pipe, they might not find the hole 
 in the dark, and so spill a great deal of wine, and I 
 gave them down their clothes, and some old sails to 
 lie upon ; I gave them likewise a bottle of brandy to 
 wash their wounds, and salve which they brought on 
 board, and candles to see to dress their wounds, and 
 having no more necessaries for them, I was sorry to 
 receive him that the boy wounded, because he was 
 very bad of his wounds." 
 
 The gallant fellow then details how he worked 
 the ship. The wind was fair at first, but got round 
 to the westward, and then two points to the west- 
 ward of north. At six on the following morning, 
 he says, the wind " blew hard in showers (squalls) ; 
 and I let three or four showers pass without lowering 
 either of the topsails. At eight it blew very hard, 
 _but still I kept up the topsail, till at last the wind in 
 the showers did put the gunwale of the ship in the
 
 The Autobiography of a Man-o' -War's Bell. 241 
 
 water, and then I hauled down the topsail, and 
 clewed up the sheets, and brac'd them aback, till 
 each shower was over, and then haulM home the 
 sheet, and up with the topsail again. At nine the 
 wind blew harder ; then I took in the two topsails, 
 and the wind increasing, I hauled down the mizen, 
 and after we had pumpt out the water we sat down 
 and eat some bread, and drank a glass of wine to 
 refresh ourselves, and I took brandy and butter and 
 rubbed it into my hands, and especially into my left 
 thumb, which was strained by the man that had his 
 throat cut, and bruised by the boy when he mist his 
 blow at the man's head, so that it was much swelPd 
 and inrag'd." 
 
 At two in the afternoon land was sighted, which 
 Lyde made out to be the Start, and the wind not 
 being so squally he.set more sail, but it freshened again 
 on the following morning, and he was compelled to 
 furl both his topsails. So passed the third day, the 
 wind -falling and rising, and at six in the evening he 
 says he fired " a pattereroe* three times, which spent 
 all the powder I had on board, and the French 
 antient tied in a red sash I put out for a whiff, for 
 the pilots to come off; but by all the sail that I 
 
 * Small piece of swivel ordnance fitted on the ship's 
 
 gunwale. 
 
 16
 
 242 The Autobiography of a Man-o'- War's Bell. 
 
 could make, I got no nearer than a mile to Topsham 
 Bar in the dimness of the night. Then I went up to 
 the topmast head to see if I could perceive the pilots' 
 boat coming off, but because I could not show an 
 English antient they were afraid to come out, but lay 
 upon their oars near the bar." 
 
 He thereupon made sail, intending to go into 
 Torbay, but he altered his purpose because the sheet 
 cable having been carried away by the French priva- 
 teer, the small bower was " not fit for ocam " 
 (oakum), and he was afraid he might go ashore, for 
 it was now blowing a " reef-topsail gale." So he 
 "kept her along with two coasts* and a mizen," 
 and made three ineffectual attempts during the night 
 to tack, but could not make the ship stay. At 
 length he got her round, and at one in the morning, 
 putting the Frenchman to the wheel, he went aloft 
 with the boy, and was an hour taking two reefs in 
 the maintopsail. 
 
 At ten o'clock he neared the Bar at Topsham, 
 and the pilots were coming on board, but when they 
 saw no colours, and only one man and a boy on 
 deck, sheered off, fearing foul play. Lyde then called 
 to them, and they hearing the English tongue, laid 
 
 * The fore and main-sails, or " courses." '
 
 The Autobiography of a Man-o'- War^s Bell. 243 
 
 on their oars until he neared them, when on recogni- 
 zing the features of an old friend, they came on board. 
 Then he recounts how the pilots would not credit the 
 story he told them, of the manner in which he had 
 recaptured the ship, at which we cannot wonder, 
 though he speedily dissipated all doubt, by showing 
 them his five prisoners. On casting anchor he sent 
 ashore for help, and also dispatched a man to post 
 to Exeter with a letter to the owners of the "Friend's 
 Adventure," detailing how he had saved their pro- 
 perty, but they gave the messenger only " a French 
 half-crown and a shilling" for carrying the news a 
 distance of eleven miles ; for, he significantly adds, 
 " they did not much regard the news, having insured 
 ^560 upon the ship, and a man since appraised her 
 but at 3^170." 
 
 This circumstance shows how little the inferior 
 class of shipowners are changed, now-a-days, from 
 what their predecessors were 200 years ago. Those 
 who take an interest in shipping matters know how, 
 in this latter half of this enlightened century, the 
 owners of our colliers and traders send to sea, to 
 face the storms of winter, miserable unseaworthy 
 vessels insured to their full value, so that it is a 
 subject of indifference to them whether they sink or 
 swim, though the alternative is a matter of life and
 
 244 The Autobiography of a Man-o' -War's Bell. 
 
 death to their gallant crews ; thus it happens that 
 every year scores of women are made widows and 
 children fatherless through the greed for extra profits 
 of the proprietors, who trade upon the well-known 
 recklessness of our maritime population.* 
 
 At five o'clock in the afternoon, the ship was 
 brought to an anchor at Staircross, and crowds of 
 people came on board. The gallant seaman sent the 
 prisoners ashore to Topsham, and an hour later he 
 followed, and proceeded thither, when he says 
 
 " I found my prisoners with a doctor dressing 
 their wounds. Upon searching he concluded two of 
 them could not live a week. But as soon as I came 
 in, those that were clear of the doctor put off their 
 hats, and kist my hands, and shewM a great deal of 
 love to me outwardly. After I had seen them drest 
 and good lodging provided for them, I went home to 
 refresh myself with sleep ; and the next day I marcht 
 my prisoners to Exeter, and carried them to one of 
 the owners' houses, and afterwards delivered them to 
 the Mayor." 
 
 Lyde then details the shabbly mariner in which 
 
 * This was written before the publication of the now 
 famous "Appeal" of Mr. Plimsoll, M.P., which has roused 
 the attention of the British public to a subject of such mo- 
 mentous interest to our mercantile marine.
 
 The Autobiography oj a Man-o '-War's Bell. 245 
 
 he was treated by the owners of the cargo, who lived 
 in London. He weighed anchor on the 5th of April, 
 on his way to London, but was driven back by head- 
 winds, and returned to Topsham on the yth, luckily 
 for his own safety and that of his ship, for he had 
 not been "three hours at an anchor before there 
 came two French privateers, from the eastward, with 
 English colours, supposed to be King James's priva- 
 teers, because they were for the most part manM 
 with Irishmen ; and they went along about a league 
 from the Bar, and went into Torbay, and took and 
 carried away with them two English ships, which 
 came from Oporto ; and my owners hearing thereof, 
 and that I was in safety, were very angry with me, 
 and hurt at me, because I did not stay to be a prey 
 to the enemy." 
 
 On the 1 9th April he weighed again, " with the 
 wind west-south-west a topsail gale," and on the 
 26th arrived in London. " And (he continues) when 
 I came ashore to the fraighters, they had 115 pipes 
 of wine on board, they not so much as bid me wel- 
 come, but bid me go to the Custom-house and enter 
 the cargo, for they said they would unlaid the ship 
 forthwith. Then I asked them for money to pay 
 the men that helpt to bring the ship to London; 
 but they denied to give me any. There was, besides
 
 246 The Aiitobiography of a Man-o '-War's Bell. 
 
 the merchant's wine, two pipes of the master's, 
 (that was in all 117 pipes), eight tuns of shumack 
 and cork, which paid the King in duties <^%oco. 
 Then I asked the merchants again for money to pay 
 the men (who belonged to men-of-war), which they 
 again refused to pay." 
 
 The brave seaman who had saved all the cargo 
 could not induce the " freighters " to return to him 
 an equal quantity of wine to that which the priva- 
 teersman had carried away, and as he had served 
 out to his prisoners all of his own that remained, 
 the poor man was a loser of all his venture, while, 
 the Frenchman having taken only one pipe of the 
 merchants' wine, they had escaped almost all loss. 
 To his remonstrances the only reply he could get 
 was, " Tush ! all the reason is, your's is carried 
 away, and mine is left ; and if mine had been carried 
 away, and your*s left, I could not have helped it." 
 Thus he would have lost everything, for he says, " I 
 have more adventure money to pay than my wages 
 will come to." 
 
 In this strait, he met a gentleman, who took up 
 his case, and, " entred an action in the High Court of 
 Admiralty for j J i,ooo upon ship and cargo, and by 
 the assistance of an honourable person, I brought it 
 to a trial, and overthrew the owners and fraighters
 
 The Autobiography of a Man-o '-War's Bell. 247 
 
 for half the ship and cargo ; but they appealM to 
 the High Court of Chancery, and, having nothing of 
 truth, disgraced me ; withall they informed the Lords 
 Commissioners that I took a bag of money out of 
 the ship belonging to the owners, which the master 
 told me he delivered to the lieutenant of the privateer. 
 But I having no proof against the same, this did 
 me a great unkindness. Yet I overthrew them there 
 for the moiety of the ship and cargo, and had a 
 decree for the same, which decree is enrolled, and so 
 is become a precedent in that court, which will be 
 an advantage to anyone that shall hereafter retake 
 their ship from the enemy: if they sue them in 
 Chancery or the High Court of Admiralty for 
 salvage, they will be allowed as much as if it were 
 taken by a privateer." 
 
 But though the unfortunate seaman consoled 
 himself with the reflection that his Chancery suits 
 were productive of public good, in that they created 
 precedents guiding the courts in awarding salvage to 
 gallant fellows like himself, he had nothing more 
 substantial to show for all the dangers and hardships 
 he had undergone. He tells how the implacable 
 freighters pursued him with a false charge that he 
 had run into and sunk a ship moored in the Thames, 
 while beating up the river. He was arrested on the
 
 248 The Autobiography of a Man-o'-War's Bell. 
 
 . , . 
 
 1 9th June, and though he managed to find bail, con- 
 trary to their expectations, was obliged to remain on 
 shore till Michaelmas term following. He gained 
 the case by the evidence of five witnesses ; but he 
 pathetically adds " And so I ended my law and the 
 greatest part of my money together/' 
 
 However, he gained the support of a powerful 
 Court noble; and the Marquis of Carmarthen re- 
 commending his case to the Queen, " Her Majesty 
 was pleased, as a token of her extraordinary favour, 
 to order me a gold medal and chain, and recom- 
 mended me to the Right Honourable the Lords of 
 the Admiralty for preferment in the Fleet, which I 
 am now attending the Honourable Board for." 
 
 In concluding his book, he says : " Thus I have 
 endeavoured to give an impartial account of the whole 
 matter of fact, from first to last, ascribing all my 
 success therein to the Omnipotent Power of the 
 great God, who was with me, and protected me 
 throughout the whole action, and made me capable 
 of performing this piece of service for my King and 
 country, in whose defence I am still willing to serve, 
 and shall as long as I remain to be R. L." 
 
 With all his readiness to cut throats, our hero 
 professed great piety, and had ever the name of his 
 Maker on his lips, displaying the spirit of the
 
 The Autobiography of a Man-o' -War's Bell. 249 
 
 Israelites in their dealings with the Philistines, 
 whom they smote hip and thigh. This constant 
 recourse to prayer, and " reading two or three 
 chapters of the Bible " to the boy, before imbruing 
 his hands in the blood of his enemies, rather detracts 
 than otherwise from our favourable estimate of the 
 gallant seaman. It was with some misgiving we 
 laid before the reader the somewhat revolting details 
 of the manner in which he slaughtered his enemies, 
 with the same breath exulting over the ghastly 
 wounds he inflicted with the " crow," and praising 
 God, who "strengthened his right arm." However, 
 if he prayed at all times as earnestly as during the 
 dreadful moments when he was contending single- 
 handed with so many foes, he would have made a 
 fervent member of the " Church Militant. Such a 
 minister would have compared the " marlin speek " 
 which delivered his enemies into his hand to the 
 " sword of the Lord and of Gideon." 
 
 Remarkable as was the feat performed by this 
 Englishman, it was not unique, for in the " Adver- 
 tisement/' or what we should call the preface, to his 
 book, he mentions that a man and boy of another 
 ship, " called the ' Trial/ of 50 tuns," fell upon the 
 the prize-crew of five Frenchmen, "and overcame 
 them, and brought their ship into Falmouth, for
 
 250 The Autobiography of a Man-o'-War's Bell. 
 
 which the master was immediately made commander 
 of the 'Mary' galley*; and I, that had used the sea 
 thirteen years, did but desire the command of a 
 fire-ship/' 
 
 No wonder, with these examples before them, 
 our seamen held their neighbours across the Channel 
 in contempt, and considered themselves individually 
 equal to three Frenchmen ! 
 
 * Galley, a sort of gunboat, propelled by oars;
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 THE captain of the mast told a yarn which time has 
 not effaced from my memory. Hastings was one of 
 those smart, handsome fellows, of whom during my 
 service afloat I have come across not a few, and went 
 by the name of the " lady-killer." He was not 
 only exceedingly good-looking, but was well-man- 
 nered and well-spoken, and indeed whatever his birth 
 may have been, was, in appearance at least, one of 
 Nature's gentlemen. The rules of the service, which 
 require men to be scrupulously clean in person and 
 attire, were so far from being irksome to him, that 
 " blow high or blow low/' Phil Hastings always 
 looked fresh and clean, and was pointed out to the 
 slovens by the officers as an example for their imita- 
 tion. No matter whether it was the middle watch 
 at night, or a sudden turn-out during his watch 
 below to reef topsails in a heavy breeze, his fine, 
 dark, curly hair was always clustering in smooth 
 ringlets about his frank, handsome face, while his
 
 252 The Autobiography of a Mau-o'- War's Bell. 
 
 _ _ 1 
 
 well-knit, graceful figure looked well in any rig. 
 Like many salts of the old Benbow school, he wore 
 earrings, which had been given him so the story 
 went by the daughter of an admiral whose life he 
 once saved when she fell overboard from the quarter- 
 gallery of her father's flag-ship. It was also said, 
 and I believe with truth, that the young lady fell 
 desperately in love with him, upon perceiving which 
 the admiral removed him to another ship. They had 
 been thrown together a great deal, for Hastings, 
 being rated coxswain of the admiral's barge, used to 
 attend upon them when they went ashore, and carried 
 articles for the admiral or his daughter, or conveyed 
 messages to the captain from the admiral's residence 
 on shore. The attachment, of course, ended un- 
 happily, as far as the young girl was concerned, and 
 the gallant old admiral made a great mistake when 
 he concluded he could cure his daughter, whom he 
 loved tenderly, of her unhappy attachment by banish- 
 ing its object. This course had the contrary effect, 
 and in her case "absence made the heart grow 
 fonder." She pined, fell into a state of melancholy, 
 and died within six months. There was always a 
 romantic story current in the fleet that at her earnest 
 request, Hastings was permitted to pay her a last 
 visit as she lay dying, and that the scene was most
 
 The Autobiography of a Man-o'-War's Bell. 253 
 
 distressing. He never alluded to it, or any of the 
 circumstances attending the love affair, and by his 
 reticence showed himself a true gentleman, for the 
 admiral never did anything for him after his 
 daughter's death. These circumstances occurred 
 a short time before the "Melpomene" was com- 
 missioned, and Hastings, who for a long time was 
 grave and abstracted in his demeanour, only gradually 
 recovered his habitual gaiety of manner. Towards 
 the latter part of the commission, he had, however, 
 quite regained his spirits, and was now one of the 
 wildest, most rollicking fellows on board. 
 
 Talking about Phil Hastings' earrings reminds 
 me of a good story about Sir Samuel Hood, which 
 is mentioned by Captain Basil Hall, in his " Frag- 
 ments of Voyages and Travels." Sir Samuel Hood 
 was a stern disciplinarian, and hated everything that 
 appeared to him foreign or effeminate, but he was 
 loved and respected by every man in the fleet as a 
 true and gallant seaman. The two brothers, Lords 
 Hood and Bridport, were worthy of each other, and 
 the noble service whose annals they enriched by their 
 brilliant achievements. 
 
 " I remember," said Captain Hall, " once wit- 
 nessing on the beach of Madras, an amusing scene 
 between Sir Samuel Hood, then Commander-in-
 
 254 The Autobiography of a Man-o' -War's Bell. 
 
 chief in India, and the newly-promoted boatswain of 
 a sloop-of-war belonging to the squadron. The 
 admiral, who was one of the bravest, and kindest 
 and truest-hearted seamen that ever trod a ship's 
 deck, was a sworn foe to all trickery in dress-work. 
 Tne eye of the veteran officer was directed earnestly 
 towards the yeast of waves, which, in immense 
 double rows of surf, fringe and guard the whole of 
 that flat coast. He was watching the progress of a 
 mussullah boat, alternately lost in the foam, and 
 raised in very uncertain balance across the swell, 
 which though just on the break, brought her swiftly 
 towards the shore. He felt more anxious than usual 
 about the fate of this particular boat, from having 
 ordered on board the person alluded to, with whom 
 he wished to have some conversation previous to their 
 parting company. This boatswain was a young man, 
 who had been for some years a follower of the admiral 
 in different ships, and to whom he had just given a 
 warrant. The poor fellow, unexpectedly promoted 
 from before the mast to the rank of an officer, was 
 rigged up in his newly-bought, but marvellously 
 ill-cut uniform, shining like a dollar, and making its 
 wearer, who for the first time in his life put on a 
 long coat, feel not a little awkward. 
 
 "As soon as the boat was partly driven up the
 
 The Aiitobiography of a Man-o' -War's Bell. 255 
 
 beach by the surf, and partly dragged beyond the 
 dash of the breakers by the crowd on shore, this 
 happiest of warrant officers leaped out on the sand ; 
 and seeing the admiral standing on the crest of the 
 natural glacis which lined the shore, he took off his 
 hat, smoothed down the hair on his forehead, sailor 
 fashion, and stood uncovered, in spite of the roasting 
 sun naming in the zenith. 
 
 " The admiral, of course, made a motion with 
 his hand for the boatswain to put his hat on ; but 
 the other, not perceiving the motion, stood stock 
 still. 
 
 " ' I say, put on your hat/ called the commander- 
 in-chief, in a tone which made the newly-created 
 warrant officer start. In his agitation he shook a 
 bunch of well-trimmed ringlets a little on one side, 
 and betrayed to the flashing eyes of the admiral a 
 pair of small, round, silver earrings, the parting gift, 
 doubtless, of some favoured and favouring Poll or 
 Bess of dear, old, blackguard Point Beach, the very 
 ninth heaven of all light-hearted sailors. 
 
 " Be this as it may, the admiral, first stepping on 
 one side, and then holding his head forward, as if to 
 re-establish the doubting evidence of his horrified 
 senses, and forcibly keeping down the astonished 
 seaman's hat with his hand, roared out
 
 256 The Autobiography of a Man-o'-War's Bell. 
 
 " ' Who the devil are you ?/ 
 
 " ' John Marline, sir/ replied the bewildered boat- 
 wain, beginning to suspect the scrape he had got 
 himself into. 
 
 " ' Oh ! ' cried the flag-officer, with a scornful 
 laugh ? ' oh ! I beg your pardon ; I took you for a 
 Portuguese/ 
 
 " ' No/ instinctively faltered out the other, seeing 
 the admiral expected some reply. 
 
 " f No. Then if you are not a foreigner, why do 
 you hoist false colours? What business has an 
 English sailor with these machines in his ears ?' 
 
 " ' I don't know, sir,' said Poor Marline ; ' I put 
 them in only this morning when I rigged myself in 
 my new togs, to answer the signal on shore/ 
 
 " ' Then,' said Sir Samuel, softened by the con- 
 trite look of his old shipmate, and having got rid of 
 the greater portion of his bile by the first explosion,, 
 ' you will now proceed to unrig yourself of this top 
 hamper as fast as you can ; pitch them into the surf, 
 if you like, but never, as you respect the warrant in 
 your pocket, let me see you in that disguise again/ }: 
 
 Well, to my story. 
 
 Hastings told the following veracious narrative of 
 the capture of some pirates, in which he was engaged 
 a few years before.
 
 The A utobiography of a Man-o '- War 's Bell. 257 
 
 " His Majesty's sloop ' Zebra/ on board of 
 which I was an A. B., happened in May, 17 , to 
 visit Port Antonio in Prince's Island, on the west 
 coast of Africa, a place seldom resorted to by 
 British men-of-war, and Captain Howson learnt 
 from a merchant residing there, that in the local 
 paper of Salem, a port on the American seaboard, 
 there had appeared an account of the seizure and 
 plunder at sea, by a piratical schooner, of a brig 
 named the ' Briton/ hailing from that port. Some 
 particulars of the transaction were given, and also a 
 tolerably minute description of the schooner, which 
 agreed with that of a Spanish vessel named the 
 ' Castille/ which had sailed from Port Antonio only 
 a few days before for Africa, On our arrival these 
 particulars were communicated to Captain Howson, 
 wh6 hearing that the ' Castille ' was supposed to be 
 lying in the river Nazareth, immediately proceeded in 
 search of her. 
 
 "The account of the capture of the c Briton,' as 
 stated in the Salem paper, was briefly as follows : At 
 daylight on the 2oth September previous, the watch 
 on deck discovered about a mile off, and standing 
 across the brig's bo\v, a low-lying, rakish-looking 
 schooner. At first she appeared to be standing from 
 the ' Briton ' on her weather quarter, but she soon 
 
 17
 
 258 The Autobiography of a Man-o'-War's Bell. 
 
 tacked, and was observed to be in chase of her. The 
 ciptain of the latter resolved to make all sail away 
 from the unwelcome stranger, which was accord- 
 ingly done, but without avail, as it was soon found 
 that the schooner gained fast on them, and was 
 already within gunshot. Another interval passed, 
 when the signal of a round shot that nearly struck 
 the mainmast, warned them of the futility of at- 
 tempting to escape. The brig accordingly threw her 
 maintopsail aback, and awaited the approach of her 
 pursuer. 
 
 " ' Where are you from ? ' hailed a voice from 
 the schooner's forecastle, as she ranged up to within 
 pistol-shot of the brig's stern. 
 
 " ' From Salem/ w r as the captain's reply, while 
 he and his crew anticipated no gentle treatment from 
 the ill-looking fellows in red caps crowded about the 
 speaker, who had a foreign accent. 
 
 " ' Where are you bound to ? and what is your 
 cargo ? ' These questions were concluded with the 
 order, ' Bring your boat on board,' on which the 
 schooner sheered off, and took up a commanding 
 position on the brig's weather beam. The captain at 
 first demurred, excusing himself on the ground that the 
 boat was leaky, but a second and more peremptory 
 summons caused him to overcome his scruples, and
 
 The A utobiography of a Man -o '- War's Bell. 259 
 
 he proceeded on board with a crew of four men. 
 The captain steered for the gangway, but on his 
 approach was ordered to the forechains ; and no 
 sooner had he reached them than five ruffianly 
 fellows, armed with long Spanish knives, sprang into 
 her, and ordered him to steer for the brig. 
 
 " On reaching the ' Briton/ the pirates, drawing 
 their knives, ordered the captain to deliver up any 
 money he had on board, on pain of instant death. 
 Seeing that a refusal would result fatally for him, 
 the captain directed the mate to bring up all the 
 money from the cabin. The pirates finding that the 
 work was not progressing as fast as they wished, 
 used threats towards the captain, and at length all 
 the boxes, containing some twenty thousand dollars, 
 were gradually brought up on deck, and immediately 
 transferred to a boat from the schooner, whither it 
 was taken. The pirates now began to rob the mate 
 and crew of the brig, whom they threatened with 
 death unless more booty was given up to them. 
 Fearful of a sail heaving in sight, they hurried about 
 ransacking every place, and smashing open boxes 
 and lockers in the search for more money or articles 
 ot value. Finding themselves disappointed, the 
 pirates took possession of coils of rope, leather, 
 and almost everything they could lay their hands
 
 260 The Autobiography of a Man-o'-War's Bell. 
 
 on ; having thrust the mate into the cabin with the 
 captain, they went on board the schooner to consult 
 on further measures. Soon they returned, with 
 hatchets in their hands, and having closed the fore- 
 scuttle and after-hatchway, commenced hacking 
 every article in the most wantonly mischievous 
 manner conceivable. The compasses were broken, 
 the rigging, tiller-ropes, braces, and running and 
 standing gear cut to pieces ; spars, and other neces- 
 sary things were thrown overboard, and to complete 
 their atrocious designs, they set fire to a quantity of 
 tarred rope yam in the caboose. Then taking the 
 brig's colours and scuttling her only boat, they 
 proceeded to their ship; hoisting the launch, she 
 made sail and left her victims to their fate. 
 
 " Fortunately, in their hurry, a ship having hove 
 in sight, they had neglected to secure the cabin sky- 
 light, and the mate creeping through was just in 
 time to prevent the fire spreading, and causing the 
 destruction of the brig and all on board. By his 
 exertions and those of the crew, whom he speedily 
 released, the flames were extinguished, and they 
 managed to bring the ' Briton' in safety into Salem. 
 " While the schooner was at Prince's Island, after 
 visiting the African coast, a vessel came from Salem 
 with the news of the outrage committed on the brig,
 
 The Autobiography of a Man-o' 1 - War's Bell. 261 
 
 and suspicion which was immediately directed to her 
 was increased by the lavish manner in which the 
 crew were spending their dollars. However, she put 
 to sea, and no one knew whither she had gone. 
 
 "Soon after her departure the ' Zebra' acci- 
 dentally arrived, and Captain Howson, hearing of 
 the outrage committed on the brig ' Briton/ made 
 inquiries about the schooner. He learned that a 
 vessel answering the description of the pirate had 
 sailed from Havana on the 2Oth of August. No one 
 knew there anything of her purpose and intended 
 course, for she had evaded the last visit of the 
 Spanish authorities, although she bore their flag. 
 It was known she had a crew of thirty-one men, 
 and carried a cargo of goods for the African coast. 
 After gaining all the information he could regarding 
 her, Captain Howson followed her, as we have said, 
 to her suspected hiding-place, the river Nazareth. 
 
 " On the 4th of June, the ' Zebra ' arrived off the 
 mouth of this river, and immediately her three boats, 
 manned and armed with forty men, of whom I was 
 one, under the immediate command of the captain, 
 proceeded in quest of the pirates. After pulling all 
 niffht, the boats got sight of the object of their 
 pursuit lying at anchor, and in order to effect her 
 capture they kept in shore, and only displayed their
 
 262 Ttie Autobiography of a Man-o'- War's Bell. 
 
 colours when close to her. Immediately they were 
 seen by the pirates in the schooner, the latter took to 
 their boats, and hurried ashore, with the exception of 
 one man, who was seen to follow soon after in a 
 canoe. Captain Howson made straight for the 
 boats, but they were too far ahead of him, and he 
 soon altered his course for the schooner. Smoke 
 was seen issuing from her, and en our fellows 
 getting on board, she was found to be on fire near 
 the magazine, in which, below the cabin floor, were 
 sixteen casks of powder. A train had been laid from 
 the caboose which in a few minutes would have 
 communicated with the magazine, when the schooner 
 and all on board would have been blown up. This, 
 then, was what the last individual, who quitted the 
 vessel in the canoe, was busy about, but he had his 
 trouble for nothing, for our captain anticipated the 
 nature of the warm reception kindly intended for 
 him. 
 
 " By our exertions the fire was extinguished ; 
 search was then made for her papers, but without 
 success, nor could any valuable property be dis- 
 covered. A few private letters were, however, found 
 with the signature of the captain, Pedro Gibert, and 
 addressed to the boatswain and carpenter of the 
 f Castille/ so that we knew that this was the same
 
 The Autobiography of a Man-o'- War's Bell. 263 
 
 schooner that had sailed from Havana and Prince's 
 Island. There was one important document found 
 on board, and that was a letter of instructions (with- 
 out signature) for Pedro Gibert. These instructions 
 were most craftily worded, and, without referring 
 specifically to the nature of the cargo she was to 
 bring over from the African coast, it was made 
 manifest she was engaged in the African slave trade, 
 and the captain had further a general licence to r>ick 
 up any ' unconsidered trifles/ such as peaceful 
 traders on the high seas, on which he might cast 
 an envious eye. A Quantity of foreign national 
 flags were found on board, ,to be employed, doubt- 
 less, to disguise herself, and avoid the right of 
 search, which might carry with it unpleasant con- 
 sequences. Captain Howson determined to get 
 possession of Pedro Gibert and his crew, and was 
 successful in securing five of the crew who had 
 joined her at Prince's Island, but whom he decided 
 to retain as prisoners. The ' Castille ' was then re- 
 moved to the mouth of the river, where the ' Zebra ' 
 had been left. 
 
 " Captain Howson used every endeavour to in- 
 duce the native chief of the district to deliver over 
 to him the commander and crew of the pirate, but in 
 vain. At length he proceeded in the 'Castille' up
 
 264 The Autobiography of a Man-o'- War's Bell. 
 
 the river, and, anchoring off the chiefs town, pro- 
 ceeded on shore, and explained to him that, unless 
 his demands were complied with, he would destroy 
 the place. The native potentate still continuing ob- 
 durate, Captain Howson opened fire; but almost 
 after the first shot a serious accident occurred, 
 putting an end for a time to further operations. 
 A spark from a 1 2-pounder gun ignited some loose 
 powder lying on the deck, and communicating with 
 the magazine, the after part of the ' Castille ' was 
 blown to pieces. Two officers and three men were 
 killed, and the captain was blown overboard, but 
 happily without being much injured. I was in one 
 of the boats at the time, and so escaped. The 
 ' Castille ' went down soon after, and the expedition 
 having returned to the ' Zebra/ she proceeded on the 
 2oth of June to the Gaboon, in quest of the second 
 mate of the pirate, from whom the captain wished to 
 get some information. On arriving there, he was 
 again foiled, for it was found that this man had left 
 for Havana. We then sailed for Port Antonio, in 
 Prince's Island, where we accidentally learned that 
 two Spaniards who had quitted the ' Castille } when 
 she was there, were at Whidah. Our indefatigable 
 captain, with the determination to succeed so charac- 
 teristic of him and the service to which he belonged,
 
 The Autobiography of a Man-o'-War's Bell. 265 
 
 proceeded first to Cape Coast Castle to pick up a 
 prize crew of our men, and to meet a brig-of-war he 
 hoped to find there. He was, however, disappointed 
 in both his expectations, and set sail for Whidah, 
 after leaving on shore an officer and one of the five 
 prisoners of the ' Castille's ' crew, in order that they 
 might recognize any of their late shipmates should 
 they turn up. Arrived at Whidah, the captain 
 learned that one of the two men after whom he had 
 come, had gone to Bahia, and the other, on the ap- 
 pearance of the ' Zebra/ had given himself up to the 
 King of Dahomey as a slave. The ' Zebra/ after 
 cruising about for a few days, sailed for Fernando Po, 
 arriving there on the ijth of August. Here Captain 
 Howson was seized with fever, the result of disap- 
 pointment, and of the exposure to the sun he had 
 undergone in boarding suspicious vessels, and prose- 
 cuting his search for the crew of the pirate. But an 
 accident once more put him on the right trail, and he 
 had the satisfaction of successfully completing the 
 
 task he had undertaken. Captain B , one of the 
 
 officers of the establishment at Fernando Po, hap- 
 pened to be at Bimbia, at the mouth of the Came- 
 roons River, where he met five Spaniards, who 
 requested him to give them a passage to the Old 
 Calabar River. Captain B informed them he
 
 266 The Autobiography of a Man-o' -War's Bell. 
 
 could not do so, as he was going to Fernando Po, 
 but offered to take them there with him, and then 
 they could find their way to Calabar. They accord- 
 ingly proceeded to Fernando Po, and were about to 
 
 sail for Calabar, when Captain B received from 
 
 his agent at Bimbia a quantity of Spanish dollars, 
 with information that they had been picked up at 
 low-water mark, and were supposed to have been 
 lost from the canoe in which the Spaniards had 
 
 arrived there. Captain B immediately came to 
 
 the conclusion that these dollars had been plundered 
 from some vessel, and had been thrown away to 
 escape detection, and detained the men. We were 
 at Fernando Po. and on the matter coming- to the 
 
 * o 
 
 ears of Captain Howson, who had now recovered 
 from his illness, he had them confronted with the 
 prisoners he had taken at the Nazareth River. This 
 was no sooner done than they were recognized as 
 part of the crew of the late pirate schooner. One of 
 them was admitted as king's evidence, and his state- 
 ment of the piracies committed by the f Castille' 
 appears in an old number of the 'Nautical Maga- 
 zine/ Regarding the movements of himself and his 
 shipmates after the capture of the ' Castille ' at 
 Nazareth River, he says he ran away into the bush, 
 and when the schooner returned all the remainder of
 
 The Autobiography of a Man-o'- War's Bell. 267 
 
 the crew fled except the captain, who was secreted by 
 the native chief, or king. 
 
 " Four days after the ' Zebra ' sailed, the schooner 
 c Esperanza ' arrived, and some of his shipmates went 
 on board of her. He and five men got a canoe, and 
 having secured their share of the plunder from the 
 captain, they first went to the Cameroons River, and 
 then to Bimbia, where they heard an English 
 schooner was lying. To prevent suspicion, they 
 threw away most of the dollars in their possession, 
 retaining only a few. The singular circumstance of 
 the finding of these dollars at low-water led to sus- 
 picions which resulted in their conviction, owing to 
 the 'Zebra' being at the time in Fernando Po with 
 some of their shipmates. One of the six men 
 still remained at Bimbia, but a vessel was despatched 
 for him, and he was brought to Fernando Po. All 
 the piratical crew in the hands of Captain Howson 
 were committed under separate warrants, to await a 
 favourable opportunity for despatch to England. But 
 our captain could not rest satisfied until he had 
 secured the commander of the c Castille/ and as the 
 cruisers on the station were scattered about, so that 
 he could not do much by force, he had recourse to 
 a stratagem to effect his purpose. 
 
 "The captain of a British barque at Fernando
 
 268 The Autobiography of a Man-o'- War's BclL 
 
 Po having offered the gratuitous use of his vessel, it 
 was resolved, after a consultation, that she should 
 proceed to the river Nazareth as on a trading voy- 
 age, and that an officer and twelve of the ' Zebra's ' 
 men should reinforce her crew. Mr. Adams, mate, 
 commanded the party, of which I was one. Having 
 got his instructions, Mr. Adams sailed on his 
 hazardous mission, and no better officer could have 
 been selected, for he was not only bold and dashing, 
 but had a good head on his shoulders wherewith to 
 encounter the cunning crew with whom he had to 
 deal. It was arranged that the l Zebra/ which was 
 to be disguised, was to follow, and that their ren- 
 dezvous should be Cape Lopez, about thirty miles 
 west of the Nazareth. Acting in the capacity of a 
 trader, Mr. Adams was to entice the king and his 
 principal men on board the barque, and then seize 
 them until the arrival of the ' Zebra/ On his arrival 
 at Cape Lopez on the 24th of September, the young 
 officer addressed a communication to Captain How- 
 son, requesting him not to risk any lives in the 
 attempt to rescue or avenge him should he fall, and 
 then proceeded to the Nazareth. Arrived here, he 
 landed alone in disguise, and the first person he en- 
 countered was the captain of the pirate. Pedro 
 Gibert saluted Mr. Adams, who, not knowing that
 
 The Autobiography of a Man-o'-War's Bell. 269 
 
 he had his anticipated prey within his grasp, merely 
 returned his salute, and passed on to the house of 
 the native chief. Don Pedro's suspicions were ex- 
 cited by the appearance of the officer, who he thought 
 looked too much of a gentleman to be a common 
 trader, and he avowed his opinions to his sable 
 majesty. But the latter thought only of the un- 
 limited supply of rum he hoped to get drunk upon, 
 with muskets and powder to triumph over his ene- 
 mies, and he eagerly closed with the offer of the 
 supposed trader, and permitted his son and some 
 of his principal officers to return with Mr. Adams to 
 the barque. On their arrival on board, they were 
 regaled sumptuously, and permitted to indulge in, 
 such copious libations of their favourite ardent 
 spirit, that they were soon all under the cabin 
 table. 
 
 " In the meantime, the ' Zebra/ on her way to 
 join the barque at Cape Lopez, as agreed upon, 
 touched at St. Thomas's Island, and the Portuguese 
 prisoner retained on board her recognized a man he 
 accidentally saw as one of the ' Castille's ' crew. A 
 merchant also stated confidently that four more of 
 the pirate's men were on the island, and that a Por- 
 tuguese vessel, the ' Esperanza/ then lying in the 
 harbour, had brought them from Cape Lopez. The
 
 2 70 The A utobiography of a Man-o '- War 's Bell. 
 
 Portuguese governor of the island, which was a pos- 
 session of the crown of Portugal, indignantly denied 
 this assertion, stating that no one could land on the 
 island without his permission, and, further, that the 
 1 Esperanza ' had not come from Cape Lopez. This 
 statement was also made to the officer who searched 
 that vessel ; but Captain Howson knew sufficient of 
 the duplicity of the Portuguese authorities, and their 
 notorious complicity in the then legal traffic of slaves, 
 to doubt the word of his Excellency. As, however, 
 he had to join the barque at the rendezvous at Cape 
 Lopez, he considered it best not to excite the sus- 
 picion of the governor, but requested him to institute 
 a strict search for these four men. 
 
 " On the arrival of the t Zebra ' at midnight at 
 Cape Lopez, Mr. Adams immediately proceeded on 
 board, and reported his success in having secured 
 the persons of the prince and others. After their 
 meeting, Captain Howson stood out to sea again, 
 having agreed to enter the river in company with the 
 barque on the following day. Accordingly, the next 
 afternoon, both vessels ran into the river under easy 
 sail with Portuguese colours, and came to an anchor. 
 The e Zebra ' was so well disguised that the natives, 
 taking her for a slaving vessel, flocked on board, 
 though immediately on their arrival their minds were
 
 The A utobiography of a Man-o '- War's Bell. 271 
 
 undeceived by the long line of guns. Escape was, how- 
 ever, now impossible, and they were made prisoners. 
 The king had been leading the way for the vessel in 
 his canoe, when suddenly the thought came into his 
 head that all was not right. Turning his canoe 
 towards the shore, he made his escape, and, so far 
 as he was concerned, Captain Howson' s plans were 
 frustrated. The sudden flight of the king opened 
 the eyes of the young prince, who soon found that 
 he and all his boon companions were prisoners. 
 The greatest consternation reigned on board the 
 barque, where all before had been jollity and mirth, 
 and the native chiefs expected instant death. 
 
 " Having thus secured substantial hostages, Cap- 
 tain Howson now threw off all disguise, and de- 
 manded the captain and the remainder of the crew of 
 the ' Castille ' in exchange for his prisoners. Much 
 delay and lengthened negociation took place, but at 
 length terms were agreed upon, and on the following 
 morning Captain Howson proceeded ashore with an 
 armed boat's crew, and received Don Pedro Gibert, 
 the commander of the late pirate. Soon afterwards 
 three of the crew were sent on board the ' Zebra,' 
 ' upon which Captain Howson released the hostages; 
 and now, amid manifestations of popular rejoicing 
 and the expression of the king's best wishes, the
 
 272 The Autobiography of a Man-o'-War's Bell. 
 
 two ships got under way, and sailed for St. 
 Thomas to look after the remainder of the crew. He 
 had learnt at the Nazareth river that the ' Espe- 
 ranza ' had really conveyed away the mate, carpenter, 
 and other men belonging to the ' Castille/ with the 
 sum of two thousand dollars to buy a new vessel at 
 St. Thomas ; but, notwithstanding, on his arrival at 
 this island, the governor had the effrontery to re- 
 iterate his previous denials. After a fortnight's 
 delay, the merchant who had informed him of their 
 being concealed on the island secretly gave informa- 
 tion that the ' Esperanza/ which had sailed during 
 the f Zebra's ' absence, had arrived on the previous 
 evening at another part of the island, that she was 
 hovering off the shore to receive the four' Spaniards 
 in question, and that they had started for the nearest 
 point of embarkation. Captain Howson thereupon 
 immediately sent the boats of the ' Zebra/ manned 
 and armed, to seize the ' Esperanza/ and, after a long 
 and tedious pull, this was done ; but unfortunately, 
 on search being made, it was found that the pirates 
 had not arrived on board. At length the patience 
 and pertinacity of the captain of the man-of-war 
 wore out the governor, who, to rid himself of the 
 presence of the obnoxious foreigner, sent word that 
 he had heard some Spaniards were concealed in a
 
 The Autobiography of a Jfa/t-o'-War's Bell. 273 
 
 distant part of the island, and he had given directions 
 that they should be taken into custody. On the fol- 
 lowing day they were examined, and it was found 
 that they were the men of whom Captain Howson 
 had been in search ; they were accordingly sent on 
 board the ' Zebra/ and joined their companions in 
 guilt. 
 
 " The British man-of-war, accompanied by the 
 ' Esperanza/ now sailed for England, where she 
 arrived in June, exactly eleven months after the 
 seizure of the ' Castille/ The crew of the latter 
 were sent to Salem, and arrived, curiously enough, 
 just as the brig ' Briton/ with her old captain, mate, 
 and cook on board, were going to sea. These men 
 confronted and recognized the gang as the mis- 
 creants who, exactly two years before, had plundered 
 and half-burnt the ' Briton.' The chain of evidence 
 was complete, and, after a long trial, six of them 
 were condemned to death. Of these, five were 
 executed, and the sixth, the mate, was reprieved, 
 owing to his having some few years before, when in 
 command of a brig, gallantly rescued from a founder- 
 ing ship no less than seventy-four souls, the crew and 
 passengers. Such pertinacity, judgment, and ability 
 as was displayed by Captain Howson is happily not 
 rare in the annals of the noble service to which he 
 
 18
 
 274 The Autobiography of a Man-o' -War's Bell. 
 
 belonged, and it is gratifying to record that both he 
 and Mr. Adams were promoted by the Admiralty." 
 
 The officers of the Navy regard as only inferior 
 to the sacred duty of defending the honour and 
 interests of their country, assuaging the evils to 
 which nautical suffering humanity is exposed by the 
 brutalities of the slaver and the pirate. To exter- 
 minate these pests, whenever and wherever en- 
 countered, is an obligation which our gallant seamen 
 carry out with the single-minded devotion for which 
 the race is famous : 
 
 " Ye heroes of ocean ! whose blood and whose breath 
 Are cheerfully spent in the battle of death, 
 Go forth at humanity's noblest call, 
 For the pirate the tyrant the despot must fall." 
 
 To return to the doings of the " Melpomene " 
 and her crew, from which we have so long been de- 
 tained by the relation of these episodes in the lives 
 of some of them.
 
 CHAPTER XI. 
 
 THE "Melpomene" experienced favourable winds, 
 and running to the northward was soon in the lati- 
 tude of Brest, and about to enter the Channel. 
 Duckworth was still under close, and his accom- 
 plices under open, arrest, and officers and men were 
 speculating with singular anxiety upon what would 
 be the result of the trial that would now in all likeli- 
 hood come off in the course of a few days, though 
 there was only one opinion as to the certainty of 
 capital punishment being awarded, when a circum- 
 stance occurred that altered the whole course of 
 events. Never was the truth of the maxim, " Man 
 proposes but God disposes/' more signally verified. 
 
 One morning the pipe went for all hands to 
 "scrub and wash clothes." It was to be the last 
 time before reaching Plymouth Sound, in which 
 every one counted upon anchoring within fifty hours. 
 The crew were busy making preparations for the 
 final clean up ; the hammocks and blankets, as well
 
 276 The Autobiography of a Man-o' -War's Bell. 
 
 as body linen, were to be thoroughly well scoured 
 that day, so that the old frigate might look as clean 
 as a new pin, as well as all hands aboard her. 
 Suddenly the look-out man hailed the deck with the 
 announcement of a sail having hove in sight in the 
 direction of the island of Ushant, near the French 
 coast. She appeared to have just come out of Brest 
 and steered for us direct, crowding all sail. The 
 captain of the " Melpomene," on his part nothing 
 loth to try conclusions, even now, provided the dis- 
 parity of force was not too great, stood in under 
 easy sail, and awaited the approach of the stranger. 
 Within an hour's time she was near enough for us 
 to make her out to be a 6o-gun frigate, nearly double 
 our size, and seemingly fresh from port. The 
 private signals to test whether she was an English 
 man-o'-war, or one hailing from a friendly power, 
 not being answered, her nationality stood confessed. 
 At eleven o'clock we hauled up, bringing the wind 
 on our starboard quarter, took in studding sails, and 
 prepared for action. The enemy's ship still con- 
 tinued standing towards us, and about twelve, when 
 some four miles distant, hoisted her private signal, 
 and finding it unanswered, set her mainsail and 
 royals, which she had previously taken in, 
 
 The "Melpomene" made sail in a parallel
 
 The Autobiography of a Man-0'- War's Bell. 277 
 
 direction, and soon afterwards Captain Gaisford 
 hoisted his colours, and having shortened sail to 
 topgallant sails, jib, and spanker, stood towards the 
 stranger, then bearing about three points on our lee 
 bow, who on her part also hoisted French colours, 
 and putting herself under the same sail, luffed up to 
 the wind. At ten minutes past two, when the 
 " Melpomene " had approached the enemy, who 
 was seen to be a most formidable opponent, being 
 both considerably larger, and carrying a heavier 
 battery than the British frigate the distance being 
 then about half a mile, she opened a fire from her 
 larboard guns, which were so well aimed at this long 
 range, that the round shot splashed the water against 
 the "Melpomene's" starboard quarter. At this 
 time, when our officers and men were at their 
 quarters, with the exception of James Duckworth 
 and the two seconds, the former characteristically 
 wrote a few lines to the captain, and implored him, 
 as the last favour he would ever ask, to be permitted 
 to repair to his station and take part in the 
 approaching conflict, at the conclusion of which he 
 would return to his cabin as prisoner. Captain 
 Gaisford, chivalrous as he was, could not refuse such 
 a request, coming from a man whose life he con- 
 sidered was as good as forfeited, and sending for the
 
 278 The Autobiography of a Man-o' -War's Bell. 
 
 young officer, shook him warmly by the hand, with- 
 out saying a word, for his heart was too full to 
 speak, and motioned him to repair to his post. 
 
 Not being so close as he could wish, the captain 
 of the " Melpomene " stood on until within pistol- 
 shot on the Frenchman's weather or port bow ; then 
 having received a second broadside which passed over 
 her inasmuch as the guns were elevated too much as 
 before they had been too little fired a broadside in 
 return ; almost every shot of this, we subsequently 
 learned, took effect. The Frenchman had his wheel 
 shot away, besides receiving other damage, and lost 
 six men killed and ten wounded by this discharge 
 alone. The enemy, doubtless dreading a repetition 
 of this warm salute, having fired her third broadside 
 without much effect, wore ship in the smoke to get 
 farther to leeward, so as to work her guns at long 
 bowls. On our part, the captain, as soon as he 
 discovered that his wary antagonist was running 
 before the wind* made sail after her, and at twenty- 
 five minutes past two the enemy, and then ourselves, 
 having come round on the starboard tack, the two 
 frigates exchanged broadsides. Again the French- 
 man wore to get away. The " Melpomene " wore 
 also, and passing slowly under the former's stern, 
 prepared to rake her. At this time the vastly
 
 The Autobiography of a Man-o'- War's Sell. 279 
 
 superior size of the hostile ship became apparent as 
 she towered over our taffrail. By some means the 
 fire we poured in at this critical moment of the 
 action was not so effective as it might have been, 
 and no very considerable damage was done. After 
 raking her, the " Melpomene" stood on,, and by this 
 means the enemy secured the weather gauge. This 
 did not, however, suit her long-shot tactics, and she 
 therefore made sail on the port tack, the wind being 
 free, followed by the British frigate, which, luffing 
 up, crossed the Frenchman's stem again, and let her 
 have her starboard broadside once more. At a quarter 
 to three, the enemy, probably ashamed of the tactics 
 she had hitherto adopted of shunning a close en- 
 counter with a ship so much her inferior in size and 
 weight of metal, as she had discovered us to be by 
 the effect of our repeated broadsides, seemed deter- 
 mined to change her plan of action, and close with 
 us. We had stood on in chase, but the enemy now 
 shortened sail, and for a few minutes engaged at 
 close quarter?. Again, however, she repeated her 
 favourite manoeuvre, and wearing in the smoke was 
 not perceived until nearly round on the starboard 
 tack. 
 
 We would have followed suit, but having had our 
 jib-boom and the head of the bowsprit shot away,
 
 280 The Autobiography of a Man-o' -War's Sell. 
 
 must have experienced some difficulty in wearing 
 ship with the requisite alacrity, so the "Melpomene" 
 hove in stays, hoping to do so in time to avoid being 
 raked, but from the same cause that had brought 
 her so readily to the wind, the loss of her head sails, 
 she paid off very slowly. The French frigate luffing 
 up, poured in a heavy and destructive fire, though at 
 the distance of five hundred yards, a range at which 
 our guns, being of so much lighter calibre, were 
 comparatively harmless. As the " Melpomene " fell 
 off the wind, she returned the fire with her larboard 
 guns. Immediately on receiving our broadside the 
 enemy wore round on the port tack; we followed 
 suit, and then as quickly as he could the Honourable 
 Captain Gaisford ranged up alongside his powerful 
 adversary. It was a desperate venture, but then it 
 was a choice of evils ; whether to be knocked " into 
 a cocked hat " at long bowls, or engage within half- 
 pistol shot, and if he could not force his huge 
 antagonist to fly, at least to fight out to the bitter 
 end the unequal battle. I was filled with the sin- 
 cerest feelings of admiration and pity for our noble 
 captain and his gallant crew. They were now only 
 combating for barren honour, for unless some un- 
 foreseen accident occurred, or the advent of a friendly 
 sail, it was absolutely impossible that they could
 
 The Autobiography of a Man-o'-War's Bell. 281 
 
 escape capture, while it was melancholy indeed that 
 after four years' meritorious service in America and 
 India, in which countries they had so well upheld the 
 ancient renown of their noble service it was hard 
 indeed that after all this they should have to succumb 
 to superior force, and, when in sight of their native 
 land, be captured and borne off to experience the 
 horrors of a French prison. It was hard, but I saw 
 it was well nigh irremediable. 
 
 The French frigate having reduced the "Melpo- 
 mene" almost to a wreck, had her completely at her 
 mercy, and being enabled to engage at whatever point 
 she liked best, came up abreast of her at three o'clock 
 within pistol-shot distance, and the battle raged more 
 furiously than ever. The havoc wrought in a few 
 minutes was so terrible that Captain Gaisford, who 
 did not even now dream of surrender, determined to 
 adopt the last resource at his disposal. Desperate 
 though the expedient was, he resolved to board. At 
 this time, besides the loss of her' bowsprit and 
 mizenmast, the fore and mainmasts had been badly 
 wounded, and were tottering to their fall ; it was 
 desirable, therefore, that no time should be lost. 
 
 Calling his men together, to board with him the 
 moment the ships touched, Captain Gaisford stood 
 on the quarter-deck, sword in hand. He looked the
 
 282 TJte Autobiography of a Man-o'- War's Bell. 
 
 personification of the indomitable pluck and daring 
 for which the name of the British sailor, all the 
 world over, is a synonym. Pale he was, and his 
 teeth were clenched, and his lips pressed close to one 
 another, while his hand closed with a convulsive 
 clutch over his trusty weapon. I thought he seemed 
 like a martyr; for though, no doubt, it was an ex- 
 aggerated sense of what was due to his country that 
 induced him to protract the hopeless conflict, yet 
 it was a noble error that thus sacrificed all in this 
 world, so that he might retain that will-o'-the-wisp 
 honour. It was equally grand and inspiriting to see 
 how every officer and man responded to the desperate 
 scheme of boarding an enemy superior in numbers 
 and filled with ardour at the imminent realization of 
 victory. 
 
 With alacrity they crowded round him, and when 
 at that moment, the ensign having been shot away, 
 he ordered another to be " seized " to the mizen 
 rigging, a dozen- sprang forward to obey. 
 
 Foremost among them all was James Duck- 
 worth, who, with a boat's ensign in his hand, 
 jumped up the ratlines torn with shot, and spun- 
 yarn in hand, lashed the emblem of England's 
 glory to the mizen shrouds with all his old smart- 
 ness.
 
 The Autobiography of a Man-o'-Wars Bell. 283 
 
 He was amply rewarded when on his regaining 
 the deck, his old commanding officer, forgetting all 
 the recent unhappy business, shook him warmly by 
 the hand, and in a choking voice said, "Well done, 
 boy? Fll not forget you when all is over/' adding 
 in loud and inspiriting tone to his men, " And now, 
 lads, follow me." 
 
 The " Melpomene," which had bore up, would 
 have laid the French frigate aboard at her larboard 
 main chains, had not the foremast at that instant 
 fallen, and by its weight and the direction of its 
 fall crushed the forecastle, killing and maiming 
 several men, and encumbering the principal part of 
 the deck. But misfortune dogged the brave sailors 
 to their ruin in spite of every effort. The remains of 
 her bowsprit, now passing over the Frenchman's 
 stern, caught in her starboard mizen rigging, and 
 brought the ship up in the wind, whereby the oppor- 
 tunity to rake as well as to board was lost. All this 
 time a terrible fire, not only from the enemy's guns, 
 but from the small-arm men stationed in her tops 
 and elsewhere, swept the deck, lessening the gallant 
 band assembled together to board, and who formed 
 so prominent a mark for the sharpshooters. 
 
 The master and second lieutenant had already 
 been killed, and the captain was making his way to
 
 284 The Autobiography of a Man-o- War's Bell. 
 
 the scene of the wreck, when a musket-ball struck 
 him in the right leg, shattering it below the knee. 
 Hardly had he expressed to the seaman who lifted 
 him up his intention to remain on deck, when 
 another bullet passed through his temple. He had 
 only time to exclaim, "My God!" and sank back 
 and died. Thus surrounded with every element of 
 disaster and defeat, but with untarnished honour, 
 departed the spirit of the gallant captain of His 
 Majesty's ship "Melpomene." 
 
 But there was a foul deed done when this tragedy 
 was consummated, and I, from my elevated post, 
 was a silent witness to the fact that the unfortunate 
 officer had not expired in fair fight, but had fallen 
 by the treacherous hand of one of his own men. 
 But one other eye saw this amid the turmoil and 
 confusion of the battle. As James Duckworth 
 headed a party of men who, directed by the captain, 
 sought to remove the wreck from the guns, which 
 could not be used while it lay across them, he hap- 
 pened to cast his eye on Mullins, who had left his 
 gun, then disabled, and who, crouching on the 
 forecastle, took a deliberate aim at Captain Gais- 
 ford, as he lay half supported in the arms of a couple 
 of seamen. Duckworth's cheeks blanched with 
 horror, but before he had time to interfere the
 
 TJte Autobiography of a Man-a'-War's Bell. 285 
 
 pistol was discharged, with tha fatal result I have 
 already named. 
 
 " Now Pm avenged/' whispered Mullins in a 
 suppressed voice, for he thought no one had wit- 
 nessed the foul deed. But he erred. Duckworth 
 sprang forward to seize the assassin, when a 
 mightier arm than his arrested the wretch, upon 
 whom, at one and the same moment, a murderer's 
 doom was pronounced and a murderer's doom in- 
 flicted. Hardly had the words of triumph passed 
 his lips when a round-shot from the enemy struck 
 Mullins full in the body, as he rose from his crouch- 
 ing attitude, and regularly disembowelled him. He 
 fell over the forecastle a mangled and hideous corpse, 
 amidst all that scene of slaughter the most terrible 
 object to gaze upon. 
 
 The manoeuvre of boarding having thus failed, 
 the " Melpomene" was left a wreck at the mercy of 
 her antagonist; but Jacob Higham, the first lieu- 
 tenant, was a worthy successor of his honoured chief, 
 and would not yet even strike his flag. The French- 
 man, once again wearing across her antagonist's 
 bows, raked her with a heavy fire, and shot away 
 her maintopmast, which still further encumbered our 
 guns. Running to leeward, past her unmanageable 
 and now almost defenceless opponent, the enemy, at
 
 286 TJte Autobiography of a Man-o'-War's Bell. 
 
 i 
 
 a few minutes past three, luffed up and raked her 
 on the starboard quarter, then wore round on the 
 port tack, and, resuming her position, fired her port 
 broadside with most destructive effect. All this 
 time our brave fellows worked the main deck guns 
 with bull-dog obstinacy; but the tactics adopted 
 by the French frigate of wearing at her leisure and 
 raking her adversary, wrought such fearful havoc, 
 that even Lieutenant Higham began to think it was 
 all useless bloodshed, and after receiving a tremen- 
 dous discharge of round-shot, grape, and musketry, 
 and seeing that the enemy had taken up a judicious 
 position close athwart our bows, for the purpose of 
 sinking us at her leisure, he struck his flag at thirty- 
 five minutes past three, and surrended the wreck he 
 had fought so nobly. 
 
 It was about time, for besides the loss of her 
 bowsprit and all the masts, as already mentioned, 
 except the mainmast, which was even now 
 tottering to its fall, six of her quarterdeck, 
 four of her forecastle, and several of her main- 
 deck, guns were disabled, all her boats had 
 been shot away, her hull shattered, and the ship 
 rendered a perfect wreck. Out of our crew, forty- 
 eight officers and men had been killed, and one 
 hundred and twenty-three wounded. Among the
 
 The Autobiography of a Man-d 1 -War's Bell. 287 
 
 former were the master, one mate, three midship- 
 men,, and the boatswain ; whilst the list of wounded 
 included the first and fourth lieutenants, two mid- 
 shipmen, and the gunner. But the saddest loss of 
 all was the death of Captain Gaisford. James 
 Duckworth said not a word to any one of the hand 
 by whom this gallant officer fell, but he often secretly 
 upbraided himself for not having warned the captain, 
 and remembered the circumstance of the shot the 
 latter received on his sword-hilt in Admiral Pocock's 
 action. When Duckworth had been a boy before 
 the mast, and Mull ins' chum and messmate, the 
 latter had often expressed a similar hatred of his 
 commander, which seemed to point to an old grudge. 
 He had sought to wean him from these bad thoughts, 
 but all his efforts had been vain. Duckworth, there- 
 fore, had long since ceased to regard him as a friend, 
 and they had been estranged from each other, a 
 coolness which, moreover, the change in their rela- 
 tive positions the one having become an officer and 
 the other remaining before the mast had tended to 
 increase. 
 
 There was one little circumstance I should 
 perhaps mention, as it may throw some light on 
 the terrible deed. I had often noticed on Captain 
 Gaisford's finger a handsome ring, containing a
 
 288 77ie Autobiography of a Man-o-Wars Bell. 
 
 lock of hair and a tiny miniature, which opened by 
 means of a spring, and which was the gift of his 
 wife, a lady sprung of a noble family. When Mul- 
 lins fell before me, his body rent with a 24- pound 
 shot, there was found round his neck, and con- 
 cealed beneath his clothes, a locket, and in this 
 was a portrait bearing the initials "L. M.," sur- 
 mounted by a coronet. It was at once apparent to 
 the most careless observer that the portrait was a 
 likeness of none other than the captain's wife- 
 This singular fact escaped the eyes and vigilance 
 of all except James Duckworth, who, with Lieu- 
 tenant Higham's sanction, took possession of both 
 the ring and locket, intending to forward the former 
 to the widow of his friend, and retain the latter 
 with the object of instituting inquiries when he 
 regained his freedom. There was a strange mys- 
 tery which puzzled me long, and I do not doubt 
 that those of rny readers who love mysteries will, 
 like myself, give reins to their imagination in at- 
 tempting to account for this singular circumstance, 
 which there can be no manner of doubt was con- 
 nected with the savage deed of murder that has 
 so tragically closed the history of Captain Gaisford's 
 commission of H.M.S. "Melpomene/'
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 
 SOON after the flag of the " Melpomene " had been 
 hauled down, or rather torn from the mizen rigging 
 to which it was lashed, a boat from the French 
 frigate came on board, and the officer in charge 
 received the sword of the acting captain, Jacob 
 Higham, and took over charge of the ship. Upon 
 the French officer asking the late first lieutenant if 
 he was captain, the latter, without replying for this 
 brave sailor, rough though he was, had a tender 
 heart pointed to the mangled, but still warm 
 corpse of his old friend and superior, and with diffi- 
 culty restrained the tears, though he was, like 
 Othello, " not given to the melting mood." All the 
 officers and men of the British frigate were trans- 
 ferred to the Frenchman, and a prize crew were put 
 on board. It was with a feeling of indignation, un- 
 mixed with any gentler emotion, that the majority 
 of the seamen took leave of the ship they had navi- 
 gated for so many years through storm and sun- 
 
 19
 
 290 The Autobiography of a Man-o'- War's Bell. 
 
 shine, and in which they had fought so many 
 glorious actions. 
 
 " By " said Tim Johnson, the old quarter- 
 master, as he limped over the side into the cutter 
 alongside, " I never thought it would come to this/' 
 
 " But we'll live, most of us, I dare say, to fight 
 another day, and then look out for squalls," he 
 added, glaring on the French boat's crew as if he had 
 not had yet half a bellyfull of fighting, and would like 
 to go throught it all again. 
 
 The officers took leave of the old frigate, that had 
 been their home for four years, without breaking 
 silence. Most of them were filled with thoughts too 
 bitter to find utterance in words, and, like brave men, 
 they took their seats in the stern sheets of the 
 capacious pinnace that was despatched to bring them 
 off first, and were rowed in silence to their prison. 
 The, captain of the " Richelieu/' of 60 guns, was a 
 man of aristocratic family, like most of the officers 
 of the French navy of the days of the Louises, and 
 he received his prisoners with the studied politeness 
 and ease of a polished courtier. The officers were 
 treated in every sense like gentlemen, and messed 
 with those of their own rank, while they were placed 
 each one on his parole d'honneur. The men were 
 treated with much greater rigour, and upon Lieu-
 
 The Autobiography of a Man-tf -War's Bell 291 
 
 tenant Higham giving his word that no attempt 
 should be made at recapture, the captain of the 
 " Richelieu " replied that the ship would probably 
 arrive at Brest the following day, so that the confine- 
 ment would not be of sufficient length to render it 
 irksome. 
 
 A good "topgallant breeze sprung up, and the 
 " Richelieu/' a fine new ship, quickly beat back to 
 Brest, and on the evening of the day following their 
 capture, the crew of the " Melpomene " found them- 
 selves in port. The English frigate was worked in by 
 her prize crew, and was moored alongside her vic- 
 torious adversaiy. In looking at the two ships as 
 they lay so close to each other, all wonder at the 
 disastrous termination of the conflict was quickly 
 dispelled, and one was more inclined to censure the 
 temerity that could have induced the English com- 
 mander to engage in so desperate an encounter. 
 
 Not only had the " Richelieu " 60 guns, most of 
 them of heavier calibre than those of the " Melpo- 
 mene," but she was considerably larger, her superior 
 in sailing qualities, and carried 350 more men than 
 the "Melpomene," whose crew, owing to death in 
 battle and by disease, had been wofully reduced from 
 the total they had mustered on sailing from Plymouth 
 two years before. Notwithstanding all these advan-
 
 292 7$i? Autobiography of a Man-o* -Wat's Bell. 
 
 tages possessed by their champion, the good people 
 of Brest were transported with joy at the capture, 
 and, I suppose, on. the principle of not looking " a 
 gift horse in the mouth," especially when the gift is 
 of a description rarely bestowed, they made no 
 invidious comparisons between the ships, but were 
 duly thankful for the very small mercy vouchsafed to 
 them, and manifested their exultation by the per- 
 formance of Te Deums and other rejoicings usual 
 among our Gallic neighbours on such occasions. 
 Pursuing the events of my own biography, or such 
 as fall under my own observation, I must now leave 
 the officers and crew late of his Majesty's ship '' Mel 
 pomene " to their fate in a French prison, with the 
 expression of a sincere hope that a speedy peace or 
 an exchange of captives soon effected the opening of 
 their gloomy and inhospitable prison doors. 
 
 The naval authorities at Brest lost no time in re- 
 fitting the "Melpomene," and having decided to send 
 her once more to the East Indies, there was a proba- 
 bility of my visiting former scenes, and reviving 
 recollections of happy days when under my own 
 country's flag, which, as a good patriot, I devoutly 
 hoped might soon float over me again. I never could 
 reconcile myself to the chattering conversation of 
 French sailors, for whom, whether owing to the
 
 The Autobiography of a Man-o'-War's Bell. 293 
 
 finikin nature of the language, or to the appearance 
 and conduct of the individuals who expressed them- 
 selves through its medium, I have always had a 
 contempt, and yet, like all Frenchmen, they are 
 brave, and struck me as being certainly more patient 
 than our tars, who, when thwarted or out of temper, 
 swear at everything and everybody but their own 
 officers. 
 
 Well, we put to sea, and arrived in Eastern 
 waters without the occurrence of any circumstance 
 of note, except that we were chased by the frigates 
 of an English fleet soon after we lost sight of land, 
 though we easily eluded our pursuers. We had been 
 ordered to put in at the island of Bourbon, now 
 known as Reunion, and which, with Mauritius 
 (which the English subsequently captured), formed 
 the two chief French naval stations in the Indian 
 Ocean. Reunion belongs to the Mascarene group 
 of islands lying within the southern tropic, about 
 400 miles east of Madagascar, and is about 40 
 miles long by 30 broad, and of an oval shape. In 
 times of subterranean disturbance, Reunion cannot 
 he considered a very desirable or safe residence. It 
 was discovered by the Portuguese in 1545* and must 
 have been regarded by them as a most unpromising 
 place to colonize, for the whole island was little more
 
 294 The Autobiography of a Man-o' -War's Bell. 
 
 than a rock with inaccessible peaks, while its inhos- 
 pitable shores were covered with huge boulders. It 
 was uninhabited, though the sea birds resorted to it 
 in countless myriads, and the only animals dis- 
 covered within its limits were hedgehogs and flying 
 foxes. In spite of all these disadvantages, those 
 clever fellows, the French, have transformed it into 
 an earthly paradise. There is, however, a drawback 
 attaching to a residence on its shores, for an eminent 
 French savant has declared " that the island of Bour- 
 bon appears to have been created by volcanoes," and is 
 in a fairway of being destroyed by volcanic irruption. 
 The " Melpomene," under her new masters, 
 having despatches for the governor, made her way to 
 the town of St. Denis, which is the seat of govern- 
 ment, and is conveniently situated on the north side 
 of the island. There is, however, no harbour, and 
 we had to anchor in an open roadstead. A new 
 comer can hardly feel very pleased by the manner in 
 which he first makes the acquaintance of the 
 islanders. A heavy sea beats upon the shore, and, 
 as there are no harbours, jetties have been run out 
 having cranes at the end of them, and on the arrival 
 of the boat a tub is lowered, into which the passenger 
 is stowed, and after being hoisted thirty or forty feet 
 into the air, is landed in Reunion.
 
 The Autobiography of a Man-o'-War's Bell. 295 
 
 The " Melpomene/' after only a few days' stay, left 
 for Mauritius, or Isle de France, as it was then called, 
 and hardly had she got well clear of the land when 
 two ships were observed in the distance. Captain 
 
 Boulnois was at first inclined to return to St. Denis, 
 
 
 as he had no wish to engage so disproportionate a 
 
 force ; but after a short inspection he resolved to 
 stand on, as he came to the conclusion that they 
 were traders belonging to the British East India 
 Company. However, he at once cleared for action, 
 for these vessels generally also carried heavy arma- 
 ments., and on more than one occasion had beaten 
 off French frigates of equal size. As the cargoes 
 they carried were in every instance of considerable 
 value, Captain Boulnois determined to challenge 
 them to battle, for if successful he would make such 
 a haul of booty as to achieve his fortune at a stroke. 
 It was about five o'clock in the evening that we first 
 sighted the English ships, and Captain Boulnois at 
 once gave chase. He made sail to topgallant sails, 
 and stood close on a wind on the starboard tack, the 
 same as that on which the English ships were stand- 
 ing. The " Melpomene/' true to her good sailing 
 qualities, overhauled the chase as impartially as in 
 the days when she carried the flag now borne by the 
 fugitives. The weathermost English ship, finding
 
 296 The Autobiography of a Man-o* -War's Bell. 
 
 the French frigate approaching fast, bore up to join 
 her consort. At half-past seven, the " Melpomene " 
 was about two and a-half miles on the weather 
 quarter of the two, with such a decided superiority of 
 sailing as to hold her own with them under topsails 
 and courses only, while they were carrying topgallant 
 sails ! Captain Boulnois' object in not making more 
 sail was to avoid engaging at night-time (it was 
 already getting dark), and yet so to place himself 
 that, when morning broke, he might be in a position 
 to range up and commence the action. Darkness 
 now closed in, and the chase went on during the 
 early part of the night, the Frenchman guided in his 
 course by an occasional signal between the English 
 ships. Suddenly, at about ten minutes past two, in 
 the midst of a fresh squall, the latter bore up. The 
 word was passed over the French frigate that the 
 English ships proposed to engage. There was a 
 bustle through the crowded decks of the "Melpo- 
 mene," while preparations were made for battle. 
 The hammocks were lashed up and stowed in the 
 nettings, the magazines thrown open, the guns cast 
 loose and loaded, while the sail-trimmers attended at 
 their stations ready for any call. All these prepara- 
 tions were made without confusion or a relaxation of 
 the ties of discipline, but not as smartly, I thought,
 
 The Autobiography of a Man-o'-War's Bell. 297 
 
 as they would have been on board the same ship 
 only one short year before. 
 
 Immediately the English vessels bore up, Captain 
 Boulnois, fearing their intention might be to run or 
 wear, bore up also, and manned his starboard guns. 
 In about ten minutes the former again hauled to the 
 wind on the same tack, and the "Melpomene," 
 having repeated the manoeuvre, found herself within 
 less than musket-shot distance on the weather 
 quarter of one of the strangers. Captain Boulnois, 
 having previously manned his guns on both sides, 
 discharged his larboard broadside at this ship, which 
 she, nofhing daunted, returned with a similar salute. 
 Thus, at about twenty minutes past two o'clock in 
 the morning, the action began. The French sailors 
 worked their guns with creditable precision, and 
 their courage no one could doubt ; but they appeared 
 too excited and flurried, contrasting in this respect 
 unfavourably with their predecessors on board the 
 frigate. At about half-past two the English ship 
 we had engaged, having had her jibboom and the 
 weather clew of her foretopsail shot away, ranged 
 ahead clear of the "Melpomene's'' guns. The 
 lightness of the breeze, which had been gradually 
 falling since the action commenced, would have de- 
 prived us of our former advantage in point of sailing,
 
 298 The Autobiography of a Mati-o'- War's Bell. 
 
 even had the East Indiaman's fire not cut away the 
 greater part of our running rigging. Hence the 
 " Melpomene " had scarcely steerage way through 
 the water. The second English ship had meanwhile 
 bore up, and now taking a station on the lee quarter 
 of her consort, commenced her share in the action. 
 The breeze freshening a little at this time, the " Mel- 
 pomene" made sail, and, running alongside this 
 latter vessel to windward, poured a broadside into 
 her. At this time the first Indiaman, owing to a 
 sudden fall of wind, was enabled to retain her station 
 close on our weather bow, a most advantageous posi- 
 tion, as while she raked us with a most destructive 
 fire, her consort lay within half-pistol-shot on our 
 larboard beam, and, with her guns manned by a fresh 
 crew, poured in terrible broadsides of round shot, 
 grape, and langridge that cut up the " Melpomene's " 
 rigging in most merciless style. At this critical 
 juncture, Captain Boulnois fell mortally wounded, 
 and the command devolved upon his first lieutenant, 
 an officer who possessed neither the energy nor 
 resource of his superior, though he formed no excep- 
 tion to the gallantry of his nation, and did not 
 shirk from exposing himself freely to the storm of 
 projectiles that now swept our decks. It soon 
 became manifest that the action would have a disas-
 
 " Her puns poured in terrible broadsides.'
 
 The Autobiography of a Man-o'-War's Bell. 299 
 
 trous termination as regarded the "Melpomene." 
 Within an hour of its commencement herjibboom 
 and foretopmast were shot away, and shortly after 
 her mizen-topmast went by the board. Still she 
 continued an animated fire,, but it gradually grew 
 more and more feeble. About half-past four o'clock, 
 when daylight broke, she presented a sad spectacle. 
 Her two remaining masts were tottering to their fall, 
 her hull was pierced in all directions in fact, almost 
 riddled ; her quarterdeck had been nearly cleared of 
 officers and men, while the guns were disabled, ana 
 her maindeck quarters so thinned that only nine 
 carronades could be manned. There was no hope of 
 escape either, for a dead calm brooded over the sea, 
 rendering the unfortunate ship a target, into which 
 every shot from the Indiamen plumped with fatal 
 precision. There was nothing to be done to avoid 
 total destruction but to surrender ; and accordingly, 
 at a quarter to five, the French frigate hauled down 
 her colours, and once more reverted to the nation 
 that had launched and fitted her out. 
 
 The " butcher's bill " was even more formidable 
 in its dimensions than on the memorable occasion 
 when Captain Gaisford fought and lost her. Of 
 the crew of 380 men she carried, no less than 42 
 were killed and 127 wounded; among the former,
 
 300 The Autobiography of a Matt-o'-War's Bell. 
 
 besides the captain, who before his ship surrendered 
 expired of the terrible grape-shot wound he had 
 received, were three other officers, while the wounded 
 included the first lieutenant, who received a musket- 
 ball through his neck and another through his hand, 
 from both of which, however, he recovered, and five 
 officers, among whom were the surgeon and a colonel 
 of regulars on his passage to Mauritius. The loss 
 of the Indiaman was, in comparison, trifling, and 
 consisted of two officers, and seven men killed and 
 thirty-two wounded. A fprize crew now came on 
 board and took possession, and soon again the 
 " meteor flag " of England waved over the shattered 
 and war-worn hull of the old frigate. 
 
 It made me warm up to my very core (I suppose 
 that my readers will not allow that I have a heart) 
 to hear the old familiar tongue once more. I would 
 listen for the cheery order to " Strike the bell eight, 
 and pipe to grog," and watch the jolly English face 
 of the ship's boy or some one of the crew, who 
 nearly always at this time happened to be handy, as 
 he sprang forward to "make it eight bells," and 
 thereafter cut a broad joke or smartly danced a few 
 steps of the hornpipe (so transported would the 
 honest fellow be at the very idea of a tot of Jack's 
 nectar) before he proceeded to plunge down below
 
 The Autobiography of a Man-o' War's Bell. 301 
 
 to his mess quarters for the purpose of bringing up 
 his tin pot, or pannikin, out of which it was his habit 
 to quaff that delicious beverage. 
 
 A strong prize crew having been put on board 
 her, the " Melpomene" sailed in company with her 
 consorts for Bombay, whither they were bound. No 
 time was lost in jury-rigging her, and before the 
 week was out she was in good condition to take 
 care of herself. 
 
 The Indiamen having a valuable cargo on board, 
 divided the prisoners of war between them, and then 
 setting a press of sail, made the best of their way 
 to their destination, directing the "Melpomene" 
 to follow. 
 
 All went well on board the frigate, though some of 
 the officers were rather uneasy about her safety, for 
 so battered was her hull that she certainly could not 
 be called seaworthy ; the prize captain said one day 
 in my hearing that it was in spite of his earnest 
 protest that she was left to find her way along the 
 best way she could, and that he had repeatedly 
 represented to the captains of the Indiamen that she 
 ought to be scuttled, as were they to encounter bad 
 weather, it was morally certain she would founder, 
 and thus save them the trouble of sinking her. A 
 terrible calamity was soon, indeed, to engulph the
 
 3O2 The Autobiography of a Man-o' -War's Bell. 
 
 gallant frigate, but it was not of the character appre- 
 hended by her officers. 
 
 One night, in the middle watch, I was listening 
 with amusement and pleasure to a conversation 
 between an old man-o'-war's-man, who was detailing 
 to a friend an account of the actions in which he 
 had participated in the East Indies while on board 
 Admiral Pocock's flagship, and spoke of the promi- 
 nent part taken by the frigate on board which they 
 both then were, when a suspicion came over me that 
 I could distinguish a smell as of fire. Scarcely had 
 this thought presented itself to my mind, than the 
 officer of the watch came forward, and asking the 
 men whether they smelt anything like wool burning, 
 desired the first-mentioned sailor to go below, and 
 see if anything was the matter down there. This 
 man had just put foot on the ladder leading to the 
 lower deck, when the third officer came bounding up 
 the after-companion leading on to the quarter-deck, 
 and shouted out at the top of his voice, " Fire ! fire ! 
 fire ! ring the fire-bell \" These words, replete with 
 such a fell import, rang over the silent decks with 
 the sound as of the archangel's trump at the .last 
 day. For a moment it seemed to freeze the very 
 heart's blood of the three listeners, and to paralyze 
 their bodies, so that they could not move; but it was
 
 The Autobiography of a Man-o'-War's Bell. 303 
 
 only for this brief space of time, for hardly had the 
 echoes of the dread announcement died away, than 
 they made a simultaneous rush at the lanyard 
 attached to my tongue (would that all tongues of 
 flesh had lanyards by which they could be effectually 
 held] and with might and main poured out on the 
 midnight air such a volume of sound as would have 
 roused the " seven sleepers/' or any number of them 
 (as it most certainly did on this occasion), had any 
 such incentive to wakefulness been requisite after the 
 stentorian tones of the aroused officer who gave the 
 alarm. 
 
 Responsive to the summons, there streamed up 
 from the lower deck a crowd of seamen, who repaired 
 each man to his post with most commendable disci- 
 pline, and with such promptitude that, before my 
 alarum tones had ceased to ring, every soul was 
 ready, and waiting for orders. Those told off as 
 firemen repaired to search for the site of the fire, 
 while " whips" were rove on the yardarms and 
 canvas buckets prepared for bringing water from 
 alongside, and the ordinary wooden buckets mar- 
 shalled in rows to pass the water along. It was 
 soon discovered that the fire was raging in the after 
 part of the orlop deck, and in dangerous proximity 
 to the powder-magazine. The captain first spoke of
 
 304 T/te Autobiography of a Man-o'-lVar's Bell. 
 
 passing the powder up, and heaving it overboard; 
 but fearful of the imminent danger there existed of a 
 spark igniting the inflammable agent, he decided 
 upon the safer course of flooding the magazine, 
 which was accordingly carried out without a minute's 
 loss of time. This completed, the officers and crew 
 breathed with a feeling of comparative safety, and 
 every nerve was bent to extinguish the fire, which 
 was gaining ground with fearful rapidity. Very soon 
 volumes of dense smoke were seen issuing from the 
 after hatchways, and seen from the fore hatchways 
 also, as the smoke rolled along the maindeck, and 
 found vent anywhere. 
 
 The firemen were now obliged to come up on 
 deck, being driven away by the heat and suffocating 
 clouds of smoke. Orders were at once issued to 
 prepare and victual the boats, and as these had all 
 been kept by the late commander in a commendable 
 condition for immediate service, little delay ensued 
 before the respective officers reported every prepara- 
 tion made for abandoning the ship. Sorely against 
 his will, the captain, after a hurried consultation with 
 his two mates, decided upon adopting this course. 
 The maintopsail was (f laid to the mast," and the 
 ship being hove to, the boats were lowered alongside, 
 and quicky hauled forward, for the flames were now
 
 The Autobiography of a Man-o '-War's Bell. 305 
 
 bursting through the maindeck ports, and it was im- 
 possible for the crew to lay into them from the after 
 part of the ship. 
 
 The sick and wounded were first carefully dis- 
 tributed among the boats, and then with a discipline 
 that would not have discredited a man-of-war, and in 
 silence, the prize crew of the ill-fated " Melpomene" 
 followed their comrades. The boats pushed off, and 
 none too soon, for the flames, spreading along the 
 maindeck with surprising celerity, leapt up the tall 
 masts and along the spars, setting fire to the sails, 
 and thrust their forked tongues out of all the ports, 
 licking the grim black muzzles of the guns, which, 
 though deprived of all human companionship, yet 
 defiantly frowned out upon the murkiness of night. 
 So had they sullenly gaped when the tempest raged, 
 when the storm-beaten waves lashed themselves into 
 a hideous frenzy, and the winds raved and howled 
 their loudest; so again when their iron throats 
 belched forth a destructive hail of shot, and grape, 
 and canister to the accompaniment of the lightning 
 that lit up the night with quickly-recurring flashes, 
 and of the thunder that shook every rib, and beam, 
 and bolt in the sturdy frigate's oaken frame. In like 
 manner now, when the last act of the drama of the 
 history of a gallant ship-of-war " from its cradle to 
 
 20
 
 306 The Autobiography of a Man-o'- War's Sell. 
 
 its grave" was being enacted, the artillery stood their 
 ground sullenly, and glared out into the night, and 
 at the poor mortals, who, at length vanquished by 
 an element more powerful than even the winds and 
 the waves, abandoned their ship, and would no 
 longer stand to their guns. 
 
 Was it with an expression of grim pity or of 
 triumph that these mute iron sons of Mars, once 
 the proud custodians of England's honour, regarded 
 the men who had thus deserted them ? I thought 
 some such feelings must be theirs, for you must 
 remember I also was left to my fate, and, though 
 not gifted with powers of speech, could sympathize 
 with my dumb fellows in misfortune, and under- 
 stand their feelings.
 
 CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 THE fire raged through the deserted ship with intense 
 fury, and lit up the horizon. It spread up the jury- 
 mast which had been lately sent aloft and rigged 
 with such trouble, and " laying " out along the yards 
 with the celerity of a smart seaman, " picked up " 
 the broad fields of canvas, and devoured everything, 
 until the heel of the lower masts burning through, 
 the masts and spars, together with all sails and 
 cordage, came toppling from their giddy height, and 
 crashed down on to the deck beneath, or over the 
 side into the peaceful sea, which, after they had given 
 vent to their fervid rage in a fierce hiss, finally ex- 
 tinguished them. The whole ship, from stem to 
 stern, and from truck to keelson, was involved in 
 the conflagration, as, unchecked by the resistance of 
 man, it swept over everything, and like a plague 
 of locusts in a fertile land, involved all alike in one 
 common destruction.. At length the fire, having 
 done its work, died out, and left the once handsome
 
 3oS The Autobiography of a Man-o' -War's Bell. 
 
 frigate little more than a hollow and blackened shell. 
 The guns having their carriages all burnt to pieces, 
 fell, one by one, with a rattling noise like thunder 
 into the hold of the ship ; and almost the only piece 
 of wood-work the devouring element had spared was 
 singularly enough that from which I was suspended. 
 One end of this even had been destroyed, so that I 
 fell over on one side, and every time the hull of the 
 ship rolled on the long sullen swell that had now set 
 in, I gave forth a half-subdued and monotonous 
 sound. All day and all night this mournful knell 
 sounded over the solitary sea. Not a sail came near 
 us; and the once proud frigate that had been ever 
 noted for the swiftness with which she sped on the 
 wings of the wind, now lay motionless, as far as any 
 progress was concerned, and only rolled from side, to 
 side, or pitched occasionally with a slow lifeless 
 motion, as if conscious of the great calamity that 
 had overtaken her. So different all this was from 
 the saucy curtsey she would make preparatory to 
 starting on her way, when the sails first began to 
 draw, or when, under a cloud of sail, with a 
 smart topgallant breeze, she would dip her bows 
 merrily .and deep, sending the green seas flying; 
 over the forecastle to the intense admiration of 
 the blue jackets, who spoke of the " old gal "
 
 The Autobiography of a Man-o'-War's Bell. 309 
 
 as a jockey would of his mare after winning the 
 Oaks. 
 
 I will not, however, descant on the painful theme, 
 but will pass over the dreary days as they lengthened 
 into weeks, until nearly a month passed away, when 
 one night as I was pealing forth the same melan- 
 choly strains, forced from me by the necessities ot 
 my undignified position, I heard a loud voice shout 
 in French, " Ship, ahoy !" No response came from 
 the deserted vessel. 
 
 " Ship ahoy \" again rung out. 
 
 " Pll send a boat on board," was the welcome 
 announcement the voice made when there was no 
 reply to the second hail, and very soon a boat did 
 come alongside, and an officer made his way up the 
 side, and stared with astonishment at the hollow and 
 blackened ruin of a fine ship. The French naval 
 officer, which the stranger _was, descended into his 
 boat, and directing his crew to pull round to the 
 bows, made his way by the head boards on to the 
 remains of the forecastle, and calling to some of 
 his men, removed me from my unpleasant position, 
 and, returning to his ship, reported the condition of 
 affairs, and informed the captain that with the ex- 
 ception of the bell which he had brought away, and 
 the guns, which of course he could not remove,
 
 3io The Autobiography of a Man-o'-War's Bell. 
 
 there was nothing worth fetching away in the aban- 
 doned ship. 
 
 My new home was a line-of-battle-ship, but it 
 was only so temporarily, for on her arrival in France, 
 whither she was bound, I was made over to the 
 dockyard authorities, and placed in a storehouse at 
 Toulon. Here I remained in obscurity for some 
 years, until on a thorough overhaul being made by a 
 new storekeeper " New brooms/' we know, " sweep 
 clean " I was brought to light, and as some ships 
 were being fitted out for the purpose of prosecuting 
 the war with Great Britain, I was placed in a ten- 
 gun brig, and despatched to sea again, to my great 
 delight. 
 
 I will pass over my adventures for the next ten 
 years, and until I found myself, on my return to 
 France, transferred to an old frigate whose bell had 
 performed the suicidal act the poet conjures "Rude 
 Boreas," that " blustering railer," to consummate 
 in short, it (for I suppose my readers will not allow 
 that we bells have any sex) had " cracked its cheeks." 
 I was accordingly taken out of the brig, and placed 
 on board the "Artemise" frigate. It was during 
 the height of the war of independence waged by the 
 British Colonies in North America against the 
 mother country.
 
 The Autobiography of a Man-o '- War's Bell. 311 
 
 The " Artemise " was the best ship I had yet 
 seen in the French navy in respect of those qualities 
 which are of the first necessity to a man-of-war. 
 She was well commanded, well officered, well 
 manned, and well found in every point of detail, 
 while all on board her were thoroughly drilled and 
 as smart a looking set of fellows as even an English 
 admiral would wish to see. She carried forty-eight 
 guns, distributed as 'follows: twenty-eight 18- 
 pounders on her main-deck, fourteen 32-pounder 
 carronades on her quarter-deck, and on her forecastle 
 four 32*5 and two long 9*5. Her crew, including 
 officers, consisted in all of three hundred and forty- 
 nine good men and true. 
 
 We sailed for the coast of America, and were 
 employed in active service, our duties chiefly con- 
 sisting in co-operating with the land forces, under 
 Washington and Lafeyette, or transporting troops 
 and stores. It was a difficult and dangerous duty, 
 as the English fleet was in great force on the coasts 
 of America, and blockaded most of the ports. On 
 one occasion we were blockaded under the guns of 
 some strong fortifications in the York Town penin- 
 sula for some weeks by a squadron of the enemy, 
 and though Captain Hamelin tried every ruse to draw 
 off their attention so as to effect his escape, his every
 
 312 The Autobiography of a Man-o'- War's Bell. 
 
 effort was frustrated by the vigilance of the British 
 officers, and he was condemned to lie in inactivity. 
 
 This was most uncongenial to a man of his 
 spirited temperament, and as he could not elude the 
 British Navy, he determined to take advantage of 
 the enforced repose to refit his ship. American 
 officers often came on board from the fortress to 
 smoke a cigar, or wile away the tedium by an inter- 
 change of hospitalities. Many a yarn have I heard 
 from their lips and from those of the officers of the 
 "Artemise." There was one told by a Captain 
 Milligan, of the American Cavalry, which impressed 
 itself on my memory, and I will not apologize for 
 laying it before my readers, whom I hope it may 
 likewise interest. 
 
 " Six months ago," said Captain Milligan, " I 
 was taken prisoner while reconnoitring with a 
 detachment of cavalry in the neighbourhood of 
 Baltimorepwhere a strong force of the British w^re 
 encamped. I was sent with a number of the officers 
 (rebels they call us) to a prison at Quebec, and 
 as ill fortune would have it, I arrived a day or two 
 after the British Commander-in-chief had come to a 
 determination to retaliate in kind for the execution 
 of two of his own officers, who had been shot by 
 some one of our generals. It also happened that
 
 The Autobiography of a Man-a? -War's Bell. 313 
 
 the rank of the two unfortunate officers was that of 
 captain, and hence it was ordered that the victims 
 were to be selected from those of the same standing. 
 The officer who was in charge of us prisoners of war 
 at this time, was a kind-hearted man, who strove all 
 in his power to make our captivity as little irksome 
 as possible, and was regarded by all the inmates 
 of the prison with feelings of gratitude and affec- 
 tion. 
 
 " On the morning in question, this officer entered 
 the room where the prisoners were confined, and 
 desired all the officers to walk out into another 
 room. I remarked that his face wore an expression 
 of anxiety and sorrow, but as the prisoners who were 
 daily expecting to be exchanged did not appear to 
 regard the change with apprehension, I concluded 
 that it must be habitual, although I had not remarked 
 it before. His orders were obeyed with particular 
 alacrity, for it was supposed the long-expected cartel 
 had at length arrived, and that they were about to 
 exchange their dreary prison quarters for home and 
 freedom. After they had all gathered in the room, their 
 countenances lit up with these agreeable anticipa- 
 tions, the officer came in among them, and with a 
 face that looked graver and more sorrowful than 
 ever, took a paper out of his pocket, and told them
 
 314 The Autobiography of a Man-o'- War's Bell. 
 
 that he had a very unhappy duty to perform, the 
 purport of which he had just received from the 
 General Commanding-in-chief. He then, amidst 
 the breathless attention of his auditors, proceeded 
 to read an order for the immediate execution of two 
 of the number in retaliation for the hanging of two 
 English officers. It would be difficult to describe 
 the blank expression of dismay in the faces of the 
 astonished and horror-stricken group of officers, as 
 the words of the fatal mandate dropped from the 
 lips of the reader. When his voice had ceased to 
 echo through the apartment, the men looked at each 
 other with blanch faces, and a silence like death pre- 
 vailed for some minutes in the chamber. The 
 British officer seeing that his unfortunate prisoners 
 were bewildered by the suddenness with which the 
 terrible edict had come upon them, then suggested 
 that perhaps the better way would be to place a 
 number of slips of paper equal to the whole number 
 of officers from whom the victims were to be drawn, 
 in a box, with the word Death written ou two of 
 them, and the rest blank the two who drew the 
 fatal slips to be the doomed ones. This plan was 
 unanimously agreed to, and a chaplain was appointed 
 to prepare the slips. 
 
 " It was a study to watch the countenances df
 
 The Autobiography of a Man-o'-War's Bell. 315 
 
 of my comrades in misfortune, and the different 
 methods by which they sought to kill time, ere the 
 drawing began that was to decide their destiny in 
 in this world. Some paced the room with rapid 
 steps, and closely-knit brows and lips; some stood 
 still, and gazed out of the window into the prison- 
 yard, and gloomily regarded the objects before them, 
 or the sentry with bayonet fixed, though these made 
 no impression on their minds, which were occupied 
 with far different thoughts of home, doubtless, and of 
 the dear ones they would, perhaps, never more see ; 
 some few again talked and laughed loudly, but it was 
 a forced gaiety, and almost more painful to behold 
 than the mood of the others of whom I have spoken ; 
 some (only two they were in number) were on their 
 knees, and were pouring out a passionate prayer for 
 mercy, or, should it be ordered that they were to 
 draw the fatal lot, then for fortitude from on high to 
 endure the last final pang. All, without exception, 
 bore the trying moments like brave men. These 
 were soon past> though to some of us (myself among 
 the number, I am not ashamed to say) they appeared 
 like hours, for I was filled with frenzied anxiety to 
 have it all over and know the worst, so that I might 
 prepare myself for the last great change, or have the 
 consciousness that I had returned to life once more.
 
 3 1 6 The A utobiography of a Man-o '- War 's Bell. 
 
 " Presently the chaplain returned ; a great silence 
 for the second time reigned in the apartment, and 
 every eye was fixed on the clergyman and the bundle 
 of slips in his hand, in which it may truly be said at 
 that time that he ' held the issues of life and death/ 
 
 " The modus operandi of conducting the drawing 
 was explained to us in a few words by the chaplain, 
 and at a signal from him it at once commenced ; the 
 officers advancing and taking out a slip, and, if it 
 proved to be a blank, taking their places in another 
 part of the room. How we whose turn had not 
 yet come watched the countenances of the drawers 
 as each man, according to his idiosyncrasy, tore open 
 or slowly unfolded the slip of paper that was to be 
 his death-warrant or his reprieve ; with what an in- 
 tense and painful anxiety we marked, as one after 
 another they defiled before the fatal box, and each 
 one drew out a slip, that more than one-third had 
 drawn blanks, and were restored to that dear life 
 which we unhappy wretches, who stood awaiting our 
 turn, under the dark shadow of the cloud of death, 
 felt we had never until now sufficiently valued. Each 
 man who drew a blank narrowed our chance my 
 chance of ever setting eyes on my wife, or clasping 
 to my breast again my little ones in my distant home 
 in Carolina, and I alternately prayed to God, or
 
 The Autobiography of a Man-o' -War's Bell. 3 1 7 
 
 cursed my ill luck, while I stood there powerless to 
 avert the evil fate that was approaching me with such 
 rapid strides. One half of the captives there were 
 eighteen of us in all having drawn blanks, had ex- 
 changed gloomy looks of apprehension for a relieved 
 aspect they could ill disguise after escape from such 
 terrible peril, when an officer, Captain Thomas 
 Nattalie, drew a fatal death slip. Poor fellow ! I 
 pitied him, and yet I could not restrain a feeling of 
 relief as I reflected with a sentiment of satisfaction 
 that my chance of being equally unfortunate was 
 considerably diminished thereby. 
 
 ; " My turn came next. I stepped forward, eagerly 
 seized a paper, when, oh horror ! there appeared 
 before my eyes, as I hastily opened the slip, the 
 single word Death ! I managed with difficulty to 
 retain sufficient command over myself to hide the 
 feelings of anguish that succeeded the first sensation 
 of blank dismay, and handing the slip to the chap- 
 lain he read the name out in full Captain Joseph 
 Milligan, of the First Connecticut Mounted Rifles. 
 
 " I sat down by my friend and brother in misfor- 
 tune without a word. We were removed from our 
 fellow-prisoners, and placed in a cell by ourselves, to 
 wait until the time fixed for our execution had 
 arrived. On finding myself comparatively free from
 
 3i8 The Autobiography of a Mati-o' -War's Sell. 
 
 observation, I gave way to the full bitterness of my 
 heart, and so passed the first of the two hours 
 allowed us to settle our worldly affairs and our peace 
 with God. Within less than two hours then, and 
 before the sun went down, it would be all over for 
 us, and we should sleep in our lonely graves the 
 sleep that knows no waking. The thought was 
 maddening, but, after dwelling on it for some time, 
 it occurred to me that it was worth making an effort 
 to avert, or at least to postpone, our terrible doom ; 
 and straightway I fell to resolving all sorts of schemes 
 for delay, but dismissed them from my mind one 
 after another as impracticable or unpromising. At 
 length I thought of a plan, and hardly had I done 
 so than the officer in command made his appearance 
 with a guard, and ordered us out for immediate 
 execution. I at once demanded as a right conceded 
 by every civilized nation, that I might be permitted 
 to write to my wife and request her to come to me 
 at once, and bid me an eternal farewell. The com- 
 manding officer was at first taken aback, but unde- 
 cided as to what course to pursue; and, being a 
 humane man, he, after some cogitation, consented to 
 grant a respite for a day or two, for the purpose of 
 enabling me to communicate with the English Com- 
 mander-in-chief so as to obtain the necessary
 
 The Autobiography of a Man-o' -War's Bell. 319 
 
 sanction to see my wife, and he promised to forward 
 the letter. This was done, and, to my great relief, 
 permission was accorded as requested. My prin- 
 cipal object, however, in petitioning for this respite 
 was to enable my wife to take immediate steps to 
 acquaint our Provisional Government with the 
 perilous predicament in which Captain Nattalie and 
 I were placed, and for them to secure hostages, and 
 threaten retaliation should the orders of the English 
 general be carried out. Everything was propitious, 
 and events turned out as I had hoped and expected. 
 My devoted wife did not let the grass grow under 
 her feet, but immediately on receipt of my letter 
 flew to the members of our Government, and so 
 enlisted their sympathies by her prayers and tears, 
 that they at once gave an English general high in 
 command to understand that, unless our lives were 
 spared, the capital penalty should be at once en- 
 forced on his son, a young aide-de-camp whom they 
 had in their hands, having luckily captured him a* 
 short time previously when carrying despatches from 
 his father. 
 
 "An order was at once forthcoming that our 
 lives were to be spared, and thus to a clever ruse, 
 and to the exertions of a true and loving wife, both 
 my companion in misfortune and myself escaped
 
 32o TJie Autobiography of a Man-o'-War's Bell. 
 
 from an imminent and terrible doom. After a few 
 more months* confinement we were all exchanged, 
 but Captain Nattalie came out of the terrible ordeal 
 with his hair white as snow. He was a brave man, 
 and had often faced death unflinchingly on the 
 battle-field, but was not proof against the protracted 
 strain on his mind caused by the uncertainty of his 
 fate a strain harder to endure than the prospect of 
 immediate death." 
 
 To continue my biography : At length matters 
 looked brighter as regarded our prospect of effecting 
 our escape from the rigid blockade hitherto main- 
 tained. Two of the blockading squadron made sail 
 to Halifax, and the rest were driven out of sight of 
 land by a storm, or stood off desiring to make a 
 good offing. The coast was clear, and Captain 
 Hamelin, who had been fretting and fuming at his 
 enforced idleness, was glad enough to take advan- 
 tage of the opportunity, and put to sea as soon as 
 "the weather moderated. He had not wasted his 
 time, but had thoroughly overhauled and refitted his 
 ship, so that the " Artemise " looked as if she had 
 come out of dock, and was ready either to fight or 
 fly, just as the mood might take her or the fates 
 allowed. It was not long before her capabilities in 
 the former line were put to a severe test.
 
 The Autobiography of a Man-o'-lVar's Bell. 321 
 
 Early in the morning of the third day after 
 putting to sea, we discovered a ship about eight 
 miles off to the south-east, which it required little 
 discernment to know was an English frigate, in all 
 probability one of the blockading squadron. Cap- 
 tain Hamelin and his officers were desirous of 
 engaging, but a calm that came on about eight bells, 
 kept both frigates stationary. Every preparation was 
 made for action, and the ship in her arrangements 
 seemed to strike me as more like an English man-of- 
 war than anything I had yet seen out of the service, 
 while the bearing of all hands, from the captain to 
 the cabin-boy, seemed to denote that they were 
 inspired with confidence in themselves, and each 
 other, a sure augury of victory, as I had come to 
 learn. At noon a light breeze sprang up from the 
 W.N.W., whereupon the English frigate stood 
 towards the " Artemise " on the port tack under a 
 crowd of canvas. 
 
 The " Artemise " kept on her course under all 
 plain sail, the captain being desirous of drawing the 
 enemy away a little, as he was afraid that some of 
 her consorts were not far off. At three in the 
 afternoon, finding the wind beginning to fall, and 
 conceiving that he had drawn his enemy to a suffi- 
 cient distance from interference on the part of her 
 
 21
 
 322 The Autobiography of a Man-o^ -War's Bell. 
 
 consorts, if there were any, Captain Hamelin ordered 
 his men to their quarters once more ; shortening sail 
 he wore round, and running under his three topsails 
 with the wind on his starboard quarter, steered to 
 pass, and then cross, the stern of the English 
 frigate, which, under the same sail, was now stand- 
 ing "close hauled" on the port tack. To avoid 
 being thus raked, she tacked to the S.W. at a little 
 after five, and hoisted her colours, which we had 
 previously done. 
 
 It was at the close of a glorious day, with a light 
 and balmy breeze, and the sea nearly as smooth as a 
 mill-pond, that the ships drew near enough to com- 
 mence an action remarkable for its obstinacy and 
 the severe losses sustained by both combatants. 
 The captain, taking out his watch, ordered three 
 bells in the first dog-watch to be struck just as the 
 "Artemise" had arrived within pistol-shot of the 
 starboard or weather-bow of the British frigate j and 
 as one of the boys poor little fellow, I pitied him, 
 as I marked the pallor of his face, for indeed it was 
 no place for a child twelve years of age struck the 
 bell with tremulous hand, the enemy replied by a 
 broadside which convulsed the air with its terrible 
 volume of sound, and sent a shower of shot crash- 
 ing through the timbers and spars of the " Artemise,"
 
 The Autobiography of a Man-o'-War's Bell. 323 
 
 She, on her part, was not slow in accepting the 
 challenge, and responded with a salvo from her 
 artillery that shook and strained every joint of her 
 fabric, and I doubt not did a vast deal more than 
 shake and strain that of her adversary. After about 
 three broadsides had been exchanged, the maintop- 
 sail of the ' ' Artemise " fell aback in consequence of 
 the braces having been shot away. Some hands 
 quickly sprang up the rigging to reeve fresh braces 
 or splice the old ones, according to what was neces- 
 sary, but before the damage could be repaired, the 
 "Artemise," instead of crossing the enemy, as she 
 had intended, fell on board her ; this collision caused 
 the jibboom of the latter to carry away our jib and 
 staysail, and either her boomkin or anchor fluke to 
 knock away part of our larboard topside. The 
 British frigate now opened a heavy fire of musketry 
 from her tops, rigging, and every available spot aloft 
 commanding our decks. Her seamen also threw 
 hand-grenades upon our decks, which they hoped 
 from the demoralizing effect these projectiles ordi- 
 narily have in warfare, would cause such confusion 
 that they might be successful in an attempt to board, 
 for which purpose a dense mass of sailors swarmed 
 on her fore rigging ready to leap on board as soon 
 as the opportunity offered. But the crew of the
 
 3 24 The A utobiog raphy of a Man-o '- IV ar 's Bell. 
 
 "Artemise" did not so easily lose their heads, but 
 replied by a hot and telling musketry fire that quickly 
 cleared the enemy's rigging, and forced them to give 
 up the. idea of boarding for the present. Finding 
 this favourite British manoeuvre out of the question, 
 the enemy threw all aback and dropped clear of her 
 opponent. 
 
 Setting his maintopgallant and mainiopmast 
 staysails, the jib being, as I have said, disabled, 
 Captain Hamelin endeavoured to get his ship's head 
 towards the bow of the British frigate. This he 
 succeeded in doing, but in attempting a second time 
 to cross the bows of his antagonist he failed, and 
 once more fell on board her. The two ships after 
 coming into violent collision, swung close alongside 
 each other with the muzzles of their guns almost 
 touching. Now ensued a scene of fearful mutual 
 slaughter, to which indeed all that had gone before 
 was as child's play. It was a quarter past seven, 
 and getting dark, when the action assumed a com- 
 plexion that was simply appalling. The men instead 
 of being wearied or desirous on one side or the other 
 of beating a retreat, appeared to have only warmed 
 to their work, and enraged at the obstinacy of their 
 opponents, fought their guns with almost a demoniac 
 fury. The muzzles of the cannon, as I have said,
 
 77/6' Autobiography of a Man-o'-War's Bell. 325 
 
 were nearly locked, and the opposing seamen gunners 
 snatched the sponges out of each other's hands, and 
 struck at one another with them, or with the worms 
 or rammers, or anything they could lay hands on ; 
 and drawing their cutlasses they cut at the sponges 
 or loaders, as they in carrying out their respective 
 duties extended their arms beyond the port sills. At 
 this time a party of our seamen, headed by the third 
 lieutenant, attempted to lash the two frigates together, 
 but failed, owing to the heavy fire of musketry, which 
 the enemy in turn kept up from her tops and decks. 
 So steady and well directed was this fusillade, that 
 the third lieutenant and boatswain were killed, and 
 the decks of the "Artemise" were soon nearly 
 cleared of officers and men. Captain Hamelin, who 
 was standing on the quarter deck, was now severely 
 wounded from the same cause, and had to be carried 
 below, the command devolving on the second lieu- 
 tenant, the first having been killed at his post early 
 in the action. 
 
 Thus progressed the sanguinary combat, which, 
 however, it was plain, could not last long, if any 
 survivors were to be left in either ship. Still neither 
 side dreamt of yielding, but carried away by the mad 
 frenzy of battle, blazed away with their great guns 
 and small arms with unabated fury, struggled fiercely
 
 326 The Autobiography of a Man-o '-War's Bell. 
 
 at the gun ports, thrusting and hacking at each other 
 with boarding pikes and cutlasses, and sought to 
 board through the same ports when the guns re- 
 coiled. At length the elements, or rather, certain 
 physical forces came to the rescue; the concussion 
 of the discharges from the cannon, acted as a repel- 
 lent force, and the ships were mutually forced apart, 
 and so in the almost calm state of the weather, they 
 gradually receded from each other, their broadsides 
 still bearing, and the respective crews continuing to 
 work the guns, until at length they drifted out of 
 gunshot, and all firing ceased. 
 
 It was a drawn battle. All this fearful bloodshed 
 and destruction had been absolutely destitute of any 
 result, and as is usual in such cases, both the com- 
 batants claimed the victory, though the warriors of 
 neither nationality were entitled to it It was about 
 a quarter past nine o' clock when the last gun was 
 fired, and then, though fatigued and worn out by 
 their great exertions, the crew of the " Artemise," 
 without one word of complaint, proceeded to clear 
 the decks and refit the ship aloft, as also the 
 gun gear, so that they might be in a posi- 
 tion to renew the action should the English frigate 
 bear down upon them, with this object. But it 
 was clear that she also had had quite enough of
 
 The Autobiography of a Man-o'-War's Bell. 327 
 
 it, and when morning broke was nowhere to be 
 seen. 
 
 That was a terrible night succeeding the action. 
 Luckily the fine weather continued, and only light 
 airs, sufficient to give steerage way,- moved the bat- 
 tered hull of the good frigate through the water. 
 The decks were washed down, and all traces of the 
 ghastly conflict sought to be removed, but it was 
 not possible to control the moans of the wounded; 
 or the frequent half-stifled cry of anguish as some 
 poor mangled wretch tried vainly to check the sob or 
 groan of agony that would find utterance from his 
 lips, while the surgeon, or one of his assistants, 
 amputated some limb torn by shot, or bound up with 
 hasty hands, for there was abundance qf work of 
 this sort to be got through, some gaping gunshot or 
 splinter wound. 
 
 Such are the inevitable horrors of every action, 
 but they were greatly magnified in this instance, 
 owing to the desperate character of the duel between 
 two equally-matched ships. The dead were com- 
 mitted to the deep without any religious ceremony, 
 for there was no chaplain, and every hand that 
 could be spared was busied with the wants of the 
 living ; and when morning broke, it still found the 
 gallant fellows, officers and men alike, busy at the
 
 328 The Autobiography of a Man-o'-War s Bell. 
 
 work of repairing and refitting, or assisting the 
 surgeon with the wounded a duty that seemed as if 
 it would never end. 
 
 The crew were regaled with spirits and biscuits, 
 and then Captain Hamelin, anxious to arrive at some 
 estimate of his losses, ordered all hands on the 
 quarter-deck. Alas ! the diminished length of the 
 lines on either side of the deck, told its own tale of 
 the havoc wrought by the desperate combat of the 
 previous night. Of her three hundred and forty- 
 nine officers and men, all told, that used to muster 
 every morning, a hundred and ninety-two only an- 
 swered the roll call ! Of the absentees fifty-nine 
 brave hearts were stilled for ever, and were now food 
 for the fishes, and ninety-eight were numbered among 
 those whose wounds were of a nature too severe to 
 allow of their appearing on deck. 'Of the remaining 
 one hundred and ninety-two, only about a hundred 
 and sixty were absolutely free from all injury, and 
 in a position to perform the duties of the ship. 
 Though for a moment saddened by the thoughts 
 called up by these losses, Captain Hamelin, who, 
 though severely wounded in the shoulder, had caused 
 himself to be brought up on deck, made an effort to 
 conquer the weakness induced by his wound, and 
 addressed his men in a short and spirit-stirring
 
 The Autobiography of a 3lan-o -Wars Beit. 329 
 
 address. In feeble tones he thanked them all for 
 the noble manner in which they had upheld the 
 ancient renown of their country, and though he said 
 they had reaped but a barren victory, he promised 
 them the opportunity of winning fresh laurels. The 
 brave fellows responded to the words of their chief 
 with vivas, and after being dismissed were allowed to 
 enjoy for the remainder of the day the rest they had 
 so well earned. 
 
 The damages the " Artemise " had sustained, 
 although they did not include a single fallen mast, a 
 result chiefly owing to the smooth state of the sea, 
 were very serious. Her masts and guns were all 
 badly wounded ; her rigging, both standing and run- 
 ning, and her gear cut to pieces ; and her hull all 
 riven and shattered with the storm of round shot 
 that had been poured into her at so short a range. 
 The English ship had lost her mizenmast, and was 
 equally riddled in her hull, and cut up as regards her 
 top hamper. She must also have suffered in an 
 equal measure in killed and wounded, as she did not 
 offer to renew the action, which a slight breeze that 
 sprang up during the night would have enabled her 
 to do had she been so inclined. Probably she, like 
 ourselves, had had enough of it, and though scorning 
 to yield or to fly, was not sorry that she drifted in a
 
 330 The Autobiography of a Man-o^-War^s Bell. 
 
 direction opposite to that adopted equally involun- 
 tarily by the ' ' Artemise." Captain Hamelin directed 
 his course to France, and the frigate arrived at 
 Toulon without any further adventure beyond an 
 unsuccessful chase of a British privateer. The 
 "Artemise" was put into dock on her arrival at 
 Toulon, and was found to be in so damaged a state 
 that it was decided by the naval authorities that she 
 should be broken up a step also rendered necessary 
 by reason of her age. And so the old frigate, 
 having gallantly fought her last fight and acquitted 
 herself right nobly, was taken to the shipbreaker's 
 yard, and went the way of all flesh, and, indeed, for 
 that matter, of everything animate or inanimate. 
 
 At this time early in 1781 France, assisted by 
 Spain, was making extraordinary efforts to deprive 
 Britain of her boasted sovereignty of the seas. The 
 Spaniards were straining every nerve to capture 
 Gibraltar, and were pressing the siege of that strong- 
 hold by land, and its blockade by sea. To effect its 
 relief and supply its starving inhabitants with pro- 
 visions, the British Government fitted out a fleet of 
 twenty-eight line-of-battle ships under the command 
 of Admiral Darby. The French boasted that they 
 would defeat the execution of this design, but the 
 British admiral, notwithstanding that a fleet of
 
 The Autobiography of a Man-o' -War's Bell, 331 
 
 twenty-six ships was lying in Brest harbour, and a 
 still larger Spanish fleet was cruising in the Bay of 
 Cadiz, set sail with a convoy of ninety-seven 
 victuallers, as well as two fleets of merchantmen. 
 The truth was, each of the allied nations was intent 
 on effecting the objects most conducive to her own 
 individual interests, and instead of acting in concert 
 and crushing the British fleet, Spain only thought of 
 recapturing Gibraltar, while France was occupied 
 with her designs in America, as well as in the East 
 and West Indies. The French Government accord- 
 ingly bent every energy towards the fitting out of 
 two fleets one to be despatched to the East Indies, 
 under De Suffrein, an officer who may certainly be 
 placed in the front rank of French admirals, and the 
 second to the West Indies, having for its commander 
 the Count de Grasse. 
 
 Accordingly, I was taken out of the "Arte- 
 mise," and, being considered a fine specimen of a 
 man-o'-war's bell, as well as from the historical 
 interest attaching to me, was forwarded to Brest, 
 and, under the express orders of the Count de Grasse, 
 was fitted on board his ship. I well remember the 
 interest with which the gallant officer listened to the 
 details of my career from the time I went to sea on 
 board His Britannic Majesty's ship " Melpomene,"
 
 332 The Autobiography of a Man-o' -War's Bell. 
 
 to the day I was selected for the flag-ship of at that 
 time the most popular admiral in the navy of the 
 ancient foe of the said royal personage. This flag- 
 ship was the famous "Ville de Paris/' a first-rate 
 line-of-battle ship, carrying no guns. She was, 
 perhaps, the most powerful vessel afloat, and had 
 been presented to Louis XV. by the city of Paris, 
 and was said to have cost 1 76,000, a fabulous sum 
 in those days to pay for a man-of-war, though in 
 our time we have seen 360,000 expended on the 
 construction of the " Warrior." 
 
 Admirals Count de Grasse and De Suffrein sailed 
 from Brest on the 22nd of March, 1781, with the 
 combined fleet of twenty-five sail of the line, and one 
 ship of 50 guns, having on board six thousand 
 soldiers, and convoying a fleet of nearly three hundred 
 merchant-vessels. De Suffrein, soon after leaving 
 port, parted company for the East Indies, taking 
 with him five ships, and the remaining twenty-one 
 vessels of war proceeded to Martinique, to effect a 
 junction with the West Indian fleet already in those 
 waters. The British Naval Commander-in-chief in 
 the West Indies was Sir George Rodney, who, on 
 learning the arrival of this large hostile expedition, 
 detached Sir Samuel Hood, his second in command, 
 with seventeen ships of the line to intercept them off
 
 The Autobiography of a Man-o'-War's Bell. 333 
 
 Fort Royal bay. A partial engagement ensued, but, 
 although Count de Grasse had, with reinforcements, 
 a majority of six ships, he did not care to close, 
 being more anxious to secure the safety of his large 
 and valuable convoy than to engage. He accordingly 
 kept his fleet well together at a safe distance from 
 his antagonists, while those of the latter that pressed 
 into closer action received considerable damage. The 
 Count de Grasse now formed a junction with nine 
 ships of the line previously in the West Indies. 
 
 The French naval and military commanders 
 undertook a combined expedition for the reduction of 
 the island of St. Lucia, but, being foiled in this 
 attempt, set sail for Tobago with the object of 
 effecting its capture. Sir George Rodney, having 
 completed the repairs of his ships, came in sight of 
 our fleet with the whole of his squadron; but though 
 the Count de Grasse, having changed his tactics, 
 showed no disposition to avoid an engagement, the 
 British admiral, notwithstanding that he had the 
 advantage of the wind, did not think it prudent to 
 run the risk. The French troops were landed under 
 the command of the Marquis de Bouille; but the 
 inhabitants of Tobago, together with the small force 
 of British troops, carried out a most protracted and 
 gallant resistance. The French set fire to four plan-
 
 334 The Autobiography of a Man-o'-Wars Bell. 
 
 tations daily, and, by this savage mode of carrying 
 on warfare, succeeded in forcing the governor to 
 capitulate. Thus, somewhat disastrously for England, 
 terminated the naval operations in the West Indies 
 for the year 1781.
 
 CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 THE Count de Grasse proceeded with the fleet, on 
 board his flagship, to the Chesapeake, and, calling 
 in at Hispaniola, received an augmentation of five 
 sail of the line. His rival, Sir George Rodney, re- 
 turned to England on account of his health, and the 
 naval command devolved on Sir Samuel Hood, an 
 officer scarcely less famous than his distinguished 
 chief. Tn the meantime hostilities with varying suc- 
 cess, but chiefly with results unfavourable to the 
 mother country, had been progressing between Great 
 Britain and her colonies. 
 
 It was to assist in a well-laid scheme for dealing 
 a final blow at British power in the revolted provinces 
 that the Count de Grasse sailed for the Chesapeake, 
 for which station the Count de Barras, commanding 
 a French squadron of eight line-of-battle ships, was 
 also directed to steer. The French Commander-in- 
 chief cast anchor in the Chesapeake on the 13th of 
 August, and the Count de Barras sailed for the same
 
 336 The Aittobiography of a Man-o-Wars Bell. 
 
 1 
 
 destination from Rhode Island five days before the 
 arrival of his superior, taking a circuit by Bermuda 
 to avoid the British fleet. Lord Cornwallis, the 
 British General in command of the troops in the 
 field, under Sir Harry Clinton, who remained at New 
 York, being desirous of possessing some strong post 
 as a place of security both for the army and navy, 
 had selected Yorktown and Gloucester Point, two 
 places separated by the York River, and nearly oppo- 
 site each other ; having fortified this point, he took 
 up a defensive position with his small force of seven 
 thousand men, and represented to Sir Harry Clinton 
 his urgent need of reinforcements. At this time 
 the British army was parcelled out at various sea- 
 ports ; and in consequence it became manifest that 
 a naval superiority would secure success to either 
 party ; it was with this object and to assist in carry- 
 ing out the plans of Washington that the Count de 
 Grasse now brought so overwhelming a force to the 
 Yorktown Peninsula. Early in September, Admiral 
 Graves appeared off" the Chesapeake, and made an 
 effort to relieve Cornwallis, but without success. 
 When he appeared off" the Capes of Virginia, De 
 Grasse, apprehensive of the safety of the squadron 
 of the Count de Barras, which had not yet arrived, 
 put to sea, and an indecisive engagement took place
 
 The Autobiography of a Man-d -War's Bell. 337 
 
 on the 7th of the month. There was little more 
 than a distant cannonading, but small harm was 
 done to either squadron, and no one was killed on 
 board the " Ville de Paris." The British Admiral 
 was willing to renew the engagement on the follow- 
 ing day, but De Grasse, who had nothing to gain by 
 fighting an action, wisely declined the perilous 
 honour. He was soon after joined by the Count de 
 Barras with his eight ships, when he possessed a 
 very decided superiority. But Admiral Graves now 
 felt the force of the axiom that " Discretion is the 
 better part of valour," and sailed from the coast, 
 when the French fleet re-entered the Chesapeake. 
 During this time, according to a well-digested plan, 
 the French and American' forces, under the personal 
 command of Washington, were on their march for 
 Yorktown. 
 
 The combined army, amounting to twelve thou- 
 sand men, assembled at Williamsburg on the 25th 
 of September, and, five days after, moved down to 
 invest Yorktown, while at the same time the Count 
 de Grasse advanced to the mouth of York River 
 with his whole fleet, so as to prevent Lord Corn- 
 wallis from retreating or obtaining succour by sea. 
 
 The British army was now completely hemmed 
 in, and on the 6th of October the first parallel was 
 
 22
 
 338 T,'ic Autobiography of a Ma;:-o' -War's Let!. 
 
 begun within six hundred yards of their lines; and 
 on the 9th and roth the attacks of the besiegers 
 commenced with formidable energy, their shells 
 reaching the English ships in harbour, so that the 
 " Charon/' frigate of forty -four guns, and a trans- 
 port were burned. On the nth of October the 
 second parallel was begun at the distance of two 
 hundred yards from the works, and then two redoubts 
 on the left of the British line were stormed by 
 columns of French and American soldiers, who vied 
 with each other in the reckless courage with which 
 they flung themselves on the enemy's fortifications. 
 
 It seemed to me as I heard the news of the daily 
 progress of the siege, to recall the old days before 
 Louisburg, and indeed had it not been for the 
 different language in which the intelligence was con- 
 veyed, I should have thought that I had been in- 
 dulging in a long sleep, and that my past life was 
 all a dream. This idea would have been to tell a 
 truth disagreeable to English ears still farther en- 
 couraged when I pondered on the different spirit 
 with which the British conducted the siege then,, 
 from that in which, their respective positions being- 
 changed, they carried on the defence now. " Oh ! " 
 thought I, burning with patriotic ardour, " for onr 
 week, nay, for one day, of a Wolfe, a Townshend,
 
 The Autobiography cfa Man-d-}Vars Bell. 339 
 
 and a Boscawen." The men were lions,, still, as 
 was proved by the gallant manner in which, under 
 the leadership of a brave officer, Colonel Aber- 
 crombie, they sallied out and spiked eleven canon, 
 
 but they were commanded by a , but no, a 
 
 man-o'-war's bell must not lower itself by being 
 abusive. 
 
 No hopes of safety now remained for the British 
 force, for no succour came from New York, where 
 Sir Harry Clinton was dilly-dallying, and for the 
 defence of which against an imaginary attack he 
 was making elaborate preparations. Meantime one 
 hundred guns were pounding away at Lord Corn- 
 wallis's works, which were now a mass of ruins, and 
 so, after an attempt to escape in boats to Gloucester 
 Point, which was frustrated by a violent storm, the 
 British General proposed a cessation of hostilities 
 for twenty-four hours, to settle terms of capitula- 
 tion. To this, Washington, anxious " to save the 
 effusion of blood," assented, and on the igth of 
 October a treaty was concluded, and the posts were 
 given up ; the troops and stores being surrendered 
 to the Great American patriot, while the Count de 
 Grasse received the submission of the ships and 
 seamen. The honour of marching out with colours 
 flying, which hafi been refused to General Lincoln,
 
 34 The Autobiography of a Man-o-Wars Bell. 
 
 when he surrendered Charlestown in May of the 
 previous year, was now by way of retaliation denied 
 to Lord Cornwallis, who was with Sir Harry Clin- 
 ton on the former occasion. Lincoln also was 
 appointed to receive the submission of the Royal 
 army, but beyond this humiliation, Washington 
 behaved with great magnanimity to the vanquished. 
 Five days after the surrender of Yorktown a British 
 fleet, with seven thousand troops, arrived off the 
 Chesapeake, but they were too late in warding off a 
 blow that was fatal to the cause of their country, 
 and returned to New York. 
 
 The Count de Grasse now sailed with thirty-two 
 ships of the line for the island of Christopher, which 
 he proposed to attack in company with the Marquis 
 de Bouille. The latter landed with eight thousand 
 men, and threatened the islanders with a repetition 
 of his excesses at Tobago, unless they forthwith 
 surrendered. Sir Samuel Hood sought to interfere 
 with his fleet of twenty-two sail, and succeeded in 
 luring De Grasse from the coast by the offer of 
 battle ; but though by these means he succeeded in 
 placing himself between the French army and fleet, 
 and so cut off all communications, so great was the 
 fear inspired among the people of St. Christopher's 
 by the threats of the French general, that they sur-
 
 The Autobiography of a Man-o 1 - War's Bell. 341 
 
 rendered without firing a shot. The British admiral 
 preserved his fleet from attack by slipping his cables 
 in the night, and getting silently under weigh. 
 After this, the French were successful in reducing 
 the islands of Nevis and Montserrat, until Barba- 
 does and Antigua alone remained to Britain of the 
 Leeward group. After these conquests the French 
 government projected an expedition against Jamaica, 
 and a powerful reinforcement with large supplies was 
 despatched under command of De Guichen, to enable 
 the French and Spanish commanders to effect this 
 object. Admiral Kempenfeldt succeeded in capturing 
 twenty of these transports, but being in inferior force 
 was unable to engage the powerful squadron that 
 convoyed them. 
 
 Early in 1782, Sir George Rodney returned to 
 the West Indies with a considerable fleet, and, 
 meeting with Sir Samuel Hood, sailed for Marti- 
 nique, whither he learned De Grasse had retired 
 after the fall of St. Christopher's. The French fleet, 
 at this time assembled in Fort Royal Bay, Marti- 
 nique, consisted of thirty-three sail of the line, and 
 two ships of 50 guns; and in this fleet were em- 
 barked 5,400 soldiers intended for the conquest of 
 Jamaica. The design of the Count de Grasse was 
 to proceed with all diligence to Hispaniola, and, after
 
 34 2 The Autobiography of a Man-o-Wars Bell. 
 
 joining the Spanish admiral, when their united 
 armaments would have numbered fifty ships, to bid 
 defiance to the British fleet, and wrest from them the 
 sovereignty of the West Indian waters. On the 
 morning of the 8th of April, the " Ville de Paris/' 
 with the rest of our fleet, proceeded to sea; and,, 
 immediately after, Sir G. Rodney weighed and stood 
 towards us under all the sail he could carry. On 
 the following morning, off the island of Guadaloupe,. 
 the British fleet gained so much upon us, that their 
 van and centre, including the flag-ship, were within 
 cannon-shot of our rear. A sharp cannonade now 
 ensued, which, however, proved partial and inde- 
 cisive, owing to the wind being light; the greater 
 portion of their ships being becalmed under the high 
 lands of Dominica. However, there was some 
 heavy fighting, and two of our ships were disabled,, 
 while those of the enemy were somewhat severely 
 handled. 
 
 During the course of the action, the " Formid- 
 able," the flag-ship of Sir G. Rodney, came abreast 
 of the " Ville de Paris," when the former ship threw 
 her maintopsail to the mast, as a challenge to the 
 French admiral ; but, though we were three miles to 
 windward, the Count de Grasse did not accept the 
 gauge of battle thus thrown down to him, but kept
 
 The Autobiography of a Man-o'-War's Bell. 343 
 
 his wind, and we did not fire a shot the whole day. 
 There was good reason for this, as it was contrary 
 to sound policy to engage the British fleet until we 
 had an overwhelming preponderance; and had the 
 Count been equally prudent on the I2th, his country 
 would have been saved a disaster that was almost 
 irremediable. Our Admiral was not particularly 
 anxious to bring on a general engagement, and 
 during the next two days, succeeded in keeping far 
 to windward, and increasing the distance between 
 the hostile fleets. The famous battle of the 1 2th of 
 April, which gained a peerage for the immortal 
 Rodney, would never have been fought but for an 
 accident that put it out of the power of the Count 
 de Grasse to defer the hour of trial. On the previous 
 day (the nth), as the fleet was sailing in close order, 
 there being a strong breeze at the time, the " Zele," 
 a line-of-battle ship of 74 guns, fouled the " Ville 
 de Paris," and, carrying away some of her spars 
 through the violence of the collision, dropped to 
 leeward in a crippled state. She would inevitably 
 have fallen into the hands ot the enemy, had not the 
 Count de Grasse made a signal for the fleet to 
 shorten sail, and allow her to overtake them. 
 Rodney, seeing his opportunity, like a skilful sea- 
 man was not long in availing himself of it, and, by
 
 344 The Autobiography of a Man-d'-Wars Bell. 
 
 dint of smart seamanship, succeeded in placing him- 
 self to windward of a large part of the opposing 
 squadron, which consisted, at this juncture, of thirty 
 ships fit for action two having been disabled in the 
 previous engagement. 
 
 By daybreak on the I2th April, the British line 
 of battle was formed in an incredibly short time, and 
 with a distance of one cable's length between the 
 ships. Our fleet awaited the attack ; and, as the 
 signal was given for close action by the British 
 Admiral, his ships came up in splendid order, and 
 ranged themselves against their opponents, passing 
 along the line for that purpose. While doing so, 
 they gave and received tremendous broadsides. After 
 some time spent in close and deadly conflict, during 
 which victory was long held in suspense, the British 
 Admiral executed a manoeuvre which had never before 
 been practised in naval tactics. In his own ship, 
 the tl Formidable," supported by the " Namur," the 
 " Duke," and the " Canada," he bore down with all sail 
 set on the enemy's line, within three ships of the centre, 
 and succeeded in breaking through it in masterly 
 style. The utmost consternation reigned on board 
 the " Ville de Paris.," and a portion of our ships, 
 when they found themselves, by this manoeuvre, cut 
 off from the rest of the fleet.
 
 The Autobiography of a Man-o'-War's Bell. 345 
 
 " In the act of doing so," says Dr. (afterwards 
 Sir Gilbert) Blane, the surgeon of the flag-ship, " we 
 passed within pistol-shot of the ' Glorieux/ which 
 was so terribly handled, that, being shorn of all her 
 masts, bowsprit, and ensign-staff, but with the white 
 flag nailed to a stump, and breathing defiance, as it 
 were, in her last moments, she lay a motionless 
 hulk, presenting a spectacle which struck our Admi- 
 ral's fancy as not unlike the remains of a fallen 
 hero." 
 
 As soon as Rodney had accomplished this ma- 
 noeuvre, the rest of his division followed him, wore 
 round, and doubled on our ships thus placing be- 
 tween two fires those of our ships, the "Ville de 
 Paris" among the number, separated from the rest 
 of the fleet. 
 
 Immediately after cutting the French line, Sir 
 George Rodney made the signal for the van to tack 
 and gain the wind of the enemy, which was accord- 
 ingly done. The result of the action \vas now no 
 longer doubtful, and, after a hopeless struggle, our 
 ships struck their colours in succession. Though 
 the victory was decided at the moment when the 
 " Formidable" broke our line, the effect of it was not 
 complete until the Count de Grasse, unable to con- 
 tinue the action, ordered the colours of the " Villc de
 
 346 The Autobiography of a Man-o'-War's Bell. 
 
 Paris" to be struck. "The thrill of ecstasy/' writes 
 an officer who was present, " that penetrated every 
 British bosom, in the triumphant moment of the 
 surrender, is not to be described." 
 
 The"Villede Paris" had on board some 1300 
 men, including troops, and, being enveloped in a 
 perfect hurricane of missiles, the slaughter on her 
 crowded decks was terrible. By the best accounts 
 that could be obtained, 300 men were killed and 
 wounded on board her alone; her sides were riven 
 with innumerable shot, and her rigging was so torn 
 that she was reported as having " neither a sail left 
 nor mast fit to carry a sail, so that, being unable to 
 keep up with her friends during their flight, and 
 falling now into the hands of our fleet, the Count de 
 Grasse had done all that honour required, and was 
 sufficiently justified in striking his flag." One of the 
 prizes, the " Glorieux," presented a spectacle of 
 horror when boarded, which impressed all beholders 
 even amongst the scenes of carnage around. " The 
 number killed was so great, that the survivors, either 
 from want of leisure or through dismay, had not 
 thrown the bodies of the killed overboard, so that 
 the decks were covered with the blood and mangled 
 limbs of the dead, as well as the wounded and dying, 
 now forlorn and helpless in their sufferings."
 
 The Autobiography of a Man-o -War's BelL 347 
 
 After the surrender of the " Ville de Paris," Sir 
 George Rodney sent Lord Cranstoun, one of the 
 post-captains of the " Formidable," on board of us, 
 to beg the. Count de Grasse to remain in his late 
 flag-ship if he chose. The French Admiral, how- 
 ever, voluntarily went on board the " Formidable " 
 next morning, and remained there for two days. He 
 bore his reverse with fortitude, and indulged in 
 badinage with Sir Gilbert Blane, the surgeon of the 
 " Formidable." He observed he had done his duty, 
 and bitterly upbraided his government for not send- 
 ing him a reinforcement of twelve ships, as he had 
 requested, while he attributed his misfortune to those 
 captains of his fleet who had deserted him, notwith- 
 standing his repeated signals to them to return to 
 his rescue. 
 
 The ships captured were, besides the flagship, 
 the "Glorieux," "Caesar," "Hector," 74^3; the 
 " Ardent/' " Caton," and " Jason," 64% and two 
 frigates, besides a ship of the line sunk. The fate 
 of one of these prizes, the " Caesar," was most 
 tragic. Soon after dark a cask of spirits caught 
 fire, owing to the carelessness of an English marine, 
 who was carrying a candle below to search for liquor. 
 The flames spread so fast that they could not be ex- 
 tinguished, and, after burning for some time, the fire
 
 348 The Autobiography of a Man-o'-Wars Bell. 
 
 1 
 
 reached the powder-magazine, which, exploding, blew 
 the ship to atoms. Upwards of 400 Frenchmen, in- 
 cluding the captain, who had been severely wounded, 
 together with the English officer who boarded her, 
 with 58 seamen, perished miserably. Rodney, in his 
 official despatch, placed the loss of the French at 
 9000 men killed and wounded, while 8000 prisoners 
 remained in his hands. 
 
 The loss of men sustained by the British fleet in 
 the actions of the 9th and i2th of April, amounted, 
 on the other hand, to only 237 killed and 760 
 wounded. Although the British fleet carried 156 
 more guns, the total weight of their broadside was 
 less by 4396 Ibs. than that of their opponents; 
 while the difference in the number of men were 
 still more to their disadvantage. Those of the 
 French vessels (I do not use the personal pronoun 
 now, as I had once more changed hands to my great 
 delight) that escaped, were reduced to wrecks. 
 
 Sir G. Rodney, in a letter to his wife, says "The 
 battle begen at seven in the morning, and continued 
 till sunset, nearly eleven hours ; and by persons ap- 
 pointed to observe, there never was seven minutes' 
 respite during the engagement, which, I believe, was 
 the severest that ever was fought at sea, and the 
 most glorious for England. Count de Grasse, who
 
 The Autobiography of a Man-d -War's Bell. 349 
 
 is at this moment sitting in my stern galley, tells me 
 that he thought his fleet superior to mine, and does 
 so still, though I had two more in number ; and I 
 am of his opinion, as his was composed all of large 
 ships, and ten of mine were only 64's." In a letter 
 to the same lady, dated the 4th of May, he says : 
 " Count de Grasse, poor man, now begins to feel the 
 very great misfortune that has befallen him. As to 
 himself, he says he is easy, as he is conscious of 
 having done his duty ; but he fears that the disagree- 
 ments that will certainly happen among the nobility 
 of France will occasion much bloodshed. He owns 
 France (as he himself says) is a century behind us 
 in naval affairs. And," patriotically adds the British 
 Admiral, " may they continue so !" 
 
 I must conclude this account of the celebrated 
 battle of the 12th of April with a few words regard- 
 ing the two commanders-in-chief. The "Ville de 
 Paris " and the other captured ships of war pro- 
 ceeded to England, together with the Count de 
 Grasse, who was the first commander-in-chief of 
 a French fleet or army who had been a prisoner in 
 England since the reign of Queen Anne, when 
 Marshall Tallard was taken by the Duke of Marl- 
 borough, and confined at Nottingham. He landed 
 at Portsmouth on the ist of August, when he was
 
 350 The Autobiography of a Mati-o-W 'ar's I>eU. 
 
 received with every demonstration of respect and 
 sympathy for his misfortune; but on his return to 
 France he was disgraced by his government, and in 
 the gardens of the Tuileries his life was nearly sacri- 
 ficed to the fun- of an exasperated mob. 
 
 Lord Rodney, having struck his flag, sailed from 
 Martinique on the 22nd of July, and, after putting 
 in at Kinsale, arrived in London at the end of 
 September. He was received with enthusiasm by a 
 Sjateful court and people, and was created a peer, 
 with a pension of ^2000 a year attaching to the 
 title for ever. He lived principally in retirement 
 after his return to his native land, and expired on 
 the 23rd of May, 1792, after a few hours* illness, 
 in the seventy-fourth year of his age, having been 
 in the navy sixty-two years, upwards of fifty of 
 which were passed in active service. 
 
 Much has been said and written about the credit 
 due to Rodney for the invention and execution of 
 this manoeuvre of breaking the enemy's line, and 
 doubts have arisen whether it was the effect of 
 design on the present occasion. I suppose there 
 never has been any great or original conception 
 carried out with complete success, whether in war 
 or the more peaceful domain of science, but that 
 some one else was put forward as the originator.
 
 77/6' A nlobiography of a Man-o- II 'ur's Bell. 3 5 1 
 
 Though this manoeuvre may be described in the 
 work on naval tactics by Clerk, it was expressly 
 treated by a French writer, Pere Hoste, as early as 
 1688, whose volume is considered the best extant 
 on naval tactics. It is said, also, that it was fre- 
 quently practised in the Dutch Wars. Whether, 
 however, it was designed by Rodney, or suggested 
 to him by another (his flag-captain, Sir Charles 
 Douglas, and others, have been put forward), it is 
 certain that his genius seized upon it at the critical 
 moment, and that he was enabled, through the 
 pains he had taken in training his fleet, to 
 achieve by it a glorious result; as in armies so 
 in fleets, that one is effectively the most numerous 
 that can bring the greatest number into action 
 at a given point. " Breaking the line," does 
 not necessarily form part of this tactical opera- 
 tion. 
 
 It is curious that on this same I2th of April, 
 1782, the French Admiral De Suffrein practised this 
 manoeuvre in an action with Sir Edward Hughes off 
 Trincomalee, in Ceylon ; that is, he threw the weight 
 of his fleet on one division of the British, whilst a 
 smaller part held the remainder in check. For ob- 
 vious reasons it was omitted altogether by Nelson 
 at the Nile, though the principle of the manoeuvre
 
 352 The Autobiography of a Man-o-V/ars Bell. 
 
 was carried into execution, with what fatal effect is 
 well known. 
 
 To return to the autobiography of so humble an 
 individual (or article, perhaps, would be a more ap- 
 propriate definition) as myself. 
 
 I said that a prize crew was put on board the 
 "Ville de Paris." Guess my astonishment when I 
 recognized some well-known faces among the British 
 officers and seamen, whose jolly, weather-beaten 
 countenances and pig-tails, I was as glad to see as 
 if I had myself been blessed with a physiognomy 
 and a pig-tail. The commanding officer was none 
 other than William Duckworth ; but so changed. 
 He had been commander on board the Admiral's 
 ship, and was sent to take charge of the prize with 
 post rank. I was glad, indeed, to see his handsome 
 face, which had not altered a bit, that is what I 
 could see of it, for it was partially concealed by 
 a pair of whiskers. The acting boatswain (Jury 
 Bo'sun, he called himself) was Tim Johnson, 
 another old friend of the reader's and of his humble 
 servant the autobiographer, who had been advanced 
 to this post on account of his gallantry as boat- 
 swain's mate of the flagship during the action of 
 the i 2th. 
 
 I longed to hear how all these happy results had
 
 The Autobiography of a Man-o'-Wars Bell. 353 
 
 been brought about ; how, indeed, the ship's com- 
 pany of the old " Melpomene " had managed to get 
 outside the walls of a French prison, and I was at 
 length enlightened by Tim Johnson himself, who, 
 one evening over a pipe, confided his history to his 
 messmate, the gunner, who had likewise been pro- 
 moted from another ship in the British fleet for 
 gallantry, From the former I learnt that the officers 
 and crew of the " Melpomene " were exchanged for 
 those of a French frigate of equal force, after they 
 had been in prison only a few months ; that on re- 
 gaining his freedom he had accompanied his friend 
 Morris to his estates in England, where the latter 
 was received by his astonished friends and relatives 
 as one risen from the dead, and the affair of the duel 
 having long since blown over, he settled down into 
 his old ways as a country gentleman. He was very 
 kind to Johnson, whom he introduced to every one 
 as a rough diamond of the best water, and his pre- 
 server, and did all in his power to make him 
 happy. 
 
 Johnson at first liked the novelty and ease of his 
 position, and, more than all, he liked the unlimited 
 supply of grog unlimited, that is, until his patron, 
 fearful that he would drink himself into a premature 
 grave, placed him on an allowance of a pint a day. 
 
 23
 
 354 The Autobiography of a M an- J -War's Bell. 
 
 Johnson acquiesced in the arrangement ; " it was 
 more than he got at sea/' was the thought with 
 which he solaced himself, but the restraints of shore 
 life became first irksome and then intolerable; at 
 length his soul sickened for the excitement of a 
 naval career in war time, and his health began to 
 fail for the want of the invigorating breezes of the 
 ocean, upon which it may almost be said with truth 
 he had been cradled, and so at length, after a vain 
 attempt on the part of his friend to induce him to 
 remain, he took his departure, expressing his astonish- 
 ment that any man could stand such a life, "and 
 take to hunting hares, and such like, after chasing 
 Frenchmen, which is something like sport." After 
 serving in different ships, and various parts of the 
 world, he was appointed to the " Formidable," Sir 
 George Rodney's flag-ship, then fitting out for ser- 
 vice, and \vas recognized by James Duckworth, whom 
 the Admiral had appointed his flag commander. 
 Thus they once more came together, and when the 
 officer was appointed to the command of the stately 
 prize, with the commission of a post-captain, he did 
 not forget his old shipmate, but took him with him 
 as his boatswain. I thought now of the last words I 
 heard the latter exclaim as he went over the side of 
 the " Melpomene/' a prisoner, after her capture off
 
 The Autobiography of a Man-J -War's Bell. 355. 
 
 Brest, though I suppose the sturdy old sailor did 
 not lay claim to a prophetic vision of the future 
 when he uttered them. 
 
 On our arrival in England, I was taken out of 
 the " Ville de Paris/' I suppose as a trophy though, 
 unlike the treatment most trophies receive, I was 
 put away out of sight in a lumber-room at Ports- 
 mouth ; and, after lying there a great many years, 
 unheeded by every one whose duty brought them into 
 my company, on the breaking out of the Revolution, 
 I was fitted on board one of the ships of the Royal 
 Navy. Some other day, I may relate to you all the 
 vicissitudes through which I passed during a naval 
 war, the most memorable and glorious that our 
 country has ever engaged in. Finally, in .1831, on 
 the founding of the Royal United Service Institution 
 (or the United Service Museum, as it was first called 
 by his late Majesty, King William the Fourth, who, 
 as a sailor king, took the greatest interest in its well- 
 being), I, the old man-o'-war's bell, was placed with 
 other naval curiosities in that interesting collection ; 
 and there I may be inspected by any visitor who, on 
 presentation of his or her card, as the case may be 
 for the ladies like nautical relics will be admitted to 
 admire my proportions, and muse over the interest- 
 ing historical associations with which, if I may be
 
 356 The Autobiography of a Man-tf -War's Bell. 
 
 permitted to say so without undue egotism, my 
 career is connected. 
 
 And now, here I am, safely moored at last ! In 
 these peaceful days, when the talk I hear around me 
 is chiefly of Universal Expositions, deep-sea tele- 
 graphs, modern improvements in every department, 
 social, political, and military, and such dry-as-dust 
 topics, instead of glorious victories and frigate- 
 duels such as I have witnessed in these degenerate 
 
 O 
 
 days (I speak solely, mind you, from the point of 
 view of an old-world salt, who has outlived not only 
 all his generation, but his era) will it be believed, 
 they use me for the purpose of ringing all visitors 
 out when the hour for closing the museum has 
 struck. This undignified treatment daily excites my 
 ire, and induces in me longings that I could have 
 recourse to the Japanese custom of "happy dis- 
 patch,'' and either crack my sides, or have them 
 cracked by the modern porter whether soldier or 
 sailor, in the Society's uniform of blue, without pipe- 
 olay, or pigtail, or any such thing who causes my 
 tongue to wag in my cavernous jaws. Ah, well ! 
 I suppose I ought to be contented ; but old salts 
 are allowed the privilege of grumbling, and, as I 
 cannot have recourse to the mollifying influences of
 
 7^,? A utobiography of a Man-o'- War's Bell. 357 
 
 a tot of grog and a plug of tobacco, why, I intend to 
 
 avail myself of 
 
 " Ring a ring a ring a ring a ring." 
 
 I started up, and found my old friend the naval 
 porter regarding me with a broad grin on his face, 
 and lugging away at the tongue of the bell beside 
 which I had been enjoying a siesta on that hot sum- 
 mer afternoon. 
 
 A great poet, comparing the realities of dream- 
 land with those of daily life, says : 
 
 " Sleep hath its world, 
 A boundary between the things misnamed 
 Death and existence." 
 
 This world, then, in which I had been living, was 
 only a world of sleep; and as unrealistic was the 
 dream which 
 
 " In its development has breath, 
 And tears, and tortures, and the touch of joy." 
 
 And yet, indeed, the dream seemed to me, as I stood 
 for a moment rubbing my eyes, as much a reality 
 as would a retrospect of my own life, had I indulged 
 in it during that short summer hour. Thus, in the 
 baseless fabric of a vision, melts away THE AUTO- 
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 Cooper's Leatherstocking 
 
 Tales. 
 Great Battles of the British 
 
 Navy. With Coloured Plates. 
 Memoirs of Great Com- 
 
 wmtders. With Coloured 
 
 Plates. 
 
 The Playfellow. By Har- 
 riet Martineau. With Coloured 
 
 Plates. 
 Th c Fa mily A rabianNights. 
 
 With Coloured Plates. 
 The Adventures of Robin 
 
 Hood. With Coloured Plates. 
 Holiday Stories. By Lady 
 
 Barker. 
 Half Hours with the Best 
 
 Letter Writers. By Charles 
 
 Knight. 
 Characteristics of Women. 
 
 By Mrs. Jameson. 
 Royal Princesses of Eng- 
 land. 
 What Men have Said about 
 
 Women.
 
 8 George Routledge & Sons" Juvenile Books. 
 
 jw-&tt4-|j*itf mtjj 
 
 A NEW SERIES OF JUVENILE WORKS. 
 
 All well Illustrated, and bound in an entirely New Binding, 
 
 expressly designed for them. 
 
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 List of the Series. 
 
 4 6 The Orville College Boys. 
 
 By Mrs. Henry Wood. 
 Wonderful Inventions. By 
 
 John Timbs. 
 sKsop's Fables. With Plates 
 
 by H. Weir. 
 The Illustrated Girl's Oiun 
 
 Treasury. 
 The Boys Own Country 
 
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 Pleasures of Old Age. 
 
 By the 
 By 
 
 Tales upon Texts. 
 
 Rev. H. C. Adams. 
 Pictures from Nature. 
 
 Mary Howitt. 
 Stephen Scuddmore tJie 
 
 Younger. By A. Locker. 
 Hunting Grounds of the 
 
 Old World. 
 Watch tlie End. By 
 
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 Last Hours of Great Men. 
 Robinson Crusoe. 'With 
 
 300 Plates. 
 
 In fcap. ^5vo, cloth, gilt edges, price 4s. each. 
 
 4 o Every Girl's Book. By Miss LAWFORD. With many 
 
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 Every Little Boy's Book. By EDMUND ROUTLEDGE, 
 
 With many Illustrations. 
 
 In cloth gilt, price 3s. 6d., beautifully printed on toned paper. 
 
 3 6 Otto Speckter's Fables. With 100 Coloured Plates. 
 
 A New Edition. 410, cloth, gilt edges. 
 
 Routledge's Sunday Album for Children. With 
 
 80 Plates by J. D. WATSON, Sir JOHN GILBERT, and others. 
 
 The Boys' and Girls' Illustrated Gift-Book. With 
 
 many Illustrations by McCoNNELL, WEIR, and others. 
 
 The Child's Picture Fable Book. With 60 Plates 
 
 by HARRISON WEIR. 
 The Coloured Album for Children. With 72 pages 
 
 of Coloured Plates. 
 
 The Picture Book of the Sagacity of Animals. 
 
 With 60 Plates by HARRISON WEIR. 
 The Boys' Own Story Book. Many Illustrations.
 
 London and New York. 
 
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 Album for Children. With 180 page Plates by 3 6 
 MILLAIS, Sir JOHN GILBERT, and others. Imp. i6mo, cloth. 
 
 Popular Nursery Tales. With 180 Illustrations by 
 
 J. D. WATSON and others. Imp. i6mo, cloth. 
 
 Child's Picture Story Book. With 180 Plates. 
 
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 A Picture Story Book. Containing "King Nut- 
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 Mixing in Society. A Complete Manual of Manners. 
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 engraved by DALZIEL. 
 
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 ^mw** $towik $w\*< 
 
 With Plates, fcap. 8vo t cloth gilt. 
 
 The Boy Voyagers. 
 The Castaways. 
 The Young Nile Voyagers, 
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 The Boy Foresters. 
 Tom and the Crocodiles. 
 Esperanza. 
 
 The Young Exiles. 3 6 
 The Bear Hunters. 
 The Kangaroo Hunters. 
 Young Yachtsman. 
 Among the Tartar Tents. 
 Clarissa. 
 How to make the Best of It. 
 
 1
 
 io George Routledge & Sons' Juvenile Books. 
 
 ROUTLEDGE'S 
 
 With 8 Illustrations, fcap. 8vo, bevelled boards, gilt sides. 
 
 d. 
 
 3 6 Ancient Cities of the World. 
 Great Cities of the Middle 
 
 Ages. 
 Robinson Crusoe. Coloured 
 
 Plates. 
 Sandford and Merton. 
 
 Coloured Plates. 
 EveningsatHome. Coloured 
 
 Plates. 
 Swiss Family Robinson. 
 
 Coloured Plates. 
 Edgeworth's Popular Tales. 
 
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 Moral 7 ales. 
 
 Coloured Plates. 
 Parents' As- 
 sistant. Coloured Plates. 
 
 Early Lessons. 
 
 Coloured Plates. 
 The Old Helmet. By the 
 Author of "The Wide, Wide 
 World." 
 
 The Wide, Wide World. 
 
 The Travels of Rolando. 
 ist Series. 
 
 Celebrated Children. 
 
 Edgar Clifton. 
 
 The Lamplighter. 
 
 Melbourne House. 
 
 Seven Wonders of the World. 
 
 Queechy. 
 
 Ellen Montgomery's Book- 
 shelf. 
 
 The Two Schoolgirls. 
 
 The Pilgrim's Progress. 
 With Coloured Plates. 
 
 The Girl's Birthday Book. 
 With many Illustrations. 
 
 TJie Word ; or, Walks from 
 Eden. 
 
 Glen Luna Family. 
 
 Mabel Vaughan. 
 
 ROUTLEDGE'S 
 
 Foolscap 8vo, with Engravings, gilt. 
 
 3 6 Hans Andersen's Tales. 
 
 Heroines of History. 
 
 Sketches and Anecdotes of 
 Animal Life. By Rev. J. G. 
 Wood. 
 
 Grimm's Home Slories. 
 
 Animal Traits and Charac- 
 teristics. By Rev. J.G. Wood. 
 
 Wood's My Feathered 
 Friends. 
 
 White's Settorne. 200 cuts. 
 
 TJie Four Sisters. 
 The Golden Rule. 
 Boyhood of Great Men. 
 Footprints of Famous Men. 
 
 By J. G. Edgar. 
 Rev. J. G. Wood's Boy's 
 
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 Tales of Charlton School. 
 
 By the Rev. H. C. Adams.
 
 London and New York. 
 
 ii 
 
 THREE-AND-SIXPENNY JUVENILES continued. d 
 
 Tht Child' 3 Story Book. By 3 6 
 T. Miller. Coloured Plates. 
 
 Schoolboy Honour. By Rev. 
 
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 Red Eric. By R. M. Bal- 
 
 lantyne. 
 
 Louis' School Days. 
 Wild Man of the West. By 
 
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 Dash-wood Priory. By E. 
 
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 Breaks on the Fells. By R. 
 
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 Lamb's Tales from Shak- 
 
 speare. 
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 Rob Roy. By James Grant. 
 The Girl of the Family. By 
 
 the Author of "A Trap to 
 
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 PaulGerrard,the CalinBoy. 
 
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 Johnny Jordan. By Mrs. 
 
 Eiloart. 
 Ernie Elton, at Home and 
 
 at School. 
 The Village Idol. By the 
 
 Author of " A Trap to Catch 
 
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 Children of Blessing. By 
 
 Author of "The Four Sisters." 
 Lost among the Wild Men. 
 Percy's Tales of the Kings 
 
 of England. 
 Boys of Beech-wood. By 
 
 Mrs. Eiloart. 
 Papa's Wise Dogs; 
 Digby Heathcote. By King- 
 ston. 
 
 Hawthorne's Wonder Book. 
 The Doctor's Ward. By the 
 
 Author of " The Four Sisters. " 
 Will Adams. By Dalton. 
 Little Ladders to Learning. 
 
 ist series. 
 
 Ditto. 2nd series. 
 The Child's Country Book. 
 
 By T. Miller. Coloured Plates. 
 
 Uncle Tom's Cabin. 
 
 Tom Dunstone's Troubles. 
 By Mrs. Eiloart. 
 
 The Young Marooners. 
 
 Influence. By the Author 
 of " A Trap to Catch a Sun- 
 beam." 
 
 Jack of the Mill. By W. 
 Howitt 
 
 Patience Strong. By the 
 Author of " TheGaywerthys." 
 
 Dick Rodney. By J. Grant. 
 
 Jack Manly. By J. Grant. 
 
 Don Quixote. (Family Edi- 
 tion.) 
 
 Our Domestic Pels. By 
 Rev. J. G. Wood. 
 
 History for Boys. ByJ. G. 
 Edgar. 
 
 Through Life and for Life. 
 
 Saxelford. By E. J. May. 
 
 Old Tales for the Young. 
 
 Harry Hope's Holiday. 
 
 Boy Life among the Indians. 
 
 Old Saws new Set. By the 
 Author of "A Trap to Catch 
 a Sunbeam." 
 
 Holl out) dell Grange. 
 
 May/lew's Wonders of 
 Science. 
 
 Peasant - Boy 
 
 Philosopher. 
 Barford Bridge. By the 
 
 Rev. H. C. Adams. 
 The White Brunxuickers. 
 
 By Rev. H. C. Adams. 
 A Boy's Adventures in the 
 
 Wilds of A ustralia. By W. 
 
 Howitt. 
 Tales of Walter's School 
 
 Days. By Rev. H. C. Adams. 
 The Path She Chose. By 
 
 F. M. S. 
 
 Little Women. By L. 
 Alcott.
 
 12 George Routledge & Sons' Juvenile Books. 
 
 (3s. 6d. Editions.) 
 
 Elegantly printed on tinted paper, fcap. 8vo, gilt edges, 
 with Illustrations. 
 
 s.J. 
 
 3 6 Longfellow* Complete. 
 Cowper* 
 Milton* 
 Wordsworth.* 
 Southey. 
 Goldsmith. 
 Kirke White. 
 Burns. * 
 Moore. * 
 Byron.* 
 Pope. 
 James Montgomery. 
 
 Golden Gleaning:. 
 Choice Poems. 
 Shakspeare Gem*. 
 Wit and Humour. 
 Wise Sayings. 
 
 Longfellow's Dante Para- 
 diso. 
 
 Purgatorio. 
 
 Inferno. 
 
 Lover's Poems.* 
 Book of Familiar Quota- 
 tions. 
 
 Bret Harle. 
 TT , . Leigh Hunt.* 
 
 r' * &?<** 
 
 Campbell* Ainsworth* 
 
 ffTf \ Spenser* 
 
 Shakspeare* . 
 
 BET Mrs. Hemans* 
 
 Volumes marked * are kept in Morocco and Ivory Bindings, 
 price ^i. dd. 
 
 In fcap. 8vo, cloth gilt, with Illustrations. 
 
 3 6 Bruin. 
 
 The Boy Tar. 
 The Desert Home. 
 Odd People. 
 Ran away to Sea. 
 The Forest Exiles. 
 The Young Yagers 
 
 The Young Voyagers. 
 The Plant Hunters. 
 The Quadroon. 
 The War Trail. 
 The Bush Boys t 
 The Boy Hunters.
 
 London and New York. 
 
 In post 8vo, toned paper, green cloth, 3. 6d. each. 
 
 The Arabian Nights. 
 
 Don Quixote. 
 
 Gil Bias. 
 
 Curiosities of Literature. By 
 Isaac D'Israeli. 
 
 I , oo I Gems of British Poetry. 
 
 TheBlackfriars Shakspeare. 
 
 Cruden's Concordance. 
 
 BosweWs Life of Johnson. 
 
 The Works of Oliver Gold- 
 smith. 
 
 Routledge's Pronouncing 
 Dictionary. 
 
 The Family Doctor. 
 
 i.d 
 
 Ten Thousand Wonderful '3 6 
 Things. 
 
 Siemens Works. 
 
 Extraordinary Popular 
 Delusions. 
 
 Bartletfs Familiar Quota- 
 tions. 
 
 The Spectator. 
 
 Routledgjs Modern Speaker. 
 
 1,001 Gems of Prose. 
 
 Pope's Homer's Iliad and 
 Odyssey. 
 
 Book of Modern Anecdotes. 
 
 Josephus. 
 
 Under the above title Messrs. G. ROUTLEDGE & SONS are about 
 to issue a New Series of Juvenile Books, all well Illustrated and 
 well bound in a New and Elegant Binding. 
 
 Boys at Home. 
 
 Adams. 
 Cecil Raye. 
 
 Dogs and their Ways. 
 Our Holiday Camp. 
 
 St. John Corbet. 
 Helen Mordaunt. By 
 
 Author of " Naomi." 
 Romance of Adventure. 
 The Island Home. ' 
 
 List of the Series. 
 By 
 
 C. 
 
 By 
 
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 Play Hours and Half Holi- 3 6 
 
 Walk's and Talks of Two 
 
 Schoolboys. 
 
 Hildred the Daughter. 
 Hardy and Hunter. 
 Fred and the Gorillas. 
 Guizofs Moral Tales. 
 Frank Wildman. 
 
 *** 
 
 By MARY GODOLPHIN. 
 In i6mo, cloth gilt, with Coloured Plates, price 2. 64 each. 
 
 Bunyan's Pilgrim's Pro' 
 
 gress. 
 Evenings at Home. 
 
 Swiss Family Robinson. 
 Robinson Crusoe. 
 Child's First Lesson Book. 
 
 26
 
 14 George Routledge & Sons' Juvenile Books. 
 
 Fcap. 8vo, Illustrated by the Best Artists, gilt, 2s. 6d. each. 
 
 2 dArbett. 
 
 Eda Morton and her 
 
 Cousins. By M. M. Bell. 
 Gilbert the Adventurer. 
 The Lucky Penny, and other 
 
 Tales. By Mrs. S. C. Hall. 
 Minna Raymond. Illus- 
 ' trated by 1>. F osier. 
 Helena Bertram. By the 
 
 Author of "The Four Sisters." 
 Heroes of the I'/orksliop, &c. 
 ' By E. L. Brightwell. 
 Sunshine and Cloud. By 
 
 Miss Bowman. 
 The Maze of Life. By the 
 
 Author of ' 'The Four Sisters. " 
 The Twins ; or, Sisterly 
 
 The Wide, Wide World. 
 
 The Lamplighter. By 
 Cummins. 
 
 The Rector's Daughter. By 
 Miss Bowman. 
 
 The Old Helmet. By Miss 
 Wetherell. 
 
 Deeds, Not Words. 
 
 Tlie 'Secret of a Life. 
 
 Queechy. ByMissWetherell. 
 
 Sir 'Roland Ashton. By 
 Lady C. Long. 
 
 Sir Wilfred 1 s Seven Flights. 
 By Madame de Chatelaine. 
 
 Ellen Montgomery** Book- 
 Shelf.. With Coloured Illus- 
 trations. 
 
 The Two School Girls. With 
 Coloured Illustrations. 
 
 The First Lieutenants 
 
 Story. 
 Melbourne House. By Miss 
 
 Wetherell. 
 The Word; or, Walks from 
 
 Eden. 
 Rough Diamonds. By J. 
 
 Hollingshead. 
 The Med-wins of Wykeham. 
 
 By the Author of " Marian." 
 The Young Artists. 
 The Boy Cavalier. By the 
 
 Rev. H. C. Adams. 
 Gilderoy, the Hero of Scot- 
 land. 
 
 Lamb's Tales. 
 Stories of Old Daniel. 
 Extraordinary Men. 
 Extraordinary Women. 
 Life of Napoleon. 
 Popular Astronomy. 
 Orbs of Heaven. 
 Pilgrim's Progress. By 
 
 Offor. 
 Friend or Fee : A Tale of 
 
 Secfgmoor. By the Rev. H. 
 
 C. Adams. 
 
 Tales of Naval Adventure. 
 Matilda Lonsdale. 
 The Life of Wellington. 
 The Gfen Luna Family. 
 Uncle Tom's Cabin. 
 Mabel Vaughan. 
 Christian Melville. 
 The Letter of Marque.
 
 London and New York. 
 
 Illustrated by ADSOLON, GILBERT, HARRISON WEIR, &c., 
 square royal, gilt, 2s. each. 
 
 Amusing Tales for Young 
 
 People. By Mrs. Myrtle. 
 The Donkey's Shadow, and 
 
 other Stories. 
 The Broken Pitcher, and 
 
 other Stories. 
 The Little Lychelts. By 
 
 the Author of " Olive," &c. 
 The Great Wonders of the 
 
 World. 
 My First Picture Book. 36 
 
 Pages of Coloured Plates. 
 
 i6mo, cloth. 
 
 s.d. 
 
 A Visit to the Zoological 2 O 
 
 Gardens. 
 The Richmond? Tour in 
 
 Eurofe. 
 Aunt Bessie's Picture Book. 
 
 With 96 Pages of Plates. 
 Little Lily's Picture Book. 
 
 With 96 Pages of Plates. 
 The Story of a Nutcracker. 
 
 With 234 Pictures. 
 Old Mother Hubbard's Pic- 
 ture Book. 36 Pages of 
 
 Coloured Plates. 
 
 With Illustrations, strongly bound in cloth. 
 
 Ten Moral Tales. By 
 
 Guizot. 
 
 Juvenile Tales for all Seasons 
 Conquest and Self- Conquest. 
 Evenings at Donaldson 
 
 Manor. 
 
 Praise and Principle. 
 Grace &>Isabel(M'Intosh). 
 Charms and Counter- 
 
 Charms. 
 
 Gertrude and Eulalie. 
 Robert and Harold. 
 Robinson the Younger. 
 Amy Carlton. 
 Robinson Crusoe. 
 Laura Temple. 
 Harry and his Homes. 
 Our Native Land. 
 Bundle of Sticks. 
 Family Pictures from the 
 
 Bible. 
 
 By 
 
 Hester and I; or, Beware 2 o 
 
 of Worldliness. By Mrs. 
 
 Manners. 
 The Cherry Stones. 
 
 Rev. H. C. Adams. 
 The First of June. By Rev. 
 
 H.C.Adams. 
 
 Rosa : A Story for Girls. 
 May Dundas ; or, The 
 
 Force of Example. By Mrs. 
 
 Geldart. 
 GlimpsesofOurlslandllomc. 
 
 By Mrs. Geldart. 
 The Indian Boy. By Kev. 
 
 H. C. Adams. 
 Ernie Elton at Home. 
 The Standard Poetry Book 
 
 for Schools. 
 Try and Trust. By Author 
 
 of " Arthur Morland." 
 Swiss Family Robinson. 
 Evenings at Home.
 
 i6 George Routledge & Soris' Juvenile Books. 
 
 s d TWO-SHILLING GIFT-BOOKS continued. 
 
 2 o Sandford and Merton. 
 Ernie Elton at School. 
 John Hartley. 
 Jack of all Trades. By T. 
 
 Miller. 
 
 The Wonder Book. 
 
 Tangle-wood Tales. 
 
 Archie Blake. 
 
 Inez and Emmeline. 
 
 The Orphan of Waterloo. 
 
 Maum Guinea. 
 
 Adventures of Joseph Hawse- 
 pipe. 
 
 Todd's Lectures to Children. 
 
 Marooner's Island. 
 
 The Mayflower. By Mrs. 
 Stowe. 
 
 Anecdotes of Dogs. 
 
 Mr. Rutherford's Children. 
 
 The Play-Day Book. By 
 Fanny Fern. With Coloured 
 Plates. 
 
 Emma. By Jane Austen. 
 
 Mansfield Park. By Austen. 
 
 Northanger Abbey. .By 
 
 Jane Austen. 
 Pride and Prejudice. By 
 
 Jane Austen. 
 Sense and Sensibility. By 
 
 Jane Austen. 
 Village Sketches. By the 
 
 Rev. C. T. Whitehead. 
 The Boy's Reader. 
 The Girl's Reader. 
 Spider Spinnings. 
 Stories for Sundays. By 
 
 the Rev. H. C. Adams, ist 
 
 series. 
 Stones for Sundays. By 
 
 Rev. H. C. Adams. 2nd series. 
 Adventures among the In- 
 dians. 
 
 Cousin Aleck. 
 The Doctor's Birthday. By 
 
 the Rev. H. C. Adams. 
 Walter's Friend. By the 
 
 Rev. H. C. Adams. 
 Little Women. 1st series. 
 Little Women. 2nd series. 
 
 In 13 Books, fcap. 8vo, gilt, Is. 6d. each. 
 
 I 6 TJie Red Shoes. 
 
 The Silver Shilling. 
 The Little Match-Girl. 
 The Darning Needle. 
 The Tinder Box. 
 The Goloshes of Fortune. 
 TheMarshKing 's Daughter. 
 The Wild Swans. 
 
 Everything in its Right 
 
 Place. 
 
 Under the Willow Tree. 
 The Old Church Bell. 
 The Ice Maiden. 
 The Will o' the IVisp. 
 Poultry Meg's Family. 
 Put Off is Not Done with. 
 
 Each Volume contains a variety of Tales, a Frontispiece in 
 colours, and an average of 16 other Pictures, engraved by the 
 Brothers DALZIEL.
 
 London and New York. 
 
 In square i6mo, cloth, with Illustrations by GILBERT, ABSOLON, &c. 
 
 Peasant and Prince. By 
 
 Harriet Martineau. 
 Crofton Boys. By ditto. 
 Feats on the Fiord. By do. 
 Settlers at Home. By ditto. 
 Holiday Rambles ; or, The 
 
 School Vacation. 
 Little Drummer: A Tale 
 
 of the Russian War. 
 Frank. By Maria Edge- 
 worth. 
 Rosamond. By Maria 
 
 Edgeworth. 
 Harry and Lucy, Little 
 
 Do^ Trusty, The Cherry 
 
 Orchard, &c. 
 A Hero ; or, Philip's Book. 
 
 By the Author of "John Hali- 
 fax." 
 Story of an Apple. By 
 
 Lady Campbell. 
 The Cabin by the Wayside. 
 Memoirs of a Doll. By 
 
 Mrs. Bisset. 
 Black Princess. 
 Laura and Ellen ; or, 
 
 Time Works Wonders. 
 Emigrant's Lost Son. By 
 
 G. H. Hall. 
 Runaways (The) and the 
 
 Gipsies. 
 Daddy Dacris School. By 
 
 Mrs. Hall. 
 British Wolf Hunters. By 
 
 Thomas Miller. 
 Bow of Faith ( The) ; or, 
 
 Old Testament Lessons. By 
 
 Maria Wright. 
 Anchor of Hope ; or, New 
 
 Testament Lessons. By Maria 
 
 Wright. 
 Mrs. London's Young 
 
 Naturalist. 
 
 s.d. 
 Accidents of Childhood; or, I 6 
 
 Stories for Heedless Children. 
 Annie Maitland ; or, The 
 
 Lesson of Life. By D. Rich- 
 mond. 
 Lucy Elton ; or, Home and 
 
 School. By the Author of 
 
 "The Twins." 
 Daily Thoughtsfor Children. 
 
 By Mrs. Geldart. 
 Emilie the Peacemaker. By 
 
 Mrs. Geldart. 
 Truth is Everything. By 
 
 Mrs. Geldart. 
 Christmas Holidays. By 
 
 Miss Jane Strickland. 
 Rose and Kate; or, The 
 
 Little Howards. 
 Aunt Emma. By the 
 
 Author of " Rose and Kate." 
 The Island of the Rainbow. 
 
 By Mrs. Newton Crossland. 
 Max Frere ; or, Return 
 
 Good for Evil. 
 Rainbows in Springtide. 
 The Child's First Book of 
 
 Natural History. By A. L. 
 
 Bond. 
 
 Florence the Orphan. 
 The Castle and Cottage. By 
 
 Perring. 
 Fabulous Histories. By 
 
 Mrs. Trimmer. 
 School Days at Harroiv. 
 Mrs. Barbauld's Lessons. 
 Holidays at Limewood. 
 Traditions of Palestine. By 
 
 Martineau. 
 
 On the Sea. By Miss Camp- 
 bell. 
 
 Games and Sports. 
 The Young Angler. 
 Athletic Sports.
 
 i8 George Routledge & Sons' Juvenile Books. 
 
 ElGHTEENPENNY JUVENILES continued. 
 
 I 6 Games of 'Skill. 
 
 Scientific Amusements. 
 'Miriam and Rosette. 
 Ruth Hall. By Fanny Fern. 
 
 The Pictiire Book of Ani- 
 mals and Birds. 
 
 Boy Life on the Water. 
 
 Original Poems . Complete. 
 By A. and J. Taylor. 
 
 EDITED AND COMPILED BY J. E. CARPENTER. 
 Fcap. 24010, boards, with fancy covers. 
 
 Modern. 
 
 Popular. 
 
 Universal. 
 
 Comic. 
 
 National. 
 
 Humorous. 
 
 New British. 
 
 New Standard. 
 The Entertainer's. 
 The Comic Vocalist. 
 New Scotch. 
 Neiu Irish. 
 The Moral. 
 The Religious. 
 
 In small 410, fancy cover, each with 48 pages of Plates. 
 
 1 Master Jack. 
 Mamma's Return. 
 Nellie and Bertha. 
 The Cousins. 
 Tales of the Genii. 
 Sindbad the Voyager. 
 Robin Hood. 
 Prince Hempseed. 
 
 The Enchanted Horse. 
 
 Dame Mitchell and her Cat 
 
 Nursery Rhymes. 
 
 The Tiger Lily. 
 
 The Lent Jewels. 
 
 Bible Stories. 
 
 My Best frock. 
 
 IS**-
 
 London and New York. 
 
 19 
 
 In post 8vo, price 18., well printed, with Illustrations. 
 
 Grace Greenwood's Stories 
 
 for fur Nephews and Nieces. 
 
 Helen's Fault. By the 
 
 Author of "Adelaide Lindsay." 
 The Cousins. By Miss 
 
 M'Intosh. 
 Ben Howard ; or, Truth 
 
 and Honesty. By C. Adams. 
 Bessie and Tom ; A Book 
 
 for Boys and Girls. 
 Beechnut : A Franconian 
 
 Story. By Jacob Abbott. 
 Wallace: A Franconian 
 
 Story. By Jacob Abbott 
 Madeline. By Jacob Abbott. 
 Mary Erskine. By Jacob 
 
 Abbott. 
 
 Mary Bell. By Jacob Ab- 
 bott. 
 Visit to my Birth-place. By 
 
 Miss Bunbury. 
 Carl Krinken ; or, The 
 
 Christmas Stocking. By Miss 
 
 Wetherell. 
 Mr. Rutherford's Children. 
 
 T',y Miss Wetherell. 
 Mr. Rutherford's Children. 
 
 2nd series. By Miss Wetherell. 
 Emily Herbert. By Miss 
 
 M'Intosh. 
 Rose and Lillie Stanhope. 
 
 By Miss M'Intosh. 
 Casper. By Miss Wetherell. 
 The Brave Boy ; or, Chris- 
 tian Heroism. 
 
 Magdalene and Raphael. 
 The Story of a Mouse. By 
 
 Mrs. Perring. 
 
 Our Charlie. By Mrs. 
 
 Stowe. 
 Village School-foist. By 
 
 Mrs. Perring. 
 
 Nelly, the Gipsy Girl. 
 
 The Birthday Visit. 
 
 Miss Wetherell. 
 Stories for Week Days and 
 
 Sundays. 
 Maggie and Emma. By 
 
 Miss M'Intosh. 
 Charley and Georgie; or, 
 
 The Children at Gibraltar. 
 Story of a Penny. By Mrs. 
 
 Perring. 
 Aunt Maddy's Diamonds. 
 
 By Harriet Myrtle. 
 Two School Girls. By Miss 
 
 Wetherell. 
 
 The Widow and her Daugh- 
 ter. By Misi Wetherell. 
 Gertrude a mi her Bible. By 
 
 Miss Wetherell. 
 The Rose in the Desert. 
 
 By Miss Wetherell. 
 The Little Black Hen. By 
 
 Miss WetherelL 
 Martha and Rachel. By 
 
 Miss Wetherell. 
 Tlie Carpenter's Daughter. 
 
 By Miss Wetherell. 
 The Prince in Disguise. By 
 
 Miss Wetherell. 
 The Story of a Cat. By 
 
 Mrs. Perring. 
 Easy Poetry for Children. 
 
 With a Coloured Frontispiece 
 
 and Vignette. 
 The Basket of Flowers. 
 
 With a Coloured Frontispiece 
 
 and Vignette. 
 Askgrove Farm. By Mrs. 
 
 Myrtle. 
 The Story of a Dog. By 
 
 Mrs. Perring. 
 
 Rills from the Fountain : 
 A Lesson for the Young. By 
 Rev. Richard Newton. 
 
 s. d. 
 By I o
 
 20 George Routledge & Sons' Juvenile Books. 
 
 ONE-SHILLING JUVENILES continued. 
 
 *. d. 
 
 I o The Angel of tke Iceberg. 
 
 By the Rev. John Todd. 
 Todd's Lectures for Chil- 
 dren, ist series. 
 
 1 2nd series. 
 
 Little Poems for Little 
 
 Readers. 
 
 Minnie's Legacy. 
 Neighbourly Love. 
 Kitty's Victory. 
 Elise and her Rabbits. 
 ' Happy Charlie. 
 Annie Price. 
 The Little Oxleys. By Mrs. 
 
 W. Denzey Burton. 
 Book of One Syllable. With 
 
 Coloured Plates. 
 Little Helps. With Coloured 
 
 Plates. 
 
 Uncle Tom's Cabin, for 
 ' - Children. 
 
 Aunt Margaret' 's Visit. 
 Keepers Travels in Search 
 
 of his Master. 
 Richmond's Annals of the 
 
 Poor. 
 
 Child's Illustrated Poetry 
 Book. 
 
 The New Book of One Syl- 
 lable. 
 
 Blanche and Agnes. 
 
 Tke Lost Chamois Hunter. 
 
 The Gates Ajar. 
 
 The Sunday Book of One 
 Syllable. ' 
 
 Mrs. Sedgwick's Pleasant 
 Tales. 
 
 Uncle Frank's Home Stories. 
 
 Village Sketches, ist series. 
 
 2nd series. 
 
 Our Poor Neighbours. 
 
 Tales in Short Words. 
 
 IVatts's Songs. 
 
 ./Esop's Fables. 
 
 Language and Poetry of 
 Flowers. 
 
 Stnyz'esant. 
 
 Susan Gray. 
 
 Original Poems. 
 
 Nursery Rhymes. 
 
 ist series. 
 2nd series. 
 
 Price Is. each, 
 o Dance Album. With Rules and Music. Cloth, gilt edges. 
 
 The Nursery Library. 12 Books in a Packet. 1st and 
 2nd series. 
 
 Stories for Sundays. By Rev. H. C. Adams. Two series. 
 
 12 Books in Packet. 
 Routledge's British Reading-Book. Plate on every page, 
 
 demy 8vo, cloth. 
 Routledge' s British Spelling- Book. Demy 8vo, cloth. 
 
 A Coloured Picture- Book for the Little Ones. Small 410, 
 
 fancy cover. 
 Routledge's Comic Reciter. Fcap. 8vo, boards. 
 
 Popular Reciter. Fcap. 8vo, boards. 
 
 Ready-Made Speeches. Fcap. 8vo, boards. 
 The Nursery Library. 12 Books in a Packet.
 
 London and New York. 
 
 21 
 
 Fcap. 8vo, boards, Is. each, with fancy covers. 
 
 New Charades for the Draru- 
 ing Room. By Author of " A 
 Trap to Catch a Sunbeam." 
 
 Riddles and Jokes. 
 
 The Dream Book and For- 
 tune Teller. 
 
 s.d. 
 
 Acting Proverbs for thel o 
 
 Drawing Room. 
 Fly Notes on Conjuring. 
 Original Double Acrostics. 
 
 2nd series. 
 A Shilling's Worth of Fun. 
 
 With Coloured Plates, i8mo, cloth, gilt. 
 
 Ally and her Schoolfellow. 
 Loyal Charlie Bentham. 
 Simple Stories for Children. 
 A Child's First Book. 
 Story of Henrietta. 
 StoriesfromEnglish History. 
 Life of Robinson Crusoe. 
 Little Paul and the Moss 
 Wreaths. 
 
 Watts' Divine Moral Songs. 
 
 Cobwebs to Catch Flies. O 9 
 
 Barbauld's Hymns in Prose. 
 
 Prince Arthur. 
 
 A Winter's Wreath. 
 
 Twelve Links. 
 
 Easy Talks. 
 
 Susan and the Doll. 
 
 Juvenile Tales. 
 
 Six Short Stories. 
 
 The Captive Skylark. 
 
 Royal 32mo, with Illustrations. 
 These are also kept in Paper Covers, price 4d. each. 
 
 History of My Pets. 
 Hubert Lee. 
 Ellen Leslie. 
 Jessie Graham. 
 Florence Arnott. 
 Blind Alice. 
 Grace and Clara. 
 Recollections of My Child- 
 hood. 
 
 Egerton Roscoe. 
 Flora Mortimer. 
 Charles Hamilton. 
 Story of a Drop of Water. 
 The False Key. 
 The Bracelets. 
 Waste Not, Want Not. 
 Tarlton ; or, Forgive and 
 Forget. 
 
 O 6
 
 22 George Routledge & Sorts' Juvenile. Books. 
 , SIXPENNY STORY BOOKS continued. 
 
 s. d 
 
 o 6 Lazy 
 
 Lawrence, and the 
 White Pigeon. 
 The Barring Out. 
 The Orphans and Old Poz. 
 The Mimic. 
 7^he Purple Jar, and other 
 
 Tales. 
 The Birthday Present, and 
 
 the Basket Woman. 
 Simple Susan. 
 The Little Merchants. 
 Tale of the Universe. 
 Robert Daivson. 
 Kate Campbell. 
 Basket of Flowers. 
 Babes in the Basket. 
 The Jewish Twins. 
 Children on the Plains. 
 Little Henry and his Bearer. 
 Learning better than Houses 
 
 and Lands. 
 Maud's First Visit to her 
 
 Aunt. 
 
 Easy Poems. Plain edges. 
 The Boy Captive. By Peter 
 
 Parley. 
 
 Stories of Child Life. 
 The Dairyman's Daughter. 
 Arthur's Tales for the 
 
 Young: 
 
 Hawthorne's Gentle Boy. 
 Pleasant and Profitable. 
 Parley's Poetry and Prose. 
 Arthur's Stories for Little 
 
 Girls. 
 
 Arthur's Last Penny. 
 The Young Cottager. 
 
 Parley's Thomas Titmouse. 
 Arthur's Christmas S.'ory. 
 The Lost Lamb. 
 Arthur's Stories for Little 
 
 Boys. 
 
 Arthur's Book about Boys. 
 Arthur's Organ Boy. 
 Margaret Jones. 
 The Two School Girls. 
 Widow and her Daughter. 
 The Rose in the Desert. 
 The Little Black Hen. 
 Martha and Rachel. 
 The Carpenter's Daughter 
 The Prince in Disguise. 
 Gertrude and her Bible. 
 Bright-eyed Bessie. 
 The Contrast. By Miss 
 
 Edgeworth. 
 The Grateful Negro. By 
 
 Miss Edgeworth. 
 Jane Hudson. 
 A Kiss for a Blow. 
 Young Negro Servant. 
 Lina and her Cousins. 
 The Gates Ajar. Plain edges. 
 Sunday School Reader. 
 Hearty Staves. 
 Contentment better than 
 
 Wealth. 
 
 Robinson Crusoe. 
 Patient IVorking no Loss. 
 No such Word as Fail. 
 Tales of Truth &> Kindness. 
 Edward Howard.
 
 London and New York. 
 
 In 64mo, 6d. each, cloth gilt, with Coloured Frontispiece. 
 
 s.d. 
 Ball Room Manual. 6 
 
 Language of Flowers. 
 Etiquette for Gentlemen. 
 Etiquette of Courtship and 
 
 Matrimony. 
 Etiquette for Ladies. 
 
 Handbook of Carving. 
 Toasts and Sentiments. 
 How to Dress well. 
 
 EDITED BY J. E. CARPENTER. Fcap. 48mo, fancy covers. 
 
 Fireside Songster. 
 
 Home Songster. 
 
 British Song Book. 
 
 The Select Songster. 
 
 The Convivial Songster. 
 
 Merry Songs for Merry 
 
 Meetings. 
 The Funny Man's Song 
 
 Book. 
 
 The FaslnonableSoiig Book. 
 Drawing-Room Song Book. 
 The Laughable Song Book. 
 The Sensation Songster. 
 Everybody?* Song Book. 
 The Social Songster. 
 
 Family Song Book. 
 A musing Songster. 
 The Social Songster. 
 Songs for all Seasons. 
 The Droll Ditty Song Book. 
 The Whimsical Songster. 
 Highland Songster. 
 Blue Bell Songster. 
 Shamrock Songster. 
 Mavourneen Songster. 
 The Sacred Song Book. 
 The Devout Songster. 
 Songs for the Righteous. 
 Songs of Grace. 
 
 o 6
 
 24 George Routledge & Sons'. Juvenile Books. 
 
 taping 
 
 In royal 32010, 6d. each, with Illustrations, boards. 
 
 o 6 Swimming and Skating. By 
 
 the Rev. J. G. Wood. 
 Gymnastics. 
 Chess. With Diagrams. By 
 
 G. F. Pardon. 
 Whist. 
 Billiards and Bagatelle. By 
 
 G. F. Pardon. 
 DraughtsandBackgammon. 
 
 By G. F. Pardon. 
 Cricket. 
 The Cardplayer. By G. F. 
 
 Pardon. 
 
 Rowing and Sailing. 
 Riding and Driving. 
 Archery, 
 
 Brother SairisConundrums. 
 
 Manly Exercises : Boxing, 
 Running, Walking, Training, 
 &c. By Stonehenge, &c. 
 
 Croquet. By Edmund Rout- 
 ledge. 
 
 Fishing. 
 
 Ball Games. 
 
 Football. 
 
 Conjuring. 
 
 Quoits and Bowls. 
 
 Shooting. 
 
 Fireivorks. 
 
 Skating. 
 
 Swimming. 
 
 For List see Sixpenny Juveniles, on page 21. 
 
 Each Illustrated with 125 Woodcuts by JOHN GILBERT, HARRISON 
 WEIR, and others. Crown 8vo, sewed, in fancy covers, 6d. each. 
 
 o 6 Tilings In-doors. 
 
 What we Eat and Drink. 
 Animals and their Uses. 
 Birds and Birds' Nests, 
 fishes, Butterflies, & Frogs. 
 Trees, Shrubs, and Flowers. 
 City Scenes. 
 
 Rural Scenes. 
 Country Enjoyments. 
 How Things are Made. 
 Soldiers and Sailors. 
 Science and Art. 
 Geography and Costume.
 
 r
 
 ,
 
 
 UC SOUTHERN REGIONAL LIBRARY FACILITY 
 
 A 000 684 957 4