Captain Canot; Or, Twenty Years of an African Slaver
cold as could be served in such a climate, but I made it palatable
with a case of claret.
When a sail on the coast of Africa heaves in sight of _a slaver_, it
is always best for the imperilled craft, especially if gifted with
swift hull and spreading wings, to take flight without the courtesies
that are usual in mercantile sea-life. At the present day, fighting
is, of course, out of the question, and the valuable prize is
abandoned by its valueless owners. At all times, however,--and as a
guard against every risk, whether the cue be to fight or fly,--the
prudent slaver, as soon as he finds himself in the neighborhood of
unwholesome canvas, puts out his fire, nails his forecastle, sends his
negroes below, and secures the gratings over his hatches.
All these preparations were quietly made on board the Esperanza; and,
in addition, I ordered a supply of small arms and ammunition on deck,
where they were instantly covered with blankets. Every man was next
stationed at his post, or where he might be most serviceable. The
cannons were sponged and loaded with care; and, as I desired to
deceive our new acquaintance, I ran up the Portuguese flag. The calm
still continued as the day advanced;--indeed, I could not perceive a
breath of air by our dog-vane, which veered from side to side as the
schooner rolled slowly on the lazy swell. The stranger did not
approach, nor did we advance. There we hung--
"A painted ship upon a painted ocean!"
I cannot describe the fretful anxiety which vexes a mind under such
circumstances. Slaves below; a blazing sun above; the boiling sea
beneath; a withering air around; decks piled with materials of death;
escape unlikely; a phantom in chase behind; the ocean like an
unreachable eternity before; uncertainty every where; and, within your
skull, a feverish mind, harassed by doubt and responsibility, yet
almost craving for any act of desperation that will remove the spell.
It is a living nightmare, from which the soul pants to be free.
With torments like these, I paced the deck for half an hour beneath
the awning, when, seizing a telescope and mounting the rigging, I took
deliberate aim at the annoyer. He was full seven or eight miles away
from us, but very soon I saw, or fancied I saw, a row of ports, which
the Dane had not: then sweeping the horizon a little astern of the
craft, I distinctly made out three boats, fully manned, making for us
with ensigns flying.
Anxious to avoid a panic, I descended leisurely, and ordered the
sweeps to be spread once more in aid of the breeze, which, within the
last ten minutes, had freshened enough to fan us along about a knot an
hour. Next, I imparted my discovery to the officers; and, passing once
more among the men to test their nerves, I said it was likely they
would have to encounter an angrier customer than the Dane. In fact, I
frankly told them our antagonist was unquestionably a British cruiser
of ten or twelve guns, from whose clutches there was no escape, unless
we repulsed the boats.
I found my crew as confident in the face of augmented risk as they had
been when we expected the less perilous Dane. Collecting their votes
for fight or surrender, I learned that all _but two_ were in favor of
resistance. I had no doubt in regard _to the mates_, in our
approaching trials.
By this time the breeze had again died away to utter calmness, while
the air was so still and fervent that our sweltering men almost sank
at the sweeps. I ordered them in, threw overboard several water-casks
that encumbered the deck, and hoisted our boat to the stern-davits to
prevent boarding in that quarter. Things were perfectly ship-shape all
over the schooner, and I congratulated myself that her power had been
increased by two twelve pound carronades, the ammunition, and part of
the crew of a Spanish slaver, abandoned on the bar of Rio Pongo a week
before my departure. We had in all seven guns, and abundance of
musketry, pistols and cutlasses, to be wielded and managed by
thirty-seven hands.
By this time the British boats, impelled by oars alone, approached
within half a mile, while the breeze sprang up in cat's-paws all round
the eastern horizon, but without fanning us with a single breath.
Taking advantage of one of these slants, the cruiser had followed her
boats, but now, about five miles off, was again as perfectly becalmed
as _we_ had been all day. Presently, I observed the boats converge
within the range of my swivel, and lay on their oars as if for
consultation. I seized this opportunity, while the enemy was huddled
together, to give him the first welcome; and, slewing the schooner
round with my sweeps, I sent him a shot from my swivel. But the ball
passed over their heads, while, with three cheers, they
separated,--the largest boat making directly for our waist, while the
others steered to cross our bow and attack our stern.
During the chase my weapons, with the exception of the pivot gun, were
altogether useless, but I kept a couple of sweeps ahead and a couple
astern to play the schooner, and employed that loud-tongued instrument
as the foe approached. The larger boat, bearing a small carronade, was
my best target, yet we contrived to miss each other completely until
my sixth discharge, when a double-headed shot raked the whole bank of
starboard oar-blades, and disabled the rowers by the severe
concussion. This paralyzed the launch's advance, and allowed me to
devote my exclusive attention to the other boats; yet, before I could
bring the schooner in a suitable position, a signal summoned the
assailants aboard the cruiser to repair damages. I did not reflect
until this moment of reprieve, that, early in the day, I had hoisted
the Portuguese ensign _to deceive the Dane_, and imprudently left it
aloft in the presence of _John Bull_! I struck the false flag at once,
unfurled the Spanish, and refreshing the men with a double allowance
of grog and grub, put them again to the sweeps. When the cruisers
reached their vessels, the men instantly re-embarked, while the boats
were allowed to swing alongside, which convinced me that the assault
would be renewed as soon as the rum and roast-beef of Old England had
strengthened the heart of the adversary. Accordingly, noon had not
long passed when our pursuers again embarked. Once more they
approached, divided as before, and again we exchanged ineffectual
shots. I kept them at bay with grape and musketry until I hear three
o'clock, when a second signal of retreat was hoisted on the cruiser,
and answered by exultant _vivas_ from my crew. It grieved me, I
confess, not to mingle my voice with these shouts, for I was sure that
the lion retreated to make a better spring, nor was I less
disheartened when the mate reported that nearly all the ammunition for
our cannons was exhausted. Seven kegs of powder were still in the
magazine, though not more than a dozen rounds of grape, cannister, or
balls, remained in the locker. There was still an abundance of
cartridges for pistols and musketry, but these were poor defences
against resolute Englishmen whose blood was up and who would
unquestionably renew the charge with reinforcements of vigorous men.
Fore and aft, high and low, we searched for missiles. Musket balls
were crammed in bags; bolts and nails were packed in cartridge paper;
slave shackles were formed with rope-yarns into chain-shot; and, in an
hour, we were once more tolerably prepared to pepper the foe.
When these labors terminated, I turned my attention to the relaxed
crew, portions of whom refused wine, and began to sulk about the
decks. As yet only two had been slightly scratched by spent musket
balls; but so much discontent began to appear among the
passenger-sailors of the wrecked slaver, that my own hands could with
difficulty restrain them from revolt. I felt much difficulty in
determining how to act, but I had no time for deliberation. Violence
was clearly not my _role_, but persuasion was a delicate game in such
straits among men whom I did not command with the absolute authority
of a master. I cast my eye over the taffrail, and seeing that the
British boats were still afar, I followed my first impulse, and
calling the whole gang to the quarter-deck, tried the effect of
African palaver and Spanish gold. I spoke of the perils of capture and
of the folly of surrendering _a slaver_ while there was the slightest
_hope_ of escape. I painted the unquestionable result of being taken
after such resistance as had already been made. I drew an accurate
picture of a tall and dangerous instrument on which piratical
gentlemen have sometimes been known to terminate their lives; and
finally, I attempted to improve the rhythm of my oratory by a couple
of golden ounces to each combatant, and the promise of a slave apiece
at the end of our _successful_ voyage.
My suspense was terrible, as there,--on the deck of a slaver, amid
calm, heat, battle, and mutiny, with a volcano of three hundred and
seventy-five imprisoned devils below me,--I awaited a reply, which,
favorable or unfavorable, I must hear without emotion. Presently,
three or four came forward and accepted my offer. I shrugged my
shoulders, and took half a dozen turns up and down the deck. Then,
turning to the crowd, I _doubled my bounty_, and offering a boat to
take the recusants on board the enemy, swore that I would stand by the
Esperanza with my unaided crew in spite of the _dastards_!
The offensive word with which I closed the harangue seemed to touch
the right string of the Spanish guitar, and in an instant I saw the
dogged heads spring up with a jerk of mortified pride, while the
steward and cabin-boy poured in a fresh supply of wine, and a shout of
union went up from both divisions. I lost no time in confirming my
converts; and, ramming down my eloquence with a wad of doubloons,
ordered every man to his post, for the enemy was again in motion.
But he did not come alone. New actors had appeared on the scene during
my engagement with the crew. The sound of the cannonade had been heard,
it seems, by a consort of his Britannic Majesty's brig * * * *;[E]
and, although the battle was not within her field of vision, she
despatched another squadron of boats under the guidance of the reports
that boomed through the silent air.
The first division of my old assailants was considerably in advance of
the reinforcement; and, in perfect order, approached us in a solid
body, with the apparent determination of boarding on the same side.
Accordingly, I brought all my weapons and hands to that quarter, and
told both gunners and musketeers not to fire without orders. Waiting
their discharge I allowed them to get close; but the commander of the
launch seemed to anticipate my plan by the reservation of his fire
till he could draw mine, in order to throw his other boat-loads on
board under the smoke of his swivel and small arms. It was odd to
witness our mutual forbearance, nor could I help laughing, even in the
midst of danger, at the mutual checkmate we were trying to prepare.
However, my Britons did not avoid pulling, though they omitted firing,
so that they were already rather perilously close when I thought it
best to give them the contents of my pivot, which I had crammed almost
to the muzzle with bolts and bullets. The discharge paralyzed the
advance, while my carronades flung a quantity of grape into the
companion boats. In turn, however, they plied us so deftly with balls
from swivels and musketry, that five of our most valuable defenders
writhed in death on the deck.
The rage of battle at closer quarters than heretofore, and the screams
of bleeding comrades beneath their feet, roused to its fullest extent
the ardent nature of my Spanish crew. They tore their garments;
stripped to their waists; called for rum; and swore they would die