Captain Canot; Or, Twenty Years of an African Slaver
haze in the east betokened a gale from that quarter before meridian. A
longer pursuit must have given considerable advantage to the enemy, so
that my best reliance, I calculated, was in making the small harbor
near St. Jago, now about twenty miles distant, where I had already
landed two cargoes. The corvette was then full ten miles astern.
My resolution to save the cargo and lose the vessel was promptly
made;--orders were issued to strike from the slaves the irons they had
constantly worn since the mutiny; the boats were made ready; and every
man prepared his bag for a rapid launch.
On dashed the cruiser, foaming at the bows, under the impetus of the
rising gale, which struck him some time before it reached us. We were
not more than seven miles apart when the first increased pressure on
our sails was felt, and every thing was set and braced to give it the
earliest welcome. Then came the tug and race for the beach, three
miles ahead. But, under such circumstances, it was hardly to be
expected that St. George could carry the day. Still, every nerve was
strained to effect the purpose. Regardless of the gale, reef after
reef was let out while force pumps moistened his sails; yet nothing
was gained. Three miles against seven were too much odds;--and, with a
slight move of the helm, and "letting all fly," as we neared the line
of surf, to break her headway, La Estrella was fairly and safely
_beached_.
The sudden shock snapped her mainmast like a pipe-stem, but, as no one
was injured, in a twinkling the boats were overboard, crammed with
women and children, while a stage was rigged from the bows to the
strand, so that the males, the crew and the luggage were soon in
charge of my old _haciendado_.
Prompt as we were, we were not sufficiently so for the cruiser. Half
our cargo was ashore when she backed her topsails off the mouth of the
little bay, lowered her boats, filled them with boarders, and steered
towards our craft. The delay of half a mile's row gave us time to
cling still longer to the wreck, so that, when the boats and corvette
began to fire, we wished them joy of their bargain over the remnant of
our least valuable negroes. The rescued blacks are now, in all
likelihood, citizens of Jamaica; but, under the influence of the gale,
La Estrella made a very picturesque bonfire, as we saw it that night
from the _azotea_ of our landlord's domicile.
CHAPTER XLIII.
Disastrous as was this enterprise, both on the sea and in the
counting-house, a couple of months found me on board a splendid
clipper,--born of the famous waters of the Chesapeake,--delighting in
the name of "AGUILA DE ORO," or "Golden Eagle," and spinning out of
the Cape de Verds on a race with a famous West Indian privateer.
The "Montesquieu" was the pride of Jamaica for pluck and sailing, when
folks of her character were not so unpopular as of late among the
British Islands; and many a banter passed between her commander and
myself, while I was unsuccessfully waiting till the governor resolved
his conscientious difficulties about the _exchange of flags_. At last
I offered a bet of five hundred dollars against an equal sum; and next
day a bag with the tempting thousand was tied to the end of my
mainboom, with an invitation for the boaster to "follow and take." It
was understood that, once clear of the harbor, the "Aguila" should
have five minutes' start of the Montesquieu, after which we were to
crowd sail and begin the race.
The contest was quickly noised throughout the port, and the captains
smacked their lips over the _dejeuner_ promised by the boaster out of
the five hundred dollars won from the "Yankee nutshell." Accordingly,
when all was ready and the breeze favored, the eastern cliffs of the
Isle were crowded with spectators to witness the regatta.
As we were first at sea and clear of the harbor, we delayed for our
antagonist; and without claiming the conceded start of five minutes,
did not shoot ahead till our rival was within musket shot. But _then_
the tug began with a will; and as the Aguila led, I selected her most
favorable trim and kept her two points free. The Montesquieu did the
same, but confident of her speed, did not spread all her canvas that
would draw. The error, however, was soon seen. Our Chesapeake clipper
crawled off as if her opponent was at anchor; and in a jiffy every
thing that could be carried was sheeted home and braced to a hair. The
breeze was steady and strong. Soon the island was cleared entirely;
and by keeping away another point, I got out of the Aguila her utmost
capacity as a racer. As she led off, the Montesquieu followed,--but
glass by glass, and hour by hour, the distance between us increased,
till at sunset the boaster's hull was below the horizon, and my bag
taken in as a lawful prize.
I did not return to Praya after this adventure, but keeping on towards
the coast, in four days entered the Rio Salum, an independent river
between the French island of Goree and the British possessions on the
Gambia. No slaver had haunted this stream for many a year, so that I
was obliged to steer my mosquito pilot-boat full forty miles in the
interior, through mangroves and forests, till I struck the trading
ground of "the king."
After three days' parley I had just concluded my bargain with his
breechless majesty, when a "barker" greeted me with the cheerless
message that the "Aguila" was surrounded by man-of-war boats! It was
true; but the mate refused an inspection of his craft _on neutral
ground_, and the naval folks departed. Nevertheless, a week after,
when I had just completed my traffic, I was seized by a gang of the
treacherous king's own people; delivered to the second lieutenant of a
French corvette--"La Bayonnaise;"--and my lovely little Eagle caged as
her lawful prey!
I confess I have never been able to understand the legal merits of
this seizure, so far as the act of the French officers was concerned,
as no treaty existed between France and Spain for the suppression of
slavery. The reader will not be surprised to learn, therefore, that
there was a very loud explosion of wrath among my men when they found
themselves prisoners; nor was their fury diminished when our whole
band was forced into a dungeon at Goree, which, for size, gloom, and
closeness, vied with the celebrated black hole of Calcutta.
For three days were we kept in this filthy receptacle, in a burning
climate, without communication with friends or inhabitants, and on
scanty fare, till it suited the local authorities to transfer us to
San Luis, on the Senegal, in charge of a file of marines, _on board
our own vessel_!
San Luis is the residence of the governor and the seat of the colonial
tribunal, and here again we were incarcerated in a military _cachot_,
till several merchants who knew me on the Rio Pongo, interfered, and
had us removed to better quarters in the military hospital. I soon
learned that there was trouble among the natives. A war had broken out
among some of the Moorish tribes, some two hundred miles up the
Senegal, and my Aguila was a godsend to the Frenchmen, who needed just
such a light craft to guard their returning flotilla with merchandise
from Gatam. Accordingly, the craft was armed, manned, and despatched
on this expedition _without waiting the decree of a court as to the
lawfulness of her seizure_!
Meanwhile, the sisters of charity--those angels of devoted mercy, who
do not shun even the heats and pestilence of Africa,--made our prison
life as comfortable as possible; and had we not seen gratings at the
windows, or met a sentinel when we attempted to go out, we might have
considered ourselves valetudinarians instead of convicts.
A month oozed slowly away in these headquarters of suffering, before a
military sergeant apprised us that he had been elevated to the dignity
of the long-robe, and appointed our counsel in the approaching trial.
No other lawyer was to be had in the colony for love or money, and,
perhaps, our military man might have acquitted himself as well as the
best, had not his superiors often imposed silence on him during the
argument.
By this time the nimble Aguila had made two most serviceable trips
under the French officers, and proved so valuable to the Gallic
government that no one dreamed of recovering her. The colonial
authorities had two alternatives under the circumstances,--either to
pay for or condemn her,--and as they knew I would not be willing to
take the craft again after the destruction of my voyage, the formality
of a trial was determined to legalize the condemnation. It was
necessary, however, even in Africa, to show that I had violated the
territory of the French colony by trading in slaves, and that the
Aguila had been caught in the act.
I will not attempt a description of the court scene, in which my
military friend was browbeaten by the prosecutor, the prosecutor by
the judge, and the judge by myself. After various outrages and
absurdities, a Mahometan _slave_ was allowed to be sworn as a witness
against me; whereupon I burst forth with a torrent of argument,
defence, abuse, and scorn, till a couple of soldiers were called to
keep my limbs and tongue in forensic order.
But the deed was done. The foregone conclusion was formally announced.
The Aguila de Oro became King Louis Philippe's property, while my men
were condemned to two, my officers to five, and Don Teodor himself, to
ten years' confinement in the central prisons of _la belle France_!
Such was the style of colonial justice in the reign of _le roi
bourgeois_!
My sentence aroused the indignation of many respectable merchants at
San Luis; and, of course, I did not lack kindly visits in the
stronghold to which I was reconducted. It was found to be entirely
useless to attack the sympathy of the tribunal, either to procure a
rehearing of the cause or mitigation of the judgment. Presently, a
generous friend introduced _a saw_ suitable to discuss the toughness
of iron bars, and hinted that on the night when my window gratings
were severed, a boat might be found waiting to transport me to the
opposite shore of the river, whence an independent chief would convey
me on camels to Gambia.
I know not how it was that the government got wind of my projected
flight, but it certainly did, and we were sent on board a station ship
lying in the stream. Still my friends did not abandon me. I was
apprised that a party,--bound on a shooting frolic down the river on
the first _foggy_ morning,--would visit the commander of the hulk,--a
noted _bon vivant_,--and while the vessel was surrounded by a crowd of
boats, I might slip overboard amid the confusion. Under cover of the
dense mist that shrouds the surface of an African river at dawn, I
could easily elude even a ball if sent after me, and when I reached
the shore, a canoe would be ready to convey me to a friendly ship.
The scheme was peculiarly feasible, as the captain happened to be a
good fellow, and allowed me unlimited liberty about his vessel.
Accordingly, when the note had been duly digested, I called my
officers apart, and proposed their participation in my escape. The
project was fully discussed by the fellows; but the risk of swimming,
even in a fog, under the muzzles of muskets, was a danger they feared
encountering. I perceived at once that it would be best to free myself
entirely from the encumbrance of such chicken-hearted lubbers, so I
bade them take their own course, but divided three thousand francs in
government bills among the gang, and presented my gold pocket
chronometer to the mate.
Next morning an impervious fog laid low on the bosom of the Senegal,
but through its heavy folds I detected the measured beat of
approaching oars, till five boats, with a sudden rush, dashed