CHAPTER TWELVE.
THE SECOND CHINESE WAR--1856-1860.
The Chinese Government, forgetting the lesson they had received in the former war with Great Britain, or believing that they could follow the bent of their inclinations with impunity, committed a series of aggressions on British subjects, which demanded our immediate interference. Sir Michael Seymour, the admiral on the station, commenced vigorous measures, without loss of time, to recall them to their senses, with the squadron and marines under his command. He began by opening fire on Canton in October. On the 5th of November he destroyed several Chinese war-junks; and on the 12th and 13th of that month, the Bogue Forts, mounting 400 guns, were captured. On the 12th of January 1857, the marines, with a detachment of the 59th Regiment, attacked the suburbs of the city of Canton, when a few casualties occurred both among the seamen and troops.
We now come to the month of May, when more active operations were commenced. Near Canton several creeks run into the Canton river, with which the English were but slightly acquainted; up these the war-junks had to take refuge whenever the British ships approached. Commodore Elliot heard that a large number of war-junks were collected some five miles up one of them, called Escape Creek, and accordingly, early on the 25th of May, he went on board the _Hong-Kong_ gunboat, and got under weigh, followed by _Bustard, Staunch, Starling_, and _Forbes_, towing the boats manned from the _Inflexible, Hornet_, and _Tribune_. Steaming into the creek, they before long came upon forty-one Mandarin junks, moored across the stream. Each junk had a long twenty-four or thirty-two pounder gun forward, and carried also four or six nine-pounders. The _Hong-Kong_ gallantly led. No sooner had she got within range, than the Chinese, with much spirit, opened fire, the first shot striking her, and others following rattling thick and fast on board. The other gunboats coming up, formed in as wide order as possible, and opened fire. It was wonderful, considering the exposed position of the Chinese guns, that the crews so long stood the return shower of shot sent at them by the gunboats. In time, however, they began to show signs of not liking the treatment they were receiving.
First one was seen to cut her cable, get out her oars, or hoist her sails, and, falling out of the line, turn her stern for flight up the creek.
The example set by one was quickly followed by others. The whole Mandarin fleet was soon in full flight, firing away, however, with their stern-chasers; but they were guns of light calibre, and were not well served, thus doing little damage. The junks were fast craft, and the crews pulled for their lives, to aid the sails, so that the steamers had to put on all speed to come up with them. They had not got far before the water shoaled. The gunboats drew upwards of seven feet, the junks less than three. One after the other the gunboats grounded. "On, lads, on!" cried the commodore, leaping into one of the boats towing astern; "never mind the vessels." Imitating his example, officers and men jumped into the boats, each boat having a gun in her bows; and after the junks they pulled with might and main. Away went the junks up the creek, the boats hotly pursuing them. The guns in the bows of the latter kept up a hot fire on the enemy, and told with great effect. The speed of several lessened, and, one after the other, numbers were overtaken. Though all hope of escape was gone, when a boat got alongside, the Chinese fired a broadside of grape into her, and then, leaping overboard on the opposite side, swam towards the sh.o.r.e, and were soon beyond pursuit among the rice-fields which bordered the banks of the stream. In this way sixteen junks were captured in succession, and destroyed in the princ.i.p.al channel. Ten more took refuge in a channel to the left, but a division of the boats was sent after them. No sooner, however, did the English appear, than the crews, setting fire to their vessels, abandoned them, and swam to sh.o.r.e. They burned like touch-paper, and were quickly destroyed. Another turned into an inlet on the right, but some boats were quickly after her; and so frightened were the crew, that they forgot to set her on fire, and she was thus towed out in triumph.
The heat of the sun was terrific, many men suffered from sunstroke, and the casualties from the shot of the enemy were considerable. Thirteen junks escaped by dint of hard pulling, and the commodore determined to have these as well as many more which he suspected were concealed in the various creeks.
Next day he accordingly blockaded the mouths of all the creeks. Captain Forsyth, in the _Hornet_, was stationed at the mouth to prevent escape, the _Inflexible_ at that of Second Bar Creek, and the _Tribune_ at the Sawshee channel entrance. This done, the commodore, with the gunboats and a large flotilla of the boats of the squadron in tow, proceeded up the Sawshee channel. For twelve miles no enemy was seen. At length, leaving the steamers, he pulled up another twelve miles, when suddenly he found himself in the midst of a large city, with a fleet of war-junks before him, one of large size and richly adorned, while a battery frowned down on the invaders. It was not a moment for hesitation.
Every gun and musket was discharged at the enemy ahead, and then, with a cheer, the British seamen dashed alongside the big junk. As they climbed up the side the Chinese sprang on sh.o.r.e, and immediately a hot fire from jingalls was opened on the boarders. The marines at the same time were landed from the other boats, and, forming, prepared to charge the enemy. As they were about to do so, flames burst out from the houses near the big junk. "To the boats! to the boats!" was the cry of the officers on board her. It was discovered that a quant.i.ty of powder had been left in her, and that a train was laid from her to the sh.o.r.e.
Not a moment was to be lost. Her captors sprang into their boats; the crew of the last, a pinnace, were leaping from her sides, when up she went, with a loud explosion. Several of the seamen were singed, if not more seriously hurt. The other twelve junks were immediately set on fire, while the gallant marines charged down the street, and put all the jingall firers to flight. No work could have been accomplished more effectually, though at severe loss, for one man in ten at least had been hit. The surgeons having attended to the hurts of the men, the boats"
heads were once more turned down the creek. The crews had fitted them, from the captured junks, with an extraordinary variety of sails,--some of matting, others of coloured cloths, or any material which could be stretched on spars to hold wind. In this guise they returned to the steamers. The town thus unexpectedly entered was found to be Tunkoon.
BATTLE OF FATSHAN.
To the south of Canton, one of the numerous creeks of that river runs up to the city of Fatshan. Some considerable distance up this creek, and nearly south of Canton, is the long, low island called Hyacinth Island, making the channels very narrow. On the south sh.o.r.e of the creek is a high hill. On the summit of this hill the Chinese had formed a strong fort of nineteen guns. A six-gun battery was erected opposite it, and seventy junks were moored so as to command the pa.s.sage. The Chinese fully believed that this position was impregnable. The British squadron had rendezvoused a short distance below this formidable obstruction of the navigation. The admiral was on board the little _Coromandel_ steamer, and before dawn on the 1st of June he led the way up the channel, towing a whole flotilla of boats, with 300 soldiers on board them. The other steamers followed, all towing boats with red- and bluejackets on board. The _Coromandel_ was steaming up the left-hand channel, when she ran on to a line of junks which had been sunk across the pa.s.sage. The admiral had wisely chosen the time of dead low water to commence the ascent. Lieutenant Douglas leaped into a dinghy, and sounded on all sides. A pa.s.sage was found close in sh.o.r.e; but the little steamer could not get off, and a heavy fire was opened on her from the nineteen-gun battery. In vain her crew ran from side to side to start her. Several were struck. The boats had been cast off, and landed the troops. Now Commodore Keppel came up in the _Hong-Kong_, and obtained leave to proceed through the channel Mr Douglas had discovered. The _Haughty_, with boats in tow, _Bustard_ and _Forester_, followed. _Plover_ stuck on the barrier; but _Opossum_, casting off her boats, dashed up the right-hand channel. Now boats of all descriptions raced up, each eager to be first, many a brave fellow being picked off as they pa.s.sed through the showers of shot hurled on them from the Chinese batteries. The Chinese were showing themselves to be of sterner stuff than many had supposed. The garrison of the hill battery fought bravely.
Meantime the troops were climbing the heights, the admiral had landed, and so had Commodore Elliot and many other naval officers, leading their bluejackets. As the stormers got within fifty yards of the summit, the garrison fired a volley, and then retreated down the hill; nor could the fire of the marines, who had gained the fort, make them run. The fort gained, the naval officers hurried down to their boats and pulled up towards the junks, which, as the flotilla advanced, opened a heavy fire.
As the boats dashed alongside, the Chinamen invariably discharged a round of grape, but generally too high to do damage; and the seamen boarding under it, they leaped overboard and swam on sh.o.r.e. Then junk after junk was set on fire and blown up. It being low tide, they were nearly all on sh.o.r.e, and could not escape. The _Haughty_ ran stem on into one, and crumpled her up as if she had been paper. Thus seventy-two were either burnt or captured. Heavy firing was heard in the distance. Commodore Keppel had meantime gone up through the right-hand channel. His own steamer grounded, and so did the _Plover_; and he, therefore, with seven boats of the _Calcutta, Bittern_, and _Niger_, pulled on under the fire of the six-gun battery, and boarded a big junk, which, when the boats were scarcely free of her, blew up. On he went, right through the junks, till he came to an island causing two narrow channels. One was thickly staked. Across the other were moored twenty large junks, their guns so placed that they could sweep both channels. In vain the commodore attempted to dash through with his galley. Three boom-boats following took the ground. Grape, canisters, and round shot came tearing among them. Numbers were struck. Major Kearney, a volunteer, was torn to pieces; Barker, a midshipman of the _Tribune_, was mortally wounded; the commodore"s c.o.xswain was killed, and every man of his crew was struck. A shot came in right amidships, cut one man in two, and took off the hand of another. Lieutenant Prince Victor of Hohenlohe was leaning forward to bind up with his neckcloth the arm of the seaman whose hand had been taken off, when a round shot pa.s.sed between his head and that of the commodore, wounding two more of the crew. Had he been sitting in his place, it would have taken off his head. The boat, almost knocked to pieces, was filling with water. The commodore jumped on one of the seats, to keep his legs out of the water, when a third round shot went through both sides of the boat, not more than an inch below the seat on which he was standing. Many of the boats had now got huddled together, the oars of most being shot away. A boat of the _Calcutta_ being nearest, Commodore Keppel and his officers got in, hauling all the wounded men after them. The commodore had a dog with him, "Mike" by name, and the animal having been a favourite of the c.o.xswain, Tolhurst, and always fed by him, refused to leave his dead body, and remained in the wreck of the boat drifting up towards the junks. It became absolutely necessary to retire for reinforcements. As the boats began to pull down the stream towards the _Hong-Kong_, the Chinese in triumph redoubled their fire, setting up loud shouts and strange cries, and beating their gongs with increased vigour. One shot knocked away all the oars on one side of the _Calcutta"s_ boat. The commodore had just directed Lieutenant Graham to get his boat, the pinnace, ready for his pennant, as he would lead the next attack in her, when a shot wounded Mr Graham, killing and wounding four others and disabling the boat. Mr Graham appeared to be a ma.s.s of blood, but it was that of a marine who stood next to him, and part of whose skull was forced three inches into another man"s shoulder. The _Hong-Kong_, supported by the _Starling_, was meantime throwing shot and sh.e.l.l among the Chinamen, to which they responded with considerable vigour.
At length the deck of the _Hong-Kong_ was reached. Her deck was covered with the wounded who had been brought on board; but the whole fire of the Chinese was now concentrated on her, and she was hulled twelve times in a few minutes. One shot struck a marine standing near the wounded, and he fell dead among them. The sound of the firing had, however, brought up numerous others boats. The commodore had got a piece of blue bunting ready to represent his broad pennant. "Let us try the row-boats once more, boys," he shouted, as he jumped into the _Raleigh"s_ cutter.
A true British seaman"s shout was the answer to the proposal, and a sign that it was all up with John Chinaman. He might sink twenty boats, but thirty others would be ready to follow. On dashed the British boats.
The Chinese did not wait their coming, but, cutting their cables, with oars and sails attempted to escape; still, however, keeping up a hot fire, and retiring in good order. Again three cheers rose from the British boats, and the chase commenced, not to end for seven miles. As the shot and sh.e.l.ls from the English guns began to play on the junks, they ran on sh.o.r.e, the terrified crews leaping out and escaping. Junk after junk was captured, but some eight remained. Suddenly entering a fresh reach, the pursuers close astern of the pursued, the British found themselves almost in the middle of a large city, Fatshan itself, with shops and other houses lining the quays, and trading-junks along the banks. Five of the junks were headed, abandoned, and captured; three escaped, and they would have been farther pursued, had not a large body of troops--militia probably--turned out to repel the invaders. The commodore instantly landed his marines, who, firing a volley, made ready to charge. The Chinese braves, not liking their aspect, went about, and marched double-quick time into the town, where they could not be seen.
Commodore Keppel proposed landing and fortifying himself in the city, and demanding a ransom; but a message from the admiral recalled him, and he had to give up his daring scheme. Most unwillingly he obeyed the mandate; and, having secured five junks, he towed them out astern of his flotilla, promising the Chinese that he would pay them another visit before long. As he went down the river, a dog was seen on the sh.o.r.e, and, plunging into the stream, the animal swam off to his boat. It was his faithful "Mike," who had escaped the shower of shot and sh.e.l.l and the hungry Chinese, and now recognised the boat of his master.
Of the fleet of war-junks captured, only five were saved from destruction; and for some time during the night they were burning away, sending their shot right and left, and occasionally one of them would explode. The British lost, in killed and wounded in these two engagements, no less than eighty-four men, and found to their cost that the Chinese were no contemptible opponents.
CAPTURE OF CANTON--29TH DECEMBER.
Although the capture of Canton may be looked upon as a military exploit, the bluejackets took so large a share in it that it must not be pa.s.sed over.
The British had now been joined by a considerable French force; and the united squadron having proceeded up the river, the troops prepared to land at Kupar Creek, on the north sh.o.r.e, just to the east of Napier"s Island, on the 28th of December. The _Actaeon, Phlegethon_, and a squadron of English gunboats, followed by the French fleet, had in the meantime gone on, and anch.o.r.ed directly facing the city, opposing a line of forts along the banks of the river.
A naval brigade was formed under the command of Commodore Elliot, consisting of 1501 men, formed in three divisions,--the first under Captain Stuart, second under Captain Key, and third under Captain Sir R.
McClure, who landed with the troops. At a signal given, the steamers and gunboats opened fire on the devoted city, and immediately the landing commenced. The fleet gave ample occupation to the Chinese, and drew off their attention from the operations of the troops. These now landed, and, while the fleet continued their slow and steady bombardment, marched to the capture of Lin"s Fort, a powerful battery on a hill to the east of the town. The British naval brigade entered a village to the right, and from thence clambered up the height to storm the fort; but, as they rushed in, the Chinese rushed out and down the hill, while the bluejackets in hot haste made chase after them, led by Captains McClure and Osborne. On they went, rifle, cutla.s.s, and bayonet pitted against jingalls and rockets. Meantime Lin"s Fort blew up.
While reconnoitring the walls to discover a suitable spot for placing the ladders, the much-esteemed and excellent Captain Bate, RN, was shot dead. Early on the morning of the 29th the signal for the a.s.sault was given. The English and French troops rushed on most gallantly to the attack. Of the bluejackets, Commander Fellowes was the first on the walls, from which, after a stout resistance, the Chinese were driven into the town, which, after a week, was occupied by the Allies.
The fleet, with the army on board, now proceeded to Tientsin, preparatory to an attack on Pekin. The naval officers obtained deserved credit for the admirable way in which so large a fleet of eighty ships or more, including men-of-war and transports, was navigated, and for the perfect order and regularity with which the army was landed. An account of the operations against Pekin, which were of a military character, will be found in _Our Soldiers_, page 198.
CHAPTER THIRTEEN.
THE SLAVE TRADE.
Ever since the settlement of Europeans on the continent of America and the West Indian Islands, a trade in slaves had existed to a very great extent. The slaves were taken from among the many tribes in the interior of Africa in large numbers, and transported across the Atlantic.
The evils of such an inhuman custom were manifold, and were a very dark stain on civilisation. In course of time the conscience of England was awakened to the evil, and the nation decided to take some stern steps to put a stop to this trade in human beings, both in the interests of humanity and justice, and for the sake of Africa.
On 25th March 1807 the Royal a.s.sent was given to a Bill for the total abolition of the British slave trade on and after 1st January 1808. At first only a penalty of money was exacted from those who were convicted of slave-dealing. This, of course, was soon found to be without much effect, and in consequence, in 1811, slave-dealing was made punishable by transportation for fourteen years. Even this was found to be very inadequate. The slave-dealer knew that the risks of his being caught at his illicit trade were very small, and as the profits were very great he was quite willing to run that risk. Slave-dealing still continued with renewed zeal, and, if possible, greater cruelty than before.
In 1824, therefore, the offence was declared to be piracy, and punishable with death. In 1837, however, the punishment inflicted on British subjects for trading in slaves was changed to transportation for life.
A squadron of small vessels supposed to be suited for the purpose was forthwith equipped and sent to the African coast, to capture slavers wherever they could be found north of the equator, either embarking their cargoes or prepared to receive them, or with full ships, and whether up rivers, on the coast, or out at sea.
These expeditions were full of excitement for the bluejackets, and countless were the chases after slavers by the ships of the squadrons.
The danger was great in many cases. The slave-dealers were of the lowest grade of humanity, and cruel to the last degree. The barbarity with which they tore away the poor blacks from their native country, and the cruelty with which they treated them on board, is indescribable.
The slaves were treated worse than animals, and many died during the voyage, but that mattered little to the slave-dealer, who had paid nothing for them, and who could find plenty more where they came from.
Often the slave-dealers had on board, or rather in the hold of the ship, something like 900 slaves. When the decks were battened down during storms the tortures they endured were frightful. Often when the hatches were opened after a hurricane more than one-third of the slaves were found to be dead from suffocation or want of food, and often, sooner than have the trouble of hauling up the dead bodies, the hatches were battened down again and the poor slaves left in their misery till the end of the voyage, when perhaps another third were found to have died.
It was to prevent atrocities such as these that our sailors were called upon to perform such gallant deeds on the African Coast, and their gallantry and powers of endurance were never displayed to better purpose than during the chases and captures of slavers. Accounts of some of them are given, to show the sort of work our officers and men are called upon to perform to keep down this horrible evil.
CAPTURE OF BRAZILIAN SLAVER "FIRME" BY THE BOATS OF HMS "DOLPHIN"--1840.
At daylight on the 30th May 1840, the _Dolphin_ being under easy sail off Whydah, a brigantine was observed on the lee-bow. All sail was immediately made in chase; but as the stranger increased her distance, the cutter, a twenty-foot boat, with nine men, including the officer, and the gig with six, were despatched at half-past six o"clock, under command of Mr Murray and Mr Rees, to endeavour to come up with and detain the chase before the setting in of the sea-breeze. Both boats being soddened from constant blockading pulled heavily, and the crews had been employed during a squally, rainy morning in tr.i.m.m.i.n.g and making sail; but after a hara.s.sing pull of two hours and a half under a hot sun, they came up with the chase, the gig being rather ahead. The brigantine bore down upon her, opening a sharp and continued fire of musketry, which was returned, when both boats, after steadily reloading under her fire, cheered and boarded on each quarter. The sweeps of the brigantine were rigged out, which prevented their boarding by the chains, thereby rendering it difficult for more than one or two to get up the side at a time.
Mr Murray was the first on board; and though knocked back into the boat with the b.u.t.t-end of a musket, which broke his collar-bone, he immediately clambered up the side again, in which act his left hand was nearly severed at the wrist with the blow of a cutla.s.s. Another cut was made at his head, which he parried, cutting the man down. The bowman of the gig was shot through the heart while laying his oar in, and the bowman of the cutter in getting up the side. After a resistance of twenty minutes, the vessel was captured, most of the crew running below, firing their muskets as they retreated.
Mr Rees had previously proved himself a most zealous and active officer, particularly in the destruction of the slave factories at Corisco, by the boats of the _Wolverine_, Captain Tucker.
VOYAGE OF A PRIZE FROM ACCRA TO SIERRA LEONE.
FROM 12TH AUGUST 1840 TO 5TH JANUARY 1841.
The _Dores_, a schooner of about sixty feet in length and fifteen in breadth, had been taken at Quettah in June, and sent in charge of the _Dolphin"s_ gunner to Sierra Leone. Six weeks afterwards she was found about twenty miles below Accra, having performed scarcely thirty miles of her pa.s.sage, and lost almost all her prize-crew, including the gunner, from fever. Mr Murray, who had but just recovered from wounds received in the action with the _Firme_, was then put in command of her, with a crew of two men, two boys, and a prisoner boy, the only one who had survived the fever.
His orders were to proceed to Sierra Leone; and the indomitable perseverance with which he adhered to them, through formidable dangers and difficulties, together with his care for the men under his command during a voyage of 146 days, are well worthy of being recorded.
The only cabin which was at all habitable was eight feet in length, five in height at the centre, and three at the sides, the breadth decreasing from eleven to two and a half. It was entirely dest.i.tute of furniture, swarming with vermin, and, before the end of the voyage, the fumes of the rotting tobacco, with which the vessel was laden, clinging to the beams, formed a coat nearly an inch in thickness. This, with an awning of monkey skins, manufactured by themselves, was the only refuge for the young officer and his men. The fourth night of the voyage was ushered in by the most fearful squalls, which gradually freshened till about two in the morning, when a tremendous storm came on, and obliged them to bear up under bare poles; the seas washing over the little vessel, and the wind blowing in the most terrific manner until about seven, when it moderated and fell calm. The schooner was then observed to float much deeper than before, and on sounding, nearly three feet of water were found in the hold. The pump was immediately set to work, but it had hardly fetched when it broke and became useless. This was repaired by about sunset, and in two hours afterwards the vessel was cleared.
They then made sail and tacked, steering for Sierra Leone, till, on the morning of the 14th of September, they sighted land just below the river Sestos. Finding that they had but three days" provisions left, the commander determined to make them last six, and stood on, in the hope of weathering Cape Palmas. This was baffled by a tide that set down along sh.o.r.e; but, on the 20th of September, they anch.o.r.ed off Cape Coast Castle. They had no provisions remaining, but the governor supplied them with sufficient for forty days; and, having refitted the schooner, they put to sea again on a close, sultry morning, which was succeeded by a violent gale, lasting three days.
About two o"clock one afternoon, a rakish-looking brigantine was perceived standing towards the _Dores_; and judging her to be a slaver, the young officer called his crew together, and having loaded the muskets and got the cutla.s.ses ready, they silently awaited her coming up, determined to defend themselves. To their great joy, when she got within two miles and a half of them, a strong breeze sprang up, which placed the schooner dead to windward, and in the morning the brigantine was out of sight. Their sails were now so worn that they were obliged to lower them, and drift about for a whole day to repair them. Having neither chronometer nor s.e.xtant, and only a quadrant of antique date, often ten and even twenty miles out of adjustment, the position of the vessel could only be guessed. The men behaved admirably during this weary time, employing themselves in cleaning their arms, fishing, or mending their clothes. The rain generally fell in torrents till the 4th October, when the day closed in with appearances threatening heavy weather. All preparations were made for the coming gale; the sails were lowered down with the exception of the fore-staysail, and everything lashed and secured. The fore-staysail was kept up in order to put the schooner dead before the wind.
At about five in the evening it became a dead calm, the atmosphere close, and all around dark. After about half an hour, a sound like heavy thunder was heard in the distance, and through the gloom a bank of foam was seen hastening towards the schooner; in a few minutes the staysail was stowed, and the wind caught her, gradually freshening until it burst upon her in all its fury; the rolling sea broke in upon her, and completely filled her upper deck; but the side bulwarks were open, and the sea found vent. Having battened his crew down below, Mr Murray lashed himself to the deck, and steered the vessel through the storm, which continued with heavy thunder and torrents of rain till about two in the morning, when, completely exhausted, he fell asleep, and was aroused by the crew (who, having knocked once or twice without reply, believed him to have been washed overboard) hammering at the skylight to get out. This gale so strained the schooner that the water gained two feet a day, and, to add to their disasters, one of the crew was ill for a fortnight.
From the 10th of October till the 4th of November, when land was again discovered, the _Dores_ continued her course for Sierra Leone, experiencing the whole weight of the rainy season. It now became evident that she could not stem the current, for in the course of many days she had not made more than four or five miles. Mr Murray then determined to try again to reach Cape Palmas, by standing along the land; and thus nearly incurred a new danger from the natives, who a.s.sembled on the beach, armed with pikes and clubs, and as night drew on prepared to attack the schooner should she run on sh.o.r.e. Happily a slight breeze sprang up, which gave her steerage way, and enabled her to draw off the land. No resource remained but to shape her course again for Cape Coast Castle, to obtain provisions, their stock being exhausted. The governor made every effort to prevail on Mr Murray to relinquish the undertaking, which now appeared so hopeless, but he was resolute in staying by the charge entrusted to him; and, calling his men together, he gave them the choice of going on sh.o.r.e to await a pa.s.sage down to the _Dolphin_. With one consent they replied that they would never leave him; holding to the old feeling of a true seaman, never to leave his officer at a time of difficulty till death parts them. Their provisioning was just completed when a fatal accident diminished the number of the crew. They had been bathing after their day"s work, and one of them, a black, was still in the water, when he was seized by a shark, and so fearfully injured that he died before he could be got on board. The weary voyage recommenced, and, as before, their chief diversion was fishing. The sharks, skipjacks, dolphins, and bonetas which were caught were counted by hundreds, for they literally sailed through a sea of fish. Two parrots had been added to their crew, and were a great amus.e.m.e.nt, becoming so tame that they would obey their master"s call, and follow him afterwards through the streets like a dog.
The 9th of December was marked by a serious disaster. Seeing a huge shark alongside, they had fastened a boneta as a bait to a piece of small line, and made a running bowline in the end of a peak-halliard with the fish towing a little ahead of it; the shark immediately saw it and swam after it; they were already on the bowline to run him up the side with his head a little out of water; gliding silently along, not two feet from them, he came up to the bowline, which was held wide open, while the bait was quietly hauled ahead until he was far enough through it; then, giving a sudden jerk on it, they closed it just behind the two side-fins and tried to catch a turn with the rope; but, quick as lightning, the shark gave a terrific plunge and tore it through their hands, when Mr Murray unfortunately got in the middle of the coil, and as the men had all let go, it had got a half-hitch round his leg, and in an instant he was drawn up and over the gunwale. Catching at the peak-halliards, which were belayed close to him, he held on with his only sound hand as he was flying overboard, the men also seizing him by the arm. Before he could be extricated, the limb was severely injured and torn. The only remedy which could be applied was bathing it in oil.
In the meantime the _Dores_ progressed, though very slowly; she had become much more leaky, the cargo was completely rotten, and the stench drove them all on deck; nor could they heave a particle of it overboard, for then the vessel would have capsized, as she had no ballast in. The sails were perfectly rotten--so bad that the vessel was often a whole day without a st.i.tch of canvas set when the wind fell light, that they might be repaired with monkey skins, of which there was a good stock on board.
The fourth month closed, and the schooner had not yet performed a voyage of ten days, from seven to fifteen miles a day being the progress lately made; but now the current seemed to favour her, for a change of forty miles a day was observed in the lat.i.tude, and the hearts of officer and men grew lighter, notwithstanding their miserable plight, always wet to the skin, and unable to change their clothes for days together. Two terrific storms were still to be encountered; and, at the commencement of the second, Mr Murray sent the men below, and remained alone on the deck, which he never expected to leave alive. The heat of each flash of lightning was felt as if from a fire; the rain falling in torrents, leaked in every direction through the deck, and the schooner was fast filling with water. At length the rain ceased, and the lightning became fainter, when they made sail again, pumped out, and proceeded till they had made sufficient northing for Sierra Leone. They then bore up east, and, on the 31st December, the colour of the water showed that they were nearing the land. On this day they kept their Christmas, and many were the hearty toasts they drank to those at home. It was not till the 6th January, 146 days from the commencement of their voyage, that they anch.o.r.ed off Sierra Leone, where it was fully believed that they were lost. Here Mr Murray found his promotion awaiting him for the capture of the _Firme_, and was at once invalided home.