"Now, my lads! give them the dose I spoke of," shouted Waller.
The enemy leaped down on our deck, and were already in possession of the forecastle. The tarpaulin was cast off from the gun, and the muzzle, loaded as it was with missiles of all sorts, was turned towards them, and fired right in among them where they mustered the thickest.
Scarcely a man escaped being hit; five were killed outright; and so astonished were the rest, that, thinking probably that the vessel herself was blowing up, they tumbled, scrambled, and clambered back into their own schooner in the greatest confusion.
"On! my boys, on!" shouted Waller; and, making a dash at the fellows, we much expedited their movements. In an instant not an enemy was left alive on our decks.
"Up with the helm!" sung out Waller; and at the same time Jack and another man cutting away at the fore-rigging of the enemy, we sheered clear of him; while he, backing his fore-topsail, dropped under our stern without firing a shot. We therefore hauled our wind, and kept on our course, and soon afterwards he filled his sails, and stood away to the southward. He had enjoyed a sufficient taste of our quality. Not one of us was hurt, while a quarter of his people must have been killed or wounded.
Our men gave a loud huzza as they found themselves free. To me it seemed like a wild dream. A few minutes before we were engaged in a desperate struggle for life; and now, uninjured, we were sailing gaily over the calm water, victors in the strife. Had it not been for the dead bodies of our foes remaining on the deck, we could scarcely have believed our senses. This action is considered one of the most gallant that has occurred on the coast.
The next day, to our great satisfaction, the _Opossum_ hove in sight.
Captain Idle, having taken our prisoners out of us, ordered us to proceed forthwith with the negroes to Sierra Leone for adjudication.
CHAPTER TWENTY ONE.
BLOWN OFF THE COAST--WALLER"S KINDNESS TO THE NEGROES--RUN SHORT OF PROVISIONS AND WATER--VESSEL LEAKING--AMERICAN HARD-HEARTEDNESS-- WALLER"S n.o.bLE RESOLVE--BEACH BAHIA--AUDACIOUS TRICK OF BRAZILIAN SLAVE-DEALERS.
We had parted from the _Opossum_ about a couple of days, when we observed signs of one of those terrific easterly gales which sometimes blow off the coast of Africa. Waller, from his previous experience, knew them, and remarked them in time, so that we were able to get all snug to meet the wind when it came. On a sudden the hitherto calm leaden water was covered with a foam-drift, like the fine sand swept across the stony desert. The only sail we had set was a close-reefed topsail and storm-jib; the helm was put up, and away she flew before the gale, swift as the albatross on its snowy wing. Away, away we sped, and soon, leaving the African coast far astern, were ploughing the water of the South Atlantic. The _Zerlina_, though a beautiful model, as are most of her cla.s.s, was flimsily built, and far from a good sea-boat, speed only having been cared for in her construction. As we got away from the land, we met a good deal of sea, in which she laboured much; and Ned Awlhole, one of the carpenter"s mates, who was acting carpenter, came one afternoon with a very long face into the cabin, where Waller and I were sitting at dinner, to inform us that she was making far more water than was satisfactory.
"Get the pumps rigged, then, and we must try and keep her clear till we can manage to beat back to Sierra Leone," said Waller, as coolly as if it were a matter of slight importance.
"It is rather a serious thing this, is it not?" I observed. "I wonder you make so light of it."
"Very serious; and on that account it behoves us, as officers, to keep up our own spirits, and to cheer up the men," he replied. "I am sorry to say also, that I very much fear we shall fall short of water before we get into port, if this wind continues; and, with all these poor blacks on board, that will indeed be a very serious thing. Good seamanship may enable us to keep, the ship afloat, but G.o.d only can provide us with water."
"What must we do, then?" I asked.
"We must place all hands on short allowance, and we may fall in with some vessel which may supply us; or showers may come, and we may collect enough for our more pressing wants," he replied. "We must keep the poor negroes on deck as much as possible--with fresh air they may exist with less water."
Waller had speedily won the confidence and affection of the negroes, by his kindness and considerate conduct. At first, when we had taken possession of the vessel, they looked upon us as enemies, for the Spaniards had told them that we should cook and eat them; but Waller, who could speak a few words of their language, soon tranquillised their fears on that account. He then got upon deck the sick, and those whose limbs were chafed or bruised, and gave them medicines, and dressed their wounds with his own hands. He told them that they should be set free to go where they wished, and should, if possible, be enabled to return to their own country. Few, however, had any hope of being enabled to do the latter, for they had mostly all been taken in war, or kidnapped from districts away from the coast, the wars being undertaken by the chiefs nearer the sea for the express purpose of making prisoners to sell into slavery. Two or three of those who had been kidnapped had already been at Sierra Leone, or other British settlements, and as they understood a good deal of English, we were able to communicate pretty freely with them. We found them, poor children of Ham, very intelligent fellows, and as capable of receiving instruction as the people of any other race I have ever met. Waller"s good example was followed by the crew, and at last each man vied in showing kindness to the poor wretches, so that they learned to look on us truly as their friends and protectors. We did but our duty. They were our fellow-creatures, and we were soon to be fellows in suffering. At first I own it was very trying, and more than once, as I was dressing their wounds, I turned sick; but I recollected that they were fellow-beings, with human feelings, and souls to be saved, like ours, and I returned to my duty with renewed strength to perform it. At length we found that we could, with perfect safety, allow all the blacks to come on deck as they liked. Whenever Waller appeared, they shouted after him--"How do, Ma.s.ser Waller? Bless "um, Ma.s.ser Waller!" And some would come and kneel down, and put his hand on their heads, with a look of affection which was unmistakeable.
"I believe, sir, it"s all very right with these poor fellows, and there"s no harm in them," said Jack Stretcher to me one day. "But, to my mind, it doesn"t do to trust these strange n.i.g.g.e.rs too much. They sometimes, I"ve heard, rises and cuts the throats of their friends."
I agreed with Jack that it was necessary, in most cases, to be cautious; but in the present instance it was evident, as things turned out, that it was owing to Waller"s judicious treatment of the negroes that all our lives were preserved.
All this time the wind was blowing so strongly from the eastward, that we found it impossible to beat up against it, so we had nothing else to do but to continue running before it. Every day matters were getting more and more serious; our own provisions were growing shorter. Of anything like luxuries we had none--salt beef and pork, hard biscuit and rice, and a little tea and sugar, with a cask of rum--none of the best either, by-the-bye. Waller called me into the cabin for a consultation.
"To get back to the coast is now impossible," he remarked. "If this wind holds, and we can keep the craft afloat, our best chance is to try and make the coast of Brazil. The port of Bahia is the nearest, and I propose steering for that place."
I agreed with him; but we neither of us had any very strong hopes of being really able to make it in time to save our own lives and those of the negroes. On carefully examining our stock of provisions, we found that only by the most economical expenditure of them, and with the most favourable weather, should we be able to reach our destination in time.
A foul wind, or a day or two of calm, would ruin us; and a gale would in all probability send us to the bottom. The blacks, of their own accord, took their spell at the pumps, and finally relieved our men entirely of the labour. Had they been compelled to continue pumping, it would, I am certain, have worn them out. We most dreaded a want of water. Not a cloud appeared from which we might draw it forth, and scarcely could we expect a shower. Though constantly on the look-out, not a vessel could we see, from whence we might get provisions. At length, one morning, as Jack Stretcher had gone aloft--
"A sail on the weather-bow!" he sung out, in a cheery tone, which gave hope to all our hearts. "She"s standing across our course, so we can speak her without altering it."
In about two hours we were up to her. She was a good sized brig, and the ensign, with the stars and stripes, which flew out at her peak, showed that she hailed from the United States. We had a signal of distress flying, in addition to the British ensign.
"Hillo! what are you?" sung out a man in her main-rigging.
"A prize to His Britannic Majesty"s brig of war _Opossum_," answered Waller. "What are you?"
"The _Go-along_, from Baltimore, bound for Rio," answered a person on board the brig, through a speaking-trumpet.
"Heave-to, if you please, sir, and I will pay you a visit--we are in great distress," said Waller.
"Ay, ay, sir," was the reply from the brig, as she was speedily brought up on a wind and hove-to.
So soon as we could get a boat in the water, leaving Jack in charge, Waller and I went on board the brig. The master, a tall, thin, sallow man, with a pointed beard, no whiskers, and a hooked nose, with a huge cigar in his mouth, a straw hat on his head, loose nankeen trousers, and a gingham swallow-tailed coat, received us at the gangway.
"Walk into the cabin, gentlemen, and let"s liquor a bit," said he, as we stepped on board, showing us the way before we had time to reply.
The cabin, to our eyes, looked luxuriously furnished, and not unwelcome was the repast of cold beef and ham and fine biscuits which the steward placed speedily before us, not forgetting a spirit-stand with four tall bottles. We did ample justice to the good things placed before us.
"And now, what"s your pleasure, Mr Lieutenant?" laid the master of the brig.
Waller explained exactly what had occurred. "And now," he continued, "we are in a sinking state; we have neither provisions nor water to last us till we can reach a port; and the destruction of all these poor people is sealed if you do not help us."
"What! take all them dirty n.i.g.g.e.rs aboard my craft?" exclaimed the skipper, with a look of ineffable disgust. "You Britishers have rum notions, I calculate."
"No, pardon me," said Waller. "I only ask you to preserve from almost certain destruction a number of our fellow-creatures; and any remuneration which you may require will certainly be paid you."
"What! do you call them black n.i.g.g.e.rs fellow-creatures, master? That"s a rum joke, I guess," exclaimed the skipper. "I should be happy to be of service to you, but you are so unreasonable,--that you are."
"Scarcely unreasonable, sir," urged Waller, mildly. "Can you not name a sum for which you could land all the people I have on board at Bahia, or the nearest port we can make."
"No, sir; I guess no sum would pay me to defile my vessel in the way you propose," said the Yankee. "I"ll take you and your own crew with pleasure; but the n.i.g.g.e.rs are out of the question."
"What! would you leave the poor wretches to perish in the most horrible way, with thirst and starvation?" exclaimed Waller, shuddering at the thought.
"They are n.i.g.g.e.rs," said the Yankee, coolly puffing forth a cloud of smoke, and leaning back in his chair with a self-satisfied look.
"Hear me, sir!" exclaimed Waller, rising, a flush mantling on his brow.
"I have six thousand pounds of my own in this world. That sum I will make over to you, by every legal means you can devise, if you will take these poor people on board your brig, and land them in a place of safety. This shall be over and above what my Government may award you.
I entreat you, as you hope for mercy here and hereafter, to do as I ask."
"Not if you were to go down on your knees and pray till to-morrow morning," replied the Yankee, slowly. "n.i.g.g.e.rs are n.i.g.g.e.rs, and they can"t be otherwise. If you and your people like to come aboard, you are welcome. You"ve got my answer, Sir."
"Then, sir," exclaimed Waller, rising from his seat, "I"ll trust to the negroes" G.o.d, to mine, and to yours, for that help which you deny them.
May you never be in the same strait and seek in vain for help. Good day, sir."
The Yankee looked at us with an expression more of surprise than anger as we left the brig"s deck.
"Stay! you are not a bad chap, I guess. Here, just take these things; you are welcome to them."
Saying this he ordered a cask of water, some beef and biscuits, and a few little luxuries, to be put into the boat. We were not in a position to decline the gift; and, to do the Yankee full justice, he would receive no remuneration. We thanked him sincerely; and a.s.sured him that we regretted deeply our opinions on the nature of negroes did not coincide; at which he shrugged his shoulders, and we pulled back to the schooner.
We again made sail for the westward.