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+The Project Gutenberg EBook of Privateers and Privateering, by E. P. Statham
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+Title: Privateers and Privateering
+
+Author: E. P. Statham
+
+Release Date: June 20, 2011 [EBook #36475]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ASCII
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK PRIVATEERS AND PRIVATEERING ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Steven Gibbs, Graeme Mackreth and the Online
+Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+PRIVATEERS AND PRIVATEERING
+
+[Illustration: THE "INVENTION," FRENCH PRIVATEER]
+
+
+  PRIVATEERS
+  AND PRIVATEERING
+
+  By
+  COMMANDER E.P. STATHAM, R.N.
+
+  AUTHOR OF "THE STORY OF THE 'BRITANNIA,'" AND JOINT
+  AUTHOR OF "THE HOUSE OF HOWARD"
+
+  WITH EIGHT ILLUSTRATIONS
+
+  London: HUTCHINSON & CO.
+  Paternoster Row 1910
+
+
+
+
+PREFACE
+
+
+A few words of explanation are necessary as to the pretension and scope
+of this volume. It does not pretend to be a history of privateering; the
+subject is an immense one, teeming with technicalities, legal and
+nautical; interesting, indeed, to the student of history, and never
+comprehensively treated hitherto, as far as the present author is aware,
+in any single work.
+
+The present object is not, however, to provide a work of reference, but
+rather a collection of true stories of privateering incidents, and
+heroes of what the French term "la course"; and as such it is hoped that
+it will find favour with a large number of readers.
+
+While the author has thus aimed at the simple and graphic narration of
+such adventures, every effort has been made to ensure that the stories
+shall be truly told, without embroidery, and from authentic sources; and
+it has been found necessary, in some instances, to point out
+inaccuracies in accounts already published; necessary, in view of the
+fact that these accounts are accessible to any one, and probably
+familiar to not a few possible readers of this volume, and it appears
+to be only fair and just that any animadversions upon these
+discrepancies should be here anticipated and dealt with.
+
+It has not been considered necessary, save in rare instances, to give
+references for statements or narratives; the book is designed to amuse
+and entertain, and copious references in footnotes are not entertaining.
+
+It will be noticed that the vast majority of the lives of privateers and
+incidents are taken from the eighteenth century; for the simple reason
+that full and interesting accounts during this period are available,
+while earlier ones are brief and bald, and often of very doubtful
+accuracy.
+
+Some excuse must be craved for incongruities in chronological order,
+which are unavoidable under the circumstances. They do not affect the
+stories.
+
+There remains to enumerate the titles and authors of modern works to
+which the writer is indebted, and of which a list will be found on the
+adjoining page.
+
+
+
+
+LIST OF MODERN AUTHORITIES
+
+
+  "History of the American Privateers and Letters of Marque
+  in the War of 1812," etc. By George Coggleshall. 1856.
+
+  "Mann and Manners at the Court of Florence." By Dr.
+    Doran. 1876.
+
+  "The Naval War of 1812." By T. Roosevelt. 1882.
+
+  "Studies in Naval History." By Sir John K. Laughton. 1887.
+
+  "The Corsairs of France." By C.B. Norman. 1887.
+
+  "Life Aboard a British Privateer in the Reign of Queen Ann."
+  By R.C. Leslie. 1889.
+
+  "Robert Surcouf, un Corsaire Malouin." Par Robert Surcouf,
+  ancien Sous-prefet. 1889.
+
+  "The British Fleet." By Commander C.N. Robinson, R.N.
+  1894.
+
+  "The Royal Navy." By Sir W. Laird Clowes, etc. 1894.
+
+  "Old Naval Ballads," etc. The Navy Records Society. 1894.
+
+  "A History of the Administration of the Royal Navy," etc.
+  By M. Oppenheim. 1896.
+
+  "History of the Liverpool Privateers," etc. By G. Williams.
+  1897.
+
+  "Naval Yarns, Letters, and Anecdotes," etc. By W.H.
+  Long. 1899.
+
+  "A History of American Privateers." By E.S. Maclay. 1900.
+
+  "Sea Songs and Ballads." By C. Stone. 1906.
+
+  "Les Corsaires." Par Henri Malo. 1908.
+
+
+
+
+CONTENTS
+
+
+  CHAPTER I
+
+                                                             PAGE
+
+  INTRODUCTORY                                                 1
+
+
+  TWO EARLY INCIDENTS
+
+
+  CHAPTER II
+
+  ANDREW BARTON                                               19
+
+  THE "AMITY" AND THE SPANIARDS                               28
+
+
+  PRIVATEERING IN THE SOUTH SEAS
+
+
+  CHAPTER III
+
+  WILLIAM DAMPIER                                             35
+
+
+  CHAPTER IV
+
+  WOODES ROGERS                                               41
+
+
+  CHAPTER V
+
+  WOODES ROGERS--_continued_                                  60
+
+
+  CHAPTER VI
+
+  GEORGE SHELVOCKE AND JOHN CLIPPERTON                        75
+
+
+  SOME ODD YARNS
+
+
+  CHAPTER VII
+
+  CAPTAIN PHILLIPS, OF THE "ALEXANDER"                        95
+
+  THE CASE OF THE "ANTIGALLICAN"                              96
+
+
+  CHAPTER VIII
+
+  CAPTAIN DEATH, OF THE "TERRIBLE"                           106
+
+  MR. PETER BAKER AND THE "MENTOR"                           111
+
+  CAPTAIN EDWARD MOOR, OF THE "FAME"                         115
+
+  CAPTAIN JAMES BORROWDALE, OF THE "ELLEN"                   117
+
+
+  TWO GREAT ENGLISHMEN
+
+
+  CHAPTER IX
+
+  FORTUNATUS WRIGHT                                          123
+
+
+  CHAPTER X
+
+  FORTUNATUS WRIGHT--_continued_                             135
+
+
+  CHAPTER XI
+
+  GEORGE WALKER                                              149
+
+
+  CHAPTER XII
+
+  GEORGE WALKER--_continued_                                 171
+
+
+  SOME FRENCHMEN
+
+
+  CHAPTER XIII
+
+  JEAN BART                                                  191
+
+
+  CHAPTER XIV
+
+  DU GUAY TROUIN                                             208
+
+
+  CHAPTER XV
+
+  JACQUES CASSARD                                            229
+
+
+  CHAPTER XVI
+
+  ROBERT SURCOUF                                             240
+
+  CONCERNING THE FRONTISPIECE                                263
+
+
+  SOME AMERICANS
+
+
+  CHAPTER XVII
+
+  CAPTAIN SILAS TALBOT                                       269
+
+
+  CHAPTER XVIII
+
+  CAPTAIN JOSHUA BARNEY                                      282
+
+
+  CHAPTER XIX
+
+  CAPTAINS BARNEY AND HARADEN                                299
+
+
+  CHAPTER XX
+
+  CAPTAIN THOMAS BOYLE                                       307
+
+
+  CHAPTER XXI
+
+  THE "GENERAL ARMSTRONG"                                    317
+
+
+  SOME MORE ODD YARNS
+
+
+  CHAPTER XXII
+
+  THE "PRINCESS ROYAL" PACKET                                329
+
+  TWO COLONIAL PRIVATEERS                                    333
+
+
+  CHAPTER XXIII
+
+  THE AFFAIR OF THE "BONAPARTE"                              341
+
+
+  CHAPTER XXIV
+
+  THE "WINDSOR CASTLE" PACKET                                354
+
+  THE "CATHERINE"                                            357
+
+  THE "FORTUNE"                                              360
+
+  THE "THREE SISTERS"                                        362
+
+
+  CONCLUSION                                                 364
+
+
+  INDEX                                                      367
+
+
+
+
+LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
+
+
+  THE "INVENTION," FRENCH PRIVATEER      _Frontispiece_
+
+  From a drawing by Commander E.P. Statham, R.N.
+
+                                                      FACING PAGE
+
+  WILLIAM DAMPIER, THE FAMOUS CIRCUMNAVIGATOR                 36
+
+  From a photograph by Emery Walker after the painting by
+  Thomas Murray in the National Portrait Gallery.
+
+  CAPTURE OF THE FRENCH EAST INDIAMEN "CARNATIC" BY
+  THE "MENTOR" PRIVATEER                                     114
+
+  By permission of the Library Committee of the
+  Corporation of Liverpool.
+
+  CAPTURE OF THE FRENCH ARMED SHIPS "MARQUIS D'ANTIN"
+  AND "LOUIS ERASME" BY THE "DUKE" AND "PRINCE
+  FREDERICK" PRIVATEERS                                      150
+
+  From an engraving by Ravenet after a painting by Brooking.
+
+  ACTION BETWEEN THE SPANISH 74-GUN SHIP "GLORIOSO"
+  AND THE "KING GEORGE" AND "PRINCE FREDERICK" OF
+  THE "ROYAL FAMILY" PRIVATEERS                              182
+
+  From an engraving by Ravenet after a painting by Brooking.
+
+  JEAN BART, A FAMOUS FRENCH PRIVATEER CAPTAIN               202
+
+  From an engraving by J. Chapman.
+
+  RENE DUGUAY-TROUIN, A FAMOUS FRENCH PRIVATEER CAPTAIN      226
+
+  CAPTURE OF THE FRENCH PRIVATEER "JEUNE RICHARD" BY
+  THE "WINDSOR CASTLE" PACKET                                356
+
+  From an engraving by William Ward after the painting by
+  S. Drummond, A.R.A.
+
+
+
+
+INTRODUCTORY
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER I
+
+INTRODUCTORY
+
+
+The privateersman, scouring the seas in his swift, rakish craft,
+plundering the merchant vessels of the enemy, and occasionally engaging
+in a desperate encounter with an opponent of his own class, or even with
+a well-equipped man-of-war, has always presented a romantic and
+fascinating personality. Many thrilling tales, half truth, half fiction,
+have been written about him; and if he has not infrequently been
+confounded with his first cousin the pirate, it must be admitted that
+for such confusion there is considerable justification. The privateer is
+a licensed, the pirate an unlicensed, plunderer; but plunder, not
+patriotism, being, as a rule, the motive of the former, it is not
+perhaps surprising that, failing legitimate prey, he has sometimes
+adopted, to a great extent, the tactics of the latter.
+
+Before proceeding to give an account of some of these licensed rovers
+and their adventures, let us consider for a moment or two the origin and
+development of privateering; this will assist us in forming an
+appreciation of the advantages and drawbacks of the system, and also of
+the difficulties which presented themselves to an honest and
+conscientious privateer captain--for such there have been, as we shall
+see, though there are not too many who merit such terms.
+
+It is not very easy to say when privateering was first inaugurated,
+though it is pretty certain that the term "privateer" did not come into
+use until well on in the seventeenth century; licensed rovers, or
+private men-of-war, were known previous to this period by some other
+title, such as "Capers"--from a Dutch word, "Kaper"--or "letters of
+marque," the latter a very incorrect term, adopted through a loose
+manner of speech, for a "letter of marque" is, strictly speaking, a very
+different affair from a privateer; indeed, the application of such a
+term to a ship is obviously absurd: to convert a piece of paper or
+parchment with writing on it into a seaworthy vessel would be a
+considerably more marvellous piece of conjuring than turning a pumpkin
+into a carriage, as the good fairy did for the accommodation of
+Cinderella.
+
+There is no doubt that the employment of private vessels for the
+purposes of war, and the granting of letters of marque, went on side by
+side for a great number of years. From the earliest times, before the
+Norman Conquest, there were hordes of sea-rovers who, entirely on their
+own account, and solely for the purpose of plunder, infested the seas,
+robbing without scruple or distinction every defenceless vessel they
+encountered, and in many instances wantonly slaughtering the crews; they
+would also, on occasion, make a descent upon the coast either of their
+own or some adjacent country--they were quite impartial in this
+respect--and sack the farms and dwellings within easy reach, retiring to
+their vessels before any force could be assembled to deal with them. The
+Danes, as we know, were particularly handy at this kind of thing, and
+gave us no little trouble.
+
+Nobody appears to have made any great effort to put down this piracy;
+but sometimes it was convenient to enlist the services of some of these
+hardy and adventurous ruffians against the enemies of the sovereign. In
+the year 1049, for instance, that excellent monarch, Edward the
+Confessor, finding the Danes very troublesome on the south coast, sent a
+force, under Godwin, to deal with them; and we are told that it was
+composed of "two king's ships, and forty-two of the people's ships";
+these latter being, no doubt, a collection of--let us hope--the less
+villainous of these sea-rovers, hardy and skilful seamen, and desperate
+fighters when it came to the point.
+
+Nearly two hundred years later, in 1243, King Henry III. issued regular
+patents, or commissions, to certain persons, seamen by profession, "to
+annoy the king's enemies by sea or land wheresoever they are able," and
+enjoined all his faithful subjects to refrain from injuring or hindering
+them in this business; the condition being that half the plunder was to
+be given to the king, "in his wardrobe"--that is, his private purse--and
+it is quite probable that both the king and the recipients of his
+commission made a nice little profit out of it.
+
+This is a genuine instance of what was known later as privateering; and
+it will be noticed that the "king's enemies" are specified as the only
+persons against whom the commission holds good; in other words, such a
+commission can have no significance, nor indeed can it be issued, in
+time of peace or against any friendly Power. This is an essential
+characteristic of privateering: it can only be carried on when a state
+of war exists, and the fitting out of a privateer to attack the subjects
+of any sovereign would in itself be an act of war.
+
+Now let us see what is meant by a letter of marque; there is a good
+instance on record at the end of the thirteenth century, in the reign of
+Edward I.
+
+One Bernard D'Ongressill, a merchant of Bayonne--at that time a portion
+of the realm of the King of England--in the year 1295, was making a
+peaceful, and, as he hoped, a profitable voyage from Barbary to England,
+in his ship the _St. Mary_, with a cargo of almonds, raisins, and figs;
+unfortunately he encountered heavy weather, and was compelled to run
+into Lagos--a small sea-port at the south-west corner of Portugal which
+affords secure shelter from westerly gales--and, while he was waiting
+for the weather to moderate, there came from Lisbon some armed men, who
+robbed D'Ongressill of the ship, cargo, and the private property of
+himself and his crew, and took the whole of their spoil to Lisbon. The
+King of Portugal very unscrupulously appropriated one-tenth of the
+plunder, the remainder being divided among the robbers.
+
+The unhappy victim at once applied for redress to the king's
+representative, Sir John of Brittany, Lieutenant of Gascony,
+representing that he had lost some L700, and requesting that he might be
+granted letters of marque against the Portuguese, to take whatever he
+could from them, until he had made up his loss. This was conceded, and
+authority bestowed to "seize by right of marque,[1] retain, and
+appropriate the people of Portugal, and especially those of Lisbon and
+their goods, wheresoever they might be found," for five years, or until
+he had obtained restitution. This was dated in June: but the king's
+ratification was necessary, and this caused some delay, as Edward was at
+that time shut up in a Welsh castle; however, he was able in October to
+confirm the licence; but he added the proviso that if D'Ongressill took
+more than L700 worth from the Portuguese, he would be held answerable
+for the balance.
+
+This is an excellent example of the form and import of a letter of
+marque; and it will be noticed that England was not at war with
+Portugal, nor did the issue of this letter of marque constitute an act
+of war; it was, in fact, a licence to a private individual to recover by
+force from the subjects of another sovereign the goods of which he had
+been despoiled; the practice dates back, certainly, to the early part of
+the twelfth century, and probably further; and it was in use in England
+until the time of Charles II., or later. The one condition, not
+mentioned in the case of D'Ongressill, was that letters of marque should
+not be granted until every effort had been made to obtain a peaceful
+settlement; representations may, however, have been made to the King of
+Portugal; but if, as stated by D'Ongressill, he had pocketed a tithe of
+the spoil, one can imagine that there might be some difficulty in the
+matter; the possession of one-tenth would naturally appear, in the eyes
+of his Majesty of Portugal, to constitute nine points of the law!
+
+The application of the term letter of marque to vessels which were in
+reality privateers has caused a good deal of confusion; some naval
+historians of great repute have fallen into error over it, one of them,
+for instance, alluding to the commissions granted by Henry III., in
+1243, as the "first recorded instance of the issue of letters of
+marque"; rather an inexcusable mistake, from which the present reader is
+happily exempt.
+
+While guarding, in this explanation, against such confusion of terms, we
+must, notwithstanding, accept the ultimate adoption of it; and so we
+shall find included among our privateers and their commanders some who
+were quite improperly described as letters of marque, and one, at least,
+who may correctly be thus designated, but who, as an interesting example
+of a sort of privateering at an early period, appears to deserve
+mention.
+
+The bearer of a letter of marque--or "mart," as it was constantly termed
+by writers and others of that class of persons who never will take the
+trouble to pronounce an unusual word properly--came to be adopted as the
+type of a sort of swashbuckler--a reckless, bullying individual, armed
+with doubtful credentials in the pursuit of some more or less
+discreditable object: allusion of this nature is made more than once by
+Beaumont and Fletcher in their plays, as well as by other writers.
+
+The immense value of a fleet of privateers, more especially to a country
+opposed to another possessing a large mercantile marine, is obvious, and
+their use developed very rapidly.
+
+By the middle of the sixteenth century the fitting out of vessels by
+corporations and individuals, for their own protection and the "annoying
+of the king's enemies" with the further advantage of substantial gains
+by plunder, was clearly recognised, for we find King Henry VIII., in the
+year 1544, remonstrating with the Mayor and burgesses of Newcastle,
+Scarborough, and Hull for their remissness in this respect. He points
+out what has been done elsewhere, especially in the west parts, "where
+there are twelve or sixteen ships of war abroad, who have gotten among
+them not so little as L10,000"; and adds: "It were over-burdensome that
+the king should set ships to defend all parts of the realm, and keep the
+narrow seas withal."
+
+In the American and French wars of the eighteenth and early part of the
+nineteenth centuries there were literally thousands of privateers
+engaged. It would appear as though almost every skipper and shipowner
+incontinently applied, upon declaration of war, for a commission, or
+warrant, or letter of marque--no matter what it was called; the main
+thing was to get afloat, and have a share in what was going.
+
+Valuable as have been the services of privateers, at various periods, as
+auxiliaries to the Navy, there is an obvious danger in letting loose
+upon the seas a vast number of men who have never had any disciplinary
+training, and whose principal motive is the acquisition of wealth--is,
+in fact, officially recognised as such; and although there existed
+pretty stringent regulations, amended at various times as occasion
+demanded, covering the mode of procedure to be adopted before the
+prize-money could be paid, these laws were constantly evaded in the most
+flagrant manner. Even the most honourable and well-disposed privateer
+captain was liable at any moment to find himself confronted by the
+alternatives of yielding to the demands of his rapacious crew for
+immediate and unlawful division of the spoil, or yet more lawless
+capture of an ineligible vessel, and personal violence, perhaps death,
+to himself; and the ease with which an unarmed vessel, overhauled within
+the silent circle of the horizon, unbroken by the sails of a solitary
+witness, could be compelled, whatever her nationality, upon some flimsy
+excuse to pay toll, frequently proved too strong a temptation to be
+resisted.
+
+There is abundant evidence of the notoriety of such unlawful doings; Sir
+Leoline Jenkins, Judge of the High Court of Admiralty in the reign of
+Charles II., says, in a letter to Secretary Williamson: "I see that your
+embarrass hath been much greater about our Scotch privateers. The truth
+is, I am much scandalised at them in a time of war; they are, in my poor
+judgment, great instruments to irritate the king's friends, to undo his
+subjects, and none at all to profit upon the enemy; but it will not be
+remedied. The privateers in our wars are like the _mathematici_ in old
+Rome: a sort of people that will always be found fault with, but still
+made use of."
+
+Von Martens, a great authority upon maritime law, is equally
+plain-spoken: "Pirates have always been considered the enemies of
+mankind, and proscribed and punished accordingly. On the contrary,
+privateers are encouraged to this day (1801), notwithstanding all the
+complaints of neutral Powers, of which they are the scourge; and
+notwithstanding all their excesses, which it has been in vain attempted
+to suppress by ill-observed laws."
+
+Admiral Vernon, in 1745, while acknowledging the services of privateers
+in distressing the enemy's trade and bringing an addition of wealth into
+the country, deprecates their employment on the ground of the general
+tendency to debauch the morals of our seamen, by substituting greed of
+gain for patriotism[2]; and Lord Nelson, in 1804, says: "The conduct of
+all privateers is, as far as I have seen, so near piracy that I only
+wonder any civilised nation can allow them."
+
+This is a sorry story of the privateer, and tends to discount sadly the
+romantic element so commonly associated with him. This is not a romance,
+however, and, having thus cleared the ground, we must be content to take
+the privateer, like Kipling's "Absent-minded Beggar," as we find him;
+and, by way of consolation and reward for our ingenuousness, we shall
+come across privateersmen whose skill, gallantry, and absolute integrity
+of conduct would do credit to many a hero of the Royal Navy.
+
+The almost universal practice which prevailed in former times, of arming
+merchant vessels, particularly in certain trades, as a protection
+against pirates and privateers, has led to a considerable amount of
+misunderstanding. There are many instances upon record of spirited and
+successful defence, even against a very superior force, on the part of
+these armed traders, which have frequently been cited as privateer
+actions. These vessels, however, carried no warlike commission, and must
+not therefore be included in this category. Captain Hugh Crow, of
+Liverpool, who was engaged for many years in the West African slave
+trade, is a case in point. He fought some severe actions, upon one
+occasion with two British sloops-of-war, which he mistook in the dark
+for French privateers; the error being reciprocal, they pounded away at
+each other in the darkness, and it was not until Crow, after a desperate
+and most creditable resistance, was compelled at length to surrender,
+that victors and vanquished discovered their error: a very remarkable
+incident. Captain Crow was a shining light, in those unhappy slaving
+times, by reason of his humanity and integrity, and was beloved by the
+negroes from Bonny to Jamaica, where he landed so many cargoes.
+
+Some celebrities of the sea have also been erroneously styled
+privateers; among others, the notorious Paul Jones, and Captain Semmes,
+of _Alabama_ fame. Jones was a renegade, being a Scotsman by birth, and
+his proper name John Paul; but he fought under a regular commission from
+the United States, and was subsequently accorded the rank of
+Rear-Admiral in the Russian service. It must be admitted, however, that
+his conduct afforded some grounds for the appellation of "Paul Jones the
+Pirate," by which he was sometimes known; but he was a consummate
+seaman, and a man of infinite courage and resource.
+
+Semmes was also employed as a commissioned naval officer by the
+Confederate States, in the Civil War of 1860; and though he was classed
+at first as a "rebel" by the Northerners, and threatened with a pirate's
+fate if captured, the recognition of the Confederates as a belligerent
+State by foreign Powers had already rendered such views untenable.
+
+It appears desirable to allude to these instances, in order to
+anticipate a possible question as to the exclusion of such famous seamen
+from these pages.
+
+There is also considerable confusion among authors as to the distinction
+between a pirate and a privateer, some of them being apparently under
+the impression that the terms are synonymous, while others, through
+imperfect knowledge of the details and ignorance of international law,
+have classed as pirates men who did not merit that opprobrious title,
+and, on the other hand, have placed the "buccaneers"--who were sheer
+pirates--in the same category as legitimate privateers.
+
+For instance, Captain Woodes Rogers, of whom we shall have a good deal
+to say later on, is alluded to by one writer as "little more than a
+pious pirate," and by another simply as a pirate, bent upon "undisguised
+robbery"; whereas he was, in fact, more than once in serious conflict
+with his crew, upon the occasion of their demanding the capture and
+plunder of a ship which he was not entitled to seize--and, moreover, he
+had his own way.
+
+There have been, no doubt, and with equal certainty there will be,
+incidents in warfare which afford very unpleasant reading, and in which
+the aggressors appear to have been unduly harsh and exacting, not to say
+cruel, towards defenceless or vanquished people; but that does not prove
+that they were not within their rights, and to impugn the conduct of an
+individual from a hastily and perhaps ignorantly adopted moral
+standpoint, at the expense of the legal aspect of the matter, must
+obviously involve the risk of gross injustice. War is a very terrible
+thing, and is full of terrible incidents which are quite inevitable, and
+the rough must be taken with the smooth--if you can find any smooth!
+
+It is an axiom of international law that, when two nations are at war,
+every subject of each is at war with every subject of the other; and, in
+view of this fact, it appears extremely doubtful whether any merchant
+vessel is not at liberty to capture one of the other side, if she be
+strong enough. It is, in fact, laid down by Sir Travers Twiss, a high
+authority, that if a merchant vessel, attacked by one of the enemy's
+men-of-war, should be strong enough to turn the tables, she would be
+entitled to make a prize of her: an unlikely incident, of course.
+
+It is unnecessary, however, to enter upon further discussion of this
+subject, which would involve us in very knotty problems, upon some of
+which the most accomplished authorities are still at variance, and which
+would afford very indifferent entertainment for the reader, who will now
+turn over the page and follow the fortunes of our privateers--which will
+be found by no means devoid of interest, in spite of strict adherence to
+the plain unvarnished truth.
+
+[Footnote 1: Sir Harris Nicolas, in his "History of the Royal Navy,"
+interprets the Latin word _marcare_ (or _marchare_) "to mark," and, in
+referring to this incident, says that Bernard was accorded the right of
+"_marking_ the men and subjects of the King of Portugal," etc. It is
+curious that so diligent and accomplished a chronicler should have
+fallen into this error. The verb _marcare_, as he would have discovered
+by reference to the "Glossarium" of Du Cange, the learned French
+archaeologist, was in fact a bit of "law Latin," coined for a purpose;
+that is, to express in one word the rights conceded by a letter of
+marque; it will not be found in any ordinary Latin dictionary. The grant
+of a licence to "mark" the subjects of some monarch, and their goods,
+is, indeed somewhat of an absurdity--clearly, the "marker" would first
+have to catch the men and their possessions!]
+
+[Footnote 2: In an original letter formerly in the possession of the
+late Sir William Laird Clowes, quoted by him in "The Royal Navy."]
+
+
+
+
+TWO EARLY INCIDENTS
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER II
+
+ANDREW BARTON
+
+
+There was living at the commencement of the sixteenth century a
+Scotsman, named Andrew Barton, who acquired considerable notoriety by
+reason of his exploits at sea; and indeed, he was instrumental in
+bringing to a definite issue the condition of high tension existing
+between England and Scotland at that time, which culminated in the
+battle of Flodden Field.
+
+It appears, from certain State Papers, that one John Barton, the father
+of Andrew, somewhere about the year 1476, in the reign of James III. of
+Scotland, got into trouble with the Portuguese, who captured his vessel
+and goods and otherwise ill-treated him; upon representation of which
+injuries he obtained letters of marque against the Portuguese, in the
+usual terms.
+
+Apparently, however, John did not succeed in obtaining substantial
+restitution by this means, for we learn, in a letter from James IV. to
+Maximilian, Emperor of Germany, dated December 8th, 1508, that the
+letters of marque had been repeatedly suspended, in the hope of
+obtaining redress; but had been renewed during the previous year, in
+favour of the late John Barton's three sons, one of whom--Robert--was
+the occasion of the writing of this letter; the Portuguese having taken
+him prisoner, and proposing to hang him as a pirate, which, says King
+James, he is not, having authority to act against the Portuguese, by
+virtue of my letters of marque.
+
+All this argues a considerable amount of favour towards the Bartons on
+the Scottish monarch's part; for it must be admitted that the renewal of
+letters of marque, after they had run intermittently for thirty years in
+respect of one incident, was a straining of the elasticity of
+conventions.
+
+The Bartons had, in fact, been high in favour both with James III. and
+his successor, and were constantly employed by them in maritime affairs,
+being frequently entrusted, as we learn from the accounts of the Lord
+Treasurer of Scotland, with the handling of large sums of money.
+
+They were formidable fellows, these Bartons; hardy and daring, skilled
+in all the strategy of the sea, and, when occasion arose, perfect
+gluttons at fighting. Andrew appears to have been the most formidable,
+and added to his other attributes that of being a born leader of men.
+
+We are told by Bishop John Leslie, in his "History of Scotland," that in
+the year 1506 King James caused a great ship to be built, in the design
+and rigging of which Andrew Barton played a prominent part, and was
+afterwards placed in command of her to harry the Flemish pirates then
+infesting the narrow seas: a task which he set about with characteristic
+energy and ferocity, with the result that he captured some and
+completely scattered and demoralised the remainder. By way of
+demonstrating his success in graphic and convincing fashion, he
+presently despatched to his august master sundry pipes, or casks,
+containing Flemish heads! He little guessed, however, that his own head
+was destined--according to some authorities--to make, before many years
+had elapsed, a similar journey, unaccompanied by his body.
+
+Having disposed of the Flemish pirates, Andrew Barton resumed his
+operations, under letters of marque, against the Portuguese, and
+captured, during following years, a good many vessels under that flag;
+nor were his brothers idle. One cannot help wondering whether the Barton
+family had not by this time exacted more than adequate restitution of
+their losses of five-and-thirty years previously; and, as we know, it
+was of the essence of such authorised reprisals that they should cease
+when this end was attained. Very probably some contemporary persons,
+more or less interested in their doings, began asking this same
+question; at any rate, there prevailed in the year 1511 a very strong
+feeling in England against Andrew Barton; he was constantly alluded to
+as the "Scottish pirate," and accused of many outrages against vessels
+other than Portuguese; and, as there existed just then very strained
+relations with Scotland, these stories met with ready credence. The
+general dislike of Andrew Barton and his doings was embodied in a
+representation by Portuguese ambassadors to King Henry VIII., who does
+not appear to have complained to the Scots King, or taken any steps in
+the matter.
+
+The public feeling was voiced, however, by Thomas Howard, Earl of
+Surrey--afterwards victor of Flodden, and second Duke of Norfolk--who
+exclaimed that "The King of England should not be imprisoned in his
+kingdom, while either he had an estate to set up a ship, or a son to
+command it."
+
+This somewhat theatrical attitude is indicative of the exaggerated
+stories in circulation as to Andrew Barton's terrorism of the narrow
+seas; the immediate sequel, however, was the fitting out of two vessels,
+commanded respectively by Surrey's sons, Lord Thomas and Lord Edward
+Howard, with the express object of capturing Barton. It is said by some
+writers that the Howards provided these ships at their own cost, and, in
+view of Surrey's enthusiastic outbreak, it appears not improbable that
+this was the case. However this may be, the two brothers put forth from
+the Thames one day in June 1511 in quest of Andrew, who was then
+returning from Flanders, by way of the Downs, in his ship, the _Lion_,
+accompanied by a smaller vessel, or pinnace, the _Jenny Pirwin_.
+
+The Howards had to wait for more than a month, however, and then, being
+separated by bad weather, Lord Thomas sighted the _Lion_, which had also
+parted from her consort.
+
+Barton appears to have endeavoured, in the first instance, to escape;
+according to Leslie, he made friendly advances to Howard, insisting that
+the English and Scotch were not at war; this would have been a sound
+and logical attitude for Barton to assume, and it may be that he acted
+so; but in the end Howard chased him, and, finding himself outsailed,
+the Scot faced the foe with his usual boldness, and a desperate
+encounter ensued.
+
+Howard's force was probably superior to that of his antagonist, but
+Andrew Barton and his ship's company were not to be intimidated by odds
+against them, when once they entered upon an engagement, and Lord Thomas
+soon realised that the task he had undertaken was no child's play.
+
+Reeling alongside each other, at the closest quarters, the two vessels
+exchanged shots from their cannon as rapidly as they could be loaded and
+fired, while the crossbowmen and arquebusiers discharged a perfect hail
+of arrows, "quarrells," and bolts; Howard placed his ship again and
+again alongside, in the attempt to board, only to be beaten off by the
+valiant Scots, the decks of both vessels plentifully strewn with the
+wounded and dying.
+
+At length Howard, as courageous and persistent a fighter as Barton,
+gained a footing on the _Lion's_ deck, with a few of his men; others
+speedily followed, and a hand-to-hand fight ensued.
+
+Barton was by this time mortally wounded; his leg was shattered by a
+cannon-shot, and his body pierced in several places; but he sat up
+against the bulwarks, blowing his whistle and beating a drum to rally
+his men, as long as the breath remained in him; and it was not until
+they saw the fighting flame quenched in the eye of their intrepid and
+yet unconquered leader, and his chin drop upon his breast, that the
+sturdy Scots were fain at length to yield to Howard and his men.
+
+Lord Edward Howard, meanwhile, had captured the _Jenny Pirwin_, not
+without some stubborn opposition, in spite of the odds in his favour,
+the smaller vessel having suffered heavily in killed and wounded before
+capitulating.
+
+Both vessels were immediately added to the English Navy, the nucleus of
+which was then in process of formation; the prisoners were conveyed to
+London, and confined in the palace of the Bishop of York, awaiting the
+king's pleasure.
+
+As might be expected, the Scottish historians, Leslie and Buchanan, give
+a somewhat different account from that of Edward Hall, in whose
+chronicle the most nearly contemporary narrative is to be found.
+Leslie's allegation as to the friendly overtures of Barton finds no
+corroboration in Hall's Chronicle; and indeed, it is difficult to
+believe that Andrew Barton did not thoroughly comprehend the situation
+from the first.
+
+King Henry VIII. appears to have been willing to give the prisoners
+every chance, for he sent some members of his Council, with the Bishop
+of Winchester, to parley with them. The bishop, according to Hall,
+"rehearsed to them, whereas peace was yet between England and Scotland,
+that they, contrary to that, as thieves and pirates, had robbed the
+king's subjects within his streams, therefore they had deserved to die
+by the law, and to be hanged at the low-water mark. Then said the
+Scots, we knowledge our offence, and ask mercy, and not the law. Then a
+priest which was also a prisoner, said, My lords, we appeal from the
+king's justice to his mercy. Then the bishop asked him, if he was
+authorised by them to say so, and they cried all, Yea, yea; then said
+he, You shall find the king's mercy above his justice; for where you
+were dead by law, yet by his mercy he will revive you; wherefore you
+shall depart out of this realm within twenty days, upon pain of death,
+if you be found after the twenty days; and pray for the king; and so
+they passed into their country."
+
+Thus far Edward Hall; Buchanan says: "They who were not killed in the
+fight were thrown into prison at London; from whence they were brought
+to the king, and, humbly begging their lives of him, as they were
+instructed to do by the English, he, in a proud ostentation of his great
+clemency, dismissed, and sent the poor innocent souls away."
+
+When James remonstrated, demanding redress for the death of Andrew
+Barton and his comrades, and the capture of their ships, Henry replied
+that the doing of justice upon a pirate was no occasion for a breach of
+friendly relations between two princes. "This answer," says Buchanan,
+"showed the spite of one that was willing to excuse a plain murder, and
+seemed as if he had sought an occasion of war."
+
+This incident was celebrated in verse, not immediately afterwards, but
+in the reign of Elizabeth.
+
+The "Ballad of Sir Andrew Barton" gives a most circumstantial account of
+the fight, introducing many details which are probably fictitious, and
+confusing the identity of the Howards who took part in it. According to
+the writer, Lord _Charles_ Howard was the hero of the occasion; but
+there does not happen to have been any such person to the fore at that
+time, the conqueror of the Spanish Armada--Charles Howard, Lord
+Effingham, afterwards created Earl of Nottingham--not having been born
+until five-and-twenty years later.
+
+Probably the ballad was written after 1588--the Armada year--by way of
+glorifying the Howards, who were very high in royal and popular favour
+at that time; such anachronisms were very common in popular ballads of
+this and later times.
+
+The writer represents that Barton's smaller vessel was sunk; and he it
+is who tells us about that alleged journey of Andrew's head:
+
+  My Lord Howard tooke a sword in his hand,
+    And smote of Sir Andrew's head;
+  The Scotts stood by did weepe and mourne,
+    But never a word durst speake or say.
+
+  He caused his body to be taken downe,
+    And over the hatch-bord cast into the sea,
+  And about his middle three hundred crownes:
+    "Whersoever thou lands, itt will bury thee."
+
+  With his head they sayled into England againe,
+    With right good will, and fforce and main,
+  And the day before new Yeereseven
+    Into Thames mouth they came againe.
+
+  Then King Henerye shiffted his roome;
+    In came the Queene and ladyes bright;
+  Other arrand they had none
+    But to see Sir Andrew Bartton, Knight.
+
+  But when they see his deadly face,
+    His eyes were hollow in his head;
+  "I wold give a hundred pound," sais King Henerye,
+    "The man were alive as hee is dead."
+
+A gruesome sight, indeed, for the Queen--the courageous but gentle
+Katharine of Aragon--and her ladies!
+
+There is a disposition in some quarters to regard the whole incident as
+fictitious, but this does not appear to be at all justifiable. Edward
+Hall, the Chronicler, was a lad of thirteen or fourteen at the time, and
+so may be regarded as, practically, a contemporary writer; while Bishop
+Leslie (1527-96) and George Buchanan (1506-82) must certainly have known
+many persons who remembered the fight. Moreover, it appears to be
+certain that the _Lion_ and _Jenny Pirwin_ were at that time added to
+the infant Navy, while the official correspondence of the King of
+Scotland tells of the grant and renewal of the letters of marque.
+
+Barton was not entitled to the "handle" which the Elizabethan rhymester
+prefixes to his name: he was not a knight, though he might very possibly
+have become one, had he lived.
+
+Whether or not he was, strictly speaking, a pirate is very doubtful; he
+was probably no worse in this respect than many, both in prior and
+later times, who have escaped the odium and the consequences of piracy.
+He was certainly empowered by his sovereign to overhaul and plunder
+Portuguese ships and appropriate the goods of Portuguese subjects; and
+if he permitted himself some latitude in the matter of Portuguese
+cargoes carried in English or other bottoms--well, there are some naval
+commanders of the twentieth century who would scarcely find themselves
+in a position to cast the first stone at him; there were some curious
+doings in the Russo-Japanese War, some of which still await the final
+decision of the courts.
+
+Andrew Barton, as has already been hinted, was not, strictly speaking, a
+privateer; but he occupies an exceptional position, by reason of his
+intimate association with the two Scottish kings, which places him
+somewhat outside of the sphere of the ordinary letter of marque; while
+as an intrepid sea-fighter, in command of a private ship, he is second
+to none.
+
+
+THE "AMITY" AND THE SPANIARDS
+
+In the year 1592 the privateer _Amity_, of London, commanded by Thomas
+Whyte, captured two armed Spanish vessels, the _St. Francisco_ and _St.
+Peter_, respectively of 130 and 150 tons. The crew of the _Amity_
+numbered forty-three, but we are not told her armament. The _St.
+Francisco_ carried three iron guns, two copper pieces of twenty quintals
+each, and one of fourteen quintals--that is, two pretty nearly one ton
+in weight, and one about two-thirds of a ton; but it is not quite clear
+what weight of shot they fired. She had also twenty muskets on board,
+and carried a crew of twenty-eight men and two boys; she was licensed to
+carry twenty passengers. The force of the _St. Peter_ is not given, but
+was probably slightly in excess of that of the _St. Francisco_. They
+were bound for the West Indies, with cargoes in which were included 112
+tons of quicksilver--a pretty valuable freight--28 tons of papal
+Bulls,[3] and some wine.
+
+The description of the action, by someone on board the _Amity_, is given
+in the Lansdowne MSS., and transcribed by Mr. M. Oppenheim, in his
+"History of the Administration of the Royal Navy," as below, except that
+the spelling is here modernised, to render the account more readily
+intelligible to the reader:
+
+"The order and manner of the taking of the two ships laden with
+quicksilver and the Pope's Bulls, bound for the West Indies, by the
+_Amity_ of London, Master Thomas Whyte.
+
+"The 26th of July, 1592, being in 36 degrees, or thereabouts [somewhere
+off the Strait of Gibraltar], we had sight of the said ships, being
+distant from us about three or four leagues; by 7 of the clock we
+fetched them up and were within gunshot, whose boldness (having the
+King's arms displayed) did make us conceive them rather to be ships of
+war than laden with merchandise. And, as it doth appear by some of their
+own speeches, they made full account to have taken us, and was question
+among them whether they should carry us to St. Lucar [just north of
+Cadiz] or Lisbon. We waved each other amain [_i.e._ called upon each
+other to strike or lower the sails], they having placed themselves in
+warlike order, the one a cable's length before the other; we begun the
+fight, in the which we continued so fast as we were able to charge and
+discharge the space of five hours, being never a cable's length distant
+either of us the one from the other, in which time we received divers
+shots both in the hull of our ship, masts, and sails, to the number of
+32 great shot which we told after the fight, besides five hundred
+musket-shot and harquebus a croc [a large musket, fired from a stand] at
+the least. And for that we perceived they were stout, we thought good to
+board the Biscayan [_i.e._ the _St. Francisco_], which was ahead the
+other, where lying aboard about an hour plying our ordnance and small
+shot, with the which we stowed all his men [_i.e._ drove them from the
+deck]; now they in the fly-boat[4]--the _St. Peter_--making account that
+we had entered our men, bare room with us [_i.e._ ran down upon us],
+meaning to have laid us aboard, and so to have entrapped us between them
+both, which we perceiving, made ready ordnance and fitted us so as we
+quitted ourselves of him, and he boarded his fellow, by which means they
+both fell from us [a very neat manoeuvre]. Then presently we kept our
+luff [hauled to the wind], hoisted our topsails, and weathered them, and
+came hard aboard the fly-boat with our ordnance prepared, and gave her
+our whole broadside, with the which we slew divers of their men, so as
+we might perceive the blood to run out at the scuppers; after that we
+cast about, and now charged all our ordnance, and came upon them again,
+and willed them amain, or else we would sink them, whereupon the one
+would have yielded, which was shot between wind and water, but the other
+called him traitor; unto whom we made answer that if he would not yield
+presently also we would sink him first. And thereupon he, understanding
+our determination, presently put out a white flag and yielded; howbeit
+they refused to strike their own sails, for that they were sworn never
+to strike to any Englishman. We then commanded the captains and masters
+to come aboard of us, which they did, and after examination and stowing
+them, we sent aboard them, struck their sails and manned their ships,
+finding in them both one hundred and twenty and six souls living, and
+eight dead, besides those which they themselves had cast overboard; so
+it pleased God to give us the victory, being but 42 men and a boy, of
+the which there were two killed and three wounded, for which good
+success we give the only praise to Almighty God."
+
+The number found on board the two vessels--one hundred and thirty-four,
+including the dead--and the implication that some corpses had been
+thrown overboard, making up the total to, say, one hundred and forty,
+points to the conclusion that there must have been a large number of
+passengers. The _St. Francisco_ was only entitled to have fifty souls on
+board, all told, and her consort probably not above sixty at the
+outside; so there is a surplus of thirty or so between the two to be
+accounted for. No doubt the skippers, in the absence of any strict
+inquisition, carried more passengers than they were licensed for. The
+captains of ferry-boats and coasting steamers do so to this day, in
+spite of the very stringent regulations of the Board of Trade--and they
+do not very often get found out, except by the supervention of some dire
+catastrophe, due to overloading and panic.
+
+The futile Spanish bravado, in refusing to lower their sails to any
+Englishman, after having displayed the white flag in token of surrender,
+is decidedly amusing; one cannot help wondering whether any one of them
+really persuaded himself that he had "saved his face" by such a piece of
+tomfoolery.
+
+[Footnote 3: This traffic in "Bulls" from the Pope was, of course, a
+gross abuse of papal prerogative, which was probably engineered by some
+of his underlings for their own enriching. A packet of nearly one
+million and a half of such documents obviously could not have been
+signed by the Pope himself.]
+
+[Footnote 4: The fly-boat was a flat-bottomed Dutch vessel, with a high
+stern; probably the term is used loosely here, to distinguish between
+the two vessels; the _St. Peter_ more nearly resembling a fly-boat.]
+
+
+
+
+PRIVATEERING IN THE SOUTH SEAS
+
+[Illustration: WILLIAM DAMPIER, THE FAMOUS CIRCUMNAVIGATOR]
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER III
+
+WILLIAM DAMPIER
+
+
+The title of this section requires, perhaps, some explanation; and first
+as to the phrase "South Seas." In the sixteenth and two following
+centuries this term was applied to that portion of the Pacific Ocean
+which borders the west coast of South America, from Cape Horn to the
+Gulf of Panama. It had been first exploited by the Spaniards, and became
+a great treasure-hunting ground for them, until France and England
+stepped in to obtain a share in the spoils, and the Spanish
+treasure-ships were tracked and waylaid by English privateers and
+men-of-war; which also attacked Spanish ports and towns.
+
+To this end there were several privateering expeditions sent out, at the
+end of the seventeenth and during the eighteenth century: and it is of
+some of these that it is proposed to treat in this chapter.
+
+In this connection, it is impossible to omit the name of William
+Dampier; for he was, for a time, a privateer captain, duly supplied with
+a commission to fight against the enemies of his sovereign. He had
+served, in his youth, in the Royal Navy, but had subsequently been in
+very bad company, sailing with the famous buccaneers, who were
+practically pirates, in the South Seas. This did not prevent him,
+however, from eventually obtaining, after many vicissitudes, the command
+of a man-of-war, the _Roebuck_: he lost his ship, and was tried by
+court-martial for cruelty to Lieutenant Fisher; and this was the end of
+his connection with the Navy, for the court found the charge proved
+against him, sentenced him to forfeit his pay, and pronounced him to be
+an unfit person to command a king's ship.
+
+Dampier was not, indeed, fit for any post of command, though he was a
+very distinguished man, by reason of his skill as a navigator, and the
+immense pains he took in noting and recording the characteristics,
+natural history, winds, currents, and every imaginable detail of those
+portions of the world which he visited. The results of his observations
+were treated with the greatest deference for generations afterwards, and
+in many respects hold good to the present day. His praises have been
+sung in all the languages of Europe, and one at least of his admirers
+alludes to him as "a man of exquisite refinement of mind." The word
+"refinement" must be taken as signifying, in this instance, the faculty
+of recognising and distinguishing between cause and effect in what came
+under his notice, a kind of natural intuition with regard to matters of
+scientific interest, a love of science for its own sake; for of
+refinement, in the commonly accepted sense of the word, Dampier
+certainly displayed a grievous lack, at least in his capacity as captain
+of a ship, even in those rough days.
+
+However, after his trouble in the _Roebuck_, he was placed in command of
+a privateer, the _St. George_, of twenty-six guns, for a voyage to the
+South Seas, having for a consort a smaller vessel, the _Cinque Ports_,
+commanded by one Pickering, and they sailed from Kinsale--a favourite
+port of call and place of departure in those days--on September 11th,
+1703.
+
+The voyage was almost entirely a failure; the crews were more or less
+insubordinate from the first, neither Dampier nor Pickering knowing how
+to manage them. Pickering died when on the coast of Brazil, and
+Stradling, his mate, succeeded him.
+
+When they had got round Cape Horn, and made the island of Juan
+Fernandez, the crews mutinied openly; some of them went on shore, and
+declared their intention of deserting altogether. When this was patched
+up, there still remained an utter lack of confidence between Dampier and
+his subordinates. The two ships engaged a French cruiser, against
+Dampier's wish, and the action was futile and ill-fought, so that the
+Frenchman got away. Nothing prospered with them.
+
+Dampier was for ever making plans which held out the prospect of wealth,
+but had not the courage to follow them up. Alarmed at the sight of two
+French ships as they returned to Juan Fernandez, he sheered off, leaving
+a quantity of stores, and six men who had secreted themselves on the
+island. When at length they were in great straits for food, they
+captured a large Spanish ship laden with provisions; over this capture
+there was a final rupture between Dampier and Stradling, and they
+parted for good. They took two or three small vessels also, of no value,
+which only facilitated the defection of Dampier's followers. One of them
+Stradling had appropriated; in the other two, first John Clipperton,
+Dampier's mate, and then William Funnell, his steward, decamped, each
+with a party of men. The _St. George_ was too rotten to venture in any
+longer, and eventually, after plundering a small Spanish town, Dampier
+seized a brigantine, and sailed for the East Indies, only to be taken
+and imprisoned in a Dutch factory for some months. At last he arrived in
+England, towards the end of 1707, to find that William Funnell--who
+represented himself as Dampier's mate--had published an account of the
+cruise, in which Dampier was belittled and held up to ridicule.
+
+Dampier immediately set to work and wrote a vindication of his conduct
+during the cruise--an angry and incoherent tirade, which probably
+convinced no one, and was answered shortly afterwards by one George
+Welbe, one of his former officers, in a pamphlet which was also a wordy
+and violent assault; but the impression finally left upon the mind of
+the reader is that Dampier was a very fine navigator and amateur
+scientist, but a very bad commander. We shall hear of him again very
+shortly, in a more subordinate capacity.
+
+In connection with this luckless cruise, there is one incident of
+considerable interest, which should not be overlooked. The _Cinque
+Ports_ carried as sailing master one Alexander Selkirk, of Scotch
+extraction. Obviously, he must have been a seaman of considerable
+experience and capacity, to have been selected for this post; and
+presumably he would have knowledge of the navigation of the South Seas.
+He had, in fact, quitted his home in Scotland at the age of eighteen,
+and been absent for six years, during part of which time he is believed
+to have been with the buccaneers.
+
+When Captain Pickering died Selkirk viewed with great dissatisfaction
+the prospect of sailing under his successor, Stradling, whom he hated;
+and on the return of the _Cinque Ports_ to Juan Fernandez, after parting
+from Dampier, he took occasion of a violent quarrel with Stradling to
+carry out a mad project which he had formed some time previously--to
+desert the vessel and fend for himself on this or some other island.
+
+Stradling took him at his word, and, when on the point of sailing,
+conveyed Selkirk, with all his traps, on shore and "dumped" him on the
+beach.
+
+The Scotchman shook hands with his shipmates very cheerfully, wishing
+them luck, while Stradling, apprehensive of more desertions, kept
+calling to them to return to the boat, which they did.
+
+As the boat pulled away, and Selkirk realised that he was to be left
+there, absolutely severed from all intercourse with mankind, probably
+for years, possibly until death, a sudden terrible revulsion of feeling
+rushed upon him, and he ran down the beach, wading into the sea, with
+outstretched hands imploring them to return and take him on board.
+
+Stradling only mocked him; told him his conduct in asking to be landed
+was rank mutiny, and that his present situation was a very suitable one
+for such a fellow, as he would at least not be able to affect others by
+his bad example; and so rowed away and left him: and it was nearly four
+and a half years later that he was rescued, by the crew of another
+English privateer, as we shall see.
+
+The special interest attached to this incident lies, of course, in the
+fact that, had Stradling not hardened his heart and rowed away, that
+wonderful book "Robinson Crusoe," the delight of our early years, would
+in all probability never have been written--or at least the principal
+portion, dealing with his life on the island, would not have been
+written; for it was undoubtedly the story of Alexander Selkirk's long,
+solitary sojourn on Juan Fernandez which gave Daniel Defoe the idea,
+though there is no reason to suppose that he obtained any details from
+Selkirk himself; indeed, the story of Robinson Crusoe and his adventures
+is, without doubt, pure romance. So there we may leave Alexander Selkirk
+for the present: a miserable man enough at first, we may well imagine.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IV
+
+WOODES ROGERS
+
+
+Captain Woodes Rogers was a very different stamp of man from Dampier,
+and far better adapted by nature for the command of a privateering
+expedition.
+
+His father was a Bristol man, a sea-captain, and subsequently resided at
+Poole; Woodes Rogers the younger was probably born at Bristol, about the
+year 1678. Of his early life we know nothing in detail, but he was
+evidently brought up as a seaman and attained a good position, for in
+the year 1708 he proposed to some merchants of Bristol that they should
+fit out a couple of privateers for a voyage to the South Seas. Whether
+he put any money in the venture we do not know, but he held strong views
+as to the folly of permitting the French and Spaniards to have it all
+their own way in that part of the world, and put his case to such good
+purpose that the necessary funds were speedily forthcoming. We are told,
+in Seyer's "Memoirs of Bristol," that among the gentlemen who financed
+the business, and to the survivors of whom, sixteen in number, Rogers
+dedicates his account of the cruise, there were several Quakers: a
+remarkable statement which, if true, would appear to indicate that the
+privateering fever, with huge gains in prospect, was too much for the
+principles even of the Society of Friends.
+
+Like many another sailor who has sat down to write an account of his
+doings, Rogers commences by disclaiming any pretensions to literary
+skill: "I had not time, were it my talent, to polish the stile; nor do I
+think it necessary for a mariner's journal." Nevertheless, the account
+is written in pleasing fashion, occasionally very quaint in phraseology,
+and has the merit also--which is decidedly lacking in some writings
+whereof great parade is made of "polishing the stile"--of being very
+lucid.
+
+The two vessels, named the _Duke_, of 320 tons, 30 guns, and 117 men,
+and the _Duchess_, of 260 tons, 26 guns, and 108 men, sailed from King
+Road, near Bristol, on August 2nd, 1708, for Cork, where Rogers hoped to
+complete his crews, or exchange some of the very mixed company for more
+efficient seamen, having not more than twenty such on board, while the
+_Duchess_ was very little better off; so they were fortunate in not
+meeting with an enemy of any force on the way to Ireland; indeed, they
+appear to have sailed from Bristol in the greatest disorder--the rigging
+slack, ships out of trim, decks lumbered up, stores badly stowed, and so
+on, which must have gone greatly against the grain with a good seaman
+like Rogers. It is not difficult to imagine, however, the causes which
+led to such hurried departure: merchants who had been putting their
+hands in their pockets pretty freely for some months would be anxious
+to see the two ships at sea, commencing to rake in the spoil. Even the
+Quakers, perhaps, were impatient over the matter; and Rogers was
+probably told that it was time he was off.
+
+However, he made good use of the time at Cork, and reconstituted his
+crews, if not entirely to his liking, at least with considerable
+improvement.
+
+The owners, with, as we may conclude, the assistance of Rogers, had
+drawn up the constitution of a council, by which the progress of the
+voyage was to be determined, and all questions and disputes were to be
+settled. This is a very sensible document, providing for all probable
+contingencies; and, in the event of an equality of votes upon any
+matter, the casting vote was to be given by Thomas Dover, Rogers's
+second in command, who was appointed president of the council; this
+brings us to the subject of the officers of the two ships, and we find
+some very improbable persons included among them.
+
+In the first place, Thomas Dover, second captain, president of the
+council, and captain of the Marines, appears to have been neither a
+sailor nor soldier, but a doctor.[5] There were three lieutenants and
+three mates, but John Ballet, third mate, was "designed surgeon if
+occasion arose; he had been Captain Dampier's doctor, in his last
+unfortunate voyage round the world." Samuel Hopkins, a kinsman of
+Dover's, and an apothecary, was to act as Dover's lieutenant in case of
+landing a party. Then there was John Vigor, a "Reformado," to act as
+Dover's ensign if landed; while George Underwood and John Parker, _two
+young lawyers_, were designed to act as midshipmen. The whole
+arrangement has a savour of Gilbert and Sullivan, or Lewis Carroll,
+about it; one is irresistibly reminded of the "Hunting of the Snark,"
+where the captain was a bellman, and had for his crew a butcher, a
+billiard-marker, and a beaver!
+
+However, Rogers and his merry men were not for hunting any such shadowy
+affair as a "Snark"; they meant business, and the list of sub-officers
+includes further two midshipmen, coxswain of the pinnace, surgeon,
+surgeon's mate, and assistant--they were well off in the medical
+branch--gunner, carpenter, with mate and three assistants; boatswain and
+mate; cooper, four quarter-masters, ship's steward, sailmaker, armourer,
+ship's corporal (who was also cook to the officers), and ship's cook.
+
+Also, as sailing-master and pilot for the South Seas, William Dampier
+sailed under Rogers in the _Duke_, probably the best man who could have
+been found for the post; he was a member of the council, and was no
+doubt a very valuable addition to the staff.
+
+The _Duchess_, commanded by Captain Stephen Courtney, was similarly
+officered, the second lieutenant being John Rogers, a brother of Woodes
+Rogers, some ten years his junior.
+
+"Most of us," says Rogers, "the chief officers, embraced this trip of
+privateering round the world, to retrieve the losses we had sustained by
+the enemy. Our complement of sailors in both ships was 333, of which
+alone one-third were foreigners from most nations; several of her
+Majesty's subjects on board were tinkers, tailors, haymakers, pedlars,
+fiddlers, etc., one negro, and about ten boys. With this mixed gang we
+hoped to be well manned, as soon as they had learnt the use of arms, and
+got their sea-legs, which we doubted not soon to teach them, and bring
+them to discipline." Very hopeful!
+
+One curious characteristic common to this mixed crew was that, as Rogers
+puts it, they "were continually marrying whilst we staid at Cork, though
+they expected to sail immediately. Among others there was a Dane coupled
+by a Romish priest to an Irish woman, without understanding a word of
+each other's language, so that they were forced to use an interpreter;
+yet I perceived this pair seemed more afflicted at separation than any
+of the rest. The fellow continued melancholy for several days after we
+were at sea. The rest, understanding each other, drank their cans of
+flip till the last minute, concluded with a health to our good voyage
+and their happy meeting, and then parted unconcerned."
+
+This "continual marrying" constitutes, in truth, a tribute to the
+character of Irish women; had it been at Wapping there would have been,
+it is to be feared, but little question of marrying.
+
+Even when they had restowed their holds and set up the rigging, Rogers
+is somewhat disheartened over the condition of the two ships: "Our holds
+are full of provisions; our cables, a great deal of bread, and
+water-casks between decks: and 183 men aboard the _Duke_, with 151
+aboard the _Duchess_: so that we are very much crowded and pestered
+ships, not fit to engage an enemy without throwing provision and store
+overboard."
+
+However, they sailed on September 1st, in company with the _Hastings_
+man-of-war and some other vessels, from whom they parted on the 6th,
+bound for Madeira; and a few days later there was trouble with the
+undisciplined crew, who had as yet found neither their sea-legs nor
+their manners.
+
+Rogers had overhauled a vessel, sailing under Swedish colours; some of
+her crew, who were more or less drunk, had declared that she carried
+gunpowder and cables, so she was detained, in spite of the captain's
+remonstrances. However, no sign of any contraband goods could be
+discovered, so Rogers very properly let her go; upon which his men, who
+had no notion of going a-privateering without the joys of plunder,
+assumed a mutinous attitude, the boatswain at their head--all the
+mutineers were Englishmen. One man was flogged, ten were put in irons,
+and with the remainder Rogers reasoned, admitting, however, that he was
+forced to wink at the conduct of some. Next day a seaman came aft, "with
+near half the ship's company of sailors following him, and demanded the
+boatswain out of irons. I desired him to speak with me by himself on the
+quarter-deck, which he did, where the officers assisted me, seized him
+[_i.e._ tied him up], and made one of his chief comrades whip him. This
+method I thought best for breaking any unlawful friendship among
+themselves; which, with different correction to other offenders, allayed
+the tumult, so that now they begin to submit quietly, and those in irons
+beg pardon and promise amendment."
+
+An excellent method of "breaking friendship," unlawful or otherwise!
+
+On September 18th, in sight of Teneriffe, a small Spanish vessel was
+captured, belonging to Orotava, a port of Teneriffe.
+
+"Amongst the prisoners were four friars, and one of them the Padre
+Guardian for the island Forteventura, a good, honest old fellow. We made
+him heartily merry, drinking King Charles III.'s health; but the rest
+were of the wrong sort."
+
+The quarrels and intrigues of other nations brought a good deal of
+profit to privateersmen; the War of the Spanish Succession was then
+still in progress, the Grand Alliance striving to place the Archduke
+Charles of Austria on the Spanish throne, while others--"the wrong sort"
+from Rogers's point of view--upheld the cause of Philip, grandson of
+Louis XIV. of France; later on, as we shall see, the Austrian Succession
+was the occasion of some more profitable privateering.
+
+Rogers and his colleagues now found themselves involved, to their
+surprise, in a dispute with their own countrymen over their capture,
+the Vice-Consul and three merchants sending off a letter to say that it
+had been agreed between Queen Anne and the Kings of Spain and France,
+that vessels trading to the Canaries were to be exempt from
+interference, and that unless the prize were released, Mr. Vanbrugh,
+owners' agent on board the _Duke_, who had gone on shore, would be
+detained.
+
+Rogers was not to be so easily hoodwinked; he immediately detected the
+self-interest which prompted a disingenuous representation, and insisted
+that the prize should be ransomed; the cargo of wine and brandy he
+designed for his own ships; and he finished his letter as follows: "We
+are apprehensive you are obliged to give us this advice to gratify the
+Spaniards": which hit the nail very fairly on the head. Still pressed by
+the Spaniards, the Consul and his friends persisted; upon which Rogers
+told them that, had it not been for their agent being on shore, they
+would not have remained a moment to discuss the matter; but that now
+they would remain longer among the islands, in order to make reprisals,
+and that the Consul and his English and Spanish friends might expect a
+visit from their guns at eight o'clock the next morning.
+
+Accordingly, at that hour the two English privateers stood close in
+shore; but the guns were not needed, for a boat put off immediately with
+one of the merchants and Mr. Vanbrugh, bringing the ransom "in
+kind"--wine, grapes, hogs, and other accessories.
+
+And so they proceeded on their voyage; and a few days later they crossed
+the tropic of Cancer, which appears to have been made the occasion, in
+this instance, of some fun with those who had not come so far south
+before. Usually it is the crossing of the Equator which is selected as
+the occasion of these delights.
+
+Rogers's tinkers, tailors, pedlars, fiddlers, etc., had a lively time of
+it. "The manner of doing it was by a rope through a block from the
+mainyard, to hoist 'em above half-way up to the yard, and let 'em fall
+at once into the water; having a stick across through their legs, and
+well fastened to the rope, that they might not be surprised and let go
+their hold. This proved of great use to our fresh-water sailors, to
+recover the colour of their skins, which were grown very black and
+nasty."
+
+Exemption could be purchased at the cost of half-a-crown, the whole
+amount to be expended on an entertainment for all hands on their return
+to England. Some of the crew--especially the Dutchmen--begged that they
+might be ducked ten or twelve times--on the principle that, if immunity
+could be paid for, an excess of dipping should logically entitle them to
+a larger share of the pool! Sailors are queer creatures.
+
+After the capture of the small Spanish craft, Rogers found it advisable
+to lay down some rules, admitting the principle of plunder; he foresaw
+incessant trouble and probable mutiny in the future, if the right of the
+crew to the immediate distribution of a certain amount of spoil was not
+recognised. It was quite irregular, and had not been contemplated by the
+owners. However, the decision as to what should constitute plunder was,
+with the consent of the men, left to the senior officers and agents, so
+there was a certain safeguard against abuse.
+
+The next place of call was the Cape Verde Islands, where they anchored
+in the harbour of St. Vincent; here they watered with some difficulty,
+on account of the sea; and they lost one of their crew, one Joseph
+Alexander, who, by reason of his being a good linguist, was sent in a
+boat to the Governor at St. Antonio, with a letter, and was left behind
+to negotiate for supplies. However, he appears to have found the
+prospect of life in the Cape Verde Islands more promising than
+privateering. On October 5th "our boat went to St. Antonio to see for
+our linguist, according to appointment"; on the 6th "our boat returned
+with nothing but limes and tobacco, and no news of our linguist"; again
+on the 7th the boat was sent in quest of "our linguist"--and by this
+time they must have been getting pretty tired of his antics; on the 8th
+"no news of our linguist"; so, as the Trade-wind blew fresh, they
+concluded to leave him to practise his linguistic and other
+accomplishments on shore, and made sail for the coast of Brazil, Captain
+Rogers summing up the situation in a marginal note: "Our linguist
+deserts."
+
+The captains frequently exchanged visits, and even had little
+dinner-parties on board each other's ships, in mid-ocean, when it was
+held to be necessary to call a council; Rogers was very scrupulous about
+having everything done in order, and properly recorded. It may appear
+strange that there should be such frequent communication, especially
+when a council or dinner-party is recorded together with the remark,
+"fresh breeze, with heavy sea," and so on; but such boating exploits
+were the fashion in those days, and very much later. When Nelson was
+bound for the Baltic, as second in command under Sir Hyde Parker, with
+whom he was never upon cordial terms, he set his men fishing for turbot
+on the Doggerbank, and, having caught one, despatched it in a boat to
+his chief, in spite of a heavy sea and approaching darkness, with a
+polite note; the mission was accomplished without mishap, and the turbot
+is said to have brought about a better understanding between the
+Admirals. Such measures of policy were not, however, very much in
+Nelson's line. The point is that the seamen of those times must have
+been very masterly boatmen, for the lowering and hoisting of a boat in a
+heavy sea is a very ticklish process, in which a small blunder may mean
+disaster; yet it was constantly done, just for a friendly visit, and we
+hear of no fatalities arising therefrom.
+
+On October 22nd we hear of more trouble from insubordination. Mr. Page,
+second mate of the _Duchess_, refusing to accompany Cook, who was
+Courtney's second in command, on board the _Duke_, "occasioned Captain
+Cook, being the superior officer on board, to strike him, whereupon Page
+struck him again, and several blows passed; but at last Page was forced
+into the boat, and brought on board of us. And Captain Cook and others
+telling us what mutiny had passed, we ordered Page on the forecastle
+into the bilboes" (leg-irons sliding upon a long iron bar). Page,
+however, evaded his captors by a ruse and jumped overboard to swim back
+to his own ship--a dangerous business, somewhere near the Equator, for
+there is always the chance of a shark. But this foolish attempt availed
+him little: he was brought back, flogged, and put in irons; and he found
+a week of this kind of thing sufficient, submitting himself humbly and
+promising amendment. Captain Rogers was already beginning to realise
+that the lot of a privateer commander, unless he is willing, as so many
+were, to degenerate into a mere filibuster, is not a happy one.
+
+Possibly it was this conviction--or maybe that he found the Southern
+Hemisphere a more devotional environment than the Northern--which
+occasioned the following entry: "At five last night we were on the
+Equinoctial [the Equator].... This day we began to read prayers in both
+ships mornings or evenings, as opportunity would permit, according to
+the Church of England, designing to continue it the term of the voyage."
+
+Passing by the small island of Trinidad, on the night of November 13th,
+the two ships lay to, Rogers believing they were near land: and sure
+enough, at daybreak they sighted the coast of Brazil, and a few days
+later anchored at Isle Grande, just to the southward of Rio Janeiro.
+
+Here they were very busy--heeling both vessels to clean the bottoms, and
+executing sundry repairs aloft--all of which was done under a broiling
+sun, besides getting in a plentiful supply of wood and water, in so
+short a space of time that we must conclude that Captain Rogers and
+Captain Courtney had under them both well-disciplined and willing crews;
+no man-of-war's men could have done better.
+
+Here also Mr. Carleton Vanbrugh, owner's agent on board the _Duke_, got
+into trouble for assuming executive command. A boat being manned to
+overhaul a passing canoe, he shoved off, without any orders, pursued and
+fired into the canoe, killing an Indian. This officiousness and
+presumption obtained for him a wigging from Captain Rogers, who also
+brought the matter before the council: "I thought it a fit time now to
+resent ignorant and wilful actions publicly, and to show the vanity and
+mischief of 'em, rather than to delay or excuse such proceedings; which
+would have made the distemper too prevalent, and brought all to
+remediless confusion, had we indulged conceited persons with a liberty
+of hazarding the fairest opportunities of success."
+
+Mr. Vanbrugh was accordingly "logged" as being censured by the council,
+and was subsequently transferred to the _Duchess_, his opposite number
+there, William Bath, taking his place.
+
+On December 3rd they sailed from Isle Grande and made their way down the
+coast of South America towards Cape Horn, chasing but losing a large
+French ship on the 26th. On New Year's Day there was a large tub of hot
+punch on the quarter-deck, of which every man had over a pint to drink
+the health of the owners and absent friends, a happy New Year, a good
+voyage, and a safe return. The _Duke_ bore down close to her consort,
+and there, rolling and lurching at close quarters in the big seas, they
+exchanged cheers and good wishes.
+
+On January 5th it came on to blow hard, with a heavy sea, and while the
+mainyard was being lowered on board the _Duchess_ the sail got aback,
+and a great portion of it bagged in the water on the lee side, the
+"lift" on that side having given way. This was rather a serious
+business, in so heavy a sea; they were obliged to put the ship before
+the wind for a time, and the sea "broke in the cabin windows, and over
+their stern, filling their steerage and waist, and had like to have
+spoiled several men; but, God be thanked, all was otherwise indifferent
+well with 'em, only they were intolerably cold, and everything wet."
+Next day Rogers found them "in a very orderly pickle, with all their
+clothes drying, the ship and rigging covered with them from the deck to
+the maintop."
+
+Though it was high summer in these southern latitudes, they experienced
+no genial warmth, only gales of wind, with an immense sea; they attained
+the latitude of 61.53 South, which, as Rogers remarks, was probably the
+furthest south reached at that time; and so they fought round the Horn,
+and before the end of January we find the entry: "This is an excellent
+climate."
+
+This was in latitude 36.36 South, and they were looking forward
+anxiously to sighting the island of Juan Fernandez. Many of the men had
+suffered greatly from cold and exposure, some were down with scurvy, and
+a rest in port, with fresh vegetables and sweet water, was very
+necessary.
+
+Juan Fernandez was not in those days accurately placed on the chart, and
+all eyes no doubt were turned to William Dampier to bring them there;
+which he did on January 31st, though they appear to have had a narrow
+escape of missing it, for when they sighted land it bore W.S.W., so that
+they had already somewhat overshot it. When we consider the very
+inadequate means which these men possessed for navigating thousands of
+leagues of trackless ocean, and making land which was very inefficiently
+charted, we can only marvel at their success. The quadrant of those days
+was a very rough affair, the compass was not perfect in construction,
+neither were its vagaries understood as they are at the present day--for
+the compass, emblem of faithfulness and constancy, is, alas! a most
+capricious and inconstant friend; only we understand it nowadays, and
+realise that it never--or hardly ever--points due north. Then
+chronometers, sufficiently reliable to give correct longitude, were not
+constructed until some sixty years later, when the earliest maker
+contrived to turn out, to his credit, a marvellously good one. This was
+John Harrison, and very scurvily he was treated by the authorities, only
+receiving the full reward which was offered upon the intervention of
+King George III. on his behalf.
+
+Well, here was Juan Fernandez, and very welcome was the sight of the
+high land, some five-and-twenty miles distant; but they were becalmed,
+and got but little nearer for twenty-four hours. Next day, in the
+afternoon, Rogers consented, rather against his better judgment, to
+Dover taking a boat in, the land being then at least twelve miles
+distant. At dark, a bright light was observed on shore, and the boat
+returned at 2 a.m., Dover having been afraid to land, not knowing what
+the light could mean.
+
+The general idea was that there were French ships at anchor, and all was
+prepared for action: "We must either fight 'em or want water, etc."
+
+These desperate measures were not, however, necessary; sailing along the
+land the following day, the two bays, which afford good anchorage, were
+found to be empty. The yawl was sent in at noon, and after some hours
+the pinnace was despatched to see what had become of her; for it was
+feared that the Spaniards might be in possession.
+
+Presently, however, the pinnace arrived, and, as she approached, it was
+seen that she carried a passenger--a most fantastic and picturesque
+person, attired in obviously home-made garments of goatskin.
+
+This, of course, was Alexander Selkirk. On the afternoon of January
+31st, sweeping the horizon, as he did so constantly, from his look-out,
+he had seen the two sails in the offing. As they gradually rose, his
+experienced eye told him that they were English; dusk was settling down,
+and they were still a long way off--would they pass by?
+
+Reasonably contented as he had latterly been in his solitude--broken in
+upon twice by Spaniards, who upon one occasion saw and chased him,
+forcing him to take refuge in a tree--the sight of these two English
+ships filled him with a frantic longing to grasp the hand of a
+countryman, to hear and speak once more his native language. Mad with
+apprehension lest this joy should be torn, as it were, from his very
+grasp, he hastily collected materials, and, as darkness set in, lit a
+huge bonfire. He spent a couple of sleepless nights, keeping up his
+fire, and preparing some goat's-meat for guests who, he fondly hoped,
+would appear on the following day.
+
+He saw the boat approaching, and, taking a stick with a rude flag
+attached, ran down to the beach--they saw him--they shouted to him to
+point out a good landing place. In a transport of joy at the sound of
+their voices, he ran round with incredible swiftness, waving them with
+his flag to follow him.
+
+When they landed he could only embrace them; his emotion was too deep,
+his speech too rusty--no words could he find; while they, on their part,
+were mute with surprise at his wild and uncouth appearance.
+
+Recovering themselves at length, Selkirk entertained them as best he
+could with some of the goat's-flesh which he had prepared, and while
+they ate he gave them some account of his sojourn and adventures on the
+island.
+
+There is but little in common with De Foe's description of Robinson
+Crusoe's doings, excepting, of course, the expedients adopted for
+obtaining food, which could scarcely have been different.
+
+There was no "man Friday," no mysterious footprint in the sand, no
+encounter with savages. There was, however, a narrow escape, already
+alluded to, of capture by Spanish sailors; a fate to which Selkirk
+decided that he preferred his solitary existence, for the Spaniards
+would either have ruthlessly murdered him or sold him as a slave to
+work in their mines. So when he found that he had incautiously exposed
+himself while reconnoitring, he ran for the woods, the Spaniards in
+chase; but he had acquired such fleetness of foot in catching the goats
+that they had no chance, and, sitting aloft in a large tree, he saw them
+below, completely at fault. They helped themselves to some of the goats,
+and retired.
+
+In describing his adventures and emotions, Selkirk attributed his
+eventual contentment in his solitude to his religious training. He
+appears to have possessed in full measure the deep, emotional religious
+temperament of the Scots, and this in all probability saved his reason,
+and certainly deterred him from suicide, which at one time presented
+itself as the only possible release from acute mental suffering. He used
+to recite his prayers and sing familiar hymns aloud, and it is easy to
+understand what an immense solace such exercises were to him.
+
+Learning from Dover and his companions that William Dampier was with the
+expedition, Selkirk demurred at once to going on board. Not that he had
+any personal quarrel with Dampier, but he had a most vivid recollection
+of the hopeless mismanagement of that cruise under his command; of the
+futile delays, half-fought actions, hastily abandoned plans which
+promised some measure of success; and he declined to enlist again under
+such an incompetent chief. This extreme reluctance on Selkirk's part to
+sail again under the famous navigator constitutes a very strong
+indictment against Dampier as commander of a privateer; nothing,
+indeed, could well be stronger. When a man says practically, "I prefer
+to remain alone on an island to sailing under him," there appears to be
+little more to be said.
+
+Understanding, however, that Dampier occupied a subordinate position as
+pilot, he was ready enough to accompany his rescuers; and so presented
+himself to the "admiring" gaze--using the term as it was frequently used
+in those days--of the crew of the _Duke_.
+
+Whatever Selkirk may have thought of Dampier, the latter, recognising
+him as the former sailing-master of the _Cinque Ports_, gave him the
+highest character, declaring that he was the best man on board
+Stradling's ship; upon which Rogers at once engaged him as a mate on the
+_Duke_, in which capacity he was, we are told, greatly respected, "as
+well on account of his singular adventure as of his skill and good
+conduct; for, having had his books with him, he had improved himself
+much in navigation during his solitude."
+
+Such application appears, under the circumstances, almost heroic; there
+are probably few men so situated who would have had recourse to it.
+
+It was long before Selkirk began to throw off the reserve which was the
+natural outcome of his solitude, and it is said that the expression of
+his face was fixed and sedate even after his return to England; nothing,
+indeed, could ever efface the recollection of those years of absolute
+loneliness, the grim lessons of self-restraint, endurance, and
+resignation, so hardly learned.
+
+[Footnote 5: The reader may be interested to learn that this Thomas
+Dover was the inventor of the well-known preparation, "Dover's Powder."
+After his adventures with Woodes Rogers he settled down as a regular
+practitioner, and in the year 1733 he published a book entitled, "The
+Ancient Physician's Legacy to his Country," in which the recipe for
+Dover's Powder appeared; it was afterwards altered, but retained the
+name. Dover died in 1742.]
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER V
+
+WOODES ROGERS--_continued_
+
+
+Rogers and his companions made no long stay at Juan Fernandez. Having
+now arrived upon their cruising ground, all were eager to be at work,
+and on February 14th they were once more under way, the banished
+Vanbrugh being received on board the _Duke_ again. "I hope for the
+best," says Captain Rogers doubtfully.
+
+On the 17th a committee-meeting was held at sea, in order to appoint
+responsible persons for the custody of "plunder." There was evidently
+considerable anxiety among the superior officers on this head. Rogers
+and Courtney, and probably most of the officers, were perfectly straight
+and aboveboard; but no certainty could be felt about any one else, so
+the following plan was adopted: Four persons were selected by the
+officers and men of the _Duke_, two of whom were to act on board the
+_Duchess_; similarly, four were selected on board the latter, two of
+whom were to go on board the _Duke_; thus the interests of each ship's
+company were equally safeguarded; and to these "plunder guardians" the
+council addressed a letter containing detailed instructions for their
+guidance. Every probable contingency was provided for, and the letter
+concluded: "You are by no means to be rude in your office, but to do
+everything as quiet and easy as possible; and to demean yourselves so
+towards those employed by Captain Courtney (or Captain Rogers) that we
+may have no manner of disturbance or complaint; still observing that you
+be not over-awed, nor deceived of what is your due, in the behalf of the
+officers and men."
+
+A difficult and thankless office, one would say; nor did this device
+avail to prevent discord later on.
+
+They were now bound for the small island of Lobos, off the coast of
+Peru, which was to be their starting-point for the conquest of
+Guayaquil; and on March 16th they captured a small Spanish vessel, which
+they took with them into Lobos on the following day. From the crew of
+this vessel they heard some news about Captain Stradling, who, it
+appears, lost the _Cinque Ports_ on the Peruvian coast, and with half a
+dozen men, the only survivors, had been for upwards of four years in
+prison at Lima, "where they lived much worse than our Governor Selkirk,
+whom they left on the island Juan Fernandez."
+
+This little bark Rogers resolved to convert into a privateer, as she
+seemed to be a fast sailer; and the business was accomplished with
+remarkable celerity. On March 18th she was hauled up dry, cleaned,
+launched, and named the _Beginning_, Captain Edward Cooke being
+appointed to command her. A spare topmast of the _Duke_ was fitted as a
+mast, and a spare mizzen-topsail altered as a sail for her. By the
+evening of the 19th she was rigged, had four swivel-guns mounted, and a
+deck nearly completed; on the 20th she was manned and victualled, and
+sailed out of the harbour, exchanging cheers with the _Duke_, to join
+the _Duchess_ cruising outside: a very smart piece of work.
+
+Another small prize was renamed the _Increase_, and converted into a
+hospital-ship, all the sick, with a doctor from each ship, being sent on
+board her; Alexander Selkirk in command.
+
+Rogers makes merry over the exploit of one of his officers who,
+mistaking turkey buzzards--the "John Crow" bird of the West Indies--for
+turkeys, landed in great haste with his gun, jumping into the water
+before the boat touched ground in his eagerness, and let drive,
+"browning" a group of them; but he was grievously disappointed when he
+came to pick up his "bag"--the "John Crow" is not a sweet-smelling bird.
+
+This impetuous sportsman was, perhaps, that difficult person Mr.
+Carleton Vanbrugh: for we learn later that, having threatened to shoot
+one of the men for refusing to carry some carrion crows he had shot, and
+having abused Captain Dover, his name was struck off the committee.
+
+The Spanish prisoners had some attractive stories to tell of possible
+prizes--it appears somewhat unsportsmanlike on their part, and one is
+disposed to wonder whether Rogers or his men put any pressure on
+them--particularly of a stout ship from Lima, and a French-built ship
+from Panama, richly laden, with a bishop on board.
+
+These two vessels were captured, also a smaller one; but the Panama ship
+was not taken without some misadventure, for the two ships' pinnaces
+attacking her insufficiently armed--despising the foe, a common British
+failing, for which we have often paid dearly--were repulsed with loss;
+and John Rogers, a fine young fellow of one-and-twenty, was killed. He
+had no business there, as a matter of fact; but, happening to be on
+board his brother's ship to assist in preparations for the land
+expedition, he jumped into the boat--and so perished.[6]
+
+However, the ship was taken next day, without resistance; but the bishop
+had been put ashore: a disappointment, no doubt, as he would probably
+represent a round sum for his ransom--the only use a privateer could
+find for a prelate!
+
+And now for Guayaquil, from the capture and ransom of which great gains
+were expected; but further disappointment was in store for Captain
+Rogers and his companions.
+
+In the first place, upon landing at Puna, a small town upon an island at
+the entrance of the Gulf of Guayaquil, an Indian contrived to elude them
+and give the alarm, so that the surprise was not complete. They captured
+the Lieutenant-Governor, however, who cunningly assured them that,
+having caught him, there would be nobody who could give the alarm at
+Guayaquil: surely an obviously futile deduction. They destroyed all the
+canoes, etc., which they could find; but, by the time they had made
+their prisoners, we may be sure that one or two had already made good
+their escape to the mainland; and later developments proved that this
+must have occurred.
+
+Moreover, they discovered among the papers of the Lieutenant-Governor a
+disquieting document: no less than a warning against a squadron which
+was said to be coming, under the pilotage of Captain Dampier--who, it
+will be recollected, had plundered Puna some years previously. The force
+of the squadron was greatly exaggerated; but there was the warning, a
+copy of which had been sent from Lima to all the ports.
+
+However, it was impossible to relinquish the attack, and accordingly,
+after some delays, the boats, with 110 men, arrived off the town of
+Guayaquil about midnight on April 22nd. As they approached they saw a
+bonfire on an adjoining eminence, and lights in the town, and, rowing up
+abreast of it, there was a sudden eruption of lights, and every
+indication that the townspeople, instead of being quietly a-bed, were
+very wide awake. The Indian pilot negatived the notion that this was
+some saint's-day celebration, and thought that "it must be an alarm";
+very possibly the wily pilot had something to do with it! While they lay
+off they heard a Spaniard shouting that Puna was taken, and the enemy
+was coming up the river. Then the bells commenced clanging, muskets and
+guns were fired off, and it became obvious that, if they were to attack,
+it must be in the face of the fullest resistance. What was to be done?
+
+Rogers, not easily daunted, gave it as his opinion that the alarm was
+only just given, and preparations would not be complete. He was all for
+going on, but the others were not; and Captain Dampier being asked what
+the buccaneers would do under such circumstances, replied at once that
+"they never attacked any large place after it was alarmed." The
+buccaneers were not such fire-eaters as their own accounts and boys'
+books of adventure would have us believe: there was a strong spice of
+prudence in their temperament.
+
+Cautious counsels prevailing, the boats dropped down-stream again, about
+three miles below the town, where the two small barks, prizes attached
+to the _Duke_ and _Duchess_, arrived during the day, having apparently
+been safely piloted up by Indians--with pistols at their heads possibly.
+
+When the flood-tide made in the afternoon, Captain Rogers once more
+ordered an advance on the town, but Dover again dissuaded him, and they
+held a council of war in a boat made fast astern of one of the barks, so
+as to avoid eavesdroppers.
+
+Dover advised sending a trumpeter with a flag of truce, and certain
+proposals as to trading, to be enforced by hostages. These half-hearted
+measures found no favour with the majority, but Rogers gave way and
+eventually they sent two of their prisoners--the lieutenant from Puna,
+and the captain of the French-built ship--who presently came back, and
+were followed by the Corregidor, to treat for the ransom of the town.
+
+However, all the talk came to nothing. The Spaniards evidently imagined
+that the English were a little bit shy about attacking, and so kept
+shilly-shallying about the terms, perhaps hoping for reinforcements;
+until at length Rogers lost patience, landed his men and guns, and drove
+the enemy from the near houses, the barks firing over their heads. It
+was a very spirited attack, and deserved success.
+
+Opening up the streets, they found four guns facing them in front of the
+church; but the supporting cavalry fled at sight of the English sailors,
+and Rogers, calling upon his men, immediately took the guns, and turned
+them on the retreating foe.
+
+In little more than half an hour the town was their own; and, had it not
+been for the cautious advice of Dover and others, they would have
+achieved the same result on the first night, before the treasure was
+carried away. As it was, though they broke open every church and
+store-house, etc., they found but little of any value; jars of wine and
+brandy were, however, very plentiful.
+
+Two of the officers, Mr. Connely, and Mr. Selkirk, "the late Governor of
+Juan Fernandez," with a party of men, paid a profitable visit to some
+houses up the river, where they found "above a dozen handsome, genteel
+young women, well dressed, where our men got several gold chains and
+earrings, but were otherwise so civil to them that the ladies offered
+to dress them victuals, and brought them a cask of good liquor." The
+seamen, however, quickly suspected that the ladies had chains and other
+trinkets disposed under their clothing, "and by their linguist modestly
+desired the gentlewomen to take 'em off and surrender 'em. This I
+mention as a proof of our sailors' modesty." Well, well; their "modesty"
+was rewarded by plunder to the tune of about L1,000; but no doubt their
+method of commandeering it was more polite than the frightened Spanish
+ladies anticipated.
+
+In the church Rogers himself picked up the Corregidor's gold-headed
+cane, and also a captain's with a silver head; from which he concludes
+that these gentlemen quitted the church in a hurry.
+
+It would have been well if Rogers and his men had seen a little less of
+the church, for buried under it, and immediately outside, were the
+putrefying corpses of hundreds of the victims of a recent malignant
+epidemic.
+
+An agreement was drawn up by which the town was to be ransomed by the
+payment of 30,000 pieces of eight within six days--equivalent to L6,750,
+reckoning the piece of eight at four shillings and sixpence[7]--Rogers
+holding two hostages meanwhile; but the Spaniards' _manana_ proved too
+much for them, and the amount paid fell far short of this.
+
+On April 27th they marched down to the boats with colours flying.
+Captain Rogers, bringing up the rear with a few men, "picked up pistols,
+cutlasses, and pole-axes, which showed that our men were grown very
+careless, weak, and weary of being soldiers, and that it was time to be
+gone from hence."
+
+John Gabriel, a Dutchman, was missing, but he returned on the following
+day; it transpired that he had lain asleep, drunk, in a house, and the
+"honest man," who was probably his involuntary host, called in some
+neighbours, who removed the Dutchman's weapons before cautiously
+arousing him; and, when he was sufficiently wide awake to comprehend the
+situation, restored his arms and advised him to go on board his ship:
+really, a very honest man, this Spanish American. Rogers declares that
+this was the only case of drunkenness among his men after they took
+possession: a fact which speaks volumes for the discipline.
+
+And so, on the 28th, they weighed anchor and dropped down to Puna; "and
+at parting made what noise we could with our drums, trumpets, and guns,
+and thus took our leave of the Spaniards very cheerfully, but not half
+so well pleased as we should have been had we taken 'em by surprise; for
+I was well assured, from all hands, that at least we should then have
+got above 200,000 pieces of eight in money (L45,000), wrought and
+unwrought gold and silver, besides jewels, etc."
+
+And now they were to experience some hard times. Sailing for the
+Galapagos Islands, off the coast of Peru, they had not been many days
+out when deadly sickness broke out among the men who had been on shore
+at Guayaquil. On the two ships, near one hundred and fifty were down at
+one time; there were a good many deaths, and the medicine-chests were
+not adequate to this unexpected demand. Worse than all, when they
+reached the Galapagos Islands they could find no water there. Again and
+again they sent their boats in, for it was said that upon one island, at
+least, there was abundance of excellent water--upon the authority of one
+Davis, a buccaneer, who frequented it twenty years previously: which
+induces Captain Rogers to discourse upon the unreliability of such
+adventurers' reports; but that did not help the thirsty, fever-stricken
+men.
+
+Then one of the barks, in command of Mr. Hatley, was missing, which was
+another source of anxiety. They were compelled at length to give him up
+as lost, and sailed over to the island of Gorgona, where there was
+abundance of water.
+
+Here they refitted the _Havre de Grace_--the French-built prize, which
+should have contained a bishop--and renamed her the _Marquis_; and here
+also they careened and cleaned the ships, and sent away their prisoners,
+landing them on the coast of Peru.
+
+The crew were getting impatient about the plunder obtained at Guayaquil,
+and on July 29th it was resolved to overhaul and value it for
+distribution, sending all that was adjudged to be eligible on board the
+prize galleon. And there was, of course, trouble over this business: a
+plot was discovered, a number of the men having signed a paper to the
+effect that they would not accept any booty, nor move from the upper
+deck, until they obtained justice. Their notions of "justice" not
+tallying with those of their superiors, pistols and handcuffs came again
+to the front, and the ringleaders were seized; but Rogers found himself
+compelled to compromise, for there were too many men involved, and he
+did not know what the crews of the other ships might do; so he made a
+conciliatory speech, and conceded a demand that the civilians, who were
+not seamen, should have their shares cut down--by which Mr. Carleton
+Vanbrugh and two others suffered. "So that we hoped," says Captain
+Rogers, "this difficult work would, with less danger than we dreaded, be
+brought to a good conclusion.... Sailors usually exceed all measures
+when left to themselves, and account it a privilege in privateers to do
+themselves justice on these occasions, though in everything else I must
+own they have been more obedient than any ships' crews engaged in the
+like undertaking that ever I heard of. Yet we have not wanted sufficient
+trial of our patience and industry in other things; so that, if any
+sea-officer thinks himself endowed with these two virtues, let him
+command in a privateer, and discharge his office well in a distant
+voyage, and I'll engage he shall not want opportunities to improve, if
+not to exhaust all his stock."
+
+Two or three small prizes had been taken during these few weeks; but
+after waiting about a long while for a rich Manila ship, it was at
+length decided that they must give her up, and sail for Guam, in the
+Ladrone Islands, and thence for the East Indies.
+
+The day after this decision was recorded the Manila ship hove in sight;
+two boats kept in touch with her all night, and at daybreak, it being
+still calm, they "got out eight of our ship's oars, and rowed above an
+hour; then there sprung up a small breeze. I ordered a large kettle of
+chocolate to be made for our ship's company (having no spirituous liquor
+to give them); then we went to prayers, and before we had concluded,
+were disturbed by the enemy's firing at us."
+
+They got up off their knees, and fought to some purpose by the space of
+an hour and a half, when, the _Duchess_ coming up, the Spaniard hauled
+down his colours.
+
+This was a splendid haul: and they speedily learned that there was a
+second ship, of even greater value, in the vicinity. In due course they
+encountered her, but she proved too strong for them, being a brand-new
+vessel, very well built, with 40 guns and 450 men.
+
+Captain Rogers, who had hitherto come off unscathed from all their
+adventures, was very roughly handled in these two engagements, getting a
+ball through his jaw in the first and a splinter in his left foot in the
+second, both very serious wounds.
+
+While he was laid on his back, unable to speak or walk, he had to suffer
+a further trial of patience in a dispute which arose about the command
+of their valuable prize on the voyage to the East Indies and homeward, a
+majority of the council electing Dover to the post. Now Dover, as we
+have seen, was a doctor, not a seaman, and was absolutely incapable of
+commanding and navigating a ship upon such a voyage; but, having a large
+stake in the original venture, he claimed and obtained more
+consideration than was his due. Probably it was on this account that the
+gentlemen in Bristol had made him president of the council.
+
+Poor Captain Rogers, chafing on his sick-bed, could only protest
+vigorously in writing against this proposed arrangement, which was
+obviously fraught with peril, and his officers supported him; the thing
+was, in fact, a job, the majority truckling to Dover as a part-owner.
+The utmost concession Rogers could gain was that two capable
+officers--Stretton and Frye--should be appointed to act under Dover as
+navigators and practical seamen, and that he should not interfere with
+them in their duties as such; and under these conditions the prize--her
+name conveniently abbreviated from _Nostra Seniora de la Incarnacion
+Disenganio_, to _Batchelor_--was safely conveyed to the East Indies, and
+thence to England, the cruise terminating on October 14th, 1711.
+
+Captain Rogers recovered from his wounds, and made a good thing out of
+his cruise. He was subsequently Governor of the Bahamas, where he
+displayed great moral courage and resource under difficult
+circumstances; and there he died, on July 16th, 1732.
+
+In a volume entitled "Life aboard a British Privateer in the Reign of
+Queen Ann"--a sort of running commentary upon Woodes Rogers's account of
+his cruise--the author, Mr. R.C. Leslie, remarks, after the capture of
+Guayaquil: "Though Woodes Rogers himself would now rank little above a
+pious sort of pirate, it is curious to note from what he says here
+[about the buccaneers] and again after visiting the Galapagos Islands,
+one of the chief haunts of buccaneers, that he looked upon them as much
+below him socially."
+
+This is not fair to Rogers; he was entirely within his rights in sacking
+and ransoming Guayaquil, as a subject of a Power at war with Spain, and
+armed with a commission from his sovereign. It may not appear to be a
+very high-class sort of business, but it was conducted in this instance
+with great humanity, though not probably without some of the
+"regrettable incidents" which are inseparable from warfare--to adapt the
+saying of the French general at Balaclava, "Ce n'est pas magnifique,
+mais c'est la guerre." Rogers does not deserve to be dubbed "pirate," or
+classed with a gang of cut-throat ruffians like the buccaneers.
+
+William Dampier apparently had no more sea-adventures; he died in London
+in March 1715.
+
+Alexander Selkirk, returning to Scotland early in 1712, was received by
+his people with affectionate enthusiasm; but, after a time, he took to
+living entirely alone, and sometimes broke out in a passion of regret
+over his island home: "Oh, my beloved island! I wish I had never left
+thee! I never was before the man I was on thee! I have not been such
+since I left thee! and, I fear, never can be again!"
+
+One day, in his solitary wanderings, he came across a young girl, seated
+alone, tending a single cow; their meetings became frequent, and
+eventually he persuaded her--Sophia Bruce was her name--to elope with
+him to London. In 1718 he made a will in her favour, under her maiden
+name, and it is said that, after his death, Sophia Selcraig (for this
+was the original form of Selkirk's name), represented herself as his
+widow, but could produce no evidence of marriage; so it is to be feared
+that she remained Sophia Bruce to the end, while Selkirk married a widow
+named Candis, to whom he left everything by another will.
+
+He died, a mate on board the _Weymouth_ man-of-war, in 1721. A monument
+was erected to his memory on Juan Fernandez, in 1868, by Commodore
+Powell and the officers of the _Topaze_.
+
+Thus, by a pure accident, he becomes a well-known character and a sort
+of hero; certainly, he displayed some heroic attributes during his
+sojourn on Juan Fernandez.
+
+[Footnote 6: Why this young man is alluded to in the "Dictionary of
+National Biography" and elsewhere as Thomas Rogers, I am at a loss to
+understand. Woodes Rogers alludes to him as "my brother John," and a
+manuscript note in one edition of Rogers's cruise tells us that "John,
+son of Woodes Rogers and Frances his wife, was baptized Nov. 28th, 1688;
+_vide_ Register of Poole, Coun. Dorset."]
+
+[Footnote 7: The piece of eight was of equal value to a dollar, and was
+probably worth more than this; forty years later it was valued at 6_s._
+Rogers, however, in distributing plunder, placed it at 4_s._ 6_d._, so
+the ransom money was probably reckoned upon that basis.]
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VI
+
+GEORGE SHELVOCKE AND JOHN CLIPPERTON
+
+
+About seven years after Captain Woodes Rogers returned from his cruise
+another privateering expedition to the South Seas was started by some
+London merchants; but, as England was not then at war with Spain, it was
+to sail under commission from the Emperor Charles VI.--which was quite a
+legitimate proceeding.
+
+The owners selected, as commanders of the two ships--named _Success_ and
+_Speedwell_--George Shelvocke, who had formerly served in the Navy as
+purser, and also probably as a lieutenant, and John Clipperton, who, it
+will be remembered, was with William Dampier on his disastrous voyage,
+and left his chief, with a number of men, to pursue his own fortunes. It
+was deemed politic and complimentary to give the vessels other names,
+and accordingly they were re-christened respectively _Prince Eugene_ and
+_Staremberg_.
+
+Shelvocke, who was to command the expedition, went over to Ostend in the
+_Staremberg_ to receive the commission; but scarcely had it been drawn
+up and signed, when war was declared by England against Spain, and the
+owners then resolved to send the ships out under a commission from their
+own sovereign; and, being greatly dissatisfied with Shelvocke's dilatory
+and extravagant conduct while he was in Ostend, they gave Clipperton the
+chief command, with Shelvocke under him, in the other ship, the vessels
+now reverting to their English names.
+
+Shelvocke, a jealous, passionate, and somewhat unscrupulous man, was
+from the first at loggerheads with Clipperton and with several of his
+own officers, who all appear to have hated him; he was not, in fact,
+fitted for command, and all went wrong from the first. As his second
+captain, Shelvocke had Simon Hatley, who was with Rogers, and had some
+rough experiences, being captured and kept in prison at Lima for a
+considerable time; and as Captain of the Marines one William Betagh, of
+whom more anon.
+
+After sailing from Plymouth on February 13th, 1719, the two ships got
+into bad weather; all the liquor for both ships had, by some stupid
+arrangement, been put on board Shelvocke's vessel, the _Speedwell_, and
+Shelvocke says that when they were two days out he hailed Clipperton,
+desiring him to send for his share, in order that the _Speedwell_ might
+be better trimmed; however, nothing was done in the matter, and on the
+night of the 19th they encountered a terrific storm, during which they
+separated; but this should have made no difference, as they had agreed
+to meet at the Canary Islands.
+
+Shelvocke had, however, apparently determined from the first that he
+would not sail under Clipperton--at least, that is the only conclusion
+that can be arrived at, from the different accounts--and he took
+advantage of this storm to carry out his design. In his account of the
+voyage, he tries to make out that Clipperton deserted him; but, seeing
+that he himself records the fact that he steered next morning to the
+north-west, which certainly was not the course for the Canary Islands,
+while Clipperton steered south by east, which was, approximately, there
+would appear to be no question about the matter; in fact, Shelvocke
+deliberately wasted time, while Clipperton, waiting for him in vain at
+various rendezvous, proceeded on his voyage alone, and was in the South
+Seas before Shelvocke had got anywhere near Cape Horn.
+
+The owners had stipulated that the expedition should proceed upon the
+lines of Rogers, and had provided each captain with a copy of his
+journal; but there was no attempt made to carry out these instructions.
+We find no regular journal kept, no council meetings, no proper command
+over the crew; and, so far from emulating Rogers's scrupulous
+observation of the law, which brought him into conflict with his crew,
+Shelvocke did not refrain from acts of piracy when it suited him.
+
+His first exploit was overhauling a Portuguese vessel off Cape Frio, in
+Brazil; and there is a very marked difference between his account and
+that of William Betagh, who published his own experiences some two years
+after Shelvocke's book came out. Shelvocke says: "On Friday, June 5th,
+in the afternoon, we saw a ship stemming with us, whom we spake with. I
+ordered the five-oared boat to be hoisted out and sent Captain Hatley in
+her to inquire what news on the coast, and gave him money to buy some
+tobacco; for the _Success_ had got our stock on board of that (as well
+as other things), which created a West-country famine amongst us. When
+Hatley returned he told me she was a Portuguese from Rio Janeiro, and
+bound to Pernambuco, that he could get no tobacco, and had therefore
+laid out my money in unnecessary trifles, viz. _china cups and plates_,
+_a little hand-nest of drawers, four or five pieces of china silk_,
+_sweetmeats_, _bananas_, _plantains_, _and pumpkins_, etc. I gave him to
+understand that I was not at all pleased with him for squandering away
+my money in so silly a manner. He answered that he thought what he did
+was for the best, that he had laid out his own money as well as mine,
+and in his opinion to a good advantage, and that, to his knowledge, the
+things he bought would sell for double the money they cost at the next
+port we were going to. However, I assured him I did not like his
+proceedings by any means."
+
+Betagh's version of the incident is somewhat otherwise: "On June 5th,
+1719, we met a Portuguese merchantman near Cape Frio. Our captain
+ordered the Emperor's colours to be hoisted, which, without any
+reflection, look the most thief-like of any worn by honest men; those of
+his Imperial Majesty are a black spread-eagle in a yellow field, and
+those of the pirates a yellow field and black human skeleton; which at a
+small distance are not easily distinguished, especially in light gales
+of wind. So he brings her to, by firing a musket thwart her forefoot,
+sends aboard her the best busker (as he himself called Hatley), with a
+boat's crew; each man armed with a cutlass and a case of pistols. The
+Portuguese not only imagines his ship made prize, but thinks also how he
+shall undergo that piece of discipline used by the merry blades in the
+West Indies, called blooding and sweating.... So Don Pedro, to save his
+bacon, took care to be very officious or yare-handed (as we say), with
+his present. For no sooner was Hatley on his quarter-deck but the
+Portuguese seamen began to hand into the boat the fruits and
+refreshments they had on board, as plantains, bananas, lemons, oranges,
+pomegranates, etc., three or four dozen boxes of marmalade and other
+sweetmeats, some Dutch cheeses, and a large quantity of sugars. If they
+had stopped here it was well enough, and might pass as a present; but
+after this there came above a dozen pieces of silk, several of which
+were flowered with gold and silver, worth at least three pounds a yard,
+by retail; several dozen of china plates and basins, a small Japan
+cabinet, not to mention what the men took.... Among other things, Hatley
+brought the last and handsomest present of all, a purse of 300 moidores.
+This convinced Shelvocke he was not deceived in calling Hatley the best
+busker; that is, an impudent sharp fellow, who, perhaps to reingratiate
+himself, did the devil's work, by whose laudable example our boat's crew
+robbed the man of more than I can pretend to say; but I remember the
+boat was pretty well laden with one trade or another, and none of the
+officers dared so much as peep into her till all was out. While these
+things were handing into the ship a sham kind of quarrel ensues between
+our chieftains."
+
+Betagh's view is corroborated by the fact that, when Shelvocke returned
+to England, he was arraigned on a charge of piracy for this very
+incident.
+
+Dawdling down the coast, they spent nearly two months at St. Catherine's
+Island, Brazil, where there was a great deal of trouble with the crew,
+who drew up new articles for the regulation of the distribution of
+spoil, which Shelvocke found himself eventually compelled to sign,
+having previously, according to his own account, quelled a mutiny with
+the assistance of M. de la Jonquiere, the captain of a French-manned
+ship which had been employed under Spanish colours--the whole of which
+is a most improbable, nay, incredible story, and is ridiculed by Betagh.
+
+On rounding Cape Horn, Shelvocke got very nearly as far south as Rogers
+had done, and here there is mention of an incident which has a certain
+interest. Says Shelvocke: "We all observed that we had not had the sight
+of one fish of any kind, since we were come to the southward of the
+Straits of Le Mair, nor one sea-bird, except a disconsolate black
+albatross, who accompanied us for several days, hovering about us as if
+he had lost himself; till Hatley, observing, in one of his melancholy
+fits, that this bird was always hovering near us, imagined, from his
+colour, that it might be some ill omen. That which, I suppose, induced
+him the more to encourage his superstition, was the continued series of
+contrary tempestuous winds which had oppressed us ever since we had got
+into this sea. But be that as it would, he, after some fruitless
+attempts, at length shot the albatross, not doubting, perhaps, that we
+should have a fair wind after it."
+
+Many years afterwards, in 1797, one English poet--Wordsworth--mentioned
+to another--Coleridge--that he had been reading Shelvocke's account of
+his voyage and related the albatross incident, which Coleridge
+introduced into "The Ancient Mariner" in the following year. It does not
+appear, however, that the crew of the _Speedwell_ expressed any
+indignation at Hatley's act, or proceeded to any such extreme measure as
+hanging the dead albatross--which was probably not recovered--round his
+neck; and, whatever may have been the superstitious significance
+attached to the continual hovering of the solitary bird about the
+ship--not at all an unusual incident in that latitude--no change
+resulted from its death, the boisterous winds and huge mile-long seas
+continuing to buffet the ship without reprieve; and it was six weeks
+before they got fairly round the Horn and sighted the coast of Chili.
+
+Shelvocke, still bent, apparently, upon killing time, put into Chiloe
+and Concepcion on trivial pretexts, and at the latter place captured one
+or two prizes of trifling value; but, a party being sent in a small
+prize which they had renamed _Mercury_ to capture a vessel laden with
+wine, etc., in a bay about six miles distant, were cleverly ambushed by
+the natives. They found the vessel, but she was hauled up on shore, and
+empty; seeing a small house near by, they imagined her cargo was stored
+there, and, running up to it, helter-skelter, out came the enemy,
+mounted, each man lying along his horse and driving before them a double
+rank of unbacked horses, linked together. The Englishmen were quite
+powerless to resist, so they fled for their ship, which had grounded,
+the horsemen pursuing with guns and lassos. James Daniel, one of
+Shelvocke's foremast men, was lassoed just as he was wading out, and was
+dragged on shore, as he described it, "at the rate of ten knots."
+However, he appears to have escaped after all; but five of the party
+were overtaken and captured, three being killed and the others severely
+wounded. Another ship named _St. Fermin_, which they captured, Shelvocke
+eventually burned, after the Spaniards had repeatedly failed to send the
+money which had been agreed upon for her ransom.
+
+And so they sailed for Juan Fernandez, "to see," as Shelvocke says, "if
+we could find by any marks that the _Success_ was arrived in these
+seas," and arrived off the island on January 12th, 1720. Shelvocke,
+however, would not go in and anchor at first; he appears to have been
+unwilling to seek any evidence of Clipperton's visit, and kept standing
+off and on, fishing and filling the water-casks; until one day, "some of
+my men accidentally saw the word 'Magee,' which was the name of
+Clipperton's surgeon, and 'Captain John,' cut out under it upon a tree,
+but no directions left, as was agreed on by him in his instructions to
+me."
+
+Betagh says that Brook, the first lieutenant, "being the first officer
+that landed, immediately saw 'Captain John----' and 'W. Magee' cut in
+the tree-bark; upon the news of which everybody seemed to rejoice but
+our worthy captain, who would have it an invention of Brook's, for which
+he used him scurvily before all the company, telling him 'twas a lie....
+Brook had hitherto been a great favourite with Shelvocke, but for this
+unwelcome discovery he is now put upon the black list."
+
+It appears, however, from two different accounts, that the Viceroy at
+Lima had obtained from some of Clipperton's men, who became prisoners
+through the recapture of a prize, an account of the bottle hidden under
+the tree at Juan Fernandez, and of two men who had deserted there, and
+had despatched a vessel to bring both the men and the bottle; and
+Shelvocke, though he was not aware of this at the time, must have known
+it very well when he wrote his book; so his abuse of Clipperton is very
+disingenuous.
+
+Even then, he went where he knew that Clipperton was not likely to be,
+sailing across to Arica, where he took a couple of small prizes, one of
+them "laden with cormorant's dung, which the Spaniards call _guano_, and
+is brought from the island of Iquique to cultivate the agi, or
+cod-pepper, in the Vale of Arica."
+
+It was not until more than one hundred years later that we began
+regularly to ship guano to England as manure; Richard Dana describes a
+voyage for that purpose, in "Two Years before the Mast," published in
+1840; this was probably one of the earliest ventures, though the
+existence of these huge deposits had been known for many years
+previously.
+
+Then followed a plan for capturing the town of Payta--a matter which,
+Shelvocke says, had been considered in the scheme of the voyage as one
+of great importance. He landed there with forty-six men, to find the
+town almost deserted; but presently saw great bodies of men on the
+surrounding hills, who however, retreated before his forty-six. He
+demanded 10,000 pieces of eight as ransom for the town, and a small
+prize he had taken; the Spaniards temporised, because they could see
+from their look-outs that a Spanish Admiral's ship, carrying fifty guns,
+was just round the high bluff, and thought they had a nice rod in pickle
+for the English. Shelvocke threatened, failing immediate ransom, to burn
+the town; the Spaniards replied that he might do what he liked, as long
+as he spared the churches--an absurd stipulation, for fire, once
+started, is not discriminating as to sacred edifices--and eventually the
+town was set on fire in three places.
+
+No sooner, however, was Payta fairly in a blaze, than Shelvocke became
+aware that urgent signals for his return were being made from the
+_Speedwell_, whose guns were blazing away towards the harbour mouth.
+Ordering his crew on board, the captain preceded them in a canoe with
+three men, and, as he opened the point, became speedily aware of the
+significance of these doings; for there was a large ship, with the
+Spanish flag flying--a very much larger ship than the _Speedwell_.
+
+"At this prospect," he says, "two of my three people were ready to sink,
+and had it not been for my boatswain, I should not have been able to
+fetch the ship. When I looked back on the town, I could not forbear
+wishing that I had not been so hasty."
+
+The Spaniard did not, however, avail himself of his opportunities, being
+deterred by the bold tactics of Mr. Coldsea, master of the _Speedwell_,
+who, with only a dozen men on board, opened a hot fire.
+
+It is an extraordinary story. The _Speedwell's_ men, delayed by
+embarking a gun which had been landed, did not get on board until the
+Spanish ship was within less than pistol-shot; then Shelvocke cut his
+cable, and, the ship not falling off the right way, "I had but just room
+enough to clear him." The men were so dismayed at the appearance of the
+enemy's ship that some of them had proposed to jump overboard on the way
+off, and swim ashore--one actually did so.
+
+The Spaniard at length attacked in earnest, and, according to
+Shelvocke's account, handled his ship cleverly, keeping the _Speedwell_
+in a disadvantageous position, and battering her with his broadsides,
+Shelvocke making what return he could. Suddenly the Spaniards crowded on
+deck, shouting, and it was realised that the _Speedwell's_ colours had
+been shot away, giving the appearance of a surrender. Shelvocke
+immediately displayed his colours afresh; upon which, "designing to do
+our business at once, they clapped their helm well a-starboard, to bring
+the whole broadside to point at us; but their fire had little or no
+effect, all stood fast with us, and they muzzled themselves [_i.e._ got
+the ship stuck head to wind, or "in irons"], by which I had time to get
+ahead and to windward of him before he could fill again." And so the
+_Speedwell_ got off, their assailant being the _Peregrine_, of 56 guns
+and 450 men; and Shelvocke tells us that he had not a single man killed
+or wounded!
+
+The _Speedwell_ was hulled repeatedly, and severely damaged aloft--but
+no casualties! There are, it must be admitted, too many tales of
+immunity in privateer accounts, in spite of the "tremendous fire," or
+"shattering broadsides" of the enemy; and, as a skipper cannot well
+manufacture casualties while all his crew are alive and well, one can
+only suppose that the terrible fire of the enemy is exaggerated.
+
+Mr. Betagh--who had been detached with Hatley in a small prize, the
+_Mercury_, which was captured by the _Brilliant_, the _Peregrine's_
+consort--gives another version of this fight, from details obtained from
+the Spaniards. The ship, he says, mounted only 40 guns, and out of her
+crew of 350 men there were not above a dozen Europeans, the remainder
+being negroes, Indians, and half-castes, with no training, who were so
+terrified by the first discharge from the _Speedwell_ that they ran
+below: "The commander and his officers did what they could to bring them
+to their duty: they beat them, swore at them, and pricked them in the
+buttocks; but all would not do, for the poor devils were resolved to be
+frighted. Most of them ran quite down into the hold, while others were
+upon their knees praying the saints for deliverance. The _Speedwell_ did
+not fire above eight or nine guns, and, as they were found sufficient,
+Shelvocke had no reason to waste his powder. However, this panic of
+theirs gave Shelvocke a fair opportunity to get his men aboard, cut his
+cable, and go away right afore the wind. This is the plain truth of the
+matter, which everybody was agreed in, for I heard it at several places;
+though Shelvocke has cooked up a formal story of a desperate engagement
+to deceive those who knew him not into a wondrous opinion of his
+conduct."
+
+The reader can take his choice between these two versions; probably the
+truth lies somewhere midway, for, while Shelvocke was undoubtedly
+addicted at times to "drawing a long bow," Betagh was certainly a very
+bitter enemy of his, and all his statements are more or less coloured,
+no doubt, by animosity.
+
+The _Speedwell's_ days were numbered; on May 11th, 1720, she arrived
+once more at Juan Fernandez, Shelvocke designing to remain there for a
+time and refit, giving the Spaniards to believe that he had quitted the
+cruising-ground. He had only been there a fortnight, however, when in a
+hard onshore gale with a heavy sea, the cable--a new one--parted, and
+the vessel drove on shore; the masts went by the board, and though only
+one life was lost, the _Speedwell_ was done for--a hopeless wreck.
+
+Clipperton, meanwhile, having given up all hope of rejoining Shelvocke,
+had crossed the Atlantic and made his way, with much labour, through the
+Straits of Magellan, to the South Seas--it took them two months and a
+half to get through, and in September 1719 they visited Juan Fernandez,
+Clipperton being resolved to carry out his part of the bargain, and this
+being one of their appointed meeting-places. There the name of Magee,
+the doctor, was cut on the tree, and the instructions for Shelvocke
+buried in a bottle. Clipperton's name, we are told, was not cut in full,
+because he was well known out there, had been a prisoner for some time,
+and did not wish to advertise his return; but the precaution was futile,
+as we have seen.
+
+Clipperton had great trouble with his crew, who declared that there
+would be no chance of much booty with a single ship, which might easily
+have the odds against her; and they cursed Shelvocke freely for running
+away with their liquor.
+
+After leaving Juan Fernandez they took several prizes, one of them being
+the _Trinity_, of 400 tons, which had been taken by Woodes Rogers at
+Guayaquil, ten years before, and ransomed; one of the captains, however,
+being a sharp and intrepid fellow, got the better of Clipperton. His
+ship, the _Rosario_, being taken, he saw at once that, from the number
+of prizes the English privateer had in company, her crew must be already
+very much reduced, so he kept his eye open for an opportunity. He had
+about a dozen passengers, whom he took into his confidence, hiding them
+in the hold. Clipperton sent a lieutenant and eight men to take
+possession, and all the crew they could find were confined in the cabin,
+with a sentry at the door. The ship was presently got under sail by the
+Englishmen, to join the _Success_, and the prize crew went down to see
+what plunder they could discover in the hold; upon which the concealed
+passengers fell upon them and secured them, while those in the cabin,
+taking the sounds of the scuffle below as their signal, knocked the
+sentry on the head and broke out, the boatswain meanwhile flooring the
+lieutenant by a blow from behind. The captain then ran the vessel on
+shore, and, in spite of a heavy surf, both crews landed safely, the
+Englishmen being sent to Lima as prisoners; and it was one of these who
+was unsportsmanlike enough to let out about the bottle buried on Juan
+Fernandez.
+
+The Viceroy of Peru, we are told, immediately ordered a new ship to be
+built for the plucky and resourceful captain of the _Rosario_, and
+imposed a tax on all the traders to pay for her.
+
+While watering at the island of Lobos de la Mar, a plot was discovered
+among the crew to seize the ship, but was suppressed; later on another
+misfortune befell them, for, capturing a good prize, laden with tobacco,
+sugar, and cloth off Coquimbo, they discovered, on entering that port,
+three Spanish men-of-war, which were on the station for the express
+purpose of looking after the English privateers. These, of course,
+immediately cut their cables and made sail in chase, the _Success_ and
+her prize hauling their wind to escape; the latter, however, was soon
+recaptured, with a lieutenant and twelve men of the _Success_, which
+contrived to escape.
+
+This was a great blow to the already discontented and half mutinous
+crew. To make matters worse, Clipperton began to solace himself with
+liquor, and was frequently more or less drunk. Provisions began to run
+short, so that they were glad to land all their Spanish prisoners.
+
+At the island of Cocoas--one of the Galapagos Islands--they built a
+place for their sick and rested a little; when they prepared to sail, on
+January 21st, 1721, eleven of the crew--three whites and eight
+negroes--hid themselves and deserted, preferring to live as they could
+on a fertile island to braving the privations and disappointments of the
+sea again.
+
+On January 25th, having arrived at the island of Quibo, off the coast of
+Mexico, a great surprise was in store. The pinnace being sent in chase
+of a sail, came up with her about eleven o'clock at night, and found her
+to be a Spanish vessel, the _Jesu Maria_; but not in Spanish hands, for
+she was manned by Shelvocke and what remained of the _Speedwell's_ crew.
+They had contrived to build some crazy sort of craft out of the wreck of
+their ship at Juan Fernandez, and had eventually taken this vessel, a
+very good and sound one, of two hundred tons.
+
+Thus they met, after two years; and it was not a pleasant nor cordial
+meeting. Clipperton called Shelvocke to account for the plunder which he
+had taken, and the portion set aside for the owners; but no account was
+forthcoming, of course, for Shelvocke and his crew were by that time on
+a sort of piratical footing, with no attempt at discipline or regularity
+of proceedings. They met several times, and Clipperton supplied the
+other with some articles; eventually, Clipperton sent a sort of
+ultimatum to Shelvocke, that if he and his crew would refund all the
+money shared among themselves, contrary to the original articles with
+the owners, and put it into a common stock, the past should be forgiven,
+and they would cruise together for the rich ship from Acapulco. This
+proposal was not, of course, entertained by Shelvocke and his men; and
+so they parted.
+
+Clipperton eventually sailed for China, and, after many difficulties,
+came home to Ireland in a Dutch East Indiaman. He did not long survive
+his return; his ill-success, and probably his intemperate habits, broke
+down his health, and he died a few weeks later.
+
+Shelvocke, meanwhile, had captured, at Sansonate, a vessel named the
+_Santa Familia_; and, finding her a better ship than the _Jesu Maria_,
+he exchanged.
+
+When he was on the point of sailing, however, he received a letter from
+the Governor notifying the conclusion of peace between Spain and
+England, and demanding the return of the ship. He demanded a copy of the
+articles of peace, which the Governor promised to obtain for him; but
+there was evidently a strong conviction on shore that Shelvocke was not
+ingenuous in the matter. A lieutenant and five men whom he sent on shore
+were seized, and eventually he sailed with his capture, leaving behind a
+protest, signed by all the crew.
+
+They were, however, getting very sick of the cruise, and contemplated
+surrendering themselves at Panama; but meanwhile they took another
+vessel, the _Conception_--the doubt which existed as to the
+establishment of peace not troubling them very much--and eventually,
+abandoning the idea of surrender, they sailed for China.
+
+Shelvocke had some queer and suspicious dealings with the Chinese
+authorities at Whampoa, disposing of his ship for L700, after having,
+as he alleges, paid more than L2,000 for port dues. Betagh says he
+cleared some L7,000 out of the cruise, and he gives figures which go far
+towards proving his assertion; the owners did not make much out of the
+venture, though Clipperton endeavoured to act honestly towards them; and
+when Shelvocke, returning in an East Indiaman, presented himself before
+them, he was immediately arrested--Betagh says on the strength of a
+letter which he had written while a prisoner at Lima--and put in prison.
+
+He was charged with two acts of piracy--to wit, the affair off Cape
+Frio, and the capture of the _Santa Familia_; but there was not adequate
+legal proof against him. On the further charge of defrauding his owners
+he was detained, but contrived to escape, and left England.
+
+This was in 1722. Four years later he published his book, "A Voyage
+Round the World," which was followed in two years by that of his late
+officer, William Betagh.
+
+Making every allowance for Betagh's animosity, it is impossible to
+believe that Shelvocke was a favourable specimen of a privateer
+commander; his own admissions are in several instances against him, and
+there can be little doubt that he and his crew degenerated into
+unscrupulous pirates. Clipperton, though very rough and eventually a
+drunkard, was a better type of man; and, had Shelvocke been loyal, and
+stuck to him from the first, the story of the cruise might have been a
+very different one.
+
+
+
+
+SOME ODD YARNS
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VII
+
+CAPTAIN PHILLIPS OF THE "ALEXANDER"
+
+
+In the year 1744 a British 20-gun ship, the _Solebay_, was captured,
+together with two others, by a French squadron under Admiral de
+Rochambeau.
+
+Less than two years later the Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty
+called before them a certain Captain Phillips, master mariner,
+commanding the _Alexander_ privateer; and the following is the "minute"
+of the interview, officially recorded:
+
+"29 April, 1746. Captain Phillips, of the _Alexander_ privateer,
+attending, was called in, and told the Lords that he chased the
+_Solebay_ and a small ship, laden with naval stores, that she had under
+her convoy, into St. Martin's Road[8] on the 10th instant; that he came
+up with the _Solebay_ just at the entrance of the Road, where he
+believed there were 100 sail of ships at anchor, and boarded her athwart
+the bowsprit, sword in hand, and cut her out about three o'clock p.m.
+Said the wind was at S.S.W., which was fair for his running in and
+coming out. The Lords asked him how many men she had on board. He
+answered she had 230, and he had but 140; that they kept a very bad
+look-out, but as soon as he boarded her they were forced to fly from
+their quarters; that they killed 15 of her men, and he had lost but
+three; that she is still called the _Solebay_, and that the French have
+made no other alteration in her than lengthening her quarter-deck. The
+Lords asked him what he thought the two Martinico ships he had taken
+were worth; he answered about L8,000 or L9,000. He told the Lords that
+at the Isle of Rhe there were two ships of 64 guns each, and four East
+India ships outward bound; said he was to be heard of at Lloyd's Coffee
+House, and then withdrew."
+
+Thus an English man-of-war was restored to the Royal Navy by the
+boldness and enterprise of this privateer captain, who was another
+specimen of a good man lost to the Service. He would willingly have
+entered the Navy, but, like George Walker, he was deterred by the
+stringent regulations, which compelled him at first to take a
+subordinate post as lieutenant. He was presented, however, with five
+hundred guineas and a gold medal, in recognition of his excellent
+services; and his name will not be overlooked in the roll of honour by
+naval historians.
+
+
+THE CASE OF THE "ANTIGALLICAN"
+
+In the year 1755 there appears to have existed a certain body which had
+adopted the title of "The Society of Antigallicans," having for its
+object the promotion of British manufactures, the extension of the
+commerce of England, the discouragement of French _modes_, and of the
+importation of French commodities.
+
+War being regarded as inevitable, and the king having already issued a
+proclamation licensing the granting of commissions to privateers, the
+Antigallicans, always busy "concerting some good for the sake of the
+public," discussed the propriety of fitting out a vessel of this
+nature--an undertaking which, if successful, might obviously bring them
+a rich reward for their public spirit.
+
+The scheme, proposed by one William Smith, Esq., was relished by the
+whole company, and the motion carried by acclamation. When the applause
+had subsided there rose Mr. Torrington, who informed the company present
+that he happened to possess at that moment a ship most admirably adapted
+for the purpose: being the _Flamborough_, formerly a man-of-war, but
+then in the Jamaica trade, and known as the _Flying Flamborough_ on
+account of her great speed; Mr. Torrington, in his naturally
+enthusiastic eulogy of the ship he wished to sell, declaring that, with
+a fair wind and crowded canvas, she had frequently run fourteen
+knots--which was certainly very unusual with the short, bluff-bowed
+vessels of that period.
+
+It was immediately agreed to purchase her, and she was appropriately
+renamed the _Antigallican_. She was a formidable vessel, of 440 tons,
+mounting 28 guns and 16 swivels, with a crew of 208 men, commanded by
+William Foster--a man apparently of humble birth, for he is said to have
+been a "cockswain" on board H.M.S. _Defiance_, and to have attracted
+notice by his brave conduct during the action between Anson and De la
+Jonquiere on May 3rd, 1747.[9]
+
+On July 17th, 1756, the _Antigallican_ was ready for sea, and the owners
+brought down their wives and daughters and numerous friends, who were
+handsomely entertained on board; she had on board, we are told, "six
+months' provision, all of the product of Middlesex and Kent, generally
+supplied from the estates of the proprietors. There was not the least
+thing in or about her but what was entirely English"--which, of course,
+was only right and consistent with the principles of the Society.
+
+Sailing on September 17th, she fell in, about a month later, with an
+armed French vessel, about 300 miles west of Lisbon. This ship fell an
+easy prey, surrendering after delivering one broadside and receiving a
+raking fire from the Englishman. She had on board, we are told, four
+English prisoners, "part of the crew taken on board the _Warwick_
+man-of-war." This ship had been captured by a French squadron on March
+11th preceding. Why these four men were on board this armed merchantman
+does not appear, but the French captain, who was a cheerful soul, not
+readily cast down by adversity, had always treated them well, and, when
+the _Antigallican_ hove in sight, served out a complete outfit of
+clothes to them. They remained on deck at work until the first shot was
+fired, when they were put under hatches, and the captain himself was the
+first to inform them of their release. Smiling upon them through the
+open hatchway, he said: "Come out, gentlemen; _it be vel wit you, but
+ill wit me!_"
+
+This vessel was the _Maria Theresa_, 14 guns and 30 men. She was valued,
+with her cargo, at L23,000: so the _Antigallican_ made a promising
+commencement of her cruise. The prize was sent to Portsmouth. Another,
+valued at L15,000, was taken into Madeira, in company with the
+privateer.
+
+This was all very pleasant, and the Antigallican Society could
+congratulate itself upon the success of its scheme for the good of the
+public--and, incidentally, for the pockets of its members; and one day
+in December 1756 a Dutch vessel gave news of a very rich prize, the _Duc
+de Penthievre_, a French Indiaman. "The news was communicated to the
+crew, who heard it joyfully and behaved with a true Antigallican
+spirit."
+
+The privateer was off Corunna on the morning of December 26th, and at 6
+a.m. a sail was observed standing inshore. It being almost calm, the
+sweeps were got out, and by noon the _Antigallican_ was within gunshot,
+under Spanish colours. Upon receiving a shot she ran up English colours,
+and the French ship then delivered a broadside; the English captain,
+however, reserved his fire until he was close aboard. They fought for
+nearly three hours; then the Frenchman struck, and the vessel proved to
+be the one they were in search of, her value being placed at something
+like L300,000! Here was a fine haul. They made haste to get into port
+with her, aiming at Lisbon; but they had some characteristically rough
+winter weather on that coast, and, after bucketing about for over a
+fortnight, they ran for Cadiz, where they arrived on January 23rd, 1757.
+That gale proved very disastrous for the Antigallicans, for the
+Spaniards, green with envy over such gains, immediately set to work to
+show that the _Duc de Penthievre_ was captured in Spanish waters, _i.e._
+within three miles of the coast.
+
+The French officers, in the first instance, deposed quite ingenuously,
+before the consular authorities, upon their oath, that their ship was
+captured two or three leagues--six or eight miles--off the coast; that
+they did not see any fort, nor hear any guns fired; in fact, they
+accepted the position that they were fairly made prisoners, and their
+vessel, with all her rich cargo, was now English property. The
+depositions of the English and French officers were sent to the
+Admiralty Court at Gibraltar, and the ship was condemned as "good prize"
+without hesitation.
+
+Meanwhile, the Spanish naval authorities had politely given permission
+for the English privateer to be taken over to the Government yard for
+refitting, and all her movable gear, of every description, was landed
+and placed in the warehouse, in order that the ship might be "careened,"
+or "hove down," to examine and clean her bottom.
+
+On February 19th came the first attack from the Spaniards. The Governor
+of Cadiz sent for the English Consul, Mr. Goldsworthy, and told him that
+he was obliged to send troops on board the prize, having received orders
+to detain her. In spite of the Consul's vigorous protest, the threat was
+confirmed with every warlike accompaniment--guns manned in the fort,
+artillerymen standing by with lighted matches, and so on. Both vessels
+were seized, but before dark the Governor, having apparently some
+misgivings as to the legality of the business, ordered the troops to be
+withdrawn, "after having broken open several chests, and carried away
+everything they could find of the officers and crew, and the very beef
+that was dressing for dinner."
+
+On February 26th the Governor informed the Consul that he had orders to
+deliver the prize to the French Consul. Captain Foster offered to place
+the ship in the Governor's hands until the case should be decided, which
+was a very proper and businesslike proposal; but it was refused, and the
+captain declaring that the English colours flying on the prize should
+never come down with his consent, matters came to a climax, and, in
+spite of the unwillingness of the Spanish Admiral, who probably realised
+the injustice of the proceedings, the Governor insisted that two
+men-of-war should be sent to enforce his orders; a 60-gun ship and a
+36-gun frigate took up their positions quite close to the prize, and
+upon Foster refusing to lower his colours, they opened fire, killing six
+men and wounding two. The flag halyards were shot away almost
+immediately; but, in spite of the colours coming down, they would not
+desist. The prize made no attempt at resistance, and on the following
+day--March 3rd--the captain and crew were imprisoned.
+
+On the 5th came an order from Madrid to stop all proceedings against the
+prize and consult with the English captain alone; to allow the prize to
+remain in our possession, but not to leave the port until further
+orders.
+
+The Spanish Governor, however, having evidently some very amenable
+perjurers up his sleeve, disregarded the injunction, refusing to return
+the ship to the English Consul; and on the following day there arrived
+from Gibraltar the formal decision of the Admiralty Court, condemning
+the _Duc de Penthievre_ as "good prize," on the evidence of the French
+officers, delivered two days before she was forcibly seized.
+
+However, the French Ambassador at Madrid, inspired and instructed by the
+Consul at Cadiz, was very urgent in the matter, and the Spaniards
+succeeded in finding some unscrupulous persons who swore that the action
+took place within gunshot, while other independent witnesses were very
+certain that it did not; and the King of Spain, being somewhat uneasy in
+his mind, intimated to our Ambassador at Madrid that the prize was only
+to be detained until strict inquiry could be made into the merits of the
+case.
+
+This appears to have been hailed, by the Antigallican Society, as
+equivalent to victory; the narrator of the story expresses his great joy
+over the restitution of the prize, and gives a copy of a letter from his
+Society to Pitt, whose good offices with the Spanish Government had been
+enlisted, thanking him enthusiastically for his successful intervention.
+
+They were counting their chickens before they were hatched; the Spanish
+half-concession was merely an elaboration of their favourite word,
+_manana_--and this "to-morrow," upon which the English were to have the
+ship which they had fairly captured, never dawned! There was an immense
+amount of correspondence on the subject, but in 1758, two years later,
+the matter was not settled--or rather, it was settled against the
+English; and they never got their L300,000, or their ship. It appears
+almost incredible, but this appears to be the truth about the
+_Antigallican_ and her rich prize. We have no more reports of any
+privateering business by the Antigallican Society; so we must conclude
+that the members had had enough of such ventures.
+
+The following is a translation of the deposition of the first lieutenant
+of the _Duc de Penthievre_, made before the British Consul at Cadiz:
+
+"M. Francois de Querangal, first lieutenant of the ship _Duc de
+Penthievre_, belonging to the French East India Company, commanded by M.
+Ettoupan de Villeneuve, since dead of his wounds after the engagement,
+deposes that the said ship sailed from the Island of St. Mary, on the
+coast of Madagascar, on the 12th of September, 1756, bound for the port
+of L'Orient, in France; that the said ship was compelled, by contrary
+winds and other stress, to run for the harbour of Corunna, on the coast
+of Spain; that on the 26th December last, being about one league from
+land, the _Antigallican_, displaying Spanish colours and coming within
+gunshot, they fired a gun across her bows. The vessel immediately
+hoisted English colours, and we commenced the action.
+
+"The Iron Tower was then about two and a half or three leagues distant.
+Asked whether he had seen any flags or batteries on shore, he declares
+that he had seen neither.
+
+"That the said ship, _Duc de Penthievre_, was armed with 20 guns at the
+time of the action, and carried a crew of 150 men; that he had no
+knowledge of the papers contained in the boxes thrown overboard before
+the colours were hauled down.
+
+"The said gentleman declares before me, having taken his oath according
+to the French custom, that the above statement is true."
+
+This is signed by the deponent and duly attested by the Consul, the
+depositions of the other French officers being in precisely similar
+terms.
+
+It was on these depositions, together with those of Captain Foster and
+his assistants, that the Admiralty Court at Gibraltar condemned the ship
+as "good prize," and with perfect justice; had any ground existed for
+protest, it should then have been put forward; so the flagrant injustice
+and iniquity of the Spanish authorities is very apparent. There had
+been other complaints previously, and the British Ambassador at Madrid
+had very strongly protested against the favour shown by the Spaniards to
+French privateers, and had also induced Pitt, the Prime Minister, to
+support him in a strong letter. But it was all of no avail: there were
+wheels within wheels, and, rather than make it an occasion of war, the
+just claims of the Antigallicans were suffered to go by the board.
+
+[Footnote 8: Inside Isle de Rhe, off the coast of France, close to La
+Rochelle.]
+
+[Footnote 9: Perhaps Mr. William Foster is responsible for the story
+here told by the Antigallican narrator, that Anson "had no hand in the
+matter. That morning he desired a council of war, but Sir Peter Warren
+told him, 'There are French colours flying! which is a sufficient
+council of war'; and so bore down upon them, while his lordship lay at a
+distance." Anson, however, received his peerage for this very action--he
+was not "his lordship" when he fought it; Warren was knighted at the
+same time.]
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VIII
+
+CAPTAIN DEATH, OF THE "TERRIBLE"
+
+
+One of the bloodiest privateer actions on record was that between the
+_Terrible_, owned in London, and the _Vengeance_, of St. Malo.
+
+The _Terrible_ carried 26 guns, with a crew of 200 men, and was
+commanded by Captain Death. She was cruising off the mouth of the
+Channel at the end of the year 1756, and had had some success, capturing
+an armed French cargo ship, the _Alexandre le Grand_, (the narrator very
+simply translates this "Grand Alexander"!), which she was escorting into
+Plymouth, with a prize crew of an officer--the first lieutenant--and
+fifteen men, when on December 27th, at daylight, two sails were sighted
+to the southward, about twelve miles distant. Some communication was
+observed to take place between the two vessels, and then the larger one
+steered for the _Terrible_ and her prize, which was far astern, so that
+the _Terrible_ was obliged to back her mizzen-topsail and wait for her.
+
+Meanwhile, every preparation was made for action; but, from the absence
+of the prize crew and other causes, no more than 116 men out of 200 were
+able to stand to the guns; indeed, the narrator, who was third
+lieutenant of the _Terrible_, tells rather a sad story of her crew--"the
+rest being either dead or sick below with a distemper called the spotted
+fever, that raged among the ship's company." This may have been
+malignant typhus, or the plague, terribly infectious; and there would be
+great reluctance to handle the dead bodies--hence some of these were
+left below.
+
+The enemy approached, as was usually the practice, under English colours
+until within close range, when she shortened sail and hoisted French
+colours. The _Terrible_ was ready for her, with her starboard guns
+manned, and the prize had by this time come up; but she was a clumsy
+sailer, deep-laden, and fell off from the wind; so the Frenchman got in
+between them, gave the prize a broadside, and then, ranging close up on
+the _Terrible's_ port quarter, delivered a most destructive fire,
+diagonally across her deck, killing and wounding a great number. So
+close were the two ships, that the yardarms almost touched, and the
+_Terrible's_ people, in spite of the awful battering they had just
+received, returned a broadside of round and grape, which was equally
+destructive. For five or six minutes they surged along side by side,
+while each disposed his dead and wounded, and a touch of the helm would
+have run either vessel aboard her opponent. The Frenchmen, more numerous
+in spite of their losses, might have boarded, and the "Terribles" were
+in momentary expectation of it--but they held off, and the English did
+not find themselves strong enough to attempt it. Separating again, they
+exchanged a murderous fire at close range, the casualties being very
+heavy on both sides.
+
+The French ship had, however, one great advantage at such close
+quarters; in each "top" she had eight or ten small-arm men, who were
+able to fire down upon the _Terrible's_ deck, and pick off whom they
+would--the latter was too short-handed to spare any men for this
+purpose.
+
+This slaughter, to which they were unable to reply, really decided the
+action. Every man in sight was either killed or miserably wounded--the
+captain and the third lieutenant escaped for some time, but the latter
+was grazed on his cheek, and the captain, he states, was shot through
+the body after he had struck his flag. This is a very common accusation,
+and no doubt it has often been true, though probably only through a
+misapprehension; men who are blazing away and being shot at in a hot
+action do not always know or realise at the moment that the enemy has
+struck, and so some poor fellow loses his life unnecessarily.
+
+It was too hot to last. The enemy was a ship of considerably superior
+force, and probably had three times the number of the _Terrible's_
+available crew at the commencement of the action. On board the English
+vessel nearly one hundred men were dead or wounded, the decks were
+cumbered with their bodies, and only one officer was left untouched;
+they had not a score of men left to fight the ship, and the enemy
+continued to pour in a pitiless fire, which at length brought the
+mainmast by the board.
+
+Captain Death, a brave man, could then see no course but to surrender,
+having put up a very gallant fight; and so he ordered down the colours,
+and was then, as is said, fatally wounded by a musket-ball.
+
+Then follows a dismal story of the treatment of the English prisoners,
+which we may hope, for the sake of French humanity and generosity, is
+somewhat exaggerated--as we know that such things can be, under the
+smart of defeat and surrender: "They turned our first lieutenant and all
+our people down in a close, confined place forward the first night that
+we came on board, where twenty-seven men of them were stifled before
+morning; and several were hauled out for dead, but the air brought them
+to life again; and a great many of them died of their wounds on board
+the _Terrible_ for want of care being taken of them, which was out of
+our doctor's power to do, the enemy having taken his instruments and
+medicine from him. Several that were wounded they heaved overboard
+alive."
+
+If this is a true account one shudders to think what may have been the
+fate of those unhappy, plague-stricken men below--probably brought up
+and hove overboard in a ferocious panic!
+
+The French ship was named the _Vengeance_, of 36 guns and about 400 men;
+so there was no discredit to Captain Death in yielding, after such a
+plucky resistance. The merchants of London opened a subscription at
+Lloyd's Coffee House for his widow and the widows of the crew, and for
+the survivors, who had suffered the loss of all their possessions.
+
+This desperate fight was much talked about at the time, and inspired
+some rhymester, whose name has not come down to us, to compose the
+following:
+
+CAPTAIN DEATH
+
+  The muse and the hero together are fir'd,
+  The same noble views has their bosom inspir'd;
+  As freedom they love, and for glory contend,
+  The muse o'er the hero still mourns as a friend;
+  So here let the muse her poor tribute bequeath,
+  To one British hero--'tis brave Captain Death.
+
+  The ship was the _Terrible_--dreadful to see!
+  His crew was as brave and as valiant as he.
+  Two hundred or more was their full complement,
+  And sure braver fellows to sea never went.
+  Each man was determined to spend his last breath
+  In fighting for Britain and brave Captain Death.
+
+  A prize they had taken diminish'd their force,
+  And soon the brave ship was lost in her course.
+  The French privateer and the _Terrible_ met,
+  The battle began with all horror beset.
+  No heart was dismayed, each bold as Macbeth;
+  The sailors rejoiced, so did brave Captain Death.
+
+  Fire, thunder, balls, bullets were soon heard and felt,
+  A sight that the heart of Bellona would melt.
+  The shrouds were all torn and the decks fill'd with blood.
+  And scores of dead bodies were thrown in the flood.
+  The flood, from the time of old Noah and Seth,
+  Ne'er saw such a man as our brave Captain Death.
+
+  At last the dread bullet came wing'd with his fate;
+  Our brave captain dropped, and soon after his mate.
+  Each officer fell, and a carnage was seen,
+  That soon dy'd the waves to a crimson from green;
+  Then Neptune rose up, and he took off his wreath,
+  And gave it a triton to crown Captain Death.
+
+  Thus fell the strong _Terrible_, bravely and bold,
+  But sixteen survivors the tale can unfold.
+  The French were the victors, tho' much to their cost,
+  For many brave French were with Englishmen lost.
+  For thus says old Time, "Since Queen Elizabeth,
+  I ne'er saw the fellow of brave Captain Death."
+
+There is another poetic effusion on the subject, under the title "The
+Terrible Privateer"; but it is such halting doggrel that the reader
+shall be spared the transcription; with the exception of the last verse,
+which breathes such a blunt British spirit that it would be a pity to
+omit it:
+
+  Here's a health unto our British fleet.
+  Grant they with these privateers may meet,
+  And have better luck than the _Terrible_,
+  And sink those Mounsiers all to hell.
+
+The _Vengeance_ was, in fact, captured about twelve months later by the
+_Hussar_, a man-of-war, after a stout resistance, in which she lost
+heavily; it is impossible, however, to say how far the devout aspiration
+of the poet was fulfilled!
+
+
+MR. PETER BAKER AND THE "MENTOR"
+
+In the Reading-room of the Free Library in Liverpool there hangs an
+oil-painting, of which a reproduction is here given, illustrating an
+incident which occurred during the American War of Secession, in 1778.
+
+Liverpool merchants and shipowners were very active at that time in the
+fitting out of privateers; and some, or one of them, entered into a
+contract with one Peter Baker to build a vessel for this purpose. Now,
+Baker does not appear to have had the necessary training and experience
+to qualify him as a designer and builder of ships. He had served a short
+apprenticeship with some employer in the neighbourhood of Garston, near
+Liverpool, and had then worked as a carpenter in Liverpool, eventually
+becoming a master. However, he set to work to fulfil his contract; but
+he turned out of hand such a sorry specimen of a ship--clumsy,
+ill-built, lopsided, and with sailing qualities more suited to a
+haystack than a smart privateer--that the prospective owner refused her,
+throwing her back on his hands--a very serious matter for Peter Baker,
+who was heavily in debt over the venture.
+
+Strangely enough, this apparent calamity proved to be the making of him.
+
+Despairing of paying his debts, he resolved upon the somewhat desperate
+course of fitting out the ship as a venture of his own, and contrived to
+obtain sufficient credit for this purpose. Probably his creditors agreed
+to give him this chance, as the privateers not infrequently made
+considerable sums of money.
+
+Baker did not, however, aspire to the post of privateer captain; he
+appointed to the command his son-in-law, John Dawson, who had made
+several voyages to the coast of Africa, and knew enough about
+navigation to get along somehow. The vessel measured 400 tons, carried
+28 guns, and shipped a crew of 102 men; but they were a very queer lot:
+loafers picked up on the docks, landsmen in search of adventure, and so
+on. With this unpromising outfit--a lopsided, heavy-sailing vessel, an
+inexperienced commander, and a crew of incapable desperadoes--Peter
+Baker entered upon his privateering venture, and in due course the
+_Mentor_, provided, no doubt, with a king's commission, proceeded down
+the Irish Sea, hanging about in the chops of the Channel for homeward
+bound French merchantmen. Dawson was not very persistent or
+enterprising, for we are told that in something under a week he was on
+the point of returning, not having as yet come across anything worthy of
+his powder and shot. Falling in with another privateer, homeward bound,
+he made the usual inquiry as to whether she had seen anything, either in
+the way of a likely prize or a formidable enemy; and was informed that a
+large vessel, either a Spanish 74-gun ship, or Spanish East Indiaman,
+had been seen just previously in a given latitude.
+
+Dawson thereupon resolved to put his fortune to the test--"For," said
+he, "I might as well be in a Spanish prison as an English one, and if I
+return empty I shall most likely be imprisoned for debt." So he made
+sail after the assumed Spaniard, and found her readily enough; as he
+closed, he made out through his glass that she was pierced for 74 guns,
+and was, of course, in every respect a far more formidable craft than
+the lopsided _Mentor_. Handing the glass to his carpenter, John Baxter,
+evidently an observant and intelligent man, the latter exclaimed that
+the stranger's guns were all dummies!
+
+Thereupon John Dawson bore down to the attack, boarded the enemy, and
+carried her, with his harum-scarum crew, almost unopposed.
+
+She proved to be a French East Indiaman, the _Carnatic_, with a most
+valuable cargo--said to be worth pretty nearly half a million sterling.
+One box of diamonds alone was valued at L135,000.
+
+[Illustration: CAPTURE OF THE FRENCH EAST INDIAMEN "CARNATIC"]
+
+The crew had been three years in the vessel, trading in gold and
+diamonds, and did not even know that war had broken out.
+
+Here was a piece of luck for Peter Baker! When the rich prize was
+brought into the Mersey, in charge of the proud and happy Dawson and his
+crew, bells were set ringing, guns were fired, and both captors and
+victors were entertained in sumptuous fashion by the delighted
+townspeople. Baker became, of course, immediately a person of
+importance: he was jocosely alluded to as "Lord Baker," and was later
+elected Mayor of Liverpool and made a county magistrate.
+
+He proceeded to build himself a large house at Mossley Hill, outside
+Liverpool, which either he or some facetious friend dubbed "Carnatic
+Hall"; it was partially destroyed by fire later on, and rebuilt by the
+present owners, Holland by name.
+
+Baker and Dawson entered into partnership as shipbuilders, and the
+uncouth but lucky _Mentor_ continued her cruising, capturing two or
+three more prizes of trifling value. In 1782, however, while on her
+passage home from Jamaica, she foundered off the Banks of Newfoundland,
+thirty-one of her crew perishing.
+
+Such is the story of Peter Baker's sudden rise of fortune, illustrating
+the extraordinary uncertainty of those privateering times. Baker had, so
+to speak, no business to succeed; one cannot help regarding him, in the
+first instance, as something of an impostor in undertaking to build a
+ship under the circumstances--for we may be sure that she was not
+rejected without good reason; but she caused all this to be forgotten by
+one piece of good luck. Her fortunate builder and owner died in 1796.
+
+
+CAPTAIN EDWARD MOOR, OF THE "FAME"
+
+A privateer commander of the best type was Captain Edward Moor, of the
+_Fame_, hailing from Dublin. His vessel carried 20 six-pounders and some
+smaller pieces, and a crew of 108 men. It was in August 1780, when he
+was cruising off the coast of Spain and the northern coast of Africa,
+that he received news of the departure of five ships from Marseilles,
+bound for the West Indies: all armed vessels, and provided with fighting
+commissions of some kind--letters of marque, as they are styled.
+
+Being a man of good courage, and not afraid of such trifling odds as
+five to one, Moor went in search of these Frenchmen; and on August 25th
+he was lucky enough to sight them, off the coast of Spain. As dusk was
+approaching he refrained from any demonstration of hostility, but took
+care, during the night, to get inshore of the enemy.
+
+At daybreak they were about six miles distant, and, upon seeing the
+_Fame_ approach in a businesslike manner, they formed in line to receive
+her.
+
+Adopting similar tactics to those of George Walker in attacking eight
+vessels--perhaps purposely following the example of a man who had such a
+great name, and whose exploits were sure to be known among
+privateersmen[10]--Moor bade his men lie down at their guns, and not
+fire until he gave the word.
+
+At half-past six they were within gunshot, and the Frenchmen opened
+fire; but the _Fame_ swept on in silence until she was close to the
+largest ship; then they blazed away, and in three quarters of an hour
+she surrendered. Without a moment's delay Moor tackled the next in size,
+which also shortly succumbed. Putting an officer and seven men on board,
+with orders to look after _both_ ships--what glorious confidence in his
+men!--he went after the others, which were now endeavouring to escape;
+only one succeeded, however, though one would have imagined that, by
+scattering widely, they might have saved another. These two fugitives
+made no further resistance, and Captain Moor thus got four ships, to
+wit--_Deux Freres_, 14 guns, 50 men; _Univers_, 12 guns, 40 men;
+_Zephyr_ (formerly a British sloop-of-war, according to Beatson's
+"Memoirs"), 10 guns, 32 men; and _Nancy_, 4 guns, 18 men--a total of 40
+guns and 140 men, against his 26 guns and 108 men. The Frenchmen
+certainly ought to have made it hotter for him; but probably their crews
+were not trained, and Moor evidently had his men well in hand, just as
+Walker had.
+
+He took his prizes into Algiers, where he landed the prisoners, who gave
+such a good account of the kind and generous treatment they had received
+from their captors that the French Consul-General at Algiers wrote a
+very handsome letter to Moor, expressing in the strongest terms his
+appreciation of his conduct.
+
+This Edward Moor was evidently one of those commanders like Walker and
+Wright; a gentleman by birth and instinct, combining the highest courage
+with refinement of mind and humanity; he would have been well employed
+in the Royal Navy.
+
+
+CAPTAIN JAMES BORROWDALE, OF THE "ELLEN"
+
+Earlier in this same year, 1780, a Bristol ship made a very brilliant
+capture. This was the _Ellen_, an armed merchantman, provided with a
+letter of marque. She carried 18 six-pounders and a crew of 64, half of
+them boys and landsmen on their first voyage. She was commanded by James
+Borrowdale, a careful man, who, while fully aware that he was expected
+to make as good a passage as possible, and refrain from engaging in
+combat unless it was forced upon him, took some pains to ensure that,
+in such event, the foe should not have a walk-over.
+
+He had as passenger one Captain Blundell, of the
+79th--Liverpool--Regiment, going out to join his regiment in Jamaica;
+and this gentleman, in order, no doubt, to beguile the tedium of the
+voyage, undertook to train sixteen of the crew to act as
+marines--hoping, probably, for an opportunity of proving their metal;
+and he was not disappointed.
+
+A month out, on April 16th, a ship was sighted to windward, apparently
+of much the same size and force as the _Ellen_. Captain Borrowdale, with
+all his canvas set to catch the Trade-wind, stood on, apparently
+unheeding the approach of the stranger; but his men had the guns cast
+loose and loaded, and Blundell, with his little band of amateur marines,
+was very much on the alert.
+
+Arriving within gunshot, the stranger fired a gun, hoisting Spanish
+colours; upon which Borrowdale shortened sail, seeing that it was
+impossible to avoid a fight, and hoisted American colours, to gain time;
+for his idea was to commence the action at very close quarters.
+
+He then addressed his crew, bidding them ram down a bag of grape-shot
+into every gun--on top of the round shot, of course--to keep cool, and
+reserve their fire for close quarters, keeping the guns trained on the
+enemy meanwhile; to fire as quickly as possible, and to fight the ship
+to the last extremity.
+
+When the other was within hailing distance down came the American
+colours, up went the English, and a deadly broadside was delivered,
+accompanied by a well-directed volley from Blundell's contingent. So
+effective, in fact, was the sudden and vigorous attack, that it quite
+staggered the Spaniards, who fell into confusion, neglecting the proper
+handling of their vessel, so that she fell off from the wind and got
+under the _Ellen's_ lee; upon which the other broadside was poured into
+her. The Spanish captain, imagining that he had only an ordinary armed
+trader to deal with--and many of them were very poor fighters--had
+perhaps not made full preparation for action; at any rate, he and his
+men were so demoralised by these two broadsides that he put his helm up
+and ran for it. The English captain, having successfully defended his
+ship, might now have pursued his voyage, without any loss of credit,
+that being his business; but no such idea entered his head. The crew
+gave three hearty cheers as they trimmed and cracked on sail, and the
+Spaniard, having sustained some damage aloft, was unable to escape.
+Running alongside, the _Ellen_ attacked again, and the action was
+maintained for an hour and a half, the two vessels running yardarm to
+yardarm; and then, the _Ellen's_ fire having completely disabled the foe
+aloft, the Spanish colours came down, and Captain Borrowdale found
+himself in possession of the _Santa Anna Gratia_, a Spanish
+sloop-of-war, mounting 16 heavy six-pounders and a number of swivels,
+with a crew of 104 men, of whom seven were killed and eight wounded; the
+_Ellen_ had only one killed and three wounded; but these small losses
+were doubtless owing to the two vessels mutually aiming at the spars
+and rigging, each endeavouring to cripple her opponent aloft.
+
+This was a very brilliant little affair, and Borrowdale and his merry
+men must have felt very well pleased with themselves as they sailed into
+Port Royal, Jamaica, the prize in company, with the English colours
+surmounting the Spanish.
+
+[Footnote 10: The account of George Walker's exploits comes later on.]
+
+
+
+
+TWO GREAT ENGLISHMEN
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IX
+
+FORTUNATUS WRIGHT
+
+
+Surely the fairies must have been busy with suggestions at the birth and
+naming of this fighting seaman--great seaman and determined fighter, and
+withal a smack of romantic heroism about him, which is suggested at once
+by his Christian name--Fortunatus. No man with such a name, one is
+disposed to assume, could be an ordinary and commonplace sort of person,
+muddling along in the well-worn grooves of every-day life. This, of
+course, would be an absurd assumption; men have been named after all
+kinds of heroes, naval and military, statesmen, masters of the pen, and
+so on, and have fallen very far short--to put it mildly--of the
+aspirations of their fond and admiring parents.
+
+Wright's father was a master-mariner of Liverpool, of whom we are told
+that he had upon one occasion defended his ship most gallantly for
+several hours against two vessels of superior force--an exploit which is
+recorded upon his tombstone in St. Peter's churchyard, Liverpool, and
+from which we gather that he was either a privateer commander, or that
+his vessel, an ordinary trader, was armed for the purpose of defence.
+We do not know, however, why he named his son Fortunatus--we can only
+fall back upon the fairies; but a supplementary inscription upon the
+tombstone tells us that "Fortunatus Wright, his son, was always
+victorious, and humane to the vanquished. He was a constant terror to
+the enemies of his king and country"; and that is a very good sort of
+epitaph; moreover--unlike many such effusions, recording amiable or
+heroic characteristics of the dead which few had been able to recognise
+in the living--it is a true one. If not always victorious--and a
+probably true story, presently to be narrated, appears to point to one
+instance, at least, in which he and his antagonist parted
+indecisively--he was, at any rate, never beaten; and his conduct and
+character obtained for him, from a brave seaman and fighter of his own
+stamp, who sailed under him, the epithet, "that great hero, Fortunatus
+Wright"; the actual words, by the way, are "that great but unfortunate
+hero," and herein is an allusion, no doubt, to some very ungenerous
+treatment meted out to Wright by foreign authorities, and also to his
+unknown, and probably tragic, fate.
+
+We have but little information concerning his early manhood; there is
+not, indeed, any evidence to hand of even the approximate date of his
+birth. Smollett, in his "History of England," alludes to Wright's
+exploits, and describes him as "a stranger to a sea-life," until he took
+to privateering in the Mediterranean; but it is not easy to see upon
+what grounds the historian bases such an assumption. Fortunatus Wright
+was, as we have seen, the son of a sea-captain of no ordinary stamp, and
+the probability is that he would be brought up in his father's
+calling--a probability which becomes, practically, a certainty when we
+reflect that, immediately upon assuming the position of privateer
+commander, he displayed a consummate skill in seamanship, combined with
+remarkable tactical powers in sea-fighting, which elicited the
+enthusiastic admiration of his subordinates; and these qualifications
+are not acquired on land.
+
+No; Fortunatus Wright was undoubtedly trained as a seaman, and very
+possibly a privateersman; but it appears that, somewhere about the year
+1741, having previously retired from the sea, and settled in Liverpool
+as a shipowner, he realised his business, and went to reside abroad; and
+in 1742 we come across news of him in Italy.
+
+Mr. (afterwards Sir) Horace Mann, at that time British Resident at the
+Court of Florence, in a letter to his friend Horace Walpole--with whom
+he kept up an enormous correspondence--relates how he had had complaints
+concerning the violent conduct of Mr. Wright at Lucca. It appears that
+our friend, travelling in that part of Italy, with introductions to some
+of the nobility, presented himself one day at the gates of Lucca, never
+doubting but that, as a respectable and peaceably disposed person, he
+would immediately be admitted. He had not reckoned, however, with the
+particular form of "red tape" which prevailed there. He had upon him a
+pair of pistols; and, upon being informed that the surrender of these
+weapons was the condition of being permitted to pass the gates, his
+English choler immediately rose against what appeared to him to be a
+tyrannical and unnecessary proceeding; and his natural instinct
+being--as it always is in fighting men of his stamp--rather to beat down
+and override opposition than to yield to it, disregarding the serious
+odds against him--twenty soldiers and a corporal _versus_ Fortunatus
+Wright--he presented one of the offending pistols at the guard, and
+clearly indicated that the first man who endeavoured to arrest him would
+do so at the cost of his life. This was very awkward; no one cared to be
+the first victim of the "mad Englishman," who was evidently a man of his
+word, and how it might have ended nobody knows, had there not appeared
+upon the scene a superior officer--a colonel--with thirty more soldiers.
+Mr. Wright was thereupon persuaded that the odds were too heavy even for
+a "mad Englishman," and was escorted to his hotel by this imposing
+bodyguard, being there made a prisoner while representations were made
+to the English Ambassador.
+
+Fortunately, one of the Luccese noblemen to whom he had an introduction
+intervened, undertaking that no harm should result; and on the morning
+of the fourth day, at the early hour of four, the irate Englishman was
+informed that since he had been so daring as to endeavour to enter the
+town by force of arms, it was therefore ordered that he should forthwith
+leave the State, and never presume to enter it again without leave from
+the Republic; and that post-horses, with a guard to see him over the
+border, were waiting at the door.
+
+"He answered a great deal," says Sir Horace Mann, "not much to the
+purpose"; and so was seen safely out of Lucca, with his pistols in his
+pocket, we may presume, swearing at the unreasonableness of Italians and
+their laws. He continued, however, to reside in Italy, and was living at
+Leghorn when, in 1744, war was declared with France; and then there came
+to Fortunatus Wright the imperative call to return to a seafaring life.
+
+The war had not been long in progress before the English merchants in
+Leghorn began to suffer immense annoyance and loss from the depredations
+of the French privateers which swarmed upon the coast of Italy. Their
+trade was stifled, their ships compelled to remain in port, or almost
+inevitably captured if they ventured out; apparently there were not
+men-of-war available for escort, and the situation became unbearable.
+
+When men have come to the conclusion that things are past bearing they
+look about for some drastic remedy, and in this instance Mr. Wright was
+the remedy; Mr. Wright, living quietly in Leghorn, with his wife and
+family, but with his sea-lore available at the back of his mind, and,
+for all we know, the love of the salt water tugging at his
+heart-strings--sailors are made that way. Why not fit out a privateer,
+and place Mr. Wright in command? The suggestion may, indeed, have come
+from him in the first instance; at any rate, no time was lost. There was
+a vessel available, to wit the _Fame_, a staunch brigantine. We have no
+precise details of her tonnage and force, but she was undoubtedly an
+efficient craft for the purpose, and Wright speedily demonstrated that
+he was an entirely fit and proper person to be placed in charge.
+
+Carefully studying the winds of the Mediterranean, and the probable
+track of the enemy's privateers and merchant vessels, he had his plan of
+action matured by the time the ship was ready; and this is how it is set
+forth by William Hutchinson, one of his officers, writing thirty years
+later:
+
+"Cruising the war before last, in the employ of that great but
+unfortunate hero, Fortunatus Wright, in the Mediterranean Sea, where the
+wind blows generally either easterly or westerly--that is, either up or
+down the Straits--it was planned, with either of these winds that blew,
+to steer up or down the channels the common course, large or before the
+wind in the daytime without any sail set, that the enemy's trading ships
+astern, crowding sail with this fair wind, might come up in sight, or we
+come in sight of those ships ahead that might be turning to windward;
+and at sunset, if nothing appeared to the officer at the masthead, we
+continued to run five or six leagues, so far as could then be seen,
+before we laid the ship to for the night, to prevent the ships astern
+coming up and passing out of sight before the morning, or our passing
+those ships that might be turning to windward; and if nothing appeared
+to an officer at the masthead at sunrise, we bore away and steered as
+before. And when the wind blew across the channel, that ships could sail
+their course either up or down, then to keep the ship in a fair way; in
+the daytime to steer the common course, under the courses and lower
+staysails, and in the night under topsails with the courses in the
+brails, with all things as ready as possible for action, and to take or
+leave what we might fall in with."
+
+Before many months had elapsed the soundness of these tactics, and the
+sagacity with which Wright determined what to take and what to leave,
+were very conspicuous.
+
+In the months of November and December, 1746, the _Fame_ had to her
+credit no fewer than eighteen prizes, one of which was a privateer, of
+200 tons, with 20 guns and 150 men, fitted out by the French factories
+on the coast of Caramania, with the express object of putting a stop to
+the inconveniently successful cruising of Fortunatus Wright, who,
+however, turned the tables upon her, sending her as a prize into
+Messina. The Frenchmen, to avoid being taken prisoners, had run her on
+shore and decamped; but the English captain was not going to be deprived
+of the prize-money which he and his men had justly earned, so they set
+to work and got the vessel afloat again, in order that she might be
+produced and duly condemned as "good prize."
+
+Wright's success, both in fighting and in the pursuit of traders,
+infuriated the French, and particularly the Knights of St. John, in
+Malta, where there was very hot antagonism between the two
+factions--the French and Spaniards on one side, and the Austrians and
+English on the other.
+
+When Wright kept on sending in his prizes the Austrians would "chaff"
+the French. "Here's another of your ships coming in, under the care of
+Captain Wright," we can imagine them saying. Some duels were fought by
+angry officers, and eventually the French sent urgent representations to
+Marseilles, and a vessel was fitted out and manned with the express
+object of humiliating the English by capturing the _Fame_ and putting a
+stop to Wright's victorious career.
+
+In due course the privateer put in an appearance at Malta. She was of
+considerably superior force to the _Fame_, the captain was a man of
+repute as a seaman and fighter, and was entertained by the French, who
+patted him on the back and sent him forth to conquer.
+
+But it is never safe to pat a man on the back for prospective triumphs.
+
+As the days passed excitement and expectation became intense; the points
+of vantage, whence a good view of incoming vessels could be obtained,
+were thronged with anxious spectators of both factions; and we may
+suppose that there was a considerable amount of mutual banter, not in
+the best of good-humour.
+
+At length two vessels were sighted; as they approached it was seen that
+one was towing the other. Then the French privateer was recognised, and
+it was noticed that the other vessel, in tow, was very much knocked
+about. While conjecture was ripening into triumphant conviction up went
+the colours--French colours! That decided the question--the career of
+the obnoxious Wright--"ce cher Wright," sarcastically--was at an end,
+and the enthusiastic Frenchmen shook hands and embraced, and waved hats
+and handkerchiefs to the victor.
+
+There was one delightful characteristic of "ce cher Wright," however,
+which they had failed to realise--he was possessed of a very keen sense
+of humour. In spite of the shattered condition of the staunch little
+_Fame_, she had come off victorious, and Wright had very naturally
+placed her in tow of the larger vessel, which he himself was navigating,
+her crew his prisoners of war; and seeing the crowded ramparts from
+afar, this agreeable but unsuspected little trait of his had displayed
+itself in the hoisting of French colours.
+
+Then, when the cheering and embracing was at its climax, as the vessels
+rounded the fort, the English colours sailed up to the peak, with the
+French below!
+
+And then--well, then we may imagine that there was the making of some
+more duels!
+
+Fortunatus Wright was no mere filibustering swashbuckler, like so many
+other privateer commanders who, as we have seen, brought their calling
+into sad disrepute; nor was he a man to be intimidated by his crew into
+committing any unlawful act for the sake of plunder; but he was very
+tenacious of his rights, and on more than one occasion came to serious
+loggerheads with high authorities; very much, eventually, to his cost.
+
+In December 1746, while reports were going home of his numerous
+captures, he overhauled and seized a French vessel, on a voyage from
+Marseilles to Naples, having on board the servants and all the luggage
+and belongings of the Prince of Campo Florida. The French skipper
+produced a pass, from no less a person than King George II. of England,
+by which these persons and goods should be exempt from molestation by
+English cruisers; but there was a flaw in this document, for the name of
+the ship was not entered upon it. "All very well," said Wright, "but how
+am I to know that King George intended this ship to go free? She is not
+named on the safe-conduct"; and into Leghorn she went as a prize,
+prince's servants, baggage, and all, to the horror of the British
+Consul, and to the great disgust of the Prince of Campo Florida; nor
+would Wright listen to the remonstrances of the Consul, maintaining that
+he was technically justified in his action; and there was undoubtedly
+some ground for this contention. However, the British Minister persuaded
+him to refer the matter to the Admiral commanding on the station, by
+whose adverse decision Wright loyally abided, and the vessel was
+released accordingly.
+
+It was a much more serious affair when, in 1747, he fell out with the
+Turkey Company--officially known as "The Company of English Merchants
+trading to the Levant Sea"--a very wealthy and powerful organisation,
+jealous of its rights, and somewhat perturbed, moreover, at this
+particular period, by the falling off in its returns; so that it was
+exceedingly annoying to find Turkish goods being seized by Captain
+Wright on board French ships.
+
+There were two vessels in question, and the English Consul at Leghorn
+received orders from home to investigate the business. With his previous
+experience of the privateer captain's stiffness and command of technical
+knowledge of prize law, the Consul, we may be sure, did not anticipate
+an easy acquiescence in any suggestions he might make; and, in fact,
+Wright's reply was a very decided refusal to admit that he was in fault.
+He said that both ships had a French pass, hailed from Marseilles, and
+hoisted French colours; and one of them offered a stout resistance
+before she struck. "For these reasons I brought them to Leghorn, and
+have had them legally condemned in the Admiralty Court, by virtue of
+which sentence I have disposed of them and distributed the money."
+
+Quite an unassailable position, one would imagine; but the irate
+Governors of the Turkey Company were able to procure, by some means or
+other, an order from the English Government that Turkish cargoes in
+French vessels were to be exempt from capture. Upon this order being
+communicated to the privateer captains and Admiralty Courts in the
+Mediterranean, it was expected that Wright would refund the prize-money;
+but he, very properly, as it appears, refused to admit that such an
+order could be retrospective--he had the money, and meant to keep it;
+and then there was trouble. Orders were sent from England to have him
+arrested and sent home; the Italian authorities obligingly caught him
+and locked him up, refusing, with singular and gratuitous crookedness,
+to yield him up to consular jurisdiction--and there he remained in
+prison at Leghorn for six months, when he was at length handed over to
+the Consul. Wright had, however, had enough of prison, and, upon giving
+bail to answer the action in the High Court of Admiralty, he was set at
+liberty.
+
+The action appears to have dragged on for two or three years, without
+result--at any rate, Captain Wright never refunded the money, and one
+cannot help feeling gratified at his success. He wrote, in June 1749, a
+long letter to the Consul in vindication of his right, which concludes
+as follows: "They attacked me at law; to that law I must appeal; if I
+have acted contrary to it, to it I must be responsible; for I do not
+apprehend I am so to any agent of the Grand Signior, to the Grand
+Signior himself, or to any other Power, seeing I am an Englishman and
+acted under a commission from my prince"; surely a most logical, and
+certainly a most dignified attitude.
+
+Peace restored, Wright engaged in commerce, in partnership, apparently,
+with William Hutchinson. They fitted out as a trader an old 20-gun
+vessel--the _Lowestoft_--which made several voyages to the West
+Indies--Wright continuing to reside at Leghorn.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER X
+
+FORTUNATUS WRIGHT--_continued_
+
+
+In 1755 it became apparent that a renewal of hostilities between France
+and England could not be long delayed; and the staunch little _Fame_ not
+being again available, Wright had a vessel built for him at
+Leghorn--quite a small vessel, which he named the _St. George_.
+
+The Tuscan authorities were, however, in spite of declared neutrality,
+very strongly in sympathy with France, and they did not regard Captain
+Wright's little ship-building venture with any favour; in fact, they
+instituted a minute supervision over all English vessels in the port,
+and naturally, knowing his reputation, they paid particular attention to
+Wright's little craft; and thereby they stimulated that sense of humour
+which he had previously exhibited at Malta.
+
+Humbly begging for precise information as to the force he was permitted,
+as a merchant vessel, to take on board, he was informed, after some
+deliberation, that he must limit himself to four small guns and a crew
+of five-and-twenty, and the authorities kept a very sharp eye upon him
+to see that he complied. Not in the least disconcerted, Wright
+displayed the greatest anxiety not to exceed the limit, and even
+suggested that guard-boats should be kept rowing round his ship, as a
+precautionary measure; one would imagine that these Tuscan magnates
+could have had but little sense of humour! Finally, before sailing,
+Wright obtained from the Governor a certificate to the effect that he
+had complied with all requirements.
+
+Armed with this, he put to sea on July 28th, 1756, in company with four
+merchant vessels, with valuable cargoes, bound for England. In their
+anxiety to prevent any irregularities on board the _St. George_, the
+port authorities had overlooked the lading of these vessels, which
+carried a proper armament and a large accession of men for the former!
+
+In spite of his astuteness, Wright nearly got into a mess; for the
+authorities had apparently given timely notice to the French that
+Wright's little squadron would be worth attention, and that he could
+offer but a feeble resistance, and a vessel had been fitted out with the
+express purpose of waylaying the _St. George_: those little incidents at
+Malta had not been forgotten, we may be sure. This vessel, a large
+zebeque--that is to say, a vessel with three masts, each carrying a huge
+three-cornered sail, probably a fast sailer, and very efficient at
+beating to windward--carried, according to _The Gentleman's Magazine_ of
+August 1756, sixteen guns of considerable size, besides swivels and a
+full supply of small arms, with a crew of 280 men. She had been waiting
+off the port for some time, and her captain had been heard to ask in
+Leghorn, "When is Captain Wright coming out? He has kept me waiting a
+long time already." No wonder he was impatient, for it is said that the
+French king had promised knighthood and a handsome pension for life to
+the man who should bring Wright into France, _alive or dead_; while the
+merchants of Marseilles had posted up "on 'Change" the offer of double
+the value of Wright's vessel to her captor. Here were nice pickings,
+indeed! And these offers afford in themselves a pretty good indication
+of the Englishman's personality; he was, indeed, a terror to the enemies
+of his country.
+
+Sailing out from Leghorn in the hot summer weather, Wright had to make
+what seamen term an offing, before he could set about transhipping his
+guns and men; and before he had got half-way through with it, the
+zebeque, bristling with cannon and crowded with men, was sighted,
+bearing down with the confidence assured by vast superiority of force.
+
+Fortunatus Wright saw her coming, and measured the decreasing distance,
+calculating the time which remained for him to prepare with a cool and
+critical eye, while his men worked like giants; and, when all was done,
+he could mount but twelve guns, including the four pop-guns which he had
+been permitted to ship in port: while his crew--a medley of half a dozen
+nationalities, who had never worked together--numbered seventy-five all
+told.
+
+Hastily telling off his men to their stations, and leaving his four
+traders lying to in a cluster, Wright made sail for the Frenchman; the
+wind, we may conclude, must have been light or the latter would have
+been down upon him before. And now the royal favour and comfortable
+pension, the handsome donation from the Marseillaise merchants, must
+have loomed very large in the eyes of the French skipper. Even
+supposing, as would seem probable, that he was not altogether unaware of
+the operations of the Englishman, his vastly superior force, with his
+practised crew, should have placed the betting at three to one in his
+favour; but the layer of such odds would have failed to reckon with the
+forceful personality of Fortunatus Wright, which inspired his men with
+the conviction that, odds or no, they must win. When men go into action
+with that sort of spirit they invariably do win; nothing will stand
+against them.
+
+Handling his ship with his customary skill, Wright manoeuvred
+repeatedly to the disadvantage of his antagonist, while his
+rag-tag-and-bob-tail crew, standing to their guns with the utmost
+intrepidity, poured in such a hot fire that the French captain speedily
+realised that his only chance was to board and overwhelm the English by
+superior numbers; but when he got alongside he found them quite as handy
+with pikes and cutlasses as with guns, and a desperate minority, which
+is not going to acknowledge itself beaten, soon daunts the hearts of a
+superior force. The French were repulsed with great slaughter, and,
+after some further attention from the guns of the gallant little _St.
+George_, the enemy hauled off, and ran, having suffered such serious
+damage as rendered their vessel almost unseaworthy. Wright followed,
+but, seeing another Frenchman threatening his convoy, he returned to
+their protection, sent them back into Leghorn, and anchored there
+himself on the following day. According to the account in _The
+Gentleman's Magazine_, the French ship lost her captain, lieutenant,
+lieutenant of Marines, and 88 men killed and 70 men wounded.
+
+No sooner had the gallant Wright cast anchor in Leghorn, than he
+realised that he had landed in a nest of hornets. The authorities were
+furious at the failure of their schemes, and the clever fashion in which
+Wright had hoodwinked them. He was ordered to bring his vessel to the
+inner harbour, or she would be brought in by force. He refused, and two
+vessels of vastly superior force were placed alongside his. He appealed
+to Sir Horace Mann, and there was a fine battle of words between him and
+the Tuscans, the latter alleging that Wright had deceived them as to his
+force, and had fought in their waters; and they were very angry also
+that he should have dared to refuse to take his vessel inside the mole.
+To all of which Sir Horace very properly replied that--well, that it was
+a parcel of lies, though he put it in the language of diplomacy; and he
+flourished the Governor's certificate in their faces, which made them
+feel very sick indeed--having no sense of humour.
+
+A couple of months elapsed without either side giving way; and then the
+problem was solved by the appearance of two powerful English
+men-of-war; to wit, the _Jersey_, of 60 guns, commanded by Sir William
+Burnaby, and the _Isis_, of 50 guns. Sir William explained politely to
+the authorities that he was under orders from the Admiral (Sir Edward
+Hawke) to convoy any English vessels which might be there, and also to
+release the _St. George_. To the Governor's protest the English captain
+replied that he had his orders, and intended to carry them out, if
+necessary, by force; and so the little fleet of English vessels took
+their departure in a few days, and Wright was free to resume his
+operations.
+
+In a little while, having taken some more prizes, he put into Malta,
+only to find that French influence was there as potent as at Leghorn. He
+was not permitted to buy necessary stores for his crew, and when he took
+on board a number of English seamen, who had been landed there from
+ships taken by French privateers, he was compelled to send them on shore
+again; and so he went to sea again, on October 22nd, 1756.
+
+Twenty-four hours later a big French privateer, of 38 guns, sailed with
+the intention of eating him up; but, according to the account of one
+Captain Miller, of the English vessel _Lark_, "When the great beast of a
+French privateer came out Wright played with him, by sailing round him
+and viewing him, just to aggravate him, as Wright sailed twice as fast
+as him."
+
+Of the further exploits of Fortunatus Wright there is but little
+definite account. Early in 1757 the Italian authorities, realising that
+they had, by their duplicity and anti-English rancour, done their trade
+an infinity of harm, undertook, on the representation of Sir Horace
+Mann, to observe a strict neutrality in future; and thereupon Sir Horace
+wrote to Wright that he might bring his prizes into Leghorn. But he was
+compelled to rescind this permission; whatever else they might be
+prepared to yield, they could not stomach Wright!
+
+In July 1757, after lamenting the injury to trade caused by French
+privateers, etc., Sir Horace Mann continues: "A few stout privateers, as
+in the last war, would totally prevent this ... Captain Wright, of the
+_St. George_ privateer, did great service of this kind in the beginning
+of the war; but it is feared by some circumstances, and by his not
+having been heard of for some months, that he foundered at sea. Several
+prizes made by him have lain some months at Cagliari in Sardinia,
+waiting for an opportunity to get with safety to Leghorn."
+
+And so this great man disappears; his father's tombstone holds the
+sentence already recorded, inscribed, no doubt, at the instigation of
+his children; but neither filial piety nor national esteem could avail
+to place the legend, "Here lies Fortunatus Wright." His place of rest
+remains, "unmarked but holy." Mr. Smithers, in his "History of the
+Commerce of Liverpool," says: "Tradition tells that he became a victim
+to political interests." This is possible, for he was well hated, as is
+usual, by those who had injured him; but it appears more probable that
+he was lost at sea.
+
+In connection with the career of this fine Englishman, it is impossible
+to omit some reference to a romantic tale which appears in _The
+Gentleman's Magazine_ for August 1757. The story is told, without
+preface or explanation, as it is alleged to have been narrated by the
+hero of the adventure, and evidently refers to a period ten or eleven
+years previously to its publication, when the _Fame_ was afloat. It is,
+as has been stated, a most romantic tale, but by no means an incredible
+one: and the specific allusion to Fortunatus Wright, which renders it of
+interest in this volume, also constitutes a certain guarantee of
+genuineness.
+
+Selim, the son of a Turkish grandee, on a voyage to Genoa, was captured
+by a Spanish corsair, and eventually sold as a slave to a young Moor at
+Oran, in Barbary. Here he suffered many cruel hardships, but after a
+time there appeared upon the scene a beautiful girl, cousin to Selim's
+master, and destined, according to family arrangements, to be his wife.
+The lovely Zaida had, however, like other young women of all ages, her
+own ideas about the sort of man she favoured. Being kind and pitiful by
+nature, she exerted herself to mitigate the sorrows of her cousin's
+slaves, discovered that Selim was of superior birth, and fell in love
+with him. All this is told at great length; the upshot was that the
+lovers escaped together, and got on board a French privateer, together
+with a Swede, also a captive. Then they were informed that the privateer
+"had orders to cruise near Malta, in order to take a bold Englishman
+called Fortunatus Wright, and, if the winds would permit, we should be
+landed in that island.... Ten days were passed before we obtained a
+sight of Malta, ... when a signal was made for standing out to sea in
+pursuit of a ship which, upon a nearer view, was found to be the very
+privateer which the French captain had orders to take."
+
+Then ensued a hot engagement, during which Selim remained below for some
+time, consoling and encouraging his lady-love until the issue became
+doubtful, when he felt impelled to take the Frenchman's part.
+
+"Pretending to Zaida we were victorious, I sprang upon the deck, and,
+observing that the English endeavoured to board us ahead, I slew the
+first who attempted our deck, and, beckoning to the French to follow me,
+leapt on board the enemy's ship, unseconded by any excepting my Swedish
+fellow-captive, who, seeing me overpowered, leapt back and regained his
+ship. Thus was I made a prisoner, and my fair Moor left a prey to all
+the wretchedness of despair. After several vain attempts to board each
+other, the two ships parted; the French steered towards France, and I
+was carried into Malta. The good captain, whose prisoner I was,
+observing my despondence, ordered me to be set free, though I had killed
+one of his men; and when I informed him of my unhappy story, and my
+resolutions to go in quest of Zaida, he gave me 100 guineas, and advised
+me to sail for England; 'where, though I am unhappily exiled from it,
+said he, 'you will be generously treated, and will hear the fate of the
+French privateer.'"
+
+Selim took this sound advice, backed by such a generous donation, and,
+after a two months' voyage, arrived in England, where the first thing he
+saw was the identical vessel in which his Zaida had been borne away from
+him: she had been captured and sent home.
+
+The officer in charge lent a sympathetic ear to Selim's tale of woe,
+and, after some fruitless inquiries, "We landed at a fair town, on the
+banks of a small river called Avon; and the captain, who had not drowned
+his humanity in the rough element on which he traded, conveyed me to the
+prison, where, after searching various apartments, at last I found my
+fair, afflicted Zaida lying on the ground, with her head on the lap of
+her women, and the Swede sitting near to guard her. As soon as she saw
+me her voice failed her; I had almost lost her by an agony of
+astonishment and joy as soon as I had recovered her. Hours were counted
+ere she would believe her senses, and even days passed over us in which
+she sat with a silent admiration, and even still doubts whether all is
+real."
+
+The reader is, of course, at liberty to share the doubts of the fair
+Zaida; but it appears probable that the story is true with regard to the
+main incidents.
+
+The remark attributed to Wright--which it is scarcely possible to
+imagine could have been invented by the narrator--that he was "unhappily
+exiled" from England appears to point to some complications at home to
+which there is no clue.
+
+And so we must bid farewell to Fortunatus Wright, who, had he been an
+officer in the Royal Navy, might certainly have rivalled some of our
+most illustrious seamen in his exploits, and, in place of an unknown and
+nameless grave, have found his last resting-place in Westminster Abbey.
+
+William Hutchinson, already alluded to as Wright's subordinate and
+subsequent partner, is justly entitled to some further notice. He was
+born at Newcastle-on-Tyne, in 1715, and commenced his sea-career at an
+early age as "cook, cabin-boy, and beer-drawer for the men" on board a
+collier. From this humble beginning he worked his way up, with varied
+fortune and a full share of the hardships which were so frequently the
+lot of seamen in those days. He was always apparently a strenuous,
+conscientious, and courageous man, and attained immense skill as a
+seaman. His first privateering experience was, as far as can be
+gathered, under Wright in the _Fame_, when he conceived that profound
+respect and admiration of his captain which is exhibited in his remarks,
+already quoted. It was probably during this time that an incident
+occurred which called for ready wit and pluck in order to avert
+disaster, not to say disgrace. Hutchinson may have been in command of a
+privateer at the time--1747--but it is more likely that he was with
+Wright, and in charge of the deck; and there were a number of French
+prisoners on board, the crews of three prizes, who were, perhaps
+somewhat rashly, permitted to be on deck, with full liberty, all at one
+time. Hutchinson had occasion--no doubt in connection with the scheme of
+cruising already described--to take all the canvas off the ship, and,
+having clewed up everything, he sent all his men aloft to furl sails.
+While they were so employed he detected a movement among the prisoners
+which appeared suspicious: one of the French captains was going about
+among them, evidently inciting them to some concerted action; which,
+with all the English crew aloft, might well have been entirely
+successful. But they had not reckoned with the officer in charge. With
+his hand in his pocket, clutching his pistol, but not exhibiting it so
+as to precipitate violence, he approached the French captain, and
+quietly told him that instant death was his portion on the smallest
+evidence of any attempt to capture the ship; then, hailing his own men,
+he bade them look sharp down from aloft, and the danger was averted in a
+few minutes. Nothing save undaunted courage, combined with absolute
+outward calm, could have saved the situation; had Hutchinson appeared
+alarmed or flustered he would have been lost; and this incident, briefly
+and modestly related by himself, affords a sure indication of his
+character.
+
+In 1757, after the war with France was renewed, Hutchinson was in
+command of a fine privateer, the _Liverpool_, named after the port from
+which she hailed, in which he made several successful cruises. We are
+told that "he would not permit the least article to be taken from any of
+the French prisoners," from which we may conclude that, as we should
+expect of a man of his stamp, he was an honourable and strict privateer
+commander, who was emphatically captain of his ship, and insisted upon a
+high standard of duty.
+
+One night he made a lamentable mistake. Continuing, after dark, the
+chase of a vessel which had been previously sighted, and was believed to
+be a French privateer, he came up with her and hailed her in _French_.
+The only reply was a tremendous and well-directed broadside, which did
+serious damage aloft, pierced the hull close to the water-line, and
+wounded no fewer than twenty-eight of the crew. Captain Hutchinson
+devoutly wished that he had stuck to his native tongue, instead of
+airing his French, for the vessel turned out to be his Majesty's ship
+_Antelope_!
+
+Hutchinson did no more in the way of privateering after the year 1758.
+In the following year he was appointed principal water-bailiff and
+dockmaster of Liverpool, and held this post for nearly forty years. In
+1777 he published a book entitled "A Practical Treatise on Seamanship,"
+and justified--if it needed justification--this act by a verse under the
+frontispiece (a vessel under full sail), whether original or a quotation
+does not appear:
+
+  Britannia's glory first from ships arose;
+  To shipping still her power and wealth she owes.
+  Let each experienced Briton then impart
+  His naval skill to perfect naval art.
+
+He was certainly well qualified for the task, and the work is very full
+and complete, containing incidentally some yarns concerning his own
+experiences, and practical hints upon sundry subjects, as, for instance,
+the brewing of tea when at sea, without the common adjuncts of teapot,
+cups and saucers, etc.: put the tea-leaves into a quart bottle, filled
+with fresh water, and well corked up, and boil it in the ship's copper,
+along with the salt beef! Whether the salt beef added to the virtue of
+the "brew" we do not know; probably the gallant and hardy skipper was
+"tannin-proof" inside!
+
+Hutchinson was a religious man apparently, in a true sense, always
+seeking to discharge his duties in accordance with the high standard
+thus derived. It is related of him that, when his ship had
+foundered--the date is not mentioned--upon one occasion, and he and some
+of his shipmates were in danger of perishing through hunger and thirst,
+they adopted the terrible device of drawing lots as to which of them
+should die and furnish the remainder with this ghastly means of
+prolonging life. The lot fell upon Hutchinson; but, before the horrible
+act could be consummated, a sail appeared, and they were rescued.
+Hutchinson, it is said, observed the anniversary of this day with strict
+devotions of thanksgiving for the remainder of his life. Such
+recognition was certainly due; but how many sailors would so faithfully
+have rendered it?
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XI
+
+GEORGE WALKER
+
+
+In the year 1745 some merchants of London fitted out three
+privateers--the _Prince Frederick_, 28 guns, 244 men, commanded by
+Captain James Talbot, who was in chief command; the _Duke_, of 20 guns,
+150 men, Captain Morecock; and the _Prince George_, 20 guns, 134 men.
+This little squadron sailed from Cowes on June 2nd, and on the 7th a
+frightful disaster befell them, the _Prince George_, under circumstances
+not explained, capsizing and going down. These vessels were very heavily
+masted, and, if the weights were not carefully bestowed, a sudden squall
+when under full sail, with, perhaps, the lee gun-ports open, might
+easily be fatal. The unfortunate _Eurydice_, though of somewhat later
+construction, was of this type of vessel, and, as will be remembered,
+capsized off the Isle of Wight one Sunday afternoon, only two being
+saved out of the whole crew.
+
+The Commodore contrived to save some twenty men from his unhappy
+consort; and then proceeded, with the _Prince Frederick_, to cruise
+between the Azores and the banks of Newfoundland.
+
+This cruise is remarkable for two things: its brevity and the richness
+of the prizes captured.
+
+On July 10th three sails were seen, bearing west, and the two privateers
+immediately gave chase. These were the _Marquis d'Antin_, 450 tons, 24
+guns, and 68 men, commanded by Magon Serpere; the _Louis Erasme_, 500
+tons, 28 guns, and 66 men, commanded by Pedro Lavigne Quenell; and the
+_Notre Dame de Deliverance_, 300 tons, 22 guns, and 60 men, commanded by
+Pedro Litant; all three hailing from St. Malo. They were now returning
+from Lima; and little did Talbot and his men suspect the riches they
+carried.
+
+[Illustration: CAPTURE OF THE FRENCH ARMED SHIPS]
+
+However, they chased, and the others kept their wind, paying little
+heed. At seven o'clock Talbot fired a shot at them, upon which they
+hoisted their colours and formed line. The _Duke_, to windward, attacked
+first; Talbot afterwards engaged the _Marquis d'Antin_ for three hours,
+when she struck, though the _Prince Frederick_ was for a while between
+two fires, the _Louis Erasme_ getting on her bow. When the _Marquis
+d'Antin_ surrendered the other attempted to flee, but was caught and
+captured. Meanwhile, Captain Morecock had been hotly engaged with the
+_Notre Dame de Deliverance_, which, however, realising that her consorts
+had struck, crowded sail and contrived to escape--the _Duke_ being
+probably hampered by damage aloft.
+
+The casualties were not heavy on either side, but the two French ships
+were dismasted.
+
+Reaching Kinsale on July 30th, the news of the immense value of the
+prizes caused special care to be used; they were escorted to Bristol by
+three men-of-war, and thence the treasure was conveyed to London in
+forty-five waggons. This tremendous cavalcade made its way through the
+city to the Tower, colours flying, bands playing, and a strong guard of
+bluejackets marching with it.
+
+The amount of treasure may be imagined from the fact that each seaman's
+share came to L850; the officers, of course, receiving much larger sums,
+in proportion to their rank. The owners' share was not less than
+L700,000; and the Scottish rebellion--"the '45"--having just broken out,
+they offered the money as a loan to the Government.
+
+Captain Talbot is said to have behaved with great kindness and
+generosity to his prisoners, permitting the officers to retain all their
+valuables and their swords, and presenting each seaman with twenty
+guineas when they were landed. The enemy, we are told, was most anxious
+to ransom the ships, but this, of course, was out of the question; and
+subsequently some of the crews revealed hiding-places in which
+considerable treasure was stowed in the "linings," or double sides,
+receiving a handsome present for their pains. Furthermore, in
+overhauling the cargo, the British seamen every now and then came across
+a "wedge of gold."
+
+After this Commodore Talbot decided to remain on shore and enjoy his
+fortune; he joined the body of merchants, who determined to fit out
+another squadron, the command being entrusted to a man of remarkable
+character, whose career as a privateer captain we shall now proceed to
+trace.
+
+Among eighteenth-century privateersmen there is no more honourable name
+than that of George Walker. He was, of course, a contemporary of
+Fortunatus Wright, and Sir William Laird Clowes, the eminent naval
+historian, very truly remarks of these two men that they "did as much to
+uphold British prestige at sea as any captains of the Royal Navy"; the
+case might, indeed, be put in stronger language, for there were
+unhappily a good many instances at this period, in which naval
+commanders cut a somewhat sorry figure, and Walker himself, as we shall
+see, was witness upon one occasion of a lack of zeal and enterprise--to
+put it mildly--on their part which was in striking contrast to the
+intrepidity and resource displayed by him upon every occasion.
+
+Beyond casual, but invariably complimentary allusions in naval
+histories, we should have known but little of George Walker, had it not
+been for the industry of an ardent admirer, who served under him on
+nearly all his cruises, and subsequently wrote an account of them. The
+writer withholds both his name and his rank, and tells his story with
+great simplicity, prompted solely by his admiration of his former chief,
+and the desire of vindicating his name as a great seaman and a born
+leader of men; for Walker was, at that time, in gaol for debt, owing to
+some dispute with his owners, who do not appear to have treated him with
+the generosity due to so faithful a servant. This is the sordid side of
+privateering, which, as has been before remarked, is too much in
+evidence; we need not, however, concern ourselves overmuch with the
+question of George Walker's financial dealings with his principals; he
+may, for all we know, have muddled his accounts, but we are prepared to
+go bail for his honesty of intention. There is abundant evidence of his
+character in this little book, and no one who reads it will entertain a
+doubt as to his absolute integrity.
+
+The narrator, in his Introduction, dwells much upon Walker's
+unwillingness to have his exploits discussed or published. It was with
+the utmost difficulty that he was persuaded to sanction the publication
+of this book, and when, in accordance with his strict injunctions, the
+copy was submitted for his approval before going to the printer, his
+deletions disposed of nearly one-third of the matter; "at which," says
+the writer, "I am not so much disobliged by the shortening of the
+performance as at the loss of real truths which would have illustrated
+the chief personage of my work. And though this account may speak to the
+modesty of the gentleman himself, yet it is so far paradoxical that it
+takes greatly from his merit.... I will only say of him herein, as Mr.
+Waller does of good writers:
+
+  Poets lose half the praise they would have got,
+  Was it but known what they discreetly blot."
+
+Nothing appears to be known of George Walker's birth and early training,
+save that he served in the Dutch Navy, and was involved in some
+engagement with, probably, Mediterranean pirates.
+
+In 1739 he was commander and part owner of the ship _Duke William_,
+trading to Gibraltar and South Carolina; and, with the view of being
+able to defend himself in case of attack, he obtained a letter of
+marque, and provided his vessel with twenty guns. His crew numbered only
+thirty-two: but, with characteristic forethought and resource, he
+shipped a quantity of seamen's clothing, in order, should occasion
+arise, to rig up dummies; and this, according to his biographer, he
+actually did on the approach of a Spanish privateer of superior force,
+crowded with men: "setting up all the handspikes and other provided
+utensils, and dressing them in the marine clothes, and also exercising
+the boatswain's call in the highest notes, as is usual in king's ships."
+This done, Walker proceeded to prepare for the grim realities of action,
+should it be forced upon him, he and his crew, as they busied themselves
+clearing away the guns, etc., going into fits of laughter at the
+grotesque appearance of the row of dummies, standing stiff and
+motionless amidships. All being ready, Walker, consistently maintaining
+his game of bluff, fired a shot across the bows of the Spaniard, which
+was to windward of him. This invitation to fight was not accepted, and,
+though the Spaniard hung on for a couple of days, he eventually
+disappeared; so we must suppose that the toy seamen and the boatswain's
+whistle carried the day!
+
+Arrived at his destination, Walker, while waiting for a cargo, offered
+his services to the colonial authorities to put an end to the ravages of
+two Spanish privateers, which were having it all their own way on the
+coast of North Carolina. His crew was increased by nearly one hundred
+men, and several gentlemen volunteered their services. The tidings of an
+English privateer being abroad appears to have been enough for the
+Spaniards: "We could fall in with nothing which would stay for us upon
+the seas"; an English vessel was easily retaken from the enemy, a shore
+battery destroyed, and there was no more trouble. Walker received a
+tremendous ovation on the conclusion of this service, all the
+influential persons in the colony offering to sign a request that he
+might be given command of a king's ship. Upon his declining this, they
+tendered him an immense piece of land if he would remain amongst them;
+but Walker preferred to stick to his ship, and sailed for Barbadoes, and
+thence for England, in company with three traders who placed themselves
+under his convoy.
+
+The vessels parted company in a gale, which blew with such violence that
+the _Duke William_ started some of her planks, and leaked like a sieve.
+Walker was laid up in his cabin, and was indeed so ill that the surgeon
+despaired of his life. Things went on from bad to worse: all the guns
+save two--retained for signalling purposes, by Walker's orders, issued
+from his bunk--were thrown overboard; the boat was with difficulty
+preserved from following them, Walker being carried up from below to
+remonstrate and command; and when a section of the crew, despite his
+orders, were preparing to desert in the boat--a very desperate
+venture--a sail appeared; their signals were seen and heard, and she
+bore down--then, evidently suspecting a ruse by an armed vessel, she
+hastily hauled off. While the crew were gazing at one another in
+despair, Walker coolly gave orders to cut away the mizzen-mast
+instantly; after a momentary hesitation his order was obeyed, and the
+meaning of it was immediately obvious. Another gun being fired, the
+stranger, convinced by the crippled condition of the ship, returned to
+the rescue, and proved to be no stranger, but one of their convoy. The
+transhipment of Walker and his men was safely effected at immense risk,
+and they reached home in a sorry plight, this vessel proving almost as
+unseaworthy as the other. And there Walker was greeted with very
+unwelcome tidings: he had lost his ship, and his agents had suffered the
+insurance to lapse; he was a ruined man.
+
+Before entering upon his distinguished career as a privateer captain
+Walker commanded for eighteen months a vessel trading to the Baltic;
+and, returning from his last trip in 1744, just after war was declared
+against the French, he again most successfully adopted a policy of
+"bluff." Having shipped a number of wooden guns, and otherwise disguised
+his vessel, being chased off the coast of Scotland by a privateer, and
+finding she had the heels of him, he tacked, hoisted ensign, jack, and
+man-of-war's pendant, and fired a gun, as much as to say, "Come on; I'm
+waiting!" The enemy did not wait, and Walker proceeded quietly upon his
+homeward voyage.
+
+In this same year, 1744, two fine vessels were equipped as privateers by
+some London and Dartmouth owners, and Walker was offered command of the
+_Mars_, of 26 guns and 130 men, her consort being the _Boscawen_, a
+vessel of similar armament, but of larger tonnage and with a more
+numerous crew.
+
+When two days out from Dartmouth they encountered a French king's ship,
+of force about equal to the _Boscawen_, and Walker, of course,
+immediately engaged her, justly considering that, with his consort, he
+would soon overpower her; indeed, he would have attacked had he been
+cruising alone. The captain of the _Boscawen_, however, was quite a
+different sort of man, with a strong dislike of hard knocks. Instead of
+seconding Walker's attack, he held off out of range, letting drive once
+or twice a futile shot, which dropped far short; so Walker was left to
+fight alone, and after a severe tussle, he and the Frenchman parted,
+both ships a good deal knocked about. While his crew were repairing
+damages Walker went on board the _Boscawen_ to have a little talk with
+her skipper--whose name is not mentioned--"but was never heard to throw
+any censure publicly on his behaviour." Walker was always a gentleman,
+and an instinctive disciplinarian. No doubt he gave the other, in
+private, a slice of his mind, but, as we shall see, without any good
+result.
+
+A month later, in December, at midnight, with a fresh breeze and thick
+rain, they suddenly found themselves close to two large vessels. They
+could hear the people on board talking excitedly, in French, and
+apparently in a state of alarm, and, judging from these signs that they
+were treasure ships, Walker and his consort hung on their heels. At
+eight o'clock next morning the weather cleared and the two strangers
+were revealed as French men-of-war, the one of 74 and the other of 64
+guns; which was exceedingly awkward for the two Englishmen. The
+Frenchmen were, however, both treasure-ships as well as men-of-war,
+being bound from the West Indies with cargoes valued at nearly four
+millions sterling, were not in good fighting trim, and were very anxious
+to get into Brest with their treasure, so it is quite probable that they
+would have gone on their way and left the two privateers alone. The
+captain of the _Boscawen_, however, did not wait to see what they would
+do; directly he realised their force he crowded sail, and disappeared
+from the scene without even a parting greeting to his consort; and,
+seeing only one enemy left, and this a small one, the 64-gun ship--the
+_Fleuron_--was sent in chase of the _Mars_, rapidly gaining upon her.
+"Gentlemen," said Walker, "I do not mean to be so rash as to attempt a
+regular engagement with so superior a force; all I ask of you is, to
+confide in me and my orders, to get away, if possible, without striking;
+and, be assured, I shall employ your assistance neither in revenge nor
+vainglory, nor longer than I think it of use to our design. The ship
+which pursues is certainly the best sailer of the enemy, by being
+ordered to the chase; if, by good fortune, we bring down a topmast or
+yard, or hurt her rigging so as to retard her pursuit, we may entirely
+get clear."
+
+So he hoisted his colours and opened fire with his stern guns, the
+enemy replying with his bow-chasers by the space of over two hours. The
+_Mars_, however, was not a brilliant sailer, and by this time the
+74--the _Neptune_--had crept up, so that she was almost between two
+fires. There was nothing for it but surrender. "Well, gentlemen," said
+Walker, smiling, "we don't strike to one ship only--haul down the
+colours!" And so he went on board the _Fleuron_ to surrender his sword
+and his privateer commission. The French captain was not as polite as he
+expected: "How dare you, sir," he asked, in excellent English, "in so
+small a ship, fire against a force like me?"
+
+"Sir," replied Walker, "if you will look at my commission you will find
+I had as good a right to fight as you; and if my force had not been so
+inferior to yours I had shown you more civil treatment on board my
+ship"--which was a very good specimen of English politeness.
+
+"How many men of yours have I killed?" demanded the Frenchman.
+
+"None at all, sir." "Then, sir, you have killed six of mine, and wounded
+several; you fired pieces of glass."
+
+This preposterous accusation was, of course, denied; but it turned out
+that some missiles of a very unusual nature _had_ been discharged from
+the _Mars_. The captain of one of the stern guns, realising that they
+must surrender, took about sixteen shillings from his pocket, saying
+that "sooner than the French rascals should plunder him of all he had in
+the world, he would first send it among them, and see what a bribe
+would do." So he wrapped his shillings up in a rag, crammed them into
+the gun, and sent them humming and whistling through the Frenchman's
+rigging, which no doubt gave rise to the glass theory--neither Frenchmen
+nor any one else could be expected to recognise the "ring" of a coin
+under the circumstances! The facetious gunner was an Irishman.
+
+Well, the _Mars_ was captive, while the _Boscawen_ had prudently
+escaped; but this was not the end of the incident. The action took place
+on a Friday, and at daybreak on Sunday morning four large ships were
+sighted astern; it did not require a long period of observation to
+realise that they were coming up pretty fast, and in a couple of hours
+they were recognised as English men-of-war. Then the Frenchmen began to
+regret that they had stopped to capture the privateer, instead of making
+the most of their way homeward with their treasure, which now appeared
+almost inevitably destined to become English treasure.
+
+The captain of the _Fleuron_--who by this time had learned that his
+prisoner, though only captain of a privateer, was worthy of
+respect--discoursed to Walker in some bitterness on this subject, and
+added: "It is seldom any great accident happens from single causes, but
+by a chain or series of things; thus, if we be here overcome, our loss
+will be owing to the waspishness of a single frigate, which would not
+cease fighting so long as it had a sting in its tail"--a remark which,
+if somewhat bitter, was appreciative.
+
+The English squadron gained steadily, and the French officer in charge
+of the _Mars_ put his helm up and ran to leeward, hoping to draw off
+one of the ships after him; in which he was successful, the _Captain_, a
+70-gun ship, giving chase, and eventually recapturing the _Mars_.
+
+The other three ships were the _Hampton Court_, 70 guns, and the
+_Sunderland_ and _Dreadnought_, each of 60 guns. The _Sunderland_ lost a
+spar, and dropped astern, but the other two were nearly alongside the
+French ships by sunset, the _Dreadnought_, a poor sailer, being somewhat
+astern.
+
+The French captain thereupon, seeing an action inevitable, politely
+requested Walker and his officers to go below. "Sir," said Walker, "I go
+off with great pleasure on the occasion, as I am now certain of my
+liberty; and I hope to have the satisfaction of seeing you again in
+being."
+
+He was not destined, however, to regain his liberty so easily, for these
+naval captains, what with faulty tactics and absolute want of zeal and
+enterprise, entirely bungled the whole business, and permitted the
+French ships to escape, treasure and all. The _Captain_ was commanded by
+Captain Thomas Griffin, senior officer of the squadron, who detached
+himself to chase the _Mars_, and gave, as an excuse, when he was tried
+by court-martial, that he thought the _Mars_ was the only man-of-war,
+and the two larger vessels her convoy. The court apparently accepted
+this flimsy story--although the _Captain_ was nearer than the other
+ships, and no one else had any such notion--but the Service generally
+did not.
+
+Captain Savage Mostyn, of the _Hampton Court_, hung about the French
+ships without firing a shot, waiting for the _Dreadnought_ to come up,
+instead of endeavouring to disable them aloft; and he also cut an
+extremely sorry figure at the court-martial; but his lame and almost
+incredible excuses were accepted. He was acquitted, and said to have
+"done his duty as an experienced good officer, and as a man of courage
+and conduct." There seemed to be a determination to let off everybody
+just then; but the public did not let off Mostyn, for when he sailed
+from Portsmouth a year later, still in command of the _Hampton Court_,
+it was to the cry of "All's well! There's no Frenchman in the way!"
+
+Now, it is a sad thing to have to say all this of naval commanders; and
+still more humiliating to reflect that, had George Walker,
+master-mariner and privateer skipper, been in command of that squadron,
+no such fiasco would have occurred; but this is most undoubtedly true.
+Walker would have had those French treasure ships had he been in command
+of the _Hampton Court_, as surely as he was then a prisoner on board one
+of them, watching with shame and disgust the paltry tactics of his
+countrymen, and compelled subsequently to listen to the boastful and
+disparaging comments of the Frenchmen.
+
+Arrived at Brest, the Englishmen had no cause to complain of their
+treatment. Walker had by this time so ingratiated himself with the
+captain of the _Fleuron_, that the latter acceded to his request that
+the crew of the _Mars_ might be landed at once, on the day after their
+arrival, and might receive every possible consideration until they
+could be exchanged; and he resisted strenuously Walker's request that he
+might go and see personally to the comfort of his men, begging to know
+in what he had fallen short, to be thus deprived of his esteemed
+company. Walker politely insisting, the French captain gave him a most
+flattering letter of introduction to the Governor, who liberated the
+English captain and all his officers on parole, and treated them
+handsomely in every respect.
+
+They left the _Fleuron_ none too soon. On the following day, while
+Walker was in the act of writing to the captain to beg him to send him
+his letter of credit, which was in a tin box with his commission, people
+came running in crying that the _Fleuron_ had blown up. It was, indeed,
+too true; and the catastrophe was entirely due to the gross carelessness
+of the gunner, who, landing the powder, left some four or five barrels
+in the magazine for saluting purposes, and did not even have the loose
+powder, spilt in emptying the cartridges, swept up under his own eye.
+Some stupid fellows, engaged afterwards in this work, took a decrepit
+old lantern down with them; the handle broke, the flame ignited the
+loose powder, and that was the end of the _Fleuron_; she burnt to the
+water's edge, and then went down, treasure and all; and the guns having
+been left loaded--it seems almost incredible, but we have the account of
+an eye-witness--kept going off at intervals, preventing the approach of
+boats, etc., which might have saved many of the crew. Walker had to
+mourn the loss of his friend, the courteous and generous captain, and
+also that of his letter of credit--a serious temporary inconvenience.
+
+We must not dwell in detail upon the sojourn of Walker and his crew in
+France. Their exchange was arranged in a few weeks, Walker, by his
+courage, tact, and ability smoothing over every difficulty as it arose,
+and making many friends in the process. Indeed, the simple and
+straightforward account by the narrator of his cheerful and undaunted
+bearing under sundry incidental trials which arose, from lack of means,
+etc., fills one with admiration of the man. They arrived at Weymouth on
+February 28th, 1745, and Walker lost no time in reporting himself to his
+owners at Dartmouth, who, though they had heard, through the recaptured
+_Mars_, of his whereabouts, and had sent him fresh letters of credit,
+scarcely expected him so soon.
+
+The _Mars_ being repurchased, the two vessels were again fitted out for
+a cruise, the very cautious captain of the _Boscawen_ being replaced by
+Walker's first lieutenant, who, however, was placed in command of the
+_Mars_. Walker selected the _Boscawen_ as his own command, as being the
+finer vessel and the better sailer; she was a French-built ship, a prize
+in the last war, mounting 28 nine-pounders. Walker increased her
+armament to 30 guns, twelve and nine-pounders, and shipped a crew of 314
+men. Thus she was, as the writer says, "perhaps the most complete
+privateer ever sent from England"; but she was not as good as she
+looked, and Walker had cause afterwards to regret that he had increased
+her weights, for she was structurally what an English shipwright would
+describe as a "slopped" ship; cheaply built, and inefficiently fastened.
+
+However, she was good enough for some brilliant work, with her able
+skipper and an enthusiastic crew, in the shipping of which there had
+been a passage of arms between Walker and one Taylor, captain of an
+Exeter privateer then fitting out, who found Walker in such favour that
+he could not obtain a full crew; so he had recourse to some very
+underhand devices to decoy the _Boscawen's_ men, one of whom, with
+address worthy of his captain, led him into a trap and made a complete
+fool of him, eventually taking nearly all the men he had succeeded in
+shipping to make up the _Boscawen's_ crew; while Captain Walker
+interviewed the owner--whose brother he had been instrumental in getting
+exchanged in France--and told him what he thought of him and his
+methods--and no one could talk straighter then Walker, when he found it
+necessary. There were some very amusing incidents in connection with
+these doings, which, however, must be omitted for lack of space; we must
+get to sea again.
+
+Without waiting for the _Mars_, Walker put to sea on April 19th, 1745,
+and a month later fell in with the privateer _Sheerness_, Captain
+Parnell, and kept company during the night. At daybreak, being then
+fifty miles west of the Lizard, they sighted eight vessels, evidently in
+company, and gave chase. The _Boscawen_ left the other astern, and about
+nine o'clock the enemy formed line, and were soon made out to be armed
+vessels, awaiting attack. This was odds enough to discourage most men,
+and the _Sheerness_ being hopelessly astern, no one imagined that Walker
+intended engaging, though all preparation was made for action.
+
+Reading some suspense and anxiety in the faces of his officers, Walker
+called them together and addressed them: "Gentlemen, I hope you do not
+think the number of prizes before us too many. Be assured, by their
+being armed, they have something on board them worth defending; for I
+take them to be merchantmen with letters of marque, and homeward bound.
+Without doubt we shall meet with some opposition, in which I have not
+the least doubt of your courage; but I see we must here conquer also by
+a mastership of skill. Be cool, and recollect every man his best senses;
+for, as we shall be pressed on all sides, let every man do his best in
+engaging the enemy he sees before him, and then one side need not fear
+nor take thought for the other. In a word, gentlemen, if you give me
+your voice for my leading you on, I pawn my life to you, I will bring
+you off victorious."
+
+Was ever a more masterly speech from a chief to his subordinates? But
+one reply was possible; the men went to their quarters and the
+_Boscawen_ sailed on into the thick of the enemy's line, strict orders
+being issued that, whatever fire they might receive, not a shot was to
+be returned until the captain gave the word. There were, unfortunately,
+sixty men sick, and these, with the exception of three, crawled on deck
+to render what assistance they could, or at least to see the fun.
+
+Steering straight for the largest vessel, though already considerably
+damaged aloft by the fire of the others, Walker delivered his broadside,
+and then the enemy got round him, two on either side, one ahead and one
+astern; the other two apparently decamped, and took no part in the
+action. The ship astern, after attempting to rake the _Boscawen_, was so
+roughly handled by her stern guns that she hauled off, and struck her
+colours. The fight was continued with the remaining five for the space
+of an hour; and the writer asserts that it was maintained on board the
+_Boscawen_ without any confusion or disorder, the men, under the
+officers' orders, banging away at whatever happened to be in front of
+their guns, "without fear or thought for the others." The flagship
+struck, and sank ten minutes later; the remaining four stuck to it,
+hoping yet to subdue the sorely battered _Boscawen_; but Walker's men
+remembered his pledge to them, and were resolved that he should not be
+stultified. In another half-hour every flag was down, and the
+_Sheerness_, at length coming up, chased and captured one of the
+runaways; so the "bag" was one sunk and six captured.
+
+The enemy is stated to have had 113 killed and drowned, while the
+_Boscawen's_ casualties amounted only to one killed and seven wounded.
+The writer ascribes this comparative immunity to a protection, a raised
+bulwark, "man-high," of elm planking, which Walker had caused to be
+erected, with a step on which the marines could mount to fire, and stand
+down to load; and he says the elm did not splinter, but kept out
+bullets, and closed up round the holes made by shot. With due allowance
+for this, however, the Frenchmen must have made very wretched practice;
+they were probably unpractised and undisciplined merchant crews; but it
+was a brilliant affair. The vessels were all homeward bound "Martinico
+men," as Walker had surmised, provided with letters of marque.
+
+An old lady, a person of some distinction, a passenger in the
+commodore's ship, was picked up, floating about on a bale of cotton; she
+did not know how she had got there. The commodore was also rescued, and
+Walker gave them the use of his cabin, and fitted out the old lady with
+"a silk nightgown, some fine linen waistcoats, cambric night-caps, etc.,
+in which she appeared a kind of hermaphrodite in dress"; a droll figure,
+indeed! But a privateer skipper can scarcely be expected to be provided
+with requisites for such an occasion. The poor old lady had a tragic
+tale to tell, for her daughter, a young girl, went down with the ship;
+and her account of the scene between decks, where she and her daughter
+retired during the action, is ghastly enough: "Hither they brought the
+poor bleeding sailors, one after another, without legs, without arms,
+roaring with their pains, and laid in heaps to be butchered anew by the
+surgeon, in his haste and despatch of cure or death. Here several of the
+objects died at our feet. Thus surrounded by the ghastly prospect, all
+at once death himself came breaking in upon us, through the side of the
+ship; cut down the surgeon and one of his mates, and shattered the whole
+medicine-chest in pieces. Here was a total suspension of all relief to
+the poor wounded wretches; death coming, as it were, to reinforce his
+own orders and stop every means or effort to prevent him."
+
+Arrived with his shattered vessel and equally dismantled prizes at
+King's Road, Bristol, Walker, reporting proceedings to the Admiralty,
+received a handsome congratulatory letter from the Secretary.
+
+Sailing once more in July, Walker captured in August a vessel, the
+_Catharina_, which he subsequently bought as a tender, naming her the
+_George_; and in the following month he found himself, as was so often
+the case in privateers, at loggerheads with his crew over a vessel--a
+Dutchman--which he overhauled, and, being satisfied that her cargo was
+not contraband, dismissed her. The crew, after grumbling among
+themselves, assembled on deck while Walker was at supper, demanding to
+see him.
+
+He and his officers armed themselves and went on deck, and faced the
+three hundred angry men, who required to know why the Dutchman was not
+good prize. Walker's reply was admirable: "This is not the way to ask
+me. I am willing that the meanest man in the ship shall be satisfied of
+my conduct, but I will give that satisfaction in my own way, and not be
+called to account by you. I am sorry, indeed, that it should ever be
+said of me that I was obliged to take up arms against my own people, in
+defence of conduct which can be so easily supported by words only. It
+will be a pain to me to reflect upon it, as long as I live, and a blot
+on the character I imagined I had gained. I am very willing to explain
+to you what rights we have over Dutch vessels, but I shall choose my own
+time for doing it; and every man who does not instantly separate to his
+duty, when I give the word, I shall treat him as an associate in a
+mutiny."
+
+Two of the men called out that it would be too late to explain when the
+chase was out of sight. "Bring those men aft, and put them in irons,"
+said Walker; and he was obeyed. Next morning he gave them a lecture on
+prize law and discipline, to which they listened in all submission.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XII
+
+GEORGE WALKER--_continued_
+
+
+It was towards the end of this year--1745--after a visit to
+Madeira--where some of the crew got into trouble over a very foolish
+practical joke, putting a handful of soot in the holy-water fount at a
+church door--and a short cruise off the Azores, that Walker and his men
+were called upon to face death in a new form: not amidst the interchange
+of cannon-shot, the rattle of musketry, the clash of steel, but the
+gradual encroachment of the sea in a desperately leaky ship, threatening
+day by day to engulf them.
+
+It was upon this occasion that George Walker displayed the noblest
+qualities, and by his fortitude, tact, and unwearying exertions kept the
+ship afloat and saved the lives of all on board.
+
+The story is a thrilling one. The beginning of disaster was on November
+12th, when the _Duke of Bedford_ privateer had been for some days in
+company, and some hard gales had been experienced, the wind again
+increasing to a gale upon this day, with heavy rain. The mainyard, which
+should have been held aloft in its place by chain-slings, had been left,
+through carelessness, hanging by the tackle which was used to raise and
+lower it--termed the "geers"--and, upon the men being sent up to furl
+the mainsail, the strap supporting the upper block gave way, and the
+yard--the heaviest in the ship--came down, with all the men upon it.
+Strangely enough, no one was injured or thrown overboard; but the
+narrator alleges that the shock of the yard falling shook up the ship,
+so as to open some of her joints. It may as well be pointed out, for the
+information of the non-professional reader, that no such result had any
+right to ensue in a ship with any pretension to being decently built;
+the utmost damage should have been, perhaps, broken bulwarks, and
+probably some injury to the spar itself. However, whether by coincidence
+or from the vessel being really so shaky, she commenced, after this, to
+make water too freely, and two days later alarmingly, so that two pumps
+constantly going would scarcely keep her clear. The wind and sea
+increased, the ship laboured more and more, her planks working and seams
+opening everywhere. She was then off the Azores, some fifteen hundred
+miles from the Land's End, and Walker steered a course for the south of
+Ireland, intending to finish the cruise in those waters. On the 17th,
+however, the water increased enormously, and the officers, thoroughly
+alarmed, signed a petition to Walker to make for the nearest port. After
+some discussion, and a most disheartening report from the carpenter, he
+gave his consent, reminding them that his honour and his duty to the
+owners obliged him to speak every ship he sighted; and recommending
+them to endeavour in every way to encourage the crew and keep their
+spirits up.
+
+Vain endeavour! a day or two of constant pumping revealed the fact that
+all the power available would not keep the water under, and a large
+number of men had to be kept incessantly baling--dipping up the water in
+buckets from the hold, passing it from hand to hand, and emptying it on
+the deck, upon which the pumps also discharged, so that the scuppers
+would scarcely suffice to keep the deck free; water below, water on
+deck, and a winter gale howling through the rigging, the ship labouring
+and lurching helplessly under reduced canvas. Almost mechanically the
+weary crew took their turns at pumping, baling, handling the ship;
+despair began to grow upon them, and, after a week of toil and slow
+progress, it came to Walker's knowledge, through some men whom he could
+trust, that there was a plot to seize the arms, take the boats by force,
+with as many as they would hold, and leave the rest to perish. He
+responded with a counter-mine. At a given signal the officers, already
+disposed near where the arms were kept, suddenly threw every weapon
+overboard, except a sufficient number to arm themselves, thus turning
+the tables upon the astonished conspirators, who now imagined that they
+would receive the treatment they had designed for others; but Walker,
+humane and sympathetic as he was brave, did not speak an angry word to
+them: "I sincerely forgive you your folly and rashness," he said, "which
+came rather from your fears than from deliberate disobedience. If you
+will now exert yourselves, and stick to the pumping and baling, we
+shall save the ship; if not, we go to the bottom. And remember, that I
+have now the power to provide for myself and the officers alone, as you
+would so selfishly have done for yourselves; but if you stick to us, we
+will stick to you, to the last."
+
+The crowd of rough, sea-soaked, half-starved, wearied men, swaying on
+the slippery deck with the motion of the ship, had no words in which to
+reply to such a speech. Some of them were moved to tears, and when, as
+an earnest of their goodwill, one or two called for cheers for the
+captain, their voices, mingled with the dismal howling of the wind and
+the ominous sound of water surging about below, rang so quavering and
+feeble, that Walker turned aside to conceal his own emotion.
+
+From that time forward he never left the deck, nor lay down for a week,
+sleeping as he stood, leaning on the rail.
+
+Every eye was turned to that solitary, dauntless figure. Never a sign of
+fear or yielding did he show, and when he spoke words of encouragement
+as they toiled at the pumps, they would look up at him, some with a
+murmur of blessing and admiration, some with tears in their eyes.
+
+Already six guns had been thrown overboard; in a few days, the gale
+increasing, nearly all the remainder followed. The anchors were cut
+away, and also some spars which were superfluous in such a gale; the
+sails were split by the violence of the wind, the rigging gave out, the
+masts swaying and threatening to go by the board, and never a sail
+appeared: not even a foe of superior force, which they would have
+welcomed in their dire extremity.
+
+At length the word was beginning to be passed about that it was useless
+any longer to toil at the pumps. Nothing could save the ship, and the
+lassitude of despair was settling down upon them. The officers began to
+share the despondency of the crew, and Walker, looking round for those
+with whom he would consult, missed them: they had gone below to take
+eternal leave of one another.
+
+Calling a seaman, Walker sent him aloft, with orders to cry "A sail!"
+and then, sending for the drummer, he bade him beat to quarters.
+
+Sudden animation ran through the ship. The men paused in their labour,
+looking round the horizon; the officers ran on deck, and closed round
+the captain: "Sir, do you think of engaging?" asked one. "Yes, sir,"
+replied Walker, in a low voice. "When I see an enemy so near--your own
+fears, which attack the hearts of all my other men. I am willing to take
+my greater part of duty, but you leave too much to my share."
+
+Ashamed, they endeavoured to emulate his fortitude, and this desperate
+ruse procured another respite from despair, and a night of renewed
+vigour at the pumps, in the hope of rescue in the morning. But there was
+no sail, and, though the wind had abated, despair returned; Walker
+assured them positively that they would sight land next day, and thus
+induced them to turn to once more, though he was by no means confident
+that his word would come true: and when a man ran aft in a sudden panic,
+or sent by others to tell the news, crying that the ship was just about
+to sink, his patience gave way for a moment, and he floored the
+scaremonger with a blow of his fist. "You lie, you villain!" he said;
+"she told me otherwise, as she rose on that last sea!"
+
+But it was over at last. On the following day the coast of Cornwall was
+sighted, and in the afternoon the battered and water-logged _Boscawen_
+ran into St. Ives. Anchorless, she drifted helplessly, and, in spite of
+the efforts of the Cornish boatmen, swept past the pier and grounded on
+a rocky beach, where she instantly parted, her masts falling every way.
+All the crew save four were got on shore in safety: Walker remained to
+see the sick got out of the cabin window, telling his men not to mind
+about him, as he would presently swim on shore; but two of the townsmen,
+who had probably heard from some of the seamen what sort of hero was in
+danger of perishing on the wreck, came out and brought him off.
+
+And that is the story of how George Walker, by sheer undaunted courage
+and force of will and example, kept his ship afloat and saved his own
+and over three hundred lives from a horrible end in mid-ocean: the
+noblest victory he ever won.
+
+When he presented himself before his owners they received him, says the
+writer, "with marks of esteem, and a joy equal to what had been the
+claim of the best success." One of the first questions Mr. Walker asked
+was, whether they were insured? The answer was, "No, nor ever would be
+in a ship where he commanded"--a remark which, while exceedingly and
+intentionally complimentary to the gallant Walker, scarcely represents a
+sound commercial attitude.
+
+Walker's next command was a much more important one, for he was, as
+already stated, placed in charge of a squadron of privateers, all named
+after royal personages, and known collectively as "The Royal Family
+Privateers." The vessels were fitted out at Bristol, and were named:
+
+                                               Guns.      Men.
+  _King George_, George Walker, Commodore      32         300
+  _Prince Frederick_, Hugh Bromedge, Captain   26         260
+  _Duke, Edward Dottin_, Captain               20         260
+  _Princess Amelia_, Robert Denham, Captain    24         150
+                                              ---         ---
+                                              102         970
+
+A formidable force, under such a commander. The _Prince Frederick_,
+however, got aground in the Bristol Channel, and was compelled to put
+back and dock: so the three others set forth in company at the beginning
+of May 1746, and had only been a week at sea when they encountered three
+French line-of-battle ships, from which Walker escaped in the dark by
+the ruse of leaving a lantern floating in a cask, while he extinguished
+all lights and altered his course; but the _Princess Amelia_ parted
+company and eventually put into Lisbon.
+
+A little later, at Safia, on the coast of Morocco, having chased a small
+French vessel into the bay, Walker determined to cut her out that night
+with his boats--an operation not often undertaken by privateers, though
+numerous feats of the most daring description have been performed in
+this connection by the Navy. Walker considered, however, that he and
+his men were fully capable of planning and executing such an
+enterprise, and, having given detailed directions, he despatched three
+boats under the command of Mr. Riddle, his second lieutenant, on this
+dangerous service, about midnight. As is frequently the case with such
+undertakings, the original plan had to be modified, and they found the
+Frenchmen very much on the alert. The lieutenant in command was very
+severely wounded immediately, but nothing would stop Walker's men, and,
+after a tussle, they carried the vessel and brought her out in triumph.
+As she was a smart little craft Walker made her a tender in place of the
+_Princess Amelia_, naming her _Prince George_ and putting his first
+lieutenant, John Green, in command. Mr. Green, we are told, would have
+been sent in charge of the cutting-out expedition, but that he had
+expressed the opinion that it would be better to wait until daylight.
+"Sir," says Mr. Walker, "though I have no reason to doubt your prowess,
+yet I never will send a man upon an expedition to which he has any
+objection." He gave him the command, however, of the new tender,
+displaying his customary fairness of dealing with all his subordinates.
+
+During this eight months' cruise "The Royal Family" made some valuable
+prizes and put into Lisbon with more than L220,000 to the good, and
+without a single man having been killed.
+
+Having overhauled and refitted his ships--now increased to six in number
+by the addition of the _Prince George_ and the _Prince Edward_, a vessel
+purchased at Lisbon--Walker put to sea again on July 10th, 1747 and in
+October following occurred the most remarkable action in which he was
+concerned. He had, before this, lost one of his squadron, the _Prince
+Edward_, by a very extraordinary accident. Crowding sail to come up with
+her consorts, being astern, she was suddenly observed to reel, and
+immediately foundered, going down stern first. The survivors--her
+captain and two men only--stated that the mainmast had slipped out of
+the "step" in the bottom of the ship--or more probably had displaced the
+step by the strain upon it--and the heel of the mast had gone through
+her bottom, the mast, with all the sails set, falling over the stern.
+
+On October 6th the squadron had been watering in Lagos Bay--that same
+harbour in which we saw Bernard D'Ongressill so scurvily treated by the
+Portuguese nearly five hundred years previously--and the _King George_
+and _Prince Frederick_, coming out about five o'clock in the morning,
+leaving the _Princess Amelia_ still at anchor, saw a large sail standing
+to the northward. Walker made the signal to chase, and sent a small
+vessel, a recent prize, into the anchorage to hurry up the _Princess
+Amelia_. The _Duke_ and _Prince George_, having completed their watering
+earlier, were in sight; but, after chasing for about an hour, for some
+unexplained reason discontinued--or could not get up.
+
+The chase, seeing she was likely to be hemmed in by the two nearest
+ships, kept away to the westward, making all sail; and Walker, with his
+two ships, chased her until noon, when the _King George_ was nearly up
+with her, the _Prince Frederick_ some distance to the southward. They
+had not yet disclosed each other's nationality, but Walker realised by
+this time that the stranger was a very big ship, and he was within
+gunshot of her, practically alone; and then it suddenly fell a flat
+calm, and the chase, hoisting her colours, ran out her guns, disclosing
+herself as a 74-gun ship. The colours, however, hung down in the calm,
+and it was impossible to tell whether they were Spanish or
+Portuguese--for the two ensigns were very similar at that time, though
+they are not so now. After about an hour, during which the _Prince
+Frederick_ could get no nearer, and Walker and his big opponent were
+eyeing each other curiously, the latter ran in her lower deck guns, and
+closed the ports. This looked as though she was a treasure ship,
+unwilling to fight if she could avoid it; and, as a matter of fact, she
+was just that; only she had already--after being chased by some English
+men-of-war--landed her treasure, to the value of some three millions
+sterling, at Ferrol, and was on her way to Cadiz. However, seeing her
+somewhat shy, Walker's officers and men were all for fighting; and when
+a light breeze sprang up about five o'clock, and the big ship again made
+sail on her original course, the _King George_ at once continued the
+chase, leaving the _Prince Frederick_, which did not get the breeze so
+soon, yet further astern.
+
+At eight o'clock, in bright moonlight, Walker was within speaking
+distance, cleared for action, his men lying down at their quarters. He
+hailed in Portuguese: no reply. Then he hailed in English, asking her
+name; in reply, she asked his name, also in English. "The _King
+George_!" replied Walker, and then came a thundering broadside,
+dismounting two guns and bringing down the maintopsail yard. Walker's
+men were on their feet and had their broadside in in a few seconds; and
+then this ridiculously uneven contest went on, the huge Spanish
+ship--her name, the _Glorioso_--towering above the other, and both
+letting drive with guns and small arms for all they were worth. Why the
+_King George_ was not sunk it is impossible to say. The chronicler of
+the fight says that the Spaniards did not manage to fire their
+broadsides regularly but only a few guns at a time, while the _King
+George's_ men got theirs in with great precision and regularity, and
+also maintained a very hot fire of musketry, under the control of the
+Captain of Marines.
+
+This desperate conflict was maintained for three hours, at close
+range--so close at times that some burning wadding from the Spaniard's
+guns set fire to the _King George's_ mainsail. The incident, as Sir John
+Laughton remarks, was unique in naval warfare; there have been instances
+in which a vessel of vastly inferior force has contrived to maim or
+delay her big antagonist until assistance arrived, and so to contribute
+very materially to her capture, advantage being taken of superior speed
+and handiness, or circumstances of wind and sea, and so on; but for a
+vessel of the _King George's_ size to maintain a close ding-dong action
+with a 74-gun ship, in fine weather, for this space of time is entirely
+unprecedented. Had Walker been in command of a king's ship, he would
+certainly have been held blameless if he had run away; but running away,
+even from a vastly superior force, was not, as we have seen, a
+proceeding which found any favour in the eyes of George Walker; and
+there was, of course, the strong inducement of the assumed treasure,
+which, after all, was not there.
+
+The writer attributes their immunity from destruction and their trifling
+casualties--one killed and fifteen wounded--partly to the very closeness
+of the action, the Spanish ship's shot not hitting the hull; and also,
+to the fact that, probably from the overloading of the guns with several
+shot, in the hope of knocking a huge breach in the _King George's_ side,
+the shot came with such reduced force that, when they hit, they did not
+penetrate. Walker's device of high bulwarks of elm planking, before
+alluded to, he likewise considers had a share in their miraculous
+salvation.
+
+[Illustration: ACTION BETWEEN THE SPANISH 74-GUN SHIP "GLORIOSO" AND THE
+"KING GEORGE" AND "PRINCE FREDERICK" OF THE "ROYAL FAMILY" PRIVATEERS]
+
+Walker, he says, "fought and commanded with a calmness almost peculiar
+to himself"; and his high example conduced to order and discipline even
+in the thickest of the fight. When the mainsail was set on fire he
+ordered some hands aloft to extinguish it, and when another man was
+somewhat officiously following, he called him down. "I have sent men
+enough aloft for the business, in my opinion; if they fail in their
+duty, I'll send for you"; such an episode, in the thick of a terrible
+engagement, is significant, indeed, of calmness and absolute
+self-possession, which is heroic in its measure.
+
+The action was fought, we are told, so close under Cape St. Vincent that
+the castle on the Cape repeatedly fired upon the combatants, "as a
+neutral power commanding peace"; in other words, as a protest against
+the action being fought in Portuguese waters, within gunshot of the
+coast.
+
+By half-past ten the _Prince Frederick_ came up to the assistance of her
+consort. At this time the _King George_ had received so much damage
+aloft, that there was no choice but to remain, for she could not have
+run away. "All our braces and maintopsail yard were shot away, the
+foremast quite disabled, and the mainmast damaged. We could not work our
+ship, and bravery became now a virtue of necessity."
+
+There was no mention of striking the colours, however; and half an hour
+later the _Glorioso_ desisted from action, and retired from the field.
+When, at daybreak, Captain Dottin, of the _Prince Frederick_, came on
+board, his first inquiry was as to whether the commodore was alive;
+then, seeing the ship's company so nearly intact, and his friends among
+the officers unhurt, he embraced the gallant commodore in the enthusiasm
+of his joy and admiration.
+
+Despatching the _Prince Frederick_, with the _Duke_ and _Prince George_,
+in pursuit of the enemy, Walker set to work to refit; and then a fresh
+alarm arose, for a large sail was seen approaching from the eastward.
+She proved, however, to be a friend, the _Russell_, an 80-gun ship, and
+Walker lost no time in acquainting her captain with the state of
+affairs.
+
+Helpless in his dismantled vessel, Walker watched with his glass the
+progress of the chase, his own three vessels nearing the Spaniard, with
+the giant _Russell_ crowding sail to join them; but he could not account
+for a fourth vessel which now seemed to be in the fight.
+
+The headmost ship, apparently the _Prince Frederick_, now engaged the
+Spaniard hotly, and Walker, speaking his thoughts aloud to his officers,
+deplored her captain's unwariness in not waiting for the others to come
+up; for Dottin was blazing away for all he was worth, and Walker's
+experience immediately suggested a new danger. "Dottin will fire away
+all his cartridges at too great a distance, and afterwards be obliged to
+load with loose powder, by which some fatal accident may happen."
+
+Scarcely had he spoken, keeping his glass upon the vessel, when
+simultaneously with the discharge of a broadside a pillar of smoke and
+flame shot up. "Good heavens, she's gone!" cried Walker. "Dottin and all
+his brave fellows are no more!" One of the officers suggested that it
+was merely the smoke of her last broadside. "It's a dreadful truth you
+tell," replied Walker, still looking through his glass, "for 'tis the
+last she will ever give!" And when the smoke cleared away there was no
+ship to be seen! This terrible incident so affected the ship's company
+that Walker called the officers aside into the companionway in order to
+admonish them that they must keep up an air of cheerfulness before the
+men, who might otherwise be backward in fighting; and while he spoke
+there was a series of sudden explosions, mingled with cries of alarm.
+Running out on deck, they found the crew in a panic, some clinging
+outside the ship, others climbing out on the bowsprit, in readiness to
+jump overboard when the ship should blow up. The alarm was caused by a
+seaman stepping upon a number of loaded muskets, which were covered
+with a sail, and firing one off, which quickly set the others going,
+some spare ammunition also exploding; bullets were flying about, the
+sail was on fire, and the men could not be persuaded to quit their
+temporary refuge, so completely scared were they by this sudden din,
+following closely upon the tragic occurrence they had just witnessed.
+The captain and officers extinguished the fire, assisted by the
+chaplain--"a very worthy gentleman"--apparently of the same type as that
+excellent parson described in "Midshipman Easy," who rendered such
+material assistance under similar circumstances, and was anxious to
+ascertain afterwards whether he had allowed his tongue too free play for
+one of his cloth; he had, but Jack Easy consoled him. "Indeed, sir, I
+only heard you say, 'God bless you, my men; be smart,' and so on."
+
+Well, the _Russell_, aided by "The Royal Family," captured the Spaniard,
+of course, though she made a more stubborn fight than they expected, and
+the _Russell_ was very short of men. The _King George_, however, had no
+decisive news on the subject for some days, when, encountering their
+consort, the _Duke_, what was the joy on board upon learning that the
+_Prince Frederick_ was safe and sound! The vessel which so unhappily
+blew up was the _Dartmouth_, a frigate which had come up, hearing the
+guns, to see the fun. Only seventeen of her crew were picked up by the
+_Prince Frederick's_ boats; one of them was an Irish lieutenant,
+O'Brien, who apologised to captain Dottin for his dress: "Sir, you must
+excuse the unfitness of my dress to come aboard a strange ship, but
+really I left my own in such a hurry that I had no time to stay for a
+change." He had been blown out of a port!
+
+It was not until he was introduced to the Spanish captain, on board the
+_Russell_, that Walker learned that the treasure was safe at Ferrol--a
+great blow to him and his men; and on arriving at Lisbon he was, to his
+surprise, confronted by one of his owners, who blamed him severely for
+venturing the privateers against a man-of-war. Walker very justly
+replied, "Had the treasure, sir, been aboard, as I expected, your
+compliment had been otherways; or had we let her escape from us with
+that treasure on board, what had you then have said?"
+
+Walker was then, in fact, treated very scurvily by the owners, if we are
+to believe the quite simple and apparently straightforward story of his
+friend and former officer, and was at the last hustled out of his ship,
+the _King George_, at Lisbon, by a scandalous subterfuge. Probably
+avarice was at the bottom of all this sordid business; privateer owners
+had a very keen eye for the main chance, and did not set too much store
+by heroism--without profits!
+
+Walker took his passage home in the packet, an armed vessel, commanded
+by an elderly and somewhat timid gentleman. They encountered an Algerine
+of greater force, and some of Walker's men who were on board were heard
+to remark that if their captain had commanded he would knock her out of
+the water; so two English merchants, who were passengers, begged the
+captain to turn over the fighting command to Walker.
+
+This was actually done, and Walker, playing a clever game of bluff, sent
+the enemy off without firing a shot.
+
+This is the last we hear of Walker at sea. We find him in gaol for debt,
+but the precise circumstances which induced his formerly very admiring
+owners to place him there are not quite clear. As we know, it was no
+disgrace in those days to be imprisoned for debt, and the process was,
+indeed, a remarkably easy one. As has already been remarked, it is
+impossible to believe that George Walker was otherwise than a man of
+strictest honour and probity: he proved himself almost quixotically so,
+in fact, for when, upon one occasion, a couple of rich East India ships
+offered him L1,000 to convoy them safely to Lisbon, he replied that "he
+would never take a reward for what he thought his duty to do without
+one"; nor would he accept the smallest present from them, after seeing
+them safely into port.
+
+According to _The Gentleman's Magazine_, George Walker died September
+20th, 1777. Where he was buried does not appear; whether he was ever
+married or left any family is equally obscure.
+
+One thing, however, is certain: he left behind him the reputation of a
+very noble and brave seaman, the idol of his men, the terror of his
+king's enemies. There is no eulogy which has been engraved upon the
+tombstones of our naval and military heroes which might not with justice
+have been included in George Walker's epitaph. So far as his
+opportunities went, he set an example which could scarcely have been
+improved upon.
+
+
+
+
+SOME FRENCHMEN
+
+[Illustration: JEAN BART, A FAMOUS FRENCH PRIVATEER CAPTAIN]
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIII
+
+JEAN BART
+
+
+Privateering was very much resorted to in France, from the middle of the
+seventeenth century onwards; it was greatly encouraged by the State, and
+frequently men-of-war were lent to private individuals or corporations,
+who maintained them at their own cost, and of course pocketed the
+proceeds of the prizes captured. Some of these were large and powerful
+vessels, mounting fifty or sixty guns, and, having been built for
+men-of-war, were far superior to most privateers, which were frequently
+merchant vessels adapted for the purpose. Their crews were very
+numerous, not infrequently outnumbering those of our 64-gun ships, and
+it was not of much use for any vessel of less force than these to tackle
+them.
+
+One of these big privateers, in the year 1745, was engaged off the south
+coast of Ireland with the 40-gun ship _Anglesea_, Captain Jacob Elton,
+with a very sad and tragic result. The _Anglesea_, having put into
+Kinsale to land some sick--her senior lieutenant being one--sailed again
+on March 28th, being one of the vessels ordered to command the entrance
+of the channel. On the following day, with a fresh breeze blowing, a
+large sail was reported to windward. Captain Elton, for some reason,
+assumed that this was his consort, the _Augusta_, of 64 guns; it was
+just twelve o'clock, so he ordered his boatswain to pipe to dinner,
+making no preparation for action. The stranger came down rapidly,
+displaying no colours, apparently--which should have aroused Elton's
+suspicion--and suddenly, when he was quite near, it was realised that
+the ornament on her quarter was in the French style.
+
+Then, all in a hurry, they beat to quarters, and the English captain, in
+order to gain time for his preparations, made more sail, setting his
+foresail; but the wind was strong, with a lumpy sea, and the increased
+pressure of sail, as the gun's crews opened the lee ports, brought tons
+of water in on to the lower deck, threatening to water-log the ship.
+
+The enemy--which was the _Apollon_, 50 guns, fitted out as a
+privateer--had it all her own way. Passing under the stern of the
+_Anglesea_, she rounded to on her lee quarter, and delivered a heavy
+fire. The guns were not cleared away, there was a lot of water below,
+and in a minute or two sixty men were dead or wounded. The captain and
+master were killed by the first broadside, and the command of the ship
+thus devolved upon the second lieutenant, a young and inexperienced
+officer. He was in a very tight place. The Frenchman being on the lee
+quarter, he could not bear up and run, as he would have fallen on board
+the enemy, which carried many more men, and his ship meanwhile was under
+a heavy fire, which could not be returned, his men falling fast. After
+consultation with the third lieutenant, he surrendered--and really it is
+difficult to see what else he could have done. Possibly an older man, of
+consummate skill and great experience, might have found a way of
+handling his ship so as, at least, to gain some respite; on the other
+hand, no such man would have had any business to find himself in this
+predicament.
+
+So the lieutenant--Baker Phillips by name--hauled down his colours, and
+in due course was tried by court-martial for the loss of his ship. The
+court "was unanimously of opinion that Captain Elton, deceased, did not
+give timely directions for getting his ship clear or in a proper posture
+of defence, nor did he afterwards behave like an officer or a seaman,
+which was the cause of the ship being left to Lieutenant Phillips in
+such distress and confusion. And that Lieutenant Baker Phillips, late
+second lieutenant of the said ship, by not endeavouring to the utmost of
+his power after Captain Elton's death to put the ship in order of
+fighting, not encouraging the inferior officers and men to fight
+courageously, and by yielding to the enemy, falls under part of the
+tenth Article.[11] They do sentence him to death, to be shot by a
+platoon of musqueteers on the forecastle; ... but ... having regard to
+the distress and confusion the ship was in when he came to the command,
+and being a young man and inexperienced, they beg leave to recommend him
+to mercy."
+
+That is to say, they felt bound, under the clause referred to in the
+Articles of War, to sentence him to death, but obviously hoped that the
+extreme penalty would not be inflicted under the circumstances--a very
+proper view to take. The recommendation, however, was ignored--it will
+be recollected that just at this period the British Navy was, for some
+reason, passing through a very unsatisfactory phase; courage and energy
+appeared often to be lacking--as in the instance of the treasure ships,
+in the previous year, when George Walker was compelled to witness the
+outrageous incapacity and supineness of the captains of the men-of-war.
+These men were acquitted--Lieutenant Baker Phillips was not. Perhaps it
+may be permitted to ask, would Captain Elton have been shot had he
+survived the action? His lieutenant was made an example of, and there is
+some story that a reprieve was refused on account of his Jacobite
+tendencies; no evidence appears to be forthcoming in support of this
+view. Another and very terrible tale in connection with the incident
+relates that Phillips's wife, after a reprieve had been refused, went
+in person to Queen Caroline and obtained one, with which she posted in
+feverish haste to Portsmouth; but the unhappy young officer, desiring to
+avoid the terrible pain of a final interview with her, had, in ignorance
+of her mission to the queen, requested that the hour of his execution
+might be hastened. When she arrived, he had already been shot. One can
+only hope that this story is not true; it is too terrible to dwell upon.
+
+Well, that is how the privateer _Apollon_ scored off us. Five-and-thirty
+years later, in 1780, within a mile or two of the same spot, a still
+more powerful vessel, similarly commissioned--to wit, the _Comte
+d'Artois_, of 64 guns--was overcome and captured by the _Bienfaisant_,
+64 guns, captain Macbride, after a smart action of over an hour. The
+_Bienfaisant_ was countenanced, more than assisted, by the presence of
+the _Charon_, 44 guns, which took little or no part in the action. The
+French loss was 21 killed and 34 wounded, while the British lost 3
+killed and 23 wounded.
+
+It was one of these privately maintained king's ships which was selected
+to convoy the young Pretender to Scotland in 1745; indeed, both the
+_Elizabeth_, of 60 guns, and the _Dentelle_, a much smaller vessel, in
+which the prince embarked, were of this class. The two vessels
+encountered the British 60-gun ship _Lion_, off Ushant, and of course
+there was a fight. The _Lion_ and _Elizabeth_, pretty equally matched,
+and each commanded by a doughty fighter, blazed away at each other by
+the space of four or five hours, when both had had enough. Captain
+Brett, of the _Lion_, while regretting that he had not been able to
+capture the _Elizabeth_, was pleasing himself with the reflection that
+he had "spoiled her voyage"--and so he had, for she had 65 killed and
+136 wounded, while her hull was fearfully battered, and she was
+compelled to make for the nearest French port. Brett took but little
+notice of the smaller craft, which, endeavouring at first to assist the
+_Elizabeth_, was easily disposed of by the _Lion's_ stern chasers, and
+hung about out of range until the big ships separated, when she
+proceeded on her voyage to Scotland. Brett must have been rather annoyed
+afterwards to think that he had not made a capture of the _Dentelle_;
+but he had, in fact, spoiled their voyage very effectually, for the
+_Elizabeth_ had on board all the stores and munitions for the campaign
+in Scotland, and Charles Edward Stuart landed very empty-handed in
+consequence.
+
+One of the most prominent among French privateer captains is Jean Bart;
+he is, in fact, perhaps somewhat unduly prominent, as it does not
+appear, from authentic accounts, that he performed any more wonderful or
+daring feats of seamanship and battle than some others. It may be that
+the many unfounded, or at least unsupported tales of his
+prowess--incredible tales, many of them--form the basis, to a large
+extent, of his immense popularity; or, on the other hand, this very
+popularity may have given rise to these exaggerated anecdotes. He was,
+without doubt, a very fine seaman, and a determined and capable
+commander, very worthy of the public esteem, and his reputation gains
+nothing from wild inventions.
+
+He was born in 1650, at Dunkirk, though his family is said to have been
+of Dieppe origin. He came of privateering, semi-piratical stock, and at
+the age of twelve he embarked as boy on board a Dunkirk smuggler, under
+a brutal, but capable ruffian named Jerome Valbue; his father's old
+boatswain, Antoine Sauret, accompanying him, apparently, as a kind of
+"sea-daddy"--and it appears to have been just as well that he had some
+one to stand between him and the skipper. After a four years'
+apprenticeship, young Bart, always enthusiastic and eager to learn, had
+acquired remarkable proficiency in seamanship and gunnery, and is said
+to have won the prize for the best marksman at the annual competition on
+the Dunes.
+
+Thanks to Sauret's teaching and his own zeal, the lad was considered
+competent, at the age of sixteen, to fill the post of mate on a
+brigantine, the _Cochon Gras_, of which the redoubtable Valbue was
+appointed commander.
+
+Jean Bart and his elderly adviser, Sauret, were, however, destined soon
+to find employ elsewhere, the occasion of their leaving the _Cochon
+Gras_ being an exhibition of wanton cruelty on the part of their
+captain. The fact of the two having protested rendered it advisable that
+they should not remain.
+
+M. Valbue, it appears, in common with many captains, both in the Navy
+and elsewhere at that period, still affected to be bound, together with
+his crew, by the Laws or Judgments of Oleron--a brutal code, dating
+from the twelfth century.
+
+Valbue, half drunk, had been relating some wonderful tale of the
+miraculous intervention of a saintly bishop to save a fishing-boat, and
+proceeded to emphasise his own belief and his contempt for heretics by
+flinging his half-empty tin cider-mug at one Lanoix, a harmless Huguenot
+seaman. (Huguenots are habitually represented by the ordinary British
+writer as harmless, exemplary persons; a large number of them were, in
+fact, bloodthirsty, cruel, and seditious ruffians, who richly deserved
+all they got.)
+
+Lanoix meekly but firmly pointed out that the Laws of Oleron ordained
+that the captain was not to punish a seaman until his anger had cooled
+down. (It reminds one rather of Midshipman Easy walking about with the
+Articles of War under his arm, and admonishing his superior for using
+strong language!)
+
+Valbue's rejoinder was a blow with a handspike, which narrowly missed
+braining the seaman. Antoine Sauret ventured to remonstrate, but was
+warned that he was in danger of similar treatment: for the Laws of
+Oleron allow the captain one blow, just as the law of England allows a
+dog one bite--only the skipper was apparently permitted one crack at
+each member of his crew. So Sauret said no more.
+
+Lanoix, however, was as well up in the law as his captain, and, jumping
+over the iron rail which separated the forecastle from the after part of
+the vessel, reminded Valbue that if he followed him on to the forecastle
+and repeated the blow he would put himself in the wrong, and he,
+Lanoix, would have the right to retaliate.
+
+Valbue immediately let loose a string of contemptuous and insulting
+epithets, and, passing the barrier, struck Lanoix two violent blows on
+the face.
+
+Out came the seaman's knife, and in a second the captain's arm was badly
+gashed; but the instinct of discipline induced the crew to rush to the
+rescue, and they pinioned Lanoix--but not before he had killed one man,
+stabbing him to the heart.
+
+Valbue thereupon sent his cabin-boy down to bring up a copy of the Laws
+of Oleron, Jean Bart, at the helm, looking on all this while with
+disapproval and horror very plainly expressed in his countenance. When
+the boy appeared with the book Sauret went aft and sat down by the
+helmsman.
+
+Thinking to place Sauret and his young companion in the wrong, Valbue
+bade the former come forward and read out the law. He refused, pointing
+out that Valbue had himself broken the law, and that Lanoix was entitled
+to purgation of his offence by means of certain oaths and formulae.
+
+However, the protests of Jean Bart and the brave old man were of no
+avail. Ignoring their veto, and declaring that six out of eight of the
+crew agreed that Lanoix had wounded his captain and slain one of his
+shipmates, Valbue inflicted upon the unfortunate Huguenot the penalty
+for the first offence, lashing his arm to a sharp sword fixed to the
+windlass and then knocking him down, so that the flesh was stripped from
+his arm; and finally, ordering the dead body of the other man to be
+brought along, he caused Lanoix, sorely wounded but still alive, to be
+bound to it, and both were thrown overboard--which is also strictly in
+accordance with the Laws of Oleron, in the event of a seaman killing one
+of his comrades at sea--as he who runs may read.
+
+Jean Bart and the boatswain acquired from that moment a strong distaste
+for the Laws of Oleron, and quitted the vessel upon arriving, the same
+evening, at Calais.
+
+Valbue, consistent with all his brutality, reported the circumstances,
+as enjoined by the same code, to the authorities; and the incident, we
+are told, led to the framing of the Maritime Code of France.
+
+Bart and Sauret were highly commended for their plucky protest, and a
+few days later the former was entrusted with the responsible task of
+conveying some French noblemen, in a half-decked sailing-boat, to join
+De Ruyter in the Dutch fleet, then lying off Harwich--so we are told in
+the account given by Mr. C.B. Norman, in "The Corsairs of France"; but
+Mr. Norman is very vague as to dates, and we can only conclude that this
+was during the interval between the "four days' fight," from June 1st to
+4th, 1666, and the subsequent decisive action on July 25th and 26th. It
+is said that he distinguished himself in the "hard-fought
+action"--between Albemarle and De Ruyter--on August 6th following; but
+there is no record of any action on this date.
+
+However, these matters are not of much importance, especially in the
+case of Jean Bart, concerning whom, as has been stated, fables are
+plentiful. It appears to be certain that he was some five years in the
+Dutch service, his heart being all this time with France; and when, in
+1672, war was declared between France and the States-General, he
+immediately returned to Dunkirk, and entered upon his career as a
+privateersman. Commencing as a subordinate, he was given his first
+command in 1674--when he was four-and-twenty--a small vessel, mounting
+two guns, with a crew of thirty-six.
+
+In this vessel--the _King David_--Bart soon showed himself to be a bold
+and capable captain; in four or five months he captured six prizes. No
+fighting was entailed, it is true; but those who knew Jean Bart did not
+doubt that he could fight, should the occasion arise; and his old friend
+and "sea-daddy," Antoine Sauret, loafing and chatting with his cronies
+in Dunkirk, did not allow his young friend's exploits to be forgotten.
+
+Naturally, his next command was a larger vessel--a brigantine, named _La
+Royale_, mounting ten guns, and his success continued unabated. He
+cruised in company with two other Dunkirk men, and made many captures,
+the most important being the _Esperance_, a States-General man-of-war,
+carrying 12 guns, by which he appears to have won great renown--though
+she was only overcome by the heavy odds against her, Bart having the
+assistance of at least one of his allies. However, there is no small
+merit in always contriving to outnumber the foe.
+
+Having taken four months' leisure in order to get married, Jean Bart
+once more put out, in July 1675, and met with immediate success; and,
+capturing quite a number of fishing-vessels, he permitted the captains
+to ransom them for a handsome sum--a much more convenient arrangement,
+in many instances, than bringing a number of prizes into port; it was,
+however, forbidden, as liable to lead to great abuses, and Bart was
+deprived of half the proceeds and warned to be more careful in future--a
+warning to which he did not pay much heed. Ransoming was subsequently
+forbidden to British privateers, and other precautions against
+semi-piracy were instituted, more or less copied from the French, who
+were always in advance of us in their regulation of privateering.
+
+So successful was Jean Bart in _La Royale_ that early in 1676 he was
+given command of a much more important vessel--the _Palme_, of 24 guns,
+with a crew of 150 men--a regular frigate of those times. Again he was
+lucky in hunting in company, for he and his consorts were opposed to
+eight armed whalers and three privateers, which they fought for three
+hours, when Bart boarded and carried the largest, while his consorts
+secured the whalers, the two other privateers finding it too hot to
+remain.
+
+Bart was by no means satisfied with these exploits. A genuine fighting
+man, he longed to be matched singly against a man-of-war or a privateer
+of fully his own force; and this wish was gratified on September 7th,
+1676, when he fell in with a fleet of fishing-vessels, convoyed by the
+_Neptune_, a vessel carrying 32 guns. Bart sailed into the convoy, and,
+hoisting his colours, fired a gun for the enemy to bring to. Up went
+the Dutch colours, with a broadside by way of emphasis; the Dutch
+captain was a man of Jean Bart's stamp--a foeman worthy of his
+steel--and they had a great fight.
+
+For three hours, at close range, they battered each other, Bart all the
+while trying to get a favourable position for boarding, but being
+constantly frustrated by the good seamanship of the other. At length,
+however, the _Neptune_ was so seriously damaged aloft that she was no
+longer under full command; Bart, instantly and skilfully availing
+himself of the chance, got his vessel lashed alongside, and headed the
+boarding party, consisting of nearly all his crew. The Dutch captain,
+grievously wounded, sat on one side, like desperate Andrew Barton, and
+shouted to his men to lay on; but they were demoralised by the banging
+they had had, and Bart and his boarders were not to be denied; in a few
+minutes the affair was over, and the French flag replaced the Dutch. It
+was a proud moment for Jean Bart, and a proud day when he sailed into
+Dunkirk with the captured vessel in his wake, followed by the fleet of
+fishing-boats which his victory had thrown into his hands.
+
+The fame of this exploit soon spread abroad, and one fine day Jean Bart
+received a gold chain from the king as a mark of appreciation of his
+prowess; at the same time the authorities began to discuss the question
+of keeping a list, or roll, of the best fighting privateer captains, in
+order that they might be transferred to the Navy in case of need--not
+necessarily an advantage to a keen privateersman, as he would occupy at
+first a subordinate position, very irksome after the freedom of his
+former life, in command of his ship.
+
+Colbert, the Minister of State, was very eager about the matter, and
+advocated giving the most efficient privateer commanders the rank of
+commodore among their brethren, so that they could operate in squadrons,
+and attack the enemy's men-of-war. He caused inquiries to be made at
+Dunkirk and other ports as to the character and capability of the
+leading privateersmen; and of course he received extremely favourable
+reports of Jean Bart, who meanwhile was again at sea in the _Palme_,
+doing great execution.
+
+His employers soon displayed their appreciation of his services by
+providing him with a yet larger ship--the _Dauphin_, of 30 guns, with a
+crew numbering 200. In this vessel, a year later, he encountered another
+Dutchman of the same sort as the captain of the _Neptune_.
+
+Sailing in company with two smaller privateers, on June 18th, 1678, a
+Dutch frigate was sighted. The smallest privateer happened to be nearest
+to the enemy, who immediately attacked, hoping to carry her before her
+consorts could arrive. The Frenchman, however, handled his craft so
+judiciously as to keep his big antagonist in play until Bart came up.
+The two larger vessels--the Dutchman was the _Sherdam_, Captain Ranc--at
+once got into action, while Bart's smaller consort stood off, awaiting a
+chance. Seeing his opportunity, Bart signalled to her to bear down, and
+between them they got the Dutchman in such a position that he could not
+avoid being boarded. A crowd of men from both French vessels was
+speedily on his deck; but they had no kind of a walk-over; Ranc, though
+severely wounded, rallied his men again and again, and it was not until
+two-thirds of his crew were disabled or killed that he at length
+surrendered.
+
+Bart was wounded in the leg, and badly burnt by the discharge of a gun,
+almost in his face, as he leaped on board; six of his men were killed
+and thirty-one wounded, while as for the saucy _Dauphin_, her career was
+at an end. So well had the Dutchmen plied their guns that her hull was
+shattered beyond repair, and it was with extreme difficulty that she was
+brought into harbour.
+
+Bart, of course, had another ship at his disposal immediately--such an
+invincible corsair was not allowed to be idle--and he was at sea again
+in a fortnight, in the _Mars_, of 32 guns; a few weeks later, however,
+the war came to an end, and he returned to Dunkirk to have a spell on
+shore.
+
+And here the career of Jean Bart as a privateer captain comes to an end;
+in January 1679 he was given a commission as lieutenant in the navy.
+This was not very much to his taste; besides the comedown from captain
+to lieutenant, the aristocrats who predominated among French naval
+officers regarded a privateersman, thus pitchforked in among them, with
+a very supercilious air, and made things decidedly unpleasant for him.
+
+However, Jean Bart pulled through this all right, and eventually had
+opportunity of displaying his capacity in the royal ships.
+
+There are, as has been remarked, a number of romantic tales extant about
+Jean Bart; most of them are quite incredible, and for the others there
+is no reliable authority. One may be given here as a sample.
+
+At Bergen, in the year 1691, it is said that Bart made the acquaintance
+of the captain of a large English vessel, who expressed a keen desire to
+meet him outside. Bart said if he would wait a few days his wish should
+be gratified, and sent word one day that he would sail on the morrow.
+The Englishman politely invited him to breakfast before they sailed to
+have it out, and Bart, after a little hesitation, accepted. After
+breakfast he lit his pipe, and soon remarked that it was time to go.
+"No," said the Englishman, "you are my prisoner!" "I am not your
+prisoner," replied Bart, "I will blow up your ship!" Rushing out of the
+cabin, with a lighted match, he ran to where stood a barrel of gunpowder
+which had most opportunely been hoisted up from the magazine--a cask
+with the head out, we must imagine, and the powder exposed. Here, of
+course, he had it all his own way; the Englishmen were afraid to touch
+him, lest he should put the match to the powder--and the crews of the
+French ships, having heard his shout of defiance, rallied on board the
+English vessel in numbers, cut down many of the crew, captured the ship,
+and carried her into Dunkirk.
+
+It must be to this absurd story that M. Henri Malo alludes in "Les
+Corsaires," where he writes, in derision of privateering romances:
+"Privateers! We read in these accounts the names of heroes of
+romance--Jean Bart, smoking his pipe, mark you, on a barrel of
+gunpowder; Robert Surcouf, popularised in operetta."
+
+Jean Bart deserves better than to be lampooned in this fashion; and,
+though he rose to distinction in the Navy, and there has almost always
+been a French man-of-war named after him, it is chiefly as the
+indomitable corsair that his memory is cherished in Dunkirk.
+
+[Footnote 11: The tenth Article of War, at that time, read as follows:
+"Every flag-officer, captain, and commander in the fleet who, upon
+signal or order of fight, or sight of any ship or ships which it may be
+his duty to engage, or who upon likelihood of engagement shall not make
+the necessary preparations for fight, and shall not in his own person,
+and according to his place, encourage the inferior officers and men to
+fight courageously, shall suffer death, or such other punishment as from
+the nature and degree of the offence a court-martial shall deem him to
+deserve; and if any person in the fleet shall treacherously or cowardly
+yield, or cry for quarter, every person so offending and being convicted
+thereof by the sentence of a court-martial, shall suffer death."]
+
+[Illustration: RENE DUGUAY-TROUIN, A FAMOUS FRENCH PRIVATEER CAPTAIN]
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIV
+
+DU GUAY TROUIN
+
+
+Another hero, privateer first and naval officer later, was Du Guay
+Trouin--this being the name by which he was eventually known, and which
+has been bestowed upon more than one vessel of the French Navy in
+commemoration of his exploits. His family name was, properly speaking,
+Trouin; his father was Luc Trouin, calling himself, after an estate
+which he owned, Trouin de la Barbinais. The future privateer captain and
+hero was the third son, and was born on June 10th, 1673, being named
+Rene, after his uncle, then French consul at Malaga--a post which had
+been held for some generations, apparently, by some member of the Trouin
+family. Little Rene, placed under the care of a nursing woman at the
+village of Le Gue, near by, became known as Rene Trouin du Gue, which
+was twisted about until it became Du Gue, or Du Guay Trouin.
+
+Rene was by no means intended from the first to follow an adventurous
+career at sea; his father had a very different aim in view. His uncle
+and namesake, Rene Trouin the consul, who was also his godfather, was
+very friendly with the Archbishop at Malaga, and it was considered
+politic that the boy should become an ecclesiastic, and so benefit by
+the friendliness of the prelate towards his uncle; and indeed, he was
+actually sent to the seminary at Rennes, as a very small boy, to
+commence his studies for the priesthood--very much against his will, but
+Luc Trouin was not to be trifled with; and so, until he was fifteen
+years of age, Rene was held to be destined for the Church.
+
+Then came a sudden change--his uncle and his father died within a year
+of one another, and he prevailed upon his mother to permit him to quit
+the seminary and study for the law. With this end in view he was sent to
+Caen, but we do not learn that he became a very diligent student--on the
+contrary, he displayed extreme precocity in getting into mischief of
+every kind, the only good thing he learnt, apparently, being the use of
+the sword; and finally, having betaken himself to Paris to kick up his
+heels, he heard the waiter in a cafe order some wine for _Monsieur
+Trouin de la Barbinais_, his eldest brother, who imagined him to be
+engaged upon his studies at Caen--and thither young Rene fled
+incontinently. His brother had, however, got wind of his proceedings; he
+was summoned home, a family court-martial held upon him, and he was
+sentenced to be sent off to sea, in a privateer of 18 guns, the
+_Trinite_, fitted out by the house of Trouin. As Rene was then only
+sixteen it was obviously a wholesome programme for a lad of such
+precocious proclivities; he was soon to prove, however, that he was in
+advance of his age in other matters than dissipation.
+
+There was not much doing for a year or two; but, after having assisted
+to take a small prize into St. Malo, young Du Trouin soon had an
+opportunity of seeing hard knocks exchanged.
+
+This was in a fight with a Dutch privateer, the _Concorde_, a vessel of
+equal force, but the _Trinite_ had some thirty men absent in prizes.
+However, the skipper, Fossart, was not a man who was afraid of odds,
+and, seeing the stranger to leeward, cracked on his canvas in chase,
+came up with her about noon, and fired a blank cartridge, followed by a
+shot across the Dutchman's bows. This elicited the desired response--or,
+at least, the expected response--of a broadside, and they went at it,
+hammer and tongs, for over two hours, by which time the _Concorde_ was
+considerably knocked about and the Frenchman thought it was time to
+finish the affair by boarding. Directly the two vessels touched the
+captain sprang on board. Young Du Guay Trouin leaped beside him. As he
+did so, the vessels rebounded apart, and several Frenchmen fell between
+them, only to be crushed to death as the helmsman brought the _Trinite_
+up again. An old acquaintance of Du Guay Trouin was among the number,
+being killed, to his horror, under his very eyes. However, there was no
+time for lamentations over lost comrades. Rene's skill with the sword
+now came into play, and he used it to good purpose, killing two out of
+three Dutchmen who were attacking his captain. The Dutchmen yielded,
+after a creditable resistance; and so Du Guay Trouin had his baptism of
+fire and sword.
+
+On his next ship, the _Grenedan_, he took a prominent part in the
+capture of three out of a convoy of fifteen English ships off the
+south-west coast of Ireland. Young as he was, he was always in the front
+rank when fighting was going; and on his return, the _Grenedan_ entering
+the harbour at St. Malo with the three prizes in her wake, amidst
+enthusiastic cheers from the townspeople, his brother thought he might
+be entrusted with the command of a ship. This was in the year 1691, when
+he was not yet turned eighteen, and of course he would never have got a
+command at that age under ordinary circumstances. He had, however,
+proved himself to be something other than an ordinary lad, and his
+brother, as head of the house, had the power to appoint him captain of
+one of their privateers, if he was so minded. Accordingly, the young
+sailor was given command of the _Danycan_--not much of a craft, being a
+slow sailer and not heavily armed.
+
+Caught in a gale of wind, the vessel was blown down Channel, and
+afterwards chasing some vessels--she could never catch them--into the
+Shannon, Du Guay Trouin landed his men in the night, burnt a couple of
+vessels on the beach, did a little pillaging, and alarmed the whole
+district. Messages were sent hot-foot to Limerick for the soldiers--it
+was a French fleet, an invasion in force! Du Guay Trouin embarked his
+men just as the soldiers came in sight, up anchor, and got away
+cleverly. This was the only fun he had in the _Danycan_, for every
+vessel she encountered could "wrong" her, as they used to say in those
+days; that is to say, could sail round her; so there was not much honour
+and glory to be got out of her.
+
+On his return to St. Malo Du Guay Trouin was given a better craft--the
+_Coetquen_, of 18 guns. It is said that he held his commission from
+James II., the ex-king of England--it is certain that James did issue
+such commissions after his abdication, and indeed his consort, the
+_Saint Aaron_, commanded by one Welch, of Irish extraction, was thus
+commissioned.
+
+Du Guay Trouin soon had some exciting adventures. Falling in with a
+fleet of English merchant vessels, under convoy of a couple of sloops,
+the two privateers captured five ships and the two men-of-war; but, as
+they were taking their prizes into St. Malo, an English squadron gave
+chase; then they had to get in where they could. Welch got safely into
+St. Malo with some of the vessels; Du Guay Trouin, being cornered, made
+a dash for the Isle of Brehat, behind which the navigation is of the
+most intricate and perilous description, with dozens of half-submerged
+rocks and a swishing tide. He managed to get in, and some of the English
+vessels which tried to follow him very nearly came to grief. He had been
+under fire for some time, and unluckily his pilot was killed, and also
+some others who were familiar with the locality; so he contrived to find
+his way out without them, thus displaying that sort of intuitive skill
+in navigation and the handling of a ship which has almost always
+distinguished great seamen. He was not an accomplished navigator, having
+neglected his studies; he was accustomed to trust entirely to "dead
+reckoning." Certainly, the means of observing the altitude, etc., of the
+sun and stars were very rude in those days; but Du Guay Trouin was not
+expert even with these.
+
+However, he got out of this trap, was presently blown into the Bristol
+Channel, and found an English 60-gun ship arriving about the same time.
+"Luckily," says one of his biographers, "there is an island in the
+middle of this estuary; while the enemy came in on one side of it Du
+Guay Trouin went out on the other." This, of course, is Lundy Island;
+and, getting a good start, Du Guay Trouin escaped cleverly--going out,
+so to speak, by the back door as his opponent came in by the front.
+
+After this Du Guay Trouin had a bad time in the _Profond_, a very poor
+sailer, and altogether an unlucky ship, so that he was glad to see the
+last of her, and take command of the _Hercule_, of 28 guns.
+
+After a little good fortune, he again fell upon evil days. No prey was
+sighted for two months, provisions began to run short, sickness broke
+out among the crew, discontent and insubordination soon followed. The
+officers and men demanded that he should return to France, but, partly
+by conciliation and partly by firmness, he persuaded them to keep the
+sea for eight days longer, promising them that, if they did capture a
+prize, they should pillage her and divide the spoil. On the last night
+at sea, Du Guay Trouin tells us, he had a vivid dream that two deeply
+laden ships hove in sight; at daybreak he went aloft--and there they
+were! He took them both; they were rich prizes, and the crew were made
+happy by being allowed, as he had promised, to pillage one of them.
+
+His next ship was the _Diligente_, of 40 guns; and in her he was
+destined to experience the misfortune of defeat and capture. First,
+however, he came across the _Prince of Orange_, a hired armed vessel of
+considerable force--Du Guay Trouin says of 60 guns--convoying a fleet of
+thirty vessels. Having hailed one of them, and ascertained that they
+were laden with coal, he determined not to risk loss and damage for such
+a comparatively worthless cargo. Finding however, that his vessel easily
+"had the heels" of the other, he indulged in some aggravating antics,
+taking in sail so as to allow the English to come within gunshot,
+shooting ahead again, under English colours, which he hoisted "union
+down," _i.e._ as a signal "Am in need of assistance"; then, dropping
+down once more, he so far forgot himself as to fire at the other while
+still under English colours--a gross breach of international law,
+accounted as an act of piracy. It was done, no doubt, through
+inadvertence, but the English captain did not forget it, and the
+Frenchman had cause to regret his carelessness.
+
+And then came misfortune; nine days later he fell in with a squadron of
+six English men-of-war cruising between Ireland and the Scilly Isles.
+They immediately gave chase. A hard gale blowing, Du Guay Trouin ran for
+the Scilly Isles, hard pressed by the _Adventure_ and _Dragon_. In among
+the islands they ran, and by eleven o'clock the _Adventure_ was near
+enough to engage, the _Diligente_ replying with her stern guns. Still
+gaining in the heavy breeze, the _Adventure_--a 44-gun ship--was within
+easy range, the _Dragon_--46 guns--not far astern. Du Guay Trouin
+engaged the _Adventure_ for nearly three hours, hoping all the time to
+escape; however, at half-past two his fore and main topmasts were shot
+away, and the English vessel ranged up alongside, hauling up her
+courses, the _Dragon_ at the same time signalising her arrival by a
+broadside.
+
+This was a pretty desperate state of affairs, but the gallant Frenchman
+would not yet acknowledge himself beaten. Seeing the English vessel so
+near, he conceived the idea of suddenly boarding her, and carrying her
+off. He sent his officers to call the crew on deck, got the grapnels
+ready, and ordered the helm to be put over. The two ships were rapidly
+closing when one of the lieutenants of the _Diligente_, looking through
+a port, and not imagining for a moment that his captain really
+contemplated such a desperate measure, ordered the quartermaster to
+reverse the helm. The ships fell apart, but Du Guay Trouin shouted to
+jam the helm over again. It was too late; the English captain, knowing
+that he and his consorts had the Frenchman secure, did not see the use
+of having a hundred and fifty desperate men jumping on board, so he set
+his courses, sheered off, and banged away again with his guns. The
+_Monk_, of 60 guns, now arrived, and the _Diligente_ was fairly
+surrounded, two more ships coming up shortly.
+
+Still the French flag was kept flying. The men, less heroic than their
+captain, began to run from their quarters. Du Guay Trouin cut down one,
+pistolled another, and was hustling them generally, when fire broke out
+below. He rushed down and had it extinguished, then provided himself
+with a tub of grenades, which he began throwing down into the hold, so
+that his crew found it too hot to remain below, and manned some of the
+guns. However, this could not go on against such fearful odds, and on
+gaining the deck once more he found that "some cowardly rascal" had
+lowered the colours. He ordered them up again, but his officers
+demurred; and then, with the last shot fired in the action, he was
+wounded severely in the groin and dropped senseless. When he came to
+himself the ship was in the possession of the English. He was taken on
+board the _Monk_, where Captain Warren treated him right well--"with as
+much care as though I had been his own son," says Du Guay Trouin--and he
+was probably quite old enough to have been father to the young French
+captain, who was then only one-and-twenty.
+
+Arriving at Plymouth, the gallant young Frenchman became the object of
+much interest and favour; naval and military officers entertained him,
+civilians followed suit, and he was given, as he says, "the whole town
+for his prison"; in other words, he was placed on his parole, and
+allowed full liberty. Always susceptible to the attractions of women, he
+found, as he tells us, "une fort jolie marchande"--a sweetly pretty
+shop-girl, or shop-woman, with whom he formed a close acquaintance, and
+who was eventually mainly instrumental in procuring his liberty. Pretty
+girls, as we know, are reputed to be more abundant in Devonshire than in
+many other parts, and no doubt the Frenchman found her very seductive.
+It is curious what a diversity of parts this young woman is made to
+assume among the biographers of Du Guay Trouin. One makes her out just a
+shop-girl; another says she was "une jeune marchande qui preparait les
+repas de Duguay"--a young shop-woman who prepared his meals--while Mr.
+C.B. Norman, on what ground does not appear, calls her a "fair
+_compatriote_"--a Frenchwoman, married to a "Devonshire merchant," and
+has a good deal to say about the way in which she hoodwinked her good
+husband while she was obtaining information for the young Frenchman when
+he was in prison; we shall get him there directly. Du Guay Trouin, in
+his "Memoires," simply speaks of her as already quoted; and
+"_marchande_" certainly does not mean "merchant's wife."
+
+However, there she is, being entertained sometimes by Du Guay Trouin,
+and no doubt very proud of being the object of his attentions--just a
+shop-girl, he says; and he ought to know.
+
+This delightful condition of affairs was, however, unexpectedly
+interrupted, for one fine day there arrived the _Prince of Orange_, to
+refit after seeing her colliers safe; and the captain soon recognised,
+in the prize lying at anchor, the vessel which fired at him under the
+English flag. He was in a great state of mind, reported the
+circumstances to the Admiralty, and demanded that Du Guay Trouin should
+be treated as a pirate. The authorities demurred to this request, but
+thought it advisable, during their deliberations, that he should not
+have "the whole town for his prison"; so they put him in gaol, allowing
+him, however, to order his own food and entertain his friends there. The
+English officers who took turns on guard at the prison were very glad to
+dine with him; and "my pretty shop-girl also came very often to pay me a
+visit."
+
+Too often, apparently, for the peace of mind of a young French refugee
+officer, doing duty with an English company of soldiers; and he actually
+came to Du Guay Trouin and begged his good offices to induce the girl to
+marry him--or, at least, to show him favour. Du Guay Trouin was at first
+disposed to refuse indignantly, though he apparently wishes to imply
+that his intimacy with her was quite innocent. It occurred to him,
+however, that the young soldier's infatuation might be turned to good
+account.
+
+He would, he said, serve him with all his heart; but he was rather
+worried in his room, and could not see his way to do much unless he
+could entertain her in some more open place--the cafe close to the
+prison would do very well; she could come there without suspicion, and,
+if he had but one chance there, he would use all his eloquence with her,
+and would even arrange that the love-lorn young soldier should spend the
+rest of the evening with her.
+
+The bait was too strong for his loyalty. Du Guay Trouin, having
+established an understanding with "his gentle shop-girl," represented to
+her feelingly that the trial of imprisonment would soon cause him to
+succumb if she would not have the goodness to assist him to escape;
+which, of course, she did, first becoming his messenger to a Swedish
+captain, who sold him a good boat for L35, with sails and oars complete.
+
+The whole scheme came off to admiration. Du Guay Trouin, with the
+connivance of the impatient lover, who had seen his lady enter the cafe,
+left his room and followed, the young officer only imploring him not to
+keep him long in suspense. "But," says Du Guay Trouin, "I scarcely gave
+myself time to thank and kiss that wholesome little friend"--he was out
+at the back, over the wall, and in the company of some of his officers
+and six stalwart, well-armed Swedish sailors before the French officer
+had any time to be anxious; and by ten o'clock they were in the boat,
+sailing by the men-of-war, answering "Fishermen" to the hail of the
+sentries, and so to sea. They reached the island of Brehat after a rough
+passage of fifty hours, and, after resting for a while, made their way
+to St. Malo, where Du Guay Trouin learned that his brother had a fine
+ship fitting out for him at Rochefort.
+
+Whether the love-sick soldier went to look for "la jolie marchande" and
+what she said to him are not recorded; but it is to be feared that he
+experienced a rude awakening.
+
+In his new command, named _Francois_, of 48 guns, Du Guay Trouin was
+soon busy, taking several prizes of considerable value off the coast of
+Ireland. He was longing, however, for an opportunity of avenging himself
+for his defeat and capture, and early in the year 1695 he had his wish,
+encountering a large convoy of vessels laden with huge spars, suitable
+for masts, etc., bound from North America, under the protection of the
+_Nonsuch_, of 48 guns. One of the convoy, the _Falcon_, was also well
+armed, carrying 38 guns, according to Du Guay Trouin, and pierced for
+72. He calls the _Falcon_ the _Boston_, and the _Nonsuch_ by the
+equivalent French name, _Sanspareil_.
+
+He says that the inhabitants of Boston had had the _Falcon_ built, and
+loaded with valuable mast-timber and choice skins, as a present to King
+William III.
+
+Sighting the enemy about noon, Du Guay Trouin immediately attacked the
+_Falcon_, and with his first few broadsides inflicted immense damage,
+sending her maintopmast by the board, and smashing her mainyard. Leaving
+her for a time, he laid his ship on board the _Nonsuch_, the two ships
+exchanging a hot fire from great guns and small arms the while. The
+Frenchmen discharged a number of grenades on the decks of the _Nonsuch_,
+and then the boarders leaped across; but fire broke out on the after
+part of the English ship, and raged with such fury that Du Guay Trouin
+was compelled to recall his men and disengage his vessel. Seeing the
+flames nearly extinguished, he closed again; but he was premature, for
+the fire once more flared up, and caught his own maintopsail and
+foresail. While both ships were busy tackling the fire night came on,
+and they fell apart, repairing damages on both sides.
+
+At daybreak Du Guay Trouin renewed his attack upon the _Nonsuch_; but
+just as he was laying her aboard her fore and mainmasts fell with a
+crash, and he was compelled once more to sheer off--this time however,
+with the certainty that she was his. Seeing the _Falcon_ making all sail
+in the endeavour to escape, he steered for her, and very quickly
+obtained her submission; meanwhile, the _Nonsuch_ had lost her remaining
+mast, and was an absolute wreck, sorely damaged also in her hull.
+
+Thus the determined young French captain had things all his own way; and
+he thoroughly deserved his success, which was the outcome of fine
+seamanship, backed by good gunnery and indomitable courage.
+
+The captain of the _Nonsuch_ was killed. The court-martial which was
+subsequently held on the surviving officers found that he had not made
+adequate preparation for fighting, and so was overcome by a considerably
+inferior force, for the _Nonsuch_ and the _Francois_ were about equal.
+All the vessels engaged were very badly damaged, and, a gale of wind
+springing up immediately after the action, their position became very
+hazardous. The _Falcon_ was recaptured by four Dutch privateers; the
+_Nonsuch_ and _Francois_ with difficulty managed to reach port.
+
+On hearing of this achievement the King of France sent Du Guay Trouin a
+sword of honour, and his name was in every mouth.
+
+He sailed next with a squadron under the Marquis de Nesmond which
+captured the English 70-gun ship the _Hope_, and subsequently he and a
+consort took three East Indiamen, with cargoes valued at about one
+million sterling.
+
+After having been, to his great delight and exultation, presented to the
+king in Paris, he fitted out the _Nonsuch_, under the name _Sanspareil_,
+with an armament of 42 guns, and cruised off the coast of Spain. On this
+cruise there occurred an incident which was very characteristic of Du
+Guay Trouin's presence of mind and audacity.
+
+Having news of three Dutch merchant ships lying at Vigo awaiting the
+escort of an English man-of-war, he took advantage of the English build
+and appearance of his ship, and hoisting English colours, appeared in
+the entrance of Vigo Bay. Two of the Dutchmen, completely deceived,
+immediately joined him, and were, of course, captured; the third,
+luckily for her, was not ready for sea.
+
+This was all very nice; but one fine morning, at daybreak, he found
+himself close under the lee of a strong English fleet. Many men would
+have despaired of getting out of such a trap; but Du Guay Trouin
+instantly conceived a plan of action. Signalling to his prize-masters in
+the two Dutch ships to salute him with seven guns, and run to leeward,
+he calmly stood towards the fleet, as though he belonged to it, and had
+merely fallen out to overhaul the two Dutch vessels. Two large ships and
+a 36-gun frigate hauled out of line to inspect him, but, being
+completely deceived by his appearance and nonchalance, they
+desisted--the frigate, however, displaying undue curiosity with regard
+to the two Dutch vessels. This was very disturbing, and Du Guay Trouin
+was on tenter-hooks as he watched her approach them; however, he kept
+jogging along quietly with the English fleet, until, by edging away
+gradually, he was in a position to make a run for it. Setting all his
+canvas, he tried to place himself between the frigate and his prizes;
+and he rapidly conceived the glorious idea of boarding and capturing the
+frigate in view of the whole fleet--most likely he would have succeeded,
+as he had a far more numerous crew; but the English captain began to
+suspect, and, keeping a gunshot to windward, lowered a boat to board and
+question Du Guay Trouin. When it was half-way on its journey, the boat's
+crew suddenly realised the truth, and hastily returned; upon which Du
+Guay Trouin hoisted his colours and opened fire on the frigate. This
+woke up the Englishmen--who must, indeed, have been very sleepy--and
+several large ships detached themselves and came down upon the
+_Sanspareil_; before they could reach her, however, the frigate, much
+damaged by Du Guay Trouin's fire, made urgent signals of distress, and
+while they were soothing the frigate and recovering her boat, Du Guay
+Trouin quietly made off and took his prizes safely into port! He was
+really a glorious fellow--and only now three-and-twenty.
+
+Du Guay Trouin, shortly after this, had cause of complaint against a
+naval captain whom he encountered at sea, and who, evidently jealous of
+his successes, fired on his boat, and, calling him on board his ship,
+rated him in the most contemptuous and insulting manner, threatening to
+"keel-haul" him, and so on. This is a good example of the behaviour of
+the aristocratic naval officers towards privateersmen, and it is not
+surprising if the latter demurred to accepting commissions in the Navy.
+Du Guay Trouin, however, was destined ere long to take his place there,
+after a most tremendous and bloody encounter with some Dutch men-of-war
+escorting a fleet of merchantmen.
+
+He was then commanding the _St. Jacques des Victoires_, and had in
+company his old ship the _Sanspareil_, commanded by his cousin, Jacques
+Boscher, and the _Leonore_, of 16 guns. Being joined, after sighting
+this fleet, under the care of two 50-gun and one 30-gun ship, by two
+large St. Malo privateers, Du Guay Trouin reckoned that he was strong
+enough to attack--with five ships to three, though the _Leonore_ did not
+count for much in such an action. However, he despatched her to seize
+some of the convoy, told his cousin in the _Sanspareil_ to tackle one of
+the 50-gun ships while he went for the other, and the two St. Malo men
+took care of the frigate in the middle. By the action of the Dutchmen Du
+Guay Trouin and his cousin exchanged antagonists; the ship destined for
+Boscher fell foul of the _St. Jacques_, and Trouin, with his customary
+promptitude and impetuosity, immediately launched half his crew on board
+and carried her. The Dutch commodore's ship, the _Delft_, proved a very
+hard nut to crack. The _Sanspareil_ was repulsed with great loss, her
+poop on fire, cartridges exploding promiscuously, and nearly a hundred
+men blown up, shot dead, or wounded. She sheered off, and Du Guay Trouin
+ran alongside the _Delft_, to be received with even greater warmth. Her
+captain, an heroic man, fought like a demon, and the _St. Jacques_ also
+was forced to haul off to breathe the men, who were getting somewhat
+disheartened, and repair considerable damages. Meanwhile, the larger of
+the St. Malo vessels, the _Faluere_, was directed to keep the
+redoubtable Dutchman amused, but she soon had enough of it, losing her
+captain, and running to leeward.
+
+Du Guay Trouin was not going to give in, however. He rallied his men,
+and, summoning the _Faluere_ to his aid, he went for the _Delft_ once
+more--as he says, "with head down." He got her--but it cost him more
+than half his crew, and every one of the Dutch officers was killed or
+wounded. The commodore, Baron de Wassenaer, fell on his quarter-deck
+with four deadly wounds, his sword still grasped in his hand, and was
+made prisoner.
+
+Then they had an awful night, for it came on to blow hard, on a lee
+shore; all the ships were frightfully battered and leaking, masts and
+rigging cut to pieces, and the already exhausted crews had to turn to at
+the pumps for dear life. On board the _St. Jacques_ the Dutch prisoners
+were set to work to lighten the ship by throwing overboard all her
+upper-deck guns, spars, shot--everything movable, to keep her afloat.
+
+Day broke at length, the wind abated, and, with the assistance of boats
+from the shore, the ship was brought in: a sorry wreck, indeed, but the
+fruits of her labour soon came to hand--three Dutch men-of-war and
+twelve ships of the convoy. The _Sanspareil_ arrived twenty-four hours
+later, having barely survived the Dutchman's furious onslaught.
+
+For this service Du Guay Trouin received a commission as commander in
+the Navy, and was again presented to the king.
+
+As a regular naval officer, he no longer remains within the scope of
+these pages; but there is one incident which should not be omitted, even
+though it be somewhat to the discredit of the English.
+
+In the year 1704 Du Guay Trouin was in command of the _Jason_, 54 guns,
+in company with the _Auguste_, of equal force, when they fell in, at
+night, with the English ship _Chatham_, an old antagonist, which had
+before escaped them. At daybreak they were on either side of her,
+blazing away, the English vessel making every effort to escape, while
+maintaining creditably her part in the fighting, and the three of them
+ran into the English fleet. Then things became serious for the two
+French ships: some of the fastest sailers in the fleet were sent after
+them. The _Auguste_ was a poor sailer, so they agreed to separate. But
+the English had force enough to pursue them both, and the _Auguste_ was
+soon disposed of. The _Jason_ held on, and presently was tackled by the
+_Worcester_, of 50 guns, which was considerably knocked about, and
+dropped astern. Other ships came up, however, and, supported by their
+presence, the _Worcester_ again attacked indecisively. With the dusk,
+the wind dropped altogether, and there was the _Jason_, surrounded by
+foes in the darkness, only waiting for daylight to eat her up.
+
+Naturally, her captain did not find it easy to sleep; and it was
+characteristic of him that he still planned in his mind some desperate
+measure. He told his officers that he intended to go straight for the
+English flagship; that he himself would take the helm and run aboard
+her, and that he thus hoped to perform a brilliant feat of arms, by
+carrying this ship, before they succumbed to superior force--and in any
+case, his flag was not coming down unless the enemy could get there to
+haul it down themselves.
+
+With this heroic resolve in contemplation, he paced the deck. There was
+not a breath of wind. The ship rolled a little uneasily, the timbers
+creaking and blocks rattling aloft, while the few sails that were set
+slatted against the masts and rigging occasionally in that irritating
+fashion with which all seamen are familiar. At various distances round
+him were the enemy's vessels, few of them probably out of gunshot, and
+some very near.
+
+About an hour before daybreak Du Guay Trouin noticed a dark line above
+the horizon ahead of his ship; he watched it carefully, and felt
+convinced that a breeze was coming from that quarter. Calling the crew
+quietly on deck, he made sail, braced the yards up, and with one or two
+of the huge oars or "sweeps" provided in those days, he got the ship's
+head round so as to catch the breeze in a favourable manner in case it
+should come. And it did come: at first a breath, which barely gave the
+ship steerage-way; then a little stronger--she steals ahead, two knots,
+three knots; the Englishmen are all taken aback, with their topsails
+lowered, their yards braced anyhow. Before they can make and trim sail
+the _Jason_ is clear of the ruck of them, a good gunshot clear! The
+_Worcester_ was once more the only one to tackle her, and was soon
+shaken off--by noon she was fast dropping astern; and, says Du Guay
+Trouin, "I looked on myself as though risen from the dead."
+
+Well he might do, too. And what were all those Englishmen thinking
+about, each ship with an officer in charge of the deck? One would
+imagine that they could see a breeze coming as well as a Frenchman
+could. But Du Guay Trouin had one essential element of success about
+him--- _he never threw away a chance._
+
+He died in 1736. France may well be proud of him. Think of a lad of
+one-and-twenty, pressed by half a dozen ships among the Scilly Islands,
+conceiving that plan of boarding and capturing the _Adventure_! That
+incident alone is sufficient to mark him as excelling by many degrees
+the average--nay, the more than average--fighting seaman.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XV
+
+JACQUES CASSARD
+
+
+Among the less well-known French privateersmen is Jacques Cassard, a
+native of Nantes, where there stands to this day a commemorative statue
+of him.
+
+He was born in 1672, and so was a contemporary of Du Guay Trouin. The
+son of a seafarer, young Jacques was predestined to a similar life, but
+there is very little known of his early doings. He appears to have
+commenced as a privateer at the early age of fourteen, and he must
+evidently have established, during the following ten years, a reputation
+for skill and daring, for when he was five-and-twenty he was selected to
+command the bomb-ship in an expedition against Carthagena, under De
+Pointis, in 1697.
+
+The sluggish and unseaworthy vessel which Cassard commanded parted
+company from the squadron while crossing the Atlantic, but in due course
+he arrived at St. Domingo, the rendezvous, where was assembled a
+formidable squadron, with 5,000 troops, and a contingent of 1,200
+filibustering ruffians under Du Casse, Governor of St. Domingo.
+
+The first assault by the ships on the forts at Carthagena was met with
+such a furious fire that De Pointis was glad to haul off for a time;
+Cassard, however, backed up by Du Casse, was so insistent in urging an
+immediate renewal of the attack that they carried the day. Cassard
+distinguished himself throughout; he took his little bomb-vessel close
+under the strongest fort and bombarded it mercilessly. When the
+Spaniards' fire began to slacken he and Du Casse led the assault on the
+battered defences, and, after a desperate conflict, carried the first
+fort. Cassard, prompt and resourceful, turned the guns upon an adjacent
+work, and by the evening the Spaniards, driven to the citadel, displayed
+the flag of surrender.
+
+It was after the defenders had marched out, followed by numbers of the
+townspeople, however, that Cassard performed the most valuable service.
+A scene of horror ensued: the regulars and filibusters, mad with drink
+and lust, scoured the town, ransacked churches and houses, and
+perpetrated shocking outrages. Their officers lost all control, and were
+even shot down by the mad rioters when they attempted to remonstrate.
+
+Then Cassard, having obtained permission to take the matter in hand,
+picked out a band of about three hundred Bretons from among the crews of
+the war-ships, and landed with them. He did not mince matters. He was
+well aware that the only course to pursue, with any hope of success, was
+to meet savagery with savagery, and the plunderers soon found themselves
+confronted with the alternative of submission or death. They fought it
+out in forty-eight hours, Cassard guarding the gates strongly, and
+searching systematically every quarter of the town. With his own hand
+he is said to have shot down a score of looters; and when it was over he
+had to arrange for the burial of three hundred and seventy unhappy
+women, who had been ill-treated and murdered, often in the very
+churches.
+
+De Pointis, on their return, strongly recommended Cassard for a
+commission in the Navy, but prejudice was too strong against his class,
+and it was not until nearly three years later, after some successful
+privateering, that he was summoned to the royal presence. "I have need,"
+said the king, "of all the brave men I can find for my Navy, and as you,
+they say, are the bravest of the brave, I have appointed you a
+lieutenant in my fleet, and have given instructions that a sum of L2,000
+be handed over to you, to enable you to support your position in a
+proper manner."
+
+This was all very well; but his newly earned honours sat heavily upon
+him, and the jealousy of the naval aristocrats made things unpleasant;
+so it was in the capacity of commander of a private ship of war that he
+gained further laurels.
+
+This was the _St. William_, fitted out by merchants of St. Malo in 1705,
+a small vessel, mounting only eight guns of insignificant power and
+manned by sixty-eight harum-scarum fellows picked up on the quays at St.
+Malo.
+
+After a fruitless cruise he returned to refit, and then made a
+successful raid upon small traders off the south coast of Ireland,
+thereby gaining a little prize-money to encourage his crew. After a
+visit to Brest, he was returning to the coast of Ireland when he came
+across a Dutchman of greatly superior force, with which he had an heroic
+encounter.
+
+The Dutchman fired the usual "summoning" gun, to which Cassard paid no
+heed. A shot across his bows followed, but he held on his course. The
+Dutchman cleared for action, crowding sail and rapidly overhauling the
+_St. William_. It looked like a foregone conclusion that she should
+succumb to this formidable adversary, carrying fourteen 9-pounders.
+
+Cassard, however, had his own ideas as to the conduct of the engagement.
+As the enemy rapidly came up, pounding him with his bow-guns, the
+Frenchman suddenly shortened sail, squared his mainyard, and threw his
+ship aboard the other. A discharge of grape and chain-shot from the _St.
+William's_ 3-pounders was instantly followed by a rush of sixty
+desperate men, headed by their captain.
+
+A most bloody encounter ensued. Dutchmen are not easily beaten, and the
+deck had to be gained step by step. It is said that Cassard had told off
+one of his leading men to endeavour, the moment he gained a footing on
+board, to run in one of the Dutchman's guns and point it along the deck;
+and while the remainder were at grips with the enemy, this man and half
+a dozen others contrived to effect this, loaded the gun with
+langrage--which means any odd bit of metal you can scrape up--and
+watched for a chance. Then they shouted, "Stand clear of the gun!" The
+French suddenly parted to either side of the deck, and the shower of
+iron peppered the astonished Dutchmen. This was twice accomplished, the
+Frenchmen each time rushing forward in the smoke; and then the Dutch
+captain, wounded and bleeding, proffered his sword to Cassard. It was a
+good device, if the story be true; but not as easy of accomplishment as
+it is made to appear in the accounts of the action.
+
+It is said that the Dutch loss, out of a crew of 113, was 37 killed and
+51 wounded. Cassard had 16 killed and 23 wounded.
+
+Some three or four years of success followed, during which Cassard
+adopted the illegal, but tempting device of ransoming his prizes and
+taking the captains as hostages for payment--a practice for which, like
+Jean Bart, he was brought to book, without very much practical result.
+However, he made a great deal of money, and in the year 1709[12] he was
+appealed to by some merchants of Marseilles to convoy from Bizerta, on
+the north coast of Tunis, a fleet of grain-ships--an urgent business, as
+France was in very great need of grain. He was induced to put his hand
+in his pocket and fit out at his own expense two men-of-war--the
+_Eclatant_ and _Serieux_--lent by the Government, the latter of which he
+commanded himself, and made sail for Bizerta, where he found the
+grain-ships safe enough. The difficulty was, to get them safely to
+Marseilles, the English fleet being on the alert. With this end in view
+he had recourse to a ruse, which is not very clearly set forth in the
+accounts; but in the end he enticed a frigate out of Malta and led her
+away from his convoy, which he had left in charge of the _Eclatant_,
+though it involved a desperate running action with a vessel of superior
+force, in which he nearly came to grief.
+
+Arriving at length at Marseilles, he found that the grain-ships had
+turned up safely, which was really a great triumph; but the wily
+merchants were too cunning for the simple seaman. There was, it appears,
+a clause in the agreement to the effect that Cassard should bring in the
+convoy--it is easy to imagine how such a document would be worded--and,
+because he had not personally conducted the ships into port, the
+merchants refused to pay him the stipulated sum for his services! He
+appealed, but the merchants had too many friends at court; so he found
+himself some L10,000 out of pocket in the long run, as a reward for
+averting a famine by his skill and courage.
+
+He was destined, however, to repeat the exploit. In June 1709 a huge
+fleet of eighty-four merchant vessels, under convoy of six men-of-war,
+was despatched to Smyrna to bring back grain. The squadron consisted of
+the _Temeraire_, 60, _Toulouse_, 60, _Stendard_, 50, _Fleuron_, 50,
+_Hirondelle_, 36, and _Vestale_, 36, under the command of M. de
+Feuquieres. Reaching Smyrna in safety, they sailed in October on the
+return voyage, with their precious freight; but De Feuquieres, learning
+that a strong English squadron was watching for him in the Gulf of
+Genoa, put into Syracuse, in Sicily; and sent the _Toulouse_ to
+Marseilles for additional force.
+
+The people of Marseilles shamelessly appealed to Cassard, whom they had
+treated so scurvily; he refused at first to have anything to do with it.
+However, he was eventually placed in command of a little squadron,
+consisting of the _Parfait_, 70, with his flag; the _Toulouse_, Captain
+De Lambert; _Serieux_, 60, Captain De l'Aigle; and _Phoenix_, 56,
+Captain Du Haies.
+
+With a fair wind, on November 8th he sailed for Syracuse, according to
+Mr. Norman, arriving there on the evening of the following day--a feat
+which may be safely put down as practically impossible, the distance
+being over 650 nautical miles, or knots. However, there is no doubt that
+Cassard arrived off Syracuse one day, and found only two English
+men-of-war watching for the grain fleet, instead of a strong squadron,
+as he expected. With these he resolved to deal at once, and bore down
+upon them.
+
+The two English ships were the _Pembroke_, 64, Captain Edward
+Rumsey--not _Rumfry_, as Mr. Norman calls him, probably from some French
+document--and the _Falcon_, 36, Captain Charles Constable, the remainder
+of the squadron having gone to Mahon, in Corsica, to refit. The
+_Pembroke_ had apparently had her turn there and returned to her station
+a few days previously, the _Falcon_ joining her.
+
+When Cassard's squadron hove in sight and Captain Rumsey, having failed
+to receive from them the acknowledgment of the private signal, realised
+that he was in for a serious business, he signalled the _Falcon_ to
+shorten sail, and, running up alongside her, he asked Captain Constable
+what he made of the strangers, to which the latter replied that one of
+them was a very big ship, but he could not make much of the others.
+
+"Shall we fight them?" shouted Rumsey through his speaking-trumpet.
+"Just as you please, sir!" bawled Constable. "That's no answer,"
+rejoined Rumsey. "With all my heart," said Constable, and they cleared
+for action--none too soon, for the French ships, bringing up a stronger
+breeze with them, were already almost within gunshot.
+
+Cassard had signalled Feuquieres to weigh and convoy the grain-ships out
+while he engaged the two English ships. Rumsey, realising that he was
+imperatively called upon to prevent, or at least to retard their escape,
+had probably made up his mind before he spoke to Constable. Leaving only
+two ships there was a blunder, and he really had no choice about
+fighting, for he could not well have escaped.
+
+The action which ensued was one of the most stubborn sea-fights on
+record. Cassard attacked with three ships, the _Parfait_ ranging
+alongside the _Falcon_, while the _Serieux_ and _Phoenix_ tackled the
+_Pembroke_. If the Frenchmen expected an easy conquest of the _Falcon_
+by the huge 70-gun ship they were very much in error. With her crew of
+740 men the _Parfait_ was run alongside, and her bowsprit lashed to the
+fore-rigging of the _Falcon_. Instantly Constable turned the tables on
+the foe, rushing on board at the head of one hundred men. They were
+repulsed, with heavy losses on both sides, and before Cassard could
+return the compliment the two ships fell apart. The _Falcon's_ flight
+was soon stayed by the heavy fire of the French ship, which brought
+down spars and cut rigging extensively, and once more Cassard laid her
+on board. His first attack was repelled by the indomitable Constable and
+his men; but the price was too heavy: something like 120 men had been
+killed or desperately wounded already, and Constable, taking counsel
+with his officers, was forced to the conclusion that it was useless to
+sacrifice more lives, and so hauled down his colours; he had been badly
+wounded in the shoulder, but kept his place on deck. According to
+Captain Schomberg, in his "Naval Chronology," there were only sixteen
+men of the _Falcon's_ crew able to stand at their quarters when she
+surrendered.
+
+Meanwhile, the _Pembroke_ and the other two ships were hammering each
+other at close range, and much damage resulted on both sides. After an
+hour and a half of fighting Captain Rumsey, who had behaved splendidly,
+was killed, and Barkley, the first lieutenant, came on deck and took his
+place. For two hours after the captain's death the unequal conflict was
+maintained: Cassard came down and joined the fray after the _Falcon_ was
+captured, and had a tremendous cannonade with the _Pembroke_, yardarm to
+yardarm, while the _Serieux_ pounded her on the other quarter. It could
+not last; the English ship's mizzen-mast went crashing by the board, her
+maintopmast followed, her rigging was nearly all cut away, her mainmast
+wounded and tottering, her decks lumbered with wreckage, which also
+rendered the ship almost unmanageable, and the crew falling by tens--to
+hold out longer would be worse than useless, so Barkley and his brother
+officers agreed, and the colours had to come down.
+
+The losses on both sides afforded ample testimony to the splendid
+courage of the Englishmen and the gallant pertinacity of the French. Six
+months later Constable and the surviving officers of the _Pembroke_ were
+tried by court-martial, were judged to have done their duty, and
+honourably acquitted.
+
+It now remains to clear up some chronological discrepancies. According
+to Mr. Norman, this engagement took place on November 10th, 1710, and
+Cassard entered Toulon with his prizes on the 15th. Where he obtained
+these dates does not appear; but, as a matter of fact, the court-martial
+took place on June 21st, 1710, and the sworn testimony of the officers
+of both ships places the engagement on December 29th, 1709; Captain
+Rumsey wrote from Mahon on December 10th, reporting to the admiral--Sir
+Edward Whittaker--that his ship had been careened, and was nearly ready
+for sea. These official reports being unimpeachable, it appears probable
+that the first affair with the grain-ships took place in 1708, as has
+already been hinted.[13]
+
+However, this does not affect the actual facts with regard to the
+engagement, which was so creditable to both sides.
+
+Promoted to the rank of commander, Cassard was appointed to command the
+military works in progress at Toulon; but he was not happy in this post,
+and, after trying in vain to obtain restitution of the money he had
+lost on the first grain venture, he took command of a squadron,
+consisting of nine vessels, men-of-war, but fitted out by private
+enterprise in St. Malo and Nantes.
+
+With this force, and a proportional number of troops, he took St. Iago,
+in the Cape Verde Islands, then crossed the Atlantic and pillaged
+Montserrat and Antigua, ransomed Surinam and St. Eustatia, and, after
+some difficulties, treated Curacoa similarly.
+
+Despite his really brilliant achievements, Jacques Cassard was destined
+to spend his declining years in comparative poverty, and die in
+confinement. Jealousy on the part of the aristocrats, false accusations
+of misappropriation of prize goods, impudence amounting to mutiny in
+dealing with an admiral, and finally loss of temper and insolence to the
+all-powerful Cardinal Fleury--this was the end of all: he was imprisoned
+in the fortress of Ham, and there he died, in 1740, having survived Du
+Guay Trouin by four years.
+
+[Footnote 12: As related in "The Corsairs of France," by C.B. Norman;
+but it appears probable that it was in the previous year, for reasons to
+be stated later.]
+
+[Footnote 13: See note, p. 233.]
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVI
+
+ROBERT SURCOUF
+
+
+Robert Surcouf, another prominent French privateersman, was born on
+December 12th, 1773--just one hundred years after Du Guay Trouin, to
+whose family he was related.
+
+Like his famous relative, he was intended for the Church; but he
+speedily manifested a militant spirit by no means of an ecclesiastical
+quality--he was, in fact, an awful pickle at home and at school;
+insubordinate, always fighting with some one, tearing his clothes to
+pieces, and quite unamenable to parental or pedagogic admonition.
+Severity and entreaty were alike futile. However, he was sent to a
+seminary at Dinan, under a superior of great reputed strictness, and
+here for a time he raised his parents' hopes; but he soon grew weary of
+the monotony of obedience, ceased to evince any interest in his studies,
+and speedily became the leader in every description of mischief.
+
+The crisis arrived one day when the class-master seized young Robert
+with the intention of administering personal chastisement. The scholar
+proved to be exceedingly robust for his years, and resisted the
+operation with tremendous vigour; and when at length the master had got
+him down, he seized his leg in his teeth, and compelled him to desist
+for the moment and seek for assistance. Surcouf's classmates loudly
+applauded him; but, knowing that he would be ultimately compelled to
+yield to superior force, he got through the window, scaled the garden
+wall, and, without hat or shoes, started to walk home, the snow lying
+thickly on the ground. He had more than twenty miles to walk, and when
+it became dark he slipped about on the frozen snow, and at length, worn
+out and half perished with cold and hunger, he sank senseless by the
+roadside. Luckily, some fish-merchants found him and took him home,
+where he was nursed by his mother with the tenderest devotion during an
+attack of pneumonia. Thanks to his strong constitution, he recovered
+completely; but he was not sent back to Dinan. It was obvious that there
+was nothing to be done but to recognise his vocation as a seaman; and
+accordingly, at the age of thirteen, he was shipped on board the
+_Heron_, brig, bound for Cadiz.
+
+This kind of coasting voyage was not at all to the mind of the impetuous
+and ambitious Robert. Some of the crew who had made distant voyages had
+wonderful tales to tell, and he longed to visit these far-off lands. It
+was two years, however, before his wish was gratified. In March 1789, at
+sixteen, he embarked as volunteer on board the _Aurora_, of 700 tons,
+bound for the East Indies. They had a gale of wind, with a tremendous
+sea, off the Cape, and young Surcouf displayed remarkable courage and
+aptitude in the various emergencies which are sure to arise on such an
+occasion, for which he was duly praised by his superiors on board. After
+touching at the Mauritius, they went on to Pondicherry; and during this
+latter portion of the voyage Surcouf became very friendly with the
+fourth officer, M. de Saint-Pol, who, having been born on the Coromandel
+Coast, was conversant with the Eastern seas, was a very good officer and
+a well-informed man. He took pleasure in imparting to his young shipmate
+the knowledge at his command, and the seed fell upon fruitful ground,
+young Surcouf drinking in with avidity every detail concerning the
+Indian Seas, which he was destined one day to hold for a while
+completely. Saint-Pol's enthusiastic description of the exploits of
+Suffren served to inflame his ardour. However, he had some unpleasant
+work before him ere he found the opportunity he sought.
+
+The _Aurora_, having conveyed some troops from Pondicherry to Mauritius,
+sailed for Mozambique, and there embarked four hundred negro slaves for
+the West Indies. This was in February 1790, the season at which the
+tremendous cyclones of the Indian Ocean are most frequent and
+formidable. The _Aurora_ fell in with one of these storms on the 18th,
+and, in spite of the brave efforts of master and crew, she was cast,
+dismasted and helpless, on the coast of Africa. The crew, together with
+the female slaves and children, were saved; but the negroes confined in
+the hold perished, every man, in that horrible death-trap, in spite of
+some brave attempts, in which young Surcouf took a part, to rescue them.
+
+When the wind went down there was the terrible task to be performed of
+clearing out the ship, which appeared not to be damaged beyond repair;
+and in this work, which occupied fifteen days, Surcouf distinguished
+himself by his willing and untiring energy. Twice he was brought up
+fainting from that awful hold, but he continued to labour and set an
+heroic example until the end; and such fortitude in a lad of his age
+naturally attracted attention. He went back as mate in a vessel hired to
+convey the crew to Mauritius. She was driven terribly out of her course,
+and did not arrive until December; and Surcouf finished his first voyage
+as quartermaster, on board a corvette, the _Bienvenue_, for the homeward
+passage, reaching L'Orient on January 3rd, 1792. He made haste to visit
+his parents, who, no longer remembering the escapades of the school-boy,
+welcomed with pride and affection the stalwart, bronzed young seaman of
+eighteen, who appeared likely, after all, to do them credit.
+
+The Indian seas called him again, and, after six months at home, he
+sailed as a lieutenant on board the armed ship _Navigator_, for
+Mauritius. After a couple of trading voyages between this island and the
+African coast, war broke out with England, and the _Navigator_ was laid
+up.
+
+Surcouf now became lieutenant on board another vessel, trading to
+Africa, in which he made several voyages. There was no opportunity of
+acquiring any honour and glory in action, so he applied himself to his
+profession, and became a very good seaman, with an excellent knowledge
+of the navigation of the Indian Ocean.
+
+He was not as lucky, however, as he had been in the _Aurora_, with
+regard to his superiors. The first lieutenant was a Portuguese, and for
+some reason he conceived a deadly hatred of Surcouf.
+
+One sweltering hot day, the ship being becalmed, the men obtained leave
+to bathe over the side; after they had finished Surcouf thought he would
+like a dip, and took a header from the gangway. No sooner had he done so
+than he was seized with a sort of cataleptic fit, and found himself
+sinking helplessly. Luckily, it was noticed that he did not come up
+again, and some of the crew lowered a boat, while others dived for him,
+recovered him, and brought him on board; but all their efforts failed to
+evoke any signs of life, and the Portuguese, obviously and brutally
+exultant, after declaring repeatedly that Surcouf was dead, seized the
+inert body and with his own hands dragged it to the ship's side.
+
+Surcouf, conscious of all that went on around him, realised that, unless
+he could make some sign, he had only a few seconds to live. With a
+tremendous effort, he contrived a voluntary movement of his limbs--it
+was noticed, and the further exertions of his shipmates sufficed to
+restore him.
+
+The Portuguese, however, had not done with him. On their next visit to
+Africa some of the crew were laid up with malarial fever, and the first
+lieutenant caught it. He was very ill, and Surcouf earned the warm
+approbation of the captain for the manner in which he performed his
+senior's duties on the return voyage. After they arrived at Mauritius he
+was just going on shore when he received a message begging him to go and
+see the Portuguese, who said he must speak to him before he died.
+Surcouf did not much like the idea, but, after some hesitation, he went,
+having put a pair of loaded pistols in his pocket. The sick man made a
+sign to his servant to retire, and then said:
+
+"I wish to speak to you with a sincere heart before I pass from this
+world, to relieve my conscience, and ask your forgiveness for all the
+evil I have wished to do you during our voyages."
+
+Surcouf, touched by this appeal, assured him that he bore no malice.
+Just then the dying man appeared to suffer from a spasm which contorted
+his body, one arm stretching out towards a pillow near him. Surcouf
+quietly seized his hand and lifted the pillow, disclosing a couple of
+loaded pistols.
+
+He seized them, and, pointing one at his enemy's face, said:
+
+"You miserable beast! I could have shot you like a dog, or squashed you
+like a cockroach; but I despise you too much, so I'll leave you to die
+like a coward."
+
+Which, we are told, the wretched man did, blaspheming in despairing
+rage.
+
+After this, his ship being laid up in consequence of the blockade, he
+was appointed junior lieutenant of a colonial man of war, with a
+commission signed by the Governor.
+
+Then came news of the death of Louis XVI. by the guillotine--news which
+astounded the colonists and seamen, who, in the Indian seas, were
+defending the "honour" of France--which they continued to do to the best
+of their ability, disregarding the deadly feuds and bloodshed at home.
+
+In October 1794 a little squadron was despatched from Mauritius to
+attack a couple of English men-of-war which were practically blockading
+the island--these were the _Centurion_, of 54 guns, and the _Diomede_,
+of the same force but fewer men; and the French squadron consisted of
+the _Prudente_, 40 guns, the _Cybele_, 44 guns, the _Jean Bart_, 20
+guns, and the _Courier_, 14 guns. The Frenchmen attacked with great
+spirit, and the English vessels were practically driven off the station;
+partly owing, it was said, to the extreme caution displayed by Captain
+Matthew Smith, of the _Diomede_, for which he was subsequently called
+upon to answer before a court-martial.[14]
+
+In this spirited action, on the French side, Robert Surcouf took part as
+a junior lieutenant on board the _Cybele_. The casualties were heavy,
+but he escaped without a single scratch, and was commended for his
+courageous attitude. But soon afterwards he found himself at a loose
+end, the volunteers being discharged; so he presently accepted the
+command of the brig _Creole_, engaged in the slave trade, and made
+several successful voyages before the authorities realised that the
+traffic was, by a recent ordinance, illegal.
+
+They gave orders to arrest Surcouf upon his arrival at Mauritius; he,
+however, having got wind of this intention, steered instead for the Isle
+of Bourbon, and there landed his cargo during the night, in a small bay
+about ten miles from St. Denis, the capital of the island. At daybreak
+he anchored in St. Paul's Bay, in the same island.
+
+About eight o'clock he had a surprise visit from three representatives
+of the Public Health Committee, who desired to come on board. Surcouf,
+concealing his annoyance, gave permission, and of course they were not
+long in discovering undoubted indications of the purpose for which the
+brig had been employed. They drew up an indictment on the spot, and
+warned Surcouf that he would have to accompany them to answer to it.
+
+"I am at your service, citizens," he replied politely; "but don't go
+until you have given me the pleasure of partaking of the breakfast which
+my cook has hastily prepared."
+
+The invitation was accepted. The conscientious
+commissioners--"improvised negro-lovers, under the bloody Reign of
+Terror," as Robert Surcouf's namesake and biographer contemptuously
+styles them--were fond of good things, and the sea-air had sharpened
+their appetites. Surcouf had a short and earnest conversation with his
+mate before he conducted his guests below.
+
+The cook's "hasty" efforts were marvellously attractive, and the wine
+was excellent--Surcouf was a bit of a _gourmet_ himself, and liked to
+have things nicely done--so what need was there for being in a hurry?
+
+Meanwhile, the mate had dismissed the state canoe of the commissioners,
+telling the coxswain that the brig's boat would take them on shore.
+
+Then the cable was quietly slipped, and the _Creole_, under all sail,
+rapidly left the anchorage, and, opening the headland, lay over to a
+fresh south-west wind. The unaccustomed motion began to tell upon the
+landsmen. Surcouf invited them to go on deck, and there was the island,
+already separated from the vessel by a considerable tract of
+foam-flecked ocean--and Surcouf was in command! In reply to their
+threats and remonstrances he told them that he was going to take them
+across to Africa, among their friends the negroes, and meanwhile they
+could come below and receive his orders.
+
+During the night the wind freshened considerably, and the morning found
+the commissioners very anxious to regain terra firma at any cost;
+Surcouf had it all his own way. The indictment was destroyed, and a
+very different document was drawn up, to the effect that they had found
+no traces on board the brig of her having carried negroes, and that she
+had been suddenly driven from her anchor by a tidal wave--with other
+circumstantial little touches, which amused Surcouf and did them no
+great harm. Eight days later he landed them at Mauritius.
+
+He had, however, had enough of slave trading. Of course, his exploit was
+the talk of the town, and most people were much amused over his impudent
+capture of the commissioners, who were compelled, in view of their
+written acquittal, to keep quiet. The general idea was that Surcouf had
+displayed qualities which would be extremely useful in the captain of a
+privateer; and it was not long before he was offered the command of the
+_Emilie_, of 180 tons and 4 guns. Just when she was ready for sea,
+however, the Governor let it be understood that, for certain reasons, he
+did not intend to issue any privateer commissions. This was a very keen
+disappointment; Surcouf obtained an interview with the Governor, who
+received him kindly but remained inflexible. Stifling his feelings, he
+sought his owners, and asked them what they were going to do. He
+received orders to go to the Seychelles for a cargo of turtles, and,
+failing these, to fill up with maize, cotton, etc., at these and other
+islands, and to fight shy of the cruisers that might be to windward of
+the island: a very tame programme.
+
+However, he took comfort from the reflection that, although his ship was
+not a regular privateer, she was at least "an armed vessel in time of
+war"; and, as such, was permitted to defend herself when attacked; so he
+might yet see some fighting.
+
+While at anchor at Seychelles, taking in cargo, two large English
+men-of-war unexpectedly appeared in the offing, and Surcouf only escaped
+by the clever manner in which he navigated the dangerous channels among
+the islands, to the admiration of his crew.
+
+This incident set him thinking, and, calling his staff together, he drew
+up a sort of memorandum, setting forth how that they had been obliged to
+quit Seychelles on account of these two men-of-war, and could not return
+to complete their cargo; and that they had therefore resolved, by common
+consent, to go to the coast of "the East"--_i.e._ Sumatra, Rangoon,
+etc.--for a cargo of rice and other articles; "and at the same time to
+defend ourselves against any of the enemy's ships which we may encounter
+on the way, being armed with several guns."
+
+This was signed by Surcouf and his officers and by some of the leading
+hands. No doubt it made him feel happier; but he had quite made up his
+mind as to his future conduct.
+
+They got in a cyclone south of the Bay of Bengal, and then steered for
+Rangoon, off which place they sighted an English vessel steering for
+them. She came steadily on, and, when within close range, fired a
+shot--the "summoning shot," for the _Emilie_ to display her colours. It
+was not an attack, and Surcouf had no right so to consider it; but that
+is what he chose to do. Hoisting his colours, he replied with three
+shots. The Englishman attempted to escape; but the _Emilie_ was the
+faster, and, running alongside, delivered her broadside, upon which the
+other struck his colours.
+
+"This was the first time," says his biographer, "that our Malouin had
+seen the British flag lowered to him, and though he had had only the
+commencement of a fight, his heart swelled with patriotic pride and beat
+with hope. The first shot has been fired; the captain of an armed ship
+in time of war gives place to the privateer commander. Surcouf arrives
+at a decision as to his future--he has passed the Rubicon!"
+
+All very fine; but it was an act of piracy, for which he could have been
+hanged at the yardarm. He repeated it shortly afterwards, capturing
+three vessels laden with rice, and appropriating one, a pilot brig, in
+place of the _Emilie_, which was losing her speed on account of a foul
+bottom. A few days later, having now thrown away all hesitation, he
+seized a large ship, the _Diana_, also laden with rice, and started to
+take her, in company with his stolen brig, the _Cartier_, to Mauritius.
+
+On the voyage, however, Surcouf improved upon his former captures. A
+large sail was reported one morning, and it was presently apparent that
+she was an East Indiaman. The two French ships had not made much
+progress down the Bay of Bengal, and the English vessel was obviously
+standing into Balasore Roads, there to await a pilot for the river
+Hooghly, unless she picked up one earlier. The account given in _The
+Gentleman's Magazine_ for June 1796 states that the Indiaman--the
+_Triton_--was at anchor in Balasore Roads when she was sighted. In the
+latest life of Surcouf, however, written by his great-nephew and
+namesake, it is said that she was standing towards the Orissa coast, on
+the starboard tack--Balasore being, of course, in the province of
+Orissa, and the open anchorage a convenient place for picking up the
+Calcutta pilot. The difference is of some importance with regard to
+Surcouf's attack: it is one thing to board and carry a vessel at anchor,
+on a hot afternoon, when every one who is not required to be moving
+about is having a siesta, and quite another thing to board her when she
+is standing in to her anchorage, with the captain and officers on deck,
+and the crew standing by to handle the sails; and this latter feat is
+what M. Robert Surcouf claims to have been performed by his great-uncle.
+It is possible, however, that both accounts may, in a measure, be
+correct; that is to say, the _Triton_, when first sighted from aloft on
+board the _Cartier_, may have been standing in towards the anchorage,
+which she may have reached, and dropped anchor, before the Frenchman
+came alongside.
+
+However this may be, Surcouf was quick enough to realise that the
+Indiaman, if fought in anything like man-of-war style, was far too
+strong for him. He had on board only nineteen persons, including himself
+and the surgeon, belonging to the ship, and a few Lascars who had been
+transferred from the _Diana_: a ridiculous number to attack an Indiaman.
+
+Finding that he did not gain upon the chase, and knowing that his own
+vessel had been a pilot brig, Surcouf hoisted the pilot flag; upon which
+the _Triton_ immediately hove to and waited for him; or, possibly,
+being already in the roads, dropped anchor; but the story distinctly
+says, "met en travers, et permit ainsi de l'atteindre," which has only
+one possible interpretation. Surcouf was still some three miles distant,
+and kept an anxious eye upon his big opponent, or rather, upon his
+possible prey, for the _Triton_ could scarcely be styled an opponent. He
+saw that she mounted some six-and-twenty guns, but that they were not
+ready for action. He saw also on deck "beaucoup de monde"--a great crowd
+of people, most of whom, he hoped, would prove to be Lascars; but he
+very shortly discovered that they were nothing of the kind. He was now
+within gunshot, and realised that the business might be serious for him;
+but the Englishmen were as yet quite unsuspicious, so he harangued his
+crew:
+
+"My lads, this Englishman is very strong, and we are only nineteen;
+shall we try to take him by surprise, and thus acquire both gain and
+glory? Or do you prefer to rot in a beastly English prison-ship?"
+
+It was cleverly put, from his own standpoint: he was spoiling for a
+fight, for an opportunity of displaying his masterly strategy and
+determined courage, to say nothing of the dollars in prospect; but the
+implication was perfectly unjustifiable that the choice lay between a
+desperate assault and certain capture. If he did not want to fight, he
+had only to sheer off and run for it; no Indiaman would initiate an
+action, or give chase, under such circumstances. However, he knew his
+audience, and his speech had the desired effect:
+
+"Death or victory!" cried the eighteen heroes.
+
+"Good!" replied their captain, "this ship shall either be our tomb or
+the cradle of our glory!"
+
+It was really very fine and melodramatic--more especially since it was
+the prelude to an act of undoubted piracy.
+
+This fact, however, does not detract from the merit of a very clever and
+bold attack, which was perfectly successful. Making his eighteen heroes
+lie down, while the Lascars stood about the deck, he took the helm and
+ran down for the _Triton_. The people on board only saw the expected
+pilot brig approaching, as no doubt they habitually did, to within a
+biscuit-toss, to tranship the pilot. Suddenly she hoisted French colours
+and let drive a heavy dose of grape and canister among the Indiaman's
+crew. A cry of dismay and astonishment rose from her deck, as every one
+instinctively sought shelter from the hail of iron. In another moment
+the brig was alongside, and Surcouf was leaping on board at the head of
+his small company. The surprise was so complete that there was but
+little resistance. The captain and a few others made a brave attempt,
+but were killed immediately; the rest were driven below, and the hatches
+clapped on. And so, with five killed and six wounded on the English
+side, and one killed and one wounded on the French, the thing was over.
+Really, it was a masterly affair.
+
+Putting his prisoners on board the _Diana_, which he permitted her
+captain to ransom, he left them to make their way to Calcutta; and it is
+stated by contemporary Indian newspapers that he treated them with
+consideration, and was polite to the lady passengers.
+
+The _Cartier_ was captured by an English man-of-war, but Surcouf carried
+the _Triton_ in triumph to Mauritius, where he was, of course, received
+with a tremendous ovation.
+
+He was greatly dismayed, however, upon having it pointed out to him by
+the Governor that those who choose to go a-pirating are liable to be
+called upon to pay the piper. All his captures were condemned, and
+forfeited to the Government, as he had not been provided with a letter
+of marque. This was perfectly right and proper, though his biographer
+tries to make it out an injustice. There was a fearful outcry, of
+course, and eventually the matter was referred home, Surcouf appearing
+in person to plead his cause; the appeal was successful, and all the
+captures were declared to be "good prize," which was very nice for
+Surcouf and his owners, who pocketed a good round sum of money. About
+the morality of the proceedings the less said the better.
+
+During this period of litigation the privateer hero had, of course,
+revisited St. Malo and seen his family and friends; and there he also
+fell in love with Mlle. Marie Blaize, to whom he became engaged. But the
+sea was calling him again, and he left her without being married.
+
+His new command was the _Clarisse_, 14 guns, with a crew of one hundred
+and forty hardy seamen of St. Malo and elsewhere; while Nicolas Surcouf,
+brother to the captain, and a man of similar type, was chief officer.
+She sailed in July 1798 for the old familiar cruising-ground in the
+Indian Ocean; and just after crossing the Equator, fell in with a large
+armed English vessel, from which, after a sharp action, she parted,
+considerably damaged; but Surcouf consoled himself for this
+failure--from which, as his biographer puts it, "there remained only the
+glory of having seen the flag of England flying before the victorious
+standard of France!"--by the capture of a rich prize off Rio Janeiro;
+and anchored in December 1798 at Port Louis, Mauritius, "where his
+expected return from Europe was awaited with impatience by those who had
+built great hopes upon the conqueror of the _Triton_."
+
+Space does not admit of following the adventures of Robert Surcouf in
+detail; his grand-nephew spares no pains, indeed, in this respect,
+spinning out his narrative, embellished with admiring outbursts of
+national and personal eulogy, in a somewhat tedious fashion. In the
+_Clarisse_ Surcouf had more successes, capturing two armed merchant
+vessels very cleverly at Sonson, in Sumatra, not without damage, which
+rendered it advisable to return to Port Louis to refit: thence, putting
+out again, he was on one occasion chased by the English frigate
+_Sibylle_; and so hard pressed was he that he was compelled to have
+recourse to desperate measures to improve the speed of his vessel: eight
+guns were thrown overboard, together with spare spars and other loose
+material, the rigging was eased up, the mast wedges loosened, the
+between-deck supports knocked away. It was a light breeze, of course,
+and these measures have a remarkable effect under such circumstances,
+rendering the vessel "all alive," as it were, and exceedingly
+susceptible of the smallest variation of pressure on the sails--and so
+the _Clarisse_ escaped. Two days later she captured an English vessel,
+the _Jane_--which is misnamed _James_ in French narratives--whose
+skipper wrote a long account of the affair. She sailed in company with
+two Indiamen, the _Manship_ and _Lansdowne_, having been warned that
+Surcouf was on the prowl outside. The captain imagined that, by keeping
+company with the two large Indiamen--armed vessels, of course--he would
+be safe from molestation; but he was sorely mistaken, for when the
+privateer hove in sight, and he signalled his consorts, they calmly
+sailed on and left the _Jane_ a victim, after a trifling resistance.
+Surcouf, being informed that these two large vessels, still in sight,
+were Indiamen, contemptuously remarked: "They are two _Tritons_," and he
+and his officers expressed the opinion that the captains deserved to be
+shot.
+
+Next he encountered two large American ships: there was much ill-feeling
+between France and the United States, though war had not been declared,
+and when they met they fought like dogs of hostile owners. One of these
+vessels Surcouf captured by boarding, the other escaping; and this was
+his last cruise in the _Clarisse_.
+
+It is in connection with his next command that Surcouf's name is,
+perhaps, most familiar. This was the _Confiance_, a new ship, and by all
+accounts a regular beauty. Before he got away, however, he had a
+quarrel with Duterte, another privateer captain of some note, commanding
+the _Malartic_, who had recourse to a ruse to obtain the pick of the
+available seamen in Mauritius for his own ship. Surcouf eventually
+contrived to circumvent him, and, after some high words in a cafe, they
+arranged a meeting with swords at daybreak. The Governor, General
+Malartic, however, intervened, commanding their attendance at the hour
+arranged for the duel, and, after an harangue from him, the two corsairs
+embraced and remained friends thereafter--they cruised, in fact, in
+consort for a time, in the Bay of Bengal, with much success.
+
+Surcouf's great exploit in the _Confiance_ was the capture of the
+_Kent_, East Indiaman, at the end of her voyage. M. Robert Surcouf, in
+describing this event, dwells upon every detail, from the moment the
+_Kent_ was sighted, with most tedious prolixity, as though this was one
+of the decisive battles of the world. What happened is as follows:
+
+On October 7th, 1800, a large sail was sighted at daybreak. After
+careful scrutiny, Surcouf decided that she was an Indiaman, a rich
+prize, and determined to have her if possible; so he hailed from aloft,
+where he was inspecting the stranger: "All hands on deck, make
+sail--drinks all round for the men! Clear for action!"
+
+Then, coming down from aloft, he mounted on the companion hatch, ordered
+everybody aft, and harangued them--he was great at a speech on an
+occasion of the kind, though probably his biographer has embellished
+it--told them the Englishman was very strong, but that he intended to
+board at once.
+
+"I suppose each one of you is more than equal to one Englishman? Very
+good--be armed ready for boarding--and, as it will be very hot work, I
+will give you an hour of pillage."
+
+It was very hot work. The _Kent's_ people certainly greatly outnumbered
+the privateer's; she had on board a great proportion of the crew of the
+_Queen_, another East Indiaman, which had been destroyed by fire on the
+coast of Brazil. Surcouf says she had 437 on board, and the _Confiance_
+only 130; but the figures for the _Kent_ are probably greatly
+exaggerated.
+
+After the exchange of some broadsides, Surcouf at length
+out-manoeuvred the English captain, his vessel being probably far more
+handy, and succeeded in laying him aboard. Captain Rivington, of the
+_Kent_, was a man of heroic courage, and fought at the head of his men
+with splendid determination; but the privateer crew had all the
+advantage of previous understanding and association. The _Kent's_ men
+were undisciplined and but poorly armed for such an encounter, while
+Surcouf's, we are told, had each a boarding axe, a cutlass, a pistol,
+and a dagger--to say nothing of blunderbusses loaded with six bullets,
+pikes fifteen feet long, and enormous clubs--all this, in conjunction
+with "drinks all round," and the promise of pillage!
+
+As long as their captain kept his feet the "Kents" maintained the
+desperate combat; but when at length he fell mortally wounded, though
+his last cry was "Don't give up the ship!" the flag was shortly
+lowered, though the chief officer made a desperate attempt to rally the
+crew once more.
+
+And then commenced the promised pillage. Surcouf, hearing the loud
+complaints of the English, despoiled of their property, was on the point
+of angrily restraining his crew, when he remembered his promise, and
+stepped back, we are told, with a sigh of regret. But then came the
+screams of women.
+
+"Good Lord! I'd forgotten the women!" he cried, and called his officers
+to come and protect them, which was very necessary. So hideous was the
+scene of plunder, amid the dead and wounded, that Surcouf exerted his
+power of will to cut short the time. He landed the prisoners in an Arab
+vessel, and arrived at Mauritius with his prize in November.
+
+The French were accused of having behaved with great brutality, even
+wantonly poniarding the wounded and dying. This, of course, is denied;
+but it does not require a very vivid imagination to picture the scene--a
+crowd of half-disciplined men, excited with liquor, brutalised by
+bloodshed, elated with victory, turned loose to plunder; some word of
+remonstrance from a wounded man, finding his person roughly searched,
+and a knife-thrust, or fatal blow with the butt of a pistol, would be
+the only reply. Surcouf's protection of the ladies was, however, said to
+be effective; and this is probably true.
+
+Surcouf took his flying _Confiance_ back to France, with a letter of
+marque; he caught a Portuguese vessel on the passage, and arrived at La
+Rochelle on April 13th, 1801. His adventure in the East had not cooled
+the ardour of his feelings towards Mlle. Marie Blaize, whom he married
+six weeks later; and he now became in his turn the _armateur_ or owner
+of privateers.
+
+He was persuaded, however, to go to sea once more in 1807, when war had
+broken out again, in a vessel which he named the _Revenant_--_i.e._ the
+_Ghost_: and she had for a figure-head a corpse emerging from the tomb,
+flinging off the shroud.
+
+With 18 guns and a complement of 192 men, the _Revenant_, a swift
+sailer, was quite as formidable as her predecessor; and so effectually
+did Surcouf scour the Bay of Bengal and the adjacent seas, so crafty and
+determined was he in attack, so swift in pursuit or in flight, that his
+depredations called forth an indignant but somewhat illogical memorial,
+in December 1807, from the merchants and East India Company to the
+Admiralty. The fact was that the British men-of-war on the station were
+doing pretty well all that could be done, but the _Revenant_, when it
+came to chasing her, was apt to become as ghostly as her
+figure-head--she had the heels of all of them, and her captain seemed to
+have an intuitive perception as to the whereabouts of danger.
+
+Surcouf eventually settled down as a shipbuilder and shipowner at St.
+Malo. He had, of course, made a considerable fortune, and his business
+prospered, so he was one of the most wealthy and influential men in the
+place. He died in 1827.
+
+Captain Marryat, in one of his novels, "Newton Forster," gives a vivid
+description of a fight between Surcouf and the _Windsor Castle_
+Indiaman, commanded by the plucky and pugilistic Captain Oughton. Such a
+yarn, by an expert seaman and a master-hand, is delightful reading, and
+the temptation to transcribe it here is strong. It must, however, be
+resisted, as the story is, after all, a fiction, and therefore would be
+out of place.
+
+There are other French privateersmen well worthy of notice, did space
+permit, foremost among whom is Thurot, who, single-handed, contrived to
+harass the English and Irish coasts for months; the brothers Fourmentin,
+the eldest of whom has the Rue du Baron Bucaille in Boulogne named after
+him, though his biographer informs us that he never called himself
+Bucaille, nor was he a baron--but somehow this title became attached to
+him.
+
+M. Henri Malo, in "Les Corsaires," tells a story of him which is said to
+be traditional in his family, and is certainly entertaining; so it shall
+be transcribed as related.
+
+"One evening, several privateer captains were dining together. There was
+a leg of mutton for dinner, and a discussion arose as to whether French
+mutton was superior or inferior to English. Fourmentin said the only way
+to decide the question was to have the two kinds on the table; they had
+French mutton, they only wanted a specimen of the English mutton--he
+would go and fetch it. Forthwith he proceeded to the harbour, and,
+according to his custom, summoned his crew by beating with a hammer on
+the bottom of a saucepan. Making sail, he landed in the middle of the
+night on the English coast, seized a customs station, and bound the
+officers, except six, whom he directed, pistol in hand, to conduct him
+to the nearest sheep-fold. Choosing the six finest sheep in the flock,
+he made the six customs officers shoulder them and take them on board
+his vessel. He gave his six involuntary porters a bottle of rum by way
+of reward for their trouble, and straightway made sail for France. He
+had left on the flood-tide--he returned on it, with the required sheep,
+which he and his colleagues were thus able to appreciate and compare
+with the others."
+
+A very good family story, and probably quite as true as many another!
+
+These Frenchmen of whom we have been discoursing were certainly fine
+seamen, and intrepid fighters; they had, no doubt, the faults common to
+privateers, but they were able and formidable foes, and left their mark
+in history.
+
+
+CONCERNING THE FRONTISPIECE
+
+On July 27th, 1801, capture was made of a remarkable vessel. There was
+no fighting, but the ship herself excited a good deal of interest at the
+time.
+
+We learn from the captain's log of the British frigate _Immortalite_
+that, in the small hours of the morning, a large ship was observed, and
+sail was made in chase. At daylight the chase proved to be a
+four-masted vessel, fully rigged upon each mast--a common enough object
+nowadays, but then almost unique. This was the French privateer
+_Invention_, a ship built under the special supervision of the man who
+commanded her--M. Thibaut. She was brand-new, having sailed upon her
+first voyage only eight days previously, and had already eluded one of
+our frigates by superior speed. She was probably a very fast vessel, and
+might quite possibly have outsailed the _Immortalite_; but, very
+unhappily for Captain Thibaut, another British frigate, the _Arethusa_,
+Captain W. Wolley, appeared right in her path. Thus beset, Thibaut's
+case was hopeless, and so the _Invention's_ very brief career as a
+privateer came to an end, the _Immortalite_--commanded by Captain Henry
+Hotham--taking possession at eight o'clock.
+
+Captain Wolley, as senior officer, reported the circumstances to the
+Admiralty:
+
+"She is called _L'Invention_, of Bordeaux, mounting 24 guns, with 207
+men. She is of a most singular construction, having four masts, and they
+speak of her in high terms, though they say she is much under-masted. I
+directed Captain Hotham to take her into Plymouth. I should have ordered
+her up the river for their lordships' inspection, but I did not choose
+to deprive Captain Hotham of his men for so long a time."
+
+The corner of the letter is turned down and on it is written: "Acquaint
+him that their lordships are highly pleased with the capture of this
+vessel."
+
+There is an enclosure giving the dimensions of the vessel, as follows:
+
+                      Ft. In.
+  Length of keel      126 10
+  Extreme length      147  4
+  Breadth of beam      27  1
+  Depth of hold        11  9
+  Draft of water       13  9
+
+Mention is also made of a sketch enclosed, but this is not now with the
+letter. It is probable, however, that a small woodcut, on the first page
+of vol. vii. of _The Naval Chronicle_, is copied from this sketch, and
+the frontispiece of this volume is an enlargement and adaptation from
+the woodcut.
+
+The _Invention_ had less beam in proportion to her length than was usual
+in those days, and perhaps Captain Thibaut was afraid of masting her too
+heavily lest she should be "tender" under canvas. Her draft of water is
+moderate for her other dimensions, which would be an additional occasion
+of anxiety on this score; but, with a large spread of canvas, she would
+have been very swift in moderate weather.
+
+There does not appear to be any record to hand as to what became of the
+_Invention_, whether she was afterwards sent up the river for the
+inspection of their lordships, or taken on as a man-of-war; possibly
+some dockyard archives may contain the information.
+
+On August 25th, 1801, the Navy Board reported to the Admiralty that the
+_Invention_ had been surveyed, and was a suitable vessel for the Royal
+Navy, and asked whether her four masts should be retained; and
+September 1st following they ask that the sketch of the ship may be
+returned; but there is no reply to be found to either of these letters
+in the proper place; so the further correspondence must either have been
+lost or placed among other papers. Possibly the ship was not, after all,
+taken for the Navy; if she was it would probably be under some other
+name.
+
+[Footnote 14: Captain Smith appears, however, to have been very harshly
+used, through the implications, rather than any specific accusation, of
+his senior, Captain Osborn; and upon his presenting a memorial to the
+King (George III.), setting forth the circumstances under which he was
+tried in the East Indies, the case was referred to the law officers of
+the Crown and the Admiralty Counsel, who declared that the finding of
+the court was unwarrantable, and should not be upheld. Captain Smith,
+who had been dismissed the Service, was thereupon reinstated; but an
+officer who thus "scores" off his superiors is not readily pardoned, and
+he was never again employed. It appears to have been a shady business,
+with some personal spite in the background.]
+
+
+
+
+SOME AMERICANS
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVII
+
+CAPTAIN SILAS TALBOT
+
+
+During the American War of Secession in the eighteenth century, as well
+as in that of 1812, American seamen took very kindly to privateering.
+There were many smart vessels afloat, commanded by intrepid and skilful
+men, with hardy and well-trained crews, and British naval historians are
+all agreed as to the success of their ventures and the immense amount of
+damage inflicted upon our sea-trade by them. Their fast-sailing
+schooners were usually able to outpace our men-of-war and privateers,
+and so to make their choice between fighting and running away; and they
+do not appear to have been averse to fighting when there was the
+smallest chance of success, or even against considerable odds.
+
+We find, nevertheless, among American writers, considerable diversity of
+opinion as to the advantages of privateering and the conduct of
+privateers.
+
+In the _North American Review_ for July 1820, six years after the
+conclusion of the last war, there is a most urgent appeal against
+privateering, denouncing all privateers, American and others, as
+practically pirates, and setting forth in the strongest possible terms
+the gross iniquity of the whole business.
+
+Mr. Roosevelt, in his "History of the Naval War of 1812," alludes to
+their privateers in very disparaging terms, pointing out that they were
+far more keen upon plunder than fighting, and were utterly unreliable;
+would fight one day, and run away the next.
+
+Mr. George Coggleshall, in the introduction to his "History of the
+American Privateers during our War with England in the years 1812-14,"
+says: "I commence my plea, soliciting public approbation in favour of
+privateersmen, and for those who served in private armed vessels in the
+war"; and quotes Jefferson in support of his views.
+
+Mr. E.S. Maclay, in his "History of American Privateers," says: "In
+general, the conduct of American privateersmen on the high seas was most
+commendable."
+
+It is, of course, most natural that these writers should stand up for
+their countrymen, and Englishmen, as has already been stated, are not
+slow to acknowledge the prowess of American privateersmen. For the
+details of actions between these and British vessels we are indebted
+almost entirely to American accounts, and particularly to the two works
+above mentioned; such engagements are usually only referred to in the
+briefest terms, or altogether unnoticed, in our naval histories; and the
+American writers--especially Mr. Coggleshall--display a bitterly hostile
+spirit which is apt to be very detrimental to the merits of so-called
+history. And so, while there is no intention of questioning their good
+faith, one is at least at liberty to wonder where they obtained their
+information.
+
+According to these writers, British naval officers and privateersmen
+habitually treated prisoners of war with shocking, wanton brutality:
+while the Americans exhibited invariable kindness, even beneficence,
+towards British prisoners: an allegation to which it is impossible to
+accord full credence, especially when statements are made without
+reference or authentication.
+
+Moreover, the exploits of American privateersmen are frequently
+exhibited in an artificially heroic light; the most trivial and obvious
+measures for the safety of the ship, for instance, related as though
+they demonstrated extraordinary qualities of courage and resource; while
+the "long bow" is occasionally conspicuously in evidence, the author
+apparently not possessing the requisite technical knowledge to perceive
+the absurdity of some story which he has come across.
+
+In support of his contention that the conduct of American privateers was
+admirable, Mr. Maclay tells the following story, which, he says,
+appeared in a London newspaper in December 1814--he does not tell us the
+precise date, or the name of the paper. Still, here is the story (page
+15):
+
+"A trading vessel laden with wheat, from Cardigan, was taken in the
+Channel by an American privateer. When the captain of the latter entered
+the cabin to survey the prize, he espied a small box with a hole in the
+top, on which the words 'Missionary Box' were inscribed. On seeing this
+the American captain seemed not a little astonished, and addressed the
+Welsh captain as follows:
+
+"'Captain, what is this?' pointing to the box with his stick. (Why a
+_stick_, at sea?)
+
+"'Oh,' replied the honest Cambrian, heaving a sigh, ''tis all over now.'
+
+"'What?' said the American captain.
+
+"'Why, the truth is,' said the Welshman, 'that I and my poor fellows
+have been accustomed, every Monday morning, to drop a penny each into
+that box for the purpose of sending out missionaries to preach the
+Gospel to the heathen; but it is all over now.'
+
+"'Indeed,' answered the American captain; 'that is very good.'
+
+"After pausing a few minutes, he said, 'Captain, I'll not hurt a hair of
+your head, nor touch your vessel'; and he immediately departed, leaving
+the owner to pursue his course."
+
+There is no disputing the humanity of this American privateer skipper,
+if the tale be true; but one would be disposed to wonder what his owners
+said to him about the business. They might want to know what he meant by
+allowing a Welshman to score off him by means of a pious fraud! A
+privateer skipper, however religiously disposed, should not put to sea
+without his sense of humour.
+
+"A still more forcible illustration of the humanity of American
+privateersmen," says Mr. Maclay (page 16), "is had early in 1782, when
+the private armed sloop _Lively_, Captain D. Adams, of Massachusetts,
+rescued the officers and crew of the British frigate _Blonde_, which
+had been wrecked on a barren and desolate island. The treatment which
+all American prisoners, and especially privateersmen, had received at
+the hands of the British would have almost justified the commander of
+the _Lively_ in leaving these shipwrecked mariners to their fate. But
+the American jack tar is a generous fellow, and nothing appeals so
+strongly to his compassion as a fellow-seaman in distress, and on this
+occasion the people of the _Lively_ extended every assistance to their
+enemies and brought them safely into port."
+
+Really, they would have been no better than pirates if they had left
+them there. There does not appear to be any reason for supposing that
+American privateersmen were either more or less scrupulous than their
+British cousins; there was always plunder in view on both sides, and, if
+plunder could be obtained without fighting, so much the better.
+
+The editor of _De Bow's Commercial Review_ (vol. i., page 518, June
+1846), in a note appended to an article upon privateering, says:
+"Privateering constitutes a separate chapter in the laws of nations.
+Every nation has resorted to this method of destroying the commerce of
+the enemy, without questioning for a moment their right of doing so.
+Many have affected to consider it, after all, but legalised piracy, and
+calculated to blunt the finer feelings of justice and sear the heart to
+noble sentiments. We are at a loss, ourselves, to understand how the
+occupation of a mere privateer can be reconciled with any of the higher
+feelings of our nature: an occupation whose whole end and purpose is
+pillage upon the high seas and pecuniary gain out of the fiercest
+bloodshed. The love of country, patriotic self-devotion, and ardour,
+have no place in such concerns.... It cannot be doubted, that men
+estimable in other respects have been found in the pursuit of
+privateering; but exceptions of this kind are rare, and could not, we
+think, occur again, in the improved moral sense of mankind."
+
+With these preliminary remarks, let us now recount the doings of some of
+the American privateersmen, commencing with Silas Talbot.
+
+
+CAPTAIN--OR COLONEL--SILAS TALBOT
+
+"The Life and Surprising Adventures of Captain Silas Talbot; containing
+a Curious Account of the Various Changes and Gradations of this
+Extraordinary Character." Such is the title of a small volume published
+in America about the year 1803; and the editor states that the bulk of
+the information contained therein was communicated personally by Talbot,
+and has since been substantially confirmed from various quarters.
+
+Silas Talbot, we learn, was born at Dighton, Mass., about the year 1752,
+and commenced his career at sea as cabin-boy. At the age of twenty-four,
+however, he blossoms into a captain in the U.S. Army--or the rebel army,
+according to British notions--in the year 1776; and by virtue, we must
+suppose, of his nautical training, he was placed in command of a
+fireship at New York, and soon after promoted to the rank of major--but
+still with naval duties. He speedily attracted attention as a daring and
+ingenious officer, and was very successful in several enterprises, the
+most notable being the conquest and capture of a well-armed stationary
+British vessel, moored in the east passage off Rhode Island. He made the
+attack at night, and devised an ingenious plan for breaching the high
+boarding-nettings of the Britisher, fixing at the bowsprit end of his
+sloop a small anchor, which, being forcibly rammed into the net by the
+impetus of the vessel, tore it away. The attack was devised as a
+surprise, but the approach of the gallant Talbot was observed, and it
+was under a heavy fire that he and his men succeeded in their desperate
+enterprise.
+
+In 1779, having meanwhile been promoted to the rank of colonel, he
+commenced his career as a privateer commander. The British had a
+considerable number of private ships of war afloat on the American coast
+at that time, and Talbot was placed in command of the _Argo_, a sloop of
+under 100 tons, armed with twelve 6-pounders, and carrying 60 men. She
+was very heavily sparred--with one mast, of course, and an immense
+mainsail, the main boom being very long and thick. She was steered with
+a long tiller, had very high bulwarks, a wide stern, and looked like a
+clumsy Albany trader; we are told, however, that "her bottom was her
+handsomest part," which is only another way of saying that, with her big
+spars, she was, in spite of her uncouth appearance, a swift and handy
+craft.
+
+In this little stinging wasp Talbot set forth, and, after one or two
+indecisive skirmishes, he encountered the _King George_, a privateer
+commanded by one Hazard, a native of Rhode Island, who had been very
+busy. Captain Hazard had been greatly esteemed, until he elected to
+fight on the British side, "for the base purpose of plundering his
+neighbours and old friends"; after which he was naturally regarded with
+the bitterest hatred, and Talbot approached to the attack, no doubt,
+with a grim determination to put a stop to the depredations of the
+renegade.
+
+The _King George_ was of superior force to the _Argo_, carrying 14 guns
+and 80 men; but her captain apparently permitted Talbot to come to close
+quarters without opposition, for the writer tells us that he "steered
+close alongside him, pouring into his decks a whole broadside, and
+almost at the same instant a boarding party, which drove the crew of the
+_King George_ from their quarters, and took possession of her without a
+man on either side being killed."
+
+Talbot was, unquestionably, a born fighter and well versed in nautical
+strategy and attack; but the writer of these records strikes one as
+being an enthusiastic and ingenuous person, without practical knowledge
+of seamanship or warfare, and consequently liable to be imposed upon by
+any one who could not resist the temptation to tell a "good yarn." Silas
+Talbot may have been afflicted with this weakness, for all we know. It
+is a genuine American characteristic, and by no means incompatible with
+the highest attributes of personal courage and skill in warfare.
+However, there is no cause to doubt the truth of the account of the
+capture of the _King George_, for which Talbot and his men deserve
+credit.
+
+The next antagonist of the _Argo_ was the British privateer _Dragon_, of
+300 tons, 14 guns, and 80 men--rather a small armament and crew for a
+vessel of that tonnage, in those days.
+
+This was a desperate engagement, carried on for four and a half hours,
+at pistol-shot. The gallant Talbot had some narrow shaves, for we are
+told that his speaking-trumpet was pierced with shot in two places, and
+the skirts of his coat torn off by a cannon-shot! We cannot avoid the
+conclusion that the gentle narrator was, in vulgar parlance, being "had"
+over this story. A modern small-bore bullet, with high velocity, would
+probably make a clean hole through a tin speaking-trumpet, which might
+possibly be retained in the hand, if held very firmly, during the
+process. But a clumsy, slow-sailing pistol or musket ball of that period
+would simply double up the tin tube and send it flying; while as to the
+coat-tails--well, it is not stated that Captain Talbot experienced any
+discomfort in sitting down afterwards, or inconvenience for lack of
+anything to sit upon. It was a most discriminating cannon-ball!
+
+Nearly all the men on deck--a vessel like the _Argo_ certainly did not
+fight any men _below_--were either killed or wounded; and the _Dragon_,
+losing her mainmast, at length struck her colours.
+
+Then came an alarm that the _Argo_ was sinking; "but," says the gentle
+story-teller, "the captain gave orders to inspect the sides of the
+sloop, upon which he found several shot-holes between wind and water,
+which they plugged up." And a very good device, too, though a somewhat
+obvious one, to prevent a vessel from sinking!
+
+Having refitted his ship, Talbot put out again, this time with the
+_Saratoga_, another privateer, of Providence, commanded by Captain
+Munroe, in company; and in due course they came across the _Dublin_, a
+very smart English privateer cutter of 14 guns, coming out of Sandy
+Hook. It was agreed that Talbot should first give chase, for fear the
+sight of two vessels bearing down upon him should make the Britisher
+shy: rather a transparent device, since Munroe's craft was in sight, at
+no great distance, the whole time. The Englishman, however, awaited the
+attack, and a spirited duel ensued by the space of an hour. When Munroe
+thought it was time for him to cut in, he found that his ship would not
+answer her helm. This is explained as follows: "The _Saratoga_ was
+steered with a long wooden tiller on common occasions, but in time of
+action the wooden tiller was unshipped and put out of the way, and she
+was then steered with an iron one that was shipped into the rudder-head
+from the cabin.... The _Saratoga_ went away with the wind at a smart
+rate, to the surprise of Captain Talbot, and the still greater surprise
+of Captain Munroe, who repeatedly called to the helmsman, 'Hard
+a-weather! Hard up, there!' 'It is hard up, sir!' 'You lie, you
+blackguard! She goes away lasking! Hard a-weather, I say, again!' 'It is
+hard a-weather, indeed, sir!' Captain Munroe was astonished, and could
+not conceive what the devil was the matter with his vessel. He took in
+the after-sails, and made all the head-sail in his power. All would not
+do--away she went! He was in the utmost vexation lest Captain Talbot
+should think he was running away. At last one of his under-officers
+suggested that possibly the iron tiller had not entered the rudder-head,
+which, on examination, was found to be the case. The blunder was now
+soon corrected, and the _Saratoga_ was made to stand towards the enemy;
+and, that some satisfaction might be made for his long absence, Captain
+Munroe determined, as soon as he got up, to give her a whole broadside
+at once. He did so, and the _Dublin_ immediately struck her colours;
+yet, strange to tell, it did not appear, on strict inquiry and
+examination afterwards, that this weight of fire, which was meant to
+tear the cutter in pieces, had done the vessel or crew the least
+additional injury."
+
+Here is a capital yarn, for the uninitiated; but it serves to illustrate
+the danger of entering upon technical details without adequate
+understanding. It may be true enough that the tiller was not properly
+shipped in the first instance; but, this granted, to begin with, any
+sailing-vessel that is properly trimmed will, upon letting go the
+tiller, come up into the wind, instead of running off it. Even
+admitting, however, that the _Saratoga_ was so "slack on her helm," in
+nautical parlance, as to "go away lasking"--_i.e._ almost before the
+wind--under such conditions, the very last order the captain would give
+would be "Hard up," or "Hard a-weather," which would only cause her to
+run away worse than ever; while taking in the after-sail and piling on
+head sail would aggravate the evil! If the writer had represented
+Captain Munroe as shouting, "Hard down! Hard a-lee, you blackguard!"
+hauling in his mainsheet and taking off the head-sail, one might believe
+that Talbot or some other sailor-man had told the story. As it stands,
+it is ridiculous; but it is repeated, word for word, in various
+accounts--among others by Mr. Maclay.
+
+Well, the _Dublin_ was captured, hauling down her colours after Munroe's
+innocuous broadside; and Talbot's next antagonist was the _Betsy_, an
+English privateer of 12 guns and 38 men, "commanded by an honest and
+well-informed Scotchman." After some palaver at pistol-shot, Talbot
+hoisted the stars and stripes, crying, "You must now haul down those
+British colours, my friend!" To which the Scot replied, "Notwithstanding
+I find you an enemy, as I suspected, yet, sir, I believe I shall let
+them hang a little longer, with your permission. So fire away,
+Flanagan!"
+
+Had the honest Scot been of the same type of privateer captain as George
+Walker he would certainly have banged in his broadside before the stars
+and stripes were well above the rail, and perhaps altered the outcome of
+the action. As it was, Talbot took him, killing or wounding the captain
+and principal officers and several men.
+
+The little _Argo_ was subsequently put out of commission and returned to
+her owners; and in 1780 Talbot was given command of another privateer,
+the _General Washington_. After making one capture, however, he was
+taken, we are told, by an English squadron off Sandy Hook, and sent on
+board the _Robuste_, Captain Cosby, where he was courteously treated.
+Being transferred, however, to a tender--name not stated--for conveyance
+to New York, the commander--"a Scotch lord," we are told, "put his
+gallant captive into the hold. The only excuse for this dastardly
+behaviour is to be found in the craven fears of his lordship. By a
+remarkable coincidence, the pilot he employed was the same formerly on
+board the _Pigot_ (the stationary vessel captured by Talbot at Rhode
+Island), and this man so frightened his superior with the story of his
+prisoner's reckless daring that he--notwithstanding a written
+remonstrance which Captain Talbot forwarded to the British admiral--was
+thus kept confined below until they reached New York; and the arm-chest
+was removed to the cabin."
+
+This is quoted from "The Life of Silas Talbot," by Henry T. Tuckerman,
+published in 1850. The story is given for what it is worth. Had the name
+of the tender and of the so readily scared "Scotch lord" been given, it
+would have been more worthy of consideration.
+
+After this Talbot was confined on board the _Jersey_ prison-ship, off
+Long Island, where it is said that prisoners were treated with gross
+inhumanity; and being eventually conveyed to England on board the
+_Yarmouth_, was kept in prison on Dartmoor, where he made four desperate
+attempts to escape. He was liberated in the summer of 1781, and found
+his way home to Rhode Island. He died in New York, June 30th, 1813.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVIII
+
+CAPTAIN JOSHUA BARNEY
+
+
+Among the earlier privateersmen in the War of Secession was Joshua
+Barney, a naval officer, who, after having been a prisoner of war for
+five months, was released by exchange, and, failing naval employment,
+went as first officer of a privateer under Captain Isaiah Robinson--also
+a naval officer.
+
+Barney had previously made a venture on his own account in a small
+trading-vessel, which was speedily captured, the English captain landing
+his prisoners on the Chesapeake.
+
+After some difficulty, Robinson secured a brig named _Pomona_; she
+carried a scratch armament of 12 guns of various sizes and a crew of 35
+men. The vessel was laden with tobacco for Bordeaux, and the primary
+object was to get the cargo through safely: but Robinson and Barney,
+with their naval training, were by no means averse to a fight, and they
+had only been out a few days when the opportunity arose, a fast-sailing
+brig giving chase and quickly overhauling the _Pomona_.
+
+At 8 p.m. on a February evening, with a bright moon, the stranger came
+within hail, ran up her colours, and asked, "What ship is that?" The
+American ran up his flag, and the Englishman immediately shouted to haul
+it down.
+
+Upon this Robinson delivered his broadside, which inflicted considerable
+damage upon the other, bringing down his foretopsail, cutting some of
+his rigging, and causing, we are told, much surprise and confusion on
+board--though why the Englishmen should be surprised it is difficult to
+comprehend, as it is to be presumed that they chased with the intention
+of fighting.
+
+Then commenced a running action, which lasted until nearly midnight. The
+English captain, finding that the _Pomona_ had no stern-gun ports,
+endeavoured to keep as much as possible astern and on the quarter where
+he could ply his bow-guns without receiving much in return; but, we are
+told, the crew had been thrown into such confusion by the _Pomona's_
+first broadside that they were able to fire _only one or two shots every
+half-hour_--three or four rounds an hour; so Robinson had a port cut in
+his stern, and ran out a 3-pounder gun there; and, when the English
+vessel was coming up again for another of her leisurely discharges, she
+received a dose of grape which caused her captain to haul off--nor did
+he venture near enough during the night to fire another shot.
+
+Daylight showed the English brig to be armed with sixteen guns; and
+several officers were observed, displaying themselves in conspicuous
+places, in uniforms resembling those of the Navy. This was supposed to
+be a ruse, whereby the Americans were to be demoralised, imagining
+themselves to be engaged with a regular ship of war. "This, the English
+thought," says Mr. Maclay, "would show the Americans the hopelessness
+of the struggle, and would induce them to surrender without further
+resistance"; but he does not know what the English thought, or whether
+the officers in this privateer habitually dressed in some kind of
+uniform of their own.
+
+However, the enemy, about sunrise, approached the quarter of the
+_Pomona_ with the obvious intention of boarding; and then the 3-pounder
+came into play once more. It was loaded with grape-shot, "and the charge
+was topped off by a crowbar stuck into the muzzle." Waiting until the
+enemy was just about to board, Robinson, with his own hand, let go this
+charge of grape and crowbar, "and with such accurate aim" (at, say, ten
+yards range!) "that the British were completely baffled in their
+attempt, their foresails and all their weather foreshrouds being cut
+away."
+
+Well, one cannot, of course, say that this is untrue; but that 3-pounder
+was certainly a marvellous little piece. It carried a solid ball, the
+size of which may be judged by any one who will toss up a three-pound
+weight from an ordinary set of scales, and the bore of the gun was just
+large enough to admit it easily; yet we are told that the charge of
+grape--small iron or leaden bullets--was equal to cutting all the
+foreshrouds, and all the head-sail halyards--if this is what is meant by
+"foresails," which is a vague term, not in use among seamen.
+
+This, however, is the story; and the English captain immediately putting
+his helm "hard up" to take the strain off his unsupported foremast,
+Robinson took occasion to give him a raking broadside; and this was the
+last shot fired, the Englishman failing to come up to the scratch again,
+and the _Pomona_ proceeding on her voyage.
+
+The British vessel was said to be the privateer _Rosebud_, with a crew
+of one hundred men, of whom forty-seven were killed and wounded; we are
+not told the _Pomona's_ loss. Captain Duncan, of the _Rosebud_,
+complained at New York that the Americans had not "fought fair," using
+"langrage"--_i.e._ rough bits of iron, old nails, etc.; but this
+illusion was put down to the crowbar--quite a legitimate missile!
+
+There is no British account to hand of this action; but it is impossible
+to feel any great admiration of the "Rosebuds," in allowing a vessel of
+such inferior force to beat them off. They must have been sadly lacking
+in thorns!
+
+The _Pomona_ reached Bordeaux in safety, and there her captain, having
+sold his tobacco, purchased a more satisfactory lot of guns, powder, and
+shot, and raised his crew to 70 men; and, having shipped a cargo of
+brandy, made sail on his return voyage to America.
+
+On the road he encountered a British privateer of 16 guns and 70 men;
+after several encounters, the Englishman all the while endeavouring to
+escape, Robinson captured her: British loss, 12 killed, and "a number"
+wounded; American loss, 1 killed, 2 wounded.
+
+The _Pomona_, however, was destined to have her career cut short by
+capture, and then there commenced a series of adventures for Joshua
+Barney as a prisoner of war. We are not told when or by whom the
+_Pomona_ was captured; Mr. Maclay, on page 148, says: "In the chapter on
+'Navy Officers in Privateers', mention was made of the capture of the
+armed brig, _Pomona_, commanded by Captain Isaiah Robinson, who had, as
+his first officer, Lieutenant Joshua Barney, also of the regular
+service." There is nothing, however, to be found, in the chapter
+referred to, about the capture of the _Pomona_. The final allusion is to
+her safe arrival in America from Bordeaux, probably in September 1779.
+
+However, it appears that Joshua Barney became a prisoner some time
+between September 1779 and the autumn of 1780, and was placed in one of
+the prison-ships. The arrival of Admiral Byron, it is said, brought
+about a welcome change in the prison administration; some additional
+ships were ordered for the accommodation of the American officers, and
+the admiral personally inspected all the prison-ships once a week; while
+some of the officers who belonged to the regular navy were taken on
+board the flagship _Ardent_.
+
+Barney, it appears, was selected for special consideration by Admiral
+Byron, having a boat placed at his service, and being entrusted with the
+duty of visiting the prison-ships in which his compatriots were confined
+and reporting upon their condition to the admiral. The only restriction
+placed upon his liberty was the obligation to sleep on board the
+_Ardent_: he was certainly a most highly favoured prisoner of war.
+
+Upon one occasion, landing in New York in his American naval uniform, to
+breakfast with one of the admiral's staff, he was seized upon by an
+infuriated mob, who were proceeding to throw him into a fire which was
+raging, alleging that he had originated the conflagration. A British
+officer fortunately intervened and explained the situation.
+
+Upon the advent of Admiral Rodney, however, this pleasant time came to
+an end; and in November--_not_ December, as in Mr. Maclay's
+account--1780, Barney, in company with about seventy other American
+officers, was placed on board the _Yarmouth_, a 64-gun ship, under the
+command of Captain Lutwidge, for conveyance to England; and here is Mr.
+Maclay's description of the treatment they received.
+
+"From the time these Americans stepped aboard the _Yarmouth_ their
+captors gave it to be understood, by hints and innuendoes, that they
+were being taken to England to 'be hanged as rebels'; and, indeed, the
+treatment they received aboard the _Yarmouth_ on the passage over led
+them to believe that the British officers intended to cheat the gallows
+of their prey by causing the prisoners to die before reaching port. On
+coming aboard the ship of the line these officers were stowed away in
+the lower hold, next to the keel, under five decks, and many feet below
+the water-line. Here, in a twelve-by-twenty-foot room, with up-curving
+floor, and only three feet high, the seventy-one men were stowed for
+fifty-three days like so much merchandise, without light or good air,
+unable to stand upright, with no means and with no attempt made to
+remove the accumulating filth! Their food was of the poorest quality,
+and was supplied in such insufficient quantities that, whenever one of
+the prisoners died, the survivors concealed the fact until the body
+began to putrefy, in order that the dead man's allowance might be added
+to theirs. The water served them to drink was so thick with repulsive
+matter that the prisoners were compelled to strain it between compressed
+teeth.
+
+"From the time the _Yarmouth_ left New York till she reached Plymouth,
+in a most tempestuous winter's passage, these men were kept in this
+loathsome dungeon. Eleven died in delirium, their wild ravings and
+piercing shrieks appalling their comrades, and giving them a foretaste
+of what they themselves might soon expect. Not even a surgeon was
+permitted to visit them. Arriving at Plymouth the pale, emaciated,
+festering men were ordered to come on deck. Not one obeyed, for they
+were unable to stand upright. Consequently they were hoisted up, the
+ceremony being grimly suggestive of the manner in which they had been
+treated--like merchandise. And what were they to do, now that they had
+been placed on deck? The light of the sun, which they had scarcely seen
+for fifty-three days, fell upon their weak, dilated pupils with blinding
+force, their limbs unable to uphold them, their frames wasted by disease
+and want. Seeking for support, they fell in a helpless mass, one upon
+the other, waiting and almost hoping for the blow that was to fall upon
+them next. Captain Silas Talbot was one of these prisoners.
+
+"To send them ashore in this condition was 'impracticable,' so the
+British officers said, and we readily discover that this 'impracticable'
+served the further purpose of diverting the just indignation of the
+landsfolk, which surely would be aroused if they saw such brutality
+practised under St. George's cross. Waiting, then, until the captives
+could at least endure the light of day, and could walk without leaning
+on one another or clutching at every object for support, the officers
+had them moved to old Mill Prison."
+
+This is a terrible picture of the treatment of American prisoners of
+war, in striking contrast to the generous conduct of Vice-Admiral the
+Hon. John Byron--to give him his correct title--towards Barney and his
+fellow-prisoners. If it is to be accepted as absolutely true, it should
+make Englishmen blush to read it, constituting a shameful record against
+us, as represented by Captain Lutwidge and his subordinates.
+
+But is it absolutely true? This question is suggested, in the first
+instance, by the utter wildness of the writer's chronology with regard
+to the pleasing episode in connection with Admiral Byron; for it was
+during Joshua Barney's _first_ period of imprisonment that he came in
+contact with Byron, in the year 1778. It could not have been after the
+capture of the _Pomona_, as Byron was in the West Indies in the summer
+of 1779, in pursuit of the French Admiral D'Estaing, and returned thence
+to England, arriving on October 10th in that year--he was not employed
+again. Moreover, during the time of Barney's second imprisonment, at New
+York, there was no _Ardent_ on the Navy List: she was captured by the
+French on August 17th, 1779--while Barney was on his homeward voyage in
+the _Pomona_--and recaptured in April 1782.
+
+Such reckless chronicling might well discredit the whole of this
+writer's account of the incidents; fortunately--or unfortunately--for
+him, however, there is another source of information in a "Biographical
+Memoir of Commodore Barney," by Mary Barney--his daughter,
+perhaps--published in 1832, in which the dates are more consistent with
+possibilities. Probably Mr. Maclay derived his information from this
+volume, and, by an extraordinary oversight, confused the two periods.
+
+From this record it appears that Barney was a lieutenant on board the
+frigate _Virginia_ when she was captured by the British on April 1st,
+1778, and that he was very kindly treated by two English captains,
+Caldwell and Onslow, under whose charge he found himself for a time and
+subsequently, as related, by Admiral Byron.[15] Moreover, it is here
+stated that it was while serving on board a regular war-ship, the
+_Saratoga_, that Barney was a second time made prisoner, being captured
+when in charge of a prize, and not on board the _Pomona_ at all: so here
+is more recklessness of narration, which appears quite inexcusable, as
+the writer, it is to be presumed, had access to this memoir, which is
+said to be compiled from Barney's own statements to the author.
+
+Now, with regard to the shocking treatment of the prisoners on board the
+_Yarmouth_.
+
+Mary Barney disclaims any wish to aggravate the case, declaring that she
+had the story from the lips of Joshua Barney, and appeals to his
+generous recognition of former kindness as a guarantee against wilful
+misrepresentation on this occasion.
+
+Very good. But there is in existence the captain's log of the
+_Yarmouth_, also his letter to the Admiralty, reporting his arrival in
+England, and these official documents tend to discredit the dismal story
+in some important particulars.
+
+The _Yarmouth_, we learn, sailed on November 15th, 1780, and arrived at
+Plymouth on December 29th--so she was forty-four, not fifty-three days
+at sea. The weather was very rough, and the ship developed some serious
+leaks, which increased alarmingly through the straining in the heavy
+sea. Under these circumstances, the ship's company being very sickly,
+with more than one hundred men actually on the sick list--one hundred
+and eleven, according to the "State and Condition" report on
+arrival--Captain Lutwidge states that he had the prisoners
+"watched"--_i.e._ divided into port and starboard watch, and set them to
+the pumps: "I found it necessary to employ the prisoners at the pumps,
+and on that account to order them whole allowance of provisions--the
+ship's company, from their weak and sickly state, being unequal to that
+duty."
+
+According to the log, _five_ prisoners, not eleven, died on the voyage,
+the deaths and burials at sea being precisely recorded.
+
+So here we have the official record that, while the ship's company were
+too much enfeebled by sickness to work the pumps--in addition, of
+course, to constant handling of the heavy sails and spars in tempestuous
+weather--the American prisoners were sufficiently robust to perform this
+duty, and probably save the vessel from serious peril through her leaky
+condition.
+
+In order to do this they must have been called on deck and mustered,
+placed in watches, and subsequently summoned in regular turn for their
+"spell" at the pumps.
+
+This story is obviously incompatible with the other, and it is, to say
+the least of it, very remarkable that this pumping in watches, and full
+provision allowance, should have been entirely forgotten by Barney in
+his narration.
+
+It is certainly open to any one, in view of this omission, to question
+the accuracy of other statements; to hesitate before accepting the story
+of seventy-one men being confined in a space twenty feet by twelve and
+only six inches higher than an ordinary table; of eleven of them dying
+in shrieking delirium, denied medical attendance, and six out of eleven
+deaths being suppressed. The treatment of our American prisoners was
+undoubtedly sometimes unduly harsh, but it is impossible to accept this
+story as literally true.
+
+Mr. Maclay's book and Mary Barney's memoirs are alike accessible to any
+one, and for this reason it is necessary that the other side should be
+heard--Joshua Barney having been a very prominent American
+privateersman.
+
+While on the subject, it is as well to refer to the treatment of
+prisoners in Mill Prison, at Plymouth, of which Mr. Maclay has a good
+deal to say; and in support of his contention as to their being placed
+upon a different diet from other prisoners of war, he has two sentences
+in inverted commas (page 152), which are stated in a footnote to be
+quoted from the _Annual Register_ of 1781, page 152; but no such
+passages occur there, nor in adjacent pages.
+
+It is, however, perfectly true that a petition was presented, on June
+20th, 1781, to the House of Lords, and discussed on July 2nd following,
+from these prisoners. The only complaint which was found to be
+substantiated was that the Americans were allowed half a pound less
+bread daily than the French and other nationalities. It would have been
+more accurate to put it that the French had half a pound more--for this
+was stated to be supplied, as being equal to the allowance to British
+prisoners in France. The question of increasing the allowance was put to
+the vote, and negatived; but it was shown that the American prisoners'
+diet was, as a whole, superior to that allowed to our own troops on
+board transports; and their health was stated to be excellent, which is
+borne out by the fact, as stated by Mr. Maclay, that they indulged in
+athletic games as a pastime. Men who are half naked and nearly starving
+do not indulge in such pastimes.
+
+And now for the continued adventures of Joshua Barney, privateersman.
+Bold and resourceful, he determined to face the difficulties of escape,
+and the very unpleasant consequences of detection.
+
+One day, playing at leap-frog, he pretended to have sprained his ankle,
+and for some time afterwards went about on crutches, maintaining the
+deception so skilfully as to throw the warders off their guard, and
+completely deceive all but a few of his intimate friends. He had already
+paved the way, by making friends with a soldier of the prison guard, who
+had served in the British army in America, and had there received some
+kindness, which he was willing to requite by civility to the Americans
+in Mill Prison.
+
+On May 18th, 1781, this man was on sentry outside the inner gate--the
+prison being encircled by two high walls, with a space between--and
+Barney, hopping by on his crutches, whispered through the gate: "Today?"
+"Dinner," replied the sentry, with equal terseness, which meant one
+o'clock, when the warders dined. The friendly but disloyal soldier had
+provided Barney with the undress uniform of a British officer--which
+appears an unusual sort of thing for a private soldier to be able to lay
+hands upon without detection--and this Barney donned in his cell,
+putting on his greatcoat over it--his greatcoat, which, since he
+sprained his ankle, he had been wearing "for fear he should catch cold":
+Barney was a man of details.
+
+Still upon crutches, he left his cell, and, at a prearranged signal,
+some of his friends proceeded to engage the several sentries in
+conversation, while one, a stalwart individual, stood close by the gate.
+
+Throwing aside his crutches, Barney walked across the enclosure towards
+the gate, and, first exchanging a reassuring wink with the sentry,
+sprang with catlike agility upon the shoulders of his athletic
+accomplice, and in a moment was over the wall. Slipping off his
+greatcoat, and "tipping" the soldier to the extent of four guineas, he
+passed through the gate in the outer wall, which was usually left open
+for the convenience of the prison officials, but with an attendant on
+duty who, though we are not told that he had been "squared," obligingly
+turned his back as the escaping prisoner passed through.
+
+So far, so good. And really Joshua Barney is to be congratulated upon
+the accommodating character of his custodians, which rendered it
+possible for him to cross the prison-yard at one o'clock on a May day
+and scale the wall, while the sentries conversed with his friends and
+the warders enjoyed their dinner, having previously been permitted to
+malinger with a sham sprained ankle. We are told that he had it bathed
+and bandaged for some time without being challenged and detected by the
+surgeon, though somebody in authority must have provided him with
+crutches. It appears somewhat absurd to insist upon the rigour of
+confinement in Mill Prison, in the face of this.
+
+However, Barney was free, and he had friends near by who concealed him,
+and took him on to the house of an old clergyman in Plymouth in the
+evening. No immediate inquiry was made for him in the prison, for he had
+provided a substitute to answer his name at roll-call in the cell every
+day--a "slender youth," we are told, "who was able to creep through the
+window-bars at pleasure," and so crawled into Barney's cell and answered
+for him. We are not told who the "slender youth" was, or how, if he was
+an American prisoner, he contrived also to answer for himself in his
+own cell. Anyhow, this was an amazingly slack prison, for any such freak
+to be possible.
+
+Finding two fellow-countrymen who had been captured as passengers in a
+merchant vessel and were looking for a chance of returning, they secured
+a fishing-smack, Barney rigged himself up in an old coat tied with
+tarred rope round the waist and a tarpaulin hat, and soon after daybreak
+they sailed down the River Plym, past the forts and men-of-war, and
+safely out to sea.
+
+But they were not destined so easily to reach the coast of France,
+whence they hoped to find a passage to America. An inconveniently
+zealous British privateer from Guernsey boarded the smack, and the
+skipper was unduly inquisitive. Upon Barney opening his coat and showing
+his British uniform, the privateersman, though more polite, was
+obviously suspicious. What business had a British officer on the enemy's
+coast?--for Barney had stated that he was bound there. Barney made an
+official mystery of his "business," and refused to reveal it--a state
+secret, and so on.
+
+No use! The privateer captain's sensitive conscience would not permit
+him to let the smack go, and so the two vessels beat up for the English
+coast in company, and on the following morning came to anchor in a small
+harbour about six miles from Plymouth, probably Causand Bay. Here the
+privateer captain went on shore, on his way to Plymouth, to report to
+Admiral Digby, while most of his crew also landed to avoid the risk of
+being taken by the press-gang on board. Barney, however, though he was
+treated with courtesy, was detained on board the privateer.
+
+There was a boat made fast astern, and into this the American quietly
+slipped, hurting his leg as he did so, and sculled on shore, shouting to
+some of the idlers on the beach to help him haul up the boat.
+
+The customs officer was disposed to be inquisitive and talkative, but
+Barney pointed to the blood oozing through his stocking, and said he
+must go off and get his leg tied up.
+
+"Pray, sir," he said, "can you tell me where our people are?"
+
+He was told they were at the Red Lion, at the end of the village, which
+he discovered, much to his annoyance, that he was obliged to pass. He
+had almost succeeded in doing so unobserved, when one of the men shouted
+after him, and, approaching, gave him to understand that some of the
+privateer's crew had an idea of shipping in the Navy, and wanted some
+particulars from him; showing that his disguise had deceived them.
+
+Barney invited the man to accompany him to Plymouth, walking away
+rapidly while he spoke; but, as Mr. Maclay puts it, the tar "seemed to
+think better of his plan of entering a navy noted for its cruelty to
+seamen," and accordingly turned back.
+
+Barney now began to be very anxious about his safety. He was on the high
+road to Plymouth, where he might at any moment encounter a guard sent
+out to recapture him; so he jumped over a hedge into Lord
+Mount-Edgecumbe's grounds, where the gardener, pacified by a "tip," let
+him out by a private gate to the waterside--and none too soon, for, as
+he passed out, the guard sent to seek him tramped along on the other
+side of the hedge he had jumped over. A butcher, conveying some stock by
+water, took him across the river, and that night he found himself back
+at the old clergyman's house from which he had started. His two friends
+of the fishing-smack adventure here joined him once more, and while they
+were at supper the town-crier bawled under the window that five guineas
+reward would be paid for the capture of Joshua Barney, a rebel deserter
+from Mill Prison.
+
+Three days later, dressed in fashionable attire, Barney stepped into a
+post-chaise at midnight and drove off for Exeter. He was stopped at the
+Plymouth gate, and a lantern thrust in to see if he corresponded with
+the description of himself which had been circulated. Apparently he did
+not, for he was permitted to proceed, and eventually passed on to
+Bristol and London, France, and Holland; whence he shipped on board the
+armed ship _South Carolina_, which he saved, by prompt measures and good
+seamanship, from being wrecked on the Dutch coast--her officers being,
+apparently, timid and incompetent.
+
+Eventually, having transhipped on board the _Cicero_, another American
+privateer, Barney reached Beverley, Massachusetts--the writer does not
+give the date, but it must have been in the autumn of 1781. At Boston,
+we are told, he met several of his fellow-prisoners who had also escaped
+from Mill Prison.
+
+[Footnote 15: There still remains the question of Byron's flagship. She
+was certainly the _Princess Royal_ when he arrived at New York; but as
+the _Ardent_, 64, was one of the vessels of his squadron, it is, of
+course, possible that he may subsequently have hoisted his flag on her
+temporarily.]
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIX
+
+CAPTAINS BARNEY AND HARADEN
+
+
+In April of the following year, 1782, Barney was again afloat in command
+of a privateer, the _Hyder Ali_ (spelt _HydeA lly_ in Mr. Maclay's
+book), fitted out, by merchants of Philadelphia, with sixteen 6-pounder
+guns and a crew of 110.
+
+In this vessel he fought a remarkable and successful action against the
+_General Monk_, a British man-of-war, of alleged superior force, though
+this is not borne out by British accounts. She was formerly the _General
+Washington_, was captured by a British squadron in 1780, and renamed
+upon being added to the British Navy. She was commanded on this occasion
+by Commander Josias Rogers, an officer of great courage and resource,
+and was armed with sixteen 9-pounder carronades and two 6-pounders. A
+9-pounder carronade was a foolish little piece, very short, and addicted
+to jumping violently and capsizing when it became at all hot: and it
+would be quite outranged by a long 6-or 9-pounder.
+
+We are not told, either in the British or American account, the tonnage
+of the two vessels, but in the latter the _General Monk_ is described as
+being pierced for twenty guns: and in the former the _Hyder Ali_ is
+said to have carried eighteen guns, 6-and 9-pounders (proportion of each
+not stated), while her crew is put down as 130 men.
+
+Dropping down the river Delaware with several merchant vessels under
+convoy, Barney had reached Cape May Roads, just inside Delaware Bay,
+where he anchored, and was there discovered by a blockading squadron
+under Captain Mason, of the _Quebec_ frigate.
+
+Sending Rogers in to reconnoitre, and, if possible, attack, Mason
+endeavoured to sail a little higher up the bay, to prevent the American
+vessels running for the Delaware River, while Rogers, engaging the
+assistance of the _Fair American_, a privateer, went straight for the
+convoy. No sooner had he rounded Cape May, in sight of the Americans,
+than Barney, signalling his convoy to run for the river--the _Quebec_
+not having yet got far enough up to head them off, on account of the
+shoal water--endeavoured to put his ship in the way of the pursuers. The
+_Fair American_ ran past him, with a broadside which was not returned,
+captured one vessel, chased another on shore, and then, in the endeavour
+to cut off three others, ran aground herself.
+
+This cleared the field for a duel between the _General Monk_ and the
+_Hyder Ali_, and they had a very pretty fight.
+
+Barney, as the _General Monk_ came on with the intention of boarding,
+delivered his broadside at pistol-range, and then frustrated the
+Englishman's plan of boarding by a ruse. Bidding the helmsman interpret
+his next order by "the rule of contrary," he shouted, as the vessels
+were on the point of fouling, "Hard a-port! Do you want him to run
+aboard us?"--the intention being that the order, distinctly audible on
+board the British vessel, should convey a false impression; for the
+helmsman, in accordance with the hint just received, put the helm _hard
+a-starboard_, the result being that the English vessel's jibboom became
+entangled in the _Hyder Ali's_ fore-rigging. This is all very possible,
+and Barney was just the kind of man to have recourse to a ruse of this
+kind; but the relative positions of the ships at the moment are not
+technically described, so it is impossible to judge of the feasibility
+of the manoeuvre, or of its efficacy. However, we are told that the
+Americans lashed the head-gear of the _General Monk_ to their rigging,
+and raked her with their fire, to which she could make no effective
+return.
+
+Rogers called his men to board, but the American defensive measures were
+too strong, and they fell back. Then ensued a conflict chiefly with
+small-arms, and there are some little stories in connection with it.
+Barney, it appears, had among his crew a number of backwoodsmen, crack
+shots, but little accustomed to the amenities of discipline. One of
+these men kept on asking his captain, whenever he came within earshot,
+where the musket which he was using was made. Barney, annoyed by this
+freedom, ignored him for a time, then asked him sharply why he wanted to
+know. "W-a-a-l," drawled the backwoodsman, "this 'ere bit o' iron is
+jes' the best smoothbore I ever fired in my life"--and he went on
+picking off the Britishers. Another drew Barney's attention to his next
+shot. "Say, Cap., do you see that fellow with the white hat?"--and in
+another moment the individual in the white hat leapt three feet in the
+air, and fell to rise no more. It was found, after the action, says the
+narrator, that every one of the Englishmen killed or wounded by musketry
+was struck either in the head or breast.
+
+The Britishers, however, were not idle with their small-arms; Barney,
+jumping on the compass stand to see better what was going on, had his
+head shaved by a ball which perforated his hat. Another tore off part of
+his coat-tail. Upon this he ordered his Marine officer to direct his
+men's fire at the enemy's tops, and _in a few minutes the tops were
+cleared_.
+
+Then a round-shot struck the binnacle, or compass stand, upon which
+Barney stood, and sent him flying. Just before this occurred he had had
+a vision of one of his officers, with the cook's axe uplifted, in act to
+floor a seaman who had got nervous, and was hiding behind the mainmast.
+The next moment Barney turned an involuntary somersault, and found the
+officer, who had dropped the cook's axe, standing over him in
+apprehension. Finding his captain unhurt--most of us would have been a
+good deal hurt under the circumstances, but perhaps Captain Barney came
+down on the spot, like a sixpence when a billiard-ball is knocked from
+under it--the stern officer resumed his murderous weapon, and made for
+the timid seaman again. But the latter had by this time realised that
+the cook's axe was a certainty and the enemy's fire a chance, so he
+returned to his quarters.
+
+And so, with these little amenities, the fight went on; but it was a
+losing fight for the British. Rogers could not get his ship away. His
+guns--his stupid little carronades--were behaving in a fiendish manner,
+tumbling about and shooting anywhere except in the right direction; and
+his men were falling fast. His masts and rigging were so damaged that he
+could not handle the sails, and he was at length compelled to yield,
+himself severely wounded and many of his officers and men dead and dying
+around him; and so the _General Monk_ changed hands again, and became
+once more the _General Washington_.
+
+Captain Barney, without doubt, fought his craft with immense pluck and
+dexterity, and thoroughly deserved the victory; but it is extremely
+doubtful whether the superiority of force was not on his side. Neither
+account gives the tonnage of the two vessels. Robert Beatson, a good
+authority, gives the _General Monk's_ armament as above described, and
+gives also a very different account of the action, ascribing Rogers's
+defeat chiefly to the inefficiency of his guns. He says, at the
+commencement, that the _Hyder Ali_ "cut her boat adrift, and did
+everything else to get away, _notwithstanding her superior force_." The
+reader can take his choice.
+
+This ends Joshua Barney's career as a privateer during this war. He was
+placed in command of the _General Washington_, and subsequently visiting
+Plymouth, he entertained on board his ship the friends who had aided
+his escape and a number of British officers, and bestowed a purse of
+gold upon Lord Mount-Edgecumbe's gardener, who had so opportunely opened
+the little gate for him.
+
+There are other privateer heroes of this period who richly deserve
+notice, but space does not admit of a detailed account of their doings.
+
+There was Jonathan Haraden, of Salem, for instance, conspicuous by his
+seamanlike skill and marvellous coolness under fire, as well as by his
+bold tactics in the presence of a superior force.
+
+It is related that, upon a dark night in the Bay of Biscay, being then
+in command of the privateer _General Pickering_, of 180 tons and 16
+guns, he came across the British privateer _Golden Eagle_, of 22
+guns--as was afterwards discovered. Haraden was not aware of her name
+and force when he sighted her--at no great distance, of course; but,
+having neared her, as is stated, unobserved, he concluded that she was a
+vessel of superior force to his own. In the words of the narrator,
+"having formed a fairly accurate idea of her force," he resolved to have
+recourse to a ruse--it was a very foolhardy proceeding, but it was
+justified by success. Running up alongside the English vessel, he hailed
+the captain while the two ships, at close quarters, plunged along
+together. "This is an American frigate of the largest class; if you
+don't surrender immediately, I'll blow you out of the water!"
+
+Now, Haraden's craft was of 180 tons, and an American frigate of the
+largest class at that time--the year 1780--would be at least 800 tons;
+the two vessels were close together, and we have seen that the American
+captain had, some time previously, been able to estimate the size and
+probable strength of the other; so what was the use of shouting such a
+fable to the Britisher? Any seaman of moderate experience would ridicule
+the idea of mistaking a vessel of 180 tons, close alongside, even at
+night, for a first-class frigate, with her comparatively large hull and
+immense, towering spars. Some of the English privateer captains whom we
+have been discussing would have had a very short reply for
+Haraden--"Frigate, be d----d!" and a broadside; and it was really very
+lucky for the American that he had dropped upon a "soft thing" in
+finding a British skipper so extremely unsophisticated as to be deceived
+for a moment. However, the captain of the _Golden Eagle_ chanced to be
+the one man in a thousand who would be so taken in, and he hauled down
+his colours without firing a shot! Had he been a naval officer, he would
+have had to answer at a court-martial for his conduct, and it is
+impossible to imagine any punishment for such an offence, short of
+death. However, nothing succeeds like success; Haraden--according to the
+story, as narrated by Mr. Maclay--made good his piece of "bounce," and
+took possession; and the most appropriate comment appears to be that
+each captain got what he deserved.
+
+Shortly afterwards Captain Haraden engaged a privateer--the
+_Achilles_--of vastly superior force, off Bilbao, so close in shore that
+the Spaniards crowded the headlands in hundreds to see the fun.
+Haraden, by superior seamanship, succeeded in beating off his big
+antagonist and in recovering the _Golden Eagle_, which the enemy had
+recaptured but could not hold, and which had on board an officer and
+prize crew from the _Achilles_. So the balance was in the American's
+favour.
+
+An onlooker--one Robert Cowan--is reported to have said that the
+_General Pickering_ looked like a longboat in comparison with the
+_Achilles_, and that "Haraden fought with a determination that seemed
+superhuman; and, although in the most exposed positions, where the shot
+flew around him, he was all the while as calm and steady as amid a
+shower of snowflakes."
+
+Another of Captain Haraden's exploits was the capture of "a
+homeward-bound king's packet from one of the West India islands," under
+very dramatic circumstances, the American captain, his watch in one hand
+and a lighted match in the other, with only a single round of ammunition
+remaining, giving the battered Britisher five minutes in which to
+surrender. But surely some less vague relation is due before such a
+story can be accepted--the name of the packet, her force, the date,
+latitude and longitude, and so forth.
+
+However, Captain Haraden was, no doubt, a fair specimen of a very fine
+class--the Salem skippers--and Americans have every cause for being
+proud of him.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XX
+
+CAPTAIN THOMAS BOYLE
+
+
+Upon the declaration of war with England in 1812 Americans naturally
+inaugurated at once a vigorous privateering campaign.
+
+War was declared on June 18th, and by the end of the month two
+privateers had put out from Salem, and a dozen more were almost ready
+for sea; while New York had sent out, by the middle of October,
+twenty-six vessels, mounting some three hundred guns, and manned by more
+than two thousand men.
+
+On July 10th occurred a curious episode, quite impossible in these days,
+when the earth is tied up in every direction with telegraph cables. The
+British man-of-war schooner _Whiting_ was lying in Hampton Roads; her
+commander, Lieutenant Maxey, ignorant of the declaration of war, was in
+his boat, going on shore, when the American privateer _Dash_, Captain
+Carroway, arrived upon the scene. Carroway, better informed, seized the
+English commander and his boat, and, running alongside the _Whiting_,
+called upon the officer in charge to surrender--which he did.
+
+The American Government, however, in view of the English captain's
+ignorance of the commencement of hostilities, ordered the _Whiting_ to
+be returned. A similar incident is said to have occurred in the case of
+the _Bloodhound_, an English sloop of 12 guns, captured by the 8-gun
+privateer schooner _Cora_. Neither of these events is chronicled by
+British naval historians.
+
+One of the most daring and skilful privateer captains during this war
+was Thomas Boyle. His first command was the _Comet_, a staunch,
+fast-sailing schooner, and he lost no time in getting to work, starting
+upon his first cruise in July 1812, within a month of the declaration of
+war.
+
+Returning in November, after capturing several vessels, he refitted his
+craft and prepared to set forth again. There was more difficulty,
+however, in getting out upon this occasion, as the English had a strong
+squadron blockading Chesapeake Bay.
+
+Waiting for a dark, squally night, Boyle made his venture on December
+23rd, and all went well until near daybreak, when he suddenly found
+himself under the guns of a frigate, which let drive a broadside at him.
+The _Comet_ sustained but little damage, however, and got clear away,
+heading for the coast of Brazil, where Boyle learned that some English
+vessels were about to sail from Pernambuco.
+
+This information proved to be correct, and on January 14th they were
+discovered, standing out to sea--three brigs and a ship--_i.e._ a larger
+vessel full-rigged. Boyle was prepared to find the merchant vessels
+armed, but did not reckon upon a very obstinate resistance from them. He
+stood out to sea, so as to be able easily to get between the English
+vessels and the coast; and about three o'clock he put his helm up and
+gave chase. The fast schooner soon neared the other ships; and then
+Boyle discovered that he was in for a more exciting adventure than he
+had anticipated, for one of the brigs was obviously a man-of-war, of
+formidable strength, though he had been informed that there were no
+British war-vessels in the neighbourhood.
+
+However, he put a bold face on, cleared for action, and steered for the
+cruiser, hoisting his colours as he came abreast of her. She replied
+with Portuguese colours, and hailed that she would send a boat on board.
+Boyle, distrustful, but wishing to ascertain the real nationality of the
+stranger, hove to and awaited her boat; for he did not see what a
+Portuguese man-of-war had to do with convoying British vessels. Well,
+nobody else can see it, either; but she turned out to be a genuine
+Portuguese, and the officer gave Boyle a great idea of her force,
+telling him that the merchantmen were under his charge, and must not be
+molested.
+
+Boyle, producing his commission from the American Government, replied:
+
+"This is an American cruiser, here are my papers, and I am going to take
+these English vessels if I can. I don't recognise your right to
+interfere, and I shall fire upon you if you do."
+
+To this plain statement of the case the Portuguese officer replied that
+his ship had orders to protect the merchantmen, and that he would be
+very sorry if anything disagreeable occurred.
+
+"Oh, so shall I," said Boyle; "very sorry; but if you oppose me, I shall
+fire into you."
+
+The Portuguese officer returned to report to his captain, promising to
+come back presently. This, however, he did not do. It was by this time
+quite dark, and Boyle, hailing to know when he might expect the boat,
+was asked to send his boat; but he did not quite like this plan--indeed,
+it was highly suspicious; so he replied that he did not care about
+sending his boat away in the dark.
+
+"And now I'm going to take those English vessels."
+
+Accordingly, he "let draw" his sails, and was soon among them, hailing
+the ship to heave-to as he romped past her, having great way on the
+schooner. Finding no attention paid to his demand, he tacked and came
+alongside the ship, and opened fire upon her and one of the brigs--the
+man-of-war being close on his heels, and speedily joining in the fray.
+
+All five vessels, under a press of sail, were now running together in a
+ruck, the _Comet_, from her superior sailing qualities, being compelled
+to tack and manoeuvre to maintain her position. There was a bright
+moon, but presently the smoke from the guns accumulated in a great
+cloud, obscuring the view, so it was difficult to tell one vessel from
+another. This was quite an agreeable arrangement for Captain Boyle, as
+he could make no mistake, while the others were in constant dread of
+hitting a friend--and probably did so occasionally.
+
+This running fight lasted until nearly midnight. The Portuguese fired
+away whenever he could do so without risk of hitting his convoy, but
+made wretched practice, while Boyle took but little notice of him,
+sticking to his prey tenaciously, until the ship and one brig
+surrendered, much cut up; but the _Comet's_ boat, going to take
+possession, was struck by a broadside from the Portuguese, and returned,
+almost sinking. Then the privateer and the man-of-war had a set-to
+alone, the latter eventually sheering off, but hovering near, evidently
+watching for a chance.
+
+Boyle, however, managed to send a prize crew on board the brig. The
+captain of the ship hailed that he was severely damaged, almost sinking,
+and his rigging cut to pieces; but he would endeavour to follow, as
+ordered, if he could get his ship under command.
+
+Standing by his prize until daybreak, Boyle saw the war-brig again
+bearing down upon him; he immediately tacked and went to meet her. But
+the Portuguese had apparently had enough of it; she managed to take the
+ship and one brig with her into Pernambuco, the two merchantmen in an
+almost sinking condition, masts tottering, sails cut to pieces, leaving
+Boyle with his one prize--a rich one. It was altogether an extraordinary
+affair, for the _Comet_ only carried 14 guns and about 120 men; and the
+Portuguese brig, seen afterwards by some Americans at Lisbon, was found
+to be a very formidable vessel, heavily armed. Why she was convoying
+British vessels, Portugal not being at war with America, does not appear
+to have been explained. Her name is not given.
+
+This incident affords a good indication of the character of Thomas
+Boyle; he found the _Comet_ so superior in speed, as a rule, to any
+vessel, small or great, which he encountered that he used sometimes to
+sail round a ship of superior force, just out of range of her
+guns--thereby vastly amusing himself and his crew, and greatly annoying
+the other man. By pursuing these tactics upon one occasion, he secured
+the retreat of a prize, keeping a British man-of-war brig engaged in
+trying to catch him, while the prize got safely away.
+
+The _Comet_ made seven-and-twenty prizes; and Captain Boyle was then
+placed in command of the _Chasseur_, a more formidable vessel, mounting
+sixteen long 12-pounders. She is said to have been one of the fastest
+and most beautiful vessels afloat, and in her Boyle had a most
+successful career. The last and most important action he fought was with
+the British man-of-war schooner _St. Lawrence_, of 13 guns--an
+American-built vessel, formerly the _Atlas_, privateer, and captured by
+the British in July 1813.
+
+This was on February 26th, 1815, off the coast of Cuba, when Boyle,
+about 11 a.m., gave chase to a schooner apparently running before the
+wind. She was discovered to be a man-of-war, with a convoy, just visible
+from aloft, as was imagined, in company. The _Chasseur_ gained, though
+not very fast, and the stranger presently hauled nearer to the wind,
+apparently anxious to escape. At 12.30 Boyle showed his colours and
+fired a gun, but the other made no sign, continuing her efforts to
+escape, and losing her foretopmast through the press of sail she
+carried. The _Chasseur_ now came up rapidly, and at one o'clock the
+chase fired a gun and hoisted English colours.
+
+Watching her narrowly, Boyle made out only three gun-ports on one side,
+and there appeared to be very few people on deck. So he cracked on his
+canvas, anxious to get alongside and make short work of her; and, not
+anticipating serious fighting, made no great preparations for action.
+
+When, however, he ran up within pistol-shot, about half-past one, a
+sudden change came over the English vessel--port-covers were triced up,
+showing her full armament, with a crowd of men at quarters, who gave
+three cheers and promptly put in a broadside. Boyle had been caught
+napping for once.
+
+He and his men did not take long, however, to recover themselves. The
+_Chasseur_ at this time had only 14 guns on board, according to American
+accounts, having sacrificed some on a former occasion in escaping from a
+British frigate. She is put down in Sir W. Laird Clowes's "Royal Navy"
+as carrying 24 guns. This, however, is an error.
+
+However this may be, Boyle got to work, hammer and tongs; came to close
+quarters, ran his foe aboard, and, in a quarter of an hour from the
+first shot, the Englishman surrendered!
+
+The equality of the two vessels, or rather, to be precise, the slight
+preponderance of force in the _Chasseur's_ favour, is dwelt upon in
+detail by Mr. Maclay (page 296). "Here," he says, "we have an admirable
+opportunity to compare the relative merits of American and British
+man-of-warsmen; for the _St. Lawrence_, being built and equipped by
+Americans, deprives our friends, the English, of their oft-repeated cry
+that our vessels were better built, etc. The _Chasseur_ carried 14 guns
+and 102 men as opposed to the _St. Lawrence's_ 13 guns and 76 men. Both
+vessels were schooners."
+
+In view of the categorical statement which ends this paragraph, Mr.
+Maclay would have done well to take into consideration the illustration
+of the action which appears opposite page 298, a replica of that in Mr.
+Coggleshall's book, in which the American vessel is clearly a brig. One
+does not, of course, place much reliance upon details in illustrations
+of this class, as proving or disproving important statements, and the
+draftsman has represented the British schooner "all on end" aloft,
+whereas she had lost her foretopmast before the action commenced. But
+what says Mr. Coggleshall? "The _Chasseur_ was a fine, large brig" (page
+367); and he was a seaman, so he took care that his illustration should
+be technically correct and in agreement with the text, with regard, at
+least, to the rig of the vessels.
+
+This discrepancy naturally arouses some suspicion as to other details,
+and a perusal of the minutes of the court-martial upon Lieutenant James
+Edward (_not_ Henry Cranmer) Gordon,[16] held at Bermuda, April 21st,
+1815, throws considerable light upon the matter.
+
+Lieutenant Gordon describes the _Chasseur_ as a large brig, registering
+upwards of 400 tons, British measurement, and much superior to our
+18-gun brigs. Making every allowance for unconscious exaggeration on the
+part of an officer upon his defence, this description accords with that
+of the American seaman, Coggleshall. Gordon further states that he had
+on board 52 seamen and officers, 6 passengers, and 6 boys, total 64,
+which was 12 short of his complement. Compare Captain Boyle's statement,
+in his letter to one of the owners, that the _St. Lawrence_ had on board
+"a number of soldiers, marines, and some gentlemen of the navy,
+passengers"; in another place "eighty-nine men, beside several boys."
+The crew of the _Chasseur_, according to the evidence of some officers
+of the _St. Lawrence_, admitted in conversation that they had 119 on
+board, though some were away in prizes.
+
+The officers of the _St. Lawrence_, on their oath, state that there were
+48 men at quarters, and that the long 9-pounder was not in action, _as
+they had not the men to man it_.
+
+There is no mention, either in Gordon's letter or the evidence, of any
+attempt to disguise the force of the schooner. She had no convoy with
+her, and simply tried to get away on account of the important
+despatches, which were weighted and thrown overboard before surrender.
+
+Gordon and his officers were honourably acquitted, the court being
+satisfied that they had done their best against heavy odds, handicapped
+as they were by the loss of the foretopmast. The duration of the action
+is stated as half an hour, or more, by the schooner's officers; this,
+however, is not of very much importance.
+
+Captain Boyle was, no doubt, a very brave man and a fine seaman, and the
+capture of a regular British war-vessel was a great feather in his cap;
+but it is really no very extraordinary feat for a large brig to take a
+schooner, fighting two guns less, and with a crew, including boys, in a
+minority of about forty--accepting the American statement as to the
+_Chasseur's_ crew--and partially crippled aloft.
+
+Captain Boyle, rendered more and more bold and enterprising by success,
+sent a "Proclamation of Blockade" of the British coast to be posted in
+Lloyd's Coffee House. This was a joke, said to be in imitation of the
+farcical "paper" blockades of the American coasts issued by British
+admirals, when they had not the ships present to enforce it. The British
+blockade, however, was no farce as a whole, as American writers testify.
+
+[Footnote 16: Mr. Maclay is not, however, responsible for this error, as
+Gordon is so named by Sir W. Laird Clowes, vol vi., p. 155. The mistake
+does not recur in the list of British losses, p. 555, the name being
+given as James Edward Gordon, as in the official report of the
+court-martial.]
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXI
+
+THE "GENERAL ARMSTRONG"
+
+
+One of the most formidable American privateers during this war was the
+_General Armstrong_, a large brig, armed with a heavy long gun
+amidships, and eight long 9-pounders.
+
+The last action in which she was engaged was of a most desperate nature,
+against the boats of a British squadron. The privateer was lying, on
+September 26th, 1814, at Fayal, in the Azores, and her commander, Samuel
+Chester Reid, having been on shore to see his Consul and arrange about a
+supply of water, returned on board about 5 p.m., accompanied by the
+Consul and some friends.
+
+They were chatting on deck, and the captain was informed that no British
+cruisers had been seen in the vicinity for several weeks, when their
+conversation was most unexpectedly broken in upon by the appearance of a
+large British brig-of-war rounding the northern point of the anchorage,
+within gunshot of the privateer.
+
+Reid at first contemplated cutting his cable and making a bolt for it,
+confident in the sailing powers of his fine craft. The wind, however,
+was light and uncertain, and the British brig had most of what there
+was at the moment, so he abandoned the idea, being informed by the
+Consul that he would not be molested as long as he remained at
+anchor--which was, of course, a very correct and proper assumption,
+Fayal being a Portuguese possession, and therefore a neutral port. So
+Captain Reid and his friends watched the brig, which was the
+_Carnation_--of 18 guns, commander, George Bentham--standing in through
+the gathering dusk. After the pilot had boarded her, she came on and
+anchored within pistol-shot of the _General Armstrong_.
+
+The American did not feel at all easy as to the efficacy of neutral
+protection; and, while he discussed it, an English 74-gun ship and a
+38-gun frigate appeared round the point--to wit, the _Plantagenet_,
+Captain Robert Lloyd; and the _Rota_, Captain Philip Somerville--and the
+brig immediately commenced signalling furiously to them.
+
+This was getting a little too hot; and, seeing the brig presently send
+her boats to the line-of-battle ship. Captain Reid resolved, escape
+seaward being impossible, to be prepared for the worst. So, the wind
+having dropped, he got out his sweeps and slowly pulled his vessel
+further inshore.
+
+The _Carnation_ immediately got under way and followed; but the wind was
+too light, and she was unable to close the privateer.
+
+About 8 p.m. the Americans--to give their version first--perceived four
+boats, armed and full of men, approaching. Captain Reid thereupon
+dropped his anchor with a spring on the cable, and swung his broadside
+upon the boats. When they came within hail he warned them not to
+approach nearer, on pain of being fired upon; they came on, however, and
+the privateer opened on them with cannon and small arms. "The boats
+promptly returned the fire, but so unexpectedly warm was the reception
+they got from the privateer that they cried for quarter and hauled off
+in a badly crippled condition."
+
+Captain Reid says he had one man killed and his first officer wounded.
+Being convinced that he had not seen the last of the British boats, he
+hauled so close in that the vessel was almost touching the rocks, right
+under the castle, and anchored head and stern.
+
+The _Carnation_ was observed, about nine o'clock, towing in a number of
+boats; she could not, however, get close enough in to co-operate with
+them, as the wind was baffling and the tide was adverse; so the boats
+cast off and remained for some time under cover of a low reef of rocks.
+
+There were eleven of them, according to the British official
+report--twelve, the Americans say--and they must have contained at least
+two hundred men; probably more, as some would be very large boats,
+pulling fourteen or sixteen oars. Such a force would have been
+considered far more than adequate for the cutting out of a French
+vessel; indeed, much larger vessels than the _General Armstrong_ have
+often been captured by British boats with considerably less force than
+was despatched upon this occasion. We rather "fancied" ourselves in
+this matter of cutting out vessels from a harbour, and some splendid
+feats have undoubtedly been performed in this way. It was a sort of
+adventure which was considered essentially British in character; and
+justly so, as our enemies certainly never ventured much in the way of
+attempting to cut out our vessels.
+
+Captain Lloyd and his merry men were now to learn the difference between
+French or Spanish seamen and Americans.
+
+Meanwhile, the Governor had sent a letter to the British captain begging
+him to respect the neutrality of the port and abstain from further
+attack upon the privateer. Captain Lloyd replied by pointing out that
+the Americans had broken the neutrality of the port by firing into his
+boat without the least provocation. That he had intended to respect it,
+but was now determined to seize the privateer, and hoped the Governor
+would direct the fort to assist him.
+
+About midnight the flotilla of boats advanced to the attack. They were
+allowed to approach within what used to be termed "point blank" range--a
+vague term, but equivalent, probably, to longish pistol-shot, and then
+came the round and grape from the privateer, doing considerable
+execution. The British responded with the guns mounted in their boats;
+then, with loud cheers, they raced for the _General Armstrong_, boarding
+her in several different places.
+
+A most bloodthirsty and terrible conflict now took place. The British
+seamen, with characteristic dash and courage, climbed up the vessel's
+side on all hands, nothing daunted by the fierce resistance of her crew.
+The Americans, armed with every kind of weapon which would serve at
+close quarters, met them at arm's length with such ferocity that the
+boats were soon cumbered up with wounded and dying men, hurled back with
+pistol, pike, or cutlass. Wherever an English head cropped up above the
+bulwarks it was a target. And still they continued the attack, and with
+so much success in the bow that a number gained a footing on the
+forecastle, and the two American officers in charge forward were killed
+or disabled. Learning the state of affairs forward, Captain Reid, who,
+with the after-hands, had pretty well disposed of the attack at the
+stern, rallied his men, and, leading them forward on the run, drove the
+British over the bows into their boats--and that was the end of it. The
+fight lasted forty minutes--a tremendous time for such a desperate
+affair, proving the stubborn courage on both sides.
+
+Two of the frigate _Rota's_ boats, the American account states, were
+taken possession of, loaded with dead and dying men. "Of the forty or
+fifty men in these boats only seventeen escaped death, and they by
+swimming ashore. Another boat was found under the privateer's stern,
+commanded by one of the _Plantagenet's_ lieutenants. All the men in it
+were killed but four, the lieutenant himself jumping overboard to save
+his life."
+
+These details appear to corroborate the description of an eye-witness,
+given by Mr. Maclay; he says: "The Americans fought with great firmness,
+but more like bloodthirsty savages than anything else. They rushed into
+the boats sword in hand, and put every soul to death as far as came
+within their power."
+
+The estimate of killed and wounded, as given by Mr. Maclay, respectively
+120 and 130, is greatly exaggerated; the official account, with names of
+officers, seamen, and marines, gives it as 36 killed and 84 wounded--and
+quite enough, too!
+
+The affair was disastrous for the British; but Captain Reid had, of
+course, to lose his ship. He received a communication at 3 a.m. from his
+Consul that Captain Lloyd was determined to have him, and at daybreak
+the _Carnation_ stood in and engaged him. But, being unable at the
+moment to pick up the best berth for operations, the British vessel
+hauled off again, with some small damage from the American long gun. A
+second time she was more successful, and, bringing her heavy short guns
+to bear at close range, sealed the fate of the _General Armstrong_. Reid
+and his men, prepared for this ending, scuttled their ship and went on
+shore, upon which the English set her on fire, completing her
+destruction.
+
+Captain Lloyd, in his report, declares that the _General Armstrong_ was
+so close inshore that the attacking boats had not room to board on the
+inside; and that "every American in Fayal, exclusive of part of the
+crew, being armed and concealed in these rocks, which were immediately
+over the privateer, it unfortunately happened when these brave men
+gained the deck they were under the painful necessity of returning to
+their boats, from the very destructive fire kept up by those above them
+from the shore, who were in complete security."
+
+This is rather a wild story, to which the thoughtful reader will not be
+disposed to yield full credence. With regard to the breach of
+neutrality, there is an affidavit, sworn before the British Consul, by
+Lieutenant Robert Faussett, of the _Plantagenet_, to the effect that he
+approached, unarmed, in the pinnace, for the purpose of ascertaining
+what vessel it was; and that the Americans warned them off when they
+were so close that the boat was shoved off with a boathook, and then
+opened fire; that Faussett called for quarter, shouting, "Don't murder
+us!" and they continued their attack; that he had no means of returning
+a shot, and could only retire, with two killed and seven wounded. He
+says nothing about the proximity of other boats, armed or otherwise; and
+so the Americans would appear to have been technically guilty of the
+initial breach of neutrality. Captain Lloyd, by way of showing that
+American privateers were addicted to this kind of thing, encloses a copy
+of the affidavit of William Wilson, late master of the transport brig
+_Doris_, which was captured, in defiance of the law of neutrality, on
+June 25th preceding, in the anchorage of Flores, another island of the
+Azores.
+
+Captain Lloyd, however, got no credit out of this affair. The Lords of
+the Admiralty expressed very strong disapproval of the whole business;
+told him he ought to have known that the sending of a boat after dark
+was sure to lead to some such incident; that, if the Americans broke the
+neutrality of the port, his first business was to make representation
+to the Governor, and not take the law into his own hands; that the
+honour of the flag and the prestige of the British Navy, represented by
+a 74-gun ship, a frigate, and several sloops, was not likely to be
+endangered by the presence of one privateer--with other home truths and
+doses of common sense. And really, one cannot help agreeing cordially
+with their lordships, and heartily deploring the loss of so many brave
+men in a fiasco due to thorough bad management.
+
+A fortnight later the boats of the British frigate _Endymion_, Captain
+Henry Hope, made an attempt to carry the _Prince de Neufchatel_--a very
+successful privateer, but why such a clumsy name?--off Nantucket, with
+very similar results. The fight was even more desperate than in the case
+of the _General Armstrong_, the privateer having only nine of her crew
+untouched, while the British casualties amounted to fully half of the
+men engaged. The privateer escaped.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Such are some of the incidents of the two American wars; of this type
+were the men--or many of them--who commanded the privateers. The British
+records of the period, during the war of 1812, bear full testimony to
+their success, and the officers of the Royal Navy come in for some rough
+handling by the Press--as in _The Times_ of February 11th, 1815: "The
+American cruisers daily enter in among our convoys, seize prizes in
+sight of those that should afford protection, and, if pursued, 'put on
+their sea-wings' and laugh at the clumsy English pursuers. To what is
+this owing? Cannot we build ships? It must indeed be encouraging to Mr.
+Madison to read the logs of his cruisers. If they fight, they are sure
+to conquer; if they fly, they are sure to escape."
+
+That the Americans have the knack of building faster sailing-vessels
+than ours is a fact which we have been compelled to accept. Not that our
+smartest clippers would be beaten, as a matter of course, by any of
+theirs; but, taking it all round, an American who wants to turn out a
+specially swift sailing vessel will almost always eclipse our efforts in
+the same direction. Are we not still trying in vain to win back the
+"America" Cup? The long, rakish craft, of comparatively small beam and
+tapering lines, was no doubt originally an American production.
+
+These swift vessels, sailed by such men as Boyle, Haraden, Barney,
+Coggleshall, and others, were both hard to catch and bad to beat. The
+sentence quoted above from _The Times_ sums up the situation pretty
+accurately; and, this being the case, it is all the more to be regretted
+that the accounts of their exploits should so constantly be tainted with
+obvious exaggerations, or embellished with incredible little
+anecdotes.
+
+
+
+
+SOME MORE ODD YARNS
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXII
+
+THE "PRINCESS ROYAL" PACKET
+
+
+In the days of sailing-vessels the mails were regularly carried by
+fast-sailing brigs, which were known as packets. They were virtually
+men-of-war, but were not heavily armed, nor did they carry a numerous
+crew. The captain's first duty was to convey the mails with expedition
+and safety, and he was not expected to go out of his way to engage an
+enemy, but to escape if possible. Some fire-eating commanders of packets
+required, indeed, to be admonished as to their duties in this respect.
+The brigs were usually very heavily masted, and it was considered a
+point of honour to "carry on" their canvas, sometimes to a dangerous
+extent. More than one of these craft has unaccountably disappeared,
+having no doubt foundered in a storm.
+
+They were very fine little vessels, however, and there was probably a
+certain amount of "swagger" attached to belonging to them--a sort of
+craft that was not under anybody's orders, and was not to be interfered
+with; and when they were attacked, and found escape impossible, their
+"swagger" assumed the form, in many instances, of a most heroic defence
+--while the mails were always sunk before surrendering.
+
+Here is a very interesting letter, describing an action between the
+_Princess Royal_ packet, Captain John Skinner, and a French privateer of
+vastly superior force. It is written by one of the passengers, who
+"plied the small arms with much effect."
+
+  "NEW YORK, _August 25th, 1798_.
+
+"I have at last the pleasure to inform you of my arrival here, the 14th
+instant, after a very tedious passage. We left Falmouth on June 12th, in
+company with the _Grantham_ packet, bound to Jamaica, which kept with us
+five days. Four days after, on the morning of June 21st, we fell in with
+a French privateer; at five o'clock she made sail after us. We had light
+airs and a smooth sea--all sails set. At midday, we triced up our
+boarding-nettings and made clear for action, with our courses up. The
+privateer, towards the afternoon, came up with us fast, by the
+assistance of her sweeps. At 7 p.m. our men were all at quarters. She
+hoisted English colours, firing a shot,[17] which we returned, and she
+answered by a gun to leeward. At this time she was within cannon-shot,
+but, it growing dark, kept in our wake; and we turned in, not expecting
+an attack till next morning. However, before daylight, at half-past
+three in the morning, she came within pistol-shot, and fired a broadside
+of great guns, swivels, etc., which we immediately returned, and kept
+up a general fire with our cannon and small arms. Our force was only two
+6-pounders, and four 4-pounders; of which six guns we got five on one
+side to bear on them. We mustered thirty men and boys, exclusive of
+Captain Skinner and his master, besides thirteen passengers and four
+servants: in all forty-nine.
+
+"The privateer was a low brig, apparently mounting twelve or fourteen
+guns, and full of men. Our guns were extremely well plied; a lieutenant,
+going to join the _St. Albans_ man-of-war, was captain of one of our
+6-pounders, and the rest of us passengers plied the small arms with much
+effect. The engagement continued, without intermission, for two hours,
+when she out with her sweeps, left off firing, and rowed off, for it was
+near calm, there not being wind enough to carry us a knot through the
+water. As she was rowing off we got our two stern-chasers, the
+6-pounders, to bear upon her, and hit her twice in her counter, which
+must have gone through and through, for it caused great noise and
+confusion on board, and soon after we saw two men at work over her
+stern. At six o'clock, being out of cannon-shot, we ceased firing, and
+set about repairing our damage. She had some swivels fixed in her tops,
+which would have done us considerable mischief, had they not been drove
+from them early in the action, which was Captain Skinner's first object
+at the beginning of the engagement.
+
+"Thank God, we had no one killed; most of their shot went above us. The
+boarding-nettings, directly over our quarter-deck, were shot away, as
+their principal force seemed to aim at the passengers, who plied
+fourteen muskets to some advantage, and annoyed the privateer much.
+
+"Captain Skinner conducted himself well; it was no new business to him.
+His orders were given coolly and everything done with great precision
+and regularity. I believe you know that he lost his right arm in an
+engagement on board of a frigate last war.
+
+"I cannot omit mentioning that a lady (a sister of Captain Skinner),
+who, with her maid, were the only female passengers, were both employed
+in the bread-room during the action making up papers for cartridges; for
+we had not a single four-pound cartridge remaining when the action
+ceased.
+
+"Our sails were shot through, rigging very much cut, our spars and boat
+upon deck shot through, several grape and round-shot in our bows and
+side, and a very large shot, which must have been a 9-or 12-pounder, in
+our counter. The ship proved a little leaky after the action, but she
+got pretty tight again before our arrival. Captain Skinner was slightly
+wounded, but is now well."
+
+This plain and very credible story was afterwards supplemented by the
+independent testimony of an American gentleman, who was a prisoner on
+board the privateer during this engagement. She was the _Aventurier_,
+and this gentleman states:
+
+"That her force was fourteen long French 4-pounders, and two
+12-pounders; that she had eighty-five men on board at the time, of whom
+two were killed and four wounded in the action. That all her masts were
+shot through, her stays and rigging very much cut; that when she got to
+Bordeaux she was obliged to have new masts and a complete set of new
+rigging. They supposed, on board the privateer, that there was not a
+single shot fired from the packet that did not take effect: which seems
+probable, for, though so low in the water, she had nineteen shot in her
+bottom under her wale.[18] At the time there were on board thirty
+English and American prisoners. She was so peppered that she would
+certainly have been made a prize of, could the packet have pursued her;
+and was so cut to pieces by the action that she afterwards ran from
+everything until she got into Bordeaux to refit; the shots that raked
+her as she moved off went quite through, and caused much confusion."
+
+This is a very pretty tale of pluck and skill combined. The reproach
+which has been laid against the British Navy in this--1798--and
+subsequent years of inexpertness in gunnery, certainly could not have
+been levelled against the crew of the _Princess Royal_, who put in their
+4-and 6-pounder shot in such businesslike fashion, while the passengers
+picked off the dangerous swivel-men in the tops. The two undaunted women
+quietly making cartridge-bags in the bread-room rounds off the picture
+very agreeably.
+
+
+TWO COLONIAL PRIVATEERS
+
+Here are two instances in which privateers fitted out by our colonies
+have performed very brilliant services; and the first is introduced by
+Vice-Admiral Sir Roger Curtis, Bart., Commander-in-Chief of His
+Majesty's ships and vessels at the Cape of Good Hope, who writes from
+Capetown on December 20th, 1801, to Evan Nepean, Esq., Secretary to the
+Admiralty, as follows:
+
+   "SIR,--The private ship-of-war, the _Chance_, belonging to Mr. Hogan,
+   of this place, and commanded by Mr. William White, having been a
+   cruise on the coast of Peru, returned on the 11th instant. The
+   Commander of the _Chance_ addressed a letter to me containing an
+   account of his proceedings during his cruise. He appears to have
+   uniformly acted with great propriety; but his conduct, and that of
+   his officers and men, was, on two occasions, so highly creditable to
+   them that I send his account of these occurrences for their
+   lordships' information.
+
+  "I am, etc.,
+  "ROGER CURTIS."
+
+Extract of a letter from Mr. William White, commander of the _Chance_
+private ship of war, fitted out at the Cape of Good Hope, to
+Vice-Admiral Sir Roger Curtis, Bart:
+
+"At four p.m. on August 19th (1801), the island St. Laurence[19] bearing
+N.E. two leagues, saw a large ship bearing down upon us. At nine brought
+her to close action, and engaged her within half pistol-shot for an hour
+and a half, but finding her metal much heavier than ours, and full of
+men, boarded her on the starboard quarter, lashing the _Chance's_
+bowsprit to her mizzen-mast, and, after a desperate resistance of
+three-quarters of an hour, beat them off the upper deck; but they still
+defended from the cabin and lower deck with long pikes in a most gallant
+manner, till they had twenty-five men killed and twenty-eight wounded,
+of whom the captain was one. Getting final possession, she was so close
+to the island that with much difficulty we got her off shore, all her
+braces and rigging being cut to pieces by our grape-shot. She proved to
+be the new Spanish ship _Amiable Maria_, of about 600 tons, mounting
+fourteen guns, 18, 12, and 9-pounders, brass, and carrying 120 men, from
+Concepcion bound to Lima, laden with corn, wine, bale goods, etc. On
+this occasion, I am much concerned to state, Mr. Bennett, a very
+valuable and brave officer, was so dangerously wounded that he died
+three days after the action; the second and fourth mates, Marine
+officer, and two seamen badly wounded by pikes, but since recovered. On
+the 20th, both ships being much disabled, and having more prisoners than
+crew, I stood close in and sent eighty-six on shore in the large ship's
+launch to Lima. We afterwards learned that seventeen of the wounded had
+died.
+
+"At 4 a.m. on September 24th, standing in to cut out from the roads of
+Puna, in Guaiquil Bay, a ship I had information of, mounting twenty-two
+guns, fell in with a large Spanish brig, with a broad pendant at
+maintopmast-head. At five she commenced her fire on us, but she being at
+a distance to windward, and desirous to bring her to close action, we
+received three broadsides before a shot was returned. At half-past five,
+being yardarm and yardarm, commenced our fire with great effect, and,
+after a very severe action of two hours and three-quarters, during the
+latter part of which she made every effort to get away, I had the honour
+to see the Spanish flag struck to the _Chance_. She proved to be the
+Spanish man-of-war brig _Limeno_, mounting eighteen long 6-pound guns,
+commanded by Commodore Don Philip de Martinez, the senior officer of the
+Spanish Marine on that coast, and manned with 140 men, sent from
+Guaiquil for the express purpose of taking the _Chance_, and then to
+proceed to the northward to take three English whalers lying in one of
+their ports. She had fourteen men killed and seven wounded; the captain
+mortally wounded, who died two days after the action. The _Chance_ had
+two men killed and one wounded, and had only fifty men at the
+commencement of the action; mounting sixteen guns, 12-and 6-pounders."
+
+Captain White's little argument in favour of boarding the _Amiable_ (?)
+_Maria_ reads rather quaintly: "Finding her metal much heavier than
+ours, _and full of men_": a good argument for reversing the boarding
+operations, one would imagine; but the _Amiable Maria_ was not equal to
+the occasion--was not, in fact, if the pun may be pardoned, _taking any
+chances_!
+
+The other colonial privateer about which good things are recorded was
+the _Rover_, of Liverpool, Nova Scotia. This loyal province, it appears,
+fitted out some fifteen privateers in 1794 and the three following
+years; and of these seven or eight hailed from the little town of
+Liverpool. Captain Godfrey shall be allowed to tell his own simple and
+straightforward tale:
+
+"The brig _Rover_, mounting fourteen 4-pounders, was the present year
+(1798) built and fitted for war at Liverpool in this province. She
+sailed under my command June 4th last on a cruise against the enemies of
+Great Britain, being commissioned by His Excellency Sir John Wentworth,
+Bart. Our crew consisted of 55 men and boys, including myself and
+officers, and was principally composed of fishermen."
+
+"On the 17th of the same month, in the latitude of 23 N. and longitude
+54 W.[20] we fell in with six sail of vessels, whom we soon discovered
+to be enemies, one being a ship, with four brigs and a schooner. The
+schooner showed 16 guns, one of the brigs 16 guns, another 6 guns. These
+six vessels drew up close together, apparently with an intention of
+engaging us. On consulting with my ship's company, we determined to bear
+down and attack them, but so soon as the enemy perceived our intentions,
+they by signal from the schooner dispersed, each taking a different
+course, before we got within gunshot of them. After a few hours' chase
+we took possession of the ship and one of the brigs. The ship proved an
+American, bound from the South Seas, laden with oil, and the brig an
+American, laden with wine, from Madeira. From them we learned that they
+had been captured some short time before by a French privateer, which
+was the schooner in company; that she mounted sixteen guns, two of which
+were 9-pounders and the rest sixes, and carried 155 men; and that the
+other three were American vessels which she had taken, one of which was
+from the East Indies. Night coming on, we were prevented from taking any
+more of them.
+
+"On September 10th, being cruising near to Cape Blanco, on the Spanish
+Main, we chased a Spanish schooner on shore and destroyed her. Being
+close in with the land and becalmed, we discovered a schooner and three
+gunboats under Spanish colours making for us. A light breeze springing
+up, we were enabled to get clear of the land, when it fell calm, which
+enabled the schooner and gunboats, by the help of a number of oars, to
+gain fast upon us, keeping up at the same time a constant fire from
+their bow-guns, which we returned with two guns pointed from our stern;
+one of the gunboats did not advance to attack us. As the enemy drew near
+we engaged them with muskets and pistols, keeping with oars the stern of
+the _Rover_ towards them, and having all our guns well loaded with great
+and small shot, ready against we should come to close quarters. When we
+heard the commander of the schooner give orders to the two gunboats to
+board us, I waited to see how they meant to attack us, and, finding the
+schooner intended to board us on our starboard quarter, one of the
+gunboats on our larboard bow, and the other on our larboard waist, I
+suffered them to advance in that position until they came within about
+fifteen yards, still firing on them with small-arms and the stern-guns.
+I then manned the oars on the larboard side, and pulled the _Rover_
+round so as to bring her starboard broadside to bear athwart the
+schooner's bow, and poured into her a whole broadside of great and small
+shot, which raked her deck fore and aft, while it was full of men ready
+for boarding. I instantly shifted over on the other side [_i.e._ sent
+the men over] and raked both gunboats in the same manner, which must
+have killed and wounded a great number of those on board of them, and
+done great damage to their boats. I then commenced a close action with
+the schooner, which lasted three glasses [an hour and a half], and,
+having disabled her sails and rigging much, and finding her fire grew
+slack, I took advantage of a light air of wind to back my headsails,
+which brought my stern on board of the schooner, by which we were
+enabled to board and carry her, at which time the gunboats sheered off,
+apparently in a very shattered condition. We found her to be the _Santa
+Rita_, mounting ten 6-pounders and two 12-pounder carronades, with 125
+men. She was fitted out the day before by the Governor of Porto Cavallo,
+with the gunboats, for the express purpose of taking us. Every officer
+on board of her was killed except the officers who commanded a party of
+25 soldiers; there were 14 dead men on her deck when we boarded her, and
+17 wounded; the prisoners, including the wounded, amounted to 71.
+
+"My ship's company, including officers and boys, was only 45 in number,
+and behaved with that courage and spirit which British seamen always
+show when fighting the enemies of their country. It is with infinite
+pleasure I add that I had not a man hurt; from the best account I could
+obtain, the enemy lost 54 men. The prisoners being too numerous to be
+kept on board, on the 14th ult. I landed them all except eight, taking
+an obligation from them not to serve against his Majesty until regularly
+exchanged. I arrived with my ship's company in safety this day (October
+17th) at Liverpool, having taken during my cruise the before-mentioned
+vessels, together with a sloop under American colours bound to Curacao,
+a Spanish schooner bound to Port Caballo, which have all arrived in this
+province; besides which I destroyed some Spanish launches on the coast."
+
+A very successful four month's cruise. Godfrey's crew of Nova Scotian
+fishermen would be very difficult to beat: they were stalwart,
+hard-bitten fellows, well used to hardship in their calling, and not
+afraid of anything; much the same type, in fact, as those Salem men who
+gave us so much trouble in the war of 1812.
+
+To the initiated, Captain Godfrey's handling of his craft on the
+approach of the three Spanish vessels will commend itself. It was an
+exceedingly pretty bit of seamanship, only possible at such a moment to
+a captain of consummate coolness, with his crew well in hand.
+
+The Spaniards appear on this, as on so many other occasions, to have
+made the wildest practice with their firearms; Godfrey had not a man
+touched, after an action of one hour and a half, with a hand-to-hand
+fight at the end of it!
+
+[Footnote 17: An illegal and piratical act; she was bound to show her
+own colours before firing.]
+
+[Footnote 18: Wale, or wales, sometimes termed "bends"; the thickest
+outside planking of the ship, at and above the water-line.]
+
+[Footnote 19: There does not appear to be an island under this name on
+the west coast of South America, in any modern atlas. It must have been
+close to Callao, the sea-port of Lima, as he sent his prisoners on shore
+there next day.]
+
+[Footnote 20: That is, to the north-westward of the northernmost of the
+Windward Islands, in the West Indies.]
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXIII
+
+THE AFFAIR OF THE "BONAPARTE"
+
+
+In the year 1804 there was a very formidable French privateer cruising
+in the West Indies, by name the _Bonaparte_, carrying 18 guns and a crew
+of over 200. This vessel encountered, in the month of August, the
+British ship of war _Hippomenes_--a capture from the Dutch at the
+surrender of Demerara in the previous year--of 18 guns, commanded by
+Captain Kenneth McKenzie, who had in some measure disguised his ship in
+order to entrap privateers. The Frenchman was so far deceived as to
+invite a conflict, believing the _Hippomenes_ to be a "Guineaman," or
+African slave-trader, which were almost always armed, but which the
+_Bonaparte_ would have no cause to fear.
+
+Having caught a tartar, the French captain did not on that account
+endeavour to avoid battle, and a sharp action ensued. After some time,
+the French ship fell aboard the _Hippomenes_, upon which Captain
+McKenzie instantly had the two ships lashed together, and, calling upon
+his men to follow him, sprang on board the _Bonaparte_. He appears,
+however, to have been very unfortunate in his crew, many of whom, it is
+said, were foreigners, and only eight men had the stomach to follow
+him. This little band, however, under their captain's gallant
+leadership, actually drove the Frenchmen from their quarters for a time,
+no doubt under the impression that this was merely the vanguard of a
+formidable force of boarders. Finding themselves opposed by such
+insignificant numbers, however, they rallied, and the plucky Englishmen
+were terribly cut up, McKenzie receiving no less than fourteen wounds,
+while the first lieutenant and purser were killed and the master
+wounded. There was nothing for it but to scramble back on board their
+own ship, which they barely succeeded in doing when the lashings gave
+way, and the vessels swung apart, Captain McKenzie almost missing his
+leap, and falling senseless into the "chains" of his own ship. The
+Frenchman had had enough, so the action ended indecisively, and the
+_Bonaparte_ was free to continue her depredations. Had the whole of the
+English crew been of the same kidney as the gallant eight her career in
+the French service would certainly have been ended then and there.
+
+A month or two later the _Bonaparte_ fell in with three British armed
+merchantmen, to wit the _Thetis_, _Ceres_, and _Penelope_, which had
+sailed in company from Cork in October, John Charnley, captain of the
+Thetis, being commodore of the little squadron.
+
+The _Bonaparte_ was sighted at 7 a.m. on November 8th, to windward of
+Barbadoes, and the three English ships at once hauled their wind and
+prepared for action. What ensued shall be told in the language of the
+three captains, as illustrating the curious diversity of views which
+may result from distorted vision in the heat of action--for that one or
+other of these captains had his vision so distorted there can be no
+doubt. All three letters are dated November 10th, 1804, from Bridge
+Town, Barbadoes, and are addressed to the owners--though whether all
+three ships were owned by one firm does not appear.
+
+The captain of the _Ceres_ writes:
+
+"I am happy to inform you of my safe arrival here, in company with the
+_Penelope_ and _Thetis_. The day we came in we fell in with the
+_Bonaparte_, French privateer, of twenty guns, which bore down upon us,
+and commenced a very heavy fire, which we returned as warm as possible.
+She attempted to board the _Thetis_, and, in the act, lost her bowsprit,
+and soon after her foremast went over the side--a fortunate
+circumstance, as I understand she was the terror of the West Indies. She
+sent a challenge here by an American, the day before we arrived, to any
+of our sloops of war to fight her. We understand she had beaten off one
+of them. The action was very smart for about two hours; we began firing
+at nine o'clock in the morning, and did not leave off till half after
+twelve. My ship was on fire three times by neglect of the people with
+their cartridges. She once got on fire in the cabin; but, by the
+exertions of the crew, it was soon extinguished. They behaved with the
+greatest spirit; and, I believe, would have fought to the last, though
+half of them were foreigners. I had several shots in the hull and my
+rigging and sails were very much cut. The small shot and grape came on
+board us like hail, though they did not hit one man. I had two men blown
+up by the cartridges taking fire, who are very much burnt."
+
+The _Penelope_ account comes next:
+
+"I arrived here safe, after a passage of thirty-three days, in company
+with the _Ceres_ and _Thetis_, and shall be detained here some time to
+refit: having on the 8th inst., in lat. 13.26 N., long. 57.30 W. had an
+engagement with the _Bonaparte_ privateer, of 22 guns and 250 men, for
+three hours; in which engagement we had ten of our guns dismounted,
+which I must repair here, and likewise replenish our powder. I suppose I
+shall be ready for sea by the 13th. I am sorry to say Mr. Lindo was
+killed in the engagement, and his poor wife is very disconsolate. I wish
+her to return home from hence, but she refuses. I send this by the
+_Burton_, of Liverpool, who is now under weigh, or otherwise would be
+more particular. The action commenced at 9 a.m., and we engaged until
+half-past meridian, when we left off chase. The privateer lost her
+bowsprit and foremast in attempting to board the _Thetis_, who had two
+men killed and five wounded."
+
+Captain Charnley's report is as follows:
+
+   "MESSRS. STUART, HEESMAN, & CO."
+
+   "GENTLEMEN,
+
+   "I arrived here, in company with the _Ceres_ and _Penelope_, last
+   evening. On the 8th instant, at 7 a.m., seeing a strange sail and a
+   suspicious one (being commodore), I made a signal for an enemy, and
+   to haul our wind on the larboard tack to meet her. At nine we met;
+   she kept English colours flying till after firing two broadsides.
+   Seeing him attempt to lay us alongside to leeward, thought it better
+   to have him to windward, so wore ship on the other tack. He was then
+   on our quarter, and lashed himself to our mizzen chains; the contest
+   then became desperate for one hour. They set us on fire twice on the
+   quarter-deck with stink-pots and other combustibles, and made four
+   very daring attempts to board, with at least eighty men, out of their
+   rigging, foretop, and bowsprit, but were most boldly repulsed by
+   every man and boy in the ship. At the conclusion, a double-headed
+   shot, from our aftermost gun, carried away his foremast by the board;
+   that took away his bowsprit and maintopgallant-mast. He then thought
+   it was time to cast us off. No less than fifty men fell with the
+   wreck. We then hauled our wind as well as we could, to knot, splice,
+   and repair our rigging for the time, which gave the other ships an
+   opportunity to play upon the enemy; but, being a little to leeward,
+   had not so good an effect. A short time afterwards wore ship for him
+   again, with the other ships, and engaged him for about an hour more;
+   but, finding it impossible to take him, owing to his number of men,
+   and no surgeon to dress our wounded, I thought it best to steer our
+   course for this island. Her name is the _Bonaparte_, of 20 9-pounders
+   and upwards of 200 men. I had 18 6-pounders and 45 men, 19 never at
+   sea before, boys and landsmen. As to the behaviour of my whole crew,
+   to a man they were steady, and determined to defend the ship whilst
+   there was one left alive. I had two killed and nine wounded. On our
+   arrival Commodore Hood paid us every attention, sent the surgeon and
+   mate to dress the wounded, also men to assist the ship to anchor, and
+   gave me a written protection for my crew.[21] I cannot conclude
+   without mentioning the gallant and spirited conduct of Mr. Dobbs, a
+   midshipman (passenger with me), who acted as Captain of Marines, and
+   during the action fought like a brave fellow, as well as exciting in
+   the minds of the crew unconquerable zeal. We are much shattered in
+   our hull, sails, and rigging; it will take us two days before we can
+   be ready for sea."
+
+  "I remain, in haste, gentlemen,
+  "Your very obedient servant,
+  "JOHN CHARNLEY."
+
+In another letter to a friend, a day or two later, Charnley says:
+
+"The _Bonaparte_ privateer is the completest ship in these seas. She
+made too certain of us. Freers, my first mate, behaved most gallantly,
+and fought like a lion; so did Lambert, my second mate. Indeed, I cannot
+say enough for every man and boy in the ship. The greatest part of them
+stripped and fought naked, and I am sure would have died sooner than
+have been carried. There was one hour's hard work, I assure you. I was
+near going frequently, as they fired several musket-balls through my
+clothes."
+
+This appears to be a straightforward account, and though it differs from
+the others, in respect of the parts played by them in the action,
+Captain Charnley does not attach any blame to them for lack of zeal or
+enterprise.
+
+The Barbadoes _Mercury_ headed the account of the action--"Defeat of
+_Bonaparte_! _not_ the Great, but celebrated privateer of Guadaloupe!"
+
+Four months later Captain Charnley deemed it necessary to publish, in
+the _Bristol Journal_ of March 16th, 1805, the following justification
+of himself:
+
+"On our arrival in this port, observing a paragraph in the London papers
+respecting a late action between the _Bonaparte_, French privateer, and
+the ships _Thetis_, _Ceres_, and _Penelope_, off Barbadoes, which makes
+it appear to the public that the two latter did wonders, and the
+_Thetis_ little or nothing; I now think it incumbent on me, and a duty I
+owe to my crew, as commander of the _Thetis_, to state a few facts, and
+confute any reports that have been made of the action; which would have
+been passed over in silence by me, had they not resorted to the means
+they have of obtaining unmerited credit at the expense of others. The
+three ships sailed in company from Cork, the _Thetis_ to act as
+commodore. Nothing material occurred till November 8th, when at 7 a.m.
+the man at our masthead called out, 'A sail!' It soon appearing a
+suspicious one, I made a signal for an enemy, and to haul our wind on
+the larboard tack to meet her; which was answered by our consorts. At
+nine the privateer and the _Thetis_ met; the other ships not sailing so
+fast, were at this time about one mile astern in her wake. The privateer
+hailed us in English twice, with English colours flying; the latter we
+answered with a broadside from our larboard guns. Seeing him determined
+to board us, we wore ship and sailed large; in the act of doing which
+she raked us twice, ran up alongside under a press of sail, and made
+herself fast to our mizzen-chains. By this time the other ships were
+nearly up; but, instead of coming into action on the enemy's quarter,
+which ought to have been their station, bore up before they reached us,
+fired five or six guns (the contents of which we shared with the enemy);
+and during the whole time (upwards of one hour) we were lashed together
+they were sailing ahead of us at about half a mile distance, although
+the crew of the _Penelope_ went aft to their commander and told him it
+was a shame to see the _Thetis_ so mauled and render no assistance: this
+was their report on board his Majesty's ship _Centaur_. At the
+conclusion of the fight a fortunate double-headed shot from our
+aftermost gun carried away the enemy's foremast, bowsprit, and
+maintopgallant-mast; upon which he cut us adrift, when we hauled our
+wind to the northward, with an intention to gain so far to windward as
+to get on his weather-side, where all the wreck was lying. On examining
+my crew, I found two killed and seven wounded, our sails and rigging so
+much cut that the ship was ungovernable; however, by uncommon exertions,
+we got her wore on the other tack, but only fetched under the enemy's
+lee, when we passed almost shaving her, and gave her two broadsides, at
+the same time receiving one from her which wounded two more men and
+disabled four guns. Afterwards spoke the _Ceres_, whose commander
+inquired into the state of our ship and men; he and his passengers drank
+my health, and he expressed himself more than once (through his
+trumpet), that he was very sorry it was not in his power to give us any
+assistance. I then urged a wish to further annoy the enemy, as she would
+be an easy capture. His answer was, "It is impossible; she has too many
+men." During this time, for about half an hour, the enemy was lying a
+complete log, while our consorts had received no damage. However, at
+length all three of us made sail together for her again, and engaged her
+at a distance for about an hour. My wounded being in great agony, I
+shaped a course for Barbadoes, where we all arrived next evening.
+
+"When we anchored I was visited by Captain Richardson, of his Majesty's
+ship _Centaur_, who immediately sent for a surgeon, Mr. Martin, who has
+my thanks for his particular attention to the wounded. Commodore Hood
+very handsomely gave me a protection for my crew, and took the wounded
+into the Royal Hospital.
+
+"So little credit was given to the account of the action given by the
+captains of the _Ceres_ and _Penelope_ at Barbadoes, that they resorted
+to the means of obtaining the captain of the _Bonaparte's_ signature to
+a letter, in direct contradiction of his statement to a naval officer
+who captured him, which was in the fullest manner corroborated by the
+surgeon who was stopped at Dominica on his way to Guadaloupe.
+
+"The action speaks for itself. Neither of the vessels, the _Ceres_ or
+_Penelope_, was in the smallest degree injured, although one of them
+reported he expended _six barrels_ of gunpowder. Double that quantity
+might have been expended with equal effect, as a large proportion of it
+was set fire to in the barrels. The _Penelope_, I understand, lost a
+passenger by a chance shot, yet I believe was equally as fortunate as
+the _Ceres_ in escaping without damage.
+
+"The steady behaviour of the _Thetis's_ officers and crew in this
+action, and their conduct during the voyage, demand my highest esteem,
+and will be for ever imprinted on my memory."
+
+The inhabitants of the island of Dominica, in presenting Captain
+Charnley with a handsome sum of money and a piece of plate, allude to
+his gallant defeat of the _Bonaparte_ as "thereby protecting two
+valuable ships under your convoy": which is significant of the version
+of the affair which had got abroad, either through Charnley or the
+French captain.
+
+However, it was not done with yet, for Daniel Bousfield, captain of the
+_Ceres_, arrived in England in April and immediately proceeded to
+enlighten the editor of the _Bristol Journal_ as to the "true facts" of
+the case, enclosing a copy of the letter which he had received from the
+captain of the _Bonaparte_, and which readers are requested "to compare
+with the partial and pompous account of the action inserted, on the
+authority of Mr. Charnley, in the public papers."
+
+"Sir, I have been astonished at the account given against you of the
+engagement we had together; the manner in which you conducted yourself
+obliges me, upon my honour, to inform the public of the fact. On my
+arrival here, I was surprised to find that the captain of the _Thetis_
+took to himself all the merit of having fought with me. It is true that,
+during the heat of the action, he was the nearest ship to me, but that
+was from necessity, as it was him that I attacked first, and which I did
+because I saw that he was the best armed of the three. He commenced the
+fire, which was soon followed up by you and the other letter of marque.
+The courage you have all three shown cannot be too much admired. Your
+manoeuvres convince me that they were the result of reflection and
+experience; and the national character which you have manifested
+certainly merits the eulogium of the public.
+
+"Your fire was tremendous for me; and I can with truth affirm that it
+was you who did me most damage, and who dismasted my vessel, which was
+the reason that I was unable to capture the _Thetis_. A single ship,
+then, has not all the honour of the fight, but certainly all three. In
+short, sir, I thank the accident that has procured me the pleasure of
+your acquaintance, and to express the satisfaction that I feel in my
+heart in writing this letter. I leave you full liberty to make it
+public among your countrymen. In proving my particular esteem for your
+person, it will no doubt, at the same time, ensure you the public
+approbation, and preserve you from those malicious tongues who shall
+dare attack your respectable character.
+
+"I have the honour to be, with consideration and esteem, sir, your
+obedient servant,
+
+  "PAINPENY."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+The Frenchman declares that it was the _Ceres_ which dismasted his ship,
+though both the captains state in their letters that she lost her
+foremast, etc., in boarding the _Thetis_. Captain Charnley says the two
+other ships stood off, and came out of the fight undamaged, whereas they
+both report considerable injury, and the captain of the _Penelope_
+states that ten of her guns were disabled. The only casualty, however,
+appears to have been one passenger killed, while the _Ceres_ had only
+two men injured, through their own careless handling of the
+ammunition--though "the small-shot and grape came on board like hail."
+
+Now, when we are told that a ship has ten guns disabled in action, and
+that the only person touched was a passenger, presumably not stationed
+at a gun, the question inevitably presents itself--where were the guns'
+crews? Also, when grape and case are coming on board like hail, it seems
+odd that nobody is hit. Every one who has any experience or knowledge of
+battle is aware, of course, that the saying that "every bullet has its
+billet" is rank romance; a vast majority of bullets discharged in hot
+action find no other billet than the bottom of the sea--unless, indeed,
+they are swallowed by inquisitive fish while sinking--or the nearest
+hillside. Still, these two good men do not appear to make out their case
+very well; let us hope that they did not deliberately lie to their
+owners. The Frenchman was, of course, interested in demonstrating that
+he was beaten off by three, rather than by one ship; still, he was
+perhaps a very truthful man: and there we must leave it. The only thing
+quite clear is that the _Bonaparte_ made rather sure of catching three
+good prizes, and was considerably sold.
+
+[Footnote 21: That is, indemnity from having the crew pressed by any
+man-of-war which was short of hands. As a regular privateer, she would
+be exempt from this; but apparently she and her consorts were
+merchantmen, armed and probably provided with what were loosely termed
+letters of marque for protection in case of attack.]
+
+[Illustration: CAPTURE OF THE FRENCH PRIVATEER "JEUNE RICHARD"]
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXIV
+
+THE "WINDSOR CASTLE" PACKET
+
+
+One of the most brilliant instances of the defence of a packet is that
+of the encounter of the _Windsor Castle_ with the French privateer
+_Jeune Richard_. The packet was outward bound to the West Indies, and
+fell in with the privateer not far from Barbadoes, about half-past eight
+on the morning of October 1st, 1807. The privateer immediately gave
+chase, being probably well aware of the class of vessel she would
+encounter, and confident in her very great superiority in numbers. The
+packet, commanded by acting-Captain W. Rogers, cracked on sail, as in
+duty bound, to escape; but the big privateer schooner of those days was
+among the fastest craft afloat, and it was speedily apparent that some
+fighting would have to be done. Rogers had only twenty-eight in his
+crew, all told, men and boys--sufficient to work the brig fairly well,
+but not, one would imagine, to fight her against a schooner crowded with
+men. However, he beat to quarters and made all his arrangements, not
+forgetting to place some responsible persons in charge of the mails, to
+shift them about to a place of safety as required, and, in the last
+resort, to sink them. This, of course, reduced his little fighting force
+still further.
+
+The privateer was within gunshot at noon, and, hoisting French colours,
+opened fire, the packet returning it with her stern-chasers. Arriving
+within hail, the French captain, who appears to have been sadly
+deficient in that politeness which is characteristic of his countrymen,
+demanded, in rude and contemptuous terms, the lowering of the British
+colours. He could very plainly see, by this time, how scanty was the
+crew of the packet compared with his own, and, upon Rogers declining to
+surrender, he immediately ran aboard the _Windsor Castle_, intending to
+finish the affair off at once by sheer weight of numbers--for he
+mustered no less than ninety-two, against the British modest
+twenty-eight, minus the mail-tenders.
+
+However, they did not get on board; so sharp and stubborn was the
+resistance offered, that they were glad to return to their own decks,
+eight or ten short in their number, and immediately cut the
+grappling-ropes to get clear. The vessels, however, had got locked by
+their spars, and a desperate encounter ensued. The men in charge of the
+mails, upon whom the captain, in spite of the fighting, contrived always
+to keep an eye, were running about from one place to another with them;
+but they did not prematurely sink them, though matters must have looked
+hopeless enough.
+
+About three o'clock, seeing the enemy about to attempt boarding again,
+Rogers crammed one of his 6-pounder carronades with grape, canister, and
+a bagful of musket-balls, and let drive just as the Frenchmen commenced
+their rush. The result was tremendous, a great number being killed and
+wounded. "Soon after this," says Captain Rogers, in the most
+matter-of-fact style, as though it were quite an ordinary kind of
+affair, "I embraced the opportunity of boarding, in turn, with five men,
+and succeeded in driving the enemy from his quarters, and about four
+o'clock the schooner was completely in our possession. She is named the
+_Jeune Richard_, mounting six 6-pounders and one long 18-pounder, having
+on board at the commencement of the action ninety-two men, of whom
+twenty-one were found dead upon her decks, and thirty-three wounded.
+From the very superior number of the enemy still remaining, it was
+necessary to use every precaution in securing the prisoners. I was
+obliged to order them up from below, one by one, and place them in their
+own irons as they came up, as three of our little crew were killed, and
+ten severely wounded, the mizzen-mast and mainyard carried away, and the
+rigging fore and aft much damaged. It is my duty to mention to you, sir,
+that the crew of the packet, amounting at first to only twenty-eight men
+and boys, supported me with the greatest gallantry during the whole of
+this arduous contest."
+
+So runs the bare narration, in a service letter to Rear-Admiral the Hon.
+Sir Alexander Cochrane, who, in forwarding it to the Admiralty, remarks:
+"It is such an instance of bravery and persevering courage, combined
+with great presence of mind, as was scarcely ever exceeded."
+
+No one will feel disposed to quarrel with this verdict. Rogers would
+have done well, if, against such odds, he had beaten off his opponent,
+and saved the mails; the boarding and carrying of the privateer by six
+men was certainly something outside the bargain!
+
+
+THE "CATHERINE"
+
+The _Naval Chronicle_ for December 1808 contains a copy of a letter from
+the mate of an armed ship, the _Catherine_, the property of Messrs. Hogg
+& Co., of London, giving an account of a severe action with a French
+privateer. The mate--whose name was Robertson--writes very simply and
+convincingly, and shall tell his own story:
+
+  MALTA, _September 26th, 1808_.
+
+"GENTLEMEN,
+
+"I do myself the honour to inform you of the safe arrival of the ship
+_Catherine_ in this port from Gibraltar, which place she left on the 8th
+instant; but I am sorry to add that Captain Fenn was very badly wounded,
+on the 13th inst., in latitude 38 deg. 35 min. N., longitude 3 deg. 20
+E.,[22] by a shot in an action with a French privateer. On that day a
+sail hove in sight on the larboard bow, on a wind, standing for us. We
+hoisted ensign and pendant, and fired a gun. She showed St. George's
+flag and pendant, and stood on until she got into our wake, then bore up
+directly for us. We prepared everything for action, being suspicious of
+her; and as soon as it was possible to be understood, by Captain Fenn's
+order, I hailed and asked from whence she came? She answered, from
+Gibraltar, and was in distress for water. I ordered her to haul her wind
+immediately, or we should fire into her. She still cried out, 'Water!
+water!' and came on, when I immediately pointed one of the stern guns,
+and ordered fire. I then jumped to the opposite gun, pointed it, and
+ordered fire. This order was countermanded, in consequence of her crying
+'Mercy!' and 'Water!' But as soon as the smoke of the first gun cleared
+away, Captain Fenn saw with his glass that they were getting ready to
+change their colours, and were pointing their bow-guns. He called out,
+'It is a Frenchman, fire away!' He no sooner spoke than he got the
+contents of the second; but before our guns could be fired again he
+grappled, and commenced a heavy fire with grape and musketry. I
+immediately seized a musket and shot the captain, who was going to give
+orders through his trumpet. I sung out, 'I have shot the captain!
+Victory, my boys!' and we gave him three cheers to advance. They
+returned the same, and came on bravely; when poor Fenn, with his
+boarding-pike in his hand, was shot through the body. He addressed
+himself to me: 'I am shot; but fight on, my dear fellow.' I encouraged
+my men, and soon repelled the boarders with very great slaughter.
+
+"In about half an hour, like savages, they sang out and came on again;
+but were again repulsed with considerable loss. This caused such great
+confusion among them that they got their grapplings unhooked and took a
+broad sheer off; which I improved immediately by sheering likewise, and
+got two of the great guns into him before he could get to again. This,
+no doubt, damped their courage; but they again boarded, with three
+cheers, and several succeeded in getting over our nettings into the
+poop; but our men, like heroes, made a bold push, and either killed or
+wounded every man who made his appearance; and those poor devils who had
+the impudence to come on the poop were all shoved overboard with the
+pikes fast in their bodies. This was the sickening job, for they made a
+terrible noise, and got their grapplings unhooked; when I ordered the
+man at the wheel to luff the ship to give a broadside. Unfortunately,
+the ship was unmanageable, her sails and running rigging flying in all
+directions; but, as a substitute, we gave them the stern-chasers,
+entirely loaded with grape, as long as it could be of service. I then
+gave all the hands a good glass of grog, and, like smart fellows, they
+soon got the vessel on her course again. This being done, I ran to the
+captain and dressed his wounds. He was then apparently dying; but,
+through a miracle, we have preserved his life. He is in a tolerably fair
+way, and on shore, under the doctor's charge.
+
+"The privateer was a fine, lateen-rigged vessel, carrying two large
+sails, and her decks as full of men as possible--we judge from seventy
+to eighty. We must have killed a great number, as a great quantity of
+blood rose on the water. It appeared to me a miracle that none of our
+men were killed, as the grape and musket-balls came in like hail. We had
+only two men slightly wounded, one of whom was at the wheel."
+
+Little comment is necessary to supplement this narrative, except that
+the _Catherine's_ loss was very trivial for so severe an action. It is
+impossible to explain these things, which so frequently crop up in the
+reports of battles, both by land and sea. A whole company or a ship's
+crew comes almost unscathed out of a "hail of lead and iron." Well,
+either the "hail" was not quite as thick as was imagined in the heat of
+action or the balls found every gap between the men. The _Catherine_
+would not, of course, have more than about five-and-thirty hands, if as
+many, and they would be scattered about at the guns until the Frenchmen
+endeavoured to board. Mr. Robertson's graphic and circumstantial story
+is quite worthy of credence, and he was certainly an able second in
+command.
+
+Another spirited incident of a similar description is the defence of the
+_Fortune_, armed ship, Captain Hodgson, against a French privateer, on
+April 13th, 1811. The odds were, as usual on such occasions, very
+greatly in favour of the privateer, which was a brig, carrying 16 guns
+and about 120 men; while the _Fortune_, which was not intended for
+aggression, had 8 small guns and 2 swivels, and 19 persons on board, all
+told.
+
+The action took place in the Atlantic some distance west of Ireland, and
+lasted for an hour and twenty minutes. The Frenchman, as usual, hoisted
+English colours at first, and, getting within hail, desired Captain
+Hodgson to send his boat on board. This was too stale a trick to meet
+with any success: "If you have any business with me, send your boat
+here," was the reply.
+
+Failing in his ruse, the privateer captain immediately hoisted French
+colours and fired, first a single shot between the _Fortune's_ masts and
+then a broadside, which was promptly returned with 100 per cent.
+interest. Then the enemy, very naturally, sought to bring matters to a
+conclusion by boarding; but, in spite of their numbers, they could not
+obtain any footing on the _Fortune's_ deck. Eight of them managed to get
+into the jolly-boat, which hung from the stern--a very convenient method
+of boarding, provided that no one happens to be handy with a sharp
+knife. Unluckily for the eight Frenchmen, an English seaman with a cool
+head and a keen knife happened to be close by--possibly he was
+steering--and in a moment the jolly-boat's tackles were cut, and she
+disappeared with her freight. On the forecastle, however, a considerable
+number had got on board at one moment, but Hodgson, nothing daunted,
+ordered a volley and led a charge with such impetuosity that the enemy
+was driven from the deck--mostly overboard.
+
+The _Fortune's_ colours were shot away twice, and, after the second
+time, were nailed to the gaff by a young lad, who, of course,
+immediately became a mark for the enemy's small-arms; but it is said
+that he very coolly completed his operations, encouraging the Frenchmen
+to "fire away." This is very probably true; it is just the kind of thing
+an English boy delights in doing--more readily, perhaps, than one of
+more experience.
+
+The _Fortune_, however, in spite of the sustained and courageous
+resistance of her company, was soon in a bad way: her sails riddled, her
+rigging cut to pieces, and too large a proportion of her crew wounded or
+killed, it seemed inevitable that she must surrender; but a lucky
+shot--or rather, let us say, a skilful shot, and give the gunner the
+credit, instead of "luck"--brought down the privateer's foretopmast. The
+"Fortunes" raised a hearty cheer, and the enemy, hampered by the wreck,
+sheered off, receiving a parting kick in the shape of a broadside.
+Hodgson and his men hurried up to repair damages, expecting a renewal of
+the attack; but the privateers had had what is known in sporting circles
+as a "bellyful," and did not come up to the scratch again. Out of her
+small ship's company, the _Fortune_ had four killed and six
+wounded--which only leaves nine to fight!
+
+
+THE "THREE SISTERS"
+
+Captain George Thompson, of the merchant ship _Three Sisters_, addressed
+the following letter to his owners on September 18th, 1811, being then
+off the Isle of Wight:
+
+"I have to acquaint you with a desperate engagement I have had with a
+French privateer, Le Fevre, mounting 10 guns--six long sixes, and four
+12-pound carronades--with swivels and small arms, manned with 58 men,
+out from Brest fourteen days, in which time she captured the _Friends_
+schooner, from Lisbon, belonging to Plymouth, and a large sloop from
+Scilly, with codfish and sundries, for Falmouth. On the 11th, at nine
+p.m., we observed her on the larboard bow; we were then steering N.N.E.
+about ten leagues from Scilly, and nearly calm.
+
+"I immediately set my royals, fore steering-sails, and made all clear
+for action. At two a.m., when all my endeavours to escape were useless,
+she being within musket-shot, I addressed my crew, and represented the
+hardships they would undergo as prisoners, and the honour and happiness
+of being with their wives and families. This had the desired effect, and
+I immediately ordered the action to commence, and endeavoured to keep a
+good offing; but which he prevented by running alongside, and
+immediately attempted to board, with a machine I never before observed,
+which was three long ladders, with points at the end, that served to
+grapple us to them. They made three desperate attempts, with about
+twelve men at each ladder, but were received with such a determination
+that they were all driven back with great slaughter, and formed a heap
+for the others to ascend with greater facility.
+
+"Finding us so desperate, they immediately, on their last charge
+failing, knocked off their ladders, one of which they were unable to
+unhook from our side, and left it with me, and sheered off; but, I am
+sorry to say, without my being able to injure them, as they had shot
+away part of my rudder before they boarded me, and I am sorry to say
+wounded several of my masts and yards, for it seemed to be their aim to
+carry away some of my masts, but which, happily, they did not effect.
+The most painful part of my narrative is the loss of two men and a boy
+killed, and four wounded; but the wounded are doing well. Our whole crew
+amounted, officers and men, to twenty-six men and four boys, and deserve
+the highest applause that can be bestowed upon them. I arrived off here
+this afternoon, and, as it is fine weather, I have no doubt of reaching
+London in safety, as I have but little damage in my hull."
+
+
+CONCLUSION
+
+With this brilliant little incident this account must come to a close.
+
+Are there to be any privateering actions in future naval warfare? The
+Declaration of Paris, in 1856, at the close of the Crimean War, lays
+down that "Privateering is and remains abolished"; but will this dictum
+be accounted as holding good, if it should suit any naval power to
+resort to the practice?
+
+It cannot be expected that this will be so. The days of the raking,
+fast-sailing brig or schooner are, indeed, over; but there remain the
+swift ocean "greyhounds," admirably adapted, if armed with a few
+long-ranged, quick-firing guns, for running down and capturing merchant
+vessels, and showing a clean pair of heels on the appearance of a
+cruiser. Can it be doubted that some of them will be utilised for the
+purpose?
+
+At the recent International Conference it was distinctly suggested that
+fast merchant vessels may be converted into men-of-war, on the high
+seas; and though the British delegates refused to recognise the
+principle, it was not negatived, and remains open.
+
+If a merchant skipper has instructions, upon learning of the declaration
+of war, to hoist up the guns from his hold and act as a cruiser against
+the enemy's commerce, the margin between this and privateering is an
+exceedingly narrow one: moreover, we have had numerous instances lately
+of the treatment of international treaties and declarations as so much
+piecrust; so we must not be surprised if the Declaration of Paris shares
+the same fate. We may, in fact, in this twentieth century, hark back to
+the dictum of that shrewd old Admiralty judge, Sir Leoline Jenkins,
+previously quoted: privateers will probably remain, as "a sort of people
+that will always be found fault with, but still made use of."
+
+[Footnote 22: That is, a little south of the island of Majorca.]
+
+
+
+
+INDEX
+
+
+  _Achilles_, 305, 306
+
+  Actions (in order of relation):
+    _Lion_ (Andrew Barton) and _Jenny Pirwin_ and two English ships, 22-24;
+    _Amity_ and two Spaniards, 29-32;
+    _Duke_ (Captain Rogers) and Panama ship, 63;
+    _Duke_ and _Duchess_ and Manila ship, 71;
+    _Speedwell_ and Spanish ship, 85-87;
+    _Alexander_ and _Solebay_, 95, 96;
+    _Antigallican_ and _Duc de Penthievre_, 99, 100;
+    _Terrible_ and _Vengeance_, 106-111;
+    _Mentor_ and _Carnatic_, 113, 114;
+    _Fame_ (Capt. Moor) and five French ships, 115-117;
+    _Ellen_ and _Santa Anna Gratia_, 118-120;
+    _St. George_ (Capt. Wright) and French privateer, 137-139;
+    _Duke_ (Capt. Morecock) and _Prince Frederick_ and three French
+     ships, 150;
+    _Mars_ (Capt. Walker) and _Boscawen_ and French man-of-war, 157;
+    _Mars_ and French men-of-war, 158-160;
+    _Mars_ and _Sheerness_ and eight French ships, 165-169;
+    French ship and boats of George Walker's squadron, 177, 178;
+    George Walker's squadron and Spanish treasure-ship, 179-185;
+    _Anglesea_ and _Apollon_, 191-195;
+    _Lion_ (Capt. Brett) and _Elizabeth_, 195, 196;
+    _Palme_ (French) and _Neptune_ (Dutch), 202, 203;
+    _Dauphin_ and _Sherdam_ (Dutch), 204;
+    _Trinite_ (French) and _Concorde_ (Dutch) 210;
+    _Diligente_ and six English men-of-war, 214-216;
+    _Francois_ and two English ships, 220, 221;
+    _St. Jacques_ and four consorts (French) and three Dutch ships,
+     224, 225;
+    _Jason_ (French) and English squadron, 226-228;
+    _St. William_ (French) and Dutch ship, 232, 233;
+    Cassard's squadron and two English ships, 235-238;
+    _Centurion_ and _Diomede_ (English) and French Squadron, 246;
+    _Cartier_ (French) and _Triton_, 251-255;
+    _Confiance_ and _Kent_, 258-260;
+    _Argo_ (American) and _King George_, 275, 276;
+    _Argo_ and _Dragon_, 277, 278;
+    _Argo_ and _Saratoga_ and _Dublin_, 278-280;
+    _Pomona_ (American) and _Rosebud_, 283-285;
+    _Hyder Ali_ (American) and _General Monk_, 299-303;
+    _General Pickering_ (American) and _Golden Eagle_, 304, 305;
+    _General Pickering_ and _Achilles_, 305, 306;
+    _Comet_ (American) and four English ships convoyed by Portuguese
+     war-ship, 309-311;
+    _Chasseur_ (American) and _St. Lawrence_, 312-316;
+    _General Armstrong_ (American) and _Carnation_, 317-324;
+    _Princess Royal_ packet and _Aventurier_, 330-333;
+    _Chance_ (colonial privateer) and Spanish ship, 334, 335;
+    _Chance_ and Spanish war-ship, 335, 336;
+    _Rover_ (colonial privateer) and five French ships, 337, 338;
+    _Rover_ and three Spanish ships, 338-340;
+    _Bonaparte_ and _Hippomenes_, 341, 342;
+    _Bonaparte_ and three English ships, 342-353;
+    _Windsor Castle_ packet and _Jeune Richard_, 354-357;
+    _Catherine_ and French privateer, 357-360;
+    _Fortune_ and French privateer, 360, 362;
+    _Three Sisters_ and French privateer, 362-364
+
+  Admiralty, High Court of, 11
+
+  _Adventure_, 214, 215, 228
+
+  Aigle, Captain de l', 235
+
+  Albatross, The, 80, 81
+
+  Albemarle, Lord, Admiral, 200
+
+  _Alexander_, 95
+
+  _Alexandre le Grande_, 106
+
+  Algiers, 117
+
+  America Cup, The, 325
+
+  American War of Secession, 112
+
+  _Amiable Maria_, 335, 336
+
+  _Amity_ and the Spaniards, 28-32
+
+  "Ancient Mariner, The," 81
+
+  _Anglesea_, 192
+
+  Anne, Queen, 48
+
+  Anson, Admiral Lord, 98
+
+  _Antelope_, 147
+
+  _Antigallican_, 97-99, 103, 104
+
+  Antigallicans, Society of, 96-99, 103, 105
+
+  Antigua, 239
+
+  _Apollon_, 192, 195
+
+  _Ardent_, 286, 289, 290 _n._
+
+  _Arethusa_, 264
+
+  _Argo_, 275-277, 280
+
+  Arica, 83
+
+  Aristocrats, French Naval; their hatred of privateersmen, 205, 224
+
+  Armed merchant vessels, Distinction of, 12
+
+  Articles of War, 193, 198
+
+  _Augusta_, 192
+
+  _Auguste_, 226
+
+  _Aurora_, 241, 242, 244
+
+  Austrian Succession, War of the, 47
+
+  _Aventurier_, 332
+
+  Azores, The, 149, 171, 172, 317
+
+
+  Backwoodsmen as Marines, 301, 302
+
+  Bahamas, The, 72
+
+  Baker, Mr. Peter, 111-115
+
+  Balasore Roads, 251
+
+  Ballet, John, 44
+
+  Barbadoes, Island of, 155, 342, 343, 349, 354
+
+  Barbary, 142
+
+  Barkley, Lieutenant, 237, 238
+
+  Barney, Joshua;
+    captured in a trader, 282;
+    first officer of _Pomona_, 282;
+    sails for Bordeaux, 282;
+    fights English privateer, 283;
+    a marvellous 3-pounder, 284;
+    reaches Bordeaux, 285;
+    captures an English privateer, 285;
+    is a prisoner of war, 285;
+    kindly treated by Admiral Byron, 286;
+    accused of incendiarism, 286, 287;
+    sent to England in _Yarmouth_, 287;
+    alleged cruel treatment, 287-289;
+    sent to Mill Prison, 289;
+    his ruse to escape, 293, 294;
+    his escape, 294, 295;
+    gets off in a fishing smack, 296;
+    brought back to England, 296;
+    escapes to Plymouth, 297, 298;
+    gets away to Holland, 298;
+    arrives in America, commands _Hyder Ali_, 299;
+    his action with _General Monk_, 299-303;
+    conflicting accounts of action, 303;
+    commands _General Washington_ (late _General Monk_), 304;
+    revisits Plymouth, 304;
+    other reference, 325
+
+  Barney, Mary (probably daughter of Joshua), 290, 291, 292
+
+  Bart, Jean, famous French privateer captain, romantic stories about,
+  196, 206;
+    his origin, 197;
+    boy on board a smuggler, 197;
+    mate on board _Cochon Gras_, 197;
+    wanton brutality of captain, 197;
+    witnesses application of the
+    Judgments of Oleron, 198-200;
+    pilots French nobles to Harwich, 200;
+    joins the Dutch navy, 201;
+    returns to France and commands a small privateer, 201;
+    captures a States-General war-ship, 201;
+    is admonished for ransoming prizes, 202;
+    captures eight armed ships, 202;
+    his desperate fight with a Dutchman, 202, 203;
+    receives a gold chain from the king, 203;
+    his continued success, 204;
+    takes another Dutch ship after a bloody encounter, 204, 205;
+    gallantry of the Dutch captain, 205;
+    he is badly wounded, and his ship destroyed, 205;
+    returns to Dunkirk after peace is declared, 205;
+    accepts a commission in the Navy, 205;
+    is snubbed by the aristocrats, 205;
+    the cask of gunpowder fable, 206, 207;
+    chiefly remembered as a privateer, 207
+
+  Barton, Andrew;
+    a leader of men, 20;
+    suppresses Flemish pirates, 21;
+    sends their heads to the king, 21;
+    his exploits under letter of marque, 21;
+    accused of piracy, 21;
+    two ships sent to take him, 22;
+    his fight with Howard, 23;
+    his gallantry and death, 23;
+    surrender of the _Lion_, 24;
+    the crew imprisoned, 24;
+    released on certain conditions, 25;
+    redress for his death refused by Henry VIII., 25;
+    "Ballad of Sir," 25, 26, 27;
+    the incident a true one, 27;
+    not a knight, 27;
+    no proof of his piracy, 28;
+    other reference, 203
+
+  Barton, John, father of Andrew, 19
+
+  Barton, Robert, brother of Andrew, 20
+
+  _Batchelor_, 72
+
+  Bath, William, 53
+
+  Bayonne, 6
+
+  _Beginning_, 61
+
+  Bengal, Bay of, 250, 251, 258, 261
+
+  Bentham, Com. George, 318
+
+  Bergen, 206
+
+  Bermuda, 314
+
+  Betagh, William, 76, 77, 78, 80, 82, 86, 87, 92
+
+  Betsy, 280
+
+  _Bienfaisant_, 195
+
+  _Bienvenue_, 243
+
+  Bizerta, 233
+
+  Blaize, Mlle. Marie, who marries Robert Surcouf, 255, 261
+
+  Blanco, Cape (South America), 338
+
+  _Bloodhound_, 308
+
+  Blundell, Captain (of Liverpool Regiment), 118
+
+  _Bonaparte_, 342-353
+
+  Bordeaux, 264, 282, 285, 286, 333
+
+  Borrowdale, Captain James, 117-120
+
+  _Boscawen_, 157, 158, 160, 164, 166, 167, 176
+
+  Boston, 220
+
+  Boulogne, 266
+
+  Bousfield, Captain Daniel, 350
+
+  Boyle, Captain Thomas, commands the _Comet_, 308;
+    runs blockade of Chesapeake, 308;
+    encounter with Portuguese war-ship and four English ships, 308-311;
+    captures one, 311;
+    his success in _Comet_, 312;
+    commands _Chasseur_, 312;
+    successful action with English man-of-war schooner _St. Lawrence_,
+    312-16;
+    discrepancies in accounts of action, 314, 315;
+    posts "Proclamation of Blockade" at Lloyd's, 316;
+    other reference, 325
+
+  Brazil, 52, 80
+
+  Brehat, Island of, 212, 219
+
+  Brest, 158, 162, 231
+
+  Bridgetown (Barbadoes), 343
+
+  _Brilliant_, 86
+
+  Bristol, 41, 43, 150, 169, 177, 298
+
+  Bristol Channel, 213
+
+  Brittany, Sir John of, 6
+
+  Bromedge, Captain Hugh, 177
+
+  Brook, John, 82, 83
+
+  Bruce, Sophia, 74
+
+  Bucaille, Baron, 262
+
+  Buccaneers, 14, 36, 39, 65, 73
+
+  Buchanan, George, Scotch historian, 24, 25, 27
+
+  Bulls, The Pope's traffic in, 29
+
+  Burnaby, Captain Sir William, 140
+
+  Byron, Vice-Admiral the Hon. John, 286;
+    wild chronology with regard to, 289, 290
+
+
+  Cadiz, 100, 101, 102, 180, 241
+
+  Caen, 209
+
+  Cagliari, 141
+
+  Calais, 200
+
+  Caldwell, Captain, 290
+
+  Campo Florida, Prince of, 132
+
+  Canary Islands, 76, 77
+
+  Cancer, Tropic of, 48
+
+  Candis, Mrs. (who married Alexander Selkirk), 74
+
+  Cape May (Delaware), 300
+
+  Cape May Roads, 300
+
+  Cape Verde Islands, 50, 239
+
+  Caper, 4
+
+  _Captain_, 161
+
+  Caramania, 129
+
+  Cardigan, 271
+
+  _Carnatic_, 114
+
+  _Carnation_, 318, 319, 322
+
+  Carolina, North, 155
+
+  Carolina, South, 154
+
+  Caroline, Queen (of George II.), 195
+
+  Carronade, 9-pounder, 299, 303
+
+  Carroway, Captain, 307
+
+  Carthagena (South America), 229, 230, 231
+
+  _Cartier_, 251, 252, 255
+
+  Cassard, Jacques, French privateersman, his origin, 229;
+    joins expedition against Carthagena, 229;
+    gallantry and resource in attack, 230;
+    his suppression of pillage, etc., 230, 231;
+    appointed naval lieutenant, 231;
+    but goes privateering, 231;
+    desperate and successful action with a Dutchman, 232, 233;
+    admonished for ransoming prizes, 233;
+    convoys grain-ships to Marseilles, 234;
+    is cheated by the merchants, 234;
+    convoys more grain-ships, 235;
+    his desperate fight with two English war-ships, 236-238;
+    he captures both, 238;
+    supervises military works at Toulon, 238;
+    commands a squadron and makes various conquests, 239;
+    jealousy of aristocrats and his own imprudence land him in prison,
+    where he dies, 239
+
+  _Catharina_, 169
+
+  _Catherine_, 357-360
+
+  Causand Bay (Devon), 296
+
+  _Centaur_, 348
+
+  _Centurion_, 246
+
+  _Ceres_, 342, 343, 344, 347, 349, 350, 352
+
+  _Chance_, 334-336
+
+  Charles, Archduke of Austria, 47
+
+  Charles II., King, 8, 11
+
+  Charles VI., Emperor, 75
+
+  Charnley, Captain John, 342, 346, 347, 350, 351, 352
+
+  _Charon_, 195
+
+  _Chasseur_, 312-316
+
+  _Chatham_, 226
+
+  Chesapeake Bay, 308
+
+  Chesapeake River, 282
+
+  Chiloe, 81
+
+  _Cicero_, 298
+
+  _Cinque Ports_, 37, 38, 39, 59, 61
+
+  Civil War (American), 13
+
+  _Clarisse_, 255, 256, 257
+
+  Clipperton, John, commands _Success_, with _Speedy_ as consort
+  (Captain Shelvocke), 76;
+    ill-will between them, 76;
+    separates from Shelvocke, 77;
+    leaves record at Juan Fernandez, 87;
+    has trouble with his crew, 88;
+    takes some prizes, 88;
+    one of them recaptured, 88, 89;
+    captures rich prize, 89;
+    she is recaptured by Spanish war-ships, 89;
+    takes to drink, 89;
+    some of his crew desert, 90;
+    encounters Shelvocke, 90;
+    they disagree and part, 91;
+    sails for China, 91;
+    returns home in an Indiaman, 91;
+    his death, 91;
+    other reference, 38
+
+  Clowes, Sir W. Laird, naval historian, 12 _n._, 313, 314
+
+  _Cochon Gras_, 197
+
+  Cochrane, Rear-Admiral the Hon. Alexander, 356
+
+  _Coetquen_, 212
+
+  Coggleshall, George, American seaman and writer, 270, 314, 325
+
+  Colbert, French Minister of State, 204
+
+  Coldsea, Mr., 85
+
+  Coleridge, Samuel T., the poet, 81
+
+  _Comet_, 308, 310, 311, 312
+
+  _Comte d'Artois_, 195
+
+  Concepcion (Chili), 81
+
+  _Concepcion_, 91
+
+  _Concorde_, 210
+
+  Confederate States of America, 13
+
+  _Confiance_, 257, 258-260
+
+  Connelly, Mr., 66
+
+  Constable, Captain Charles, 235, 236, 237
+
+  Cooke, Edward, 51, 61
+
+  _Cora_, 308
+
+  Cork, 42, 43, 45
+
+  Corunna, 99, 104
+
+  Cosby, Captain, 281
+
+  _Courier_, 246
+
+  Courtney, Captain Stephen, 45, 60, 61
+
+  Courts-Martial:
+    Captain Charles Constable, of the _Falcon_, 238
+    Captain William Dampier, of the _Roebuck_, 36
+    Lieutenant James E. Gordon, of the _St. Lawrence_, 314, 315
+    Captain Thomas Griffin, of the _Captain_, 161
+    Captain Savage Mostyn, of the _Hampton Court_, 162
+    Lieutenant Baker Phillips, of the _Anglesea_, 193, 194
+    Captain Edward Rumsey, of the _Pembroke_, 238
+    Captain Matthew Smith, of the _Diomede_, 246
+    Surviving officers of the _Nonsuch_, 221
+
+  _Creole_, 247
+
+  Crow, Captain Hugh, 12, 13
+
+  Curacao, 239, 340
+
+  Curtis, Vice-Admiral Sir Roger, 334
+
+  _Cybele_, 246, 247
+
+  Cyclones of the Indian Ocean, 242
+
+
+  Dampier, William, circumnavigator and privateer, served in the Navy, 35;
+    a buccaneer, 36;
+    commands a man-of-war, 36;
+    is tried by Court-Martial and dismissed, 36;
+    commands _St. George_, privateer, with _Cinque Ports_ as consort, 37;
+    South Sea voyage a failure, 37;
+    discontent, mutiny, and desertions, 37;
+    futile action with French ships, 37;
+    captures a large Spanish provision ship, 37;
+    parts from _Cinque Ports_, 38;
+    men desert with mate and steward, 38;
+    takes a brigantine and sails for East Indies, 38;
+    imprisoned in Dutch factory, 38;
+    arrives in England, 38;
+    controversy as to account of voyage, 38;
+    other references, 41, 44, 55, 58, 59, 64, 65, 73, 75
+
+  Dana, Richard, 83
+
+  Danes, The, 5
+
+  Daniel, Captain James, 82
+
+  _Danycan_, 211, 212
+
+  Dartmoor Prison, 281
+
+  Dartmouth, 157
+
+  _Dartmouth_, 185
+
+  _Dash_, 307
+
+  _Dauphin_, 204, 205
+
+  Dawson, Captain John, 112, 113, 114
+
+  Death, Captain, of the _Terrible_, 106, 109, 110, 111
+
+  _Defiance_, 98
+
+  Defoe, Daniel, 40, 57
+
+  Delaware Bay, 300
+
+  Delaware River, 300
+
+  _Delft_, 224, 225
+
+  Demerara, 341
+
+  Denham, Captain Robert, 177
+
+  _Dentelle_, 195, 196
+
+  De Pointis, 229, 231
+
+  De Ruyter, Dutch Admiral, 200
+
+  _Deux Freres_, 116
+
+  _Diana_, 251, 252, 254
+
+  Digby, Admiral, 296
+
+  Dinan, 240, 241
+
+  Dighton, Mass., 274
+
+  _Diligente_, 214, 215
+
+  _Diomede_, 246
+
+  Dominica, Island of, 350
+
+  D'Ongressill, Bernard, 6, 7, 8, 179
+
+  _Doris_, 323
+
+  Dottin, Captain Edward, 177, 183, 184, 185
+
+  Dover, Thomas, 43, 44, 55, 56, 58, 62, 65, 66, 71, 72
+
+  _Dragon_ man-of-war, 214, 215
+
+  _Dragon_ privateer, 277
+
+  _Dreadnought_, 161, 162
+
+  Dublin, 115
+
+  _Dublin_, 278-280
+
+  Du Cange, French archaeologist, 7 _n._
+
+  Du Casse, Governor of St. Domingo, 229, 230
+
+  _Duc de Penthievre_, 99, 100, 102-104
+
+  _Duchess_, 42, 44, 46, 53, 54, 60, 62, 65, 71
+
+  Du Haies, Captain, 235
+
+  _Duke_ (Rogers's ship), 42, 44, 46, 53, 59, 60, 61, 62, 65
+
+  _Duke_ (Jas. Talbot's ship), 149, 150, 177, 179, 183, 185
+
+  _Duke of Bedford_, 171
+
+  _Duke William_, 154, 155
+
+  Duncan, Captain, 285
+
+  Dunkirk, 197, 201, 203, 204, 205, 207
+
+
+  _Eclatant_, 233
+
+  Edward the Confessor, King, 5
+
+  Edward I., King, 6
+
+  _Elizabeth_, 195
+
+  Elizabeth, Queen, 25
+
+  _Ellen_, 117-119
+
+  Elton, Captain Jacob, 192, 193
+
+  _Emilie_, 249-251
+
+  _Endymion_, 324
+
+  _Esperance_, 201
+
+  _Eurydice_, 149
+
+  Exeter, 298
+
+
+  _Fair American_, 300
+
+  _Falcon_, armed ship, captured by Du Guay Trouin, 220, 221
+
+  _Falcon_, man-of-war, captured by Jacques Cassard, 235, 236
+
+  _Faluere_, 225
+
+  _Fame_ (Captain Moor), 115-117
+
+  _Fame_ (Captain Wright), 128-131, 135, 142
+
+  Faussett, Lieutenant Robert, 322
+
+  Fayal, Azores, 317, 318, 322
+
+  Fenn, Captain, 357, 358
+
+  Ferrol, 180, 186
+
+  Feuquieres, M. de, 234, 236, 237
+
+  Fisher, Lieutenant, 36
+
+  _Flamborough_, 97
+
+  _Fleuron_, 158-160, 162, 163, 234
+
+  Fleury, Cardinal, 239
+
+  Flodden Field, Battle of, 19
+
+  Florence, 125
+
+  Fly-boat, 30
+
+  Forteventura, Island of, 47
+
+  _Fortune_, 360-362
+
+  Foster, Captain William, 97, 98, 101, 104
+
+  Fourmentin, Denis, 262, 263
+
+  _Francois_, 219, 221
+
+  Frio, Cape, 77, 92
+
+  Funnell, William, 38
+
+
+  Gabriel, John, 68
+
+  Galapagos Islands, 68, 69, 73, 89
+
+  _General Armstrong_, 319-324
+
+  _General Monk_, 299-303;
+    conflicting accounts of action, 303
+
+  _General Pickering_, 304-306
+
+  _General Washington_ (Silas Talbot's ship), 280
+
+  _General Washington_ (afterwards _General Monk_, then recaptured), 299
+
+  Genoa, Gulf of, 234
+
+  _George_, 169
+
+  George II., King, 132
+
+  George III., King, 55, 246 _n._
+
+  Gibraltar, 100, 102, 104, 154, 357
+
+  Gibraltar, Strait of, 29
+
+  _Glorioso_, 181, 182
+
+  Godfrey, Captain, 337, 340
+
+  Godwin, Earl, 5
+
+  _Golden Eagle_, 304-306
+
+  Goldsworthy, Mr., Consul at Cadiz, 101
+
+  Good Hope, Cape of, 334
+
+  Gordon, Lieutenant James Edward, 314, 315
+
+  Grain-ships, French, 233-238
+
+  Green, Mr. John, 178
+
+  _Grenedan_, 211
+
+  Griffin, Captain Thomas, 161
+
+  Guadaloupe, Island of, 350
+
+  Guam, 70
+
+  Guano, 83
+
+  Guayaquil, 61, 63, 64, 69, 73, 88, 335, 336
+
+
+  Hall, Edward, Chronicler, 24, 25, 27
+
+  _Hampton Court_, 161, 162
+
+  Hampton Roads (America), 307
+
+  Haraden, Captain Jonathan, of Salem;
+    his skill and coolness under fire, 304, 306;
+    captures _Golden Eagle_ by an almost incredible ruse, 304, 305;
+    captures _Achilles_, 305, 306;
+    doubtful story of capture of an English packet, 306;
+    other reference, 325
+
+  Harrison, John, maker of first chronometer, 55
+
+  Harwich, 200
+
+  Hatley, Simon, 69, 76, 78-81
+
+  _Havre de Grace_, 69
+
+  Hazard, Captain, 276
+
+  Henry III., King, 5, 8
+
+  Henry VIII., King, 9, 21, 24, 25, 27
+
+  _Hercule_, 213
+
+  _Heron_, 241
+
+  _Hippomenes_, 341
+
+  _Hirondelle_, 234
+
+  Hodgson, Captain, 360-362
+
+  Hood, Commodore, 349
+
+  Hope, Captain Henry, 324
+
+  Hopkins, Samuel, 44
+
+  Horn, Cape, 35, 37, 53, 80
+
+  Hotham, Captain Henry, 264
+
+  Howard, Lord Charles, 26
+
+  Howard, Lord Edward, 22, 24
+
+  Howard, Thomas, Earl of Surrey, 22
+
+  Howard, Lord Thomas, 22, 23, 26
+
+  Hull, 9
+
+  _Hussar_, 111
+
+  Hutchinson, William, 128, 134, 145-148
+
+  _Hyder Ali_, 299-303;
+    conflicting accounts of action, 303
+
+
+  _Immortalite_ (British), 263, 264
+
+  _Invention_, 263-266
+
+  Iquique (South America), 83
+
+  _Isis_, 140
+
+  Isle Grande (Brazil), 52, 53
+
+  Isle de Rhe, 95 _n._, 96
+
+  Isle of Wight, 149
+
+
+  Jamaica, 13, 97, 118, 120
+
+  James II., King, 212
+
+  James III., of Scotland, 19, 20
+
+  James IV., of Scotland, 19, 20, 25
+
+  _Jane_, 257
+
+  _Jason_, 226, 228
+
+  _Jean Bart_, 246
+
+  Jenkins, Sir Leoline, 11, 365
+
+  _Jenny Pirwin_, 22, 24, 27
+
+  _Jersey_, 140
+
+  _Jersey_, prison ship at New York, 281
+
+  _Jesu Maria_, 90
+
+  _Jeune Richard_, 354-357
+
+  "John Crow" bird, 62
+
+  Jones, Paul, 13
+
+  Jonquiere, M. de la, 80
+
+  Juan Fernandez, Island of, 37, 39, 40, 54, 55, 60, 66, 74, 82, 83,
+  87, 88, 89, 90
+
+
+  Katharine of Aragon, Queen, 27
+
+  _Kent_, 258-260
+
+  _King David_, 201
+
+  _King George_, 177, 179, 180, 181, 182, 183, 185, 186
+
+  _King George_ (of Rhode Island), 275, 276, 277
+
+  King's Road, Bristol, 169
+
+  Kinsale, 37, 150, 192
+
+  Knights of St. John, 129
+
+
+  Ladrone Islands, 71
+
+  Lagos (Portugal), 6, 179
+
+  Lambert, Captain de, 235
+
+  Lanoix, a Huguenot seaman, 198-200
+
+  _Lansdowne_, 257
+
+  _Lark_, 140
+
+  La Rochelle, 261
+
+  Laughton, Sir John, 181
+
+  _Le Fevre_, 362-364
+
+  Leghorn, 127, 133, 134, 135, 137, 139, 140, 141
+
+  Le Mair, Strait of (South America), 80
+
+  _Lenore_, 224
+
+  Leslie, Bishop John, Scottish historian, 20, 22, 24, 27
+
+  Leslie, R.C., 72
+
+  Letters of marque;
+    abuse of term, 4;
+    instance in 1295, 6;
+    may be issued in time of peace, 8
+
+  Lima, 61, 62, 76, 83, 335
+
+  _Limeno_, 336
+
+  Limerick, 211
+
+  _Lion_ (Andrew Barton's ship), 22, 23, 27
+
+  _Lion_, British man-of-war, 195, 196
+
+  Lisbon, 6, 7, 98, 100, 178, 186, 311
+
+  Liverpool, 12, 111, 112, 124
+
+  Liverpool (Nova Scotia), 336, 337, 340
+
+  _Liverpool_, 146
+
+  Lloyd, Captain Robert, 318, 320, 321
+
+  Lobos, Island of, 61, 89
+
+  L'Orient, 104, 243
+
+  _Louis Erasme_, 150
+
+  Louis XIV., King of France, 47
+
+  Louis XVI., King of France, 246
+
+  _Lowestoft_, 134
+
+  Lucca, 125, 127
+
+  Lundy Island, 213
+
+  Lutwidge, Captain Skeffington, 289;
+    his log and letter about American prisoners, etc., 295, 296
+
+
+  Maclay, Mr. E.S., American naval writer, 270, 271, 272, 280, 284, 286,
+  287, 290, 292, 293, 297, 299, 305, 313, 314, 321, 322
+
+  Madagascar, 103
+
+  Madeira, 99, 171, 337
+
+  Madison, John, President of United States, 325
+
+  Madrid, 102, 105
+
+  Magee, W., 87
+
+  Magellan, Strait of, 87
+
+  Mahon (Corsica), 238
+
+  Majorca, Island of, 357 _n._
+
+  Malaga, 208, 209
+
+  Malartic, General, Governor of Mauritius, 258
+
+  _Malartic_, 258
+
+  Malo, M. Henri, 207, 262
+
+  Malta, 129, 130, 136, 140, 142, 143, 233, 357
+
+  Mann, Sir Horace, 125, 127, 138, 141
+
+  _Manship_, 257
+
+  Marcare, meaning of, 7 _n._
+
+  _Maria Theresa_, 99
+
+  _Marquis_, 69
+
+  _Marquis d'Antin_, 150
+
+  Marryat, Captain Frederick (the novelist), 262
+
+  _Mars_, 157, 158, 159, 160, 161, 162, 164, 165
+
+  _Mars_ (French), 205
+
+  Marseilles, 115, 130, 132, 137, 138, 233
+
+  Martens, Von, 11
+
+  Mason, Captain, 300
+
+  Mauritius, Island of, 242, 243, 245, 246, 247, 249, 251, 255
+
+  Maxey, Lieutenant, 307
+
+  Maximilian, Emperor, 19
+
+  McBride, Captain, 195
+
+  McKenzie, Captain Kenneth, 341, 342
+
+  _Mentor_, 111-115
+
+  _Mercury_, 81, 86
+
+  Mersey, River, 114
+
+  Messina, 129
+
+  Midshipman Easy, 185, 198
+
+  Miller, Captain, 140
+
+  Mill Prison, Plymouth, 289;
+    diet, etc., of American prisoners in, 293
+
+  Mill Prison, Barney's escape from, 293-295;
+    a very slack prison, 296, 298
+
+  _Monk_, 215, 216
+
+  Montserrat (West Indies), 239
+
+  Moor, Captain Edward, 115-117
+
+  Morecock, Captain, 149
+
+  Morocco, 177
+
+  Mostyn, Captain Savage, 161, 162
+
+  Mount-Edgecumbe, Lord, 297, 304
+
+  Mozambique, 242
+
+  Munroe, Captain, 278, 279
+
+
+  _Nancy_, 116
+
+  Nantes, 229, 239
+
+  Nantucket, 324
+
+  Naples, 132
+
+  _Naval Chronicle, The_, 265
+
+  _Navigator_, 243
+
+  Navy Board, The, 265
+
+  Nelson, Lord, 12, 51
+
+  _Neptune_, 159
+
+  _Neptune_ (Dutch), 202-204
+
+  Newcastle, 9
+
+  Newfoundland, Banks of, 115, 149
+
+  New York, 274, 281, 285, 286, 289, 290 _n._, 307
+
+  Nicolas, Sir Harris, 7 _n._
+
+  _Nonsuch_ (alias _Sanspareil_), 220-224, 226
+
+  Norman, Mr. C.B., 200, 217, 233 _n._, 235, 238
+
+  _Notre Dame de Deliverance_, 150
+
+  Nova Scotia, 336
+
+
+  Oleron, Judgments of, 198, 199, 200
+
+  Onslow, Captain, 290
+
+  Oppenheim, Mr. M., 29
+
+  Oran, 142
+
+  Orissa (India), 252
+
+  Orotava (Teneriffe), 47
+
+  Osborn, Captain, 246
+
+  Ostend, 75, 76
+
+  Oughton, Captain (in Marryatt's novel), 262
+
+
+  Packets, description of, 329
+
+  Page, Mr., 51, 52
+
+  Painpeny, French captain, 352
+
+  _Palme_, 202, 204
+
+  Panama, 62, 63
+
+  Panama, Gulf of, 35
+
+  _Parfait_, 235, 236
+
+  Paris, Declaration of, 364
+
+  Parker, Admiral Sir Hyde, 51
+
+  Parker, John, 44
+
+  Parnell, Captain, 165
+
+  Payta, 84
+
+  _Pembroke_, 235-238
+
+  _Penelope_, 342, 343, 344, 347, 348, 349, 350, 352
+
+  _Peregrine_, 86
+
+  Pernambuco, 308
+
+  Peru, 61, 68, 69, 89, 334
+
+  Philadelphia, 299
+
+  Phillips, Lieutenant Baker, 193;
+    his tragic end, 194, 195
+
+  Phillips, Captain, 95, 96
+
+  _Phoenix_, 235, 236
+
+  Pickering, Captain, 37
+
+  Piece of Eight, The value of, 67
+
+  Pirates, 1;
+    confused with privateers, 1, 14, 72;
+    Flemish, 20, 21;
+    Mediterranean, 153
+
+  Pitt, Mr. William, Minister, 103, 105
+
+  _Plantagenet_, 318, 321, 323
+
+  Plymouth, 76, 106, 216, 264, 296, 297
+
+  _Pomona_, 282-284;
+    inaccurate accounts of her capture, 285, 286, 287, 290
+
+  Pondicherry, 242
+
+  Port Louis, Mauritius, 256
+
+  Port Royal, Jamaica, 120
+
+  Portsmouth, 99, 195
+
+  Portugal, King of, 6, 7 _n._, 8
+
+  Portuguese mate; his hatred of Surcouf, 244, 245
+
+  "Pretty shop-girl," Du Guay Trouin's friend, 216-219
+
+  Powell, Commodore, 74
+
+  _Prince de Neufchatel_, 324
+
+  _Prince Edward_, 178, 179
+
+  _Prince Eugene_, 75
+
+  _Prince Frederick_, 149, 177, 179, 180, 183, 184, 185
+
+  _Prince George_ (Jas. Talbot's ship), 149
+
+  _Prince George_ (Geo. Walker's tender), 178, 179
+
+  _Prince of Orange_, 214, 217
+
+  _Princess Amelia_, 177, 178, 179
+
+  _Princess Royal_ (Admiral Byron's flagship), 290 _n._
+
+  _Princess Royal_ packet, 330-333
+
+  Prisoners of war, alleged cruel treatment of American, 271, 287-289
+
+  Privateering, origin of, 4, 5;
+    only applicable to a state of war, 6;
+    value of, 9;
+    when fully recognised, 9;
+    success in 16th century, 9;
+    drawbacks of, 10, 11, 12;
+    against Spanish treasure-ships in South Seas, 35;
+    French men-of-war lent for, 192;
+    future of, 364, 365
+
+  Privateers, number employed in French and American wars, 10;
+    Scotch, 11;
+    some fine men among commanders, 12;
+    diversity of opinion about, 11, 12, 269, 270, 271, 273;
+    exaggerated accounts of actions by, 271;
+    an American, and Welsh prize, 271, 272;
+    humanity of American, 272, 273;
+    exploits of two colonial, 333-340
+
+  Private vessels employed as men-of-war, 5
+
+  _Profound_, 213
+
+  _Prudente_, 246
+
+  Puna, Island of (South America), 63, 64, 66, 68, 335
+
+
+  Quakers, 41, 43
+
+  Quebec, 300
+
+  Querangal, Lieutenant Francois de, 103
+
+  Quibo, Island of, 90
+
+
+  Ranc, Captain (Dutch), 204
+
+  Rangoon, 250
+
+  Ransoming prizes forbidden, 202, 233
+
+  Reid, Captain Samuel C., 317, 318, 319, 321, 322
+
+  Rennes, 209
+
+  _Revenant_ (the _Ghost_), Surcouf's last ship, 261
+
+  Rhode Island, 275, 281
+
+  Richardson, Captain, 349
+
+  Riddle, Mr., 178
+
+  Rio Janeiro, 52, 256
+
+  Robertson, Mr., 357, 360
+
+  Robinson Crusoe, 40, 57
+
+  Robinson, Captain Isaiah, 282-286
+
+  _Robuste_, 281
+
+  Rochefort, 219
+
+  Rodney, Admiral Lord, 287
+
+  _Roebuck_, 36, 37
+
+  Rogers, John, 45, 63
+
+  Rogers, Com. Josias, 299, 300, 301, 303
+
+  Rogers, Acting Captain W. (of _Windsor Castle_ packet), 354-357
+
+  Rogers, Woodes;
+    wrongly alluded to as a pirate, 14, 72;
+    his birth and parentage, 41;
+    proposes expedition to South Seas, 41;
+    some Quakers among his owners, 41;
+    his lucid account of his voyage, 42;
+    sails in _Duke_ with _Duchess_, 42;
+    puts into Cork, 42;
+    constitution of council, 43;
+    staff of the two ships, 43, 44;
+    Dampier sailing master, 44;
+    mixed crews, 45;
+    "continually marrying," 45, 46;
+    condition of the ships, 46;
+    sails for Madeira, 46;
+    refuses demand of crew, who mutiny, 46;
+    "breaking unlawful friendships," 47;
+    captures Spanish vessel off Teneriffe, 47;
+    his amenities with his prisoners, 47;
+    dispute about his prize, 48;
+    crossing the Tropic, 48, 49;
+    his rules about plunder, 49;
+    loses his linguist at St. Vincent, 50;
+    frequent exchange of visits at sea, 50, 51;
+    more mutiny; his firmness, 51, 52;
+    he has prayers read daily, 52;
+    refits ships at Isle Grande, 52, 53;
+    "logs" Mr. Carleton Vanbrugh, and sends him to _Duchess_, 53;
+    celebrates New Year's Day, 53;
+    a mishap to _Duchess_, 54;
+    goes far South, and doubles Cape Horn, 54;
+    arrives off Juan Fernandez, 55;
+    finds Alexander Selkirk and makes him a mate, 56-59;
+    leaves Juan Fernandez, 60;
+    Vanbrugh received on board again, 60;
+    more rules about plunder, 60, 61;
+    converts two small prizes to his own uses, 61, 62;
+    Vanbrugh again in trouble, 62;
+    captures two prizes; his brother killed in action, 63;
+    arrives in Gulf of Guayaquil, 63;
+    captures Governor of Puna, 63;
+    disquieting news, 64;
+    sends boats to attack Guayaquil, 64;
+    finds people alert, 65;
+    cautious counsels, 65;
+    lands and attacks successfully, 66;
+    disappointed of treasure, 66;
+    the "modesty" of his crew, 67;
+    agrees upon ransom, 67;
+    returns on board, 68;
+    leaves Guayaquil, 68;
+    sickness and lack of water, 69;
+    trouble over plunder, 69, 70;
+    trials of a privateer captain, 70;
+    captures a rich Manila ship, and loses another, 71;
+    is severely wounded, 71;
+    dispute about Dr. Dover, 72;
+    returns home by way of the East Indies, 72;
+    is made Governor of the Bahamas, 72;
+    his death, 72;
+    other references, 75, 76, 77, 80, 88
+
+  Roosevelt, Mr. Theodore (late President United States), 270
+
+  _Rosario_, 88, 89
+
+  _Rosebud_, 285
+
+  _Rota_, 318, 321
+
+  _Rover_, 336, 337
+
+  _Royale_, 201, 202
+
+  "Royal Family" privateers, 177, 178, 185
+
+  Rumsey, Captain Edward, 235-238
+
+  _Russell_, 183, 185, 186
+
+  Russo-Japanese War, 28
+
+
+  Safia, 177
+
+  Sailing ships, American and British, 325
+
+  _Saint Aaron_, 212
+
+  St. Antonio (Cape Verde Islands), 50
+
+  St. Catherine, Island of (Brazil), 80
+
+  St. Denis (Isle of Bourbon), 247
+
+  St. Domingo (West Indies), 229
+
+  St. Eustatia (West Indies), 239
+
+  _St. Fermin_, 82
+
+  _St. Francisco_, 28-32
+
+  _St. George_ (Dampier's ship), 37, 83
+
+  _St. George_ (Wright's ship), 135, 136, 138, 141
+
+  St. Iago (Cape Verde Islands), 239
+
+  St. Ives, 176
+
+  _St. Jacques des Victoires_, 224, 225
+
+  St. Malo, 106, 150, 210, 211, 212, 219, 224, 231, 239, 255, 261
+
+  St. Martin's Road (Isle de Rhe), 95
+
+  _St. Mary_, 6
+
+  St. Mary, Island of (Madagascar), 103
+
+  St. Paul's Bay (Isle of Bourbon), 247
+
+  St. Pol, M. de (French mate), 242
+
+  _St. Peter_, 28-32
+
+  St. Vincent, Cape, 182
+
+  _St. William_, 231, 232
+
+  Sandy Hook, 278, 281
+
+  _Sanspareil_ (_alias Nonsuch_), 220-224, 226
+
+  _Santa Anna Gratia_, 119
+
+  _Santa Familia_, 91, 92
+
+  _Santa Rita_, 339
+
+  _Saratoga_ (American man-of-war), 290
+
+  _Saratoga_ (American privateer), ridiculous story about, 278, 279
+
+  Sardinia, 141
+
+  Sauret, Antoine, 197, 198, 199, 201
+
+  Scarborough, 9
+
+  Schomberg, Captain (Naval chronicler), 237
+
+  Scilly Isles, 214, 228
+
+  Scottish Rebellion of '45, 151
+
+  Selcraig (original name of Selkirk), 74
+
+  Selim, a young Turk, 142-144
+
+  Selkirk, Alexander;
+    sailing master in _Cinque Ports_, 38;
+    been with buccaneers, 39;
+    his hatred of Captain Stradling, 39;
+    determines to desert at Juan Fernandez, 39;
+    he is landed there, 39;
+    the prototype of Robinson Crusoe, 40;
+    is rescued by Woodes Rogers, 56;
+    describes his adventures, 57, 58;
+    is reluctant to sail with Dampier, 58, 59;
+    made a mate on board _Duke_, 59;
+    returns to Scotland, but laments his island, 73;
+    elopes with Sophia Bruce, 74;
+    marries Mrs. Candis, 74;
+    dies in the Royal Navy, 74;
+    other references, 62, 66
+
+  Semmes, Captain Raphael (of the _Alabama_), 13
+
+  _Serieux_, 233, 235-237
+
+  Seychelles Islands, 249, 250
+
+  Shannon, River, 211
+
+  _Sheerness_, 165-167
+
+  Shelvocke, George;
+    commands two privateers under a foreign commission, 75;
+    goes to Ostend, 75;
+    commissions altered to English, 76;
+    commands _Speedwell_ under Clipperton in _Success_, 76;
+    his hatred of Clipperton, 76;
+    sails from Plymouth, 76;
+    they separate in a gale, 77;
+    he robs a Portuguese ship, 77-80;
+    alleged mutiny, 80;
+    runs far south, 80;
+    his officer shoots an albatross, 81;
+    Coleridge's albatross, 81;
+    rounds Cape Horn and sights Chili, 81;
+    lingers on the coast, 81;
+    captures two small prizes, 81;
+    his men are ambushed, 82;
+    burns a prize, 82;
+    sails for Juan Fernandez, 82;
+    finds there record of Clipperton, 82;
+    his disingenuousness, 83;
+    takes two guano ships, 83;
+    fires the town of Payta, 84;
+    action with a large Spanish ship, 84-86;
+    his officer's account of the action, 86, 87;
+    is wrecked on Juan Fernandez, 89;
+    builds a small ship, captures and exchanges into a prize, 90;
+    unpleasant meeting with Clipperton, 90;
+    they part on bad terms, 91;
+    exchanges into another prize, 91;
+    Spanish Governor announces peace, and demands return of prize, 91;
+    he disregards, and quits, 91;
+    in difficulties, contemplates surrender, but eventually sails for
+    China in another prize, 91;
+    his suspicious conduct at Whampoa, 92;
+    returns home in an Indiaman, and is arrested for piracy, 92;
+    proofs failing, is imprisoned for fraud, 92;
+    escapes and leaves England, 92;
+    writes an account of his voyage, 92;
+    his officer writes a very different one, 92
+
+  _Sherdam_, 204
+
+  _Sibylle_ (British frigate), 256
+
+  Skinner, Captain John, 330-332
+
+  Slave Trade, English, 12, 13
+
+  Slave Trade, French, 242, 243, 247, 248
+
+  Smith, Captain Matthew, 246
+
+  Smith, William, 97
+
+  Smollett, Tobias, historian, 124
+
+  Smyrna, 234
+
+  _Solebay_, 95, 96
+
+  Somerville, Captain Philip, 318
+
+  Sonson (Sumatra), 256
+
+  Spanish Succession, War of, 47
+
+  Spanish treasure-ships, 35
+
+  _Speedwell_, 75, 76, 81, 84-87, 90
+
+  _Staremberg_, 75
+
+  _Stendard_, 234
+
+  Stradling, Captain, 37, 39, 40, 61
+
+  Stretton, Mr., 72
+
+  Stuart, Charles Edward (the young Pretender), 195
+
+  _Success_, 75, 78, 82, 88
+
+  Sumatra, 250, 256
+
+  _Sunderland_, 161
+
+  Surcouf, Nicholas (brother of Robert), 255
+
+  Surcouf, Robert, famous French privateer captain;
+    his origin, 240;
+    destined for the Church, 240;
+    sent to a seminary, 240;
+    resents chastisement, and runs away, 241;
+    ships on a brig, 241;
+    volunteer on _Aurora_, 241;
+    behaves well in a storm, 242;
+    wreck of the slave ship, 242;
+    his zeal and courage afterwards, 243;
+    returns home, 243;
+    back to Indian seas, 243;
+    mate in a trading vessel, 243;
+    enmity of the chief officer, 244;
+    nearly dies in a fit, 244;
+    episode at death-bed of chief officer, 245;
+    joins a colonial war-ship, 245;
+    in an action with English war-ships, 246;
+    is commended, 247;
+    commands a slave brig, 247;
+    episode with the Health Committee, 247-249;
+    offered command of a privateer, 249;
+    commission refused, 249;
+    sails as an armed trader, 249;
+    narrowly escapes capture, 250;
+    determines to act as a privateer, 250;
+    captures several ships, and exchanges into one, 250, 251;
+    captures the _Triton_ Indiaman, 252-254;
+    his brig is captured, 255;
+    arrives at Mauritius and finds his actions condemned, 255;
+    he appeals home successfully, and pockets his unlawful gains, 255;
+    becomes engaged to Marie Blaize, 255;
+    goes to sea again, makes a prize, and arrives at Mauritius, 256;
+    narrow escape from an English frigate, 256;
+    captures an American ship, 257;
+    the Governor prevents him from fighting a duel, 258;
+    his capture of the _Kent_ East Indiaman, 258-260;
+    returns home and is married, 261;
+    his last ship, the _Ghost_, 261;
+    complaint of merchants and East India company, 261;
+    settles down at St. Malo;
+    his death, 261;
+    other references, 207, 262
+
+  Surcouf, Robert (great-nephew and biographer of the privateersman),
+  248, 251, 252, 256, 258
+
+  Syracuse, 234, 235
+
+
+  Talbot, Captain James, 149, 150, 151
+
+  Talbot, Captain (or Colonel) Silas; his birth, 274;
+    ships as cabin-boy, 274;
+    captain in U.S. army, 274;
+    commands a fireship, 274;
+    captures an English vessel at Rhode Island, 275;
+    commands the _Argo_, a small privateer, 275;
+    captures a Rhode Island privateer, 276;
+    action with the _Dragon_ and marvellous escapes, 277;
+    in company with _Saratoga_ captures a Dublin privateer, 278;
+    ridiculous story, 278, 279;
+    encounters an honest Scotchman, and takes his ship, 280;
+    commands _General Washington_, but is soon captured, 280;
+    his alleged ungenerous treatment by a "Scotch lord," 281;
+    imprisoned at New York, 281;
+    sent to England and imprisoned at Dartmoor, 281;
+    vainly attempts to escape, is eventually liberated and returns to
+    America, 281;
+    his death, 281
+
+  Taylor, Captain, 165
+
+  Tea, recipe for making at sea, 148
+
+  _Temeraire_, 234
+
+  Teneriffe, 47
+
+  _Terrible_, 106-111
+
+  _Thetis_, 342, 343, 344, 347, 348, 350, 351, 352
+
+  Thibaut, Captain, 264, 265
+
+  _Three Sisters_, 362-364
+
+  Thurot, Emile, successful French privateer captain, 262
+
+  _Times, The_, strong comment on American successes by, 324
+
+  _Topaze_, 74
+
+  Torrington, Mr. (an "Antigallican"), 97
+
+  Toulon, 238
+
+  Toulouse, 234, 235
+
+  Trinidad, Island of (off Brazil coast), 52
+
+  _Trinity_, 88
+
+  _Triton_, 251-255, 256, 257
+
+  Trouin, Luc (father of Rene Du Guay), 208, 209
+
+  Trouin, Rene, uncle of Rene Du Guay, 208, 209
+
+  Trouin, Rene Du Guay, famous French privateer captain;
+    his origin, 208;
+    destined for the Church, 209;
+    sent to a seminary, 209;
+    elects to study law, 209;
+    but learns nothing except fencing, 209;
+    dissipating in Paris, encounters the head of the family, 209;
+    his family sends him to sea in a privateer, 209;
+    distinguishes himself in action, 210;
+    takes part in capture of convoy, 211;
+    takes command of a privateer at eighteen, 211;
+    pillages in Ireland, 211;
+    gets a better ship, 212;
+    with a consort captures a convoy and two English sloops-of-war, 212;
+    escapes at great risk from an English squadron, 212;
+    his skilful navigation, 212, 213;
+    narrow escape in Bristol Channel, 213;
+    has some bad luck, 213;
+    sickness, short food, and mutiny, 213;
+    his dream comes true, 214;
+    sails round the _Prince of Orange_, 214;
+    fires at her under English colours, 214;
+    chased by six men-of-war, 214;
+    his desperate scheme, 215;
+    holds out, though surrounded, 216;
+    his crew shirk and fire breaks out, 216;
+    brings his men up with grenades, 216;
+    is badly wounded and surrenders, 216;
+    kindness of the English captain, 216;
+    on parole at Plymouth, 216;
+    his "pretty shop-girl," 217;
+    is recognised by captain of _Prince of Orange_, who denounces him
+    as a pirate, 218;
+    imprisoned pending decision, 218;
+    allowed to receive friends, pretty shop-girl included, 218;
+    plans escape with her assistance, 218, 219;
+    a love-sick young Frenchman, 219;
+    buys a boat from a Swede and is completely successful, 219;
+    returns to France, and finds a ship ready for him, 219;
+    captures two large English ships, 220, 221;
+    his king presents him with a sword of honour, 221;
+    with a consort captures three Indiamen, cargoes valued at one million
+    sterling, 222;
+    commands one of his prizes, and captures two Dutch ships off Vigo, 222;
+    falls in with English fleet, 222;
+    his bold and successful ruse, 222, 223;
+    his ill-treatment by a French naval aristocrat, 224;
+    with four consorts engages three Dutch war-ships with convoy, 224;
+    desperate action with Dutch commodore's ship, 224, 225;
+    gallantry of the commodore, 225;
+    he captures all three, with heavy loss on both sides, 225;
+    an anxious night, 225;
+    he brings in his prizes, 226;
+    is made a commander in the navy, 226;
+    his marvellous escape from an English squadron, 226-228;
+    his death, 228;
+    other references, 229, 239, 240
+
+  Tuckerman, H.T. (biographer of Silas Talbot), 281
+
+  Turkey Company, The, 132, 133
+
+  Twiss, Sir Travers, 15
+
+
+  Underwood, George, 44
+
+  _Univers_, 116
+
+
+  Valbue, Jerome, 197, 198, 199
+
+  Vanbrugh, Mr. Carleton, 48, 53, 62, 70
+
+  _Vengeance_, 106, 109, 111
+
+  Vernon, Admiral, 11
+
+  _Vestale_, 234
+
+  Vigo, 222
+
+  Vigor, John, 44
+
+  Villeneuve, M.E. de, 103
+
+  _Virginia_, 290
+
+
+  Walker, George, a great English privateer captain;
+    eulogised by naval historian, 152;
+    enthusiasm of his biographer, 152, 153;
+    his modesty, 153;
+    served in Dutch navy, 153;
+    commands _Duke William_, 154;
+    frightens a Spanish privateer by a ruse, 154;
+    clears Carolina coast of Spanish privateers, 155;
+    sails for England with three traders, 155;
+    in peril in storm, 155;
+    intervenes from sick bed to save ship, 155, 156;
+    his ruse to obtain assistance, 156;
+    arrives in England to find that he is ruined, 156;
+    trades to the Baltic, 156;
+    again escapes capture by a ruse, 156;
+    sails in _Mars_ with _Boscawen_, 157;
+    fights a French war-ship, 157;
+    "prudence" of _Boscawen's_ captain, 157;
+    falls in with two French treasure-ships, 157;
+    _Boscawen_ runs away, 158;
+    surrenders _Mars_ to two French ships, 159;
+    French and English politeness, 159;
+    unusual projectiles, 160;
+    four English war-ships give chase, 160;
+    _Mars_ recaptured, 161;
+    incapacity of English captains, 161, 162;
+    arrives at Brest and is liberated on parole, 162, 163;
+    _Fleuron_ is blown up, 163;
+    his tact and courage, 164;
+    arrives in England, 164;
+    commands _Boscawen_ with _Mars_ in company, 164;
+    _Boscawen_ a "slopped" ship, 165;
+    outwits an Exeter privateer captain, 165;
+    sails and meets _Sheerness_, 166;
+    sights eight armed French ships, 166;
+    his admirable speech to his officers, 166;
+    sinks one and captures six, 167;
+    his device for protection of his men, 168;
+    rigs out an old lady prisoner, 168;
+    her tragic account of the action, 168, 169;
+    acknowledgment of his services by Admiralty, 169;
+    captures and buys a vessel as tender, 169;
+    his dealings with mutineers, 169, 170;
+    a foolish joke, 171;
+    his perilous voyage home and heroic conduct, 173-176;
+    wrecked in St. Ives, crew saved, 176;
+    his owner's eulogy, 176;
+    commands the "Royal Family" privateers, 177;
+    loses one ship, 177;
+    chased by French, escapes; one ship parts, 177;
+    cuts out a French ship at Safia, 177;
+    his dealings with his officers, 178;
+    makes a tender of his prize, 178;
+    puts into Lisbon with much gain and no loss of men, 178;
+    buys a ship at Lisbon, 178;
+    but loses her by an extraordinary accident, 179;
+    chases and engages a 74-gun Spanish ship alone, 180;
+    an extraordinary engagement, 180-182;
+    Spaniards' poor gunnery, 182;
+    his courage and self-possession, 182;
+    Spaniard desists and retires, 183;
+    _Russell_ joins in chase, 183;
+    _Dartmouth_ joins and is blown up, 184, 185;
+    Lieut. O'Brien's apology, 185;
+    Spaniard captured, but treasure already landed, 186;
+    ungenerous conduct of his owners, 186;
+    deprived of his ship, 186;
+    goes home in packet, 186;
+    saves her from a pirate, 187;
+    is imprisoned for debt, 187;
+    his integrity, 187;
+    his death, 187;
+    other references, 96, 116, 117, 194, 280
+
+  Waller, Edmund, the poet, 153
+
+  Walpole, Horace, 125
+
+  Wapping, 46
+
+  Warren, Captain, 216
+
+  Warren, Sir Peter, 98
+
+  _Warwick_, 98
+
+  Wassenaer, Baron de, 225
+
+  Welbe, George, 38
+
+  Welch, an Irish captain of a French privateer, 212
+
+  Wentworth, Sir John (Governor of Nova Scotia), 337
+
+  Weymouth, 164
+
+  _Weymouth_, 74
+
+  Whampoa, 91
+
+  White, Captain William, 334, 336
+
+  _Whiting_, 307
+
+  Whittaker, Admiral Sir Edward, 238
+
+  Whyte, Captain Thomas, 28-32
+
+  Williamson, Secretary, 11
+
+  Wilson, Captain William, 323
+
+  Winchester, Bishop of, 24, 25
+
+  _Windsor Castle_ packet, 354-357
+
+  _Worcester_, 226, 228
+
+  Wordsworth, William, the poet, 81
+
+  Wright, Fortunatus, a great English privateer captain;
+    his father, 123;
+    his epitaph, 124;
+    allusion by Smollett, 124;
+    settles in Liverpool, 125;
+    retires and lives abroad, 125;
+    his adventures at Lucca, 125-127;
+    settles at Leghorn, 127;
+    war with France, 127;
+    depredations of French privateers, 127;
+    commands the _Fame_ privateer, 127, 128;
+    his plan of cruising, 128, 129;
+    captures a large French privateer, 129;
+    his success causes bitter feeling against him at Malta, 129, 130;
+    a vessel specially fitted out to take him, 130;
+    captures and brings her into Malta, 131;
+    his sense of humour, 131;
+    captures a ship under safe-conduct from George II., 132;
+    submits to the Admiral's judgment and restores her, 132;
+    seizes two French ships with Turkish cargoes, 133;
+    action of the Turkey Company, 133;
+    refuses to refund prize-money, 133;
+    imprisoned in Italy, 133, 134;
+    gives bail to answer the charge, 134;
+    emerges triumphant--his dignified reply, 134;
+    engages in commerce with William Hutchinson, 134;
+    war being imminent, builds a vessel at Leghorn, 135;
+    vigilance of Italian authorities, 135, 136;
+    his plan to outwit them, 136;
+    rewards offered for his capture, 137;
+    fights a large French privateer sent out to waylay him, 137-139;
+    disables her and returns with convoy to Leghorn, 139;
+    is detained there by force, 139;
+    liberated by two English war-ships, 140;
+    his unfair treatment at Malta, 140;
+    sails round a big French privateer, 140;
+    refused admission to Leghorn, 141;
+    unaccountably disappears, 141;
+    suggestion of political intrigue, 141;
+    the romantic story of Selim and Zaida, 142-144;
+    "unhappily exiled" from England, 144;
+    other references, 117, 152
+
+
+  _Yarmouth_, 281;
+    treatment of American prisoners on board, 287-289
+
+  York, Bishop of, 24
+
+
+  Zaida, a Moorish maiden, 142-144
+
+  _Zephyr_, 116
+
+
+_Printed by Hazell, Watson & Viney, Ld., London and Aylesbury._
+
+
+
+
+
+End of Project Gutenberg's Privateers and Privateering, by E. P. Statham
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