Afloat And Ashore

J >> James Fenimore Cooper >> Afloat And Ashore

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A gleam of intelligence, and I thought of pleasure, shot athwart the
countenance of Captain Robbins, as I helped him over the Tigris's
side. He saw I was safe. He tottered as he walked, and leaned heavily
on me for support. I was about to lead him aft, but his eye caught
sight of a scuttlebutt, and the tin-pot on its head. Thither he went,
and stretched out a trembling hand to the vessel. I gave him the pot
as it was, with about a wine-glass of water in it This he swallowed at
a gulp, and then tottered forward for more. By this time Captain
Digges joined us, and gave the proper directions how to proceed. All
the sufferers had water in small quantities given them, and it is
wonderful with what expressions of delight they received the grateful
beverage. As soon as they understood the necessity of keeping it as
long as possible in their mouths, and on their tongues, before
swallowing it, a little did them a great deal of good. After this, we
gave them some coffee, the breakfast being ready, and then a little
ship's biscuit soaked in wine. By such means every man was saved,
though it was near a month before all were themselves again. As for
Captain Robbins and Kite, they were enabled to attend to duty by the
end of a week, though nothing more was exacted of them than they chose
to perform.

CHAPTER VI.

"The yesty waves
Confound and swallow navigation up."
_Macbeth._

Poor Captain Robbins! No sooner did he regain his bodily strength,
than he began to endure the pain of mind that was inseparable from the
loss of his ship. Marble, who, now that he had fallen to the humbler
condition of a second-mate, was more than usually disposed to be
communicative with me, gave me to understand that our old superior had
at first sounded Captain Digges on the subject of proceeding to the
wreck, in order to ascertain what could be saved; but the latter had
soon convinced him that a first-rate Philadelphia Indiaman had
something else to do besides turning wrecker. After a pretty broad
hint to this effect, the John, and all that was in her, were abandoned
to their fate. Marble, however, was of opinion that the gale in which
the launch came so near being lost, must have broken the ship entirely
to pieces, giving her fragments to the ocean. We never heard of her
fate, or recovered a single article that belonged to her.

Many were the discussions between Captain Robbins and his two mates,
touching the error in reckoning that had led them so far from their
course. In that day, navigation was by no means as simple a thing as
it has since become. It is true, lunars were usually attempted in
India and China ships; but this was not an every-day affair, like the
present morning and afternoon observations to obtain the time, and, by
means of the chronometer, the longitude. Then we had so recently got
clear of the islands, as to have no great need of any extraordinary
head-work; and the "bloody currents" had acted their pleasure with us
for eight or ten days before the loss of the ship. Marble was a very
good navigator, one of the best I ever sailed with, in spite of the
plainness of his exterior, and his rough deportment; and, all things
considered, he treated his old commander with great delicacy,
promising to do all he could, when he got home, to clear the matter
up. As for Kite, he knew but little, and had the discretion to say but
little. This moderation rendered our passage all the more agreeable.

The Tigris was a very fast ship, besides being well-found. She was a
little larger than the John, and mounted twelve guns, nine-pounders.
In consequence of the additions made to her crew, one way and another,
she now mustered nearer fifty than forty souls on board. Captain
Digges had certain martial tastes, and, long before we were up with
the Cape, he had us all quartered and exercised at the guns. He, too,
had had an affair with some proas, and he loved to converse of the
threshing he had given the rascals. I thought he envied us our
exploit, though this might have been mere imagination on my part, for
he was liberal enough in his commendations. The private intelligence
he had received of the relations between France and America, quickened
his natural impulses; and, by the time we reached St. Helena, the ship
might have been said to be in good fighting order for a merchantman.
We touched at this last-mentioned island for supplies, but obtained no
news of any interest. Those who supplied the ship could tell us
nothing but the names of the Indiamen who had gone out and home for
the last twelvemonth, and the prices of fresh meat and vegetables.
Napoleon civilized them, seventeen years later.

We had a good run from St. Helena to the calm latitudes, but these
last proved calmer than common. We worried through them after a while,
however, and then did very well until we got in the latitude of the
Windward Islands. Marble one day remarked to me that Captain Digges
was standing closer to the French island of Guadaloupe than was at all
necessary or prudent, if he believed in his own reports of the danger
there existed to American commerce, in this quarter of the ocean.

I have lived long enough, and have seen too much of men and things, to
fancy my country and countrymen right in all their transactions,
merely because newspapers, members of congress, and fourth of July
orators, are pleased to affirm the doctrine. No one can go much to sea
without reading with great distrust many of the accounts, in the
journals of the day, of the grievous wrongs done the commerce of
America by the authorities of this or that port, the seizure of such a
ship, or the imprisonment of some particular set of officers and
men. As a rule, it is safer to assume that the afflicted parties
deserve all that has happened to them, than to believe them
immaculate; and, quite likely, much more, too. The habit of receiving
such appeals to their sympathies, renders the good people of the
republic peculiarly liable to impositions of this nature; and the
mother who encourages those of her children who fetch and carry, will
be certain to have her ears filled with complaints and tattle.
Nevertheless, it is a fact beyond all dispute, that the commerce of
the country was terribly depredated on by nearly all the European
belligerents, between the commencement of the war of the French
revolution and its close. So enormous were the robberies thus
committed on the widely extended trade of this nation, under one
pretence or another, as to give a colouring of retributive justice, if
not of moral right, to the recent failures of certain States among us
to pay their debts. Providence singularly avenges all wrongs by its
unerring course; and I doubt not, if the facts could be sifted to the
bottom, it would be found the devil was not permitted to do his work,
in either case, without using materials supplied by the sufferers, in
some direct or indirect manner, themselves. Of all the depredations on
American trade just mentioned, those of the great sister republic, at
the close of the last century, were among the most grievous, and were
of a character so atrocious and bold, that I confess it militates
somewhat against my theory to admit that France owns very little of
the "suspended debt;" but I account for this last circumstance by the
reparation she in part made, by the treaty of 1831. With England it is
different. She drove us into a war by the effects of her orders in
council and paper blockades, and compelled us to expend a hundred
millions to set matters right. I should like to see the books
balanced, not by the devil, who equally instigated the robberies on
the high seas, and the "suspension" or "repudiation" of the State
debts; but by the great Accountant who keeps a record of all our deeds
of this nature, whether it be to make money by means of cruising
ships, or cruising scrip. It is true, these rovers encountered very
differently-looking victims, in the first place; but it is a somewhat
trite remark, that the aggregate of human beings is pretty much the
same in all situations. There were widows and orphans as much
connected with the condemnation of prizes, as with the prices of
condemned stock; and I do not see that fraud is any worse when carried
on by scriveners and clerks with quills behind their ears, than when
carried on by gentlemen wearing cocked hats, and carrying swords by
their sides. On the whole, I am far from certain that the
account-current of honesty is not slightly--honesty very _slightly_
leavens either transaction--in favour of the non-paying States, as men
do sometimes borrow with good intentions, and fail, from inability, to
pay; whereas, in the whole course of my experience, I never knew a
captor of a ship who intended to give back any of the prize-money, if
he could help it. But, to return to my adventures.

We were exactly in the latitude of Guadaloupe, with the usual breeze,
when, at daylight, a rakish-looking brig was seen in chase. Captain
Digges took a long survey of the stranger with his best glass, one
that was never exhibited but on state occasions, and then he
pronounced him to be a French cruiser; most probably a privateer. That
he was a Frenchman, Marble affirmed, was apparent by the height of his
top-masts, and the shortness of his yards; the upper spars, in
particular, being mere apologies for yards. Everybody who had any
right to an opinion, was satisfied the brig was a French cruiser,
either public or private.

The Tigris was a fast ship, and she was under top-mast and top-gallant
studding-sails at the time, going about seven knots. The brig was on
an easy bowline, evidently looking up for our wake, edging off
gradually as we drew ahead. She went about nine knots, and bade fair
to close with us by noon. There was a good deal of doubt, aft, as to
the course we ought to pursue. It was decided in the end, however, to
shorten sail and let the brig come up, as being less subject to
cavils, than to seem to avoid her. Captain Digges got out his last
letters from home, and I saw him showing them to Captain Robbins, the
two conning them over with great earnestness. I was sent to do some
duty near the hencoops, where they were sitting, and overheard a part
of their conversation. From the discourse, I gathered that the
proceedings of these picaroons were often equivocal, and that
Americans were generally left in doubt, until a favourable moment
occurred for the semi-pirates to effect their purposes. The party
assailed did not know when or how to defend himself, until it was too
late.

"These chaps come aboard you, sometimes, before you're aware of what
they are about," observed Captain Robbins.

"I'll not be taken by surprise in that fashion," returned Digges,
after a moment of reflection. "Here, you Miles, go forward and tell
the cook to fill his coppers with water, and to set it boiling as fast
as he can; and tell Mr. Marble I want him aft. Bear a hand, now,
youngster, and give them a lift yourself."

Of course I obeyed, wondering what the captain wanted with so much hot
water as to let the people eat their dinners off cold grub, rather
than dispense with it; for this was a consequence of his decree. But
we had not got the coppers half-filled, before I saw Mr. Marble and
Neb lowering a small ship's engine from the launch, and placing it
near the galley, in readiness to be filled. The mate told Neb to screw
on the pipe, and then half a dozen of the men, as soon as we got
through with the coppers, were told to fill the engine with
sea-water. Captain Digges now came forward to superintend the
exercise, and Neb jumped on the engine, flourishing the pipe about
with the delight of a "nigger." The captain was diverted with the
black's zeal, and he appointed him captain of the firemen on the spot.

"Now, let us see what you can do at that forward dead eye, darky,"
said Captain Digges, laughing. "Take it directly on the strap. Play
away, boys, and let Neb try his hand."

It happened that Neb hit the dead-eye at the first jet, and he showed
great readiness in turning the stream from point to point, as
ordered. Neb's conduct on the night of the affair with the proas had
been told to Captain Digges, who was so well pleased with the fellow's
present dexterity, as to confirm him in office. He was told to stick
by the engine at every hazard. Soon after, an order was given to clear
for action. This had an ominous sound to my young ears, and, though I
have no reason to suppose myself deficient in firmness, I confess I
began to think again of Clawbonny, and Grace, and Lucy; ay, and even
of the mill. This lasted but for a moment, however, and, as soon as I
got at work, the feeling gave me no trouble. We were an hour getting
the ship ready, and, by that time, the brig was within half a mile,
luffing fairly up on our lee-quarter. As we had shortened sail, the
privateer manifested no intention of throwing a shot to make us
heave-to. She seemed disposed to extend courtesy for courtesy.

The next order was for all hands to go to quarters. I was stationed in
the main-top, and Rupert in the fore. Our duties were to do light
work, in the way of repairing damages; and the captain, understanding
that we were both accustomed to fire-arms, gave us a musket a-piece,
with orders to blaze away as soon as they began the work below. As we
had both stood fire once, we thought ourselves veterans, and proceeded
to our stations, smiling and nodding to each other as we went up the
rigging. Of the two, my station was the best, since I could see the
approach of the brig, the mizen-top-sail offering but little
obstruction to vision after she got near; whereas the main-top-sail
was a perfect curtain, so far as poor Rupert was concerned. In the way
of danger, there was not much difference as to any of the stations on
board, the bulwarks of the ship being little more than plank that
would hardly stop a musket-ball; and then the French had a reputation
for firing into the rigging.

As soon as all was ready, the captain sternly ordered silence. By this
time the brig was near enough to hail. I could see her decks quite
plainly, and they were filled with men. I counted her guns, too, and
ascertained she had but ten, all of which seemed to be lighter than
our own. One circumstance that I observed, however, was suspicious.
Her forecastle was crowded with men, who appeared to be crouching
behind the bulwarks, as if anxious to conceal their presence from the
eyes of those in the Tigris. I had a mind to jump on a back-stay and
slip down on deck, to let this threatening appearance be known; but I
had heard some sayings touching the imperative duty of remaining at
quarters in face of the enemy, and I did not like to desert my
station. Tyroes have always exaggerated notions both of their rights
and their duties, and I had not escaped the weakness. Still, I think
some credit is due for the alternative adopted. During the whole
voyage, I had kept a reckoning, and paper and pencil were always in my
pocket, in readiness to catch a moment to finish a day's work. I wrote
as follows on a piece of paper, therefore, as fast as possible, and
dropped the billet on the quarter-deck, by enclosing a copper in the
scrawl, _cents_ then being in their infancy. I had merely
written--"The brig's forecastle is filled with armed men, hid behind
the bulwarks!" Captain Digges heard the fall of the copper, and
looking up--nothing takes an officer's eyes aloft quicker than to find
anything coming out of a top!--he saw me pointing to the paper. I was
rewarded for this liberty by an approving nod. Captain Digges read
what I had written, and I soon observed Neb and the cook filling the
engine with boiling water. This job was no sooner done than a good
place was selected on the quarter-deck for this singular implement of
war, and then a hail came from the brig.

"Vat zat sheep is?" demanded some one from the brig.

"The Tigris of Philadelphia, from Calcutta _home_. What brig is
_that_?"

"_La Folie--corsair Francais_. From vair you come?"

"From Calcutta. And where are _you_ from?"

"Guadaloupe. Vair you go, eh?"

"Philadelphia. Do not luff so near me; some accident may happen."

"Vat you call '_accident_?' Can nevair hear, eh? I will come
_tout pres_."

"Give us a wider berth, I tell you! Here is your jib boom nearly foul
of my mizen-rigging."

"Vat mean zat, bert' vidair? eh! _Allons, mes enfants, c'est le
moment_!"

"Luff a little, and keep his spar clear," cried our captain. "Squirt
away, Neb, and let us see what you can do!"

The engine made a movement, just as the French began to run out on
their bowsprit, and, by the time six or eight were on the heel of the
jib-boom, they were met by the hissing hot stream, which took them
_en echelon_, as it might be, fairly raking the whole line. The
effect was instantaneous. Physical nature cannot stand excessive heat,
unless particularly well supplied with skin; and the three leading
Frenchmen, finding retreat impossible, dropped incontinently into the
sea, preferring cold water to hot--the chances of drowning, to the
certainty of being scalded. I believe all three were saved by their
companions in-board, but I will not vouch for the fact. The remainder
of the intended boarders, having the bowsprit before them, scrambled
back upon the brig's forecastle as well as they could, betraying, by
the random way in which their hands flew about, that they had a
perfect consciousness how much they left their rear exposed on the
retreat. A hearty laugh was heard in all parts of the Tigris, and the
brig, putting her helm hard up, wore round like a top, as if she were
scalded herself.[*]

[Footnote *: This incident actually occurred in the war of 1798]

We all expected a broadside now; but of that there was little
apprehension, as it was pretty certain we carried the heaviest
battery, and had men enough to work it. But the brig did not fire, I
suppose because we fell off a little ourselves, and she perceived it
might prove a losing game. On the contrary, she went quite round on
her heel, hauling up on the other tack far enough to bring the two
vessels exactly _dos a dos_. Captain Digges ordered two of the
quarter-deck nines to be run out of the stern-ports; and it was well
he did, for it was not in nature for men to be treated as our friends
in the brig had been served, without manifesting certain signs of
ill-humour. The vessels might have been three cables' lengths asunder
when we got a gun. The first I knew of the shot was to hear it plunge
through the mizen-top-sail, then it came whistling through my top,
between the weather-rigging and the mast-head, cutting a hole through
the main-top-sail, and, proceeding onward, I heard it strike something
more solid than canvass. I thought of Rupert and the fore-top in an
instant, and looked anxiously down on deck to ascertain if he were
injured.

"Fore-top, there!" called out Captain Digges. "Where did that shot
strike?"

"In the mast-head," answered Rupert, in a clear, firm voice. "It has
done no damage, sir."

"Now's your time, Captain Robbing--give 'em a reminder."

Both our nines were fired, and, a few seconds after, three cheers
arose from the decks of our ship. I could not see the brig, now, for
the mizen-top-sail; but I afterwards learned that we had shot away her
gaff. This terminated the combat, in which the glory was acquired
principally by Neb. They told me, when I got down among the people
again, that the black's face had been dilated with delight the whole
time, though he stood fairly exposed to musketry, his mouth grinning
from ear to ear. Neb was justly elated with the success that attended
this exhibition of his skill, and described the retreat of our enemies
with a humour and relish that raised many a laugh at the discomfited
privateersman. It is certain that some of the fellows must have been
nearly parboiled.

I have always supposed this affair between la Folie and the Tigris to
have been the actual commencement of hostilities in the _quasi_
war of 1798-9 and 1800. Other occurrences soon supplanted it in the
public mind; but we of the ship never ceased to regard the adventure
as one of great national interest. It did prove to be a nine days'
wonder in the newspapers.

From this time, nothing worthy of being noted occurred, until we
reached the coast. We had got as high as the capes of Virginia, and
were running in for the land, with a fair wind, when we made a ship
in-shore of us. The stranger hauled up to speak us, as soon as we were
seen. There was a good deal of discussion about this vessel, as she
drew near, between Captain Digges and his chief-mate. The latter said
he knew the vessel, and that it was an Indiaman out of Philadelphia,
called the Ganges, a sort of sister craft to our own ship; while the
former maintained, if it were the Ganges at all, she was so altered as
scarcely to be recognised. As we got near, the stranger threw a shot
under our fore-foot, and showed an American pennant and ensign.
Getting a better look at her, we got so many signs of a vessel-of-war
in our neighbour, as to think it wisest to heave-to, when the other
vessel passed under our stern, tacked, and lay with her head-yards
aback, a little on our weather-quarter. As she drew to windward, we
saw her stern, which had certain national emblems, but no name on it.
This settled the matter. She was a man-of-war, and she carried the
American flag! Such a thing did not exist a few months before, when we
left home, and Captain Digges was burning with impatience to know
more. He was soon gratified.

"Is not that the Tigris?" demanded a voice, through a trumpet, from
the stranger.

"Ay, ay! What ship is that?"

"The United States' Ship Ganges, Captain Dale; from the capes of the
Delaware, bound on a cruise. You're welcome home, Captain Digges; we
may want some of your assistance under a cockade."

Digges gave a long whistle, and then the mystery was out. This proved
to be the Ganges, as stated, an Indiaman bought into a new navy, and
the first ship-of-war ever sent to sea under the government of the
country, as it had existed since the adoption of the constitution,
nine years before. The privateers of France had driven the republic
into an armament, and ships were fitting out in considerable numbers;
some being purchased, like the Ganges, and others built expressly for
the new marine. Captain Digges went on board the Ganges, and, pulling
an oar in his boat, I had a chance of seeing that vessel also. Captain
Dale, a compact, strongly-built, seaman-like looking man, in a blue
and white uniform, received our skipper with a cordial shake of the
hand, for they had once sailed together, and he laughed heartily when
he heard the story of the boarding-party and the hot water. This
respectable officer had no braggadocia about him, but he intimated
that it would not be long, as he thought, before the rovers among the
islands would have their hands full. Congress was in earnest, and the
whole country was fairly aroused. Whenever that happens in America, it
is usually to take a new and better direction than to follow the
ordinary blind impulses of popular feelings. In countries where the
masses count for nothing, in the every-day working of their systems,
excitement has a tendency to democracy; but, among ourselves, I think
the effect of such a condition of things is to bring into action men
and qualities that are commonly of little account, and to elevate,
instead of depressing, public sentiment.

I was extremely pleased with the manly, benevolent countenance of
Captain Dale, and had half a desire to ask leave to join his ship on
the spot. If that impulse had been followed, it is probable my future
life would have been very different from what it subsequently
proved. I should have been rated a midshipman, of course; and, serving
so early, with a good deal of experience already in ships, a year or
two would have made me a lieutenant, and, could I have survived the
pruning of 1801, I should now have been one of the oldest officers in
the service. Providence directed otherwise; and how much was lost, or
how much gained, by my continuance in the Tigris, the reader will
learn as we proceed.

As soon as Captain Digges had taken a glass or two of wine with his
old acquaintance, we returned to our own ship, and the two vessels
made sail; the Ganges standing off to the northward and eastward,
while we ran in for the capes of the Delaware. We got in under Cape
May, or within five miles of it, the same evening, when it fell nearly
calm. A pilot came off from the cape in a row-boat, and he reached us
just at dark. Captain Robbins now became all impatience to land, as it
was of importance to him to be the bearer of his own bad
news. Accordingly, an arrangement having been made with the two men
who belonged to the shore-boat, our old commander, Rupert and myself,
prepared to leave the ship, late as it was. We two lads were taken for
the purpose of manning two additional oars, but were to rejoin the
ship in the bay, if possible; if not, up at town. One of the
inducements of Captain Robbins to be off, was the signs of northerly
weather. It had begun to blow a little in puffs from the north-west;
and everybody knew, if it came on to blow seriously from that quarter,
the ship might be a week in getting up the river, her news being
certain to precede her. We hurried off accordingly, taking nothing
with us but a change of linen, and a few necessary papers.