by Tom Bevan
Chapter XLVI.
THE GALLEY SLAVES.
The great heats were past; the climate along the Panama littoral wasbearable, and the governor decided to pay official visits to thestations along the coast. The bishop thought the occasion favourablefor a tour of pastoral inspection, and decided to go with hisexcellency. Other functionaries, with other duties to perform, hintedto the governor's secretary or the bishop's chaplain that the officialprogress would be more imposing if they were included. Thus it came topass that a notable company embarked on the _Santa Maria_ on a certaincool October day.
Besides those that went aboard the galley willingly, hoping forpleasure and profit, there were about one hundred and fifty haplesswretches who were dragged down to the water-side in chains, and thenchained to the place they must occupy during the whole of the voyage.Amongst these were Morgan, Jeffreys, and the three sailors from the_Golden Boar_.
The _Santa Maria_ was about one hundred and thirty feet long andfifteen feet beam, a galley of a somewhat broad and clumsy make. Inthe fore-part was a small raised deck, with three guns, and roughhatches underneath for the sailors, soldiers, and servitors concernedin the working of the sails and helm, the defence and the comfort ofthe dignitaries aboard. In the after-part was another raised deck ofmore generous dimensions, and on it were the cabins and state-roomsbelonging to the governor, the bishop, the captain, and the gentlemenof the retinues belonging to the great personages. Midway between thetwo decks were the human engines that propelled the unwieldy craft.Twenty-five benches ran down along the starboard side and the larboard,and from each bench a great oar or sweep projected into the water. Toeach bench were chained three luckless slaves--seventy-five down eachside, and a hundred and fifty in all. The benches were intended forfour rowers apiece, and could at a pinch accommodate five. The supplyof able-bodied prisoners was small, and the Indians refused toundertake the work at a wage, so three men were compelled to manageoars that were a heavy tax on the strength of four. There was a slightcompensation in this--the three had room to lie more comfortably atnight-time. Between the two lines of benches ran a narrow raisedplatform, and along this two boatswains walked, whip in hand, to keepthe rowers up to their work, and to visit severely any attempt atshirking the forced duties of their unhappy position. About a score ofthe slaves were white men: there were two Englishmen besides the fivefrom the _Golden Boar_, the rest being Spaniards or Portugueseconvicted of some crime; but the majority of the rowers were Indians,who on some pretext or other had been enslaved and sent in chains tothe oars.
The company were all aboard; some in satins and velvets, in glisteningarmour; some in modest fustian; and as many in nothing but a dirtywaist-cloth. The guns from the castle roared out; those of the galleyspoke in answer. The trumpeters blew a fanfare; the chief boatswainsounded his whistle; there was a simultaneous crack of two long,cowhide whips, and the human machine in the waist of the galley beganits rhythmic work that put life and motion into the vessel.
At number three oar on the starboard side Morgan and Jeffreys tugged,and a Spaniard sat between them. In a line with them were the threesailors of Captain Drake's crew, and at benches numbers one and twolarboard and starboard Europeans slaved. Behind them streamed brownlines of meek-faced Indians. In the ordering of his rowers, theSpanish captain did not forget those whose skins were of the same hueas his own, and he spared himself and them the degradation of toilingand suffering side by side with the inferior race; the white men hadthe fore-part of the benches to themselves. All were stripped to thewaist; that was necessary down in the stifling den: moreover theboatswains objected to putting the whip to any back that was covered;they liked to see the effect of the lash, and judge whether the blowwas sufficient.
The galley moved out of the harbour in stately fashion; at the peak ofthe foremast floated the banner of Spain; on either side of the helmthe flags of the governor and the bishop fluttered gaily--fraternalstrips of emblazoned silk. It was a fair sight and a fair day, andthere were proud eyes watching it; but, as is too often the case, thetinsel and show of human vain-glory enshrouded many aching hearts.
The Spaniard that sat between Morgan and Jeffreys was a powerful,black-bearded fellow, inured to his lot by three years of slavery atthe oar. The Englishmen were also of uncommon size and strength, sothey could keep their sweep going without putting all their energiesinto their stroke as some of the rowers were forced to do. Behindthem, where the Indians rowed, there was more than one stinging lashand squeal of pain before the harbour was cleared. Morgan's cheekflushed at the first cry, and he almost lost grip of his oar. The slipwas noted instantly, and a warning, "Steady at number three," recalledhim to his task. Jeffreys gave him a look, and the Spaniard cursedvolubly at his companion's clumsiness.
"Keep a civil tongue, Hernando," called out the boatswain; "your friendhas not had as much practice as yourself; he'll improve."
Hernando spat on the floor. "Dog! son of a dog!" he muttered. "I'llchoke 'Hernando' out of his throat. Time was when he addressed me as'Signer,' and grovelled for favours."
"Pardon, comrade," said Johnnie.
"Granted! granted!" replied the Spaniard. "I meant no offence to you;but you will see that if anything goes wrong at this oar, yondervillain will visit my back with his whip. He always does so."
"I'll do my best to keep the whip from all of us," answered theEnglishman. He bent his back to the shameful work, and felt, in thebitterness of his degradation, something less than human. The thoughtsthat surged through his brain are too pitiful to be set down here.Chained down in a filthy den, liable to be whipped like a beast ofburden, fed upon stuff that was but one remove from offal--howhorrible! And he could not forget that about a year before he hadstood in the court of his sovereign, proud, happy, praised; great menshook him familiarly by the hand, and a winsome maiden smiled upon him.Now he was a chained slave, doomed to work, eat, and sleep on a narrowplank for ten long years. Ten years! could he survive ten days of thehorror and squalor and degradation?
The morning wore on. The upper decks were radiant with sunshine, coolwith fresh breezes, and gay with laughter. The hold steamed like anoven, stank most offensively, and groaned with anguish. The rowersbegan to feel the strain, and the captain ordered the broad, lateensails to be set on both masts. The breeze was well behind, the galleyunder good way, and for half an hour or so the sweeps were ordered in,and the slaves fed with a lump of coarse biscuit and refreshed with apannikin of tepid water. Morgan and Jeffreys sat and talked quietly,and called out a cheery word to the three sailors, whose British heartswere bursting with shame and anger.
In the heat of noon the breeze dropped, and the oars were setvigorously to work again. His excellency wanted quicker progress to bemade, so the boatswains commenced to chant a rude song as they walkedup and down, and called on the rowers to keep time to the swing of thetune. The fellows did their best, and some of the Spanish slavesjoined in the chorus. The song, poor as it was heartened them alittle; but the spurt did not last long and the singing ceased. Theboatswains used other means. Sometimes it was a sharp word or an angryoath, at others a crack of the whip in the air; too often the thongcame down with a cruel cut on bare flesh, and there was a cry or anoath from the victim and a frantic tugging at the great oar.
Thus the day wore on; long spells of rowing, short periods of rest; andall the while the slaves grew fainter and yet fainter in their horribleworkroom, and the lash of the whips resounded the more often. Hernandowas lashed twice, for no real reason that his companions coulddiscover. The second blow curled across the muscle of his arm andbenumbed it for a while, and Johnnie whispered him to move in rhythmwith them, whilst he and Jeffreys did the actual rowing. The fellowwas grateful, and vowed by the Virgin never to forget the kindness.
The late afternoon brought the governor to his first place of call.Rowing ceased; the anchor was dropped, and the slaves were given theirsupper of biscuit, a scrap of meat, and a pannikin of water justcolour
ed with wine--this last was a special gift from the governor.Then, wearied and aching, they curled up like tired dogs on thebenches, adjusted their chains so as to relieve themselves of as muchweight as possible, and fell asleep.
