James Braithwaite, the Supercargo: The Story of his Adventures Ashore and Afloat

by William Henry Giles Kingston

  CHAPTER SEVEN.

  "BREAKERS AHEAD!"

  Our chief hope of escaping an unpleasant examination by the pirateexisted in the possibility that we had not been observed from her deck.Had we had any sail set we could not fail to have been so. Not, weknew, that so small a craft as ours would be considered worthoverhauling; but in case we might give information of the pirate'swhereabouts, it might be thought expedient to put us out of the way. Sowe feared. We therefore watched the progress of the _Mignonne_ and thebrig with intense interest, earnestly hoping that the latter would leadthe pirate a long chase before she was captured, if she could not escapealtogether, which of course we hoped she would. La Roche had certainlymanaged to inspire O'Carroll with an extraordinary dread and hatred ofhim, for brave and calm in danger as our friend had lately shown himselfto be, he was now completely unnerved, and I saw him crouching down inthe boat as if, even had she been seen, he could have beendistinguished. On sailed the brig; gradually her sails began todisappear below the horizon. The pirate still continued the chase. Forsome time no one in the boat thought of working. We were roused up byfinding that the water was rapidly gaining on us, and we all had to turnto and pump and bale harder than ever. We were in hopes that after allthe brig might escape, when the boom of a gun came over the water,followed by another and another. It was too probable that the piratehad got her within range. Both vessels had now disappeared below thehorizon, at the same time the wind where we were had completely diedaway. As far as the pirate was concerned, we began to breathe morefreely; it was not likely that he would again pass near us. But the sunshone forth from the clear sky with intense heat, roasting our heads andthe brains within them, and making whatever pitch remained between theplanks of our deck bubble up as if it had been boiling. There we lay,our boat rolling from side to side, without a particle of shade toshelter us. Our little cabin was like an oven. When we were to rest itbecame simply a question whether in making the attempt we should beroasted on deck or baked below. We had not much time for idleness yet:though we worked very hard, it was not till nightfall that our riggingwas set up sufficiently to enable us to make sail.

  When the sun set there was not a breath of air, while the surface of theocean was as smooth as a sheet of glass, though every now and then aswell rose under the boat's keel, making her roll for ten minutesafterwards, while it glided slowly away in the distance. The onlysounds were the clank of the pump and the dash of water from thescuppers or buckets, and an occasional snort of some huge fish, or thesplash it made when plunging down into its liquid home. Thus the hoursof the night passed away. We were so weary and sleepy that the instantwe were relieved from the pump we lay down and were lost inforgetfulness. The day broke, the sun rose higher and higher, and beathotter and hotter, and all around us was the same smooth, glassy ocean.Now and then the surface was broken by a flight of flying fish as theyrose out of it and darted along through the air, glittering bright inthe sunbeams, like a covey of silver birds.

  "Ah, now! if some of you would just have the goodness to come aboardhere, you would serve us nicely for breakfast," exclaimed Trundle, as heobserved them.

  He had scarcely spoken when upwards of a dozen out of a large shoalleaped, or flew rather, right in among us, while as many more passedclean over the boat. It was a curious coincidence, and at all eventsafforded us not only a substantial, but a very delicious meal, cooked bythe skilful hands of Monsieur Jacotot. It put us all in good spirits,and we began to look at the future in a tolerably hopeful spirit, tillmy midshipman brother exclaimed--

  "I say, if this sun lasts much longer, what shall we do for grub? Thesea-pie we have brought has gone bad, and I am afraid that the beef andpork won't keep good many hours out of the brine."

  "You may put them in the past instead of the future tense, my boy,"observed Trundle, who had been examining the lockers; "I doubt if anystomach with less powers than a shark's could swallow a bit of the meatwe have got on board."

  "Then on what have we got to exist till we can reach the shore?" Iasked, with a feeling of serious anxiety.

  "Why," answered William, "we have biscuits and half a cheese--at leastwe had half when we sailed, but it is rather gone--and a few mangoes,and bananas, and plantains, and a melon or two, and some tea and coffee,and sugar. I am afraid we haven't much else, except a cask of water,and that was rather leaky, like this craft."

  "Then let us look to the cask, gentlemen," said O'Carroll. "And don'tthrow the meat away, putrid though it may be. The Frenchman may cook itso as to make it go down, and we don't know how hard we may be pressedfor food."

  The water-cask was examined, happily not altogether too late, but athird of the precious liquid had run out. I said nothing, but sadforebodings filled my mind. Even with a compass to steer by and a goodbreeze to carry us along, we might be several days reaching Port Louis,or, indeed, any habitable coast we could make. We might be kept outmuch longer, and then how could we exist? We could scarcely hope thatanother covey of flying fish would come on board, though we might catchsome others if we could manufacture hooks, for I was afraid we had noneon board. This calm might continue for a week, and then we might haveanother gale, for we were in the hurricane season. I advised that weshould at once go on an allowance of food and water, a suggestion whichwas, of course, adopted. We had no fishing lines or hooks on board; abit of an old file was, however, discovered, and with it and a hammerJacotot undertook to make some hooks, while Kelson spun some fine yarnfor lines.

  "I shall have plenty of time," observed the Frenchman, with a wan smileand a shrug of the shoulders, "for without the fish I shall have nothingto cook."

  Two days passed, and though the hooks were in use we caught nothing, andsome of the party began to wish that the pirate had picked us up. Twodays more passed: matters had become very serious. Hunger was gnawingat our insides, and what seemed even worse, thirst was parching our lipsand throats. With the intense heat we were enduring, gallons of waterwould scarcely have satisfied us, and we each had but a small wineglassfull three times a day. When that was gone, as long as our fuel lastedwe could get a little water by condensing the steam from our kettle.Our thirst became intolerable; yet the few drops, we did get kept us, Ibelieve, alive. I do not wish to dwell on that time. My own sufferingswere great, but they were increased by seeing those of my young brotherand his lighthearted companion, both of them about, as I feared, to passaway from the world they had found so enjoyable. The sun rose, and set,and rose again, and each day it appeared to send down its heat with anincreased intensity of strength as we grew weaker and weaker. A newdanger threatened us: we could even now scarcely keep the boat clear ofwater; should our strength fail altogether, as seemed but too probable,she would sink below us. Our lot was that which many poor seamen haveendured, but that did not make it more supportable to us.

  Our last particle of food had been eaten, the last drop of water nearlyexhausted. The strongest might endure for a day or two, the weakestones must sink within a few hours. Even O'Carroll, strong as he seemed,was giving way. He sat dull and unconscious, his eyes meaningless, onlyarousing himself by a great effort. My brother's head rested on my arm,and I was moistening his lips with the few drops obtained from the cask.Suddenly Kelson, who had been gazing round the horizon, started up,crying out, "A breeze! a breeze! I see it coming over the water!"

  I turned my eyes to the west, the direction to which he pointed. ThereI saw a dark-blue line quickly advancing towards us. Even already, oneither side, cat's-paws were to be seen just touching the surface, thenvanishing again, once more to appear in a different direction as thelight currents of air, precursors of the main body of the wind, touchedthe surface. The effect on our fainting party was magical; even thepoor boys tried to lift up their languid eyes to look around. Anothershout from Kelson a few minutes afterwards roused us all still more. "Asail! a sail! She's standing this way too!"

  Even Jacotot, who had completely given way to despair, started to
hisfeet at the sound, and, weak though he was, performed such strangeantics expressive of his joy on the little deck that I thought he wouldhave gone overboard.

  "If you've got all that life in you, Mounseer, just turn to at the pumpagain and make some use of it, instead of jigging away like an overgrownjackanapes!" growled out Kelson, who held the poor Frenchman in greatcontempt for having knocked under, as he called it, so soon.

  Jacotot gave another skip or two, and then, seizing the pump-handle, orbreak, as it is called, burst into tears. The two midshipmen and boyssoon relapsed into their former state, while O'Carroll seemed to forgetthat relief was approaching, till on a sudden the idea seized him thatthe stranger which was now rapidly nearing us was no other than the_Mignonne_, though she had been last seen in an opposite direction, andthere had been a dead calm ever since. "Arrah! we'll all be murderedentirely by that thief of the world, La Roche, bad luck to him!" hecried out, wringing his hands. "It was an unlucky day that I ever casteyes on his ugly face for the first time, and now he's after coming backagain to pick me up in the middle of the Indian Ocean, just as a bigblack crow does a worm out of a turnip-field!"

  In vain I tried to argue him out of the absurdity of his notion. Heturned sharply round on me.

  "It's desaving me now ye are, and that isn't the part of a true friend,Mr James Braithwaite!" he exclaimed. "Just try how he'll treat you,and then tell me how you like his company."

  I saw that there was not the slightest use reasoning with him, but thatit would be necessary to watch him, lest in his frenzy he should jumpoverboard. As the dreadful idea came on me that he might do so, I sawthe black fin of the seaman's sworn foe, a shark, gliding toward us, anda pair of sharp eyes looking wistfully up towards me, so I fancied, asif the creature considered the leaky boat and its contents a dainty dishprepared for his benefit. It made me set to work to bale with all thestrength I could muster. Seeing me so employed, O'Carroll for a momentforgot his mad idea, and followed my example. Often and often I turnedmy gaze towards the approaching ship. It seemed even still open todoubt whether she would pass near enough to observe us.

  At length the breeze reached us, and hoisting our sails as well as ourstrength would allow, we stood in a direction to come across the coursethe stranger was steering. I told Kelson, in a whisper, to assist me inkeeping a watch on O'Carroll, for as we drew nearer the stranger, so didhis uneasiness increase, and he was evidently still under the impressionthat she was the dreaded _Mignonne_. William and Trundle looked at herwith lack-lustre eyes. I asked Kelson what he thought she was. "Asmall Chinaman, or a store-ship, maybe, sir," he answered. "She'sEnglish, certainly, by the cut of her sails."

  "You hear what he says," I observed to O'Carroll. "I think the samemyself. We shall be treated as friends when we get on board."

  "Ye are after desaving me, I know ye are," cried the poor fellow,turning round and giving a reproachful glance at me. "Don't ye see theugly villain La Roche himself standing on the cathead ready to order hiscrew of imps to fire as soon as we get within range of their guns?"

  This notion so tickled Kelson's fancy that he fairly burst into a fit oflaughter, in which I and the rest of the party faintly joined, from veryweakness, for most of them had not heard what was said. Even O'Carrollhimself imitated us. Suddenly he stopped. "It's no laughing matter,though, let me tell you," he observed gravely, after some time hadelapsed, and the stranger had neared us so that we could see the peopleon deck. "But where's La Roche? Oh, I see, he's aft there, grinning atus as usual." He pointed to a most respectable-looking old gentleman,who was, I supposed, the master of the ship.

  "You are mistaken in that," said I, feeling the importance of keepinghim quiet till he could be got on board. "If that is the _Mignonne_,she has been captured, and is in possession of a British crew. You'llsee that I am right directly."

  The ship was shortening sail as I spoke. We were soon alongside. Evenat a distance our pitiable condition had been observed. We were oneafter the other hoisted on deck, for even Kelson could scarcely get upwithout help. I gave a hint to the doctor to look after O'Carroll. "Iam right," I remarked to my friend. "If La Roche is on board, he issafe under hatches; so the best thing you can do is to turn in, and goto sleep. You want rest more than any of us."

  Led by the surgeon, he went quietly below, and I hoped with soothingmedicine and sleep would be soon all to rights again.

  The ship proved to be, not what Kelson had supposed, but a vessel withfree emigrants bound out to the rising town of Sydney, in New SouthWales--a colony generally called Botany Bay, established some few yearsbefore, by Captain Phillips of the navy, chiefly with convicts and thenecessary soldiers to look after them. We had just told our tale, andthe passengers had expressed their sympathy for us, when I heard Jacototgive a loud cry of dismay. On looking over the side the cause wasexplained--the masts of our unhappy little craft were just disappearingunder the surface. This was the natural consequence of our neglectingto pump her out, and the ship, which was going ahead, dragging herthrough the water, when of course it rushed in through her open seamswith redoubled speed. Poor Jacotot tore his hair and wrung his hands,and wept tears of grief for his wretched craft; but he did not gain asmuch sympathy as would have been shown him had he been more quiet,though our new friends congratulated us the more warmly in having gotout of her before she met her fate. Food and rest quickly set most ofus to rights, and the following day William and Trundle and I were ableto take our places at the cabin table with the rest of the passengers.O'Carroll was kept in bed with fever, though he had got over his ideathat La Roche was on board. The old gentleman he had mistaken for himproved to be a minister of the gospel, who had been invited to accompanya party of the emigrants.

  We found that things were not going on in at all a satisfactory way onboard. The master had died before the ship reached the Cape: the firstofficer, Mr Gregson, who had now charge, was obstinate andself-opinionated when sober, and he was very frequently intoxicated; thesecond was a stupid fellow and no navigator; and both were jealous ofthe third, who was a superior, intelligent young man, and in numerousways they did their utmost to annoy him. This accounted for the goodship, the _Kangaroo_, being very much out of her proper course, whichwas far to the southward of where she picked us up. Most disastrousconsequences were to occur. William and Trundle told me that they hadbeen making their observations; that they wondered how the ship had gotthus far, and that they should be much surprised if she got muchfarther. A very large proportion of the ships cast away and livessacrificed are so in consequence of the habitual intoxication of themasters and their officers. I venture to make this distinct assertionfrom the very numerous instances I have known and heard of. We did notwish to alarm the passengers, none of whom had been at sea before, andwere not aware of the danger they were running. Had our schooner stillfloated, I should have proposed taking her to the first island we couldmake and there repairing her. We asked Mr Gregson if he wouldundertake to land us at Port Louis, offering him at the same timepayment if he would do so; but he positively refused, declaring thatnothing should induce him to go out of his course, and that we muststick to the ship and work our passage till she reached her destination.

  Believing that, as he was short-handed, his object in detaining us wasto get more hands to work the ship, this we positively refused to do."Very well, then, we'll see who is master on board the _Kangaroo_," hereplied, with an oath. "You tell me that three of you belong to aman-of-war; but I find you in a French boat, and how do I know that youare not deserters or convicts? and I'll treat you as such if you don'tlook out." This conduct was so unexpected, and so different from thekind way in which we had been treated by the passengers, that we did notknow what to say. We agreed to wait till we could consult O'Carroll;and Trundle undertook to get a look at the chart the captain was using,and to try and find out where he had placed the ship. The wind hadhitherto continued very light, so that we had made but little way sincewe came on board.
The day following the unpleasant conversation I havedescribed, O'Carroll was so much recovered that he was able to come ondeck. Though Irishmen have not the character in general of being goodseamen, I considered from what I had seen of him that he was anexception to the general rule. I told him what we had remarked.

  "When the time comes I'll see what I can do," he answered; "but it isticklish work interfering with such fellows as the present master ofthis ship, unless one advises the very thing one does not want done."

  "We may soon require the exercise of your skill," I remarked. "Itappears to me that there will speedily be a change in the weather."

  "Little doubt about that, and we shall have it hot and strong againsoon," he answered, looking round the horizon.

  "Not another hurricane, I hope," said I.

  "Not quite sure about that," he answered. "Were I master of this ship Ishould make all snug for it; but if I were to advise Gregson to do so,he'd only crack on more sail to show his superior seamanship. I've hada talk with the surgeon, McDow, a very decent sort of young fellow, andso I know the man we have to deal with."

  An hour or two after this, the wind had increased to half a gale, andthe _Kangaroo_ was tearing away through the sea with a great deal moresail than a prudent seaman would have carried. Unfortunately William orTrundle had remarked that it was much more important to shorten sail onthe appearance of bad weather on board a short-handed merchantman, thanon board a man-of-war with a strong crew. I saw O'Carroll lookinganxiously aloft, and then again to windward. At last he could stand itno longer.

  "You'll let the wind take the topmasts out of the ship if you don't lookout, Captain Gregson," he remarked.

  "What business have you to come aboard this ship and to pretend to teachme?" answered the master, who was more than half drunk. "If you do,take care. I'll turn you out of her, and let you find your own wayashore."

  While he was speaking a loud crack was heard, and the mizen-topmast wascarried over the side. This made him order the crew aloft to shortensail. "You go too, you lazy youngsters!" he exclaimed, seeing Williamand Trundle on deck.

  They sprung up the rigging without a word of reply. I watched them withgreat anxiety, for the masts bent like whips, and I was afraid everymoment to see the main share the fate of the mizen-mast, to thedestruction of all on the yards. Still the master, as if indifferent towhat might happen, was not even looking aloft. The two midshipmen hadjust reached the top, and were about to lie along the yard, whenO'Carroll shouted: "Down, all of you; down, for your lives!"

  His voice arrested their progress, and two of the men already on theyards sprang back into the top; but the warning came too late for therest. A tremendous squall struck the ship. Over she heeled, till thelee bulwarks were under water. A loud crash followed. Away went themain-topmast, and yard, and struggling sail, carrying six human beingswith it. Five were hurled off into the now foaming sea. We saw themfor an instant stretching out their arms, as if imploring that helpwhich it was beyond our power to give. The ship dashed onward, leavingthem far astern. One still clung to the rigging towing with the sparalongside. The ship still lay almost on her beam-ends.

  O'Carroll saw the possibility of saving the poor fellow. Calling out tome to lay hold of a rope, one end of which he fastened round his waist,he plunged overboard. I could scarcely have held it, had not Williamand Trundle with Kelson come to my assistance. O'Carroll grasped theman. "Haul away!" he shouted. In another instant he was on boardagain, with the man in his arms. The helm was put up, the ship righted,the man had got off the foreyard, and away the ship new, with thefore-topsail wildly bulging out right before the wind. In a few minutesit was blown from the bolt-ropes in strips, twisted and knottedtogether. The mainsail, not without difficulty, was handed, and wecontinued to run on under the foresail, the only other sail whichremained entire, and it seemed very probable that that would soon beblown away.

  All this time the terror of the unfortunate passengers was very great--the more so that it was undefined. They saw the captain, however, everynow and then come into the cabin and toss off a tumbler of strongrum-and-water, and then return on deck, and shout out with oaths oftencontradictory orders. The gale all this time was increasing, until itthreatened to become as violent as the hurricane from which we hadescaped. I could not help wishing that we had not left our leaky littleschooner. We might have reached some land in her. Now we did not knowwhere we were going, except towards a region of rocks and sandbanks onwhich any moment the ship might be hurled. For ourselves it would bebad enough; but hard indeed for the poor women and children, of whomthere were a dozen or more on board, several of them helpless infants.

  As I looked on the man who was thus perilling the lives of hisfellow-creatures by his senseless brutality, I could not help thinkingwhat a load of guilt rested on his head. His face was flushed, hisfeatures distorted, his eyes rolling wildly, as he walked with irregularsteps up and down the deck, or ever and anon descended to the cabin togaze stupidly at his chart, which was utterly useless, and to take afresh draught of the liquor which had brought him to that state. Yet hewas a fine, good-looking fellow, and pleasant-mannered enough when soberand not opposed. I have known several such, who have for years deceivedtheir owners and others on shore, led by outward appearance, till somefearful catastrophe has been the result of their pernicious habits.

  Night came. The ship continued her mad career through the darkness; thewind howling and whistling, the loose ropes lashing furiously againstthe masts, and the sea roaring around. Below all was confusion.Numerous articles had broken adrift and were rolling about, thepassengers crouched huddled together in the cabin endeavouring to avoidthem. Mothers pressed their children to their bosoms; the men wereasking each other what was next to happen. The answer came with fearfulimport. "Breakers ahead! Breakers ahead!" There was a tremendouscrash, every timber in the ship shook. She was on the rocks.

  James Braithwaite, the Supercargo--by W.H.G. Kingston