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

by William Henry Giles Kingston

  CHAPTER SEVENTEEN.

  HOME AGAIN!

  I went down into the captain's cabin, and, awakening him, told him whatthe surgeon had said.

  "Mutiny!" he exclaimed, as he dressed himself with the usual rapidity ofa seaman. "We will soon settle that matter." He stuck his pistols intoa belt he put on for the purpose, and took a cutlass in his hand."Here, Braithwaite, arm yourself," he said. "Tell the officers to do solikewise. We will soon see which of the two, that sea-lawyer or I, isto command the _Barbara_."

  Telling Gwynne and Toby to guard the arm-chest, and Randolph to rallyround him the most trustworthy men on deck, he desired Stubbs and me tofollow him forward. Without a word of warning he suddenly appearedamong the men, who were supposed to be in their berths asleep. Goingdirectly up to the berth Badham occupied, he seized hold of him anddragged him on deck, with a pistol pointed at his head, exclaiming atthe same time, "Shoot any one who offers to interfere!"

  The captain was very confident that he had the ringleader, and that therest would not move without him. "Now!" he exclaimed, when he had gothim on the quarterdeck. "Confess who are your accomplices, and what youintended to do! Remember, no falsehood! I shall cross-question theothers. If you are obstinate, overboard you go."

  Badham, surprised by the sudden seizure, and confused, was completelycowed. In an abject tone he whined out, "Spare my life, sir, and I willtell you all."

  "Out with it then!" answered the captain. "We have no time to spare."

  "Well, sir, then I will tell you all. We didn't intend to injure anyone, that we didn't, believe me, sir; but some of us didn't want to goback to Sydney, so we agreed that we would just wreck the ship, and asthere are plenty of seals to be got hereabouts, go sealing on our ownaccount, and sell the oil and skins to the ships passing through thestraits, and, when we should get tired of the work, go home in one ofthem."

  "And so, for the sake of gaining a few hundred dollars for yourself, youdeliberately planned the destruction of this fine ship, and very likelyof all on board. Now, understand, you will be put in irons, and if Ifind the slightest attempt among the crew to rescue you, up you go tothe yard-arm, and the leader of the party will keep you company on theother."

  Badham, in his whining tone, acknowledged that he understood clearlywhat the captain said, and hoped never again to offend. On this he wasled by two of the mates to one of the after store-rooms, where he couldbe under their sight, when irons were put on him, and he was left to hismeditations, the door being locked on him. The next morning the crewwent about their work as usual, Badham's dupes or accomplices beingeasily distinguished by their downcast, cowed looks, and by the unusualpromptness with which they obeyed all orders. The officers and Icontinued to wear our pistols and side-arms as a precautionary measure,though we might safely have dispensed with them.

  A short time before this, in 1802, a settlement had been formed in VanDiemen's Land, and lately Hobart Town, the capital, had been commenced.It was, however, a convict station, and no ships were allowed to landcargoes there except those which came from England direct with stores orwere sent from Sydney,--in consequence of which restriction thecolonists were several times nearly on the point of starvation.

  The heads of Port Jackson at length hove in sight, and we entered thatmagnificent harbour, the entrance of which Cook saw and named. Wantingin his usual sagacity, he took it for a small boat harbour, and passedby without further exploring it. Having first brought up in NeutralBay, that we might be reported to the governor, we proceeded some milesup to Sydney Cove, where we anchored in excellent holding ground abouthalf-pistol-shot from the shore. Sydney had already begun to assume theappearance of a town of some consideration, and contained fully 5,000inhabitants, though still called the camp by some of the old settlers.It is divided into two parts by a river which runs into the cove, andaffords it unrivalled advantages of water communication. Severalsettlements in the country had already been established, among the chiefof which were Paramatta and Hawkesbury. The latter settlement was aboutsix miles long, and about forty miles from Sydney; vessels of twohundred tons could ascend by the river up it a distance of at leastforty miles. The town, such as it then was, covered about a mile ofground from one end to the other, and already gave promise of becoming aplace of considerable extent. A wise and active governor,Lieutenant-Colonel Lachlan Macquarie, had ruled the settlement for abouta year, during which period it had made rapid progress. The previousgovernor was the notorious Captain Bligh, whose tyrannical conduct whenin command of the _Bounty_ produced the disastrous mutiny which tookplace on board that ship. The same style of conduct when governor ofNew South Wales, especially in his treatment of Mr John McArthur, thefather, as he was called, of the settlement, induced the colonists todepose him. The officers and men of the New South Wales corps marchedup to the Government House, and, after hunting for him for some time,found him concealed under a bed. His person and property were, however,carefully protected, and he was shortly afterwards put on board the_Porpoise_ sloop-of-war, and sent off to England. The settlement,however, quickly recovered from the mismanagement of this unhappy man,and was at the time of my visit in a flourishing condition.

  I was fortunate in disposing of the larger part of the cargo under mycharge at good prices. Hassall and I agreed, however, that more mightbe done for our owners, and we proposed, therefore, visiting some of theislands in the Pacific, and either returning home the way we had come,or continuing on round Cape Horn. We had not been long in harbourbefore O'Carroll made his appearance on board. He had brought the shipof which he had taken charge in safety into harbour, when the emigrantspresented him with so handsome a testimonial that he resolved to settlein the colony and lay it out to advantage. The governor had made him agrant of a large extent of farm land, and assigned him some twentyconvict servants, land in those days being given away to free settlers,and labour of the nature I have described found them gratis.

  "Altogether I am in a fair way of some day becoming a rich man," heobserved, "the which I should never have been had I continued ploughingthe salt ocean. Besides," he added, with a twinkle in his eye, "how doI know, if I did, that I should not some day fall into the clutches ofthat fearful little monster La Roche? and if I did, I know that he wouldnot spare me. Do you know that even to this day I cannot altogether getover my old feelings, and often congratulate myself as I ride throughthe bush that I am far out of his reach."

  O'Carroll kept to his resolution, and became a very successful andwealthy settler. I frequently received letters from him after my returnhome. In one of them he told me that he had had a surprise. Thegovernor asked him one day, as he could speak French, whether he wouldlike to have some French convicts assigned to him. He had no objection,as he thought that he could manage them easily. What was hisastonishment, when the party arrived at the farm, to recognise amongthem, in a little wizened-looking old man, his once dreaded enemy LaRoche! He determined to try and melt the man's stony heart by kindness.At first he was almost hopeless in the matter, but he succeeded atlast. La Roche confessed that he had placed himself within the power ofthe British laws in consequence of a visit he paid to England after thewar, for the purpose of carrying out a speculation which endedunfortunately. It was satisfactory to hear that he lived to become achanged man, truly repenting of his misspent life, and thankful that hehad been spared to repent.

  I have not spoken of the would-be mutineer, Badham. It must beremembered that he had committed no overt act of mutiny, and thoughCaptain Hassall was perfectly right in putting him in irons, he couldnot have been brought to trial on shore. The day before we reachedSydney he pleaded so hard to be forgiven, and so vehemently promisedamendment in all respects, that the captain resolved to give him atrial. It must be confessed that he was not altogether disinterested inthis, as it would have been impossible to get fresh hands at Sydney, thetemptation to settle in the country having by that time become verygreat, so that it was with difficulty we could keep severa
l of ourpeople who had come from England.

  Once more we were at sea. We touched at Norfolk Island, to whichconvicts from New South Wales were sent. It seemed a pity that sofertile a spot, so perfect a little paradise, should be given up forsuch a purpose. We obtained here a supply of vegetables and pork, whichwere not to be got at that time at any price at Sydney. After a rapidvoyage from this lovely little island we anchored in Matavai Bay, in theisland of Otaheite. It was at an interesting time of the history of theisland and its king, Otoo, who since the death of his father had takenthe name of Pomarre. For many years the band of zealous missionarieswho had come out in the ship _Duff_ had laboured on among the people,but though they taught the king, the young prince Otoo, and some oftheir people, to read and write, they confessed that they had not madeone satisfactory convert. In 1808 the greater number of themissionaries retired from Otaheite to the island of Huahine, and thefollowing year all the married ones left that island for New SouthWales, in consequence of the wars in which the king was constantlyengaged, the destruction of all their property, the risk they ran oflosing their lives, and the seeming hopelessness of introducingChristianity among such a people. After an absence of between two andthree years, several of them, having wished to make a fresh attempt tocarry out the work, sailed from Sydney for Tahiti, but stopped at theneighbouring island of Kimeo, where the king was residing, as Tahiti wasstill in a state of rebellion. They taught the people as before, andnow some began to listen to them gladly. They still seemed to haveconsidered the king as a hopeless heathen; but misfortune had humbledhim, he felt his own nothingness and sinfulness, and the utter inabilityof the faith of his fathers to give him relief. After the missionarieshad lived in the island about a year, the king came to them and offeredhimself as a candidate for baptism, declaring that it was his fixeddetermination to worship Jehovah, the true God, and expressing hisdesire to be further instructed in the principles of religion. The kingproved his sincerity, and ever after remained a true and earnestChristian. He still resided at Kimeo, but a considerable number ofpeople in Tahiti had by this time been converted, and the old heathengods were falling into disrepute.

  So devastating had been the character of the late wars in Tahiti, thatwe found it impossible to obtain supplies, and we therefore sailed forUlitea, the largest of the Georgian group, where we were informed thatwe should probably be more successful. No sooner had we dropped anchorwithin the coral bed which surrounds the island than the king and queencame off to pay us a visit. They were very polite, but notdisinterested, as their object was to collect as many gifts as we weredisposed to bestow. This island was the chief seat of the idolatry ofthe Society Islands. It was looked upon as a sacred isle by theinhabitants of the other islands of the group, and more idols existedand more human sacrifices were offered up there than in all the others.We were so completely deceived by the plausible manners of the king andqueen and those who accompanied them, that the captain and I, thesurgeon, and two of the mates, went on shore to visit them in return,accompanied by several of the crew, leaving the ship in charge of MrRandolph, the first mate. We fortunately carried our arms, thoughdeeming it an unnecessary measure of precaution. The king had anentertainment ready for us, and afterwards we were allowed to roam aboutthe island wherever we pleased. I observed the people at lengthpressing round us, and not liking their looks, advised Captain Hassallto order our men to keep together, and to be prepared for an attack.Whether or not they saw that we were suspicious of them we could nottell, but from this time their conduct changed, and they would onlyallow us to proceed in the direction they chose. At length, however, wegot down to the landing-place. As we approached the boats we saw a bandof armed natives making for them. We rushed down to the beach, andreaching the boats just before they did, we jumped in and shoved off.These savages, though savage as ever, were also more formidable enemiesthan formerly, as many of them had firearms, and all had sharp daggersor swords.

  On reaching the ship we found that Badham and his associates had, soonafter we left, seized a boat, and, in spite of all Mr Randolph couldsay or do, had taken all their clothes and other property with them, andgone on shore. Although by this conduct Badham showed that he could nolonger be trusted, and therefore that we were well rid of him, it wasimportant that we should get back the other men, and we agreed to go onshore the next morning to recover them. Accordingly, the chief mate andI went on shore as we proposed, with eight well-armed men, and demandedan interview with the king. He did not come himself, but sent his primeminister, who agreed, for six hatchets and a piece of cloth, to deliverthem up. We waited for some hours, but the deserters were notforthcoming, and at last the minister and another chief appeared, anddeclared that as the men were likely to fight for their liberty, itwould be necessary that we should lend them our arms.

  "Very likely, indeed, gentlemen," answered Mr Randolph, at oncedetecting the palpable trick to get us into their power.

  "I say, Braithwaite, what say you to seizing these fellows and carryingthem on board as hostages? It could easily be done."

  "Cook lost his life in making a similar attempt, and we might loseours," I answered. "I would rather lose the men than run any suchrisk."

  In vain we endeavoured by diplomacy to recover the men, and at last wereturned on board, the minister losing the hatchets and piece of cloth.A feeling of anxiety prevented me from turning in, and I walked the deckfor some time with Benjie Stubbs, the officer of the watch. At length Iwent below and threw myself on my bed, all standing, as sailors say whenthey keep their clothes on. I had scarcely dropped asleep when I wasawoke by hearing Stubbs order the lead to be hove. I was on deck in amoment, followed by the captain and the other officers.

  "We are on shore to a certainty," exclaimed Stubbs, in an agitated tone.

  "Impossible!" observed the captain, "the anchors are holding."

  "We'll haul in on the cables and see, sir," answered Stubbs, callingsome of the crew to his assistance. The cables immediately came onboard. They had been cut through. Still there was a perceptible motionof the ship towards the shore. Another anchor with an iron stock wasimmediately cleared away, but some time was lost in stocking it, andbefore it could be let go we felt the ship strike against a coral reefwith considerable force. Happily there was no wind, or she wouldspeedily have gone to pieces. At last we carried the anchors out, andhauled her off but not without unusual difficulty. Suddenly the captainjumped into a boat and pulled round the ship.

  "I thought so!" he exclaimed; "the villains have fastened a rope to herrudder, and were towing us on the rocks." He cut the rope as he spoke,and with comparative ease we got the ship out of her perilous position.Still she was so near the high cliffs which almost surrounded us that wemight be seriously annoyed, not only by musketry but by stones anddarts. It was evident, also, that should a breeze set in from the sea,the single anchor would not hold, and that we must be driven back againon the coral rocks.

  We were not left long in doubt as to the intention of the savages andthe deserters, their instigators. Suddenly fearful shouts burst fromthe cliffs above us, and we were assailed by a fire of musketry and bydarts and stones hurled on our deck. To return it would have beenuseless, for we could not see our enemies. Meantime we kept the menunder cover as much as possible, and got another anchor stocked andready to carry out ahead. The savages must have seen the boat, for assoon as she was clear of the ship they opened fire on her, and it wasnot without difficulty that the anchor was carried out to the requireddistance, and the crew of the boat hurriedly returned on board.

  Owing to Badham's machinations, some of the crew had at first beendisaffected, but a common danger now united them, as they saw full wellthe treatment they might expect should the savages get possession of theship. Besides the ship's guns we had four swivels, thirty muskets, andseveral blunderbusses and braces of pistols. These were all loaded andplaced ready for use, with a number of boarding-pikes, for we thoughtthat at any moment the savages would c
ome off in their canoes andattempt to board us. The whole night long they kept us on the alert,howling and shrieking in the most fearful manner. Soon after day broketheir numbers increased, and as they could now take aim with theirfirearms our danger became greater. Fortunately they were very badmarksmen, or they would have picked us all off. Strange as it may seem,no one was hit, though our rigging and boats received much damage.After the crew had breakfasted we sent two boats out ahead to tow offthe ship, but the bullets and other missiles flew so thickly about themthat they returned, the men declaring that the work was too dangerous.However, Benjie Stubbs, jumping into one of the boats, persuaded them togo again, while we opened a fire from the deck of the ship. As soon asthe savages saw us ready to fire, they dodged behind the rocks, so thatnone of them were wounded. Still we hoped that by this means the boatswould be allowed to tow ahead without molestation. We were mistaken,for the savages shifted their ground, and once more drove the boats onboard. We clearly distinguished Badham and the rest of the desertersamong the savages, and several times they were seen to fire at us.Happily they also were wretched shots, and their muskets thoroughly badalso. That they should venture to fire showed that they had no doubt ofgetting us into their power, for should we escape and inform againstthem, they would run a great chance of being captured and hanged. Laterin the day, Jack and I again made attempts to tow out the ship from herperilous position.

  The savages all the day continued howling and shrieking and workingthemselves into what seemed an ungovernable fury, while they were,however, biding their time, knowing that probably a strong sea-breezewould soon spring up and cast the ship helpless into their power. Thusanother night closed on us. Ere long great was our joy to feel a lightair blowing off the shore. The pawls of the windlass were muffled, andnot a word was spoken. The anchors were lifted, the topsails weresuddenly let drop, and slowly we glided off from the land. The weatherbecoming very thick and dark, we were compelled again to anchor, lest wemight have run on one of the many reefs surrounding the island. Here weremained on our guard till daylight, when we could see the nativesdancing and gesticulating with rage at finding that we had escaped them.The favourable breeze continuing, we were soon able to get far out oftheir reach, I for one deeply thankful that we had not only escapedwithout loss ourselves, but without killing any of the unhappy savages.The treatment we received was such as at that time might have beenexpected from the inhabitants of nearly all the islands of the Pacific,including those of New Zealand, and numberless were the instances ofships' companies and boats' crews cut off by them.

  A very few years after our visit, this same island was brought undermissionary influence, the idols were overthrown, heathenism and all itsabominable practices disappeared, and the inhabitants became athoroughly well-ordered, God-fearing, and law-obeying Christiancommunity. The same account may be given of the larger number of theislands which stud the wide Pacific, and ships may now sail from northto south, and east to west, without the slightest danger from theinhabitants of by far the greater portion of them.

  But it is time that I should bring my narrative to a conclusion. Thisadventure at Ulitea was amongst my last. Finding that our tradingexpedition to the Pacific Islands was not likely to prove of advantageto our owners, Captain Hassall and I resolved to proceed home at onceround Cape Horn.

  We happily accomplished our voyage without accident and without anyfurther occurrence worthy of note. Our path was no longer beset byhostile cruisers, for there was a lull in the affairs of Europe. Afterthe many excitements of the past few months, the days seemed long andtedious as I had never known them before; and it was with a sense ofrelief, as well as of real pleasure, that I again saw in the earlymorning light the shores of old England looming clear in the distance.I need not dwell on all the happy circumstances of my return, or on thespecial satisfaction with which I looked again on one familiar face.Suffice it to say that I had the gratification of receiving thecommendation of my kind friend Mr Janrin for the way in which I hadcarried out his instructions and performed my duties as Supercargo; andthat this voyage prepared the way for more substantial proofs of hisfavour.