The Threat in the East (The Merriman Chronicles Book 3)

by Roger Burnage

  In general the crew was well trained and willing, gunnery was excellent and the whole ship was in good order, although as he reminded himself not to be too complacent, he must watch for anything which might affect his ship’s performance. Once in the Indian Ocean there would be fighting to do so the guns must be regularly exercised to maintain the standard he required. He knew he could rely on his officers to watch everything as well. Jack was usually too busy to think about anything else but Merriman knew that if the ship was becalmed in the tropics for long, the heat from the scorching sun blazing down from a cloudless sky would be enough to cause grumbling and worse, even with shade awnings spread. The biggest problem had been boredom, apart from all the work needed daily for the ship’s maintenance, the task of keeping the crew happy all that time was essential. He had organised competitions of various kinds, fishing for example, races up the rigging, swimming when the ship was becalmed with a keen watch kept for sharks, and even entertainment by those men who could sing or play a musical instrument. Even the foolish tricks that the simple minded Biggins played on members of the crew were tolerated by them. Indeed they treated him as something of a mascot and helped him with his simple duties to ensure that he did not fall foul of authority. The livid scar on the side of his head received in some fight with the French, whom he hated, they assumed probably explained his mental difficulties.

  Of course Merriman and Grahame spent many hours together discussing what might happen when they reached Bombay. “We have two agents there James, but we have heard nothing from them for at least a twelvemonth and so I must find out if they are still alive,” mused Grahame seriously.

  “You have been deep in thought since we left Gibraltar Sir” said Merriman on one occasion “Is there something particular I should know about?”

  “Yes James, there is, and I will tell you all about it when I have thought out the various possibilities involved.”

  The biggest cause for amusement was meeting King Neptune, when all seamen and marines who had not crossed the equator were subjected to inquisition and punishment by Neptune. The Master Mr. Cuthbert was dressed as King Neptune with a long wig and beard made out of rope strands and carrying a fearsome looking trident. His ‘court’ consisted of some of the ship’s warrant officers rigged out with wigs and beards and some kind of fancy dress. The uninitiated were confined below and brought up on deck one by one to meet Neptune and his ‘court’ who decided what his initiation punishment would be. Usually this was to be smeared in tallow or grease before being pushed into the belly of a sail rigged on deck and filled with seawater. The man’s gleeful mates kept on dunking him until Neptune told them to stop. The two troublemakers Greely and Smithers fought tooth and nail to avoid their fate, to no avail as they were each roughly dragged forward, smeared with more tallow and dunked repeatedly and for longer than the rest. Watching from the quarterdeck rail Merriman knew that a careful watch would have to be kept on both of them. Even Mr. Grahame laughingly submitted to the indignity. Later he called all the officers and petty officers to his cabin and stressed the need to keep an eye on the two troublemakers, “We could have real difficulty with them Gentlemen. As Shakespeare says, I think in Julius Caesar ‘Yon Cassius hath a lean and hungry look and such men are dangerous.’ There is no knowing what they may get up to after this.” Merriman did not know how right he was.

  Chapter 4 – The first Pirate victim

  In the event the time passed reasonably quickly, Merriman spent a lot of time with his officers, playing cards, reading books and even Shakespeare’s plays. Mr. Grahame taught him chess and the third Lieutenant and the new midshipman Green were fairly proficient so that many hours passed in that way. Every day Merriman added another paragraph or two to a letter to his wife, but he had no idea when he could send it on a ship bound for England. Even gunnery time improved due to the competition between larboard and starboard watches and the races by the Topmen to be the first to the masthead. The races by the Waisters, men who had no skill aloft, from stem to stern of the ship were popular, keeping all the men fit because nobody was spared except for the surgeon and old Mr. Cuthbert the Master. Merriman even insisted that he and all the officers took part. So he had a contented and fit crew for whatever lay ahead. The midshipmen were beginning to show proficiency in navigation under the careful instructions of Mr. Cuthbert.

  Captain St. James the senior marine officer, an excellent and very proficient swordsman continued to practice with Merriman and the other officers. Indeed Merriman had been a reasonably good swordsman and the regular practice had certainly improved his abilities. With that and some of the tricks not approved of by fencing tutors and taught to him by St. James he felt more than capable of holding his own.

  And so the voyage had continued. Merriman had known it could take four or even five months to reach India from England and long before then the drinking water would have developed a scum on it with slime on the inside of the barrels and the biscuits would be like iron and full of maggots. The salt meat in casks should still be edible, although there would almost certainly be some casks of rotten meat mixed in by money grabbing, conniving naval contractors. Happily they had been able to find fresh water and food at Gibraltar and the Cape Verde Islands and then later at Simonstown in South Africa which had recently been captured from the Dutch at the battle of Muezenberg with few casualties on either side.

  The ship was now heading north northeast in the Indian Ocean, well offshore to avoid the southward Agulhas current and to catch the monsoon winds blowing northward towards India. They kept well to the east of Madagascar and the Seychelles and were nearly at the latitude of the southern tip of India which was just out of sight on the starboard side. Merriman was beginning to congratulate himself on a good voyage when one day in the forenoon a hail from the sailor on watch aloft on the foremast brought him up on deck. The officer of the watch Lieutenant Weston, quickly reported to him.

  “Something right ahead Sir but it can’t be properly identified. I’ve sent Larkin aloft with a telescope to see if he can make anything of it.” The Lieutenant had hardly finished speaking when there came a hail from Larkin, who had the sharpest eyes aboard. “Deck there, it looks like a ship upside down Sir, barely awash but there is somebody lying on the keel Sir.”

  “Keep well to windward of it Mr. Weston,” ordered Merriman, “And when we are level, heave to and I’ll have an armed boat ready for lowering. These seas are infested with pirates and privateers so we‘ll take no chances.”

  When the ship was lying hove to, the wreck could be seen clearly. Wreck it was, with the keel almost all that could be seen and a man or boy lying on it who feebly waved when the boat approached. He was lucky, sharks were circling the wreck and hardly had he been dragged aboard when the last part of the keel slipped down out of sight. The survivor proved to be no more than a boy, dreadfully burned by the sun, now unconscious, and in a very weak condition.

  “I’ll do what I can for him Sir, but I’m not very hopeful, he’s in such a bad state,” reported Mr. McBride the ship’s surgeon. “I know you will Doctor,” replied Merriman, “But if you can revive him and he can speak I must know what happened to his ship.” An hour later the marine sentry outside the great cabin door knocked to announce Mr. McBride. “It was no good Sir, I couldn’t save him and he died a few minutes ago.” reported McBride. “He only said a few words Sir, very disjointed, but I did manage to make some sense out of his ramblings. Something about French pirates, killing all aboard who resisted and taking the others for sale into slavery. They took what they wanted of the cargo before blowing a hole in the ship’s side to sink her. He had managed to hide and only just managed to get into the sea before she capsized. The ship was his father’s, only a small trader Sir.”

  “Thank you Mr. McBride, he will have to be buried in the sea right away. Pity we don’t even know his name.”

  Two days later the wind fell away and Lord Stevenage was becalmed with only the occasional puff of wind, not enough
to give the ship steerage way. The sun was blisteringly hot and as usual Merriman had the awnings spread to give much needed shade and relief for the men. Tempers began to fray and some men began to argue loudly and forcefully. The Boatswain and his mates had to use their starters, ropes with knotted ends, on several occasions. The surgeon had insisted that the crew all kept their shirts on to avoid sunburn but as usual some men thought they knew best and were badly burned. McBride spread some concoction on the sufferer’s backs to ease the stinging but one man was burned very badly and was delirious with heatstroke so that he was confined to the ship’s tiny sick-bay. His offence was recorded and when fit he would receive some punishment.

  One evening, a loud scream from above brought Merriman on deck very quickly followed immediately by the off-watch officers. “What the Devil’s going Mr. Weston,” he asked the officer of the watch. For answer Weston pointed aloft at the main yard arm where Smithers was hacking frenziedly at all the ropes he could reach. “He attacked bos’n’s mate Gilbert Sir, stabbed him but I don’t know how badly, Mr. McBride’s with him now Sir.” Merriman strode forward to see what the surgeon had to deal with and found Gilbert lying in a pool of blood flowing from a fearful wound in his belly. “No good Sir, he’s dead or as good as. I can’t help him.” As McBride spoke the man gave a violent shudder and was gone.

  Merriman turned to the men around him, “What happened here? Who saw it? he demanded. Ted Jackson, an ex-poacher newly promoted to warrant rank said “I saw it sir. Smithers was throwing coils of rope off the fife-rail Sir, Gilbert ordered him to pick them up and he refused. Then Gilbert raised his starter and Smithers stabbed him and then climbed aloft Sir. Nobody was near enough to stop him Sir.”

  “Thank you Jackson. Mr. St. James, I want your marines on guard at once and your best marksman with me on the quarterdeck” In no time a line of marines in their scarlet jackets and white cross belts were standing behind Merriman. He raised his voice and shouted “Smithers, Smithers you have killed an officer, plain murder I believe. Come down and give yourself up.”

  The man had stopped cutting ropes to watch the activity below him and yelled “Like hell I will, all of you think you’re better than me. What can you do? You won’t

  shoot me. I’ll show you!” and he started hacking away again.

  “So that’s it then Smithers, you force my hand. Mr. St James, have your man shoot him now.” The Marine marksman raised his musket, cocked and fired it in one rapid movement. The ball hit Smithers in the chest and with an almost comical look of surprise on his face he toppled backwards down into the sea.

  Merriman looked over the crew standing below him, “The man was a murderer and deserved to be hanged. Many of you saw him do it and aloft he was trying to damage this ship which might have endangered us all. Now let that be an end to it.” As he turned away an unknown voice amongst the crew shouted “the bastard deserved it, you’ll get no trouble from us Sir.”

  Down in the stifling air of his cabin Merriman was regretfully considering what to write in the punishment book when the marine guard banged his musket on the deck and called “First Lieutenant Sir.” At Merriman’s call to enter Lieutenant Andrews came into the cabin. “Yes David, what is it.” “A sad business Sir, but I have checked with most of the petty officers and they all report that there will indeed be no trouble from the men. The fellow was unpopular and the general feeling is that they are glad to be rid of him Sir, he deserved what he got and they don’t like the other man Greely. The bos’n and his mates are aloft and repairs to the damage that madman caused is nearly complete.”

  Thank you, obviously I shall have to put it in my report but I don’t think anybody at the Admiralty will worry over it.” After Andrews left, Merriman fell into a mood of self-recrimination. “It was my fault, the man was a trouble maker and I should have been more aware of it and now it has cost the life of another man, Gilbert was a good man and a fine seaman. Damn it, perhaps I’m not good enough to be a captain? Another man would have seen this coming. And I had the fellow shot and killed when I might have found a different way, damn and blast it.”

  Merriman paced back and forth across his cabin but he wanted more room and so he went up onto the quarter deck and paced up and down, up and down there with the unconscious habit of avoiding gun carriages, shackles, coils of rope and other items. Seeing his glowering face the officers and men assumed that he was in a rage and hastily moved over to the lee side to leave him alone with his thoughts.

  “What else could I have done? The man was a murderer and even if he had surrendered his fate was sealed. There was no other course of action, death is mandatory for murder as specified in the Admiralty’s Articles of War, so why do I feel guilty of murder myself? I’ll have it on my conscience for a long time to come I’m certain.”

  Suddenly he realised that everybody on deck was watching him pacing up and down and tugging at his ear, an unconscious habit he had when deep in thought. The officers talking quietly and casting glances his way and the men at the wheel trying not to draw attention to themselves. “Has nobody got work to do? I’ll soon find some for you, what about that main fore brace there? It’s slack as the ties on a whore’s drawers, are you all in a dream? One of you should have seen it, you’re not attending to your duties. Now see to it,” he snarled at them. His seaman’s instinct had noted the fault even in the middle of his deep and gloomy thoughts and even as he spoke he began to feel better as all hastily tried to look busy and orders passed and men ran to follow those orders. He smiled to himself, in fact with the lack of wind the fore brace did not require much attention but it woke people up to see that their Captain missed nothing. Night fell and after his supper he retired to his cot and tried to sleep but sleep eluded him and it was near dawn before he managed to drift off for a few hours.

  Chapter 5 – Pirates attack & a thief onboard

  Eventually cat’s paws appeared on the sea and a light breeze sprang up but from the north which did little to help the ship’s progress. Soon some lateen sails appeared on the horizon to the east and the masthead lookout with his telescope reported that they were dhows, four of them. All Arab ships and boats were called dhows by the English even though they were of different shapes and sizes. As their hulls crept over the horizon the lookout reported that they were full of men and all flying a red flag on the main mast.

  Merriman was finishing his meager breakfast and his last cup of coffee when the hail drew his notice but made himself remain at the table. In only moments the marine guard called out “Mr. Midshipman Green Sir.” Green almost fell over his feet as he came in and excitedly gasped “Mr. Andrews compliments Sir and will you come on deck.” He turned to run but was stopped by Merriman’s voice. “Mr. Green, kindly remember that you are an officer and stop rushing about.”

  On deck Andrews reported what was now clearly seen to the east. After using a telescope Merriman thought for a moment then said “Mr. Andrews, I’ll have the crew called to action stations if you please and have those awnings taken down. They may be pirates looking for easy prey or they may not but I shall take no chances.”

  “No doubt about it Sir, they are pirates, no peaceful trader would have such a lot of men aboard, and they all have a red flag at the main,” said Andrews. “Are they going to attack us Sir?” asked Alan Hungerford the signals midshipman, hopefully, in his proper place on the quarter deck.

  “They may but I doubt it” replied Merriman. They probably think they are going to attack an Indiaman but they’ll change their minds when they find out we are a ship of war. They could be the ones that sank the trading ship we found.”

  Above the noise of partitions being dismantled and with furniture and chests taken down to the hold and the bustle of the crew doing all that was needed to prepare the ship for battle Merriman stood on the quarterdeck deep in thought. “Is this to be our first taste of action against pirates and privateers in these waters I wonder? We cannot maneuver this ship with so little wind whilst those fello
ws can. But what will they do? If they attack we will give a good account of ourselves.” He took another look at the approaching ships and called out, “Mr. Andrews, have the guns loaded with solid shot and grape but not run out yet. I’ll have the courses off her shortly if these ships make to attack us David, so have the Topmen ready.” The lower sails on each mast, the courses, were usually rapidly furled in the expectation of battle and the danger of fire. Merriman stood on the quarterdeck deep in thought, watching the activity around him. He took another look at the approaching ships, and then looked round the quarter deck again. Because of the heat he had allowed the officers and warrant officers to leave their blue coats off, but he called the marine captain. “Mr. St. James, pass the word for the marines to hide themselves below, your men in the tops should take their coats off. Red coats may frighten off these pirates if indeed they are pirates and I want to give them a nasty shock if they attack.”

  The four dhows approached and then split up into pairs each pair changing course to pass by on either side of the frigate but closing nearer which would mean that they would attempt to board from both sides. There was now no doubt that the dhows were full of pirates, men shouting imprecations and waving swords and spears above their heads. A sudden crash of gunfire rang out as the biggest dhow fired a warning shot, the shot passing overhead and punching a hole in the fore topsail.