By Conduct and Courage: A Story of the Days of Nelson

by G. A. Henty

  CHAPTER VI

  A NARROW ESCAPE

  They were hardly anchored before the gale showed signs of breaking, and ina few hours the sun shone out and the wind subsided. The destruction ofthe timber on the hillsides had been prodigious, and large spaces wereentirely cleared.

  The captain and first lieutenant had an anxious consultation. Every boathad gone, and all the masts and rigging. They were in what was practicallya hostile country, for although Spain had not declared war against us, shegave every assistance to the French and left her ports open to them. In afew weeks probably she would openly throw herself into the scale againstus.

  "It is clear that we must communicate with Port Royal somehow," thecaptain said, "but it certainly isn't clear how we are to do it. Betweenthis and the nearest port there may be miles and miles of mountain allencumbered by fallen trees, which it would be almost impossible to getthrough. Then again we have heard that there are always bands of fugitiveslaves in the mountains, who would be sure to attack us. As to the sea, wemight possibly make shift to build a boat. There is certainly no lack oftimber lying round, and we have plenty of sail-cloth for sails, so wecould fit her out fairly well. It would be a journey of fully a thousandmiles, but that seems the most feasible plan. A small craft of, say, fortyfeet long might be built and got ready for sea in the course of a week."

  "I should say so certainly, sir. With the amount of labour we have at ourdisposal it might be built even sooner than that. We have plenty of handymen on board who could give efficient help to the carpenter's gang."

  "I suppose you would build it rather as a ship than as a boat?"

  "Yes, I think so. We could build her of one-and-a-half-inch planks, fillthe seams well with oakum, and give her a couple of coats of paint. Lether be of shallow draft with plenty of beam. She should, of course, bedecked over, as she might meet with another tornado. The crew wouldconsist of an officer and ten men. With such a vessel there should be nodifficulty in reaching Port Royal."

  The carpenters were at once told off to carry out the work.

  "You can have as many hands to help you as you wish," the captain said tothe head of the gang. "What will you do first?"

  "I shall get some planks from below, sir, and make a raft. By means ofthat we can get on shore and choose the trunks that would be most suitablefor the purpose; we are sure to find plenty about. Then we will find asuitable spot for a ship-yard, and at once start on the work. I will set agang of men with axes to square the trunks and make them ready for sawing.They need not be more than six inches square when finished, and as I havea couple of double-handed saws we can soon rip these into planks."

  "How long do you think you will be?"

  "I should say, sir, with the help I can get, I ought to be ready to startin less than a week. Of course the ribs will take some time to prepare,but when I have them and the keel and stem- and stern-post in place theplanking will not take us very long."

  "She is to be decked, Thompson."

  "All over, sir?"

  "Yes, I think so. She may meet with weather like that we have just comethrough, and if she is well decked we may feel assured that she will reachPort Royal. I will leave Mr. Farrance and you to draw out her lines."

  "I think," said the first lieutenant, "she should be like a magnifiedlaunch, with greater beam and a larger draft of water, which could,perhaps, best be gained by giving her a deep keel. Of course she must be agood deal higher out of the water than a launch, say a good four feetunder the deck. There should be no need to carry much ballast; she willgain her stability by her beam."

  "I understand, sir. The first thing to be done is to form the raft."

  The ship's crew were soon at work, and it was not long before a raft wasconstructed. A rope was at once taken ashore and made fast to a tree, sothat the raft could be hauled rapidly backwards and forwards between theship and the shore.

  The carpenter and his mates were the first to land, and while the chiefselected a suitable point for a yard his assistants scattered, examiningall fallen trees and cutting the branches off those that seemed mostsuitable. These were soon dragged down to the yard. Then strong gangs setto work to square them, and the carpenters to cut them into planks.

  The first lieutenant remained with them, encouraging them at their work,while the junior officers and midshipmen were divided among the variousgangs. By six o'clock, when the _Furious_ signalled for all hands to comeon board, they had indeed done a good day's work. A pile of planks layready to be used as required. The carpenters had made some progress with akeel, which they were laboriously chopping out from the straight trunk ofa large tree. By evening of the next day this was finished and placed inposition. On the third day some started to shape the stem- andstern-posts, while the head-carpenter made from some thin planks templatesof the ribs, and set others to chop out the ribs to fit.

  In two more days all was ready for fastening on the planks. A hundred andfifty men can get through an amazing amount of labour when they work welland heartily. The planks were bent by main strength to fit in theirplaces, and as there was an abundance of nails and other necessaryarticles on board, the sheathing was finished in two days. The rest of thework was comparatively easy. While the deck was being laid the hull wascaulked and painted, and the two masts, sails, and rigging prepared. Theboat had no bulwarks, it being considered that she would be a much bettersea-boat without them, as in case of shipping a sea the water would runoff at once. The hatchways fore and aft were made very small, withclose-fitting hatches covered with tarpaulin.

  The captain was delighted when she was finished.

  "She is really a fine boat," he said, "with her forty feet of length andfifteen of beam. It has taken longer to build her than I had expected, butwe had not reckoned sufficiently on the difficulties. Everything, however,has now been done to make her seaworthy, so those of us who remain heremay feel sure that she will reach Port Royal safely. In case of a gale thesails must be lowered and lashed to the deck, and all hands must go belowand fasten the hatchways securely. She has no ballast except her stores,but I think she will be perfectly safe; there is very little chance of hercapsizing."

  "With such beam and such a depth of keel," said the first lieutenant, "shecould not possibly capsize. In case of a tornado the masts might very wellbe taken out of her and used as a floating anchor to keep her head to it."

  "Now whom do you intend to send in her, sir?"

  "I will send two officers," the captain said. "Peters, and a midshipman totake his place in case he should be disabled. I think it is Robson's turnfor special service."

  The next morning the boat started soon after daybreak, the ship's crew allwatching her till the two white lug-sails disappeared through the opening.

  "Now we will take a strong party of wood-cutters," the captain said, "andsee if we can make a way to the top of the hill and get some idea of thecountry round. I don't expect we shall see much of interest, but it isjust as well that we should be kept employed. By the way, before we dothat, we will get hawsers to the shore and work the frigate round so as tobring her broadside to bear upon the opening; we ought to have done thatat first. The French may know of this place, or if they don't they maylearn of it from the Spaniards. Those two ships astern of us probably gotthemselves snug before the tornado struck them, and weathered it allright, though I doubt very much if they did so, unless they knew of someinlets they could run for. If they did escape, it is likely that they willbe taking some trouble to find out what became of us. They may have seentheir companion's fate, but they would hardly have made us out in thedarkness. Still, they would certainly want to report our loss, and maysail along close inshore to look for timbers and other signs of wreck. Ithink, therefore, that it will be advisable to station a well-armed boatat this end of the cut, and tell them to row every half-hour or so to theother end and see if they can make out either sailing or rowing craftcoming along the shore. If they do see them they must retire
to this endof the opening, unless they can find some place where they could hide tilla boat came abreast of them, and then pounce out and capture it."

  "It would certainly be a good precaution, sir. I will see to it atonce--but we are both forgetting that we have no boats."

  "Bless me, I did forget that altogether! Well, here is that little dug-outthe carpenters made for sending messages to and from the ship. It willcarry three. I should be glad if you would take a couple of hands and rowdown to the mouth of the entrance and see if there is any place where,without any great difficulty, a small party with a gun could be stationedso as not to be noticed by a boat coming up."

  "I understand, sir."

  The lieutenant started at once, and when he returned, some hours later, hereported that there was a ledge some twenty feet long and twelve deep. "Itis about eight feet from the water's edge and some twelve above it, sir,"he said, "and is not noticeable until one is almost directly opposite it.If we were to pile up rocks regularly four feet high along the face, boththe gun and its crew would be completely hidden."

  "Get one of the hands on board, Mr. Farrance; I will myself go and see itwith you."

  One of the men at once climbed on deck, and the captain took his place inthe little dug-out. When they reached the ledge he made a carefulinspection of it.

  "Yes," he said, "ten men could certainly lie hidden here, and with a roughparapet, constructed to look as natural as possible, they should certainlybe unobserved by an incoming boat, especially as the attention of those inthe stern would be directed into the inlet. Will you order Mr. Forster andone of the other midshipmen to go with as many men as the raft will carry,and build such a parapet. They had better take one of the rope-ladderswith them and fix it to the ledge by means of a grapnel. There is plentyof building material among the rocks that have fallen from the precipicesabove. I must leave it to their ingenuity to make it as natural aspossible."

  When they returned to the ship the first lieutenant called Forster andgave him the captain's orders.

  "You can take young Gilmore with you," he said. "Your object will be tomake it as natural as possible, so as to look, in fact, as if the rocksthat had fallen out behind had lodged on the ledge. The height is not veryimportant, for if a boat were coming along, the men would, of course, liedown till it was abreast of them, and the cannon would be withdrawn andonly run out at the last moment."

  "Very well, sir, I will do my best."

  The raft was again brought into requisition, and it was found that itcould carry twelve men. Dimchurch and nine others were chosen, and, usingoars as paddles, they slowly made their way down to the spot.

  "It will be a difficult job to make anything like a natural wall there,"Forster said.

  "Yes," Will agreed, "I don't see how it is to be managed at all. Of coursewe could pile up a line of stones, but that would not look in the leastnatural. If we could get up three or four big chunks they might do iffilled in with small stones, but it would be impossible to raise greatblocks to that shelf."

  The ladder was fixed and they climbed up to the ledge. When they reachedit they found that it was very rough and uneven, and consequently that thetask was more difficult than it had seemed from below.

  "The only way I see," Forster said, "would be to blast out a trench sixfeet wide and one foot deep, in which the men could lie hidden. Thequestion is whether the captain will not be afraid that the blasting mightdraw attention to our presence here."

  "They were just starting for the top of the hill when we came away," Willsaid, "and may be able to see whether there are any habitations in theneighbourhood. A couple of men in the dug-out would be able to bring usnews of any craft in sight. I certainly don't see any other way."

  When Forster made his report the captain said:

  "I believe it will be the best plan. At the top of the hill we could seenothing but forests, for the most part levelled; we could make out no signof smoke anywhere. The operation of blasting can be done withcomparatively small charges, and occurring as it does at the foot of agorge like that, the sound would hardly spread much over the surroundingcountry, and we could, of course, take care that there was no ship insight when we fired the charges.

  "Well, you can begin to-morrow. I believe there are some blasting-tools inthe store. Take the gunner with you; this work comes within his province."

  On the following morning the raft went off again, and at midday a numberof sharp explosions told that the work was begun. In the evening anotherseries of shots were fired, and the party returned with the news that theground had been broken up to the depth of two feet and of ample size togive the men cover. The next morning the rocks were cleared out, and aseven-pounder and carriage, with tackle for hoisting it up, were sentover.

  In the afternoon the captain went in the dug-out and inspected the work,and expressed himself as thoroughly satisfied with it. A garrisonconsisting of an officer and ten men was then placed in the fort. Theyremained there all day and returned to the ship as darkness fell, as itwas thought pretty certain that no one would try to explore the inletduring the night. The next morning another party was told off to garrisonduty, and so on, no man being given two consecutive days in the fort.

  On the fourth day the dug-out returned in haste to the ship from its postat the mouth of the gap, and reported that two men-of-war were to be seenin the distance cruising close inshore. Mr. Farrance landed, and withdifficulty made his way up the hill to a point near the mouth of theopening, which commanded a view over the sea. From that point he couldeasily see the hulls of the ships with his telescope, and had no doubtwhatever that they were the former antagonists of the _Furious_. Afterwatching for some time he made out four little black specks very close tothe shore. He examined them closely and then hurried down to the cove.

  "They are searching the coast with boats," he reported, "as I feared theywould."

  The news had been given to the little party at the battery as the dug-outcame in, and they were at once on the alert. The carpenters, who after thedeparture of their first boat had been employed in building a large gig topull twelve oars, were at once recalled to the ship, and the magazineswere opened and the guns loaded. All the guns from the larboard main deckhad been brought up to the upper deck and port-holes made for them, and aboom of trees had been built from the bow and stern of the ship to theshore, so as to prevent any craft from getting inside her. Thus prepared,the captain considered that he was fully a match for any two ships of hisown size, but he knew, nevertheless, that, even if he beat them off, hemight be exposed to attack from a still larger force unless assistancearrived from Jamaica.

  But he did not think only of the ship. The dug-out, which had brought Mr.Farrance back with his report, was at once sent off with orders to theparty at the battery that they must, if possible, sink any boat or boatsthat entered, but that if ships of war came in they must not try to worktheir gun after the first shot, as if they did so they would simply beswept away by the enemy's fire. That one shot was to be aimed at theenemy's rudder; then they were to lie down, and if they had not disabledthe ship they were to keep up a heavy musketry fire, aimed solely againsther steersman. It was hardly likely that they would be attacked by boats,as the enemy would be fully engaged with the _Furious_; but even if theyshould, the Frenchmen would have no means of climbing the eight feet ofprecipitous rock.

  The dug-out went to and from the entrance, bringing back news of theprogress made by the enemy's boats. About three hours from the time whenthey had first been made out by Mr. Farrance the little boat reported thatthey were only two or three hundred yards from the entrance. On board theship all listened anxiously, for a slight bend in the narrow passageprevented them from seeing the battery. Presently the boom of a cannon washeard, followed by a cheer, which told that the little garrison had beensuccessful; then for two or three minutes there was a rattle of musketry.When this stopped, the dug-out at once went out to the fort, and returnedwith the news that two boats had come up abreast, that one of them had
been sunk by the cannon at the fort, and that its crew had been picked upby the other boat, which had rowed hastily back, suffering a good dealfrom the musketry fire under which the operation was carried on.

  "That is act one," the captain said; "now we shall have to look for acttwo. I will go up with you, Mr. Farrance, to the place whence you sawthem; we may be sure that there will be a great deal of signalling andconsultation before they make any further step."

  Accordingly they landed and went up to the look-out. The two vessels werelying close to each other with their sails aback. The more fortunate ofthe two boats which had attempted to explore the passage had just returnedto them with its load of wounded and the survivors of its late companion,and boats were passing to and fro between the two ships.

  "It is an awkward question for them to decide," the captain said. "Ofcourse they know well enough that a ship must be in here, the gun showsthem that, but they cannot tell that we are capable of making any defencebeyond the single gun battery on the ledge."

  It was an hour before there was any change in the position, but at the endof that time the sails were filled and the two vessels headed for themouth of the inlet. They had evidently concluded that the English ship waslying there disabled. The two officers hurried back to the _Furious_, andgave orders to prepare for the attack. The men at once stood to theirposts. Presently the gun of the fort boomed out again, and by the cheeringthat followed the sound it was evident that the shot had taken effect andsmashed the rudder of one of the French ships. Several guns were fired inreply, but a minute later the bowsprit of the leading ship came into view.The men waited until they could see the whole vessel, then a crashingbroadside from every gun on board the _Furious_ was poured into her bow.

  The effect was tremendous; a hole ten or twelve feet wide was torn in herbow, and the ship was swept from end to end by balls and splinters, andthe shrieks and groans that arose from her told that the execution washeavy. It was evident that the battle was already half-won as far as shewas concerned. There was not room enough in the little inlet for her tomanoeuvre in the light wind so as to bring her broadside to bear on the_Furious_, and another crashing broadside from the latter vessel completedher discomfiture. The other vessel now came up by her side, but she hadbeen disabled by the fort, and her helm would not act. Her captain at oncelowered her boats and tried to get her head round, but these were smashedup by the fire of the _Furious_, and the two vessels lay together side byside, helpless to reply in any efficient way to the incessant fire kept upupon them. The Frenchmen did all that was possible for brave men to do inthe circumstances, but their position was hopeless, and after sufferingterribly for ten minutes, one after the other hauled down their flag.

  A tremendous burst of cheering broke from the _Furious_. She had lost buttwo men killed and four or five wounded by the bullets of the Frenchtopmen. She had also been struck twice by balls from the bow-chaser of thesecond ship; but this was the extent of her damage, while the loss of lifeon board the French frigates had been frightful. Some sixty men had beenkilled and eighty wounded on the first ship, while thirty were killed andstill more wounded in the boats of the second vessel.

  Captain Harker went on board the captures to receive the swords of theircommanders.

  "You have done your best, gentlemen," he said; "no one in thecircumstances could have done more. Had there been ten of you instead oftwo the result must have been the same. If your boats had got in and seenthe situation you would have understood that the position was animpossible one. There was no room in here for manoeuvring, and even had oneof you not been damaged by the shot from that little battery of ours, yourposition would have been practically unchanged, and you could not possiblyhave brought your broadsides to bear upon us."

  The French captains, who were much mortified by the disaster, bowedsilently.

  "It is the fortune of war, sir," one of them said, "and certainly we couldnot have anticipated that you would be so wonderfully placed for defence.I agree with you that our case was hopeless from the first, and Icompliment you upon your dispositions, which were certainly admirable."

  "You and your officers will be perfectly at liberty," the captain said;"your crews must be placed in partial confinement, but a third of them canalways be on deck. My surgeon has come on board with me, and will at onceassist yours in attending to your wounded."

  A considerable portion of the crew of the _Furious_ were at once put onboard the French frigate _Eclaire_, and set to work to dismantle her. Themasts, spars, and rigging were transferred to the _Furious_ and erected inplace of her own shattered stumps, which were thrown overboard. Thus,after four days of the hardest work for all, the _Furious_ was againplaced in fighting trim.

  Preparations were immediately made for sailing. The _Furious_ led the way,towing behind her the dismantled hull in which the whole of the prisonerswere carried. A prize crew of sixty were placed on board the _Actif_.

  When they were about half-way to Jamaica a squadron of three vessels weresighted. Preparations were made to throw off the _Eclaire_ if the shipsproved to be hostile, but before long it was evident that they wereEnglish. They approached rapidly, and when they rounded-to near the_Furious_ the crews manned the yards and greeted her with tremendouscheers. The officer in command was at once rowed to the _Furious_. As theboat neared the ship his friends recognized Mr. Peters and Robson sittingin the stern.

  "What miracle is this, Captain Harker?" the officer cried as he came ondeck. "Your lieutenant brought us news that you were dismasted and lyinghelpless in some little inlet, and here you are with what I can see is aFrench equipment and a couple of prizes! I can almost accuse you of havingbrought us here on a fool's errand."

  "It must have that appearance to you; but the facts of the case aresimple;" and he told the story of the fight. "The battle was practicallyover when the first shot was fired," he said. "The two French ships lostupwards of seventy killed and over a hundred wounded, while we had onlyfour men killed and two wounded. If the place had been designed by naturespecially for defence it could not have been better adapted for us."

  "I see that," Captain Ingham said; "but you made the most of theadvantages. Your plan of laying her broadside to the entrance, getting allyour cannon on one side, and building a boom to prevent any vessel fromgetting behind you, was most excellent. Well, it is a splendid victory,the more so as it has been won with so little loss. The French certainlyshowed but little discretion in thus running into the trap you hadprepared for them. Of course they could not tell what to expect, but atleast, whatever it might have cost them, they ought to have sent a strongboat division in to reconnoitre. No English captain would have risked hisvessel in such a way."

  With very little delay the voyage to Jamaica was continued. Two of therelief party went straight on, the other remained with the _Furious_ incase she should fall in with a French fleet. When the little squadronentered Port Royal they received an enthusiastic welcome from the ships onthe station. Both prizes were bought into the service and handed over tothe dockyard for a thorough refit. Their names were changed, the _Eclaire_being rechristened the _Sylph_, the _Actif_ becoming the _Hawke_.Lieutenant Farrance was promoted to the rank of captain, and given thecommand of the latter vessel, and some of the survivors of a ship that hada fortnight before been lost on a dangerous reef were told off to her. Hewas, according to rule, permitted to take a boat's crew and a midshipmanwith him from his old ship, and he selected Will Gilmore, and, among themen, Dimchurch and Tom Stevens.

  The planters of Jamaica were celebrated for their hospitality, and theofficers received many invitations.

  "You are quite at liberty to accept any of them you like," CaptainFarrance said to Will. "Till the vessel gets out of the hands of thedockyard men there is nothing whatever for you to do. But I may tell youthat there is a good deal of unrest in the island among the slaves. Thedoings of the French revolutionists, and the excitement they have causedby becoming the patrons of the mulattoes has, as might be expected, spreadhere, an
d it is greatly feared that trouble may come of it. Of course theplanters generally pooh-pooh the idea, but it is not to be despised, and afew of them have already left their plantations and come down here. Idon't say that you should not accept any invitation if you like, but if anoutbreak takes place suddenly I fancy very few of the planters will getdown safely. I mean, of course, if there is a general rising, which I hopewill not be the case. Negroes are a good deal like other people. Wherethey are well treated they are quite content to go on as they are. Wherethey are badly treated they are apt to try and better themselves. Still,that is not always the case. There is no doubt that altogether the Frenchplanters of San Domingo are much gentler in their treatment of theirslaves than our people are here. Large numbers of them are of good oldFrench families, and look on their slaves rather as children to be ruledby kindness than as beasts of burden, as there is no doubt some, not many,I hope, but certainly some of the English planters do. With San Domingo inthe throes of a slave revolution, therefore, it will not be surprising ifthe movement communicates itself to the slaves here. I know that theadmiral thinks it prudent to keep an extra ship of war on the station soas to be prepared for any emergency."

  "Very well, sir. Then I will not accept invitations for overnight."

  "I don't say that, Mr. Gilmore. In nine cases out of ten I should say itcould be done without danger; for if a rebellion breaks out it will not atfirst be general, but will begin at some of the most hardly-managedplantations, and there will be plenty of time to return to town before itspreads."

  As Will had no desire to mix himself up in a slave insurrection, hedeclined all invitations to go out to houses beyond a distance whence hecould drive back in the evening. At all the houses he visited he wasstruck by the apparently good relations between masters and slaves. Theplanters were almost aggrieved when he insisted on leaving them in theevening, but he had the excuse that he was a sort of aide-de-camp toCaptain Farrance, and was bound to be there the first thing in the morningto receive any orders that he might have to give. He generally hired a gigand drove over early so as to have a long day there, and always tookeither Dimchurch or Tom with him. He enjoyed himself very much, but wasnot sorry when the repairs on the _Hawke_ were completed.

  As the admiral was anxious for her to be away, some men were drafted fromthe other ships; others were recruited from the crews of the merchantmenin the port by Dimchurch, who spoke very highly of the life on board aman-of-war, and of the good qualities of the _Hawke's_ commander. Thecomplement was completed by a draft of fresh hands from England, broughtout to make good the losses of the various ships on the station. Withinthree weeks, therefore, of her leaving the dockyard the _Hawke_ sailed tojoin the expedition under Sir John Laforey and General Cuyler, to capturethe island of Tobago, where, on 14th April, 1793, some troops were landed.The French governor was summoned to surrender, but refused, so the workswere attacked and carried after a spirited resistance. But the attempt tocapture St. Pierre in the island of Martinique was not equallysuccessfully. The French defended the place so desperately that the troopswere re-embarked with considerable loss.