Sect. V.—HIS SERVICE IN THE EAST INDIES.
When Clapperton left the Renommée frigate, and his generous captain, Sir Thomas Livingstone, to whom he was indebted for his first step of promotion in the Royal Navy, he is said to have joined his Majesty’s ship Venerable, (or, as others say, the San Domingo,) which then lay in the Downs under the command of Captain King. But as this was a situation too monotonous and inactive for his enterprising spirit, he volunteered to go with Captain Briggs, to the East Indies, in the Clorinde frigate. Though, however, his services were accepted, he could not obtain his discharge in time to make his voyage to India in the Clorinde; and so he was deprived of the pleasure of getting acquainted, in the course of it, with those with whom he was ultimately to be associated as his messmates. But as tranships and convoys were frequently sailing from England to the east, he was ordered by the Admiral to have a passage on board one of them, and to join Captain Briggs on his arrival in India.
In the course of this outward voyage, he was ordered, during the raging of a tremendous storm, to go, in an open barge, to the relief of a vessel in distress. The barge was accordingly manned, but the mighty rolling of the billows chaffed and vexed with the furious raging of the tempest, was such, that Clapperton and many others on board the ship in which he sailed, were of opinion, that it was next to impossible an open boat could live during the blowing of so heavy a gale. In this emergency, Clapperton said, that it was not for him to dispute the orders of his superior officer, but that he was thoroughly convinced that in doing his duty he must sacrifice his life. Then, in serious mood and sailor-like fashion, he made his will, bequeathing any little property he had among his messmates—his kit to one, his quadrant to another, and his glass and watch to a third—adding, that in all probability they should never meet again, and requesting them to keep these articles, trifling as they were, in token of his affection for them. Then he jumped into the barge, which, in spite of all that the most skillful seamanship could accomplish, had scarcely left the side of the ship, when she was upset, and the greater part of her crew engulfed in the awfully agitated waters. Clapperton, however, and a few other individuals, still clung to the sides of the floating wreck; and though their perilous situation was distinctly seen from the ship, no assistance could be afforded to them, so long as the tempest continued to rage with so much violence. In the mean time, Clapperton, while he was careful to preserve his own life, did his utmost, and more than perhaps any other man would have ventured to do in like circumstances, to save the lives of his companions in distress. As they, one by one, lost their hold of the barge, and dropped off into the sea, he swam after them, picked them up, and replaced them in their former situation. He was especially anxious to save the life of a warrant officer, the boatswain of the ship, we believe. This man he several times rescued when he was on the point of sinking, and restored him to the barge. By these efforts, Clapperton’s strength, great as it was, soon became nearly exhausted, and while with difficulty he was bringing the boatswain back to take a fresh hold of the boat, and while at the same time he was crying, “Oh, what will become of my wife and children,” Clapperton coolly observed, that he had better pay some attention to his own safety at present, otherwise he must, however reluctantly, leave him to his fate. This man was drowned, as well as every one else who had left the ship in the barge, except Clapperton and the bowman, whom our hero cheered by saying, “Thank heaven neither you nor I is the Jonah,” intimating, by this marine proverb, that it was not for the punishment of their bad conduct that the tempest had been sent; and at the same time advised him to bob, that is, to lay himself flat, when he saw a wave approaching, so that he might not be washed off the barge.
Long prior to this signal occurrence, in which our hero showed so much of the boldness of determined courage, united with the gentle feelings of compassion, he had become a general favourite both with the officers and men. His stately form, his noble bearing, his kind, frank, and manly demeanour, had endeared him to all on board the ship in which he served. But a man is often the last to know the sentiments entertained of him by others to whom he is known; and indeed, seldom knows them at all, unless when they happen to be revealed to him by accidental circumstances. And hence, as Clapperton was hoisted on board the ship, in an exhausted state, after being rescued from the perilous situation in which he had so long struggled for his life, he had his feelings strongly excited, on hearing the wives of the Scottish soldiers on board exclaiming, “Thank heaven, it is na our ain kintryman, the bonny muckle midshipman that’s drownded after a’!”
It may reasonably be supposed, that the gallantry and humanity which Clapperton had so conspicuously displayed on this trying occasion, would tend to deepen the esteem in which he was held by all on board, and especially that it would be the means of securing for him the admiration, the affection, and the friendship of many kindred spirits connected with the navy—a service so long and so eminently distinguished for firmness of purpose and nobleness of disposition. Accordingly, when Clapperton arrived in India, and when his gallantry was made known, he received the greatest attention from Captain Briggs,[9] during the whole of the time he continued under his command; and among other friendships which he formed with officers of his own standing, was one of peculiar intimacy and tenderness, with Mr. Mackenzie, the youngest son of the late Lord Seaforth. It happened that this amiable and noble youth became, in that distant region, the victim of a dangerous disease; and during the whole of his illness, Clapperton, his newly acquired friend, unless when the avocations of professional duty called him hence, never left him; but continued to amuse and nurse him with the affectionate assiduity of a loving brother, till he was so far recovered as to be able to resume his public duty. After Mackenzie was in some degree restored to health, he continued to be depressed in spirits, and in that state became careless of his person and of every thing else, thinking, like most hypochondriacs, that death was fast approaching to deliver him from all his sufferings. When under the influence of these feelings—afflicted indeed both in mind and body—he was by no means a desirable companion, and in truth was shunned by most of the young officers on board the Clorinde. But Clapperton, whose benevolent heart would not permit him to witness a fellow-creature, and still less a countryman and a friend an object of unfeeling neglect, redoubled his attentions to the forlorn youth. He read with him daily such books of instruction and amusement as either of them had in their possession, or could procure the perusal of from the other officers. He endeavoured to inspire him with the sentiments befitting his rank as the lineal descendant of a noble family, and with a sense of the duties incumbent upon him as an officer of the British navy. He talked to him of Scotland, and relations, and home. He entertained him with amusing anecdotes, of which he possessed an inexhaustible fund, and by relating to him the numerous vicissitudes and strange adventures of his own early life. And such was the happy effect produced upon the health and spirits of his young friend, that he was able to resume his duty on board the Clorinde, and to enjoy and return the cordial friendship which he experienced from Clapperton.
Though we believe, that the officers of the British navy are, perhaps, more distinguished for simplicity of feeling and openness of heart, than the men belonging to any other profession whatsoever; yet, it would appear, that some of the officers of the Clorinde had given entertainment in their breasts to the green-eyed monster, Envy. And hence, when they observed the close intimacy which subsisted between Clapperton and Mackenzie, and the kind attention which, during his illness, the latter experienced from the former, they said among themselves, but loud enough to be heard by Clapperton, “The canny Scotsman knows what he is about, by attaching himself so closely to a sprig of nobility; he courts his favour that he may use him as his instrument for obtaining promotion.” The effect of these injurious whisperings upon the mind of our hero was, in the first instance, to cause him to make a great sacrifice of feeling to the injury both of himself and his friend. He withdrew all attention from Mackenzie, and ceased, not only to keep company with him, but even to speak to him when they met. Mackenzie, in utter ignorance as to the cause of the change which had so suddenly taken place in the conduct of Clapperton towards him, after having puzzled and perplexed his mind in conjecturing in what way he had given such deadly offence to his friend, as to make him behave in the manner he was doing, at last mustered courage, fairly to ask him, why he had of late treated him with so much coldness and distance? On this, Clapperton, with his feelings strongly excited, stated to his friend what had been said among their shipmates, of the interested motives which had been attributed to him, as the cause of what they had represented as pretended friendship on his part. “But,” he added, “my dear Mackenzie, I have been wrong to punish both myself and you, in listening to these most false and injurious speeches. And henceforth let the best of them beware how they use them in future; for the first man whom I detect doing so, must do it at the risk of his life.” As this hint was pretty publicly intimated on the part of Clapperton, his friendship for Mackenzie suffered no interruption afterwards, so long as they served together in the same ship. But the disease which he had caught returned upon him again, and after causing him to linger for some time as an invalid, he was sent to his friends, with little hope of his recovery; nor indeed had he been long at home, till he died. While, however, he lay upon his death-bed, he spoke with all the enthusiasm of sincere and warm friendship, of the kind attentions he had received from Clapperton when ill and far from home; and entreated his relations, and especially his mother, to discharge the debt of gratitude which he owed him, by treating him as a son, in requital of his having, so long as he had it in his power, treated him as his brother.
We have not been able to obtain any satisfactory information respecting the nature of the naval service in which Clapperton was employed in India, nor of the exploits of seamanship and prowess which he performed while he was on that station, except in one instance, which is well worthy of being recorded to his honour. When we stormed Port Louis, in the Isle of France, he was the first man who advanced into the breach; and it was he who pulled down the colours of France, and planted those of Britain in their place. And we know that his conduct was in all respects worthy of the rank which he had obtained in a manner so unique, and such as entitled him to expect his turn of promotion in due course. He continued in India from the early part of 1810 till the latter end of 1813, when he returned to England. He had not been long at home, when he was draughted, along with a select number of midshipmen, for the purpose of being sent to Portsmouth, to be instructed by Angelo, the famous fencing-master, in the cutlass exercise, with the view of introducing that mode of defence and attack into the navy. These young men, when perfected in the art, were distributed through the fleet, as teachers of the young officers and men. Clapperton, being an apt pupil, soon excelled in this exercise, and when his companions were distributed through the fleet as drill-masters, he was sent to the Asia, the flag ship of Admiral Sir Alexander Cochrane, then lying at Spithead.