On the second day after this sad event I received an invitation for myself and Mr. S., the mid who was with me, to a ball given by the Governor. About eight o’clock in the evening Mr. B., the American Consul, called for us, and we repaired to the Government House, a large, square building in a spacious yard. We entered an ante-room, where the guard were stationed, and afterwards a lofty kind of hall, the walls of which were whitewashed, and at the farthest end was an orchestra raised on a platform. About eighty well-dressed people were assembled, the greater part of whom were females; some of them were very pretty, and made my heart go pit-a-pat. I saluted the Governor, who shook hands with me, and introduced me to a lady, who, as he was a bachelor, presided for him, and whose fine auburn hair was so long that she had it fastened with a graceful bow to her side, otherwise it would have trailed on the ground. She was a native of Guadeloupe, and married to a relation of the Governor’s. The ball was opened by four sets of minuets, which were danced with much grace. I figured off in one, but I fear, not gracefully. Country dances then began, which were kept up for about two hours. [pg 153]Waltzes were then the order of the ball, which continued until nearly daylight. I was heartily glad to reach my room, and did not breakfast until a late hour. I was spending my time very pleasantly, but not profitably. I was a prisoner, and that was sufficient to embitter a mind naturally active. I began to get tired of doing nothing, and longed to be free. I was shortly afterwards invited to two more balls, but as they were much the same as the one I have described, it is not worth while speaking of them, except that I lost my heart to three young females, who, alas! were perfectly ignorant of the fact.
On the day of the American Independence, Mr. B. invited me to his dinner-party, where I met the Lord knows who. A number of toasts were given replete with freedom and Republicanism, and guns were fired, and we were all very merry, until a person near me, in hip-hip-hipping, hipped a bumper of wine in his next neighbour’s face. This disturbed the harmony for some minutes, when, on the friendly interference of the Consul, the offended and the offender shook hands, and all went on prosperously until midnight, at which hour we took leave of our kind host, some with their eyes twinkling and others seeing double. A few mornings afterwards the Governor asked me to breakfast at six o’clock. I found him taking his coffee on the terrace of the house, where he had one of Dollond’s large telescopes, the view from which was magnificent and rich; but before I had been [pg 154]half an hour with him I found my eyes suffering from the great glare of light owing to the terrace being white. This he remarked. “We will descend,” said he, “and if you are fond of horses and mules, you shall see my stud.” On the landing-place of the stairs we met a servant. “Go,” said he to him, “and tell the grooms to bring all the mules into the yard. In the meanwhile you and I will enter this room,” pointing to a door on the right. “This,” said he, “is my retreat, and where I take my nap after dinner.” I remarked it contained no bed, but a Spanish silk-grass hammock hung low from the ceiling, over which was a mosquito net and a light punkah within it. “Here,” said he, “I lose sight of the world and all its absurdities for at least two hours every day by going quietly to rest, and as it is the custom of the country, there is little fear of my being disturbed.” The head groom came to announce that the mules were in the yard. “Come,” said he, “let us go and look at them; they are considered fine animals.” We were soon in their company, and I beheld eight beautiful cream-coloured mules of considerable height. “These are my state mules, and are seldom used. I have eight others for common work. Horses,” continued he, “are seldom in request, but I have three, which you shall see in the stable.” They were large-boned, with ugly heads and short necks. “You do not admire them,” said he; “they are not very handsome. They came from [pg 155]the Island of Curaçoa, and perhaps are rather of Dutch build. I use them for the family carriage.” After expressing my gratification which the sight of the beautiful mules had excited, and thanking him for his condescension, I took my leave. A week after this visit I was again sent for. “I have now good news for you,” said the kind-hearted Governor. “Your ship is close in to the Moro, and has sent in a flag of truce to request me to release you, and you are free from this moment, and,” added he, “I will send every English prisoner with you, if you will say that an equal number of Spaniards shall be returned on your arrival at Jamaica.” This I did not hesitate to promise, as I was certain the commander-in-chief would do it on a proper representation. I took leave of this excellent man and the Consul with the warmest feelings of respect and gratitude.
CHAPTER XII.
FIGHTING EPISODES.
Returns to his ship—Capture of a French schooner—An episode with two American sloops of war—Return to Port Royal—Attacked a second time by yellow fever—Seize and burn a Spanish gunboat—Return to Port Royal—Wetting a midshipman’s commission—Ordered home with a convoy—Pathetic farewells with mulatto washerwomen.
On going on board a boat provided for the purpose, I found with much joy the five men who had been taken when the unfortunate master lost his life, my own boat’s crew, and seven other seamen. This addition was cheering. Five hours later we were shaking hands with some of our mess and shipmates, who appeared delighted to see us. The ship being close in with the shore, we soon reached her, and received a hearty welcome from all on board. I acquainted the captain with every circumstance respecting our capture, and with the great kindness and liberality of the Governor and American Consul, and that I had pledged my word of honour as an officer that an equal number of officers and men should be exchanged for us. “For your satisfaction, and I hope for his,” replied the captain, “a cartel is on her passage with a superior Spanish officer and twenty men, for immediately our liberal-minded [pg 157]commander-in-chief, Lord H. Seymour, heard, by an American vessel, of our misfortunes, he ordered the cartel to be got ready, and desired me to proceed, before we had half refitted, to St. Jago to reclaim you, having written a handsome letter to acknowledge the humane manner in which the Governor treated the English prisoners”—which letter was given to the Spanish officer to present to him on his arrival. “Now,” continued the captain, “have you heard anything of the Fancy? I am afraid she is lost, with all on board her. The morning after you went away,” resumed he, “we saw a vessel in the offing much resembling her. I stood towards her, and found she was an American. The sea-breeze became so strong that I could not fetch sufficiently to windward, and that accounts for your not seeing us. I was truly unfortunate, and the cruise was disastrous beyond credibility. You a prisoner, with a midshipman and nine seamen, the master and three men killed, and five others taken, and the second lieutenant, a midshipman and sixteen of the best seamen most likely drowned—for I think beyond a doubt she has upset.” This conjecture was a few days after unhappily confirmed by a Bermudian sloop, which informed us that she had passed a small vessel, as we described her, bottom up near the Island of Inagua. This intelligence threw a gloom over the whole of us. “This is too tender a subject,” said I, “to have any more tenders.” “No,” replied the captain; “all these unhappy circumstances [pg 158]combined are most deplorable. I do not think I will ever send the boats away again.” “Not till the next time,” thinks I to myself. We repaired to one of our old cruising grounds, the Isle de Vâche, and although our noble captain had some days before come to a kind of secondhand determination of not sending boats away from the ship, on a large schooner heaving in sight towards the evening, I volunteered with the purser, if he would allow us the two cutters, as the wind had died away, to go after her. He, after a brown study of about half an hour, granted our request. “But,” said he, “be cautious, and if you find her heavily armed, try to decoy her off shore, but by no means attempt boarding her. We have suffered too much already.” Having prepared the boats, away we started, and after a most fatiguing pull, came up with her as she was making for Jacmel. Fortunately for us, the land-breeze was blowing rather fresh, which obliged her to make several tacks, and we boarded her whilst in stays. The people on board appeared astonished to see so many armed men so suddenly on her deck, as she had in the obscure light taken us for fishing canoes. She proved a French schooner, laden with bags of coffee. We soon rejoined the ship, quite elated with our prize, and sent her to Jamaica in charge of the purser. In the course of this cruise we fell in with two American sloops of war, which we chased, and as they did not shorten sail nor answer the private signal, we fired at the nearest; [pg 159]the shot passed through her cutwater. This event roused the minds and, I presume, the Yankee blood of both Jonathans, for they bore up, and we could hear their drums beating to quarters. We shortened sail, and they soon bowled alongside of us, with their sails spread like the tail of a turkey-cock. “You have fired into me,” said the nearest. “Have I?” said our skipper, very coolly; “I intended the shot to go ahead of you. You must blame your superior sailing for the accident. You fore-reached so rapidly that the shot had not time to go ahead of you.” “I don’t know anything about that,” was the reply. “We are American cruisers, and no one has a right, I guess, to fire into the United States men-of-war.” “Then the United States men-of-war should have answered the private signal and hoisted their colours,” returned our captain, “as we did ours.” Here they hailed each other, and soon afterwards hoisted their colours. Another boat adventure and the capture of a beautiful small schooner without any accident was the wind up of this cruise.
We anchored at Port Royal once more. About a week after our arrival I was again attacked with the yellow fever and removed to my lodgings, where I was nursed with unremitting attention by a quadroon female, who did not leave my bedside day or night. She was a most tender and attentive nurse. It was a month before I was sufficiently strong to go on board, and nearly another before I could resume my duty. I was so reduced that I [pg 160]was literally a walking skeleton, or, if my reader pleases, the shadow of a ghost, and, had a purser’s candle been placed within me, I might have made a tolerably good substitute for the flag-ship’s top light. We were, in consequence of several of the crew being seized with yellow fever, ordered by the recommendation of the surgeon to Bluefields for change of air, and I am happy to state that from this judicious arrangement we did not lose a man. During the three weeks we remained here we amused ourselves by fishing. The water in eight fathoms was as pellucid as glass, and we could see the large conger eels twisting about between the stones at the bottom, as well as other fish, of which we caught several. I was regaining my strength rapidly, and was frequently invited to spend the day at several of the estates.
I enjoyed walking of an evening about an hour before sunset in the pimento groves, of which there were several, and when the land-breeze set in we were often regaled on board the ship by their balmy fragrance. Mr. S., at whose house I frequently dined, was particularly kind, and his hospitality will not easily be effaced from my recollection. He had an amiable daughter, and had my heart not been lost in six different places, I think I should have sent it to cruise in her snug little boudoir. The captain, as the people who were ill had nearly recovered, thought His Majesty’s ship should no longer lie idle. We bade adieu to our kind friends, and once more made the water fly [pg 161]before us. Three days more brought us off the Havannah, where we joined the Trent and Alarm frigates. Nothing worth noticing occurred until the Trent, which was in chase of a vessel, ran on a coral reef off Matanzas. The wind was light and the sea smooth, and we soon got her afloat again. The vessel she had chased ran on a sand beach under the protection of a martello tower. Two boats armed were soon in motion from each ship, to get her off if possible. I had the direction of our boats. The enemy’s gun-boat, for such she was, under Spanish colours, hoisted her ensign and the red flag of defiance, and kept up a smart fire on our boats. Fortunately we escaped, but those from the Alarm had the lieutenant and three men wounded. Our boats were the first alongside of her, when I hauled down the red flag and her colours, and threw them into one of our boats, but the senior lieutenant claimed the former. This I refused, because as I was first on board and hauled it down I considered myself entitled to keep it. He said he should refer it to his captain, who was the chief officer. “So be it,” I replied. On our boarding the enemy’s vessel we found the crew had abandoned her, and were firing at us with muskets from the bushes. They had scuttled her, and she was full of water. We turned her guns on them, which soon dislodged them, and they scampered off as fast as their legs would carry them. More than half of our boat’s crews had landed and were under my orders. We soon perceived about thirty horse [pg 162]soldiers in a full trot towards us. We formed in a body two deep, and when we were near enough gave them a sailor’s salute with our muskets and three cheers. We knocked one off his horse, and set the others on a full gallop back from whence they came. They discharged their carbines at us, but they were too much alarmed to take good aim, and we escaped unharmed.