On the 7th of July, early in the morning, a sudden storm arose, accompanied by sleet and hail, that there was no facing. The cold was intense. Yet bravely the Boo-boo-boo kept as near to the wind as ever barque could do.
It ended, however, in her being blown very considerably out of her course.
Towards afternoon the wind went down as quickly as it had arisen, and very uneasy indeed did the captain feel, not only on account of the dead calm that ensued, but because pine-clad hills and rocks were within a measurable distance, and because he knew that another black dark night would succeed the stormy day.
Aberdeen men are noted for their forethought, or canniness, and Captain D’Acre was no exception.
About three o’clock he called a council. All hands, officers included, were had aft, and then the skipper addressed them.
“Men,” he said, “we’re not cowards. Cowards don’t grow in Bonnie Scotland. But I confess to you that I feel uneasy. We are not far off a shore that is infested—haunted, you may call it—by fierce and implacable savages. They will attack us to-night, if they think they can capture the ship. It is best to be prepared. (‘Hurrah!’) Well, we have plenty of arms. We shall get them up. Luckily, pistols and rifles and ammunition are part of our cargo. But there is another thing to take into consideration: we shall not know at what part of the ship, bow, or stern, or quarter, these fiends shall board. Therefore, I propose to get up the sheep-netting. It is strong enough to repel boarders, if placed double all round, on top of the bulwarks. See that done, mate. Moreover,” he continued, “we have oceans of lamps. Let them be all trimmed and lit, but covered up. They should be placed here and there on deck, so as to light us up fore and aft when the enemy comes, by simply hauling off the tarpaulin. Men, I shall not splice the main-brace now, but when the danger is over, when the long black night has worn away, and daylight finds us far from danger, then I’ll splice it twice.”
The men cheered. The mate ordered them forward, and work was commenced at once.
The sheep or calf netting was got up, and all along the bulwarks fore and aft, port and starboard, a barricade erected that it would take savages some time to cut through.
There was a sword or cutlass for every man and a good revolver also.
By the time everything was finished and the lamps lit and covered, black night had fallen.