"Eh?" He was immensely surprised.
"She will take our prisoners."
"I will be delighted, monsieur, to have them as my guests."
"They won't be your guests, Captain. You will be the guest of the new captain of the Cambronne."
"I will not command my ship?"
"Not at all. I have a Captains' Club aboard. You, as a prisoner, are now a charter member. Your ship is my prize. I will select a member of the Captains' Club as her skipper."
He was very angry. It hurt him nearly as much to be removed from the command of his ship as to have her sunk.
It was a touchy matter to select a skipper from among a dozen captains, each of whom was full of sensitive dignity and thought he was the best navigator of the lot. The French captains thought a Frenchman should be selected, since the most numerous nationality among the prisoners was the French. The traditional principle of seniority, however, pointed to the selection of the oldest skipper. My belief in that principle was confirmed by the fact that the oldest skipper was Captain Mullen of the Pinmore. He had shown himself to be the finest of gentlemen, and then there was the memory of my old ship, which I had been compelled to sink. I appointed Captain Mullen master of the Cambronne. Since he was a Britisher, it was reasonable that his ship should sail under British colours. That necessitated the ceremony of hauling down the French flag and hoisting the Union Jack. The French captains did not like it at all.
I was rather glad that it was not I who would command the Cambronne. With all those captains aboard, especially the disgruntled French captains, the skipper of the Cambronne was certain to have an uncomfortable time. One skipper always knows more than any other skipper. Nor is any skipper ever reticent about the mistakes of another. The skipper of the Cambronne had better navigate with a perfect correctness, or there would be plenty of talk aboard.
We lopped off the Cambronne's upper masts, so that she could set only her lower sails. She could not make any speed now, and it would take her from ten to fourteen days to get to Rio de Janeiro, which was the nearest port. Then I exacted a pledge from Captain Mullen: