On coming on deck he shook hands with every one he met between the gangway and cabin, assuring them of his affection. I had to attend at the dinner, to which the royal party were invited. The ladies, however, had to sit aside, the king taking his place at the table at the right hand of the captain, while the minister, who carried his saliva bowl, squatted behind him. He ate voraciously, and washed down the solids with numerous glasses of Madeira. He drank the health of each person present, finishing well-nigh three decanters of his favourite wine. As soon as the king, the captain, passengers, and first mate had risen, the ladies were allowed to approach their dinner, which had been cooked on shore, and was now placed on the table. It consisted of a couple of roast dogs, several dishes of small fish, and a white mixture called pooah, of the consistency of flummery.
The steward and I could scarcely keep our countenances as we saw them dipping the two forefingers of the right hand into the pooah, and after turning them round in the mixture until they were covered with three or four coats, by a dexterous twist rapidly transfer the food to their open mouths, when, with one smack of their lips, their fingers were cleared.
Their dress consisted of a cloth worn over the shoulders—a long piece of cloth wrapped in several folds—round the waist and reaching to their knees.
The king spent a part of the afternoon in going over the ship, and measuring her from stem to stern, while the ladies played draughts and beat their antagonists hollow. There were a number of English and other white men settled on the island. Two acted as the king’s chief counsellors, and took an active part in all the affairs of the country, many of them having become very rich.
I may here remark, that the daughter and granddaughter of one of these gentlemen afterwards became Queen of the Sandwich Islands. The country, as far as I could see, appeared to be highly cultivated. The people in their habits and customs presented a curious mixture of savagery and civilisation.
As I gazed on the shore on which I was not permitted to set foot, I considered whether I could not manage to get away and offer my services to the king, as I was better educated than most of those about him. I thought that I should probably rise to the highest dignities of the State; perhaps become his prime minister, his commander-in-chief, or admiral of his fleet, but I found that I was too strictly watched by old Growles and the boatswain to accomplish my object. Had Mark been with me, I had little doubt but that we should have managed to escape. I at last asked Mr McTavish if he would take me on shore.
“No, no, my laddie, I know what is running in your mind,” he said. “The natives would be too ready to assist, and I might find it difficult to prevent your being carried off and stowed away till the ship sails. You may fancy that your life would be a very pleasant one, but I know what it is to live among savages. You would, in course of time, have a brown wife given to you, and, unwilling to leave her, you would become a banished man from home and country. Follow the plan I at first proposed. If you will remain with us you will in the course of a few years make your fortune, and be able to return home and enjoy it.”
I felt that the advice given was sound, and I promised Mr McTavish not to try and run away while we remained at the Sandwich Islands. He said that the next day he would take me on shore if the captain would give me leave. Shortly after, however, we went out of harbour. We had a quick passage to the entrance of the Columbia River. A dangerous bar runs across the mouth of it, so that the captain was unwilling to enter until we had a fair wind and a favourable tide. Boats were sent ahead to sound. While thus engaged a canoe, followed by a barge, were seen coming off. The canoe, which was paddled by six naked savages, and steered by an old Indian chief, was soon alongside, but as they could not understand a word we said we could gain no information till the barge arrived, when our passengers greeted a number of their friends who had come off in her. The ship now entered the river, and came to an anchor off a fort which had been erected by the fur-traders. I never felt more happy in my life, believing that my sufferings were over, and that I should regain my liberty. I hoped that Mr McTavish and his friends would at once go on shore and take me with them; but as it was late in the day, and they heard that the accommodation in the fort was limited, they accepted the captain’s pressing invitation to remain with their friends on board till next morning. A more sumptuous repast than I had yet seen was prepared. The captain produced his best wine in abundance. The steward and I had to wait at table. The captain, when giving me my orders, spoke in a far more conciliatory tone than he had ever done before. “I suppose he wishes to make amends to me for his past conduct, and to show my friends that he has no ill-will towards me,” I thought. The wine flowed freely, and hilarity and good-humour prevailed for some time, till a remark was made by one of the officers of the ship which offended a gentleman from the shore. His Highland blood being up he hove a glass of wine in the face of the mate, telling him that the bottle should follow if he didn’t apologise. This the mate did, in a somewhat humble fashion, at the request of the captain, and order was restored. The wine continued to flow freely; songs were sung and speeches made, and every one appeared to be talking at once at the top of their voices. The captain at last ordered me to go on deck with a message to the second mate, who was the officer of the watch, and to come back and let him know how the ship was riding. He said this in a loud voice so that every one might hear.
I could not find the mate aft, so, supposing that he had gone forward to examine the cable, I was making my way in that direction when suddenly I found myself seized. A cloth was shoved into my mouth, and another bound over my eyes, so that I was unable to see or cry out, and I was carried down the main hatchway in the strong arms of a man whose voice I had been unable to recognise, though I fancied that he was either Growles or the boatswain. In vain I struggled to get free. On reaching, as I supposed, the spar-deck, another man bound my arms and my legs, and I was then carried still farther down into the hold, when I was shoved into some place or other, a door was shut and locked on me, and I found myself alone. I was very nearly suffocated with the cloth in my mouth, but I managed after much exertion to work it out. Having done this, I was inclined to shout; but I feared that if I did so old Growles would return and put it back, and perhaps ill-treat me into the bargain. I therefore thought it wiser to remain silent, and to try and get the handkerchief off my eyes. I lay quiet for some time to recover my breath. Though I could not move to feel about, I was convinced, by the closeness of the atmosphere, that I was in a small place—probably in a compartment of the boatswain’s store-room. My next object was to get the handkerchief off my eyes, to ascertain if any light penetrated my place of confinement. It was a difficult matter to do this without hurting myself, but I tried, by turning over and rubbing the knot at the back of my head against the boards on which I lay, to work it upwards, though at the expense of making a sore place, so tightly was it secured. At last I succeeded in getting it off. All was dark, as I had expected. The next task I undertook was to free my arms. This was a far more difficult undertaking. I made up my mind to bite through the ropes if I could get my teeth into them; but that, after many attempts, I found to be impossible. I avoided, as much as I could, drawing them tighter round my wrists. I endeavoured, by making one of my hands as small as I could, to draw it out of the knot, but again and again I was obliged to desist. Still I recollected how I had before escaped from the hold, as well as from the mill, and I repeated to myself, “Fortune favours the persevering.”
I had been on foot for a number of hours; and, wearied by the exertions I had lately made, I at last began to feel very sleepy, and shortly dropped off into an uncomfortable slumber. I was awakened by a gruff voice, which I recognised as that of the boatswain.