“This speech had the effect of shaming the men into their duty, and for some time we heard no more of the old witch. I ought to have said that we were bound for Chili and the western coast of South America, and were to visit some of the islands in the Pacific before we returned home, so that we thus expected to be away the best part of two years. We had a fair wind after leaving the Mersey, and enjoyed a fine run clear of the Channel, and until we got into the latitude of Gibraltar, so that the men entirely recovered their spirits and good humour, and, with the carelessness of seamen, even began to laugh at their former fears. Mrs Derick took a great liking to the sea, and told her husband that she should always be ready to go with him. Poor thing! she had only yet seen the bright face of it. Those who know the ocean can say, that, like many a beautiful woman, it wears two very different aspects at different times. We all began to like the lady very much, which officers and crew do not always do the skipper’s wife; but she was like a gleam of sunshine on a cloudy day, and stood between us and the somewhat dark temper which the captain now often showed. Thus things went on very well on board the Chameleon, and there appeared to be every prospect of a pleasant voyage.
“I said that we were bound for Chili and the western coast of South America. In those days the jealous and narrow-minded commercial policy of Spain prohibited the ships of any other nation than their own trading with her colonies. The consequence was, that those provinces, notwithstanding their internal sources of wealth, remained poor and insignificant, and their inhabitants ignorant and bigoted, while in North America a state was springing up which not only surpassed their whole united provinces in power and influence, but soon became in a condition to bid defiance to the rest of the world. We, therefore, did not hope to carry on a regular trade with these degenerate Spaniards, but our intention was to call off different parts of the coast, and to sell our goods wherever we found people ready to buy them, without troubling ourselves by entering at any custom-house. There was some risk, it is true, in this species of traffic, but there was also some adventure, and it required considerable sagacity and courage, and this exactly suited Derick’s taste. I forgot to say that we carried four guns on a side, and were well supplied with muskets, pistols, and boarding-pikes, both to defend ourselves against the Spanish custom-house officers, and also against any piratical rovers, who, in that day, were known at times to frequent those seas, to rob any unarmed merchantmen they might fall in with.
“The plan, in dealing with the Spaniards, when I had been in that part of the world before, was to call off the coast two or three leagues away from a town, and to send on shore, by some fishing-boat, to the merchants, to say what goods we had, and that we were ready to deal with them. They would then send back word when they would come, probably on that or the following night. If the weather were fine we used to anchor close in shore, always keeping a bright look out in case of treachery. As soon as it was dark, the merchant”, or their agents, would come off in their boats, and take the goods on shore, and pay us good prices in hard dollars. So much for restrictive duties. Scarcely a ship entered at the custom-house at any of those ports, and the Government got no revenue, while, on account of the difficulties and risks, the people had to pay just as much as they would have done for the goods had moderate dues been levied, and the trade been regular and above board. But I am running away from the subject of my story. Well, as I was saying, we made very fine weather of it, though the wind was seldom fair, till we reached about twenty-seven degrees north latitude, when we got into the north-east trade-winds, which carried us along at a spanking pace, with studding sails alow and aloft on either side, till we were nearly in the latitude of Rio do Janeiro. It was enough to make a man vain of his ship, of himself, and of the art which formed her, to see her thus walking along the water, with her wide spread of snowy canvas proudly sweeping the blue vault of heaven. Captain Derick rubbed his hands, and smiled with satisfaction, as he walked the deck and looked up at the well-set sails, and then over the side, to watch the sparkling foam as it quickly flew past and formed a long wake astern. He amused his young wife and himself in teaching her the names of the ropes and sails, and she fully shared his pleasure and satisfaction. I remember them as if it were yesterday; she was sitting on the bench, on the after-part of the deck, with one arm resting on his shoulder, and her face looking up at his, while he was explaining some point she could not at first understand. They certainly were a handsome couple. The sea was smooth, the sky was blue, and the air was pure and warm. That evening was the last we saw of fine weather. It seemed sent us on purpose to show how pleasant the world could be, and to make us wish the more to remain in it. On the morning following the one I have described, a dark mass of clouds was seen gathering in the south-west, rising out of the sea, and every instant growing denser and broader, as recruits from all quarters arrived; then, like some mighty host, which has been waiting the arrival of its various divisions, onward it began its march towards us. As the dark body advanced, its movement became more rapid, and at last, as if urged on by some irresistible impulse, it rushed forward in an impetuous charge, covering the whole sky with its overwhelming masses. The captain had been called on deck the moment the sky had assumed this threatening aspect, and he immediately ordered all the lighter sails to be handed, the courses to be brailed up, and the ship to be kept on the starboard tack, under her topsails. As yet there had been a perfect calm, and the sails flapped idly against the masts, though the ship rolled heavily in the smooth ominous billows, which had been rising for some hours past. Suddenly, the wind burst forth from the dark clouds, accompanied with rain and hail, and struck the ship on her broadside, while the forked lightning played round her on every side, as if eager to make her feel its power. Like a reed bent before the wind, the stout ship yielded to the fierce blast. It howled in triumph over her. In an instant, her gunwale was under water, and the waves washed up her decks and threatened to fill her hold. She was in as bad a position as a ship can be placed in, and it seemed that every moment would he her last. Derick now showed that he was a good seaman, cool and fearless in danger.
”‘Furl the mizzen-topsail,’ he shouted out. ‘Up with her helm—brail up the main-topsail—furl it—she’ll not steer without it.’ The mizzen-topsail and main-topsail were furled, the fore-topsail was backed against the mast, the fore-staysail and jib were set, but to no purpose. Still she lay like a log upon the waters with her broadside to the sea.”
Story 13--Chapter II.
“I ought to have said that all this time Mrs Derick, who had refused to stay below, was on deck seated aft under the weather bulwarks, and looking on less frightened perhaps than awe-struck at the wild scene before her. On finding that the ship still refused to wear, the captain summoned the mates with some of the best hands aft, and gave them the order to cut away the mizzen mast. With gleaming axes in our hands we set to work, the shrouds were severed, and after a few sharp strokes the mast tottered and fell with a crash into the boiling sea. The looked-for effect was not produced—still the ship would not wear. Another mast must be sacrificed; no other remedy remained. Again we gave the fatal strokes which must reduce our ship to a wreck upon the waters; over fell the tall mast with its spars and rigging, and a few more cuts served to sever it from the labouring hull. The effect was instantly perceptible—the ship righted, the helm was kept up, and away she flew before the howling tempest.