Salt Water: The Sea Life and Adventures of Neil D'Arcy the Midshipman

by William Henry Giles Kingston

“What vessel is that?” I inquired.

“A prize to his Majesty’s ship Harold,” answered the voice of Adam Stallman.

“All right; we want your aid. Heave-to, and send your boat aboard, with the people well-armed,” I sung out.

In a few minutes Adam himself stood on our deck, with four well-armed followers. The inconvenience of a lengthened quarantine, to which he would be exposed, was not, under the circumstances, to be taken into consideration. A plan of operations was soon settled on. We agreed to have lanterns ready, and by swinging them down into the hold the moment the hatches were off, we hoped to discover where the pirates were stationed, and thus, if they attempted to fire, to be able to take better aim at them in return. It was an anxious moment. At a signal the hatches were in a moment thrown off. Delano stood like a lion at bay, with a musket in his hand. He fired it at Stallman, and then attempted to spring up on deck. Happily the ball missed its aim, and he was knocked over by several stout fists, which his head encountered, and fell like a log back into the hold. Several shots were exchanged, and the four pirates fought desperately in their hopeless attempt to regain their freedom. They were soon, however, overpowered, and borne down on the deck, without loss of life to either party. The only people who did not fight were the two traitors and the sick pirate, and he remained bound as before, having refused to be liberated. Delano had been stunned by his fall, and when he regained his senses, he found himself again in irons, with additional chains round his arms. This showed him probably that all that had passed was not a dream, as it might otherwise have appeared to him. He growled out curses against his ill-luck, but he had no other means of venting his rage and disappointment. The other men took the matter very coolly. It appeared to me that their minds were too dull and brutalised, and their hearts too callous, to comprehend their awful position. Seared in their consciences, they were truly given over to a reprobate mind. The two men who had been gained over by Delano to assist him we sent on board the brig, exchanging them for two who could be relied on; and now our misfortunes seemed to have come to an end. The young man I have spoken of belonging to the pirate’s crew, after this seemed to sink faster than ever. Mr Vernon, in consideration of his condition, had him removed from the immediate neighbourhood of the others, and placed within a screen in the after-part of the hold. I then, at his request, went to visit him one afternoon. He was sitting up, with the Bible on his knees, and his back resting against the bulkhead, so that the light which came down the hatchway-glanced on his forehead and the leaves of the sacred book. His hair, which was of a light brown (almost auburn, it had probably been, as a lad), was very long, and hung down on either side of his high, smooth, and sunburnt brow. His dress was that of an ordinary seaman, and when he was first captured it was perfectly neat and clean. I went and sat down on a bucket by his side.

“I have asked to see you again, sir, for you are the best friend I have found for many a year,” he began, in a weak voice, speaking apparently not without pain and difficulty. “From this book I have discovered, at length, the cause of all my crimes, my sufferings, and ultimate doom. Disobedience brought me to what I now am. I never learned to obey or to fear God or man. I was born in the same rank of life in which you move, perhaps with far greater expectations; and when I think of what I might have been and what I am, it drives me to madness, and I wish that I had never been born. My father was a man of property and position, and much esteemed for many virtues. My mother was highly educated and refined, and of religions feeling. It might be supposed that a child of such parents could not but turn out well. Unhappily for me, they loved me much, but not wisely. I was allowed to have my own way in all things, I was never taught to obey. As I grew up, my self-willed disposition became more and more developed. I could not bear constraint of any sort. Too late they discovered their error. I had received at home some little religious instruction; I even knew something about the contents of the Bible, but its spirit was totally beyond my comprehension. At last it was determined to send me to school. I went willingly enough, for the sake of the change; but, not liking it, ran away. I was not sent back, but instead a tutor was provided for me. He was totally unfitted for his occupation, and was unable, had he tried, to make any good impression on me. We quarrelled so continually, that he was dismissed, and I was persuaded to go to school again. Once more I ran away; but this time I did not run home. I wanted to see the world, and I was resolved to become a sailor. I cannot bear to dwell on my ingratitude and heartlessness. I knew that my disappearance would almost break my mother’s heart, and that my father would suffer equally; yet I persevered. I little thought what I was to go through. A fine brig was on the point of sailing for the coast of Africa. I fell in with the master, and offered to go with him. He asked no questions as to who I was, or where I came from; but, wanting a boy, he shipped me at once. The next day we were at sea, and all means of tracing me were lost. I was not ill-treated; for the captain, though bad enough in many respects, had taken a fancy to me. We were to engage, I found, in the slave-trade. At first I was shocked at the barbarities I witnessed, but soon got accustomed to them. We did not always keep to that business. The profits were not large enough to satisfy our avarice; and even piracy we did not hesitate to commit at times, when opportunity offered. At length the brig was cast away, and many of the crew and all our ill-gotten gains were lost. I, with two or three others, who escaped, shipped on board a Spanish slaver. We changed from bad to worse. Knives were in constant requisition; more than once I dyed my hands in blood. I gained a name, though a bad one; and was feared, if not loved. Such was the training—such the scenes of my youth. After a time I began to weary of the life, and wished to see English faces, and to hear English spoken once more; so, finding a vessel short of hands returning home, I ran from the slaver, and shipped on board her. We were cast away on the south coast of England; many of my shipmates never reached the land. I was picked up by a boat’s crew when almost exhausted, and was carried by them into a cave near the shore.

“They belonged to a large band of smugglers,—their leader one of the most daring and successful on the coast. I was too much hurt to be moved for some days, and passed the time listening to their adventures, which they were at no pains to conceal. I became so much interested in their mode of life, that a few words of encouragement from their chief, who was known under the name of Myers, induced me to join them. I thought I would take a few cruises with him before I paid a visit to my home, to inquire for my father and mother. A wild life I spent for some time. Our lawless occupation led us into many acts of violence, in which I was never backward. One you are cognisant of. I was in the cavern when you and your commanding officer were brought there, and I assisted in hanging you over the pit. I was a favourite with Myers; and he trusted me entirely. When he was obliged to leave the country, I had resolved to start homeward; but was engaged in running a cargo on shore, when I was captured by the revenue men, and after an imprisonment of some months, sent on board a man-of-war. She was bound for the coast of Africa. I laughed at the climate which carried off many of my shipmates; but the discipline of a king’s ship did not suit me, and I took an early opportunity of running from her.

“I lived among the blacks for some time; but it was a weary life, and finding a trader homeward bound, I got on board, and at length reached Liverpool. I went to my father’s house. Both he and my mother were alive, but I had great difficulty in persuading them of my identity. When they were convinced of it, they were ready to receive me like the Prodigal. But I had not repented. I was not fit to dwell with them. I felt like a wild beast among lambs. I had not an idea in common with them. When the novelty wore off, my evil habits came uppermost. I asked my father for money. He told me that he wished me to embrace some regular calling, and desired to know what I would choose. I laughed at the notion. He still declined giving me the sum I asked for, but I insisted that I must have it. My looks alarmed him, and at length he reluctantly gave it me. With it I set off for Liverpool, where I soon spent it. Then the first pang of remorse came across me. I thought of the calm quiet of that home for which I had so completely unfitted myself. I was meditating returning to it once more, and asking my father to explain his wishes, when, as I was sauntering along the quays, I encountered Myers. He was much disguised, but he knew me and stopped me. He told me that he was engaged in a scheme by which a rapid fortune was to be made; that he could not then unfold it; but that, if I would ship on board a vessel with him, he would explain it when we were at sea. My impulse was to refuse; but I was tired and weary, and consented to enter a tavern with him. He there plied me with liquor till all my scruples vanished, and I became once more his slave.

“What occurred on board that vessel I cannot now tell; but you will probably know ere long. But the favour I have to ask of you is, that if I die, as I hope to do before our trial, you will find out my parents, and tell them, not all the truth, but how you encountered me on the point of death, and that I died repentant.”

I promised the unhappy young man that I would do as he desired, and, at his request, I took down the name and address of his parents.

I have often since thought, as I recollected this story, that if parents did but consider the misery they were storing up for themselves and their children by neglecting the precepts of the wise King of Israel, they would, oftener than they do, search that book for counsel and advice, and would teach their children also to seek instruction from its copious pages.