The sloop3 of war I now commanded was a fine sixteen-gun brig carrying twenty-four-pound-carronades, with a crew of one hundred and twenty as fine men as any in the fleet. They had been some time together, and only wished for an opportunity of making the splinters fly out of a Frenchman’s side, and hauling down his tricoloured piece of bunting. I found on my reaching Port Royal that Admiral Rowley had arrived to supersede4 Admiral Dacres. In the afternoon I dined with both Admirals, and met the Duke of Manchester, who was a fine-looking man, but unfortunately had a nervous affection of the head. He asked me several questions respecting the different islands, and appeared amused by my description of them. After we had refitted we sailed for Honduras, the Admiral first taking from me the master, without appointing another, for which I did not thank him. We made the Swan Islands, which are small, uninhabited, and surrounded by a [pg 270]reef of coral, and on the morning of the third day anchored off the town at the mouth of the Belize river. Colonel Drummond, who was the commanding officer, received us very civilly, and requested I would dine with him as often as I could. A deputation of the merchants waited on me to say the convoy would be ready in a fortnight. I dined frequently at the military mess, and found the officers generally gentlemanly. I gave two parties on board, but as I had no music there was no dancing. We revelled5 in Calepache and Calapee, and I think some of the city aldermen would have envied us the mouthfuls of green fat we swallowed. I made an excursion up the river with Colonel Drummond in a scow, a flat boat so called, or rather float, and slept at a pavilion he had on the bank of it. I shall never forget my nocturnal visitors, the bull-frogs, who, sans fa?on, jumped about the room as if dancing a quadrille, not to my amusement but their own, making a most unmusical noise to the tune6 of something like, “Pay your debts, pay your debts, pay your debts.” After the third croak7 they paused, probably to give time for everybody to become honest. I made daily excursions to the neighbouring quays8, and picked up a quantity of beautiful shells.
Dining one day with Colonel Drummond, I remarked that the black servant who stood near me had a piebald neck, and mentioned it as something singular. “Why,” said the Colonel, “thereby hangs a very curious tale, and not a pleasant one to [pg 271]him, poor fellow. He is a native of Panama, and formerly9 was employed to float rafts of mahogany down the Belize river. He is an expert canoe-man and something of a carpenter, and as he was a free man I took him into my household. At my request he related to me the cause of those white marks on his neck. It was thus. As he and another black man were floating down the river on a large raft of mahogany, it being Sunday he wished to bathe, and jumped into the river for that purpose. As he was swimming after the raft, which was close to the mangroves, and had nearly reached it, a large alligator seized him by the neck. He roared most piteously; the animal, either alarmed at the noise he made, or wishing to have a more convenient grip, threw him up, and in so doing he fortunately fell on the raft. His companion bound up his wounds, which were deep, and soon after he arrived at Belize he was sent to the hospital, when, on his recovery, he became my servant.” “It was a most providential escape,” exclaimed I. “Indeed it was,” replied the Colonel, “and so he thinks himself.” On reaching the ship in the evening I found a beautiful mahogany canoe alongside, and on entering my cabin the steward12 brought me a glass globe containing two Panama tortoises, which, when full-grown, are richly marked and not larger than a crown piece. The native name of these pretty animals is chinqua. They were a present from Captain Bromley. At the time appointed, seven vessels13, deeply laden15 with mahogany, were ready for [pg 272]sea. I spent the last day on shore, dined at the military mess, bade adieu to all my red-coat friends, and the following morning got under weigh with my haystack convoy for England.
We doubled Cape11 Antonio on the third day, and when off the Havannah we perceived a frigate16 standing17 out of the harbour. We concluded she was Spanish. I consulted the officers respecting the probability of taking her by laying her alongside and boarding her. They thought it might be effected. I turned the hands up and acquainted them of my intention. Three hearty18 cheers was the response. We prepared for action, and stood towards her. We were three gunshots from her when it fell calm, as well as dusk, and about an hour afterwards a large boat came near us. We presumed she was a Spanish gunboat, and had taken us for a merchant vessel14. I let her come alongside, having the marines ready to give them a reception when they boarded, and to quietly disarm19 and hand them down the hatchway. The first man who came up was a lieutenant20 of our service. “Hulloa, sir, how is this, and where have you come from?” said I. “From the Melpomene,” replied he, “the frigate you see off the Havannah.” “This is a terrible disappointment,” resumed I. “We had made up our minds to board and, if possible, carry that frigate, supposing her Spanish.” “Why, sir,” said he, “we yesterday carried the disagreeable news to the Governor of Cuba of a Spanish peace, and seeing you with [pg 273]a convoy, Captain Parker despatched me with some letters for England, if you will have the goodness to take charge of them.” “Willingly,” replied I, “and pray acquaint him with our mortification21.”
He shortly after left us, and we proceeded through the Gulf22 with the convoy. Nothing of any importance transpired23 during our passage of nine long, tedious weeks, when we anchored in the Downs, where I got rid of all our snail-sailing mahogany haystacks. The three days we lay in the Downs I took up my quarters at the “Hoop and Griffin.” Bread and butter, with delicious oysters24, were my orders of the day, but, alas25, my former pretty maid was no longer there. She was married, had children, and I sincerely hope was happy. On the same floor, the father-in-law to the First Lord of the Admiralty, with his daughter and niece, had taken up their abode26 for a few days on their return journey to London from a tour in Wales. Before I was acquainted with this information, seeing a carriage at the door and an old gentleman with two ladies alight from it, I asked the waiter who they were. He answered he did not know, but that they had arrived yesterday and that the gentleman appeared much out of spirits, and one of the ladies very much out of health. The purser had been dining with me, and we were enjoying our wine, when I said to the waiter, in a half-joking manner, “Give my compliments to the old gentleman, and request him to hand himself in, that we may have a look at him.” He fulfilled [pg 274]his commission, although I did not intend he should do so, to the letter, and in walked a stately, gentlemanly-looking man, about seventy. He gave us a look that appeared to say, “Surely this is some mistake, I know you not.” On perceiving his embarrassment27 I advanced towards him, and begged, although there was some little mistake, that if he were not engaged, he would do me the favour to take a glass of wine. “I see,” said he, “you are officers of the navy,” and without further hesitation28, sat down and became quite cheerful. In the course of conversation he informed me that he had tried the air of Wales for the benefit of his daughter, who was married to a captain in the navy, and that his other daughter was married to Lord Mulgrave, First Lord of the Admiralty. I told him we had come from the West Indies and were going to sail for Sheerness in the morning; that if he thought his daughter would like to go so far on her journey by sea, instead of by land, my cabin was entirely29 at his service. He thanked me cordially, but declined it. After finishing a brace30 of decanters of wine he took his leave, first giving me his address in London. A month afterwards I heard of his death.
The following morning we sailed, and arrived at Sheerness next day, when I received orders to pay off the ship, in consequence of her being iron-fastened and wanting so much repair. She was afterwards sold out of the Service. I need not say I was much disappointed, and thought the builder at [pg 275]Port Royal something of an old woman, and only fit for superannuation. I found one of my old captains commissioner31 at this place, to whom I gave a turtle, a pig, and a bag of bread dust, for he thought one without the other useless, and for which he did not even invite me to his house. “Oh, what is friendship but a name that lulls32 the fool to sleep,” etc. On the sixth day the ship was put out of commission and myself out of full pay. I took a postchaise with my light luggage, and I arrived in the evening at my dear home, kissed my wife and all the women I could meet with that were worth the trouble, sat myself down in a snug33 elbow-chair near a comfortable English fire, told a long, tough yarn34 about mountains of sugar and rivers of rum, bottle-nosed porpoises35, sharks, grampuses, and flying-fish, until I fell sound asleep, but, however, not so sound to prevent my hearing my best end of the ship whispering to someone to put more coals on the fire, and roast a chicken for my supper, and then she added, with her dear, musical, soft voice, “Dear fellow! How sound he sleeps. I hope he will awake quite refreshed, and eat his supper with a good appetite. How rejoiced I am he is once more at home.” I could have jumped up and hugged her, but I thought it better to enjoy my sleep. If this narrative36 meets the eye of a bachelor sailor I could wish him to splice37 himself to such another clean-looking frigate as my wife, but mind, not without he has a purse well filled with the right sort, and as long at least as the maintop bowline, [pg 276]or two cables spliced38 on end. Love is very pretty, very sentimental39, and sometimes very romantic, but love without rhino40 is bewildering misery41.
When I awoke next morning I scarcely could believe my senses, it appeared too much happiness. The élite of the village favoured me with calls and congratulations, as well as invitations to tea and petit soupers, with a seasoning42 of scandal. I in return entertained them occasionally with a few King’s yarns43, which, my gentle reader, are not tarred, and are what the seamen44 vulgarly call rogue’s yarns, so called because one or more are twisted in large ropes and cables made in the King’s dockyards, to distinguish them from those made in the merchants’ yards, and should they be embezzled45 or clandestinely46 sold, the rogue’s or white yarn is evidence against the possessor. I had been some months on shore when I began to get tired of looking at green fields and grass combers, and longed to be once more on the salt seas. My family had increased to seven boys and girls, and I thought it criminal to be longer idle, and, after many applications, Mr. Yorke, the First Lord of the Admiralty, favoured me with an appointment to command a sloop of war on the Downs station.
I joined her in the cold, uncomfortable month of December. The weather was remarkably47 severe, and it was five days before I could get a launch to put me on board her. At length I made my footing on the quarter-deck. The first lieutenant received me and informed me the captain was unwell in the [pg 277]cabin, but that he wished to see me. I descended48 into a complete den10, filled with smoke and dirt. The first object I perceived looming49 through the dense50 vapour was the captain’s nose, which was a dingy51 red. His linen52 was the colour of chocolate, his beard had, I presumed, a month’s growth. I informed him of my errand, to which he answered with something like a growl53. As it was impossible to remain in the cabin without a chance of being suffocated54, I begged him, if he possibly could, to accompany me to the quarter-deck. He followed me with a slow step. I expressed my wish to have my commission read. He then gave orders to the first lieutenant to turn the hands up. After this ceremony I took the command, made a short speech to the crew, in which I assured them they should have every indulgence the Service afforded. I then turned to my predecessor55, and asked him when he wished to leave the ship. He informed me that to-morrow would suit him. I gave the necessary orders and went on shore. The admiral, Sir G. Campbell, received me very kindly56, and invited me to dinner, where I met Lady C., the admiral’s wife, a ladylike, pleasant person. The dinner party consisted of brother officers. The admiral was a quiet, gentlemanly, pleasing man, and a distinguished57 and good officer. As I sat next him he was kind enough to inform me that the captain of the sloop I superseded58 was considered out of his mind, that the officers had represented to him that the discipline on board her was worse than on a privateer, and [pg 278]that he would neither punish for insubordination nor have the decks washed. “In consequence of which,” continued the Admiral, “I was obliged to order a Court of Inquiry59. The report was to his disadvantage; he was advised to go on shore, to which, after some hesitation, he consented, and another captain was applied60 for. You have superseded him, and I make no doubt you will soon make her once more a man-of-war.” I thanked him for his kind communication, and assured him that zeal61 on my part should not be wanting to make her equal to one of his best cruisers. On rejoining the ship, as I had been the first lieutenant for five years in former ships, I told the officers I wished to make my own observation on the men’s conduct, and I would endeavour to effect a reform when I found it necessary. The officers, with the exception of the master, who was a rough, practical seaman62, were gentlemanly, well-informed men, and I was not surprised at their wishing to get rid of their insane chief, although, in any other case, it might have proved to them a difficult and probably a dangerous experiment. A few days afterwards I called on him. I found him in small lodgings63 in an obscure part of the town. I was accompanied by Captain J., an old messmate of his in former times. He neither knew us nor asked us to take a seat. He had a large loaf under his left arm, and in his right hand a dinner knife. He appeared to wear the same chocolate-coloured chemise and beard, his stockings were down over his shoes, and [pg 279]his clothes all over flue. We wished him health and happiness, to which he returned no answer, but began cutting his loaf. The people of the house told us he would neither wash himself nor take his clothes off when going to bed, but that he was perfectly64 quiet. I understood, before I sailed, that his sister had come from the north of England to stay with him, and that she had been of great use to him.
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1
alligator
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| n.短吻鳄(一种鳄鱼) | |
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convoy
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| vt.护送，护卫，护航；n.护送；护送队 | |
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sloop
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| n.单桅帆船 | |
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supersede
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| v.替代；充任 | |
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revelled
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| v.作乐( revel的过去式和过去分词 )；狂欢；着迷；陶醉 | |
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tune
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| n.调子；和谐，协调；v.调音，调节，调整 | |
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croak
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| vi.嘎嘎叫，发牢骚 | |
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quays
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| 码头( quay的名词复数 ) | |
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formerly
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| adv.从前，以前 | |
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den
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| n.兽穴；秘密地方；安静的小房间，私室 | |
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cape
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| n.海角，岬；披肩，短披风 | |
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steward
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| n.乘务员，服务员；看管人；膳食管理员 | |
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13
vessels
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| n.血管( vessel的名词复数 )；船；容器；（具有特殊品质或接受特殊品质的）人 | |
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14
vessel
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| n.船舶；容器，器皿；管，导管，血管 | |
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laden
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| adj.装满了的；充满了的；负了重担的；苦恼的 | |
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frigate
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| n.护航舰，大型驱逐舰 | |
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standing
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| n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的 | |
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18
hearty
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| adj.热情友好的；衷心的；尽情的，纵情的 | |
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disarm
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| v.解除武装，回复平常的编制，缓和 | |
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lieutenant
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| n.陆军中尉，海军上尉；代理官员，副职官员 | |
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mortification
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| n.耻辱，屈辱 | |
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gulf
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| n.海湾；深渊，鸿沟；分歧，隔阂 | |
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transpired
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| （事实，秘密等）被人知道( transpire的过去式和过去分词 )； 泄露； 显露； 发生 | |
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oysters
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| 牡蛎( oyster的名词复数 ) | |
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alas
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| int.唉(表示悲伤、忧愁、恐惧等) | |
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abode
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| n.住处，住所 | |
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embarrassment
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| n.尴尬；使人为难的人(事物)；障碍；窘迫 | |
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hesitation
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| n.犹豫，踌躇 | |
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entirely
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| ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地 | |
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30
brace
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| n. 支柱,曲柄,大括号; v. 绷紧,顶住,(为困难或坏事)做准备 | |
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commissioner
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| n.（政府厅、局、处等部门）专员，长官，委员 | |
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lulls
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| n.间歇期（lull的复数形式）vt.使镇静，使安静（lull的第三人称单数形式） | |
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snug
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| adj.温暖舒适的，合身的，安全的；v.使整洁干净，舒适地依靠，紧贴；n.（英）酒吧里的私房 | |
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yarn
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| n.纱，纱线，纺线；奇闻漫谈，旅行轶事 | |
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porpoises
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| n.鼠海豚( porpoise的名词复数 ) | |
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narrative
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| n.叙述，故事；adj.叙事的，故事体的 | |
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splice
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| v.接合，衔接；n.胶接处，粘接处 | |
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spliced
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| adj.（针织品）加固的n.叠接v.绞接( splice的过去式和过去分词 )；捻接（两段绳子）；胶接；粘接（胶片、磁带等） | |
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sentimental
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| adj.多愁善感的，感伤的 | |
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rhino
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| n.犀牛，钱, 现金 | |
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misery
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| n.痛苦，苦恼，苦难；悲惨的境遇，贫苦 | |
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42
seasoning
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| n.调味；调味料；增添趣味之物 | |
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43
yarns
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| n.纱( yarn的名词复数 )；纱线；奇闻漫谈；旅行轶事 | |
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44
seamen
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| n.海员 | |
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45
embezzled
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| v.贪污，盗用（公款）( embezzle的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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46
clandestinely
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| adv.秘密地，暗中地 | |
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47
remarkably
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| ad.不同寻常地，相当地 | |
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48
descended
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| a.为...后裔的，出身于...的 | |
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49
looming
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| n.上现蜃景（光通过低层大气发生异常折射形成的一种海市蜃楼）v.隐约出现，阴森地逼近( loom的现在分词 )；隐约出现，阴森地逼近 | |
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50
dense
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| a.密集的，稠密的，浓密的；密度大的 | |
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51
dingy
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| adj.昏暗的，肮脏的 | |
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52
linen
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| n.亚麻布，亚麻线，亚麻制品；adj.亚麻布制的，亚麻的 | |
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53
growl
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| v.（狗等）嗥叫，（炮等）轰鸣；n.嗥叫，轰鸣 | |
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54
suffocated
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| （使某人）窒息而死( suffocate的过去式和过去分词 )； （将某人）闷死； 让人感觉闷热； 憋气 | |
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55
predecessor
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| n.前辈，前任 | |
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56
kindly
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| adj.和蔼的，温和的，爽快的；adv.温和地，亲切地 | |
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57
distinguished
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| adj.卓越的，杰出的，著名的 | |
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58
superseded
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| [医]被代替的，废弃的 | |
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inquiry
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| n.打听，询问，调查，查问 | |
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applied
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| adj.应用的；v.应用，适用 | |
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zeal
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| n.热心，热情，热忱 | |
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62
seaman
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| n.海员，水手，水兵 | |
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63
lodgings
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| n. 出租的房舍, 寄宿舍 | |
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perfectly
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| adv.完美地，无可非议地，彻底地 | |
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