Chapter 12: A Rich Prize.
In the evening the wind died away, and the three vessels werebecalmed. Captain Lockett rowed to the polacre, and examined hisprize; and then, taking Bob in his boat, rowed to the barque.
"Well, Joe, have you made out what you have got on board?" thecaptain said, when he reached the deck.
"No, sir. Neither of the officers can speak a word of English. Ihave opened the hatches, and she is chock-full of hides; but whatthere is, underneath, I don't know."
"Come along, Bob, we will overhaul the papers," the captain saidand, going to the cabin, they examined the bill of lading.
"Here it is, sir," Bob said, triumphantly. "Two hundred tons oflead."
"Splendid!" the captain exclaimed. "That is a prize worth having.Of course, that is stowed away at the bottom; and then she isfilled up with hides, and they are worth a lot of money--but thelead, alone, is worth six thousand pounds, at twenty pounds perton.
"Is there anything else, Bob?"
"Yes, sir. There are fifty boxes. It doesn't say what is in them."
"You don't say so, Bob! Perhaps it is silver. Let us ask theofficers."
The Spanish first mate was called down.
"Where are these boxes?" Bob asked, "and what do they contain?"
"They are full of silver," the man said, sullenly. "They are stowedin the lazaretto, under this cabin."
"We will have one of them up, and look into it," the captain said.
"Joe, call a couple of hands down."
The trapdoor of the lazaretto was lifted. Joe and the two sailorsdescended the ladder and, with some difficulty, one of the boxeswas hoisted up.
"That weighs over two hundredweight, I'm sure," Joe said.
Illustration: They find Boxes of Silver in the Lazaretto.
The box was broken open, and it was found to be filled with smallbars of silver.
"Are they all the same size, Joe?" the captain asked.
"Yes, as far as I can see."
The captain took out his pocketbook, and made a rapid calculation.
"Then they are worth between thirty-two and thirty-three thousandpounds, Joe.
"Why, lad, she is worth forty thousand pounds, without the hides orthe hull. That is something like a capture," and the two men shookhands, warmly.
"The best thing to do, Joe, will be to divide these boxes betweenthe three ships; then, even if one of them gets picked up by theSpaniards or French, we shall still be in clover."
"I think that would be a good plan," Joe agreed.
"We will do it at once. There is nothing like making matters safe.Just get into the boat alongside, and row to the brig; and tellthem to lower the jolly boat and send it alongside. We will getsome of the boxes up, by the time you are back."
In an hour the silver was divided between the three ships; and thedelight of the sailors was great, when they heard how valuable hadbeen the capture.
"How do you divide?" Bob asked Captain Lockett, as they werewatching the boxes lowered into the boat.
"The ship takes half," he said. "Of the other half I take twelveshares, Joe eight, the second mate six, the boatswain three, andthe fifty hands one share each. So you may say there are eightyshares and, if the half of the prize is worth twenty thousandpounds, each man's share will be two hundred and fifty.
"It will be worth having, Bob; though it is a great shame youshould not rate as an officer."
"I don't want the money," Bob laughed. "I should have no use forit, if I had it. My uncle has taken me in hand, and I am providedfor."
"Yes, I understand that," the captain said. "If it were not so, Ishould have proposed to the crew that they should agree to yoursharing the same as the second officer. I am sure they would haveagreed, willingly; seeing that it is due to you that we were notcaptured, ourselves, in the first place; and entirely to yoursuggestion, that we should keep the Spanish flag flying and runinto Cartagena, that we owe the capture of the prizes."
"Oh, I would much rather not, captain. I only came for a cruise,and it has been a splendid one; and it seems to be quite absurdthat I should be getting anything at all. Still, it will be jolly,because I shall be able to make Carrie and Gerald nice presents,with my own money; and to send some home to Mr. Medlin and hisfamily, and something to uncle, too, if I can think of anything hewould like."
"Yes, it is all very well, Bob, for you; but I feel that it is notfair. However, as you really don't want the money, and are wellsatisfied, we will say nothing more about it, now."
The ships lay becalmed all night, but a brisk breeze from the eastsprang up in the morning and, at noon, the Rock was visible in thedistance. They held on for four hours; and then lay to, till aftermidnight. After that sail was again made and, soon after daybreak,they passed Europa Point, without having been seen by any of theSpanish cruisers. They were greeted by a hearty cheer from thevessels anchored near the new Mole, as they brought up amongst themwith the British flags flying, above the Spanish, on board theprizes.
As soon as the morning gun was fired, and the gates opened, Boblanded and hurried up to his sister's. She and her husband werejust partaking of their early coffee.
"Hallo, Bob!" Captain O'Halloran exclaimed. "What, back again? Why,I didn't expect you for another fortnight. You must have managedvery badly, to have brought your cruise to an end, so soon."
"Well, I am very glad you are back, Bob," his sister said. "I havebeen fidgetting about you, ever since you were away."
"I am as glad to see you as your sister can be," Gerald put in. "Ifshe has fidgetted, when you had only gone a week; you can imaginewhat I should have to bear, before the end of a month. I shouldhave had to move into barracks. Life would have been insupportable,here."
"I am sure I have said very little about it, Gerald," his wifesaid, indignantly.
"No, Carrie, you have not said much, but your aspect has beengenerally tragic. You have taken but slight interest in your fowls,and there has been a marked deterioration in the meals. My remarkshave been frequently unanswered; and you have got into a SisterAnne sort of way of going upon the roof, and staring out to sea.
"Your sister is a most estimable woman, Bob--I am the last personwho would deny it--but I must admit that she has been a littletrying, during the last week."
Carrie laughed.
"Well, it is only paying you back a little, in your own coin,Gerald.
"But what has brought you back so soon, Bob? We heard of you, threedays ago; for Gerald went on board a brig that was brought in, ashe heard that it was a prize of the Antelope's; and the officertold him about your cruise, up to when he had left you."
"Well, there wasn't much to tell, up till then," Bob said, "exceptthat I was well, and my appetite was good. But there has been agood lot, since. We have come in with two more good prizes, thismorning, and the brig is going to convoy them back to England."
"Oh, that is all right," Carrie said in a tone of pleasure.
So far, she had been afraid that Bob's return was only a temporaryone; and that he might be setting out again, in a day or two.
"Well, let us hear all about it, Bob," her husband said. "I couldsee Carrie was on thorns, lest you were going off again. Now thatshe is satisfied, she may be able to listen to you, comfortably."
"Well, we really had some adventures, Gerald. We had a narrowescape from being captured by a Spanish ship of war, ever so muchstronger than we were. She was got up as a merchantman, andregularly took us in. We anchored close to her, intending to boardher in the dark. I thought I would swim off and reconnoitre a bit,before we attacked her; and, of course, I saw at once what she was,and we cut our cable, and were towed out in the dark. She firedaway at us, but didn't do us any damage.
"The next day, late in the afternoon, we came upon the Brilliantchasing some Spanish craft into Cartagena and, as we had Spanishcolours up, she took us for one of them, and blazed away at us."
"But why didn't you pull down the Spanish colours, at once, Bob? Inever heard of anything so sill
y," Carrie said, indignantly.
"Well, you see, Carrie, they were some distance off, and weren'tlikely to damage us much; and we ran straight in, and anchored withthe rest under the guns of the battery, outside Cartagena. Seeingus fired at, of course, they never suspected we were English. Then,at night, we captured the two vessels lying next to us, and put outto sea. The batteries blazed away at us, and it was not verypleasant till we got outside their range. They did not do us verymuch damage. Two gunboats came out after us, but the brig beat themback, and we helped."
"Who were we?" Captain O'Halloran asked.
"We were the prizes, of course. I was in command of one."
"Hooray, Bob!" Gerald exclaimed, with a great laugh, while Carrieuttered an exclamation of horror.
"Well, you see, the second mate had been sent off in the firstprize, and there was only Joe Lockett and me; so he took thebiggest of the two ships we cut out, and the captain put me incommand of the men that took the other. I had the boatswain with meand, of course, he was the man who really commanded, in getting upthe sails and all that sort of thing. He was killed by a shot fromthe battery, and was the only man hit on our vessel; but there werefive killed, on board the brig, in the fight with the gunboats.
"We fell in with the Brilliant, on the way back, and I went onboard; and you should have seen how Jim Sankey opened his eyes,when I said that I was in command of the prize. They are awfullygood prizes, too, I can tell you. The one I got is laden with wine;and the big one was a barque from Lima, with hides, and two hundredtons of lead, and fifty boxes of silver--about thirty-threethousand pounds' worth.
"Just think of that! The captain said she was worth, altogether, atleast forty thousand pounds. That is something like a prize, isn'tit?"
"Yes, that is.
"What do you think, Carrie? I propose that I sell my commission,raise as much as I can on the old place in Ireland, and fit out aprivateer. Bob will, of course, be captain; you shall be firstmate; and I will be content with second mate's berth; and we willsail the salt ocean, and pick up our forty-thousand-pound prizes."
"Oh, what nonsense you do talk, to be sure, Gerald! Just when Bob'snews is so interesting, too."
"I have told all my news, Carrie. Now I want to hear yours. TheSpaniards haven't began to batter down the Rock, yet?"
"We have been very quiet, Bob. On the 11th a great convoy, of aboutsixty sail--protected by five xebecs, of from twenty to thirty gunseach--came along. They must have come out from Malaga, the verynight you passed there. They were taking supplies, for the use ofthe Spanish fleet; and the privateers captured three or four smallcraft; and the Panther, the Enterprise, and the Childers were keptat their anchor, all day. Why, no one but the admiral could say. Wewere all very much disappointed, for everyone expected to seepretty nearly all the Spanish vessels brought in."
"Yes," Captain O'Halloran said, "it has caused a deal of talk, Ican tell you. The navy were furious. There they were, sixtyvessels, all laden with the very things we wanted; pretty wellbecalmed, not more than a mile off Europa Point, with our batteriesbanging away at them; and nothing in the world to hinder thePanther, and the frigates, from fetching them all in. Half the townwere out on the hill, and every soul who could get off duty at thePoint; and there was the admiral, wasting the whole mortal day intrying to make up his mind. If you had heard the bad language thatwas used in relation to that old gentleman, it would have made yourhair stand on end.
"Of course, just as it got dark the ships of war started; andequally, of course, the convoy all got away in the dark, except sixbits of prizes, which were brought in in the morning. We haveheard, since, that it was on purpose to protect this valuable fleetthat the Spanish squadron arrived, before you went away; but as itdidn't turn up, the squadron went off again, and we had nothing todo but just to pick it up."
After breakfast, Captain O'Halloran went off with Bob to theAntelope. He found all hands busy, bending on sails in place ofthose that had been damaged, taking those of the brig firstcaptured for the purpose.
"They fit very well," Joe Lockett said, "and we have not time tolose. We sail again, this afternoon. The captain says there isnothing to prevent our going out, now; and as the Spanish squadronmay be back any day, we might have to run the gauntlet to get out,if we lost the present chance. So he is not going to waste an hour.
"Crofts has already sold the grain, and discharged it. The hull isworth but little; and the captain has sold her, as she stands, to atrader for two hundred pounds. I expect he has bought her to breakup for firewood, if the siege goes on. If it doesn't, he will sellher again, afterwards, at a good profit. Of course, it is aridiculous price; but the captain wanted to get her off his hands,and would have taken a ten pound note, rather than be bothered withher.
"So by tonight we shall be across at Ceuta and, if the wind holdseast but another day, we shall be through the Straits on our wayhome.
"They are going to shift two of our 18 pounders on board thebarque, and I am going to command her, and to have fifteen men onboard. Crofts commands the poleacre, with ten men. The rest, ofcourse, go in the brig. We shall keep together, and steer well outwest into the Atlantic, so as to give as wide a berth as possibleto Spaniards and Frenchmen. If we meet with a privateer, we oughtto be able to give a good account of him; if we run across afrigate, we shall scatter; and it will be hard luck if we don'tmanage to get two out of the three craft into port.
"We have been shifting some more of the silver again, this morning,from the barque into the other two vessels; otherwise, as she hasthe lead on board, she would be the most valuable prize. As it isnow, the three are of about equal value."
"Well, we wish you a pleasant voyage," Captain O'Halloran said. "Isuppose we shall see you back here again, before long."
"Yes, I should think so; but I don't know what the captain means todo. We have had no time to talk, this morning. I daresay you willmeet him, on shore; he has gone to the post office, to get hispapers signed. We have been quite pestered, this morning, by mencoming on board to buy wine out of the polacre; but the captainwouldn't have the hatches taken off. The Spaniards may turn up, atany moment; and it is of the greatest importance our getting off,while the coast is clear. It is most unfortunate, now, that we didnot run straight in, yesterday; instead of laying to, to wait fornight."
They did not meet the captain in the town and, from the roof, Bobsaw the three vessels get up sail, early in the afternoon, and makeacross for the African coast.
The doctor came in, in the evening.
"Well, Bob, so I hear you have been fighting, and commanding ships,and doing all sorts of things. I saw Captain Lockett in the townand, faith, if you had been a dozen admirals, rolled into one, hecouldn't have spoken more highly of you.
"It seems, Mrs. O'Halloran, that Bob has been the special angel whohas looked after poor Jack, on board the Antelope."
"What ridiculous nonsense, doctor!" Bob exclaimed, hotly.
"Not at all, Bob; it is too modest you are, entirely. It isyourself is the boy who has done the business, this time; and it isa silver tay service, or some such trifle as that, that the ownerswill be sending you, and small blame to them. Captain Lockett tellsme he owns a third of the ship; and he reckons the ship's share ofwhat they have taken, this little cruise, won't be less thanfive-and-twenty thousand.
"Think of that, Mrs. O'Halloran, five-and-twenty thousand pounds!And here is Edward Burke, M.D., working his sowl out, for amiserable eight or ten shillings a day."
"But what has Bob done?"
"I hadn't time to learn it all, Mrs. O'Halloran, for the captainwas in a hurry. It seems to me that the question ought to be, whatis it that he hasn't done?
"It all came in a heap, together, and I am not sure of the exactparticulars; but it seems to me that he swam out and cut the cableof a Spanish sloop of war, and took the end in his mouth and towedher out to sea, while the guns were blazing in all directions athim. Never was such an affair!
"Then he humbugged the captain of an
English frigate, and thecommander of the Spanish forts, and stole a vessel chock full ofsilver; and did I don't know what, besides."
Bob went off into a shout of laughter, in which the others joined.
"But what is the meaning of all this nonsense, Teddy?" Carrieasked, as soon as she recovered her composure. "Is there anythingin it, or is it all pure invention?"
"Is there anything in it? Haven't I been telling you that there istwenty-five thousand pounds in it, to the owners, and as much moreto the crew; and didn't the captain vow and declare that, if ithadn't been for Bob, instead of going home to divide all thistreasure up between them, every man Jack of them would be, at thismoment, chained by the leg in a dirty Spanish prison, at Malaga!"
"Well, what does it all mean, Bob? There is no getting any senseout of Dr. Burke."
"It is exactly what I told you, Carrie. We anchored close to acraft that we thought was a merchantman, and that we meant toattack in our boats. I swam on board her in the dark--to see ifthey were keeping a good watch, and that sort of thing--and when Igot on board, I found she was a ship of war, with a lot of heavyguns, and prepared to take us by surprise when we attacked her; soof course, when I swam back again with the news, Captain Lockettcut his cable and towed the brig out in the dark.
"As to the other affair that the doctor is talking about, I toldyou that, too; and it is exactly as I said it was. The only thing Ihad to do with it was that it happened to be my idea to keep theSpanish colours flying, and let the frigate keep on firing at us.The idea turned out well; but of course, if I had not thought of itsomebody else would, so there was nothing in it, at all."
"Well, Bob, you may say what you like," Doctor Burke said, "but itis quite evident that the captain thought there was a good deal init.
"And I think really, Gerald, that you and Mrs. O'Halloran have goodreason to feel quite proud of him. I am not joking at all, when Isay that Captain Lockett really spoke as if he considered that thegood fortune they had had is very largely due to him. He said hehoped he should have Bob on board for another cruise."
"I certainly shall not go any more with him," Bob said,indignantly, "if he talks such nonsense about me, afterwards. As ifthere was anything in swimming two or three hundred yards, on adark night; or in suggesting the keeping a flag up, instead ofpulling it down."
When the Brilliant, however, came in two days later, CaptainLangton called upon Mrs. O'Halloran; and told her that he did so inorder to acquaint her with the extremely favourable report CaptainLockett had made, to him, of Bob's conduct; and that, from what hehad said, it was evident that the lad had shown great courage inundertaking the swim to the Spanish vessel, and much promptness andready wit in suggesting the device that had deceived him, as wellas the Spaniards.
Captain Langton told the story, that evening, at General Eliott'sdinner table; and said that although it was certainly a good joke,against himself, that he should have thus assisted a privateer tocarry off two valuable prizes that had slipped through thefrigate's hands, the story was too good not to be told. Thus, Bob'sexploit became generally known among the officers of the garrison;and Captain O'Halloran was warmly congratulated upon the sharpness,and pluck, of his young brother-in-law.
Captain Lockett's decision, to be off without any delay, was fullyjustified by the appearance of a Spanish squadron in the bay, threedays after his departure. It consisted of two seventy-fours, twofrigates, five xebecs, and a number of galleys and small armedvessels. The men-of-war anchored off Algeciras; while the rest ofthe squadron kept a vigilant patrol at the mouth of the bay, andformed a complete blockade.
Towards the end of the month, the troops were delighted by theissue of an order that the use of powder for the hair was,henceforth, to be abandoned.
Vessels were now continually arriving from Algeciras, with troopsand stores; and on the 26th the Spaniards began to form a camp, onthe plain below San Roque, three miles from the garrison. Thisincreased in size, daily, as fresh regiments arrived by land.
Orders were now issued that all horses in the garrison, exceptthose whose owners had a store of at least one thousand pounds ofgrain, were either to be shot or turned out through the gates.
There was much excitement when two Dutch vessels, laden with riceand dried fruit, made their way in at night through the enemy'scruisers. Their cargoes were purchased for the troops; and thesevessels, and a Venetian that had also got through, carried off withthem a large number of Jewish, Genoese, and other traders, withtheir families, to ports in Barbary or Portugal. Indeed, from thistime every vessel that went out carried away some of theinhabitants.
The position of these poor people was indeed serious. The standingorder on the Rock was that every inhabitant, even in time of peace,should have in store six months' provisions; but the order hadnever been enforced, and few of them had any supplies ofconsequence. As they could not expect to be supplied from thegarrison stores, the greater number had no resource but to leavethe place. Some, however, who were better provided, obtained leaveto erect wooden huts at the southern end of the Rock, so as to havea place of shelter to remove to, in case the enemy bombarded thetown.
The Spaniards had, by this time, mounted their cannon in forts St.Philip and St. Barbara. Vast quantities of stores were landed atPoint Mala, at the end of the bay. Some fifteen thousand men wereunder canvas, in their camp; and strong parties were constantlyemployed in erecting works near their forts. The garrison on theirside were continually strengthening and adding to their batteries,erecting palisades and traverses, filling the magazines in theworks, and preparing for an attack; and on the 11th of Septembersome of the guns were opened upon the enemy's working parties and,for a time, compelled them to desist.
From the upper batteries on the Rock, a complete view wasobtainable of all the enemy's operations and, as they were seen tobe raising mortar batteries, preparations were made to diminish theeffects of a bombardment of the town. For this purpose the pavementof the streets was removed, and the ground ploughed up; the towersand most conspicuous buildings taken down; and traverses carriedacross the streets, to permit communications to be carried on.
Early in October the Engineers and Artillery managed, with immenselabour, to mount a gun on the summit of the Rock; and as, from thispoint, an almost bird's-eye view was obtained of the Spanish works,the fire of the gun annoyed them greatly at their work. This wasmaintained, however, steadily but, in spite of this interferencewith their operations, the Spaniards on the 20th of October openedthirty-five embrasures, in three batteries, in a line between theirtwo forts.
Provisions of every kind were now becoming very dear. Fresh meatwas from three to four shillings a pound, chickens twelve shillingsa couple, ducks from fourteen to eighteen. Fish was equally dear;and vegetables hardly to be bought, at any price. Flour was runningvery short, and rice was served out instead of it.
On the 14th of November the privateer Buck, armed with twenty-four9 pounders, was seen making into the bay. Two Spanish ships of theline, a frigate, two xebecs, and twenty-one small craft set out tointercept her. The cutter--seeing a whole Spanish squadron comingout--tacked and stood across towards the Barbary shore, pursued bythe Spaniards. The wind was from the west; but the cutter, lyingclose hauled, was able just to stem the current, and hold herposition; while the Spaniards, being square rigged and so unable tostand near the wind, drifted bodily away to leeward with thecurrent; but the two men-of-war, perceiving what was happening,managed to make back into the bay.
As soon as the privateer saw the rest of the squadron drift away toleeward, she again headed for the Rock. The Spanish admiral,Barcelo, in a seventy-four gun ship, endeavoured to cut heroff--firing two broadsides of grape and round shot at her--but,with the other man-of-war, was compelled to retire by the batteriesat Europa; and the cutter made her way in triumphantly, insultinglyreturning the Spanish admiral's fire with her two little sternguns. The Spanish men-of-war drifted away after their small craft;and thus for the time the port was open again, thanks to the pluckof t
he little privateer--which had, it was found on her arrival,been some time at sea, and simply came in to get provisions.
As it could be seen, from the African coast, that the port was again open,two or three small craft came across, with bullocks and sheep. Four dayslater--the wind veering round to the southward--Admiral Barcelo, with hisfleet, returned to the bay; and the blockade was renewed.
Already, Captain O'Halloran and his wife had the most ample reasonsfor congratulating themselves that they had taken Dr. Burke'sadvice, in the matter of vegetables and fowls. The little garden onthe roof was the envy of all Carrie's female friends--many of whom,indeed, began imitations of it, on a small scale. Under the hotsun, and with careful watering, everything made astonishingprogress. The cutting of the mustard and cress had, of course,begun in little more than a week from the time when the garden hadbeen completed, and the seeds sown. The radishes were fit forpulling three weeks later and, as constant successions were sown,they had been amply supplied with an abundance of salad and, eachmorning, a trader in town came up and took all that they couldspare--at prices that would, before the siege began, have appearedfabulous.
Along the edge of the parapet, and trailing over almost to theground--covering the house in a bower of rich green foliage--themelons, cucumbers, and pumpkins blossomed and fruited luxuriantlyand, for these, prices were obtained as high as those that thefruit would fetch, in Covent Garden, when out of season. But asmelons, cucumbers, and pumpkins alike produce great quantities ofseed, by the end of the year they were being grown, on aconsiderable scale, by all who possessed any facilities forcultivating them.
Later on, indeed, the governor--hearing, from the principal medicalofficer, how successful Captain O'Halloran had been--issued anorder recommending all inhabitants to grow vegetables, and grantingthem every facility for so doing. All who chose to do so wereallowed to fence in any little patches of earth they coulddiscover, among the rocks or on unused ground; and it was not longbefore the poorer inhabitants spent much of their time incollecting earth, and establishing little garden plots, or in doingso for persons who could afford to pay for their labour.
The poultry venture was equally satisfactory. Already aconsiderable piece of rough and rocky ground, next to the garden,had been enclosed; thereby affording a much larger run for thefowls, and enabling a considerable portion of the garden to bedevoted to the young broods. The damaged biscuits had been sold ata few shillings a ton and, at this price, Captain O'Halloran hadbought the whole of the condemned lot--amounting to about tentons--and there was, consequently, an ample supply of food forthem, for an almost indefinite time. After supplying the houseamply, there were at least a hundred eggs, a day, to sell; andCarrie, who now took immense interest in the poultry yard,calculated that they could dispose of ten couple a week, and stillkeep up their number from the young broods.
"The only thing you have to be afraid of is disease, Mrs.O'Halloran," said the doctor, who was her greatest adviser; "butthere is little risk of that. Besides, you have only to hire one ortwo lads, of ten or twelve years old; and then you can put themout, when you like, from the farther inclosure, and let them wanderabout."
"But people don't generally watch fowls," Mrs. O'Halloran said."Surely they would come back, at night, to roost."
"I have no doubt they would. When chickens are well fed, they canbe trusted to find their way home at night. But you must rememberthat they are worth from twelve to fourteen shillings a couple, andwhat with the natives, and what with soldiers off duty, you wouldfind that a good many would not turn up at all, unless they werewatched. A couple of boys, at sixpence a day each, would keep themfrom straying too far, and prevent their being stolen, and wouldrelieve you of a lot of anxiety about them."
So, after this, the fowls were turned out on to the Rock; wherethey wandered about, narrowly watched by two native boys, and wereable to gather no small store of sustenance from the insects theyfound among the rocks, or on the low shrubs that grew among them.
Bob had, after his return from his cruise, fallen into his formerhabits; spending two hours every morning with Don Diaz, and readingfor an hour or two in the evening with the doctor. It was now coolenough for exercise and enjoyment, in the day; and there were fewafternoons when he did not climb up to the top of the Rock, andwatch the Spanish soldiers labouring at their batteries, andwondering when they were going to begin to do something.
Occasionally they obtained news of what was passing in the enemy'slines, and the Spaniards were equally well informed of what wasgoing on in the fortress, for desertions from both sides were notinfrequent. Sometimes a soldier with the working parties, out inthe neutral ground, would steal away and make for the Spanishlines; pursued by a musketry fire from his comrades, and saluted,perhaps, with a round or two of shot from the batteries above. Butmore frequently they made their escape from the back of the Rock,letting themselves down by ropes; although at least half the numberwho made the attempt were dashed to pieces among the precipices.
The majority of the deserters belonged to the Hanoverian regiments,but a good many British soldiers also deserted. In all cases thesewere reckless men who, having been punished for some offence orother, preferred risking death to remaining in the garrison. Somewere caught in the attempt; while several, by getting into placeswhere they could neither descend further nor return, were compelledat last, by hunger and thirst, to shout for assistance--preferringdeath by hanging to the slower agony of thirst.
The deserters from the Spanish lines principally belonged to theWalloon regiments in the Spanish service, or to regiments fromBiscaya and other northern provinces. The troops were raised on theprinciple of our own militia, and objected strongly to serviceoutside their own provinces; and it was this discontent that gaverise to their desertions to us. Some of them made their way atnight, from the works where they were employed, through the linesof sentries. Others took to the water, either beyond Fort Barbaraor at the head of the bay, and reached our lines by swimming.
Bob heartily congratulated himself, when he heard of the fate ofsome of the deserters who tried to make their way down at the backof the Rock, that he and Jim Sankey had not carried out theirscheme of descending there, in search of birds. By this time he hadcome to know most of the young officers of the garrison and,although the time passed without any marked events, he had plentyof occupation and amusement. Sometimes they would get up fishingparties and, although they could not venture very far from theRock, on account of the enemy's galleys and rowboats, they had agood deal of sport; and fish were welcome additions to the food,which consisted principally of salt rations--for Bob very soontired of a diet of chicken.
There were some very heavy rains, in the last week of the year.These, they learned from deserters, greatly damaged the enemy'slines--filling their trenches, and washing down their banks. Oneadvantage was that a great quantity of wood, cork, and otherfloating rubbish was washed down, by the rain, into the two riversthat fell into the bay and, as the wind was from the south, thiswas all blown over towards the Rock; where it was collected byboats, affording a most welcome supply of fuel, which had been, forsome time, extremely scarce.
On the 8th of January a Neapolitan polacre was driven in under theguns, by the wind from the other side of the bay, and was obligedto drop anchor. Six thousand bushels of barley were found on boardher, which was of inestimable value to the inhabitants, who werenow suffering extremely; as were also the wives and children of thesoldiers, whose rations--scanty for one--were wholly insufficientfor the wants of a family. Fowls had now risen to eighteenshillings a couple, eggs were six pence each, and small cabbagesfetched eighteen pence.
On the 12th the enemy fired ten shots into the town from Fort SaintPhilip; causing a panic among the inhabitants, who at once began toremove to their huts at the other end of the Rock. A woman waswounded by a splinter of stone from one of the houses, being thefirst casualty that had taken place through the siege. The next daythe admiral gave orders to the men-of-war that they should be inreadi
ness, in case a convoy appeared, to afford protection to anyships that might attempt to come in. This order caused great joyamong the garrison and inhabitants, as it seemed to signify thatthe governor had received information, in some manner, that aconvoy was on its way out to relieve the town.
Two days later a brig, that was seen passing through the Straits tothe east, suddenly changed her course and made for the Rock and,although the enemy tried to cut her off, she succeeded in gettinginto port. The welcome news soon spread that the brig was one of alarge convoy that had sailed, late in December, for the relief ofthe town. She had parted company with the others in the Bay ofBiscay and, on her way, had seen a Spanish squadron off Cadiz,which was supposed to be watching for the convoy. This caused muchanxiety; but on the 16th a brig laden with flour arrived, with thenews that Sir George Rodney had captured, off the coast ofPortugal, six Spanish frigates, with seventeen merchantmen on theirway from Bilbao to Cadiz; and that he had with him a fleet oftwenty-one sail of the line, and a large convoy of merchantmen andtransports.
The next day one of the prizes came in, and the midshipman incharge of her reported that, when he had left the convoy on theprevious day, a battle was going on between the British fleet andthe Spanish squadron. Late in the evening the convoy was in sight;and the Apollo, frigate, and one or two merchantmen got in, afterdark, with the news that the Spaniards had been completelydefeated--their admiral's flagship, with three others, captured;one blown up in the engagement, another driven ashore, and the restdispersed.
The preparations for relieving the town had been so well concealedthat the Spaniards had believed that the British men-of-war weredestined for the West Indies, and had thought that the merchantmenwould have fallen easy prizes to their squadron, which consisted ofeleven men-of-war.