Chapter XLVIII
The devastation of the hurricane--Peter makes friends--At destroying orsaving, nothing like British seamen--Peter meets with General O'Brien,much to his satisfaction--Has another meeting still more so--A greatdeal of pressing of hands, "and all that," as Pope says.
Now that the brig was safe, we thought of ourselves. My first attentionwas directed to the dead bodies, and as I looked at their mangled limbs,I felt grateful to Heaven that I had been so miraculously spared. Wethen cast our eyes along the beach to see if we could trace any remnantsof the other boats, but in vain. We were about three miles from thetown, which we could perceive had received considerable damage, and thebeach below it was strewed with wrecks and fragments. I told the menthat we might as well walk into the town and deliver ourselves up asprisoners; to which they agreed, and we set forward, promising to sendfor the poor fellows who were too much hurt to accompany us.
As soon as we climbed up the rocks, and gained the inland, what a sightpresented itself to us! Trees torn up by the roots in every direction--cattle lying dead--here and there the remains of a house, of which theother parts had been swept away for miles. Everything not built of solidmasonry had disappeared. We passed what had been a range of negro huts,but they were levelled to the ground. The negroes were busily searchingfor their property among the ruins, while the women held their infantsin their arms, and the other children by their sides. Here and there wasthe mother wailing over the dead body of some poor little thing whichhad been crushed to death. They took no notice of us. About half a milefurther on, to our great delight, we fell in with the crews of the otherboats, who were sitting by the side of the road. They had all escapedunhurt; their boats, being so much more buoyant than ours, had beenthrown up high and dry. They joined us, and we proceeded on our way. Onour road we fell in with a cart blown over, under the wheel of which wasthe leg of the negro who conducted it. We released the poor fellow; hisleg was fractured. We laid him by the side of the road in the shade, andcontinued our march. Our whole route was one scene of desolation anddistress; but when we arrived at the town, we found that there it wasindeed accumulated. There was not one house in three standing entire--the beach was covered with remnants of bodies and fragments of vessels,whose masts lay forced several feet into the sand, and broken into fouror five pieces. Parties of soldiers were busy taking away the bodies,and removing what few valuables had been saved. We turned up into thetown, for no one accosted us or even noticed us; and here the scene waseven more dreadful. In some streets they were digging out those who werestill alive, and whose cries were heard among the ruins; in others theywere carrying away the dead bodies. The lamentations of the relatives--the howling of the negroes--the cries of the wounded--the cursing andswearing of the French soldiers, and the orders delivered continually byofficers on horseback, with all the confusion arising from crowds ofspectators, mingling their voices together, formed a scene as dreadfulas it was novel. After surveying it for a few minutes, I went up to anofficer on horseback, and told him in French, that I wished to surrendermyself as a prisoner.
"We have no time to take prisoners now," replied he; "hundreds areburied in the ruins, and we must try to save them. We must now attend tothe claims of humanity."
"Will you allow my men to assist you, sir?" replied I. "They are activeand strong fellows."
"Sir," said he, taking off his hat, "I thank you in the name of myunfortunate countrymen."
"Show us, then, where we may be most useful."
He turned and pointed to a house higher up, the offices of which wereblown down. "There are living beings under those ruins."
"Come, my lads," said I; and sore as they were, my men hastened withalacrity to perform their task. I could not help them myself, my sidewas so painful; but I stood by giving them directions. In half an hourwe had cleared away, so as to arrive at a poor negro girl, whose crieswe had distinctly heard. We released her and laid her down in thestreet, but she fainted. Her left hand was dreadfully shattered. I wasgiving what assistance I could, and the men were busy clearing away,throwing on one side the beams and rafters, when an officer on horsebackrode up. He stood and asked me who we were. I told him that we belongedto the brig, and had been wrecked; and that we were giving whatassistance we could until they were at leisure to send us to prison.
"You English are fine brave fellows," replied he, and he rode on.
Another unfortunate object had been recovered by our men, an oldwhite-headed negro, but he was too much mangled to live. We brought himout, and were laying him beside the negro girl, when several officers onhorseback rode down the street. The one who was foremost, in a general'suniform, I immediately recognized as my former friend, then ColonelO'Brien. They all stopped and looked at us. I told who we were. GeneralO'Brien took off his hat to the sailors, and thanked them. He did notrecognize me, and he was passing on, when I said to him in English,"General O'Brien, you have forgotten me, but I shall never forget yourkindness."
"My God!" said he, "is it you, my dear fellow?" and he sprang from hishorse and shook me warmly by the hand. "No wonder that I did not knowyou; you are a very different person from little Peter Simple, whodressed up as a girl and danced on stilts. But I have to thank you, andso has Celeste for your kindness to her. I will not ask you to leaveyour work of charity and kindness, but when you have done what you can,come up to my house. Anyone will show it to you; and if you do not findme you will find Celeste, as you must be aware cannot leave thismelancholy employment. God bless you!" He then rode off, followed by hisstaff.
"Come, my lads," said I, "depend upon it we shall not be very cruellytreated. Let us work hard, and do all the good we can, and the Frenchmenwon't forget it."
We had cleared that house, and went back to where the other people wereworking under the orders of the officer on horseback. I went up to him,and told him we had saved two, and if he had no objection, would assisthis party. He thankfully accepted our services.
"And now, my lads," said Swinburne, "let us forget all our bruises, andshow these French fellows how to work."
And they did so: they tossed away the beams and rafters right and leftwith a quickness and dexterity which quite astonished the officer andother inhabitants who were looking on, and in half an hour had done morework than could have been possibly expected. Several lives were saved,and the French expressed their admiration at our sailors' conduct, andbrought them something to drink, which they stood much in need of, poorfellows. After that they worked double tides, as we say, and certainlywere the means of saving many lives which otherwise would have beensacrificed.
The disasters occasioned by this hurricane were very great, owing to itshaving taken place at night, when the chief of the inhabitants were inbed and asleep. I was told that most of the wood houses were down fiveminutes after the hurricane burst upon them. About noon there was nomore work for us to do, and I was not sorry that it was over. My sidewas very painful, and the burning heat of the sun made me feel giddy andsick at the stomach. I inquired of a respectable looking old Frenchmanwhich was the General's house. He directed me to it, and I proceededthere, followed by my men. When I arrived, I found the orderly leadingaway the horse of General O'Brien, who had just returned. I desired asergeant, who was in attendance at the door, to acquaint the generalthat I was below. He returned, and desired me to follow him. I wasconducted into a large room, where I found him in company with severalofficers. He again greeted me warmly, and introduced me to the companyas the officer who had permitted the ladies who had been taken prisonersto come on shore.
"I have to thank you, then, for my wife," said an officer, coming up,and offering his hand.
Another came up, and told me that I had also released his. We thenentered into a conversation, in which I stated, the occasion of myhaving been wrecked, and all the particulars; also, that I had seen thebrig in the morning dismasted, but that she had weathered the point, andwas safe.
"That brig of yours, I must pay you the compliment to say, has been ver
ytroublesome; and my namesake keeps the batteries more upon the alertthan ever I could have done," said General O'Brien. "I don't believethere is a negro five years old upon the island who does not know yourbrig."
We then talked over the attack of the privateer, in which we were beatenoff. "Ah!" replied the aide-de-camp, "you made a mess of that. He hasbeen gone these four months. Captain Carnot swears that he'll fight youif he falls in with you."
"He has kept his word," replied I; and then I narrated our action withthe three French privateers, and the capture of the vessel; whichsurprised and, I think, annoyed them very much.
"Well, my friend," said General O'Brien, "you must stay with me whileyou are on the island; if you want anything, let me know."
"I am afraid that I want a surgeon," replied I; "for my side is sopainful that I can scarcely breathe."
"Are you hurt then?" said General O'Brien, with an anxious look.
"Not dangerously, I believe," said I, "but rather painfully."
"Let me see," said an officer, who stepped forward; "I am surgeon to theforces here, and perhaps you will trust yourself in my hands. Take offyour coat."
I did so with difficulty. "You have two ribs broken," said he, "and avery severe contusion. You must go to bed, or lie on a sofa, for a fewdays. In a quarter of an hour I will come and dress you, and promise youto make you all well in ten days, in return for your having given me mydaughter, who was on board of the _Victorine_ with the other ladies."The officers now made their bows, and left me alone with GeneralO'Brien.
"Recollect," said he, "that I tell it you once for all, that my purse,and everything, is at your command. If you do not accept them freely, Ishall think you do not love us. It is not the first time, Peter, and yourepaid me honourably. However, of course, I was no party to that affair;it was Celeste's doing," continued he, laughing. "Of course, I could notimagine that it was you who was dressed up as a woman, and so impudentlydanced through France on stilts. But I must hear all your adventuresby-and-by, Celeste is most anxious to see you. Will you go now, or waittill after the surgeon comes?"
"Oh, now, if you please, general. May I first beg that some care may betaken of my poor men; they have had nothing to eat since yesterday, arevery much bruised, and have worked hard; and that a cart may be sent forthose who lie maimed on the beach?"
"I should have thought of them before," replied he: "and I will alsoorder the same party to bury the other poor fellows who are lying on thebeach. Come, now--will take you to Celeste."