CHAPTER NINETEEN.
TO THE CONGO AGAIN UPON A SPECIAL MISSION.
There was very great delight manifested fore and aft when I was able toannounce that it was a British man-o'-war that was bearing down upon us;for all hands felt, like myself, that we had only to state our recentexperiences to secure her protection at least until our arrival in saferwaters. There was one exception to this, however, in the person ofSimpson, who no sooner learned the true character of the strange sail,than he came aft and told me his story; which, in brief, was to theeffect that he had originally belonged to our navy, but had deserted,out of affection for Mendouca--who had shown him great kindness--whenthat individual chose to shake off his allegiance and abjure hiscountry. And now, of course, he dreaded nothing so much as recognitionand seizure, for not only was he a deserter, but he had also been guiltyof taking an active part in more than one deed of piracy perpetrated byhis chief; he therefore implored me to let him keep below out of sightduring the presence of the man-o'-war--which clearly meant to speak us--and also to omit all mention of or reference to him in the narrative ofmy own personal adventures. This I readily promised to do; for althoughI was fully conscious that, in making such a promise, I was screening anindividual who had most seriously transgressed the laws of his country,I could not help feeling that he had also contributed in a veryimportant degree toward the saving of the _Bangalore_, and all on boardher; and I considered that this to a very great extent made amends forhis past misdeeds, although it was quite probable that if he werearraigned for it, his judges might not take quite as lenient a view ofthe case. There it was, however; but for him I might never havesucceeded in effecting my escape from the _Francesca_, and in that casethe _Bangalore_ and all on board her would have gone to the bottom. Itherefore felt fully justified in promising to afford him all theprotection that lay in my power.
When the brig was within a mile of us she hoisted British colours, andfired a gun for us to heave-to, which we of course at once did,displaying our ensign at the mizen-peak at the same time. The ladiesand gentlemen in the cuddy, learning from the stewards what washappening, at once turned out to do honour to the occasion, so thatwhen, a few minutes later, the _Barracouta_, with all her studding-sailscollapsing and coming in together, rounded-to within biscuit-toss of ourweather quarter, our poop must have presented quite an animatedappearance.
As the beautiful craft swept gracefully yet with a rush up into thewind, a figure that I recognised with delight as that of Young, ourbeloved first luff, sprang on to the hammock-rail with aspeaking-trumpet in his hand. The next moment he had raised it to hislips, and was hailing--
"Ho, the ship ahoy! What ship is that?"
"The _Bangalore_, eighty-two days out from Calcutta, bound to London;and plundered two days ago by a pirate. I hope you are none the worsefor your boat adventure, Mr Young, in the attack upon that same piratelast week? I have news and to spare for you, so shall I lower a boat,or will you? If you can conveniently do so it will perhaps be better,for I am rather short-handed," I replied.
I saw Young staring at me with all his eyes; evidently he had not as yetrecognised me in the longshore rig with which I had been fitted by thekindness of one of the cuddy passengers.
He raised the trumpet to his lips, and began--
"Who in the name of ---?" when I saw little Freddy Pierrepoint scrambleup alongside him excitedly and utterly regardless of etiquette, and saysomething eagerly. Young lowered the trumpet, stared hard at me, raisedit again, and roared through it--
"Can it be possible that you are Dugdale--the Harry Dugdale that we haveall been mourning as lost?"
"Ay, ay, Mr Young, it is myself, sure enough, alive and well, I amthankful to say; and more glad than I can express to see the dear old_Barracouta_ again!"
As I uttered these words the watch on deck gave a ringing cheer, whichthrilled me to the heart, for it told me better than words how sincerelyattached to me the honest fellows were, and how delighted to see meagain; and although the outburst was by no means in accordance withstrict discipline, Young--thoroughly good fellow that he was--neverchecked them, but, as their voices died away, simply waved his trumpet,and shouted, "I will come on board you!" and disappeared behind thebrig's high bulwarks.
A short pause now ensued, during which I suspected that the first luffwas conferring with Captain Stopford, the _Barracouta's_ people gazingcuriously at us meanwhile through the brig's open ports; and then thesound of the boatswain's pipe came floating to us from the brig acrossthe tumbling waters, and we heard his gruff voice bellowing--"Gigsaway!"
The call was followed by a slight, muffled scurrying of feet, and thegig's crew were seen leaping, light as figures of india-rubber, into theelegantly-moulded craft that hung at the brig's davits, the falls wereeased away, and in a moment the boat, light as a bubble, was dancingupon the sparkling blue tumble at the brig's lee gangway. Then thefirst lieutenant and Freddy Pierrepoint appeared at the head of theside-ladder, the latter descending first and the lieutenant instantlyfollowing, the boat's bow was borne off from the ship's side, the oarsdropped with a clean cut into the water, the men bent their backs asthey gave way, and the dancing craft came bounding over the long surgestowards us.
Meanwhile, on board the _Bangalore_ I had caused the side-ladder to beshipped and the ropes rove in readiness for the lieutenant's arrival;and in a few minutes he and Freddy were standing on the Indiaman's broaddeck and greeting me with a hand grip the heartiness of which there wasno mistaking.
I told my story as briefly as possible, and at its conclusion Youngsaid--
"Well, we must of course let you have a few men; but it will be a fewonly that we shall be able to spare, for I am sorry to say that our losswas terribly heavy in our boat attack upon your friend Mendouca, no lessthan eight killed and twenty-three wounded, only four of the latterhaving as yet been able to return to duty. You must, however, lay yourcase before Captain Stopford--who, by the way, hopes you will takebreakfast with him--and I dare say that when he learns how veryshort-handed you are, he will strain a point to spare you a dozen men totake the ship to Sierra Leone. And now, suppose you introduce us toyour passengers, who, judging from what I have been able to see of themfrom here, appear to be a very pleasant lot of people."
Upon this hint I led the way to the poop, where by this time nearly theentire cuddy party had assembled, and introduced my companions in dueform, and in a few minutes Young and Freddy were each surrounded by alarge party, Master Freddy's, I noticed, being mainly composed of theyounger members of the gentler sex, who petted and made much of thejuvenile warrior, to that young gentleman's entire content.
In due time I proceeded on board my old ship; and on reaching the deckwas fully repaid for all that I had gone through by the heartiness ofthe greeting that I received from my shipmates, one and all of whomseemed sincerely delighted at finding that I was still in the land ofthe living. For, as fate would have it, the _Barracouta_ had fallen inwith the _Felicidad_ with the French schooner _Mouette_ in company as aprize--the latter vessel having pursued the _Felicidad_ out of thecreek, only to find that she had caught a Tartar, which captured herafter a short but determined struggle--and from her the _Barracouta's_people had learned all particulars of our somewhat disastrousenterprise, including the news that I was missing, and was believed tohave been killed in the unsuccessful attack upon the schooner in thecreek.
Captain Stopford was kindness itself in his reception of me,commiserating with me upon all the hardships of my late adventure, andheartily congratulating me upon my escape from the _Francesca_, and thesaving of the Indiaman, the latter of which, he assured me, he wouldtake care to report in the proper quarter in such a way as shouldfurther my advancement in the service. With regard to supplying me withmen, he promised to do the best that he could; and at Young'ssuggestion--he being one of the rather large party that the captain hadinvited to meet me at breakfast--it was arranged that I should have adozen; and as he fully agreed with me that there w
as just a chance thatthe _Francesca_, might be at no great distance to the northward, stillactively pursuing her search for us, it was further arranged that Ishould crowd sail for Sierra Leone, in the hope of turning the tablesupon Mendouca by overtaking him, in which case we were to do our best todetain him until the arrival of the _Barracouta_ upon the scene, itbeing the captain's plan to follow us at a distance of some fifteen ortwenty miles. As an incentive to expedition--and no doubt,incidentally, to the promotion of the capture of the _Francesca_--thecaptain informed me that if we managed to accomplish a quick run toSierra Leone, I should probably be in time to rejoin the _Felicidad_,which schooner was then at that port, refitting after her engagementwith the _Mouette_. I was very grieved to learn that poor Ryan,although not nearly so severely wounded as I had believed, was lying inthe hospital at Sierra Leone, prostrate with a bad attack of fever, fromwhich, when the _Barracouta_ left, it was greatly feared that he wouldnot recover.
As soon as breakfast was over the crew were mustered, and Young pickedout for me twelve good, stout men, who were ordered to pass their bagsdown into the boat and go on board the _Bangalore_ with me; and, thismost welcome addition to our crew having been received, I made sail,packing upon the good ship every rag that would draw, the _Barracouta_remaining hove-to until we had placed a sufficient distance between herand ourselves. But although we carried on day and night--the Indiamanproving such a flyer that the _Barracouta's_ people had their hands fullto keep us in sight--nothing more was seen of the _Francesca_, and wewere at length driven to the conclusion that, failing to find us,Mendouca had resumed his voyage at a much earlier period than we hadanticipated. We reached Sierra Leone on the afternoon of the third dayafter falling in with the _Barracouta_; and there I left the Indiaman,which, after a detention of four days, sailed for England with a fullcomplement, made up of the officers and men of a large barque that hadbeen wrecked upon the coast only a week or two before, supplemented by afew out of the many white seamen who had been left behind in hospitalwhen their ships were ready to sail for home, and who, contrary to thegeneral rule, had recovered from, instead of succumbing to, the deadlymalaria of the coast.
As for me, I found that I had arrived most opportunely, so far as the_Felicidad_ was concerned, for the repairs to that small hooker werecompleted, as it happened, on the very day of our arrival; and CaptainStopford very generously offered me the command of her, asserting thatmy conduct with regard to the Indiaman had conclusively demonstrated myentire fitness for the post, and that if I chose to accept it he shouldhave no anxiety whatever, either on the score of my courage or mydiscretion. Ryan, poor fellow, was, contrary to expectation, stillalive, and hopes were now entertained that he might ultimately recover;but he was still so weak that when I went to the hospital to see him, hewas so overcome with emotion at the sight of me--although he had beencarefully prepared for the meeting--that he burst into tears and wasseized with a fit of hysterical sobbing so violent that I had to retireagain at once without exchanging a word with him; and, to my very deepregret, I had not another opportunity to see him. I grieve to say thatalthough, when I paid him that unfortunate visit, he appeared to bemaking slow but sure progress toward recovery, he suffered a relapse afew days afterwards, from which he never rallied; and his ashes nowrepose, with those of many another gallant spirit, in the spot that isknown throughout the world as "The White Man's Grave."
The repairs to the _Felicidad_ being completed, her final preparationsfor sea were vigorously pushed forward, and on the third day after ourarrival, having first visited the _Bangalore_ and bade farewell to herpassengers--each and every one of whom insisted that he (or she) owedhis (or her) life to me, and that henceforward I must regard myself as adearly cherished friend--I joined the little hooker as her commander,and sailed the same afternoon for the Congo; my especial mission beingto test the truth, or otherwise, of Mendouca's statement respecting thefate of the _Sapphire's_ boats' crews, and--in the event of its beingtrue--to attempt the rescue of any of the unfortunate people who mightperchance be still alive.
We made the high land to the northward of the river mouth aboutmidnight, after a rather long and uneventful passage; and, the windbeing light, and the river current strong, even at a considerabledistance from the entrance, we then reached in toward the land, andanchored in fourteen fathoms, at about as many miles from the shore,where we remained, rolling and tumbling about on the heavy swell, untilthe sea-breeze set in, about eight o'clock the next morning. We thenhove up our mud-hook, and ran in, anchoring in Banana Creek, oppositeLobo's factory, about six bells in the forenoon. There was only oneother vessel in the creek at the time, a Portuguese brig; and her buildand general appearance so unmistakably proclaimed her honest, that Inever gave her a second thought. Besides, I had a special mission toaccomplish--namely, the discovery and deliverance, if possible, ofbetween thirty and forty of my own countrymen, languishing in a bittercaptivity, and in daily, if not hourly, peril of death by torture ascruel and protracted as the fiendish malignity of merciless savages canpossibly devise.
Now, I was as well equipped for such an expedition as I could possiblywish, save in one particular. I had a smart, light-draught vessel,capable of "going anywhere where a duck can swim," as we say at sea; wewere well armed, had plenty of ammunition, mustered a crew of twenty-sixprime seamen, the pick of the _Barracouta's_ crew--men who would goanywhere, and face anything--we carried an ample supply of blankets,beads, brass wire, old muskets, and tawdry finery of variousdescriptions, priceless in the eyes of savages, for the purpose ofpeaceable ransom, if such could be accomplished; but we lacked aninterpreter, a man acquainted with the barbaric language of the up-rivernatives, through whom we should be able to communicate with them andcarry on the necessary negotiations. And such a man it was now my firstduty and anxiety to secure. I had given this matter a great deal ofcareful consideration during our passage, and had at length determinedupon the course of action that seemed to promise the most successfulresults; and it was in accordance with this determination that Ianchored in Banana Creek instead of proceeding forthwith up the river tothe spot named by Mendouca as the scene of the captivity of the_Sapphire's_ boats' crews.
I entered the river without any disguise of any sort, showing Britishcolours and the man-o'-war's pennant; and, as I had expected, our oldfriend Lobo soon came alongside in his gig, with his usual stereotypedsmiles and bows, and offers to supply us with anything and everythingthat we might happen to want. I took care to be below when he boardedus; and, in accordance with previous arrangements, Gowland, who met thefellow upon his arrival, proposed that he should go down into the cabinand see me personally upon the business of his visit. He at onceassented, willingly, Gowland following him down, and when the two hadentered, the sentry at the cabin-door closed it after them.
"Ah, good-morning, sar," exclaimed Lobo to me, as he entered. "Glad tosee you back in the river, sar! I hope dat de capitan and officers ofde beautiful _Barracouta_ are all well? Ah, gentlemen, dat was a ver'fine bit of vork, dat attack of yours upon Chango Creek; ver' fine andver' successful. I 'ave alvays been proud of _my_ share in dat exploit.But, gentlemen, you mus' please never so much as vhisper dat I, JoaquinMiguel Lobo, had anything to do vid it. My vord, if you did, de rascalslavers vould cut my t'roat for me, and de man-o'-war gentlemen vouldlose a fait'ful ally."
"No doubt, Senor Lobo," agreed I genially. "But, never fear, you areperfectly safe from betrayal to the slavers, so far as we are concerned;you shall find us as faithful to you as you have been to us. But sitdown, man, and let me offer you a glass of wine."
With many bows and wreathed smiles, and deprecating elevations of theshoulders, Lobo took the seat to which I pointed him, and I touched abell.
"Steward, put the wine and some glasses on the table, will you; and alsoa box of cigars that you will find on the shelf in my cabin."
The wine and cigars were brought; we helped ourselves; and I began--
"I am very much obliged to you for co
ming aboard, Senor Lobo, for youare the very man that I most desired to see. I require some assistanceof a rather peculiar kind, and I believe that you, above all others, arethe one who can best help me to it."
Lobo bowed and smiled, sipped his wine, and assured us that he was inall things our very obedient, humble servant, and that nothing pleasedhim so much as to be of assistance to the man-o'-war gentlemen, whohonoured the river by paying it an occasional visit. At the same time--he pointed out--his friendly relations with those same man-o'-wargentlemen, and the services that he had been so glad to render them fromtime to time were, if not well known, at least very strongly suspectedby the slavers and slave-dealing fraternity generally who used the Congofor their nefarious purposes; and in incurring this suspicion he alsoincurred a very serious risk, both to property and life, for which heconsidered that he was justly entitled to be remunerated on a generousscale.
"Most assuredly," I agreed. "And I may tell you at once, Senor Lobo,that I am prepared to reward you very munificently for the efficient andfaithful performance of the service that I require of you; I amprepared, in fact, to offer you no less a reward than _your life_. Ah,you turn pale, I see; and well you may when I inform you that your truecharacter is by this time known to probably every British commander onthe coast; you are known as a bare-faced traitor to the cause that youhave pretended so zealously to serve, and I don't mind mentioning toyou, in confidence, that, if this ship had happened to be the_Barracouta_ instead of the _Felicidad_ you would now in all probabilityhave been dangling from one of that ship's yard-arms, as a wholesomewarning and example to all betrayers--Nay, keep your seat, man; there isa sentry outside the door, and you are a prisoner beyond all possibilityof escape. But you have no cause for fear on that account, providedthat you can prevail upon yourself to act honestly for once. I requirea certain service from you, and I promise you that if you render thatservice faithfully I will set you free at the termination of theadventure, with full liberty to seek safety by flight elsewhere. Butuntil the adventure of which I speak is brought to a favourableconclusion, you are my prisoner; and I give you my word of honour thatupon the first attempt to escape which you may be ill-advised enough tomake, I will put you in irons and chain you to the deck. If, therefore,you are wise, you will submit to your present predicament with a goodgrace, rather than tempt a worse one. And now, tell me everything youknow with regard to the fate of the crews of the _Sapphire's_ boats."
"The _Sapphire's_ boats?" ejaculated the now thoroughly terrifiedwretch. "I swear to Gad, sar, dat I had not'ing to do vid dat! I knownot'ing about dem; not'ing whatever! But I can tell you de name of deman who had; ay, and I can put him into your power, if you like; he is avillain, and it would be only doing a good action to betray him tojustice. I vill do it, too, if you vill release me at vonce; I villtell you all about him, vhere he is to be found vhen he visits de river,de name of his cheep, and--and--all dat is necessairey for you to know."
"Yes; no doubt," I answered. "But you will have to purchase yourrelease in some other way, senor; unfortunately for you we know allabout Don Fernando de Mendouca, captain of the brigantine _Francesca_and have every confidence in our ability to get hold of him without yourassistance. And I may tell you that, _up to the present_, no charge hasbeen made against you in connection with the disappearance of the_Sapphire's_ boats; you have therefore nothing to fear from us just nowon that score. _Now_, will you tell us what you know about thoseunfortunate missing men?"
"Yes; yes, I vill, gentlemen; I vill tell you all dat I know; but it isnot much," answered Lobo, with evident relief. "I only know dat descoundrel Mendouca managed to trap de two boats in some vay--how, I knownot--and dat he gave dem de choice of being massacred, dere and den, orof surrendering and having dheir lives spared. And vhen dhey hadsurrendered he exchanged dhem to Matadi for slaves--t'ree slaves forevery white man--so dat Matadi might have plenty of victims--whitevictims dhey consider _very_ good--for de annual--de annual--what youcall it, eh? festa."
"Festival, I suppose you mean," said I, with an involuntary shudder."And, pray, Senor Lobo, do you happen to know the date of thisfestival?"
"No, I cannot say dat I do; but I t'ink about one week from now," wasthe answer.
"Then, thank God, we are still in time!" I ejaculated. "Now, SenorLobo, I presume you are acquainted with this chief, Matadi, are you not?You have probably had dealings with him, eh? Do not be afraid to givea truthful answer, because by so doing you cannot betray anything aboutyourself that we do not know already. We are fully aware, for instance,that you are a slave-dealer--among other things--and I have very littledoubt that, if I chose to land a party, we should find a choice lot ofnegroes in that barracoon of yours in the bush, yonder--you looksurprised, but, you see, I know all about you; so your best plan will beto answer my questions truthfully and unreservedly. Now, as to thisMatadi, who is he, and what is he?"
"Sair," said Lobo, in great perturbation, "I see dat you know all aboutme, so I will be perfectly open and frank wid you. I _do_ know Matadi.He is a very powerful chief, de head of a tribe numbering quite t'reet'ousand warriors; and his chief town is far up de river--four, fivedays' journey in a canoe. It lies on de sout' bank of de river 'bouteight miles below de first--what you call?--where de water runs veryfurious over de rocks, boiling like--like de water in a pot."
"Ah, rapids, you mean, I suppose?" suggested I.
"Yes, yes; rapids; dat is de word," agreed Lobo. "His town is near defirst rapids; and he is very powerful, very dangerous, very fierce.What do you want wid him, senor?"
"I want those white men that he holds in captivity; and I mean to havethem, by fair means or foul!" said I. "I will buy them of him, if he iswilling to part with them in that way; and if not, I intend to take themfrom him by force, for have them I _must_ and _will_ And I require yourassistance in this matter, senor, as an interpreter, through whom I cantreat with the fellow and carry on the necessary negotiations; and ifthose negotiations are successful, you will be released on our returnhere, and allowed thirty days to complete your arrangements for removalelsewhere. But if we fail you will be retained as a prisoner, and takento Sierra Leone, to be dealt with as your past treacheries deserve.Now, do you quite understand the position?"
"Yes, senor, I understand," answered Lobo, in great distress. "But, oh,gentlemen, I beg, I pray you, do not take me away from my business; itwill all go wrong widout me, and I shall lose hundreds, t'ousands ofdollars, _all_ my property will be gone before I can get back! I shallbe ruin'!"
"I am sorry to hear that," I remarked; "but even supposing that mattersgo as badly with you as you seem to fear, that will be better than_hanging_, will it not? And, you see, I _must_ have somebody with me,as interpreter, whose interest it will be that I shall be successful inmy mission; and I know of no one whose interests can be made morecompletely identical with my own than yourself, senor. Therefore Ishall take you with me, regardless of consequences. But if you have anyassistants ashore to whom you would like to send a very brief message tothe effect that you are taking a little business-trip up the river withme for a few days, and that they must do the best they can for youduring your absence, I have no objection to your sending it. Otherwise,I will dismiss your boat; for we must not miss this fine sea-breeze,which ought to take us a good many miles up-stream before it dies away."
"Well, gentlemen, if you are quite determined, I must submit," answeredLobo, with a very disconsolate air. "But I protest against being thuscarried off against my will; I protest against it as a--an--a--what doyou call him?--yes, an outrage--an outrage, gentlemen; and thePortuguese Government will inquire into the matter."
"All right," said I cheerfully; "there can be no objection to that, sofar as _we_ are concerned. And now that we have arranged this littlematter, shall I dismiss your boat?"
"No, no; not yet, not yet," hastily answered Lobo. "Give me one littl'piece of paper, if you please, and I will write a few words to Diego, mymanager, telling him what to
do in my absence."
"No," said I determinedly, "I can permit no written messages; a _verbal_one, if you like, but nothing more."
"Ver' well," answered Lobo resignedly. "Then I will go up and speak tomy boatmen."
"No need for that," said I. "Tell us which of your men you wish to see,and I will send for him to come here."
Poor Lobo made a gesture of impatience, but saw that I had quitedetermined to afford him no shadow of an opportunity to make any secretcommunication whatever; so he submitted to the inevitable, and sent forone of his men, to whom he delivered such a message as I suggested,adding a request that a small supply of clothing might be sent off tohim at once. This ended the matter, so far as the obtaining of anefficient interpreter was concerned; the clothes were brought off; andshortly after noon we weighed and, with a brisk breeze, stood out of thecreek on our way up the river.
For the first twelve miles or so our course was the same as that whichwe had followed in our memorable expedition to attack Chango Creek; theriver being, up to that point, about three miles wide, with a fine deepchannel averaging perhaps a quarter of that width up as far as abreastthe southern extremity of Monpanga island, where this deep channelterminates, and the average depth of the entire stream dwindles to aboutsix fathoms for the next fourteen miles, the channel at the same timenarrowing down to a width varying from about two miles to less thanhalf-a-mile in some parts, notably at the spot where it begins to threadits devious way among the islands that cumber the stream for a length offully thirty miles, at a distance of about twenty-eight miles from SharkPoint.
By carrying a press of sail, and hugging the northern bank, keeping asclose to the shore as our little draught of water would permit, thus toa great extent cheating the current, we contrived to get as far as thespot where the above-mentioned chain of islands commences; and there,the wind failing us toward sunset, we came to an anchor close to thesouthern shore, on a sand-bank, in three fathoms, under the lee of alarge island that sheltered us from the rush of the main current; andthere we remained all night, a strict anchor-watch of course being keptnot only to see that the schooner did not drive from her berth, but alsoto guard against possible attack on the part of the natives. In thisspot, to my inexpressible chagrin, we were compelled to spend thefollowing two days, the wind blowing down the river, when it blew atall, a little variety being infused into the weather by the outburst ofa most terrific thunderstorm which brought with it a perfect hurricaneof wind and a deluge of rain; after which we again got a fair wind andwere able to pursue our way for a time, getting ashore occasionally uponunsuspected sand-banks, but always contriving to heave off again,undamaged, thanks to the fact that we were proceeding up-stream againstthe current instead of down-stream with it. And--not to dwell undulyupon incidents that were exciting enough to us, although the recital ofthem would prove of but little interest to the reader--in this way wecontrived to creep up the river the hundred and twelve miles or so thatwere necessary to bring us to Matadi's town--having passed, and withsome difficulty avoided, two whirlpools on the way, reaching ourdestination about two bells in the afternoon watch on the fifth dayafter leaving Banana Creek.
CHAPTER TWENTY.
SUCCESS. THE FATE OF THE PIRATE SLAVER.
Matadi's "town" was situate, as Lobo had informed us, on the south bankof the stream, on the sloping side of a hill that rose rather steeplyfrom the water's edge; the scenery of this part of the river beingtotally different from that of the mouth; the change occurringgradually, but becoming quite decided about the point where the chain ofislands is left behind on the traveller's upward way. For whereas onthe lower reaches of the Congo--that is to say, for the first fortymiles or so from its mouth--the banks of the river are low and flat, andto a great extent mangrove-lined, beyond this point their tendency is tobecome higher and steeper, in some places, indeed, quite precipitous,until where we now were the ground sloped up from the river margin to aheight of fully four hundred feet, for the most part densely coveredwith bush interspersed here and there with masses of noble forest trees.
Matadi's town was situate, as I have said, upon the sloping hillsidethat constituted the south bank of the river, and consisted of some fouror five hundred buildings arranged with tolerable regularity on eitherside of two broad streets or roads that crossed each other at rightangles, their point of intersection being a spacious square, in thecentre of which stood a circular structure with a high-peaked, pointedroof of thatch, that Lobo informed me was the fetish-house. I wasgreatly surprised at the neatness and skill displayed in theconstruction of the buildings in this important town; for while theywere insignificant in size, as compared with the dwellings of acivilised race, being about the size of a small two-roomed cottage, suchas may be found in almost any rural district in England, they were veryconsiderably larger and more carefully and substantially-built than thehuts that we had noticed in King Plenty's town, when we made ourdisastrous attack upon Mendouca and his consorts. There was even acertain attempt at ornamentation discernible in the larger structures,many of which had what I believe is called in England a barge-board,elaborately carved, under the projecting eaves of the roof that formedthe verandah, the wooden posts that supported those same projectingeaves being also boldly sculptured. These particulars I noted throughmy telescope on rounding the bend of the river just beyond the town; andI could not help feeling that a community of savages intellectual enoughto find pleasure in the adornment of their houses would be likely toprove very difficult to deal with unless I could contrive to make theirinclination coincide with my own wishes.
Our appearance--the _Felicidad_ being probably the first ship that hadever penetrated so far up the river--created a profound sensation in thetown, the inhabitants rushing in and out of their dwellings and aboutthe streets for all the world like an alarmed colony of ants, andfinally congregating along the margin of the river to the extent offully one thousand, most of them being men, every one of whom, so far asI could make out, was armed; the weapons being spears, bows and arrows,and clubs with heavy knobs on the end. They seemed to be a fine,powerful race, evidently accustomed to warfare, if one might judge bythe readiness with which, at the command of an immensely stout andpowerful man--whom Lobo declared to be none other than Matadi himself--they formed themselves up into compact and orderly squadrons, and Ithought, ruefully, that if it became necessary to resort to forciblemeasures for the release of our countrymen, we were likely to have apretty bad time.
To attempt to open communications with a thousand armed savages, whoseevident purpose in mustering on the river bank immediately in front oftheir town was to resolutely oppose any attempt at landing on our part,was a rather delicate operation; still, it had to be done, and it wasworse than useless to exhibit any sign of trepidation or hesitation. Itherefore ordered the gig to be lowered, and with four men, fully armed,at the oars, and Lobo and myself in the stern-sheets, pushed off for theshore. This bold action on our part created a profound sensation uponthe savages massed upon the shore, the boat being no sooner under waythan they raised their spears above their heads, shook them furiouslyuntil the blades clashed upon each other with the sound of a fallingtorrent of water, and emitted a blood-curdling yell that almost drovepoor Lobo out of his senses. We had, however--at Lobo's suggestion--provided ourselves with palm branches, cut on the night before at ourprevious anchorage, and now, seizing one of these, the Portuguesescrambled forward into the eyes of the boat and stood there, waving thebranch violently and pointing it toward the savages. This demonstrationhad the effect of quelling the tumult, the blacks subsiding intoquietude almost instantly, at the command of Matadi; but it was evidentthat they had no intention of permitting us to land, for at a secondcommand from the chief they advanced, as steadily as a band of civilisedtroops, across the short intervening space of greensward betweenthemselves and the water's edge, at which they halted, forming up threedeep in a long, compact line along the river margin.
We continued to pull shoreward until we were
within easy speakingdistance; when the boat's bows were turned up-stream, and while the mencontinued to paddle gently ahead, using just sufficient strength toenable the boat to stem the current and maintain her position abreastthe centre of the line of savages, Lobo opened the palaver by informingMatadi that we were there by command of the Great White Queen to procurethe release of the white men held by him as prisoners, and that we werefully prepared to pay a handsome ransom for them; it was only for Matadito name his price, and it should be cheerfully paid.
To this the chief replied by inquiring what white men we referred to; heknew nothing about white men, and indeed had never seen any exceptourselves. And he strongly advised us to lose no time in making our wayback down the river again, as his soldiers were very angry at ourpresumption in invading his territory, and he could not answer for itthat he would be able to restrain them should they take into their headsto actively resent our intrusion by attacking the ship.
I knew from this reply, which Lobo duly translated to me, that ourfriend Matadi was an adept in the art--so peculiarly characteristic ofthe African savage--of lying, and must be dealt with accordingly. So Isaid to Lobo--
"Tell him that he is mistaken. Say that the circumstance was doubtlessof so trivial a character as to escape the recollection of a great chieflike Matadi; but that, nevertheless, we _know_ it to be a fact thatabout six moons ago some thirty or forty white men were sold to him byone Mendouca, a slave-buyer; and that it is those men we are seeking,our instructions being that we are not to return without them, evenshould we be obliged to destroy Matadi's town with our thunder andlightning in the process of securing them."
My scarcely-veiled threat to destroy his town was received by Matadiwith scornful laughter, the savage declaring in set terms that he didnot believe in the power of the white men to produce either lightning orthunder; and as to our accomplishing the threatened destruction withoutthose means--why, there were a few of his warriors present who wouldhave a word to say upon that matter. Touching the question of the whitemen said to have been sold to him, Matadi admitted that he now thoughthe remembered some transaction of the kind, but had not the remotestidea of what had become of them; he would make inquiries, however, andif we would go away, and return again about the same time next moon hewould perhaps be able to give us some news of them. But beforetroubling himself to make any such inquiries he must be propitiated witha present; and he would also like to know what price we were prepared topay for each white man, should any be found.
"Tell him," said I, "that this is a case of `no white man, no present';but that if the white men are found, I will not only buy them of him atso much per head, but also make him a handsome present into the bargain.Say that the goods to be paid as ransom are aboard the schooner, andthat they consist of guns, beads, brass wire, beautiful printedcalicoes, suitable for the adornment of any African king's wives;handsome red coats with resplendent brass buttons and gorgeous worstedepaulettes, admirably calculated to set off Matadi's own kingly figure;and superb blankets, red, blue, green--in fact, all the colours of therainbow. If he and two or three of his chiefs would like to come aboardand see these magnificent articles, I shall be very pleased to exhibitthem."
This speech being translated by Lobo, there ensued a long palaver, theresult of which was that Matadi declined to go on board the schooner,but had no objection to come off alongside and inspect them from adistance, provided that we would first return and hoist up our own boat.The fact evidently was that the fellow, treacherous himself, suspectedeverybody else of being the same, and was clearly indisposed to puthimself in our power, while he was at the same time devoured withcuriosity to see the articles of which I had given such a glowingdescription. Of course, as I wished above all things to excite hiscupidity to the point of determining to possess the goods, even at thecost of having to give up the white men, I readily agreed to hisproposal; and at once returned to the schooner and ordered the boat tobe hoisted to the davits.
It was evident that my endeavour to excite Matadi's curiosity had beencompletely successful; for no sooner was the gig out of the water than alarge canoe was launched, into which Matadi and three or four othernegroes--presumably subordinate chiefs--scrambled, when she was at onceshoved off and, paddled by twenty natives, brought to within abouttwenty yards of the schooner, that being considered, I suppose, aboutthe shortest distance within which it would be safe to approach us. Itried to persuade them to come a little nearer, if not actually onboard, but Matadi resolutely refused; and as he seemed half inclined togo back again without even waiting to see what I had to show him, Iordered the steward to open the boxes at once, and forthwith proceededto exhibit my coils of wire, strings of beads, bandana handkerchiefs,rolls of gaudily-coloured prints, old military uniforms, and muskets,and other odds and ends, the exhibition proving so attractive thatbefore its conclusion the canoe had been gradually sheered nearer andnearer to the schooner until she was brought fairly alongside, and theyhad even consented to accept a rope's-end to hang on by. Matadi badlywanted us to pass some of the articles down over the side that he mightexamine them still more minutely, but I would not permit this, thinkingit best to still leave some of his curiosity unsatisfied, and at length,after they had been alongside nearly an hour and a half, and had askedfor a second and even a third sight of most of the goods, theyreluctantly retired, their eyes glistening with cupidity, Matadipromising to institute an immediate inquiry as to the whereabouts of thewhite men, and to let me know the result as soon as possible.
I was very well satisfied with this interview, for I felt convinced thatI had so powerfully excited the covetousness of the savages that theywould determine to possess the goods that I had shown them at any cost.And so, as it turned out, I had, although, consequent upon my omissionto take into consideration the natural treachery of the savagecharacter, I was wholly mistaken as to the form in which thatdetermination would manifest itself.
It was clear that Matadi still entertained a wholesome, whole-souleddistrust of us; for when he landed the troops of warriors were stillleft drawn up along the river bank, with the evident intention ofpreventing any attempt on our part to go ashore and satisfy ourcuriosity by an inspection of his town; we therefore accepted thepalpable hint thus conveyed, and stuck to the ship, which, I needscarcely say, had been cleared for action and held ready for anyemergency from the moment of our arrival abreast the town.
It was by this time growing late in the afternoon, and as I was anxiousto obtain possession of my unfortunate countrymen and leave Matadi'srather dangerous neighbourhood before nightfall, we watched theproceedings in the town narrowly and with a great deal of interest. Butalthough we were enabled with the aid of our telescopes to follow Matadiand his little coterie of chiefs to a large building abutting on thesquare at the intersection of the cross streets, and which we took to bethe "palace," we were unable to detect anything of an unusual characterin the appearance or movements of the people until close upon sunset,when we observed a small canoe coming off to the schooner--a craftpropelled by four paddlers, with a single individual sitting in thestern. This person we presently recognised as one of the chiefs who hadaccompanied Matadi alongside earlier in the day; and he brought amessage to the effect that the king had ascertained that the white menabout whom we had inquired were all safe in a village a day's marchdistant, and that Matadi would send for them on the morrow, unless wewere prepared to make him a present of a musket, five strings of beads,a bandana handkerchief, and a roll of printed calico, in which case hewould so far discommode himself as to send off a messenger at once.This was of course very annoying, and I did not at all like the idea ofgiving these savages anything without a tangible return for it; still,after considering the matter a little, I arrived at the conclusion thatto expedite affairs by twelve hours was quite worth the price asked, andthe articles were accordingly handed over, not without grave misgivingsas to the wisdom of the proceeding. Soon after this it fell dark, thestars sparkled out one after another, lighting up t
he scene with theirsoft effulgence, the noises in the town became hushed, save for theoccasional barking of a dog here and there, and a deep, solemn hush fellupon us, in which the deep, hoarse, tumbling roar of a whirl-pool at nogreat distance, and the gurgle and rush of the turbid river past theschooner's hull became almost startlingly audible. But as long as wewere able to see them the lines of native warriors still stood, silentand motionless, guarding the whole river front of the town. As a matterof precaution, I now ordered the boarding nettings to be triced up allround the ship, the guns to be loaded with grape and canister, the smallarms to be prepared for immediate service, a double anchor-watch to bekept, and the men to hold themselves ready for any emergency, after thebustle of which preparations the schooner subsided again into silenceand darkness, the men for the most part "pricking for a soft plank" ondeck, and coiling themselves away thereon in preference to seekingrepose in the stifling forecastle. As for Gowland and myself, we pacedthe deck contemplatively together until about ten o'clock, discussingthe chances of getting away on the morrow, and then, everything seemingperfectly quiet and peaceful, we had our mattresses brought on deck, andstretched ourselves out thereon in the small clear space between thecompanion and the wheel.
I had been asleep about two hours, when I was awakened by a light touch,and, starting up, found that it was one of the anchor-watch, who wassaying--
"Better go below, sir, I think, because it looks as though it was goin'to rain. And Bill and me, sir, we thinks as you ought to know that wefancies we've heard the dip o' paddles occasionally round about the shipwithin the last ten minutes."
"The dip of paddles, eh?" exclaimed I, in a whisper. "Where away,Roberts?"
"Well, first here and then there, sir," answered the man, in an equallylow and cautious tone of voice; "both ahead and astarn of us; sometimeson one side, and then on t'other. But we ain't by no means certainabout it; that there whirl-pool away off on our port-quarter a littleways down-stream is makin' such a row that perhaps we're mistaken, andhave took the splash of the water in it for the sound of paddles. Andit's so dark that there ain't a thing to be seen."
It was as the man had said. It was evident that a heavy thunderstormwas about to break over us, for the heavens had become black withclouds, and the darkness was so profound that it was impossible to seefrom one side of the deck to the other. I scrambled to my naked feetand went first to the taffrail, then along the port side of the deckforward, returning aft along the starboard side of the deck, listeningintently, and I certainly fancied that once or twice I detected a faintsound like that of a paddle stroke, but I could not be certain; and asto seeing anything, that was utterly out of the question.
"Find Warren, and tell him to bring a port-fire on deck, and light it,"said I. "It can do no harm to take a look round, just to satisfyourselves; and it is never safe to trust these savages too much. Lookalive, Roberts; moments may be precious if it be as you suspect."
"Ay, ay, sir," answered the man, as he trundled away forward to find thegunner. And meanwhile, as it was evident that a heavy downpour wasimminent, I roused up Gowland, and we carried our mattresses below, Irepeating to him, as we went, what Roberts had told me.
By the time that we got back on deck again the gunner was aft, waitingfor us, with the port-fire all ready in his hand, and I instructed himto go aloft as far as the fore-cross-trees and light it there. A fewseconds elapsed, and then, with startling distinctness, came down to usthe cry--
"All ready, sir, with the port-fire!"
"Then light it at once," answered I, "and we will see what there is tobe seen."
The livid, blue-white glare of the port-fire almost instantly burstforth, shedding its unearthly radiance far across the glassy, swirlingsurface of the rushing stream, and by its light we saw a startling sightindeed, the schooner being surrounded by a flotilla of at least twentylarge canoes, each manned by from thirty to forty dusky warriors, fullyarmed with spears, bows, and war-clubs. They were about a cable'slength from us, and had evidently taken up their positions with theutmost care, so that they might close in upon and reach ussimultaneously, as they were now doing. As the brilliant light of theport-fire blazed forth, a shout of astonishment, not very far removedfrom dismay, burst from the occupants of the canoes, and a momentarytendency to sheer off precipitately became apparent; but this wasinstantly checked by a loud and authoritative call from the largestcanoe--the voice sounding very much like that of Matadi himself--andwith an answering yell the savages at once turned the bows of theircanoes toward the schooner and began to paddle for dear life.
"Call all hands," shouted I, "and pipe to quarters. Pass the word thatthe men are not to wait to dress. Another minute and the savages willbe upon us!"
The men needed no second order; they had all been sleeping on deck, andhad awakened at the gunner's call from aloft, and the glare of theport-fire striking through their closed eyelids, and before the wordswere well out of my lips they were standing to their guns and awaitingmy next order.
"Depress the muzzles of your guns as much as you can, and give thetreacherous rascals their contents as you bring them to bear," cried I."We shall only have time for one round, and if that does not stop themwe shall be obliged to fight them hand to hand!"
The whole of the schooner's guns were fired, one after the other, butthe port-fire unfortunately burnt out just about that time, so that wewere unable to ascertain what effect had been produced, and beforeanother could be found and lighted we heard and felt the light shocks ofcollision as the canoes dashed alongside, and in a moment foundourselves engaged in attempting to check the onset of a perfect _wall_of savages that hemmed us in on every side, and surged, and struggled,and writhed, and panted as they endeavoured to force a way through thestubborn boarding nettings. It was just the tricing up of thosenettings that saved us; but for them the schooner's decks would havebeen overrun, and we should have been massacred in a moment. As it was,this unexpected obstacle, which of course none of them had observed inthe afternoon--the nettings not being then triced up--daunted them, forthey could neither displace it nor force a way through it, and whilethey clung there, like a lot of bees, vainly striving to find or make apassage through it, our men were blazing away with musket and pistol atthe black wall of writhing, yelling humanity, and bowling them over bydozens at a time. When at length another port-fire was found andlighted, it disclosed to us an appalling picture of dusky, pantingbodies, blazing eyeballs, waving skins and plumes, gleamingspear-points, and upraised war-clubs hemming us in on both sides, fromstem to stern, every separate individual glaring at us with demoniachate and fury as he strove ineffectually to get at us.
The savages fell in scores at a time beneath our close and witheringfire, and at length, finding the netting impassable, and themselvesbeing shot down to no purpose, they suddenly abandoned the attack andflung themselves back into their canoes, in which they made off with allspeed for the shore, subjected meanwhile to a galling fire of grape andcanister from our guns, which I very regretfully allowed to bemaintained, believing that our only chance of safety lay in inflictingupon them a severe enough lesson to utterly discourage them from anyrenewal of the attack. We continued firing until the last canoe hadreached the shore, by which time eleven of them had been utterlydestroyed and several others badly damaged, resulting in a loss toMatadi of, according to my estimate, not far short of three hundred men.We had just ceased firing, and the men were busy securing the gunsagain, when the threatened storm burst forth, and our fight terminatedwith one of the most terrific tempests of thunder, lightning, and rainthat I had ever been exposed to. It; lasted until about three o'clockthe next morning, and then passed off, leaving the heavens calm, clear,and serene once more, and the stars even more brilliant than they hadbeen before the gathering of the storm. Of course, after the attemptedsurprise of the schooner by the savages, there was no more sleep for methat night, and before dawn I had resolved to send a boat ashore,demanding the surrender of Matadi and his chiefs, as host
ages for thegood behaviour of their people until the delivery of the Englishprisoners, the alternative, in case of refusal, being the destruction ofthe town.
Accordingly, as the rising sun was gilding the hill-tops, I ordered theboat to be lowered, and sent her away in Gowland's charge, with Lobo toact as interpreter, with a message to that effect. The guard ofwarriors still held the landing-place, and to the chief in command ofthem the message was given; its receipt, as Gowland subsequentlyinformed me, producing a very considerable amount of consternation. Thereply was that Matadi had been very severely wounded in the _accidental_engagement of the previous night, and was believed to be dying; but thatthe chief to whom the message had been given would communicate with hisbrother chiefs, and that we should receive their reply on the followingmorning. And to this Gowland had replied that if the white prisonerswere not surrendered, safe and sound, or the whole of the chiefs, Matadiincluded, on board the schooner when the sun stood over a certainhill-top--which would be in about an hour from that moment--theschooner's guns would open fire upon the town and continue itsbombardment until every house in it was razed to the ground. Andtherewith the gig returned to the ship, and was again hoisted to thedavits.
This peremptory message, coupled no doubt with the experiences of thepreceding night, had its desired effect; for while the sun was still aquarter of an hour distant from that part of the heavens that Gowlandhad indicated, we saw a procession issue from the fetish-house in thecentre of the town, which our telescopes enabled us to make out asconsisting of a group of white men, closely guarded by a body of sometwo hundred armed warriors, detailed, it would appear, for the purposeof guarding the whites from the fury of the witch-doctors, or priests,who were thus most unwillingly deprived of their prey, and whoaccompanied the party right down to the shore, doing their best toinstigate the people to attack the escort and recapture the releasedprisoners. There was a terrific hubbub over the affair, repeated rushesbeing made at the party; but the guards appeared to use their clubs withgreat freedom, and eventually the cortege reached the river, and thewhites were safely embarked in three large canoes which, manned bynatives, and apparently in charge of some authoritative person, at onceshoved off for the schooner.
Upon the arrival of this little flotilla alongside it was found that thewhite prisoners brought off for surrender numbered twenty-eight, all ofwhom were in a most wretched plight from sickness and the barbarousneglect with which they had been treated during their long and wearisomecaptivity. They consisted of the _Sapphire's_ late second and thirdlieutenants, one midshipman, nine marines, and sixteen seamen; onemidshipman, three marines, and two seamen having died of fever duringthe time that they had been in Matadi's hands. So frightfully were theyreduced by suffering and despair, that when the poor little survivingmid--a mere lad of sixteen--was helped up the side to the schooner's lowdeck his nerve entirely gave way, and he fell upon the planks in aparoxysm of hysterical tears, and wild, incoherent ejaculations ofgratitude to God for having delivered him from a living death; while asfor the others, they were too deeply moved and shaken to utter more thana husky word or two for the moment, but the convulsive grip of theiremaciated hands, their quivering lips, and the look of almostincredulous delight with which they gazed about them and into our faces,spoke far more eloquently than words. Needless to say, we gave them amost hearty and fraternal welcome, at once and before every thing elseproviding as far as we could for their physical comfort, whileArmstrong, our warm-hearted Scotch surgeon, immediately took them inhand with a good-will that promised wonders in the way of speedyrestoration to health and strength.
During all this while the three canoes had remained alongside; and byand by, when I had once more time to think of other matters than thosemore immediately concerning my guests, Lobo came to me and informed methat the chiefs who had brought off the released white men were waitingfor the payment of the promised ransom. I thought this tolerably cool,after the treacherous manner in which they had attacked us during thepreceding night; but I was too greatly rejoiced at the success of mymission to be very severe or retributive in my behaviour just then. Itherefore paid the full amount agreed upon, but directed Lobo to saythat although I paid it I did not consider that Matadi was entitled toclaim a single article in view of his unprovoked attack upon theschooner, and the miserable condition in which he had delivered up hiscaptives. But I paid it in order that he might practically learn thatan Englishman never breaks a promise that he has once made. And havingduly impressed this upon them, I gave them further to understand that,should it ever happen that other white men fell into their hands, theywould be expected to treat them with the utmost kindness andconsideration, upon pain of condign punishment should they fail to doso, and that upon delivering any such whites, safe and sound, to thefirst warship that might happen to enter the river, they would behandsomely rewarded.
This matter settled, our business with Matadi was at an end, andalthough there happened to be not a breath of wind stirring, Idetermined to make a start down the river at once, and get to sea assoon as possible, in order that the rescued men might not be deprived,for one moment longer than was absolutely necessary, of the restorativeeffects of the pure salt breeze. We accordingly manned the capstanforthwith, hove short, and then proceeded down-stream by the process ofnavigation known as "dredging"; that is to say, we kept the schooner inthe proper channel by means of the anchor and the rudder combined,allowing the anchor to just touch and drag along the ground when itbecame necessary to sheer the ship away from a danger, and at othertimes heaving it off the ground a few feet and allowing the craft todrift with the current. And so strong was the rush of the river justthen, that by its means alone we accomplished a descent of no less thanthirty miles that day before sunset, anchoring for the night in a verysnug cove on the northern bank of the river, under the shadow of somehigh hills. Then, during the night, a light southerly air sprang up,freshening towards morning into a spanking breeze that soon became halfa gale of wind, and under its welcome impulse--although we found itrather shy with us in some of the narrowest and most intricate parts ofthe navigation--we contrived to complete the descent of the remainingportion of the river on our second day out from Matadi's town, arrivingoff the mouth of Banana Creek about an hour before sunset. Here, infulfilment of my promise, I released Lobo, who, to do him justice, hadserved us well when he found that it was to his interest to do so. AndI may now dismiss him finally from my story by saying that when one ofthe ships of our squadron put into the river about three weeks later, itwas found that Senor Lobo had profited by my advice to the extent thathe had disposed of his factory and other property, just as it stood, tohis former manager--the purchase-money being paid three-fourths down,the remainder to be paid by instalments at three and six months' date.And a very excellent bargain he contrived to make, too, so I understood,the unfortunate buyer suffering a heavy loss when the captain of thecruiser made it his first business to destroy the barracoon, whichformed a portion of the property, although the aforesaid buyer of coursemade a point of vowing most emphatically that he had no intentionwhatever of using the structure for slave-dealing purposes, to whichalso, as a matter of course, he declared that he had a most righteousaversion.
Having landed Lobo, we proceeded to sea that same night, carrying thesoutherly breeze with us all through the night, and then falling in witha regular twister from the eastward that carried us right across theLine to about latitude 0 degrees 47 minutes North. From thence we hadlight and variable breezes to Sierra Leone, despite which we made anexcellent passage, arriving in the anchorage in just three days short ofa month from the date of our leaving it upon our rescuing expedition;and I am happy to say that when we landed the rescued party they had allso far rallied as to render their perfect recovery merely a matter oftime, provided, of course, that the deadly fever of the coast did notcarry them off in the meanwhile.
On our arrival in Sierra Leone I was greatly surprised to find the_Barracouta_ still in harbour; and I of course lo
st no time in going onboard to report myself and, incidentally, to find out the reason of herprolonged stay in port. But on presenting myself on board I discoveredthat I had been mistaken in supposing her to have lain there idle duringthe whole period of my cruise--on the contrary, she had only arrivedthree days before the _Felicidad_; and after I had told my story andreceived the compliments of the captain and the rest of the officersupon what they were pleased to term the boldness and judgment with whichI had executed my mission, I had to listen in return to a story asgruesome as can well be imagined, although it was told in very fewwords. It appeared, then, that a day or two after my departure, the_Barracouta_ again put to sea with the fixed but unexpresseddetermination to prosecute a further search for the _Francesca_, thewind and weather having meanwhile been such as to encourage CaptainStopford in the hope that by adopting certain measures he might yetcontrive to fall in with her. And he had done so, though by no means inthe manner that he had expected, the cruise being without result in thedirection in which he had hoped to meet with success. Some days later,however, after the search had been reluctantly abandoned, and while thebrig was edging in towards the coast again, hoping to pick up a prize torecompense them in a measure for their disappointment, they hadunexpectedly fallen in with the _Francesca_, again, and were not long incoming to the conclusion that something was seriously wrong on boardher, both her topmasts being carried away close to the caps and hangingsuspended by the rigging, with no apparent effort being made to clearaway the wreck, although the weather was then quite fine. Sail was ofcourse at once made to close with the dismantled craft, and then anothersurprise met them, for although the intention of the brig must have beenfrom the first moment unmistakable, no attempt was made to avoid theencounter, which, however, was accounted for a little later by the factthat the _Francesca_ appeared to be in an unmanageable condition. Then,as the brig neared her still more closely, it was seen that the sweepswere rigged out but not manned, although the deck was crowded withpeople, unmistakably blacks. And then it was that for the first timethe dreadful surmise dawned upon Captain Stopford's mind--a surmise thatsoon proved to be true--that the negroes, doubtless goaded to frenzy bytheir continued ill-treatment, had risen upon and massacred the entirecrew and taken possession of the brigantine, which of course they hadnot the remotest idea how to handle.
The _Barracouta_ soon arrived upon the _Francesca's_ weather quarter,and the evidences of the fearful deed then became unmistakable, thescuppers still bearing the stains of the ensanguined stream that hadpoured from them, while among the whole of that crowd of yelling,fiercely gesticulating blacks, not a single white face was to be seen.Boats were at once lowered and a strong crew sent away to takepossession of the disabled vessel, but the emancipated slaves, maddenedat the thought of again falling into the hands of the hated whites, and,of course, unaware of the fact that the brig's crew were anxious only torender them a service, offered so desperate a resistance to the boardersthat Young, who led the latter, recognising the impossibility of takingthe brigantine without serious loss of life, withdrew to consult withCaptain Stopford as to the best course to pursue. Meanwhile, the windfell away to a calm, of which circumstance the slaves took advantage bymanning the sweeps and gradually withdrawing from the vicinity of the_Barracouta_, This was about sunset; and three hours later a brightblaze upon the horizon proclaimed that the notorious _Francesca_ hadeither caught or been set on fire in some inexplicable way. The brig'sboats were at once manned and dispatched to the rescue of the unhappyblacks, or as many of them as it might be possible to save; but thebrigantine was by this time some nine miles away, the flames burnt withever-increasing fury, and while the boats were still some three milesdistant the doomed ship blew up, and the occupants of the boats saw thebodies of the miserable blacks hurled high in the air in the midst of adazzling sheet of flame and a cloud of smoke. When the boats arrivedupon the scene of the disaster, all that remained of the once gallantbut guilty _Francesca_ consisted of a few charred timbers and fragmentsof half-burnt planking, in the midst of which floated some forty orfifty dead bodies of negroes; the rest had vanished--whither?
Such, reader, is the story, and such was the end of the Pirate Slaver,the terrible doom of which, when it became known, caused such a thrillof horror in the breasts of those who had emulated her crew in theircareer of crime, that from that time forward there was a noticeablefalling-off in the number of vessels frequenting the West African riversin search of slaves; and finally, a year or two later, the appearance offast steamers in the slave-squadron rendered the chances of success soremote that but a few of the most enterprising had heart to continue thepursuit of so risky and unprofitable a business. And when these wereone by one captured and their vessels condemned, the infamous tradedwindled more and more, until it finally died out altogether, never, letus hope, to be revived again.
THE END.
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