Ben Burton: Born and Bred at Sea

  CHAPTER FOUR.

  I need scarcely say that I now, at all events, had a more powerful rivalon board than had existed since Quacko was consigned to a watery grave.As may be supposed, the goat during a long sea voyage, where the foodwas scarce, gave but a small quantity of milk, only sufficient indeedfor the Captain and any guest he might have at breakfast or tea. I donot believe that he would have sacrificed it for the sake of anyoneelse, but directly the child was brought on board he issued an orderthat the whole of the milk should be reserved for her use. There wassomething strange about this, for immediately the goat gave twice thequantity that had for some time appeared on the Captain's table. Itwas, to be sure, whispered that some of the young gentlemen were fond ofmilk for their tea, and from that time forward not a drop was ever seenin their berth. Before that time, one or two of them used to boast thatthey had the art of manufacturing milk out of pipeclay, whereby theyaccounted for the rare fluid which occasionally appeared on themess-table.

  I remember clearly the funeral of the poor nurse. As the Captain andthe First-Lieutenant had considered it important that her clothes shouldbe preserved, in the hopes of assisting in discovering to whom theLittle Lady belonged, Mrs King had dressed the body in one of her oldpetticoats. It was then sewn up in a piece of canvas, with a shot atthe feet, and placed on a grating near an open port. The Captain, whohad somewhat obfuscated theological views, could not decide whether hewas bound to read the funeral service over the poor woman.

  "Supposing she is a heathen--and I never heard of these black peoplebeing Christians--I shouldn't think it was much in their way, eh,Schank? Would it not be something like sacrilege to bury her in aChristian fashion?" he asked of the First-Lieutenant.

  "As to that," observed Mr Schank, "I suspect we are apt to perform theceremony over a good many who have no more claim to be considered trueChristians than she possibly had."

  "Well, I suppose it can't do much harm, eh, Schank?" observed theCaptain, after a moment's reflection, and the Little Lady's nurse wasburied, according to the notion of the crew, in a decent Christianmanner; they piously believing that, however she might have lived, shewould now at all events have a fair chance of getting a safe passage toheaven. We were during this time standing to the southward, and havingrounded the south of Ceylon, we touched at Point de Galle, andafterwards at Colombo, proceeding on to Bombay. Greatly to thedisappointment of the ship's company, the "Boreas" was here found to bein such good condition, that, instead of going home, she was orderedback to the China Seas. Passing through the Straits of Malacca, wereturned to Macao.

  We were here joined by another frigate, the "Zephyr," of thirty-sixguns. Captain Peter Masterman, her commander, presented a greatcontrast to Captain Cobb. The former was a remarkably fine, handsomeman, with dignified manners and calm temper. We received orders soonafterwards to proceed to the Philippine Islands, there to reconnoitrethe Spanish force supposed to be collected near their chief town ofManilla, and if possible to cut out from under the batteries which guardthe harbour certain richly-laden ships which it was understood had theretaken shelter. We were also to attack all their armed dependencies, andto give them as much annoyance as possible as we cruised up theArchipelago.

  As soon as we were clear of the land, the crews of the two frigates wereemployed in making them look as much like French frigates as possible,both as to rigging and hulls. The Philippines, belonging to Spain,consist of a number of islands, the largest of which is Luzon, and isdivided into two parts joined by an isthmus about ten miles wide. Thecapital, Manilla, where the cheroots are made, is situated on a bay ofthat name. It is a large place, consisting of several suburbs or townssurrounding the city proper, which is built on the banks of the riverPasig. South of Manilla is the fortress of Cavite, situated at theextremity of a tongue of land about two miles long. It protects theentrance to the only harbour in the bay of Manilla. The arsenal iswithin the fortress, and a number of vessels are built there. It wasunder the guns of this fortress that we expected to find our prizes,and, in spite of its formidable appearance, to cut them out. As we wererunning down the coast of Luzon, the large island I have spoken of, wecaptured a trader of considerable size belonging to the island, but, asshe was bound northward, Captain Masterman generously declined detainingher after we had taken out of her all the cash to be found on board,amounting to about six thousand dollars. It was somewhat amusing to seethe grateful way in which the Spanish skipper thanked the Englishmen forhaving so mercifully robbed him, so I have heard my father say. Itmight have been supposed that they had done him the greatest possiblefavour, instead of having mulcted him of a pretty considerable sum. Healso, to show his gratitude, told us that the squadron in the harbour ofCavite consisted of four sail of the line and four frigates, but thatonly one ship of each class was at all in a state to put to sea. OurCaptain considered that two English frigates were fully able to copewith a Spanish line-of-battle ship and one frigate, hoping to draw themoff the land if they could be persuaded to come out of harbour, and tocapture them in detail. At all events, the news increased the goodspirits of the ship's company, and all on board anticipated some richprizes.

  The next day we came up with several other vessels which were treated inthe same liberal manner, although those which were sailing south wereallowed to pass unmolested, lest it might have been suspected that wedid not belong to the friendly nation which we pretended.

  Thus we proceeded on, till soon after sunset we approached the Bay ofManilla, with the French flag flying at our peaks, and to Spanish eyes,looking, I doubt not, like two Frenchmen. We had to pass close to asmall island on which a signal-house stands, and it now became doubtfulwhether we should be detected. However, the Spaniards appeared not tosuspect us, and we stood on till we came to an anchor in about fourteenfathoms at the entrance of the bay; both the frigates, however, keepingtheir topsails at the mast-head, to be ready for a sudden start.

  The night was very calm; and sounds from a great distance could reach usacross the water. There was no chance therefore of our being surprised,should the enemy have discovered our real character. It became,however, hopeless for us to attempt cutting-out any of the vessels, aswe should not have had sufficient wind to carry them off, even when wehad taken possession. We, however, kept a very bright look-out, and themen were in good spirits at the thoughts of the work they anticipatedthe next day.

  Before morning dawned, we and our consort got under weigh, and, withFrench colours flying, slowly worked up the bay, which, being broad andfree from dangers, we were enabled to do. Soon after sunrise, threesail were seen to leeward, also apparently bound up the bay. They weresoon made out to be gunboats, and the Captains congratulated themselveson the prospect of quickly capturing them without difficulty. I shouldhave before introduced a personage who, for a time, belonged to theship--Mr Noalles, our pilot. He was supposed to be a Jersey man, as hespoke French perfectly, and also Spanish, and several other languages.He had been in the China seas for a considerable number of years, thoughhe was still a young man. He had dark, strongly-marked features,somewhat perhaps of a Jewish cast, with large black whiskers, and waspowerfully built. He was greatly respected on board, as he was known tobe a good seaman and a determined character, but my father used to saythere was something about him he could not exactly make out. He messedwith the officers, for he was perfectly the gentleman, and possessed ofa large amount of information, especially respecting that part of theworld. I rather think that it was he who suggested the plan ofoperations we were now carrying out. Captain Cobb himself, having oncespent some time in France as a prisoner, spoke French sufficiently wellto deceive a Spaniard at all events, though I suspect a Frenchman wouldsoon have detected him. Several of our men also had been in Frenchprisons, or had lived among Frenchmen, and if they could not speak thelanguage grammatically, they could at all events imitate the sounds of aparty of Frenchmen talking together. The uniform of the officers didnot differ much from those of the French, wh
ile such alterations as werenecessary were speedily made. It was a great source of amusement to themen to see the officers who were about to act in the proposed dramagoing through their parts, Captain Cobb flourishing his hat with the airof a Frenchman, and uttering the expressions with which he proposed togreet his visitors.

  "I wonder whether we shall bamboozle the Dons," observed Toby Kiddle,who, holding me in his arms, formed one of a group of seamen collectedon the forecastle.

  "No fear of that, Toby," observed Pat Brady. "If they once think we areFrenchmen, they are such conceited fellows that they will never find outthat they are wrong."

  Onward we stood, till soon after breakfast we opened the ships in CaviteRoad. The glasses of all the officers were pointed in that direction,when they made out three sail of the line and three frigates--tolerableodds against us, it might be supposed; but they could not do us any harmthen, because four of them were without masts and the other two had onlytheir lower masts in, and no yards across. We, therefore, if we couldget possession of the gunboats, should be at liberty to commit anymischief we chose along the coast. Three gunboats, at all events, werelikely soon to give us an opportunity of having something to say tothem. The wind was so light that we made but little way, and thus abouttwo hours afterwards we lay about three miles from Cavite, and the samedistance from the city of Manilla. At length, when nearly becalmed, aguard boat was seen coming off to us from Cavite, and as she approached,we made out that she pulled twelve oars, and had several officers andmen besides on board.

  "Now, Mr Noalles," said Captain Cobb to the pilot, "do your best toinduce these gentlemen to come on board. It will not do to let themexamine the ship, and then go back and express their suspicions, if theyhave any."

  As the boat came alongside, Mr Noalles, in excellent Spanish, politelyinvited the officers and men on board. The chief officer introducedhimself as the second captain of one of the frigates at anchor inCavite, and inquired who we were and whence we came. Our pilot inreturn replied that the "Boreas" and her consort were two frigatesbelonging to the French squadron in those seas, that we had beencruising for some time along the coast of China, where our crews hadnaturally become sickly, and that we had come to Manilla forrefreshment; as also, should the Spanish Admiral be pleased to acceptour services, to form a junction with his squadron; Mr Noalles alsosaid he was desired to express a hope that the Spanish ships wouldaccompany us to sea. Meantime, the seamen who had been stationed nearbegan jabbering French, as they had been directed to do, throwing theSpaniards completely off their guard. The Spanish captain, in reply towhat had been said, stated that the Governor had directed him toacquaint the French that their wants should be immediately supplied,"but," he added, "it is with great sorrow that we cannot accompany youto sea, because the truth is, none of our ships can by any possibilitybe got ready in less than two months, as our crews are sickly; and toconfess the truth, we are in want of every species of stores."

  The boat meantime was secured alongside, and while the captain andofficers accompanying him were invited into the cabin, the seamen wereconducted below. Captain Cobb acted his part very well, and probably hewas just as well dressed as many of the Republican naval officers ofthose days, who were in the habit of assuming a somewhat rough exteriorand rougher manners. Refreshments were immediately ordered, and ourconsort having by this time got a considerable way up the bay, CaptainMasterman, who had seen the boat come off, arrived on board. CaptainCobb immediately introduced him as the French Commodore, giving the nameof an officer who it afterwards turned out was at that time dead. Ofthis fact, however, the Spanish captain was fortunately not aware, orthe ruse would have been discovered.

  Captain Masterman was able to speak a little Spanish. Refreshmentsbeing ordered, the officers were soon engaged in pleasant and notaltogether uninstructive conversation at the table. Our Captain, inreturn, gave the Spaniards a large amount of information, not likely, itmay be supposed, to benefit them very much. A great friend of mine,Charlie Crickmay, one of the Captain's boys waiting at table, afterwardsgave me a full account of all that occurred. As the Spaniards wereplied with wine by their polite hosts, their hearts opened, and they letout all the information which it was necessary to obtain.

  "Now, my excellent friends," said the Spanish Captain, "we will drinksuccess to the united exertions of the Spaniards and French againstthose rascally British, who come out here and interfere with our trade,and do us so much mischief."

  Just then a midshipman came down to say that a large barge and a feluccawere coming off from the shore. In reply to the toast, Captain Cobbassured his guests that as far as they were concerned their great wishwas that the Spanish and French ships should never fail to fall in withthe English, as they had little doubt who would come off victorious.

  "Of course, excellent senors, the Spaniards will always conquer theirfoes, whenever the latter dare stay to encounter their prowess," was theanswer.

  Our Captains continued to humour the gentlemen for some time till themidshipman, again coming down, informed them that the large boats werenearly alongside. At length, Captain Cobb laying his hand on theSpanish officer's shoulder, looked him in the face.

  "My dear sir," he said, "you will pardon us for the little trick we haveplayed you; but the honest truth is, we are not the people you took usfor. There is an old proverb which says: `Deceit is lawful in love andwarfare.' In the latter it is at all events. Though we have the flagof France now flying, that of Britain generally floats over our decks,and will, I hope, do so till our ships are paid off at home."

  "Senor!" exclaimed the Spaniard, turning pale and gasping for breath,"you surely are joking."

  The Captain's answer assured him that he was not. The poor man almostfainted.

  "Come, my friend," said Captain Masterman, "we intend you no harm.Here, take a glass of wine, you will find it excellent Madeira, and beassured that many a worse event might have happened to you. All werequire is, that you should say nothing to your friends when they comebelow. You will meet them here presently, whoever they are, and believeus on our honours that we intend no one any harm."

  While Captain Cobb entertained his dismayed guest, Captain Mastermanwent on deck to receive the new comers.