New Orleans daily crescent. [volume] ([New Orleans, La.]) 1851-1866, 1852-10-13
DAILY CRESCENT.
OFFICIAL JOURNAL
TALE OF THE SLAVE SQUADRON.
"THE FAIR ROSAMOND,
TIE CONSOLIDATED CITY OF NEW oRLEAN

TALE OF THE SLAVE SQUADRON.
s'THE FAIR ROsAMoND."
| have witnessed in my time-more than
quarter Of q century has slipped past since then
--1nany strange scenes, and taken part IN not
few dasing enterprises in connection with the
slave squadron on hesouthwest coast OF Africa.
Some Of these will, / think, interest and amuse
&c &c general reader especially IT, III teilng tnem
can manage to avoia the profuse use oi' ,e
landsmen, unintelligible sea-terms, III ''H''n
nautical tale writer's SO unmercifully prone
to indulge. without further preface, then, ]
start, almost necessarily, with the story Of the
Fair Rosamond although incidentally oniy con-
nected with the exertions Of the slave squadron
and partaking more of a shore than sea char
acter,
Just previous to entering the service, | was
gawky STRIPPING of nineteen, residing in the Vale
of Bath, county Surrey, Jamaica; my boyish
| head full of silly romance, and my heart al
ternately swayed by two master passions--love
Of bright eyes and blue water. Two attractive
objects pointed and indi-idoalized this double
penchant-one the Fair, Rosamond; the other,
beautiful maid of Bath-Jamaica, not Somer
setshire Bath. | found it difficult to decide be-
tween these rival beauties The elegant, finely
moulded frame of the Fair Rosamond reposed
gracefully as a swan upon the waters, and there
|
novements-rakish / should say, but that am
speaking Of q lady-especially when an hour or
so after the rising of the land breeze, she un-
folded her white wings in the bright morning
sunlight, and glided from Kingston Roads to-
wards Point Morant, the fresh waves leaping
and sparkling to embrace her as she passed, and
then, doubling on her path, shot back to her
moorngs with the undulating sweep and velocity
of sea bird, which was perfecly irresistible.
AS frequently happens, had become enamored
of this beauty before informing myself of her
| true character, which, upon inquiry, found to
be anything but Immaculate
| You know the captain, of coursc:" re-
marked young Freestun, the nephew of Kings
ton merchant who, like me, was watching the
brigantine's motions on such a morning as l
have described
by sight only A slim young man, of per-
haps eight or nine and twenty. saw him come
on shore in his fancy gig yesterday. What is
his name?"
cit is odd you do not know; ask Mademoi-
selle Tollemache,'' replied Freestun, with a
light sarcastic laugh; &C she can give you more
information than any one else. AS to his name
that which he bears here is no secret; he is
called Charles Hubert-Captoin Charles Hub
ert.''
's And pray what trade is Captain Charles
Hubert engaged in )" l asked after moment s
reflection.
"What trade-humph! Well, whilst here,
Captain Huberts trade, as far as have seen,
consists in gaming, drinking, racing, betting,
and so on Pleasant, all that if it would but
last
50 He is a man of fortune, them
" Of amazingly good fortune, / am told,'' re-
piled Freestun, still in the same light ironical
tone; ''and if one might credit" he added,
''what our Jamaica gossps say-but they are
such slanderers, you know-Captain Hubert can
I,1a ynt tha }onh; .f
NOR, dianc to win five times out of six, as
we'll as any skipper north or south of the line
Z" | understand, but what does he do here,
them"
'sAsk Mademoiselle Virginie, I repeat she
IS, have reason to suspect, particularly init
mate with this interesting captain, at least
but there goes old Souaretoes to the Office
| must begone--farewelll'
This Was odd--perplexing This same Vir-
glnie Tollemache was the fair maid of Bath
have spoken of; and how, in the name Of all tht
saints, could there be any sympathy between
that bright particular star in the galaxy Q
womanknd, and mercenary trader in human
. beings "a vulgar slavedealing ruffian? L
] could only be scurvy Jest of Freestuns-n
ing more. To suppose otherwise were sheer
. blasphemy; and yet | had scarcely right tc
arrive at SO peremptory conclusion, my knowl-
: edge of Mademoiselle Tollemache being, as with
the treachcrous Fair Rosanlond, of very dis.
tant and superficial kind. All l knew of her
. and her family, may be summed up in very few
Q words.
Ny father, Mr. Peregrine sutcliffe, had ar.
rived in Jamaica about fifteen months pre-
viously, as manager and superintendent of an
estate, chiefly situate in the Vale Of Bath, be-
longing to Augustus Penshurst, ESQ, a Cornish
gentleman and member Of Parliament, and was
succeeding in his arduous vocation remarkably
well. |, his only surviving son, of course &C.
Ionr ,,o1 I. nv
Scotch gentleman, married to a French lady
resided in Vale Lodge, about mile nearer te
the town or village of Bath than our domicile
;. Mr.. Toemache, formerly of Trinidad, was
9 prosperous planter, and Virginie was his only
child. She was, | concluded, called Virginie-
Mademoselle Virginie-because her mother was
= known as Madame Tollemache. The practice o
hospitality is religion in the Antilles, and i,
thus happened that my father and myself were
matter Of course, fancied myself desperately il
love with the divine Virginie. Beautiful ex
ceedingly, of stately and elegant form lustrous
as tropical star-a radiance, by the way
very different from that Of the pale points o.
light which dot our northern hemisphere
dreamy, dark-eyed as a gazele, and three
years my senior, she would, doubt not, hay,
: half expired with laughter had any one sug
' gested that she was an object of serious adm
ration to such lubberly young cub as l ther
was This was transparently clear, even to my
own silly self, and. spite of the charm of hel
h occasional presence and society, and descend
T. ing to mundane attractions, the beauty of thu
D island the splendor of its luxurious vegetation
Ii and the many dgremenS incident to a Wes
India habitat, the ardent longings for sea life
first awakened on the beaches of Devon re
turned strongly upon me, and gathered force
and intensity with every passing hour. Weariot
at length with my incessant opportunities, ny
father was induced to promise that, at the frs
Q favorable opportunity, my wishes should b
complied with. We had thought of opening ne
IL gotiations with the captain Of the Fair Rosa
mond, but the revelations of the morning woul
?. Of necessity put an end to such purpose a
y once and forever.
re The reader is now sufficiently cognizant of tn
y state of affairs in connection with myself, rela
.; a. lvcs and neighbors, as they existed the da
when Captain Charles Huberts character an
" " vocation, and his asserted intimacy with Virgini
Iollemache, were so broadly limited at by youn
MIR. freestun. | sauntered homeward late il
the cvening-if that could be called evening {
which the silver splendor rivalled in luminou
transparency the golden glory of the day. rer
derlng distant and surrounding objects as dis
tlnctly visible as at noontide, My father Wa
not ut home: he might be at Vale Lodge, and
bent my not unwilling steps thither in quest
him. A quarter of an hour brought me to
sharp turn in the path distant only about ty
or three hundred yards from the avenue of naln