Monmouth weekly herald. [volume] (Freehold, N.J.) 1854-1860, 1855-05-02

rage0uS friction OF the rusty iron, which
had been drawn across it with no very
delicate land, until the blood gushec
through the infant down. we spoke yes
sci, which proved to be pirate ship, pro
badly engaged in the slave trade, which
is not unusual with such vessels. She ap
peared to be uncommonly we'll armed, ant
on being Intercepted, Immediately hoist
ed the black flag, the well-known emblem
of the lawless buccaneer. An engagement
Immediately commenced The captain
called me to the quarterback to receive
orders, and while standing beside him, /;
ball from the pirate vessel passed across
the deck, threw the steersman mangleC
corpse at our feet, and sprinkled oul
clothes and the deck with his blood.
Immediately seized the helm, and supplied
his place. | had never seen a man killed
before, and [ felt all the horrible danger
of my situation. A sense of deep fea
came on me, though | had before been il
critical situations, and thought myself /;
fellow of impregnabe fortitude and cour
age. A feeling of chilliness ran through
my veins and the cold sweat stood upor
my forehead.
"That pirate is an impudent rascal, ;
exclaimed the captain, but we'll give i
him yetV
In few minutes the captain approach
ed me again and said
Midshipman s., are you afraid p
Not in the least, sir" replied l, though
my blood was colder than the ocean.
If you have the least fear continued
the captain, you had better leave the
helm-this is no place for a coward"
If my blood was cold before, it was il
a moment within few degrees Of the boil
ing point. The captain, without appear
in9 to, notice my excitement, calmly OBJ
served -
"If you have no fear, go take charge Of
the six>forward guns"
| Immediately dropped the helm, and
sprang to the post assigned me. In q
few minutes | was as warmly engaged a:
! if had been damming rivulet, or dig
cling woodchuck from his burrow on {
summer day.
| have observed that was only sixteen
l was also small for that age; and as
stood on the deck, I could not see over
:. the gunwale, which rose like bulwarl
before the cannon. | therefore frequent
ly jumped upon a gun to obtain a view 0
the deck of the pirate vessel. AS wa
standing thus, ball passed through m,
hat, in such manner as just to leave the
top of my head unframed. The broad
sides continued to pour from our vessel
and | soon discovered that the enemy hat
been penetrated between wind and water
and was sinking. In the exultation 0
my feelings, | sprang upward, clappins
my hands with shout, and fell upon tn,
deck. When | assembled the cannon again
the ocean before me was clear-the pirat
~. LIZ had gone down, with all her rockies
for quarter. o@s
We proceeded on our voyage to tn
East Indies, where we performed the du
ties assigned us, and commenced our re
turn. We had doubled the Cape of Goo
Hope, and taken in a supply of water an,
refreshments at St. Helena. We ha
scarcely lost sight of that Island in tn
south, when we discovered, at great dis
lance before US, thick smoke rising aboy
the ocean, in a direction which rendere,
it impossible that it could proceed from
the land. The night was just setting in
and as in the neighborhood of the equato
the twilight is short, it soon became dark
As we proceeded, we beheld a brigh
light, which flashed far upon the pillows
and made the heavens bright with terrifi
:, splendor. We steered directly for tn
object, and as we approached we discov
cred it to be ship on fire. She had BEEF
burning for several hours, and the crey
had exhausted themselves in endeavorins
to subdue the flames, the progress o
which they were only able to retard.-
Finding all their exertions vain, as the fir,
had assembled to the sails, which presented
huge sheets of fame, and were casting
their burning fragments upon the deck
the crew were abandoning the vessel, ant
endeavoring to save themselves in boats
We fired a gun, to apprize them of our APP
proach, and revive their sinking hopes
On receiving them into our vessel, W,
found them to be Spaniards, seventeen ii
number. The ship was merchant-man
loaded with lime, which, having been we
by leak in the hold, had taken fire.
When we left her, the masts were falling
and in a few minutes the light ceased t,
shine upon the water, and we proceeded
on our way in darkness.
i In few weeks we came within sight O
the shore of Spain, and as the crew whom
we had saved were DESTROYS of being land
ed in that country, we anchored just be
fore Light in the Bay of Cadiz. Our crew
consisted of forty men. We left six il
charge with the vessel, and the rest wen
on shore with the Spaniards. We hat
been in the city but short time. whel
an officer with band of assistants cam
to the captain and told him that we wer,
/ all prisoners, and must pass the night il
one Of the prisons of Cadiz. The captain
inquired for what reason he presumed t,
modest peaceable men, to which he replied
that the Spanish crew, with whom W