The Manitowoc tribune. [volume] (Manitowoc, Wis.) 1866-1878, 1869-12-02

! II will bind myself to discharge you
, as soon as | have made my voyage sure
and am ready to run westward again
And you shall be paid the full amount ol
, your wages up to that time. But can I;
with safety to myself, let you go sooner
, | was fain to content myself with these
terms, and thus l became, to a certain
extent, a party in great wrong. 1t
was, [ know, false sense of honor that
restrained me, in thus declining to do
what was right, because it would lnJure
the interests of my captain and employ
ers. But it was as good, perhaps, as the
oft-quoted patriotic Cry, Our country,
right or wrong.
The examination of the vessel and heE
papers developed nothing to excite the
suspicious of the boarding officer, but as
[ have since learned, one of the seamen,
who, like myself, had been entrapped in-
to what they believed was an honestpalm-
Oil cruise, was not as scrupulous myself.
opinion of the real character of our enter
prise 10 some of the boats crew, and, as a
consequence, we were never lost sight of
from that day forward, while on the
coast. Many were the lodges we played
upon the cruisers, and at last Calder
thought he had shaken off pursuit, and
we ran into an anchorage at the mouth
| of river, where the humane cattle were
herded in barracoon, ready for ship
mcnt.
A few hours now, would decide thu
success or the failure of the voyage, and
test the captain sincerity, as regaided
his promise to discharge me before leav
ing the coast. But we had not received
more than half the blacks on beard, when,
as if the avengers had been watching
from an ambush until sure of the evi-
dence of our guilt, three armed boats
made their appearance rounding bend
within half mile, and heading directly
for US. -e.sf, ,,.t-.x,.r... .,
The barque had been fitted to rely upon
speed and stratagem for success in run
ming the gauntlet Of the cruisers, and pos
sessed no adequate means of repelllng
force by force But we had one little brass
swivel which was capable of some execu-
ton, and small arms sufficient for the
full number of men on board. And Joe
Calder, in the fury of baffled rage con-
sequent upon losing all his property
at the eleventh hour, determined to show
fight, and, if possible, beat off the boats.
"Will you fight 'em, Mr.. G orham p
he demanded, savagely.
''No sir; | am only filling my position,
as it were, under protest. and I'm sure L
will.never shed blood unless in an honest
cause.
He had only his second mate and six
seamen upon whom he could place any
dependence to assist him in this strait.
And even some of these demonstrated
with him upon the folly of course
which could scarcely be successful, while
it would call down vengeance upon US it
it failed.
''I'll fight 'em alone!" he roared, be-
side himself with fury. eff there's any
man who will sneak out of the fight. let
him go ashore, now, before the boats
board Us.
But he had miscalculated the effect of
this taunt upon me aud others. l saw no
harm nor disgrace in taking him at his
word, nd at once called for volunteers
to oman the small boat which lay alongside.
One followed another, until it was plain
that the whole crew would, If left to
themselves, abandon the vessel; but with
four men in the boat, L pushed her clear
of the side. The man-of-war's boat was
drawing near.
Captain Calder" said I, ''the wisest
thing you can do is to save yourself and
your crew. You can gain nothing by
fighting against odds, and the vessel is
lost, if taken, as she must be, with slaves
on board. p"
"She never shall be taken I'll blow
her up first - roared the infuriated cap
tain. ''Save yourselves, all of ye, if you
want to I'll be the last man out of herl'
In moment, all hands were crowding
into the large boat, which had been veer-
ed astern, anxious only to escape the ap
preaching enemy. The captain stopped,
sighted the brass swivel, which he had
previously loaded with his own hands,
and fred A good line shot, but not
sufficiently depressed in range. 1t whis-
led, harmless, over the heads of the Eng
lsh seamen, who, bursting into wild hur-
rahs, advanced steadily, now returning
the fire from similar gun mounted ON
their leading boat.
My attention was now for few seconds
occupied in observing this; and when [
again looked for the captain he was not
in sight.
''Pull ahead p heard the second mate
exclaim in the other boat. ''Pull ahead
and get clear Of the ship He's gone
below to fire the powder and blow her
up -
[ involuntarily repeated the order to
my own crew, shudderlng at the thought
that what [ heard was really true. |
knew where the powder WAS stored, and
that there was enough to destroy the YES
sci if ignited. 1t was true he might lay
a train, and have time to save himself by
jumping overheard. But what was to
become of uhe poor blacks in the
hold? And the crews of the attacking
boat, if the explosion occurred after they
got on board
[ gave thu word to pull, placing the
boats head directly towards the ap-
preaching enemy. [ made the most fran
tic signals to attract the attention of the
British officer in command. [ succeeded
in making him sensible of the danger,
and he ordered his men to rest on their
oars.
had, of course, placed myself and
boats crew in his power as prisoners,
when [ might have had time to escape to
the shore. But, in obeying the impulse
of humanity, [ had hardly thought OF
this.
As was explaining the matter to the
officer, the crack of rifle was heard, and
a ball passed near my head, breaking the
arm of seaman, in the English barge.
1t had been fred from the stern window
of the barque, and was, doubtless, In
tended for me- The barge again fired her
swivel in return, and the officer gave the
order to advance with rush, seeming to
care little about securing me or my men,
if there was chance of saving the vessel.
The large boat of the barque, in charge
of the second mate, had meanwhile made
good her escape, and was nearly ashore.
But, trusting to my own honest inten-
tions, and those Of the four men who