The Republican journal. [volume] (Belfast, Me.) 1829-current, 1872-11-28

L
in the position of affairs.
ltelt rather proud Of my first command,
on looking round, and observing what a
fine prize she was. There was long
brass Gun amidships, and why it was not
fired as we came alongsde-our attack
being evidently expected--it was difficult
to say. However, there was little time
for reflection or enjoyment of the sweets
OF command; it was necessary to act at
once. The vessel was certainly so far
Won; but what was won had to be kept
The question was "Would the beaten
crew when they discovered our weak
ness, remain quiet without attempting u
rescne?" | called our men together to
ascertain how many We're fit tor action,
and found that seven, besides myself, We're
MI right FORESTER and five others being
quite disabled Well eight British sailors
ought to be sufficient to keep o slaver's
crew III order. Pirates and cut-throats
though they were, there could not be more
than twenty left, for several We're lying on
the decks dead or wounded
Moore now proved himself an Invaluable
first lieutenant
beg your pardon. sir" he called out
then we shall have nothing else to do but
Secur the rullians ?"
4 capital suggestion. Looking over
the side found that in the ten or fifteen
minutes which had elapsed since we began
the attack, the current and The land wind
together had carried the schooner. with
our Two boats, towing alongside, well
clear OF the mouth of the river outside
Sharks Point. The next thing was to see
if the anchor was clear, all ready for
letting 90. | ran forward glanced over
the bows; ycs, there it was with black
congo mud clmging to it, Just in the same
state rs when move up an hour OF two ago.
gave the Cr'ler and in another five
minutes we were quietly at anchor. sails
clewod up, and Moore at liberty to leave
the helm and Join me.
50 far 50 good. But the pressing dan
ger vet remained We were longing to
release the unhappy slaves below, but
could Ito nothing while the defeated crew
out-numbering us three to one, We're un-
secured. The young moon was fast sink
ing below the horizon; it was not vet
midnight; there were six OF seven hours
oi darkness still to be got through, nor
l.
tor before next morning at the earliest.
had come aft when busy in anch oring
the prize. but now having carefully re-
loaded my pistol, hurried again to the
bows, Moore and our six men following
We were only Just in time. Two men,
musket in hand, had already made their
way on lctE, and the small hatchwav
forward was full OF others struggling to
follow. The first two we seized and dis
armed in a moment; the rest Jumped
down aud began to fire through the hatch
way. but seeing 0urnen with levelled mus
kets, ceased firing.
''Do you surrender?" | demanded in
the nongrel Spanish we had picked up on
the coast. 'It not we fire.
Mingled sounds arose from the dark
ness below of loud disputing, curses. and
even blows; but at last came % shout
Isl, Senor' ST."
AT which ! ordered them 10 come on
deck one at 4 time, bringing their arms
with them.
knelt down, and rs each man IN turn
appeared above the hAtchway, kept my
pistol pointed at his head, while Moore
took away his arms and handed him over
To our fellows, who now began to take it
quite as Il Joke, and binding their prisoners
hand and foot, laid them in regular lines
along the deck, pa.ting each on the back
rs he was finished. Ii was u long lob,
TWENTY four in all we counted, which,
with five killed or wounded and the cap
tain, made up crew of thirty. Taking
4 lantern which, Moore found below
passed the li9t over each scowing up
turned face, and from every eye there
flashed back a glance o malignant hatred.
Pirate and murderer seemed written on
every feature, and when soon afterwards
| went into the cabin and discovered books
and charts lying about with different ships
names written on them, our suspicious
that the schooner was q pirate rs well rs
SLAYER, were confirmed. | rummaged
among the papers to find the name OF our
prize, hut she owned to neither name on
nation. The chart showed she had come
lately from Havana. and the crew were
about half Spanish. half Brazilian. 1t
was pleasant t. reflect that her career OF
crime was eat short.
breathed freely now We We're Sc
cure, and could begin to release the slaves,
who all this time had been closely shut up
below, frightened enough at the noise
gong ON over their heads, but ignorant
that the struggle was one in which .heir
interests were deeply involved.
When we opened the matches we saw
the poor wretches huddled together,
manacled two and two, without any sort
of arrangement. Apparently they had
been hurried on board at the news of the
planat lnin,y nn ba,, ctatin,, on Il
thrown down anyhow until the schooner
should be safely ut sea. The wonder was
that none We're already suffocated. There
We're two hundred men ald boys, and
twenty women-5ome with babies. 1t
was really beautiful to see how tenderly
our sailors treated these vomcn as they
Knocked off their irons and lifted them on
deck
The men among these slaves-1o longer
slaves, though, now, thank God seemed
almost stupelied; but the women observ-
inc their late captors lying captive and
bonnd, understood at a glance what had
happened, and began queer sort of song
and war-dance of triumph over them
This they diversified with an occasional
cuff on the head, and We're proceeding to
greater acts OF violence-magnanim
towards u fallen enemy not being virtue
Of savage trbcs-had | not thought it
time to put stop to their little amuse-
ments, rather to the regret of my own
men, who were enjoying the fun.
We could do nothing more now than at
tend to the wounded and wait patiently
or mpatiently-for the morning, which we
hoped would bring with it the dear old
Planet; 50 after placing sentres over the
prisoners sat down by the side Of Forres-
ter. Struck by the falntncss Of his voice
rs he answered my inquiries, | called tor
light, and was alarmed at the pale, pinch
ed look which had crept over his features.
SGspccting something wrong examined
the wound, found it was bleeding, and
that he had evidently lost 4 considerable
quantity of blood. With difficulty man.
aged to replace the bandages Then
recollectng there was Il bottle of brandy
on the cabin table, | had it brought up
and poured a small quantity down his
throat, which fetched some color back
into his white cheeks and lips
Sailors pick up u smattering of all sorts
OF knowledge at sea, and had seen our
doctor. when his patients seemed dying
from sheer weakness after yellow fever,