Rock Island daily Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1886-1893, 1888-05-09

larry going, making a point OF departure or
the chart the American captain had giver
me, which afterwards found 10 be within
two leagues and a half of the true position
But for three days the weather continued SC
heavy that there was nothing 70 be done In
the shape of gratifying the mems expecta.
lions by overhauling what was left of the
cargo. Indeed, we had no leisure for such
work; all our waking hours had TO be strictly
dedicated to the schooner. and in keeping .
lookout for ice. But the morning Of the
fourth day broke with "a fine sky and a brisk
breeze from a little to the east OF south, 10
which we showed every cloth the schooner
had to throw abroad, and being now by dead
reckoning within few leagues of the mer.
idian of 60 degs., shaped a course north by
east by my compass with the design of get
ting view of Staten Island that / might
correct my calculations.
When we had made sail and got our break.
fast, told Wilkinson and Cromwell pitt
being at the tiller) that now was a good op-
portunity for inspecting the contents Of the
hold; and mot to be tedious in this part OF
my relation, however may have Sinned in
this respect elsewhere) we carried lanterns
below, and spent the better part of the fore
noon in taking stock From a copy of the
memorandum made on that occasion Still
kee captain had left us the following: Thirty.
five casks Of rum, twenty eight hegsheads OF
claret, sixty puncheons of brandy, fsrty casks
of sherry, eighteen cases Of beer in bottles
together with a number Of "piecesn of gin
as it is called. In addition to this were the
stores in the lazarette, besides n quantity OF
several kinds of wine in jars, etc, elsewhere
enumerated, besides all the ships furniture
her guns powder, small arms, etc, as well "a
the ship herself. took the men into the
run and showed them the chests, opening the
little ono which stood stocked with small
arms, and lifting the lids of two or three OF
the others. They We're perfectly satisfied
fully believed the chests to be filled with
small arms and nothing else, and so we came
away and returned to the cabin, where, tc
please them, l put down the value of the
cargo at venture, setting figures against
each article, and making out total of e., 640
This, of course, included the ship.
elbow mach'll dat DO a man, massa p
asked Cromwell.
six hundred and sixty pounds" 1 an.
swered.
The poor fellow was so transported that,
after staring at me in silence with the cor
ners of his mouth stretched to his ears, he
tossed up his hands, burst into IA roar of
laughter, and made several skips about the
deck
"Of course" said l. addressing Wilkinson,
"my figures may be ahead or short of the
truth But il you are disposed to take the
chance I'll tell you what I'll do Ill stand by
my figures, accepting the risk of the value of
the lading being less than what say it is,
and undertake TO give each man of you 81 900
for your share"
"Well, sir" said he, 81 don't know that l
ought to object But u few pounds is a mat
ter of great consequence to me, and l reckon
if these here goods and the vessel should turn
out to be worth more than ye offer, the loss
nd go agin the grit-ay, if 'twere $50 man"
laughed, and told him to let the matter
rest; there was plenty of time before us;
should be willing to stand by my offer even
if / lost by it, 80 heartily obliged was to
them for coming to my assistance. And in
this l spoke the truth, though, as you will
understand who know my position, l had to
finesse. 1t went against my conscience to
make out that the chests were full of small
arms; but | should have been mad to tell
them the truth, and perhaps by the truth
make devils of men who were, and promised
to remain, steady, temperate, honest fellows.
l was not governed by the desire to keep all
the treasure to myself; no, l vow to God l
should have been glad to give them moiety
of it had not apprehended the very gravest
consequences If l were candid with them.
But this surely, must be so plain That IL Is
idle to 60 on insisting on it.
The fine weather, the golden issue that was
to attend our successful navigation, the salts
factory behavior of the schooner put us into
a high good humor with one another; and
when it came to my collecting all the clothes
in the after cabins, and to distributing them
among the three men, | thought Billy Pitt
and Cromwell would have gone mad with
delight. To the best of my recollection, the
apparel that had been left us by the Ameri-
can captain (who, as you know, had cleared
the forecastle of the clothes there consisted
of several coats of cut velvet, trimmed with
gold and silver lace, some frocks of white
drab with large plate buttons, brocade waist
coats of blue satin and green silk, crimson
and other colored cloth brooches, along with
some cloaks, three corner hats, black and
white stockings, number of ruffled shirts,
and other articles of which l recollect the
character, though my ignorance of the cos
TUNES of that period prevents me from nam
ing them.
Any one acquainted with the Negroes de-
light In coored clothes, will hardly need to
be told of the extravagant joy raised in the
black breasts of Cromwell and Pitt by my
distribution of this fine attire. The lace, to
be sure, was furnished and some of the colorS
faded, but all the same the apparel furnished
a brave show; and such was the avidity
with which the poor creatures snatched at
the garments as ! offered them first to one
and then another, that believe they would
have been perfectly satisfied with the clothes
alone as payment for their services. l made
this distribution on the quarter deck, or little
poop, rather, that all might be present.
Wilkinson was at the tiller, and appeared
highly delighted with the bundle allotted
him, saying that he might reckon upon
hearty welcome from his wife when she came
to know what was In his chest. The negroes
were wild to clothe themselves at once; l
advised them to wait for the warm weather,
but they were too inpatient to put on their
fine feathers to heed my advice. They ran
below, and were gone half an hour, dur
ing which time l have no doubt they
tried on all they had; and when at last
they returned their appearance was so
exquisitely absurd that / laughed till came
near to suffocating. Each negro had tied
silver laced hat on to his woOlly head; one
wore pair of crimson, the other a pair of
black velvet brooches; over their cucumber
shanlzs they had drawn white silk stockings,
regardless of the cold; their feet were in
cased in buckled shoes, and their costumes
were completed by scarlet and due WAIST
coats, which fell to their knees, and crimson |
and blue coats with immense skirts. What |
struck me as most astonishing was their |
Their self complacency was pro |
iigious; they eyed each other with dignified
APPRECIATION, and strutted with the air of |
provincial mayors and aldermen newly ar |
lived from the presence of royalty.
"Ineyre IN keepin' with the schooner, any |
Tays,n said Wilkinson
And so, perhaps, they were. The antique |
abric needed the sparkle of those costumes
m her deck to make her aspect fit in with |
he imaginations she bred But, as / had |
the cold proved too powerful for
heir conceit, and they were presently glad
o ship their more modern trousers, though |
hey chung obstihately to their waistcoats,