Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1889-02-21
A QUEER RACE.
By WILLIAM WESTALL.


ships. But besides being treasure-ships,
they had every appearance of being heavily
armed galleons, and either of them, as
touching weight of metal and strength of
screw, was probably more than the frigate's
match. All the same, the ''Hecate's' crew
were full of fight and eager for the fray,
and the captain had not the remotest in
tention of baking their wishes. But he
was prudent withal, and though quite
ready, if needful, to tackle the two Span
iards together, he thought it as we'll
doubtless on the principle of not throwing
q chance awav-to fight them singly if he
could, and took his measures accordingly.
What these measures were, had some
difficulty in making out. 1 am not a sea-
man, and Mr.. Hare's account, besides be-
ing In part illegible, was by no means as
clear as 1t might have been. / will, how
ever, do my best to subscribe in plain, I'M
technical language, as any landsman
would, the things that came to pass after
the commander of the 'Hecate' resolved
to engage the galleons single-handed.
The chaplain never gave the frigate's
reckoning; but concluded Gin which opin-
ion BOlsoVer, with whom | afterward dis
oussed the point, concurred) that at this
of the equator, and not far from the coast
Of Brazil, sailing west-sou'- west; while the
galleons, when first seen, were sailing
nOr'-east by north. One of them seems
to have been a little in advance of the 9TH
er, and Captain Barnaby's plan was to en-
tice the first-and therefore presumably
the faster sailor-to follow him, and so
separate the two ships as widely as posi-
BILE before engaging. To this end he spread
all the canvas he could, but slowly and
clumsily, in order to give the idea that he
was shOrt-handed, and then slipped a spar
over the ships stern as drag to check her
speed.
The bait took. The galleons, after ex-
changing signals, hoisted the Spanish flag,
whereupon the leading vessel (Which, as
afterward appeared, was the Santa An
na," the other being the 'Ruy Blas'O gave
chase. She was by no means a bad sailer,
and came on so fast that Captain Barnaby
soon found it expedient to haul in the spar
and go ahead. But when he had got her
fairly away, the course of the "Hecate"
was suddenly changed. Turning on her
heel, so to speak, she passed the Santa
Annals" bows, delivering a broadside that
raked her from stem to stern; and before
the Spaniards had time to recover from
the confusion into which they were thrown
by this unexpected salute, the frigate ran
along and gave her a second broadside. AS
Captain Barnaby had given orders to fire
high and take careful aim, the two broad
sides wrought great havoc among the
Santa Annals" rigging. A toplnast and
several other spars were shot away, the
shrouds cut into ribbons, and altogether
so much damage was done that she could
by no possibility make move for several
hours.
Captain Barnaby next turned his atten-
ton to the "Ruy Bias, which was gallant
ly bearing up to her consort's help. The
''Hecate," having got the weather gauge,
was quite prepared, and the two ships were
soon at close quarters. The Spaniards
stood well to their guns, and hot fight
followed, which, according to Mr.. Hare,
lasted nearly an hour,
''The scene on deck" wrote the poor
chaplain. twas past describing. The half
naked sailors, working the guns, their
bodies streaming with perspiration, their
faces blackened with powder-SmOke, them
selves wild with excitement, cheering and
yelling like fiends; the officers brandiShing
their swords and shouting their orders; the
roar of artillery; the crash of the Spaniard's
balls as they struck our hull; and, above
all, the dreadful pools of blood at my feet,
and the screams of the poor stricken ones
as they fell at their posts or writhed in
agony on the deck, thrilled my soul with
horror, and, though prayed fervently for
the success of our arms, feared that God
would never bless victory gained at so
terrible price.
But the horror of the sights on deck
was surpassed on the scene in the cockpit
where during the engagement, l spent
nearly all my time, helping the surgeon,
and doing my utmost to solace and console
the poor wounded. Their sufferings were
heart-rending; the sight of their mangled
bodies was almost more than | could bear,
and had several times to turn away, or
should have swoOned outright.
Poor Myers, a tiny midShipman OF four
teen, q fair-haired and sweet-tempered
boy, whom | greatly loved, was brought
down, shot through the lungs. The sur
geOn shook his head He is beyond nv
you.' The poor child looked at me with
lack-luSter-eyeS; the pallor of death was
on his face: and as | tried to cheer him
with hopes OF a speedy release from his
sutferings, and happy hereafter, the tears
streamed down my checks, and | could
scarce speak for Sobbing. But he seemed
to be looking afar off, and gave no heed.
Mother, mother he moaued, 4 am COM
ing home;' and then he died.
81 was turning to the surgeon to tell him
W
and almost thrown off our feet by a ter
rifle explosion, which shook the ship from
stem to stern. and made her heel over as if
she had been struck by a heavy sea.
Not knowing what had befallen, but
fearing the worst, | ran up the hatchway.
The firing had ceased, and CONSERVATION
was written on every face | had no need
to ask the cause. The 'Ruy Bias had
blown up, and parts of her, which had
been projected to prodigious height, were
fu Jnr inf ~ ftNn NrOfD rhnrn avid
tangled mass of floating wreckage that
darkened the surface of the sea, were
struggling q few human forms, sole sur
yivors of the catastrophe.
"AS humane as he was brave, Captain
Barnaby ordered boats to be lowered. His
commands were promptly obeyed, and the
men succeeded in reScuInG about q score
of SpaniardS, some of whom were dread
fully hurt They were taken into the
cockpit, and our surgeon had his hands
full indeed; but the tale of wounded was
now complete, for the captain of the Santa
Anna appalled, by the disaster which had
overtaken his conSort, struck his flag at
the first summons. As all had anticipated
she proved TO be a rich treasure-Ship. be-
ing-so ran the report on board the 'Hec-
ate'-laden with little else than gold and
silver; and officers and men were soon en-
gagged in computing how much prize
money they were likely TO receive. IN an
ticipatiOn they are already rich, but the
amount is a matter of conjecture; for q
guard has been put over the treasure and
Captain B1rnaby declares that he will not
have it overhauled until we reach port.
..The Santa Annals damages have been
made good, and prize crew put on board,
and as we have two hundred Spanish pri-
soners (who might, were they left on the
ralleon. attemp. to retake her), a hundred
IF them are to be transferred to the 'Hec-
ate.' The captain, who had at first some