West Virginia argus. [volume] (Kingwood, W. Va.) 1877-1946, 1897-02-25

! Prince. As to the fate of the captains
boat and the convict ship he of course
knew nothing, but / will give the par
ticulars here as I learned them two on
three years afterward. Tho captains
boat hauled in for the African coast aft
en- the gale spoken of, and finally landed
with everybody badly used up and the
boat no longer able to ioat. There were
IL men in this boat, and only sur
vived to reach the Cape. Not a single
person on board the convict ship knew
any thing about navigation. The people
simply knew that the coast was TO tho
eass of them, and they held for it
through all sorts of weather a due
east coast would have landed them in
Damara Land, above Walsh river, but
the point they did reach was Cape st.
Mary, on the Benguola coast, 600 miles
above.
With such % batch Of convicts in pos
session Of Il ship one might be prepared
TO believe that drunkenness, fighting
and murder were the order of the day.
Such WAS not the case, however On
/ the contrary, good order and thorough
! discipline were enforced. While all
Were considered TO DO ON an equality
! and all were served with the same food
I the men had sense enough 20 realize
! that any laxity was direct menace to
! all. If retaken, every male convict
would be hung and every female get
life Imprisonment. All the testimony
afterward secured went to show that
! not one single pint of rum was served
out, although there were 80 barrels of
7 it on board. On making the coast the
/ Albatross was run into river and put
up it for n distance of ten miles. The
/ people then landed, removed everything
! from the ship and burned her. The plan
! was to journey far inland and found "a
! settlement, but discussions begot dis
sensions, and the crowd finally split up
! into five or six parties and went their
respective ways. Az English man-of-
war, after long scare b, rccaptuTed Ave
men and three women while four other
men and two women reached ST. Paul
de Loanda and gave themselves up. The
fate Of the others is not known to this
day.
Many Of the passengers heard the
story told by Thomas. and most of the
particulars somehow reached the con-
victs within two or three days. We
their demeanor, and that change was
something to increase our burden Of anx-
iety. All conyicts look upon themselves
as victims or martyrs. No batch of men
ever sent out were receiving better treat
ment than ours. Instead OF the doctor
being too severe, he was altogether too
lenient The convicts made themselves
believe, however, that they were being
badly used. Three days after Thomas
came aboard they made IL formal pro-
test that they were overworked. The
I doctor, acting en- the advice of the cap
tain, refused to take any action. As O
! matter of fact, the convicts were not
busy half the time. Two days later they
/ made protest that their food was not
only bad, but insufficient in laantity.
The provisions furnished by the govern
ment were wholesome, and no real fault
could be found with the cooks.
Ben johnson had acted 80 spokesman
in both instances. No other ships doc
tor would have allowed him to open his
mouth. On the second occasion DR.. Hax-
ton, who had been coached by the cap
tain, made reply:
81 have seen fit TO overlook this
breach Of discipline, but don't try il
again. The next protest you present will
bring you q round dozen on the bare
back. "
That seemed TO end the mattar. The
/ captain, the doctor and others were in
! clined to regard it as game of bluff,
! but 1t struck me that the follows gave
IN altogether too quick. Ny position as
mate made it impossible for me to play
/ tho detective, but Haskell had the run
OF the ship and kept his eyes and ears
! open. On the morning Of the fifth day
I after Johnson had presented his second
! protest / came on deck at O'Clock in
/ the morning. About an hour later,
when the watch bad settled down into
/ the routine, Haskell came out Of tho
/ cabin smoking a pipe and made excuse
/ that he was troubled with insomnia.
I He soon let me know that no wanted q
word with mo in private. The bark was
+ driving along before steady breeze
aud needed little watching, and present.
I iy we got out Of earshot Of the helms
man. Then Haskell said
THE three guards below will DO re-
lieved at 6 o'clock. At O'Clock four
OF them muster on deck TO receive tho
first gang, leaving three below. The
four on deck will DO re-enforced By two
sailors, who will receive their muskets
from Hooper.
Yes, that is tho programme, Z" I an
swered, but having no suspicion Of what
was coming
Every sailor aboard ig all right as
far as / know. " resumed Haskell. you
have spare muskets aft when Hooper
musters his guards on deck, you must
be ready to replace the four with sailors
aud see that their muskots are loaded.
] Il Ii M.