"It scares the sea-birds from their nests;
They dart and wheel with deafening screams;
Now dark--and now their wings and breasts
Flash back amid disastrous gleams.
O, sin! what hast thou done on this fair earth?
The world, O man! is wailing o'er thy birth."
Dana.
It was the policy of the colonists to lead their pursuers directly up to
the Western Roads. On the small island, under which vessels were
accustomed to anchor, was a dwelling or two, and a battery of two
guns--nine-pounders. These guns were to command the anchorage. The
island lay directly in front of the mouth of the passage, making a very
beautiful harbour within it; though the water was so smooth in the
roads, and the last were so much the most convenient for getting
under-way in, that this more sheltered haven was very little used. On
the present occasion, however, all the colony craft beat up past the
island, and anchored inside of it. The crews were then landed, and they
repaired to the battery, which they found ready for service in
consequence of orders previously sent.
Here, then, was the point where hostilities would be likely to commence,
should hostilities commence at all. One of the boats was sent across to
the nearest island inland, where a messenger was landed, with directions
to carry a letter to Pennock, at the Reef. This messenger was compelled
to walk about six miles, the whole distance in a grove of young palms
and bread-fruit trees; great pains having been taken to cultivate both
of these plants throughout the group, in spots favourable to their
growth. After getting through the grove, the path came out on a
plantation, where a horse was kept for this especial object; and here
the man mounted and galloped off to the Reef, soon finding himself amid
a line of some of the most flourishing plantations in the colony.
Fortunately, however, as things then threatened, these plantations were
not on the main channel, but stood along the margin of a passage which
was deep enough to receive any craft that floated, but which was a
_cul-de-sac_, that could be entered only from the eastward. Along the
margin of the ship-channel, there was not yet soil of the right quality
for cultivation, though it was slowly forming, as the sands that lay
thick on the adjacent rocks received other substances by exposure to the
atmosphere.
The Anne and her consorts had been anchored about an hour, when the
strangers hove-to in the roads, distant about half a mile from the
battery. Here they all hoisted white flags, as if desirous of having a
parley. The governor did not well know how to act. He could not tell
whether or not it would do to trust such men; and he as little liked to
place Betts, or any other confidential friend, in their power, as he did
to place himself there. Nevertheless, prudence required that some notice
should be taken of the flag of truce; and he determined to go off a
short distance from the shore in one of his own boats, and hoist a white
flag, which would be as much as to say that he was waiting there to
receive any communication that the strangers might chose to send him.
It was not long after the governor's boat had reached her station, which
was fairly within the short range of the two guns in the battery, ere a
boat shoved off from the ship, showing the white flag, too. In a few
minutes, the two boats were within the lengths of each other's oars,
riding peacefully side by side.
On board the stranger's boat, in addition to the six men who were at the
oars, were three persons in the stern-sheets. One of these men, as was
afterwards ascertained, was the admiral himself; a second was an
interpreter, who spoke English with a foreign accent, but otherwise
perfectly well; and the third was no other than Waally! The governor
thought a fierce satisfaction was gleaming in the countenance of the
savage when they met, though the latter said nothing. The interpreter
opened the communications.
"Is any one in that boat," demanded this person, "who is empowered to
speak for the authorities ashore?"
"There is," answered the governor, who did not deem it wise,
nevertheless, exactly to proclaim his rank. "I have full powers, being
directly authorized by the chief-magistrate of this colony."
"To what nation does your colony belong?"
This was an awkward question, and one that had not been at all
anticipated, and which the governor was not fully prepared to answer.
"Before interrogatories are thus put, it might be as well for me to know
by what authority I am questioned at all," returned Mr. Woolston. "What
are the vessels which have anchored in our waters, and under what flag
do they sail?"
"A man-of-war never answers a hail, unless it comes from another
man-of-war," answered the interpreter, smiling.
"Do you, then, claim to be vessels of war?"
"If compelled to use our _force_, you will find us so. We have not come
here to answer questions, however, but to ask them. Does your colony
claim to belong to any particular nation, or not?"
"We are all natives of the United States of America, and our vessels
sail under her flag."
"The United States of America!" repeated the interpreter, with an
ill-concealed expression of contempt. "There is good picking among the
vessels of that nation, as the great European belligerents well know;
and while so many are profiting by it, _we_ may as well come in for our
share."
It may be necessary to remind a portion of our readers, that this
dialogue occurred more than forty years ago, and long before the
republic sent out its fleets and armies to conquer adjacent states;
when, indeed, it had scarce a fleet and army to protect its own coasts
and frontiers from insults and depredations. It is said that when the
late Emperor of Austria, the good and kind-hearted Francis II., was
shown the ruins of the little castle of Habsburg, which is still to be
seen crowning a low height, in the canton of Aarraw, Switzerland, he
observed, "I now see that we have not _always_ been a great family." The
governor cared very little for the fling at his native land, but he did
not relish the sneer, as it indicated the treatment likely to be
bestowed on his adopted country. Still, the case was not to be remedied
except by the use of the means already provided, should his visitors see
fit to resort to force.
A desultory conversation now ensued, in which the strangers pretty
plainly let their designs be seen. In the first place they demanded a
surrender of all the craft belonging to the colony, big and little,
together with all the naval stores. This condition complied with, the
strangers intimated that it was possible their conquests would not be
pushed much further. Of provisions, they stood in need of pork, and they
understood that the colony had hogs without number. If they would bring
down to the island a hundred fat hogs, with barrels and salt, within
twenty-four hours, it was probable, however, no further demand for
provisions would be made. They had obtained fifty barrels of very
excellent flour at Rancocus Island, and could not conveniently stow more
than that number, in addition to the demanded hundred barrels of pork.
The admiral also required that hostages should be sent on board his
ship, and that he should be provided with proper pilots, in order that
he, and a party of suitable size, might take the Anne and the Martha,
and go up to the town, which he understood lay some twenty or thirty
miles within the group. Failing of an acquiescence in these terms, war,
and war of the most ruthless character, was to be immediately
proclaimed. All attempts to obtain an announcement of any national
character, on the part of the strangers was evaded; though, from the
appearance of everything he saw, the governor could not now have the
smallest doubt that he had to do with pirates.
After getting all out of the strangers that he could, and it was but
little at the best, the governor quietly, but steadily refused to accede
to any one of the demands, and put the issue on the appeal to force. The
strangers were obviously disappointed at this answer, for the
thoughtful, simple manner of Mark Woolston had misled them, and they had
actually flattered themselves with obtaining all they wanted without a
struggle. At first, the anger of the admiral threatened some treacherous
violence on the spot, but the crews of the two boats were so nearly
equal, that prudence, if not good faith, admonished him of the necessity
of respecting the truce. The parties separated, however, with
denunciations, nay maledictions, on the part of the strangers, the
colonists remaining quiet in demeanor, but firm.
The time taken for the two boats to return to their respective points of
departure was but short; and scarcely was that of the stranger arrived
alongside of its vessel, ere the ship fired a gun. This was the signal
of war, the shot of that first gun falling directly in the battery,
where it took off the hand of a Kannaka, besides doing some other
damage. This was not a very favourable omen, but the governor encouraged
his people, and to work both sides went, trying who could do the other
the most harm. The cannonading was lively and well sustained, though it
was not like one of the present time, when shot are hollow, and a gun is
chambered and, not unfrequently, has a muzzle almost as large as the
open end of a flour-barrel, and a breech as big as a hogshead. At the
commencement-of this century a long twelve-pounder was considered a
smart piece, and was thought very capable of doing a good deal of
mischief. The main battery of the ship was composed of guns of that
description, while one of the brigs carried eight nines, and the other
fourteen sixes. As the ship mounted altogether thirty, if not
thirty-two, guns, this left the governor to contend with batteries that
had in them at least twenty-six pieces, as opposed to his own two. A
couple of lively guns, nevertheless, well-served and properly mounted,
behind good earthen banks, are quite equal to several times their number
on board ship. Notwithstanding the success of the first shot of the
pirates, this truth soon became sufficiently apparent, and the vessels
found themselves getting the worst of it. The governor, himself, or
Captain Betts pointed every gun that was fired in the battery, and they
seldom failed to make their marks on the hulls of the enemy. On the
other hand, the shot of the shipping was either buried in the mounds of
the battery, or passed over its low parapets. Not a man was hurt ashore,
at the end of an hour's struggle, with the exception of the Kannaka
first wounded, while seven of the pirates were actually killed, and near
twenty wounded.
Had the combat continued in the manner in which it was commenced, the
result would have been a speedy and signal triumph in favour of the
colony. But, by this time, the pirate admiral became convinced that he
had gone the wrong way to work, and that he must have recourse to some
management, in order to prevail against such stubborn foes. Neither of
the vessels was anchored, but all kept under way, manoeuvring about in
front of the battery, but one brig hauled out of the line to the
northward, and making a stretch or two clear of the line of fire, she
came down on the north end of the battery, in a position to rake it.
Now, this battery had been constructed for plain, straightforward
cannonading in front, with no embrasures to command the roads on either
flank. Curtains of earth had been thrown up on the flanks, to protect
the men, it is true, but this passive sort of resistance could do very
little good in a protracted contest. While this particular brig was
gaining that favourable position, the ship and the other brig fell off
to leeward, and were soon at so long a shot, as to be out of harm's way.
This was throwing the battery entirely out of the combat, as to anything
aggressive, and compelled a prompt decision on the part of the
colonists. No sooner did the nearest brig open her fire, and that within
short canister range, than the ship and her consort hauled in again on
the southern flank of the battery, the smallest vessel leading, and
feeling her way with the lead. Perceiving the utter uselessness of
remaining, and the great danger he ran of being cut off, the governor
now commenced a retreat to his boats. This movement was not without
danger, one colonist being killed in effecting it, and two more of the
Kannakas wounded. It succeeded, notwithstanding, and the whole party got
off to the Anne and Martha.
This retreat, of course, left the island and the battery at the mercy of
the pirates. The latter landed, set fire to the buildings, blew up the
magazine, dismounted the guns, and did all the other damage to the place
that could be accomplished in the course of a short visit. They then
went on board their vessels, again, and began to beat up into the
Western Passage, following the colonists who preceded them, keeping just
out of gun-shot.
The Western Passage was somewhat crooked, and different reaches were of
very frequent occurrence. This sometimes aided a vessel in ascending, or
going to windward, and sometimes offered obstacles. As there were many
other passages, so many false channels, some of which were
_culs-de-sacs,_ it was quite possible for one ignorant of the true
direction to miss his way; and this circumstance suggested to the
governor an expedient which was highly approved of by His friend and
counsellor, captain Betts, when it was laid before that plain, but
experienced, seaman. There was one false passage, about a league within
the group, which led off to the northward, and far from all the
settlements, that offered several inducements to enter it. In the first
place, it had more of the appearance of a main channel, at its point of
junction, than the main channel itself, and might easily be mistaken for
it; then, it turned right into the wind's eye, after beating up it for a
league; and at the end of a long reach that ran due-south-east, it
narrowed so much as to render it questionable whether the Anne and
Martha could pass between the rocks, into a wide bay beyond. This bay
was the true _cul-de-sac,_ having no other outlet or inlet than the
narrow pass just mentioned; though it was very large, was dotted with
islands, and reached quite to the vicinity of Loam Island, or within a
mile, or two, of the Reef.
The main question was whether the schooner and the sloop could pass
through the opening which communicated between the reach and the bay. If
not, they must inevitably fall into the hands of the pirates, should
they enter the false channel, and be followed in. Then, even admitting
that the Anne and Martha got through the narrow passage, should the
pirates follow them in their boats, there would be very little
probability of their escaping; though they might elude their pursuers
for a time among the islands. Captain Betts was of opinion that the two
vessels _could_ get through, and was strongly in favour of endeavouring
to lead the enemy off the true course to the Reef, by entangling them in
this _cul-de-sac._ If nothing but delay was gained, delay would be
something. It was always an advantage to the assailed to have time to
recover from their first alarm, and to complete their arrangements. The
governor listened to his friend's arguments with favour, but he sent the
Neshamony on direct to the Reef, with a letter to Pennock, acquainting
that functionary with the state of things, the intended plan, and a
request that a twelve-pounder, that was mounted on a travelling
carriage, might be put on board the boat, and sent to a landing, whence
it might easily be dragged by hand to the narrow passage so often
mentioned. This done, he took the way into the false channel himself.
The governor, as a matter of course, kept at a safe distance ahead of
the pirates in the Anne and the Martha. This he was enabled to do quite
easily, since fore-and-aft vessels make much quicker tacks than those
that are square-rigged. As respects water, there was enough of that
almost everywhere; it being rather a peculiarity of the group, that
nearly every one of its passages had good channels and bold shores.
There was one shoal, however, and that of some extent, in the long reach
of the false channel named; and when the governor resolved to venture in
there, it was not without the hope of leading the pirate ship on it. The
water on this shoal was about sixteen feet deep, and there was scarce a
hope of either of the brigs fetching up on it; but, could the ship be
enticed there, and did she only strike with good way on her, and on a
falling tide, her berth might be made very uncomfortable. Although this
hope appeared faintly in the background of the governor's project, his
principal expectation was that of being able to decoy the strangers into
a _cul-de-sac_, and to embarrass them with delays and losses. As soon as
the Neshamony was out of sight, the Anne and Martha, therefore,
accompanied by the other boats, stood into the false channel, and went
off to the northward merrily, with a leading wind. When the enemy
reached the point, they did not hesitate to follow, actually setting
studding sails in their eagerness not to be left too far behind. It is
probable, that Waally was of but little service to his allies just then,
for, after all, the knowledge of that chief was limited to a very
imperfect acquaintance with such channels as would admit of the passage
of even canoes. The distances were by no means trifling in these
crooked passages. By the true channel, it was rather more than seven and
twenty miles from the western roads to the Reef; but, it was fully ten
more by this false channel, even deducting the half league where there
was no passage at all, or the bottom of the _bag_. Now, it required time
to beat up such a distance, and the sun was setting when the governor
reached the shoal already mentioned, about which he kept working for
some time, in the hope of enticing the ship on it in the dark. But the
pirates were too wary to be misled, in this fashion. The light no sooner
left them than they took in all their canvas and anchored. It is
probable, that they believed themselves on their certain way to the
Reef, and felt indisposed to risk anything by adventuring in the
obscurity. Both parties, consequently, prepared to pass the night at
their anchors. The Anne and Martha were now within less than a mile of
the all-important passage, through which they were to make their escape,
if they escaped at all. The opportunity of ascertaining the fact was not
to be neglected, and it was no sooner so dark as to veil his movements
than the governor went on board the Martha, which was a vessel of more
beam than the Anne, and beat her up to the rocks, in order to make a
trial of its capacity. It was just possible to take the sloop through in
several places; but, in one spot, the rocks came too near together to
admit of her being hauled between them. The circumstances would not
allow of delay, and to work everybody went, with such implements as
offered, to pick away the rock and to open a passage. By midnight, this
was done; and the Martha was carried through into the bay beyond. Here
she stood off a short distance and anchored. The governor went back to
his own craft and moved her about a mile, being apprehensive of a boat
attack in the darkness, should he remain where he was. This precaution
was timely, for, in the morning, after day had dawned, no less than
seven boats were seen pulling down to the pirates, which had, no doubt,
been looking for the schooner and the sloop in vain. The governor got
great credit for this piece of management; more even than might have
been expected, the vulgar usually bestowing their applause on acts of a
glittering character, rather than on those which denote calculation and
forethought.
As the day advanced the pirates re-commenced their operations. The
delay, however, had given the colonists a great advantage. There had
been time to communicate with the Reef, and to receive the gun sent for.
It had greatly encouraged the people up at the town, to hear that their
enemies were in the false channel; and they redoubled their efforts, as
one multiplies his blows on a retreating enemy. Pennock sent the
governor most encouraging reports, and gave him to understand that he
had ordered nearly all the men in from the out-posts, leaving just
enough to have a look-out, and to keep the Kannakas in order. As it was
now understood that the attack must be on the capital, there was every
reason for taking this course.
All the vessels were soon under way again. The pirates missed the
Martha, which they rightly enough supposed had gone ahead. They were
evidently a good deal puzzled about the channel, but supposed it must be
somewhere to windward. In the mean time, the governor kept the Anne
manoeuvring around the shoal, in the hope of luring the ship on it. Nor
was he without rational hopes of success, for the brigs separated, one
going close to each side of the sound, to look for the outlet, while the
ship kept beating up directly in its centre, making a sinuous course
towards the schooner, which was always near the shallow water. At length
the governor was fully rewarded for his temerity; the admiral had made a
stretch that carried him laterally past the lee side of the shoal, and
when he went about, he looked directly for the Anne, which was standing
back and forth near its weather margin. Here the governor held on, until
he had the satisfaction of seeing the ship just verging on the weather
side of the shoal, when he up helm, and stood off to leeward, as if
intending to pass out of the _cul-de-sac_ by the way he had entered,
giving his pursuers the slip. This bold manoeuvre took the pirate
admiral by surprise, and being in the vessel that was much the nearest
to the Anne, he up helm, and was plumped on the shoal with strong way on
him, in less than five minutes! The instant the governor saw this, he
hauled his wind and beat back again, passing the broadside of the ship
with perfect impunity, her people being too much occupied with their own
situation, to think of their guns, or of molesting him.
The strange ship had run aground within half a mile of the spot where
the twelve-pounder was planted, and that gun now opened on her with
great effect. She lay quartering to this new enemy, and the range was no
sooner obtained, than every shot hulled her. The governor now landed,
and went to work seriously, first ordering the Anne carried through the
pass, to place her beyond the reach of the brigs. A forge happened to be
in the Anne, to make some repairs to her iron work, and this forge, a
small one it was true, was taken ashore, and an attempt was made to heat
some shot in it. The shot had been put into the forge an hour or two
before, but a fair trial was not made until the whole apparatus was
landed. For the next hour the efforts of both sides were unremitted. One
of the brigs went to the assistance of the admiral, while the other
endeavoured to silence the gun, which was too securely placed, however,
to mind her broadsides. One shot hulling her, soon drove her to leeward;
after which, all the attention of the pirates was bestowed on their
ship.
The admiral, beyond all doubt, was very awkwardly placed. He had the
whole width of the shoal to leeward of him, could only get off by
working directly in the face of the fire, and had gone on with seven
knots way on his ship. The bottom was a soft mud; and the colonists knew
that nothing but anchors laid to windward, with a heavy strain and a
good deal of lightening, would ever take that vessel out of her soft
berth. Of this fact the pirates themselves soon began to be convinced,
for they were seen pumping out their water. As for the brigs, they were
by no means well handled. Instead of closing with the battery, and
silencing the gun, as they might have done, they kept aloof, and even
rendered less assistance to the ship than was in their power. In point
of fact, they were in confusion, and manifested that want of order and
submission to authority, as well as self-devotion, that would have been
shown among men in an honest service: guilt paralysed their efforts,
rendering them timid and distrustful.
After near two hours of cannonading, during which the colonists had
done the pirates a good deal of damage, and the pirates literally had
not injured the colonists at all, the governor was ready with his hot
shot, which he had brought to something more than a red heat. The gun
was loaded with great care, and fired, after having been deliberately
pointed by the governor himself. The ship was hulled, and a trifling
explosion followed on board. That shot materially added to the confusion
among the pirates, and it was immediately followed by another, which
struck, also. It was now so apparent that confusion prevailed among the
pirates, that the governor would not take the time necessary to put in
the other hot shot, but he loaded and fired as fast as he could, in the
ordinary way.
In less than a quarter of an hour after the first hot shot was fired,
smoke poured out of the admiral's main-deck ports; and, two minutes
later, it was succeeded by flames.
From that moment the result of the conflict was no longer doubtful. The
pirates, among whom great confusion prevailed, even previously to this
disaster, now lost all subordination, and it was soon seen that each man
worked for himself, striving to save as much as he could of his
ill-gotten plunder. The governor understood the state of the enemy, and,
though prudence could scarcely justify his course, he determined to
press him to the utmost. The Anne and Martha were both brought back
through the pass, and the twelve-pounder was taken on board the former,
there being room to fight it between her masts. As soon as this was
done, the two craft bore down on the brigs, which were, by this time, a
league to leeward of the burning ship, their commanders having carried
them there to avoid the effects of the expected explosion. The admiral
and his crew saved themselves in the boats, abandoning nearly all their
property, and losing a good many men. Indeed, when the last boat left
the ship, there were several of her people below, so far overcome by
liquor, as to be totally helpless. These men were abandoned too, as were
all the wounded, including Waally, who had lost an arm by the fire of
the battery.
Neither did the governor like the idea of passing very near the ship,
which had now been burning fully an hour. In going to leeward, he gave
her a berth, and it was well he did, for she blew up while the Anne and
Martha, as it was, were considerably within a quarter of a mile of her.
The colonists ever afterwards considered an incident connected with this
explosion, as a sort of Providential manifestation of the favour of
Heaven. The Martha was nearest to the ship, at the instant of her final
disaster, and very many fragments were thrown around her; a few even on
her decks. Among the last was a human body, which was cast a great
distance in the air, and fell, like a heavy clod, across the gunwale of
the sloop. This proved to be the body of Waally, one of the arms having
been cut away by a shot, three hours before! Thus perished a constant
and most wily enemy of the colony, and who had, more than once, brought
it to the verge of destruction, by his cupidity and artifices.
From this moment, the pirates thought little of anything but of
effecting their retreat, and of getting out into open water again. The
governor saw this, and pressed them hard. The twelve-pounder opened on
the nearest brig, as soon as her shot would tell; and even the Martha's
swivel was heard, like the bark of a cur that joins in the clamour when
a strange dog is set upon by the pack of a village. The colonists on
shore flew into the settlements, to let it be known that the enemy was
retreating, when every dwelling poured out its inmates in pursuit. Even
the females now appeared in arms; there being no such incentive to
patriotism, on occasions of the kind, as the cry that the battle has
been won. Those whom it might have been hard to get within the sound of
a gun, a few hours before, now became valiant, and pressed into the van,
which bore a very different aspect, before a retreating foe, from that
which it presented on their advance.
In losing Waally, the strangers lost the only person among them who had
any pretension to be thought a pilot. He knew very little of the
channels to the Reef, at the best, though he had been there thrice; but,
now he was gone, no one left among them knew anything about them at all.
Under all the circumstances, therefore, it is not surprising that the
admiral should think more of extricating his two brigs from the narrow
waters, than of pursuing his original plan of conquest. It was not
difficult to find his way back by the road he had come; and that road he
travelled as fast as a leading breeze would carry him along it. But
retreat, as it now appeared, was not the only difficulty with which this
freebooter had to contend. It happened that no kind feeling existed
between the admiral and the officers of the largest of the brigs. So far
had their animosity extended, that the admiral had deemed it expedient
to take a large sum of money, which had fallen to the share of the
vessel in question, out of that brig, and keep it on board the ship, as
a guaranty that they would not run away with their craft. This
proceeding had not strengthened the bond between the parties; and
nothing had kept down the strife but the expectation of the large amount
of plunder that was to be obtained from the colony. That hope was now
disappointed; and, the whole time the two vessels were retiring before
the Anne and the Martha, preparations were making on board one of the
brigs to reclaim this ill-gotten treasure, and on board the other to
retain it. By a species of freemasonry peculiar to their pursuits, the
respective crews were aware of each other's designs; and when they
issued nearly abreast out of the passage, into the inner bay of the
Western Roads, one passed to the southward of the island, and the other
to the northward; the Anne and Martha keeping close in their wakes.
As the two vessels cleared the island and got into open water, the
struggle commenced in earnest; the disaffected brig firing into the
admiral. The broadside was returned, and the two vessels gradually
neared each other, until the canopies of smoke which accompanied their
respective movements became one. The combat now raged, and with a savage
warmth, for hours; both brigs running off the land under short canvas.
At length the firing ceased, and the smoke so far cleared away as to
enable the governor to take a look at the damages done. In this respect,
there was little to choose; each vessel having suffered, and seemingly
each about as much as the other. After consuming an hour or two in
repairing damages, the combat was renewed; when the two colony craft,
seeing no prospects of its soon terminating, and being now several
leagues to leeward of the group, hauled up for the roads again. The
brigs continued their fight, always running off before the wind, and
went out of sight, canopied by smoke, long after the reports of their
guns had become inaudible. This was the last the governor ever saw or
heard of these dangerous enemies.