The wreck of the "Grosvenor"; an account of the mutiny of the crew and the loss of the ship when trying to make the Bermudas

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Chapter II

T WILL here pause to describe the ship, which, being the theatre of much that befell me which is related in this book, I should place before your eyes in as true a picture as I can draw

The Grosvenor, then, was a small, full-rigged ship of five hundred tons, painted black, with a single white streak below her bulwarks. She was a soft-wood vessel, built in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Her lines were very perfect. Indeed, the beauty of her hull, her lofty masts, stayed with as great perfection as a man-of-war's, her graceful figure-head, sharp yacht-like bows, and round stem had filled me with admiration when I first beheld her. Her decks were white and well kept. She had a poop and a top-gallant forecastle, both of which I think the builder might have spared, as she was scarcely big enough for them. There was a good deal of brass-work on her after-decks, and more expense than she deserved, from the perishable nature of the material of which she was constructed, had been lavished upon her in respect of deck ornamentation , Her riehly carved wheel, brass belaying -pins, brass capstan, brass binnacle, handsome skylights, and other such details, made he; look like a gay pleasure- vessel rather than a sober trader.

i d

THE WRECK OF THE "GROSVENOK * 9

Her cuddy, howerer, ww$ pltiB enoti^h^ egoWltj^n^ »ii oabinSi including the ptntrj. Tb« wo^work wm <')MNit>l/ varnished mahogany -, a fix^ tabl« ran f rum tb«* itt)]tri«*^ ijuimH to within a few feet of the cuddy frvnt, ttud ^m •^(W ^hU this table was a stout hair-<30vered iMfmU* A^i«lt t)i«* ii^irzen-mast were the two cabins res{M^iv<!»]y <>oc^j;^J b;r (/ajAtain Coxon and Mr. IMckling. My ^wu €%Un "wtt^ jmH under the break of tlie poop, so tt^ai from Um« ifru^V/nr u^ H I could look out upon ttie msin-df^k. A «vr/M(>.i<^ </f hf*mi skylights, well protected witt^ bnu»s wir«^f«^»<W^«^ IH ^^Wit^ of light into the cuddy ; and swing i»i( irayiy s^j.4 ls»"(i«< si#<1 red curtains to draw across the skyhj^hU wh(^i tii« ««.i^i (>«Nii upon them, completed the funiiUire vf t his (/sH </f il^^* y**^t^t.

We could very well have c^arried a f<?w j>as«^^^is«'M^ <!M*«1 I never learned why we did not; \m% H w«»y, p^)^s^^ )isy«> happened that nobodv wss goi»f( vur wsy ai M^ ihtif^ wc» were advertised to sail.

We were bound to Valf>arais«^ with a jj;<*^*«w«) <*srg'^ '"^msisting chiefly of toyn, tiardwarof, liUwmiiil^m ttn4 f^UfttitiUi cutlery^ and metal goo<lii, ami a nUMik of )/^s^A^^f'/#1^« Th«» ship^ to my thinking, was Um) iUi^pf a« ih'f^^i^U il/9 'j^nmn had compensated themselves for ih<4 wa/ii '/f pSflMMr^^i^<»#' money by ^^ taking it out" in fr<*ighi I r*^wy tofmt^w that we should be a wet ship, and thai w«» ^h'/uM ]sf>r/r mf/r«> than was comfortable in a h«^vy sea Th9 nU^rfj^tf ^^ packed with light goodii — Urdcat^e^, and wnch U^hii^s— b<il space was left in the Hwecfti'di^ks, th'/ngh ih^ csri^f/ c;airHf flush with the deck in the liir>ld.

However, in spite of J>eing overloa'le'l, i^/^s Oro0i*rrior had beaten everything oniing d^nrn the rhvr that day. Just off the Becul vers, for example, when we htul flrawn tb^ wind a trifle more abeam^ we ovf^rhaul^rd a stumer, Hhe was pretty evidently a fast screw, and h<fr i>eople grew jealous when they saw us coming np astf^m, and piWl up the fires, but could not stop us from dropping her, as neatly as ghe dropped an old c^ml brig that was staggering near the shore under dirty canvas. Hut she smothered us with her smoke as we passed her to leeward, and I dare say they were glad to see the dose we got for our pains.

I came aft, as I have saif], after leaving the baker, with the biscuit in my pockety and got upon the |ioop. The ro THE WRECK OF THE "GROSVENOR"

skipper had gone below with the pilot, aad they were having tea. Duckling waa walking the poop, swearing now and again at a couple of ordinary seamen, whom he had set to work to flemisli-coil the ropes along the deck, for no other leasOQ than that he might put as much work upon them as he could invent — for this flemish-coUing was of no use under the circumstances, and is only lit for Sundays on passenger ships when you want to please the ladies with " tidy " effects, or when a vessel is in port A watch had beeuset forward, and having cast a look up aloft to see that everything was trim, I went down the companion-ladder to the cuddy, followed by Duckling,

The interior of the cabin looked like some old Dutch painting, for the plain mahogany wood-work gave the place an antique air. The lamps were alight, for it was dusk here, though daylight was still abroad upon the sea ; and the lamplight imparted a grave, old-fashioned coloring to the things it shone upon. The skippersat near the mizzen-mast, atlrring the sugar in a cup of tea He looked better without than with his hat, his forehead was high, though rather peaked, and his iron- gray hair, parted amidships and brushed carelessly over his ears, gave him a look of dignity. The coarse little pilot was eating bread -and butter voraciously, his great whiskers moving as he worked his jaws.

Duckling and I seated onrselvea at the table, and I had some diificulty to prevent myself from laughing at the odd figures Duckling and the pilot made side by side— the one with his whiskers working like a, pair of brushes, and the other with that door-mat of red hair on his head, and the puzzling -cast of the eye that made me always doubt which one I should address when I tried to look him full in the face.

"There's a breeze coming from the sou'-west, sir," said Duckling to the captain. " The water's darkish ont in that quarter, but I don't think there's enough of it to swing the ship. "

"Let it come favorable, and we'll get under way at once," answered Coicon. " I had a spell of this sort of thing last year — for ten days, wasn't it, Duckling? — because I neglected a light air that sprung up south-easterly. I thought it couldn't have held ten minutes, but it would have carried. me well away to the French aide before it failed, and mad»^

I i

Eld i

THE WRECK OF THE ** GROSA'^XOR " ii

me a free passage down, for tbe wind came htAh from sooth by west and dead-locked me here. Hx. Rajle, what's gohkg forward among the men? I heard them cursfzigprettjfreelj when they were up alofL"

"They are complaining of the ship's proTisionSy str^^ I replied. "The cook gare me a biseoit jnst now, and I promised to show it to joo.^

Saying which, I palled the biscoit oat of mj poeket and pnt it npon the table. He contracted his bash j ejebroiws, and, without looking at the biscoit, stared angrily at me

" Hark yon, Mr. Boyle! *' said he, in a roiee I foand detestable for the sneering contempt it conreyed, ** I allow no officer that sails under me to become a confidant of my crew. Do you understand? "

I flushed up as I answered that I was no confidant of the crew that the cook had stopped me to explain the men's grievance, and that I had asked him for a biscuit to show the captain as a sample of the ship's bread which the steward was serving out.

"It's very good bread," said the obsequious pilot, taking up the biscuit while he wiped the butter out of the comers of his mouth.

" Eat it, then ! " I exclaimed.

"Damnation! eat it yourself!" cried Coxon, furiously. " You're used to that kind of fare, I should think, and like it, or you wouldn't be bringing it into the cuddy in your pocket, would you, sir? "

I made him no answer. I could see by the expression in Duckling's face that he sided with the skipper, and I thought it would be a bad lookout for me to begin the voyage with a quarrel.

" I'll trouble you to put that biscuit where you took it from," the captain continued, with an enraged nod in the direction of my pocket, " and return it to tbe blackguard who gave it, and tell him to present Captain Coxon's respects to the men, and inform them that if they object to the ship's bread, they're welcome to take their meals along with the pigs in the long-boat. The butcher '11 serve them."

" Mr. Eoyle tells me they find the meat worse than the bread," said Mr. Duckling. "I guess the hounds who grumble most are men who have shipped out of workhouses, where their grub was burnt burgoo twice a day, and a lick of brimstone to make it easy."

He laughed loudly at hia own humor, and was joined by the pOot, who rubbed hia hands and swore that he hadn't heard a better joke for years.

I made what despatch I might with my tea, uot much desiring to remain in company with Coxon in hia present temper. I fancy he grew a little ashamed of himself presently, for he softened hia voice and now and again glanced across at me. The pilot, looking up through the skylight, called attention to the vane at the main-royal mast-head, which was fluttering to a light air from the south-west, as had been predicted, and as I could tell by referring to the tell-tale compass, which was swung just over where Coxon was seated. Then Ooxoo aud his chief mate talked of the time they meant to occupy in the rnn to Valparaiso. I understood the former to say that his employers had given him eight weeks to do it in. I should like to have said that, had they added another two to that, they would still have been imposing enough upon us all to keep ua alive. But at this point I quitted the table, giving Coson a bow as I rose, which he returned with a sort of half- ashamed stiffness, and repaired to my cabin to get my pipe for a hall-houi''3 enjoyment of the beautiful autumn evening on deck.

I don't think tobacco has the same flavor ashore that it has at sea. Something in the salt air brings out the full richness and aroma of it. A few whiffs on the main-deck came like oil upon the agitation of my mind, ruffled by Coxon's impertinence and temper. I stepped on to the forecastle to see that the riding lamps were all right, and that there was a man on the lookout. The crew were in the forecastle talking in subdued voices, and the hot air that came up through the fore-scuttle was intolerable aa I passed it. I then regained the poop, and seated myself on the rail among the shadows of the backstaya leading from the main-royal and top-gallant masts.

The sua had gone down some time now, and only faint traces of daylight lowered in the westwaru The light on the South Foreland emitted a most beautiful, clear, and brilliant beam, and diffused a broad area of misty radiance on the land around. The light-beacons were winking along i the Groodwin Sands^ and pretty close at hand were the lights of Deal^ a pale^ fine constellation, which made the country all the darker for their presence. The moon would not rise until after nine, but the heavens were spangled with stars^ some so lustrous that the calm sea mirrored them in cones of silver; and from time to time flashing shootingstars chased across the sky^ and with their blue fires offered a peculiar contrast to the eye with the yellow and red lights on the water.

There was a little air moving from the southward, but so light as scarcely to be noticeable to any man but a sailor awaiting a change. The vessels at anchor near us loomed large in the starlit gloom that overspread the face of the sea. Lights flitted upon them ; and the voices of men singing, the jingling of a concertina or a fiddle, the rumbling of yards lowered aboard some new-comers which could not be descried, and now and again the measured splash of oars, were sounds which only served to give a deeper intensity to the solemn calm of the night.

The inmates of the cuddy still kept their seats, and their voices came out through the open skylights. I heard Captain Coxon say,

" I should like to know what sort of a fellow they have given me for a second mate. He strikes me as coming the gentleman a trifle, don't he. Duckling? '^

To which the other replied, " He seems a civil-spoken young man, and up to his work. But I guess there's too much molasses mixed with his blood to suit my book. He wants a New Orleans training, as my old skipper used to say. Do you know what that meafis, sir? " evidently addressing the pilot. " Well, it means a knife in your ribs when you're not disposed to hurry, and a knuckle-duster in ' the shape of a marlin-spike down your throat if you stop to arguefy."

The pilot laughed, and said, "Here's your health, sir. Men of your kind are wanted nowadays, sir."

It was plain from this speech that the pilot had exchanged his tea for something stronger. The captain here began to speak, but I couldn't catch his words, though I strained 9iy ears, as I was anxious to gain all the insight I could into his character, that I might know how to shape my be1i^i^\^x.

I say this for a very weighty reason — I was entirely dependent on the profession I had adopted. 1 knew it waa in the power of any captain I sailed with to injure me, and perhaps ruin my prospects. Everything in seafaring life depends upon reports and testimonials ; and in these days, when the demand for officers is utterly disproportionate to the immenaa supply, owners are only too willing to listen to objections, and take any skipper's word as an excuse to decline your services or get rid of you.

Neither the capain nor Mr. Duckling appeared on deck again. The pilot came up shortly after one bell (half-paat eight) and looked about him for a few minutes. The tide had swung the ship with her stern up Channel. He went and looked over the side, and then had a stare at Deal, but took no notice of me, whom he could very plainly see, and returned below.

I lingered three-quarters of an hour on deck, duringwhich time the little sigh of wind that had come from the southwest died out, aud a most perfect calm fell. The larger stars bui'Ded with amazing brilliancy and power, and I thought it possible that the wind might go to the eastward. This idea detained me on deck longer than I had meant to stop, as I thought it would do me no ill service if I should be the first to report a fair wind to the skipper, aud show myself smart in getting the hands up. Perhaps the moon would bring a breeze with her, and aa she rose at twenty minutes past nine, I filled another pipe to await her coming,

Aa I struck a match, the steward came half-way up the poop-ladder to tell me that the spirits were on the table.

"Did the captain send you?" I asked.

"No, sir," he answered. " I thought I'd let you know, aa they'll be cleared away after nine, and my orders are not to serve them again when once they're stowed away for the night. That's the captain's rule,"

"All right," said I. Another time I should have gone below and had my glass of grog ; but I considered it my best policy to keep clear of Coxon until the temper that had been excited by my unfortunate production of the ship's biscuit was cooled down.

I took some tiirns along the deck, and shortly after nine one ot the lamps iu the cudd; was extinguished, and on looking through the skylight I f ouud that the three men had left the table. There was a man pacing to and fro the forecastle^ and I could just make out his figure against the stars which gleamed and throbbed right down to the horizon . The rest of the crew had evidently turned in, for I heard no voices ; and now that the talking which had been going on in the cuddy no longer vexed the ear with rough accents, a profound silence and peace came down upon the ship. Around me the anchored vessels gloomed like phantoms ; the sea unrolled its dark, ud breathing surface into the visionary distances ; nothing sounded from the shore but the murmur of the summer surf upon the shingle. One might have said that the spirit of life had departed from the earth; that nothing lived but the stars, which looked down upon a scene as impalpable and elusive as a dream.

At last uprose the moon. She made her coming apparent by paling the stars in the southern sky, then by projecting a white mist of light over the horizon. Anon her upper limb, red as fire, jetted upward, and the full orb, vast and feverish as the setting sun, sailed out of the sea, most slowly and solemnly, lifting with her a black mist that belted her like a circle of smoke : this vanished, and by degrees, perceptible to the eye, her color changed ; the red chastened into pearl, her disk grew smaller, and soon she was well above the horizon, shining with a most clear and silvery splendor, and making the sea beneath her lustrous with mild light. But not a breath of air followed her coming. The ships in the Downs caught the new light, and their yards showed like streaks of pearl against the night. The red lights of the Goodwin Sands dwindled before the pure, far-reaching radiance into mere floating sparks of fire. The heavens were cloudless, and the sea a wonderful calm. I might keep watch all night, and still have nothing to report; so, knocking the ashes out of my pipe, I descended the poop-ladder and entered my cabin.

Chapter III

I HAD alung a cot, although there was a gi bunk in the cabin. No seaaible person would sleep i bunk at sea when he could swing in a hammock or cut. Suppose the bunk is athwart ship: when the vessel goes about you must shift your pillow ; and very often she will go about in your watch below and catch you asleep, so that when you wake you find your feet are in the air, and all the blood in your body in your head. When I first went to sea I slept in a 'thwart -ship bunk. The ship was taken aback one night when I was asleep, and they came and roared, "All hands shorten sail! " down the booby-hatch. I heard the cry and tried to get out of my bed, but my head waa jammed to leeward by the weight of my body, and I could not move. Had the ship foundered, 1 should have gone to the bottom, in bed, helpless. Always after that I slept in a hammock.

The watch on deck had orders to call the captain if a change of wind camej also I knew that the pilot would be up, snifBng about, off and on, through the night . so I turned in properly and slept soundly until two; when, waking up, I drew on my small clothes and went on deck, where I found Duckling mousing about in the moonshine in a pair of yellow flannel drawers, he having, like myself, come up to see if any wind was stirring. He looked like a new kind of monkey In his tight vrhite rig and immense head of hair. "No wind, no wind!" he muttered, in a sleepy grumble, and then went below with a run, nearly tumbling, in fact, head over heels down the companion-ladder.

I took a turn forward to see if the riding lights burned well and the man on the lookout was awake. The decks were wet with dew, and the moon was now hanging over the South Foreland. The sky was still cloudless, and not a breath of air to be felt. This being the case, I went back to my cot.

When I nest awoke I found my cot violently swinging. I thought for the moment that we were under way and in a heavy sea; but on looking over I saw Mr. Duckling, who ezclaimedy "Out with you, Mr. Royle! There's a good breeze from the east' aids. Look alive and call the l)oat- Bwain to pipe all hands."

Hearing this, I was wide awake at once, and in a few minates was making my way to the boatswain's cabin, a deck-house on the port side against the forecastle. He and the carpenter were fast asleep in bunks placed one over the other. I laid hold of the boatswain's leg, which hung over the bunk — both he and the carpenter had turned in " all standing," as they say at sea — and shook it. His great brown hairy face came out of the bolster in whicli it was buried; he then threw over his other leg and sat upright.

"All hands, sir?"

"Yes; look sharp, boson!"

He was about to speak, but stopped short and said, " Ay, ay, sir" ; whereupon I hurried aft.

It was twenty minutes past five by the clock in the cuddy. The sun had been risen half an hour, and was already warming the decks. But there was a fine breeze — not from the eastward, as Duckling had said, but well to the northward of east — which brought ripe, fresh morning smells from tlie land with it, and made the water run in little leaps of foam against the ship's side.

Captain Coxon and the pilot were both on the popp, and as I came up the former called out,

" Is the boatswain awake yet? "

" Yes, sir, " I answered, and dived into my cabin to finish dressing. I heard the boatswain's pipe sound, followed by the roar of his voice summoning the hands to weigh anchor. My station was on the forecastle, and thither I went. But none of the hands had emerged as yet, the only man seen being the fellow on the look-out. All about us tlie outwardbound vessels were taking advantage of the wind : some of them were already standing away, others were sheeting home their canvas ; the clanking of the windlasses was incessant, and several Deal boats were driving under their lugs among the shipping.

"Mr. Eoyle," cried out the captain, "jump below, will you, and see what those fellows are about."

I went to the fore-scuttle and peered into it, bawling, " Below there I "

"There's no use singing out, " said a voice; "we don't mean to get the ship under way until you give ub some* thing fit to eat."

"Who was that who spoke?" I called. "Showyoursel^ my man. "

A fellow came and stood under the fore- scuttle, and, looking up, said, in a bold, defiant way,

" I spoke — ' Bill Marling, able seaman.' "

" Am I to tell the captain that you refuse to turn to? "

"Ay; audtell him we'd rather have sis months of cliokee than one mouthful of his d— d provisions," he answered; and immediately a lot of voices took up the theme, and, as I left the forecastle to deliver the message, 1 heard the men cursing and abusing us all violently, the foreigners partioulai'ly— that is, the Portuguese and a Frenchman, who was half a negro—swearing in the worst English words and worst English pronunciation, shrilly and fiercely.

Coxon pretty well knew what was coming. He and Duckling stood together on the poop, and I delivered the men's message from the (juarter-deck.

Coxon was in a great rage, and quite pale with it. The expression in his face was really devilish. His lips became bloodless, and when he glanced his eyes around and saw the other ships taking advantage of the fine breeze and sailing away, he seemed deprived of speech. He had sense enough, however, with all his fury, to know that in this case no good could come from passion. He seized the brass rail with both hands, and made a gesture with his head to signify that I should draw nearer,

"Who was the man who gave yon that message, sir?"

"A fellow who called himself Bill Marling."

" Do they refuse to leave the forecastle? "

"They refuse to get the abip under way."

"1b the boatswain disaffected?"

"No, sir; bnt I fancy he knows the men's minds."

He turned to Kr. Duckling.

" If the boatswain ia sound, we four ought to be able to make the scoundrels turn to."

This was like suggesting a hand-to-hand fight— four

against twelve, and Duckling had the sense to bold his

. tongue. The boatswain was standing near the long-boat, looking aft, and Coxon suddenly called to him, " Lead the men aft.''

I now thought proper to get upon the poop ; and in a short time the men came aft in twos and threes. They were thirteen in all, including the carpenter, four ordinary seamen, the cook, and the cook' s mate. The boatswain kept forward.

There was a capstan just abaft the main-mast, and here the men assembled. There was not much in the situation to move one's gravity, and yet I could scarcely forbear smiling when I looked down upon their faces fraught with expressions so various in kind, though all denoting the same feelings. Some were regular old stagers, fellows who had been to sea all their lives, with great bare arms tattooed with crucifixes, bracelets, and other such devices, in canvas or blanket breeches and flannel shirts, with the invariable belt and knife around their middle. Some, to judge from their clothes, had evidently signed articles in an almost destitute condition, their clothes being complete suits of patehes, and their faces pale and thin. The foreigners were, of course, excessively dirty ; and the " Portugee's " wonderfully ugly countenance was hardly improved by the stout silver ear-rings with which his long ears were ornamented.

The first movement of mirth in me, nowever, was but transient. Pity came uppermost in a few moments. I do think there is something touching in the simplicity of sailors, in the childlike way in which they go about to explain a grievance and get it redressed. They have few words and little experience outside the monotonous life they follow ; they express themselves ill, are subdued by a harsh discipline on board, or by acts of cruelty which could not be tolerated in any kind of service ashore ; the very negroes and savages of distant countries have more interest taken in them by the people of England than sailors, for whom scarcely a charity exists ; the laws which deal with their insubordination are unnecessarily severe ; and of the persons who are appointed to inquire into the causes of insubordination, scarce five in the hundred are qualified by experience, sympathy, or disinterestedness to do sailors justice.

Some such thoughts as these were in my mind as I stood watehing the men on the quarter-deck.

Coxon, with his hands still clutohing the rail, said, *' T\i^ boatswain has piped you out to get the ship under wayi Do you refuse?"

The man named Bill Marling made a step forward. The men had evidently constituted him spokesman.

"We dou'tmean to work this here ship," said he, "until betterfood is putaboard. The biseuitHare not fit for dogs; and I say that the pork etinka, and that the molasses is grita. "

"That's the truth," said a voice; and the Portuguese nodded and gesticulated violently,

"You blackguards!" burst out the captain, losing ail selfcontrol, ""What do you know about foodfordogs? You're not as good as dogs to know. Aren't you shipped out of filthy KatclifEe Highway lodgings, where the ship's bread and meat and molasses would be eaten by you as d — d fine luxuries, you lubbers? Turn to at once and man the windlass, or I'll find a way to make you! "

" We say," said the spokesman, pulling a biscnit out of his bosom and holding it up, "that we don't mean to work the ship until you give us better bread than this. It's mouldy and full of weevils. Put the bread in the sun, (md see the worms crawl out of it."

" Will the skipper pitch the cuddy bread overboard and eat oum?" demanded a voice.

"And the cuddy meat along with it! " exclaimed a man, a short, powerfully built fellow with a crisp black beard and woolly hair, holding up P: piece of pork on the blade of a knife. " Let Captain Coxon smell this. "

The captain looked at them for a few moments with flashing eyes, then turned and walked right aft with Duckling. Here they were joined by the pilot, and a discussion took place among them that lasted some minutes. Meanwhile I paced to and fro athwart the poop. The men talked in low tones among themselves, but none of them seemed disposed to give in.. For my own part, I rather fancied that though their complaint of the provisions was justifiable enough, it was advanced rather as a sound excuse for declining to sail with a skipper and chief mate whose behavior so far toward them was a very mild suggestion of the treatment they might expect when they should be fairly at sea, and in these two men's power, 1 heard my name mentioned among them, and one 01 two remaika made about me, but not unoompE-