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 THE LIBRARY OF THE 
 
 UNIVERSITY OF 
 
 NORTH CAROLINA 
 
 ENDOWED BY THE 
 
 DIALECTIC AND PHILANTHROPIC 
 
 SOCIETIES 
 
 PZ7 
 .Ek 
 Wic 
 
 1897 
 
10002787548 
 
 This book is due at the LOUIS R. WILSON LIBRARY on the 
 last date stamped under "Date Due." If not on hold it may be 
 renewed by bringing it to the library. 
 
 DATE nrr 
 
 DUE RET 
 
 DATE 
 
 DUE *• 
 
 
 
 
 
 -' 
 
 ■ ■■- - - Jl 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 - JUL 14 2 
 
 m 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Form No. 513 
 
 
 
 

 
 Uk4 
 
 <tl 
 
WITH COCHRANE THE DAUNTLESS 
 
ME. HENTY'S HISTOEICAL TALES. 
 
 Crown 8vo, Cloth elegant, Olivine edges. Illustrated. 
 
 The Cat of Bubastes : A Story of Ancient Egypt. 5s. 
 The Young Carthaginian: A Story of the Times of Hannibal. 6s. 
 For the Temple : A Tale of the Fall of Jerusalem. 6s. 
 Beric the Briton : A Story of the Roman Invasion. 6s. 
 The Dragon and the Raven : Or, The Days of King Alfred. 5s. 
 Wulf the SAXON: A Story of the Norman Conquest. 6s. 
 A Knight of the White Cross : The Siege of Rhodes. 6s. 
 The Lion of St. Mark: A Story of Venice in the ] 4th Century. 6s. 
 The Lion of the North : A Tale of Gustavus Adolphus. 6s. 
 St. Bartholomew's Eve : A Tale of the Huguenot Wars. 6s. 
 In Freedom's Cause : A Story of Wallace and Bruce. 6s. 
 St. George for England : A Tale of Cressy and Poitiers. 5s. 
 Br Right of Conquest : Or, With Cortez in Mexico. 6s. 
 By Pike and Dyke: A Tale of the Rise of the Dutch Republic. 6s. 
 By England's Aid : Or, The Freeing of the Netherlands. 6s. 
 Under Drake's Flag : A Tale of the Spanish Main. 6s. 
 Orange and Green : A Tale of the Boyne and Limerick. 5s. 
 A Jacobite Exile : In the Service of Charles XII. 5s. 
 Bonnie Prince Charlie : A Tale of Fontenoy and Culloden. 6s. 
 When London Burned : A Story of the Great Fire. 6s. 
 The Bravest of the Brave: Or, With Peterborough in Spain. 5s. 
 With Wolfe in Canada : Or, The Winning of a Continent. 6s. 
 With Clive in India : Or, The Beginnings of an Empire. 6s. 
 Through the Sikh War : A Tale of the Punjaub. 6s. 
 True to the Old Flag. The American War of Independence. 6s. 
 In the Reign of Terror. The French Revolution. 5s. 
 Held Fast for England : A Tale of the Siege of Gibraltar. 5s. 
 Through Russian Snows : A Story of Napoleon's Retreat from 
 
 Moscow. 5s. 
 One of the 28th : A Story of Waterloo. 5s. 
 In Greek Waters : A Story of the Grecian War (1S21). 6s. 
 The Tiger of Mysore : The War with Tippoo Saib. 6s. 
 Through the Fray : A Story of the Luddite Riots. 6s. 
 Maori and Settler : A Story of the New Zealand War. 5s. 
 By Sheer Pluck : A Tale of the Ashanti War. 5s. 
 For Name and Fame : Or, Through Afghan Passes. 5s. 
 With Lee in Virginia : A Story of the American Civil War. 6s. 
 The Dash for Khartoum : A Tale of the Nile Expedition. 6s. 
 Condemned as a Nihilist : A Story of Escape from Siberia. 5s. 
 
 London: BLACKIE & SON, Limited; Glasgow and Dublin. 
 
THE LIEUTENANT TALKS TO STEVE ABOUT GOING TO SEA. 
 
WITH 
 
 Cochrane the Dauntless 
 
 A TALE OF 
 
 THE EXPLOITS OF LORD COCHRANE IN 
 SOUTH AMERICAN WATERS 
 
 OH 
 
 BY 
 
 G. A. HENTY 
 
 Author of " Under Drake's Flag ", " The Dash for Khartoum ", " In Greek Waters" 
 "The Lion of St. Mark", "Through Russian Snows", &c. 
 
 ■ 
 
 WITH TWELVE ILLUSTRATIONS BY W. H. MARGETSON 
 
 
 <#** 
 
 LONDON 
 
 ELACKIE & SON, Limited, 50 OLD BAILEY, E.G. 
 GLASGOW AND DUBLIN 
 
 1897 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 In the annals of British sailors there is no name that should 
 stand higher than that of Lord Cochrane. In some respects 
 he resembled that daring leader and great military genius, the 
 Earl of Peterborough. Both performed feats that most men 
 would have regarded as impossible, both possessed extraordi- 
 nary personal bravery and exceptional genius for war, and a 
 love for adventure. Both accomplished marvels, and neither 
 was appreciated at his full value by his countrymen, both 
 having a touch of originality that amounted in the case of 
 Peterborough to absolute eccentricity. In other respects they 
 had little in common. Cochrane's life was passed in one long 
 struggle on behalf of the oppressed. He ruined his career in 
 our navy, and created for himself a host of bitter enemies by 
 his crusade against the enormous abuses of our naval adminis- 
 tration, and by the ardour with which he championed the 
 cause of reform at home. Finding the English navy closed to 
 him he threw himself into the cause of oppressed nationalities. 
 His valour and genius saved Chili from being reconquered 
 by the Spanish, rescued Peru from their grasp, and utterly 
 broke their power in South America. Similarly he crushed 
 the Portuguese power in Brazil and ensured its independence, 
 and then took up the cause of Greece. In all four enter- 
 prises his efforts were hampered by the utter corruption of the 
 governments of these countries, just as his efforts on behalf 
 
vi PREFACE. 
 
 of British sailors and of the British people at large had 
 brought upon him the hatred and persecution of a government 
 as corrupt as those of Chili, Brazil, and Greece. He was 
 rewarded only with the basest ingratitude, and returned home 
 after having expended a large part of his fortune and per- 
 manently injured his health in the inestimable services he had 
 rendered. In other respects besides those exploits connected 
 with the sea, his genius was remarkable. After retiring from 
 active service he devoted himself to inventions, and some of 
 these paved the way to later scientific achievements, giving 
 him a place alongside the Marquis of Worcester. 
 
 Of Lord Cochrane it can be said that he was the victim of his 
 generous enthusiasm for the oppressed. During the greater 
 portion of his life he rested under a heavy cloud, and it was 
 only in extreme old age that he had the satisfaction of having 
 his name rehabilitated, and of regaining the honours and rank 
 of which he had been so unjustly deprived. 
 
 G. A. HENTY. 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 Chap. Page 
 
 I. Off to Sea, .11 
 
 II. In the Malay Archipelago, 30 
 
 III. A Cyclone, 50 
 
 IV. A Rescue, 69 
 
 V. Again on the Island, 90 
 
 VI. Home, 109 
 
 VII. Cocheane's Caeeek, 128 
 
 VIII. The Basque Roads, 146 
 
 IX. In Chili, 158 
 
 X. Wrecked, 176 
 
 XI. A Dangerous Companion, 194 
 
 XII. Death of the Captain, 214 
 
 XIII. Prize-money, 231 
 
 XIV. A Prisoner, 249 
 
 XV. Friends in Need, 269 
 
 XVI. An Indian Guide, 287 
 
 XVII. Down the River, 305 
 
 XVIII. Captured by Indians, 323 
 
 ■ XIX. In Brazil, 342 
 
 XX. Fresh Triumphs, 363 
 
ILLUSTRATIONS. 
 
 Page 
 The Lieutenant talks to Steve about going to Sea, Frontis. 11 
 
 "We went at the treacherous Malays with a will, and 
 
 drove them back," 36 
 
 Stephen crawls to the Rescue op his Chum, Joyce, ... 88 
 
 Cochrane scatters the French Fleet in the Basque Roads 
 
 by his Terrible Explosion-ship, 156 
 
 "The ship fell with a crash that threw Steve and the 
 
 captain off their feet," 186 
 
 " With a shout, Stephen snatched up his sword and rushed 
 
 at the assassin," 218 
 
 Stephen beats off the great War-canoe Single-handed, . 228 
 
 Stephen is bound and brought before the Governor of 
 
 San Carlos, 265 
 
 Stephen makes a dash for Liberty, and grapples with the 
 
 Guard, 278 
 
 "The animal was on the point of springing when Stephen 
 
 fired," 306 
 
 Pita tries Step ien's Plan in order to escape from the 
 
 Whirlpool, 323 
 
 "My dear boy," exclaimed Lord Cochrane, "thank God 
 indeed that i see you alive," 365 
 
WITH COCHRANE THE DAUNTLESS, 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 OFF TO SEA. 
 
 AM sure I do not know what to do with you, 
 Steve," Lieutenant Embleton said one afternoon 
 as lie and his son were sitting upon a bench on 
 the cliff at Ramsgate, looking over the sea. "Upon 
 my word I don't see my way at all; this peace has stranded 
 most of us, and at any rate, so far as I am concerned, there 
 is not a ghost of a chance of my obtaining employment — not 
 that I am fit for it if I could get it. I have been nearly ten 
 years ashore. Every one of us who sailed under Cochrane 
 have been marked men ever since. However, that is an old 
 story, and it is no use grumbling over what cannot be helped; 
 besides, that wound in my hip has been troubling me a good 
 deal of late, and I know I am not fit for sea. I don't think 
 I should have minded so much if I had got post rank before 
 being laid on the shelf. The difference of pension, too, would 
 have been a help, for goodness knows it is hard work making 
 ends meet on a lieutenant's half-pay. However, that is not 
 the question now. " The thing that I have got to consider is 
 what is the best thing to do with you. 
 
 " Yes, I know you are ready to do anything, lad, and it is 
 
12 WITH COCHRANE THE DAUNTLESS. 
 
 not your fault that you are not in harness; hut, in the first 
 place, I found it hard to spare you, and in the next, I wanted 
 you to stick to your books as long as you could. I grant there 
 are many officers even in His Majesty's service who are as rough 
 as if they had come in through the hawse-hole, but it tells 
 against them. However, as you are past fifteen, I think now 
 that you will do; and as you have been working steadily with 
 me for the past four years, you have got a lot into your head 
 that will give you an advantage over boys sent to sea two 
 years younger. 
 
 "You are well up in navigation, and can take an observation 
 as well as any old sailor, either by sun, moon, or stars. You 
 can steer a boat in heavy weather, and knot and splice; you 
 know the sails and ropes, and can go aloft as quickly as a 
 monkey, and do anything that your strength permits. There 
 have been plenty of opportunities for teaching you all this on 
 short coasting voyages and on board ships driven in here by 
 stress of weather. I suppose, Steve, however much we may 
 talk of other professions, it comes to the sea at last. I know 
 that you have always wanted it, but if I could have seen any 
 opening for you on land I would rather that you had taken to 
 it than have gone afloat. You see what it has done for me, 
 lad. It is a poor trade, though as long as it's war-time there 
 is excitement enough to make up for the shortness of the pay. 
 However, as I have told you many a time, there is no chance 
 whatever of my getting you a midshipman's berth. 
 
 " I have not the slightest influence at the admiralty, and the 
 navy has been so reduced since the war ended that they must 
 have fifty applications for every vacancy; besides, now that 
 there is no fighting to be done, I don't know that the merchant 
 service isn't the best, for it is dull work indeed being years on 
 a station when there is no chance of a brush with an enemy or 
 the capture of a prize. In the merchant service you can have 
 
OFF TO SEA. 13 
 
 at least a change, and a smart young fellow who knows his 
 business and has gentlemanly manners, has much better chances 
 of coming to the front than he would have in the royal navy. 
 So I think the time has come when I must bring myself to 
 make a move in the matter." 
 
 "Thank you, father; I know very well that in studying with 
 you I have learned a lot more than I should have done if 
 I had gone to sea two years ago; but I do want to be working 
 and earning something, instead of being an expense to you, 
 and, as you, know, I would prefer the sea to anything else." 
 
 "It is Hobsons choice, lad; it is the sea or nothing. And 
 after all, I think the mercantile navy is as good a profession 
 as a lad can take to, that is if he has no influence to back him 
 on shore. I wrote a fortnight ago to a friend in London. He 
 is the owner of four or five vessels, and it happened, a good 
 many years ago now, that I recaptured one of them with 
 a valuable cargo that had been taken by a French privateer. 
 I was sent home in her, and when he came down to Plymouth, 
 where I took her in, we became great friends. We were about 
 the same age, and the loss at that time would have been a very 
 serious one to him. I stayed with him once or twice when I 
 was in town. I have not seen him for some years now — one 
 cannot afford to run about on a lieutenant's half-pay — but I 
 remembered him the other day when I was thinking things 
 over in every light, and wrote to him. I told him how we 
 were situated, and asked him if he would put you on board 
 one of his ships, and this morning I had an answer from him 
 saying that he would gladly do so. He said that he would 
 take you as an apprentice without fees, and that at any time, 
 should anything better turn up, or you see your way to getting 
 into a firm with a larger fleet and better chance of advance- 
 ment, he would cancel your indentures. No kinder offer could 
 be made, and if you are willing I will write this evening to 
 
14 WITH COCHRANE THE DAUNTLESS. 
 
 accept the offer, and tell him that I will go up with you in 
 the hoy directly I hear from him that you are wanted." 
 
 "Thank you very much, father; I am awfully glad that it 
 can be managed without expense, though I should be quite 
 willing to go before the mast and work my way up." 
 
 " I know you would, Steve, but it is much better to start 
 fair, for ship-owners prefer to take a young mate who has 
 regularly served as an apprentice than a man who has only 
 been trained before the mast; for although the latter may have 
 picked up enough to scrape through his examination, he is 
 rarely a good navigator, and works out his reckoning by rule 
 of thumb, which is all very well as long as the weather is fine 
 and he can get his observation at noon, but breaks down 
 directly it comes to having to depend upon a glimpse of the 
 moon through the clouds, or the chance of getting a star." 
 
 Lieutenant Embleton had been a dashing and gallant officer, 
 but his career in the service had been ruined by the fact that 
 he had served under Lord Cochrane, both in the Pallas, the 
 Impdrieuse, and the Speedy. The latter was a little sloop mount- 
 ing fourteen four-pounder guns, in which not only did Lord 
 Cochrane capture many gun-boats and merchantmen, but on 
 the 6th of May, 1801, he took the Gamo, a Spanish frigate, 
 carrying six times as many men as the Speedy and seven times 
 her weight of shot, an exploit that so aroused the jealousy of 
 Earl St. Vincent that for a long time Lord Cochrane could not 
 obtain employment. Three years later, when Lord Melville 
 succeeded St. Vincent as first lord of the admiralty, Lord 
 Cochrane was appointed to the Pallas, in which he again did 
 excellent service; and distinguished himself still more when, in 
 the Tmpdrieuse, he attacked the whole French fleet in the Basque 
 Roads, driving three or four of their battle-ships ashore, captur- 
 ing three others, and compelling the rest to take to flight. 
 
 But the honour and popular applause gained by Lord 
 
OFF TO SEA. 15 
 
 Cochrane was, in the opinion of the authorities, more than 
 neutralized by his fearless exposure, from his place in Parlia- 
 ment, where he sat as one of the members for Westminster, 
 of the scandalous abuses then prevailing in the navy. All 
 attempts to silence him by the offers of valuable appointments 
 being in vain, Lord Cochrane was subjected to a persecution 
 altogether without precedent in parliamentary history. In the 
 court-marshal which was held upon Lord G-ambier for his 
 failure to assist Cochrane in the action in the Basque Koads, 
 the admiralty went so far as to forge charts, and so to show 
 that the admiral could not come to Cochrane's assistance, and 
 Gam bier was not only acquitted, but received a vote of thanks 
 from the House of Commons for the victory in which he had 
 taken no part. For four years Lord Cochrane received no 
 appointment, but at the close of 1813 his uncle, Sir Alexander 
 Cochrane, was selected for the command of the fleet on the 
 North American station, and nominated Cochrane his flag 
 captain, an appointment resting entirely with him, and with 
 which government could not interfere. 
 
 He did not, however, sail, for just as he was about to 
 embark, a relation, who was engaged in stock exchange opera- 
 tions in conjunction with a foreign adventurer, carried out 
 some dishonest transactions, those who were his dupes believ- 
 ing that he was acting under information obtained from Lord 
 Cochrane. As soon as the latter heard a report of the affair 
 he left his ship, came up to London, and demanded an investi- 
 gation. Then followed one of the most disgraceful parodies of 
 justice ever performed in this country. Lord Cochrane was 
 arrested, tried, and by means of a partisan judge, false evidence, 
 and measures more unscrupulous even than those of Judge 
 Jeffreys, convicted and sentenced to imprisonment. A servile 
 House of Commons obeyed the orders of ministers to expel 
 him from their body. His name was struck off the order of 
 
16 WITH COCHRANE THE DAUNTLESS. 
 
 the Bath, and his insignia torn down from St. George's Chapel 
 with every mark of indignity. 
 
 Public indignation at the disgraceful means that had been 
 taken to secure his conviction rose to such a height, that it was 
 only by the persuasions of Lord Cochrane's friends that a riot 
 was prevented. The citizens of Westminster at once re-elected 
 him as their member, no one venturing to oppose him. After 
 remaining in prison for some months he effected his escape and 
 presented himself in the House of Commons. He was seized 
 and carried back to prison, where he was thrown into a dungeon, 
 and there kept until his health so suffered that his persecutors, 
 fearing that fatal consequences would ensue, were obliged to 
 place him in more wholesome quarters. Here he remained 
 until the conclusion of his year's sentence. He then paid the 
 fine of a thousand pounds, to which he had also been sentenced, 
 and on the very day of his release from prison took his place 
 in the House of Commons, and resumed his work as one of the 
 leaders of the reform party. 
 
 Eighteen months later he was subjected to fresh persecution, 
 and was tried for his escape from prison and fined a hundred 
 pounds. A penny subscription was at once started, and eleven 
 hundred pounds collected in this way, afforded a signal proof of 
 the intensity of the feeling in his favour. This sum was used to 
 pay the fine, and to reimburse him for the former fine to which 
 he had been subjected. All Lord Cochrane's efforts to obtain a 
 new trial, or an expression of an opinion from the House as to 
 the illegality of the proceedings of his judge, Lord Ellenborough, 
 were ineffective, the House, on each occasion when he brought 
 the matter forward, obeying the orders of ministers and voting 
 against his motions by an overwhelming majority. He had, 
 however, the satisfaction of knowing that the nation at large 
 was heartily with him, and recognized the gross injustice 
 from which he had been a sufferer. 
 
 (M -220) 
 
OFF TO SEA. 17 
 
 The hostility upon the part of the admiralty and govern- 
 ment extended to those who had borne part in his glorious 
 exploits at sea, and Lieutenant Embleton was put on half-pay 
 after the action of the Impdrieuse against the French fleet, and 
 found himself without any prospect of future employment, and 
 without even a chance of obtaining a nomination for his son to 
 a midshipman's berth. The blow was at first a very keen one, 
 but it was less bitterly felt after the conclusion of peace and 
 the great reduction of the navy, as his fate was only that of 
 thousands of other officers; and he had now come to feel that 
 the effects of his wound, for which he received a small addition 
 to his half-pay, rendered him unfit for further service, even 
 could he have obtained an appointment. He had, since leaving 
 the navy, lived in a little cottage at Ramsgate, where from his 
 garden he could obtain a view of the sea and the passing ships. 
 The education of his son afforded him employment for some 
 hours a day. His favourite position was on a bench in the 
 garden, from which he could watch through a telescope mounted 
 on a tripod the passing ships, criticise the state of their rigging 
 and sails, and form conjectures as to their destination. 
 
 It was a great pang to him to part with Stephen, but he felt 
 that he could no longer keep him by his side; and he was sure 
 that the careful training he had given him in all nautical matters 
 would enable the lad to make his way in the mercantile navy. 
 A fortnight after his conversation with Steve, the lieutenant 
 received a letter from his friend in London, saying that one of 
 his ships that had returned a fortnight before was now un- 
 loaded, and would at once begin to fit out for a fresh voyage, 
 and it would be therefore as well for him to bring Stephen 
 up, so that he might have the advantage of seeing the whole 
 process of preparing a ship for sea. He gave a warm invitation 
 to Lieutenant Embleton to stay with him for a week or two, 
 and on the following day father and son went on board a 
 
 Z6~ 
 
 ( M 220 ) B 
 
18 WITH COCHRANE THE DAUNTLESS. 
 
 Eamsgate hoy, and thirty-six hours later arrived in the port 
 of London. They were warmly received by Mr. Hewson. 
 
 " I think your boy is fortunate that the Tiger should be the 
 first ship he will sail in," he said that evening. "I regard the 
 captain as my best officer. He is a good seaman and a capital 
 navigator, and he is of a most kindly disposition; therefore, I 
 can put the boy under him with the certainty that he will be 
 well treated and cared for. In the next place, the Tiger does not, 
 like my other ships, make regular voyages to and from a foreign 
 port, but carries on the business of a trader among the East 
 Indian islands. It is not every one to whom such a business 
 could be safely intrusted; but I have great confidence in Cap- 
 tain Pinder. He is a good man of business, thoroughly consci- 
 entious, and accustomed to the ways of the treacherous natives 
 of those islands. The Tiger is more heavily armed than usual, 
 and has more than once beaten off the attacks of their piratical 
 craft, and there is no fear of Pinder's being caught napping. 
 
 " She will in the first place take a cargo to Calcutta, reserv- 
 ing a portion of her hold for my goods for trading among 
 the islands. When she has landed her freight at Calcutta she 
 will cruise in the Archipelago for some months, as long, in fact, 
 as Pinder finds that he can carry on a really good business 
 with the natives. Then she will return to Calcutta and fill 
 up with freight for her return voyage. Thus, you see, your 
 boy will gain a good deal of varied experience, and will see, 
 perhaps, as much adventure and excitement as he would meet 
 with in a score of ordinary voyages, and will have the advan- 
 tage of being under a kind commander, who will instruct him 
 in the rudiments of navigation." 
 
 " Nothing could be better," Mr. Embleton said warmly. " It 
 is the voyage of all others that would be to the boy's taste, 
 and I shall be satisfied indeed at his being in such good hands. 
 As to navigation, it is practice only that he wants. I have 
 
OFF TO SEA. 19 
 
 taught him all that I know myself, and he can take a lunar, or 
 work his reckoning out from a star observation, as accurately 
 as I could do it myself." 
 
 " Is that so, Mr. Embleton 1 I am glad indeed to hear it. 
 Then there is no doubt about the future of your boy, if he is 
 steady and industrious. I am pleased to hear it for my own 
 sake, if for nothing else ; for although Pinder's mates are capital 
 sailors, and in all other respects able officers, they are not men 
 of Pinder's type. They can take, of course, a rough observa- 
 tion at noon, and work it out by rule of thumb and the aid of 
 tables, but beyond that they can do nothing. They have not 
 received the education to enable them to grapple with mathe- 
 matical problems, even of the simplest kind; and although, in 
 case of Pinder falling sick, they might manage under favourable 
 circumstances to bring the ship home, they would fare very 
 badly if they had a long spell of bad weather and could not 
 get an observation at noon for days or even weeks together. 
 It will be a satisfaction to me to know that in case of anything 
 happening to the captain there is someone on board who 
 could, in such a case, take a lunar or shoot a star. Well, to- 
 morrow morning we will go down to the docks, and I will 
 hand your boy over to Pinder. I should, of course, be very 
 glad to have him here, but I think it is of great advantage to 
 a boy to see everything done from the first step. She is going 
 to have an entirely new fit-out both of standing and running 
 rigging, so she has been stripped entirely, and has nothing but 
 her three loAver masts above the deck." 
 
 Accordingly, after breakfast next day Mr. Hewson sent for 
 a hackney-coach and they drove down to the docks. 
 
 " That is the Tiger," Mr. Hewson said as he stopped at the 
 side of a fine craft. " She is six hundred tons, three years old, 
 and a fast sailer. She is not much to look at at present, but 
 when she is in full dress she is a handsome vessel." 
 
20 WITH COCHRANE THE DAUNTLESS. 
 
 "She looks fast," Mr. Embleton said. "And for myself, I 
 would rather command a craft of that size than one of greater 
 tonnage." 
 
 The Tiger at present certainly did not show to advantage. 
 Her deck was begrimed with dirt. A body of riggers were at 
 work in parcelling and serving with spun yarn the eyes of the 
 shrouds. An officer in a rough canvas suit was superintending 
 the work. 
 
 "That is Mr. Staines, the first mate," Mr. Hewson said. 
 " He would not be happy if he was not on board from the very 
 first hour that the riggers were beginning their work. Good 
 morning, Mr. Staines!" he went on, raising his voice. "Is 
 Captain Pinder on board 1 ?" 
 
 " Yes, sir," the mate said, touching his cap, and then went 
 aft to the poop-cabin, from which the captain came out as his 
 visitor stepped on board. He also was in a working suit. 
 
 " Good morning, Mr. Hewson !" he said. " We are all in the 
 rough, you see. One hardly expects visitors on her first day 
 of fitting out." 
 
 "We all know that, captain. This is Lieutenant Embleton 
 of the royal navy, and this is his son, of whom I was speaking 
 to you two days ago." 
 
 " I am glad to meet you, sir," the captain said, shaking 
 hands with Mr. Embleton. "Every sailor knows you by 
 reputation as being one of Lord Cochrane's officers. It Avill 
 be a pleasure to me to do all I can for your son." 
 
 " You will find him very different to most of your apprentices, 
 Pinder. He has had the advantage of his father's teaching, 
 and, theoretically at any rate, he is already well up in his work. 
 AVhen I tell you that he can take a lunar, or an observation 
 from a star, you may imagine that he will not require much 
 teaching in navigation." 
 
 "I am glad indeed to hear it, Mr. Hewson — heartily glad; 
 
OFF TO SEA. 21 
 
 there ought to be two men on board a ship who can do that, 
 for there is never any saying what might happen if there is 
 only one. It has made me anxious many a time, when we 
 had a bad spell of weather, as to how the Tiger would get on 
 if I happened to be washed overboard by a sea or killed by a 
 falling spar. Well, Master Embleton, I can see that I shall 
 have no difficulty in making a first-rate sailor of you. Have 
 you come to stay?" 
 
 " Yes, sir. My father thought it would be good for me to 
 
 be on board from the time the fitting-out began." 
 
 " Quite right, lad. You will then learn as much in a fortnight 
 as you would in a y ear at sea. I always make a point of being 
 here myself, and my first officer wouldn't allow anything to 
 prevent his seeing that everything was right from first to last. 
 But I don't think that you will be able to sleep on board for 
 the next fortnight." 
 
 " Of course not," Mr. Embleton said. " I intend to take a 
 lodging for him as close to the dock-gate as I can. Perhaps 
 you may know of a tidy place." 
 
 "He can't do better than lodge with us," the captain said. 
 " Mr. Staines and I always put up at the same place. We 
 give them notice when we are going to begin to fit out, and 
 they keep the rooms for us. We both slept there last night. 
 The house is kept by a nice clean woman, the widow of a 
 skipper who was lost with his craft about ten years ago. I 
 have no doubt she can put the lad up too, and he can mess with 
 us. I will go round with him myself; till we get the shrouds up, 
 one is quite enough to look after the riggers." 
 
 " I thank you very much, captain. That will be in all 
 respects more pleasant for the boy than lodging by himself." 
 
 The matter was speedily arranged. Mr. Embleton then took 
 Stephen to a clothing shop and bought him two suits of rough 
 canvas. 
 
22 WITH COCHRANE THE DAUNTLESS. 
 
 " You will find it dirty work, Steve. There is no keeping 
 free of the tar. By the way, Captain Pinder, I have not 
 ordered Steve's outfit yet, for I know that on some lines the 
 apprentices dress like midshipmen, on others they don't; so I 
 put it off until I saw you." 
 
 "I always like the apprentices on board my ship to be 
 dressed as midshipmen," the captain replied. " There will only 
 be three on board as far as I know. I make a point of 
 messing with my officers, and if there are only two or three 
 apprentices on board they take their meals with us, it does 
 them good; and I don't at all approve of their mixing with the 
 men forward. I should say, Mr. Embleton, get him one good 
 suit for going ashore, another rougher suit for duty on board, 
 half-a-dozen duck suits for the tropics, and two or three 
 suits of dungaree for slipping on over the others when there 
 is dirty work to be done. The cap is sufficient to indicate 
 the officer. As for the rest of his outfit, your own experience 
 will tell you what is needed. Railton in Leadenhall Street is 
 a man I can recommend. He keeps the house badges for the 
 caps, and turns out his work well. I generally get my togs 
 there, and find him as cheap as anyone." 
 
 " Thank you ! I will take Steve with me as far as that in 
 the hackney-coach, and get him measured. Then he can be 
 back here again by the time you knock off for dinner, and will 
 then put on his slops and get to work." 
 
 Steve returned to the lodgings just as the captain and first 
 mate came in to dinner. Then he carried one of his canvas 
 suits down to the ship, put it on, and was soon at work having 
 his first lesson in seizing ropes. For a fortnight the work con- 
 tinued, and Stephen greatly pleased the captain and first mate 
 by his attention and willingness, working all the time as a 
 rigger's boy, and paying the greatest attention to all the minutiae 
 of the work. Saturday afternoons and Sundays he spent at 
 
OFF TO SEA. 23 
 
 Mr. Hewson's, where his father was still staying, his host 
 refusing to listen to any talk of his leaving until the Tiger 
 sailed. Another four days were spent in planing decks and 
 painting inside and out. The work was scarcely finished when 
 the cargo began to come on board. As soon as this was the 
 case, the second and third mates and the other two apprentices 
 joined. Like Mr. Staines, Towel and Pasley, the second and 
 third mates, had both made their way up from the forecastle; 
 both were active young men and good sailors, who had labori- 
 ously mastered the very small amount of bookwork that was 
 needed, in addition to practical seamanship, to pass their exam- 
 inations, but who, like the majority of their class of that time, 
 knew nothing of navigation beyond taking a rough observation 
 at mid-day and working it out by rule of thumb on the tables. 
 Mr. Staines presented Stephen to them. 
 
 "This is our new apprentice," he said; "his father is a 
 lieutenant in the royal navy, one of Lord Cochrane's men, and 
 a great friend of the owner. Stephen Embleton is the lad's 
 name, and some day he will make a fine officer. He has been 
 at work here since the morning the riggers came on board, and 
 is not afraid to put his hands into the tar-pot, as you can see 
 from his appearance. He has learned a lot from his father, 
 so we won't have the trouble with him we generally do have 
 with Johnny-raws." 
 
 "That is right, youngster," the second mate said heartily; 
 " if you will learn anywhere, you will learn here, for a better 
 captain never commanded a ship. No passengers, I hope, 
 Staines 1" 
 
 "No; I believe that the skipper has had two or three 
 applications, but although the owner has no objection to his 
 taking them, he considers the trouble is more than they are 
 worth. Of course, he would make something out of their 
 passage, but there would, almost certainly, be some cantankerous 
 
24 WITH COCHRANE THE DAUNTLESS. 
 
 beggars among them, and of course the table costs a good deal 
 more when there are passengers, especially as he will have the 
 apprentices to mess with him. I am sure I am glad indeed 
 that we sha'n't be bothered with them." 
 
 The other two apprentices were about Stephen's age. Both 
 had made one trip in the Tiger, and were at first a little 
 inclined to patronize the new-comer. The day before the 
 Tiger hauled out into the river, the owner and Mr. Embleton 
 came down to look over her. Great was the change that 
 three weeks had made in her appearance. Her deck was 
 beautifully white, the lofty spars well scraped and freshly 
 varnished, and the network of new rigging set her off to the 
 greatest advantage. The new suit of sails were all bent, 
 and lay loose in their gaskets ready for dropping. Four guns 
 were ranged along either side. 
 
 "She is a handsome craft indeed," Mr. Embleton said as he 
 stood on the wharf alongside, taking in every detail of her 
 outfit with the eye of a seaman. " What are the guns — 
 twelve-pounders 1 " 
 
 " Yes, but there is a long eighteen down in the hold, which 
 will be mounted as a pivot as soon as she gets among the 
 islands. The others are well enough when you come to close 
 quarters, but the long gun generally keeps the pirates from 
 getting there; they don't like being peppered before they 
 come within fighting distance. I believe the captain would 
 rather part with all the other guns than sail without Long 
 Tom." 
 
 "That I would," Captain Pinder, who had just joined, 
 remarked. " Five times has the pivot-gun made them sheer off 
 without venturing to come to close quarters; and indeed I 
 have never had to loose the broadside guns but three times, in 
 each of which they came suddenly round the corner into a bay 
 where we were lying at anchor." 
 
OFF TO SEA. 25 
 
 As they had had notice of the owner's intention to come 
 down, the officers were all in their new uniforms, and after 
 Captain Pinder had shown his guests round the ship, they sat 
 down together to dinner in the cabin. 
 
 " You have plenty of freeboard, I see," Mr. Embleton said, 
 as, after returning on deck, he looked over the side. 
 
 " Yes, I never will load down my ships," Mr. Hewson said, 
 " and will never take cargo within twenty per cent of their full 
 carrying power. I have as little as possible stowed either quite 
 forward or quite aft, so that they have not only plenty of free- 
 board, but are buoyant in a heavy sea. I am sure it pays. I 
 don't insure my ships, and I have not lost one in the last sixteen 
 years. The insurance money saved makes up for the loss of 
 freight, and I have the satisfaction of knowing that I have 
 done all in my power to ensure the safety of my officers and 
 men." 
 
 " And very good policy, Hewson," Mr. Embleton said 
 warmly. " I see scores of ships passing inside the Goodwins 
 so loaded down that I would not be on board in a heavy gale 
 for all the money in the bank, and the state of their sails often 
 shows that they are badly cared for in all other respects. The 
 system of insurance is no doubt a good one, but it has been 
 so scandalously abused that it may safely be said that it has 
 largely increased the annual number of wrecks and loss of 
 life. Were it not for insurance, owners would, in their own 
 interest, be driven to see that their ships were made in every 
 respect seaworthy, well provided with gear of all kinds, well 
 manned, and above all, not overloaded. Insurances are re- 
 sponsible for a large proportion of our marine disasters." 
 
 As, if the wind continued favourable, the Tiger would drop 
 down the river as soon as she got out of dock, which would be 
 at a very early hour the next morning, it was necessary that 
 Stephen should be on board that evening. He, however, went 
 
26 WITH COCHRANE THE DAUNTLESS. 
 
 back with his father to Mr. Hewson's, spent the afternoon at 
 Exeter 'Change seeing the wild beasts, and returned by eight 
 o'clock to the ship. 
 
 The Tiger made a quick voyage to Calcutta. She rounded 
 the Cape without encountering bad weather, and was only 
 twice obliged to shorten sail during the whole passage. 
 Stephen enjoyed his life exceedingly. He was in the first 
 officer's watch, and became a great favourite with Mr. Staines. 
 He astonished his felloAV- apprentices, as soon as they were 
 fairly on their way, by producing his quadrant and taking 
 observations at the same time as did the captain and mates; 
 still more so when he took lunar and star observations, working 
 them all out by figures instead of from the tables in the 
 nautical almanac. He found at first some little difficulty in 
 obtaining accuracy when the vessel was rolling, but he was not 
 long in overcoming this, and the captain found that he was 
 able to place the ship's position on the chart quite as correctly 
 as he did himself. 
 
 "I would give a lot, Steve," the first mate said, when they 
 had been out a fortnight, " if I could work things out as you 
 do. I have gone over and over again to fellows who advertise 
 that they teach navigation, but it is of no use, I can't 
 make head or tail of all the letters and zigzigs and things. 
 I have tried and I have tried till my head ached, but the more 
 I study it the more fogged I get about it. There does not 
 seem to me to be any sense in the thing, and when I see you 
 sit down and figure away with all those letters and things, it 
 beats me altogether." 
 
 "It is not difficult when you have begun from the begin- 
 ning," Stephen said. "Of course, as my father wanted to 
 teach me navigation, he taught me just the things that led up 
 to the problems that you are talking about, so that it really 
 was not hard, but if I had to do any other sort of mathematical 
 
OFF TO SEA. 27 
 
 questions I should be just as much, puzzled as you are. Then 
 you see, my father explained every step as it came, and as one 
 led to another, I learnt them without meeting with any one 
 special difficulty; but I can quite see that it would be very 
 hard for anyone to learn to work it out without having been 
 coached from the start." 
 
 " I shall never try again. I think I could find a port by 
 reckoning and the sun, but as for the moon and stars I give 
 them up altogether. There are hundreds of skippers, nay 
 thousands of them, who don't know more than I do." 
 
 This was indeed the case, and the skilful navigators had 
 less advantage over experienced men who worked by rule of 
 thumb than is now the case, as the instruments were compara- 
 tively rough and the chronometers far less accurate than at 
 present, and even those most skilful in their use were well 
 satisfied if at the end of a long voyage they found that they 
 were within twenty miles of their reckoning. 
 
 "It is different work now, lad, 'to what it used to be two 
 years ago. Now one walks up and down the deck, and though 
 there may be twenty sail in sight, one pays no more attention 
 to them than one would to as many sea-birds. Then every 
 sail was watched, and one was up in the tops with one's glass 
 twenty times a day, for there was no saying whether it was a 
 friend or an enemy. One's watch at night was a watch then, 
 for there was never any saying whether a French privateer 
 might not come looming out of the darkness at any moment; 
 and if a vessel of about our size was made out a mile off, it 
 was all hands on deck, and cast the lashings off the guns, and 
 stand by till she was out of sight again. Now one jogs along, 
 and all that you have got to look out for, is to see that 
 you don't run foul of another craft, or let one run foul of you. 
 Yes, we had a rough time of it in those days, and I ain't sorry 
 that they are over." 
 
28 WITH COCHRANE THE DAUNTLESS. 
 
 "But you look out sharp for pirates when you are among 
 the islands, don't you, Mr. Staines 1 " 
 
 "Ay, lad; but when one sees a Malay pirate, there is no 
 mistaking her for anything else. At night it is generally a 
 stark calm, and whether one is lying idle, with the sails hang- 
 ing flat against the mast, or whether one is at anchor, one 
 knows that they can't come upon us under sail, and on a still 
 night one can hear the beat of their oars miles away. There 
 is never any fear of being surprised as long as there is a hand 
 wide awake and watchful on deck. Calms are the greatest 
 curse out there; the ship lies sometimes for days, ay and for 
 weeks, with the water as smooth as grease, and everything 
 that has been thrown overboard floating alongside, and the sun 
 coming down until your brain is on the boil." 
 
 "You have storms sometimes, don't you?" 
 
 " Sometimes, not very often; but when it does blow, it blows 
 fit to take your head off, and you have nothing to do but 
 to cruise under bare poles, and hope that nothing will get 
 in your way. There is one thing, they are not gales like we 
 have here, but cyclones, and instead of getting blown along for 
 hundreds of miles, you go round and round, so that if there is 
 no land within fifty miles of you when the storm strikes, the 
 chances are that you are safe. If you can but lie to, you can 
 manage at last to edge out of it on the side that is furthest 
 from land. A cyclone is no joke, I can tell you; but if you 
 get warning enough to get your canvas stowed and to send 
 down your light spars, and have got a ship like the Tiger 
 under you in good trim, — not too light, not too heavy, — you 
 ought to be able to live through it. There is no better sailor 
 nor one more familiar with the islands than the skipper. He 
 is not fond of carrying on, and perhaps at times we think him 
 a little too prudent, but he generally turns out right; anyhow, 
 it is a fault on the right side. 
 
OFF TO SEA. 29 
 
 " I have sailed under him fifteen years now. I was third 
 mate when I first joined his ship; not this, you know, but the 
 old Gertrude. I have never had a cross word with him, nor 
 have the other two mates. He expects every man to do 
 his duty, as is right enough; but if that is done well, every- 
 thing goes on smooth. I don't think that there are ten of the 
 crew who have not been with the skipper for years. When 
 we get back to port and the crew are paid off, it is always, 
 'When will you want us again, captain?' and no matter 
 whether it is in a fortnight or in a couple of months, pretty 
 nearly every man will turn up." 
 
 "That speaks for itself, both as to the owner and the 
 skipper, and the mates too, Mr. Staines." 
 
 "Well, we have not much to do with it. Unless a man 
 does his duty, and does it pleasantly and without cursing 
 and swearing, he won't make two voyages under the skipper; 
 indeed he won't make one. Three years ago Towel was laid 
 up with a hurt he got on the voyage before, and we had to 
 get a new second mate at the last moment, for Pasley had 
 not got his certificate then, and couldn't take Towel's place. 
 The man was highly recommended, and was a good sailor, 
 but he was a bully, and a foul-mouthed one, and the skipper 
 put him on shore at the Cape, and paid his passage home out 
 of his own pocket — though I know the owner returned it 
 to him afterwards, and said that he had done quite right. 
 I tell you, lad, you are lucky in making your first voyage 
 on board the Tiger, for, putting aside everything else, I don't 
 know a single ship, except Hewson's, where the apprentices 
 mess with the master and mates, and are treated as they are 
 here. 
 
 " I daresay you wonder why some of us have not been ap- 
 prentices, but it is only the last two or three years that Hew- 
 son's ships have carried them. Before that there was always a 
 
30 WITH COCHRANE THE DAUNTLESS. 
 
 fourth mate to each of his ships, so that there were two officers 
 in each watch ; but the ships have such a good name, and the 
 owner had so many applications from friends with sons who 
 wanted to go to sea, that three years ago he made the change. 
 But he is mighty particular who he takes, and all his inden- 
 tures contain a clause that unless the reports by the captains 
 they sail under are favourable, the owner has the right 
 of returning the premium he received and of cancelling the 
 indentures. I can tell you, lad, that if every owner took as 
 much pains for the comfort of his officers and crews as Mr. 
 Hewson does, Jack would have a deal better life than is now 
 the case." 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 IN THE MALAY ARCHIPELAGO. 
 
 THE stay at Calcutta was a short one, and as soon as the 
 cargo for that port was unladen, the Tiger again sailed. 
 The apprentices had a run ashore, but each had gone with one 
 of the mates, as in so large a city the boys, if alone, might 
 well have got into trouble. Stephen went with the first mate, 
 and was glad at the arrangement, as Mr. Staines had frequently 
 been there before and knew the town well, and Stephen there- 
 fore saw a great deal more of it than he would have done had 
 he been alone. He was delighted with the native bazaar, and 
 would have laid out much of his spare cash there, had not 
 Mr. Staines prevented him. 
 
 "Time enough when you get back, Stephen. But if you 
 have got any money to spend you had better go with me to a 
 stall where, the last two voyages I have been here, I laid in a 
 stock of articles useful for trading with the Malays — looking- 
 
IN THE MALAY ARCHIPELAGO. 31 
 
 glasses, beads, brass buttons, bright handkerchiefs, and things 
 of that sort. I don't say but that one might get them cheaper 
 in London; but in the first place, one always finds plenty of 
 things there to spend one's money on ; and in the second place, 
 the people here know exactly the sort of goods needed in the 
 islands, and one can get them all at one stall instead of having 
 to hunt about in a dozen shops for them. We are each allowed 
 to trade on our own account up to a certain amount; and, as 
 a rule, I find that when I get back here I can sell the curiosities 
 I buy down in the islands, for about four times as much as the 
 goods cost me, so if you do the same you will have more money 
 to buy things with here than if you bought them now. But for 
 most of the things you pick up you will find you can get a 
 much better price in London than you can here." 
 
 "What sort of things do you buy there, Mr. Staines?" 
 
 "The skins of birds, carved wood-work, Malay arms, models 
 of canoes, and things of that kind. The bird skins are the 
 best, especially if you know anything about them. I have got 
 as much as two or three pounds for a rare skin that I exchanged 
 for a twopenny looking-glass and half a dozen brass buttons, 
 but of course that was an exceptional case; for, as a rule, they 
 will average two or three shillings apiece. You had better 
 buy a big pot of arsenical soap, which acts as a preservative to 
 keep away insects, also two or three air-tight tin boxes; they 
 will hold the things you buy here, and you can fill them with 
 trade goods." 
 
 Steve took the advice, and expended four out of the five 
 pounds his father had given him on sailing. The mate laid 
 out twenty pounds in similar purchases, and then they re- 
 turned to the ship, which was anchored a mile down the river, 
 followed by three coolies carrying their purchases. The other 
 apprentices similarly laid out their spare cash. 
 
 " You have done well, lads," the captain said, as they were 
 
32 WITH COCHRANE THE DAUNTLESS. 
 
 at dinner on the evening before sailing. " You must not ex- 
 pect to make a very great deal by your trading, although, no 
 doubt, you will get a handsome return for your money. To 
 do really well you must have some knowledge of Avhat birds 
 are rare and what are common, and I should advise you when 
 we get home to spend any time that you have to spare in 
 visiting the Museum and examining the birds there. No 
 doubt you will be able to find out from one of the attendants 
 which are rare ones, and might be able to consult some books 
 on the subject. You may have the luck to come across skins 
 that are altogether new; and, at any rate, a little knowledge 
 would enable you to exchange your goods to a very much 
 greater advantage than you could otherwise do. A knowledge 
 of that kind is always useful to a sailor, who in his wanderings 
 may well get from the natives rare and valuable specimens in 
 natural history, and there are always plenty of collectors ready 
 to pay good prices for them. I have often regretted that I 
 did not pay attention to such matters when I was young; 
 for besides paying well, it gives a great interest to visits to 
 little-known places, and I have heard of two or three captains 
 who have made a good deal of money by it." 
 
 For two months after getting among the islands no serious 
 adventures were met with. Trading went on steadily. Several 
 times large native craft were seen, but these sheered off when 
 they saw that the Tiger was Avell armed and prepared for 
 defence. As most of the places touched at had been visited 
 by the captain on previous voyages, the natives hailed his 
 return with expressions of apparent pleasure; but however 
 friendly their bearing, there was never any abatement of 
 the vigilance by the captain and his officers. Only a certain 
 number were allowed to come on board to trade. The seamen 
 always carried cutlasses by their side and a brace of pistols in 
 their belts, and even when they went ashore for wood or water 
 
IN THE MALAY ARCHIPELAGO. 33 
 
 two boats were always sent, half the men with loaded muskets 
 keeping guard while the others worked, and the guns of the 
 ship were loaded and trained in readiness to open fire in case 
 of any hostile demonstration on the part of the natives. Occa- 
 sionally, when a chief had paid a visit to the ship and invited 
 the captain to a feast on shore, a strong guard armed to the 
 teeth accompanied him, and a boat lay by the ship's side in 
 readiness to land another party if necessary. 
 
 "They are the most treacherous race on earth," the captain 
 said one day when the third officer remarked that they seemed 
 very friendly. "You can never trust them for a moment; 
 they will shake hands with you with one hand and stab you 
 with the other. Numbers of ships' companies have been 
 massacred owing to the captains putting faith in appearances, 
 and allowing too many of the copper-coloured scoundrels to 
 get on board at once. As long as you make a rule that not 
 more than twenty or thirty can come on the deck, and that 
 all boats must keep at a distance, you are safe, but you must 
 never let yourself be caught napping. I have had one or 
 two very narrow escapes, for it is twenty-five years now since 
 I first came among these islands. 
 
 " I had just passed as a third mate when I made my first 
 voyage here. The captain was an easy-going man, and was 
 quite taken in by the appearance of friendliness on the part 
 of the natives. The first mate, too, was a good sailor, but 
 new to the islands, and too fond of his grog; but luckily the 
 second mate had been here before. His ship had once been 
 attacked and nearly half the men killed before they could 
 beat the Malays overboard, and he was always in a fidget. 
 
 " I was only about twenty at the time, and, like a young 
 
 fool, thought that it was pure cowardice on his part; however, 
 
 at his earnest request I carried a brace of double-barrelled 
 
 pistols in my pocket, and, unknown to the captain and the 
 
 ( m 220 ) c 
 
34 WITH COCHRANE THE DAUNTLESS. 
 
 first mate, he persuaded a dozen of the crew to do the same, 
 and got the captain to let him keep the cannon loaded with 
 grape, though the latter made no secret that he regarded this 
 precaution as altogether uncalled for. The natives came on 
 board as usual, at first only two or three canoe loads, but gra- 
 dually the number of Malays on deck became larger and larger, 
 and quite a crowd of boats were clustered round. I could see 
 that Pearson, the second mate, was in a fidget; he glanced 
 at me significantly two or three times, and I began to think 
 myself that he might be right. We were both of us engaged in 
 bartering with the natives, and I noticed that Pearson put the 
 goods under his charge close to one side of the deck, so that 
 standing behind them he leant against the bulwark and could 
 not be taken in rear. I ordered a couple of the men to move 
 my lot also. Both of those I spoke to were, I knew, among 
 those Pearson had persuaded to carry pistols in their pockets. 
 
 " 'I don't like the look of things, Mr. Pinder,' one of them, 
 an old hand, whispered to me. 
 
 " 'No more do I, Jack,' I said. 'Just slip below and bring 
 up four of those boarding-axes. Put one of them down among 
 Mr. Pearson's goods and make a sign to him that it is for his 
 use, put the other three down in front of me, and then do you 
 and Bob Hawkins take your places between me and Mr. Pear- 
 son, as if you were going to lend us a hand with the trade; 
 then if there is a shindy the four of us will be able to make a 
 hard fight of it anyhow.' 
 
 " He did as I told him, and the second officer nodded to me 
 approvingly. Things went on quietly for another five minutes, 
 then I heard a heavy blow given, followed by a fall; and, as 
 if this was the signal, the quiet crowd of natives became in a 
 moment a mob of yelling fiends ; screams filled the air, pistol- 
 shots rang out, and you may guess we fell to work in earnest. 
 I fancy we did not throw away a shot between us, and cleared 
 
IN THE MALAY ARCHIPELAGO. 35 
 
 a space in front of us, then snatching up the axes we made at 
 them tooth and nail. We first fought our way aft. The first 
 mate was fighting like a demon; he had caught up a hand- 
 spike, and, being a very powerful man, kept off his assailants 
 fairly till we cut our way through and joined him. The moment 
 he was free from the group that was attacking him, he rushed 
 forward, sweeping the natives over with his handspike like 
 ninepins. Two of us kept on each side of him. There was 
 just breadth enough on the deck to give free play to our axes, 
 and though the Malays came at us furiously, they could not 
 stand the blows of our heavy weapons. The cook and the 
 steward came rushing up behind us. 
 
 " 'Turn the cannon on the canoes!' Pearson shouted. 'De- 
 press them as much as you can, and give it them hot.' 
 
 " I had no time to look round, but half a minute later I heard 
 one of the cannon go off, followed by yells and screams from 
 the water. 
 
 " 'Train two of them along the deck,' I shouted, 'but don't 
 fire until you have orders.' 
 
 " The Malays were swarming up from the canoes and joining 
 the crowd in front of us, and I saw a rush of some of our 
 fellows up on to the top of the forecastle. We could make no 
 way now, and it was as much as we could do to hold our own. 
 I fought on until I thought the guns were ready; then, looking 
 round, saw the two men standing behind them with lighted 
 matches. 
 
 '"The cannon are trained to sweep the deck, Conklin!' but 
 it was not until I touched him and shouted in his ear again 
 that the mate heard me. 
 
 " 'Now!' Pearson yelled, 'throw yourselves on to them, cut 
 down one or two of the rascals, and when I shout ' Run ! ' get 
 back behind the guns.' 
 
 " The thought of what was coming gave us fresh strength. 
 
36 WITH COCHRANE THE DAUNTLESS. 
 
 We went at them with a will, and drove them back a couple of 
 yards. Then Pearson shouted ' Run ! ' and back we went aft 
 as hard as we could tear, Pearson and I almost dragging Conklin 
 with us. As we passed between the guns, with the Malays 
 close at our heels, both men fired; the guns were crammed 
 almost to the mouth with bullets, and the execution was awful. 
 In a moment we dashed at them again, while the men forward, 
 who had armed themselves with the capstan-bars, ran down the 
 ladder and fell upon them. In another minute it was all over. 
 The Malays who remained alive sprang over the bulwark, 
 and we discharged the remaining five cannons into the canoes, 
 smashing up numbers of them, and the rest paddled for the 
 shore for their lives. We had time now to look around. It 
 was an awful sight. Over fifty Malays lay dead, together with 
 eleven of our men, besides the captain. If it had not been for 
 Pearson not a soul would have lived to tell the tale. After it 
 was over, we found that, as the crowds on deck had increased, 
 most of our old hands, who were the men that had taken the 
 pistols, had gradually gathered near the forecastle. Some of 
 the others had joined them, and when the outbreak came, they 
 had for a time been able to make a stout resistance, until one 
 of their number, who was on the forecastle when the fight 
 began, shouted to them that we were training the cannon 
 forward, and they then made a rush up and joined him. 
 
 "Every man who had been among the natives had been cut 
 down at the first alarm. Out of the twenty-eight hands on 
 board when the fight began only sixteen remained. Many of 
 these had desperate wounds from the Malay creases, and two 
 of them died a day or two afterwards. Conklin had been very 
 badly cut about. None of the wounds ought to have been 
 dangerous, but he had heated his blood by drink, and that in 
 in a hot climate is fatal, so we buried him ten days after the 
 fight. Thus, you see, we lost two officers and thirteen men, 
 
"WE WENT AT THE TREACHEROUS MALAYS WITH A WILL, AND 
 DROVE THEM BACK." 
 
IN THE MALAY ARCHIPELAGO. 37 
 
 and all for want of taking precautions. Of course we sailed at 
 once for Calcutta, and luckily had fine weather on the way; 
 we should have fared badly with but half a crew had we fallen 
 in with a hurricane. Pearson was a good navigator, and, after 
 taking six more hands on board at Calcutta, he brought her 
 home safely. The owners made us both handsome presents, 
 and the next voyage he sailed as first mate and I as second. 
 So it turned out a lucky stroke for both of us. Three years 
 later he went as captain, and a year afterwards I sailed as his 
 first mate." 
 
 " When was it you had your other adventure, captain 1 ?" 
 " That was in the year before. I did not sail with Pearson 
 that year, for he was promoted suddenly to a ship ready to 
 sail. It was a piece of luck for him. One of the owners went 
 down to the docks late one afternoon and found the captain 
 blind drunk. So he was sent straight on shore, and Pearson 
 got his billet. I was very sorry that I could not go with him, 
 as after that business we became great friends, and in his 
 report of the affair he gave me more credit than I deserved 
 for my idea of getting those hatchets up, which, he said, alone 
 enabled us to make a successful defence. I had the more cause 
 to regret his transfer, since the captain was an obstinate man, 
 as we found out during the voyage, and just as much inclined 
 to treat the natives with contempt as my former skipper had 
 been. However, the man appointed to take Pearson's place 
 as first mate was a sharp fellow, and lucky he was so. We 
 were lying one night in a harbour where the natives had 
 appeared particularly friendly the day before. Purvis, the 
 mate, suggested to the captain that it would be as well to have 
 the watches kept as if at sea, but the old man pooh-poohed 
 the idea. 
 
 " 'I don't like it,' the mate said to me; 'those fellows were 
 too friendly. They did not bargain over the goods, but took 
 
38 WITH COCHRANE THE DAUNTLESS. 
 
 them at our own terms, which is not their way. I believe 
 they did it just to lull us into a sense of security. As soon as 
 the skipper turns in for the night I will get the guns quietly 
 loaded, and you and I will keep watch, while I will order the 
 crew to turn in all standing, so as to be ready to tumble out 
 at once. It is mighty hard to keep awake on these soft nights 
 when the anchor is down, and with neither you nor I on deck 
 the betting is two to one that the hands on anchor watch will 
 drop off to sleep. The skipper will be snoring by ten o'clock, 
 and you had better turn in now. I will see to getting the 
 guns loaded, and to having plenty of ammunition handy. I 
 will call you at four bells. If we are going to be attacked it 
 is likely to. be just as day is breaking.' 
 
 '"You had better call me at two bells,' I said, 'and then 
 you can get three hours' sleep and be up at eight bells. It 
 won't begin to get light until after that, and you may be sure 
 that if I hear any sound I will wake you at once.' 
 
 " So we arranged it, and at one o'clock he came down quietly. 
 I had only taken off my shoes and carried these in my hand, 
 so as to avoid making any noise that might wake the skipper, 
 as I went out on deck. 
 
 "'Everything is quiet,' the mate said, 'and has been ever 
 since you turned in. Even that is not natural, for, as you know, 
 the natives when they have been doing a trade generally keep 
 on feasting and making a row half the night. Keep your ears 
 well open, for there is no trusting the watch. Every time I 
 have gone forward I have found them sound asleep. Naturally 
 they think that, as there is only an anchor watch, there can 
 be no fear of disturbance ; so you must trust to your own ears 
 and not to theirs.' 
 
 " 'All right!' I said; 'I will keep awake — never fear.' 
 
 "I think if I had not been confident that the first mate was 
 not the man to take alarm easily, I should have had difficulty 
 
IN THE MALAY ARCHIPELAGO. 39 
 
 in keeping my eyes open, for the night was sultry and not a 
 breath of air was moving. I went forward to the two men on 
 watch and told them that they must keep a sharp look-out, 
 for that it was likely enough we might be attacked before 
 morning. Then I lit my pipe and paced up and down the 
 deck, stopping occasionally to listen intently. It was nearly 
 eight bells when I thought I heard a grating sound on shore. 
 I walked forward and found, as I expected, that the two men 
 on watch were half -asleep. 'Wake up, you fools!' I said; 
 "there is something moving.' Again I heard the low grating 
 sound. 
 
 " 'Did you hear that?' I asked. 
 
 " The men were wide awake now. 
 
 " 'Yes, sir, I heard a noise; but I don't know what it was.' 
 
 " 'They are launching their canoes,' I said. 'I will call the 
 first officer.' 
 
 " I went aft. Purvis woke directly I touched him. 
 
 '"I fancy they are launching their canoes,' I said. ' I have 
 twice heard a grating sound.' 
 
 " He was up in a moment. We stood listening intently for 
 some minutes. There was certainly a movement on shore, but 
 it was difficult to say of what kind. It was just a low con- 
 fused murmur. 
 
 '"You are right,' the mate said presently; 'look at the 
 water.' 
 
 "For a moment I scarcely understood him; then I saw what 
 he meant. It had been as smooth as oil before ; it was no 
 longer so, but it was broken with tiny ripples as if disturbed 
 by the faintest possible breeze. 
 
 " ' These ripples must be made by launching the canoes,' he 
 went on. 'A strong body of men might carry them almost 
 noiselessly down that sandy beach and put them in the water 
 without making a splash, but the stir made in wading and in 
 
40 WITH COCHRANE THE DAUNTLESS. 
 
 lowering them down, however quietly, would break up this 
 glassy surface, and the ripples once started would run out 
 here. Anyhow we will get the men out. Tell them to come 
 noiselessly. We will serve out the arms and ammunition to 
 them, but we won't load the guns till we have something more 
 to go upon. It may be some time before they attack. I think 
 it is likely enough that they will wait until they hear the 
 boats — which I have no doubt they have sent for — coming up, 
 before they make a move.' 
 
 " 'Shall I wake the skipper?' 
 
 " ' Certainly not. As likely as not he would blow us all up 
 and send the men back to their bunks again. He has made 
 up his mind that there is no danger, and the obstinate beggar 
 would risk our having all our throats cut rather than own 
 there was any ground for alarm.' 
 
 " I went into the forecastle and roused the men, warning 
 them to muster as quietly as possible. Half an hour passed 
 without the slightest sound being heard. Then the men fidg- 
 eted and whispered together, and were evidently of opinion 
 that they had been turned out on a false alarm. 
 
 "'Hush, men!' Purvis said sharply, 'I can hear some- 
 thing.' 
 
 " You could have heard a pin drop in a moment, and I believe 
 every man held his breath. There was a sort of quiver in the 
 air rather than a sound, and Watkins the boatswain, who had 
 been years and years in vessels trading among the islands, 
 said: 'You are right, Mr. Purvis, that is sweeps; and what is 
 more, it is not one boat, but I should say half a dozen.' 
 
 " ' That is what I think,' the mate said. ' How far off should 
 you say they were 1 ' 
 
 " ' It is difficult to tell. I should say three or four miles. 
 That is the best of these proas. A canoe, if the men take 
 pains with their paddling, wdl come within a hundred j^ards 
 
IN THE MALAY ARCHIPELAGO. 41 
 
 of you before you hear them, but as the proas row oars, you 
 can make them out a long way off on a still night like this.' 
 
 " ' Well, we will wait a few minutes longer before we wake 
 the skipper,' Purvis said to me. ' He will swear that he does 
 not hear any noise at all, and that it is all our fancy. In 
 ten minutes there will be no mistaking it. Watkins, you had 
 better get up that boarding-netting ' — for among these islands 
 all the ships carry them, and very useful they are in repelling 
 an attack. 
 
 " 'I have got it handy,' the boatswain said, and soon brought 
 it on deck. 'Shall we lash it up, sir?' 
 
 "'No; we had better wait till the captain comes out. It 
 won't take above a couple of minutes, especially if you run it 
 all along by the bulwarks.' 
 
 " In a few minutes the sound of the oars was unmistakable, 
 and Purvis went in to call the captain. 
 
 " 'What is it?' the skipper said as the mate knocked. 
 
 " ' There are five or six proas coming towards us, sir, and we 
 have reason to believe that the canoes on shore are all launched 
 and ready to attack us.' 
 
 " ' I believe it is all nonsense,' the skipper said angrily as he 
 came from his door. 'You are always fidgeting about pirates, 
 Mr. Purvis.' 
 
 " He came out on deck, listened a moment, and then said : 
 ' Stuff and nonsense ! What, have you got the men out ? 
 Send them to their bunks at once!' 
 
 " ' With the greatest respect to you, sir, I shall do nothing of 
 the sort, and if I did the men would not obey me. They can 
 all hear the proas, and we are not going to submit to have our 
 throats cut tamely. Mr. Pinder thoroughly agrees with me, 
 and so does the boatswain, that these proas can be coming for 
 no good purpose at this time of night, and it were madness 
 not to be ready for them. What do you say, Mr. Pinder?' 
 
42 WITH COCHRANE THE DAUNTLESS. 
 
 " ' I entirely agree with you, sir,' I replied. 
 
 " 'This is rank mutiny!' the skipper said furiously. 
 
 " ' I would rather be tried for mutiny than have my throat 
 cut here. Now, sir, will you give orders, or shall 1 1 ' 
 
 " ' I will give no orders,' the captain said. ' In the morning 
 I will have you put in irons.' 
 
 "Purvis, giving a short laugh, turned on his heel. 'My 
 lads,' he said, 'you have heard the sound of the oars, and 
 know as well as I do that we shall shortly be attacked, and 
 shall have to fight hard for our lives. The captain is of opinion 
 that we are all mistaken, and wants us to turn in again. What 
 do you say 1 Will you have your throats cut or not 1 ' 
 
 "There was an angry growl from the sailors. 
 
 "'Very well, then, set to work and load the guns — ball at 
 first, but keep your grape handy, we shall want it before we 
 have done. Do it quietly; it is as well these fellows on shore 
 should not know what we are up to. As soon as you have 
 loaded, rig up the boarding-nettings.' 
 
 " In a moment all was bustle. There was no need to run the 
 guns in, for that was already done, the captain insisting upon 
 our always having the ports closed, in order, as he said, that 
 the natives might see that our intentions were perfectly 
 friendly. Consequently, the men were enabled to load the 
 guns without noise, moving about the deck on their naked 
 feet like shadows. Then the boarding-nettings were triced up, 
 arms distributed amongst the men, each having a boarding- 
 pike, a cutlass, and a brace of pistols. By the time that this 
 was done, we judged by the sound of the sweeps that the 
 pirates were not more than a mile away. Lanterns were got 
 up on deck and placed in readiness to be lighted and run up 
 to the yard-arm, so as to throw some light down on the 
 water. 
 
 " ' Now, we will call the old man again. Obstinate as he 
 
IN THE MALAY ARCHIPELAGO. 43 
 
 is he can't help hearing the oars now, and I know that he 
 is plucky enough, and will fight the ship well as soon as he is 
 once convinced that there is danger.' 
 
 "We went together to the skipper's. 
 
 " Captain,' Purvis said in a loud voice, ' Pinder and I have 
 come to tell you that the proas are within a mile of us, and 
 to ask you to take the command and fight the ship.' 
 
 "We heard the skipper tumble out of his bunk again with an 
 angry exclamation. He opened the door without a word and 
 went straight up on to the poop. He listened a moment, and 
 then ran down again. 
 
 "'I beg your pardon, Mr. Purvis,' he said hastily, 'but I 
 have been wrong, and there is no doubt we are going to be 
 attacked. I am heartily sorry for what I have said, and I 
 thank you for your watchfulness." 
 
 "'Say no more about it, captain. We are ready to begin 
 as soon as you give the orders.' 
 
 '"I will throw on some things and be out again in a minute;' 
 and in less than that time he turned out again. 
 
 " 'You have the guns loaded 1 ?' he asked. 
 
 " 'Ay, ay, sir, and the boarding-nettings up.' 
 
 " ' Can you make them out yet?' 
 
 " 'No, sir. By the sound, they are keeping close in to the 
 shore. I have got the kedge anchor in a boat. Shall I lower 
 it and row a couple of ship'sdengths and drop it there, then 
 we can warp her round, so as to bring all our guns to bear? 
 I deferred doing that to the last, so that the fellows on shore 
 should not know we were on the alert.' 
 
 " 'Yes; do so at once, Mr. Purvis.' 
 
 "The boatswain and two hands were at once called to the 
 boat, which was then lowered and rowed off in the direction 
 the mate pointed out. The anchor was let drop, and the 
 boat returned to the ship, paying out the hawser over the 
 
44 WITH COCHRANE THE DAUNTLESS. 
 
 stern. The captain had taken his place on the forecastle, and 
 was looking anxiously ahead. 
 
 "'I see them,' he exclaimed at last; 'they are coming out 
 from behind that low point half a mile away. Haul on the 
 hawser and bring her broadside to bear on them. Get the guns 
 across to the starboard side, Mr. Pinder.' 
 
 " The ship was pierced for eight guns a side, and by the time 
 the ship was swung round, they were all in position. The 
 proas, now no more than a quarter of a mile away, were head- 
 ing straight for us. 
 
 " ' Take a steady aim, lads,' the captain said, ' and fire as 
 soon as you are sure of your shot.' 
 
 "In quick succession the guns spoke out. At the reports 
 wild yells broke from the proas, and from the shore, now 
 astern of us. 
 
 " ' Load as quick as you can with grape,' the captain shouted. 
 
 " There had been five proas when the first gun was fired, but 
 before we had reloaded one had disappeared, and there was 
 shouting and confusion in one of the others. It was evident 
 that she also was in difficulties. 
 
 " 'Don't fire until I give the word.' 
 
 " The three proas were within fifty yards of us when he gave 
 the order, and the eight guns poured their contents into the 
 crowded decks. The effect was terrible. Two of the proas 
 ceased rowing altogether, and some of the oars of the other 
 dropped into the water and hampered the efforts of those who 
 still continued to row. 
 
 " 'The port watch will repel boarders. The starboard watch 
 will load again,' the captain ordered. 
 
 "There was way enough on the proas to bring them all 
 alongside, but either the men at the steering oars were all 
 killed or they had lost their head.:, for, instead of bringing 
 them up alongside, they simply came up bows on. As they 
 
IN THE MALAY ARCHIPELAGO. 45 
 
 struck the side the Malays tried to climb up, but, attacking 
 as they did only at three points, our men had little difficulty 
 in keeping them off, thrusting through the nettings with their 
 boarding-pikes, and giving the Malays no time to attempt to 
 chop down the nettings with their creases. 
 
 " 'Are you all loaded?' the captain shouted. 
 
 " 'Ay, ay, sir,' came from the guns. 
 
 " ' Train them so as to take the proas between wind and 
 water,' the captain said; 'then run the port guns back to their 
 places; we shall be attacked on that side directly.' 
 
 " The sea indeed was sparkling with phosphoric fire, as a 
 crowd of canoes from the shore paddled out towards us. The 
 steward now lit and ran up half a dozen lanterns. We got the 
 guns over in time, but before we could load them the Malays 
 were swarming up the side. 
 
 "'Take three men, Pinder, and load the guns,' cried the 
 captain; 'we will keep these fellows off.' 
 
 " The same order was given to the boatswain with regard to 
 the guns on the starboard side. It was exciting work, for spears 
 were flying in showers, stink-pots Avere hurled over the net- 
 tings, and the yelling and shouting were deafening. Our men 
 were sticking to their pikes, for they had been ordered to keep 
 their pistols in reserve in case the pirates obtained a footing 
 on deck. There were two little guns on the poop, and when 
 I had loaded the guns on the port side the captain sent me up 
 to load these. I crammed them with bullets up to the muzzle, 
 and then ran them to the poop railing, and placed one of the 
 hands there with a lighted match. We had a tough ten 
 minutes of it, and if the canoes had come up at the same time 
 as the proas it would have gone hard with us; but the last 
 broadside that had been poured in had sunk two of the big 
 craft, and the other had drifted away, so that, in fact, we had 
 only the shore canoes to cope with. We had hard work to 
 
46 WITH COCHRANE THE DAUNTLESS. 
 
 keep them back, but none of the natives managed to cross tbe 
 netting along the waist of the ship, though a few shoved them- 
 selves through holes that they hacked with their creases. 
 
 " Some managed to swarm up by the cable on to the bows, 
 but three men who were stationed there disposed of them 
 before enough could gain a footing to be dangerous. The 
 captain had been keeping the guns in reserve in case the proa 
 that had dropped behind at first should come on, but he now 
 saw that she was low in the water, and that many of the 
 Malays were jumping overboard. He therefore shouted out: 
 
 " 'Give them both broadsides. Aim into the thick of them.' 
 
 " That broadside settled it; seven or eight of their big canoes 
 were smashed up; several of the others turned and paddled to 
 the shore; and a moment later, the men who were attacking 
 us leapt into the boats alongside and followed their example. 
 
 " 'Load as quickly as you can,' the captain cried, 'and give 
 them a parting salute.' We ran the two little quarter-deck 
 guns over and peppered them with bullets, and the other guns 
 joined in as soon as they were reloaded.' 
 
 "That finished the matter. Our loss was not heavy, con- 
 sidering what a hard fight it had been. We had but two 
 killed, and seven or eight wounded by their spears; while they 
 must have suffered frightfully. In the morning the captain 
 called the crew aft, and made a speech thanking them for 
 their conduct, and saying that they owed their safety and 
 that of the ship to the first mate and myself, and that the 
 night's work would be a lesson that he should never forget. 
 He privately said the same thing to us, and there was no 
 doubt that it was the first mate who saved the ship. 
 
 " This and the other affair were a lesson to me as well as 
 to the captain. No matter how friendly the natives might 
 appear, from that day I have never anchored among the islands 
 without having half my guns double-shotted, and the other 
 
IN THE MALAY ARCHIPELAGO. 47 
 
 half loaded with grape; and there is always an officer and half 
 a watch on deck, so that, whatever happens to us, it will not be 
 because I have been caught napping. On both those occasions 
 the captains well-nigh lost ship and crew by their carelessness." 
 
 For several weeks they cruised among the islands bartering 
 goods with the natives of sea-coast villages. At most of these 
 the captain had touched on previous voyages, and as soon as 
 the ship was recognized the canoes came off freely. Stephen 
 gradually got rid of the goods he had purchased at Calcutta. 
 Knowing nothing of the respective value of the bird skins, he 
 was guided simply by their rarity. Of skins of which numbers 
 were brought on board, he bought none, however brilliant 
 the plumage; but whenever he saw one that was new to him 
 he at once made an offer for it. But as this was seldom, his 
 box filled but slowly, until one day he went ashore with the 
 captain, the first mate, and twelve sailors armed to the teeth, 
 to pay a visit to the chief. On the few occasions on which he 
 had landed he always carried with him a hand-bag filled full 
 of trade goods. On the present occasion, after the feasting 
 had gone on for some time, he stole out from the chief's hut. 
 The men were sitting down in front drinking palm wine, but 
 keeping a vigilant eye upon the movements of the natives. 
 Presently one of the Malays came up to him and touched his 
 bag, as if to ask what were its contents. He brought out two 
 or three small looking-glasses, some large brass necklaces, 
 and a few of the cheap bangles and rings set with coloured 
 glass, used by the Hindoo peasant women. The native pointed 
 to a hut near, and beckoned to Steve to follow him. 
 
 "Jim, you may as well come with me," Stephen said to one 
 of the sailors. "I think this fellow wants to trade with me; 
 but they are treacherous beggars, and I don't care about going 
 with him by myself." 
 
 The sailor got up and followed him across to the hut. The 
 
48 WITH COCHRANE THE DAUNTLESS. 
 
 Malay was evidently a chief of some importance, and Stephen 
 thought that he might be possessed of articles of a better class 
 than those usually offered. In one corner of the hut stood a 
 seaman's chest with several small cases round it. It needed 
 but a glance to show that the latter were two chronometers 
 and three quadrants. 
 
 " The scoundrels have been plundering a ship, Jim." 
 
 " Ay, ay, your honour, there is not much doubt about that. 
 I should like to knock the black villain on the head." 
 
 The chief caught the tone of anger, and made a variety of 
 signs to the effect that there had been a great storm, and that 
 a ship had been driven ashore and wrecked. 
 
 "Ay, ay, that is all very well," the sailor growled; "but 
 that won't do for us. Those chronometers Avould never have 
 floated, and them polished cases have never been in the 
 water." 
 
 "Never mind, Jim; it won't do to look suspicious." He 
 pointed to the chronometers, and asked by signs how much 
 was wanted for them. He took out four looking-glasses, two 
 brass chains, and three or four bead necklaces. The chief 
 looked doubtful; but when Stephen added a crimson silk 
 handkerchief he closed with the bargain at once. He would 
 indeed have given them for the looking-glasses alone if Stephen 
 had held out for them, for he regarded the chronometers with 
 a certain sense of dread ; they were to him mysteries, having 
 made, when first brought ashore, a ticking noise, and were 
 generally considered to be in some way alive. They were, 
 therefore, left out in the air for some days, and it was then 
 found that they were, as supposed, dead. None of the other 
 natives would have given them house-room; but the chief, 
 who was less superstitious than the majority of the tribe, had 
 brought them into his hut, although he had not had sufficient 
 courage to break them up for the sake of the brass. 
 
IN THE MALAY ARCHIPELAGO. 49 
 
 Having disposed of these the chief opened the lid of the 
 chest. He took out some clothes and held them up, but Stephen 
 shook his head decidedly. Then he brought out a gold watch 
 and a heavy bag; he untied the latter, and handed it to Stephen 
 for inspection. The lad had difficulty in repressing an exclama- 
 tion, for it was full of guineas, but put it down and placed the 
 watch beside it, assumed an air of indifference, and then made 
 up another pile of about equal value to the first, but threw in a 
 couple of dozen brass buttons. The chief nodded, and Stephen 
 slipped the bag and watch into his coat pocket. While this 
 transaction had been going on, Jim had carried the boxes con- 
 taining the chronometers and quadrants to his comrades. 
 
 "Anything more, sir 1 ?" he asked, as he appeared at the door 
 of the hut. 
 
 "Nothing more to carry, Jim, as far as I am concerned; but 
 there is a good pea-jacket and some togs in that chest. I have 
 no doubt that it belonged to the captain of the ship; they have 
 cut off all the buttons. I will buy them for you." 
 
 The coat and trousers, and half a dozen shirts were, to 
 Jim's great delight, purchased for him. Stephen then examined 
 the whole contents of the chest, thinking that some papers 
 might be found that would give a clue to the name of the 
 ship that it had belonged to, but nothing of the sort was 
 discovered. However, he bought the whole of the clothes, and, 
 calling in the sailors one by one, divided them among them, 
 and then went back and joined the captain. 
 
 " I have been doing some trading, captain," he whispered 
 to him. "It is white plunder; and I have no doubt that a 
 ship has been surprised and her crew massacred somewhere 
 near here. I have bought the chronometers and quadrants, 
 and they have certainly not been in the water; also the con- 
 tents of a sea-chest, which I divided among the men. There 
 were no papers of any kind, but from the appearance of the 
 
 ( M 220 ) D 
 
50 WITH COCHRANE THE DAUNTLESS 
 
 chronometers, I should say that they cannot have been here 
 long." 
 
 The captain nodded. 
 
 " We will talk it over when we get on board, Steve. We 
 will be off at once, for these fellows are beginning to get drunk 
 with this beastly liquor of theirs, and it is best that we should 
 get out of the place before there is any excuse for a quarrel." 
 
 A few minutes later they took their seats in the boat and 
 rowed off to the ship. 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 A CYCLONE. 
 
 AS soon as they arrived on board, Captain Pinder ex- 
 amined the chronometers and pronounced them to be 
 excellent ones. 
 
 " I would not wind them up until it is Greenwich time as 
 they now stand, and would then compare them with our own." 
 
 " Of course, sir," Stephen said, " I have bought these not for 
 myself but for the ship." 
 
 "Not at all, Steve; you have traded as you have a right to 
 do, and the ship has nothing to do with it. At the same time 
 I don't know whether you will be able to keep or sell them. 
 I must give notice on our return home that such things have 
 been found here under circumstances that leave no doubt 
 that the crew of the ship to which they belonged have been 
 massacred, and the ship herself burned. No doubt owners of 
 vessels that have been missing will call at the office to inspect 
 the chronometers. I do not say that anyone would have a 
 legal right to them; they have been absolutely lost and gone 
 
A CYCLONE. 51 
 
 out of their possession, and you have bought them in the way 
 of fair trade." 
 
 " If they wish to have them back again, sir, of course I will 
 give them up." 
 
 "Well, at any rate, if you did so, lad, you would get a 
 reward proportionate to their value. However, they may 
 never be claimed. Owners whose ships are missing, and who 
 have received the insurance money, are not likely to trouble 
 themselves further in the matter." 
 
 " This is not all I have, sir," Stephen went on. "I also got 
 this gold watch and this bag of money. I suppose the chest 
 belonged to the captain, and that he carried this gold with 
 him for the purchase of stores." 
 
 " You are a lucky fellow, Steve. Come down into my cabin 
 and we will count the money. Two hundred guineas," he 
 went on, when they had finished ; " well, that is about the best 
 bit of trade that I have seen done ; you had better hand this 
 over to me to keep." 
 
 "Oh, I don't mean it to be kept, sir," Stephen said; "it 
 would not be fair at all. I would not think of it. It is like 
 prize-money, and ought to be divided in the same way. I don't 
 mind keeping the gold watch just now, 1 ut if we find out the 
 name of the ship when we get back to England, I should wish 
 to send it to the widow of the captain, and the money too, if 
 it belonged to him." 
 
 " There is no chance whatever of that, lad. No captain 
 would be fool enough to bring out a lot of gold like that on 
 his own account. It was certainly ship's money that he would 
 hold for making advances to the crew; as for the purchase of 
 stores, he would pay for them by bills on the owner. But 
 still, you are no doubt right about the watch, and the poor 
 fellow's widow would, doubtless, be glad to have it; as to the 
 gold, I will take charge of it for the present. We will talk 
 
52 WITH COCHRANE THE DAUNTLESS. 
 
 the matter over again later on; there is no occasion to come to 
 any decision about it. At present it is entirely yours. I don't 
 think that you have any right to give up a sum of money like 
 this without, at any rate, very careful consideration. It is a 
 sum that, divided up into shares, would give but a very small 
 amount to each on board, while it might be of the most material 
 service to you some day or other. But please oblige me by 
 saying nothing whatever about it at present. Whatever deci- 
 sion is arrived at in matters of this sort, somebody is sure 
 to feel aggrieved, and it is astonishing what little things upset 
 a crew, especially on a voyage of this kind, where there is no 
 such controlling influence over the men's minds as that exer- 
 cised by touching at ports where there are authorities to whom, 
 in case of necessity, the captain can appeal." 
 
 "Very well, sir, I will, of course, do as you wish. Shall I 
 say anything about the watch 1 " 
 
 "Yes; there is no objection to your doing that, especially as 
 that must be mentioned in any inquiries we may make as to 
 any ship being missing, and there is no need for any secrecy 
 about it. I shall also mention the money to the officers; they 
 will appreciate the offer that you have made, and agree with 
 me, I am sure, that it will be better that nothing should be 
 said to the crew." 
 
 That evening the first mate said to Stephen: "The captain 
 has been telling us about that bag of money you got hold of, 
 Steve, and we all think that your offer to treat it as if it were 
 prize-money is a very kind one, but we agree with him that it 
 would be a mistake. In the first place, the money wouldn't 
 go far. In any matter of that sort the ship, that is to say the 
 owners, take a large share to begin with, the officers take some 
 shares, and the men's shares would not come to a pound a head. 
 A pound a head would only suffice for them to have a drunken 
 spree on shore, but they are just as well without that, and, as 
 
A CYCLONE. 53 
 
 the captain says, it is astonishing what little things upset 
 sailors' minds. They might take it into their head that as you 
 got two hundred pounds in that hut there might be a lot more, 
 and they would be wanting to land and to turn the village 
 upside down, and there would be bloodshed and all sorts of 
 trouble. The old saying, ' Least said, soonest mended ', comes 
 in here strongly. We have, so far, got on very well with the 
 natives this voyage, and I hope that we shall continue to do 
 so to the end. I quite allow that we should all of us be glad 
 to give a sharp lesson to that village ashore. They have been 
 plundering, and I have no doubt murdering, the crew of some 
 ship. Still, we have no evidence of that, and we can't attack 
 the village on mere supposition. They have been friendly 
 enough with us, partly because we have been here before, and 
 the captain gets on well with them, but more because they are 
 perfectly well aware that we are always on guard, and that 
 there is no chance whatever of their catching us asleep. In 
 nine cases out of ten it is the carelessness and over-confidence 
 of sailors that tempt the natives to take advantage of it; they 
 would never have shown you these things if they had had any 
 idea of attacking us." 
 
 Next morning the operation of filling up the water-tanks 
 was completed, and at noon the orders were given to weigh 
 anchor. Steve saw how rightly the captain had foreseen what 
 was likely to happen, for no sooner was the order given than 
 two of the men came aft as a deputation from the crew. 
 
 " What is it, lads?" he asked. 
 
 "Well, .captain, the boat's crew that went ashore yesterday 
 came off with a lot of togs that" must, in course, have 
 been taken from some seaman's chest. Now, it seems to 
 us as that chest could not have been there by fair means, and 
 that, like enough, they had been murdering and looting some 
 vessel here; and, for aught we know, the place may be full of 
 
54 WITH COCHRANE THE DAUNTLESS. 
 
 plunder of some sort or another, and that, may be, there are 
 twenty or thirty other seamen's chests there, and other goods. 
 It seems to us, sir, that these chaps ought to be punished, and 
 that we should try to get as much of the plunder they have 
 got hidden as we can; therefore, the crew beg that you will 
 sanction our going ashore and tackling them." 
 
 "No, lads, I can't sanction that," the captain said. "It is 
 true that Mr. Embleton was offered by one of their chiefs some 
 chronometers and the contents of a sea-chest. He bought the 
 chronometers, and he also bought the contents of the chest and 
 divided them among the men who went ashore. The chief 
 made signs to him that these things had been saved from a ship 
 that had been wrecked, and it is possible that it may be so. It 
 may not have been wrecked on this island, and those things may 
 have been the share of one of the canoes from here that assisted 
 in looting her; at any rate, we have no proof that the vessel was 
 boarded and captured. If it had been done here, I think we 
 should have seen more signs of it among the natives who have 
 come out to the ship or on shore. There would have been more 
 trade goods about — handkerchiefs, and beads, and so on, and 
 they would not have been anxious to trade with us. At any 
 rate, there are no grounds for attacking a village that has, 
 during the last three or four days, traded peacefully with us, 
 as they have done on several different occasions when I have 
 put in here. Even if there were no other reason, I should 
 refuse to allow them to be attacked, because the news of the 
 affair would spread from island to island, and next time we 
 were in these seas we should do no trade, and should certainly 
 be attacked if we gave them a chance. Of course I shall report 
 the circumstances connected with the discovery of this chest at 
 Calcutta, and endeavour to find out what ship has been lately 
 missing; beyond that we can do nothing in the matter. We 
 are traders ; if we are attacked we do our best to beat off the 
 
A CYCLONE. 55 
 
 assailants, but it would be altogether beyond our business to 
 attack sea-side villages because we find that they are in the 
 possession of ships' goods, for were we to do so we should soon 
 put an end to all trade in these islands. Glo back and tell your 
 comrades this, and then musterat once and heave the cable short." 
 
 The orders were obeyed, but it was evident that there was 
 a lack of the usual briskness and willingness. However, before 
 the ship had been many hours on her way, matters settled 
 down and the work went on as usual. 
 
 " You see, lad," the first officer said to Stephen as the sails 
 were sheeted home, and the Tiger glided away from her 
 anchorage, "the captain was quite right, and if it had been 
 known on the ship that you had got that money, there would 
 have been a good deal more trouble than there was. It would 
 have been no good to tell them that, no doubt, it was the 
 ship's money. Sailors are like children; they would have 
 argued that if you could obtain two hundred pounds from one 
 hut, they would each be likely to get as much in a general 
 loot of the village. You see, giving them those togs you 
 bought was enough to stir them up, and things would not have 
 passed off so pleasantly had they known about the money. 
 
 " I do not say that there would have been a mutiny, or any- 
 thing of that sort, because the great majority of them have 
 sailed for years under the skipper; still, there would have been 
 great discontent and grumbling, and if there happened to be 
 among the new hands one or two sea-lawyers, they might have 
 worked upon the men, and caused a great deal of trouble." 
 
 "I see that, sir," Steve said. 
 
 " Well, there is no harm done, lad, and you will see that in 
 a day or two the matter will have been forgotten. But it is a 
 lesson that you may profit by; it is always best to avoid 
 anything that, even remotely, is likely to set sailors talking 
 together. All crews are not as trustworthy as the Tiger's, and 
 
56 WITH COCHRANE THE DAUNTLESS. 
 
 you would be astonished what mischief two or three cunning 
 plausible rascals can do among a crew, if they have got ever so 
 small a grievance to work upon." 
 
 A week later the ship was passing along the coast of a small 
 island when Joyce, the eldest apprentice, who was examining 
 the shore through a glass, said to the second officer: 
 
 " There is a wreck of some sort, sir, in among those black 
 rocks." 
 
 " So there is," the mate said, shading his eyes with his hand. 
 " I see it plainly enough now that you call my attention to it." 
 
 He went aft and reported it to the captain, who came out 
 and examined it carefully with his glass. 
 
 " It is a wreck certainly, and not the work of the natives this 
 time," he said. " She has been blown on shore and left almost 
 high and dry; her spars are all gone, the bulwarks are swept 
 away, and though I cannot see the line of her broadside, I 
 fancy that she has broken in two. Anyhow, as we have hardly 
 steerage way, we shall lose no time by sending to find out what 
 ship she is. Mr. Towel, you might as well lower the gig. Take 
 six men; let them all take muskets and pistols with them. As 
 Mr. Joyce was the first to make her out he may as well go 
 with you. If you see no signs of natives, you can land and 
 ascertain whether she has been plundered. It may be that 
 she has not been discovered yet by the natives. If you see 
 any of them about, content yourself with getting the ship's 
 name and port from her stern." 
 
 The boat was lowered. 
 
 " You may go too, Steve," he added as Stephen was looking 
 down into the boat. "It is Mr. Archer's turn; but as he had 
 got a touch of fever this morning, he is better sitting under 
 the shade of that sail than in an open boat." 
 
 "Thank you very much, sir," Stephen said, and, running 
 below, shoved his pistols into his pocket. 
 
A CYCLONE. 57 
 
 " You have got water in the boat T the captain asked the 
 mate just as Steve returned on deck. 
 
 "The keg is about half-full, sir," he said as one of the sailors 
 lifted and shook it. 
 
 " Hand them another down from the long-boat," the captain 
 said, turning to one of the men; "it is better always to make 
 sure. Mr. Towel," he went on, leaning over the side, "one is 
 never sure of the weather for an hour, and I don't altogether 
 like the colour of the sky now. But if there are no signs of 
 change aloft, and you see the natives have not been near the 
 place, give a look round beyond the rocks for anything that 
 might show whether some of the crew got ashore — fires made, 
 or anything of that sort. Should you see signs, we will fire a 
 gun or two when you return, and lay off for a few hours to 
 give them a chance of coming down to the beach." 
 
 "Ay, ay, sir," the mate said, "I will take a look round for them; 
 but from the way she has been thrown up I should doubt whe- 
 ther there is the slightest chance of anyone having got ashore." 
 
 The captain nodded, then the mate gave the word, and the 
 boat pushed off from the ship. Four men rowed, two sat in the 
 bow, Mr. Towel and the two apprentices sat aft. They were 
 some three miles from shore. There was a ripple on the 
 water, but the wind was very light. There was, however, a 
 ground-swell that had caused the Tiger to roll, but which was 
 scarcely perceptible in the boat. Steve remarked on this. 
 
 "No," the mate said, "these long swells do not affect a boat 
 in the least. I have often gone ashore on the west coast of 
 Africa, when one was scarcely conscious in the boat of there 
 being any swell on at all, and yet the vessels at anchor outside 
 were rolling almost gunwale under. Still, I would rather that 
 we had not got it, it is a sign that there is wind somewhere, 
 and I agree with the skipper that it is an unnatural-looking 
 sky. Still, it may be hours yet before there is any change." 
 
58 WITH COCHRANE THE DAUNTLESS. 
 
 Half an hour's rowing took them to shore. " She could 
 not have picked out a worse place, lads," the mate said when 
 they approached the wreck. " You see there are black heads 
 sticking out of the water all round, and it must have been a tre- 
 mendous sea to have carried that ship right through them and 
 chucked her up there where there are not two feet of water." 
 
 "The Lady Vernon, London," Joyce exclaimed at this mo- 
 ment, " I can make out her name plainly." 
 
 "Then your eyes are better than mine, Joyce, for I can't 
 say I can read it yet. Row easy, men, and you in the bow 
 keep a sharp look-out on the water. If we were to come bow- 
 on to a hidden rock we should have to wait ashore until 
 another boat came out to fetch us." 
 
 Rowing very gently the boat kept on her course until 
 within half a length of the ship, then she ran quietly up on a 
 flat rock some seven or eight inches under water. They could 
 see now that the captain's conjecture was correct. The ship 
 had broken her back, having, as she was carried in on the 
 crest of a great wave, dropped on a sharp ledge of rocks about 
 amidships. The sea had rushed in through the hole in her 
 side, and had torn away all her planking and most of her 
 timbers forward, while the after part of the ship had held 
 together. The hold, however, was gutted of its contents. 
 
 "The natives have not been, here since," Steve said as he 
 pointed ahead where, apparently far out of reach of the Avater, 
 lay a quantity of wreckage, splinters of planks, bits of timber, 
 bales of goods, and a great litter of loose cargo. 
 
 "It is of no use climbing up above," the mate said in answer 
 to an offer on Joyce's part to endeavour to reach the deck. 
 "The waves, you see, have rushed in through the stern windows, 
 and have made a clean SAveep of everything. Half the deck has 
 burst up and gone. We A\dll have a look at the things on 
 shore. Step out, lads, and pull the boat a bit higher up." 
 
A CYCLONE. 59 
 
 This was done, and they waded through the water knee-deep 
 to shore. The wreckage lay a hundred yards further up, on 
 ground quite twenty feet higher than that on which they were 
 standing. The bales were all marked with the ship's name. 
 There were no signs of casks or boxes, these had doubtless been 
 smashed into splinters. Among the wreckage five skeletons 
 were found. They searched further inland, but could discover 
 no sign whatever of life between the shore and a dense forest 
 that began four or five hundred yards away. 
 
 "It is certain that no one has escaped," the mate said. "In 
 the fii'st place, no living creature could have ever gained his 
 feet if cast up by such a sea as that must have been. The 
 first wave that struck her after she was thrown up there must 
 have swept the decks clean and finished them all at one blow. 
 In the next place, if by a miracle any of them did get safely 
 ashore, you may be sure that they would have buried their 
 comrades the next morning. You see, it is sand up there 
 where the wreckage lies, and it would not have taken long to 
 scrape a hole deep enough and large enough to bury them. 
 Ah! the captain is getting impatient," he exclaimed, as the 
 sound of a gun came across the water. "No wonder," he 
 went on as he looked at the sky. 
 
 They had been about an hour on shore, and had been so 
 fully occupied in examining the wreckage, and in looking for 
 some signs that might tell them if any of the crew had gained 
 the shore, that they had paid no attention whatever to the 
 weather. A great change had taken place since they had left 
 the ship. The wind had entirely died away, and a darkness 
 had crept over the sky; it was not a cloud, but a sort of dull 
 vapour. 
 
 " Quick, lads, to the boat," the mate said, " there is not a 
 moment to be lost. There is a storm brewing, and the sooner 
 we are on board the better." 
 
60 WITH COCHRANE THE DAUNTLESS. 
 
 They ran through the water, got into the boat, and pushed 
 her off. 
 
 "Be careful, men; paddle quietly until we are well beyond 
 the rocks. Keep a sharp look out forward." Another gun was 
 fired from the ship as he spoke. "Steady, men, steady!" he 
 said; "you can row as hard as you like when we get outside, 
 but it is of no use knocking a hole in her to start with." 
 
 As soon as they were beyond the rocks they bent to the oars. 
 At the mate's orders, the two apprentices and the sailors in the 
 bow took their seats by the rowers and double-banked the oars. 
 
 "The skipper is getting every rag of sail off her," the mate 
 said, as he looked ahead. " There is another gun ! It is getting 
 darker and darker, I don't suppose they can make us out. 
 Give way, lads." 
 
 The gloom deepened rapidly. The ship continued to fire 
 guns every minute or two, and it was well she did so, for the 
 mate had now lost sight of her. 
 
 "Which way do you think it will come, sir?" Stephen, who 
 was at the stroke-oar, asked. 
 
 The mate shook his head. " There is no knowing," he said. 
 " If it is inshore, the Tiger will lay her bones by that wreck 
 behind us. We can't be above a mile away from her by the 
 sound of that last gun. But it will be a close thing, I can hear 
 the wind coming." 
 
 Even those rowing were conscious of a low moaning sound. 
 
 "It comes from behind I think," the mate said in answer 
 to a look from Stephen. Suddenly a puff of wind from 
 behind rippled the water round them and then died away 
 again. "Row, lads," the mate exclaimed, "I can see the ship 
 now, she is not half a mile away; five minutes will do it." 
 
 The men strained at the oars and the boat sprang forward 
 at every stroke. They could hear the moaning sound growing 
 louder and louder. 
 
A CYCLONE. 61 
 
 " The captain has got her head off shore," the mate said; " he 
 has been towing her round. They have just hoisted the boat 
 up. He has got the little storm-jib on her. Now, lads, another 
 four or five hundred yards and we shall be alongside." 
 
 It was a race with the storm, but the odds were too great. 
 They were but a hundred yards from the ship when the roar 
 rose into a wild scream, and a line of white water sprang 
 towards them with fearful velocity. 
 
 " In oars, men!" the mate shouted. " Throw yourselves flat 
 in the bottom of the boat, — quick!" 
 
 The order was executed almost as soon as given. The mate, 
 too, slipped off his seat on to the floor-board, while still retain- 
 ing hold of the tiller. The next moment the storm struck them. 
 It was well that the boat was still flying through the water 
 with the Avay full on her; had she been lying motionless she 
 would probably have sunk like a stone under the force of the 
 blow. As it was she leapt forward like a horse under a spur. 
 They passed but half a length or so from the ship. The latter 
 had not yet gathered way, but lay pressed down until her bow 
 was well-nigh level with the water. As the mate looked up he 
 saw the captain holding on by the shrouds. Each waved a hand 
 and then the boat flew on, and in a minute the ship was out of 
 sight. The mate shouted in the ear of the sailor who rowed the 
 stroke-oar and who was lying next to him : 
 
 " Crawl forward and try and fix the floor-board there, so as 
 to show a few inches above the bow to act as a head-sail. If 
 she broaches to, it is all up with us. As you go along tell 
 each man to shift himself a bit more aft. Her stern must be 
 well down or I can never keep her straight. If you can't fix 
 the floor-board, get up the mast; tie up the foresail in a roll, 
 and then hoist it, that will give hold enough to the wind." 
 
 The man nodded and made his way forward ; he endeavoured 
 to carry out the first part of his orders, but the moment he 
 
62 WITH COCHRANE THE DAUNTLESS. 
 
 raised the floor-board above the level of the gunwale it was 
 wrenched from his hands and blown ahead. With the aid of 
 two other men he managed to step the mast. The mate waved 
 his hand to him to say that that would do for the present. 
 The man, however, prepared the sail ready for hoisting, rolling 
 it up tightly and winding a cord round and round it; then he 
 hooked the head on to the traveller on the mast, and lay 
 down at its foot, holding the halliard in readiness to hoist it. 
 The water was still perfectly smooth, and the boat flew straight 
 before the wind without any tendency to broach to. Stephen, 
 after the stroke-oar had gone forward, crept aft until he was 
 beside the mate, and there lay for a time, feeling half-stupefied 
 by the tremendous roar of the cyclone. 
 
 Captain Pinder was, as every good officer should be, most 
 particular about his boats, and always had them built specially 
 from his own design. They were broader than usual, and had 
 a flat floor and a deep keel, thus they were extremely buoyant, 
 their lines resembling those of the surf-boats on the west coasts 
 of India and Africa, while their deep keels enabled them to 
 sail close to the wind. The men chafed sometimes when, on 
 their way to shore, they found themselves passed by the narrow 
 boats of other ships; but the captain was perfectly indifferent 
 to this, and used to say to other skippers who laughed at him 
 for what they called his " walnut shells " : 
 
 " A boat is not made for racing ; she is made to carry her 
 crew in a heavy sea. My boats will live where yours would be 
 swamped in five minutes, and with their great beam they will 
 carry all sail, while you would not dare show a shred of canvas. 
 It makes no difference to me whether I get to shore five 
 minutes earlier or later; properly handled, the smallest of my 
 boats ought to weather any ordinary gale, while the long-boat 
 would be as safe to cross the Atlantic in as the Tiger herself, 
 though I don't say that she would be as comfortable." 
 
A CYCLONE. 63 
 
 The crew, every one of whom had many a time grumbled 
 at the contrast between their beamy craft and the smart gigs 
 of most other ships, now felt the advantage. The boat sped 
 lightly along, raising her head higher and higher out of the 
 water whenever a fresh blast of wind added to her speed, and, 
 save for the sound of the rushing water against the sides, 
 might have been at rest, for any motion that could be perceived. 
 In half an hour the sea began to get up; as soon as it did so 
 the mate made a signal to the man at the halliards, and the 
 sail was drawn up. Tightly as it was rolled, the difference was 
 at once perceptible, and the boat flew along faster than before. 
 The men were now sitting up in the bottom of the boat; they 
 knew that the battle with the storm had as yet scarcely begun, 
 and that when the sea once got up they would have a terrible 
 time of it. In an ordinary ship's-boat the prospect would 
 have been absolutely hopeless; but the Norwegian pilot-boats — 
 whose model the captain had pretty closely followed — are able 
 successfully to ride out the heaviest gale in the North Sea, and 
 the mate and the two apprentices, the latter of whom had often 
 heard from Captain Pinder, with whom the matter was a pet 
 hobby, of the wonderful power of these craft in a gale, enter- 
 tained a strong hope that she would live through whatever 
 might come. As the sea rose, a small portion of the foresail 
 was loosed, then more was freed, until the whole of the little 
 sail was drawing, and the speed with which it dragged the 
 boat along saved her from being swamped by the following 
 waves. But in another hour the water no longer ran in waves, 
 it was broken up in a confused and tumultuous sea; the 
 greater part of the sail was again bound up, for there was no 
 longer the same risk of being swamped, and it was necessary 
 to moderate the boat's speed in such a tumult of water. 
 
 "What makes it like this 1 ?" Stephen shouted. 
 
 " The circular motion of the wind," the mate replied in a 
 
64 WITH COCHRANE THE DAUNTLESS. 
 
 similar tone of voice. "I dare say we have made two or 
 three circles already." 
 
 "There is a compass in the locker behind you, sir." 
 
 The mate nodded. 
 
 " That may be useful when the storm is over, but would not 
 help us now, and might get broken." 
 
 That Stephen could quite understand, for the motions of the 
 boat were so sudden and unexpected that the crew often grasped 
 at the thwarts and gunwale, fearing they would be thrown 
 right out of her. At one moment a wave seemed to rise under- 
 neath her, and almost chuck her into the air, then she would 
 sink between two masses of water, that lookad as if they would 
 tumble over and fill her, then she would dasn head-forward at 
 a wave that rose suddenly in front of her. For a time it 
 seemed to all on board as if her destruction was imminent, but 
 as the buoyant little craft struggled bravely on, — shipping no 
 more water than one man with the bailer could free her of as 
 fast as it came aboard, in the shape of spray, — they began to 
 breathe again more freely. 
 
 It was now nine hours since the gale had burst upon them, 
 and there were no signs of an abatement, when, as they were 
 on the top of a wave, the mate shouted : 
 
 "There are breakers ahead." 
 
 Every head was lifted, and when the boat rose again on a 
 wave they could see a line of white foam ahead of them as far 
 on either side as the eye could see through the mist. 
 
 " Keep a look-out for a break in the line, Wilcox," the mate 
 shouted. 
 
 The man forward waved his hand, and, holding to the mast, 
 stood up. A minute later he turned and shouted something to 
 the man next to him, and the message was passed from mouth 
 to mouth to the mate. 
 
 "It is not a reef, sir; it is a low sandy coast." 
 
A CYCLONE. 65 
 
 "Take your places on the thwarts," the mate shouted, "and 
 get your oars out." 
 
 The men did so. Then, in a momentary lull in the blast, the 
 officer said : 
 
 "Get ready to pull for your lives when I give the word. 
 Our only chance is to go in on the top of a wave. The instant 
 we touch the ground and she loses her way, jump out and stick 
 your heels in the sand." 
 
 They approached the edge of the surf rapidly. 
 
 " Stick your oars in deep and check her way," the mate 
 shouted. 
 
 He stood up in the boat when they were within fifty yards 
 of the point where the waves curled over and fell with a roar 
 like thunder on the beach. Two or three waves passed under 
 her, then he saw one of greater height approaching. 
 
 "Row, lads! row for your lives!" 
 
 The wind helping them, they flew forward. The wave rose 
 higher and higher behind them — it looked almost as steep as 
 a wall — and an involuntary cry broke from several of the men 
 as the boat's stern rose up it. 
 
 "Row! row!" the mate shouted. 
 
 But six strokes were pulled and then the wave fell over with 
 a crash, and in a moment they were shooting along with the 
 speed of an arrow in the midst of a mass of seething foam. 
 
 "Get ready to jump!" the mate shouted. 
 
 His voice was lost, but the action which accompanied it was 
 understood. They were flying up a steep slope, Avhen suddenly 
 the motion became slower, then there was a bump. 
 
 "Hold to her, lads, if you can; every man spring over- 
 board." 
 
 For a moment they seemed drawn backwards by the rush of 
 
 the water, then the boat became fixed, and a moment later the 
 
 water left them. 
 
 ( M 220 ) e 
 
66 WITH COCHRANE THE DAUNTLESS. 
 
 " Now, all together before the next wave reaches her." 
 
 With a united effort they lifted and ran the boat her own 
 length further up. The next wave barely reached the boat's 
 stern. Before another came she was well up on the sand. 
 Then the mate pointed upwards. The roar of the surf and 
 the howl of the wind would have drowned any words, but 
 his gesture was sufficient. Most of the men had, like their 
 officer, lost their hats, but those who had not done so took 
 them off. Several of them, including Stephen and Joyce, threw 
 themselves on their knees, the others stood with bent heads, 
 and all uttered a fervent thanksgiving for their preservation 
 from what had seemed almost certain death. The mate was 
 the first to move. He went to the side of the boat, and began 
 to take double handfuls of sand, and to throw them into her. 
 The others looked at him in surprise, but he made signs that 
 the wind might lift the boat up, whirl her round, and dash her 
 to pieces; then all set to at the work, which they continued 
 until the boat was half-full of sand. Then the two barrels of 
 water were carried up, together with a bag of biscuits and a 
 bottle of rum from the locker, where a supply was always 
 kept in case of an emergency like the present. They went on 
 beyond the brow of the sand-hill, and ensconced themselves in a 
 hollow at its foot, where they were completely sheltered from 
 the wind. The mate got out his jack-knife, and managed to 
 get the cork out of the bottle, and pouring water from one of 
 the breakers into a tin pannikin that formed part of the boat's 
 equipment, gave a ration of grog to each, and served out a bis- 
 cuit all round. 
 
 As soon as these were eaten and the grog drank, they threw 
 themselves on the sand and were soon fast asleep, utterly worn 
 out with the prolonged strain they had gone through. 
 
 When they woke, day was just breaking. The mate was 
 the first to leap to his feet. 
 
A CYCLONE. 67 
 
 "Tumble up, lads," he said, "we must have had twelve 
 hours' sleep. The storm is over." 
 
 All were soon at the top of the sand-hill. A heavy sea was 
 still breaking on the sands, but there was scarce a breath of 
 wind, and the sea, though rough and agitated, was no longer 
 covered with white heads, and looked bright in the rosy light. 
 The boat lay where they had left it, securely anchored by 
 the weight of the sand it contained. Their next glance was 
 inland. For a quarter of a mile away the sand covered every- 
 thing, then a few bushes rose from it; beyond were some 
 stunted trees, and a hundred yards further a thick forest bor- 
 dered the sandy belt as far as they could see on either hand. 
 It was evidently a large island, for two or three miles away 
 the country rose hill beyond hill, culminating in a jagged 
 mountain dome twenty miles distant. 
 
 "Do you know where we are, sir?" Stephen asked, as the 
 mate stood silently looking at the peak. 
 
 " No, I wish I did. I have either never seen that hill before, 
 or, if I have, it has been from some other side that gave it 
 quite a different outline. You see, we were nine hours in the 
 gale, and daring that time I fancy we must have run nearly 
 a hundred miles; but I do not suppose we are half that dis- 
 tance from the point where we started, for we are sure to have 
 gone round and round several times in the first hour or two. 
 The island we were at, was some fifty or sixty miles from the 
 coast of Sumatra, and possibly it is there that we have been 
 cast ashore; but, on the other hand, we may have gone quite in 
 another direction. Anyhow, there is no denying that we are in 
 an awkward fix. It matters little enough which of the islands 
 we have hit upon, the natives are all pirates and scoundrels, 
 and the possession they prize most is a human head. The first 
 thing to do, lads, is to draw the charges from our muskets and 
 pistols and to reload them, then we will have a consultation." 
 
68 WITH COCHRANE THE DAUNTLESS. 
 
 This was done, and then they went down to the boat. 
 
 "I half expected it," the mate went on, after examining her; 
 " the shock has started the butts of three planks on one side, 
 and two on the other. We will get the sand out first and turn 
 her over, bottom upwards." 
 
 This was done. 
 
 " I think we might make a shift to cobble it up," the mate 
 said. "Some of the wood here is as hard as iron, and we 
 might cut some pegs and fasten the planks into their place 
 again. I don't suppose we shall be able to make them water- 
 tight, but we might caulk them up with pitch or gum from 
 some of the trees. But that is not the first thing to think 
 of; it is no use having a boat if we have not food or water to 
 put into her. These biscuits would last us two or three days, 
 and the water, if we are careful, as long again, but that is not 
 enough to start with on a long cruise. The place we have to 
 make for is Timor. Do you think that you could find your 
 way there, Steve, and how far is it 1 ?" 
 
 " I was looking at the chart the last day I was on board, sir, 
 and I noticed that Timor lay to the south of where we were 
 then, and I should say it was something like six or seven 
 hundred miles awa}^." 
 
 " Well, it is of no use starting on such an expedition as that 
 with such a stock of provisions as ours, so I propose that, in 
 the first place, we see what is to be found in the forest. It will 
 be hard if we do not find a supply of fruit. If we can collect a 
 store enough we might venture upon making a start. You see, 
 Ave must keep well off the land, for if we were made out from 
 any of "the coast villages, we should have one of their craft 
 after us in no time; but, in any case, I should say we had 
 better stay here for a week. If the Tiger got safely through 
 that gale, you may be sure the captain will be cruising about 
 looking for us. He has sufficient faith in his boats to feel 
 
A RESCUE. 69 
 
 pretty positive that if we have not been cast ashore we are still 
 afloat." 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 A RESCUE. 
 
 THEY were soon in the forest. It required care and 
 caution to make their way through the tangled growth 
 of climbing canes and vines. Some of these were armed with 
 terrible thorns, and as they had no hatchets to chop their way 
 through them they were often obliged to make detours to 
 escape these obstacles. Orchids of brilliant colours and fantastic 
 shapes grew thickly on the trees, ants in countless numbers 
 swarmed up and down the trunks, and many an angry exclama- 
 tion was wrung from the seamen as a bite as sharp as the sting 
 of a wasp told that some of these insects had crawled up the 
 legs of their trousers or made their way down their neck. 
 
 " Unless we are going to live on ants," the mate said ruefully 
 as he gave a savage slap at his leg, "it seems to me we are likely 
 to starve, for I have seen nothing whatever to eat since we 
 entered the wood. Even if some of the trees did bear fruit 
 I don't see how we are going to get at it, for one would be 
 eaten alive by these little brutes before we reached the top." 
 
 " I vote we turn back, Mr. Towel," one of the men said. 
 " I would rather put to sea and take my chance than keep on 
 being stung by these ants, when there doesn't seem the least 
 hope of our finding anything." 
 
 " There doesn't seem much chance here, Nixon. I think we 
 had best get out of the wood and follow the edge along. We 
 may come to some place where it is more open, and may even 
 strike on a stream. If we could do that we might patch up the 
 
70 WITH COCHRANE THE DAUNTLESS. 
 
 boat and pull up stream a bit. Anyhow, I don't think it is 
 any use pushing on here. My jacket is torn in a dozen places 
 already by the thorns." 
 
 " One of them has nearly taken my eye out," another 
 grumbled; and indeed all were bleeding from the gashes they 
 had received from the thorns. They made their way back 
 carefully, and there was a general exclamation of satisfaction 
 when the light could be seen ahead through the trees. As 
 soon as they were out on the sands shirts were hastily pulled 
 off and a hunt for ants carried out. 
 
 "It is lucky the bites don't swell up," Joyce said, "or I 
 should be a mass of bumps. It is as bad as if one had been 
 attacked by a swarm of bees. Yet there is only a little red 
 spot to show for each bite." 
 
 As soon as they had freed themselves from the ants they 
 started along the edge of the forest. After walking for two 
 miles they gave a shout of joy, for a river some fifty yards 
 wide issued from the forest. The sand-hills had hidden it from 
 sight until they were close upon it. 
 
 " Thank God, we sba'n't die of thirst," the mate said. " It 
 will be a hard job to get our boat here, but it has got to be 
 done. Even if Ave could launch it through the surf there would 
 be no getting in through the rollers on the bar, at least I should 
 not like to try it. So we have got to drag her here somehow. 
 It will be a tough job, but as there seems no chance of getting 
 food in any other way we must undertake it. Hurrah ! " he 
 exclaimed suddenly, "there are some cocoa-nut trees on the 
 other side of the river. That settles it. Let us be off back 
 again at once." 
 
 They returned in much better spirits than they had before felt. 
 On the way they went a short distance into the forest, and cut 
 off a number of thorns some two inches long and seemingly as 
 hard as iron. They breakfasted on a biscuit, Avith a full alloAV- 
 
A RESCUE. 71 
 
 ance of water, and then set to work at the boat. The thorns 
 answered their purpose as nails admirably, and the planks 
 soon Avere securely fastened into their places against the 
 stem; but without nails to clench the planks together, it was 
 evident to them all that the boat would not float five minutes. 
 They stood looking at it discontentedly. 
 
 "What is to be done with it?" said Mr. Towel. "Can 
 anyone make a suggestion?" 
 
 "I should think, sir," Stephen said, "that if we could get 
 some strong fibre, or some of those thin climbers that barred 
 our way — they were not thicker than string, but there was no 
 breaking them, and I should think that they would do — that 
 with them we could sew the planks together and caulk them 
 afterwards with the threads from a bit of the leg of one of 
 our drill trousers." 
 
 " A capital idea, Stephen. At any rate, it would be worth 
 trying." 
 
 " I will go and fetch some of those climbers, sir, and some 
 long thorns to make the holes with." 
 
 "We may as well all go, Stephen; we have nothing to do 
 here, and at any rate it is cooler in the forest than it is on the 
 sands. We shall want a good stock of thorns, for we are sure 
 to break lots of them in making the holes." 
 
 "I have a thing in my knife that will do for that, sir," 
 Joyce said; and he produced from his pocket a knife with 
 many blades, one of them being a long pricker. " It was given 
 to me the day before we sailed, and I have always wondered 
 what use that thing could ever be. Here is a use for it at 
 last." 
 
 " Capital, Joyce ! That is just the thing. There is flint and 
 steel, and a tinder-box in the locker, and our best plan will be 
 to make a fire and heat that pricker of yours red-hot. It 
 would make the work a great deal easier, and there will be less 
 
72 WITH COCHRANE THE DAUNTLESS. 
 
 risk of breaking it or of splitting the wood. So now we will 
 collect dry wood and creepers and leave the thorns alone." 
 
 This was done; but when they returned to the edge of the 
 forest all agreed that they should lie down there in the shade 
 until the sun had lost its power, for their position being almost 
 on the equator the heat out on the sand was unbearable. 
 
 " It will be as well for one to keep a watch, lads," the mate 
 said. " We have seen no signs of natives, but there may be 
 some about. The sun is nearly overhead, so it will be another 
 four or five hours before we can set to work. I will take 
 the first watch. In an hour I will wake Mr. Joyce; Mr. 
 Embleton will follow him; then you, Nixon; that will take us 
 on till it 's time to move." 
 
 These arrangements were carried out, and as the sun sank 
 towards the horizon the party went down to the beach. Some 
 rotten wood was crumbled up and a fire quickly made, then 
 the work of boring the holes began, and was kept up all night. 
 As it was necessary to put them very closely together, and the 
 piercer had to be heated two or three times for each hole, two 
 worked by turns while the rest slept, and by sunrise the holes 
 were all finished. Then the work of sewing the planks together 
 began, the boat being turned on its side to alloAv the string, as 
 they called it, to be passed backwards and forwards. In two 
 hours their work was completed. Stephen cut off four or five 
 inches of duck from the bottom of each leg of his trousers, and 
 unravelling the thread he and the mate pressed it into the 
 seams as fast as the sewing was completed. 
 
 " I think that that will do," the mate said, looking with a 
 satisfied air at the work. "Now, what it wants is a little 
 tallow to rub in; but there is no candle handy." 
 
 " When I was on watch, sir, I saw lots of bees flying in and 
 out of the trees. If we could light on a hive the wax would 
 do first-rate." 
 
A EESCUE. 73 
 
 "So it would, Steve. However, until we can find one I 
 fancy we shall get on well enough. Five minutes' bailing 
 occasionally will keep her dry enough, I am sure, at any rate 
 for river work. Now we have got the big job before us; let 
 us have a try how we can move her." 
 
 The nine men put their strength to the boat, but they found 
 that the deep keel buried itself in the sand, and that they 
 could not drag her along. Then they tried carrying her, the 
 mate, the two boys, and two men on one side, and the other 
 four men on the other. She was a heavy weight, but they 
 could just manage it, and carried her for some twenty yards 
 before they put her down. 
 
 "This will never do," the mate said. "We can't use our 
 strength to advantage, else the weight would not be too great 
 for us. Let us go up to the wood, lads, and chop four poles, 
 turn her over, and lay her down on them. In that way I don't 
 think we shall have much difficulty about it." 
 
 It took them longer than they expected, for the wood was 
 so tough that their cutlasses produced but little impression 
 upon it. After an hour's hard work, however, they cut four 
 poles, each about twelve feet long. With these they returned 
 to the boat, laid the poles down on the sand at equal distances 
 apart, and turned the boat over upon them; then a man took 
 each end of a pole, the two boys taking one end together, and 
 at a word lifted the boat with comparative ease. It was very 
 hard work under the blazing sun, and they had to stop every 
 hundred yards or so to rest their arms. Still they were 
 successful, and after three hours' toil they reached the river. 
 The oars had been lost when they landed, and they determined 
 to take the bottom boards out and cut them into paddles. 
 The first thing, however, was to bathe. 
 
 "Don't go far out," the mate said, "there may be sharks or 
 alligators in the river for aught we know." 
 
74 WITH COCHRANE THE DAUNTLESS. 
 
 Greatly refreshed by their dip, they took the boards out of 
 the boat, carried them up into the shade of the trees, and with 
 their jack-knives fashioned them into rude paddles, with thin 
 creepers strips of wood tying down the handles to add to their 
 strength. This took them all the afternoon. When the sun 
 had lost its power they put the boat into the water, and made 
 an experimental trip in her, and were glad to see that the 
 seams were almost water-tight, and that it would need but an 
 occasional use of the bailer to keep her clear. They at once 
 paddled across the river to the opposite side, and then pulling 
 the boat up made a rush for the cocoa-nut trees that they had 
 seen the day before. 
 
 "How are we to get upl" Joyce inquired, looking with dis- 
 may at the smooth trunks. 
 
 " I learnt that on the west coast of Africa," the mate replied. 
 "I was there two years and got to know, I think, all there 
 was to know with regard to steering a boat in a surf ; climbing 
 a cocoa-nut tree is easy work in comparison. Fetch the head- 
 rope of the boat." 
 
 This was done, and he asked who volunteered for the first 
 climb. 
 
 "I will try it, Mr. Towel," Joyce said, "if you will show 
 me how." 
 
 " Stand by the side of the tree, Joyce. Now I will put this 
 rope round you and round the tree, leaving a certain amount 
 of slack in the loop. Now you get a grip of the tree with 
 your knees. Then with your hands you shift the loop up as 
 high as you can, and lean against it. Get a sort of purchase, 
 and so shift your knees a bit higher. No doubt you "will feel 
 it awkward at first, but after a little practice you will find no 
 difficulty whatever in going up at a fair rate of speed." 
 
 In spite of his experience aloft Joyce found it hard work to 
 climb the tree As soon as he Avas at the top he broke off the 
 
A RESCUE. 75 
 
 nuts and dropped them ; when he had picked two nuts for each 
 of the party he descended. 
 
 "They are not a bit like cocoa-nuts," Stephen remarked as 
 the first came to the ground. "They look more like queer- 
 shaped gourds." 
 
 " They do, lad," the mate agreed. " But you see they are 
 not ripe yet, while those we get in England are over-ripe; 
 instead of the inside nut being enveloped in fibre the whole 
 thing is soft, and, you see ' — here he suited the action to the 
 word — " you can cut a hole down right through, and then all 
 that you have got to do is to drink the milk." 
 
 The men followed the officer's example, and were soon taking 
 long draughts of the sweet, cool liquor, which differs widely 
 indeed from that of the ripe cocoa-nut. 
 
 "How is it that the milk is so cool, sirf Steve asked. 
 
 " That is more than I can tell you, for no matter how hot 
 the weather, the milk of fresh cocoa-nuts is always cool; why 
 it should be so I have no idea." 
 
 After they had drunk the milk they broke open the nuts 
 and scraped the soft cream-like paste which lined the inside, 
 and which, when the nut ripened, would have become hard and 
 solid. 
 
 " You will find them of different degrees of ripeness," the 
 mate said. " Some of them will furnish us with drink, some 
 with food, and as there are trees along here as far as we can 
 see, we need not Avorry ourselves as to victuals. Well, we have 
 done our work for the day and will make this our camp, and 
 talk over what is the best thing to do next." 
 
 After much deliberation it was decided that they should 
 paddle up the river the next day, leaving two of their number 
 at the edge of the forest to keep a look-out for the ship. 
 
 "It is as well to see what there is on the river," the mate 
 said. " Of course if we come to a village we shall let ourselves 
 
76 WITH COCHRANE THE DAUNTLESS. 
 
 drop down quietly again. And we must keep a sharp look-out 
 as we go; it would never do to let them get a sight of us, for 
 none of the natives of these islands are to be trusted, and I am 
 sure that none of us wish to have our heads used as a decora- 
 tion in their huts. What I hope to come upon is the site of 
 an abandoned village. These people often shift their quarters. 
 They have no belongings to speak of to move, and a couple of 
 days' labour is enough for them to put up fresh huts. But in 
 the places they have occupied we are sure to find bananas; and 
 if we can but get a boat-load of them we shall be victualled 
 for a voyage, and after waiting long enough to give the ship 
 a chance of finding us, the sooner we are off the better. Many 
 of these islands are inhabited by tribes that spare no one 
 who falls into their hands, and it would be better to take our 
 chance on the sea than to remain here. There are a good many 
 little Dutch settlements scattered about. What we have got 
 to do is to light upon one of these. There is no mistaking them 
 for native villages, and once we can get a point of departure we 
 shall have no difficulty in laying our course either for Timor or 
 Java. Stephen, I shall leave you as the junior officer here to- 
 morrow. Wilcox will stay with you. If you see the ship }'ou 
 will light a big fire and throw green leaves on it to make as big 
 a smoke as possible. They would know at once that it was a 
 signal, for the natives would do nothing to attract notice, 
 especially if their intentions were hostile." 
 
 "All right, sir! We will keep a sharp look-out. You won't 
 be away many hours, I suppose?" 
 
 " Certainly not. We don't want to do any exploring. All 
 we want to do is to look for food, and the most likely food for 
 us to find is a troop of monkeys among the trees overhanging 
 the river. As a rule, I should not like to shoot the beasts. 
 They are too much like human beings. But if we can get a 
 supply of meat it will be welcome, no matter what it may 
 
A RESCUE. 77 
 
 be. Of course we should not shoot many, for a couple of days 
 would be the outside that meat would keep good here." 
 
 " But might not firing a gun bring the natives down on you, 
 sir?" Stephen said. 
 
 " Oh, we have seen no signs of natives ! " the mate said 
 impatiently, " and there mayn't be any within miles and miles 
 of us, probably not nearer than those hills; for I believe it is 
 there that they principally do what cultivation there is — in 
 the first place, because it is cooler, and in the next place because 
 there are, we know, tremendous swamps in the low land of 
 Sumatra, though whether this is Sumatra or not I cannot say." 
 
 The next morning the boat started as soon as a supply of 
 cocoa-nuts, sufficient for the day, had been thrown down, two 
 or three of the sailors adopting the means the mate had taught 
 Joyce, and going up the trees very much more quickly than he 
 had done. 
 
 " What do you think of this 'ere business, Master Stephen?" 
 Wilcox said as they watched the boat making its way slowly 
 against the current. 
 
 "I don't know, Wilcox, what to think of it." 
 
 "I calls it a risky affair," the sailor said after a pause. 
 "Mr. Towel is a good officer, I don't say as he isn't, but I 
 would rather see an older head on his shoulders just at present. 
 It is all very well for him to say as there may be no natives 
 within twenty miles; but how is he to know that 1 ? There may 
 be a village just round the turn of the river. All these chaps 
 are pirates when they get a chance, every mother's son of them, 
 and there may be half a dozen war-canoes lying a mile up this 
 river. It would be natural that they should be somewhere near 
 its mouth, ready to start out if a sail is sighted, or news is 
 brought to them that there is a ship anchored off a coast village 
 within a few hours' row. As to firing a gun, in my opinion it 
 is just madness. As he says himself, meat won't keep two days, 
 
78 WITH COCHRANE THE DAUNTLESS. 
 
 and it is just flying in the face of Providence to risk attracting 
 the attention of the natives, for the sake of a day's rations of 
 fresh meat. 
 
 " It was all very well to bring the boat up here so as to lie 
 out of sight of any canoes that happened to be passing along 
 the shore; but I would much rather have left her where she 
 was, though I allows it would have been risky. I Avould have 
 just chucked the sail over her and covered that with an inch or 
 so of sand, so that it would not have been noticed by a boat a 
 short way out. But if there is a village up here, why, a boat 
 might come down any moment to do some fishing, and there 
 we should be caught at once; as for getting away with them 
 makeshift paddles, it would not be worth even thinking of. 
 I hope our chaps will come back without having seen a monkey 
 or a village, or as much as a banana, then the mate won't 
 be hankering to go up again; and I should make free to 
 advise him to get the boat up amongst the trees here till we 
 have decided that the ship won't come, and agree to make a 
 start." 
 
 "I am with you to some extent, Wilcox, and I do think 
 that it is a risky thing going up the river. If we were to fill 
 up with cocoa-nuts they would last us for a week anyhow, and 
 then when we saw another grove of them we could land and 
 load up again." 
 
 " You can't take an observation, I suppose, Mr. Stephen, and 
 find out in a rough way whereabouts we are?" 
 
 Steve shook his head. "No, Wilcox. If I had had my 
 quadrant I might have got near enough to have made a rough 
 guess, for I have got that watch I bought in my pocket, and I 
 have timed it every day with the chronometers, and find that 
 it does not gain more than half a minute a day, so that at the 
 present moment it is not much more than a minute out by 
 them, and if I had had the quadrant I could have made a 
 
A RESCUE. 79 
 
 pretty close calculation. We were about a degree and a half 
 south at noon before that cyclone struck us, but I don't see 
 that that would help us now." 
 
 "It is a pity, sir," the sailor said, "for it would help us 
 wonderful if we could find out our position within fifty miles 
 or so." 
 
 " I wish we could, Wilcox;" and Stephen sat for some time 
 thinking. At last he said, " I might, anyhow, find out in a 
 rough sort of way whether we have been blown north or south. 
 We will see if we can find a perfectly straight stick, ten or 
 twelve feet long. If I fix that upright in sand the shadow 
 would help us. It was the 25th of March yesterday, and the 
 sun at noon would therefore be exactly overhead of the line at 
 twelve o'clock. Therefore, if we have been blown north, we 
 should get a very short shadow to the south at twelve o'clock; 
 whereas if we have been blown south, there would be a shadow 
 north. It might not be more than an inch long; but even 
 that would tell us something." 
 
 They selected a long straight stick, drove it deeply into the 
 sand, walked round it several times so as to assure themselves 
 that it was perfectly upright, and then returned again to the 
 shelter of the trees. An hour later the sound of a gun came 
 to their ears. 
 
 "He has found some of them monkeys," Wilcox growled. 
 
 Three more shots were heard. "How far are they off, do 
 you think?" Stephen asked. 
 
 " I dunno, sir. If it was on the open sea and calm like this, 
 I should say they might be two or three miles, but in this 'ere 
 forest there ain't no saying at all. I don't reckon they would 
 be above two miles anyhow, that is if the stream is as strong 
 up there as it is here. They were making very slow way 
 against it when they started. I reckon they have been gone 
 about an hour, and they would not have got more than two 
 
80 WITH COCHRANE THE DAUNTLESS. 
 
 miles away against this stream. Well, I hope that they will be 
 content now and turn back again." 
 
 Half an hour passed, then they heard a gun again; it was 
 quickly followed by another and another. 
 
 "More monkeys," Wilcox exclaimed in a tone of disgust. 
 
 " I hope it is monkeys," Stephen said. " Listen. There are 
 four more shots close together." 
 
 The sailor leapt to his feet. " I believe you are right, sir, 
 that cussed firing has brought the natives down upon them. 
 They would not want to keep on firing at the monkeys. We 
 shall hear in a minute if they fire again. They have all 
 emptied their pieces. If they load quick and fire again it will 
 be a bad sign. There they are!" he broke off as two shots 
 were heard. " I am afraid that settles it, sir, and settles us 
 too, for if they are attacked there ain't a ghost of a chance of 
 their getting away, and there won't be much more chance of 
 our doing so." 
 
 Four more shots were heard, and then all was quiet. " Now, 
 sir, we will be getting pretty deep in among these trees, keep- 
 ing close to the bank, so that we can look through the bushes 
 without being seen. If the boat comes along all right, there 
 ain't no harm done; if it don't come along after a bit, we shall 
 know what has happened." 
 
 Picking up his gun, Wilcox was about to turn off into the 
 wood when Stephen said: 
 
 " We had better take three or four cocoa-nuts each, Wilcox. 
 There is no saying whether we shall come back to this place, 
 and it is as well to have something to eat." 
 
 Each tied some nuts together, threw them over their shoulders, 
 and started along the river bank. The stream was bordered by 
 a thick undergrowth, which afforded an' effectual screen for any- 
 one behind it. After going for about a quarter of a mile they 
 stopped to listen. There was a faint throbbing sound in the air. 
 
A RESCUE. 81 
 
 "Paddles!" Steve exclaimed. 
 
 "Ay, and native paddles, sir. Our men don't paddle like 
 that, and I fancy," he went on after listening again, " there is 
 more than one canoe. That settles it, sir. There isn't a chance 
 of our ever seeing our mates again." 
 
 " Oh, don't say that, Wilcox ! Even if some have been killed, 
 the others may have been taken prisoners. I can't believe 
 they have all been murdered." 
 
 " Well, I hope not, sir, but it looks very black. If they had 
 pounced upon them sudden, and there had been no fighting, 
 they might have kept them prisoners a day or two till they 
 made a grand feast and killed them ; but that firing we heard 
 settles it to my mind. I should say there ain't no manner of 
 doubt that our fellows will have killed some of the niggers, 
 and I expect that the two canoes closed in on them, and then it 
 would be all over in a minute." 
 
 When the canoes were within a quarter of a mile the rowers 
 broke into a sort of chant, with occasional wild shouts and 
 yells. 
 
 " There they come," Wilcox said as two long canoes, paddling 
 abreast, rounded a turn in the river a short distance away. 
 " There must be something like fifty men in each canoe." 
 
 In a short time the canoes came along at a high rate of 
 speed. The sailor gave a sudden exclamation of fury. 
 
 "What is it?" Steve asked. 
 
 " Don't you see, sir, in the stern of each of the canoes, piled 
 up by the steering oar, there are some heads." 
 
 " I can't look at them," Steven said, drawing back from his 
 peep-hole through the leaves. 
 
 " They are whites," the sailor muttered. " There ain't no 
 doubt about it. I would give all my pay for the voyage to 
 have the Tiger's crew here, that we might give them murdering 
 villains a volley." 
 
 (M220) F 
 
82 WITH COCHRANE THE DAUNTLESS. 
 
 But Stephen did not hear him; he had thrown himself down, 
 and the tears were running down his cheeks. The loss of the 
 second mate, who had always been cheery and kind, and of his 
 fellow apprentice, Joyce, completely unnerved him. Up to 
 now he had hoped, but what before had been doubt as to their 
 fate had now been converted into certainty. 
 
 "Don't give way, Master Steve," the sailor said, stooping 
 over him and laying his hand on his shoulder. " It is a bad 
 job, there ain't no denying it. What happened to them half 
 an hour ago may happen to us before long; we have got to be 
 up and doing, sir." 
 
 "You are right, Wilcox," Steve said, as he rose to his feet. 
 "In the first place, could you count the heads'?" 
 
 "No; there was a pile of them in each boat; there may 
 have been three, there may have been four in each." 
 
 "Well, one thing is certain, Wilcox; we must find out if 
 any of them are still alive, and if so we must try and get them 
 out of the Malays' hands." 
 
 " I am ready to try, sir. When a chap sees such a thing as 
 that he don't seem to care much for his life; and at least if we 
 are caught we can polish off a few of the villains before we go 
 under, so I am game to do anything you may order." 
 
 "It is not for me to order, Wilcox; I am only a young 
 apprentice, and you are an experienced sailor; and now that 
 we are alone and in danger together, it is for you to lead." 
 
 "Well, if that is the way you look at it, sir, I am willing to 
 do all I can; and if we find there is any of our mates alive we 
 will get them out if it is possible, never fear." 
 
 "Do you think those canoes are going to put to sea?" Steve 
 asked. 
 
 "Not they; they have just gone down to the mouth of the 
 river to see whether that boat came from a ship lying off the 
 shore or whether it was alone. There, do you hear those yells'? 
 
A RESCUE. 83 
 
 They have got out of the canoes, and found the place where we 
 camped last night. We walked about there a good bit, and 
 it ain't likely they will be able to find out whether there was 
 seven or nine of us. Besides, I don't think they will look 
 much, for they would take it for certain we should all go up 
 the river together; and so we should have done if it had not 
 been that you and I were left behind to look out for a sail." 
 
 In half an hour the two canoes came back again. They 
 both kept well over to the opposite side of the river to avoid the 
 full force of the current, and the sailor and Stephen attempted 
 to count the heads in their sterns. They could not make out 
 the number, but were inclined to agree that the two dark 
 masses were about the same size. 
 
 " I think there can only be three in each boat," Steven said. 
 "In that case one man may have been made prisoner; at any 
 rate, Wilcox, we will go on and see." 
 
 As soon as the canoes had gone round the bend of the river, 
 they proceeded on their way. The ground presently became 
 exceedingly swampy, and they could see by the pieces of dead 
 wood and litter caught among the bushes, that in times of 
 flood the river must overflow its banks and extend a long 
 distance into the forest. From time to time they had to wade 
 waist-deep across channels by which the water from the marsh 
 was draining slowly into the river. Before crossing these, at 
 Wilcox's suggestion they each cut down a bush and beat the 
 water with it. 
 
 "I expect there are no end of alligators in this swamp," the 
 sailor said; "and I know that the natives, before they cross 
 streams where the brutes are likely to be hiding, beat the 
 water with sticks or bushes to frighten them away." 
 
 It was hard work walking, for they often sunk knee-deep in 
 the wet soil, but after toiling for nearly an hour they heard a 
 confused noise ahead, and could ere long make out the beating 
 
84 WITH COCHRANE THE DAUNTLESS. 
 
 of drums and the wild shouts of Malays, mingled with a deep 
 roaring sound made by horns. They now went on more 
 cautiously, and presently could make out through the trees a 
 large native village standing upon rising ground by the side 
 of the river. Creeping cautiously to the edge of the bush they 
 could see that a large number of men, women, and children 
 were assembled in an open space between the houses and the 
 water. The women were bringing bundles of wood, and a 
 column of smoke rising in the centre of the crowd showed that 
 the preparation for a feast had begun. 
 
 " If we had but one of our ten-pounders loaded with grape 
 with us," Wilcox said, "I would pour a volley into those black 
 devils if it cost me my life afterwards." 
 
 "What do you think they are going to do, Wilcox 1 ?" 
 
 " I reckon there ain't much doubt about it," the sailor 
 replied; "they are going to make a feast of our mess-mates." 
 
 Stephen uttered an exclamation of horror and disgust. " Do 
 you mean to say that they are cannibals, Wilcox?" 
 
 " In course I can't say for certain, Master Steve. Some of 
 these tribes are cannibals and some ain't, and I reckon by what 
 I see going on that those villains are. Are you a good climber, 
 sir?" 
 
 " Do you mean climbing a tree. I have never had much 
 practice at that, Wilcox, but I dare say I could manage it." 
 
 "Well, sir, you are lighter and more active than I am, and I 
 was thinking that if you could get up to the top of this tree 
 you would have a view down over the village. The leaves are 
 pretty thick, and as the niggers are busy there is not much 
 chance of their looking about for a man up a tree. You see 
 the village ain't above a hundred and fifty yards away, and the 
 ground ain't more than twenty feet above the river. I should 
 say that this tree was seventy or eighty feet high, so that from 
 the top you can get a view pretty well over the place; if 
 
A RESCUE. 85 
 
 there is one of our chaps there he may be lying tied up some- 
 where. Of course he might be in a hut, but it is much more 
 likely that they would have just chucked him down until they 
 wanted him. I think if you got on my shoulder you would be 
 able to get hold of that lowest branch where it bends down, 
 and climb along it to the trunk; after that the branches come 
 pretty thick together." 
 
 " I think I could manage that easily enough." 
 
 "Well, then, here goes," the sailor said, and took up his post 
 beneath where the bough was lowest. " If you can't reach it 
 from my shoulder, sir, you step on my head. I can hold you 
 easy enough. You keep the trunk as far as possible between 
 you and the village." 
 
 "The leaves are thick up high," Steve said, looking up at 
 the tree; "directly it gets above the level of these smaller 
 trees it spreads its branches out well." 
 
 " Now, jump upon my back, sir, and then climb upon my 
 shoulders. You had best take hold of my hands to steady 
 yourself." 
 
 It was necessary, as the sailor had suggested, for Steve to 
 stand upon his supporter's head before he could get hold of a 
 branch sufficiently strong to bear his weight. As soon as he did 
 so he drew himself up, and was soon climbing the main trunk. 
 The higher he got the more convinced was he that he would 
 not be observed by the natives, for the trees behind him formed 
 a background, and therefore he could not be seen against the 
 sky. He kept, however, as the sailor had told him, on the other 
 side of the trunk, and when he had gained the smaller branches 
 at the top of the tree he looked out through an opening in the 
 foliage. The village seemed to lie almost at his feet, and he 
 could see every object on the ground. It was not long before 
 he perceived a figure lying full length in front of one of the 
 huts, close to the spot where the people were gathered. It was 
 
86 WITH COCHRANE THE DAUNTLESS. 
 
 certainly an European, and from the whiteness of the trousers 
 he felt sure that it was either the mate or Joyce. He counted 
 the number of huts, and found that the one beside which the 
 figure was lying was the eighth in the line facing the river. 
 There were two lines of huts with a sort of street between 
 them. Behind the second row the rise on which the village 
 was situated fell rapidly away and the jungle grew almost up 
 to the back of the huts. Those in the second line stood some- 
 what further apart than those in the first, and he observed 
 that the sixth house in the back line was opposite the eighth 
 in the front. Having gathered this information he descended 
 the tree. 
 
 "What news, sir?" the sailor asked, as Stephen dropped 
 from the bough to his side. 
 
 " There is one of our comrades lying by the huts, Wilcox. 
 I can tell by his white ducks that it is either Mr. Towel or 
 Joyce; whether he is alive or dead, of course I can't say. I 
 did not see him move, but no doubt he would be tied hand and 
 foot. I saw nothing of the others, and there would be no 
 reason why he should be treated differently from them if he 
 were dead." 
 
 "You may be sure of that. Well, that is better than I had 
 hoped. If we can save one it will be something." 
 
 " I have been examining the ground," Stephen went on, 
 "and we could work round close up to the second row of huts. 
 We must count six of them, then go along by the side of the 
 sixth and cross the street to the hut opposite. The prisoner is 
 lying in front of that, I mean on the river side of it. Of course, 
 there is no doing anything until the sun has set, except 
 that we might work round to that hut. It will be easier to 
 get through this horrid swamp before it gets dark than after- 
 wards, and there will be less fear of our stumbling and break- 
 ing a branch. What time do you think it is now?" 
 
A RESCUE. 87 
 
 "I don't think it is more than eight bells yet," Wilcox said. 
 "It is a lot of hours to wait, and I would give a good bit to 
 be out of the swamp before it gets dark. Howsomever, if we 
 keep along by the river coming back we can't lose our way, 
 that is one comfort. Well, let us work round at once, and 
 then we shall see how the land lies. It is like enough that 
 as soon as they have got a big fire made up, and the cooking 
 begun, they will most of them turn in for a sleep till the heat 
 of the day is over, and begin their feast after sundown. They 
 generally do sleep half the day, and then keep it up half the 
 night." 
 
 Accordingly they started through the wood, and in a quarter 
 of an hour found themselves at the foot of the rising ground 
 on which the village stood. They had counted the huts, and 
 now crawled up through the thick bushes and stood within a 
 few yards of the sixth hut. The swamp had been very deep 
 on the way, and they had had the greatest difficulty in getting 
 through it. Stephen had once sunk below his waist in the 
 mud, and would have been unable to extricate himself, had not 
 the sailor held on by a young tree with one hand while he 
 stretched out the other to him. 
 
 " I am all right now as far as colour goes, Wilcox. Now, do 
 you stay here and I will crawl along by the side of the hut 
 and have a look up and down the street. I did not see a soul 
 between the row of huts when I was in the tree." 
 
 When Stephen peeped out by the side of the hut he saw 
 that there were several people about, apparently returning 
 from the spot where 'they had congregated. He rejoined his 
 companion, and they waited an hour. By this time perfect 
 silence had fallen on the village. The heat was intense, and 
 even in the forest all sound had ceased, as if birds and insects 
 were alike indulging in a mid-day sleep. 
 
 " I will go and have a look again now," Stephen said. " If 
 
80 WITH COCHRANE THE DAUNTLESS. 
 
 I find no one about I will cross the street and try to cut the 
 ropes, and bring him here at once. If there is a guard over 
 him I will come back again to you. We ought to be able to 
 silence the guard without his giving the alarm, especially as he 
 is likely to be half-asleep. 
 
 "You had better leave your pistols here, Master Steve, and 
 take your cutlass. A pistol-shot now would bring the whole 
 village down on us, and we should have no chance of getting 
 through the swamp with a hundred of those fellows after us. 
 You had better draw your sword, and leave the scabbard and 
 belt here. In the first place, it is handier to have the sword 
 ready; and it is not so likely to knock against anything when 
 you have got it in your hand as it would be trailing behind 
 you as you crawl along. I shall be on the look-out, sir, and 
 shall be by your side in a brace of shakes if you hail." 
 
 Stephen parted the bushes, and then stepped lightly to the 
 corner of the hut. Not a soul was to be seen moving about, 
 and he dashed across to the house opposite, crawled along by 
 its side, and then looked round. The great fire had burned 
 low, and Stephen shuddered as his eye fell upon the mass of 
 embers and thought of what was lying below them. There 
 was no one about — the whole of the natives had retired to 
 their huts. In another moment he was beside the prisoner. 
 It was Joyce. Bands of cord-like creepers were wrapped round 
 his legs; his wrists were tied together, and from them a rope 
 went to a peg four feet beyond him, extending his arms at full 
 length beyond his head. A similar fastening from his ankles 
 kept his legs at full stretch in the other direction. Fastened 
 thus, the Malays evidently considered that there was no 
 necessity for a guard over him. 
 
 "Joyce, old fellow," Stephen whispered in his ear, "are you 
 conscious?" 
 
 The lad opened his closed eyes with a start. 
 
STEPHEN CRAWLS TO THE RESCUE OF HIS CHUM, JOYCE. 
 
A RESCUE. 89 
 
 "Don't speak," Stephen went on. 
 
 "Is it really you, Steve, or am I dreaming?" 
 
 " You are awake enough, Tom. I am here with Wilcox and 
 will soon get these things off you." Drawing his jack-knife he 
 cut the bonds. "Do you think that you can walk, Tom 1 ?" 
 
 "Yes, the things were not very tight, only being pegged out 
 like this I could not move an inch." 
 
 Stephen was lying down by his side while he cut the fasten- 
 ings. He now looked round again. 
 
 " There is no one in sight, Tom, but you had better wriggle 
 yourself along until you get to the corner of the hut." 
 
 As soon as they were round the corner they stood up. As 
 they did so, the sailor put his head out through the bushes and 
 waved them a silent cheer. Stephen went first, and as soon 
 as he saw that the street was empty he beckoned to his com- 
 panion, and they ran across to the other side; a moment later 
 they joined the sailor. The latter gave a grip to Joyce's hand, 
 and then held out to him a cocoa-nut he had just cut open in 
 readiness. This he seized eagerly and took a long drink. 
 
 "I was choking with thirst," Joyce gasped, as he finished 
 the contents of the nut. 
 
 "Take care how you go through the bushes," the sailor whis- 
 pered, as he turned and led the way; "everything is so quiet 
 that a rustle might be heard." 
 
 They went along with the greatest caution. Their bare feet 
 fell noiselessly on the spongy soil, but sometimes as they sank 
 into the mud the suck of the air as they drew them out made 
 a sound that startled them. At last they reached the tree where 
 they had left all the cocoa-nuts with the exception of the one 
 that the sailor had brought on. When they stopped, Joyce 
 threw himself down and burst into tears. 
 
 " Leave me alone," he said, as Stephen began to speak to 
 him, " I shall be better directly, but it has been awful. I will 
 
90 WITH COCHRANE THE DAUNTLESS. 
 
 tell you about it afterwards. I tried to make up my mind 
 to stand it bravely, and it is the getting out of it when there 
 did not seem to be a chance in the world that has upset me." 
 
 In five minutes he rose again to his feet. "I am ready to 
 go on now," he said. 
 
 " Yes, I think it is time to be moving, sir. As soon as those 
 beggars wake up and find you have gone, they will set out in 
 chase, and the longer start we get the better." 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 AGAIN ON THE ISLAND. 
 
 OVER such ground it was impossible to hurry, but in three- 
 quarters of an hour they reached the edge of the wood. 
 
 " I have been thinking that we had better take to the water 
 for a bit," Stephen said. " They are sure to think that you 
 have made for the coast, and they will not be long in finding 
 our footmarks. Though I don't know much about the Malays, 
 I expect they can follow a track like all other savages. The 
 only thing to settle is whether we shall swim across the river 
 and go along in that direction, or keep on this side. We have 
 not seen anything of alligators, and I don't think the sharks 
 ever cross the bars and come into fresh water." 
 
 "All right, sir! If you think it is best to cross, I am ready," 
 Wilcox said. "A dip will do us good, for the heat in that 
 wood is enough to roast an ox; besides, it will wash the mud 
 off us. But we must look about for a log to put the gun and 
 our pistols and the ammunition on, we must not risk wetting 
 that." 
 
 There were many pieces of drift-wood by the edge of the 
 
AGAIN ON THE ISLAND. 91 
 
 water, and choosing one of them they fastened the weapons 
 and cartridges on the top, and then, entering the water and 
 pushing it before them, swam over to the opposite side. Then 
 taking the arms again they let the log drift down the river, 
 and keeping in the water ankle-deep they followed the stream 
 down to the sea, and continued their course along the sand 
 washed by the surf. 
 
 "How long a start do you think we shall get, Wilcox 1" 
 Stephen asked. 
 
 "I should say that two hours is as much as we can hope 
 for." 
 
 " Well, we shall be a good long way off by that time. I feel 
 a new man after that swim." 
 
 "So do I," Joyce said, speaking more briskly than he had 
 hitherto done. 
 
 "Well, we had better set off at a trot," the sailor said. " I 
 expect those beggars can run a good deal faster than we can. 
 The great thing is for us to get so far away before it gets 
 dark that they won't be able to see our figures. If it is eight 
 bells before they fairly set off after us, they will only have a 
 little better than two hours and a half. They are sure to be 
 thrown out for a bit at the mouth of the river. They will see 
 our footsteps at the water side, but won't know whether we 
 have crossed or have kept along on that side. Very likely 
 some of them will go one way and some the other, still they 
 are sure to have a talk and a delay. They ought not to travel 
 twice as fast as we have, at any rate, and they would have to 
 do that to catch us before it is dark." 
 
 They set off at a brisk trot. The sand was fairly hard below 
 the spot where the surf rushed up over it, and the walking 
 was easy in comparison to that in the swamp or on loose sand. 
 Still it was hot work. The sun blazed down upon them, 
 there was not a breath of wind, and they were drenched with 
 
92 WITH COCHRANE THE DAUNTLESS. 
 
 perspiration. They kept on steadily, however, slackening only 
 occasionally into a walk for two or three minutes, and then 
 going on again at a sharp pace. 
 
 "They won't catch us before it gets dark," the sailor said 
 confidently. "I reckon we must be making near seven knots 
 an hour, and even a Malay could not go at fourteen; besides, 
 they will have to keep a sharp look-out for footmarks in the 
 sand above water-mark, as we might at any time come up from 
 the water and take to the forest. Anyhow, we must keep it 
 up as long as we can go. We ain't running for amusement, it 
 is for a big prize, for our lives depend on our keeping ahead." 
 
 Anxiously they watched the sun as it sank down towards 
 the horizon, and there was an exclamation of satisfaction as 
 it disappeared below the water. 
 
 "Another half-hour and we shall be able to take it easy," 
 Stephen said. "I should not think they would keep up the 
 search after dark, and then we could safely take to the forest. 
 The wind is springing up already, and this light drifting sand 
 will cover all signs of our footsteps before morning." 
 
 "We had better keep in the water as long as we can, Master 
 Steve. They can't trace our footsteps here, but they might 
 under the trees. These sort of chaps are like dogs. I expect 
 they can pretty well follow you by smell, and the hope of 
 getting heads will keep them at it as long as there is the 
 slightest chance of their overtaking us." 
 
 "Well, we may as well be on the safe side anyhow, Wilcox, 
 and will keep on here as long as we can drag our feet along. 
 We have got no boots to pinch our corns, and every time the 
 surf rushes up it cools our feet, so we ought to be able to keep 
 on till eight bells in the middle watch, by that time I should 
 think we shall have gone something like forty miles from that 
 river." 
 
 " All that," the sailor agreed. " It was about four bells 
 
AGAIN ON THE ISLAND. 93 
 
 when we swam across, and in the four hours we have certainly 
 gone twenty-four knots, and I should say a bit further than 
 that. If we only make three knots for the next six hours, we 
 shall have logged over forty by eight bells, and I should say 
 that even the Malays will hardly come as far as that, espe- 
 cially as the men who take this side won't be sure that we 
 have not gone the other, and have been caught by their mates." 
 
 They kept steadily on, but their speed gradually abated, and 
 for the last two hours before the hands of Stephen's watch 
 pointed to twelve o'clock, they stumbled rather than walked. 
 
 "I think that will do," he said at last, "it is nearly eight 
 bells now. Let us tread in each other's footsteps as well as we 
 can, so that there shall only be one line of marks." 
 
 The change from the firm sand to the yielding drift — in 
 which their feet sank three or four inches — finished them, and 
 although they had not more than a hundred yards to walk 
 to the trees, it seemed to them that they would never get 
 there. At last they reached the edge of the forest, staggered 
 a few paces in, and then without a word dropped down and 
 almost instantaneously fell asleep. 
 
 The sun was high when they woke. Stephen was the first 
 to get on to his feet. He went to the edge of the trees and 
 looked across. To his satisfaction he saw that the drifting 
 sand had obliterated all trace of their passage. 
 
 "Then I vote," Wilcox said, when he was told the news, 
 " that we go a bit further into the wood and camp there for 
 the day. I am just aching from head to foot." 
 
 " I think we must go on a bit further, Wilcox. You see 
 there are no cocoa-nuts here, and we must keep on until we 
 come to a grove of them. The trees are never far apart, and 
 we may not have a mile to go. We certainly can't stay here 
 all day without something to eat and drink. You see we 
 threw our nuts away when we started." 
 
94 WITH COCHRANE THE DAUNTLESS. 
 
 "I suppose you are right, sir," the sailor said, slowly getting 
 up on to his feet; "but it is hard, after such a run as we made 
 yesterday, to have to get up anchor again." 
 
 " Well, we can take it easily, Wilcox, and we will stop at the 
 first cocoa-nut tree we come to. Now, Tom, as we go along 
 you shall tell us about yesterday, we have not heard a word 
 yet." 
 
 "Well," began Joyce, "we paddled up the river, as you know. 
 It was as much as we could do sometimes to make head against 
 the current. I suppose we had been gone about an hour when 
 we saw a troop of monkeys on the boughs of a tree overhang- 
 ing the water. They did not seem a bit afraid of us, but chat- 
 tered and screamed. We shot three of them. I did not fire, 
 for I could not bring myself to kill one of them. It was like 
 shooting at a child. We picked them out of the water and 
 put them in the boat, and then paddled on again. We had just 
 got to a turn in the river when two big canoes came round 
 the corner. It was of no use our trying to get away, for they 
 could go six feet to our one. Mr. Towel stood up in the stern 
 and held both his arms up to show that we were friendly, but 
 directly afterwards a shower of spears came whizzing down at 
 us. One hit Jackson, who was in the bow, somewhere in the 
 body. He fired at them, and then fell down in the bottom of 
 the boat. Then the rest of us fired, and for a moment they 
 sheered off, but the men had just time to reload their guns 
 when the Malays came at us. The men fired again, and a 
 moment later the canoes ran alongside. We took to our 
 pistols, but the Malays came leaping on board like demons. 
 
 "I don't know anything more about that part of the business, 
 for I got a crack on the head with a club, and did not know 
 anything more till I was hauled on shore and chucked down. 
 Then I saw them bring from the canoes the heads of all the 
 others. It was frightful. Then they dragged the bodies out 
 
AGAIN ON THE ISLAND. 95 
 
 from the bottom of the canoes. They had all been stripped, 
 and I believe I should have fainted if a big Malay had not 
 given me a tremendous kick, and made me walk up to the 
 village. As soon as I got there they tied me up and staked 
 me out. There was a tremendous noise and shouting and 
 yelling, but what was done I don't know, as I could see nothing 
 but the sky and the wall of the hut. It was an awful time; 
 first because I knew that sooner or later they would kill me, 
 and in the next place, because I was driven pretty nearly mad 
 by the flies and things that settled on my face. Of course 
 I could not brush them away, and all that I could do was 
 to shake my head, and they did not seem to mind that. It 
 seems ridiculous that, after seeing one's friends killed and 
 knowing that one is going to be killed oneself, one should 
 worry over flies, but I can tell you I went nearly out of my 
 mind with irritation at the tickling of their feet. It seemed 
 to me that I was there for ages, though I knew by the height 
 of the sun that it was only about noon. The thirst, too, was 
 fearful, and I made up my mind that the sooner they came 
 and killed me the better. I found myself talking all sorts of 
 nonsense, and I do think that I should have gone out of my 
 mind before the day was over. When first I heard your voice 
 I thought it must be a dream, like some of the other ideas that 
 came into my mind. I had thought of you both when I was 
 first fastened up, and wondered whether the Malays would 
 find you. I had even thought at first that if you only knew 
 where I was you might try to get me away after dark if I was 
 not killed before that, and you can guess my feelings when I 
 became convinced that it was really you. How did you know 
 what had happened?" 
 
 " You must have been insensible for a good bit, Tom. We 
 heard the firing, and thought that there was too much of it 
 for shooting monkeys, and that you must have been attacked, 
 
96 WITH COCHRANE THE DAUNTLESS. 
 
 so we made our way along among the bushes by the bank. 
 Presently the two canoes came down, and we made out some 
 heads in the stern of each boat. They went to the mouth of 
 the river, to see, no doubt, if there was a ship there. They 
 came back again in half an hour. We tried to count the 
 heads, and both of us thought that there were about the same 
 number in each boat. Of course we could not be sure, but we 
 determined to come on to the village and find out for certain. 
 I climbed up a high tree a short distance from it — the one 
 where we came upon the cocoa-nuts — and made you out lying 
 beside a hut. I knew by the white ducks that it was either you 
 or poor Towel. Then Ave worked round, waited until the village 
 had gone off to sleep, and then came for you. You see the 
 Malays had no idea that there were any more whites about, 
 and therefore took no trouble about you. No doubt they 
 thought that the boat had escaped from a wreck, and that all 
 who had got away in her had gone up the river together. 
 Ah! there is a cocoa-nut. I am glad our walk is over, for I 
 am beginning to feel hot and thirsty." 
 
 "So am I, and stiff and sore all over." 
 
 The cocoa-nut tree was the first of a grove. Stephen, who 
 was by far the most active of the party, soon climbed one 
 of the trees, and threw a score of nuts down. They went a 
 little distance further back into the forest. Each consumed 
 the contents of four nuts, then two of them lay down to sleep 
 again, while the other kept watch. The march was not 
 resumed until after sunset. They had another meal of cocoa- 
 nuts before they started, and each took three nuts for use on 
 the journey. They again walked at the edge of the water, as 
 they had done the day before. It was by far the pleasantest 
 way, and they kept on until daylight appeared, and then again 
 went into the wood. 
 
 "I should think now," Stephen said, as after a good sleep 
 
AGAIN ON THE ISLAND. 97 
 
 they ate a cocoa-nut breakfast, " that we need not bother any- 
 more about the Malays of that village. It is quite possible 
 that we passed another last night, though of course the sand- 
 hills would have prevented our seeing it. The question is now, 
 what are we to do next?" 
 
 " That is what I was thinking all the time that we were 
 walking last night," Joyce said. "We can't keep on tramping 
 and living on cocoa-nuts for ever." 
 
 " That is quite certain, Tom, but there is no reason why 
 we should do so. There must be some villages on this coast, 
 and when we start this evening I vote we keep along here 
 instead of going down to the water. Where there is a village 
 there must be fishing canoes, and all we have got to do is to 
 take one, and put to sea. I don't mean to say that we can 
 get in and push straight away, for we must have some pro- 
 visions; but when we have found a village we can hide up 
 near it, and get as many cocoa-nuts as we can carry. Besides, 
 there are sure to be bananas and other fruit-trees close by, 
 and after laying our cocoa-nuts down by the edge of the water, 
 we can go up and cut as many bananas as we like, and then 
 we shall have enough food to last us ten days or so. There is 
 one comfort, wherever we may land there cannot be a worse 
 lot of Malays than there are about here." 
 
 "That is a capital plan, Master Stephen," Wilcox said. "I 
 have not been thinking of a village, except as to how to get 
 past it; but, as you say, there is no reason why we should not 
 make off in a canoe." 
 
 The next night they kept along just inside the trees, and 
 had walked but two hours when they found that these ended 
 abruptly, and that they stood on the edge of a clearing. 
 
 "Here is your village, Stephen." 
 
 "Yes; one hardly hoped to find one so soon. Well, the first 
 thing is to go down and search in the sand-hills for canoes." 
 
 (M220) G 
 
98 WITH COCHRANE THE DAUNTLESS. 
 
 Four or five were found lying together in a hollow some 
 twenty yards beyond high-water mark. They examined them 
 carefully. 
 
 " Any of them will do," Wilcox said, " but I think this is 
 the best one. It is a little larger than the others, and the 
 wood feels newer and sounder. I expect she is meant for four 
 paddlers, and she will carry us and a fair cargo well." 
 
 "That is settled, then," Stephen said. "I propose that we 
 go back some little distance from the village, get our cocoa-nuts 
 at once, and bring them back and hide them in the bushes 
 not far from where the clearing begins. It will save time to- 
 morrow." 
 
 "Why should we not go to-night V Joyce asked. "It is 
 only about nine o'clock now, and if we get the cocoa-nuts near 
 here, we can make two or three journeys down to the boat 
 with them, and be off before midnight." 
 
 "So we might, Tom. What do you say, Wilcox 1 ?" 
 
 "The sooner the better, says I," the sailor replied. "As 
 Mr. Joyce says, we can be off by eight bells easy, and we shall 
 be out of sight of this village long before daybreak." 
 
 " Well, Wilcox, will you and Mr. Joyce get the cocoa-nuts, 
 and while you are doing it I will creep round this clearing 
 and get bananas. I can see lots of their broad leaves over 
 there. As I get them I will bring them to this corner, and 
 by the time you have got a store of nuts, I shall have a pile 
 of bananas. I think you had better go four or five hundred 
 yards away before you cut the nuts, for they come down with 
 such a thump that any native who is awake here might very 
 well hear them." 
 
 "We will go a bit away, sir," Wilcox said, "but if we take 
 pains to let them drop each time just as there is a puff of wind, 
 there is no fear of their hearing them." 
 
 They separated, and Stephen, entering the clearing, soon 
 
AGAIN ON THE ISLAND. 99 
 
 came upon a banana tree with long bunches of the fruit. Two 
 of these were as much as he could carry, and his portion of 
 the work was soon done, and indeed he had carried them 
 down to the water's edge before his companions had brought 
 three loads of cocoa-nuts to the point where he had left them. 
 He helped to take these down, then the canoe was lifted and 
 carried to the edge of the water, being taken in far enough to 
 float each time the surf ran up. Then the fruit was placed 
 in it. 
 
 " I wish we had poor Mr. Towel with us to take her through 
 the surf," Wilcox said. 
 
 "I wish we had; but fortunately it is not very heavy." 
 
 "No, sir; it is sure not to be," the sailor said. "I have 
 noticed that they always put their villages at points where 
 the surf is lighter than usual. I suppose the water is shallower, 
 or deeper, or something. I don't know what it is, but there 
 is certainly a difference. Besides, there has been no wind to 
 speak of since we landed, and the waves are nothing to 
 what they were then. Now, gentlemen, as I am more ac- 
 customed to this sort of thing than you are, I will take the 
 •place in the stern, where I can steer her a bit. The moment 
 she floats as the surf comes in, and I see the chance is a 
 good one, I will give the word; then we will all paddle as 
 hard as we can, and go out as the surf draws back, so as to 
 meet the next wave before it breaks. Everything depends on 
 that." 
 
 They took their places in the canoe, and grasped the paddles 
 that they had found in her. Two or three waves passed 
 under them, and then they saw one higher than the others 
 approaching them. 
 
 "We will go out on the back of this one," Wilcox said. 
 "Paddle the moment the surf lifts the canoe, and don't let her 
 be washed up a foot." 
 
100 WITH COCHRANE THE DAUNTLESS. 
 
 The wave fell over with a crash, and a torrent of foam 
 rushed up towards them. 
 
 " Now," Wilcox exclaimed, as the white line reached the 
 bow, "paddle for your lives!" 
 
 For a moment, in spite of their desperate efforts, they were 
 carried upwards, then the canoe seemed to hang in the air, 
 and they were riding forward with the speed of an arrow on 
 the receding water. 
 
 "All you know," Wilcox shouted, and as the rush of water 
 ceased they drove her ahead to meet the next wave. It rose 
 higher and higher. The canoe reached it, and, as it passed 
 under them, stood almost upright. Two or three more des- 
 perate strokes, and they heard a crash behind them. 
 
 "Eow, row!" Wilcox shouted, as they felt the boat drawn 
 backwards. It was but for a few seconds, then they moved 
 ahead again, passed over the next wave, and were safe. They 
 now settled to steady paddling, and before they had gone 
 many hundred yards from shore they no longer felt the long 
 smooth rollers, over which the canoe glided insensibly. 
 
 By daylight the land they had left was far behind them, 
 the low-lying coast had sunk from their view, and the hills 
 behind were almost shrouded from sight by the mist that rose 
 from the swamps. 
 
 " It was well we rescued Mr. Joyce before it was dark," the 
 sailor said to Stephen. "One night in those swamps is enough 
 to lay any white man up with fever. That was why I was 
 so anxious to get him away at once. I did not think that they 
 would kill him straight off. If they had wanted him for the 
 feast they would have cut off his head when they caught him. 
 I expect they would have kept him for some other occasion; 
 but I wanted to get him out of it before the mists began to 
 rise from the swamps. Now, sir, as we are well away, shall I 
 put her head north or south?" 
 
AGAIN ON THE ISLAND. 101 
 
 "I don't think it matters much, Wilcox. There is some 
 high land just ahead now, we may as well make in that 
 direction as any other; but if we get to a small island on the 
 way, I should think that it would be safest to land there, and 
 wait for a few days anyhow, as we agreed before, to see if 
 there are any signs of a sail. At any rate, we won't go near, 
 by daylight, any island likely to be inhabited." 
 
 After paddling for some hours they saw a low island that 
 seemed to be about a quarter of a mile in diameter, and headed 
 towards it. Before they reached it, however, Wilcox said : 
 
 " Do you know, Mr. Joyce, I have been thinking for some 
 time that I knew that hill we were pointing to, and, now we 
 have opened it out a bit more, I feel sure of it." 
 
 The lads ceased paddling, and looked intently at the hill, 
 now some twelve miles away. It had a flat top that seemed to 
 be split asunder by a crack running through it. 
 
 "I know it now," Stephen exclaimed excitedly, "it is the 
 island where that wreck was." 
 
 " That is it, sure enough, sir. I have been thinking it was so 
 for some time, but it is only now that I have caught the light 
 through that gap at the top. It was more open from the point 
 where the Tiger lay when we started for shore, but if we 
 row on for a mile or two and then make straight for it, I think 
 we shall just about strike the point where the wreck is lying. 
 No, I think we had better wait a while, Mr. Joyce," he said, 
 as the latter dipped his paddle in the water and turned the 
 boat's head towards the island. 
 
 " I think we had better wait till the sun gets pretty low. 
 We know there ain't any villages near the wreck, for she must 
 have been there a good month afore we found her, and it was 
 certain then that no native had been near her. Still there may 
 be some higher up on the slopes, and they might make us out, 
 so it is better that we should not get within six or eight miles 
 
102 WITH COCHRANE THE DAUNTLESS. 
 
 of land before it begins to be dark. We could not go to a 
 better place. First of all, there are no natives ; secondly, we 
 may pick up all sorts of useful things about the shore. We 
 did not see anything but bales and wreckage where we landed, 
 but it was all rock there. Now some of the casks and things 
 may have floated along, and have been cast up upon the sand. 
 Then, it is about the likeliest point for sighting the Tiger. 
 The skipper would naturally say to himself, There is no saying 
 where the boat has gone to, but if it is anywhere near the 
 island where we lost them, they would be likely to make for 
 the wreck in hopes of finding some provisions cast up there; 
 and so he would sail round to have a look." 
 
 "I think he would," the boys both agreed, letting the boat 
 drift quietly. They made a hearty meal of bananas and cocoa- 
 nut milk, and then all lay down in the canoe and dozed for 
 some hours. The two lads were roused by Wilcox saying: 
 
 "I think, gentlemen, we can paddle on quietly now; the 
 sun will be setting in less than an hour." 
 
 Resuming their seats, they paddled gently on until the 
 sun disappeared, then quickened their pace, and in another 
 hour reached the shore. They had no difficulty in landing, 
 for the side on which the wreck was lying was sheltered by the 
 island itself from the rollers, and it was a sandy beach. 
 
 "I don't think that we are far from the spot," Wilcox said, 
 " for we made straight for that crack on the hill, and kept it 
 open all the while. I reckon we can't be more than half a 
 mile from where the wreck was lying. 
 
 " I don't suppose we shall see anything of that, the cyclone 
 must have finished it. However, we will walk along the shore 
 till we get to the spot. We cannot mistake that. We will 
 keep a bit back from the sea. We may light upon something 
 as we go, but it will be sure to be well inland ; you know we 
 saw how far the sea washed things up beside the wreck." 
 
AGAIN ON THE ISLAND. 103 
 
 The night was too dark, however, for them to distinguish 
 objects ten yards away, and they soon came down to the 
 water's edge again, following it until the character of the shore 
 changed and rocks took the place of the sand. 
 
 "That is all right," the sailor said; "now I think we had 
 better go back to the boat again till we get daylight. It would 
 never do to walk across these rocks in the dark with naked 
 feet. It was bad enough when it was light, but we should 
 cut our feet to pieces if we tried it now. There is no hurry 
 about it, as we are within half a mile of the wreck. We know 
 that everything is pretty well smashed up that went ashore 
 there, so that Ave are far more likely to find something on 
 the sands, and we shall see the Tiger just as well from where 
 the canoe is as from the wreck. The first thing to look for is 
 water. I don't say that the cocoa-nuts would not supply us for 
 another week; but if we are going to stay here long — and for 
 my part I don't see anything better to do — we must either 
 find another cocoa-nut grove or water." 
 
 " I don't think we are likely to find another cocoa-nut 
 grove," Stephen said. 
 
 " Why not, sir 1 They have them mostly on all these islands." 
 
 "That is true," Stephen agreed; "but I should say it is just 
 because there are none here that there are no villages any- 
 where about." 
 
 " I did not think of that, sir; yes, I expect you are right; and 
 in that case it is still more necessary to hunt for water. If we 
 can find it within four or five miles either side of the wreck 
 we are all right, because the Tiger could not come here without 
 our seeing her; but I should not like to be much further away. 
 However, most of these islands have water, especially when 
 they are hilly; and as we have been lucky so far, it will be hard 
 if we don't find a stream of some sort along ten miles of 
 shore." 
 
104 WITH COCHRANE THE DAUNTLESS. 
 
 The next morning they set out on a tour of exploration. 
 They were not long before they came upon many relics of 
 the wreck: planks, spars, and remains of the cargo. They 
 lay nearly two hundred yards from the shore, and bore no 
 signs of the rough usage that had marked the wreckage among 
 the rocks. 
 
 "Hurrah! there are some tubs," Joyce shouted, as they 
 reached the top of a low sand-hill. They broke into a run, 
 and were soon standing beside six casks, lying a short distance 
 apart. 
 
 "Salt junk," Wilcox said, as they looked at the cask they 
 first came to, "and no bad thing either; cocoa-nuts are good 
 for drink, but that soft, pulpy stuff inside don't go very far; 
 and after a chap has been eating it for a week he wants to 
 get his teeth into something more substantial. This ain't 
 no good," he went on, giving a kick at the next cask, "unless 
 the natives come up and we open trade with them. These 
 are goods they shipped at Calcutta. This is better," he went 
 on, as he looked at the next; "this 'ere is biscuits; and with 
 biscuits and salt junk, and a banana now and then, no man 
 need grumble." 
 
 The next two were, like the second, filled with trade articles; 
 the last was a cask of flour. 
 
 "Well, we can stop here a couple of months if we like, 
 gentlemen, if we can but hit upon water; for that, of course, 
 we must look beyond the line of sand; a river can cut through 
 it, but a little stream would find its way underneath the sand 
 to the sea." 
 
 As they approached the rocky ground, which rose like a 
 ridge, and could be traced far inland, the sailor said : " This is 
 the most likely spot. Any water that came down from the 
 hills would run along at the foot of these rocks to the sea." 
 
 "I think that you are right, Wilcox; the foliage looks 
 
AGAIN ON THE ISLAND. 105 
 
 brighter along by the rocks than it does anywhere else, and I 
 should not be surprised if we found a stream there." 
 
 As they approached the rocks within a hundred yards, the 
 hope became a certainty, for there was some growth of verdure. 
 They quickened their steps and ran forward, but, to their dis- 
 appointment, there was no stream, however small. 
 
 "We have got to dig for it," Wilcox said; "there is water 
 not far down, I will swear." 
 
 The soil was chiefly composed of sand, and they set to work 
 with their hands to scrape a hole in it. They had got but a 
 foot down when the soil became moist, and a foot lower water 
 began to ooze out of the sides into the hole. 
 
 "Thank God for that!" the sailor said reverently, "that 
 makes it safe. This evening, when it gets cool, we will bring 
 the paddles here, and will soon dig a hole for our well. We 
 can't do better than roll a tub here and sink it in the hole, 
 and bring the canoe to the edge of that rock down by the sea, 
 then we have only got to chop some boughs and make a sort of 
 hut, and we shall be as comfortable as if we were back home." 
 
 "It is curious finding a rock here," Joyce said presently, as 
 they made their way over to it. " For all the distance that we 
 have gone along by the sea, it has been nothing but sand : it is 
 rum black-looking stuff, too." 
 
 "I expect it is lava," Stephen said. "There are lots of 
 volcanoes among these islands, and I believe that high hill 
 is one, and that if we were to climb up we should find there 
 was a crater there. You see we are just in a line with that 
 gap, and this rock goes exactly in that direction. I expect 
 that in some eruption ever so long ago, the crater split there, 
 and the lava poured down here into the sea." 
 
 "Very likely that is it, Stephen; it must have been a long 
 time ago anyhow, you see there are big trees growing on it." 
 
 In ten minutes they arrived at the snot where the wreck 
 
106 WITH COCHRANE THE DAUNTLESS. 
 
 had been; her keel remained there, but with this exception 
 she had entirely disappeared. They took another look among 
 the wreckage, cut off some lengths of rope and coiled them 
 up, and also a sail, which the sailor pronounced to be a top- 
 gallant sail. This they rolled up, fastened it by short pieces 
 of rope, and then, the sailor taking the middle and the lads 
 the ends on their shoulders, they carried it to Avhat they 
 already called their " well ". 
 
 "We will set to work at once to rig up a tent under 
 the shade of these trees," the sailor said, "it will keep the 
 night mists off better than branches; and we will bring another 
 sail over to cover the ground and keep the mist from rising 
 inside." 
 
 "What are we going to cook our junk in?" Joyce asked 
 suddenly. 
 
 The sailor looked at his companion in dismay. "Dash my 
 timbers," he said, "I never thought of that; that is a go. 
 Perhaps we can manage it in the native way : they boil things 
 by putting water into a big shell, and dropping hot stones into 
 it until it boils. We have not got any shells, but we might 
 find a hollow in the rock that will hold water." 
 
 "That is all very well, Wilcox; but how are we going 
 to heat our stones?" 
 
 "You have done me there, Master Stephen," the sailor said, 
 in a tone of utter disgust; " we have not got flint or tinder." 
 
 "We might manage the tinder easily enough," Stephen said, 
 "by using rotten wood; but tinder is of no use without steel. 
 We shall have to eat our biscuits without meat, Wilcox, unless 
 we can light a fire by rubbing two sticks together." 
 
 "That ain't to be done, sir; I have seen white men try it 
 over and over again, and I have tried it myself, but it ain't no 
 manner of good. The Almighty has given us a lot of know- 
 ledge that he has not given to these black fellows, but he has 
 
AGAIN ON THE ISLAND. 107 
 
 balanced it up by giving them the knack of lighting a fire 
 which he has not given to us. I never heard of a white man 
 who could make fire in that way." 
 
 "Well, I will have a try, anyhow," Joyce said; "there 
 can't be anything special about a Malay that he can make fire 
 more than a white man." 
 
 " You may try as much as you like, Master Joyce," the 
 sailor said, shaking his head solemnly, "but mark my words, 
 you won't be able to do it. It is a pity, too, for with all this 
 wood that has been drying as if on purpose for us, we could 
 have had one without being afraid of the smoke." 
 
 "Well, we must not grumble; we have got a lot to be 
 thankful for; and we can do without meat well enough." 
 
 "Yes, Mr. Joyce," Wilcox said reluctantly; "only, you 
 know, I wish we had not come across that cask of salt junk, 
 then one would never have thought about it; but seeing it 
 there, and not being able to cook it, is enough to make a saint 
 grumble, I should say." 
 
 "Not if he were really a saint, Wilcox. However, don't 
 make up your mind that you are not going to get your teeth 
 into that junk till I give up the hope of making a fire." 
 
 " Well, sir, we will roll the three barrels over here, and then 
 set about rigging up the tent. There is nothing like being 
 busy." 
 
 By nightfall they had got the tent up. They had had 
 some argument over the best site. All would have preferred 
 to have erected it on the low ground, near their well, but finally 
 a point was decided upon, some little distance higher — a level 
 spot being found on the rock where some trees offered every 
 convenience for pitching it, and the surface of the rock was 
 fairly flat. A few armfuls of coarse grass sufficed to fill up 
 the inequalities, and render it even enough for sleeping on. 
 Here they had the advantage of getting the sea-breeze, and of 
 
108 WITH COCHRANE THE DAUNTLESS. 
 
 having a wide view across the water, while trees growing 
 behind them completely hid the tent from being seen from 
 the higher ground. Before erecting it they had deepened the 
 well, and found that the water was clear and good, and that 
 it flowed in so abundantly there was no fear whatever of the 
 supply falling short. 
 
 The next morning Wilcox and Joyce started for an early 
 walk, Avith a view to seeing whether there were any things 
 thrown up on the sand beyond the rock. Stephen was to stay 
 behind at the tent and keep watch for a sail. 
 
 "I will leave the gun behind with you, Master Stephen," 
 Wilcox said; "Mr. Joyce has got his pistols, and I have my 
 cutlass. If you want us back, or if you make out a sail, you 
 fire it off; we will come back as quick as we can. Don't you 
 fidget if we are some time away; casks may have floated a good 
 bit along before they got thrown up, and it is just as Avell to 
 see the thing through now, and then we shan't have to do it 
 again. We will keep a good look-out for a sail too, for it is 
 like enough that we may be a long way beyond the sound of 
 the gun. You see we can make out from here that a mile 
 further on the trees come down to near the sea again, just as 
 they did on the other island. We will take some cocoa-nuts 
 with us, in case we should not light upon any there. We sha'n't 
 be uneasy about you, because we know for certain that there 
 ain't any natives near; and, in the same way, you need not 
 trouble yourself about us." 
 
 "All right, Wilcox! I will see whether I can't get some 
 junk cooked for you, ready for a meal at sunset." 
 
 The sailor smiled grimly. "All right, sir; if I find some 
 meat cooked for me, I will guarantee that I will eat it, even if 
 it is as tough as an alligator." 
 
HOME. 109 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 HOME. 
 
 AS soon as his companions had left him, Stephen went off 
 and brought up as much dried wood as he could carry, 
 among it a piece of plank that was almost rotten. This he 
 crumbled up. Then he set the cask of salt junk on end, and 
 with a heavy piece of rock hammered away until he forced the 
 head in. Then he took out a good-sized piece of meat and put 
 it into the well. The water here was constantly changing, a 
 current flowing through it towards the sea. Then he brought 
 up two or three more loads of wreckage and sat down under 
 the awning, for it could scarcely be termed a tent, as both 
 ends were open to allow a free passage for the air. Here he 
 sat for some hours, occasionally getting up and looking over 
 the sea to the right and left. It was not until it was nearly 
 noon and the sun was overhead that he could try the experi- 
 ment upon which he relied to obtain fire. When it was nearly 
 vertical he went down to the well, opened his watch-case, and 
 dipped the glass carefully into the water. He thought of trying 
 to take it out of the case, but the risk of breaking it would 
 have been too great. Carrying it very carefully, he went up 
 to the tent again and sat down beside his little heap of crumbled 
 wood and held the watch-glass full of water over it. 
 
 As he expected he found that it made an admirable burning- 
 glass, its only drawback being that it was only available when 
 the sun was overhead. Almost instantaneously as the focus 
 fell upon the wood the latter began to smoke, and in less than 
 a minute a flame sprang up. Some small splinters that he had 
 got ready were placed on it, and in a very short time a fire was 
 blazing. As soon as the wood was well alight he had poured 
 
110 WITH COCHRANE THE DAUNTLESS. 
 
 off the water and very carefully wiped the glass and the rim 
 that held it. He went a short distance away as soon as the 
 fire was burning well, and was pleased to find that no smoke 
 was given off, the sun having dried the wreckage until not the 
 slightest particle of moisture remained in it. He now kept a 
 sharp look-out along the shore, but it was not until nearly five 
 o'clock that he saw his companions issue from the trees a mile 
 and a half away and move along the sand. He went down to 
 the well, took out the meat, and brought it up and laid it on 
 the rock to dry. He felt sure that by this time the water 
 would have removed the greater portion of the salt, and that 
 he would now be able to roast it satisfactorily. 
 
 He had already got two forked twigs as a support for his 
 spit, and, taking the ramrod from the gun, thrust it through 
 the meat. He had ceased putting on fresh wood the moment 
 he saw the others come from the forest. The fire soon sank 
 down to a mass of glowing embers, over which he put the 
 meat, the ends of the ramrod being supported by the forked 
 twigs. He turned it round and round occasionally to prevent 
 it from burning, and although he had himself been indifferent 
 as to whether they could obtain means for cooking the junk, 
 he felt a ravenous appetite as the odour of the meat rose. 
 Just as he came to the conclusion that the meat must be 
 cooked through, Wilcox and Joyce arrived. They stopped in 
 amazement as their eyes fell on the fire. 
 
 "Come on, Wilcox," Stephen said with a laugh. "Don't 
 stand staring there. Dinner is ready, and I am only waiting 
 for you to begin." 
 
 "I am downright famished," the sailor said as he came up. 
 "I would not have believed it if I had not seen it. How on 
 earth did you manage it?" 
 
 "Not by rubbing pieces of wood together, Wilcox, but by 
 filling my watch-glass with water and using it as a burning- 
 
HOME. Ill 
 
 glass; it lit the wood in less than a minute; only it would not 
 do, you know, unless the sun was right overhead, and I had 
 to wait until twelve o'clock before I tried the experiment." 
 
 The meat was cut up into three huge portions, and using 
 biscuits as plates they speedily set to work upon it. 
 
 "You have pretty well got rid of the salt," Wilcox said 
 after his first mouthful. "It is well-nigh as good as roast 
 meat. How did you do that, sir?" 
 
 " It was in the well for seven or eight hours," Stephen 
 replied. " The water was running through it, so that it was 
 as good as putting it into a river. Salt meat is best boiled, 
 but as I had no pot to boil it in, I thought I would try and 
 roast it; and, as you say, the water has got rid of the salt 
 altogether." 
 
 "It is the best bit of meat that I have eaten since I left 
 England," Wilcox said. " Well, I don't mind now if we stop 
 here for another month. We have meat and biscuits, and I 
 reckon, Mr. Stephen, that you will be able to think of some 
 plan for making flap-jacks out of the flour, and we have found 
 a cocoa-nut grove. So we shall be able to live like kings." 
 
 The next morning Stephen was again left in charge of the 
 fire, and the other two started to fetch a fresh load of cocoa- 
 nuts, saying that they should be back by twelve o'clock, and 
 should expect to find that he had got something new for them. 
 After putting a piece of meat into the well Stephen made a 
 fresh experiment. Fishing out a great lump of fat from the 
 cask, he first washed it carefully to get rid of the salt, then 
 put it into half a cocoa-nut shell, placed this on some hot 
 embers and fried the fat until most of it melted, and then 
 squeezed the remainder between two flat stones. Then he 
 poured the fat into another cocoa-nut half full of milk, put 
 three or four pounds of flour on a flat rock, made a hollow in 
 the middle as he had seen the servant do at home while 
 
112 WITH COCHRANE THE DAUNTLESS. 
 
 making pastry, poured the liquor gradually into this, mixing it 
 up with the flour until he had made the whole into dough. 
 Then he cleared away a portion of the embers, and dividing 
 the dough into flat cakes placed these on the hot ground. Half 
 an hour later he cleared another space from embers, and 
 turned the cakes over, and in twenty minutes they were baked 
 through. They were pronounced excellent by his companions 
 as they ate them with their meat. 
 
 "We must not be too lavish," Stephen said, "as we do not 
 know how long we may have to wait here. I propose for break- 
 fast that we have biscuits only, then for dinner we will have 
 some meat and biscuits again, and for supper cold meat and 
 cakes. How much meat do you think there is, Wilcox?" 
 
 " There is supposed to be a hundred and a half in that cask, 
 Mr. Embleton." 
 
 " Well, that will last us just about a month," Stephen said, 
 " at a pound and a half each a day. I propose that we have 
 that allowance for a fortnight, and if there are no signs of 
 the ship by that time we can then reduce ourselves to three- 
 quarters of a pound a day. At that rate it will last for six 
 weeks altogether. The flour and the biscuits would last twice 
 as long, but we must keep a good stock of them on hand, so as 
 to have a store if we take to the canoe again." 
 
 This proposal was agreed to. They had, however, been 
 there about a week when early one morning Joyce discovered 
 a sail far away on the horizon. In great excitement they 
 hurried down to the canoe, which had been brought along and 
 hauled up on the rocks. 
 
 "Put her into the water to see if the sun has opened her 
 seams." 
 
 Finding that it had done so, they filled her and then hauled 
 her just beyond the edge of the water. Then they went up 
 to their tent again. 
 
HOME. 1 1 3 
 
 "There ain't much wind," the sailor said, "and it will die 
 away altogether in an hour or two. It is no good our doing 
 anything until we see which way she is heading. If it is the 
 Tiger, I reckon she is making for this spot, and we can wait till 
 the afternoon anyhow before we take to the canoe. If it is 
 only a chance ship, and we find she is bearing a course that 
 brings her anywhere near us, we must take to the canoe at 
 once. I should say she is a good five-and-twenty miles away, 
 but anyhow we can get out to her before the evening breeze 
 springs up." 
 
 By nine o'clock they made out that the ship was certainly 
 heading in their direction. Then the wind left her, and pre- 
 sently they saw her swing broadside on to them. 
 
 " She is very like the Tiger," Joyce said. " She is just about 
 the same size and barque-rigged, but we cannot see her hull." 
 
 " She is the Tiger sure enough," Wilcox said. " Her heading 
 this way made it pretty well certain, but I think I could swear 
 to her now." 
 
 " Well, I vote we start for her at once. What do you say, 
 Stephen?" 
 
 "I think so, Tom. Certainly it will be a long row in the 
 heat, but that does not matter. We had better put a stock of 
 biscuits and cocoa-nuts on board. One never knows about the 
 weather here, and before night there might be another cyclone, 
 then she might have to run for it. We should have to make 
 for the nearest land, and might not be able to get back here 
 for two or three days." 
 
 As they had eaten their first meal there was no reason for 
 any delay. The canoe was emptied out, a store sufficient for 
 two or three days put on board, and they were soon on their 
 way. They took the bearings of the ship by various points of 
 the island before they started, lest it should come over thick. 
 
 "It ain't no use hurrying," Wilcox said as they dipped their 
 
 (M220) H 
 
114 WITH COCHRANE THE DAUNTLESS. 
 
 paddles in the water. " We have got a good five hours' pull 
 before us, and whether it is five or seven it don't make much 
 difference." 
 
 They had each cut a square of canvas with which to cover 
 their heads and shoulders, and at short intervals they dipped 
 these in the sea and so kept off at least a portion of the 
 extreme heat. The boat was much less heavily laden than it 
 had been on their previous journe} T , and went lightly through 
 the water. In spite of their agreement to take it easy their 
 impatience to reach the ship, on whose upper sails their eyes 
 were fixed as they paddled, prevented their doing so, and for 
 the first two hours they rowed at almost racing pace. Then 
 the heat of the sun began to tell upon them, their efforts 
 slackened, and their pace decreased materially. However, 
 they could now make out the line of the hull above the 
 horizon, and knew that she could not be at most more than 
 some eight miles away, and in little more than two hours 
 they were within half a mile of her. It was their old ship the 
 Tiger. By this time they could see that they were objects of 
 eager curiosity on board, and presently they heard loud cheers 
 come across the water. 
 
 "They have made us out," Joyce said. "Of course, at first 
 they took us for a native canoe, for they would be looking 
 for the gig. They don't know yet what bad news we have to 
 tell them." 
 
 In a few minutes they were alongside, but as soon as they 
 were within hail the captain had shouted out: 
 
 "Are all well?" 
 
 "No, sir," Joyce, who was in the bow, shouted back, "I am 
 sorry to say that Mr. Towel and the rest have all been killed 
 by the Malays." 
 
 The news effectually damped the feeling of delight that had 
 been excited on board when it was known that the canoe con- 
 
HOME. 115 
 
 tained three of the boat's party, for whose safety the greatest 
 anxiety had been felt, the captain alone having entertained 
 any hopes that the gig could have lived through the storm. 
 However, as they climbed up the ladder to the deck they were 
 shaken warmly by the hand by officers and Ciew, and then 
 the captain requested Joyce and Stephen to come down to 
 his cabin, while Wilcox went forward to tell the story to the 
 crew. The first and third mates also came into the cabin. 
 Joyce then, as the senior, told the story of all that had hap- 
 pened from the time the cyclone had burst upon them. 
 
 "You see, sir," he said when he came to the conclusion, "I 
 owe my life entirely to Stephen a»id Wilcox." 
 
 "I see that plainly enough, Mr. Joyce," the captain said 
 gravely. "They behaved admirably both in that and in the 
 whole subsequent proceedings. You were lucky indeed in 
 hitting on the spot where we were separated. We were four 
 hundred miles away when we got out of the cyclone. The 
 wind has been very light, and we have gone close to every 
 island we have passed on our way here. It was, of course, most 
 doubtful whether you would be able to find the place where 
 the wreck was, for you too might have been carried hundreds 
 of miles in an entirely different direction, and without your 
 instruments you would have had but a small chance of dis- 
 covering your position or finding your way here. Still, it 
 seemed the only chance. Of course I could not tell whether 
 when you landed you found the wreck had been stripped by 
 the natives; but if you had not done so it seemed to me you 
 would certainly make your way there if you could, for you 
 would know there were no natives near, and you might, for 
 all I could tell, have found various stores cast up that would 
 enable you to live for a long time. 
 
 " It has been, as you say, a sad business indeed. Six lives 
 have been lost, and, as it appears to me from your story, 
 
116 WITH COCHRANE THE DAUNTLESS. 
 
 unnecessarily; it was a grievous mistake going up that river. 
 I can understand Mr. Towel's anxiety to obtain a stock of 
 provisions of some sort to victual the boat for a long cruise, 
 but he should have endeavoured to ascertain first, by following 
 the bank on f Dot, whether there were any native villages there 
 before venturing up in the boat; and to fire guns until he had 
 ascertained that there were no enemy near, is another instance 
 of that fatal carelessness that costs so many lives. However, 
 the poor fellow of course acted for the best, and he has paid 
 dearly for his en or. That expedient of yours for lighting a 
 fire, Steve, was a very ingenious one, and does you a great 
 deal of credit. I don't think that it would have occurred to 
 me. Altogether, young gentlemen, you seem to have behaved 
 extremely prudently and well. I am sorry to tell you that your 
 comrade Archer was washed overboard in the cyclone, and two 
 of the men were killed by being struck by a spar that got adrift." 
 
 The news of Archer's death greatly destroyed the pleasure 
 of the lads at finding themselves safely on board the Tiger 
 again, and they took up their work with very sorrowful hearts. 
 
 For another two months the Tiger continued her cruise among 
 the islands without any adventure occurring. By the end of 
 that time they had disposed of their goods and had taken in a 
 large number of the native productions in exchange, and the 
 ship's course was laid north again for Calcutta, where they 
 filled up with Indian produce and then sailed for home. 
 
 Five months later they arrived in the Thames, the only bad 
 weather they had encountered being a storm as they entered 
 the Channel. They anchored at Gravesend, and the captain 
 told Stephen to land and take a post-chaise up to London, and 
 report to Mr. Hewson that the Tiger would come up on the 
 tide next morning. It Avas eight o'clock in the evening when 
 Stephen arrived at his employer's. Mr. Hewson received him 
 with great kindness. 
 
HOME. 117 
 
 " I am always very glad when I hear that one of my ships 
 is safe in port," he said; "for however great my confidence, 
 there are times when human skill and strength are of no avail. 
 I did not expect that the Tiger would be back for another 
 month or so, and am heartily glad to hear that she has re- 
 turned. All has gone well, I hope 1 ?" 
 
 "I am sorry to say, sir, that we have lost altogether nine 
 lives, including those of Mr. Towel, the second officer, and 
 Archer, my fellow apprentice." 
 
 " That is bad indeed," Mr. Hewson said in a tone of great 
 concern. "How did it happen?" 
 
 Stephen related briefly the events that had brought about 
 the misfortunes. "I am sorry indeed," Mr. Hewson said 
 when he had concluded; "but it is a consolation to me that 
 none of the lives were lost from any deficiency in the ship's 
 gear or appointments. The boat must have been an excellent 
 one indeed to have carried you in safety through a cyclone, 
 in which, as we know, the stoutest ships will sometimes founder. 
 As to the accident on board, it was one of those things that 
 too often occur in a heavy gale, and that cannot be provided 
 against. Of course, I shall hear from the captain all details 
 of that affair. As to your adventure on shore, you must give 
 me a much fuller account when you have had some supper. 
 I shall release you at once from duty, and you had better go 
 down by the coach to-morrow morning to Dover. I know 
 that your father is anxious to see you. He wrote to me about 
 three weeks ago, asking me when I expected the Tiger to be 
 home. I know what his reason is, but I think that he would 
 wish to be the first to speak to you about it himself." 
 
 "There is nothing wrong, sir, I hope?" 
 
 "No, lad, in no way. It is another matter altogether." 
 
 Supper was brought up, and Stephen did full justice to 
 it, for the ship had touched nowhere on her way home from 
 
118 WITH COCHRANE THE DAUNTLESS. 
 
 Calcutta, and after feeding so long almost entirely on salt 
 meat, he thoroughly enjoyed the change of fresh provisions. 
 The next morning he started by the seven-o'clock coach for 
 Dover, and arrived there at eight that evening. 
 
 "You have grown indeed, Stephen!" his father said after 
 the first delighted greetings were over. "Let me think. 
 You have been away nearly eighteen months. That does 
 make a good deal of difference; still, you have grown more 
 than I should have expected. I used to think that you would 
 be rather short, but now you bid fair to be a good average 
 height, and you have widened out amazingly. Where are your 
 traps, lad 1 Have you ordered them to be sent up from the 
 coach office?" 
 
 " I have not brought any down with me, father. The Tiger 
 only got to Gravesend at five o'clock yesterday afternoon, and 
 the captain sent me up by post-chaise to tell Mr. Hewson that 
 she was in. I got to his place at eight, and he told me that 
 I had better start by this morning's coach, as he knew that you 
 were anxious to see me." 
 
 "He didn't tell you what for, Stephen?" 
 
 " No, sir. He said that he thought that you would prefer 
 to tell me yourself." 
 
 " Well, Stephen, I have been anxious for you to get home, 
 for I had a letter from Lord Cochrane about three weeks ago. 
 He told me that he had not forgotten the promise he had 
 made me, to give you a berth if he ever had a chance. He 
 said that the opportunity had come now, for that he had been 
 offered the command of the Chilian navy, and should be shortly 
 starting — as soon, in fact, as he could make his arrangements 
 and get his house off his hands. He said that he thought it 
 would be five or six weeks before he was able to sail, and 
 that he would take you out with him as his flag-midshipman. 
 Of course I wrote to him at once, saying where you were, and 
 
HOME. 119 
 
 that you might be home any day, but that, on the other hand, 
 you might not be back for two or three months. However, if 
 you arrived in time I was sure that you would be delighted at 
 the chance of serving under him; still I said that of course I 
 could not ask him to keep the berth open for you. Well, he 
 wrote in reply that he would, at anyrate, give me a month, 
 but if at the end of that time I had not heard of you, he 
 must appoint some one else; for, as he said, 'I know nothing 
 of the Chilian language, and of course I shall want some one 
 to blow up in English.'" 
 
 Stephen laughed. " That would be splendid, father. I have 
 been very happy on board the Tiger, and certainly should not 
 like to leave her to sail on any other trading ship. No one 
 could be kinder than the captain and the mates have been. But 
 of course I should like awfully to serve with Lord Cochrane, 
 especially as I have heard so much of him from you. But why 
 have the Chilians appointed a foreigner to command their fleet 1 
 Are they fighting with anyone?" 
 
 " They are fighting the Spanish, Stephen. They have gone 
 into the war to aid Peru, or rather to free Peru from her op- 
 pressors. The Chilians have only just started a navy of their 
 own, and it is altogether outnumbered by the Spanish; but 
 they wisely think that with such a man as Cochrane, who is a 
 host in himself, who has won against much greater odds, they 
 will be able to hold their own, and I have no doubt you will 
 have a stirring time. I only wish that I had been able to go 
 with him. He was good enough to say so in his letter to 
 me. That is unfortunately out of the question. However, 
 Stephen, you must choose for yourself. There is no saying 
 what may come of this business. You know that Lord 
 Cochrane is a hot-headed man, and one who does not mince 
 matters. The Chilians, I believe, are the brightest and most 
 energetic of any of the South American peoples, but that, you 
 
120 WITH COCHRANE THE DAUNTLESS. 
 
 know, is not saying a great deal. Cochrane is sure to be 
 maddened by delays and difficulties of all kinds, and if so he 
 will certainly speak out in a way that will ruffle their feelings 
 greatly, and may bring on trouble. 
 
 " He is what is called an impracticable man, Stephen. He 
 is himself the soul of honour and generosity, and so is altogether 
 unable to refrain from giving vent to his indignation and dis- 
 gust when he sees these qualities lacking in others. He has 
 ruined his own career here by his intolerance of wrong, 
 whether the wrong was inflicted upon himself or upon others. 
 He has rather injured than benefited the cause of our seamen 
 by the intemperate zeal with which he pressed his reforms, and 
 by allying himself heart and soul with the ultra-radicals. Such 
 a man as he may get on well with a people like the South 
 Americans, his dashing bravery, his frankness, and his disre- 
 gard of ceremony will render him popular among the people 
 at large, but will raise up for him enemies innumerable among 
 the governing class. I cannot, therefore, for a minute think 
 that the present arrangement will be a permanent one. I say 
 all this to assure you that you cannot expect to find a perma- 
 nent career in the service of Chili; but, on the other hand, 
 you will have the advantage of fighting under the bravest 
 officer of modern times. 
 
 " You will, 1 have no doubt, take part in some brilliant feats. 
 And to have served under Cochrane will, as long as you live, 
 be a feather in your cap, just as I feel that it is a great honour 
 for nryself, although it has been to my pecuniary disadvantage, 
 to have done so. I have exchanged letters with Mr. Hewson 
 on the subject. He has behaved with the greatest kindness 
 in the matter, and agrees with me that it would in some 
 respects be a great advantage to you. He has offered in the 
 kindest possible way to allow your apprenticeship to run on 
 while you are with Cochrane, just as if you were still serving 
 
HOME. 121 
 
 with his own ships, and whenever you may return to England 
 he will reinstate you in his service, the time you have been 
 away counting just the same as if you had been with him. I ex- 
 pressed a doubt whether your apprenticeship would count; but 
 he said that any master being, from any circumstances, unable 
 to teach a trade to an apprentice, as he covenanted to do, could, 
 with the consent of that apprentice, hand him over to another 
 employer; and that as you will be learning the sea as efficiently 
 on the coast of Chili as elsewhere, he could loan you, as it 
 were, to Lord Cochrane. Besides, of course, there is no real 
 necessity for passing through an apprenticeship in order to 
 become an officer. Large numbers of men do, in fact, become 
 officers without ever having been apprenticed, as it is only 
 necessary to serve so many years at sea, and to pass an ex- 
 amination. Still, there are advantages the other way. All 
 ship-owners prefer a man who has served an apprenticeship in 
 a good line of ships, as he would naturally be better mannered 
 and better educated, and therefore better fitted for the position 
 of an officer in ships carrying passengers. In that way it 
 would be as well that you should obtain your discharge at 
 the end of your term of apprenticeship from Mr. Hewson, 
 although I have some doubts whether your sea-service under a 
 foreign flag would be allowed to count by the examiners if you 
 went up to pass as a mate. Upon the other hand, lad, you are 
 now in a good service, and are certain to get on if you remain 
 in it; and you have less chance of being shot than if you go 
 with Cochrane." 
 
 " I don't know that, father. I can tell you I have had just 
 as close a shave under Captain Pinder as I could have under 
 Lord Cochrane. Only three of us out of nine got through; 
 the other six were killed and eaten by the Malays; and if the 
 Spaniards kill a man, at least they will not eat him. Oh, I 
 should certainly like to go with Lord Cochrane ! " 
 
122 WITH COCHRANE THE DAUNTLESS. 
 
 " I thought you would. As far as one can see there is no 
 chance of our being engaged in any naval wars for many years 
 to come, for all Europe is in alliance with us, and is likely to 
 continue so; and even if we have trouble with any of them, 
 our fleet is so overpoweringly strong that even a coalition of 
 all the other powers of Europe could not stand against us at 
 sea. It is a good thing no doubt for the nation; but such a 
 peace as this is likely to be, gives no chance for naval men to 
 distinguish themselves. I must say that I consider you are 
 fortunate indeed to have this opportunity of seeing some 
 service under the man who, of all others, is distinguished for 
 dash and bravery. He is the Lord Peterborough of the present 
 
 day." 
 
 "Who was he, father?" 
 
 " He was a military man in the days of Queen Anne. He 
 performed extraordinary feats of bravery in Spain, and in many 
 other respects his character bore a strong resemblance to that 
 of Lord Cochrane. Well, Stephen, we had better lose no time, 
 and I propose that we go up to town again to-morrow morning. 
 No doubt he would like to see you, and there is nothing 
 like settling the thing finally; and one interview is worth a 
 dozen letters. Let me see." Mr. Embleton consulted the 
 sailing-list. "As there is no boat sailing to-morrow, we will 
 take the coach. It would be better anyhow, for there is never 
 any saying with certainty when the packets will arrive. With 
 a strong southerly wind they may do it in two tides, though 
 it is only once in a hundred times that they manage it; still, 
 even three tides would be very fair. But we could not risk 
 the chances, and it is a duty to let Lord Cochrane know as 
 early as possible, as no doubt he has many applications, and 
 would be glad to be able to say that the matter Avas finally 
 settled." 
 
 They arrived in town the next evening and called upon 
 
HOME. 123 
 
 Lord Cochrane the first thing after breakfast next day. On 
 Mr. Embleton sending in his name he was at once admitted. 
 
 "I am heartily glad to see you, old friend," Lord Cochrane 
 said as he rose from the table, at which he was writing. "So 
 this is your boy ! His appearance saves me asking questions. 
 When did he get back?" 
 
 " He arrived in town on Monday evening, came down on 
 Tuesday to Dover, and returned here with me last night." 
 
 " You have indeed lost no time. Well, young sir, what do 
 you think of going out with me?" 
 
 "I should like it above everything, my lord, and I am deeply 
 grateful to you for offering me the post." 
 
 "It is to your father, lad, that you should be, grateful, and 
 not to me, for he earned it for you. So you have had eighteen 
 months in the eastern seas 1 " 
 
 "Yes, sir." 
 
 "Avery good school, I should say, Embleton; one has to 
 keep one's eyes open there." 
 
 " Yes indeed. He told me on the way up yesterday of an 
 adventure he had had with the Malays, and as only three out 
 of a boat-load of nine escaped, it must have been a pretty 
 sharp business." 
 
 "If only three escaped it must have been sharp indeed," 
 Lord Cochrane said, "and they must have had marvellous 
 luck in getting out of the Malays' hands. He shall tell me all 
 about it on our voyage out. Now, come along with me." 
 
 He led the way to the dining-room, where Lady Cochrane 
 was sitting, while her two children, of four and five years old, 
 were playing about. 
 
 "My dear," he said, "this is Lieutenant Embleton, whom 
 you have heard me speak of a score of times as a most gallant 
 officer, and a most ill-used man. This is his son, who is, you 
 know, going out with us as my flag -midshipman; he has 
 
124 WITH COCHRANE THE DAUNTLESS. 
 
 been eighteen months in the Indian Archipelago. And let 
 me tell you, the Malays are much more serious foes than the 
 Spaniards. You know, youngster, one of the chief duties 
 of an admiral's midshipman is to make himself agreeable to 
 the admiral's wife and family, if there are such incumbrances. 
 He goes errands for her, attends her when she goes shopping, 
 is a sort of head nurse to the children, and in our service he 
 is generally nicknamed the admiral's poodle. HoAvever, as 
 soon as I get out there, I hope to find more attractive work 
 for you, and until I do, I am sure my wife and the children 
 will be glad they have someone with them to speak English." 
 
 "I shall be very glad to be of any service I can," Stephen 
 said earnestly. 
 
 "I am afraid," Lady Cochrane said with a smile, "that we 
 shall have very little opportunity of availing ourselves of 
 your services. When we once get out there you will be 
 carried off by Lord Cochrane, and he will never set foot on 
 shore again unless when absolutely driven to it." 
 
 "Is your time for sailing fixed yet, Lord Cochrane 1 ?" the 
 lieutenant asked. 
 
 "We shall sail on the 15th of August from Boulogne, so 
 that your son will have three weeks to make his preparations." 
 
 "Three days would be sufficient," Embleton said, with a 
 smile. " Naval outfitters are not so busy as they used to be, 
 and would furnish an admiral's kit, if necessary, in that time. 
 Is there any particular uniform, sir 1 " 
 
 "No, it is something like our own; and if you rig him out 
 in an ordinary midshipman's uniform that will be good enough. 
 Thank goodness, this weary waiting is over. It is now four- 
 teen months since I accepted the offer of the Chilian govern- 
 ment sent me by their agent, Don Jose Alvarez. I was to 
 put off my departure so as to look after the building and 
 equipment of a war steamer for the service, but there have 
 
HOME. 125 
 
 been incessant delays owing to want of money. It has been 
 enough to madden one; and, after all, I have to go without 
 her, and we sail in the Rose. She is one of the sloops sold out 
 of the navy, and is now a merchantman. I daresay they would 
 have kept me dawdling about here for months to come if it 
 hadn't been that they have been getting the worst of it out 
 there, and it at length occurred to them that the admiral's 
 place is in command of his fleet, and not to act as a sort of 
 foreman in looking after a single ship being built. We shall 
 embark at Rye, but, of course, it will be more handy for you 
 to send or bring him to Boulogne. I expect that we shall be 
 there on the 13th, so as to have time to shake down before we 
 start. Your son had better be there on that day. I will draw 
 up his commission as my flag-midshipman at once, and will 
 hand it to you when you dine with me, which I trust you 
 and your son will do this evening. It is very fortunate that 
 I am disengaged, for just at present I am going through a 
 painful round of farewell dinners from my political friends." 
 
 "I shall be very glad to do so, sir," Mr. Embleton said, 
 "and will not detain you farther now." 
 
 As soon as they left Lord Cochrane they went to see Mr. 
 Hewson. 
 
 "It is all arranged, I suppose?" the latter said as they 
 entered. 
 
 "Yes, we have just left Lord Cochrane; but in the first place, 
 Stephen, who is not much accustomed to return thanks, has 
 asked me to say in his name how extremely obliged he is for 
 your most kind offer to allow him to remain on the books of 
 your fleet." 
 
 " Say no more about it, Embleton. I am very pleased that 
 I can be of any service to you, and to the lad also. Captain 
 Pinder has spoken most warmly to me of his conduct during 
 the voyage. He behaved in all respects excellently; and al- 
 
126 WITH COCHRANE THE DAUNTLESS. 
 
 though, happily, the captain was not laid up, and was therefore 
 able to attend himself to the details of navigation, he says 
 that had he been disabled he should have felt no uneasiness 
 on that score, Stephen's observations being to the full as 
 accurate as his own. He especially speaks of him in tones 
 of commendation for his conduct in that unfortunate boat 
 affair. Every credit is due to the sailor Wilcox who was 
 with him through it; but the latter himself told the captain 
 that he felt so certain that all those in the boat had been 
 killed, that he should not have undertaken the risk of going 
 near the Malay village had it not been for the lad's insisting. 
 He says, too, that although junior to Joyce — the lad they 
 rescued — Stephen was really the leader; that many of his 
 suggestions were most valuable. Wilcox is particularly strong 
 on the manner in which the lad contrived to kindle a fire by 
 using his watch-glass filled with water as a burning-glass, 
 ^together, I feel sure that your boy will make an excellent 
 officer as he goes on, and I am glad that he will now have the 
 opportunity of seeing some active service under Cochrane. 
 
 " I agree with what you said in your letter, that the berth is 
 by no means likely to be a permanent one. As soon as Coch- 
 rane has relieved them from the state in which they now are, 
 they are sure to be jealous of him, and he is the last man in 
 the world to put up with slights, or to hold on to an appoint- 
 ment when he sees that he is no longer wanted. Still, it will 
 do the lad a great deal of good and make a man of him, and 
 his experience will put him outside the general category of mer- 
 cantile sailors. I have got his chests here; they were sent up 
 yesterday. I shall, of course, try and find out who was the cap- 
 tain of that ship whose chronometers he bought. Captain Pinder 
 has told me all about it, and Stephen is absolutely entitled 
 to the money he got. At the same time his offer to divide it 
 was a generous one, but Captain Pinder and the mates are all 
 
HOME. 127 
 
 dead against accepting it, and I agree with them. The money 
 would be a mere trifle all round, but it will be a comfortable 
 little sum for him. And it will, I am sure, be a satisfaction to 
 him to be able to purchase his outfit now without trenching 
 on your purse, especially as, going out as Cochrane's own 
 midshipman, he must take a much larger outfit than usual, as 
 he will, of course, have to accompany the admiral on all public 
 occasions. Now, I suppose he will like to go down to the 
 dock and say good-bye to them there. The Tiger began 
 unloading yesterday, and a good many of the hands will be 
 paid off to-morrow." 
 
 Captain Pinder and the first and third officers expressed their 
 sincere regret that Stephen was not going to sail with them 
 on the next voyage, and Joyce was greatly cut up about it. 
 
 " I wanted you to go down with me to stay with my father 
 and mother near Oxford," he said. " I wrote to them from 
 Gravesend and I had a letter this morning, in which they 
 told me to make you promise to come down before we sailed 
 again." 
 
 "I may be back again in a year," Stephen replied, "and if I 
 am I think Mr. Hewson will appoint me to the Tiger again." 
 
 The captain undertook to dispose of Stephen's collection of 
 curios and bird skins for him, and also, if no news was obtained 
 as to the lost ship, he would, when he sailed again, hand the 
 chronometers and quadrants over to Mr. Hewson to keep for 
 him. 
 
 Mr. Hewson that evening again talked over the question of 
 the bag of money with Lieutenant Embleton, and convinced 
 the latter that Stephen was entitled to keep the money, to 
 which his right was, he declared, unquestionable. Stephen's 
 father was of the same opinion himself, and argued the ques- 
 tion only because he felt that the fact that the money was 
 really extremely useful at the present time, might render 
 
128 WITH COCHRANE THE DAUNTLESS. 
 
 him unable to judge the matter fairly. He really had no 
 answer to the reasons given by his friend, who, he was well 
 assured, would not urge the matter upon him did he not feel 
 that Stephen was really entitled to keep the money, which had 
 entirely and absolutely passed out of the possession of its 
 former owners, whoever they were. 
 
 "I never heard," he said, "that anyone who was lucky 
 enough to recover treasure in an old wreck had his right to 
 retain it questioned, and here not even the wreck remained. So 
 we will keep it and spend it, Hewson; but if you ever discover 
 the owners of that ship let me know, and I shall be prepared 
 to discuss the question with them." 
 
 "We shall never discover them, my good sir," Hewson said. 
 " How can any man in the world say that that money belongs 
 to a ship that has disappeared in the Malay Archipelago? 
 The only possible clue is that afforded by the chronometers, 
 and here again it is unlikely in the extreme that the owners 
 of the ship, that has, perhaps, been sailing the seas for thirty 
 or forty years, would be able to swear to her chronometers. 
 Lastly, there is no shadow of proof that the chest in which the 
 money was found came from the same ship as the chronometers ; 
 they may be the proceeds of two different acts of piracy. You 
 will never hear anything about it." 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 cochrane's career. 
 
 YOU promised, father," Stephen said one evening, "that you 
 would, some time or other, tell me more about the days 
 when you served with Lord Cochrane." 
 
coghrane's career. 129 
 
 " Well, lad, I will tell you now. The first time I ever saw 
 him was on the day when he joined the Hind at Sheerness, in 
 June, 1793. 1 was a young midshipman on board her, and I 
 can tell you we were all astonished at his appearance, for he was 
 between seventeen and eighteen — a tall, gawky fellow. I believe 
 he had had a commission in the army, but that his taste lay 
 altogether in the direction of the sea, and that he obtained his 
 ajDpointment to us by the influence of his uncle, who was a 
 post-captain at the time. Well, you know we generally entered 
 at the age of fourteen, and you may imagine our surprise and 
 amusement at a fellow arriving to begin, who was as old as the 
 senior mid on board. Lord though he was, there was no non- 
 sense about Cochrane. He was a very pleasant fellow, and I 
 never saw anyone work so hard to learn his profession as he 
 did. He actually satisfied even our first lieutenant, who was 
 a rough, hard-working fellow, who had made his way up after 
 having got his promotion from the main-deck, or having, as we 
 used to call it, come in at the hawse-holes. 
 
 " He was an admirable seaman, heart and soul in his work, 
 and ready to take off his coat and put on a suit of slops and 
 work himself. He took rather a dislike at first to Cochrane, 
 first because he was a lord, in the second place because he 
 considered that he had taken to the profession too old to learn, 
 and lastly because he brought a chest on board altogether 
 beyond regulation size. Jack Larmour soon made short work 
 of that. He called up the carpenters, and bade them saw a 
 portion off the chest, cutting it through just on one side of the 
 keyhole, so that the lock was now in the corner. Cochrane 
 only laughed and said nothing, but I have no doubt the lieu- 
 tenant expected him to say something hasty and so get himself 
 into trouble. However, Jack soon changed his opinion of the 
 new mid. The earnest desire of Cochrane to learn, and his 
 willingness to put on a rough suit and work, showed that he 
 
 ( M 220 ) I 
 
130 WITH COCHRANE THE DAUNTLESS. 
 
 was of the right stuff, and made him at last a prime favourite 
 of the first lieutenant's. 
 
 " I was only with him then a couple of months, for I was 
 transferred to another ship, and did not come across him 
 again until he was appointed by Lord Keith to the command 
 of the Speedy, lying at Port Mahon. He had done a good deal 
 of knocking about by that time, for the Hind was sent out to 
 the coast of Norway, where it was suspected that French 
 privateers used the fiords as hiding-places. On the return of 
 the Hind from Norway, Cochrane's uncle was appointed to the 
 Thetis, and the Hind's crew were transferred to her. The 
 Thetis went out with a squadron for the protection of the 
 islands of Nova Scotia, and so well was Cochrane thought of 
 that in January, 1795, he was appointed by the admiral of the 
 station acting third lieutenant of the Thetis, and was soon after 
 transferred, with the same rank, to the Africa; and in July 
 was confirmed in his rank, though he had been but two years 
 at sea. In the Africa he coasted up and down, between Canada 
 and Florida, looking out for ships of the enemy, but in the 
 following January he rejoined the Thetis, whose first lieutenant 
 had just been promoted. He then passed as lieutenant, and 
 was afterwards appointed to the Speedy. 
 
 . " The difficulty of his not having served the regulation time 
 had been got over by his uncle in a way which was not 
 uncommon then, and may be still practised for aught I know. 
 His uncle thought that he might one day wish to join the 
 navy, and had therefore entered his name in the books of the 
 various ships he commanded, so that nominally he had formed 
 part of the ship's complement in the Vesuvius, Carolina, La 
 Sophie, and Hind, and had therefore belonged to the service 
 for the regulation period. It is a bad practice, lad, but in the 
 case of Cochrane was the means of providing the king's navy 
 with as gallant an officer as ever trod quarter-deck. I went 
 
cochrane's career. 131 
 
 down with him from Gibraltar to Port Mahon with another 
 midshipman who, like myself, had just passed, and was to 
 join the Speedy. We were hoping to gain an opportunity for 
 distinguishing ourselves, and getting a step. 
 
 " Our first sight of the craft was a grievous disappointment. 
 She was a brig of 158 tons, and as she carried eighty -four men 
 and six officers, you may imagine how we were crowded on 
 board. Her armament consisted of fourteen four-pounders, 
 ridiculous little weapons that were no more good than as many 
 blunderbusses. I remember Cochrane putting fourteen balls 
 into his pockets, and walking up and down the quarter-deck, 
 saying that he was probably the only commander who had ever 
 carried a whole ship's broadsides in his pockets. 
 
 "He was awfully disgusted, as you may imagine, with his 
 craft, and he applied for two twelve-pounders, to be used for 
 stern -chasers. When he got them on board he found that 
 there was not room for them to be worked. He had them 
 fired off a few times, but the brig was so weakly built that 
 the timbers would not stand the concussion. He was therefore 
 obliged to send them on shore again. There was only a height 
 of five feet even in the captain's cabin, and I remember that 
 Cochrane used to open the skylight and put his head up 
 through it in order to shave himself, placing the soap -dish 
 in front of him on the quarter-deck. However, we were *a 
 pleasant party on board. Cochrane was strict in the perform- 
 ance of duty, but an excellent fellow to sail with, anxious for 
 the comfort of men and officers, and without a shadow of non- 
 sense about him. His first lieutenant had served for a few 
 months in that rank, Rogers and I were acting-lieutenants, and 
 there was a doctor, and one midshipman, Lord Cochrane's 
 brother. Lord Cochrane at that time was twenty-four, or 
 nearly so, his first lieutenant was a year older, Sogers and I 
 twenty-one. 
 
132 WITH COCHRANE THE DAUNTLESS. 
 
 " We had a busy time on board the Speedy. We were con- 
 tinually up and down the coast, popping into quiet creeks and 
 little ports in search of French privateers, and overhauling 
 merchantmen, besides bearing what share we could in the 
 general operations. 
 
 " Our first prize was a French privateer of six guns and 
 forty-eight men. We had been ordered to convoy fourteen 
 merchantmen from Cagliari to Leghorn, and saw a strange 
 craft take possession of a Danish brig under our escort. We 
 crowded on every inch of canvas, and set off in pursuit. The 
 Speedy was not misnamed. Whatever her defects, she was cer- 
 tainly fast, and Cochrane had managed to add to the canvas 
 she carried when he first took the command. The main boom 
 was sprung, and he obtained from the dockyard another spar 
 to replace it. This, however, was a good deal longer than the 
 original, and the dockyard authorities decided that it must 
 be taken down considerably. Instead of doing this Cochrane 
 had about an inch cut off from each end, and had the spar 
 replaced and hoisted. When the dockyard people came on 
 board they did not notice that its length was unaltered, and 
 as soon as we got out some more cloths of canvas were added 
 to the mainsail, and we were thus enabled to carry a consider- 
 able spread of canvas for so small a craft. We soon overtook 
 the prize, which surrendered at once, and then set off in chase 
 of the privateer, which we overhauled, the sight of our long 
 row of port-holes and crowded decks no doubt leading the 
 Frenchmen to suppose we were a great deal stronger than he 
 was, though in point of fact his six guns carried a much heavier 
 weight of metal than our fourteen pop-guns together. 
 
 "Four days later five armed boats rowed out from Monte 
 Cristo towards the convoy, which was lying becalmed. The 
 brig got out sweeps to endeavour to interpose between them 
 and her charges. Two vessels, however, which were lagging 
 
COCHRANE S CAREER. 133 
 
 behind the others were boarded and captured. To our delight 
 we soon afterwards saw a dark line on the water, and, directly 
 it reached us, set off in pursuit of the captured merchantmen, 
 which were headed towards Monte Cristo. The breeze soon 
 freshened, and we presently overhauled and recaptured them, 
 and then set off in pursuit of the armed boats. These, however, 
 reached the shelter of the shore battery before we could over- 
 take them; as our duty was to protect the convoy and not to 
 cut out prizes, we hauled our wind and followed our charges, 
 and a week later arrived with them all safely in Leghorn roads, 
 and started to join Lord Keith's squadron off Genoa, which he 
 was blockading at sea while the Austrians beleaguered it on 
 the land side. Here we cruised outside the town for a few 
 days; then Massena surrendered, and the Speedy was ordered 
 to cruise off the Spanish coast. 
 
 " On our way we captured a native craft off Elba, and a 
 Sardinian vessel laden with oil and wool, which was a prize to 
 a French privateer. "We towed her into Leghorn, and again 
 started, and captured the next day a Spanish privateer of ten 
 guns and thirty-three men. Five gun -boats came out from 
 Bastia in chase, but we took the prize in tow, and kept up a 
 running fire with the gun-boats until, after chasing us for some 
 hours, they gave it up. We took several other prizes, and sunk 
 a privateer lying under shelter of a battery. We again took 
 our prizes back into Leghorn, indeed it seemed that we were 
 never to get away from that place, for, starting again, we 
 captured a French privateer, and then fell in with the frigates 
 Mutine and Salamine, which handed over to us a number of 
 French prisoners that they had taken, and we had to carry 
 them and our prize back to Leghorn. At last we got fairly 
 away, and reached Port Mahon, capturing a Neapolitan vessel 
 with a French prize crew on board. 
 
 " As far as I can remember nothing particular happened for 
 
134 WITH COCHRANE THE DAUNTLESS. 
 
 the next three months, except that we got damaged in a storm 
 and were six weeks refitting at Port Mahon. Three days after 
 leaving the port we were off Majorca. There were several 
 strange craft in sight- we picked out the largest and started 
 in chase, when a French craft came out, and we altered our 
 course to meet her. After exchanging fire with us for some 
 time she drew off, but got too close inshore and drove on the 
 rocks. As it was evident that she would become a wreck, we 
 left her and captured one of the other ships. 
 
 "The activity of the Speedy caused the Spanish authorities 
 to make special efforts to capture her, and she once nearly fell 
 into the hands of a Spanish frigate, which had been painted as 
 a merchantman. However, she opened her ports too soon; and 
 fortunately we were prepared for the situation. Cochrane had 
 had our craft painted in imitation of a Danish brig, which was 
 trading on the coast, and whose appearance was familiar to the 
 Spanish authorities, and a Danish quartermaster had been 
 shipped to answer inconvenient questions. 
 
 "Directly we discovered the real nature of the supposed 
 merchant ship, by her opening her ports, we ran up Danish 
 colours, and on the ship's name being demanded gave that of 
 the Danish brig. The Spaniard, however, was not quite satisfied, 
 and lowered a boat, whereupon we ran up the quarantine flag, 
 and the Danish quartermaster, on the boat coming within hail 
 and then stopping at a prudent distance, informed them that 
 he had come from the African coast, where the plague was at 
 that time raging. The boat pulled off to the frigate, which at 
 once made sail and left us in solitude. It was a narrow escape, 
 though possibly we might have made as good a fight of it as 
 we did afterwards. 
 
 " Cruising about we took a considerable number of prizes. 
 Our luck, indeed, was extraordinary, and we all anticipated 
 that the prize-money would amount to a large sum. It was on 
 
cochrane's career. 135 
 
 the 4th of May that our first serious adventure began. We 
 had captured some prizes off Barcelona, and a swarm of gun- 
 boats came out to try to retake them. However, we kept them 
 at bay until the prizes had got off, and the following night 
 returned to our station off the town. We found that there 
 was a strict watch being kept ashore, for the gun-boats at once 
 came out, but when we sailed towards them they made for the 
 shore, keeping up a fire at us as they retired. 
 
 "Again we drew off and again they came out, and twice 
 during the day they did the same, always returning when we 
 sailed in to meet them. Their fire was exceedingly accurate, 
 and after each skirmish with them we had to draw off and 
 repair damages. It seemed to us that there must be some 
 object in the gun-boats' action, and that they were trying to 
 decoy us to go close inshore, where some larger ship might be 
 ready to come out against us. Just before daybreak on the 
 6th we again ran in towards Barcelona. As we did so we saw 
 a large ship creeping along under the land, as if making for 
 the port. We at once sailed to cut her off, when, instead of 
 trying to avoid us, she changed her course and sailed towards 
 us, and we saw that she was a Spanish frigate. Two or three 
 of our fellows had expressed an opinion that had we attacked 
 the Spaniard under whose guns we had run three months 
 before, we might have taken her. Lord Cochrane, as soon as 
 she was made out to be a frigate, said to them : 
 
 " 'You shall now have a fair fight, gentlemen;' and ordered 
 the boatswain to pipe all hands for action. 
 
 " I tell you, lad, it seemed to me that our chances were slight 
 indeed, for nearly half our men and two of the officers were 
 away in prizes, and, including officers and boys, we had but 
 fifty-four men on board, so it was probable that the enemy 
 had five or six times that number, while he had thirty-four 
 guns to our fourteen miserable little pieces. I thought it 
 
136 WITH COCHRANE THE DAUNTLESS. 
 
 certain we should be blown out of the water, and I fancy 
 everyone else thought the same. However, we held on straight 
 towards her. She fired a gun and hoisted Spanish colours. 
 At that time we were almost abreast of her, and Cochrane, who 
 had the American colours ready, ordered them to be run up. 
 This gave us time to get on to the other tack, and hold on 
 till a little out of her direct line of fire. Then we at once 
 pulled down the stars and stripes and hoisted the British en- 
 sign. The Spaniard fired a broadside, to which we made no 
 reply. Our guns were trebly shotted, but Cochrane had given 
 orders that not a shot was to be fired until we were alongside 
 the Spaniard, as our fire would do no damage whatever to the 
 ship. As we headed for her they fired another broadside, 
 but, like the first, this did us no harm, and rounding up under 
 her stern Cochrane ran us alongside. 
 
 "Our yards became locked in the Spaniard's rigging, and 
 we then poured in our broadside, which at this distance did 
 considerable damage on her main deck, the first discharge 
 having, as we afterwards learned, killed the Spanish captain 
 and boatswain. Our guns had been elevated to their full 
 extent, for of course she towered high above us. While our 
 shot struck up through her main-deck, the Spanish guns roared 
 overhead, cutting up our rigging, but doing us no harm what- 
 ever below, while our fire continued to work havoc among 
 them. We heard the order shouted to board, but were pre- 
 pared for this, and at once pushed off far enough to prevent 
 them from leaping on to our deck, while the men caught up 
 the muskets that had been ranged in readiness against the 
 bulwark, and poured a volley into them as they appeared at 
 the side in readiness to jump down. Then we gave them 
 another broadside, and closed up again. Twice again they 
 attempted to board, but each time failed, and the fight went on. 
 
 "Our fellows were thoroughly excited, and ready for anything, 
 
cochrane's career. 137 
 
 but it was clear that the present state of affairs could not last 
 much longer. Our rigging and sails were cut to pieces, and the 
 masts might at any moment go, and the frigate would then 
 only have to cut herself free, draw off a short distance, and 
 sink us. Cochrane, who was as cool as a cucumber, went 
 along among the men at their quarters, and told them that 
 they had either got to take the frigate or be taken them- 
 selves, in which case they would probably get no quarter, as 
 the Spaniards would be maddened at the loss they had suffered 
 from so insignificant a foe. 'It needs,' he said, 'but a few 
 minutes' hard fighting to settle the matter.' All replied that 
 they were ready. Cochrane was always up to fun, and he 
 called a portion of the crew away from the guns, and told 
 them to clamp some powder and blacken their faces. You 
 never saw such figures as they were when they came up. 
 Cochrane ordered them to board at the enemy's bow, while the 
 rest of the crew were to board by the waist. 
 
 "Guthrie, the doctor, volunteered to take the helm, and when 
 Cochrane gave the order the rest of us, men and boys, sprang 
 on to the deck of the Spaniard. Through the wreaths of smoke 
 they had caught sight of our preparations, and, believing that 
 we intended to board by the bow, the greater portion of their 
 crew were gathered there. The appearance of our fellows' 
 faces as they emerged from the smoke and leapt upon the 
 deck, and with loud shouts rushed at them, struck them with 
 astonishment. I was with this party, and, excited as I was, 
 could scarcely refrain from bursting out laughing at their 
 dismay. Our men certainly were enough to surprise anyone. 
 Bathed in sweat, worked up to a pitch of wild excitement, 
 naked to the waist, with their faces and bodies streaked 
 with the powder, one could understand that the superstitious 
 Spaniards, already depressed by their vain efforts to over- 
 power so puny an assailant, thought that they were attacked 
 
138 WITH COCHRANE THE DAUNTLESS. 
 
 by foes straight from the infernal regions. As they stood 
 hesitating and aghast, we went at them, while Cochrane, with 
 the force that had boarded at the waist, fell upon them in rear. 
 
 " Recovering themselves, the Spaniards made a rush to the 
 waist, defending themselves stoutly, and for a while it seemed 
 as if their numbers must in the end prevail. The Spanish 
 colours were still flying at her peak, and Cochrane, observing 
 them, told one of the sailors to make his way aft and haul 
 them down. As soon as the Spaniards saw their flag dis- 
 appear, they thought that the officers must have surrendered, 
 and at once threw clown their arms. Without giving them time 
 to think, or for their officers to rally them, they were hurried 
 down into the hold, and cannon were run round, loaded 
 with grape, and pointed down the hatchways in case they 
 should make an effort to retake the ship. As for us, we could 
 hardly believe in our good luck. The fight had lasted an hour 
 and a half, and our loss had been exceedingly small. Our 
 first lieutenant, Parker, had been severely wounded in several 
 places, three sailors were killed, and seventeen wounded. We 
 found that our prize Avas the Gamo frigate, with a crew of 
 three hundred and nineteen men, mounting thirty-two guns, 
 firing a broadside weight of one hundred and ninety pounds, 
 while we had only fourteen small guns. 
 
 " She was between six and seven hundred tons, and in the 
 fight had lost her captain, boatswain, and thirteen seamen killed 
 and forty-one wounded, her casualties thus exceeding the whole 
 number of our officers and crew. Even in the annals of our 
 navy there is no instance of so successful an action against 
 such disproportionate odds. We naturally congratulated our- 
 selves upon our fortunes being as good as made. Cochrane 
 would, of course, at once receive post-captain's rank, Parker 
 would receive a step, and I should get at least a second lieu- 
 tenantship. Cochrane's brother was placed in command of the 
 
cochrane's career. 139 
 
 prize, and we sailed with him to Port Mahon. As I have 
 already told you, the jealousy of Lord Exmouth and the hot 
 temper of Cochrane caused the overthrow of our hopas. Coch- 
 rane, after three months' delay, obtained his post rank, of 
 which they could not deprive him, as, having captured a vessel 
 of superior force, he was entitled to it. They refused, how- 
 ever, to promote Parker, which was simply scandalous and 
 altogether in defiance of the usages of the service, and it was 
 some time before I got a berth again. However, after we had 
 repaired damages, matters went on for a time as before. 
 
 "After taking some prizes we met the Kangaroo, whose 
 captain was senior to Cochrane, and requested him to act with 
 him in an attack upon the fort of Almanara, which we silenced, ' 
 and brought off a Spanish privateer. The two captains then 
 determined to attack Oropesa, where the forts were supported 
 by a twenty-gun ship and three gun-boats, which had put in 
 there with ten merchantmen under their convoy. Cochrane 
 had fitted out, at his own expense, a Spanish privateer of six 
 guns which he had captured, as a tender to the Speedy, and had 
 appointed his brother to command her; and in broad daylight 
 the Kangaroo, Speedy, and tender sailed in to the attack. The 
 Kangaroo engaged the forts, while we and young Cochrane 
 directed our attention to the war-ship and gun-boats. It was 
 as hot an action as any in which I ever took part. For some 
 hours the firing was incessant. At the end of that time the 
 Kangaroo's fire was evidently telling on the forts, while the fire 
 of our antagonists was slackening. 
 
 " Just as we thought that victory was assured, a twelve-gun 
 felucca and two more gun-boats arrived from Valencia to assist 
 the fort. This reinforcement inspired the Spaniards with fresh 
 spirit, and their cannonade against us again became very heavy. 
 We turned our attention entirely to the new-comers, with such 
 effect that we drove them off, and then hammered away again 
 
140 WITH COCHRANE THE DAUNTLESS. 
 
 at our old opponents, and had the satisfaction at last of sinking 
 all four of them, while three of the merchantmen, which had 
 been in the line of fire, had also gone down. The action had 
 lasted nine hours, and both we and the Kangaroo had used up 
 nearly all our ammunition. The felucca and the two gun-boats 
 from Valencia had again come up, and we had but a few shot 
 left. We were forced to put a bold face on it; accordingly, 
 the Kangaroo weighed her anchor, stood in close to the fort, 
 and again anchored as if to pound it at close quarters, while we 
 headed straight for the felucca and gun-boats. Fortunately 
 they did not await our coming, but turned tail and returned 
 to Valencia. 
 
 " The Kangaroo's boats and ours were now lowered, and made 
 for the remaining merchantmen. Four of them cut their 
 cables and ran ashore, where they were under the protection 
 of a large body of troops on the beach. We could soon have 
 driven these off had we had any ammunition left, but as it 
 was, we were obliged to content ourselves with the capture of 
 the other three ships. On our return to Port Mahon, after 
 this really successful action, we found to our disgust that 
 instead of the Gamo being purchased as usual by government, 
 she had been sold for a mere song to the Algerines, thereby 
 depriving us of the prize-money we had expected to get for 
 her. Cochrane was especially enraged, for had the Gamo been 
 purchased, we could have been transferred to her from the 
 Speedy, and would have been in a position to do very much 
 more than in that wretched little craft. It was, however, but 
 a piece of the treatment that we had been receiving. The 
 extraordinary number of prizes we had taken excited the 
 jealousy of the senior officers on the station, for indeed we 
 had captured more than all the other cruisers together; and 
 the result was that our prizes were all sold for anything they 
 would fetch, and owing to the ridiculous sums for which they 
 
cochrane's career. 141 
 
 were given away, and the rascality of the prize agents, we did 
 not receive a tithe of the prize-money that should have come 
 to us. 
 
 "This ill-will resulted in bringing our career to an end. On 
 our return to Port Mahon we were ordered to escort an 
 extremely slow old mail-packet to Gibraltar. What rendered 
 it more ridiculous was that we were to carry the mail -bags, 
 and only to hand them over to the old tub on her arrival at 
 Gibraltar, and were then to return without communication 
 with the shore. It was supposed that while engaged on this 
 duty Ave should at least be able to take no further prizes, but we 
 Avere so much faster than our convoy that while she craAvled 
 along we were able to run in and explore bays and creeks. In 
 one several merchantmen Avere lying. As we bore in toAvards 
 them they AA r eighed their anchors and ran ashore. As soon as 
 it was dark Ave sent our boats in and set fire to them, and as 
 one Avas laden with oil it made a blaze that could be seen fifty 
 miles aAA r ay. Unfortunately three French line-of-battle ships 
 were within that circle — the Indomptable, the Dessaix, and the 
 Formidable — and they ran in to ascertain the cause of the fire. 
 At daybreak A\~e made out three large ships in the distance, 
 and imagining they Avere Spanish galleons on their way home 
 from South America, at once prepared to chase them. As the 
 light broadened out we saw our mistake, and made them out 
 to be line-of-battle ships. They at once crowded all sail and 
 bore doAvn toAvards us. 
 
 "'I fear this time, Embleton,' Cochrane said to me, 'it is 
 all up Avith us. We will do our best to get away, but the 
 chances are small. There is one good thing, they are flying 
 the French flag, and we may expect vastly better treatment at 
 their hands than we should get from the Spaniards, Avho would 
 as likely as not refuse to acknowledge a surrender, and sink 
 us without mercy.' We got every stitch of sail on her, and as 
 
142 WITH COCHRANE THE DAUNTLESS. 
 
 the wind was very light, put out our sweeps. The Frenchmen, 
 however, had more wind than we had, and gained on us fast. 
 We threw our fourteen pop-guns overboard to lighten her, 
 for even Cochrane felt that it was useless to think of fighting 
 now. The three vessels separated so as to ensure that we 
 should not slip past them, and the Dessau, which was nearest 
 to us, began firing broadside after broadside each time she 
 tacked, keeping her bow-chasers going all the time, and cutting 
 up our rigging. For three hours this continued. We threw 
 over all the ammunition and stores, but slowly and gradually 
 the Dessaix crept up to us. Just as she was abeam Coch- 
 rane put the helm hard down, and we spun round to make 
 a desperate attempt to run between the enemy. We were 
 received with a broadside from the Formidable, and the Dessaix 
 immediately tacked in pursuit. 
 
 " In less than an hour she came up within musket-shot, and 
 yawing to bring all her guns to bear, poured in a broadside 
 that I thought would have annihilated us. Fortunately she 
 had answered her helm so quickly that as she came round her 
 guns bore ahead of us, and the round shot struck the water 
 under our bows. The grape, however, cut up the rigging, 
 riddled the sails, and damaged the masts, and as the next 
 broadside would assuredly have sunk us, Cochrane ordered the 
 flag to be hauled down. Nothing could have been kinder 
 than our treatment. The captain declined to accept Cochrane's 
 sword, begging him to continue to wear it though a prisoner. 
 In our thirteen months' cruise we had taken or retaken 
 upwards of fifty vessels, one hundred and twenty-two guns, 
 and five hundred and thirty-four prisoners. After our cap- 
 ture the French line-of-battle ships took us and our lubberly 
 convoy into Algeciras. It was trying to be lying there almost 
 within range of the guns of Gibraltar. Two or three days 
 later Sir James Saumarez sailed in with a powerful squadron. 
 
cochrane's career. 143 
 
 The French at once put out boats, carried anchors ashore, and 
 warped in until they grounded, so as to prevent being attacked 
 on both sides. The tide brought the British ships so fast up 
 the bay that in the hurry of the work the French ships still lay 
 head to shore, and were therefore helpless to offer any defence 
 to the expected attack. The greater part of the French sailors 
 were at once sent ashore to the powerful Spanish batteries 
 there, and a very effective fire was opened upon the British 
 ships. Nothing, however, could have prevented the capture 
 of the French vessels had there been any wind. 
 
 "There was, hoAvever, scarce a breath on the water, and the 
 British, being unwilling to anchor under the heavy fire of the 
 batteries, were swept past by the strong current. Their fire, 
 however, severely damaged the ships of war, and sunk several 
 gun-boats. The Hannibal alone managed to tack and made 
 inshore, thinking to place herself inside the Frenchmen, not 
 knowing that they were aground. In so doing she ran ashore, 
 and was there exposed to the broadsides of the French ships 
 and the fire of the batteries and gun-boats. Captain Ferris, 
 who commanded her, continued to reply to their fire until 
 most of his guns were dismounted, and a third of his crew 
 killed or wounded; then, seeing that the efforts of the rest of 
 the squadron to come back to his assistance were vain, he was 
 forced to haul down his flag. The next day a boat with a flag 
 of truce came across from Gibraltar, with propositions for the 
 release of the crews of the Hannibal and Speedy. There was 
 no regular system of exchange at that time, but as the French 
 did not know what to do with their prisoners, we were all 
 released on giving our parole not to serve again until French 
 prisoners of our own rank were given in exchange for us. 
 This was done a few days afterwards. 
 
 "Three days later the Spanish admiral at Cadiz arrived with 
 six ships of the line, several frigates and gun-boats, and the 
 
144 WITH COCHRANE THE DAUNTLESS. 
 
 French men-of-war having been warped off the ground and their 
 damages repaired, the whole sailed away six days after the 
 action, followed by the British squadron, which came up to them 
 at dusk. As soon as it became quite dark, Captain Keith in the 
 Superb dashed in between the two sternmost ships — two Spanish 
 men-of-war — each mounting a hundred and twelve guns, poured 
 a broadside into each of them and then shot ahead, and pre- 
 sently engaged a third Spanish man-of-war, the San Antonio. 
 In the darkness, aided by the smoke of the Superb' s guns, she 
 was not seen at all by either of the two Spanish ships between 
 which she had passed, and each concluded that the other was 
 an enemy, and a furious cannonade commenced between them. 
 One of them lost her foretop-mast, the sails of which, falling over 
 her own guns, caught fire; the other, still supposing her to be 
 an enemy, poured broadside after broadside into her, and then 
 approached to board. In the confusion the yards of the two 
 vessels became entangled together, and the second ship also 
 caught fire. Both ships burned until they blew up, nearly all 
 on board perishing, the few survivors being picked up by the 
 boats of the Superb, which was at the time engaged in taking 
 possession of the third Spanish ship-of-war, which had struck 
 to her. The officers and men of this ship were released in 
 exchange for those of the Hannibal and Speedy. We were there- 
 fore free to serve again, but were all sent back to England and 
 put on half-pay, and peace having soon after been patched up 
 I remained without a chance of employment. 
 
 "Fortunately my parents at that time were alive, and I 
 got on better than some of my comrades. Poor Parker was 
 especially badly treated by the authorities. Cochrane in vain 
 attacked the admiralty, but the hostility to him extended 
 to his officers. He himself had a serious grievance, for the 
 long delay before he had obtained his promotion caused several 
 junior officers to pass over his head, but annoying as this 
 
cochrane's career. 145 
 
 was it affected him less than the cruel treatment of Parker. 
 Some years passed before that officer obtained his promotion. 
 Despairing of getting it, he took a little farm, married, and 
 settled there with his family. Cochrane persevered so strenu- 
 ously on his behalf that at last he was made commander, and 
 was ordered to join the Rainbow sloop in the West Indies. He 
 sold off everything, even his house and furniture, in order to 
 enable him to obtain his outfit, and proceeded to take up his 
 command. On arriving at Barbadoes he reported himself to 
 the admiral, who knew nothing about the Rainbow, but sup- 
 posed that she might be some newly -purchased craft fitting 
 out at the Bermudas. Parker went there, but could hear 
 nothing of her, and then returned to Barbadoes, when it 
 became evident that no such vessel was in existence. 
 
 " He returned to England a ruined man. He had expended 
 his whole capital, amounting to upwards of a thousand pounds, 
 in settling his family during his absence, and in providing 
 for his outfit and voyage. The first lord of the admiralty 
 expressed polite surprise that such a mistake should have 
 occurred, and promised compensation for his loss and another 
 command on the first opportunity. Neither promise was kept, 
 and Parker's spirit and health gave way under his misfortunes, 
 and he sank into the grave. Cochrane, finding that he too 
 had small chance of employment, went up to Edinburgh and 
 worked hard at the university there until war broke out 
 again in 1803, when he applied for a ship, and obtained, after 
 a threat to retire altogether from the service, the command of 
 an old brig. That was one of the many old craft purchased 
 from men of influence in exchange for their votes. 
 
 "She had been used as a collier, and was unable to sail against 
 
 the wind. Cochrane was ordered to watch Boulogne, but in a 
 
 short time he found that if a wind on-shore sprung up nothing 
 
 could save the ship. He reported this to the admiral, and 
 ( M 220 ) K 
 
146 WITH COCHRANE THE DAUNTLESS. 
 
 orders were then sent to him to cruise north of the Orkneys 
 to protect the fisheries. There were no fisheries to protect, and 
 the order was simply a sentence of exile. He remained here 
 for nearly fifteen months, and during the whole of that time 
 not so much as a single ship was ever seen from the mast- 
 head. He returned to England on the 1st of December, 1804, 
 and found that Lord St. Vincent had just been compelled to 
 retire from the admiralty. Cochrane's claims were urged by 
 his friends on Lord Melville, his successor, and with such force 
 that he was transferred to the Pallas, a new thirty-two gun 
 frigate." 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 THE BASQUE ROADS. 
 
 A FEW days afterwards the lieutenant said, "Now, Stephen, 
 as you have nothing to do this evening I will go on with 
 my yarn. Lord Cochrane had not forgotten me, and on the 
 day that he was appointed to the Pallas he wrote to me saying 
 that he had applied for me as second lieutenant, and that Lord 
 Melville had promised to appoint me. Two days later I got 
 the official appointment with orders to join at once. I found 
 Cochrane in a very bad temper. He said, 'What do 3^011 
 think, Embleton, that confounded cruise of mine in the Arab 
 has ruined me in the opinion of the sailors. Why, if I had 
 been appointed to a hundred-gun ship on the clay when we 
 returned together after the loss of the Speedy, I could have got 
 volunteers enough for her in twenty-four hours. Now the 
 dismal tale told by the crew of the Arab of our exile in the 
 North Sea, and the fear, no doubt, that I am going to be sent 
 off to some similar station, has so frightened them that I have 
 
THE BASQUE ROADS. 147 
 
 not had half a dozen men apply, and I actually shall have to 
 impress a crew.' 
 
 " ' I expect, sir,' I said, ' that when we get hold of a few 
 prime seamen, and I tell them that they are as sure of prize- 
 money with you as if it was already divided, they will soon 
 spread the news, and we shall not be long before we fill up.' 
 
 "So it turned out; luckily, among the first haul that Coch- 
 rane made, there were two or three of the Speedy' s old crew. 
 I took them in hand, and told them that so far from being in 
 disgrace any longer, Lord Cochrane had a commission to take a 
 month's cruise off the Azores before joining the fleet, and that 
 that job alone was likely to fill every man's pockets. In a very 
 short time we had the pick of the best men in Plymouth, and 
 sailed in the middle of January, 1805, for the Azores. Instead 
 of making straight for the islands, Cochrane ran down the 
 coast of Spain and then worked up towards the Azores, there- 
 by putting us on the track of any Spanish vessels bound from 
 the West Indies to Cadiz. A day or two later we captured a 
 large ship bound from Havana laden with a valuable cargo. 
 Having learned from the prisoners that the ship was part of a 
 large convoy we proceeded on our course, and a week later 
 captured another even more valuable prize, as she contained 
 in addition to the usual cargo some diamonds and ingots of 
 gold and silver. 
 
 " Two days later we took another, the richest of the three, 
 having on board a large quantity of dollars; and the next 
 day caught a fine privateer with more dollars on board. These 
 four prizes were sent in to Plymouth. As we only had a 
 month this brought the work to a close, and we returned to 
 Plymouth. We had a serious adventure on the way back, for 
 in heavy weather we fell in with three French line-of-battle 
 ships. They at once made after us, and with half a gale and 
 a heavy sea they gained on us fast. As we had taken out the 
 
148 WITH COCHRANE THE DAUNTLESS. 
 
 dollars from the prizes and had them on board the Pallas, 
 the thought of losing them was even more vexatious than 
 the idea of seeing the inside of a French prison. The Pallas 
 was a very crank vessel, and her lee main -deck guns were 
 under water, and even the quarter-deck carronades were at 
 times immersed. However, the Frenchmen came up so fast 
 that it was necessary, at any cost, to crowd on more sail. 
 Cochrane had all the hawsers brought up, and with these got 
 up preventer stays, and then every sail was spread. 
 
 "This drove her bows-under through the seas. Still they 
 came up to us, but they were also plunging so heavily that they 
 too were unable to fire a gun. Presently we had one on each 
 side of us, with less than half a mile interval between us. The 
 third was a quarter of a mile further away. The situation was 
 a very unpleasant one, for now that they were up to us, they 
 would be able to shorten sail a little and occasionally fire at 
 us with their broadside guns. Cochrane gave orders for the 
 whole crew to be ready to shorten sail when he gave the word, 
 and that every sail should come down simultaneously. It was 
 a critical movement, but it was well executed. Cochrane 
 himself shouted the orders, and in a moment down came 
 every sail. The helm at the same moment was put a-weather. 
 Had it not been for the hawsers with which we had stayed the 
 masts, everything must have gone out of her as Ave wore round, 
 rolling in the trough of the sea. As soon as she was round, 
 up went her sails again, and we went off on the opposite tack 
 to that on which we had before been running. 
 
 "The French were altogether unprepared for such a manoeuvre 
 in such a heavy gale as was now blowing, and it was a long 
 time before they could shorten sail and get on the opposite 
 tack, indeed they ran on some miles before they could do this, 
 while we were rushing along at the rate of thirteen knots 
 an hour in the opposite direction; so they were a very long 
 
THE BASQUE ROADS. 149 
 
 distance away before they were fairly after us. By this time 
 darkness was coming on, and when morning broke they were 
 altogether out of sight, and we continued our course to 
 Plymouth. An election was on, and while we were lying two 
 months in Plymouth Cochrane stood as candidate for Honiton, 
 but was defeated. He refused to bribe, and his opponent there- 
 fore won hands down, as he paid the usual sum of five pounds 
 for each vote. After the election was over, Cochrane sent ten 
 guineas to each of the men who had voted for him, saying that 
 he had sent it as a reward for their having refused to accept 
 the bribes of his opponent. 
 
 " The expenditure was considerable, but, as Cochrane calcu- 
 lated, it ensured his return at the next election whenever that 
 might take place, as each voter naturally calculated that if he 
 had paid ten guineas a vote after he was beaten, there was no 
 saying what he would pay if he were returned. At the end of 
 May we sailed in charge of a convoy for Quebec, and brought 
 one back again. It was dull work, and we were heartily glad 
 when on our return we were ordered to cruise off Boulogne 
 and then to join the squadron of Admiral Thornborough, which 
 was to operate on the French and Spanish coast. There we 
 captured a ship at anchor under the guns of a battery, and 
 also a fast-sailing lugger, and then joined the squadron at 
 Plymouth, and sailed thence on the 24th of March, 1806. 
 We captured some fishing-boats, but let them go, and from 
 information gained from the men brought off two prizes 
 laden with wine, and during the week captured several other 
 ships, and then rejoined the squadron, which we supplied with 
 wine sufficient to last them for some considerable time. 
 
 "Leaving the fleet again, we heard that some French cor- 
 vettes were lying up the Garonne; and after dark we came to 
 an anchor, and the boats, manned by the whole crew — except 
 about forty men — under the command of the first lieutenant, 
 
150 WITH COCHRANE THE DAUNTLESS. 
 
 rowed up the river to capture one of them, which was lying a 
 few miles up under the protection of two batteries. About 
 four o'clock in the morning we heard heavy firing. The 
 boats had, after a smart fight, captured a corvette which 
 mounted fourteen guns. No sooner had they taken possession 
 than two other corvettes came up. The guns of the prize were 
 turned upon them and they were beaten off, and the prize was 
 brought safely down the river. In the meantime our position 
 had not been a pleasant one. Soon after daylight three strange 
 craft were seen making for the mouth of the river. They 
 were clearly enemies, and as we had only forty hands on 
 board, things looked very blue. 
 
 "'We must make them think that we are strong-handed,' 
 Cochrane said to me; and he ordered the men aloft to fasten 
 up the furled sails with rope-yarn and to cast off the gaskets 
 and other ropes. Then he waited until the enemy approached, 
 while the men remained on the yards knife in hand. When 
 he gave the word they cut the rope-yarns, and the sails all fell 
 together. This naturally produced the impression upon the 
 Frenchmen that we had a very strong crew, and directly the 
 cloud of canvas fell they hauled their wind and made off along 
 the shore. Every hand on board, officers and men, hauled at 
 the sheets, and we were soon in chase. We gained rapidly 
 upon them, divided the crew among the bow-guns, and opened 
 fire. Scarcely had we fired half a dozen shots when the captain 
 of the foremost vessel ran his ship ashore. 
 
 " The shock brought down her masts, and the crew landed in 
 her boats. We ran as close as we dared, and fired several broad- 
 sides into her to prevent her floating with the rising tide. 
 The other two corvettes came back to assist their comrade, but 
 when we sailed boldly towards them, firing our bow-guns 
 again, the one nearest to us also deliberately ran ashore, and 
 was, like the first, dismasted. The third boat made for the 
 
THE BASQUE ROADS. 151 
 
 river, but by our superior sailing we cut her off, whereupon she 
 also ran herself ashore, and was abandoned by her crew. I don't 
 know that I ever saw forty men laugh so much as did our fellows 
 at seeing three strong corvettes thus deliberately run ashore and 
 destroy themselves, when, if any one of the three had attacked 
 us single-handed, we could have made no real resistance. The 
 prize captured by the boats now came down, and the Pallas 
 rejoined the squadron. Admiral Thornborough wrote a very 
 warm despatch as to the gallantry of the affair, but no notice 
 was taken of it at the admiralty, and the first lieutenant did not 
 receive the promotion that he deserved. After two or three 
 other affairs we were ordered to sail into the Basque Roads to 
 reconnoitre a French squadron lying there. This, after a brush 
 with a French frigate and three brigs, we succeeded in doing, and 
 discovered that there were five men-of-war, two heavy frigates, 
 three smaller frigates, and three brigs. A few days later we 
 sailed inshore, and the boats landed and destroyed two of the 
 French signal stations and carried the battery and spiked its guns. 
 "A day or two afterwards we had a sharp fight in the 
 Basque Roads. A frigate and three brigs came out to meet 
 us. We disabled one of the brigs, drove the frigate on to a 
 shoal, and were on the point of capturing it when two other 
 frigates came out to her assistance, and as we had lost several 
 spars when we ran aboard the first frigate we were obliged to 
 make off. After this we returned to England. Another elec- 
 tion was coming on. Cochrane stood again for Honiton, and 
 was returned to parliament without spending a penny. On 
 the 23rd of August he was appointed to the command of the 
 ImpSrieuse, and the crew of the Pallas were turned over to her, 
 and on the 29th of November we joined the fleet again. We 
 took several prizes, and returned to Plymouth in February. 
 While we were there another election came on. As Honiton 
 was sick of Lord Cochrane and Cochrane was sick of Honiton, 
 
152 WITH COCHRANE THE DAUNTLESS. 
 
 he stood this time for Westminster, and was returned. He 
 presently brought forward in the House of Commons a motion 
 with reference to the abuses in the navy, the only result of 
 which Avas that he was at once ordered to join the ImpSrieuse. 
 
 " In September we sailed to join Lord Collingwood's fleet in 
 the Mediterranean. I need not go through all the events of 
 that cruise. We took a great many prizes, and had a good 
 many actions with batteries. Spain joined France, and we had 
 a brisk time of it and gained an immense amount of credit, 
 and should have gained a very large amount of prize-money 
 had it not been for the rascality of the prize-court at Malta, 
 which had, I believe, been instigated by some one in London to 
 adopt as hostile an attitude as possible towards Lord Cochrane. 
 The most important and exciting affair that we had was our 
 defence of Fort Trinidad, close to the town of Rosas. Lord 
 Cochrane's orders had been to assist the Spaniards against the 
 French, and he had done a great deal that way by landing strong 
 parties, who blew up roads, blocked communications, and 
 rendered the passage of bodies of French troops difficult if not 
 impossible. When Ave arrived off Rosas the French had already 
 invested the toAvn. The marines of the Excellent had been hold- 
 ing Fort Trinidad; but had suffered severely from a battery 
 erected by the French upon a hill commanding it. They were 
 withdrawn on the arrival of the Imjririeuse, and their place 
 taken by our marines. 
 
 " It Avas a rum place that fort. The side toAvards the sea sloped 
 gradually but steeply, and tAvo forts Avere placed one above 
 another, like big steps. Above these stood a tall toAver, very 
 strongly built. The forts had no guns ; but had they had them 
 they could not have used them against the enemy's battery on 
 the high cliff, for the tower stood in their way and so protected 
 them from the French fire. We defended the place for a long 
 time, even after the toAvn of Rosas had itself fallen. Several 
 
THE BASQUE ROADS. 153 
 
 attempts at assault were made, but all were repulsed. The 
 last was the most serious. The enemy had made a breach at 
 the foot of the tower, but to reach it they would have to scale 
 the cliff on which it stood, by means of ladders. Cochrane 
 prepared for the assault in a very curious way. Just below 
 the breach was a sort of vault, some forty feet deep, under the 
 tower. Cochrane knocked away a portion of the arched roof 
 of this vault, so that on reaching the top of the breach the 
 French would see a great gulf in front of them. With timbers 
 and planks he erected a sort of slide from the breach down 
 into this vault, and covered it with grease, so that those trying 
 to descend would shoot down to the bottom and remain there 
 prisoners until released. 
 
 "When he had completed this he laid trains to blow up 
 the magazines in case it was necessary to evacuate the fort. 
 Being thus prepared, he waited for the assault. Commanded 
 as the tower was by the batteries on the cliff, nothing could 
 be done to prevent their making this breach, and for the same 
 reason there were no means of preventing the scaling parties 
 placing their ladders and climbing up. Interior barricades 
 were, however, formed, and when they made an attack before 
 daybreak we repulsed them with ease. Forty of the enemy 
 who got on to the top of the breach were destroyed by our 
 musketry fire as soon as they reached it; shells were dropped 
 down upon those waiting below, hand-grenades thrown, and 
 after suffering severe loss they drew off. The French erected 
 fresh batteries, and at last the place became absolutely unten- 
 able; so we took to the boats, blew up the castle, and got 
 safely on board the Impdrieuse. After capturing some more 
 prizes and doing other service the Impdrieuse returned to Ply- 
 mouth, and Cochrane was appointed to go out and take the 
 command of some fire-ships, and to attack the French fleet in 
 the Basque Roads. 
 
154 WITH COCHRANE THE DAUNTLESS. 
 
 "Admiral Gambier, who was in command of our fleet on that 
 coast, was in strong opposition to the plan, and had denounced 
 the effort as desperate; but the ministry were extremely un- 
 popular, and they desired to strike a blow that would excite 
 enthusiasm. They themselves did not believe in success, but 
 offered Cochrane the command in order that, should it fail, the 
 blame could be thrown wholly on his shoulders. He at first de- 
 clined altogether to have anything to do with it, and drew up a 
 memorandum showing the number of batteries that would have 
 to be encountered, and the extreme improbability of their ever 
 arriving near enough to the French squadron to do them any 
 harm. His objections were overruled, and he was ordered to 
 sail for the Basque Roads, where six transports prepared as 
 fire-ships were to join him. This appointment caused, as was 
 natural, very great dissatisfaction among the captains com- 
 manding the ships in Gambier's squadron. They were all 
 senior to Cochrane, and regarded his appointment on such a 
 service as being a slur, and indeed an insult on themselves per- 
 sonally, their anger however being excited rather against Lord 
 Gambier than against Cochrane himself. The fleet, indeed, 
 was in a state of general disorganization approaching mutiny, 
 at the inactivity in which they had been kept and at various 
 measures that had been carried out by the admiral. As he 
 might have had to wait for a long time before the fire-ships 
 arrived from England, Cochrane obtained from Gambier 
 several craft which he fitted up as fire-ships. The others, 
 however, arrived from England, and Cochrane wanted to make 
 the attack on the night they joined, before the French could 
 gain any knowledge of the nature of the attempt that was 
 going to be made against them. But Lord Gambier refused to 
 consent, and the result was that the French did get notice of 
 our intentions and were prepared. 
 
 "In order to avoid the danger, the enemy's ten men-of-war 
 
THE BASQUE ROADS. 155 
 
 struck their topmasts and got all their sails on deck, his four 
 frigates alone remaining in sailing order. These were placed 
 half a mile in front of the men-of-war, and lay in shelter of an 
 immense boom, specially designed to arrest the approach of an 
 enemy at night. In addition to the fire-ships, Cochrane had 
 prepared two or three vessels as what he called explosion-ships. 
 These were intended not so much to damage the enemy as to 
 terrify them, and to prevent their sending boats to divert the 
 course of the fire-ships. A solid foundation of logs had been first 
 laid on the keel, so as to form an extremely solid floor and to 
 give the explosion an upward tendency. On these were placed 
 a large number of empty spirit and water casks set on end. 
 Into these fifteen hundred barrels of powder were emptied; 
 the space around them was filled in with timber and sand, so 
 as to form a solid mass, and over the powder casks were laid 
 several hundred shells and some three thousand hand-grenades. 
 
 " The French deemed their position impregnable. Their men- 
 of-war were ranged close together in two lines, and the frigates 
 and guard-boats they considered would be sufficient to divert 
 any fire-ships that might make their way round the boom. Half 
 a gale was blowing on shore. Cochrane himself went in the 
 explosion-ship that led the advance. 
 
 " The night was dark, and when Cochrane reached what he 
 thought was the vicinity of the advanced ships of the French he 
 lit the fuse, and with the officer and four men with him took 
 to the boat and rowed away. They made but little way against 
 the wind and sea, and the fuse, instead of burning for fifteen 
 minutes as intended, only burned half that time. This, how- 
 ever, was really the means of saving the lives of those on 
 board the boat. She was nearly swamped by the effect of the 
 explosion; but as its force, as intended, took place upwards, the 
 shells and grenades exploded far overhead, scattering their 
 contents over a wide area, and the boat itself lay inside the 
 
156 WITH COCHRANE THE DAUNTLESS. 
 
 circle of destruction. We on board the Impdrieuse, which was 
 anchored three miles away, felt the shock as if the ship had 
 struck heavily on a rock. For a moment the sky seemed a 
 sheet of fire. Then came the crash of the exploding shells 
 and the rattle of the grenades, and then a roar as the fragments 
 and pieces of wreck fell into the sea. 
 
 "The fire-ships were very badly handled. Many of them were 
 lighted over four miles from the enemy, some were put on the 
 wrong tack before they were left by the crews; and although 
 there were upwards of twenty in number only four reached the 
 enemy's position, and not one did any damage whatever*. 
 Nevertheless, the desired effect was produced — the explosion- 
 vessel was alongside the boom when she blew up and com- 
 pletely shattered it. The enemy were so appalled by the ex- 
 plosion that, believing the fire-ships were equally formidable, 
 they not only made no attempt to divert their course, but 
 with one exception all the French ships cut their cables; and 
 when morning dawned, the whole of their fleet except two 
 ships were helplessly ashore. The tide had ebbed, and they 
 all lay over on their side, with their bottoms exposed to fire, 
 and had Lord Gambier sent but two or three ships in to com- 
 plete the work of destruction not one of the powerful French 
 squadron would have escaped. 
 
 "The forts had begun to open upon us, therefore we sailed 
 away towards the fleet that was tying ten miles off, and on 
 getting within signalling distance, Cochrane signalled that all 
 the enemy's ships except two were on shore, and that the 
 frigates alone could destroy them. Beyond acknowledging 
 the signals no notice was taken, and it was not until eleven 
 o'clock that the fleet got up anchor, and then, sailing in to within 
 three miles and a half of the road, anchored again. By this 
 time the tide had risen, and most of the enemy's ships were 
 already afloat. Furious at seeing the result of this attack 
 
COCHRANE SCATTERS THE FRENCH FLEET IN THE BASQUE ROADS 
 BY HIS TERRIBLE EXPLOSION-SHIP. 
 
THE BASQUE ROADS. 157 
 
 absolutely thrown away, Cochrane ordered the anchor to be 
 weighed, and allowed his vessel to drift towards the enemy. 
 He could not get up sail, as he knew that he should be at once 
 recalled if he did so, he therefore drifted until but a short 
 distance from the enemy. Then at half-past one he suddenly 
 made sail and ran towards them, hoisting at the same time the 
 signal ' in want of assistance ', and engaged three line-of-battle 
 ships. On seeing this several ships were sent to our assistance, 
 but before they came up, one of the men-of-war hauled down 
 her colours and was taken possession of by us. The ships that 
 came up engaged and captured the two other French men-of- 
 war, while another was deserted by her crew and set on fire. 
 
 " The signal for our recall was now hoisted by the admiral, 
 and was obeyed by most of the other ships, a frigate and four 
 brigs, however, taking upon themselves to remain with the 
 Impirieuse. However, they were prevented from destroying 
 the vessels that still lay at their mercy by another peremptory 
 order of recall. That brought the service of the Imptrieuse and 
 my service to an end, and the service of Cochrane also. We 
 were ordered back to England, and Lord G-ambier's despatch 
 as to the affair was so scandalously untrue that Cochrane 
 denounced it in parliament. Gambier demanded a court- 
 martial, and as he had the support of an utterly unscrupulous 
 government, a scandalously partial judge, and false witnesses 
 backed by forged charts, the result was a certainty. The 
 public indignation was excited to the highest pitch by the 
 shameless manner in which the trial was conducted, and 
 although Cochrane's career in the service was ruined, he became 
 perhaps the most popular character in the country. 
 
 "He was, as you know, afterwards imprisoned and ex- 
 pelled the house, and has suffered persecutions of all kinds. 
 Westminster, however, has remained faithful to him, and has 
 returned him at every election, and he has never relaxed his 
 
158 WITH COCHRANE THE DAUNTLESS. 
 
 strenuous efforts to obtain naval reforms and to vindicate his 
 own character. On both points I need hardly say that I am 
 heart and soul Avith him, and so terrible is the persecution to 
 which he has been in a variety of ways exposed, that I cannot 
 blame him if his zeal has at times outrun his discretion. Most 
 other men would, like poor Parker, have sunk under such 
 treatment as he has received. As I told you, Ave did not get 
 anything like a tithe of the prize-money Ave should have 
 received for our captures, and his share of it aa^is more than 
 spent in his litigation AA r ith dishonest officials. Fortunately, I 
 laid out a portion of my share of the prize-money in buying 
 this house, and invested the remainder in the funds, and it has 
 enabled me to live in comfort, which I certainly could not 
 have clone had I been Avholly dependent upon my half-pay. 
 Although it has been most annoying remaining for so many 
 years unemployed, I do not regret having served with 
 Cochrane in the Speedy, the Pallas, and the Impdriease, for 
 indeed no three ships of their size eA*er inflicted such damage 
 upon the enemy's commerce, captured so many ships, or per- 
 formed more gallant exploits. When I am dead I shall leave 
 instructions that the Avords, 'He served with Cochrane in 
 the Speedy, the Pallas, and the Impdrieuse ', shall be placed on 
 my tombstone. They will be by far the most striking testi- 
 mony that could be Avritten as to my career as a sailor." 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 IN CHILI. 
 
 SEEING that a boat was advertised to sail from Dover to 
 Calais on the 11th of August, Lieutenant Embleton and 
 Stephen went over there on the evening before ; going on board 
 
IN CHILL 159 
 
 at seven in the morning, they arrived at Calais at mid-day. 
 Mr. Hewson had obtained passports for them, and they went 
 on next morning by diligence to Boulogne. Stephen's chest 
 was at once taken on board the Rose. Making inquiries at the 
 mairie they learned that Lord Cochrane had arrived with his 
 family on the previous day from England, and had put up 
 at the Cheval Blanc Hotel. They therefore went there and 
 engaged rooms, and then called upon Lord Cochrane. 
 
 "You have arrived in good time, Embleton," he said as they 
 entered. "When did you come?" 
 
 " Two hours ago we got in from Calais, and I have just been 
 on board the Rose and left my lad's traps there; then I found 
 out at the mairie that you had arrived and had put up here, 
 and we have also taken up our quarters in the house." 
 
 "We laugh at these French official regulations," Lord Coch- 
 rane said, " but they have their advantages. If this had been 
 an English town you might have spent half the day in looking 
 for me. I have not been on board the Rose yet; in fact, she 
 only arrived here last night, and as the cabins have been 
 engaged for some time there was no occasion to hurry about 
 it. In fact, this morning I have been engaged in laying in 
 a good stock of wine, not for the voyage but for use in Chili. 
 Of course one gets it here a good deal cheaper than in England, 
 as one saves the duty; and besides, I might have had some 
 trouble with the custom-house here if it had been sent over. 
 I don't suppose they would admit their own wine and brandy 
 without charging some duty upon it. Are you ready to enter 
 upon your duties, Mr. Embleton?" 
 
 "Quite ready, my lord." 
 
 "Well, I have nothing for you to do, and as far as I am 
 concerned your duties will be a sinecure until the day we 
 arrive in Chili. Katherine, you must take this young gentle- 
 man in hand." 
 
160 WITH COCHRANE THE DAUNTLESS. 
 
 Lady Cochrane smiled. " I am new to command, Mr. 
 Embleton. Lord Cochrane has not been to sea since our 
 marriage six years ago, and consequently I am altogether in 
 ignorance of the powers of an admiral's wife. Are you fond of 
 children?" 
 
 "I don't know anything about them, Lady Cochrane; I have 
 never had any little brothers and sisters. Of course some of 
 my school-fellows had them, and it always seemed to me that 
 they were jolly little things when they were in a good temper." 
 
 "But not at other times, Mr. Embleton?" 
 
 "Well, no," he said honestly, "they did not seem particu- 
 larly nice when they got in a passion." 
 
 " My children don't get into passions," Lady Cochrane said 
 with a laugh, "at least very very seldom." 
 
 " Don't praise them up too much, Katherine," her husband 
 said. "Children are naturally plagues; and though unfortu- 
 nately I have been so busy a man that I have not had time to 
 do more than make their casual acquaintance, I don't expect 
 that they differ much from others; and besides, even I fly 
 into passions occasionally — ■" 
 
 "Occasionally?" 
 
 " Well, pretty often, if you like — I certainly shall not be 
 surprised if I find that they take after me." 
 
 The next two days were spent by Mr. Embleton and Stephen 
 in exploring Boulogne. 
 
 " I have often looked at the place from the sea," the lieuten- 
 ant said, "as we were cruising backwards and forwards, 
 ke.eping a bright look-out to see that Bonaparte's boat flotilla 
 did not put to sea, but I did not expect that I should some 
 day be Avalking quietly about the streets." 
 
 " Lady Cochrane seems very nice, father," Stephen said 
 presently, as they strolled along the wharves watching the 
 French fishing-boats come in. 
 
IN CHILI. 161 
 
 "She is very nice; and so she ought to be, for she has cost 
 Lord Cochrane a fortune. She was a Miss Barnes, and was an 
 orphan of a family of good standing in the Midlands; she 
 was under the guardianship of her cousin, who was high sheriff 
 of Kent when Cochrane first met her. He fell in love with her 
 and was accepted; he was at that time living with his nncle, the 
 Hon. Basil Cochrane, who had realized a large fortune in the 
 East Indies, and was anxious that Cochrane should marry the 
 only daughter of an official of the admiralty court. Even had 
 he not been attached to Miss Barnes the proposal was one 
 that was signally distasteful to Cochrane. He had been 
 engaged in exposing the serious malpractices by which the 
 officials of the admiralty court amassed great fortunes at the 
 expense of the seamen, and for him to have benefited by 
 these very malpractices would have seemed a contradiction of 
 all his principles. His uncle in vain pointed out to him that 
 the fortune he himself would leave him, and that which he 
 would obtain by the marriage, would suffice to reinstate the 
 Earls of Dundonald in their former position as large land- 
 owners. 
 
 " Cochrane's determination was unshaken and he married 
 Miss Barnes, so his uncle cut him out from his will entirely and 
 broke off all acquaintance with him. I am sure, however, he 
 has never for a moment regretted his choice. I believe that 
 she makes him as perfectly happy as it is possible for a man 
 of his restless disposition to be." 
 
 On the 15th of August, 1818, the Rose sailed from Boulogne, 
 and Lieutenant Embleton, who had remained on board with 
 his son until she got under way, returned to England. 
 
 "Do you know anything about this Chilian business?" Lord 
 Cochrane asked Stephen as they walked up and down the 
 deck together on the following morning. 
 
 "My father told me a little about it, sir, but he said that he 
 
 ( M 220 ) L 
 
162 WITH COCHRANE THE DAUNTLESS. 
 
 had not paid much attention to the matter until he received 
 your kind offer to take me." 
 
 " Well, lad, it is well you should know something about the 
 rights and wrongs of the struggle in which you are going to 
 take part. You know that the Spaniards obtained their pos- 
 sessions in South America partly by right of discovery, and 
 partly by the papal bull that settled the matter. The Portu- 
 guese were given the east coast, while to Spain were handed, 
 besides the islands, the vast territories of Mexico and Central 
 America and the whole of the western portion of South 
 America. In extent it considerably surpassed that of Europe, 
 and its natural wealth, had it been proj)erly administered, 
 would have been fabulous. The Spaniards, however, thought 
 but of two things: one was to force the natives to embrace 
 their religion, the other to wring all they possessed from them. 
 The first caused the death of great numbers of the Indians; 
 the second brought about the virtual enslavement of the whole 
 of the native races. 
 
 " The tyranny practised by the Spaniards upon these poor 
 people was inconceivable. Tens of thousands, I may say 
 hundreds of thousands, perished from the labour exacted from 
 them in the mines, and the whole people were kept in a 
 state of poverty that the Spanish officials might be enriched, 
 and that the annual amount of gold and silver sent to Spain 
 might be obtained. No doubt it was the successful revolt of 
 the North American colonies against us that first inspired 
 these down-trodden people with the hope of shaking off the 
 intolerable yoke under which they suffered. The first leader 
 they found was Francesco Miranda, a Creole of Venezuela, 
 that is to say, he belonged to a Spanish family long settled 
 there. He came over to Europe in 1790, and two years later 
 took part in the French Revolution. Hearing that revolution- 
 ary movements had taken place in Mexico and New Granada 
 
IN CHILI. 163 
 
 against Spain he obtained a promise of assistance from Pitt, 
 who naturally embraced the opportunity of crippling Spain, 
 Avhich was hostile to us, and in 1794 went out and threw him- 
 self into the struggle, which continued with but doubtful suc- 
 cess for some years. 
 
 "In 1806 Miranda obtained some valuable aid from my 
 uncle, Sir Alexander Cochrane, who was then in command of 
 the West Indian station, and things looked much brighter for 
 the cause of independence. But unfortunately a few months 
 later Pitt died, the Whigs came into power, and as usual a 
 feeble policy succeeded a strong one, and all aid was with- 
 drawn from Miranda. The result was that, for a time, the 
 Spaniards were able to crush the insurgents. In 1810 Miranda 
 again organized a revolt in Venezuela; but he was unable to 
 cope with the power of Spain, and two years later he was 
 taken a prisoner and sent to Madrid, where he died in prison. 
 However, his work had not been without result, for the same 
 year that he commenced his unfortunate venture in Venezuela 
 a revolt broke out in Mexico headed by a priest named Miguel 
 Hidalgo. This was conducted in a barbarous fashion and was 
 speedily crushed. Two leaders of a better type, Morelos and 
 Rayon, still continued to carry on the war, but their forces 
 were defeated in 1815, and though I believe there has been 
 occasional fighting since then, matters have been comparatively 
 quiet. 
 
 "In South America things went better. In 1809 a revolt 
 broke out at Quito; it was headed by a man named Narenno. 
 His force, however, was never strong enough to seriously 
 menace the power of Spain. However, for five years he main- 
 tained a guerrilla warfare, fighting with desperate bravery 
 until he was captured and sent to Spain, where I believe he 
 also died in prison. So far a great deal of blood had been 
 shed, great destruction of property effected, and Spain had 
 
164 WITH COCHRANE THE DAUNTLESS. 
 
 been put to a vast expense, but the situation was practically 
 unaltered. A change was, however, at hand. Bolivar, a 
 native of Caracas, had been brought up in Europe, but, stirred 
 by the news of the struggle that his countrymen were main- 
 taining, he went out in 1810 to join Miranda in Venezuela. 
 When the latter was defeated and taken prisoner Bolivar 
 crossed into New Granada, where an insurrection had broken 
 out, and his knowledge of European methods of warfare and 
 discipline soon placed him at the head of the movement there, 
 and two years after his arrival he was appointed Captain- 
 general of New Granada and Venezuela. 
 
 " The title was an empty one, and in a very short time he 
 was defeated and forced to fly from the country by a formid- 
 able Spanish army, which was sent out in 1815 to crush the 
 rebellion. Bolivar fled to Jamaica, where he remained but a 
 few months. He organized a considerable force in Trinidad in 
 1816, and landed again on the mainland. The cruelties perpe- 
 trated by the conquering Spaniards upon the population, had 
 stirred up so intense a feeling of hatred against them that 
 Bolivar was speedily joined by great numbers of men. He 
 gained success after success, SAvept the northern provinces 
 clear of the Spaniards, founded the republic of Colombia, of 
 which he was elected president, drove the tyrants out of NeAV 
 Granada, and marching south freed the province of La Plata 
 from the Spanish yoke. While these events had been taking 
 place in the northern and western provinces the national 
 movement had extended to Chili. Here in 1810 the people 
 rose, deposed the Spanish Captain-general Carrasco, and set 
 up a native government, of which the Count De La Conquista 
 was at the head. 
 
 "The movement here was not so much against Spain, whose 
 sovereignty was still recognized, as against the Spanish gov- 
 ernor, and to obtain a series of reforms that would mitigate the 
 
IN CHILI. 165 
 
 tyranny that had been exercised. Naturally, however, these re- 
 forms were obnoxious in the extreme to the Spanish authorities, 
 and in 1811 the Spanish troops attempted to overthrow the new 
 government. They were, however, unsuccessful; the revolu- 
 tion triumphed, and the rule of Spain was formally thrown off, 
 and Chili declared an independent state. This was a good 
 beginning, but troubles set in almost directly. Three brothers, 
 of the family of Carrera, set to work to turn the popular move 
 ment to their own benefit, and by their intrigues overthrew 
 the National Congress, and established a new government 
 with the elder of them as its head. So much dissatisfaction 
 was caused by the corruption and misgovernment of the Car- 
 reras, that the Spaniards endeavoured to reconquer Chili. 
 
 "When the danger was imminent a new actor came to 
 the front. General O'Higgins, a man of Irish descent, whose 
 father had been a Spanish viceroy of Peru, was put at the 
 head of affairs in November, 1813, and the Spaniards, who had 
 won their way to the capital, were forced by his good general- 
 ship to retire again. The intrigues of the Carreras, however, 
 still divided the forces of Chili, and the Spaniards again ad- 
 vanced from Peru. O'Higgins, seeing the danger, effected a 
 junction with the forces of the Carreras, and offered to give 
 them his support, and to resign his position in their favour, 
 if they would co-operate with him. The Carreras, however, 
 held aloof with their bands from the battle, and left O'Higgins 
 and his little body of 900 men to oppose 4000 Spanish troops. 
 The natural result was the defeat of the Chilians. On the 
 1st of October O'Higgins, with his little party, were attacked 
 at Eancagua by the Spaniards, and for thirty-six hours resisted 
 their continuous attacks. The Carreras' force was but a short 
 distance away, and both sides expected them to attack the 
 Spaniards in rear. They preferred, however, that their rival, 
 as they regarded him, should be destroyed, and held aloof. 
 
166 WITH COCHRANE THE DAUNTLESS. 
 
 "At last O'Higgins, with but 200 men — all that now survived 
 of his force — was driven into the great square of the town, 
 and surrounded on all sides. He still resisted, however, until 
 half his force had fallen, and then, although seriously wounded, 
 he placed himself at the head of the survivors, cut his way 
 through the enemy, and effected his retreat. The extraordinary 
 valour displayed by the Chilians in this battle stirred our Eng- 
 lish blood, and we felt that here was a people who had not, 
 like the rest of the South American races, become absolutely 
 demoralized by centuries of misgovernment by the Spaniards. 
 At the time, however, their cause seemed lost. The Carre- 
 ras submitted without trying to strike another blow, and 
 O'Higgins, with the handful of survivors from Bancagua, and 
 some hundreds of fugitives, crossed the Andes into La Plata, 
 where they remained for two and a half years in exile. 
 General San Martin, who fought under Bolivar, and had taken 
 the leading part in aiding La Plata to obtain its freedom, felt 
 himself strong enough at the beginning of 1817 to aid O'Hig- 
 gins to recover Chili from the Spaniards, who had been 
 carrying out wholesale confiscations and persecutions among 
 all who had taken any part in the revolution. 
 
 " In February they crossed the Andes with 5000 men, fell 
 upon the main Spanish army, of about the same strength, Avhich 
 was encamped on the heights of Chacabuco, a position from 
 Avhich they overawed all the large towns. Having the advan- 
 tage of surprise, they completely defeated the Spaniards, and 
 in a very short time drove them altogether out of Chili. The 
 republic was again established, and the presidency offered to 
 San Martin. He declined the honour, however, and it was 
 then conferred upon O'Higgins. He and his council saw that 
 it was impossible to hope for permanent peace so long as the 
 Spaniards were able to gather armies in Peru, and pour them 
 down into Chili whenever they chose, so he lost no time in 
 
IN CHILI. 167 
 
 sending Don Jose Alvarez over here to endeavour to raise 
 money in the name of the republic to build war-ships, and 
 enlist public sympathy on their behalf. 
 
 " Among other things he was commissioned to offer me the 
 command of the Chilian fleet as soon as one should be created; 
 and as my sympathies were very strongly with the brave 
 people who were struggling against tyranny, I at once accepted, 
 but have been detained in England upwards of a year trying 
 to get the war-steamer that we have been building completed. 
 At last the Chilians have concluded that as they cannot get the 
 steamer they may as well get me, and so you see I am on my 
 way out." 
 
 "Thank you, sir," Stephen said; "I shall feel a great in- 
 terest now in the cause of the Chilians. My father told me 
 they were fighting against the Spaniards, but I did not interest 
 myself much in the matter, and thought much more of the 
 honour of serving under you than of the Chilian cause. Now 
 that I know that they are really a brave people, struggling to 
 maintain their freedom, I shall feel proud of fighting in so 
 good a cause." 
 
 "How old are you, Mr. Embleton?" 
 
 "I was sixteen some months ago, sir." 
 
 The admiral nodded: "A very useful age for work; you 
 are old enough to hold your own in a fight, not old enough to 
 begin to think that you know all about everything. Now, 
 tell me all about that affair of yours when you lost your ship. 
 Tell me everything you can think of, just as it happened. 
 Don't exaggerate your own share in it, but, on the other hand, 
 let me know what you did and what you said. You see I 
 know very little about you as yet; but if you will tell me all 
 the details of the business I shall be able to form some idea 
 as to how far I shall be able to entrust the carrying out of my 
 orders to you, and to confide in your ability to discharge any 
 
168 WITH COCHRANE THE DAUNTLESS. 
 
 special missions on which I may employ you. You see. Mr. 
 Embleton, the conduct of the Chilians in that matter of the 
 Carreras shows that, however bravely they may fight, as yet they 
 have not much idea of subordination. They know nothing of 
 sea-service, and the chances are that interest and family will 
 go further in obtaining the appointment of officers to ships 
 than any question of abilities; and it will be very useful for me 
 to have some one I can trust — even if only a junior officer — ■ 
 to see that my orders are carried out when I cannot be present 
 myself; therefore, I want to gather from your story exactly 
 how you would be likely to behave under difficult circum- 
 stances. We will sit down in these two deck-chairs; and you 
 shall tell me the story exactly as you would tell it to your 
 father. Remember that I am in no hurry. This voyage is 
 going to last a good many weeks. The more you tell the story 
 in detail the better I shall be pleased." 
 
 So closely did the admiral question Stephen as to every 
 detail that it took many hours to tell the story. Even when 
 he mentioned about the idea that by putting some water in 
 his watch-glass he could, when the sun was overhead, use it as 
 a burning-glass, the admiral stopped him to inquire about the 
 watch. 
 
 "Is it the one you are carrying now?" 
 
 " Yes." 
 
 "Then let me look at it. Handsome watch, youngster; 
 did your father give it to you?" And then Stephen had to 
 break off from his story, and to tell exactly how it came into 
 his possession — the whole history of his trading, and its result. 
 The story was not brought to a conclusion until the following 
 afternoon. 
 
 "Very good, Mr. Embleton," Lord Cochrane said; "now I 
 know a great deal more about you than I did before, and 
 feel that I can employ you without hesitation in matters in 
 
IN CHILI. 169 
 
 which brain as well as courage is required. If I had heard 
 your story before I would have taken out that sailor as my 
 coxswain. Between you, you showed a great deal of resource, 
 and, as far as I can see, the credit of the matter may be di- 
 vided between you. Your getting your fellow-midshipman out 
 of the hands of the Malays was well managed. You took every 
 precaution possible to throw them off the scent. You acted 
 very wisely in deciding to make for that wreck when you dis- 
 covered its position; and you showed good powers of resource 
 in your arrangements there, especially in the matter of getting 
 fire. I hear from your father that you are well up in naviga- 
 tion, and altogether I congratulate myself on having a young 
 officer with me whom I can trust. It was, of course, a mere 
 matter of chance I appointed you — simply in order to oblige 
 your father, who is a gallant officer, and who has suffered in 
 his profession owing to having served under me. Among 
 the many applications made to me were some for young 
 officers who possessed very high testimonials of conduct and 
 good service, and I may say frankly that I was more than a 
 little tempted to regret that I had selected one of whose con- 
 duct I knew nothing, although I felt sure that your father's 
 son would assuredly have no lack of courage and ability. 
 However, I am now well content that I made the choice 
 I did, indeed I feel sure that I could not have made a better 
 one." 
 
 It was a long voyage, for the Rose met with such bad 
 weather off the Cape that she was at first unable to weather 
 it, and it was ten weeks from the date of her sailing before 
 she entered the harbour of Valparaiso. The voyage had been 
 of advantage to Stephen. In the rough weather off the coast 
 he had volunteered for dutjr, and had shown activity and 
 courage, going aloft to reef or furl sails in the worst Aveather. 
 He had, too, by his readiness at all times to take the children 
 
170 WITH COCHRANE THE DAUNTLESS. 
 
 off Lady Cockrane's hands, to play with them, and to tell them 
 stories, gained the warm approbation of their parents, and, 
 before they arrived at Valparaiso, the admiral treated him 
 with a kindness and cordiality such as he might have shown 
 to a young nephew acting as his flag-midshipman. Lord 
 Cochrane was received at Valparaiso, and at Santiago, the 
 capital, with enthusiasm — dinners, fetes, and balls were given 
 in his honour; and although he cared but little for such 
 things, it could not but be gratifying to him, after the cruel 
 treatment he had met with from those for whom he had per- 
 formed such brilliant services, to find that elsewhere his repu- 
 tation stood at the highest point. 
 
 Stephen, who of course accompanied the admiral on all 
 occasions, enjoyed these festivities very much more than did 
 Lord Cochrane. To him it was all quite new, and very plea- 
 sant. He shone in the reflected light of the admiral, and was 
 made a great deal of by the young Chilian ladies, the only 
 drawback being his ignorance of the language. He had, how- 
 ever, on the way out, picked up a little from some Chilian 
 passengers on board the Rose, and it was not long before he 
 was able to talk to a certain extent to his partners in the 
 dances. Nevertheless, much as he enjoyed himself, he was by 
 no means sorry when, on the 22nd of December, Lord 
 Cochrane, who had received his commission as Vice-admiral 
 of Chili, and Commander-in-chief of its naval forces, hoisted 
 his flag on board the principal ship of the Chilian navy. 
 
 He had arrived none too soon. A large Spanish force was 
 advancing from Peru against Santiago, their formidable fleet 
 were masters of the sea, and they were fitting out a naval 
 expedition for an attack on Valparaiso. The Chilian admiral, 
 Blanco Encalada, had succeeded in capturing a Spanish fifty- 
 gun frigate, which had been renamed the O'Higgins; but this 
 was only a temporary success; and with his undisciplined and 
 
IN CHILI. 171 
 
 badly-equipped fleet he was quite unable to withstand the 
 threatened attack of the Spaniards. Lord Cochrane had to en- 
 counter troubles from the outset. Among the Chilian fleet was 
 the Hecate, an eighteen-gun sloop that had been sold out of the 
 British navy, and purchased by two men, Captains Guise and 
 Spry, as a speculation. They at first attempted to sell her at 
 Buenos Ayres, but, failing to do so, had brought her on to Chili, 
 where the government had bought the ship, and had appointed 
 them to command her. They, and an American captain 
 named Worcester, had obtained a considerable influence over 
 Admiral Encalada, and seeing that this influence would be 
 shaken by Lord Cochrane's ascendency, they formed an in- 
 trigue to persuade the Chilian admiral to insist upon re- 
 taining the chief command, or upon dividing it with Lord 
 Cochrane. 
 
 Admiral Encalada, however, refused to allow himself to be 
 made their tool, saying that he would wish for no greater honour 
 than that of serving under so distinguished an officer as Lord 
 Cochrane ; for a time, therefore, their intrigue was defeated. 
 No sooner had he hoisted his flag on board the (J Biggins than 
 Lord Cochrane set to work with his usual energy to complete 
 the outfit of his little fleet. This consisted, in addition to the 
 O'Higgins, of the San Martin and Lautaro — both of which had 
 been East Indiamen : the former carried 56 guns, the latter 44 — 
 the Hecate, now called the Galvarino, of 18 guns; the Chacabuco, 
 of 20; the Aracano, of 16; the Pwjrredon, of 14. The Spanish 
 fleet consisted of three frigates : the Esmeralda, of 44 guns ; the 
 Bengenza, of 42; and the Sebastian, of 28; and four brigs: one 
 of 22 guns, and three of 18. There was also a schooner 
 carrying one heavy gun and 20 small ones; the rest were 
 armed merchantmen: the Resolution, of 36 guns; the Cleopatra, 
 of 28; the Fernando, of 26; the La Focha, of 20; and the 
 Guarmey and San Antonio, of 18 each. 
 
172 WITH COCHRANE THE DAUNTLESS. 
 
 On the 16th of January, leaving Admiral Blanco to complete 
 the equipment of the Galvarino, the Aracano, and the Pwjrredon, 
 Lord Cochrane sailed with the 0'IJiggins, San Martin, Lautaro, 
 and Chacabuco. From the day the admiral's flag was hoisted 
 to that upon which he sailed, Stephen's life had undergone a 
 sudden and complete change. From morning until night he 
 was engaged in rowing from the flagship to the other vessels, 
 and in carrying orders, ascertaining how certain portions of the 
 work were getting on, and reporting to the admiral, or going 
 on shore to the dockyard with urgent requisitions for stores 
 required. Lord Cochrane himself was equally busy. He went 
 from ship to ship, and stood by the captains while the crews 
 were put through their exercises in making and shortening sails, 
 practising the drill and cutlass exercise on the deck, or working 
 the guns. Hard as was the work imposed upon them by the 
 constant drills, the enthusiasm and energy of the admiral so 
 communicated itself to most of the officers and seamen that 
 astonishing progress was made in the four weeks that elapsed 
 before sailing. Though it could hardly be said that the smart- 
 ness of the crews equalled that which would be shown by British 
 men-of-war's men, the work was very fairly done, and the 
 admiral felt convinced that his ships would be worked and 
 manoeuvred far more rapidly than those of the Spaniards. 
 
 Stephen had from the first messed with the ship's officers. 
 Lord Cochrane had said to him on the day when he hoisted 
 his flag: "As my flag-midshipman, Mr. Embleton, I could very 
 well have you, as well as my flag lieutenant, at my table, but 
 I think that it would be better for you to mess with the officers. 
 I find that in the Chilian service the midshipmen do not mess 
 by themselves, as is the case with us, but have a common mess 
 with the lieutenants. There are certainly considerable ad- 
 vantages in this arrangement; though it might not work 
 well in our navy, where boys are much more mischievous and 
 
IN CHILI. 173 
 
 given to pranks than are those of southern people. They do not 
 enter so young into the service, and the six midshipmen on board 
 are none of them younger than yourself. They are all mem- 
 bers of good old families here, and there is therefore no need 
 for so strict a line of distinction between midshipmen and 
 lieutenants as there is with us. The system is more like that 
 which prevails in our army, where the youngest ensigns associ- 
 ate when off duty on terms of equality with their elders. 
 Mingling with them you will acquire the language far more 
 rapidly than you would do were you to take your meals at my 
 table. Moreover, I think that it will be a more pleasant and 
 natural life for you, while it will avoid any appearance of 
 favouritism and be altogether better." 
 
 Stephen bowed. Fond as he was of the admiral, he felt him- 
 self that it would be more pleasant to associate with lads of his 
 own age, than to be always on his best behaviour. He already 
 knew all the officers, having met them at the various entertain- 
 ments at Valparaiso. He had found them pleasant young- 
 fellows, though their airs of manliness and gravity had amused 
 him a good deal, but he wished that he had in addition his old 
 friend Joyce, with whom he could occasionally skylark, quarrel, 
 and make it up again, after the manner of boys. The ward- 
 room was large and airy, and there was ample space for the 
 party. At meals they consisted of the three lieutenants, the 
 surgeon, purser, and seven midshipmen. As he had never 
 been accustomed to a rough life in the cock-pit of a British 
 man-of-war, the contrast to his former condition was not so 
 strong as it would have been to a midshipman in the royal 
 service; but the somewhat stiff courtesy that prevailed among 
 the Chilian officers in their relations to each other differed 
 widely from the frank heartiness at Captain Pinder's table. 
 When the meals were over, however, the air of restraint 
 softened a little, and Stephen soon became on intimate terms 
 
174 WITH COCHRANE THE DAUNTLESS. 
 
 with the other midshipmen, three or four of whom had never 
 been to sea before. 
 
 "Is this like life on board your ships'?" one of them asked 
 him a few days after he had joined. 
 
 " Not a bit, Don Enriques. To begin with, the midshipmen 
 never dine with the lieutenants, and they don't live half as well 
 as we do. In the next place, you are a great deal more serious, 
 and a great deal more dignified that English midshipmen are. 
 With us they are always playing tricks with each other. We 
 may be officers on board the ship, but when we are among our- 
 selves we are just like other boys of the same age." 
 
 "But you do not consider yourself a boy, Don EstevanT' 
 
 "I do indeed," Stephen laughed; "and no one thinks him- 
 self a man until he is quite a senior midshipman." 
 
 "But if you play tricks on each other you must quarrel 
 sometimes 1 ?" 
 
 " Oh, yes, we quarrel, and then we have a fight, and then 
 we are good friends again." 
 
 "Ah! Do you fight with swords or pistols'?" 
 
 Stephen laughed. " We fight with our fists." 
 
 "What, like common people ! " the young Chilian said, greatly 
 shocked. 
 
 " Just the same, except that we fight a little better. That is 
 the way we always settle quarrels among boys in England, and 
 a very good way it is. One gets a black eye or something of 
 that sort, and there is an end of it. As for fighting with 
 swords or pistols, I do not know what would happen if two 
 midshipmen were to fight a duel. In the first place they 
 would get into a frightful row, and in the second place they 
 would be the laughing-stock of the whole fleet. Of course, in 
 a country like this, where a blow is considered as the deadliest 
 of insults, things are different; but in England it is not viewed 
 in the same light. Everyone knows something of boxing, that 
 
IN CHILI. 175 
 
 is, of the proper way of using the fists, and it has come to be 
 the national way of fighting among the common people and 
 among boys of all classes." 
 
 "And would you, for example, Don Estevan, consent to 
 fight with a boy or with a man of the peasant class if he 
 injured you 1 ?" 
 
 " Certainly I would," Stephen said. " I don't know that 1 
 would fight a big man, because evidently I should have very 
 little chance with him; but if I quarrelled with a fellow my 
 own age, we should of course pitch into each other without any 
 question of rank." 
 
 Exclamations of surprise broke from the other midshipmen 
 as Stephen made these statements in very broken Spanish. 
 He was questioned over and over again by them to make sure 
 that they had not misunderstood him. 
 
 "You seem to think it terrible," Stephen said; "but you 
 don't stand on rank yourselves when you fight. When you 
 board an enemy's ship you fight with a sailor who attacks you, 
 and don't stop to discuss with him whether he is one of gentle 
 blood, like yourself, or a mere peasant. For the time being 
 you put yourself on an equality with him, and it is a pure 
 matter of strength and skill. It is just the same with us in 
 most matters. We stand on our rank the same as you do, but 
 when our blood is up we put all that aside and fight without 
 caring whether our opponent is a nobleman or a peasant, and 
 when it is all over we shake hands and don't feel that there is 
 any bad blood between us." 
 
176 WITH COCHRANE THE DAUNTLESS. 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 WRECKED. 
 
 ON the fifth morning when the ships got up anchor there 
 were no signs of movement on board the Chacabuco, nor 
 was any attention paid to the admiral's signals. 
 
 " Mr. Embleton, take one of the gigs, row on board, and 
 report what is the matter there." 
 
 Stephen did so. The approach of the boat was apparently 
 unobserved, and the companion-ladder was not lowered. He 
 therefore ordered the men to cease rowing; presently an officer 
 appeared at the side. 
 
 "The admiral wishes to know what is the matter, and why 
 you do not obey his signals," Stephen said sharply, standing 
 up in the stern-sheets. 
 
 "The crew are in a state of mutiny," the officer said, "and 
 they refuse to get up the anchor." 
 
 Stephen returned with the message. The admiral at once 
 gave orders for the frigate to bear down on the Chacabuco, and 
 the crew were mustered at quarters. When she came within 
 a cable's length of the Chacabuco the frigate was thrown up 
 into the wind, and the admiral shouted : " Unless the anchor is 
 a-peak in five minutes we will blow you out of the water." 
 
 There was no mistaking the earnestness of the tone, and 
 many of the men sprang at once to the capstan bars, and the 
 anchor was soon out of the water. " Make sail," Lord Cochrane 
 again ordered, "and keep along close beside us." 
 
 A few minutes later the fleet were all under sail, and that 
 afternoon entered the port of Coquimbo. As soon as the 
 anchors were let go the admiral's gig was lowered, and he 
 went on board the Chacabuco. 
 
WRECKED. 177 
 
 " What is all this about V he asked the captain, who received 
 him at the gangway. 
 
 " The men say that they are overworked, your excellency ; 
 that they are kept hard at it all day making and taking off 
 sail, and that they want to leave the ship." 
 
 "Muster the crew, sir," Lord Cochrane said briefly. The 
 crew silently assembled. The port-holes of the O'Higgins were 
 all opened, and the men could be seen standing at the guns. 
 
 "Now, men," Lord Cochrane said, "I give you five minutes 
 to pick out the twelve men who have been the ringleaders in 
 this mutiny. You will iron them and bring them on board the 
 flag-ship, where they will be tried and punished for their 
 offence. What! is there a ship's crew of Chilians so regardless 
 of their duty, so careless of the honour of their country, that 
 they are ready to disgrace themselves by turning into a pack 
 of mutineers, merely because they are required to do extra 
 work to fit them for fighting the enemies of their country 1 I 
 am willing to believe that you have suffered yourselves to be 
 misled, and that you did not understand the magnitude of the 
 crime that you were committing. There, six bells are striking. 
 You have five minutes to put your ringleaders into a boat. 
 See that you do not exceed that time, for as soon as my watch 
 tells me that five minutes have gone, I give the order to fire. 
 One broadside will be sufficient to send the Chacabuco to the 
 bottom. Gentlemen," he said, turning to the officers, " at the 
 end of the five minutes, if my orders have not been carried out, 
 you will take to the boats and leave the ship, and as soon as 
 you have done so we shall open fire." 
 
 He then turned on his heel, went down the ladder, and 
 rowed back to his ship. As he left he saw there was a great 
 uproar on board the Chacabuco as the sailors disputed among 
 themselves who had been their leaders in the matter. Two boats 
 were lowered at once, and just before the expiration of the 
 
 (M220) M 
 
178 WITH COCHRANE THE DAUNTLESS. 
 
 given time twelve men were put on board them ironed, and 
 were then rowed to the flag-ship. A signal was made for the 
 first lieutenant of each of the other ships of the squadron to 
 come on board, and a court-martial was at once held upon the 
 mutineers. The man who was shown to have been at the 
 bottom of the whole affair, was sentenced to be hung, and the 
 rest to terms of imprisonment. The admiral remitted the 
 death sentence and changed it to ten years in jail, and the 
 culprit and the other prisoners were taken on shore and handed 
 over to the civil authorities. Having thus given a wholesome 
 lesson, Lord Cochrane proceeded northward toCallao Bay, where 
 he intended to attack a considerable naval force gathered there. 
 They were protected by the batteries of Callao and of San 
 Lorenzo, a little island in the bay, mounting in all one hun- 
 dred and sixty guns, in addition to those on board the Spanish 
 war-ships, which consisted of a few frigates, two brigs, and 
 eight gun -boats. To attack such a force tying under the 
 guns of their batteries was too perilous an enterprise for even 
 Cochrane to undertake. He determined, however, to make an 
 attempt to do them at least some damage. He knew that two 
 American men-of-war were expected to arrive in Callao, and he 
 made some slight changes in his flag-ship and the Lautaro, 
 hoisted the American flag, and sailed toward the harbour. The 
 Carnival was at the time being carried on, and there was the 
 less chance that a vigilant watch would be kept up by the forts 
 and ships. Unfortunately a dense fog came on, and for eight 
 days the Chilians were forced to remain inactive. At the end 
 of that time, hearing a heavy firing, and believing that one of 
 his ships must have gone into the bay and had been attacked 
 by the enemy, Cochrane stood in the direction of the sound. 
 The other ships did the same, when the fog clearing up in a 
 moment, they discovered each other, and found a small gun- 
 boat lying close to them. 
 
WRECKED. 179 
 
 This they captured at once, and learned that the firing was 
 a salute in honour of the viceroy, who had been paying a visit 
 to the batteries, and was now returning to the town in a brig- 
 of-war which was crowding all sail. The fog again closed in, 
 and hoping the capture of the gun-boat had not been noticed, 
 Lord Cochrane determined to risk a partial engagement rather 
 than withdraw without firing a shot, as a retreat now would 
 raise the spirits of the Spaniards and depress those of the 
 Chilians. Accordingly the O'Higgins and the Lautaro stood 
 on, each having a boat ahead sounding. The wind fell very 
 light, and instead of going in and engaging the Spanish ships 
 as he intended, Lord Cochrane was forced to anchor at some 
 distance from them. The moment that the two Chilian vessels 
 were made out through the fog the ships and batteries opened 
 fire upon them, showing that the capture of the gun-boat had 
 been observed and the sailors and garrison called to the guns. 
 
 For two hours the ships were exposed to a heavy fire from the 
 batteries and ships. They replied steadily, their aim being chiefly 
 directed against the northern angle of one of the principal 
 forts, whose fire especially annoyed them. As soon as a little 
 breeze sprang up, anchors were weighed, and the two ships 
 sailed to and fro in front of the batteries returning their fire, 
 until Captain G-uise, who commanded the Lautaro, was severely 
 wounded, and his ship at once retired from action. Neither 
 of the other Chilian vessels ventured within range from first 
 to last. The flag-ship being thus left alone exposed to the 
 whole fire of the enemy, Lord Cochrane was ultimately obliged 
 to relinquish the attack. He retired to an island three miles 
 distant from the port, and for five weeks blockaded Callao. 
 
 " This is dull work, Mr. Embleton," the admiral said one 
 day, as he paced up and down the quarter-deck. "What can 
 one do with four badly-equipped ships, one of which has lost 
 its commander, who though not friendly to me was at least an 
 
180 WITH COCHRANE THE DAUNTLESS. 
 
 officer of courage, the other two commanded by men who are 
 afraid to bring their ships within range of the enemy's guns, 
 and all badly manned, badly provisioned, and by no means 
 in fighting trim. If the Spaniards would but sail out to 
 engage us, we might do something, but they have dismantled 
 their frigates, and nothing will tempt the gun-boats to move out 
 from the forts. The only consolation is that the spectacle of 
 our blockading the place successfully cannot but rouse the 
 spirit of the Chilians, and induce them, I hope, to make an 
 effort to put a force on the sea capable of completely crippling 
 the Spaniards." 
 
 At the end of five weeks the little fleet proceeded to Huacho, 
 a short distance north of Callao. The bulk of its inhabitants 
 were secretly in sympathy with the Chilians, and the Spanish 
 garrison evacuated the place and fled almost immediately the 
 ships opened fire. The order was given for boats to be lowered, 
 and Lord Cochrane himself landed to see that there was no 
 scramble for the property of the government. Of this a large 
 quantity was found in the stores, together with a considerable 
 amount of money, which was of even more importance to the 
 Chilians, whose treasury was empty, and who were crippled 
 in all their operations by want of specie. During April and 
 May Lord Cochrane cruised up and down the Peruvian coast. 
 Several landings were effected, and valuable captures made of 
 money and stores. 
 
 The property of the Peruvians was always respected, and 
 the admiral spared no pains to convince the inhabitants that 
 the Chilians were their friends and were hostile only to the 
 Spaniards their oppressors. Several ships laden with stores 
 for the Spanish troops also fell into their hands. Towards 
 the end of the cruise a sail was observed at some distance in 
 the offing. As, at the moment, the boats were about to effect a 
 landing to capture a fort from which the Spaniards had been 
 
WRECKED. 181 
 
 driven by the fire of the ships, the admiral turned to Stephen 
 and said : 
 
 "Mr. Embleton, please to take command of the second 
 cutter. She is a fast sailer, and I have no doubt that you 
 can overhaul that brig in a couple of hours. The boat's 
 crew are already on board and armed, but I don't suppose 
 you will meet with any resistance. When you have boarded 
 her you will take command of her and navigate her to Val- 
 paraiso. I shall be returning there in the course of two or 
 three days." 
 
 Stephen touched his hat and ran below. He was delighted 
 at the prospect of his first command, though it was not a very 
 important one. He had brought the best of his chronometers 
 with him, and snatching up this, his quadrant, and a pocket 
 compass, he at once descended the ladder to the boat, which 
 had been hailed by the admiral and ordered to lie there, the 
 petty officer who commanded being transferred to another boat. 
 The crew consisted of twelve men. As the breeze was off 
 shore Stephen ordered the masts to be stepped at once, and 
 the two lug-sails hoisted. The crew were glad to escape the 
 labour of carrying down stores from the fort and transporting 
 them to the ship, and sat down contentedly in the bottom of 
 the boat, while Stephen himself took the tiller. The brig was 
 hull-down when seen from the boat, and Stephen calculated 
 that she was six or seven miles out. She was steering south 
 and had evidently less wind than that which was taking the 
 cutter fast through the water. He made his course to a point 
 some four miles south of the brig, so as to cut her off, and it 
 was not long before it was evident to him that he should 
 succeed in doing so. 
 
 They were within two miles of the ship when he saw the 
 sailors talking earnestly together and looking towards the 
 shore. Glancing round he saw that the tops of the hills were 
 
182 WITH COCHRANE THE DAUNTLESS. 
 
 enveloped in clouds, a sign, as experience had already taught 
 him, of the approach of a gale. The brig, which had evidently 
 not noticed the boat, had also observed the threatening aspect 
 of the clouds, and as Stephen again looked ahead, began to 
 shorten sail. 
 
 "Had we not better return?" one of the Chilians asked. 
 
 "Certainly not," Stephen said. "The wind is against us, 
 and the storm will burst before we could get back, so that 
 we should be much better off in that brig than we should be 
 in this open boat. Get out oars, men, and help her along. 
 The wind is freshening already. If it rises much more the 
 brig will run away from us." 
 
 The wind indeed got up rapidly, and the oars had to be 
 laid in while the cutter was still a mile off from the brig. 
 She had evidently been observed, and an attempt was being 
 made to hoist some of the upper sails that had been lowered; 
 but the boat was now flying through the water, and in a quarter 
 of an hour ran up on the leeward side of the brig. The sails 
 were dropped, the bow man caught hold of the chains with his 
 boat-hook, and Stephen and the rest of the crew at once 
 scrambled on board cutlass in hand. 
 
 There was, however, no resistance. The crew of the brig 
 were as numerous as the boarders, but the successes of the 
 Chilians had created such an effect that the captain cried out, 
 as they leaped on board, that they surrendered. Stephen's 
 first order was to get the cutter up, and tackles were soon 
 hooked on to her, and she was raised from the water and 
 laid bottom upwards on deck. "While this was being done the 
 Peruvian crew were ordered to shorten sail. 
 
 It was none too soon, for the brig was heeling far over, and 
 the wind momentarily increasing in strength. The Chilians 
 gave a cheer as soon as the boat was safely on board, and in a 
 very short time the sail was reduced to double-reefed top sails. 
 
WRECKED. 183 
 
 Under these and a storm-jib she was laid head to wind. The 
 sky was now entirely obscured, the land was no longer visible, 
 and the sea was beginning to rise. 
 
 "Is it going to be a heavy gale, do you think?" Stephen 
 asked the Peruvian captain. 
 
 " Very heavy, I think. I have seen it coming on since day- 
 break, but I hoped to get to Callao before it burst. We are 
 heavily laden, and in no state for facing a great gale." 
 
 " What have you on board?" 
 
 " Military stores and ammunition." 
 
 " Any money ?" 
 
 " I believe so, seiior. There are twenty boxes sealed up in 
 the lazarette." 
 
 " Now, tell me what you would have done if we had not 
 captured you? You know your ship better than I do. Would 
 you lie-to or let her run 1 " 
 
 "I should put her before the wind, seiior, and at once; it 
 will be dangerous to do so when the sea gets up." 
 
 " Well, put two of your best men at the helm, captain, and 
 give them the necessary orders. I know what ought to be done, 
 but I do not know enough of your language to make sure that 
 I shall not make a mistake. Man the braces, all hands," he 
 shouted. "Now, obey the captain's orders as if they were 
 mine. " 
 
 The manoeuvre was safely executed, and the brig brought 
 before the wind. She felt the relief at once, and sped rapidly 
 before the storm on an even keel. 
 
 "How far will this gale extend beyond the coast?" 
 
 " There is no saying, seiior. An ordinary gale will seldom 
 be felt above a hundred or a hundred and fifty miles; but a 
 big one, as this will I think be, may take us a thousand miles 
 before we can get on our course again." 
 
 "Are there any dangers to be feared?" 
 
184 WITH COCHRANE THE DAUNTLESS. 
 
 " If we go far enough we may get among some islands ; but 
 on the course that we are steering we shall run some hundreds 
 of miles before we reach them." 
 
 "You have got a chart, I suppose?" 
 
 " I have a chart of the coast, sehor, but nothing beyond. 
 We only do a coasting trade." 
 
 " Then the look-out is a bad one if the wind holds like this," 
 Stephen said. "However, there is nothing to do now." 
 
 The gale continued to increase in violence, and in a couple 
 of hours Stephen ordered the main topsail to be lowered on 
 to the cap and there secured. It was a dangerous service, and 
 was undertaken by the Chilians, who are far more handy sailors 
 than the Peruvians. Stephen felt grateful when the last of 
 them stepped on to the deck again. Small as was the amount 
 of sail that was now spread, the brig flew before the wind with 
 alarming rapidity, the sea seeming to stand up on each side 
 of her. The foremast bent so much under the pressure that 
 Stephen had to order preventer-stays to be rove. These were 
 with great difficulty and risk fastened above the hounds and 
 taken well aft, where they were tightened by tackles, and the 
 strain on the mast considerably relieved. 
 
 "I wish we could get down that upper spar," he shouted to 
 the captain; "its pressure helps to keep her head down." 
 
 After watching it for some minutes he ordered the stays 
 and runners to be cut, at the same time calling all hands aft. 
 Scarcely had the men gathered there than the vessel plunged 
 her head into the sea. There was a loud report, and the top- 
 gallant mast fell over her bows with a crash. Two of the Chilians 
 with axes crawled out along the bowsprit and cut away the 
 gear that held the spar alongside, and the wreckage at once 
 floated away. The jib-boom was then got in, and the vessel 
 felt the relief and lifted her head more buoyantly over the 
 seas. For four days the gale continued, her bulwarks were 
 
WRECKED. 185 
 
 carried away, and the waves swept her decks continually. One 
 tremendous roller carried away the boats, the caboose, and all 
 the deck fittings, together with four of the Chilians and six of 
 the Peruvian sailors. The straining had opened her seams, and 
 although the pumps had been kept going as long as the crew 
 had been able to work at them, the water had been gaining 
 steadily, and even the Chilians, who had kept on doggedly 
 long after the Peruvians had thrown themselves down ex- 
 hausted and hopeless, now ceased what was evidently a useless 
 labour. 
 
 The mainmast had been cut away, and was towed by a long 
 hawser from the stern, thereby aiding to keep the vessel 
 dead before the wind. Stephen felt that there was nothing 
 to be done but to wait for the end. There were no materials 
 for making a raft, and indeed the constant wash of the seas 
 would have rendered the task an almost impossible one, even 
 had there been spars at hand ; but a raft, could one have been 
 manufactured, would have prolonged life but for a few hours. 
 They were now, he calculated, fully a thousand miles from the 
 land, and there was no chance whatever of any vessel coming 
 across them in these unfrequented seas. From the time the 
 gale burst upon them he had but twice thrown himself down 
 for a short sleep, and had eaten no food save a dry biscuit or 
 two. The Peruvian captain agreed with him that the vessel 
 would float but a few hours longer. She rose but sluggishly 
 upon the seas, and several times she had plunged her head 
 so deeply into them that Stephen thought that she was going 
 to dive bodily down. 
 
 Night fell. He and the captain lay down on two of the 
 sofas aft, while the crew were all in the forecastle. None 
 expected to see the morning light; but Stephen left the door 
 open, saying to the captain : 
 
 "It will make no difference; but I should rather make a 
 
186 WITH COCHRANE THE DAUNTLESS. 
 
 struggle for my life before I die, than be drowned like a rat 
 in a bole." 
 
 Tbe Peruvian, who had shown much cool courage during 
 the storm, shrugged his shoulders. 
 
 "It makes no difference," he said, as he rolled a cigarette 
 and lighted it; "we have done all that we could. As for me, 
 I would as lief be drowned here as outside. But I don't think 
 that there will be much choice; we shall have no warning 
 when she goes; she will plunge down head-foremost." 
 
 Stephen was too worn-out to reply, but he felt that what 
 the captain said was true. But even the thought that when he 
 woke it would be but for a short struggle for life was insuffi- 
 cient to keep him awake, and in a minute or two he dropped 
 off to sleep. How long he slept he could not tell; he was 
 awakened suddenly by a tremendous crash that threw him on 
 to the floor. He struggled to his feet and rushed out almost 
 instinctively, in obedience to his train of thought before 
 sleeping. As he issued out of the poop a wave poured down 
 from above, and for a moment he shrunk back. He was 
 conscious that the ship was fast. There was no longer any 
 movement; but the sea struck against the stern with a force 
 that made the vessel quiver. As to going forward it was out 
 of the question, for each wave swept right over her. The 
 Peruvian had joined him at the door. 
 
 " Our voyage has ended, sehor." 
 
 "Yes, as far as the ship is concerned; but if she holds 
 together until morning there will be a chance of getting 
 ashore." 
 
 As he spoke a great wave struck the vessel. She rose on it, 
 moved a few yards further forward, and then fell again with a 
 crash that threw them both off their feet. 
 
 " There is not much chance of that," the Peruvian said as 
 he rose again, taking up the conversation at the point at which 
 
THE SHIP FELL WITH A CRASH THAT THREW STEVE AND THE 
 CAPTAIN OFF THEIR FEET." 
 
WRECKED. 187 
 
 it had been broken; "an hour or two will see the end of her, 
 perhaps even less." 
 
 "It felt to me as if she struck all over," Stephen said, 
 "and I should think she is on a flat ledge of rock. I don't 
 think that the wind is blowing as hard as it was when we lay 
 down. There are some stars shining. At anyrate we may as 
 well go in again and wait. We should only be swept over- 
 board if we tried to go forward." 
 
 He turned to re-enter the cabin, but was nearly carried off 
 his feet by a torrent of water that swept along the passage. 
 
 "That last wave has smashed her stern in," he said to the 
 Peruvian; "we must stand outside." 
 
 They seated themselves on the deck, with their backs to the 
 poop. The cataract of water which from time to time swept 
 over them from above, fell beyond them and rushed for- 
 ward. 
 
 " Her head is lower than her stern," the Peruvian remarked. 
 "I begin to think she may hold together until morning; she 
 has not lifted again." 
 
 It seemed, indeed, as if the storm had made its last effort in 
 the great surge that had shifted the vessel forward. For 
 although the waves still struck her with tremendous force, 
 and they could hear an occasional rending and splintering of 
 the timbers astern, she no longer moved, although she quivered 
 from end to end under each blow, and worked as if at any 
 moment she would break into fragments. 
 
 " The foremast has gone," Stephen said presently. " I sup- 
 pose it went over her bows when she struck. I am afraid 
 none of the men have escaped. I can't make out the head of 
 the vessel at all." 
 
 "They may have been washed ashore; but it is probable 
 that the fall of the mast imprisoned them," the captain said; 
 " and as the stern is raised a good many feet, they must have 
 
188 WITH COCHRANE THE DAUNTLESS. 
 
 been drowned at once. Poor fellows, there were some good 
 men among them." 
 
 "I wish we had had them all aft," Steve exclaimed in a tone 
 of deep regret. "Of course, we never thought of this; and in- 
 deed there was but small room for them in your little cabin. 
 It seemed that death would come to us all together, and that 
 their chances in the fo'c's'le were as hopeless as ours in the 
 stern cabin." 
 
 "It is the will of God," the Peruvian said philosophically; 
 "and it is probable their turn has come only a few hours 
 before ours." 
 
 They sat silently for a long time. At last Stephen said: 
 " The sea is certainly going down, and I can make out the out- 
 lines of the land. I think day will soon be breaking. We 
 must have slept a good many hours before she struck." 
 
 He took out his watch, but it was too dark to see the face. 
 He opened the case and felt the position of the hands: "It 
 is half-past three," he said. " In another half-hour we shall 
 have light enough to see where we are." 
 
 Gradually the dawn spread over the sky, and they could 
 make out that the shore was some three hundred yards away, 
 and that trees came down almost to the water's edge. They 
 lay at the mouth of a small bay. As the captain had sup- 
 posed, the ship's bows were under water, and only a few 
 inches of the top-gallant fo'c's'le were to be seen. Another 
 half-hour and the sun was up. Long before this Stephen 
 had explored the wreck astern. Several feet had been torn oft', 
 and the water flowed freely in and out of the cabin. It was 
 evident that the ship had been carried on the crest of the 
 great wave beyond the highest point of the reef across the 
 mouth of the bay, and to this fact she in some degree owed 
 her preservation, as the waves broke some twenty yards 
 astern of her, and so spent a considerable portion of their 
 
WRECKED. 189 
 
 force before they struck her. Looking astern, the sea was 
 still extremely heavy, hut it no longer presented the angry 
 appearance it had done on the previous day. The wind had 
 almost dropped, the waves were no longer crested with white 
 foam. 
 
 " In an hour or two we shall be able to get ashore," Stephen 
 said. " We have been saved well-nigh by a miracle, captain." 
 
 " Saved so far," the captain said ; " but we cannot say yet 
 what is in store for us. These islands are, for the most part, 
 inhabited by savage natives, who will make short work of us 
 if we fall into their hands." 
 
 "Well, Ave must hope for the best," Stephen said. "We 
 have been preserved so far, and we may trust we shall be pre- 
 served through other dangers. As soon as the sea goes down 
 we must haul the foremast alongside, cut away the ropes, and 
 drift ashore on it. It would be no great distance to swim 
 now, but there is no hurry, and we had best find out whether 
 we cannot get hold of some provisions. I see there are some 
 boxes and casks on the shore, I suppose they have been washed 
 out of the stern. One of the first things will be to get some 
 arms." 
 
 " There are several cases of muskets down in the hold," the 
 captain said, " and a large quantity of ammunition, but it will 
 be a difficult business to get at it." 
 
 "We shall have plenty of time," Stephen said, "that is, if 
 the natives do not interfere with us. However, the first 
 thing is to find something to eat, for I am half famished." 
 
 "I have no doubt we shall find something in the steward's 
 cabin," the captain said. "Fortunately it is the first inside 
 the door, and has not shared the fate of the stern cabin. If 
 Jacopo had slept there last night, instead of going forward 
 with the crew, he would have been saved also." 
 
 They opened the door of the cabin, and uttered an exclama- 
 
190 WITH COCHRANE THE DAUNTLESS 
 
 tion of surprise as they saw the steward quietly asleep in his 
 bunk. 
 
 "Why, Jacopo, you lazy rascal," the captain shouted, "I 
 have just been mourning for you, and here you are, sleeping 
 as quietly as if you were safe in port." 
 
 The man sat up with an air of bewilderment. " Why, what 
 has happened, captain 1 ?" he asked. "The sun is shining, and 
 there is no motion. I did not think to see the morning." 
 
 "Oh, you rascal!" the captain said, pointing to an empty 
 bottle lying in the bunk, "you thought that it was all over, 
 and so you emptied one of my bottles of aguardiente, and 
 have slept like a hog all night." 
 
 "Pardon me, captain," the man said, with a shamefaced ex- 
 pression; "everyone said that the ship could not live until 
 morning, so I thought I would take a good drink so as to 
 know nothing about it." 
 
 "And you did not feel even the crash when we were 
 wrecked 1 ?" 
 
 "Wrecked!" the man repeated, as he ran to the door; "are 
 we wrecked after all?" He uttered a cry of horror as he 
 looked round. 
 
 "It might have been worse," the captain said; "at least we 
 three have been saved, though, in your case, you are far from 
 deserving it. Now, look about and do your duty. We want 
 breakfast; see you get it, and quickly, and I will say nothing 
 more about that bottle of spirits you stole. Now, what have 
 you got here?" 
 
 "Two fine- hams, captain, and some bunches of onions, and 
 half a barrel of flour, and some salt beef and a skin of wine." 
 
 "Not so bad," the captain said. " Well, make a fire and do 
 us some slices of ham; are there any biscuits left?" 
 
 "Yes, captain, there is half a barrel." 
 
 " Then we will make shift with a biscuit and the ham ; but 
 
WRECKED. 191 
 
 see that you are quick about it, for this English officer and 
 I are both famished." 
 
 "Where am I to make a fire, captain 1 ? the caboose is 
 gone." 
 
 "Never mind about that; the iron plate is still fixed to the 
 deck, make up your fire on that. Look about in the other 
 cabins and break up anything that will supply you with wood. 
 Now, senor, we will get off the after hatch while this rascal is 
 cooking breakfast, and have a look at the state of things 
 below." 
 
 "I am afraid we shall find most of the cargo cleared out," 
 Stephen said. 
 
 " No, I do not think so. There is a strong bulkhead just 
 below where we are standing. The things you see on shore 
 were in the small hold under the cabin that was used for the 
 ship's stores, while the main contains the cargo. We got at the 
 lazarette from a hatch under the table of the cabin. It was 
 not convenient, but it was an advantage having a separate place 
 when we were loaded up with hides, and there was no fear of 
 the sailors getting at the things. We did not carry a great 
 store — five or six barrels of flour, a few sacks of potatoes and 
 onions, a barrel or two of biscuits, and a couple of casks of 
 salted meat, a barrel of coffee and one of sugar." 
 
 " Well, then, in that case the sea has saved us the trouble 
 of getting them on shore, captain, for there are at least a 
 dozen casks of one kind or another on the beach. Now, really 
 the principal things are the arms. If we get up a case of a 
 dozen muskets and a barrel of ammunition we shall do. Of 
 course, they will be at the bottom." 
 
 "Yes, above them are bales of soldiers' clothes. They will 
 be too heavy for us to lift out. They were heavy enough 
 when they were dry, and the three of us could not lift them 
 out, sodden as they must be with water." 
 
192 WITH COCHRANE THE DAUNTLESS. 
 
 " Then we must get up a sort of derrick. There are plenty 
 of blocks and ropes on that foremast. The difficulty will be 
 about light spars. We shall have to go ashore and cut down 
 two or three young trees to make our tripod with. 
 
 " I think, captain, we had better make up our minds to live 
 on board until we have got this job done. There is less fear 
 of our being attacked by natives, and we could do nothing in 
 the way of searching for game until we get something to shoot 
 it with. We must make a raft of some sort for coming back- 
 wards and forwards with. There are plenty of bits of timber 
 on the beach that will do for that." 
 
 Breakfast was greatly enjoyed, and it was not until an hour 
 afterwards that the sea was sufficiently smooth for them to 
 begin their preparations for landing. The foremast was 
 dragged alongside, the shrouds cut away, and the running 
 rigging unrove and coiled on deck ready for future use. A 
 couple of coils were fastened to the mast, and late in the after- 
 noon the captain and Stephen swam ashore, taking with them 
 the end of one of the coils, while Jacopo remained on board 
 to pay out the other, so that until the main raft was made 
 the mast could be towed backwards and forwards. As soon 
 as they were on shore they hauled at their rope and brought 
 the mast to the beach. Then they set to work examining the 
 casks. As the captain had predicted, most of the contents of 
 the lazarette had been cast up, and they found that they had 
 an ample supply of food to last them for some months. The 
 mast had towed so easily that they agreed that it would be 
 the best way to use it as the main portion of their raft. 
 They dragged pieces of timber close to the mast and lashed 
 them side by side there, so as to form a platform some three 
 feet wide on each side of it, the length varying from four to 
 twelve feet, according to that of the pieces of timber. 
 
 Having accomplished this, after two or three hours' hard 
 
WRECKED. 193 
 
 work, they took their places on it, and shouted to Jacopo, who 
 hauled them back to the side of the wreck. They had fastened 
 one end of the other rope to a tree, and at daylight next morn- 
 ing they again landed, and proceeded with their knives to cut 
 down three young trees of some four inches in diameter. This 
 took them the best part of the day. The heads were then cut 
 off, leaving three stout poles of some fourteen feet in length, 
 and with these they returned to the ship, taking with them a 
 bag of coffee-berries and a supply of sugar. They had found on 
 breaking open the cask that the sugar was somewhat damaged 
 by the sea-water, but this had not penetrated far, and by 
 drying and repounding that touched by the water, no great 
 harm would have been done. The next morning the shears 
 were erected, and they set to work. It took them two days' 
 labour before they could clear enough of the cargo out to get 
 at the cases. They were not troubled much by water, for at 
 the stern-post there was but a depth of four feet on the reef, 
 while at her bows there was nearly twenty. Working as they 
 did at the after-hatchway, there were but five feet of water 
 below, and the uppermost tier of cases was consequently above 
 the water-level. The barrels of cartridges were still further 
 on, and it was the fourth day before they were reached. 
 
 Three of these barrels were got up, and when two cases 
 of muskets had been opened, the weapons cleaned, and made 
 ready for service, they felt a sense of security to which they 
 had been strangers since they arrived at the island. There 
 was now an urgent matter to be attended to. Hitherto they 
 had drunk wine at their meals, but the contents of the skins 
 were getting very low, and it had become absolutely necessary 
 that they should without delay search for water. As there 
 were hills of some size in the interior, they felt confident that 
 there must be plenty to be found. The great point was whether 
 it would be in the neighbourhood, or at a distance from the ship. 
 
 ( M 220 ) N 
 
194 WITH COCHRANE THE DAUNTLESS. 
 
 This was a vital question, for useful as their raft was for com- 
 ing and going between the wreck and the shore, it was far too 
 heavy and clumsy for transporting their valuables any distance ; 
 and without hatchets or carpenters' tools they could not con- 
 struct a raft by breaking up the deck, and the cutting down of 
 trees with their pocket-knives was not to be thought of. 
 
 Accordingly the three set out on foot one morning, each 
 carrying a musket and a store of ammunition, a portion of 
 cooked ham, and some biscuits, together with a bottle contain- 
 ing the last of their stock of wine. When they rounded the 
 point of the little bay they gave a shout of satisfaction, for 
 but fifty yards away a small stream flowed from the forest 
 across the sand into the sea. 
 
 "What a pity Ave did not search for this before," Stephen 
 said, as throwing themselves down each scooped a hole in the 
 sand, and took a long drink of the fresh water. " We could 
 have saved our wine for some special occasion." 
 
 They agreed at once to follow the stream up, as by this 
 means they would leave no trace of footmarks, and might be 
 able to find some suitable spot for an encampment. 
 
 CHAPTER XL 
 
 A DANGEROUS COMPANION. 
 
 rpHEY had gone but a few hundred yards up the stream 
 J- when they heard the sound of a waterfall, and presently 
 they came upon a perpendicular cliff some eighty feet high, 
 over the edge of which the water fell unbrokenly. 
 
 " It would be a splendid place to camp at the edge of this 
 pool," the captain said. " We should have our bath always 
 
A DANGEROUS COMPANION. 195 
 
 ready at hand, and even on the hottest days it would be cool 
 in the shade of the trees." 
 
 " It would not be a nice place to be caught by the natives," 
 Stephen said. "Even if we fortified ourselves, they would 
 only have to get up above and throw rocks down at us." 
 
 The Peruvian regarded this risk as trifling in comparison 
 with the advantages of the situation. Stephen, however, 
 determined to climb to the top of the cliff, and examine the 
 position there, so leaving the others lying in indolent enjoy- 
 ment by the pool, he set to work to find a way up. He had to 
 go fully a quarter of a mile along the foot of the cliff before 
 he could find a place where it could be ascended. Once on the 
 crest, he followed the edge back until he came to the top of the 
 waterfall. To his surprise he found that this flowed almost 
 directly from a little lake of some three hundred yards in dia- 
 meter. For about fifteen yards from the fall on either side 
 the rock was bare; and although the level of the little lake 
 was some three feet below it, Stephen had no doubt that in 
 the case of a heavy tropical rain the water would rush down 
 from the hills faster than the gap through which it fell below 
 could carry it off, and that at such a time it would sweep over 
 the rock on either side, and fall in a torrent thirty yards wide 
 down into the pool. 
 
 The view, as he stood on the patch of bare rock, was a 
 striking one. The tree-tops of the forast between the cliff and 
 the shore were almost level with his feet, some of the taller 
 trees indeed rising considerably higher than the ground on 
 which he stood. Beyond, a wide semicircle of sea extended, 
 broken by several islands, some small, others of considerable 
 size. Behind him the ground rose, in an apparently unbroken 
 ascent, to a hill, which he judged to be some three or four 
 miles away. 
 
 " This would be a grand place for a hut," he said to himself. 
 
196 WITH COCHRANE THE DAUNTLESS. 
 
 " Of course we could not put it on the rock, for we might be 
 swept away by a sudden flood, and besides there would be no 
 shade. But just inside the edge of trees we should do splen- 
 didly." 
 
 He found, in fact, that at a distance of twenty yards from 
 the edge of the bare rock it was but the same distance from 
 the edge of the pool to the brow of the cliff. 
 
 " We could only be attacked on one side here," he said. 
 " And though we could not cut down the trees, we might make 
 a defence with creepers twined in and out among the trunks 
 that would be quite sufficient against a sudden attack; and 
 with such a store of muskets as we have got we might keep a 
 whole tribe at bay. The question is how to get the casks and 
 things up here." 
 
 Going to the edge he found that one of the trees had a 
 large arm overhanging the cliff. 
 
 " By fixing a block there," he said, " we might bring them 
 up from below without difficulty." 
 
 Looking over, he shouted to the two men below. 
 
 " I have found a place here," he said, " where we can make 
 ourselves very comfortable, and with a little labour defend 
 ourselves from any number of savages." 
 
 "How can we get the things up?" the captain shouted 
 back. 
 
 " Easily enough. We have but to fix a block to the arm of 
 this tree over my head, and we can then run them up without 
 difficulty. Come up, captain. You will see at once the ad- 
 vantages of the position." 
 
 In a quarter of an hour the Peruvian captain joined him, 
 and, when Stephen explained his plan, agreed that it was a 
 good one. 
 
 "As you say," he said, "we can only be attacked along this 
 narrow place, and we could strengthen it so that they would 
 
A DANGEROUS COMPANION. 197 
 
 hardly venture to try it." He broke off suddenly. " There are 
 two cases of swords in the hold. I never thought of them 
 before. They might not be much good for cutting trees, but 
 they would do for chopping down bushes, and especially those 
 long creepers, which, being as tough as cables, would blunt 
 our knives in no time. If I remember rightly, the cases were 
 stowed just under the barrels of ammunition we got out, so 
 there won't be much trouble in getting at them." 
 
 " That would be first-rate," Stephen said. " As there is 
 nothing to do now, Ave had better go back to the ship, and 
 get one of the cases out at once. When we have done that 
 we can begin the work of rolling the barrels along the sand to 
 the stream." 
 
 "It will be terrible work getting them to the foot of the 
 cliff," the captain said. 
 
 "Yes, too heavy altogether. We must knock the heads in 
 on the shore, fill the contents into the sacking that holds the 
 clothes, carry them on our backs to the foot of the falls, and 
 then sling them up. There are any number of bales, so that 
 they can remain up here until we get the empty barrels up, 
 and fill in the stuff again. It will be time enough to set to 
 work at our fence when we have got everything up." 
 
 A week later they were established in their new camp. 
 The sugar, coffee, and other articles were all repacked in the 
 casks, which were headed up again to protect them from the 
 weather and the assaults of insects, portions sufficient for a 
 week's consumption only being left out. The labour had been 
 great, but the Peruvian captain seconded Stephen's efforts 
 well. The steward, however, grumbled frequently, and had 
 many times to be spoken to sharply by the captain. Another 
 week was spent in fortifying the position. Young trees were 
 cut down and stuck in the earth two feet apart in the inter- 
 vals between the trees. A wattle-work of the tough thorny 
 
198 WITH COCHRANE THE DAUNTLESS. 
 
 creepers was interwoven across the little promontory, eight 
 feet high. This was painful work, for, however careful they 
 were, they frequently tore their hands with the spikes. 
 
 When this was done a similar defence was made along at 
 the edge of the water to within a short distance of the 
 falls. This was carried to the height of five feet only. A 
 tent had been erected with canvas brought from the wreck, 
 thrown over a pole, fixed between two trees, and in a smaller 
 one by its side the barrels were stowed. 
 
 "Now, captain," Stephen said, as they spent a day in 
 absolute rest after their labours, " there is one more thing to 
 be done." 
 
 "What is that, senorT 
 
 " It is that gold. You said there were five hundred thousand 
 dollars, which comes to a hundred thousand pounds in our 
 money. That, as we know, is lying safely in the stern, for 
 we looked the day after the wreck. So long as it is there it 
 is safe enough, but the next storm that comes will certainly 
 smash up the wreck altogether, and the boxes may be swept 
 into the deep water between her and the shore. Now at the 
 present moment we may consider that gold to be common 
 property. If a Spanish ship ever comes here she will, of 
 course, capture it; if, on the other hand, an English or a Chilian 
 vessel arrives, I shall hand it over to them as their lawful 
 prize. If neither of them come, which is most likely by far, 
 it is worth nothing to anyone. I think we ought to get it 
 ashore, and bury it in the sand above high-water mark." 
 
 " I think that that would be a very good plan," the captain 
 agreed. " We may manage in time to get away somehow, 
 and even if we cannot take it all, we might take some of it. 
 There will be no great trouble in getting it ashore. The 
 boxes weigh a hundred pounds each. There are twenty of 
 them, and the raft would take them in three or four journeys. 
 
A DANGEROUS COMPANION. 199 
 
 If we make an early start, we ought to get the job done 
 easily enough in a day. The gold is of no use to us now; 
 but we may be here for years, and if it is long before we get 
 away, the Spaniards may be driven out of Peru as they have 
 been out of Chili. Your admiral will have gone home. There 
 will be no one to claim the treasure; the Spanish government 
 has lost it, the Chilian has never gained it, and it will be a sort 
 of windfall that we can with a clear conscience divide between 
 ourselves." 
 
 " If you don't mind, captain, I think that it would be a 
 very good plan to say nothing whatever to Jacopo about 
 this business of the gold. I own I don't like the fellow. In 
 the first place, he is abominably lazy, and never does anything 
 like his share of the work; in the second place, to my mind 
 he is an evil-looking scoundrel. I don't want to deprive him 
 of a share of the money if the time ever comes when we may 
 talk of dividing it, but in the meantime there is no reason 
 why he should know it has been moved. That clay when we 
 examined it and found it was safe, I noticed an evil look come 
 into his eyes, and, unless I am greatly mistaken, the idea 
 struck him that if he were to rid himself of us, he would be 
 master of all that treasure. There will be no difficulty in 
 carrying out the matter without his knowing it. When we 
 were moving the stores he often remained behind under the 
 pretence of cooking, and we have only to say that we are going 
 to overhaul the cargo and see if we can find anything else that 
 may be useful to us some day, and he will be glad enough to be 
 left in charge here." 
 
 "I think that you are right," the captain agreed. "I have 
 no reason to doubt Jacopo's honesty, still the thought of so 
 much wealth, although it is of no more value here than so 
 much sand, may excite his avarice. Many a man's throat has 
 been cut in Peru for a score of dollars or less, and it is just as 
 
200 WITH COCHRANE THE DAUNTLESS. 
 
 well not to put any temptation in the fellow's way. You and 
 I at the present moment would exchange all that gold for a 
 stout twenty-feet boat, well provisioned; but to him it would 
 be simply wealth beyond his dreams, and it is just as well not 
 to put any ideas into his mind by ever mentioning the stuff 
 before him." 
 
 The gold was brought on shore and buried in the sand at 
 the foot of a tall tree standing just beyond the highest water- 
 mark. The work took them two days, as some time was spent 
 in making a further search in the cargo, from which was fished 
 up a bale of linen trousers and coats, Avhich formed the undress 
 uniform during the heat of summer. Some shoes were also 
 found, and Stephen and the captain returned to the fort, each 
 laden with a large bundle. Stephen was especially glad at the 
 discovery of the light clothes. Those in which he had started 
 on the chase of the brig were so shrunk with sea water as to 
 be almost unbearable, and he had been going about in Spanish 
 uniform, which he found most uncomfortably hot. He was 
 almost barefooted, and the shoes were even more highly 
 prized than the light clothing. The captain had also lost all 
 his effects, but Jacopo had saved his scanty wardrobe. 
 
 "We are now prepared for everything," Stephen said. "I 
 don't think shipwrecked mariners were ever better set up. 
 We have clothes sufficient for a lifetime, a great stock of 
 weapons and ammunition, and provisions enough for a couple 
 of months at least. The last is our weakest point, I admit. 
 But there is the whole island as a hunting-ground. We must 
 begin and set to work to explore, captain. The ham has gone 
 long ago, and I have been longing for some time for a change 
 from salt meat; besides, we want some fruit or vegetables 
 badly. We have stuck to work well, and deserve a holida}^. 
 The first thing to do will be to climb to the top of the hill and 
 get some idea of the size of the island. I begin to think that 
 
A DANGEROUS COMPANION. 201 
 
 it cannot be inhabited, for if it bad been they would surely 
 have discovered the wreck before now." 
 
 " That is not certain," the captain replied. " It may be a 
 large island, and the villages may lie on the other side. How- 
 ever, we have certainly grounds for hope that we have got it 
 all to ourselves. One thing I am anxious to find is some 
 sheltered spot or cave where we can pass the rainy season. 
 The place where we now are is charming in such weather as 
 this, that is for ten months in the year; but it is not a perch 
 I should choose in such a gale as that which cast us ashore." 
 
 "No ; it would certainly be unpleasant. I should not think 
 there is much chance of our finding a cave except on the sea- 
 shore — caves are by no means common articles. However, we 
 shall no doubt be able to light on some sheltered place where 
 we can take up our abode during the rain. But, first of all, 
 we must find out whether the island is really uninhabited; 
 there will be all sorts of things to do as soon as we can assure 
 ourselves of that. 
 
 " I should be rather glad of one good gale, captain — a gale 
 strong enough to break up the vessel altogether. Of course, 
 it has been a perfect treasure-house to us, but I never go on 
 board without a shudder at the thought of the fo'c's'le just 
 below the level of the water." 
 
 " It is no more than standing at the edge of a graveyard," 
 the captain said philosophically. 
 
 " Yes, that is true, and I know that even if we could have 
 got at them the first day, taken them ashore and buried them, 
 it would have been an unpleasant business." 
 
 "Very," the Peruvian agreed; "things have turned out for 
 the best — they are buried at sea instead of being buried on 
 land. For myself, my regret that the ship did not lie on an 
 even keel was not because we could have got at the bodies and 
 buried them, but because in there we should have found many 
 
202 WITH COCHRANE THE DAUNTLESS. 
 
 things that would have been useful. We should probabty 
 have got an axe or two, some tools, canvas, needles, and 
 twine, all of which would have been very valuable to us." 
 
 "Well, all the same, captain, I shall be glad when a gale 
 knocks the ship to pieces. Besides, as long as she is there she 
 would be seen at once by any canoe coming along on this side 
 of the island, and on going on board the natives would see 
 that some of the crew must have survived, and that things 
 have been brought up and taken ashore; then there would 
 be sure to be a search after us." 
 
 " Yes, you are right there, senor; I had not thought of that. 
 No doubt it is desirable that she should disappear." 
 
 "Do you think that we could blow her up, captain 1 ? There 
 is plenty of powder on board." 
 
 The Peruvian shook his head. "We could shatter her, but 
 portions would still remain sticking up above water, and the 
 explosion would be heard fifty miles round, and the cloud of 
 smoke be seen from all the islands within that distance, and 
 there would soon be canoes coming to see what had caused it. 
 No; it will be best to let her remain as she is until she breaks 
 up with the first gale." 
 
 The next morning they started, taking Jacopo with them. 
 The captain proposed leaving him behind, but Stephen pointed 
 out that if left alone for a long day the man might not improb- 
 ably swim off to the ship to assure himself that the gold was 
 still in its position. 
 
 "He might do that," the captain agreed; "but, like most of 
 his class, he is superstitious, and I doubt whether he would go 
 on board the wreck alone. Still, it will be better to take him 
 with us. It is certain that there is no fear of our hut being 
 disturbed during our absence, and if we should come upon 
 natives three of us are better than two." 
 
 It took them four hours to reach the summit of the hill, 
 
A DANGEROUS COMPANION. 203 
 
 the undergrowth of creepers being so dense that they were 
 often compelled to cut a way through it. At last they 
 reached the summit; as they did so they stopped in surprise. 
 Before them was a cup-shaped depression some two hundred 
 yards across, the centre being a hundred feet below the edges. 
 
 "It is the crater of an old volcano," the Peruvian said; "it 
 is ages since it was active, so that we need have no fear or un- 
 easiness on that score." 
 
 The interior was clothed with verdure. Here and there 
 black crags showed through the foliage, but elsewhere all was 
 smooth and smiling. The slope was regular, and it was evident 
 that, as the captain said, long ages had gone by since there 
 had been any disturbance. Vegetation had grown up and died, 
 until a soil thick enough to conceal all the rocks, that had at 
 one time no doubt thickly strewn the bottom, had been buried. 
 
 "What is that down in the centre?" Stephen said. "There 
 seems to be a patch clear of trees, and there are some figures 
 of some kind there. See, on the other side what looks like a 
 regular path has been cut through the trees and bushes. Per- 
 haps it is a burying-place ; at any rate we will go and see." 
 
 They walked round to the other side of the crater. From 
 there they could obtain a view of the side of the island oppo- 
 site to that on which they had landed. It was far less 
 extensive than they had expected, the hill sloping steeply 
 down, and the sea was but a quarter of a mile away. A great 
 number of islands studded the ocean, and some of those at a 
 distance appeared considerably larger than that upon which 
 they had been cast. 
 
 " Thank goodness," Stephen exclaimed, " the island is 
 evidently uninhabited; now we can wander about freely." 
 
 "Yes; we might have saved ourselves all the trouble of 
 fortifying that position," the captain said. 
 
 "It gave us something to do, captain, and did us good in 
 
204 WITH COCHRANE THE DAUNTLESS. 
 
 that way. Besides, parties of natives from the other islands 
 may land here sometimes. Now let us go down and explore 
 the crater." 
 
 They descended the path and soon stood in the bottom of 
 the crater. This they saw was a veritable graveyard. In 
 the centre was a rough structure built of large stones sloping 
 inwards, and forming a rough representation of a hut. They 
 had evidently been placed there centuries before, for they 
 were green with age; lichens and mosses grew upon them, 
 and here and there small shrubs sprang up in the crevices. 
 What had once been an entrance was closed with a great flat 
 slab of rock. Round this central cairn were some eight or ten 
 smaller ones. 
 
 These were evidently of comparatively recent origin, and one 
 of them was surrounded by a hedge of spears, on some of 
 which hung pieces of tattered cloth of native manufacture. 
 Round the central hut were arranged four figureheads of ships; 
 while in a circle stood a number of the hideous idols carried 
 by many of the South Sea Islanders in their war-canoes. 
 
 "I should say that this accounts for the island being- 
 uninhabited," Stephen said. "I suppose there are still tradi- 
 tions of this having been a volcano, and that the mountain 
 and perhaps the whole island is sacred, and only used as a 
 burial-place for some very great chiefs." 
 
 He went across to the grave surrounded by spears. 
 
 "Here," he said, "are a dozen skeletons piled together — 
 sacrifices, I suppose, on the tomb of a chief. If it had not been 
 for these spears and skeletons, I should have said, from the 
 appearance of the cairns, that they must all be at least a 
 hundred years old, perhaps a great deal more." 
 
 "All the better," the Peruvian said. "I hope it will be a 
 hundred years before they come to bury anyone else here." 
 
 " They must come here a good deal oftener than that," 
 
A DANGEROUS COMPANION. 205 
 
 Stephen said. "These gods of theirs are all new, or at any 
 rate freshly painted. Besides, the place is evidently kept with 
 some care; and I should think very likely the people of the 
 other islands make pilgrimages here once a year or so to offer 
 sacrifices to the god supposed to reside in that central cairn, 
 and to keep his house in order. I think that we cannot do 
 better than follow this path back and sees Avhere it goes to. 
 It may not extend beyond the crater; but if it continues 
 through the forest down to the shore it will be evident that it 
 has recently been visited, for things grow so fast in a climate 
 like this that in a year a path would be completely blocked up 
 by vegetation. Where is Jacopo 1 ?" 
 
 "There he is at the top of the crater; he did not come down 
 with us, and no doubt considered that the place was likely to 
 be haunted by spirits." 
 
 They ascended the path to the top of the crater. The 
 ground here was bare for a short distance, and Stephen saw 
 that two lines of stones marked the course of the path to 
 the trees. It did not lead down towards the sea, but was 
 carried obliquely round the top of the hill until it reached the 
 edge of the forest on the side of the island on which they had 
 landed. Two rude images marked the spot where it entered 
 the forest. It now led down in a direct path six feet wide. 
 This was completely clear of shrubs, and not the smallest shoot 
 of brushwood showed above the soil. Wherever the ground 
 descended steeply rude steps had been cut; the trees on each 
 side of the path had been barked on the side facing it. Here 
 and there sticks, some ten feet high, with pieces of coloured 
 cloth hanging from them, stood along the side of the path. 
 The path itself was almost like a trough, the centre being 
 fully two feet lower than the general level. 
 
 "It must be used very frequently," the Peruvian said, "and 
 has probably been used for ages. No doubt in the rainy 
 
206 WITH COCHRANE THE DAUNTLESS. 
 
 season the water helps to hollow it out, but the work must 
 have been begun by human feet." 
 
 Jacopo kept closely behind the others, crossing himself 
 frequently and muttering invocations to the saints. They 
 followed the path until it came out at the head of a deep inlet. 
 
 "It is a useful road to the top of the hill," Stephen said. 
 " It has not taken us more than three-quarters of an hour 
 coming down, while we were six times as long in going up, and 
 hard at work all the time. Look there; there is no mistake as 
 to the numbers who come here," and he pointed to the patches 
 of ashes and charred wood scattered thickly on the sand above 
 the water-line, all along the edge of the inlet." 
 
 "There can be no doubt about that," the Peruvian said; 
 "the place must be constantly visited, or at any rate by a 
 great number at a time. However, I don't know whether 
 that need disturb us. They evidently go straight up to wor- 
 ship or sacrifice and come straight down again, and all that we 
 have got to do is not to fire a gun when they are on the 
 island. However, we may as well look along the shore to see 
 if there are any further paths into the forest." 
 
 They examined carefully, but could see no signs that the 
 natives had gone inland at any other point. 
 
 "We may as well go along the shore now," Stephen said, 
 "then we shall see how far this inlet is from our ba} r ." 
 
 They were turning to start when there was a rustle among 
 the undergrowth, followed by a short deep sound. Jacopo 
 dropped his musket and fell on his knees. The captain 
 crossed himself hastily; but Stephen dashed forward towards 
 the spot where the sound had come, shouting: 
 
 " Come along, captain, it is a pig." 
 
 There was a rush as he entered the bushes, and a dozen 
 pigs dashed off. He levelled his musket and fired at the 
 hindmost, and gave a shout of delight as it rolled over. 
 
A DANGEROUS COMPANION. 207 
 
 lYesh meat, captain," he exclaimed as the Peruvian joined 
 ^)'and there are at least a dozen others who have made 
 off. Hurrah! there is no fear of starving; we may be sure that 
 this is not the only herd on the island." 
 
 The pig was dragged out on to the sea-shore; it was a 
 young animal, although nearly full grown. Jacopo was now 
 in his element; he cut the pig open, eviscerated it, carried 
 it down to the edge of the water, washed it, tied the legs 
 together, and with his sword cut down a sapling and thrust 
 it through them. 
 
 " We will carry the pig, seiior, as you shot him. That is but 
 a fair division of labour," the captain said, raising one end of 
 the pole on his shoulder, while Jacopo took the other. They 
 had gone but a hundred yards further when the trees near the 
 beach grew less densely, and the ground beneath them was 
 covered by a plant with large leaves and yellow flowers. 
 Stephen, who was walking ahead, went up to examine them. 
 
 "Hurrah, captain!" he shouted, "they are wild melons." 
 
 The others laid down the pig and ran up to him. The 
 patch extended as far as they could see; the plants covered the 
 ground and climbed the trees by means of the rattans, fes- 
 tooning them with their bright leaves and flowers and fruit 
 of all degree of ripeness. On the ground they found no 
 ripe fruit. There were evident signs that this was a favourite 
 resort of the pigs, and that they devoured the fruit as fast as it 
 ripened. 
 
 "We will fence in a large patch of this," Stephen said; 
 " there will be plenty for the pigs and us too. I never felt 
 thankful that a pig could not climb before," he laughed, as he 
 cut a melon hanging overhead. Although somewhat wanting 
 in flavour the fruit seemed to the three men, after their priva- 
 tion for upwards of a month from green vegetables or fruit, to 
 be delicious. " How do you suppose that it got here, captain?" 
 
208 WITH COCHRANE THE DAUNTLESS. 
 
 " The seed may have been carried by birds from some place 
 where melons are cultivated," the captain said, "possibly even 
 from the mainland. I have heard that seeds are carried 
 immense distances in that way. It may be that some seeds 
 were washed overboard from a passing ship and some were 
 cast ashore here. I do not care how they came here, I am 
 well contented to find them." 
 
 " We will carry away the seeds of those we eat and plant 
 them near our camp," said Stephen; "we shall soon get a 
 supply without having to come here to fetch them. Besides, 
 these will attract the pigs and enable us to get fresh meat 
 without having the trouble of scrambling through the forest, 
 and tearing ourselves and our clothes to pieces with thorns." 
 
 They cut as many melons as they could carry in addition 
 to the pig, and then proceeded on their way. They followed 
 the shore but a quarter of a mile further, when to their satis- 
 faction they found themselves at the bay at the mouth of 
 which the wreck was lying, and in another half-hour they Avere 
 at home. 
 
 "We are certain to see boats coming," Stephen said, as he 
 stood at the edge of the cliff and looked out over the sea, 
 "unless they come from some of the islands on the other side 
 and coast round to their landing-place. But on the other 
 hand, there is the disadvantage that as they come in to the 
 inlet they can hardly help seeing the wreck. We must make 
 it a rule when we go down, to walk in the stream until we get 
 to the edge of the sea, and then to keep along on the wet 
 sand where our footprints will disappear directly. In that 
 way they would have no clue whatever to the direction in 
 which to look for us." 
 
 " Yes, it would be as well to observe that precaution," the 
 Peruvian said. " When we once get a melon patch here we 
 shall not have any reason to go down there very often. We 
 
A DANGEROUS COMPANION. 209 
 
 have got everything we want from the wreck, and we have all 
 the coast along to the left to explore, where we may make 
 some useful discoveries." 
 
 Two days later they again went to the sea-shore and 
 followed it to the left, leaving Jacopo this time behind. They 
 had gone but a mile when they came upon a thorny bush 
 covered with fruit, which the Peruvian pronounced to be 
 guavas; they eat some of these and then proceeded on their 
 way, and before long came upon a group of trees bearing a 
 fruit considerably larger than an orange. Stephen had seen 
 these when cruising on his first voyage among the islands, and 
 pronounced them to be bread-fruit. 
 
 "Let us go no further," the Peruvian said; " we have found 
 enough good things for one day, let us leave the rest for to- 
 morrow." 
 
 Stephen laughed. "At any rate it is a good excuse for get- 
 ting back again ; and indeed I am quite ready to do so, for I 
 have a strong desire to see what Jacopo has been up to in 
 our absence, and would be willing to make a wager with you 
 that we don't find him at the hut." 
 
 They gathered a quantity of the bread-fruit and passed the 
 guava bush reluctantly. 
 
 " We must set to work to make a basket, captain," Stephen 
 said, " we want such a thing badly. We can each make a 
 good-sized bag out of sacking, which will do very well for 
 melons and bread-fruit, but we want something that we can 
 carry things like guavas in without crushing them." 
 
 On their return to the camp they found, as Stephen ex- 
 pected, that Jacopo was absent, and at once set out along the 
 edge of the cliff until they reached the point at which they 
 obtained a view into the bay. The wreck lay apparently 
 deserted. 
 
 "Let us sit down and watch," Stephen said, "he may not 
 
 ( M 220 ) o 
 
210 WITH COCHRANE THE DAUNTLESS. 
 
 have reached it yet. No, there he is." As he spoke, a figure 
 came out from the door of the poop. "Just as I thought, 
 captain. He has gone down to see if the gold is there. Look 
 at him." Jacopo was evidently furious; they could see him 
 waving his arms and stamping angrily on the deck, and then 
 he went to the side and shook his fist in the direction of the 
 tent. 
 
 " That fellow is dangerous, captain," Stephen said gravely. 
 
 The captain nodded. 
 
 "The safest plan will be to shoot him at once." 
 
 "No, we cannot do that; we had better tell him frankly to- 
 night that we have moved the gold and buried it, lest the 
 vessel should go to pieces in a storm, that we intend to give it 
 up to any Spanish or Chilian ship that may come here; but 
 that if it is a long time before we are rescued we shall then 
 divide the gold between us, and that he will get a fair share of 
 it." 
 
 "It would be better to shoot him," the captain said. "You 
 were right, it is evident that he has been thinking over that 
 money, and that as likely as not he has determined to possess 
 the whole of it. However, we shall see how he behaves. I 
 may as well tell him as soon as he arrives; when he sees that 
 we mean fair by him he may possibly be content, at any rate 
 for a time, especially as he must know as well as we do how 
 small is the chance of a ship coming along. We are altogether 
 out of the line of traffic. Ships going round the Horn keep 
 far south of this on their way to China, while those for Peru 
 and Chili keep up the coast; and there is no traffic at all 
 from Peru or Chili to China or India." 
 
 "Now that we have everything we want here, captain, and 
 know that we can hold on for a long time, we ought to begin 
 to think over our plans for the future. If we had tools we 
 could certainly build a craft that would carry us to Chili; but 
 
A DANGEROUS COMPANION. 211 
 
 it would be a terrible business to build one with nothing but 
 our swords to cut down trees, hew out the timbers, and shape 
 planks. Still, if there is nothing else to be done we must do 
 that. It is only a matter of time and patience, and we shall find 
 that the hours hang very heavy on our hands when all our 
 necessary work is done here. I should think that we ought 
 to be able to build a craft of twenty tons in a couple of years 
 at the outside; at any rate, I can think of no other plan for 
 getting away." 
 
 "I have been thinking that we might steal a canoe when the 
 natives come here," the Peruvian said. 
 
 " I daresay we might, captain ; but if, as is probable, they 
 come in large canoes, three of us would make but very little 
 speed with one of them, and we should be pursued and over- 
 taken in no time. You may be sure that they don't spend 
 the night up on the hill, and probably when they go up they 
 will leave some of their number on the beach to look after the 
 canoes, and cook. But even if we did get away we could do 
 nothing with such a canoe." 
 
 "I don't know," the captain said; "we might land with her 
 on some small island, fit a deep keel on to her, and get up a 
 couple of masts and lug-sails, which, of course, we should make 
 beforehand." 
 
 "Yes, we might do that," Stephen agreed; "but the diffi- 
 culty of carrying off the boat would be immense. And besides, 
 she would have to be victualled; we should have to take food 
 and water for a long journey. And to get our barrels filled 
 with fresh water on board would be a long task, and utterly 
 impossible to carry out in the short time that we should have 
 to spare, even if the beach was entirely deserted." 
 
 "Yes, I see it is very difficult," the captain agreed; "but I 
 would not mind running the risk rather than undertake two 
 years' hard labour." 
 
212 WITH COCHRANE THE DAUNTLESS. 
 
 " I would not mind running the risk either, captain, if I saw 
 any probability of success, but I own that this seems an 
 impossibility. However, it may be that sometimes a small 
 party comes alone, and that we could get possession of a 
 canoe of manageable size. At any rate, we may as well prepare 
 for such a chance before setting to work to build. We have 
 plenty of canvas from the fore-topgallant sail and head-sails 
 of the brig, and can make a couple of lug-sails fit for a large 
 canoe and a couple for a smaller one, and get the spars ready ; 
 that would not take us a great deal of time, and if a bit of 
 luck does fall in our way we should be ready to avail our- 
 selves of it. That fellow has swam ashore now, so we had 
 better be going back to the hut." 
 
 A quarter of an hour after they reached it Jacopo appeared. 
 He stopped in surprise when he saw them. 
 
 " So you have been off to the wreck, Jacopo," the captain 
 said. " We found as much fruit as we could carry, and have 
 brought it straight back again ; and finding that you had gone 
 we went along the cliff and saw you on the deck. I suppose 
 you went off to see if the gold was all safe. We have seen to 
 that; we did not like to leave it there, for the ship will break 
 up in the first gale, and the boxes might be swept into the 
 deep water and be lost, so we carried it ashore. The gold, 
 you know, is not ours, it is the property either of the Spanish 
 or the Chilian government, and we shall hand it over to the 
 first ship of either of these nations that may come along. If, 
 however, as is likely enough, no ship comes near the island 
 for years, and the Spanish, as may well be, have by that 
 time lost their possessions on the west coast altogether, we 
 may then consider it to be ours, and if we get away we propose 
 to divide it into three equal shares. As officers we have a 
 right to a larger share than you; but we have agreed that if 
 you do your work here with us willingly and cheerfully we 
 
A DANGEROUS COMPANION. 213 
 
 shall not stand on our rights, but shall give you an equal 
 portion of it with ourselves. At present the gold is of no 
 more value to any of us than so much sand, beyond the fact 
 that if we build a craft, as the seiior and I have been talking 
 of doing, the boxes will be found excellent ballast, otherwise 
 it is not worth a thought either way." 
 
 "You are very good, seiior," Jacopo said humbly, "and I 
 can promise that you shall have no reason to complain of me;" 
 and without another word he turned, cut off a portion of the 
 pig that was hanging from a bough near, and proceeded to 
 prepare a meal. 
 
 " I hope that that has made the matter all right," the 
 Peruvian said in a low voice to Stephen; "but we must watch 
 him closely for a short time and see how he goes on. If he 
 looks at the matter sensibly he must see that, as I said, the 
 gold is of no value to any of us at present." 
 
 " He spoke too humbly altogether in my opinion," said 
 Stephen ; " but as it is evident that so long as we are here our 
 interests are all alike, and that the three of us will have a 
 better chance of escape than one would alone, he may give up 
 all thought of the gold until the time approaches for us to 
 make a start." 
 
 The next day they went down, unlaced the fore-topgallant 
 sail from its yard where it lay on the beach, upon which it had 
 been washed up after they had stripped the mast, and pro- 
 ceeded to cut from it two lug-sails, so as to save themselves 
 the trouble of carrying the entire canvas up to the tent. 
 
214 WITH COCHRANE THE DAUNTLESS. 
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 
 DEATH OF THE CAPTAIN. 
 
 THE work of making up the sails occupied the next three 
 days. Some of the canvas was unravelled for use as twine, 
 and holes were made with long sharp thorns. Jacopo, when not 
 engaged in cooking, worked diligently, seldom joining in the 
 conversation between the captain and Stephen, a conversation 
 which turned principally upon the best method of building and 
 launching the proposed boat. Stephen's proposal was that they 
 should, if possible, first get up the deck planks, which could be 
 done by driving wedges between them and the beams, and 
 after one was taken up, the work of the wedges could be aided 
 by poles used as levers. When all the planks had been taken 
 up as far forward as the water would permit them to work, he 
 proposed to blow up the after-part of the ship, by which means 
 they would obtain a large amount of beams and timbers that 
 could be utilized for the boat, at much less cost of labour than 
 would be entailed by the cutting down of trees. He proposed 
 that the explosion should take place at night, as the roar and 
 flash would be supposed by the natives of the islands near, to 
 be something supernatural connected with the spot evidently 
 held in such veneration. 
 
 "Even were they to row across to see if anything had taken 
 place," he said, "which is about the last thing that they would be 
 likely to do, they would no doubt make for their usual landing- 
 place; and as the greater portion of the ship above water would 
 have disappeared, anything that remained would not be likely 
 to catch their eye." 
 
 He calculated that if the plan succeeded they ought to be 
 
DEATH OF THE CAPTAIN. 215 
 
 able to build a boat of the required size in six months at the 
 outside. The preparation of the planking had been the most 
 arduous portion of the plan they had first laid out, and this 
 would be done away with altogether; and as the nails would 
 doubtless draw out of the planks, and they would obtain plenty 
 of bolts and fastenings from the fragments of the wreck, the 
 building of their boat was now comparatively simple, and 
 Stephen even fancied that they might complete it in four 
 months. No word was spoken as to the gold, but Stephen 
 felt that a difficulty might finally arise out of it. He himself 
 considered it as a lawful prize for the Chilian government; but 
 the Peruvians were two to one against him, and although they 
 might have no desire to return it to the Spaniards, who were 
 detested by the great majority of Peruvians, they might set 
 up a claim to it on their own account. However, he dis- 
 missed the idea from his mind as one that must be left to be 
 determined by circumstances. 
 
 For a month they laboured assiduously. The planks were 
 successfully taken up, and then, after much consideration, pre- 
 parations were made for blowing up the vessel. The powder 
 barrels were brought up, fuses were made, each six feet 
 long, passing from barrel to barrel, and the chain of barrels 
 was laid from the stern to the point where the deck was level 
 with the water. This plan was adopted in order that the 
 whole fabric should be shaken and broken up, while, had the 
 whole force of the explosion taken place at one point, it would 
 have entirely destroyed the timber there, while perhaps leaving 
 a considerable portion still standing above the water. 
 
 The success of the explosion was complete, and in the 
 morning there was no sign of the ship above water, while the 
 bay was covered with floating wreckage. It took some time 
 to collect this and bring it to shore, and then to tow it to the 
 spot they had decided upon as being best suited for the launch. 
 
216 WITH COCHRANE THE DAUNTLESS. 
 
 It was near the point of the bay, and the beach here sloped 
 more steeply than elsewhere. 
 
 Their first work was to erect a platform sloping still more 
 steeply, and covered with pieces of timber too short for other 
 work. The craft wonlcl thus be built at an angle which would 
 ensure her sliding down into the water, and during the pro- 
 gress of building she could be retained in her place by ropes 
 fastened to a tree behind, and by blocks of wood under her 
 stern-post. Among the timbers, one was found long enough to 
 serve as the keel, and when this was laid down, and the stern- 
 post and stem were fitted to it and securely bolted, they felt 
 that the most difficult part of the work was done. Great 
 labour was required to get out the copper bolts from the 
 timbers, and in some cases the wood had to be split up before 
 they could be extracted. The work of getting out the ribs, 
 and fastening them in their places, was much less arduous 
 than they had expected, for the greater portion of the timbers 
 of the brig had come on shore, and among these they were able 
 to find many with curves fairly suited to their requirements. 
 Some required hacking off with cutlasses, while on to others 
 pieces of planks were nailed to get the required curve. By 
 the end of five months the hull was planked and decked, and 
 all felt very proud of the work. It was caulked with oakum 
 obtained from some of the least serviceable of the ropes of the 
 brig, dipped in a resin that they found oozing from some trees. 
 
 The fore-topmast of the brig furnished a suitable mast, and 
 was stepped and stayed ; a bowsprit, boom, and gaff were con 
 structed from the light spars; a mainsail, a foresail, and jib had 
 been manufactured during the long evenings; and when the 
 boat was completely rigged, the timbers down which she was 
 to glide were smeared with lard, and carried down as far as 
 possible under water, being kept in their places by heavy 
 stones placed on the ends. It was a great day when the shores 
 
DEATH OF THE CAPTAIN. 217 
 
 were knocked away, the ropes that held her stern being pre- 
 viously cast off, and she at once moved rapidly down into the 
 water amid a shout of triumph from her constructors. She 
 drew about three feet of water, and they calculated that when 
 they had got the ballast, stores, and water on board she would 
 sink another foot, and would then have three feet of free-board. 
 
 They had already laid in a large stock of pork, which they 
 had salted, obtaining the salt by filling pools in the rock with 
 salt water, which Avas replenished as fast as it evaporated. A 
 great stock of melons had also been cut. The barrels had been 
 carefully examined, and placed in the lake to swell and become 
 water-tight. Now that the boat was once in the water they 
 were anxious to be off without the smallest possible delay, for 
 were the natives to appear just at this moment all their labours 
 would be thrown away. As soon, therefore, as they had gone 
 on board, and found that the craft was perfectly water-tight, 
 they hauled her towards the spot where they had buried the 
 gold, dug up the boxes, and carried them down to the water's 
 edge. The boat was then hauled in until she was in four 
 feet of water. Stephen and Jacopo waded out, carrying the 
 boxes on their heads, then the captain lifted them on board, 
 and, taking them below, packed them along her keel. 
 
 By this time it was late in the afternoon, and they calculated 
 that by beginning at daybreak, they would get the greater 
 portion of their stores and water on board next day. It was 
 a moonlight night, and, after indulging in supper and a long 
 talk over the next day's work, they lay down to sleep. 
 
 It was some time before Stephen fell into a light sleep, 
 being too excited at the thought of their approaching de- 
 liverance to compose himself to a sound slumber. He was 
 awakened by a slight movement, and, turning round, saw in 
 the moonlight Jacopo kneeling by the captain with a knife 
 uplifted. With a shout Stephen sprung up, grasped his sword, 
 
218 WITH COCHRANE THE DAUNTLESS. 
 
 which he had, ever since the gold was hidden, placed by his 
 side when he lay down, and rushed at the Peruvian. The 
 knife had, however, descended twice, and the assassin gained 
 his feet just as Stephen fell upon him. So quick had been 
 the latter's movement that the edge of his sword fell on the 
 side of the murderer's face before he had time to place himself 
 on guard. With a howl of pain and rage he sprang out from 
 the end of the tent, and rushed to the narrow opening left in 
 their barricade. 
 
 Stephen pursued him hotly, but the Peruvian was quicker 
 footed, and, dodging among the trees, presently left him 
 behind. Stephen returned to the tent, stirred up the fire to a 
 blaze, and then bent over the captain. He saw at once that 
 the latter was dead, the knife having twice struck him in the 
 region of the heart. Stephen took up one of the loaded mus- 
 kets and sat down at the entrance of the barricade. He felt 
 completely crushed at the blow. His early suspicions of Jacopo 
 had gradually died out, for the man had worked willingly and 
 steadily; he had seemed perfectly contented with the prospect, 
 and entered as keenly into the building of the cutter as Stephen 
 and the captain had done. But it was evident now that he 
 had all along meditated the murder, and had only delayed until 
 the craft was built and fitted, the gold in its place, and every- 
 thing ready for sailing save putting the stores on board, which 
 he could manage by himself. 
 
 An hour before everything seemed clear, now Stephen blamed 
 himself that he had prevented the captain from shooting the 
 villain, on the day when the latter discovered that the gold had 
 gone. And yet the act would have been murder, for there was 
 no proof that Jacopo intended to play them false. What, 
 Stephen asked himself, was he to do now? He was certain that 
 the murderer would not permit him, without an effort, to sail 
 away, and that he would be able to hide among the trees, and 
 
"WITH A SHOUT, STEPHEN SNATCHED UP HIS SWORD AND RUSHED 
 AT THE ASSASSIN." 
 
DEATH OF THE CAPTAIN. 219 
 
 to spring out at any moment upon him as he came past laden 
 with barrel or sack. It was not even clear how he could get a 
 wink of sleep, for at any moment the assassin might crawl up 
 and stab him. 
 
 So Stephen passed the night. He watched attentively for 
 the slightest sound, but he did not think that the fellow was 
 likely to return that night, for he was certain that he had 
 wounded him very severely; and besides, the scoundrel would 
 feel sure that he would keep a vigilant watch. As soon as 
 day broke he got up, and went to the tent to verify a thought 
 that had struck him during his watch. He counted the 
 muskets; there were but twenty-two. A cold perspiration 
 broke out on his forehead; his worst fears were realized. 
 Jacopo had managed during the last day or two to take two 
 of the muskets and carry them away with him, so that should 
 his intentions to murder his two companions miscarry, he 
 would be able to wage war against them. He would certainly 
 have provided himself with a good store of ammunition. 
 Difficult as the position had seemed before, the difficulties and 
 dangers were increased tenfold now he knew that the Peruvian 
 was provided with firearms. 
 
 There would be no occasion for an open attack. The fellow 
 would only have to hide up in the undergrowth and shoot him 
 down as he passed. It was a danger against which there was 
 no providing; at any moment from the time he left the tent 
 he would be liable to be shot down by the invisible foe. Mov- 
 ing about almost mechanically, Stephen boiled some water in a 
 very thin-skinned gourd, which they had found the best sub- 
 stitute for a kettle. It was necessary to use a fresh one fre- 
 quently, but they were plentiful in the woods, and a supply 
 was always kept on hand. As soon as it boiled, he threw in a 
 handful of coffee that had been roasted and pounded a day or 
 two before, laid a chop cut from the pig on the embers, and 
 
220 WITH COCHRANE THE DAUNTLESS. 
 
 put biscuits on to toast beside it. He had no thought of being 
 in danger, for he felt sure that Jacopo would not run the risk 
 of approaching the tent. After the meal was cooked and eaten, 
 he sat for a long time pondering over what had best be done. 
 
 His first impulse had been to take to the woods, carrying a 
 couple of muskets and a store of provisions sufficient for a day 
 or two, and to hunt the Peruvian down. In this case each 
 would be ignorant of the other's position and movements, and 
 neither would have any advantage over the other; but, on 
 the other hand, while he was hunting Jacopo, the latter might 
 be putting a sufficient store of melons and perhaps the carcase 
 of a pig on board the boat, and making off with it. The 
 gold was there, and the assassin would be ready to run any 
 risk to get away with it. He would doubtless prefer to silence 
 the only voice that could give evidence against him, but he 
 would know that the chance of Stephen's ever making his escape 
 by himself would be so small that it might be disregarded. 
 Stephen thought that, at any rate, the risk of the Peruvian's 
 attempting to set sail that day was small. He would be suffer- 
 ing intense pain from the wound, and would probably be 
 incapable of making any great exertion; but most of all he 
 trusted to Jacopo's thirst for vengeance to keep him for a while 
 on the island. Eager as he might be to sail away with the gold, 
 he might well postpone his departure for a few days, until he 
 had avenged himself for the wound that had been inflicted on 
 him. 
 
 Jacopo had one advantage over him. ' He could select a spot 
 where he would at once command the path down to the shore 
 and keep his eye upon the cutter, while from the camp Stephen 
 was unable to obtain a view into the bay. 
 
 As he Avas thinking the matter over, Stephen's eye fell upon 
 the block and rope by which the barrels had been hoisted up. 
 It had for a long time been disused, for they had found it much 
 
DEATH OF THE CAPTAIN. 221 
 
 shorter to clear a path from the spot where they descended from 
 the cliff direct to the little bay, thereby saving at least two- 
 thirds of the distance, a matter of importance while they were 
 engaged upon their boat-building. The idea at once presented 
 itself that he might leave the spot by this means without the 
 knowledge of the Peruvian, and would thereby turn the tables 
 on him. He was about to put the loop at the end of the rope 
 around his body, and swing himself over, when he hesitated. 
 He might be driven to adopt the same plan that he credited 
 Jacopo with the intention of following. After some thought, 
 he took some seventy pounds of salt pork from the barrel and 
 put it in a sack, round which he fastened the rope in such a 
 manner that as soon as the strain on it was relieved it could 
 be shaken off. Then he climbed out on to the bough, and 
 poured a little melted lard on the sheave of the block to prevent 
 it from creaking. Then he lowered the barrel down, shook off 
 the fastening, and drew up the rope again. 
 
 Then he sent down a large sack full of melons ; this done, there 
 was nothing to do but to wait until dusk. He kept up a good 
 fire all day, thinking it probable that Jacopo would have placed 
 himself where he could see the smoke rising. He calculated 
 that the man would suppose that he would be likely to attempt 
 to leave his post after dark, and would then place himself 
 somewhere on the path to shoot him as he went past. As 
 soon as it was dark, he lowered four of the muskets, with a 
 bag of ammunition, and then followed himself. He first 
 carried the muskets and ammunition down to the shore, and 
 then made two trips with the pork and melons. Then he 
 rolled one of the water-casks, that had already been filled, down 
 the sand into the sea, and, entering the water breast-deep, pushed 
 it before him until he came to the rope from the stern of the 
 craft to the shore. Eeturning, he fetched the pork, melons, 
 muskets, and ammunition. Then he waded and swam out to 
 
222 WITH COCHRANE THE DAUNTLESS. 
 
 the cutter, holding his sword in his teeth, pulled himself noise- 
 lessly up, and then, sword in hand, descended into the cabin, 
 where he thought it was just possible that the Peruvian might 
 be sleeping. The light of the moon was sufficient to show him 
 that it was empty. 
 
 Ascending to the deck again, he slackened out the head- 
 rope attached to a heavy stone that served as an anchor; then 
 he hauled on the rope ashore until he felt the stern touch the 
 sand. Making fast the rope, he lowered himself down and 
 waded to shore. Then he brought off the muskets and ammu- 
 nition, pork and melons on his head, and lastly got the barrel 
 of water alongside, put a sling round it, fastened the main 
 halliards to it, and hoisted it on board. He was now in a 
 position to make off, but still altogether inadequately pro- 
 visioned for such a voyage as he meditated, and after some 
 thought he determined to return on shore. 
 
 He had at first thought of remaining on board and hoisting 
 the sail. This would attract the attention of Jacopo as soon 
 as it was light enough for him to see it, and probably in his 
 fury at being outwitted the man would rush frantically down, 
 and try to get on board; but in that case Stephen should have 
 to shoot him in cold blood, which he felt he could not bring 
 himself to do. 
 
 He decided finally upon going on shore, where he could meet 
 the man on equal terms. He accordingly hoisted the sail, 
 and then landed with a couple of loaded muskets, taking his 
 place behind a tree a short distance up the path, and waiting 
 until morning. The various journeys had taken him some 
 time, and it was now, he judged, about three o'clock. As soon 
 as it was light his watch began in earnest. Contrary to his 
 expectations, it was fully an hour before he heard any sign of 
 Jacopo coming. He accounted for the delay on the supposition 
 that the Peruvian would think perhaps that although he 
 
DEATH OF THE CAPTAIN. 223 
 
 had outwitted him and got on board, he must be altogether 
 unprovided with stores, and unable, therefore, to put to sea. He 
 would suppose then that he had returned to shore, especially 
 as there were no signs of him on board the craft. 
 
 At last he saw him coming down the path with a stealthy, 
 crouching step, with one musket slung behind him, and the 
 other in his hand ready for instant action. He was a dreadful 
 sight. His face was bound up with a sleeve cut from his shirt. 
 His forehead was encrusted and his hair matted with dried 
 blood, with which also his linen jacket and trousers were 
 thickly stained. Stephen had chosen a tree round whose foot 
 was a thick growth of bush, and he now proceeded to put into 
 execution the plan that he had decided upon. Stooping behind 
 the trunk of the tree, he thrust up from among the bushes his 
 cap on the top of a ramrod, taking care that the upper part only 
 just showed above the leaves. Almost instantly Jacopo levelled 
 his rifle and fired. Stephen gave a loud cry and dropped the cap. 
 The Peruvian, with a yell of exultation, threw away the gun, 
 drew his knife, and bounded forward. As he came up, Stephen 
 sprang out, and brought the butt end of his gun down with all 
 his strength on the Peruvian's head, striking him senseless to 
 the ground. Stephen picked up the murderer's knife and 
 placed it in his belt, took the musket from his shoulder, and 
 then with a cord he had brought with him bound his feet, 
 and turning him over fastened his wrists tightly together. 
 
 Then he raised him, and placed him in a sitting position 
 against the tree, passed the cord several times round him and 
 the trunk, knotting it firmly behind the tree. Then he went 
 away to the stream and cut a couple of gourds, filled them 
 with water, and returned. Jacopo had now opened his eyes, 
 and was looking round him in a dazed condition. When he 
 saw Stephen approaching he made a struggle to rise. 
 
 "It is of no use, Jacopo," Stephen said quietly; "your power 
 
224 WITH COCHRANE THE DAUNTLESS. 
 
 of mischief is at an end. You have murdered your captain, 
 and you would have murdered me, so now your life is justly 
 forfeited. Did I give you the fate you deserve, I would bring 
 down the body of your victim, tie it to you, and leave you to 
 die of thirst. Fortunately for you I am a British officer, and 
 I cannot be both judge and executioner." 
 
 The Peruvian's reply was a volley of curses and execrations. 
 
 "Will you drink some water 1 ?" Stephen asked, without pay- 
 ing any attention to his words. 
 
 The Peruvian's only reply was to spit furiously at him. 
 Stephen placed one of the gourds on the ground close to him, 
 saying: "You will think better of it presently", poured the con- 
 tents of the other over Jacopo's head; and then returning to the 
 boat, brought off another coil of rope with which he still more 
 securely fastened Jacopo to the tree, and then went up to 
 the tent. He spent the day in carrying down the store of 
 provisions, arms, and ammunition, asking Jacopo each time he 
 passed him whether he would have some water. For some 
 time the prisoner refused; but the agony of thirst caused by 
 the fever of his wounds at last overcame his resolution, and he 
 cried loudly, as Stephen approached him, for water. Stephen 
 held the gourd to his lips until he drank off the whole of its 
 contents, then he went and refilled both gourds, poured one 
 over the man's head, set the other down beside him, and con- 
 tinued his work. 
 
 By nightfall he had carried everything on board, and there re- 
 mained but to take the other water-casks alongside. Jacopo had 
 drunk several gourds full of water during the day, but by even- 
 ing he became delirious from fury and the fever of his wounds; 
 Stephen therefore undid all his fastenings save those round his 
 ankles, and took up his post near him. All night the man 
 raved incessantly. From time to time Stephen got up and 
 poured water between his lips, and in the morning cut a very 
 
DEATH OF THE CAPTAIN. 225 
 
 ripe melon, squeezed the juice from the pulp, and gave it to 
 him to drink. Then he went down and towed the other water- 
 barrels to the cutter and got them on board, and afterwards 
 returned to his prisoner. For three days the delirium con- 
 tinued. Stephen kept the bandages round his head constantly 
 moistened with water, and gave him melon juice to drink. 
 The third night the ravings sank to a whisper, and presently 
 became silent, and Stephen thought that all would soon be over. 
 However, the man's breathing became quiet and regular, and 
 in the morning he opened his eyes with consciousness in 
 them. 
 
 "You here still!" he murmured, as Stephen bent over him. 
 
 "Yes, Jacopo; villain as you are, I could not leave you to 
 die." 
 
 "How long have I been here 1 ?" the man murmured after a 
 long pause. 
 
 " It is four days since you attacked me. Now that you are 
 sensible I shall set sail, but I will first carry you to the side 
 of the stream. Now that you have got through the fever you 
 will recover. I have left at the tent one of the muskets and a 
 store of ammunition, so that you will be able to shoot pigs ; and 
 there is, as you know, an abundance of melons, bread-fruit, and 
 guavas, and I daresay you will discover other things ere long. 
 I trust that in the time that is before you, you will repent of 
 your sins, and try and make your peace with God. I have 
 buried the body of the man you murdered." 
 
 With some difficulty Stephen got Jacopo on to his back, 
 carried him to the stream, and laid him down at its edge in 
 the shade of the trees; then he placed within reach of him a 
 number of melons, bread-fruit, and some biscuits. He had 
 long since taken the rope off his ankles. 
 
 "I do not understand why you have done all this for me. 
 
 I would have killed you if I could; you have treated me as if 
 ( M 220 ) p 
 
226 WITH COCHRANE THE DAUNTLESS. 
 
 I were your brother. I know that it is of no use my asking 
 you to take me with you, but will you do me one last favour?" 
 
 "Certainly, if it is in my power, Jacopo." 
 
 " Will you bring the musket and ammunition down here 1 I 
 could not go near there again." 
 
 Stephen nodded. "I will get them for you," he said, and at 
 once started for the tent. He first pulled this and the store- 
 tent down, rolled them together, and lowered them to the side 
 of the pool, climbed out and cut the fastening of the block, and 
 let it and the rope fall beside them. He then threw over 
 the case of swords which he had not thought worth taking 
 away, and then getting the gun and ammunition, he returned 
 to Jacopo. 
 
 " There they are," he said. " Here are three hundred rounds 
 of ammunition; by the side of the pool under the cliff you will 
 find the two tents, the rope, and ten spare swords, which may 
 prove useful to you. Here are three gourds full of water 
 close to your hand, and by reaching over you can fill them 
 as often as you like. In a week I have no doubt that you will 
 be strong enough to walk. Is there anything else I can dot" 
 
 "There is nothing, senor. May God bless you for your 
 kindness!" 
 
 "And may God pardon you!" Stephen said; adding as he 
 turned away, " It may be that some day a passing ship may 
 carry you off." 
 
 Then turning he walked slowly back to the shore. Wretch 
 as this man was, he felt a pang at leaving him behind. But 
 he was sure that even if he could overcome his repugnance to 
 him as the murderer of the captain, he could not take him with 
 him, for he would never be safe for a moment. With return- 
 ing health and strength would come afresh the lust for the 
 gold, which might soon overcome any feeling of gratitude for 
 the treatment that he had received. 
 
DEATH OF THE CAPTAIN. 227 
 
 When he reached the shore near the boat, he cast off the 
 stern rope and then swam on board, hoisted the jib and 
 foresail, pulled up the anchor, and took his place at the tiller. 
 
 The breeze was a very light one, and for a time the cutter 
 moved along but slowly, but as it got beyond the shelter of the 
 land it felt the wind, and began to spin fast through the water. 
 Stephen's spirits, which had been greatly depressed for the last 
 few days, rose as the little craft heeled to the breeze. Nearly 
 six months had been spent on the island, but at last he was 
 free. As to his course, he had but the sun by day and the 
 stars by night to guide him; but he knew that the vessel had 
 been blown almost due west, and that by heading east he 
 should make the coast either of Chili or Peru. He found to 
 his satisfaction that the boat would keep her course very near 
 the wind, that she came about easily and rapidly, and was 
 certainly swift under her canvas. 
 
 She carried no topmast, as they had agreed that, with only 
 three hands, it would be better to avoid all complications of 
 gear. In the middle of the day the wind fell a good deal. At 
 the time he was abreast of a large island, and he presently saw 
 a war canoe shoot out from the shore. Lashing the tiller, he 
 ran down below, brought up the twenty-three muskets, loaded 
 them all, and laid them against the bulwark astern. Then he 
 took his place at the helm again, and looked anxiously across 
 the water in the hope of seeing a dark line that would tell of 
 the breeze freshening again. He knew enough, however, of the 
 winds prevalent among the islands to be sure that it would 
 not strengthen much for the next two or three hours. From 
 the number of paddles going on each side of the canoe he cal- 
 culated that she must carry from forty to fifty men. His 
 hope was that they would be unacquainted with firearms, and 
 would draw off when he began to fire. 
 
 When they came within about four hundred yards he took 
 
228 WITH COCHRANE THE DAUNTLESS. 
 
 up a musket and fired, taking aim at some little distance from 
 the side of the boat. At the report the paddles ceased in- 
 stantly, and for a time it was evident that great confusion 
 reigned among the rowers. While this was going on Stephen 
 reloaded his piece. After some five minutes' delay the men 
 recommenced paddling, but at a pace that contrasted strongly 
 with the rapid and eager stroke which they had before rowed. 
 Stephen waited this time until they were within two hundred 
 and fifty yards, and then lying down on the deck and resting 
 the barrel on the bulwarks he took a steady aim and fired. 
 One of the men standing up in the bow fell overboard. The 
 paddling ceased again, and a hubbub of voices was heard. As 
 she lay motionless Stephen fired shot after shot. One or two 
 of these hit the canoe, two or three others went wide, but the 
 rest did execution among the crowded mass. By the noise it 
 was evident that some wished to go on, others to retire, and 
 after discharging twelve shots Stephen began to hastily reload 
 the pieces he had fired. 
 
 The cessation of fire apparently reassured the war party, for 
 when he had reloaded six of them the paddles again began to 
 work. Stephen at once recommenced firing, and his eighth 
 shot brought down a chief who was standing prominently in 
 the stern, and was evidently in command. His fall had an 
 instantaneous effect. With a yell of terror the natives ceased 
 paddling. Then some began to back and others to row, and 
 the canoe turned slowly round and then sped away at a rate as 
 fast as it had come up, although the number of paddlers Avas 
 markedly decreased. Satisfied that they would not return, 
 Stephen reloaded all the muskets and then went below for his 
 first meal on board. The cabin would have seemed a poor 
 place to yachtsmen, with its rough beams and timbers and its 
 discoloured planking, but no yachtsman ever felt prouder of a 
 craft than Stephen did of the boat in whose building he had 
 
11220 
 STEPHEN BEATS OFF THE GREAT WAR-CANOE SINGLE-HANDED. 
 
DEATH OF THE CAPTAIN. 229 
 
 taken a share. There were no bulk-heads, the hull being 
 open from end to end. The water-cask and provisions had 
 been stowed aft the mast. 
 
 One of the barrels served as a table, the iron plate that had 
 been taken from the floor of the ship's galley had been placed 
 forward of the mast on a layer of sand three inches thick, 
 and a forecastle hatch had been placed above it to serve as an 
 exit for the smoke. A store of wood, the result of their ship- 
 building operations, was piled in the bow. Stephen did not 
 trouble to cook, but boiled some water over some chips of 
 wood, made himself a cup of coffee, or rather the half of a 
 small gourd of coffee, ate a melon and a biscuit, and presently 
 went up on deck again. At three o'clock a light breeze sprung 
 up, and this, an hour later, strengthened to a heavy blow. 
 Stephen sailed on until midnight, then reefed the mainsail and 
 fastened the boom amidships, lowered the foresail and hauled 
 the jib to weather, and having thus laid the cutter head to 
 wind lay down on the deck and slept soundly until daybreak. 
 The next day he passed two or three islands, but all at a con- 
 siderable distance. Beyond these no land was visible, and he 
 hoped that he was fairly beyond the Archipelago with its 
 hostile natives. 
 
 Day after day passed without incident. Stephen always lay 
 to at night for a few hours, and calculated that the rate at 
 which he sailed during the remaining eighteen was, allowing 
 for calms, some four knots an hour. On the sixth day the 
 appearance of the sky changed, and Stephen prepared for bad 
 weather by fully reefing his mainsail. The clouds banked up 
 rapidly and the wind rose. It was southerly, and the boat 
 tore rapidly through the water. Two hours later Stephen let 
 the foresail run down, and under the reduced sail the boat 
 went more lightly and easily over the rising sea. By evening 
 he had stowed the mainsail altogether, and slackening the jib 
 
230 WITH COCHRANE THE DAUNTLESS. 
 
 sheet held on his course. By midnight it was blowing a gale. 
 He raised the gaff four or five feet, put lashings round the sail 
 to prevent its blowing out, and then hauling on the weather 
 sheet let her lay to, taking now his place at the tiller, so as to 
 be able to bring her head up did she pay off the wind. 
 
 It was an anxious night, but the little craft was lightly 
 ballasted and buoyant, and rose to the seas without taking any 
 great quantity of water over the bows. For two days the 
 storm continued. Stephen never left the tiller during that 
 time save to run below at intervals and snatch a mouthful of 
 food. After -the first two or three hours he had felt no fear 
 whatever as to the ability of the craft to weather the gale, but 
 it was a long strain, and he was deeply thankful when the 
 wind abated sufficiently for him to be able to hoist the reefed 
 mainsail again and to lie to comfortably. As soon as this was 
 done he went below, and slept for twelve hours. The sun was 
 shining brightly when he awoke, a light breeze was blowing, 
 and save for a long swell the sea had gone down. He indulged 
 in a hearty breakfast before proceeding on his way. Then he 
 shook out the reefs in the mainsail, hoisted it, got up the fore- 
 sail, slacked off the weather sheet of the jib, and again headed 
 east. 
 
 One morning ten days later he saw the sun rise behind a 
 broken outline instead of the line of the horizon, and knew 
 that this could be nothing but the hills of the mainland. 
 Lofty as these were he might be still a hundred and fifty miles 
 from them, but the weather was fair, the wind fresh, the boat 
 travelling at six knots an hour, and by mid-day to-morrow he 
 would be close to land. Whether it was Chili or Peru that lay 
 ahead of him he had no means of knowing, but he believed it was 
 the former, for he had headed rather to the- south of east and 
 felt sure that he should strike the coast somewhere on the long 
 seaboard of Chili. He was the more convinced of this as two 
 
PRIZE-MONEY. 231 
 
 days before he had seen an island far to the north of him and 
 guessed it to be either San Felix or San Ambrose, and had 
 shaped his course rather more to the south in consequence. 
 That night he was too excited to turn in as usual, but held on 
 his course. By morning the land lay little more than twenty 
 miles away, and he recognized at once the outline of the hills 
 that he had passed when sailing north, and knew where Val- 
 paraiso lay, some fifty miles further south. He changed his 
 course accordingly, and at four o'clock in the afternoon dropped 
 his stone anchor a hundred yards off the quay of the Chilian 
 port. 
 
 CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 PRIZE-MONEY. 
 
 STEPHEN busied himself in stowing away his sails. By 
 the time he had done so a small crowd had collected on 
 the quay looking with surprise and wonder at the little craft 
 with its unpainted sides and rough appearance. In a short 
 time a boat with a port official rowed alongside, and stepping 
 on deck the officer looked round in surprise at seeing only one 
 person on board. Stephen had, before arriving at the port, 
 donned a clean suit of linen trousers and jacket; his cap was 
 out of all shape, and the badge on its front had faded into a 
 blur; he was barefooted, and his hair had grown almost to his 
 shoulders. The aspect of the boat was almost as surprising as 
 that of its solitary occupant. There were no signs of paint 
 visible, the work was rough, the stanchions of various sizes, 
 some new in appearance, and some blackened with age and sea- 
 water 
 
232 WITH COCHRANE THE DAUNTLESS. 
 
 "Who are you, seiior 1 ?" the official asked, "and what craft is 
 this?" 
 
 "The craft has no name, senor, though we who built her 
 thought of naming her the Deliverer. I myself am Stephen 
 Embleton, flag-midshipman to Admiral Lord Cochrane. May 
 I ask if the admiral is now in port 1 ?" 
 
 "He is," the official replied. 
 
 " May I beg you to send off a shore boat by which I may 
 despatch a message to the admiral 1 ?" 
 
 "Your story is a strange one," the official said gravely. "I 
 myself have seen the young officer, you state yourself to be, 
 in company with the admiral, but I am bound to say that I 
 do not recognize you." 
 
 "I am not surprised at that," Stephen said with a smile. 
 " In the first place, I should imagine that my face is the 
 colour of mahogany from wind and sun; in the second, my 
 hair has not been cut for six months; and lastly, this suit of 
 clothes, though excellent in its way, is scarcely in accordance 
 with my rank." 
 
 "I will myself row off to the admiral's ship," the official 
 said, "and convey your message to him. What shall I tell 
 him?" 
 
 " I thank you, sir. AVill you please say that Stephen 
 Embleton is on board this craft, that I am alone, and for 
 certain reasons cannot leave it, and pray him either to come 
 himself or to send a trusted officer with a party of sailors to 
 take charge of it." 
 
 The official saluted him gravely. He was by no means sure 
 of the sanity of this young fellow, but his curiosity had been 
 aroused by his appearance and that of his craft, and he there- 
 fore condescended to undertake a mission that at ordinary 
 times he would have scorned. Stephen watched the boat row 
 alongside a frigate anchored a mile away. Shortly afterwards 
 
PRIZE-MONEY. 233 
 
 he saw a stir. A boat was pulled up to the accommodation 
 ladder. A party of sailors then took their places in her, and 
 two figures came down the gangway and the boat pushed off. 
 A few minutes later it reached the side of the cutter. Stephen 
 saluted as Lord Cochrane sprang nimbly on board. 
 
 "My dear lad!" the admiral exclaimed, grasping his hand, 
 " I gave you up for lost many months ago, and we have all 
 mourned for you deeply. Where have you been 1 ? what have 
 you been doing 1 ? what on earth have you done to yourself? 
 and where did you get this extraordinary craft 1 ?" 
 
 "I have been cast away on an island some twelve hundred 
 miles to the west. Only three of us were saved. We built 
 this craft between us. One of my comrades is dead, the other 
 remains on the island, and I have sailed her back single-handed. 
 I think this, sir, will account for my somewhat strange ap- 
 pearance." 
 
 " Fully, fully, lad. Well, you must tell me all about it after- 
 wards. Why did you not come direct in the boat to my ship 
 instead of sending for me?" 
 
 "Because I was afraid of anyone else coming on board until 
 you had sent someone you could trust to take possession of 
 her?" 
 
 "Why, bless me!" Lord Cochrane said with a laugh, "I 
 should not have taken her to be as valuable as all that. She 
 is most creditable as a specimen of the work of three ship- 
 wrecked men, and I should say from her appearance as I rowed 
 up to her that she was fairly fast. She might be worth a good 
 deal as an exhibition if you had her in the Thames, but she 
 would not fetch many hundred dollars here ; though I have no 
 doubt that, when properly painted up and in trim, she would 
 make an excellent little coaster." 
 
 " It is the cargo and not the ship, sir, that is valuable." 
 
 "What does it consist of?" 
 
234 WITH COCHRANE THE DAUNTLESS. 
 
 " It consists of gold, sir. There are five hundred thousand 
 dollars stowed in boxes." 
 
 The admiral looked at him in astonishment. 
 
 "Five hundred thousand dollars, Mr. Embleton! Are you 
 in earnest 1 ?" 
 
 "Quite so, sir; the ship you sent me off to with twelve 
 hands was laden with military stores and money for the pay- 
 ment of the Spanish troops. I was fortunate enough to get 
 on board and capture her just before the storm burst. When 
 she was wrecked, on an island of whose name I am ignorant, 
 her stern, where the gold was stowed, was fortunately in only 
 four feet of water, and we had, therefore, no difficulty in 
 getting at the boxes and carrying them on shore, where we 
 buried them until we had built this craft." 
 
 The admiral ran down the companion into the cabin and 
 saw the boxes lying side by side along the length of the keel. 
 
 " I congratulate you heartily," he said to Stephen, " this is 
 by far the richest prize that has fallen into our hands. You 
 did perfectly right in sending for me, for, in faith, I would not 
 trust this treasure out of my sight on any consideration, until 
 I handed it over to the Chilian government, after taking care 
 to deduct the fleet's share of the prize-money. It will be 
 welcome, I can tell you, for the pay of the fleet is terribly 
 in arrear. The treasury is empty, and there are no means of 
 refilling it. Properly speaking, the whole of the fleet's share 
 of the money should go -to you, but the rules of the service 
 are arbitrary." 
 
 The conversation had been in English, and the admiral 
 going on deck ordered the officer, who had remained sitting 
 in his gig, to tow the cutter alongside the flag-ship. The 
 officer at once gave the necessary orders. Two of the men 
 jumped on board and hauled up the anchor, and nothing but 
 the presence of the admiral prevented a burst of laughter 
 
PRIZE-MONEY. 235 
 
 among the boat's crew as the stone came to the surface. As 
 it was, there was a broad grin on their faces. The two men 
 resumed their places in the boat, and the cutter was towed to 
 the side of the flag-ship. Lord Cochrane ordered a whip 
 to be sent down with slings, and himself superintended the 
 bringing up of the boxes, whose weight in comparison to their 
 size excited lively surprise among the sailors who brought 
 them up to the deck. The slings were placed round them 
 one by one, and they were hoisted to the deck of the frigate, 
 and carried into the admiral's cabin. 
 
 After the last box had been swung up, the admiral and 
 Stephen went up the accommodation ladder to the deck. The 
 officers were gathered round the boxes wondering at their 
 weight. 
 
 "What should you say they have in them, gentlemen?" 
 Lord Cochrane asked. 
 
 "I should say that they contained specie," the captain said, 
 "had it not been out of the question that so great an amount 
 could be collected in Chili." 
 
 "I am happy to inform you, gentlemen, that those boxes 
 contain Spanish gold, and that they are a lawful prize captured 
 from the enemy by a boat's crew from this ship, under ■ the 
 command of my flag-midshipman, Mr. Embleton. Every man 
 on board, therefore, in proportion to his rank, will come in for 
 a share of prize-money, and for this you will have to thank 
 your fellow-officer here." 
 
 Hitherto none of them had recognized Stephen, but had 
 been wondering who the strange figure was, that had come on 
 board with the admiral. They still looked almost incredulous, 
 until Stephen stepped forward and held out his hand to his 
 special friends and addressed them by name. 
 
 " Why, is it really you, Don Estevan 1 We had all given 
 you up for lost. We are glad indeed to see you again." 
 
236 WITH COCHRANE THE DAUNTLESS. 
 
 The other officers all came round and heartily greeted 
 Stephen, all asking questions together about his long absence 
 and the wonderful prize of which the admiral had spoken. 
 
 " I will answer as many questions as I can presently," 
 Stephen protested; "but, in the first place, I must have a 
 bath, and change my clothes, and have my hair cut. Are my 
 things still on board, and is anyone else in my cabin?" 
 
 He learned to his great satisfaction that his cabin was as he 
 had left it. 
 
 "For weeks the admiral hoped that you would return. 
 There was, indeed, much anxiety about the boat when we saw 
 the storm coming on. Whether you had gained the brig before 
 it burst, of course none of us knew. We could only hope that 
 you had done so. The storm was a terrible one here. While 
 some thought that the brig might have foundered at once when 
 it struck her, it was certain that if she weathered the first 
 blow she would have to run for it. It was one of the worst 
 storms, people here say, that has been experienced on the coast 
 for many years, alike in its fury and in its duration, and all 
 agreed that she would have been blown at least a thousand 
 miles off the land before the gale spent its force. As the 
 wind continued in the same quarter for a long time it would 
 have taken the brig weeks to beat back against it, but when 
 two months passed without your return, all concluded that 
 you had either sunk before gaining the ship, or that she had 
 gone down in the gale, or been wrecked among some of the 
 islands into whose neighbourhood she must have been blown. 
 However, the admiral continued to hope long after the rest of 
 us had given you up. At the end of two months he appointed 
 me his flag-midshipman to fill your place, as he especially said, 
 until your return. This being the case, I have not shifted nry 
 berth, and your cabin has remained unoccupied." 
 
 One of the officers gave orders that a tub should be at once 
 
PRIZE-MONEY. 237 
 
 taken to Stephen's cabin filled with water, and that the ship's 
 barber should hold himself in readiness when called upon. 
 
 When Stephen came out, an hour later, dressed in uniform, 
 and with his hair a reasonable length, he was told that the 
 admiral had requested his presence in his cabin as soon as he 
 was dressed, but had ordered the message not to be given to 
 him until he came on deck. 
 
 "Now, lad, let me hear the whole story," he said; "but first 
 fill your glass from that bottle. I should imagine that you have 
 almost forgotten the taste of wine." 
 
 " I have not touched it since two days after we were 
 wrecked, sir; but on the whole we have not done at all badly 
 with regard to food." 
 
 "In the first place, what has become of your boat's crew 1 ?" 
 
 " They are all dead, sir. Some were killed or washed 
 overboard during the storm; the rest were drowned at the 
 time of the wreck." 
 
 " That is a bad business. However, begin at the beginning, 
 and tell the story your own way. I have plenty of time to 
 listen to it, and the fuller you make it the better." 
 
 Stephen related the story, from the time of his leaving the 
 ship until he had anchored in the bay. As he saw that the 
 admiral wished to have full details, he told the story at length, 
 and the sun was setting by the time he brought it to a con- 
 clusion. 
 
 "You have done wonderfully well, lad," Lord Cochrane 
 said warmly when he had ceased speaking, " wonderfully well 
 indeed; no one could have done better. The arrangements 
 throughout were excellent, and you showed a noble spirit in 
 delaying your departure for four days in order to assist the 
 poor wretch who had murdered your companion, and would 
 have murdered yourself in his greed for gold. I do not praise 
 you for bringing the treasure back here; it is the conduct 
 
238 WITH COCHRANE THE DAUNTLESS. 
 
 that I should expect from every British officer; hut, at the 
 same time, it is clear that you had it in your power to leave 
 it buried on that island, so that you could have gone back in 
 some craft, and brought it away with you. I shall represent 
 your conduct in the strongest light to the government. By the 
 rules of the service, of course, you are entitled only to a junior 
 officer's share of the ship's portion of the prize-money, but I 
 shall certainly suggest that your case shall be specially con- 
 sidered. Now, I will take you ashore with me. I am going 
 to a dinner given by the president, and I shall create a sensa- 
 tion when I state that I have, after deducting a fifth for the 
 fleet's share of the prize-money, four hundred thousand dollars 
 to hand over to them. 
 
 " I shall take you first to my wife. She will be delighted 
 to see you again, and so will the children. You can give her 
 an outline of your story. If you had been three days later 
 you would not have found me here. For the last four months 
 I have been endeavouring to get my ships fitted out, but in 
 vain, and I am putting to sea no stronger than when I came 
 back, and there can be no doubt that, profiting by their last 
 lesson, the Spaniards will have made Callao stronger than 
 before. However, we will do something which shall be worthy 
 of us, though I fear that it will not be the capture of Callao." 
 
 A few minutes later the admiral's gig was alongside, and the 
 admiral, his captain, and Stephen went ashore. Lady Coch- 
 rane greeted Stephen as warmly and kindly as her husband 
 had done, and the children were exuberant in their delight at 
 the return of their friend. 
 
 "He has a wonderful story to tell you, my dear," Lord 
 Cochrane said. " It has taken him more than three hours to 
 give me the details, and you will have a greater treat listening 
 to them this evening than I shall have at this state dinner." 
 
 " It was too bad, Don Estevan," one of his friends said to 
 
PRIZE-MONEY. 239 
 
 Stephen next morning, "that the admiral should have taken 
 you on shore with him yesterday after you had been with him 
 all the afternoon. We had been looking forward to having 
 you all to ourselves, and hearing your story. You may 
 imagine that we are all burning with curiosity to hear how 
 it is that you came back all alone in that curious craft astern, 
 and, above all, how you have brought with you this prize- 
 money. All we have heard at present is that the whole of the 
 boat's crew that went with you are dead. I promised the 
 others that I would not ask any cruestions until our morning's 
 work was over, so that we could hear your story together." 
 
 " It is just as well not to tell it by driblets," Stephen said. 
 "It is really a long story, as it consists of a number of small 
 things, and not of any one special incident. It can hardly be 
 cut as short as I should like to cut it, for I am but a poor hand 
 at a yarn." 
 
 After the usual work of exercising the men at making sail, 
 preparing for action, and gun and cutlass exercise had been 
 performed, anchor again cast, ropes coiled up, and everything 
 in apple-pie order, the Chilian officers rallied round Stephen, 
 and, taking his seat on the breech of a gun, he told them the 
 story, but with a good deal less detail than he had given to 
 Lord Cochrane. This relation elicited the greatest admiration 
 on the part of his hearers. The fact that he and two others 
 alone, and without any tools save swords, should have 
 built the stout little craft astern, and that he should, single- 
 handed, have sailed her some thirteen or fourteen hundred 
 miles was to them nothing short of marvellous. All had, the 
 afternoon before, gone on board of her, and had seen that she 
 only wanted paint to be a handsome little boat. Unaccus- 
 tomed to manual labour, it seemed wonderful that three men 
 — two of whom were officers — should have even attempted such 
 work with only the materials from a wreck to build with. 
 
240 WITH COCHRANE THE DAUNTLESS. 
 
 Stephen had passed very lightly over his four days' nursing 
 of Jacopo, but this incident surprised them more than any- 
 thing else, save the construction of the cutter. That, after the 
 man had murdered the captain and attempted to shoot Stephen, 
 with the intention of obtaining possession of the whole of the 
 gold, the latter should have nursed him back to life instead of 
 finishing him at once, seemed to them an incomprehensible 
 piece of folly. 
 
 "But the man was a murderer, senorj he deserved death. 
 Why should you have troubled about him, especially when, as 
 you say, the natives might have come at any moment and 
 taken the craft that had cost you so much pains and labour, 
 and carried off the treasure." 
 
 " You see, when he became powerless, he was no longer an 
 enemy," Stephen replied. "He was a criminal, it is true; but 
 the temptation had been great. The man saw a chance of 
 possessing himself of what to him was a fabulous treasure; 
 better men than he have yielded to such a temptation; and 
 though I do not say that he did not deserve death, the punish- 
 ment of seeing the failure of his plans, and of being left, 
 probably for life, a prisoner on that island was a severe one 
 indeed. He will, at any rate, have time to repent of his sins, 
 and some day he may be picked up by a passing vessel, and 
 thus be able to retrieve his errors. At any rate, he will do 
 no harm there." 
 
 "Well, no ill came from it," one of the officers said; "but I 
 own that, for my part, as soon as I had knocked him down, I 
 should have put my musket to his head and blown out his 
 brains, and should never have repented the action afterwards." 
 
 "I might have done so," Stephen said, "had I overtaken 
 him directly after he had murdered my companion; but, you 
 see, twenty -four hours had passed, and I had had time to think 
 how great had been the temptation to which he had yielded. 
 
PRIZE-MONEY. 241 
 
 Besides, everything had gone well; I had obtained possession of 
 the cutter, and had partially victualled her; I had com- 
 pletely turned the tables on him, and instead of his lying in 
 wait for me I was lying in wait for him. He was practically 
 at my mercy, as I could have shot him down without giving 
 him any chance whatever. When one has got things all his 
 own way one can afford to be lenient. The man had been 
 already very severely wounded, and his power for doing harm 
 Avas at an end. At any rate, I am very glad now that I did 
 not kill him. And you must remember that I owed him some- 
 thing for his work upon the cutter, from which he was not now 
 to profit, but which was to afford me the means of returning 
 here and bringing back the treasure from which we shall all 
 obtain some benefit." 
 
 "That is all true, Don Estevan; but the real reason of all 
 was that you pitied the poor wretch, and so were ready to run 
 a great risk to succour him. We might not have acted as you 
 did, but at least we shall all love you the better for it. As to 
 the prize-money, it is ridiculous that our share of it should be 
 as large as yours, and I hope the government will see that, 
 under the circumstances, you have a right to a handsome slice 
 of it, for indeed, after the wreck of the vessel, it seems to me 
 that their claim to it was fairly lost." 
 
 "I cannot see that. It was never out of my possession." 
 
 " I don't know," the other laughed. " They were two to one 
 against you, and probably held the opinion that they had as 
 much right to its possession as you." 
 
 " If they had been Spaniards it might have been so," Stephen 
 agreed; "but you see the treasure had never been theirs, and 
 from the moment that the ship surrendered they had nothing 
 whatever to do with it." 
 
 "Nothing except to take possession of it, and I grant that 
 the temptation to do so must have been strong." 
 
 ( M 220 ) Q 
 
242 WITH COCHRANE THE DAUNTLESS. 
 
 "I felt that," Stephen replied; "but until the vessel was 
 completed and victualled and a means of escape open, the gold 
 was absolutely useless, and therefore the question as to its 
 possession would not really arise until we neared land. I did 
 think it probable that the two Peruvians might then put in 
 a claim to at least one of the boxes of money each; and I 
 had made up my mind that if they would content themselves 
 with this, I should be willing for them to land somewhere along 
 the coast with it, rather than run the risk of a fight, especially 
 as I could not possibly have kept awake night and day, and 
 they must therefore have had me in their power. I am sure 
 that the captain meant honestly, and under the circumstances 
 his claim to a portion of the money, that he and his companion 
 had done as much as I had to save, would not have been an 
 unfair one." 
 
 " It would have been terrible had the natives arrived when 
 you were building the boat, Don Estevan." 
 
 "It would have been terrible for them," Stephen said, "but 
 it would have hurt us but little, for had they discovered our fort 
 they could never have taken it. With our twenty -four muskets 
 we could have held it against any number of savages, while as 
 for the boat it would have been useless to them, and they could 
 scarcely have injured it. Even when it was finished there was 
 nothing on board to attract them. They might have knocked 
 away the props and tumbled her over, but they would have had 
 to blockade us in our fort while they did anything to her; for 
 otherwise we could have moved along the cliff to a point where 
 we should have commanded the boat, and could there have kept 
 up a fire that would have speedily driven them from her. 
 
 "No; we had no fear whatever of the natives from the time 
 we had once finished our wattle-work of thorny creepers until 
 the day when we got her into the water. After that we were 
 certainly horribly anxious, for they might have taken it into 
 
PRIZE-MONEY. 243 
 
 their heads to tow her away with them, for the purpose of break- 
 ing her up at their leisure for the sake of the bolts and nails." 
 
 In the afternoon Lord Cochrane took Stephen ashore with 
 him. "The president and the council desire to thank you 
 personally, Mr. Embleton, as I told you last night as we came 
 off. After dinner I gave them a brief recital of your adventure, 
 and said publicly that I considered you were entitled to a 
 handsome share of the prize-money which you had almost mir- 
 aculously brought back, and the president thoroughly endorsed 
 my views. The money is of the greatest consequence tc them 
 at the present moment, for they are absolutely crippled, so 
 much so that I deemed it right, some time back, to offer to hand 
 over to them my share of the prize-money for the captures 
 we had effected. They declined the offer, to my regret, for 
 though I am far from being a rich man, I would willingly have 
 given the money in order to get to sea again." 
 
 Stephen was warmly thanked by President O'Higgins for his 
 great service to the republic, and highly complimented on his 
 conduct. He announced to him that he and the council had 
 decided to present him with the sum of twenty-five thousand 
 dollars as a recognition of his services. 
 
 " We consider," he said, " that j^ou deserve a much larger 
 sum, but the circumstances of the state are such that we feel it 
 is impossible for us to do more than the barest justice at the 
 present time. We have, however, decided upon raising you at 
 once to the rank of lieutenant. Lord Cochrane told me last 
 night that such promotion, before you had served your full time, 
 was quite contrary to the rules of the service; but we considered 
 this an altogether exceptional case, and that you have amply 
 proved yourself to be fully capable of carrying out the duties 
 of any rank to which you may attain." 
 
 Stephen in a few words thanked the president and the 
 council very heartily, and then retired with the admiral. 
 
244 WITH COCHRANE THE DAUNTLESS. 
 
 " That is a nice little nest-egg for you, Stephen," the latter 
 said. " I consider that it ought to have been fifty thousand, 
 but their necessities are so great that they cannot afford to be 
 generous." 
 
 "I consider that it is immense, sir," Stephen replied, "and 
 had nevei any thought of a reward for doing my duty." 
 
 " You will not want the money out here, lad," the admiral 
 went on; "at any rate, your share of the ship's prize-money 
 will be ample for anything that you may require. If you like, 
 therefore, I wdl hand over your box along with my OAvn share 
 of the prize-money to the firm here who act as nvy bankers, and 
 they will give you an order on their bankers in London, which 
 you can send to your father to draw and invest in your name 
 or otherwise, as you may prefer." 
 
 " Thank you very much, sir. You will, I hope, be kind 
 enough to let me continue to perform the duties of your flag- 
 midshipman." 
 
 "You will become my flag-lieutenant, Stephen. The post is 
 vacant, for Don Valdes was yesterday appointed to the command 
 of the Inclependencia, an American-built corvette of twenty-eight 
 guns that has been purchased and fitted out." 
 
 On the 12th of September, 1819, the fleet set sail from 
 Valparaiso. It consisted of the O'Higgins, San Martin, Lautaro, 
 Inclependencia, Galrarino, Arancano, and Puyrredon, mounting in 
 all two hundred and twenty guns. There were also two old 
 merchant ships to be used as fire-vessels. On the 29th they 
 entered the Callao roads. The next day Lord Cochrane sent 
 in a boat with a flag of truce, and challenged the Viceroy to 
 come out for a fair fight. The challenge was rejected, although 
 the Spanish fleet was nearly twice as strong as that of Chili. 
 
 On the night of the 2nd an attack was made, but failed, 
 owing to the rockets, from which much had been hoped, turning- 
 out useless. They had been manufactured in Chili by Spanish 
 
PRIZE-MONEY. 245 
 
 prisoners, and had been so badly constructed that they inflicted 
 far more damage upon the men who fired them than upon 
 those against whom they were aimed. On the 5th a fire-ship 
 was despatched with the intention of destroying the booms 
 that protected the harbour; but a sudden calm came on, and 
 the ship was riddled with shot from the Spanish guns and was 
 fast sinking when she was exploded, but was too far distant 
 from the booms to injure either them or the shipping. Finding 
 himself thus unable to get at the enemy, Lord Cochrane was 
 obliged to abandon for a time his project of taking Callao. 
 
 The fresh supply of provisions promised from Chili had not 
 arrived, and sickness broke out on board the fleet. The admiral 
 continued to watch the port for some weeks, despatching an 
 expedition which captured the town of Pisco, and obtaining the 
 much-needed provisions. On the 21st of November the sick 
 were sent off to Valparaiso in charge of the San Martin, the 
 Independencia, and the Araucano, while with the remainder of 
 the fleet Lord Cochrane sailed to the mouth of the river Guay- 
 aquil, where he captured tAvo large Spanish vessels, mounting 
 together thirty-six guns and laden with timber. After a delay 
 of a fortnight, occasioned by a mutiny attempted by Captains 
 Guise and Spry, he sent one of his ships with the prizes to 
 Valparaiso, left two others to watch the Peruvian coast, and 
 started alone in his flag-ship with the intention of under- 
 taking the capture of Valdivia; for at that time the southern 
 portion of what is now Chili remained in the hands of the 
 Spaniards. 
 
 Valdivia was a very strongly fortified place, and was re- 
 garded as impregnable by the Spaniards; and it was from 
 this port that they directed their attacks upon Chili from the 
 south, just as they did on the north from Callao. To reach 
 it he therefore had to sail south from the Guayaquil along the 
 coast of Peru and then past that of Chili. On approaching 
 
246 WITH COCHRANE THE DAUNTLESS. 
 
 the fortress he hoisted Spanish colours and made a signal for a 
 pilot. The Spaniards, having no idea that there was a Chilian 
 war-ship on that coast, at once sent one off, together with an 
 officer and four men. These were promptly made prisoners. The 
 pilot was ordered to take the ship through the channels leading 
 to the port, and much information was obtained from the other 
 prisoners as to the fortifications of the place. As they sailed 
 up the channel, the idea that the stranger was an enemy 
 occurred to the commander of the fortress, and the non-return 
 of the boat with the officer confirming this suspicion, a heavy 
 fire was opened upon the O'Higgins; she did not reply, but 
 continued her work of investigating the channel, and then with- 
 drew out of range. 
 
 Two days were spent in further reconnaisances of the 
 approaches, and on the third day a brig was captured entering 
 the port. She carried some important despatches, and twenty 
 thousand dollars for the payment of the troops. Having 
 ascertained the nature of the difficulties to be encountered, 
 Lord Cochrane sailed away to Concepcion, two hundred miles 
 distant, and obtained from the Chilian governor a force of two 
 hundred and fifty soldiers under Major Beauchef, a French 
 officer in their service. He there found a Chilian schooner, 
 which he attached to his service, and a Brazilian brig, which 
 volunteered its aid; with them he sailed for Valdivia. On 
 the night of the 29th they were off the island of Quiriquina. 
 Owing to the incompetence of his officers the admiral had 
 been obliged to personally superintend everything that was 
 done on board, and when the ship was becalmed lay down for 
 a few minutes' sleep, leaving orders that he was to be called 
 at once if a breeze sprung up. A breeze did spring up; the 
 officer of the watch was asleep, and a sudden gust carried the 
 vessel on to a sharp rock, where she hung beating heavily. 
 
 They were then forty miles from the mainland, and the 
 
PRIZE-MONEY. 247 
 
 brig and schooner were both out of sight. For a short time a 
 panic took place among the crew, and officers and men made 
 for the boats. The admiral, followed by Stephen, rushed on 
 deck, pistol in hand, and the former soon succeeded in calming 
 the panic, his authority among the men being unbounded. He 
 pointed out that the boats would carry but a hundred and 
 fifty men, and that there were six hundred on board, so that 
 were a rush to take place to the boats, they would assuredly 
 be overcrowded and perhaps sink, while, should any gain the 
 shore, the occupants would be made prisoners, and would 
 certainly be put to death by the Spaniards. Their only hope, 
 therefore, was to get the ship off. 
 
 On sounding the well it was found that there were five 
 feet of water in the hold. The pumps were out of order, the 
 carpenter utterly inefficient, and Lord Cochrane, taking off 
 his coat, himself set to work to repair them, ordering Stephen 
 to keep the men at work baling with buckets; the captain 
 being under arrest for disobedience to orders, and the one other 
 lieutenant absolutely incompetent. When the pumps were got 
 to work it was found that they and the buckets sufficed to 
 prevent the water from rising, and preparations were at once 
 made to get the vessel off the rock. There was danger that 
 when this was done she might sink, but Lord Cochrane pointed 
 out that the leak was not likely to increase, and declared he 
 had no doubt that she would swim as far as Valdivia. The 
 anchors were got out astern, the crew set to heave on them, 
 and it was not long before she floated off. But it was found 
 that the water had entered the magazine, and that the whole 
 of the ammunition, except a little on deck and in the cartridge- 
 boxes of the soldiers, was rendered unserviceable. 
 
 This accident would, with a less determined commander, 
 have put an end to their enterprise; but Lord Cochrane relied, 
 not upon the ship's guns but upon the men, and considered 
 
248 WITH COCHRANE THE DAUNTLESS. 
 
 that as these could not fire they would be obliged to trust to 
 their bayonets, and that the chances of success would not 
 therefore be diminished. In the morning they were joined 
 by the schooner and brig, and on approaching Valdivia as 
 many men as possible were transferred to the two small 
 vessels. The admiral went on board the schooner, and ordered 
 the O'Higgins to stand out to sea, as he intended she should 
 be used only in case of necessity. The channel leading up to 
 the town was three-quarters of a mile in width, and was com- 
 manded by six large forts on the western shore, two on the 
 eastern, and a very large fort on an island, with six minor 
 forts well situated for defence. The position was all but im- 
 pregnable, and, indeed, the surf was so heavy that it was 
 impossible for a landing to be effected save at a spot close to 
 Fort Ingles. 
 
 Having made all his preparations, Lord Cochrane sailed on 
 to the port, and boldly entered the channel. The troops were 
 all sent below, while the two little vessels entered, and anchored 
 boldly off Fort Ingles. The swell was so heavy that even the 
 landing-place was unapproachable. The boats had been towed 
 on the lee side of the ships, and when shouted to to send a 
 boat ashore an answer was given that these had been lost 
 in a storm. The Spaniards, however, were not satisfied, and 
 alarm-guns were fired and troops brought up from the other 
 forts. No hostile steps were taken, however, until, some time 
 later, one of the boats drifted astern. The Spaniards had no 
 longer any doubt as to the nature of the two vessels, and Fort 
 Ingles at once opened fire upon them, the first shot passing 
 through the brig and killing two men. It became necessary, 
 therefore, to land at once, in spite of the surf. They had but 
 two launches and a gig altogether; Lord Cochrane took charge 
 of the gig, while Major Miller, who commanded the marines 
 of the O'Higgins, embarked on board one of the launches. 
 
A PRISONER. 249 
 
 They got safely through the swell, and in spite of a heavy 
 fire from the Spanish troops effected a landing. They at once 
 rushed upon the Spaniards, who came down from the forts 
 to oppose them, and drove them back at the point of the 
 bayonet. The second boat quickly arrived from the brig, 
 both returning to the ships, and in less than an hour three 
 hundred men had landed. From the spot where they had 
 obtained a footing, the only approach to Fort Ingles was by a 
 precipitous path which could only be passed in single file. The 
 fort itself was only accessible by a ladder that had been drawn 
 up, as soon as the party driven back from the landing-place 
 had returned. An attack seemed well-nigh hopeless; but the 
 Chilians' confidence in their leader was unbounded, and none 
 doubted but that success would attend their efforts. It was 
 already late in the afternoon when they landed, and while 
 waiting for darkness to cover the operations, they were shel- 
 tered by the nature of the ground from the fire of the large 
 body of troops which had assembled in the fort. 
 
 CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 A PRISONER. 
 
 AS soon as it was dark the admiral prepared for the attack. 
 From the prisoners he had learned all details as to the fort, 
 and found that while almost impregnable from the river face, 
 the flank of the fort was defended chiefly by a strong palisad- 
 ing. He detached a small party of marines, under Ensign 
 Vidal, to endeavour to enter at that point. Another party 
 then silently moved forward to the direct attack of the fort, 
 and as soon as it had taken up its position under the wall, the 
 
250 WITH COCHRANE THE DAUNTLESS. 
 
 main body advanced, cheering and firing. The enemy at once 
 opened a heavy fire of artillery and musketry, but in the dark 
 they were unable to take aim, and but little damage was caused 
 by their fire. The movement had the result intended — of 
 occupying the whole attention of the eight hundred men in 
 the fort, and of drowning any noise that might be made by 
 those tearing down the palisades. 
 
 With great exertions Ensign Vidal succeeded in getting 
 up a couple of the beams; he and his men passed through the 
 opening, used the beams as a bridge across a wet ditch inside the 
 palisade, and then advanced noiselessly until near the Spaniards, 
 into whom they fired a volley. The Spaniards were seized 
 with a sudden panic at finding themselves thus unexpectedly 
 taken in flank, and instantly took to flight. The moment the 
 fire of the marines told the admiral that the flank attack had 
 succeeded, he led the main body round to the rear of the 
 fort. The Spaniards, as they poured out there, communi- 
 cated their panic to a body of three hundred troops drawn up 
 behind in reserve, and the whole fled toward the next fort, 
 followed hotly by the Chilians, who bayoneted numbers of 
 them, and pressed so closely on their heels that they entered 
 the works, one after the other, with them, driving them 
 from fort to fort, together with two hundred men who had 
 been placed with a battery of guns on rising ground to sweep 
 the rear of the forts. 
 
 The last of these, the castle of Coral, was stormed with 
 scarcely any opposition, the enemy thinking only of escape. 
 Numbers of them got away in boats to Valdivia, while the 
 rest plunged into the forests behind the forts. Little over a 
 hundred prisoners were taken, and a like number of men were 
 killed, their panic having been too great for anything like re- 
 sistance to be offered. On the Chilian side the loss was seven 
 men killed and nine wounded. The fall of all the western forts 
 
A PRISONER. 251 
 
 practically entailed that of Valdivia, for while preparations 
 were being made to attack the eastern forts, the O'Higgins ap- 
 peared off the mouth of the river, and the Spaniards, seeing this 
 reinforcement to their foes, at once abandoned the remaining 
 forts and the town, and retreated into the interior. The booty 
 taken by the Chilians included fifty tons of gunpowder and 
 ten thousand cannon-shot. One hundred and seventy thousand 
 musket cartridges, a large number of muskets, and one hun- 
 dred and twenty-eight cannon also fell into the hands of the 
 victors. A large ship with valuable stores, together with a 
 quantity of plate taken by the Spaniards from Chilian churches, 
 also were captured. 
 
 The value of the conquest was not, however, to be reckoned 
 by the amount of spoil taken. Its effect on the struggle was 
 enormous. It raised the spirits of the Chilians to the highest 
 pitch, whilst it brought home to the mind of the Spanish 
 government the hopelessness of continuing a struggle against 
 an enemy so well led, and capable of carrying out the most 
 desperate enterprises. 
 
 Although Lord Cochrane was received with unbounded 
 enthusiasm by the population at large on his return to Val- 
 paraiso, his success had excited the jealousy of the minister of 
 marine and other officials, and by them he was treated with 
 the grossest ingratitude. They even proposed to bring him to 
 court-martial for having exceeded his orders; and although the 
 indignation the proposal excited compelled them to abandon 
 this, it was but to resort to other measures hostile to him. 
 
 It was months before the fleet received their share of the 
 prize-money of the capture of Valdivia, in spite of the admiral's 
 earnest efforts on their behalf. His own share, which was 
 sixty-seven thousand dollars, he never received at all. He 
 failed altogether in his endeavour to obtain a fleet of sufficient 
 force to attempt the capture of Callao, and for many months 
 
252 WITH COCHRANE THE DAUNTLESS. 
 
 was kept in a state of inactivity. So irritating was the perse- 
 cution to which he was subjected, that on the 14th of May he 
 tendered his resignation. 
 
 The resignation was refused, but nothing was done. 
 O'Higgins, who was an honest man, was practically powerless, 
 as the entire government was in the hands of a senate of five 
 members, which assumed dictatorial powers, and without whose 
 approval nothing whatever could be done. It was determined, 
 however, to raise an army for the liberation of Peru; and 
 although Lord Cochrane had vainly asked the year before for 
 a small land force to capture Callao, an army was now raised 
 without difficulty by the dictators, and General San Martin 
 was placed in command. This man had rendered good service 
 to Chili when, in conjunction with O'Higgins, he had led 
 the movement of independence ; but his success had turned his 
 head. He was vain and arrogant, and at the same time 
 dilatory and vacillating. He, like the dictators, was jealous 
 of the success and popularity of Lord Cochrane, and was bent 
 upon thwarting him to the utmost. His army, four thousand 
 two hundred strong, was embarked at Valparaiso in the ships 
 of the squadron Lord Cochrane proposed to him to land at 
 Chilka, the nearest point to Lima and Callao. San Martin, 
 however, chose Pisca, and the troops were landed there on the 
 18th of September. For fifty days they remained there doing 
 nothing, the fleet being compelled to remain inactive off the 
 port. 
 
 On the 28th of October they were re-embarked. San Martin 
 again refused to listen to Lord Cochrane's proposal for a 
 vigorous attack upon Callao and Lima, and requested to be 
 landed at Ancon, a port as unsuitable for the purpose as was 
 Pisca. Lord Cochrane, however, determined that the fleet, 
 furnished at such expense and effort by Chili, should not be 
 wholly wasted, and when he sent his ships in to anchor off the 
 
A PRISONER. 253 
 
 port, he retained the OHiggins, the Independencia, and the 
 Lautaro, with the professed intention of blockading Callao at 
 a distance. His real intention was, however, to cut out the 
 Esmeralda from under the guns of the forts, and also to carry 
 off another ship, on board which, as he had learned, a million 
 dollars were embarked. The Esmeralda was a forty-four gun 
 frigate, and was considered the finest Spanish war-ship in the 
 Pacific. She lay under the protection of three hundred guns 
 on shore, and a strong boom moored by chains at short inter- 
 vals; while near her lay twenty-seven gun-boats and several 
 vessels that had been armed for the defence of the port. Only 
 two or three of his officers knew of his intentions until a few 
 hours before his intended attack, when he issued a proclama- 
 tion to the seamen and marines, telling them that they had 
 now an opportunity for dealing the enemy a mortal blow, and 
 repeating the triumph of Valdivia. 
 
 Volunteers were asked for, and the whole of the sailors and 
 marines from the three ships offered to follow Lord Cochrane 
 wherever he might lead them. This was a much larger force 
 than he required, and one hundred and eighty sailors and 
 eighty marines were chosen for the work. This force was 
 gradually transferred to the flag-ship, and the other two vessels 
 sailed out of the bay just before darkness came on, as if in 
 chase of some ship they had sighted — a ruse well calculated 
 to lull the Spaniards into security. The men intended for the 
 service then took their places in fourteen boats that lay hidden 
 behind the flag-ship. All were dressed in white, with a blue 
 band on the left arm, in order that they might distinguish 
 each other in the dark. At ten o'clock the boats pushed off 
 in two directions, commanded respectively by Captain Crosby 
 and Captain Guise, while the admiral led the way in his 
 launch. It was just twelve o'clock when the boats arrived at 
 a small opening in the boom. The oars had been muffled, and 
 
254 WITH COCHRANE THE DAUNTLESS. 
 
 so perfectly had silence been observed, that the admiral's launch 
 ran against a guard-boat lying at the entrance, without its ap- 
 proach having been observed by the Spaniards. There was a 
 hasty challenge by the startled officer in command, to which 
 the admiral himself replied by threatening the occupants of 
 the boat with instant death if they gave the slightest alarm. 
 
 The threat, and the appearance of the boats dashing in 
 through the opening, had its effect. No word was spoken by 
 the Spaniards, and in a few minutes the flotilla of vessels 
 rowed down in line upon the frigate, and boarded her at a 
 dozen points simultaneously. The Chilians had been ordered 
 not to use their pistols, but to rely wholly on their cutlasses. 
 The sentries on the frigate shouted the alarm, and the Spaniards, 
 snatching up their arms, rushed up from below. Many were 
 cut down at once by the Chilians, the rest retreated to the 
 forecastle and made a gallant stand, and it was not until the 
 Chilians had made three charges upon them that they gave 
 way, some leaping overboard, and others running below. The 
 Spanish marines gathered on the quarter-deck, and they too 
 fought with great bravery. Not one among them asked for 
 quarter or sought safety in flight, but continued the struggle 
 until the last man fell. 
 
 The admiral himself had been very unfortunate. He had 
 swung himself up into the main-chains the moment his boat 
 touched the frigate, and was about to leap upon the deck of the 
 Esmeralda when he was struck on the head by a Spanish sentry 
 with his clubbed musket and fell back into the boat. He fell 
 upon one of the rowlocks, which entered his back near the 
 spine, inflicting a very severe injury, from whose effects he 
 suffered for several years after. In spite of the agony caused 
 by the wound he again clambered up on to the deck, and was 
 almost immediately shot through the thigh. He bound a hand- 
 kerchief tightly round it, and managed to direct the opera- 
 
A PRISONER. 255 
 
 tions until the capture was complete. The affair occupied but 
 a quarter of an hour, the Chilian loss being eleven killed and 
 thirty wounded, while a hundred and sixty of the Spaniards 
 fell. While this was going on, the garrison of the forts, 
 awakened by the uproar, ran to their guns and opened fire on 
 the Esmeralda, several of the Spaniards, among them their cap- 
 tain, and two or three of the Chilians, being killed or wounded 
 by their shot. 
 
 It happened that in the harbour at the time were two neutral 
 frigates — one British, the other an American. It had been 
 arranged between them and the Spanish authorities that in the 
 event of a night attack they were to show lights in a particular 
 position, so that they might not be fired upon. This they did, 
 but by the admiral's orders similar lights were at once hoisted 
 on board the Esmeralda, thus causing much confusion among 
 the Spaniards. Both the neutral frigates were hit several 
 times, Avhile but few shots struck the Esmeralda. Lord Cochrane 
 was now forced by his wounds to leave it to Captain Guise, the 
 next senior officer, to carry out the orders that he had pre- 
 viously given, namely, that the brig with the bullion on board 
 was first to be captured, then that every ship was to be attacked 
 and cut adrift. The success of these operations was certain, 
 as the Spaniards, directly they saw the Esmeralda captured, 
 had taken to their boats and made for shore, and the whole 
 of the Spanish vessels might have been either burnt or captured. 
 Captain Guise had all along thwarted the admiral's plans to 
 the utmost of his power, had fomented several mutinies, and 
 should have been tried and shot long before. He now, instead 
 of carrying out the orders, cut the Esmeralda's cables, hoisted 
 her sails, and steered through the opening in the boom. 
 
 Although marred by the treachery, or at any rate gross mis- 
 conduct of Cochrane's subordinates, the capture of the Esmeralda 
 exercised almost as great an influence on the fortunes of the 
 
256 WITH COCHRANE THE DAUNTLESS. 
 
 struggle as did that of Valdivia. It was a death-blow to 
 the Spanish naval force in the Pacific; for although they had 
 still two frigates and some smaller craft in those waters, they 
 never afterwards ventured to put to sea, of which the Chilians 
 now became absolute masters. The action, in fact, ensured the 
 success of the Chilian effort to free Peru. 
 
 San Martin now requested Lord Cochrane to re-embark the 
 army once more, and carry it to Huacha. This was done, and 
 there San Martin remained without doing any more than he 
 had done at the two other ports. After having landed him 
 the fleet returned to Callao, where they used every effort to 
 tempt the Spanish war-ships to venture out, but without suc- 
 cess. The effect, however, of these operations showed itself 
 in other ways. On the 3rd of December six hundred and fifty 
 Peruvian soldiers deserted from the Spanish service, and two 
 days later forty officers followed them, and from that time 
 defections took place almost daily. 
 
 San Martin now made no secret of his intention to assume 
 the dictatorship of Peru. He had for so many months kept 
 his army inactive, in order that he might in time be able to 
 enforce his authority. What he would not do, however, was 
 accomplished by Lord Cochrane. Weary of the long delay 
 he offered in the following March to capture Lima if two 
 thousand soldiers were assigned to him. This offer was re- 
 fused, but after some time he obtained a force of six hundred. 
 AVith these he effected a landing at port after port along the 
 coast, and so harassed the Spaniards that, on the 6th of July, 
 Lima capitulated and Peru was free. San Martin at once pro- 
 claimed himself protector of Peru, and appointed two of his 
 creatures as chief ministers. Lord Cochrane in vain attempted 
 to obtain from him payment for the sailors of the fleet, who 
 had been very many months without receiving a penny. 
 
 San Martin insolently replied that he would pay nothing 
 
A PRISONER. 257 
 
 whatever to Chili, but that he would make Lord Cochrane a 
 Peruvian admiral if he would leave the service of Chili for that 
 of Peru. Lord Cochrane knew that Chili would decline to 
 pay for work that had been done to make Peru, like itself, free 
 and independent, since it was now as prostrate at the feet of San 
 Martin as it had been at those of the Spaniards. The army 
 it had raised had betrayed it and taken service under San 
 Martin, as had the two mutinous scoundrels, Captains Guise 
 and Spry. Lord Cochrane, therefore, determined to take by 
 force the money due to the fleet. At Ancon there was a large 
 amount of treasure seized from the Spaniards. It had been 
 deposited by San Martin there, and in the middle of September 
 the admiral landed, and took possession of it without opposi- 
 tion. Of the two hundred and eighty-five thousand dollars 
 found there, he paid a year's arrears to every officer and 
 man in the fleet, taking nothing, however, for himself, and 
 reserving the small surplus for the pressing wants and equip- 
 ments of the fleet. 
 
 In June, 1822, Lord Cochrane returned to Valparaiso, from 
 which he had been absent twenty months. He was received 
 with a popular ovation; but his enemies were still at work, and 
 struck at him in the matter upon which he was most sensitive, 
 by refusing any payment whatever to his officers and men, 
 many of whom almost died of starvation. 
 
 In October a revolution broke out in Chili, and such indig- 
 nities were heaped upon the admiral himself that upon the 
 12th of the month he formally resigned his commission, and 
 in January, 1823, quitted Valparaiso in a vessel chartered by 
 himself, taking with him several European officers and gentle- 
 men, who, like himself, were tired of Chilian ingratitude, and 
 were ready to follow him in whatever service he engaged. 
 
 Stephen had taken no part in the later operations of the fleet. 
 After the capture of the Esmeralda he had been knocked down 
 
 ( M 220 ) R 
 
258 WITH COCHRANE THE DAUNTLESS. 
 
 and very severely injured by a splinter, caused by a shot from 
 the Spanish batteries passing through the bulwark close to 
 where he was standing. Lord Cochrane had sent him, with 
 other wounded, in one of the small war-ships down to Val- 
 paraiso, and there he was tenderly nursed by Lady Cochrane. 
 It was three months before he fairly recovered his strength, 
 and as soon as he was convalescent he took a berth in a 
 craft that was sailing with stores and provisions for the fleet. 
 They had been out four days when she was caught in a storm 
 on-shore. In vain they tried to beat out; the vessel was a 
 poor sailer, and drifted to leeward faster than she could 
 work to windward. 
 
 "What sort of ground tackle have you?" Stephen asked the 
 captain. 
 
 " I have two good anchors, senor lieutenant, but the cables 
 are rather old." 
 
 " I should advise you to have them brought up on deck and 
 overhauled, and if you find any specially bad places we can 
 cut them out and splice the ends again." 
 
 The cables were brought up, but it needed a -very short 
 examination only to show Stephen that they were old and 
 worn from end to end. " It will go hard with us if we have 
 to rely upon these," he said. " They would not hold a bluff- 
 bowed craft like this two minutes; the very first roller that 
 struck her would snap them like pack-threads. The worst of it 
 is, captain, that if we escape being drowned Ave have but the 
 inside of a prison to look to, for we are off the Peruvian 
 coast now, and any of us who get to shore will be seized at 
 once." 
 
 "With such a sea as this, senor, there is little chance of 
 any of us being saved if we once strike. We are now 
 somewhere off the mouth of the San Carlos river. In calm 
 weather there would be water enough on the bar for us to 
 
A PRISONER. 259 
 
 run in, but not now; we should strike and go to pieces to a 
 certainty." 
 
 "Well, that would depend; we might bump over it. But 
 even if we did break up on the bar, we should have a 
 much better chance than we should if we went ashore any- 
 where else. Instead of being dashed on the beach by the waves, 
 and then being swept out again, we should be likely to be 
 carried on into the still water behind the bar, and so of making 
 our way to shore. There are eight of the crew and ourselves. 
 You had better get up ten small casks — those wine barrels 
 would do very well— let the liquor run off, then bung them 
 up again, and fasten life-lines round them ; with their help we 
 should have a fair chance." 
 
 " It is worth trying at any rate," the captain agreed. " The 
 surf on the bar will be tremendous, but if we could stick to the 
 casks we might get through it." 
 
 "Do you think that you are north or south of it now, 
 captain?" 
 
 "North, perhaps two or three miles." 
 
 "Well, we will go on fighting as long as we can, captain; it 
 is of no use throwing away a chance, and the wind may 
 possibly drop or shift so as to enable us to make off shore ; but 
 if we do not see the land before three o'clock I would turn and 
 run in towards it, and then when we get near enough to see 
 objects plainer, head for the south until you see the entrance. 
 When you do we will go straight for it. It is better at any 
 rate to do it while there is daylight to help us." 
 
 The barrels were got up and prepared to serve as life-buoys. 
 They had just finished when Stephen made his way a short 
 distance up the rigging. " I can see the line of surf, captain ; 
 it is not more than three miles away. You had better take 
 a look at it — you may be able to tell where we are. I think 
 I can make out a place of some size a short distance along." 
 
260 WITH COCHRANE THE DAUNTLESS. 
 
 The captain joined him. " Just as I thought," he said ; 
 " that is San Carlos, and the mouth of the river is about a mile 
 beyond it." 
 
 " Then you may as well bear away for it at once — the sooner 
 we get it over the better." 
 
 "Make your casks fast to something, men," the captain 
 ordered, as he stepped on deck. " The surf will get higher as 
 we get inshore, and will, I have no doubt, sweep our decks. 
 When the time comes let each man go to his barrel with his 
 knife in his hand ready to cut the lashings just before we 
 strike." 
 
 In half an hour the captain made out the entrance to the 
 river and headed the ship for it. 
 
 "There is a heavy sea indeed on the bar," Stephen said as 
 they neared the -line of breakers. "You see, I have changed 
 my togs since the gale began, for I saw that unless the wind 
 changed we should find ourselves in difficulties. We have 
 not much mercy to expect as Chilian sailors. I should have 
 none if it were known that I am a naval officer. Will you 
 tell the men that if we get ashore and I too am saved, they 
 had best hold their tongue about my rank. In the first place 
 it would do me harm, and in the next it would damage you 
 all were it known you had one of Cochrane's officers on board, 
 for it would show at once that you were on your way to our 
 fleet; whereas if it is supposed that you are merely an ordinary 
 coaster you may be let off unharmed." 
 
 "There is not much chance for us either way," the captain 
 said. " If we fall into the hands of the Spaniards they will pro- 
 bably hang us at once, while the country people may cut our 
 throats so as to save themselves the trouble of handing us 
 over to the Spaniards. We are no more than a hundred miles 
 from the frontier, and if we do get to shore our best chance 
 will be to try and make our way down the coast, travelling at 
 
A PRISONER. 261 
 
 night and lying up in the daytime. But anyhow I will tell the 
 men what you say." 
 
 " Get all the sail upon her you can, captain — the faster she 
 is travelling the more chance she has of getting over the bar." 
 
 " I will shake out the mainsail," the captain said. " Then 
 all hands had better gather aft — the masts are sure to fall over 
 her bows as soon as she strikes." 
 
 In a few minutes the ship was nearing the breakers at a 
 high rate of speed. The men were all gathered aft, each with 
 his barrel. Stephen held his breath as they mounted the last 
 great wave outside the surf. Borne along by the great wind 
 and the impetus of the waves, the vessel plunged head- fore- 
 most into the surf, which poured in cataracts on to her deck. 
 There was a slight shock, which caused the vessel to tremble, 
 but she was swept along by the fury of the surf. Another wave 
 lifted her high into the air, and as it passed from under her 
 she struck again. This time the shock was tremendous. Every 
 man was thrown off his feet, the masts went over with a crash, 
 and most of the hands were swept overboard by the torrent 
 that poured in over the stern. Stephen had grasped one of the 
 back-stays, and though it seemed to him for a moment that 
 his arms were being pulled from their sockets, he still main- 
 tained his grasp. Another and even greater sea than those 
 that had preceded it thundered down upon them. There was 
 a forward move and then another crash, and Stephen felt him- 
 self floating in the water, holding on to the keg. Glancing 
 round he saw that the ship had gone altogether. She had 
 broken up completely, and the sea was covered with floating 
 timbers. 
 
 The danger from this was greater than from the waves, and 
 he let go his hold of the barrel and dived, swimming under 
 water at right angles to the run of the waves as long as he could 
 hold his breath. When he came up he looked round. He was 
 
262 WITH COCHRANE THE DAUNTLESS. 
 
 beyond the wreckage, and was also inside the line of surf. Had 
 the wave carried the ship her own length farther she would 
 have been out of danger. The river bank was but a couple of 
 hundred yards away. The water was still rough, but it was a 
 long heavy swell rather than a stormy sea, and Stephen, who 
 had kicked off his shoes before the ship struck, at once swam 
 for the shore, and was not long in reaching it. After resting 
 for a minute or two he Avalked along the bank, and soon made 
 out four barrels that had men still clinging to them. Gradu- 
 ally, too, these made their way ashore; the swimmers were all 
 men who had been carried away by the first wave that had 
 swept over the boat. Of the others he could see no signs. He 
 thought he could make out two or three barrels in the middle 
 of the wreckage, but of this he was not sure, and had little 
 doubt that those who were with him at the time the ship went 
 to pieces had all been killed by the floating timber. 
 
 "Now, men," he said, when the four survivors had joined 
 him, " shall we keep together or try to make our way sepa- 
 rately 1 " 
 
 The men consulted together, and then said that they thought 
 they would have more chance of making their way south were 
 they to separate. Stephen was glad of this decision, which he 
 had no doubt was arrived at from the fear that if they were 
 taken, and he was recognized to be an Englishman, it would 
 make their treatment worse than it would otherwise be. He 
 himself much preferred to go alone; he had no authority over 
 these men, and five men together were more likely to attract 
 attention than one alone. Looking across the river they saw a 
 number of people on the opposite bank. They were evidently 
 inhabitants of the town, who, having seen the ship running for 
 shore, had come down to watch her fate, and to give any 
 assistance in their power. Stephen saw that they were waving 
 their hands for them to make up the bank, where there might 
 
A PRISONER. 263 
 
 be a ferry-boat to take them over. He pointed this out to the 
 men, and said, "I am afraid we shall be pursued ere long. Of 
 course, at present they take us for their own people ; but when 
 they see that we do not cross, they will suspect the truth, and 
 will send over to see whether we have taken shelter in some 
 village there may be on this side. When they hear that we 
 have not done so, they will guess that we are Chilians, and 
 there will be a hot pursuit for us. We will walk together for 
 a little way along the bank as if going in the direction that 
 they point to. They are not likely to stay long where they 
 are; some will go back to the town now that there is nothing to 
 see, others will no doubt remain on the bank to collect wreck- 
 age that may be washed ashore, a few may go on to the ferry 
 and wait there for us. If there are any boats in the river you 
 may be sure they will soon put out to collect floating casks 
 and bales." 
 
 The little crowd was indeed just beginning to break up, 
 and after going a short distance Stephen and his companions 
 left the river and started south. After going two or three 
 hundred yards they shook hands and separated, the sailors 
 striking more inland, while Stephen took for the present a 
 course that ran parallel with the sea-coast. It was already 
 growing dark, and Stephen was worn out with the excitement 
 of the day, so that after going on for an hour, he lay down in a 
 clump of trees and went to sleep. It was broad daylight when 
 he awoke, and on walking to the edge of the trees he saw a 
 village a few hundred yards in front of him. He made a long 
 detour to pass it, and was proceeding along a well-beaten path 
 when he heard the sound of horses' hoofs behind, and looking 
 round saw four Spanish troopers riding towards him. Escape 
 was out of the question, and he walked cpiietly on in the faint 
 hope that they might pass without stopping him. This, how- 
 ever, was improbable; his hair was matted with sea water, his 
 
264 WITH COCHRANE THE DAUNTLESS. 
 
 clothes still wet — his whole appearance too evidently that of a 
 shipwrecked man. They stopped when they reached him. 
 
 "You are one of the men who were cast ashore last night V 
 a sergeant said. 
 
 " I am," Stephen replied frankly. 
 
 " My orders are to take you back to San Carlos. Where are 
 your companions'?" 
 
 "I do not know," Stephen replied. "We separated at once ; 
 I went my way and they went theirs." 
 
 "You are a Chilian," the man said; "anyone can tell it by 
 your speech." 
 
 Stephen by this time spoke the language so fluently indeed 
 that he could have passed as a native. There was, however, 
 sufficient difference between the dialects of Peru and Chili for 
 it to be seen at once that he was not a Peruvian. He did not 
 reply directly to the question. 
 
 "We were on a trader," he said. "The captain and four of 
 the men were lost; five of us gained the shore. We Avere not 
 on an armed ship, and cannot be considered enemies." 
 
 " The whole race of you are enemies," the sergeant said. 
 "You are rebels and traitors every one of you. Gomez, do you 
 and Martinez take this man back to San Carlos, and hand him 
 over to the governor. I will ride on with Sancho and see if we 
 can come up with the other fellows; as there are half a dozen 
 parties out in search we are pretty sure to lay hands on them 
 before nightfall." 
 
 On the way back Stephen, as he walked between the two 
 horsemen, debated whether it would be better to allow them to 
 remain under the impression that he was a Chilian, or declare 
 himself an English officer. In the former case he would most 
 likely be shot without ceremony, in the latter he might pro- 
 bably be sent up to Callao or Lima. It might make no differ- 
 ence in his fate, but at least might delay it; and if he could 
 
M220 
 STEPHEN IS BOUND AND BROUGHT BEFORE THE GOVERNOR OF 
 SAN CARLOS. 
 
A PRISONER. 2G5 
 
 but manage to communicate his position to Lord Cochrane, 
 the latter would certainly take instant steps to offer one or 
 more of the many Spanish officers who were prisoners in his 
 hands in exchange for him, or would threaten that if any harm 
 came to him he would give no quarter to Spanish officers in 
 future. At any rate the latter seemed to promise him the 
 better chance, and accordingly when on his arrival at San 
 Carlos he was taken before the governor, he replied boldly to 
 the question, "Who are youf 
 
 " I am Lieutenant Stephen Embleton, flag officer to Admiral 
 Cochrane." 
 
 The words created a sensation among the officers standing 
 behind the governor. 
 
 "You dare to say this!" the governor exclaimed furiously. 
 
 "I am giving a simple answer to your question, sefior," 
 Stephen said quietly. "When we ask the Spanish officers who 
 fall into our hands what their names are, they reply as I have 
 done, truthfully, and they are treated as I expect to be treated, 
 honourably; especially as I have not been captured by you when 
 in arms, but have simply bad the misfortune to be shipwrecked 
 on your coast." 
 
 The quiet tone of the reply had its effect. The officers spoke 
 a few words together in a low tone, and the governor said 
 more calmly than he had before spoken : 
 
 " How am I to know that this story is true 1" 
 
 " I have no means of proving it now," Stephen replied; " but 
 if I am taken to Callao, a message sent to Lord Cochrane under 
 a flag of truce would speedily bring back a letter verifying 
 my story." 
 
 " But how did you come to be on board that craft that was 
 wrecked 1 " 
 
 " I was wounded, sehor, at the action in the port of Callao. 
 A splinter caused by a shot from one of your batteries struck 
 
266 WITH COCHRANE THE DAUNTLESS. 
 
 me when on the deck of the Esmeralda. I was sent down to 
 Valparaiso. Your surgeon can examine me and will find that 
 the wound has but lately healed. Being anxious to rejoin my 
 ship as soon as possible, I did not wait for a ship of war going 
 up, but took passage in a Chilian trader." 
 
 "Doubtless conveying stores to the Chilian fleet," the gover- 
 nor remarked. 
 
 " She may have had stores of that kind on board," Stephen 
 said, " but that was no affair of mine. I simply took a passage 
 in her, and paid for it. The admiral is expecting me, and will, 
 I am sure, be ready to exchange an officer of superior rank for 
 me." 
 
 By the governor's orders Stephen was now taken into another 
 room. In a quarter of an hour he was brought back again. 
 The governor had left the room, but a Spanish colonel said to 
 him: 
 
 "It has been decided to send you to Callao, where, no doubt, 
 inquiries will be made into the truth of your story, and his 
 excellency the Viceroy will himself decide upon your fate." 
 
 Stephen bowed. 
 
 " I can have no doubt, seiior, that his excellency will treat 
 me with the same courtesy with which some score of Spanish 
 officers are at present treated by Lord Cochrane; especially as 
 he will know that were I,— which I cannot for a moment believe, 
 — badly treated, it is in the power of our admiral to carry out 
 wholesale reprisals." 
 
 The colonel made no reply, but ordered the guards to remove 
 the prisoner. An hour later a young Spanish officer entered. 
 
 "I have been ordered to accompany you to Callao," he said 
 courteously. " I take four men with me, and I am told that I 
 am to be responsible for your safety. It would be painful 
 indeed for me to have to take any stringent measures to pre- 
 vent you from escaping on the road, and if you will give me 
 
A PRISONER. 267 
 
 your parole not to attempt evasion it will be far more pleasant 
 for us both." 
 
 " If you will give me a little time to think it over," Stephen 
 replied, " I will give you an answer. It is too serious a matter 
 for me to decide at once. However, whether I accept or refuse 
 I thank you greatly for your courtesy in making me the 
 offer." 
 
 "We shall start in an hour's time," the Spaniard said. "A 
 meal, of which you are doubtless much in need, will be brought 
 to you at once, and when you have concluded it I will return 
 for your reply." 
 
 He then left the room, and in two or three minutes a soldier 
 entered with a substantial meal. As he ate it Stephen thought 
 the matter over. It did not seem to him that with four soldiers 
 and an officer watching him he could have much chance of mak- 
 ing his escape, and, even did he succeed in doing so, he would 
 almost certainly be retaken, as he could have but a short start, 
 and his dress and Chilian speech would attract instant attention. 
 If overtaken he might be shot at once, and he therefore decided 
 that his chances would be better as a prisoner at Callao than as 
 a fugitive in a hostile country. Accordingly when the officer 
 returned he at once gave him his parole not to attempt to 
 escape upon the journey. 
 
 " I am very glad that you have so decided," the Spaniard 
 said. " I will send you at once a suit of clothes to ride in. 
 Your attire would at once attract attention and might lead to 
 unpleasantness. We have a long journey before us, and may as 
 well make it as agreeable as we can under the circumstances." 
 
 Stephen thanked him heartily for the offer, which he gladly 
 accepted, for he felt ashamed of his appearance in his rough 
 clothes, now shrunk and water -stained. The servant who 
 brought the suit of clothes brought also a large basin of water, 
 soap, and a towel, and Stephen was therefore able to make his 
 
268 WITH COCHRANE THE DAUNTLESS. 
 
 toilet in comfort. The suit was an undress uniform — white 
 breeches, jacket of the same material, with white braid, a pair 
 of high riding-boots, and a broad-brimmed hat. As soon as he 
 dressed himself, his guard conducted him downstairs. The 
 officer and the four troopers were already mounted, and a horse 
 stood ready for Stephen. Without a word he mounted, the 
 officer took his place beside him, and the troopers falling in 
 behind, he rode out through the gate. 
 
 " I thank you heartily for your thoughtfulness in providing 
 me with the means of making myself respectable." 
 
 "You certainly look better," the young officer said. "Now 
 permit me to introduce myself. My name is Filippo Conchas; 
 my uncle is the governor here, and it is to that I owe the 
 pleasure of this excursion with you." 
 
 " I should not have thought that a ride of five or six hundred 
 miles was a pleasure, Don Filippo." 
 
 " Oh, yes, it is, when one can go one's own pace, and travel 
 only in the morning and evening. Moreover, one gets terribly 
 tired of a small provincial town, especially in times like these, 
 when things are not going quite so pleasantly as one might 
 wish, and one knows that half the inhabitants are bitterly 
 hostile to one. Besides, senor, I have an attraction at Callao, 
 and in fact am betrothed to a fair cousin, the daughter of an- 
 other uncle who is the chief naval authority at the port. My 
 uncle, that is the one here, is a strict disciplinarian, and as all 
 leave is stojDped owing to the doings of your admiral's ships, I 
 am kept here; so, of course, directly T heard that you were 
 to be sent to Callao I applied to him to appoint me to com- 
 mand the escort, and as I was the first applicant he had no 
 excuse for refusing, although he was not in the most pleasant 
 of humours. However, that I did not care about as long as I 
 got my leave. He has gone down to the river with several 
 of his officers to inspect the goods, of which a large quantity 
 
FRIENDS IN NEED. 269 
 
 has been cast ashore. If he had been here I should not have 
 ventured to effect this transformation in your appearance until 
 to-morrow. Are you a good rider, seiior 1 " 
 
 "No, indeed," Stephen replied, " I have had no opportunities 
 for practice." 
 
 "It does not matter much," Don Filippo said; "I daresay 
 you will be a good rider at the end of our journey, and your 
 not being so at present will afford me an excuse for not making 
 fatiguing journeys; so all is for the best, you see." 
 
 CHAPTER XV. 
 
 FRIENDS IN NEED. 
 
 DON FILIPPO did all in his power to make the journey a 
 pleasant one for Stephen. They travelled on an average 
 about twenty-four miles a day, twelve in the morning soon 
 after sunrise and as much in the cool of the evening. During 
 the heat of the day they halted, sometimes in the shade of 
 a grove, sometimes at the hacienda where they breakfasted. 
 The young officer chatted freely to Stephen about himself and 
 his life, and as they lay in the shade during the long hours of 
 the heat, Stephen related his own adventures on his first cruise, 
 and in reply to questions of the Spaniard, repeated to him 
 what he had heard from his father of Cochrane's exploits. 
 Don Filippo treated him in every way as a friend and an 
 equal, and no one who saw them together would have dreamt 
 that he was a prisoner. Even at night no guard was placed at 
 the door of his chamber, the Spaniard having absolute faith in 
 the honour of an English officer. The journey occupied nearly 
 three weeks, by the end of which time Stephen was perfectly 
 
270 WITH COCHRANE THE DAUNTLESS. 
 
 at home on horseback. As they approached Callao Don 
 Filippo's gaiety deserted him. 
 
 " I do not conceal from you, Don Estevan, that I am anxious 
 about you, very anxious. You can hardly understand the deep 
 and bitter hostility that has been excited in the minds of my 
 countrymen by the doings of your admiral. Our hold on Peru 
 Avhen you arrived here was absolute, and it was morally certain 
 that, with the aid of the ships and men on their way out, we 
 should have very soon recaptured Chili again. All that has 
 changed. Our armies have been defeated, our ships captured by 
 inferior forces, our prestige destroyed; we find ourselves in- 
 sulted in our ports, our ships cut out from under our guns, the 
 Peruvians ready at any moment to revolt, our flag almost swept 
 from the Pacific, and with every prospect that the broad 
 dominions won for Spain by Pizarro and Cortez will be wrested 
 from us. You can hardly imagine the wrath and humiliation 
 of every Spaniard at the misfortunes that have fallen upon us, 
 the more so that these misfortunes have been inflicted by a 
 naval force that we deemed absolutely contemptible. 
 
 " All this is due to Admiral Cochrane and his English officers. 
 In the next place, in addition to the political hate there is the 
 religious one. It is by heretics that we have been defeated, as 
 we were defeated centuries ago by your people and the Dutch. 
 You know how great is the power that the priests wield. We 
 have still the Inquisition among us, and though its power in 
 Spain is comparatively slight, the institution still flourishes on 
 this side of the Atlantic. All this makes me anxious for you. 
 No doubt your admiral would exchange some of his prisoners 
 for you, or might, did he learn it, retaliate upon them for 
 any ill-treatment dealt to you, but you see he may never get to 
 know in time. He may hear that the ship in which you sailed 
 was lost, but he may suppose that all hands were lost with it, 
 for the four Chilian sailors were captured an hour or two after 
 
FRIENDS IN NEED. 271 
 
 you were, and were at once shot. I am sorry now that I 
 undertook this journey. We have been friends and comrades 
 since we started, and I cannot bear the thought that any evil 
 should befall you. You have an absolute right to good treat- 
 ment, for your admiral has always treated his prisoners with 
 the greatest kindness and consideration, but I regret to say 
 that in the present state of the feelings of the Spaniards I am 
 not certain that such treatment will be meted out to you." 
 
 "We must hope for the best, Don Filippo," Stephen replied. 
 " I do not blind myself to the fact that my position is not free 
 from danger, but I confide in the honour of your countrymen." 
 
 "Unhappily," the young officer said gloomily, "the ideas of 
 honour on this side of the Atlantic differ materially from those 
 in the old country. It has been so ever since we set foot in 
 this country. Acts of treachery have been performed by men 
 who at home would shrink from any deed that savoured of 
 dishonour; and although even here one Spaniard would not 
 transgress the code towards another, there are too many who 
 feel no scruples whatever as to any course that they may pur- 
 sue towards one of another race and another religion." 
 
 Stephen nodded. 
 
 " I understand that, Don Filippo, and I own that, while I 
 have no great fear of ill-treatment on the part of the military 
 and civil authorities, I feel that should I fall into the hands of 
 the Inquisition my chance would be a slight one. From what I 
 have heard I know that its power is so great that even the 
 most powerful of the civil authorities have to give way to 
 it. Of course, being a British subject, they have no shadow of 
 right to meddle with me, and if the}^ do so and it becomes 
 known in England, it will be a very serious matter; but my 
 fate might never be known, and even did it come to the 
 admiral's ears that I had been brought a prisoner here, any 
 application on his part might be met by a statement that I had 
 
272 WITH COCHRANE THE DAUNTLESS. 
 
 been shot while attempting to escape, or that I died of fever 
 in prison, and he would never be able to obtain any proof to 
 the contrary." 
 
 "I am but too well aware of it," the young Spaniard replied. 
 "Men are constantly missing — not military men, but merchants, 
 land-owners, and others who have been known to entertain 
 liberal opinions. No one knows what has become of them. 
 No one dares to make inquiry. I tell you, seiior, that I, a 
 Spaniard, acknowledge that the state of affairs here is detest- 
 able, and I am not surprised at the efforts of the colonies to 
 break away from us. Even in the middle ages in Spain 
 priestly tyranny was never carried to a greater point than still 
 prevails here. We have been here for centuries, and what have 
 we done for the countries under our sway 1 So far from en- 
 riching, we have impoverished them. The great proportion of 
 the population are little more than slaves, and we are hated 
 as bitterly as Cortez was hated by the Mexicans when he over- 
 threw the empire of Montezuma. It is three years since I 
 came out here full of enthusiasm, and eager to bear a part in 
 putting down the rebellion of Chili. Now I feel that Chili 
 was more than justified, and that ere long we shall lose all 
 the possessions that the swords of our ancestors won for us, 
 and which were regarded with so much natural pride by 
 Spaniards; and the worst of it is, that it is the outcome of our 
 own work, our own oppression and misgovernment. Were I 
 to speak like this in public, not even the influence of my two 
 uncles could save me. I too should disappear and be heard of 
 no more. I have been thinking," he went on after a few 
 minutes' silence, " for the last two or three days whether it 
 would not be better for me to give you back your parole and 
 to suffer you to escape. Of course I should be blamed, but 
 the offence would not be a tithe of the gravity of that of 
 speaking as I have just spoken to you." 
 
FRIENDS IN NEED. 273 
 
 " I would not think of such a thing, Don Filippo," Stephen 
 replied warmly. " I would not take my freedom at the cost 
 of involving in my trouble one who has behaved so kindly 
 to me. I have still a great hope that everything will turn 
 out well, and that I shall be exchanged for some officer in the 
 admiral's hands. He is sure to hear of my being at Callao, for 
 his last letter said that many deserters were coming in, and 
 from some of these he is likely to learn that I am a prisoner; 
 and in that case he would not, I am sure, lose a day in sending 
 in a flag of truce with a request for my exchange, and a notice 
 that if this was refused he would quickly follow it by retribu- 
 tive measures if any harm befell me." 
 
 The Spaniard did not reply. He felt sure that every pains 
 would be taken by the authorities to prevent the news of his 
 companion's capture becoming public ; and his uncle, on appoint- 
 ing him Stephen's escort, had laid strict injunctions on him to 
 say nothing of the matter on his arrival at Callao until he 
 had delivered his prisoner over to the authorities, and had re- 
 ceived permission from them to speak of it. On the following 
 day they entered the town. As they rode to the house of the 
 military governor no one paid any heed to their passage; it 
 was but two young officers returning perhaps from Lima or 
 from some other station. On reaching the governor Filippo 
 went up alone to make his report, leaving Stephen in charge 
 of the soldiers. He was absent half an hour. 
 
 " I have said all I could for you," he said gloomily on his 
 return. "The governor is one of the old type, obstinate, 
 bigoted, and arrogant. I have not been all this time with 
 him ; in fact only a few minutes. He dismissed all I had to 
 say with a wave of the hand : 
 
 " ' You will take the prisoner, Lieutenant Conchas, to the 
 
 military prison, and hand him over to the governor there. 
 
 Until you hear further you will maintain an absolute silence 
 ( M 220 ) s 
 
274 WITH COCHRANE THE DAUNTLESS. 
 
 as to his arrival here, and will simply state that you are here 
 on a short leave.' 
 
 " I had nothing to do but to bow and retire, but if possible 
 I will send a message to your admiral that you are here. At 
 present, however, that is out of the question; for while I was 
 waiting in the anteroom I learned that the blockading fleet 
 has sailed away, and that there is no news whatever as to the 
 direction which it has taken. It is very unfortunate, but you 
 may be assured that, as soon as it returns, I will somehow 
 or other communicate with the admiral." 
 
 Remounting they rode to the prison. They said good-bye 
 to each other before they reached its door, for, as Filippo said, 
 it would be better that he should part ceremoniously. 
 
 "We must not show any affection for each other," he said, 
 "or, should the English admiral learn that you are here, or 
 should you manage to make your escape, suspicion would at 
 once light upon me. Believe me, Don Estevan, I shall do all 
 in my power to aid you." 
 
 The parting inside was therefore brief. Don Filippo handed 
 Stephen over to the chief official of the prison, saying that the 
 orders of the governor were, that he was to be kept apart from 
 all other prisoners and allowed no communication with any- 
 one. 
 
 "Adieu, seiior. I trust that you have had no cause to com- 
 plain of your treatment during your journey hither." 
 
 "None whatever,''' Stephen said gravely. "You have treated 
 me with the courtesy that an officer has a right to expect at 
 the hands of his captors." 
 
 The young Spaniard bowed, saluted the prison officer, and 
 left without another word. The governor struck a bell, and 
 on an assistant entering he gave Stephen into his charge. 
 " Place him in the end cell of the long corridor," he said. 
 "If it is occupied at present, remove whoever is there to 
 
FRIENDS IN NEED. 275 
 
 another cell. This prisoner is to hold no communication with 
 others, and an extra strict watch must be kept on him. He is 
 one of the heretic officers of the Chilian fleet, and will want 
 looking after closely." 
 
 The cell happened to he untenanted, and Stephen was at once 
 conducted there. It was apparently intended as a place of 
 confinement for officers who had fallen into disgrace. It was 
 some twelve feet square, and contained a table and a chair. 
 From the window, which was very closely barred, a view of 
 the bay could be obtained, and Stephen felt that his quarters 
 were better than he had expected. As soon as he was alone 
 he examined the apartment more closely. Looking down as 
 well as he could between the bars he could see the top of a 
 wall some twenty yards away, and decided that a courtyard 
 surrounded the building, so that even could he find any 
 means of descending from his window it would be necessary 
 afterwards for him to climb this wall. At present, however, 
 he had no idea of trying to escape. To do so would, were he 
 caught, greatly prejudice his case, and might be used as an 
 excuse for his instant execution. However, he concluded that 
 if he could loosen the bars it would be as well to do so without 
 loss of time, as it might be necessary to make the attempt at 
 very short notice. 
 
 Upon examining the bars he found that they were so 
 strongly built into the wall that it would be a task demand- 
 ing a very long time to execute. Turning from this he ex- 
 amined the door. The framework was massive, and he had 
 noticed as he had entered that it was fastened outside by 
 two heavy iron bolts. " There is not much to be done that 
 way," he said. " Now I must wait to see how my meals are 
 brought in. The only possible way that 1 can think of is that 
 of overpowering the warder and getting out in his clothes. I 
 don't suppose that there is much order or discipline in a Spanish 
 
276 WITH COCHRANE THE DAUNTLESS. 
 
 prison, and if I could once get down into the yard after dark, 
 I might walk quietly out if there is a gate open, or climb that 
 wall if there isn't." 
 
 That evening his supper was brought in by the warder into 
 whose charge he had been given. He was accompanied by 
 another armed with sword and musket. 
 
 " Two of them," Stephen said to himself, as, after retiring 
 without having spoken a word, his guards closed and bolted 
 the door behind them. " I think I could manage them at a 
 pinch. It seems to me that an escape is possible, but the 
 question is what should I do with myself when I got out. If 
 the fleet had been still off the town I might have made along 
 the shore, stolen a boat, and rowed out; but as it has gone there 
 is nothing to be done that way. A journey on foot from here 
 to the frontier and down through Chili would be a tremendous 
 affair. I should be pursued, and as it would be guessed that I 
 had gone that way, orders would be sent to every town and 
 village to look after me, and a man in the dress of a Spanish 
 officer on foot would be remarked by every soul I met." 
 
 Three days passed without incident, but at dinner-time on 
 the fourth he thought that the warder, as he placed the hunch 
 of bread on the table, gave him a significant glance. As soon 
 as the door was closed he seized the bread and pulled it to 
 pieces. Inside was a tiny pellet of paper. He opened and 
 smoothed it out. In a female hand was written in tiny cha- 
 racters : " The Inquisition has demanded you. You will be handed 
 over to-morrow. If it be possible, make an escape to-night. If you 
 can do so, turn to your right from the front of the prison, take the 
 second street on the left, and knock three times on the fifth door on 
 the right-hand side. A friend will be awaiting you. If you cannot 
 escape, hope still. We will try other means. Destroy this when 
 read." 
 
 Stephen read it through three or four times to be sure that 
 
FRIENDS IN NEED. 277 
 
 he had his instructions by heart, then he put the paper into 
 his mouth, chewed it up and swallowed it. 
 
 " It must be done when they bring in my supper," he said 
 to himself. " I know that I am the last to be served in this 
 corridor, for I can hear them stop at the door next to me 
 before they come here. That is an advantage, as they would 
 go straight down the corridor on leaving me. The first thing 
 is to tear up these two rugs into strips, and make ropes for 
 binding them. Of course I shall have to tackle the soldier first. 
 The warder has evidently been bribed and he will make no 
 resistance. When I have once overpowered the soldier, I may 
 get some hints from the other as to which is my best way of 
 getting out of this. Of course this is Filippo's doing. What 
 a good fellow he is to run such a risk! There is one thing, 
 if I once get fairly out of the cell I will be killed rather than 
 be taken and handed over to the Inquisition." 
 
 Although he had not once been visited between meals, he 
 thought it prudent not to begin the work of making his rope 
 until the sun was getting low. When it did so he tore up the 
 blankets, twisted and knotted together the strips, and then 
 sat down to await the coming of the jailers. He had already 
 tried to wrench off one of the legs of the table, but it was too 
 heavy and strongly made for him to succeed. He then thought 
 of using the chair, but he could not feel certain of stunning 
 the soldier with the first blow, and the latter might fire off his 
 musket, or shout so loudly as to give the alarm; he therefore 
 determined to trust to his hands alone. He knew that he was 
 greatly superior in strength to any of the little Spanish 
 soldiers, and that with the advantage of surprise he ought to 
 be able to succeed without noise. 
 
 About an hour after it became dark he heard the footsteps 
 come to the next cell, then he took his place close against the 
 wall by the side of his door and Avaited. 
 
278 WITH COCHRANE THE DAUNTLESS. 
 
 As the bolts were drawn back he took a deep breath. The 
 warder as usual came in first, followed closely by the armed 
 guard. As the latter entered, Stephen sprang upon him, and 
 his hands closed upon the man's throat with so fierce a grip 
 that the musket fell instantly from the fellow's hands. Without 
 losing his grasp in the slightest Stephen whirled him round 
 and threw him against the warder, whom the shock brought 
 to the ground, Stephen hurling the already almost insensible 
 soldier upon him. Seizing the musket he brought the butt end 
 down upon the soldier's head with a force amply sufficient to stun 
 him; then he rolled him off the warder's body and helped the 
 latter to his feet. 
 
 " I was obliged to be rough with you," he said, " in order 
 that that fellow when he comes to his senses may confirm your 
 story that you were at once knocked down. Of course I shall 
 tie and gag you both." 
 
 " Yes, and before you go you had better give me a tap with 
 that musket. You need not hit me quite so hard as you did 
 him, but it must be hard enough to make a good bump. You 
 needn't be afraid of hurting me. I am well paid for anything 
 that may happen, though indeed I did not expect it to come 
 like this." 
 
 " In the first place I am going to take your clothes," Stephen 
 said. " You can say that you were insensible when I stripped 
 you; but first I want you to tell me how I can get out." 
 
 "You won't have much difficulty about that," the man re- 
 plied. "When we have taken round supper our work is done 
 for the night, and half of us are free to go out and spend the 
 evening. You turn down the first staircase you come to, follow 
 it to the bottom, then take the corridor to the right and go on 
 until you come to an open door. Two soldiers will be standing 
 there on sentry, but they ask no questions of the warders. You 
 had better wait when you get in sight of the door till you see 
 
M 220 
 
 STEPHEN MAKES A DASH FOR LIBERTY, AND GRAPPLES WITH THE 
 GUARD. 
 
FRIENDS IN NEED. 279 
 
 that no one else is going out, or it might be noticed that you 
 were a stranger and questions might be asked you. Now you 
 had better lose no time, or the others may be out before you get 
 there, and the door be shut." 
 
 As he spoke he was taking off his uniform, which consisted 
 of a dark jacket, trousers, and cap, and a brown belt from 
 which hung a sword. Stephen put them on, then tightly 
 bound the insensible man, whose lungs were now playing, 
 stuffed a portion of the rug into his mouth and fastened it there 
 with a strip tied at the back of the head. Then he similarly 
 bound and gagged the warder, and then gave him a heavy 
 blow on the head, feeling that it was best for the man himself 
 that it should be a severe one. Then he took the sentry's 
 musket and hid it under the bed, so that, if by any chance he 
 managed to free himself of his bonds, he could not fire it to 
 give the alarm. Then putting the cap on his head Stephen went 
 out, bolted the door, and proceeded down the corridor. Fol- 
 lowing the instructions that had been given him he made his 
 way towards the door. Just as he neared it he saw a group of 
 three or four warders going out together, and waiting for a 
 moment till they had disappeared boldly followed them, and 
 passed between the sentries into the open air. So rapidly 
 and easily had the escape been managed that he could scarcely 
 believe that he had escaped from the hands of the military 
 authorities, still less from the fate that would have awaited 
 him had he fallen into the hands of the Inquisition. Not 
 knowing which was the front of the building, he followed the 
 lane, upon which the side door opened, to its end, and then 
 finding that he was now at the rear of the prison he returned ; 
 and gaining the street in which was the main entrance, followed 
 out his instructions and tapped three times at the door of the 
 house indicated. There was a little pause and then it was 
 opened a short distance. 
 
280 WITH COCHRANE THE DAUNTLESS. 
 
 "Is it you, seiior V a female voice asked. 
 
 "It is the man whom you are, I believe, expecting, and who 
 received your message." 
 
 With an exclamation of gladness the woman opened the 
 door and, as he entered, closed it behind him. 
 
 "Follow me, seiior," she said; "there is nothing in the 
 passage to run against." 
 
 A few steps further Stephen heard a door open, a flood of 
 light poured into the passage, and his guide said "Quick!" 
 He entered and she closed the door behind him. 
 
 " Thanks to the saints that you have escaped, seiior!" a voice 
 said. "It seemed to us well-nigh impossible that you could 
 do so; but, knowing how brave and enterprising you English 
 are, Filippo said that he had great faith that you might manage 
 it." 
 
 Stephen now saw that the speaker was a young and very 
 pretty girl. 
 
 "I am speaking to the Senorita Inez Conchas," he said 
 respectfully. "How can I thank you and Don Filippo suffi- 
 ciently for your action in my behalf. You have saved my 
 life, for assuredly had I not known that I should be handed 
 over to the Inquisition no thought of making my escape to- 
 night would have entered my mind." 
 
 " It is all Filippo's doing," she said. " He made me write 
 the letter, and got me to come here because he could not come 
 himself, — I and my old nurse with me. She is sitting in the 
 front room on watch; it was she who opened the door to you. 
 You see, we could not be sure whether the note would reach 
 you ; the man whom we bribed might have turned traitor and 
 given it to the governor. My nurse arranged it; for it would 
 never have done for Filippo to have appeared in the matter, 
 and I am so well known in the place that it would have been 
 very dangerous. However, we hoped that all would be well, 
 
FRIENDS IN NEED. 281 
 
 for half the man's bribe was not to be paid to him until you 
 were free. However, we placed her at the corner of the street 
 this afternoon in order to watch if anyone came to this house 
 or stopped to look at it earnestly. The people are away in the 
 country, and my nurse, who knew the woman who is left in 
 charge here, got her to lend her the key until to-morrow morn- 
 ing, on some excuse or other. Filippo brought me round just 
 before dark ; there is an entertainment to-night at the Viceroy's, 
 and he had to be there. Indeed, it was the best place he could 
 be, as no suspicion can now fall upon him of having aided in 
 your escape. How did you manage it, seiior?" 
 
 Stephen briefly related how it had been brought about. 
 
 "That was well done indeed!" the girl said, clapping her 
 hands merrily. " I scarce thought that it could be your knock 
 when you came, for we had agreed that if you did manage to 
 make your escape it would not be until very late, and it 
 seemed impossible that you could have got out so early. 
 However, that is all the better, as j^ou will now have a long start. 
 Now, senor, the first thing for you to do will be to put on the 
 disguise Filippo has prepared for you in that bag on the table. 
 Here is a piece of burnt cork for darkening your eyebrows and 
 eyelashes, and a false moustache that will quite change your 
 appearance. I will go into the next room with nurse; when 
 you are dressed you can call, and I will come back." 
 
 As soon as he was alone Stephen opened the bag and drew 
 out an attire such as would be worn by a respectable Peruvian 
 merchant. This he put on, darkened his eyebrows, and stuck 
 on the moustache, and acknowledged when he viewed himself 
 in a small mirror that he should not have known himself. On 
 his opening the door the girl came in from the other room 
 again. 
 
 "We have talked over, Filippo and I, the way you had 
 best go, and we both agree that the journey south would be 
 
282 WITH COCHRANE THE DAUNTLESS. 
 
 altogether too dangerous. It will naturally be supposed that 
 you have gone that way, and the news will be sent down by 
 horsemen, so that the troops and the authorities will be on 
 the look-out for you everywhere. We both think that, although 
 the journey is very long and toilsome, your best plan will be to 
 ride straight inland, cross the Andes, and come down into 
 Brazil. You are not likely to be questioned on that line, which 
 no one would imagine that you would be likely to take. You 
 may meet with adventures on the way, but you English people 
 are fond of adventures. At any rate that plan will be safer 
 for you, and indeed for us." 
 
 "Why for you, sefiorita?" 
 
 "If you were to be captured," she said, "you would be 
 questioned as to who aided you, and there are means in these 
 prisons by which they can wring the truth from the strongest 
 and bravest. There are tortures, senor, that flesh and blood 
 could not withstand." 
 
 " You are right, Donna Inez," Stephen said gravely. " For 
 myself I should be ready to run the risk of getting through to 
 the south, but what you have said decides me. I would die 
 rather than say a word that could betray you and your cousin. 
 But no one can say what one would do under fiendish tortures; 
 therefore I at once accept your plan." 
 
 "That is right," the girl said. "Filippo said that he was 
 sure that for our sake you would consent to it. Now for your 
 instructions. Nurse will, in the first place, take me home; 
 then she will return here; she will be back in half an hour. 
 She will take away with her the things that you have worn, 
 and will to-night cut them up and burn them, so that no trace 
 may remain of your visit here. When she returns she will 
 guide you through the town. At a cottage a quarter of a mile 
 outside a muleteer with two animals is awaiting you; he 
 does not know who you are, but believes you to be a Brazilian 
 
FRIENDS IN NEED. 283 
 
 who has been on this side of the continent for some years, 
 chiefly in Chili, and so speak that language, and now, being 
 afraid to proceed by water, are about to return by the passes. 
 How far you will be able to get him to accompany you I can- 
 not say, but at present he has promised to take you over the 
 Andes. The best course to take then you can talk over with 
 the muleteer. You will find many details of the various 
 routes in a letter Filippo has given him for you. And now 
 adieu, senor. We shall think of you often, and I shall pray 
 for your safe return to your friends. Possibly we may meet 
 again some day, for Filippo has a powerful relation who, it is 
 expected, may some day be the Spanish ambassador in London, 
 and he says that he shall try and get him to take him on his 
 staff." 
 
 "I should indeed be glad if it could be so, seiiorita. I shall 
 to the end of my life entertain the liveliest feelings of grati- 
 tude to you and Don Filippo for your kindness. Have you 
 a pencil and paper 1 ?" 
 
 The girl pointed to the table, on which stood writing 
 materials. Stephen wrote his father's address upon it and 
 handed it to her. 
 
 " That is my address in England," he said. " I pray you, 
 when you return to Spain, to beg Don Filippo to write to me 
 there, and I am sure to get it sooner or later. Directly I receive 
 his letter I shall make a point of taking a passage for Spain in 
 order tp thank you more fully and heartily than I can now do. 
 It would be dangerous were I to write to you here." 
 
 She nodded. " Adieu, senor." 
 
 " Adieu, seiiorita. May your life with Don Filippo be as 
 happy as you both deserve!" 
 
 He put the hand she gave him to his lips. A minute later 
 she and her nurse left the house, and Stephen remained 
 wondering over the events that had happened. 
 
284 WITH COCHRANE THE DAUNTLESS. 
 
 "It is certainly the best plan," he said to himself. " I dare- 
 say there will be lots of hardships to go through, but it will 
 be a glorious trip. Fancy going down the Amazon from 
 almost its source to the sea! The senorita said nothing about 
 money, but Filippo has shown himself so thoughtful in every 
 other way that I have no doubt he has not forgotten that 
 for such a journey some money at least will be required. 
 Happily I am now in a position to pay anything he may 
 advance me, so I need not scruple to take it. He told 
 me that his father was very rich, but that money was very 
 little good to him in Peru, and that he had a very handsome 
 allowance, but no means whatever of spending it, especially 
 in such a place as San Carlos. I will write him a line or two 
 now, and will give it to the old woman after I have read bis 
 letter." 
 
 He sat down and wrote a note expressive of his warmest 
 gratitude to Filippo, and concluded : "In other matters too I am 
 deeply your debtor, but this fortunately I can, as I told you, dis- 
 charge far more easily than I can my debt of gratitude. As soon as 
 I reach England I will pay in the amount to a house having connec- 
 tions in Spain, and order them to have it placed to your account with 
 some good firm there, with instructions to write to you saying that 
 they hold it payable to your order. My name will not be mentioned, 
 so that in case of any accident the money will not be traceable to me. 
 My other and greater debt must for ever remain unpaid, but to the 
 end of my life I shall remain the debtor of you and Donna Inez. 
 Wishing you both a long life and every happiness together, I remain 
 always your grateful friend." 
 
 He folded the letter up and put it into his pocket, and then 
 waited until he heard the three knocks on the door. Stephen 
 blew out the candle, went along the passage to the front door, 
 opened it, and went out. Without a word the old woman 
 turned and walked alone; the street. He followed at a short 
 
FRIENDS IN NEED. 285 
 
 distance, and was presently in a busy thoroughfare. Twenty 
 minutes' walking took them beyond the town, and they pre- 
 sently stopped at a cottage where a candle was burning in the 
 window. 
 
 "This is the house, seiior," she said, speaking for the first 
 time. 
 
 She went up to the door and tapped at it. It was opened 
 by a man in the attire of a muleteer. 
 
 "This is the senor who will accompany you, Gomez," she 
 said. "Now, sehor, my work is done." And she turned to go. 
 
 "Wait a moment," he said. "Gomez has a letter for me, 
 and I want to read it before I give you a note that I wish you 
 to take back and to hand to Donna Inez." 
 - " Here is the letter, seiior," the muleteer said. 
 
 Stephen took it to the light and opened it. It was a long 
 one, but he skipped the first part, which was full of directions 
 and hints for the journey. Eunning his eye down it fell upon 
 some figures, and he read: "Gomez will hand you a bag containing 
 eight hundred dollars. This, I have no doubt, will be sufficient for 
 your journey down the Amazon and to pay your passage-money home. 
 You are heartily welcome to it. Some day, if it please you, you can 
 fay me back; but if aught befalls you on your way down do not let 
 the thought of this paltry debt trouble you in any way. I know not 
 ■whether this will ever reach your hands, but pray that it may do so, 
 and that I may have the satisfaction of knowing that Inez and I 
 have had some part in saving the life of a brave English gentleman." 
 Then with a few more words of adieu the letter closed. 
 
 Stephen had already felt that there was some money in the 
 pockets of his trousers, and he now handed his letter to the 
 old woman and pulled out some gold. 
 
 "No," she said, drawing back; "I would die to please my 
 young mistress, but not one penny would I touch from the 
 hand of a foreign heretic." 
 
286 WITH COCHRANE THE DAUNTLESS. 
 
 A minute later and she was gone. The muleteer laughed at 
 her outbreak. "Well, well," he said, "how people differ; now, 
 for my part, when I receive payment for the work of my mules 
 I care not in the least whether it comes from a heretic's 
 pockets or those of a good Catholic. But I did not know that 
 you Brazilians were heretics, seiior." 
 
 "As a rule we are not," Stephen said, "but my case is an 
 exception; I will tell you more about it on the journey. 
 Callao is not the town where it is safe to be a heretic." 
 
 "No, indeed," the muleteer said with a laugh; "however, it 
 is no business of mine, seiior. A gentleman whose name I 
 know not, but to whom I was recommended by a cousin of 
 mine, who is a relation of the old woman who has just left us, 
 made a bargain with me to take you to the Amazon or a 
 river running into it. He agreed to give me my own terms. 
 He paid me a third of the money in advance, and said that 
 you would pay me the remainder at the end of the journey. He 
 said that you were a Brazilian, and spoke Chilian better than 
 our tongue; though, indeed, they are so much alike that one 
 passes as well as the other, or did till this war began. That 
 account of you may be true or it may not, it is no business 
 whatever of mine. A man says to me, I want y ou to carry a 
 bag of salt to such a place. I agree as to the terms, and it is 
 no matter to me whether the sack contains salt or sand as long 
 as the weight is the same. Your things all came up here to- 
 day, seiior — your wallet, and your sword, and a brace of pistols, 
 a rifle and a bird gun. You will find everything right. I 
 understood that it was your wish, for some reason which was 
 again no business of mine, to start as soon as you arrived, and 
 I have three mules standing saddled in the stable if you are 
 ready to start." 
 
 " I should certainly be glad to do so, Gomez. I have, as 
 you say, my reasons for wanting to be off as soon as possible." 
 
AN INDIAN GUIDE. 287 
 
 Accordingly the three mules were at once brought round, the 
 baggage divided between them, and five minutes later, after 
 blowing out the candle and locking the door behind him, the 
 muleteer mounted and rode off with Stephen. 
 
 CHAPTEE XVI. 
 
 AN INDIAN GUIDE. 
 
 OF course we must go through Lima," Stephen said as they 
 started. 
 
 "Assuredly, senor, the roads over the passes all start from 
 there, and it would take us a long circuit to avoid the town." 
 
 "Oh, there is no occasion to avoid it," Stephen said. "It is 
 about five miles, is it not 1 ?" 
 
 "That is the distance; but, as the road ascends a good deal, 
 we generally count it as six. It is a fine city Lima, and I hope 
 that it will not be very long before we shall be able to enjoy 
 it without the presence of the Spaniards; we think they cannot 
 remain here much longer. If the Chilian army would but move 
 from the sea-coast the whole country would be up in arms. 
 We would rather have done without the Chilians if we could, 
 for there has never been any great friendship between them and 
 the Peruvians. I do not say between them and us, for I am 
 almost as much Chilian as Peruvian, seeing that I was born 
 within half a mile of the frontier and high up in the hills. But 
 there is more money to be made here. In the first place, the 
 Peruvians have more towns beyond the passes, and there is 
 more traffic ; and in the next place, in Chili most men are ready 
 to work if there is money to be made, whereas most of the 
 Peruvians are too lazy to pick up gold if it lay at their feet. 
 Most men in our business come from the hills." 
 
288 WITH COCHRANE THE DAUNTLESS. 
 
 "And why don't the Peruvians and Chilians like each 
 other f 
 
 " Who can tell. The Chilians have a colder climate, and the 
 people for the most part came from the north of Spain; they 
 are hardier and more active ; then, too, they are not so strict in 
 church matters, and here they call them heretics, and a Peru- 
 vian hates a heretic a great deal worse than he does the father 
 of all evil. We muleteers pray to the saints for protection on 
 our journeys, and before we start on a long expedition burn a 
 few candles at the shrine of our patron saint, and we never 
 pass a shrine or a wayside cross without making a prayer; but 
 we don't concern ourselves with other people's religion ; that is 
 their business, not ours. But that is not so with the Spaniards, 
 and the Peruvians are just as bad. You may kill a man in 
 a knife fight and no one cares much about it. But if you were 
 to pass a village shrine without raising your sombrero they 
 would be ready to tear you in pieces as a heretic." 
 
 "What is the country like when you once get over the 
 mountains?" 
 
 "It is a tree country and generally flat. Here you see the 
 hillsides are mostly bare; but on the other side of the ranges 
 of mountains — for there are two chains — the forest grows 
 almost to the top, and, as I have heard, they extend thousands 
 of miles over the country beyond. In these great forests 
 there are swamps and rivers, great rivers. Very few white 
 men know where they rise or how they go, but they all run 
 into the largest of them all, which, when it gets near the 
 sea, is called the Amazon, but which has many names at 
 different points of its course. They say that some of these 
 rivers have many rapids and falls, and on almost all of them 
 there are Indians who are more dangerous still; some of them 
 they say eat men who fall into their hands. 
 
 " It is a terrible journey that you are undertaking, seiior. 
 
AN INDIAN GUIDE. 289 
 
 One thing is certain, you must take with you some man of 
 courage and resolution, one who at least knows something of 
 the country. No man knows much, but there are men, 
 Indians, who make it their business either to trade or to guide 
 traders. Of course they never go very far, but they have 
 gone far enough to know much of the nature of the clangers 
 and difficulties." 
 
 " Do you think that you would be able to find me such a 
 man?" 
 
 "There are many," the muleteer said ; " but it is not everyone 
 that can be trusted. I know of one man who, if he happened 
 to be at home and disengaged, would suit you well if he would 
 undertake such a journey. He would go if anyone would, for 
 no dangers terrify him, and he has made, before now, perilous 
 expeditions with officers and others who have sought to dis- 
 cover the sources of the rivers. He lives in a village but a few 
 miles from the summit of the pass, and if you have not 
 as yet decided on your route, he will at any rate, if he cannot 
 go himself, give you better advice than you can obtain from 
 anyone else I know of." 
 
 They passed through the city of Lima unnoticed. There were 
 still numbers of people in the streets, and the sound of musical 
 instruments came from the open windows. Parties of ladies 
 stood on the balconies and were enjoying the coolness of the 
 night air, and it was evident that Lima had no thoughts of 
 going to bed for a long time yet. 
 
 " You would hardly see a soul in the streets while the sun 
 is high," the muleteer said upon Stephen remarking on the 
 number of people still about. " The whole town goes to sleep 
 from eleven to four or five, the shops are all closed, and save 
 on a business of life or death no one would think of going out. 
 About six the day really begins, and goes on until one in the 
 morning; then people sleep till five or six, and for a time the 
 
 (M220) T 
 
290 WITH COCHRANE THE DAUNTLESS. 
 
 streets are busy; the marketing is done then, the ladies all go 
 to early mass, the troops do their exercises; by nine the streets 
 begin to thin, and by ten they are deserted." 
 
 Stephen was much struck with the appearance of the town, 
 which had been laid out with great care, the streets running at 
 right angles to each other, and being all precisely the same 
 width, dividing the town into regular blocks. It contained at 
 that time some 70,000 inhabitants. He was surprised at the 
 want of height in the houses, comparatively few of which had 
 more than one story. On remarking on this to the muleteer, 
 the latter said : 
 
 "It is because of the earthquakes; nowhere are there such 
 bad earthquakes as here. If it were not for that Lima would 
 be perfect. The country round is very fertile, there is an 
 abundance of pure water, the climate is healthy, and it lies 
 600 feet above the sea. But the earthquakes are terrible, there 
 has not been a bad one lately, but it might come at any time. 
 Every twenty or thirty years there is a very bad one. The 
 worst were those of 1687 and 1746; the first destroyed every 
 house in Lima, and the second was almost as bad, but was 
 much worse at Callao. There they not only had the earth- 
 quake but a tumult of waves such as never was before seen. 
 The sea went right over the toAvn, and almost every soul there, 
 and at other towns along the coast, perished. There were 
 twenty-three ships in the harbour at Callao, nineteen of these 
 were sunk and the other four carried half a mile inland. Since 
 then there has been nothing like that, but the Indians say 
 that we may expect another before long. I don't know what 
 they go by, but people say that they predicted the others long 
 before they came. Have you ever felt an earthquake, serior?" 
 
 "No, there was a very slight shock when I was at Val- 
 paraiso, but it was not much more than the rumble a heavy 
 wagon makes in the street, and did no damage whatever." 
 
AN INDIAN GUIDE. 291 
 
 " I have never felt a great earthquake," the muleteer said, 
 " but I have felt little ones. The animals always know when 
 they are coming, and when I see the mules uneasy and appre- 
 hensive, I always choose some level spot where there is no 
 fear of rocks coming rolling down on us, and halt there. The 
 first shock may be so slight that one hardly feels it, but the 
 mules know all about it. They straddle their legs and brace 
 themselves up or else lie down on the ground. When I see 
 them do that I know that the next shock is going to be a smart 
 one, and I lie down too. It is nothing when you are out in 
 the country, but in the towns it is terrible. People rush out into 
 the streets screaming with fear. If they are near a church 
 they make for that; if not, they kneel down in the streets, 
 where they are pretty safe, the houses being so low and mostly 
 thatched. I have never seen one severe enough to bring the 
 houses down, but I have seen them crack, and parapets tumble 
 down, and great pieces peel off the walls. What with the 
 dust, and the screams of the women and children, and the 
 ringing of all the church bells, it is enough to shake a man's 
 courage I can tell you." 
 
 After proceeding some ten miles farther, by a road always 
 ascending and often steep, a halt was made. The muleteer 
 removed the valises and packs, gave a double handful of corn 
 to each animal, and then, hobbling them, allowed them to 
 wander about to pick up what they could. He and Stephen 
 partook of some of the food they had brought with them, 
 and then wrapping themselves in their cloaks lay down for a 
 few hours' sleep. At daylight the journey was renewed. So 
 they travelled on, halting for five or six hours in the heat 
 of the day, and riding in the morning early, and late on into 
 the evening. The climate, however, scarcely necessitated the 
 mid-day halt, and at night they were glad to wrap themselves 
 in a blanket in addition to the cloak. At last the summit of 
 
292 WITH COCHRANE THE DAUNTLESS. 
 
 the pass was reached. In front of them rose another chain of 
 mountains almost as lofty as that which they had climbed. 
 Between these great ranges lay a plain varying in width. 
 Several towns and small villages were visible. 
 
 "That is Janja to the right," the muleteer said, "and that 
 is Pasco to the left; they are both large towns. They do not 
 look so very far apart from here. But the air of the moun- 
 tains is so clear it is difficult to judge distances. You would 
 not take them to be much more than twenty miles from us; they 
 are nearly three times as far, and are fully eighty miles apart." 
 
 " Where does the guide of whom you spoke live?" 
 
 " It is some twenty miles down; it is where the roads from 
 the two towns fall into this pass. It is convenient for him, 
 because he is in the track of merchants going either north or 
 south." 
 
 No stay was made on the top of the pass, for the wind was 
 strong and piercing. There were snow-covered peaks on either 
 hand, and so they hurried onwards, although they had already 
 done a long morning's march. Five miles farther they halted 
 in a wood, and although they had already made a descent of 
 some thousand feet they were glad to light a fire. On the 
 following day they halted early at a solitary hut standing at 
 the junction of two roads. 
 
 "Bravo!" the muleteer said as the door opened and a man 
 came out at the sound of the mules' feet, " here is Pita himself. 
 I thought we should find him, for, since the war began, trade has 
 gone off greatly, and he was likely to be out of employment. 
 Well met, Pita; I was in hopes that I should find you here, 
 for the senor has need of the services of a bold fellow like 
 yourself." 
 
 "Enter, senor," the Indian said gravely, lifting his som- 
 brero, for he was dressed in Peruvian fashion. "It is long 
 since I have seen you, Gomez." 
 
AN INDIAN GUIDE. 293 
 
 "Yes, a full year," the muleteer replied; "it was at Cuzco, 
 and you were just starting with a party of traders." 
 
 The hut contained little furniture, but there was a pile of 
 skins, the proceeds of the Indian's hunting since his return 
 from his last expedition. He took off three or four of them, 
 threw them on the ground, and motioned Stephen to take 
 a seat while he busied himself in preparing a meal. Nothing 
 was said of business until this was served. When it was 
 finished the Indian rolled three cigars, and when these were 
 lighted, and three cups of excellent coffee made, Pita said : 
 
 "Now, senor, in what way can I serve you?" 
 
 "I want to go down the Amazon to the coast." 
 
 "It is a long journey, long and difficult; I have never been 
 so far. The farthest point that I have reached has been Barra, 
 where the Madeira falls into the Solimoes." 
 
 "That is the Amazon," Gomez explained. "It is called the 
 Maranon here in Peru, but from the frontier it is known as 
 the Solimoes." 
 
 "As far as the frontier," Pita went on, "there are no great 
 difficulties, and there are many towns on the banks; beyond 
 that to Barra there are but one or two villages. The Mozon 
 begins at Llata, some two hundred miles north of this. The 
 road is a good one, for we pass through Pasco and Huanuco; 
 there you can take boat, which will carry you as far as the 
 frontier, and beyond that you will have to take another, for 
 no Peruvians will venture so far from here." 
 
 " The senor wishes to escape towns," Gomez said. " He has 
 no papers, and wishes to escape questioning. You know what 
 Spanish authorities are, and how suspiciously they view the 
 passage of a stranger. Could you not take him down the 
 Madeira?" 
 
 "It is a terrible journey," the Indian said. "Very few 
 white men have ever descended the river. There are bad falls 
 
294 WITH COCHRANE THE DAUNTLESS. 
 
 and bad Indians. I myself have never gone down it more 
 than a few hundred miles. It would need much courage, 
 seiior, and even then things might turn out badly. I would 
 not undertake such a journey single-handed, though with a 
 good comrade I might adventure it. You could not get a 
 boat unless you bought one, and, as a rule, men travel on light 
 rafts, as these are safer on the rapids than boats. That way 
 has the advantage of being a good deal shorter than going 
 round by the Maraiion, but the difficulties and dangers are 
 very much greater." 
 
 " Do you love the Spaniards ? " Stephen asked. 
 
 The Indian's face darkened. 
 
 "They have been the destroyers of our race," he said; "the 
 oppressors of our country. I hate them with all my heart." 
 
 "Then I may tell you at once," Stephen said, "that I am 
 an Englishman. I am one of the officers of the English admiral 
 who commands the fleet that has destroyed their war-ships 
 and is blockading their towns. I was Avrecked on the Peruvian 
 coast and thrown into prison. They were about to hand me 
 over to the Inquisition as a heretic when I escaped, so you can 
 understand the danger that I should run in passing through any 
 of their towns. I speak, as you hear, the Chilian dialect, there- 
 fore I would be detected as a stranger at once, and as I could 
 give no satisfactory reply to questions, and have no papers, 
 I should at once be seized and sent back again to Callao." 
 
 The Indian nodded gravely. He had heard of the misfor- 
 tunes that had befallen the Spaniards, and knew that the fleet 
 that had inflicted such damage upon them was commanded by 
 an Englishman. 
 
 " The seiior is provided with money," Gomez said. " I did 
 not myself know that he was an Englishman, though I 
 suspected from the manner in which I was hired that he had 
 trouble with the Spaniards." 
 
AN INDIAN GUIDE. 295 
 
 "I would have told you so, Gomez," Stephen said, "but I 
 thought it better that you should not know, so that if I were 
 seized by the Spaniards you could declare that you were 
 wholly ignorant of my being an Englishman, and believed 
 that I was only a trader travelling on business." 
 
 "They would not have believed me," Gomez laughed. 
 " You had no goods with you, and your speech showed that 
 you were not a Peruvian. I have often wondered on the way 
 to what nation you belonged, and how it was that one so 
 young could be ready to undertake so desperate an enterprise 
 as you proposed; but now that I know you are an officer 
 under the terrible English admiral I can well understand it." 
 
 "I would do much," Pita said, "for any enemy of the 
 Spaniards ; and more for this reason than for the sake of money. 
 I am ready to undertake to do my best to take you in safety 
 to Barra; beyond that I would not go. The river below that 
 is, as I hear, quite open, and you could journey down with- 
 out difficulty save such as you would meet with from the 
 Portuguese authorities; but the distance would be too great for 
 me to return. Even from Barra it would be a journey fully 
 two thousand miles home again." 
 
 "What would be your terms for taking me to Barra 1 ?" 
 
 " I do not say that I would take you there, sefior, I only say 
 that I would try and do so. As I tell you, I have never 
 journeyed far down the Madeira myself, and know not what 
 the difficulties may be. For that reason I shall want half the 
 money paid to me when we reach Cuzco, near which live my 
 wife and family, and I must leave this with them in case I 
 never return. I will think over what pay I shall require for 
 myself and my comrade. It is not a matter upon which one 
 can decide at a word." 
 
 " I can quite understand that, Pita. I must of course keep 
 sufficient in hand to pay my expenses down to Para, where 
 
296 WITH COCHRANE THE DAUNTLESS. 
 
 I can doubtless obtain a passage by an English ship. But I 
 am ready to pay any sum you may ask that is within my 
 means. Now, Gomez, we had better go out and look to the 
 mules, and leave Pita to himself to think the matter over." 
 
 " The Indian will not overcharge you," Gomez said when 
 they were outside the hut; "the pay of these men is small. 
 They value their lives lightly, and when, like Pita, they once 
 take to the life of a guide, either to those who are searching for 
 mines or to traders, they never settle down. They are proud of 
 the confidence placed in them, and of their own skill as guides, 
 and so long as they can earn enough to keep their families 
 during their absence — and a very little suffices for that — they 
 are contented." 
 
 "I suppose there are mines to be discovered yet, Gomez?" 
 " Assuredly there are," the muleteer said confidently. " The 
 Spaniards have worked rich mines ever since they came here, 
 but great as is the treasure that they have taken away, it is 
 still insignificant compared with the store of gold among the 
 Incas when they came here. Every Peruvian on this side of 
 the Andes dreams of gold, and there are thousands of men who, 
 as soon as they earn enough money to buy tools and provisions, 
 set off to search for gold-mines or buried treasure. It is certain 
 that the Incas buried a vast quantity of their treasure rather 
 than see it fall into the hands of the Spaniards, and it has 
 never been discovered. It is generally believed that the 
 secret of the hiding-place is known to Indians, who have 
 handed down the secret from father to son. This may be 
 true or it may not. So many thousands of Indians have either 
 been killed by the Spaniards or have died in their mines, that 
 it may well be that all who knew the secret died centuries ago. 
 But I do not say that it may not be known to some of them 
 now; if so, it is more likely that these may be among the 
 tribes beyond the boundaries of Peru. There are vast tracts 
 
AN INDIAN GUIDE. 297 
 
 there where neither Spaniards nor Portuguese have penetrated. 
 The whole country is one great forest, or, in some places, one 
 great desert. 
 
 " The Indians of Peru have become, for the most part, an 
 idle, shiftless race. Centuries of slavery have broken their 
 spirit altogether, and had the secret been known to many of 
 them, it would have been wrung from them long since, espe- 
 cially as all are now Catholics and go to confession, and would 
 never be able to keep such a secret from leaking out. It is 
 true that there are little Indian villages among the mountains 
 where the people are still almost independent, and here the 
 secret may still be handed down; but I doubt if it will ever 
 be known. Doubtless it is guarded by such terrible oaths 
 that those who know it will never dare to reveal it. Pita has 
 gone, in his time, with a score of expeditions in search of the 
 treasure; most of these thought that they had obtained some 
 clue to it, but nothing was ever discovered, and I doubt 
 whether Pita himself was ever earnest in the search. 
 
 " In some respects he is like ourselves, in others he is still an 
 Indian, and has a full share of Indian superstitions, so that his 
 Christianity is no deeper than his skin. He would do his best 
 to guide those who employed him to the neighbourhood where 
 they thought that the treasure was hidden, but I doubt 
 whether he would do anything to assist in their search, or 
 would really try to gather from the Indians any clue as to its 
 whereabouts." 
 
 "But, at any rate, the natives could not very well have 
 carried away their gold-mines." 
 
 " Not carried them away, senor, — no; and that the Spaniards 
 had such rich mines at first shows that they did learn from 
 the natives — by torture, I daresay — where most of these were 
 situated; but they got more silver than gold, and even now 
 there is gold to be found in the sands of most of the rivers in 
 
298 WITH COCHRANE THE DAUNTLESS. 
 
 South America, so that I think it was from washings more 
 than mines that the Spaniards got their gold. Still, we all 
 think that there must have been rich gold-mines in the times 
 before the Spaniards, and that when the natives saw how 
 villainously their monarch and all his chief men were treated, 
 and how the Spaniards thought of nothing but gold and silver, 
 they may have blocked up the entrances to all their richest 
 mines, and in a few years all signs of the sites would be 
 covered by thick vegetation. You see, sehor, these things are 
 talked over whenever a few of us get together, and though 
 there are not many other things that we do know, you will 
 scarcely meet a Peruvian who could not talk with you for 
 hours about the lost treasure and the lost gold-mines of the 
 Incas. 
 
 " There are many places that I know of where the sand is 
 rich enough to pay well for washing, but they are all far away 
 from habitations. A man would have to carry his stores and 
 provisions and tools with him; and then, it is hard work, and 
 a Peruvian does not care for hard work. As to the natives, 
 there would be no keeping them at it, they would desert 
 and run away at once; for not only do they hate work, but, 
 above all things, they hate to work for gold. They look upon 
 gold as an accursed thing, which brought about the conquest 
 of the country by the Spaniards, and the centuries of oppres- 
 sion that have befallen their race; and even should a native 
 alight upon a rich spot he would go away and never say a 
 word about it, fearing that if he did, all sorts of trouble would 
 fall upon him." 
 
 "Pita is a fine-looking Indian, Gomez." 
 
 "Yes, senor; he is a mixture, that is, he is of pure Indian 
 blood, but he belongs to two tribes. His father was a native 
 of one of the villages highest up among the hills. He too was 
 a hunter and guide. In one of his journeys down in the plain 
 
AN INDIAN GUIDE. 299 
 
 country he married the daughter of one of the chiefs of the 
 wild Indians, and Pita was their son. I don't know which tribe 
 it was that his mother belonged to, but I know that they lived 
 in the forests on one of the greater rivers. Pita is not one who 
 talks much of himself, or who talks much at all, but I know 
 that he has the reputation of being one of the most daring 
 hunters and guides in the country, and that he has gone 
 through many adventures while travelling with traders. He 
 has always been trustworthy and faithful to his employers. As 
 he says, he cannot promise to take you safely down the Madeira, 
 but if any man can do it, he will." 
 
 Half an hour later they returned to the hut, where the 
 Indian was sitting in precisely the same attitude in which they 
 had left him. 
 
 "Well, Pita, have you arrived at a conclusion?" Gomez 
 asked. 
 
 "I have thought it over," he said, "and I calculate that it 
 may be a year before I return, and the risk is great. Can 
 the seiior afford to pay three hundred and sixty -five dollars? 
 That is for the services of myself and my comrade. He has no 
 wife or family, and will therefore need less pay than I, who 
 will have to leave money behind for mine. The seiior will be 
 at no other expense until he arrives at Barra, except for such 
 things as tea and sugar, and any liquor he may wish to put 
 on board at starting. If the seiior cannot afford that, I will 
 guide him down along by the foot of the mountains until we 
 can cross over into Chili. It will be an arduous journey, but 
 without perils, and we shall pass through few villages." 
 
 " How long will that take, Pita?" 
 
 "It would be a long journey, seiior. As a bird flies it 
 would be seven or eight hundred miles; but winding round 
 the foot of the hills it would be two thousand." 
 
 "I would rather try the other, Pita," Stephen replied; for 
 
300 WITH COCHRANE THE DAUNTLESS. 
 
 the thought of the passage by water through unknown forests, 
 and then down the Amazon, exercised a strong fascination 
 over him, and the idea of a toilsome journey of two thousand 
 miles was the reverse of attractive. The war was, he was 
 sure, nearly over. He might arrive in Chili only to find that 
 the admiral had gone away; and even when he reached the 
 frontier he had another journey to make before he reached 
 Valparaiso, whereas when he arrived at Para he could sail 
 direct for England. 
 
 " I could afford to pay you the terms you ask," he went on, 
 "and shall still have enough left to take me from Barra home." 
 
 "Then, so be it," the Indian said; "to-morrow we will 
 start for Paucartambo, which lies but a few miles from the 
 Mayutata. We shall pass through Cuzco on our way. You 
 have arms, I see, senor 1 " 
 
 " Yes, and some ammunition, but I shall want a larger supply 
 before we start." 
 
 At daybreak next morning they set out, the Indian walking- 
 ahead. Once or twice Stephen pushed his mule forward to 
 endeavour to enter into conversation, but he could get but 
 few words from him, and had to drop back to Gomez, who was 
 willing enough to talk. 
 
 "It is no use trying to get anything out of Pita, senor. If 
 you can get him in the mood by a camp fire, he may tell you 
 some of his adventures; but the natives are not given to talk- 
 ing overmuch, and Pita, when he is once on his way as guide, 
 will go on without saying a word for hours. I have made 
 several journeys with him, and it is always the same. Of 
 course there is nothing for him to look after here, but it is a 
 sort of habit. I have no doubt that he could tell you how 
 many birds have crossed the road to-day. He has noticed 
 every lizard, could tell you where a mule belonging to the last 
 party has made a false step, how many there were travelling 
 
AN INDIAN GUIDE. 301 
 
 together, and all about them. He takes it all in; and though 
 here it might just as well be left alone, this watchfulness 
 might save your life afterwards." 
 
 Day after day they journeyed on. Stephen did not enter 
 Cuzco. As the capital of the Incas he felt an interest in it, 
 but cared little for it as a great Spanish town whose glory had 
 almost departed ; and it was not worth running any risk when 
 nothing was to be gained by visiting it. He therefore re- 
 mained at Pita's Indian hut a few miles away, while Gomez 
 went into the town with the guide to get the stores they 
 required. Pita's comrade returned with them. Stephen was 
 greatly surprised at the man's appearance. Pita himself was, for 
 an Indian, tall; he was spare in frame, but very sinewy; his 
 muscles stood up beneath the brown skin like cords. Hurka 
 was so short that he was almost a dwarf, and, save for his face, 
 he might have been taken for a boy of fourteen. He possessed 
 none of Pita's gravity, but was soon laughing and chatting 
 with the Indian's wife and children, and was evidently a special 
 favourite with them. His face was bright and intelligent. 
 
 " You would not think, seiior," Gomez said as, after telling 
 him what they had purchased in the city, he stood watching 
 Hurka, who was running backwards and forwards between 
 the hut and the mules, carrying in packages, " that that little 
 chap is one of the best guides on this side of the Andes. He 
 and Pita are, I should say, the two best; and whenever they 
 can, they work together. He is a wonderful shot — better than 
 Pita. He can swim like a fish ; and he does not seem to know 
 what fatigue is. He and Pita are like brothers, although they 
 are so different in their ways; and it is wonderful to see how 
 they get on together. I would not mind where I went with 
 them, for they can find their way through the thickest forest, 
 and are up to every device that can be useful to travellers. I 
 have never heard of their losing anyone under their charge, 
 
302 WITH COCHRANE THE DAUNTLESS. 
 
 except, of course, from disease and heat, and perhaps a few 
 shot by Indians. That is a thing that may always happen, 
 there is no guarding against it — especially when you have 
 got men with you who will go their own way, and make 
 light of any idea of taking precautions. Sometimes they have 
 had to fall back altogether when they have been with gold 
 or treasure seekers, but never when they were with trading 
 parties. 
 
 "In the forest country the natives are generally ready 
 enough to trade, but there are parts where they never allow 
 a white party to penetrate. Whether it is that there is 
 really a treasure, or an extraordinary rich gold-mine, or 
 Avhether it is only that in some sections the tribes are more 
 hostile than in others, no one knows for certain, but there 
 is no doubt that when any party approaches certain locali- 
 ties troubles begin directly. As they go through the forest, 
 arrows come flying thick through the tangle of creepers, and 
 poisoned darts from blow-pipes. The foes are invisible, but 
 they make themselves felt, and it soon breaks down the 
 courage of the bravest to be shot at when you never get a 
 chance of shooting back in return. Both Pita and Hurka 
 have been with parties that have been attacked and forced 
 to fall back; but it has not been their fault, for they always 
 warn those who employ them that the clangers are too great to 
 be overcome. Still, men who think that they have got a clue 
 to hidden wealth always seem to consider that their guides are 
 interested in preventing their getting it, and will listen to no 
 advice till they find out for themselves that the danger has 
 not been exaggerated, and that it is certain death to push on 
 further." 
 
 "I wonder that neither of them has been killed," Stephen 
 said. 
 
 ''It is a wonder, senor, and some have even declared that 
 
AN INDIAN GUIDE. 303 
 
 they must be in league with the Indians ; but it is due to their 
 understanding the native way of fighting. While white men 
 stand up and fire away into the bush, they quickly throw them- 
 selves down behind the trunk of a tree, and then crawl into 
 the forest and fight in the same way as the Indians do; and 
 they say that more than once those two alone have made the 
 natives fall back, and so enabled the whites to retreat. You 
 will see that they will both take bows and arrows with them; 
 and though they would use their rifles if openly attacked, in 
 these battles in the forests, or when hunting in dangerous 
 neighbourhoods, they use their bows in preference to the 
 rifles." 
 
 The next day the journey was continued, and in ten days 
 they reached a stream which, as the Indians told Stephen, ran 
 into the Beni, one of the principal feeders of the Madeira. 
 Here was a village occupied wholly by Indians and half-castes. 
 A large canoe was purchased, and the loads of the two mules 
 stowed in it, a store of bread and fruit was obtained from the 
 natives, together with ten skins sewn up as bags, and intended 
 to be inflated and used for the construction of a raft. Two days 
 were spent in making their preparations, and then Stephen 
 took leave of Gomez, to whom he gave a handsome present, in 
 addition to the sum that had been agreed upon. By this time 
 Stephen had come to appreciate the good qualities of Huika, 
 whose unfailingly good temper and gaiety had lightened the 
 journey, and whose humorous stories of his adventures, and 
 of the obstinacy and folly of his employers, raised a smile 
 even on the impassive face of Pita. 
 
 Stephen was delighted when the canoe pushed out into the 
 stream, and they began their journey down the thousands of 
 miles of river that had to be traversed before they reached the 
 eastern sea-coast. Pita sat in the stern of the canoe, Hurka 
 in the bow, while Stephen had a comfortable seat in the 
 
304 WITH COCHRANE THE DAUNTLESS. 
 
 middle, separated from them by two piles of stores and 
 provisions. Over him was a roof of green boughs, supported 
 by four poles, connected by others, to which a thin curtain of 
 cotton-stuff was attached. It was all made in one piece, and 
 was rolled up in the daytime to allow the passage of air, but 
 at night could be dropped all round so as to form a protection 
 against insects and the vapours from the water. The tent 
 was large enough for the three men to sleep in comfortably; 
 and in the centre was a small stove, in which fire was kept 
 burning for cooking purposes in the daytime, and to counteract 
 the dampness of the air at night. As soon as it was dark, and 
 the insects became troublesome, the Indians threw on the fire 
 branches that they cut fresh every clay from shrubs growing 
 on the banks. This caused a pungent odour which effectually 
 prevented insects from making their way in through the leafy 
 roof. 
 
 During the daytime the canoe was generally kept close to 
 one shore or the other, so as to be under the shade of the 
 overhanging forest trees; at night they sometimes tied up to 
 a tree, but more often one or other of the Indians sat in the 
 stern of the boat giving an occasional stroke with his paddle to 
 keep her drifting down in the centre of the current. While it 
 was light they always had their guns close at hand, and some- 
 times brought down a bird from the trees overhead. Baited 
 hooks on a long line were towed astern. They seldom caught 
 anything during the day, but at night they frequently captured 
 a few fish. This, however, was more often done by spearing 
 them, the Indians having bought spears for the purpose at the 
 village. On these occasions Stephen took his place in the bow 
 with two lighted torches of resinous wood; the light attracted 
 the fish, which were speared by the Indians, who seldom missed 
 striking them, however far beneath the surface, though Stephen 
 failed even to catch sight of them. 
 
DOWN THE RIVER. 305 
 
 The fish formed the main staple of their food, helped out by 
 the birds, which were, for the most part, of the pigeon tribe, 
 though larger and differing much in plumage from the English 
 species. They had brought from Cuzco a hundred pounds of 
 flour, which was sewed up in two skins, so that in case of a 
 misfortune to the canoe it would be uninjured by water. 
 From this the Indians made flat cakes, which were an excellent 
 substitute for bread. 
 
 For the first ten days Hurka while paddling generally sung 
 Spanish songs that he had picked up, but gradually he ceased 
 doing so, and became as taciturn as Pita himself. 
 
 "The Indians on this part of the river," he told Stephen, 
 "are generally of a peaceful nature, and are quite willing to 
 trade, but, as we have no merchandise, they would look upon 
 us with some suspicion; and, moreover, the tribes are often at 
 war with each other, and in that case it is always better that 
 travellers should avoid them. Consequently it is better to 
 travel silently." 
 
 For the same reason they generally timed themselves so as 
 to pass the Indian villages at night, the fire on such occasions 
 being kept very low, and ashes being drawn up over the embers 
 so as to completely extinguish the light until the village was 
 well behind them. Shooting was, for the time, entirely given up. 
 
 CHAPTER XVII. 
 
 DOWN THE RIVER. 
 
 THE time passed pleasantly to Stephen as he reclined on a 
 heap of skins and blankets watching the forests that 
 
 bordered the stream, or looking up through the overhanging 
 ( M 220 ) u 
 
306 WITH COCHRANE THE DAUNTLESS. 
 
 canopy at the birds and monkeys, the latter of which afforded 
 him great amusement by the way in which they chattered and 
 gesticulated. The mothers with the little ones climbed to 
 the top of the trees, while the males came boldly out on the 
 lower branches to bid defiance to those in the boat. " Often he 
 slept, for the heat, and the almost noiseless fall of the paddles, 
 and the tranquil easy motion of the canoe made him excep- 
 tionally drowsy. One day his eye fell upon something on a 
 large branch of a tree that bent down to within twelve feet of 
 the water. It was only some ten yards ahead when he noticed 
 it. It was partly hidden by foliage, and for a moment it seemed 
 to him to be a thickening of the branch. He would have 
 passed it without a thought had it not been for a slight move- 
 ment; then a glance showed him that it was an animal of some 
 kind lying almost flattened upon the tree. 
 
 He caught up his rifle just as it rose to a crouching attitude, 
 and was upon the point of springing upon Pita. The gun was 
 loaded with shot only, but as he threw up the muzzle and 
 fired almost instantly, the beast gave a terrible roar. Its 
 spring was arrested, and it fell headlong into the water within 
 a foot of the side of the boat. A tawny head, with two rows 
 of big white teeth, arose from the water almost abreast of him, 
 and a great paw was raised to strike at the boat, but Hurka's 
 rifle cracked out, and the animal sank again below the water. 
 
 "You have saved my life, senor," Pita said gravely. "It 
 was a jaguar, and had you not fired it would have struck me 
 down and crushed in my skull with a blow of its paw. I 
 wonder I did not see it, but I was thinking at the time that 
 we had best tie up for an hour or two so as to pass the next 
 village, which is a large one, after dark." 
 
 "It was almost hidden among those leaves," Stephen said, 
 "and had it not moved I should not have noticed it." 
 
 " I think you blinded it, senor," Hurka said. " I saw it rise 
 
"THE ANIMAL WAS ON THE POINT OF SPRINGING WHEN STEPHEN 
 FIRED." 
 
DOWN THE RIVER. 307 
 
 to spring, and snatched at my rifle just as you fired. I think 
 the charge struck it between the eyes, for I saw a sort of blur 
 there just as it fell. I should have been too late; for though 
 I might have hit it as it was in the air, it would assuredly have 
 come down on Pita. 
 
 " It was not like you, Pita. This comes of thinking while 
 you are paddling instead of keeping your eyes on everything." 
 
 " I was wrong," the Indian replied. " I should have known 
 that an attack by a jaguar was always possible; but this is 
 the first that we have seen since starting, and I had no thought 
 of danger in my mind. I will be more careful in the future. 
 It must have been well hidden, for you did not see it yourself, 
 Hurka, until it moved for its spring." 
 
 " That is true," the little Indian replied. " The Englishman's 
 eyes must be quick indeed, and his nerve steady. It was seeing 
 him catch up his gun that first called my attention to it. You 
 have laid us both under a great obligation, senor, for Pita is 
 my best friend, and were aught to befall him I should feel that 
 I had lost part of myself. Perhaps before the journey comes 
 to an end we may be able to show you how grateful we are." 
 
 " It is nothing worth talking about," Stephen said. " In a 
 journey like this, comrades may well save each other's lives 
 more than once." 
 
 "That is true, seiior; but it is our duty to save your life if 
 need be, and it is turning the tables upon us for you to be the 
 means of saving ours. However, you will not find us lacking 
 when the time comes. Already we have agreed that this time 
 of all others we must carry our business through successfully. 
 You are not like these Spaniards. To them we are Indian 
 dogs, mere dust under their feet, a people whose services they 
 buy as they buy those of our mules ; but you have treated us 
 as if we had been comrades of the same colour as you your- 
 self, have insisted upon our eating with you, and have talked 
 
308 WITH COCHRANE THE DAUNTLESS. 
 
 with us as if we were friends together; and you will find 
 that it is so if danger arises. We Indians are not accustomed 
 to kindness or consideration from our Spanish masters. Could 
 they do without us they would not suffer an Indian to exist in 
 the land; but they need our labour, and so bear with us. But 
 we, on our part, never forget that our ancestors were lords of 
 this country, that they received these white strangers with 
 kindness, and were repaid by the grossest treachery and ingra- 
 titude, and that, not contented with seizing our land and our 
 possessions, they murdered all our princes and leaders, and 
 reduced all whom they did not slay to slavery, keeping us 
 only that we might work the mines and till the fields for them. 
 
 "Centuries have passed since then, but there has been no 
 change; they are still our masters, we their beasts of burden. 
 They may pay us for our services, but they have no thought or 
 consideration for us. We may risk our lives for them, but they 
 value ours no more than if we were dogs. Save among the mule- 
 teers, like Gomez, who long ago ceased to be Spaniards, and are 
 now Peruvians, they look upon us as a conquered race, and 
 as to friendship or a kindly thought for an Indian, they think 
 more of their dogs than they do of us. Therefore, sefior, you 
 may guess that Pita and 1 do not feel towards you only as a 
 master who pays us, but as one who has treated us as if we 
 were the same colour as himself, and even the service you 
 have rendered Pita binds us less to you than the kindness 
 that you have shown us. If all Englishmen are like you it 
 would be a blessing indeed to this country if, after your famous 
 admiral had driven out the Spaniards, he would himself reign 
 over the land and bring some of his people here to govern us. 
 
 " The white Peruvians are no better than the Spaniards. They 
 are the same blood, and have the same ideas, and save that they 
 are cowards, while the Spaniards, to do them justice, are often 
 brave, there is little to choose between them. They are as 
 
DOWN THE RIVER. 309 
 
 proud of their white blood, and they despise us as heartily; they 
 are as greedy of gold, but too indolent to work for it; and 
 when the Spaniards have gone they will be despots as hard 
 and as tyrannical as our present governors. We hope for the 
 change, though we know well that it will do but little for 
 us; while, if the people of your race came as masters of the 
 land, we might have some share of freedom and happiness. 
 Tales have reached even us that across the western ocean you 
 rule over a people dark like ourselves, but infinitely more 
 numerous than we were when the Spaniards first set foot here; 
 and that your rule is a good and just one, and that the natives 
 are happy and contented, and that there are the same laws for 
 them as for us. Do you think, seiior, that there is any chance 
 of your admiral and your people coming here 1 ?" 
 
 "I am afraid not, Hurka. We English here are in the service 
 of Chili. We are free ourselves, and our sympathies are with 
 all men who are struggling to be free; but we have no idea of 
 conquest here, and were Peru to offer to come under our rule 
 we should not accept it. We have already wide possessions 
 in North America and elsewhere, and need no further terri- 
 tories, especially in a climate that is unfitted for us. We 
 might rule it as Ave do India, but the Peruvians would never 
 be contented, and we should never attempt to keep them in 
 subjection did they wish us gone. India, the country you speak 
 of, is inhabited by many races and religions. Before we went, 
 there were incessant wars, and were we to leave they would 
 at once recommence. The people, then, feel that our rule is a 
 real benefit, and that they are far happier under it than they 
 were under their native rulers. When we went there we had 
 no thought of conquering it; we only went there to trade. It 
 was because we were attacked that we defended ourselves, and 
 there are still portions of the country that are altogether inde- 
 pendent, and so long as the native sovereigns leave us alone we 
 
310 WITH COCHRANE THE DAUNTLESS. 
 
 are well contented that things should remain as they are. We 
 do not enrich ourselves at the expense of the natives. They 
 have to pay taxes to keep up the expenses of the army and 
 administration there, but England draws no revenue from 
 India. It does not, as Spain did, enrich itself with the plunder 
 of the land; and it is free to people of all nations to trade there 
 as we do ourselves. Individuals may gain wealth there by 
 commerce, or by the growth of indigo and other things that 
 we cannot raise at home, but as a nation we obtain no revenue 
 whatever from India. The army there is for the most part 
 raised from the people, who are free to enlist or not as they 
 please, and who fight as faithfully for us as they would have 
 done for their own rulers." 
 
 " Then what do you gain by being there?" Hurka asked. 
 
 " We gain in the trade that is carried on by our merchants 
 selling English goods there, and buying Indian produce. The 
 army and the civil government furnish employment to large 
 numbers of Englishmen. These are the only material advan- 
 tages that, so far as I know, we gain ; although of course it is 
 a matter of pride and satisfaction to Englishmen that they rule 
 over so great a country, and that our presence there is of 
 enormous advantage to the people." 
 
 "And are there no gold or silver mines there?" Pita asked. 
 
 "No; at any rate nothing that has been worked since we 
 went there." 
 
 "Ah, if you would but come here," Hurka exclaimed, " what 
 a blessing it would be to us ! and I am sure that the Indians, 
 when they knew that they would be fairly treated, would no 
 longer preserve the secrets of the Incas, but would gladly open 
 to you mines that have been hidden ever since the Spaniards 
 came, and hand over vast treasures that have been left un- 
 touched all these years. They are useless to them, and are 
 hidden only because they hate the Spaniards, and know that 
 
DOWN THE RIVER. 311 
 
 did they discover these mines they would compel the people 
 to work at them as their fathers did; and ere long we should 
 disappear altogether." 
 
 While they had been talking they had floated quietly down 
 the stream, and Pita said that they were now but a few miles 
 from the next village, and had better tie up until darkness 
 came on. 
 
 "Have you any desire for gold, senor 1 ?" Hurka asked, 
 after they had secured the canoe to an overhanging branch, 
 and the two Indians had rolled and lighted their cigarettes. 
 
 " Not particularly, Hurka. I suppose everyone would like 
 gold ; but I have already enough to live upon, having been very 
 fortunate in aiding to capture a vessel carrying a large sum for 
 the payment of the Spanish troops. If I were to search for 
 gold it would be rather for the sake of the adventure than for 
 the treasure." 
 
 " You are the first white man I have ever met, senor, who 
 would not undertake any risk in order to gain a fortune, and 
 the richest are as ready to adventure their gold in any enter- 
 prise that promises even a chance of success, as the poorest 
 are willing to risk their lives." 
 
 "The adventure itself would be very exciting," Stephen 
 said, "and I do not say that I should not like to take part in 
 one, just as I am glad to have the chance of such an adventure 
 as going down the Amazon; but it would certainly be the 
 excitement, and not the chance of making money, that would 
 attract me. " I don't say for a moment that I should refuse a 
 share in the treasure, only that I would not run any great 
 risks for the sake of the treasure alone. I suppose that every 
 one could do with more than he has; for even if you have 
 nothing to wish for, it would at least be a pleasure to give it 
 away. 
 
 "I have been fortunate; although I am still very young. 
 
312 WITH COCHRANE THE DAUNTLESS. 
 
 I have been through, a great many adventures, and if I were 
 to settle quietly down at home now, I have more to look back 
 upon than most men." 
 
 Day after day they floated down, sometimes on a broad 
 tranquil sheet with a scarce perceptible current, and at others 
 in a rapid headlong stream pent up between narrow banks. 
 The volume of water had vastly increased since they started, 
 owing to the number of streams that had flowed into the 
 Beni, some of these being so large that they would be con- 
 sidered good-sized rivers in Europe. At last, a month after 
 starting, Hurka said that next day they would reach the con- 
 fluence of the Beni and the Madeira. 
 
 " There is a mission-station there, and if the seiior likes to 
 pause there for a day or two before descending the river he can 
 do so." 
 
 " Not at all, Hurka. In the first place I shall be asked a 
 great many questions which would be difficult to answer, and 
 in the second, even two days in a mission-station would be 
 frightfully dull." 
 
 "Very well, seiior, then we will pass straight into the river 
 and halt a few hours' journey further down." 
 
 " Why should we halt at all?" 
 
 " We shall want to construct a raft, seiior. There are many 
 dangerous rapids in the Madeira besides the falls, and the 
 river is beginning to rise. You were noticing yesterday how 
 thick the water had become, and some of the streams that run 
 into it are laden with mud. That shows that the rain has 
 begun on the western slopes. The Madeira is generally in 
 flood two days before the Beni, and the water will be running- 
 down in a great stream; therefore it will be necessary to make 
 our raft. We need not desert the canoe, but can let it float 
 alongside of us, or we can haul it on to the raft; it will be 
 convenient for sleeping in." 
 
DOWN THE RIVER. 313 
 
 "We had better land at once and make our raft," Pita said, 
 " before we reach the Madeira. I know of no high bank for a 
 very long distance after we have entered the great river where 
 we could manage it." 
 
 " Then by all means let us do so at once," Stephen said, 
 "and perhaps we may get some sport." 
 
 Accordingly the boat was headed towards shore. When they 
 reached the side they found that the Beni itself had risen, and 
 the bank, usually seven or eight feet out of water, was now 
 little more than a foot above its level. 
 
 "You may get some birds," Hurka said, "but nothing else. 
 The instinct of the beasts tells them that the river is nearly full, 
 and doubtless indeed the low-lying parts of the forest are 
 already submerged. They will be off before this, and will 
 travel on till they come to ground that is always above the 
 floods. Some will, doubtless, be caught and perish. Such as 
 climb will take to trees, but hunger will destroy them." 
 
 "How far do the floods extend?" 
 
 " In some places a hundred miles, and on the Amazon itself, 
 as I have heard, a great deal further." 
 
 They paddled along close to the bank until they reached a 
 spot where it was bordered by a vast number of reeds, many of 
 them as thick as Stephen's arm. 
 
 " Now we are going to make our raft," Hurka said. " These 
 reeds are far better than solid branches. They are very light, 
 and we fasten them but loosely together, so that they can give 
 to the water. When we have made it, we shall then want four 
 young saplings. These we shall lash together firmly in a square, 
 and under each corner we fasten the skins, and one also in the 
 middle of each pole ; you know we have brought eight with us. 
 First we make the raft itself with the rushes. It is made about 
 four feet larger each way than the frame with the skins. This 
 frame is laid in the raft, and is fastened loosely to it. Thus you 
 
314 WITH COCHRANE THE DAUNTLESS. 
 
 see the raft itself is complete without the poles and skins, which, 
 so long as it holds together, simply rest on it, but if the raft gets 
 broken up the skins will support the poles. We generally lash 
 a few cross poles to the frame, and on these we sit, for the 
 water splashes up between the reeds, making everything wet. 
 As we are going to take our canoe with us, we shall not want 
 the cross poles, but shall lay her on the reeds and get on board 
 her. We shall pick out the largest reeds we can get to place 
 under the spot where she will lie, and shall only get out of the 
 boat when it is necessary to go to the front or sides of the raft 
 to pole her off from any floating tree or other danger." 
 
 It took them two days to complete the raft, the second day's 
 work being carried on afloat, for the stream rose very rapidly. 
 The lashings of the reeds were of leather thongs, so tied that 
 while they were held firmly in their places there was a great 
 deal of play, an advantage that Stephen discovered as soon 
 as they were afloat again on the stream. The rapidity with 
 which the river was running raised it in a series of sharp waves, 
 and a rigid raft would have had one end or the other constantly 
 immersed. The raft, however, undulated with the water almost 
 as a carpet of the same size would have done, the lashings of 
 the buoyant reeds permitting each side to rise and fall, while 
 the structure upon it lifted or fell with the motion. The canoe 
 half floated and was half supported by the raft below it, and 
 Stephen was surprised to find how slight the motion was even 
 in the broken water. Presently the two Indians left the canoe, 
 and seating themselves on the poles, paddled towards the shore 
 to the left, and getting out of the current made their way along 
 the edge of the forest. 
 
 "We are close now," Hurka said, "to the Madeira, and the 
 struggle of the two swollen rivers will raise a turmoil so great 
 that even this raft might break up in the waves." 
 
 This Stephen could well believe when the canoe reached the 
 
DOWN THE RIVER. 315 
 
 angle where the rivers joined. The width was nearly two 
 miles, and the scene presented the appearance of the sea in a 
 violent gale, except that it was a chaos without order or regu- 
 larity. The cross currents seemed to crash against each other, 
 hurling the spray many yards in the air. Waves leapt up in 
 conical form as if lifted bodily from below. The position of 
 the centre of the stream changed continually as one current or 
 the other gained the mastery. Here and there were whirlpools 
 and eddies that would have engulfed an ordinary boat in a 
 moment. The whole was white with foam. 
 
 " It is like a huge boiling pot," Stephen said as he watched it. 
 
 "No boat ever made could live in it," Hurka said. "I 
 have seen boats on the great waves that break on the coast, 
 but there was an order in the waves, and those skilled in the 
 work could wait their opportunity and come in on the top 
 of one of them. Here all is confusion, and a boat would be 
 thrown into the air by one of those suddenly rising lumps of 
 water, and if caught between two of the waves would be 
 crushed like a shell. No one would think of descending the 
 river when the Beni and the Madeira are in flood, except by 
 doing as we are doing now, keeping in the dead-water, or, 
 if in canoes, making their way through the submerged forests. 
 But even this would be hazardous work, for the canoe might be 
 torn by unseen boughs below the surface of the water. There- 
 fore at times like these, most men wait until the floods have 
 abated, unless they are in a great hurry, and this is seldom, for 
 neither Indians nor Peruvians are ever in haste about anything. 
 
 " The greatest danger to inexperienced travellers is that of 
 being lost in the forest. Many streams come in, and when 
 the water is very high it is difficult to know whether one is 
 crossing a tract denuded of wood or one of the many channels 
 of the river; and once lost in the forest a traveller's fate is 
 sealed, for the current there is insufficient to enable him to 
 
316 WITH COCHRANE THE DAUNTLESS. 
 
 judge in which direction is the main river, for he may be in 
 a back eddy or in the current from a cross channel. The trees 
 are so interlaced with creepers that every foot of the way has 
 to be cut, while among the foliage are snakes of all kinds, from 
 the great boas to the little tree snakes, a bite from which causes 
 death in a few minutes. There too are starving jaguars, 
 leopards, and wild cats, who, once they get over the terror 
 caused by the inundation, are all on the look-out for food. 
 Amidst all these enemies the inexperienced traveller speedily 
 loses his presence of mind and even his reason. 
 
 " Once when I was going down this very river we heard a 
 noise of wild laughter, intermingled with strange piercing cries. 
 We knew at once that it was a traveller lost in the forest. It 
 took us two hours to cut our way to the spot where we heard 
 the sounds. We guessed who were the sufferers. Two Spaniards 
 had hired a large canoe, and had taken with them six village 
 boatmen. They had refused my offer to go with four men of 
 my tribe who were accustomed to the river and its dangers, 
 as we demanded a much higher sum than the villagers were 
 ready to go for, and we said when we saw them put off that 
 they would never get down to the mission. When we reached 
 the spot one man was lying dead at the bottom of the canoe. 
 One of the Spaniards and one of the villagers were missing, 
 having no doubt leapt overboard in their madness. The others 
 were all raving madmen, some with scarce strength to raise 
 themselves in the boat, others making the dreadful laughing 
 and screaming that we had heard. 
 
 " When they saw us they took us, I believe, for devils, and 
 it was not until we had lassoed the strongest that we were 
 able to overpower them. We bound them and laid them at 
 the bottom of our canoe and took them down to the mission, 
 which was some fifty miles below us. I was told afterwards 
 that only one of them ever recovered his senses; the others 
 
DOWN THE RIVER. 317 
 
 either died raving or were hopelessly mad. From the one who 
 recovered it was learned that as soon as they came to the point 
 where the stream became rapid they made for the edge of the 
 forest. At night they tied up their canoe to a tree, but in the 
 morning when they awoke they found that the line had become 
 untied, and that they had drifted into the forest. There they 
 had been three days when we found them. They had lost all 
 idea of direction, and had we been a few hours later the last 
 voice would have been silenced, and when the flood subsided 
 the canoe and its occupants would have rotted away, and no one 
 would ever have known the fate that had befallen them." 
 
 "How do you find your way through a flooded forest, 
 Hurka?" 
 
 " It is born in us as it is born in birds to make their way 
 back to their nests. It may be that a careful examination 
 would show that the trunks on one side are more thickly 
 covered with creepers than the other; but we do not need to 
 take notice of such things, or if we notice them it is without 
 knowing it, as we are sure of our direction. We have seen 
 Spanish travellers who had the things with which they said 
 they could direct their course at sea, with a card that goes 
 round and round and always when it is steady points in one 
 direction. This is no doubt Yevy useful out on the plains or 
 in a forest where there are no obstacles, but here where the 
 woods are intercepted by numberless streams and with wide 
 swamps, such a machine is useless to any one unless he is inti- 
 mately acquainted with the country and the course of the 
 streams. Even Indian dwellers on the shores of the river 
 often, in the times of floods, get lost in the forest and lose their 
 lives, so changed is the aspect of everything by the water." 
 
 " It must be terrible," Stephen said, as he glanced between 
 the trunks of the trees at the still, dark water under the thick 
 canopy. "Of course the sun must be a help." 
 
318 WITH COCHRANE THE DAUNTLESS. 
 
 " We do not often see the sun in times of flood, sefior. 
 Eain often falls very heavily, and even when it does not do so 
 there is, you see, a mist in the air rising from this vast expanse 
 of water. Besides, it is only when it is directly overhead that 
 the sun's rays penetrate the foliage, and at that time it is too 
 high for the shadows to afford much guidance. Among us, 
 three shots of a gun at regular intervals is a call for aid, but in 
 flood time it is a useless one, for the Indians, like the Avild beasts, 
 all leave, save when their huts are on eminences, and the chances 
 of the shots being heard by human ears are small indeed. To 
 one lost in the forest at other times it is all but certain death, 
 but when the floods are out a man would do wisely to fire the 
 first shot into his own head." 
 
 Day after day they travelled on, keeping just far enough 
 out to get the benefit of the current without allowing them- 
 selves to be drawn towards the centre of the river. Even this 
 at times was very difficult, especially when they were passing 
 round curves, for much of the water, instead of following the 
 channel, made its way through the forest to the next bend in 
 the river, and they had the greatest difficulty in preventing 
 themselves from being drawn in among the trees by the current. 
 At such times they were forced to launch the canoe overboard, 
 to roll up the bottom of the raft, and to lay the great bundle 
 of rushes across the poles now supported by the inflated skins. 
 Only then by vigorous paddling, in which Stephen bore his 
 part, were they able to tow this behind them across the current 
 until they reached a point where the force of the stream was 
 confined to the regular channel. At one point, where the 
 river was broader than usual and the current in consequence 
 slower, they crossed to the other bank. 
 
 "We are getting near the rapids now," Hurka said, "and 
 this bank is the least dangerous of the two. Hitherto we have 
 had nothing but the force of the stream to contend with, but 
 
DOWN THE RIVER. 319 
 
 now we shall have rocks. It is for this that we constructed the 
 raft. Up to now we should have done far better to have come 
 down in the canoe alone, but, once among the rocks, a touch 
 would break her up, while the raft can scrape against them with- 
 out injury. You will see that the aspect of things will change 
 altogether; the banks where the rapids are, are high and steep, 
 and the inundations will cease for a time. Once beyond the 
 falls we shall again be in a flat country, and the inundations 
 will extend almost all the way down until we reach the Amazon." 
 
 " There is no way of avoiding the rapids, I suppose V Stephen 
 asked. 
 
 "None but by getting out and carrying everything round. 
 At the falls this has to be done, there are no other means of 
 passing them. In some respects it is safer to go down the 
 rapids now than it is in the dry season, for the greater portion 
 of the rocks are far below the surface, and we shall pass over 
 small falls without even noticing them." 
 
 The days as a rule passed pleasantly enough, save where the 
 voyagers had to work against cross currents, but at night, when 
 they tied up to a tree, the noise was prodigious. The howling 
 and roaring of wild beasts was incessant. Monkeys chattered 
 in terror, and occasionally an almost human scream proclaimed 
 that one of them had been seized by a snake, or some other 
 enemy. The hissing of reptiles could at times be distinctly 
 heard, and Stephen often thought that he could hear their 
 movements in the boughs above him. 
 
 At length they approached the rapids, and the stream be- 
 came still more impetuous. The Indians had cut long poles, 
 and as they drifted down one stood at each corner of the raft, 
 using their poles occasionally as paddles to keep it straight. 
 Stephen remained in the canoe in the centre. He would gladly 
 have shared in any work that was to be done, but here he felt 
 that he could be of no use. 
 
320 WITH COCHRANE THE DAUNTLESS. 
 
 " To-morrow we shall be in the full force of the rapids, 
 senor," Hurka said. "I should advise you to lay yourself 
 down in the bottom of the canoe and to pass the day in sleep. 
 It will be safer so should there be an accident, for, with your 
 weight at the bottom, the canoe will be more likely to keep 
 upright than it otherwise would. You cannot aid us, and the 
 speed at which we shall do the next hundred miles will be great 
 indeed. In eight hours we shall be at the foot of the rapids." 
 
 " I will sit down at the bottom of the canoe, but I must see 
 what is going on. I am accustomed to the aspect of a sea 
 in a violent gale, and this great body of water, however fast 
 it rushes, "will not be more trying to the nerves than such a 
 scene as that. There is one thing that I should wish you to 
 do. Let each tie a light rope round his waist and fasten the 
 other end to the canoe, and then if the raft does go to pieces 
 you will be able to get on board, and at any rate, if she upsets 
 we shall be together." 
 
 " We will do it if you wish, senor, but there would be danger 
 of our capsizing the canoe." 
 
 " Not so much danger as there would be of the canoe upset- 
 ting if I were alone in it, for I should be powerless even to keep 
 her straight, and she would go broadside on to a rock and be 
 dashed to pieces." 
 
 "The senor is right, Hurka," Pita said gravely; "we will do 
 as he wishes. But the ropes must be long, so that if we are 
 flung off the raft there will be no sudden pull on the canoe. 
 Should there be such a misfortune I will shout to you, and we 
 will then swim towards the boat, taking up the ropes as we go, 
 but putting no strain upon them; when we reach the boat, one 
 will aid the senor to steady it while the other climbs in; after 
 that it will be easier to get the second on board." 
 
 " You still think that it is better to make a passage than to 
 carry the whole kit and the canoe over?" 
 
DOWN THE RIVER. 321 
 
 " It would take many weeks, seiior. Besides, though I have 
 never been here before, I have heard that the difficulties are 
 so great that the river Indians never attempt to carry even a 
 light canoe over. I am at your service, seiior, and am willing 
 to try if you give the order, but I have been told by Indians 
 that when the river is, as now, in flood, the danger is by no 
 means great. Of course, we shall keep out of the full strength 
 of the current." 
 
 Accordingly they started the next morning, and an hour 
 after setting out were in the sweep of the rapids. The passage 
 was an intensely exciting one. The Indians stood, paddle in 
 hand, one at each corner of the front of the raft; their poles lay 
 ready to snatch up in case any rock was approached, but the 
 paddles were needed to keep the raft from being dragged out 
 into the full force of the current. Here the water rose in steep 
 ridges, and had the raft got among these it would have been 
 torn to pieces almost instantly. At the same time it was desir- 
 able not to go too near the shore, as the risk from submerged 
 rocks would be greater there. But Stephen saw that unless 
 rocks came absolutely above the surface they would be swept 
 over them, as the raft drew but two or three inches of water. 
 Except in the middle, the stream rushed along with a surface 
 broken only by tiny eddies. It was only by seeing how they 
 flew past the banks that any idea could be formed of the speed 
 at which they were travelling. 
 
 In eight hours it was over. Several times the paddlers had 
 
 to exert themselves to the utmost to avoid spots where great 
 
 swells of water showed that there were rocks below the surface, 
 
 but on no occasion did the Indians have to use their poles. 
 
 The bed of the river widened sharply at the foot of the rapids, 
 
 and just as Stephen congratulated himself that the passage had 
 
 been safely made, he saw by an increase in the labour of the 
 
 Indians that something was wrong. Standing up in the canoe 
 ( M 220 ) x 
 
322 WITH COCHRANE THE DAUNTLESS. 
 
 he perceived that they had been shot out of the current into 
 the back-water formed by the sudden widening of the stream, 
 and that in this back-water was a very strong eddy sweeping 
 round and round in a circle. This was about a hundred 
 yards in diameter, with a depression in the centre, and round 
 this the raft was carried at a rate that defied the efforts of the 
 two paddlers to check. 
 
 At one moment they were within twenty yards of a fiat 
 forest-covered shore, and the next were near the edge of the tor- 
 rent pouring down the rapids. In vain the paddlers tried to 
 edge the raft out little by little from the whirlpool. Not only 
 was the current too strong for them, but its surface was dotted 
 with floating logs and branches of trees that, like themselves, 
 coursed round and round. As long as all were travelling at 
 the same rate and in the same direction the danger of a collision 
 was comparatively slight, but more than once when the rowers 
 succeeded in gaining a short distance towards the outside edge 
 of the whirlpool, they were forced to desist suddenly and 
 paddle straight with the current, to avoid a great log bearing 
 down upon them. 
 
 Pita took a lariat from the canoe and prepared to throw it, 
 so as to catch one of the branches when they neared the shore. 
 He tried several times, but the distance was too great; and 
 indeed it was necessary to catch the trees at some little distance 
 before reaching the point opposite to them, in order to pull 
 diagonally across the current, for a jerk when the canoe was at 
 right angles would have torn the raft to pieces. 
 
 " Could we launch the canoe and paddle out of the whirlpool 
 in that?" Stephen said. 
 
 " We might do that," Hurka replied, "but a touch from any 
 of these logs would sink her in a moment; and besides, we 
 should be sorry to lose the raft, for we have no skins to make 
 floats, and the rushes of which we constructed it only grow in 
 
pita tries Stephen's plan in order to escape from the 
 whirlpool. 
 
CAPTURED BY INDIANS. 323 
 
 the quiet waters of the upper river. "We might take to the 
 canoe as a last resource, but we should be very loth to do it." 
 
 "How long would the lariats be, tied together, with that piece 
 of thin rope you brought to check the raft in dangerous places V 
 
 "The rope is a hundred and fifty yards long, senor, the 
 lariats reach about thirty yards." 
 
 "That would be plenty," Stephen said. "My idea is that 
 you might fasten the end of the rope to an arrow and shoot 
 it among the trees. It might not catch the first time, but no 
 doubt it would after a few trials. The rope will, of course, be 
 coiled up so as to pay out easily, and we could pull it in or pay 
 it out as we went round and round. Each time as we approach 
 the shore we could pull on it a little and edge the raft a few 
 feet out, slackening out again as we came to the nearest point 
 to the trees. If there were any logs in our way of course we 
 should not pull ; thus, by choosing our opportunity, we might 
 get her out little by little till we are outside the full force of 
 the stream." 
 
 The Indians did not quite understand Stephen's plan, but at 
 once agreed to try it. Pita chose his heaviest arrow and lashed 
 the end of the rope firmly to it, close to the feathers. Stephen 
 knotted the lariats to the rope, and coiled them up so that they 
 would run out easily, and they then prepared for the first 
 attempt. 
 
 CHAPTER XVIII. 
 
 CAPTURED BY INDIANS. 
 
 DRAWING the bow till the point of the arrow almost 
 touched the wood, Pita stood like a statue until the boat 
 was opposite to the trees, then he loosed it, and it flew far into 
 
324 WITH COCHRANE THE DAUNTLESS. 
 
 the foliage. The instant the boat reached the opposite side of 
 the whirlpool Stephen and Hurka drew in the rope hand over 
 hand. 
 
 "Leave go, Hurka," Stephen said as the rope tightened. 
 " I will try as we pass whether it has caught in the trees." 
 
 As the canoe passed on he put a slight strain on the rope. 
 It yielded for a moment, and then flew through his fingers 
 rapidly. 
 
 " It has caught on something," he said. " Now, haul in 
 rapidly this time, Hurka, as soon as we pass the opposite 
 point, so as to get the strain on as quickly as we ca,n. Pita, 
 do you keep your eye on the logs, and shout if there is any- 
 thing in the way." 
 
 As soon as they had passed the half-way point on their way 
 back to the shore, Stephen and Hurka began to pull. They 
 could get but little tension on the rope, for the boat was 
 travelling almost as fast as they could pull it in. Still, 
 once or twice they were able to put their strength on it for a 
 moment, and the raft moved a foot or two through the water. 
 Again and again this manoeuvre was repeated, and little by 
 little they gained ground, until at last they edged the raft so 
 near to the edge of the current that the two Indians, seizing 
 their paddles, were able to get her into the still water beyond. 
 They rowed to the trees, and there tied up. 
 
 "That was a good plan, senor," Pita said. "I should never 
 have thought of it. I did think of shooting an arrow across 
 to the trees, but I saw that the jerk would be so great that it 
 would tear the raft to pieces." 
 
 It was some time before Stephen was inclined to talk; for 
 the exertion necessary to pull the rope in at a rate exceeding 
 that at which the boat was travelling towards the trees, coming 
 as it did after the excitement of the passage down the rapids, 
 had completely exhausted him. He was drenched with per- 
 
CAPTURED BY INDIANS. 325 
 
 spiration, and was glad to lie still in the bottom of the canoe 
 for a time. 
 
 "Well, what next, Pita?" he asked when his breath came 
 quietly. 
 
 " We shall float down as before, sehor. It is a flat country 
 for the next fifty miles, and the great inundations will rob the 
 river of its power. We shall have several more rapids to 
 pass, but I do not think they will be worse than these. Then 
 we shall get to the falls. There are several small ones, round 
 which we shall have to carry our boats, and there is a great 
 one where the whole river leaps down a hundred feet in a 
 mass. On still nights you can hear it, I am told, nigh a hun- 
 dred miles away. It is the greatest fall in South America, 
 though a traveller I once met told me that in North America 
 there was a fall that was higher, but that there was nothing 
 like the same quantity poured over it as over this at flood- 
 time. Once beyond that there remain no more falls or rapids, 
 and a ship can sail up there from the Amazon. Good-sized 
 craft do come up sometimes, for there is a mission-station 
 there, and the fathers carry on a trade with the Indians, who 
 come from the lower districts to purchase goods." 
 
 " I shall be very glad when the water gets clear enough for 
 us to take to fishing again," Stephen said. "We have caught 
 no fish of late, and have got but a few birds, and I am getting 
 very tired of these cakes." 
 
 Another three weeks and Stephen stood at the foot of the 
 fall of the river Madeira. The flood of water that poured 
 down in one unbroken sheet was enormous. The noise was 
 like that of continual thunder, and Stephen, as he stood 
 watching the swollen waters at his feet and feeling the very 
 ground shake beneath them, felt spell-bound at the grandeur 
 of the scene. The mission-house was inhabited by only two 
 or three old monks, and from them they learned that there 
 
326 WITH COCHRANE THE DAUNTLESS. 
 
 had been a bad outbreak of fever there, several had died, and 
 the rest were so weakened that it had been determined that 
 the monks, with the exception of these men, who had passed 
 through many fevers and were thoroughly acclimatized, should 
 go down by boat to Barra, and remain thereuntil the season of the 
 floods terminated and the sun had dried the inundated country. 
 
 Stephen was glad of a rest, for since entering the rapids 
 the work had been hard and continuous. The Indians would 
 have undertaken all the portage round the various falls and bad 
 rapids, but he insisted on doing his share of the work, and had 
 day after day toiled with heavy weights over a rough country. 
 It was all over now, and the prospect of a week spent at the 
 mission before proceeding on their voyage was very pleasant. 
 
 "You must be careful," one of the monks said, "not to 
 stray too far from the house. The natives of the neighbour- 
 hood have long since been Christianized, but we are visited by 
 parties from long distances belonging to some of the other 
 tribes who are still wholly wild and eat human flesh. Here 
 they behave peaceably, because they credit us with super- 
 natural powers, seeing the respect and devotion with which 
 we are regarded by the natives here, of whom indeed we 
 generally keep a strong body on guard during the time that 
 the strangers most frequently visit us; that is to say, at the 
 time that the floods are out. At that time most of the people 
 who live near the river are forced to retire to a great distance 
 from their homes, and being deprived of their usual pursuits, 
 they take that opportunity of coming here to purchase the 
 articles they require. I do not say that they would harm you, 
 but assuredly they might do so, and it would therefore be best 
 for you to keep near the mission-house. Here you are safe 
 from any danger whatever, for even the wildest Indian would 
 not venture to set foot inside these walls, fearing that if they 
 did, some terrible calamity might befall them." 
 
CAPTURED BY INDIANS. 327 
 
 Stephen took the advice, for although he was not much 
 affected by what the old man said, Pita and his companion 
 both confirmed his words, and told him that many bad Indians, 
 who would kill and eat any white man who entered their 
 district, frequently visited these mission-houses. 
 
 "Always carry your gun with you, seiior. They have not 
 the same terror of firearms as their forefathers had, but they 
 have heard enough to know that they are weapons of war, 
 and much more formidable than their own bows and arrows, 
 or the poisoned darts of their blow-pipes." 
 
 Stephen accordingly never went out, even to visit the falls, 
 where he spent the greater portion of his time, without his 
 rifle. Generally one or other of the Indians accompanied him, 
 but seeing that no strangers visited the mission-house, they 
 gradually abstained from doing so. Stephen preferred being 
 alone — the tremendous roar of the water rendered conversation 
 impossible — and he was quite content to lie and dreamily 
 watch the flood pouring down unceasingly. On the evening 
 before the day on which they were to start, the moon was 
 shining brilliantly, and Stephen, taking his gun as usual, went 
 out without mentioning his intention to his companions, and 
 strolled down to take a last quiet look at the mighty fall, 
 whose fascination grew upon him the oftener he looked at it 
 and came to realize more and more its marvellous power and 
 energy. He had been seated there for about an hour, when, 
 without the slightest warning that anyone was near him, he 
 received a sudden blow on the head that rolled him over 
 unconscious. When he recovered his senses he found himself 
 in the bottom of a small canoe paddled by three Indians. 
 
 Overhead he could see the branches of trees, and knew from 
 this that they were following the bank of the river. Presently, 
 to his surprise, they turned sharply off, and were at once in the 
 gloom of the forest. They paddled for an hour, and then tied 
 
328 WITH COCHRANE THE DAUNTLESS. 
 
 up the canoe to a tree. One of them lit a torch at the fire that 
 smouldered on a flat stone, and the three gathered round it. 
 Stephen could see that they were closely examining his rifle, 
 pistols, watch, and money. Few remarks were made, but 
 Stephen gathered from the tone that they were well satisfied 
 with the capture. 
 
 " I have fallen into bad hands this time," he said to himself. 
 " There is no doubt about their being stranger Indians. I can 
 understand my arms being regarded by them as a most valu- 
 able capture, but why they did not finish me at once, instead 
 of taking me away with them, is more than I can understand, 
 unless it be that they are cannibals." 
 
 After examining his bonds and assuring themselves that 
 they were tight, the Indians lay down to sleep, but in the 
 morning continued their journey as soon as daylight broke. 
 From the absence of undergroAvth and of lianas stretching 
 from tree to tree anywhere low down, Stephen came to the 
 conclusion that they were following what was in the dry season 
 a track through the forest. The Indians were quite young 
 men, and laughed and talked without any of the gravity that 
 distinguished the older men among the natives. For some 
 hours they paddled on, then their progress was stopped by a 
 deep tangle of creepers stretching from tree to tree across their 
 way. There was an exclamation of surprise and, as Stephen 
 thought, of apprehension; they began to talk rapidly and 
 eagerly together, one pointing in one direction and another in 
 quite an opposite one. 
 
 "They have lost the path," he said to himself, "perhaps 
 they took the wrong turn at starting." 
 
 The argument between them was an animated one, until one 
 pointed to a ray of sunlight that penetrated the foliage and 
 fell on the trunk of a tree near the water's level. All looked 
 surprised and even graver than before. The head of the canoe 
 
CAPTURED BY INDIANS. 329 
 
 was turned, and they started in the direction from which they 
 had come, by which Stephen concluded that they had unwit- 
 tingly made half a circuit. They now paddled steadily and 
 gravely, watching the darts of sunlight, and evidently steering 
 by them. Before they had gone far the character of the forest 
 changed, the trees grew somewhat further apart; but an 
 undergrowth of smaller trees rendering it extremely difficult 
 for them to force their canoe onward, their knives had fre- 
 quently to be brought out to cut a way through the creepers. 
 Angry words were frequently exchanged between them, each, 
 it was evident to Stephen, accusing the others of being the 
 cause of the disaster. The quarrel became more and more 
 embittered, until at last two of them started up, and, drawing 
 their knives, fell furiously upon one another. In the struggle 
 they almost capsized the boat, and catching at each other to 
 save themselves, both went overboard together. 
 
 The struggle was continued in the water, the men stabbing 
 each other fiercely, while the Indian on board endeavoured in 
 vain by his shouts to induce them to abandon the strife. 
 Presently one of them, struck to the heart, threw up his arms 
 and sank ; the other turned to swim back to the boat, but after- 
 one or two feeble strokes he too sank lower and lower, and 
 the water soon closed over his head. The remaining Indian 
 stood for a time immovable, with terror and consternation in 
 his face, and then he shook his fist threateningly at Stephen, 
 whom he evidently regarded as being in some way the author 
 of their misfortune, and then, taking up his paddle, proceeded 
 to row. His manner, however, was indecisive. He had lost 
 all confidence, and turned aside whenever the way was barred 
 by creepers, instead of trying to cut through them. At times 
 he ceased paddling altogether, and sat gazing restlessly around 
 him, at other times he paddled with feverish energy. Some 
 water had come in over the gunwale during the struggle 
 
330 WITH COCHRANE THE DAUNTLESS. 
 
 between the Indians, and Stephen managed to turn round, face 
 downwards, to take a hearty drink. 
 
 When evening came on, the Indian was paddling almost 
 mechanically, when from a branch of a tree above something 
 dropped down. For a moment Stephen could not discern its 
 nature. There was a swift, rapid movement, a piercing cry 
 from the Indian, followed by the sound of cracking bones, and 
 then the man was lifted bodily out of the boat. Stephen could 
 now see two great coils wrapped round his body, and the head 
 of a gigantic python; then, overcome by the horror of the scene 
 he became unconscious. When he recovered he found that the 
 canoe had drifted away from the tree. He now set to work 
 desperately to loose his bonds, and after great efforts and 
 suffering severe pain, succeeded in getting one hand loose. 
 After that the rest was easy, and in a few minutes he was free. 
 Seizing the paddle he rowed away from the scene of the 
 tragedy, and presently tied up to a young sapling, whose head 
 was just above the water. 
 
 His next step was to examine the contents of the canoe. 
 It contained, however, nothing but two or three fish dried in 
 the sun, and some cakes, of whose composition he was ignorant, 
 save that they were certainly not made of flour. Having 
 satisfied his hunger and taken a long drink from the water 
 alongside, he fired his rifle three times, but no answering sound 
 came back. Knowing that he might only be paddling away 
 from the river, he stretched himself in the bottom of the canoe, 
 and resolutely postponing all thought of his position until day- 
 break, fell asleep. He awoke as soon as it was light again, loaded 
 and fired his gun three times, and again listened for a response. 
 
 " It is of no use my waiting here," he said to himself, after 
 some thought. " Pita has no shadow of a clue as to what has 
 become of me, and as I may be thirty miles away from him 
 it would take an army to find me. I had better try and push 
 
CAPTURED BY INDIANS. 331 
 
 on until I get to dry land. I may then be able to work ronnd 
 the inundations until I reach the rocky ground and can make 
 my way along it to the mission. As soon as the sun rose he 
 was able to determine the points of the compass, and paddled 
 steadily on, his eyes fixed upon the trees above him. Other 
 snakes might be lurking or wild beasts taking refuge in the 
 branches. That there were many of these indeed he was sure, 
 by the number of uneasy howls that he had heard before the 
 sun rose. Several times as he rowed he caught sight of leo- 
 pards and jaguars in the trees ; one of the latter, unobserved 
 until he had passed beyond the branches, sprang down from 
 above, narrowly missing the stern of the canoe, and starting 
 in pursuit as soon as it came to the surface again. Stephen, 
 however, was able to drive the boat through the water at a 
 much higher rate than the beast could swim, and it was not 
 long before he had left it far behind him. 
 
 He continued to paddle all day, but felt that his nerves 
 were beginning to fail him, and it was only by a great effort 
 that he was able to keep a fixed direction by the aid of the 
 sun through the leaves. He tied up again at night, and 
 paddled all the next day, finding to his gratification in the 
 afternoon that the water now did not average more than four 
 feet deep. By noon the next day he saw a break in the line 
 of water, and a few minutes later stood on dry ground. He 
 did not attempt to go further, but throwing himself down 
 fell at once into a deep sleep. It was evening when he awoke ; 
 the fire still burned on the hearth in the canoe; he had been 
 careful to keep it alight by breaking off pieces of dead wood 
 from the trees. He now collected a large store, built up a pile 
 a few feet beyond the water-level, and bringing some brands 
 from the fire set it alight. His scanty stock of provisions was 
 now nearly exhausted ; he ate half of what remained, and then 
 lay down before the fire with his pistols ready at hand in case 
 
332 WITH COCHRANE THE DAUNTLESS. 
 
 any Avild beasts should come near. The next morning he started 
 in what he believed to be the right direction, keeping near the 
 edge of the inundation. His memory of what happened after- 
 wards was vague and indistinct. He remembered that for 
 several days he kept on, sometimes plucking fruit as he went, 
 and occasionally firing a gun three times. Rapidly his strength 
 failed as he went on, he often stumbled and fell from exhaus- 
 tion and hunger, and the power of thought altogether deserted 
 him. 
 
 At times he fancied he saw men approaching, but only to 
 find that his imagination had converted trees into moving 
 objects. He had long since left the edge of the inundation. 
 He was parched with thirst, his mind wandered, incoherent 
 cries proceeded from his parched lips. At last he thought he 
 saw a native village before him; as he drew towards it figures 
 came out from the huts and gazed at him. A moment later 
 he fell headlong to the ground, and lay there insensible. 
 
 When he came to himself he felt so weak that he could 
 neither turn nor raise his head, but lay wondering vaguely 
 where he was. As he looked upwards he thought he was still 
 dreaming, for the well-known face of Pita was looking clown 
 upon him. 
 
 "Do you know met" It was certainly Pita's voice, and 
 being unable to move, Stephen closed his eyelids quickly in 
 reply to the question. 
 
 " The saints be praised ! " the Indian exclaimed, using the 
 ejaculation common among the Peruvians. " He knows me, 
 Hurka — he is sensible again, after all this time." 
 
 Hurka hurried up on the other side of Stephen. "It is 
 true!" he exclaimed; " he knows me also." 
 
 The Indian brought a gourd, and poured some liquor into 
 Stephen's mouth. "Do not talk," he said; "we shall have 
 plenty of time for that later on." 
 
CAPTURED BY INDIANS. 333 
 
 Stephen closed his eyes obediently. Even now he was not 
 certain but that he was still in a dream. So many times of 
 late he had had a vague fancy that his Indian guides were 
 still with him that he doubted the evidence both of eye and 
 ear. However, he soon went off to sleep again. When he 
 awoke, Hurka was at hand, and ready to pour some hot broth 
 doAvn his throat. It was long before he was strong enough to 
 ask questions, and the Indian positively refused to talk. At 
 last the time came when he was able to be propped up into a 
 sitting position on his bed, which was composed of leaves 
 covered with blankets. 
 
 " I am strong enough to hear about it now, Pita. Tell me 
 where I am and how you come to be here." 
 
 "Hurka will tell," the Indian replied; "it is a long talk." 
 
 Stephen looked to Hurka, who at once began. 
 
 " When you did not return that evening, seiior, Pita and I 
 went out to search for you. We knew where you generally 
 sat, but you were gone. We went to the mission, got some 
 torches, and searching in the sand between the rocks we found 
 traces of Indians' feet, and were able to follow them up to 
 a point nearly a mile below the falls. There they ceased, and 
 we were sure that you had been carried off in a canoe. As 
 we found no sign whatever of blood or marks of a struggle we 
 felt sure that you had not been wounded, but concluded that 
 you had been suddenly seized, bound, and carried off. We 
 roused some of the mission Indians, and I with three of them 
 took to our canoe and paddled down the river for twelve 
 hours. As we had no weight to carry and had four paddles, 
 we felt sure that by that time we should have overtaken you 
 had they held on down the river, for we concluded by the 
 footmarks that there were but three of them, and they had 
 your weight in the boat. 
 
 "They could hardly have counted on being pursued so 
 
334 WITH COCHRANE THE DAUNTLESS. 
 
 closely, and would not, therefore, have made any special effort. 
 Then we turned and paddled back, keeping close to the trees in 
 hopes of getting some sign of where the canoe had entered the 
 forest. We found none, and as soon as we got to the mission, 
 I set out to follow Pita, who had started inland. We thought 
 it likely that the Indians had come across the inundations, and 
 that he might obtain some news as to which tribe they belonged 
 to. Of course he followed the high ground and passed through 
 several Indian villages, but he was sure that they had not come 
 from these, for in that case they would have gone on foot to 
 the mission instead of taking the trouble to pass through the 
 forest in a canoe. He walked sixty miles the next day and 
 then reached the farthest edge of the inundation, and leaving 
 the high ground followed it. 
 
 " He had taken with him a bag of flour from the mission, 
 and kept on for a week; then he thought he must have gone 
 beyond the spot where you had been landed. He had walked, 
 he thought, fifty miles a day, and was more than three hun- 
 dred from the high ground, and concluded that unless the 
 canoe had come a long distance up the river they would never 
 have made so long a passage through the forest. Then he 
 went back again, keeping further away from the water. Four 
 days later he came upon a group of Indian huts, and there 
 heard that a strange white man had arrived at a village twenty 
 miles distant, two days before. None knew from whence he 
 came, for he had fallen down as soon as he arrived, and was 
 lying ill. Pita could not understand how you could have ar- 
 rived in such a state, unless indeed you had killed your captors 
 after landing, and had then wandered in the forest until you 
 chanced upon the village. He hastened there, greatly dis- 
 turbed in his mind, in the first place, at the thought of your 
 illness, and next because the tribe was a very savage one and 
 ate human flesh. 
 
CAPTUKED BY INDIANS. 335 
 
 "When he entered the village the natives crowded round 
 him. He was an Indian like themselves, but his dress showed 
 that he consorted with the hated white men. Pita, however, 
 pushed them aside, and to their astonishment spoke to them in 
 their own language. Pita's mother, indeed, had been one of 
 that very tribe, and her father a great chief among them, so 
 that when he told them who he was, he was heartily welcomed 
 and treated with great respect. It was lucky for me that he 
 arrived, for only the day before I too, when I gained news of 
 your whereabouts, had reached the village, and upon entering 
 had at once been made prisoner. I gathered from what I 
 could understand of their language that I was to be eaten. 
 I think that the manner in which you entered their village, 
 and the mystery as to how you could have come there, saved 
 your life. It seemed to them as something supernatural, and 
 they were attending you carefully in order that if you re- 
 covered they might learn from you how you had come there, 
 after which they would no doubt have killed you. Pita had 
 some difficulty in obtaining my release, but upon his saying 
 that, although belonging to another tribe, I was a great friend 
 of his, they handed me over to him. Since then we have been 
 as natives of the village. We have taken it by turn to nurse 
 you, and by turns have hunted with the men." 
 
 "How long have I been here?" 
 
 " Nigh six months, senor." 
 
 "Six months!" Stephen repeated; "surely not, Hurka. I 
 never could have been ill all that time; I must have died long 
 ago." 
 
 "You were ill for six weeks, senor, with fever. When at 
 last that passed away, your mind did not come back to you. 
 Sometimes you raved about a great snake that was about to 
 seize you; sometimes you thought that you were wandering in 
 the forest; more often you lay quiet and without saying any- 
 
336 WITH COCHRANE THE DAUNTLESS. 
 
 thing. We gave you plenty of food and you got stronger, but 
 there was no change in your mind. A month before your 
 mind came back the fever seized you again, and we had little 
 hope that you would live; but we had got medicine from the 
 mission, and just when it seemed to us that you were on the 
 point of death, you fell into a deep sleep, and when, after lying 
 for twenty hours so, you opened your eyes and knew Pita, we 
 found that your mind had come back to you again. That is all." 
 
 " And you and Pita have remained here for six months 
 nursing me!" Stephen said, holding out his hand to the Indian; 
 "you are indeed good comrades and faithful friends, and I owe 
 my life to you." 
 
 The exhaustion caused by listening to Hurka's story pre- 
 vented Stephen from saying more, and in two minutes he 
 dropped off to sleep. The next day he related to the two 
 Indians the story of his passage through the forest. 
 
 " It was wonderful indeed that you should have alighted upon 
 my mother's village," Pita said. "It was not to this that the 
 three Indians belonged, but to another thirty miles away. 
 Their disappearance has been the subject of much talk. It was 
 at first thought that they had lost their way in the inundation 
 and so perished, but when their canoe was discovered at the 
 edge of the water-mark, long after the inundation had ceased, 
 no one could account for it. The village was but three or four 
 miles from the spot where the canoe was found, and there was 
 no possibility of their missing their way. They could hardly 
 have been all three devoured by wild beasts, unless, indeed, 
 they had fallen in with a herd of peccaries; and this, it is now 
 thought, must have been their fate. Fortunately, no one asso- 
 ciated your coming with the discovery of the canoe." 
 
 Gradually Stephen regained strength, but it was some weeks 
 before he was fit to travel again. 
 
 " I suppose," he said one day to Hurka, " that you will 
 
CAPTURED BY INDIANS. 337 
 
 follow the track straight through the forest to the mission, 
 instead of going all the way round as you did." 
 
 " I don't know yet, seiior. We shall have some difficulty in 
 getting away. Our skill with the bow and gun have so 
 impressed them that they want to make Pita their chief and 
 keep him here, and they want to adopt me into the tribe for 
 the same reason. Till you began to get stronger we could 
 roam about as we liked alone, but of late we have noticed that 
 we are always watched, and Pita has been told that unless he 
 consents to remain, you and I will both be killed and eaten. 
 Pita has put off giving them a decided answer, but he cannot 
 do so much longer; and now that you are well enough to 
 travel, we shall have to make off as soon as we can. He has 
 been told that if he and I consent to remain with them, they will 
 take you to a place among the hills, eight days away, where you 
 can find much gold and return rich to your own country." 
 
 "It is very awkward, Hurka, but I should think that you 
 and Pita can contrive some plan for getting off." 
 
 The little Indian nodded. 
 
 "We can manage that," he said. "We have only been 
 waiting until we were sure that you were strong enough to 
 travel. I know that even now you could not go far, but once 
 in the forest, we shall be able to outwit them and to travel 
 slowly. Pita and I have been hiding up a store of food for the 
 journey, and if you are willing we will try to make our escape 
 to-night. There have, for the last fortnight, been men posted 
 round us as soon as it became dark, but we shall be able either 
 to crawl through them or to dispose of any who may bar our 
 way." 
 
 Pita presently returned from hunting. He carried a dozen 
 large pigeons in his hand. 
 
 "We must go to-night," he said briefly. "I have been told 
 that I must give an answer to-morrow." 
 
 (M220) Y 
 
338 WITH COCHRANE THE DAUNTLESS. 
 
 "I have been telling the seiior," Hurka said, "and he is 
 ready to make the attempt at once; but I wish that they had 
 given you a day or two longer, for there will be extra vigilance 
 to-night." 
 
 Pita made a gesture of contempt. 
 
 "They will but throw away their lives," he said. "Let us 
 go out." 
 
 As they walked along the village the women looked curi- 
 ously at them, while men watched them closely with scowling 
 looks. 
 
 "Do you see that large tree at the edge of the forest, seiior ?" 
 Pita asked presently; "it has lost its bark, and the trunk is 
 white." 
 
 " I see it, Pita." 
 
 "Well, seiior, as soon as we start to-night do you make 
 straight for that. We will join you there. Do not stop if 
 there should be fighting, and have no fear for us. The great 
 point is for you to get to the edge of the forest. You are not 
 strong enough to run fast yet; but once in the forest we shall 
 be all right. The night is dark, for the moon will not rise till 
 some hours after sunset. Do you think that you will be able 
 to find the tree?" 
 
 " I think so, Pita. I will fix its bearings in my mind, and 
 notice the direction I have to take on leaving the hut. I 
 wish I had my gun and pistols." 
 
 "You can have my gun when we are once in the forest, 
 senor; but we must fight at first with our bows. There are 
 a hundred and fifty men here, and as we wish above all things 
 to hide the way we have gone, a gun must not be fired unless 
 we are so surrounded that escape is impossible." 
 
 " How shall we leave the hut, Pita?" 
 
 "By the back. We will cut a hole through that mud Avail 
 as soon as it gets dark; but Ave must not leave until all save 
 
CAPTURED BY INDIANS. 339 
 
 the watchers are asleep, or we should have them all down upon 
 us instantly, on the alarm being raised. When we are through 
 them, Hurka and I will run in another direction, and make a 
 long round before we come back to the tree, so that they will 
 not know in which direction to seek for us. They will be 
 sure, indeed, that we shall take to the forest; but it would be 
 useless for them to begin the search for us until the morning, 
 and they will be in no great haste, for they will know that 
 you are not strong enough to walk very far, and that when 
 they once strike on our track they will have no difficulty in 
 overtaking us." 
 
 "I feel strong enough to walk a good distance," Stephen 
 said. 
 
 "You may feel so, senor; but you have not tried. For 
 months your limbs have done no work, and they will soon 
 feel it. Besides, even had you your full strength and vigour, 
 the Indians could easily outwalk you, for they would run in 
 four hours as much as you could do in eight. If we escape, it 
 must be by craft, and not by speed." 
 
 " I am quite sure that you will do all that you can, Pita, 
 but remember that it is my express wish that you should not 
 throw away your lives in a vain attempt to save mine. I will 
 do all that I can; but if they come close to us, and I can go 
 no further, I charge you to leave me, and to make your way to 
 the river. You have already done too much for me, by throw- 
 ing away eight months of your lives in this wretched place. 
 Few indeed would have done so much, and it is my most 
 earnest wish that you should not sacrifice your lives for my 
 sake in a hopeless struggle against overpowering odds." 
 
 Hurka laughed. "That is not our way, senor. We are 
 comrades, and comrades stick to each other to the last. You are 
 our employer, and we have undertaken to carry you through 
 all dangers. You have been kind and good to us, and our 
 
340 WITH COCHRANE THE DAUNTLESS. 
 
 lives are yours. "We shall either all get together to the 
 mission, or none of us will reach it. In all other matters we 
 are ready to obey your orders, but our lives are our own to 
 dispose of as we choose." 
 
 They had by this time re-entered their hut, and Pita at 
 once began to examine the wall, and to decide where it had best 
 be cut through. After some conversation with Hurka they 
 determined to make the hole in the side wall, near the rear 
 corner of the hut. 
 
 " They are more likely to be watching at the back," Hurka 
 explained to Stephen, "as it is there they will consider it most 
 likely we should make the attempt to escape. We can begin 
 the hole as soon as night comes on, but we must not complete 
 it until the village is quiet. The knives will make no noise in 
 cutting through this soft stuff, and the moment the hole is large 
 enough, and the part remaining is so thin that we can push it 
 down, one of us will stand, bow in hand, ready to shoot any of 
 the watchers who may stop before it. Once out, senor, do not 
 make straight for the tree, or the men at the back of the house 
 will attack you. Turn sharp off, and run along close to the 
 backs of the next huts until you are fifty or sixty yards away, 
 then strike out for the tree." 
 
 Accordingly, as soon as it was dark the two Indians began 
 to cut through the wall. When they considered that they 
 were nearly through, they thrust the blades of the knives in. 
 As long as they found the wall still firm they continued to 
 remove further portions of the earth, until, on pushing the 
 knife through, they found that it moved freely, and knew that 
 they were within half an inch or so of the outside; then they 
 continued their work until the hole was large enough for them 
 to be able to issue out one at a time as soon as the thin skin 
 remaining was cut away. This, as they told Stephen, would 
 be but the work of a moment, for, starting at the top together, 
 
CAPTURED BY INDIANS. 341 
 
 they should run their knives round the edge of the hole down 
 to the ground, and let the whole of the wall so separated fall 
 inside together, when they could ease it down noiselessly to the 
 ground. The sounds in the village diminished, but they could, 
 by listening attentively, hear an occasional footstep outside. 
 
 "Will each of them watch at a given spot 1 ?" Stephen asked. 
 
 "No, there is no chance of thatj the five or six men on 
 guard will wander round and round as they please, sometimes 
 separately and sometimes together — more often together, for 
 they have never got over the mystery of your arrival, and 
 have, as I have noticed several times when I have returned 
 late, an objection to coming near the hut. I have often seen 
 them cross the road to the other side when they came along, 
 in order to keep as far away from the hut as possible. Of 
 course, we have never given them any explanation of your 
 coming here, but have said that your memory is weak, and 
 that all we know is that you were with us at the mission, and 
 that we found you here." 
 
 Presently Pita announced that the time had come. He 
 handed his gun to Stephen, while Hurka swung his across his 
 back. Each of them took up their bows, drew half a dozen 
 arrows from the quivers, and held them in readiness for 
 instant use. They then placed the bows against the wall, 
 close to the hole, opened their long knives and thrust them 
 through the thin wall together, then each swept his knife 
 down until it reached the ground, and cut along it until the 
 inclosed strip gave way and fell inwards. They caught it 
 as it moved, lowered it gently down, and then Hurka crept 
 through the hole into the open air. 
 
342 WITH COCHRANE THE DAUNTLESS. 
 
 CHAPTER XIX. 
 
 IN BRAZIL. 
 
 PITA followed him, while close on the latter's heels Stephen 
 came out, and turning off at once behind the next hut, 
 started at a run. 
 
 As he did so he caught the sound of the twang of a bow- 
 string, followed by a stifled cry and a fall, then came a loud 
 yell, checked almost before it was uttered. But the alarm had 
 been given, and loud shouts rose from several throats. He 
 ran, as directed, some fifty yards behind the huts, and then 
 turned and struck off across the open towards the tree. No 
 sooner had he done so than he felt the justice of what the 
 Indian had said. His feet seemed heavy and his joints stiff, 
 and it needed an effort to maintain the speed at which he 
 started, until he stopped at the tree, panting and trembling 
 from head to foot. He had been conscious while he ran of a 
 great uproar in the village, but his whole mind was centred on 
 his efforts, and it was not until he paused that he heard the 
 full volume of the outcry. A hundred voices were shouting, 
 dogs were barking, and the women's cries could be heard in 
 the uproar. Far away to the left he heard occasional shouts, 
 and it was in this direction that the men of the village were 
 evidently running. The two Indians had no doubt led the 
 chase in the opposite direction to that which he had taken. 
 Stephen was wondering how far they would go before turning, 
 when, almost noiselessly, the two men ran up to the tree. 
 
 "We have shaken them off," Hurka said; "there were but 
 two who followed closely enough to keep us in sight, and our 
 arrows soon stopped them. Now let us go." 
 
 Pita led the way, Hurka followed him, placing as he did so 
 
IN BRAZIL. 343 
 
 one end of his bow in Stephen's hand, saying, " Our eyes are 
 more accustomed to the dark than yours. Keep hold of the 
 bow and follow me closely." 
 
 As soon as they were well in the forest the darkness was to 
 Stephen absolute, and had it not been for the bow he could not 
 have followed the little Indian, although treading almost on 
 his heels. He appreciated more strongly than he had ever 
 done before how much keener were the faculties of the Indians 
 in some respects than his own, for they went along at a brisk 
 rate, making their way through the trees with as little hesita- 
 tion as if it had been broad daylight. Occasionally there was 
 a pause for an instant as Pita slashed through a creeper 
 barring his way. 
 
 "How can he see them?" Stephen asked. 
 
 " He does not see them, senor, he feels them. He holds his 
 bow at arm's-length before him, and so touches even the smallest 
 of the lianas; the large ones he can see plainly enough, and so 
 could he the small ones were they level with the eye. It is those 
 that are but a foot or two above the ground that are dangerous." 
 
 " It is marvellous to me how you can see anything, Hurka, 
 for I cannot make out even the outline of your figure." 
 
 " We were born so, senor. Life in these forests accustoms 
 the eyes to see in darkness. It is the same with the wild 
 animals that run at night." 
 
 It was not long before Stephen's breath began to come in 
 short gasps. The perspiration streamed from him, but he held 
 on until Pita came to a halt. 
 
 " We will stop till you get your breath again, senor. There 
 is no fear of them to-night, but we must hold on until morning, 
 so as to get as long a start as possible before they can find 
 our track and take up the pursuit. Until we have light we 
 can do nothing to disguise our trail, but we will stop fre- 
 quently, and go at a slower pace, so that you shall not become 
 
344 WITH COCHRANE THE DAUNTLESS. 
 
 exhausted. It would never do to wear you out at the begin- 
 ning of our journey." 
 
 All through the night the march was continued. They 
 stopped at frequent intervals for a minute or two, and Stephen 
 found himself able to keep up with them without any great 
 difficulty, although long before morning broke he felt terribly 
 exhausted. At last Pita said : 
 
 " In two hours it will be dawn. We will wait here, senor, 
 and you can take a short sleep before we go on again." 
 
 Without a word Stephen dropped on to the ground, and 
 almost instantaneously went off to sleep. When he awoke it 
 was broad daylight. Hurka was beside him. 
 
 "We must be moving now, senor," he said. "Pita has 
 been away for half an hour, and has just signalled to me to 
 join him." 
 
 Stephen rose to his feet heavily. He felt stiff and sore all 
 over, but the feeling wore off after he had walked a short 
 distance. From time to time a cry like the note of a bird was 
 heard, and towards this they directed their steps. They 
 found Pita standing by the edge of a stream some fifteen 
 yards wide, and without a word he entered the water as they 
 came up and began to walk down it. 
 
 "I should have thought," Stephen said to Hurka, "that it 
 would be safer to go the other way for a bit, because they 
 would naturally suppose that we should come this way." 
 
 "That is just the reason why Pita is leading us down it," he 
 said. " It is, of course, the way we should take to get down 
 to the Madeira, and because it is so they will think that we 
 would surely go the other in order to deceive them. No doubt 
 some will go up and some will go down, but in that case we 
 shall not have so many to fight." 
 
 A mile further another stream fell into that which they 
 were following, and they turned up this and walked until 
 
IN BRAZIL. 345 
 
 they came to a bough some eight feet above the water. Pita 
 sprung up and hauled himself on to it, then he leaned over and 
 stretched his hands down to Stephen, and, with a strength the 
 latter had hardly given him credit for, hauled him up beside 
 him, and then similarly aided Hurka. They made their way 
 along the bough to the main trunk, then followed another 
 great bough on the other side, and dropped from its extremity 
 nearly thirty yards away from the bed of the stream; then 
 they struck off through the wood until they came upon another 
 stream, and after following it for another half an hour left it 
 by another tree as before. 
 
 "Now we can go on," Pita said, "it will take them hours to 
 find our track." 
 
 They now continued their course steadily, Pita before they 
 started taking off Stephen's boots and wrapping a broad band of 
 soft leather he had brought with him round and round his feet. 
 
 "The heels of your boots make tracks an Indian might 
 almost follow in the dark. You had better throw them into 
 the next clump of bushes you come to; we can get another 
 pair at the mission." 
 
 In the course of the day they crossed two other streams, 
 and at each of them took measures as before to throw the 
 Indians off their track. They kept on till nightfall, and then 
 Stephen and Pita lay down, Hurka saying that he would watch 
 until midnight. 
 
 "You don't think the Indians will follow at night?" Stephen 
 asked. 
 
 " There is no fear of that, seflor. They dread the wild 
 beasts; there are so many in these forests, and they can scent 
 a human being a long distance away. We have chosen this tree 
 because, as you see, the lower branch is near the ground, and 
 it will be easier to climb up into it if I give the alarm." 
 
 The next morning shortly after starting they came to a 
 
346 WITH COCHRANE THE DAUNTLESS. 
 
 bank of a stream larger than any of those they had passed on 
 the previous day. Here they had a short consultation, and then 
 Hurka and Pita set to work to cut down a large number of 
 great rushes growing in the water, taking care to cut them 
 some inches below its level. With the aid of some creepers 
 a raft capable of sustaining them all was speedily made, and 
 on this they took their places, and the Indians having cut two 
 poles to steer by, they pushed off into the middle of the stream. 
 The current was very sluggish, and they would have made but 
 small way had not the two Indians poled vigorously. Stephen 
 was thankful indeed for the change; upon the previous day he 
 had only been enabled to keep up with the greatest difficulty, 
 and had felt that another day's labour would bring him to a 
 stand-still. 
 
 "They will walk quite as fast as we are going," he said 
 presently. 
 
 "Yes, seiior, faster; but they are probably still far behind 
 us. They will, no doubt, find our trail at the points where we 
 have left the streams, but, thanks to the pains we have taken 
 to throw them off, will lose much time in having to search 
 very carefully up and down every stream they come to. It 
 will be the same if they trace us to the spot we started from 
 on this raft; some must go up and some down, and both sides 
 of the stream must be carefully searched. We are going nearly 
 as fast as they will be able to do; besides, now we can travel 
 at night. If they do not overtake us by evening, of which I 
 think there is no chance, we shall be so far ahead by next 
 morning that we shall be perfectly safe." 
 
 The Indians seemed tireless; all through the next night, 
 whenever Stephen awoke he found them still at work. Soon 
 after daybreak they stopped at a spot where there was 
 another great bed of rushes, numbers of these they cut down, 
 largely increasing the size of the raft, aild adding to its 
 
IN BRAZIL. 347 
 
 stability. It was now some twelve feet long and eight wide, 
 and composed of a great bed of rushes two feet deep, and 
 which, with their weight upon it, floated more than a foot 
 above the water. Four days later they emerged from the 
 forest on to the Madeira. The stream by which they had 
 come had received on its way so many accessions that it was 
 now a river of some size. It took them four days of hard 
 work to make their way up to the mission-station, although 
 the distance was but fifty miles, and it was only by keeping 
 close to the shore, and utilizing every eddy and back-water, 
 that they succeeded in stemming the current. 
 
 The mission had now its full number of occupants, and 
 they were received with the greatest kindness. Their effects 
 nad all been carefully stowed away in case they should ever 
 return, although none thought that there was the least proba- 
 bility of their doing so, as nothing had been heard of them 
 since six months before, when an Indian brought a message 
 from Pita begging a supply of quinine for his white companion. 
 
 They waited some days at the mission. Stephen had regained 
 much of his strength during his journey on the raft, and was 
 willing to make a start at once; but the good fathers of the 
 mission insisted upon his staying with them for a few days, 
 and he felt that he benefited a great deal by the good food 
 and wine they gave him. There was no longer any occasion 
 for their original raft, and although it had done them good 
 service they were all glad when they took their places in the 
 canoe and started with a steady stroke down the river. It 
 was no longer a rapid stream, and the falls, though still grand, 
 were as nothing in comparison to the scene they presented 
 when the river was in full flood. Still, there was enough stream 
 to help them materially, and to allow the Indians to lay in 
 their paddles at times and let the boat drift by itself. 
 
 At the mission-house they had taken in a supply of food 
 
348 WITH COCHRANE THE DAUNTLESS. 
 
 sufficient to last them to Barra, and as they were able to 
 catch as many fish as they could eat, they fared well. The 
 journey took them three weeks of somewhat monotonous tra- 
 velling. There was no change in the scenery, a thick forest 
 bordered the river on both sides; but as they got lower down 
 there were clearings and small villages, and they met a few 
 boats passing between these or going up to the mission. It 
 was a glad day indeed to Stephen when the great river entered 
 the still mightier Amazon, which was here several miles wide. 
 Crossing it they made their way to Barra, a place of con- 
 siderable size, with churches and many large buildings. His 
 long companionship with the two Indians had, by this time, 
 made Stephen as familiar with the Peruvian Spanish as with 
 the Chilian, and enabled him to pass with great advantage 
 among the Portuguese-speaking Brazilians as a native of Peru, 
 since, had he been known to be a Chilian, they might have 
 doubted whether he was a good Catholic, and he would, 
 moreover, be viewed with disfavour by the Portuguese officers 
 as one of a nation who had rebelled against Spain, his lawful 
 master. He therefore, on landing, made his way to an hotel 
 close by, representing himself as a traveller who had come 
 down from Peru by the Madeira, and who wished to continue 
 his journey down the Amazon to Para. 
 
 Stephen's next step was to purchase some clothes ; those in 
 which he left Peru, as well as the suit in the wallets, Avere 
 unfit to wear. The first had remained at the mission -during 
 his long absence; he had indeed discarded it as worn out, but 
 was glad to find it there on his return, for the other suit 
 had been torn into absolute rags during his journey through 
 the woods. He had no difficulty in obtaining country- cut 
 garments, and his host, who had looked somewhat doubtfully 
 upon him on his first arrival, was evidently relieved in his 
 mind when he came down from his room in his new purchases. 
 
IN BRAZIL. 349 
 
 " How are you thinking of travelling, senor ? Do you desire 
 to have a boat to yourself, or would you travel in a public 
 boat? There are many such constantly going up and down 
 the river. Some go through to Para, but the greater number 
 stop far short of it, making voyages only two or three hundred 
 miles up or down, and stopping at all the villages; these are 
 cheaper than the long-distance boats, and you would have no 
 difficulty in exchanging into another when it reaches its 
 furthest point." 
 
 "I do not care which it is," Stephen replied, "and would 
 as soon take a passage in a local craft as in another. Indeed, 
 there is the advantage that if one does not find one's com- 
 panions agreeable one can make a change and try one's luck 
 in another boat." 
 
 "Then, if you are content with that, senor, you will not 
 have long to wait. If not to-morrow, on the next day there is 
 sure to be a boat going down the river." 
 
 " I also wish to take passages up the river for these Indians, 
 who have served me most faithfully and well, and whom I 
 regard as my friends." 
 
 " There will be no difficulty about that either, senor. Boats 
 go occasionally from here up to the frontier, and sometimes 
 beyond it." 
 
 Stephen talked the matter over with Pita and Hurka, and 
 found that they would prefer to make a bargain for themselves 
 with some native boat carrying merchandise. 
 
 "We shall be more at home so, senor; we shall go at a much 
 lower price than it would cost by a boat carrying passengers; 
 indeed, by offering to help at the oars when the current is 
 strong we shall probably pay nothing whatever for our passage) 
 as they are glad enough of help going up stream. All we 
 shall have to do will be to buy our own provisions at the villages 
 we stop at, just as the boatmen will do." 
 
350 WITH COCHRANE THE DAUNTLESS. 
 
 "You must give me an address where a letter will find 
 you, Pita. Is there anyone at Lima to whose care I could 
 send it?" 
 
 "Yes; Juan Fernandez, a merchant, in Santa Maria Street 
 of Callao, number ten, knows me well, and has several times 
 recommended me to traders and gold-seekers as a trustworthy 
 guide, and if you address Pita, Indian guide, care of Seiior 
 Juan Fernandez, he will, I know, keep it for me until I call 
 upon him." 
 
 " You will understand, Pita, that in paying you and Hurka 
 only the balance of wages agreed on, I do so because I have 
 no more money with me than is needed to carry me home; 
 it in no way represents the deep obligation which I feel to- 
 wards you both." 
 
 "Say no more of that, seiior; we have done our duty, and 
 should have done as much had you been one to whom we felt 
 bound in no way beyond our agreement, but with you it has 
 been altogether different. Had we been men of your own 
 race you could not have treated us more kindly. We have 
 been comrades and companions. If we saved your life, you 
 must remember that you saved mine; say nothing, therefore, 
 of an obligation. Hurka and I will always remember our 
 journey with you as one of the most pleasant that we ever 
 took. The toil has not been great, for we always went with 
 the stream, while as to danger, we have both passed through 
 many vastly greater perils. If you are satisfied with our 
 services we are content, and more than content." 
 
 Two days later Stephen took his place in a large boat, with 
 a long cabin on deck, carrying a mast and great sail. He 
 parted with the Indians with deep regret, and watched them 
 as, after looking after the boat until it had gone far down, 
 they turned and went along the shore to a little craft on which 
 they had arranged for a passage, and which Avas to start half 
 
IN BRAZIL. 351 
 
 an hour after he sailed. Then Stephen turned round to look 
 at his fellow-passengers. One end of the deck was reserved for 
 the whites. Here was a priest who had been up at Barra on a 
 visit, two traders who had disposed of their merchandise and 
 were returning to Para, an old Portuguese official, his wife, and 
 two daughters, who had, he learnt, been staying for a month 
 with a married daughter at Barra; besides these, there were 
 three or four petty traders, who had come up from villages 
 on the bank to replenish their stock of goods. 
 
 In the fore-part of the vessel were fully a score of natives, 
 among whom were several women. An awning was extended 
 over the after part of the upper deck, and it was not long 
 before Stephen entered into conversation with his fellow- 
 passengers. Hitherto he had thought of nothing but obtain- 
 ing his passage, laying in a stock of provisions — for he was 
 warned that each passenger catered for himself — and saying 
 last words to his Indian companions ; he had, therefore, had no 
 time to obtain news of what was going on. After telling them 
 that he had come down the Madeira, and had been laid up for 
 more than eight months by illness, he said to the priest : 
 
 " I have now been some sixteen months away from all news, 
 and feel like a man who has dropped from the moon." 
 
 " Then you are ignorant," the priest said in surprise, " that 
 the southern portion of Brazil has declared Dom Pedro 
 emperor." 
 
 " Dom Pedro !" Stephen repeated in surprise. " Is his father, 
 King John, then dead?" 
 
 " No, he has returned to Portugal. You know that he was 
 driven from that country by the French, and retired here and 
 ruled over Brazil." 
 
 "That I know," Stephen said; "also that there were in- 
 cessant plots and insurrections." 
 
 "That was so. Well, the war being over in Europe the 
 
352 WITH COCHRANE THE DAUNTLESS. 
 
 Portuguese wanted their king back among them again, and 
 last year King John returned there, leaving Dom Pedro as his 
 lieutenant and regent. The Portuguese having got back their 
 king wanted to bring Brazil back to its former position as 
 subject to Portugal. This provoked a great opposition in the 
 southern provinces, and Dom Pedro was persuaded to throw 
 off his allegiance to his father. In October the independence 
 of the colony was publicly declared, and by this time Dom 
 Pedro has probably assumed the title of Emperor of Brazil. 
 How long he will maintain the title I am unable to say. Our 
 northern provinces of Para, Bahia, and Maranham are still 
 Portuguese, and are held by a large number of Portuguese 
 troops. They have a strong navy, which keeps the sea and 
 compels the few ships of Dom Pedro to remain in port under 
 shelter of the guns of their batteries. There can be but one 
 end to it. The insurrection will be crushed, Dom Pedro 
 sent to Europe as a prisoner, and all who supported him 
 executed, or, if their lives are spared, all their possessions will 
 be confiscated. 
 
 " Truly it is a sad time for Brazil. Everywhere there 
 are two parties, the one for independence, the other for the 
 Portuguese ; but such as hold to the former naturally keep 
 silent. What may happen in the future no man knows; but 
 at present none have any hope that the southern provinces can 
 resist the great force the Portuguese can bring against them 
 by sea and land. The mass of the people take no interest in 
 the struggle. The natives, who are indeed the mass, care 
 nothing whether they are governed from Lisbon or from Rio; 
 they have to pay their taxes whoever is master. Of the whites, 
 those families who have long been settled here are silent, that 
 is to say, they are for independence; while those who have 
 relations and connections in Portugal vehemently and loudly 
 support its cause, and persecute all whom they suspect of 
 
IN BRAZIL. 353 
 
 entertaining opinions to the contrary. But all these things 
 concern the population of the great towns ; we in the interior 
 take but little heed of them. Here Ave cultivate our fields, we 
 say our masses, we carry on our trade, and politics interest us 
 but little. If they do interest us, at least we do not speak of 
 them. Silence is golden, my son, as you have doubtless learnt 
 for yourself in Peru. How came so young a man as you to 
 undertake so terrible a journey as you have made 1 ?" he 
 asked, changing the conversation. 
 
 " It may be, father, that I did not sufficiently recognize that 
 silence was golden. In any case my friends recommended me 
 to take a long journey, because they thought it would be better 
 and safer for me to travel to Brazil ; and as there were reasons 
 against my taking a passage by sea, there was nothing for me 
 but to strike across the continent." 
 
 " You must possess courage and resolution to have ventured 
 out on such a journey. Nevertheless, I can understand that 
 your risk was greater had you remained. You have heard, 
 I suppose, that Peru is now independent?" 
 
 " No, indeed," Stephen replied. " Was there a great battle ?" 
 
 " There was no fighting at all. The Chilian fleet so hemmed 
 in the Spaniards that neither supplies nor reinforcements could 
 reach them, so they agreed to evacuate the country. San 
 Martin was made dictator, or rather made himself so; but so 
 great were the oppressions and tyrannies of himself and his 
 officers that there was a revolution some months ago, and San 
 Martin had to fly to Chili, where he has since remained, as far 
 as I know." 
 
 " It served him right," Stephen said. " He was an ignorant, 
 vain, and traitorous brute, and if the Peruvians had hung him 
 he would only have got his deserts." 
 
 "I can understand, my son," the priest said with a smile, 
 
 "that Peru was not a healthy place for you; and I should 
 ( M 220 ) z 
 
354 WITH COCHRANE THE DAUNTLESS. 
 
 doubt "whether, if you come to take an interest in politics 
 here, Brazil will be a safer place of residence for you than 
 Peru." 
 
 The voyage was pleasant but very slow. When the wind was 
 favourable a great sail was hoisted; when it was not, the boat 
 drifted down the river. The passengers passed the time away 
 in eating many meals, consisting principally of the bread and 
 fruit they purchased at the villages where the boat stopped, and 
 in sipping coffee and smoking innumerable cigarettes. Of an 
 evening the three ladies brought out guitars, and there was 
 much singing by them and the male passengers, several of whom 
 were able to take a turn at the musical instruments. Lines 
 were put over, and occasionally fish caught. So week after week 
 passed. The passengers changed frequently, but Stephen found 
 all to be cheerful and sociable. Twice he had to change his 
 craft for another of precisely the same size, rig, and slowness. 
 The shores afforded but slight amusement, being low, and for 
 the most part wooded, and indeed the river was for a time so 
 wide that the land on either hand was invisible. Once or 
 twice they met with strong winds, and the waves got up 
 rapidly. The craft rolled heavily, and the passengers were for 
 the most part prostrated by terror and sea-sickness. 
 
 At length after two months' passage they entered that branch 
 of the great river upon which Para is situated, and a few days 
 later moored alongside the quays of the town. Stephen at 
 once went to an hotel, gave a Peruvian name, and then, having 
 indulged in a bath and a very comfortable meal, sallied out 
 into the town. In the streets were large numbers of Portuguese 
 soldiers; Avhile a short distance down the bay several fine ships 
 of war lay at anchor. A good many merchant ships were 
 moored alongside the quays, and Stephen determined on the 
 following day to ascertain about them. On his return to the 
 hotel he found a Spanish official talking to the landlord. 
 
IN BRAZIL. 355 
 
 "This is the gentleman," the latter said, motioning to 
 Stephen. 
 
 "I have to ask you for your papers?" he said politely. 
 
 "I have none, senor," Stephen replied. "I have just 
 arrived from Peru, having come down by the river Madeira 
 into the Amazon." 
 
 "But how did you pass the frontier without papers?" the 
 official said in an altogether changed manner. 
 
 " Simply because there is no frontier line on the Madeira, 
 and so far as I know no Portuguese official or soldier within 
 at least fifteen hundred miles. At any rate, I have never been 
 asked for papers until now." 
 
 " But how is it that you started without papers V the official 
 said sternly. 
 
 " It was a matter that I never even thought of, senor. I had 
 been engaged in a quarrel, and the authorities wanted me to 
 leave. My friends furnished me with money, and I left at an 
 hour's notice. I have gone through several perils by the way, 
 was captured by Indians, who took all that I possessed, and 
 would certainly have taken the papers had I had them about 
 me. I was nearly killed and eaten, and was only saved by the 
 courage and fidelity of two native guides who accompanied 
 me." 
 
 "Well, senor, this is not a time when strangers can travel 
 about Brazil without papers. You may be an emissary of the 
 usurper Dom Pedro." 
 
 "If I had been," Stephen said quietly, "I should have come 
 up the coast, and should hardly have gone round by Peru 
 and returned here after a journey that has occupied me some 
 eighteen months. It was only after I arrived at Barra that I 
 learned that King John had left the country, and that his son 
 Dom Pedro had been appointed regent." 
 
 The officer looked doubtful. " Your story may be a true 
 
356 WITH COCHRANE THE DAUNTLESS. 
 
 one," he said. " I shall lay it before the authorities. Until you 
 hear their decision you "will remain here in the hotel." 
 
 "I am quite willing to do so," Stephen said. "In the 
 meantime, sehor, you will hear from the captain of the Bahia, 
 now lying at the wharf, that I have at least come five hundred 
 miles down the Amazon to this place, and there is one, Sehor 
 A^aquez, who is now in this hotel, or is at any rate putting up 
 here, who came down with me all the way from Barra." 
 
 The official at once sent upstairs for the trader, who was 
 fortunately in his room, and who at once confirmed Stephen's 
 statement, that they had travelled together from Barra, and 
 had left there some nine weeks before. 
 
 "This must be taken, sehor," the officer said, "to relieve you 
 from any suspicion of having come here from the insurgent 
 provinces. At the same time there remains the fact that you 
 have entered Brazil without passports or other necessary papers, 
 a matter which will have to be considered by the authorities. 
 At the same time, pending their decision there will be no occa- 
 sion for you to confine yourself to the hotel, as the offence can 
 hardly be considered a very serious one." 
 
 Two hours later Stephen was sent for to the governor's. Here 
 a few more questions were put to him as to the absence of 
 papers, and he was then asked what were his intentions as to 
 the future. 
 
 "By your own confession", the officer who interrogated him 
 said, " you are a fugitive from justice, and although we do not 
 concern ourselves with crimes committed beyond our frontiers, 
 we must concern ourselves with the movements of fugitives from 
 justice who enter Portuguese territory without proper papers." 
 
 "I intend to take ship to Europe," Stephen replied. "My 
 family have business connections there. I shall probably stay 
 there until I hear that I can return home." 
 
 " Very well, sehor. So long as you remain here you Avill be 
 
IN BRAZIL. 357 
 
 under surveillance, but otherwise your movements will not be 
 interfered with." 
 
 Stephen bowed and withdrew. At the hotel that evening 
 he learned news that surprised him and altered his plans. 
 Some officers who had dined there were talking together, 
 and Stephen, who was sitting near them drinking his coffee 
 and smoking his cigarette, heard to his surprise the name of 
 Lord Cochrane. 
 
 "There can be no doubt as to the truth of the news," one 
 said. "Not only has this English adventurer accepted the 
 offer of Dom Pedro to take command of his fleet, but they say 
 he is already on his way, and is expected to arrive at Rio in a 
 few weeks. I am afraid that he will give us some trouble." 
 
 " Not he," another said scornfully. " One of our ships could 
 dispose of the whole of the insurgent fleet. They are, as we 
 know from our friends there, but armed merchantmen, the Pedro 
 Primeiro being the only real war-ship among them. Moreover, 
 their equipments are villainously bad, and their manning worse, 
 the only real sailors they have being our countrymen, who will 
 bring the ships over to us when the first gun is fired. Even 
 the Englishman can do nothing with such ships as these against 
 three well-appointed fleets like ours." 
 
 "He did wonders on the other side," one of the other officers 
 said. 
 
 " I grant you he did, but the odds were nothing like so great. 
 The Chilians are better sailors by far than the people here, and 
 could at least be relied upon to be faithful. I should think it 
 likely that he will throw up his command in disgust as soon as 
 he sees what this so-called fleet is, and how hopeless it is to 
 struggle against such tremendous odds." 
 
 " I hope that it may be so, major. I own the force of your 
 arguments, and the apparent hopelessness of any attempt to 
 meet us at sea; but after what he did on the other side I cannot 
 
358 WITH COCHRANE THE DAUNTLESS. 
 
 but think that he will at least give us some trouble, and at 
 any rate make our conquest of the insurgent provinces less easy 
 than we have anticipated. The man's reputation alone will 
 inspire even those who regard their position as most hopeless, 
 with some sort of energy. Hitherto I have never thought that 
 there would be any resistance whatever, but anticipated that 
 they would surrender as soon as our fleet appeared off their 
 shores and our troops landed; but I think now that this 
 Englishman may infuse some of his own mad spirit into these 
 indolent Brazilians, and that they will make at least a show 
 of resistance." 
 
 "All the worse for them," the captain laughed. "There will 
 only be so many more confiscations and so much more plunder 
 for the troops. I hope myself that they will resist, for other- 
 wise we shall gain but little prize-money or plunder." 
 
 "I think we shall get plenty of both in any case," the other 
 said. "Two-thirds of the people down there are rebels, and 
 whether there is resistance or not their possessions of all kinds 
 will be justly forfeited." 
 
 " That is so; but it is the government who will forfeit them, 
 and but a small proportion indeed will fall to the share of the 
 army and navy." 
 
 The conversation then turning upon other subjects, Stephen 
 rose and strolled out of the room, and going down to the 
 wharf seated himself on a balk of timber to think the matter 
 out. That Lord Cochrane should have been driven to resign 
 his position in Chili he could well understand, for he had 
 wondered many times that he put up with the treatment 
 that he received and the utter ingratitude that had been the 
 sole reward of his great services; but it was singular indeed 
 that just as he himself arrived on the eastern coast of the 
 continent he should receive the news that Cochrane would 
 ere long appear on the coast to take command of the Brazilian 
 
IN BRAZIL. 359 
 
 fleet. Of course, now his plans would be changed, and instead 
 of going to England he should endeavour to make his way 
 down to Rio, and there join the admiral. 
 
 The question was how was it to be done? The journey by 
 land would be out of the question; the distance was almost 
 as vast as that he had already travelled, and he would be ex- 
 posed to constant questioning. Upon the other hand, it was 
 certain that no ships would be sailing from Para to Rio. He 
 might get down to Bahia, but the same difficulty would pre- 
 sent itself. It seemed to him that there was but one possible 
 method of reaching Rio, namely to take passage by ship to the 
 Cape de Verde Islands, and there to take another ship bound 
 for Rio. The distance was great, but under favourable circum- 
 stances the journey might be made in a few weeks. 
 
 The next morning he was early down at the wharf. There 
 were several ships lading for Europe, but one of them was 
 English, and this he learned on going on board would, unless 
 driven east by stress of weather, make for the Azores direct 
 without touching at St. Vincent. There were, however, two 
 Portuguese vessels that would touch at Cape de Verde, and 
 would stay some days there. One of these would start the 
 next day. 
 
 In this he secured a passage forward for a very small sum, 
 on his saying that he knew something of the sea, and was 
 willing to make himself useful. He had only now to purchase 
 a few rough clothes suitable for the voyage, and he was ready 
 for the start. The time the voyage would take did not 
 much trouble him. It might be a month or six weeks yet 
 before the admiral reached Brazil; and if what was said of 
 the fleet were true, the work of getting it fit for sea would be 
 a long one, as his experience in Chili had taught him. Even, 
 then, if the voyage was much longer than he expected, he 
 might still be in time to join the admiral before he sailed. 
 
360 WITH COCHRANE THE DAUNTLESS. 
 
 He went on board that night, and in the morning put on his 
 rough clothes and assisted to make sail. In a short time the 
 vessel dropped down the river, and in a few hours was fairly 
 out at sea. 
 
 Stephen messed with the crew forward, and seeing his 
 readiness to assist, and his handiness when aloft, he soon 
 became popular with them, though they constantly expressed 
 their surprise that a Peruvian should be so good a sailor. The 
 wind was favourable and steady, and although the vessel was 
 becalmed for three or four days, she dropped anchor in the 
 port of Santiago three weeks after leaving Para. The mate 
 of the vessel had been very friendly with Stephen during the 
 voyage, and said to him the day before they arrived, that if 
 he wished to go on to Europe he was sure that the captain 
 would give him a free passage, as he was as good a hand as 
 the best of the crew. 
 
 "To tell you the truth, seiior," Stephen said, "I don't want 
 to get to Europe, but to Rio. I have friends there who will 
 give me employment, but the only way that I could see to 
 manage it was to come here and take a passage in the first 
 ship bound there." 
 
 "Very well. I will inquire directly we get in if there is a ship 
 in harbour bound there, and if so you shall be rowed straight on 
 board, which will save you the expense of living on shore, and 
 perhaps a lot of bother with the authorities, who are always 
 prying into people's business." 
 
 There were eight or ten vessels in harbour when they 
 arrived; and the mate, after going ashore, brought back word 
 that one was a British ship bound for Rio. 
 
 "She will probably sail in the morning," the mate said; "and 
 
IN BRAZIL. 361 
 
 as the port officials have already been on board and checked 
 off the passengers, we can take you off after dark without risk 
 of any bother." 
 
 Accordingly, as soon as it was dark two hands rowed Stephen 
 across to the English barque. 
 
 "What do you want, my man?" the mate asked when he 
 stepped on deck. 
 
 " I want a passage to Rio," Stephen replied in English. " I 
 am a sailor and am ready to work my way if the money I have 
 is not sufficient to pay for a passage. I do not look like it at 
 present, but I am one of Lord Cochrane's officers, and as he is 
 now either at Rio or within a short distance of it, I wish to 
 join him there." 
 
 The mate went into the captain's cabin, and on coming out 
 again asked Stephen to follow him. The captain looked at 
 him attentively. 
 
 " This is rather a strange yarn of yours." 
 
 "It is a strange one, captain, but it is true." 
 
 " If you are one of Cochrane's officers what are you doing 
 here? and why are you masquerading in that dress 1 ? Have 
 you already served with him 1 " 
 
 "I was his flag-lieutenant on the Chilian coast." 
 
 The captain repeated incredulously: "Why, I should not 
 guess you to be above twenty." 
 
 "That is about my age, sir; but what I say is nevertheless 
 the fact. My story is too long to tell you now; but, briefly, 
 I was wounded in the cutting out of the Esmeralda, and was 
 sent back to be cured at Valparaiso. On my way up in a 
 coasting craft to rejoin, I was wrecked on the Peruvian coast 
 and made prisoner. I escaped by the aid of friends, and find- 
 
362 WITH COCHRANE THE DAUNTLESS. 
 
 ing it impossible to make my way down to Chili, I crossed the 
 Andes and came down by the great rivers to Para. There I 
 heard that Lord Cochrane was about to assume the command 
 of the Brazilian fleet. It was absolutely impossible to make 
 my way there direct, either by land or sea, and I therefore 
 took passage here in that Portuguese lying a hundred yards 
 away, and now want to be taken on to Bio. The stock of 
 money with which I started is reduced to twenty pounds. I 
 must have something when I land, as the admiral may not 
 have arrived; but I am ready to pay fifteen for my passage, 
 and equally willing, if that is not sufficient, to work my way 
 before the mast." 
 
 "Well, sir," the captain said, "if you are one of Cochrane's 
 officers I shall be proud to carry you without any charge for 
 the passage; but you can, if you like, pay five pounds for the 
 cost of your food, which, as it belongs to the owner, I have no 
 right to give away. Are the clothes you stand in all your kit 1 ?" 
 
 "No; I have a bundle on deck with another and somewhat 
 more respectable suit. I bought it at Bahia, and although it 
 is hardly the dress one would choose on board a ship, it is at 
 least respectable, being that of a Brazilian merchant." 
 
 "I will lend you some togs for the voyage," the mate said. 
 " We have no passengers on board, so that if they don't quite 
 fit you it won't matter, although I think that we are pretty 
 much of a size." 
 
 Stephen warmly thanked the captain and mate for their 
 kindness, and then went to the gangway and told the men 
 waiting in the boat to inform the mate that it was all right, 
 and that he had arranged for a passage. 
 
 The voyage was a pleasant one. The mate's clothes fitted 
 
FRESH TRIUMPHS. 363 
 
 Stephen very well, and he messed with the captain and officers, 
 who were pleasant companions. They were five weeks on the 
 voyage, and Stephen was delighted, on arriving at Eio, to hear 
 that Lord Cochrane was still there, but that the fleet would 
 put to sea in a few days. He resumed his Brazilian dress, and, 
 after renewed thanks to the captain for his kindness, was 
 rowed ashore as soon as the port officials had paid their visit. 
 
 CHAPTER XX. 
 
 FRESH TRIUMPHS. 
 
 NO sooner had Stephen reached the landing-place than he 
 hired a native boat to take him off to the flag-ship, which, 
 with several of her consorts, was lying some little distance off 
 the shore and in front of the Naval establishment. Several 
 others were close in by the wharfs. 
 
 "They look in a slovenly state indeed," he said to himself, 
 " infinitely worse than the Chilian ships did when we first got 
 out there. There are two or three by the flag-ship that look 
 in a fair state of order, but the rest might be a fleet of big 
 colliers, with their yards up and down anyhow, their rigging 
 all slack, and everything dirty and untidy." 
 
 In ten minutes they were alongside of the flag-ship, whose 
 appearance presented a strong contrast to that of the others. 
 
 Telling the boatman to bring up his bundle after him, 
 Stephen ascended the ladder. A petty officer came up to him 
 as he stepped on to the deck. 
 
364 WITH COCHRANE THE DAUNTLESS. 
 
 "What is your business?" he asked him in Portuguese, 
 which Stephen now sj)oke fluently. 
 
 "I wish to speak to the admiral." 
 
 The sailor looked at him from head to foot. "Have you 
 an appointment with him ? " 
 
 "I have not, but he will see me, nevertheless, when he knows 
 that I am here." 
 
 On looking round while the man hesitated, Stephen saw the 
 admiral speaking to an officer in captain's uniform. The petty 
 officer, after some hesitation, went up to the officer on watch, 
 who at once came over to Stephen. 
 
 " You want to speak to the admiral?" 
 
 "I do, lieutenant. I see him yonder, and if you will be 
 good enough to inform him that Lieutenant Embleton is here 
 and ready to report himself for duty, you will find that he will 
 not mind being disturbed." 
 
 The officer looked at him doubtfully. " You have neither 
 the appearance of an Englishman nor of a lieutenant," he said. 
 
 "That may be, sir, but it does not alter the fact." 
 
 At this moment the captain left the admiral's side and 
 walked forward. 
 
 "What is it, Lieutenant Komoro?" he asked as he passed 
 them. 
 
 " This gentleman," and he hesitated over the word, "says that 
 he is Lieutenant Embleton, and desires to speak to the admiral." 
 
 "Lieutenant Embleton!" the captain repeated in English; 
 "not the admiral's flag-lieutenant in Chili, surely? If so, Lord 
 Cochrane will be delighted to see you; he has spoken of you 
 to me several times. He believed you to be dead, and but 
 yesterday he was saying how he missed your services." 
 
11320 
 "MY DEAR BOY," EXCLAIMED LORD COCHRANE, "THANK GOD 
 INDEED THAT I SEE YOU ALIVE." 
 
FRESH TRIUMPHS. 365 
 
 "I am the man, sir," Stephen replied. "I have been eighteen 
 months in crossing the continent, and to get here from Para had 
 to make the voyage to the Cape de Verde and back again." 
 
 " I congratulate you on your escape," the captain said, 
 shaking his hand warmly. " My name is Crosbie, I am Lord 
 Cochiane's flag-captain, I will take you to him at once." 
 
 The admiral had left the deck and retired to his cabin. 
 Captain Crosbie took Stephen there, and at once knocked at 
 the door and entered. 
 
 "Excuse my troubling you now, admiral," he said, "but my 
 object will, I am sure, excuse my intrusion. I have a gentle- 
 man here that you will, I know, be glad to meet." 
 
 Lord Cochrane looked earnestly at Stephen; he had not 
 seen him since he had sent him down to Valparaiso after the 
 capture of the Esmeralda. The two years that had elapsed 
 had greatly changed his appearance, and he had grown from 
 a tall lad of eighteen into a powerful young man. A flash of 
 recognition came into his face, he made a step forward and 
 exclaimed: "Good heavens, can it be — " 
 
 "Stephen Embleton, sir. I have come on board to report 
 for duty." 
 
 "My dear boy, my dear boy," Lord Cochrane said, holding 
 out both hands and wringing those of Stephen, "I am glad 
 to see you indeed. I thank God that I see you alive and 
 well again, which I never dreamt that I should do, for I 
 thought that you had died or had been tortured to death in 
 the dungeons of that accursed Inquisition at Callao. But where 
 have you sprung from, where have you been all this time, by 
 what miracle are you here?" 
 
 " I escaped the night before I was to be handed over to the 
 
366 WITH COCHRANE THE DAUNTLESS. 
 
 Inquisition," Stephen replied, "then finding it impossible to 
 make my way down to Chili I crossed the Andes and have 
 come down the Amazon. I had an unfortunate adventure 
 which detained me for eight months; at least, I thought it 
 unfortunate at the time, but I cannot think it so now, as I 
 have just arrived in time to join your lordship here." 
 
 " And now, admiral, if you will excuse me I will be off to 
 my duties," Captain Crosbie put in. "I could not deny myself 
 the pleasure of bringing in Mr. Embleton, but his story will 
 assuredly be a long one, and, as you know, my hands are pretty 
 full." 
 
 " Well now, lad," the admiral said when they were alone, 
 "sit down and tell me all about it. Here I am with my old 
 worry again, but worse. I thought the Chilians were as bad as 
 could be in matters of business, but these fellows are infinitely 
 worse. I have had no end of trouble with them, and have 
 been obliged to threaten, three or four times already, to resign. 
 As it is, I have only been able to get four ships out of a dozen 
 ready, and even these, with the exception of this ship, are in a 
 shameful state, and deficient in every necessary. What is worse, 
 I cannot even rely upon the crews, which I always could do in 
 the Chilian service. Well, before you begin your story I must 
 tell you that I did not forget you, but tried every means in 
 my power to effect your release. When I got a letter from my 
 wife mentioning that you had sailed in that store-ship that 
 had been so long missing, I set about making inquiries, and 
 sent a boat ashore with a white flag to inquire if any such ship 
 had been wrecked on the coast, for there had been a heavy 
 gale at the time that she was making her passage. I was 
 informed that she and all hands had been lost. 
 
FRESH TRIUMPHS. 367 
 
 " From some deserters, however, I learned that this was a 
 lie; a few sailors had got ashore and had been killed. I then 
 sent a frigate down to the place where the wreck had been 
 and sent a letter ashore to the governor. He replied that an 
 English officer had been captured, and had been sent to Callao 
 and handed over to the authorities there. When the frigate 
 returned with the news I sent a furious letter ashore to the 
 governor. He replied that he was not before aware that the 
 officer in question had belonged to the ship that was wrecked, 
 and that the person I spoke of had escaped from prison and 
 had not been recaptured. A few days after this a fresh gover- 
 nor was appointed at Callao. I wrote to him, and he gave me 
 substantially the same reply that the other had done. How- 
 ever, I opened negotiations with a merchant there and got 
 him to make inquiries. He sent word that he had talked to 
 some of the prison officials, and that they told the same story 
 as the governor had done; they said that you had, in some 
 extraordinary way, overpowered two prison officials and had 
 made your escape. Of course I did not believe this, and 
 supposed that instructions had been given to all the people 
 connected with the prison to tell the same story. So I sent 
 again to the merchant, and told him to use whatever means 
 were necessary to get at the truth, as bribery will do anything 
 on that coast. He found that the new governor on taking the 
 command had found a book with a record as to the disposition 
 of the prisoners on leaving. Some were marked merely dis- 
 charged, others as returned to their regiments, many as having 
 died in prison. There were also a large number of official 
 documents relating to these matters, and among them the 
 governor found an order for you to be handed over to the 
 
368 WITH COCHRANE THE DAUNTLESS. 
 
 Inquisition on the day following that on which you were said 
 to have escaped. As soon as I heard this, it seemed to me that 
 there was no doubt about your fate. You had been handed 
 over, and this cock-and-bull story was only intended to throw 
 dust in my eyes if I captured Callao. I therefore sent a demand 
 to the Peruvian authorities for your release and surrender, 
 saying what I had learned; and in reply they declared that I 
 had been misinformed, for that you had escaped, and that the 
 authorities of the Inquisition denied positively that you had 
 ever been handed over to them. 
 
 " I wrote a strong letter in reply, saying that no one ever 
 believed the word of an inquisitor, and that if it should ever 
 be my good fortune to capture Callao I would burn their build- 
 ings to the ground, and hang every official, priest, and layman 
 belonging to it. There the matter dropped. Of course I did 
 not get the chance of carrying my threat into execution, but 
 if I had done so I should have certainly carried it out; and 
 even if I had found afterwards that I had been mistaken about 
 you I should not have regretted it, for they have deserved the 
 fate a hundred times over. Well, tell me about your escape; 
 the story afterwards must keep. You know the state the 
 Chilian navy was in when I took the command; well, this is 
 much worse, and the factions here are even more bitter and 
 unscrupulous than they were in Chili, impossible as that may 
 seem to you." 
 
 "The affair was a very easy one, sir, for it was by bribery 
 rather than force that I got away." And he then related the 
 manner in which he had been befriended by Don Filippo Con- 
 chas and his cousin. 
 
 "A noble young fellow!" the admiral exclaimed when he 
 
FRESH TRIUMPHS. 369 
 
 brought his story to a conclusion. " Of course there are fine 
 fellows among the Spaniards as among other nations, but 
 we have heard only of their worst side, that told by people 
 who hated them bitterly. Well, I shall like them better in 
 future, and I hope some day that I may run across that young 
 fellow and his wife— no doubt she is his wife long ere this. 
 Let us call Crosbie in. He is a fine fellow, and I am very 
 certain he will be heartily glad to have you with him, for at 
 present he has not a soul he can rely on." 
 
 On Captain Crosbie's arrival the admiral told him that 
 Stephen was ready to set to work at once, in any capacity in 
 which he could make himself useful. 
 
 "I shall be glad indeed of his aid," the captain said, "for 
 there is not an officer or man who knows his work." 
 
 "Knows!" the admiral repeated; "there is not a man who 
 has the faintest idea of it. I should have liked Stephen, above 
 all things, for our first lieutenant, but our complement is 
 complete." 
 
 "I think you might manage it," Captain Crosbie said after a 
 few minutes' reflection. " No captain has yet been appointed 
 to command the Carolina. You might appoint Morales to it. 
 He belongs to a powerful family here, and they would be 
 pleased at his promotion. So it might be a politic step, as well 
 as serving our purpose by making a vacancy for Embleton." 
 
 "That would be just the thing," the admiral said. 
 
 " I am sure I should be delighted," Captain Crosbie went on, 
 for Morales is of very little use ; and with Mr. Embleton to aid 
 me I should beable to get the crew into something like shape in 
 half the time that it would take me to do it single-handed." 
 
 "Very well, then; the thing is done. I have full powers 
 
 (M220) 2 A 
 
370 WITH COCHRANE THE DAUNTLESS. 
 
 to make any changes and appointments in the fleet, so I will 
 write out the orders at once. If you will send Lieutenant 
 Morales in here, Captain Crosbie, I will announce his promo- 
 tion to him and tell him to take up his duties at once, and 
 then Embleton can enter upon his as soon as he has provided 
 himself with a uniform." 
 
 Stephen was about to leave the room with Captain Crosbie 
 when the admiral stopped him. 
 
 "I have no doubt that you are short of cash, Stephen," he 
 said, "and just at the present moment of course you cannot 
 draw upon your bankers in England, for your father will natu- 
 rally have long since believed you dead, and the account will be 
 transferred to himself; so I must be your banker for the present. 
 Here are two hundred and fifty dollars. Tell the fellows who 
 make your uniform — Crosbie will tell you where to go to — 
 that you will pay them something extra to get one suit finished 
 by to-morrow. We shall sail in a couple of days." 
 
 After thanking the admiral, Stephen retired just as the lieu- 
 tenant entered the cabin. On asking the captain as to the 
 address of the best firm of tailors the latter said : 
 
 "I am just going ashore myself to see about some stores 
 from the dockyard, and will go there with you. As I am 
 known to them thej^ will probably sharpen up more than if 
 you, a stranger, went by yourself." 
 
 As they rowed ashore Stephen learned from Captain Crosbie 
 that the fleet ready for sea consisted, in addition to the flag- 
 ship, of one fine frigate, the Plranza, the Maria da Gloria, a 
 converted merchantman mounting thirty-three small guns, and 
 the Liberal, about the same size. 
 
 " We take with us two old vessels that will be used as fire- 
 
FRESH TRIUMPHS. 371 
 
 ships, and the Carolina and another ship that are not yet 
 equipped will join us later on. We are first going to attack 
 Bahia, where we shall have all our work cut out. The Portuguese 
 have three line- of -battle ships, five frigates, five corvettes, a 
 brig, and a schooner. The worst of the thing is that we cannot 
 depend upon our crews. I think that our ship will be all right, 
 but the others are all largely manned by Portuguese, who are 
 as likely as not to mutiny directly we get near the enemy, 
 and to take the ships over to them. Besides that, our equip- 
 ments are simply miserable — the cartridges are all unfit for 
 service, the fuses of the shells are absolutely untrustworthy, 
 the powder is wretched, the marines know nothing either of 
 working the big guns or of the use of the small ones, and are 
 moreover an insolent, lazy set of rascals, and consider them- 
 selves as something infinitely superior to the sailors. Lord 
 Cochrane will doubtless add to his own great reputation by 
 the deeds he will perform here, but assuredly he will find that 
 he will be harassed well-nigh to death by the different factions, 
 and will have difficulties placed in his way at every turn, will 
 be unable to obtain justice for his crews, and will ere long 
 find his position altogether insufferable. The emperor is well- 
 intentioned and honest, but is altogether devoid of any real 
 power, and he is as completely in the hands of the clique of 
 schemers round him, as was the President of Chili. There is 
 not an English officer now in the service of Don Pedro who 
 would not be delighted to leave it if they could obtain an 
 appointment at one-fourth of the pay elsewhere." 
 
 On the- 3rd of April the little squadron set sail. They 
 arrived off Bahia on the 1st of May, and the Portuguese fleet 
 at once sailed out of the harbour to meet them. The force was 
 
372 WITH COCHRANE THE DAUNTLESS. 
 
 altogether too formidable to be engaged by four ill-manned 
 and ill-equipped ships, but Lord Cochrane manoeuvred so that 
 he was able with his flag-ship to cut off the four rearmost ships 
 of their fleet. He signalled at once to his consorts to join 
 him in attacking these vessels, but to his astonishment and 
 anger the signal was disregarded, and not one of them made 
 the slightest movement to join him. Hoping that when they 
 saw him actively engaged they would bear down and take 
 part in the fight, he opened fire upon the Portuguese; but the 
 guns and powder were alike so defective, and the crews so 
 incapable of handling them, that he did but little damage to 
 the enemy and was forced to draw off. He found that the 
 Portuguese on his other three ships had absolutely refused to 
 obey their captains' orders, and even on the flag-ship the 
 Portuguese employed in sending up ammunition from below, 
 had so wilfully delayed in their work that the guns were often 
 idle for want of ammunition. 
 
 He wrote at once a very strong letter to the Brazilian 
 authorities as to the manning and equipment of the ships, and 
 declared that he could do nothing until these matters were 
 remedied, for that it was necessary for one : half of the squadron 
 to be incessantly watching the other. However, it was not in 
 his nature to wait until his complaints were attended to, for 
 his experience had already taught him that this would be to 
 condemn himself to protracted inactivity. He consequently 
 sailed to the nearest Brazilian port, and there transferred all 
 the best men and the most serviceable fittings to his flag- ship 
 and the Maria da Gloria. Leaving the other vessels to remain 
 in port until properly refitted and until their captains could 
 obtain disciplined and sufficient crews, he sailed with the Maria 
 
FRESH TRIUMPHS. 373 
 
 da Gloria for Bahia. As the commander of the smaller ship, 
 Captain Beaurepaire, was an active and efficient officer, good 
 results were soon obtained by the change. Several small 
 captures were made of vessels coming in with supplies. The 
 port was completely blockaded, and the Portuguese squadron, 
 cowed by Cochrane's great reputation, dared not venture out 
 to engage him. 
 
 After remaining there for three weeks the admiral returned 
 to the port to see how the other ships were getting on, and in 
 six days was back again. The Portuguese fleet had ventured 
 out, but as soon as Lord Cochrane arrived they withdrew again. 
 A week later information was obtained from a ship captured 
 while attempting to leave the port, that the Portuguese were 
 seriously thinking of evacuating the place altogether, before 
 the fire-ships that were, they had learned, in course of prepara- 
 tion, should arrive. The admiral despatched the Maria da 
 Gloria to the port to lay in water and victuals for three months. 
 The other ships there were also to be victualled, and the Piranza 
 was directed to join at once. In the meantime Lord Cochrane 
 determined to increase, if possible, the alarm of the Portuguese, 
 though he had now only the flag-ship off the port. 
 
 The enemies' fleet lay ten or twelve miles up the bay under 
 shelter of the guns of the fort. 
 
 "As to attacking them by daylight," he said when talking 
 over the matter with Captain Crosbie and Stephen, " it would 
 be altogether too desperate. Were this ship manned with 
 English sailors I would do it without hesitation, and even 
 with Chilians a good deal might be effected; but although the 
 crew have gained greatly in discipline since we got rid of the 
 Portuguese, I could not count upon them. The Chilians had 
 
374 WITH COCHRANE THE DAUNTLESS. 
 
 gradually gained experience and confidence in themselves, but 
 our crew are altogether new to the work and could not be 
 trusted to fight against such enormous odds. Still, by going 
 up at night we might get in among their fleet unnoticed, and 
 might even capture one or two vessels. At any rate, it would 
 heighten their alarm even to know that we had got up through 
 the channel into their midst." 
 
 As soon as it became dark on the evening of the 12th of 
 June the Pedro Primeiro sailed up the river, sounding her way 
 as she went. Absolute silence was observed on board the 
 ship. Unfortunately just as they reached the outermost vessels 
 the wind began to drop so light that the ship could hardly 
 stem the tide that was running out; however, she made her 
 way some little distance further. Even in the darkness so 
 large a ship was noticed; the alarm was given and the drums 
 beat to quarters on board the Portuguese ships of war. In 
 answer to a hail as to who she was the answer was given, 
 "An English ship". This satisfied the Portuguese; but as the 
 wind had now altogether failed and the tide was growing in 
 strength nothing more could be done. An anchor was dropped, 
 but with enough chain to allow it to drag on the ground, and 
 stern foremost she drifted out from the shipping and regained 
 her old position at the mouth of the river. But although no 
 material advantage had been gained the moral effect more 
 than answered the admiral's hopes. When it became known 
 that his ship had been in the midst of the Portuguese squadron, 
 something like a panic took place on board, and this was in- 
 creased by the news they received that the fitting out of the 
 fire-ships had almost been completed. 
 
 Dependent, as the garrison and shipping were, almost en- 
 
FRESH TRIUMPHS. 375 
 
 tirely upon provisions brought by sea, they were already very 
 seriously inconvenienced by the blockade. Accordingly, on 
 the 2nd of July the whole squadron of war-ships, and seventy 
 merchantmen and transports carrying the troops, evacuated 
 Bahia. All on board the flag-ship were delighted when they 
 saw the great fleet sail; for even Lord Cochrane had felt that 
 even with the whole of his little squadron it would be a 
 desperate undertaking to attempt to attack them when sup- 
 ported by the guns of their forts; now, however, that they were 
 at sea he could at least harass them, for if the ships of war 
 turned upon him he could bear away. Already an immense 
 service had been performed, for the evacuation of Bahia practi- 
 cally handed over the whole of the province of that name to 
 Brazil. The admiral had not been joined by the two ships 
 left in port, but the Maria da Gloria had returned, and the 
 Carolina and Nitherohy, which had been left at Rio to complete 
 their outfit, came up three hours after the Portuguese sailed. 
 
 He directed these three ships to pick up any Portuguese 
 vessels that lagged behind or made off to the right or left 
 hand, while with the flag-ship he followed close on the rear of 
 the main body. The Portuguese had intended to make for 
 Maranham, where another squadron was lying, but Cochrane 
 pressed them so closely that they were forced to abandon this 
 plan and continued to sail south. The men-of-war did not 
 attempt to turn on their pursuer, but kept steadily on, while 
 the merchant ships and transports scattered right and left in 
 order to escape from the reach of his guns. Those that did 
 so were all picked up by the other Brazilian ships, while Lord 
 Cochrane pursued the main body. Five days after they had 
 sailed, he sent off the other vessels with their prizes to Pernam- 
 
376 WITH COCHRANE THE DAUNTLESS. 
 
 buco, the nearest port, with a despatch to the minister of marine, 
 informing him that half the enemy's army, their colours, 
 cannon, ammunition, stores, and baggage had already been 
 taken. He stated that he should continue the pursuit, direct- 
 ing his attention at present to the transports, in order that he 
 might if possible capture the whole of the troops and so lessen 
 the risk of any future operations by the Portuguese against 
 Brazil. After effecting this he should, he said, direct his 
 operations against their war-ships. 
 
 For another week he followed the flying fleet. Each night he 
 swept down among them, capturing many vessels and causing 
 the utmost confusion and alarm among the rest. He chased 
 them past the equator and more than half-way to Cape Verde, 
 and then left them to make their way back to Portugal, and 
 report that a single vessel had driven thirteen ships of war 
 home, accompanied by only thirteen of the seventy vessels 
 that had started under their protection. The pursuit would 
 not have terminated even then, but would have been pressed 
 until the rest of the convoy fell into his hands, but several 
 of the transports had made their escape during the night 
 attacks, and Lord Cochrane was anxious to prevent them from 
 carrying their troops safely into Maranham. Upon abandon- 
 ing the pursuit, therefore, he sailed for that port, and entered 
 the river with Portuguese colours flying. 
 
 The authorities at once sent off an officer to congratulate 
 their supposed friend on his safe arrival, and to express their 
 satisfaction at this reinforcement to their strength. On 
 arriving on board, the officer found that he had fallen into a 
 trap. Lord Cochrane announced to him that the flag-ship 
 woidd be followed by a numerous fleet with a military force, 
 
FRESH TRIUMPHS. 377 
 
 and that resistance would therefore bring about the destruction 
 of the place and the capture of the fleet and garrison, and 
 he then sent him on shore with letters to the governor to the 
 same effect. 
 
 "You will already have learned," he said, "of the flight of 
 the naval and military forces from Bahia. I have now to 
 inform you of the capture of two-thirds of the transports and 
 troops with all their stores and ammunition. I am anxious 
 not to let loose the imperial troops upon Maranham, exasper- 
 ated as they are at the injuries and cruelties exercised towards 
 them and their countrymen, as well as by the plunder of the 
 merchants and churches of Bahia." 
 
 The letter had a prompt effect, and on the following day a 
 deputation came off and surrendered the city and forts. The 
 Portuguese troops were at once embarked on their ships and 
 allowed to sail to Europe, as, had they learned the truth, they 
 might again have obtained possession of the forts and town, 
 which the admiral had no means of preventing them from 
 doing. The delight of the people at being free from the 
 dominion of the Portuguese was unbounded, and they would 
 have massacred the civilians remaining had not Lord Coch- 
 rane interfered and allowed all who were willing, to take the 
 oath of allegiance to Brazil. Many of the leading Portuguese 
 merchants and traders did so, but the admiral was obliged to 
 remain two months in the port to protect them from the effect 
 of the exasperation of the native population. But although 
 compelled to remain inactive for a time, the admiral continued 
 his work by sending off Captain Grenfell with a Portuguese 
 brig, which he had seized in the river, to Para, the last strong- 
 hold remaining to the Portuguese, to follow there the example 
 
378 WITH COCHRANE THE DAUNTLESS. 
 
 that he had set him, by reporting the capture of Bahia and 
 Maranham, and announcing the coming of a great fleet and 
 demanding immediate surrender. 
 
 The expedient was again completely successful. Astounded 
 and cowed at the disasters that had befallen their countrymen, 
 Para and the ships of war in the harbour at once surrendered, 
 and the troops were embarked without delay for Portugal. 
 Thus, in the course of six months, Lord Cochrane had with 
 practically but one fighting ship put an end to the Portuguese 
 domination in Brazil, had captured three strong fortresses, 
 driven three large bodies of troops across the Atlantic, taken 
 an immense number of prizes, a vast quantity of naval and 
 military stores, and had annexed to Brazil a territory more 
 than half as large as Europe, a record unapproached in the 
 world's history. Upon his return to the capital Lord Cochrane 
 was received with the greatest enthusiasm. The emperor 
 came on board and personally tendered him his thanks. The 
 title of Marquis of Maranham was bestowed upon him, and he 
 was made a privy-councillor of Brazil. 
 
 These, however, were but empty honours. His sailors re- 
 mained unpaid; by a system of wholesale fraud they received 
 but an insignificant fraction of the prize-money due to them; 
 for the Portuguese faction were still predominant in the 
 Brazilian ministry, and Lord Cochrane was so openly insulted 
 that he felt his position untenable. He remained, however, 
 for a year longer in the service, in order to obtain for his 
 sailors some portion of the arrears of pay and of the insignifi- 
 cant amount of prize-money that was admittedly their due. 
 His resignation could not be much longer delayed, but finally 
 it was brought about by accident. He was cruising in the 
 
FRESH TRIUMPHS. 379 
 
 Piransa, to which he had shifted his flag, when he was carried 
 far out to sea by strong easterly winds. These increased to a 
 heavy gale, when it was discovered that many of the spars 
 were so unserviceable that sail could not be set on them. 
 
 The rigging was absolutely rotten, as were the provisions on 
 board. He could do nothing but run before the gale as long as 
 it lasted, and by that time he had sailed far across the Atlantic. 
 Eeturn was impossible for him, seeing the condition of the 
 ship, and the fact that there was not more than a week's supply 
 of wholesome food remaining. He therefore decided that the 
 only chance of safety was to continue his voyage to England. 
 This he did, and reached Portsmouth in safety, and his first 
 step was to advance £2000 to refit the ship. But his enemies 
 in Brazil made out that his voyage to England was an absolute 
 desertion, and sent instructions to the officers and crew no 
 longer to obey his orders. He therefore sent off the letter of 
 resignation he had so long intended. Thus, at the close of 
 his two commands, in which he had brought about the expul- 
 sion of the Spaniards from the western coast of South America, 
 and that of the Portuguese from the eastern, Lord Cochrane, 
 so far from having reaped any personal benefit from his splendid 
 services and daring exploits, was absolutely a poorer man by 
 £20,000 than when he left the shores of England. 
 
 Stephen had, by Lord Cochrane's advice, resigned his com- 
 mission as soon as the admiral saw that there was no hope of 
 obtaining fair treatment from the Portuguese faction, who 
 determined that the sailors should derive no benefit from the 
 work they had done. 
 
 "Chili was bad," he said; "but in Chili there was some 
 honest popular feeling, and this acted as a check and prevented 
 
380 WITH COCHRANE THE DAUNTLESS. 
 
 the council carrying their rascally course too far. In Brazil 
 there is practically no public opinion. The people are on a 
 level with those in Peru, and naturally indolent; they have 
 grown so accustomed to oppression that they dare not protest 
 against any iniquity. I foresee that it will not be long before 
 I, too shall resign; indeed, I would gladly do so now, were it 
 not that I am forced to stay here to do what I can to obtain 
 justice for the fleet. You are but one-and-twenty and your 
 life is before you; you have had enough adventures to last an 
 ordinary man for his lifetime, and you have acquired some six 
 or seven thousand pounds by your rescue of that treasure, and 
 your Chilian prize-money as lieutenant of the flag-ship. Here 
 you ought to get more than that, but I can see already that 
 the fleet will be cheated out of a great share of their prize- 
 money. Still, however meagre the amount the scoundrels may 
 consider themselves bound to dole out, you ought to get a 
 thousand out of them as your share of the capture of a hundred 
 ships, to say nothing of the men-of-war and the stores. With 
 six or seven thousand pounds you can buy a ship, command 
 her yourself and go in for trade; you can settle down on a 
 little estate in the country, or buy yourself a share in some 
 business. Were there any chance of further fighting here, I 
 would keep you with me gladly, but as it is it would be a pure 
 waste of time for you to remain." 
 
 Stephen took the advice, resigned, and went home. He had, 
 of course, written to his father as soon as he arrived in Brazil, 
 and when the vessel touched at Plymouth he posted a letter to 
 prepare him for his arrival at home. He found him somewhat 
 altered, but the lieutenant said: "I am in excellent health 
 now, Stephen. Your disappearance, and Cochrane's letter tell- 
 
FRESH TRIUMPHS. 381 
 
 ing me that he feared that he could give me no hope whatever, 
 broke me down a good deal, and I felt myself that I was going 
 downhill rapidly. However, I have been picking up fast ever 
 since I got your letter giving me an account of your journey 
 across South America. Now that I have you home again I 
 shall soon be completely myself. I have invested all that 
 money of yours in good securities, and as soon as I got your 
 letter I sent the order, as you requested me, to Spain, for Don 
 Filippo Conchas. I received a letter from him two months 
 later acknowledging its receipt, and saying how pleased he and 
 his wife were to hear of your safe arrival on the sea-coast, for 
 they had long before given you up. Don Filippo said that he 
 was a captain now, and that his regiment, the 15th Cavalry, 
 was stationed at Seville, and that he hoped, when I had news 
 again of you, I would write to him there." 
 
 " I shall go out myself, father, in the course of a month or 
 two, to pay him a visit. He and his wife saved my life at the 
 risk of disgrace and punishment to themselves, and I promised 
 them that if I should get safely home I would go over to see 
 them, and I will certainly do so." 
 
 " Quite right, Stephen. The sin of ingratitude is one of the 
 meanest and basest that a man can commit, and I will spare 
 you willingly on such an errand." 
 
 Captain Conchas and his wife were indeed delighted to see 
 Stephen, and he spent a very pleasant fortnight Avith them. 
 On the occasion of his first visit to London he made inquiries 
 of Mr. Hewson, and found that Wilcox, the sailor who had 
 been with him when they so nearly fell into the hands of the 
 natives, was still in his service; and when, some time afterwards, 
 the ship in which he was in returned to port, he had Wilcox 
 
382 WITH COCHRANE THE DAUNTLESS. 
 
 down to Eamsgate, and installed him in the place of gardener 
 and general factotum there. When Lord Cochrane returned to 
 England Stephen went at once down to Portsmouth. 
 
 " I should have done better if I had come back with you, 
 Embleton. I should have spared myself nearly two years of 
 trial, humiliation, and disgust, and should have been a good 
 many thousand pounds in pocket. What are you doing with 
 yourself 1 ?" 
 
 " I am doing nothing at present, sir. These two long absences 
 of mine, and the belief that I was dead, knocked my father down 
 completely. He recovered a bit, but gradually went back 
 again, and I fear that he has not long to live. However, my 
 presence with him is a great satisfaction to him, and for the 
 present I cannot think of leaving him." 
 
 " Quite right, lad. A man's first duty is to his father, espe- 
 cially when his father has been a kind one, and you are quite 
 right in sticking to him until the end." 
 
 For this reason Lord Cochrane abstained from urging Stephen 
 to accompany him, when, shortly afterwards, he was offered the 
 command of the naval forces of Greece, which was at the time 
 engaged in its struggle for independence. Stephen was the 
 more pleased at his decision to stay at home with his father, 
 that intrigues and want of means caused some eighteen months 
 to pass before Lord Cochrane proceeded to take up his 
 command. Even his experience of Chili, Peru, and Brazil 
 had hardly prepared the admiral for the corruption, the in- 
 capacity, the faction, and the rascality of the Greeks. His 
 efforts were always crippled; and although he accomplished 
 all that a man could do in their service, and obtained many 
 minor successes, he never had an opportunity of repeating the 
 
FRESH TRIUMPHS. 383 
 
 exploits that had made him famous in the service of his own 
 country and in those of Chili and Brazil. When the battle of 
 Navarino had practically put an end to the war he returned 
 to England for a short time, heartily wearied of his struggle 
 against men whom he pronounced arrogant, ignorant, despotic, 
 and cruel, and "who were collectively the greatest cowards 
 that I have ever met". 
 
 He returned after a short stay in England, but found that, 
 now that his services were no longer indispensable, he was 
 treated with such insolence that he resigned his commission 
 and returned home, suffering from a sort of mental fever, the 
 result of the trials, troubles, and disappointments that he had 
 met with during his four years in the service of Greece. In 
 1831 he succeeded, on the death of his father, to the earldom 
 of Dundonald, and applied himself to the work of obtaining 
 restitution of the ranks and honours of which he had been so 
 unjustly deprived. After the Reform Bill had passed in 1832, 
 and the clique that had persecuted him so long had lost office, 
 a free pardon was granted him, he was restored to his position 
 in the royal navy, and gazetted rear-admiral. But naturally 
 the Earl of Dundonald was still dissatisfied. The term "free 
 pardon" for an offence that he had never committed galled 
 him, and while he now devoted himself to various inventions 
 connected with steam-engines and war-ships, he never ceased to 
 strive for a full recognition of the injustice to which he had 
 been subjected. His father had been devoted to scientific 
 inventions, and as the earl inherited that talent many of his 
 inventions were of the highest scientific value. 
 
 In 1848 Lord Dundonald was appointed admiral of the North 
 American and West Indian fleet. Later still in life other recog- 
 
384 WITH COCHRANE THE DAUNTLESS. 
 
 nitions of his character and services were bestowed upon him. 
 He had been restored to his honours as Knight of the Bath by 
 the Queen in 1854. He was appointed Rear-admiral of the 
 Fleet, and a month later was named by Prince Albert as 
 honorary Brother of the Trinity House. He died on the 31st 
 of October, 1860, at the age of eighty -five. 
 
 Stephen Embleton went no more to sea. Contrary to his 
 fears, his father lived for many years, but was a confirmed 
 invalid, and suffered so severely from his old wound that he 
 never went beyond the limit of his garden. Four years after 
 his return from Brazil Stephen married, and before his father's 
 death the cottage had to be enlarged to make room for the 
 increasing number of its occupants; and Stephen Embleton 
 continued to reside there until, a few years ago, he died at a 
 great age. 
 
 THE END. 
 
 PRINTED BY BLACKIK AND SON, LIMITED, GLASGOW. 
 
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 " A first-rate book for boys, brimful of adventure, of humorous and interesting 
 conversation, and of vivid pictures of colonial life." — Schoolmaster. 
 
 St. George for England: A Tale of Cressy and Poitiers. 
 
 By G. A. Henty. Illustrated by Gordon Browne. 5s. 
 
 " A story of very great interest for boys. In his own forcible style the author 
 lias endeavoured to show that determination and enthusiasm can accomplish mar- 
 vellous results; and that courage is generally accompanied by magnanimity and 
 gentleness." — Pall Mall Gazette. 
 
 The Bravest Of the Brave: With Peterborough in Spain. 
 
 By G. A. Henty. With 8 full-page Pictures by H. M. Paget. 5s. 
 
 " Mr. Henty never loses sight of the moral purpose of his work — to enforce the 
 doctrine of courage and truth, mercy and lovingkindness, as indispensable to the 
 making of an English gentleman. British lads will read The Bravest of the 
 Brave with pleasure and profit; of that we are quite sure." — Daily Telegraph. 
 
 For Name and Fame: or, Through Afghan Passes. By 
 
 G. A. Henty. Illustrated by Gordon Browne. 5s. 
 
 "Not only a rousing story, replete with all the varied forms of excitement of a 
 campaign, but, what is still more useful, an account of a territory and its inhabi- 
 tants which must for a long time possess a supreme interest for Englishmen, as 
 being the key to our Indian Empire."— Glasgow Herald. 
 
 A Jacobite Exile: Being the Adventures of a Young English- 
 man in the Service of Charles XII. of Sweden. By G. A. Henty. 
 With 8 page Illustrations by Paul Hardy, and a Map. 5s. 
 
 *' Incident succeeds incident, and adventure is piled upon adventure, and at the 
 end the reader, be he boy or man, will have experienced breathless enjoyment 
 in a romantic story that must have taught him much at its close."— Army and 
 
 Navy Gazette. 
 
 Held Fast for England : A Tale of the Siege of Gibraltar. 
 
 By G. A. Henty. Illustrated by Gordon Browne. 5s. 
 
 "Among them we would place first in interest and wholesome educational 
 value the story of the siege of Gibraltar. . . . There is no cessation of exciting 
 incident throughout the story."— Athenaeum. 
 
Specimen Illustration from " THROUGH RUSSIAN SNOWS' 
 
 "I AM THE COUNTESS STEPHANIE WORONSKI. I AM GLAD 
 TO SEE YOU." 
 
10 BLACKIE & SON'S BOOKS FOR YOUNG PEOPLE. 
 
 BY G. A. HENTY. 
 
 "Mr. Henty's books are always alive with moving incident." — Review of Review*. 
 
 In crown 8vo, cloth elegant. 
 
 Condemned as a Nihilist : A Story of Escape from Siberia. 
 By G. A. Henty. Illustrated by Walter Paget. 5s. 
 "The best of this year's Henty. His narrative is more interesting than many 
 of the tales with which the public is familiar, of escape from Siberia. Despite 
 their superior claim to authenticity these tales are without doubt no less fic- 
 titious than Mr. Henty's, and he beats them hollow in the matter of sensations." 
 — National Observer. 
 
 Orange and Green: A Tale of the Boyne and Limerick. 
 By G. A. Henty. Illustrated by Gordon Browne. 5s. 
 "The narrative is free from the vice of prejudice, and ripples with life as 
 vivacious as if what is being described were really passing before the eye. . . . 
 Should be in the hands of every young student of Irish history." — Belfast News. 
 
 In the Reign Of Terror: The Adventures of a Westminster 
 Boy. By G. A. Henty. Illustrated by J. Schonberg. 5s. 
 " Harry Sandwith, the Westminster boy, may fairly be said to beat Mr. Henty's 
 record. His adventures will delight boys by the audacity and peril they depict. 
 The story is one of Mr. Henty's best."— Saturday Review. 
 
 By Sheer Pluck: A Tale of the Ashauti War. By G. A. 
 Henty. With 8 full-page Pictures by Gordon Browne. 5s. 
 "Morally, the book is everything that could be desired, setting before the boys 
 a bright and bracing ideal of the English gentleman." — Christian Leader. 
 
 The Dragon and the Raven: or, The Days of King 
 
 Alfred. By G. A. Henty. With 8 page Illustrations by C. J. 
 
 Staniland, b.i. 5s. 
 "A story that may justly be styled remarkable. Boys, in reading it, will be 
 surprised to find how Alfred persevered, through years of bloodshed and times 
 of peace, to rescue his people from the thraldom of the Danes. We hope the 
 book will soon be widely known in all our schools." — Schoolmaster. 
 
 A Final Reckoning: A Tale of Bush Life in Australia. 
 By G. A. Henty. Illustrated by W. B. Wollen. 5s. 
 " All boys will read this story with eager and unflagging interest. The episodes 
 are in Mr. Henty's very best vein — graphic, exciting, realistic; and, as in all Mr. 
 Henty's books, the tendency is to the formation of an honourable, manly, and 
 even heroic character." — Birmingham Post. 
 
 Facing Death: or, The Hero of the Vaughan Pit. A Tale of 
 the Coal Mines. By G. A. Henty. With 8 page Pictures by 
 Gordon Browne. 5s. 
 " If any father, godfather, clergyman, or schoolmaster is on the look-out for a 
 
 good book to give as a present to a boy who is worth his salt, this is the book we 
 
 would recommend." — Standard. 
 
 A Chapter Of Adventures: or, Through the Bombard- 
 ment of Alexandria. By G. A. Henty. With 6 page Illustrations 
 by W. H. Overend. 3s. 6d. 
 "Jack Robson and his two companions have their fill of excitement, and their 
 
 chapter of adventures is so brisk and entertaining we could have wished it longer 
 
 than it is." — Saturday Revieiv. 
 
BLACKIE & SON'S BOOKS FOR YOUNG PEOPLE. 
 
 11 
 
 BY KIRK MUNROE. 
 
 In crown 8vo, cloth elegant, olivine edges. 
 
 At War With PontiaC: or, The Totem of the Bear. 
 Kirk Muneoe. Illus- 
 trated by J. Finne- 
 
 MORE. 5s. 
 
 "Is in the best manner of 
 Cooper. There is a character 
 who is the parallel of Hawk- 
 eye, as the Chingachgooks and 
 Uncas have likewise their 
 counterparts." — The Times. 
 
 The White Con- 
 querors of 
 
 Mexico: A Tale 
 
 of Toltec and Aztec. 
 
 By Kirk Munroe. 
 
 Illustrated by W, S. 
 
 Stacey. 5s. 
 
 "Mr. Munroe gives most 
 vivid pictures of the religious 
 and civil polity of the Aztecs, 
 and of everyday life, as he 
 imagines it, in the streets and 
 market-places of the magnifi- 
 cent capital of Montezuma." 
 — The Times. 
 
 Crown 8vo, cloth elegant. 
 
 Two Thousand 
 Years Ago: or, 
 
 The Adventures of a 
 
 Reduced Illustration from "At War ivith Pontiac". 
 With 12 page Illus- 
 
 Eoman Boy. By Professor A. J. Church. 
 
 trations by Adrien Marie. 6s. 
 
 "Adventures well worth the telling. The book is extremely entertaining as 
 well as useful, and there is a wonderful freshness in the Roman scenes and 
 characters. " — The Times. 
 
 With 
 
 The Clever Miss Follett, By J. K. H. Denny. 
 
 12 page Illustrations by Gertrude D. Hammond. 6s. 
 "Just the book to give to girls, who will delight both in the letterpress and 
 the illustrations. Miss Hammond has never done better work." — Review of 
 Reviews. 
 
 The Heiress of Courtleroy. By Anne Beale. With 8 
 
 page Illustrations by T. C. H. Castle. 5s. 
 
 "We can speak highly of the grace with which Miss Beale relates how the 
 young ' Heiress of Courtleroy' had such good influence over her uncle as to win 
 him from his intensely selfish ways." — Guardian. 
 
12 BLACK IE & SON'S BOOKS FOR YOUNG PEOPLE. 
 
 BY GEORGE MANVILLE FENN. 
 
 " Mr. Fenn stands in the foremost rank of writers in this department." — Daily 
 News. 
 
 In crown 8vo, cloth elegant. 
 
 Dick 0' the Fens: A Romance of the Great East Swamp. By 
 G. Manville Fenn. Illustrated by Frank Dadd. 6s. 
 "We conscientiously believe that boys will find it capital reading. It is full 
 of incident and mystery, and the mystery is kept up to the last moment. It is 
 rich in effective local colouring; and it has a historical interest." — Times. 
 
 Devon Boys : A Tale of the North Shore. By G. Manville 
 Fenn. With 12 page Illustrations by Gordon Browne. 6s. 
 "An admirable story, as remarkable for the individuality of its young heroes 
 as for the excellent descriptions of coast scenery and life in North Devon. It is 
 one of the best books we have seen this season." — Athenaeum. 
 
 The Golden Magnet : A Tale of the Land of the Incas. By 
 G. Manville Fenn. Illustrated by Gordon Browne. 6s. 
 " There could be no more welcome present for a boy. There is not a dull page 
 in the book, and many will be read with breathless interest. "The Golden Mag- 
 net' is, of course, the same one that attracted Raleigh and the heroes of West- 
 ward Ho!" — Journal of Education. 
 
 In the King's Name : or, The Cruise of the Kestrel. By 
 G. Manville Fenn. Illustrated by Gordon Browne. 6s. 
 " The best of all Mr. Fenn's productions in this field. It has the great quality 
 of always 'moving on', adventure following adventure in constant succession."— 
 Daily News. 
 
 Nat the Naturalist: A Boy's Adventures in the Eastern 
 Seas. By G. Manville Fenn. With 8 page Pictures. 5s. 
 "This sort of book encourages independence of character, develops resource, 
 and teaches a boy to keep his eyes open." — Saturday Review. 
 
 Bunyip Land: The Story of a Wild Journey in New Guinea. 
 
 By G. Manville Fenn. Illustrated by Gordon Browne. 4s. 
 
 " Mr. Fenn deserves the thanks of everybody for Bunyip Land, and we may ven- 
 ture to promise that a quiet week maybe reckoned on whilst the youngsters have 
 such fascinating literature provided for their evenings' amusement." — Spectator. 
 
 Quicksilver: or, A Boy with no Skid to his Wheel. By 
 
 George Manville Fenn. With 6 page Illustrations by Frank 
 
 Dadd. New edition, 3s. 6d. 
 
 " Quicksilver is little short of an inspiration. In it that prince of story-writers 
 for boys— George Manville Fenn— has surpassed himself. It is an ideal book for 
 a boy's library." — Practical Teacher. 
 
 Brownsmith's Boy: A Romance in a Garden. By G. 
 Manville Fenn. With 6 page Illustrations. 3s. 6rf. 
 " Mr. Fenn's books are among the best, if not altogether the best, of the stories 
 for boys. Mr. Fenn is at his best in Brownsmith's Boy." — Pictorial World. 
 
 For other Books by G. Manville Fenn, see page 22. 
 
BLACKIE & SON'S BOOKS FOR YOUNG PEOPLE. 13 
 
 BY GEORGE MAC DONALD. 
 
 In crown 8vo, cloth elegant. 
 
 A Rough Shaking". By George Mac Donald. With 
 
 12 page Illustrations by W. Parkinson. 6s. 
 
 "One of the very best books for boys that has been written. It is full of 
 material peculiarly well adapted for the young, containing in a marked degree 
 the elements of all that is necessary to make up a perfect boys' book." — 
 Teachers' Aid. 
 
 At the Back of the North Wind. By George Mac- 
 
 Donald. With 75 Illustrations by Arthur Hughes. 5s. 
 
 " The story is thoroughly original, full of fancy and pathos. . . . We stand 
 with one foot in fairyland and one on common earth." — The Times. 
 
 Ranald Bannerman's Boyhood. By Geo. Mac Donald. 
 
 With 36 Illustrations by Arthur Hughes. 5s. 
 
 "The sympathy with boy-nature in Ranald Bannerman's Boyhood is perfect. 
 It is a beautiful picture of childhood, teaching by its impressions and suggestions 
 all noble things." — British Quarterly Review. 
 
 The Princess and the Goblin. By George Mac Donald. 
 
 With 32 Illustrations. 3s. 6d, 
 
 "Little of what is written for children has the lightness of touch and play of 
 fancy which are characteristic of George Mac Donald's fairy tales. Mr. Arthur 
 Hughes's illustrations are all that illustrations should be." — Manchester Guardian. 
 
 The Princess and Curdie. By George Mac Donald. 
 
 With 8 page Illustrations. 3s. 6d. 
 
 " There is the finest and rarest genius in this brilliant story. Upgrown people 
 would do wisely occasionally to lay aside their newspapers and magazines to 
 spend an hour with Curdie and the Princess." — Sheffield Independent. 
 
 BY HARRY COLLINGWOOD. 
 
 The Pirate Island: A Story of the South Pacific. By 
 
 Harry Collingwood. With 8 page Pictures by C. J. Staniland 
 
 and J. R Wells. 5s. 
 
 " A capital story of the sea ; indeed in our opinion the author is superior in some 
 respects as a marine novelist to the better-known Mr. Clark Russell."— The Times. 
 
 The Log 1 Of the "Flying" Fish": A Story of Aerial and 
 
 Submarine Adventure. By Harry Collingwood. With 6 page 
 
 Illustrations by Gordon Browne. 3s. 6c?. 
 
 " The Flying Fish actually surpasses all Jules Verne's creations ; with incred- 
 ible speed she flies through the air, skims over the surface of the water, and darts 
 along the ocean bed. We strongly recommend our school-boy friends to possess 
 themselves of her \oa." —Athenaeum. 
 
 For other Books by Harry Collingwood, see pages 22 and 23. 
 
14 BLACKIE & SON'S BOOKS FOR YOUNG PEOPLE. 
 
 BY ROBERT LEIGHTON. 
 
 In crown 8vo, cloth elegant, olivine edges. 
 
 Olaf the GlOPiOUS. By Eobert Leighton. With 8 page 
 Illustrations by Ralph Peacock, and a Map. 5s. 
 
 "Is as good as anything of the kino" we have met with. Mr. Leighton more 
 than holds his own with Rider Haggard and Baring-Gould." — The Times. 
 
 "Among the hooks best liked by hoys of the sturdy English type few will take 
 a higher place than Olaf the Glorious. . . . " — National Observer. 
 
 The Wreck of "The Golden Fleece": The story of a 
 
 North Sea Fisher-boy. By Robert Leighton. With 8 page 
 
 Illustrations by Y. Brangwyn. 5s. 
 
 " This story should add considerably to Mr. Leighton's high reputation. Ex- 
 cellent in every respect, it contains every variety of incident. The plot is very 
 cleverly devised, and the types of the North Sea sailors are capital." — The Times. 
 
 The Pilots Of Pomona: A Story of the Orkney Islands. 
 
 By Robert Leighton. Illustrated by John Leighton. 5s. 
 
 " A story which is quite as good in its way as Treasure Island, and is full of 
 adventure of a stirring yet most natural kind. Although it is primarily a boys' 
 book, it is a real godsend to the elderly reader." — Glasgow Evening Times. 
 
 The Thirsty Sword: A Story of the Norse Invasion of 
 Scotland (1262-63). By Robert Leighton. With 8 page Illus- 
 trations by A. Pearse. 5s. 
 
 "This is one of the most fascinating stories for boys that it has ever been our 
 pleasure to read. From first to last the interest never flags. Boys will worship 
 Kemic, who is a hero in every sense of the word." — Schoolmaster. 
 
 BY ROSA MULHOLLAND. 
 
 Banshee Castle. By Bosa Mulholland. With 12 page 
 
 Illustrations by John H. Bacon. 6s. 
 
 "One of the most fascinating of Miss Rosa Mulholland's many fascinating 
 stories. . . . The charm of the tale lies in the telling of it. The three 
 heroines are admirably drawn characters." — Athencettm. 
 
 Giannetta : A Girl's Story of Herself. By Bosa MuLHOLLANn. 
 
 With 8 page Illustrations by Lockhart Bogle. 5s. 
 
 "Giannetta is a true heroine — warm-hearted, self-sacrificing, and. as all good 
 women nowadays are, largely touched with the enthusiasm of humanity. One 
 of the most attractive gift-books of the season."— The Academy. 
 
 A Fair Claimant : Being a Story for Girls. By Frances 
 
 Armstrong. Illustrated by Gertrude D. Hammond. 5s. 
 
 " As a gift-book for big girls it is among the best new books of the kind. The 
 etory is interesting and natural, from first to last."— Westminster Gazette. 
 
Specimen Illustration from " A FAIR CLAIMANT' 
 
 "olive leapt into her mother's arms. 
 
16 BLACKIE & SON'S BOOKS FOR YOUNG PEOPLE. 
 
 TWELFTH EDITION OF THE UNIVERSE. 
 
 The Universe: or, The Infinitely Great and the Infinitely Little. 
 A Sketch of Contrasts in Creation, and Marvels revealed and 
 explained by Natural Science. By F. A. Pouchet, M.d. With 
 272 Engravings on wood, of which 55 are full-page size, and 4 
 Coloured Illustrations. Twelfth Edition, medium 8vo, cloth ele- 
 gant, gilt edges, 7s. 6cZ. ; also morocco antique, 16s. 
 
 " Dr. Pouchet's wonderful work on The Universe, than which there is no book 
 better calculated to encourage the study of nature." — Pall Mall Gazette. 
 "We know no better book of the kind for a schoolroom library." — Bookman. 
 
 BY G. NORWAY. 
 
 In crown 8vo, cloth elegant. 
 
 A Prisoner Of War: A Story of the Time of Napoleon 
 
 Bonaparte. By G. Norway. With 6 page Illustrations by Robt. 
 
 Barnes, a.k.w.s. 3s. 6d. 
 
 " More hairbreadth escapes from death by starvation, by ice, by fighting, &c, 
 were never before surmounted. . . . It is a fine yarn." — The Guardian. 
 
 A True Cornish Maid. By G. Norway. With 6 page 
 
 Illustrations by J. Finnemore. 3s. 6d. 
 
 "There is some excellent reading. . . . Mrs. Norway brings before the eyes 
 of her readers the good Cornish folk, their speech, their manners, and their ways. 
 A True Cornish Maid deserves to be popular."— Athenceiun. 
 
 %* For other Books by G. Norway see p. 23. 
 
 Young" Travellers' Tales. By Ascott e. Hope. With 
 
 G Illustrations by H. J. Draper. 3s. 6d. 
 
 "Possess a high value for instruction as well as for entertainment. His quiet, 
 level humour bubbles up on every page."— Daily Chronicle. 
 
 The Seven Wise Scholars. By Ascott b. Hope, with 
 
 nearly 100 Illustrations by Gordon Browne. 5s. 
 
 "As full of fun as a volume of Punch; with illustrations, more laughter- 
 provoking than most we have seen since Leech died." — Slieffield Independent. 
 
 Stories Of Old Renown: Tales of Knights and Heroes. 
 
 By Ascott R Hope. With 100 Illustrations by Gordon Browne. 
 
 3s. Qd. 
 "A really fascinating book worthy of its telling title. There is, we venture to 
 say, not a dull page in the book, not a story which will not bear a second read- 
 ing." — Guardian. 
 
 Under False Colours: A Story from Two Girls' Lives. 
 
 By Sarah Doudney. Illustrated by G. G. Kilburne. 4s. 
 
 "Sarah Doudney has no superior as a writer of high-toned stories— pure in 
 style and original in conception ; but we have seen nothing from her pen equal 
 in dramatic energy to this book." — Christian Leader. 
 
BLACKIE & SON'S BOOKS FOR YOUNG PEOPLE. 
 
 17 
 
 BY DR. GORDON STABLES. 
 
 In crown 8vo, cloth elegant. 
 
 FOP Life and Liberty: A Story of Battle by Land and 
 Sea. By Dr. Goedon 
 Stables, r.n. With 8 
 Illustrations by Syd- 
 ney Paget, and a Map. 
 5s. 
 
 "The story is lively and 
 spirited, with abundance of 
 blockade -running, hard fight- 
 ing, narrow escapes, and intro- 
 ductions to some of the most 
 distinguished generals on both 
 sides." — The Times. 
 
 To Greenland and 
 the Pole. By 
 
 Gordon Stables, m.d. 
 With 8 page Illustra- 
 tions by G. C. Hind- 
 ley, and a Map. 5s. 
 
 ' ' His Arctic explorers have 
 the versimilitude of life. It 
 is one of the books of the sea- 
 son, and one of the best Mr. 
 Stables has ever written." — 
 Truth. 
 
 Westward with Co- 
 lumbus. By Gor- 
 don Stables, m. d. 
 With 8 page Illustra- 
 tions by A. Peaese. 5s. 
 "We must place Westward with Columbus among those books that all boys 
 
 ought to read. " — The Spectator. 
 
 'Twixt School and College : A Tale of Self-reliance. By 
 
 Gordon Stables, cm., m.d., e.n. Illustrated by W. Parkinson. 5s. 
 
 "One of the best of a prolific writer's books for boys, being full of practical 
 instructions as to keeping pets, and inculcates in a way which a little recalls Miss 
 Edge worth's 'Frank' the virtue of self-reliance."— Athenceum. 
 
 Reduced Illustration from "To Greenland 
 
 With the Sea King"S: A Story of the Days of Lord Nelson. 
 By F. H. Winder. Illustrated by W. S. Stacky. 4s. 
 
 "Just the book to put into a boy's hands. Every chapter contains boardings, 
 cuttings out, fighting pirates, escapes of thrilling audacity, and captures by corsairs, 
 sufficient to turn the quietest boy's head. The story culminates in a vigorous 
 account of the battle of Trafalgar. Happy boys ! "—The Academy. 
 
 Ul] B 
 
18 BLACKIE & SOWS BOOKS FOR YOUNG PEOPLE. 
 
 BY HUGH ST. LEGER. 
 
 In crown 8vn, doth elegant. 
 
 Hallowe'en Ahoy! or, Lost on the Crozet Islands. By 
 
 Hugh St. Leger. With 6 Illustrations by H. J. Draper. 4s. 
 
 " One of the best stones of seafaring life and adventure which have appeared 
 this season. It contains a capital ' fo'c's'le' ghost and a thrilling shipwreck. Xo 
 boy who begins it but will wish to join the Britannia long before he finishes 
 these delightful pages." — Academy. 
 
 Sou'wester and Sword. By Hugh St. Leger. With 6 
 
 page Illustrations by Hal Hurst. 4s. 
 
 "As racy a tale of life at sea and war adventure as we have met with for some 
 time. . . . Altogether the sort of book that Doys will revel in." — Athenaeum. 
 
 BY ALICE CORKRAN. 
 
 Meg's Friend. By Alice Corkran. With 6 page Illustra- 
 tions by Robert Fowler. 3s. 6d. 
 
 "One of Miss Corkran's charming books for girls, narrated in that simple 
 and picturesque style which marks the authoress as one of the first amongst 
 writers for young people." — The Spectator. 
 
 Margery Merton's Girlhood. By Alice Corkran. With 
 
 6 page Pictures by Gordon Browne. 3s. 6d. 
 
 " Another book for girls we can warmly commend. There is a delightful 
 piquancy in the experiences and trials of a young English girl who studies 
 painting in Paris." — Saturday Review. 
 
 Down the SnOW Stairs: or, From Good-night to Good- 
 morning. By Alice Corkran. With 60 Illustrations by Gordon 
 Browne. 3s. 6r/. 
 "A gem of the first water, bearing upon every page the mark of genius. It is 
 
 indeed a Little Pilgrim's Progress. "—Christian Leader. 
 
 Grettir the Outlaw: A Story of Iceland. By S. Baring- 
 Gould. With 6 page Illustrations by M. Zeno Diemer, and a 
 Coloured Map. 4s. 
 " Is the boys' book of its year. That is, of course, as much as to say that it 
 will do for men grown as well as juniors. It is told in simple, straightforward 
 English, as all stories should be, and it has a freshness, a freedom, a fense of sun 
 and wind and the open air, which make it irresistible."— National Observer. 
 
 Gold, Gold, in CaribOO: A Story of Adventure in British 
 Columbia. By Clive Phillipps-Wolley. With C page Illustra- 
 tions by G. C. Hindley. 3s. 6d. 
 " It would be difficult to say too much in favour of Gold. Gold, in Cariboo. We 
 
 have seldom read a more exciting tale of wild mining adventure in a singularly 
 
 inaccessible country. There is a capital plot, and the interest is sustained to the 
 
 last page."— The Times, 
 
BLACKIE & SON'S BOOKS FOR YOUNG PEOPLE. 19 
 
 BY EDGAR PICKERING. 
 
 In crown 8vo, doth elegant. 
 
 TWO Gallant Rebels : A Story of the Great Struggle in La 
 
 Vendue. By Edgar Pickering. With 6 Illustrations by W. H. 
 
 Overend. 3s. 6d. 
 
 " There is something very attractive about Mr. Pickering's style. . . . Boys 
 will relish the relation of those dreadful and moving events, which, indeed, will 
 never lose their fascination for readers of all ages." — The Spectator. 
 
 In PreSS-Gang" Days. By Edgar Pickering. With 6 
 
 Illustrations by W. S. Stacet. 3s. Qd. 
 
 "It is of Marryat we think as we read this delightful story; for it is not 
 only a story of adventure witli incidents well conceived and arranged, but the 
 characters are interesting and well-distinguished." — Academy. 
 
 An Old-Time Yarn: Wherein is set forth divers desperate 
 
 mischances which befell Anthony Ingram and his shipmates in the 
 
 West Indies and Mexico with Hawkins and Drake. By Edgar 
 
 Pickering. Illustrated by Alfred Pearse. 3s. 6d. 
 
 " And a very good yarn it is, with not a dull page from first to last. There is a 
 flavour of Westivard Ho! in this attractive book." — Educational Revieiv. 
 
 Silas Vemey : A Tale of the Time of Charles II. By Edgar 
 Pickering. With 6 page Illustrations by Alfred Pearse. 3s. 6d. 
 " Altogether this is an excellent story for boys. "— Saturday Revieiv. 
 
 A Thane Of WeSSeX: Being the Story of the Great Viking 
 
 Paid of 845. By Charles W. Whistler. With 6 Illustrations 
 
 by W. H. Margetson. 3s. 6d. 
 
 "This is one of the best books of the season. . . . The story is told with 
 spirit and force, and affords an excellent picture of the life of the period." — 
 Standard. 
 
 His First KangarOO : An Australian Story for Boys. By 
 
 Arthur Ferres. Illustrated by Percy F. S. Spence. 3s. 6c?. 
 
 "A lively story of life on an Australian stock-station, where the monotony of 
 things is agreeably diversified by not only the bounding kangaroo, but also the 
 up-sticking bushranger." — Scotsman. 
 
 A Champion Of the Faith : A Tale of Prince Hal and the 
 
 Lollards. By J. M. Callwell. With 6 page Illustrations by 
 
 Herbert J. Draper. 4s. 
 
 "Will not be less enjoyed than Mr. Henty's books. Sir John Oldcastle's pathetic 
 story, and the history of his brave young squire, will make every boy enjoy this 
 lively story." — London Quarterly. 
 
20 BLACK1E <fc SON'S BOOKS FOR YOUNG PEOPLE. 
 
 BY ANNIE E. ARMSTRONG. 
 
 hi crown 8vo, cloth elegant. 
 
 Three Bright GirlS: A Story of Chance and Mischance. 
 
 By Annie E. Armstrong. Illustrated by W. Parkinson. 3s. Qd. 
 
 "Among many good stories for girls this is undoubtedly one of the very best." 
 — Teachers' A id. 
 
 A Very Odd Girl : or, Life at the Gabled Farm. By Annie 
 
 E. Armstrong. Illustrated. 3s. 6d. 
 
 " The book is one we can heartily recommend, for it is not only bright and 
 interesting, but also pure and healthy in tone and teaching." — The Lady. 
 
 The Captured Cruiser: By c. J. Htne. illustrated by 
 
 Frank Brangwyn. 3s. Qd. 
 
 "The two lads and the two skippers are admirably drawn. Mr. Hyne has 
 now secured a position in the first rank of writers of fiction for boys." — Spectator. 
 
 Afloat at Last : A Sailor Boy's Log of his Life at Sea. By 
 
 John C. Hutcheson. 3s. Qd. 
 
 "As healthy and breezy a book as one could wish to put into the hands of 
 a boy. " — Academy. 
 
 Picked up at Sea: or, The Gold Miners of Minturne Creek. 
 By J. C. Hutcheson. With 6 page Pictures. 3s. Qd. 
 
 Brother and Sister: or, The Trials of the Moore Family. 
 By Elizabeth J. Lysaght. 3s. Qd. 
 
 The Search for the Talisman: A story of Labrador. 
 
 By Henry Frith. Illustrated by J. Schonberg. 3s. Qd. 
 
 " Mr. Frith's volume will be among those most read and highest valued. The 
 adventures among seals, whales, and icebergs in Labrador will delight many a 
 young reader." — Pall Mall Gazette. 
 
 Dora: or, A Girl without a Home. By Mrs. R H. Bead. With 
 
 6 page Illustrations. 3s. Qd. 
 "It is no slight thing, in an age of rubbish, to get a story so pure and healthy 
 as this." — The Academy. 
 
 Storied Holidays: A Cycle of Red-letter Days. By E. S. 
 
 Brooks. With 12 page Illustrations by Howard Pyle. 3s. 6d. 
 
 " It is a downright good hook for a senior boy, and is eminently readable from 
 first to last." — Schoolmaster. 
 
BLACK1E & SON'S BOOKS FOR YOUNG PEOPLE. 21 
 
 Iii crown 8vo, cloth elegant. 
 
 ChivalriC Days: Stories of Courtesy and Courage in the 
 
 Olden Times. By E. S. Brooks. With 20 Illustrations. 3s. 6d. 
 
 "We have seldom come across a prettier collection of tales. These charming 
 stories of boys and girls of olden days are no mere fictitious or imaginary sketches, 
 but are real and actual records of their sayings and doings. " — Literary World. 
 
 HlStOFlC Boys: Their Endeavours, their Achievements, and 
 
 their Times. By E. S. Brooks. With 12 page Illustrations. 3s. 6d. 
 
 " A wholesome book, manly in tone; altogether one that should incite boys to 
 further acquaintance with those rulers of men whose careers are narrated. We 
 advise teachers to put it on their list of prizes. " — Knowledge. 
 
 Dr. Jolliffe's Boys: A Tale of Weston School. By Lewis 
 
 Hough. With 6 page Pictures. 3s. 6d. 
 
 " Young people who appreciate Tom Brown's School-days will find this story a 
 worthy companion to that fascinating book." — Neivcastle Journal. 
 
 The Bubbling" Teapot. A Wonder Story. By Mrs. L. W. 
 
 Champney. With 12 page Pictures by Walter Satterlee. 3s. 6d. 
 
 " Very literally a 'wonder story'. Nevertheless it is made realistic enough, and 
 there is a good deal of information to be gained from it." — The Times. 
 
 Thomdyke Manor: A Tale of Jacobite Times. By Mary 
 
 C. Rowsell. Illustrated by L. Leslie Brooke. 3s. 6d. 
 
 "Miss Rowsell has never written a more attractive book than Thorndiike 
 Manor. " — Belfast Neios-Letter. 
 
 Traitor Or Patriot? A Tale of the Bye-House Blot. By 
 
 Mary 0. Rowsell. Illustrated. 3s. Qd. 
 
 " Here the Rye-House Plot serves as the groundwork for a romantic love 
 episode, whose true characters are lifelike beings." — Graphic. 
 
 BLACKIE'S NEW THREE-SHILLING SERIES. 
 
 Beautifully illustrated and handsomely bound. 
 
 Highways and High Seas: Cyril Harley's Adventures on 
 
 both. By F. Frankfort Moore. With 6 page Illustrations by 
 
 Alfred Pearse. New Edition. 3s. 
 
 "This is one of the best stories Mr. Moore has written, perhaps the very best. 
 The exciting adventures are sure to attract boys." — Spectator. 
 
 Under Hatches: or, Ned Woodthorpe's Adventures. By 
 
 F. Frankfort Moore. Illustrated by A. Forestier. 3s. 
 
 "The story as a story is one that will just suit boys all the world over. The 
 characters are well drawn and consistent." — Schoolmaster. 
 
22 BLACKIE & SON'S BOOKS FOR YOUNG PEOPLE. 
 
 THREE-SHILLING SERIES— Continued. 
 
 Beautifully illustrated and handsomely bouiid. 
 
 The Missing 1 Merchantman. By Harry Collingwood. 
 
 With 6 page Illustrations by W. H. Ovkrend. 3s. 
 
 " One of the author's best sea stories. The hero is as heroic as any boy could 
 desire, and the ending is extremely happy." — British Weekly. 
 
 MenhardOC: A Story of Cornish Nets and Mines. By G. 
 
 Manville Fenn. Illustrated by C. J. Staniland, r.i. 3s. 
 
 "The Cornish fishermen are drawn from life, and stand out from the pages in 
 their jerseys and sea-boots all sprinkled with silvery pilchard scales." — Spectator. 
 
 YuSSUf the Guide : or, The Mountain Bandits. By G. Man- 
 ville Fenn. With 6 page Illustrations by J. Schonberg. 3s. 
 
 "Told with such real freshness and vigour that the reader feels he is actually 
 one of the party, sharing in the fun and facing the dangers." — Pall Mall Gazette. 
 
 Patience Wins: or, War in the Works. By George Man- 
 ville Fenn. With 6 page Illustrations. 3s. 
 
 "Mr. Fenn has never hit upon a happier plan than in writing this story of 
 Yorkshire factory life. The whole book is all aglow with life." — Pall Mall Gazette. 
 
 Mother Carey's Chicken: Her Voyage to the Unknown 
 
 Isle. By G-. Manville Fenn. With 6 page Illustrations by A. 
 
 Forestier. 3s. 
 
 " Undoubtedly one of the best Mr. Fenn has written. The incidents are of 
 thrilling interest, while the characters are drawn with a care and completeness 
 rarely found iu a boy's book." — Literary Wo?id. 
 
 Robinson CrUSOe. With lOO Illustrations by Gordon 
 
 Browne. 3s. 
 
 "One of the best issues, if not absolutely the best, of Defoe's work which has 
 ever appeared." — The Standard. 
 
 Gulliver's Travels. With lOO Illustrations by Gordon 
 Browne. 3s. 
 
 " M_r. Gordon Browne is, to my thinking, incomparably the most artistic, 
 spirited, and brilliant of our illustrators of books for boys, and one of the most 
 humorous also, as his illustrations of 'Gulliver' amply testify." — Truth. 
 
 The Wigwam and the War-path: stories of the Bed 
 
 Indians. By Ascott It. Hope. With 6 page Illustrations. 3s. 
 
 "Is notably good It gives a very vivid picture of life among the Indians, 
 which will delight the heart of many a schoolboy." — Spectator. 
 
BLACKIE & SON'S BOOKS FOR YOUNG PEOPLE. 
 
 'i8 
 
 THREE-SHILLING SERIES— Continued. 
 
 Beautifully illustrated and handsomely bound. 
 
 What Led to It, and What 
 
 The Loss of John Humble 
 
 Came of It. By G. 
 Norway. With 6 page 
 Illustrations by John 
 Schonberg. New Edi- 
 tion. 3s. 
 " This story will place the 
 author at once in the front rank. 
 It is full of life and adventure. 
 The interest of the story is sus- 
 tained without a break from tirst 
 to last. " — Standard. 
 
 Hussein the Hos- 
 tage: or, A Boy's 
 
 Adventures in Persia. 
 By G. Norway. With 
 6 page Illustrations by 
 John Schonberg. 3s. 
 
 " Hussein the Hostage is full 
 of originality and vigour. The 
 characters are lifelike, there is 
 plenty of stirring incident, the 
 interest is sustained throughout, 
 and every boy will enjoy follow- 
 ing the fortunes of the hero." — 
 Journal of Education. 
 
 Cousin Geoffrey and 
 
 I. By Caroline 
 Austin. With 6 page 
 Illustrations by W. 
 Parkinson. 3s. 
 "Miss Austin's story is bright, clever, and well developed." — Saturday Review. 
 
 The Rover's Secret: A Tale of the Pirate Cays and Lagoons 
 
 of Cuba. By Harry Collingwood. With 6 page Illustrations by 
 
 W. C. Symons. 3s. 
 
 " The Rover's Secret is by far the best sea story we have read for years, and is 
 certain to give unalloyed pleasure to boys." — Saturday Revieiv. 
 
 Reduced Illustration from "Cousin Geoffrey". 
 
 The Congo Rovers : A Story of the Slave Squadron. 
 Harry Collingwood. With 6 page Illustrations. 3s. 
 
 "No better sea story has lately been written than the Congo Rovers. I 
 original as any boy could desire." — Morning Post. 
 
 By 
 
24 BLACK IK J: SON'S BOOKS FOR YOUNG PEOPLE. 
 
 THREE-SHILLING SERIES— Continued. 
 
 Beautifully illustrated and handsomely bound. 
 
 Perseverance Island : or, The Eobinson Crusoe of the 19th 
 
 Century. By Douglas Frazak. With 6 page Illustrations. 3s. 
 
 "This is an interesting story, written with studied simplicity of style, much in 
 Defoe's vein of apparent sincerity and scrupulous veracity; while for practical 
 instruction it is even better than Robinson Crusoe." — Illustrated London News. 
 
 Girl Neighbours : or, The Old Fashion and the New. By 
 
 Sarah Tytler. Illustrated by C. T. Garland. 3s. 
 
 " One of the most effective and quietly humorous of Miss Sarah Tytler's stories. 
 It is very healthy, very agreeable, and very well written." — The Spectator. 
 
 BLACKIE'S HALF-CROWN SERIES. 
 
 Illustrated by eminent Artists. In crown 8vo, cloth elegant. 
 
 A Musical Genius. By the Author of the "Two Dorothys". 
 
 " It is brightly written, well illustrated, and daintily bound, and can be strongly 
 recommended as a really good prize-book." — Teachers 1 Aid. 
 
 For the Sake Of a Friend : A Story of School Life. By 
 Margaret Parker. 
 " An excellent school-girl story. . . . Susie Snow and her friend, Trix Beres- 
 fol'd, are charming girls." — Athenceum. 
 
 Under the Black Eagle. By Andrew Hilliard. 
 
 "The rapid movement of the story, and the strange scenes through which it 
 passes, give it a full interest of surprise and adventure." — Scotsman. 
 
 The Secret of the Australian Desert. By Ernest 
 
 Favenc. 
 " We recommend the book most heartily ; it is certain to please boys and 
 girls, and even some grown-ups." — Guardian. 
 
 Raefer and Rifleman: A Tale of the Two Services. By 
 
 Lieut.-Col. Percy-Groves. 
 
 "A good, old-fashioned, amphibious story of our fighting with the Frenchmen in 
 the beginning of our century, with a fair sprinkling of fun and frolic." — Times. 
 
 A Little Handful. By Harriet J. Scripts. 
 
 "He is a real type of a boy." — The Schoolmaster. 
 
 A Golden Age : A Story of Four Merry Children. By Ismat 
 Thorn. Illustrated by Gordon Browne. 
 " Ought to have a place of honour on the nursery shelf."— The Athenceum. 
 
BLACKIE <Sc SON'S BOOKS FOR YOUNG PEOPLE. 
 
 HALF-CROWN SERIES— Continued. 
 
 Illustrated by eminent Artists. In crown 8vo, cloth elegant. 
 
 BY BEATRICE HARRADEN. 
 
 Things Will Take a Turn. 
 
 With 44 Illustrations 
 by John H. Bacon. 
 
 " Perhaps the most bril- 
 liant is Things Will Take a 
 Turn. ... A tale of humble 
 child life in East London. It 
 is a delightful blending of 
 comedy and tragedy, with an 
 excellent plot." — The Times. 
 
 By Beatrice Harraden. 
 
 The Whispering" 
 
 Winds, and the 
 
 Tales that th ey Told . 
 By Mary H. Deben- 
 ham. With 25 Illus- 
 trations by Paul 
 Hardy. 
 
 "We wish the winds would 
 tell us stories like these. It 
 would be worth while to climb 
 Primrose Hill, or even to the 
 giddy heights of Hampstead 
 Heath in a bitter east wind, 
 if we could only be sure of 
 hearing such a sweet, sad, 
 tender, and stirring story as 
 that of Hilda Brave Heart, or 
 even one that was half so 
 good."— Academy. 
 
 From "Things will Take a Turn". {Reduced.) 
 
 Hal Himg-erford. By J. R. Hutchinson, b.a. 
 " Altogether, Hal Hungerford is a distinct literary success." — Spectator. 
 
 The Secret of the Old House. By E. Everett-Green. 
 
 "Tim, the little Jacobite, is a charming creation." — Academy. 
 
 White Lilac: or, The Queen of the May. By Amy Walton. 
 " Every rural parish ought to add White Lilac to its library."— Academy. 
 
 Miriam's Ambition. By Evelyn Everett-Green. 
 
 "Miss Green's children are real British boys and girls." — Liveipool Mercury. 
 
 The Brig" "AudaciOUS". By Alan Cole. 
 
 " Fresh and wholesome as a breath of sea air." — Court Journal. 
 
26 BLACKIE & SON'S BOOKS FOB, YOUNG PEOPLE. 
 
 HALF-CROWN SERIES— Continued. 
 
 Illustrated by eminent Artists. In crown 8vo, cloth elegant. 
 
 The Saucy May. By Henry Frith. 
 " Mr. Frith gives a new picture of life on the ocean wave. " — Sheffield Independent. 
 
 Jasper's Conquest. By Elizabeth J. Lysaght. 
 
 "One of the best boys' books of the season." — Schoolmaster. 
 
 Little Lady Clare. By Evelyn Everett-Green. 
 
 "Reminds us in its quaintness of Mrs. Ewing's delightful tales." — Liter. World. 
 
 The Eversley Secrets. By Evelyn Everett-Green. 
 
 " Roy Eversley is a very touching picture of high principle." — Guardian. 
 
 The Hermit Hunter of the Wilds. By G. Stables, e.k. 
 
 " Will gladden the heart of many a bright boy." — Methodist Becorder. 
 
 Sturdy and Strong". By G. A. Henty. 
 
 "A hero who stands as a good instance of chivalry in domestic life." — The 
 Empire. 
 
 Gutta Percha Willie. By George Mac Donald. 
 
 "Get it for your boys and girls to read for themselves." — Practical Teacher. 
 
 The War Of the Axe : or, Adventures in South Africa. By 
 J. Percy-Groves. 
 "The story is well and brilliantly t<A(\."— Literary World. 
 
 The Lads of Little Clayton. By r. Stead. 
 
 "A capital book for boys." — Schoolmaster. 
 
 Ten BoyS who lived on the Road from Long Ago to Now. 
 By Jane Andrews. With 20 Illustrations. 
 " The idea is a very happy one, and admirably carried out. "—Practical Teacher. 
 
 A Waif Of the Sea: or, The Lost Found. By Kate Wood. 
 
 "Written with tenderness and grace."— Morning Advertiser. 
 
 Winnie's Secret. By Kate Wood. 
 
 " One of the best story-books we have read."— Schoolmaster. 
 
 Miss WillOWDUrn'S Offer. By Sarah Doudney. 
 
 "Patience Willowburn is one of Miss Doudney's best creations."— Spectator. 
 
 A Garland for Girls. By Louisa M. Alcott. 
 
 " These little tales are the beau ideal of girls' stories."— Christian World. 
 
 Hetty Gray : or, Nobody's Bairn. By Rosa Mdlholland. 
 "Hetty is a delightful creature— piquant, tender,. and tine."— -World. 
 
 Brothers in Arms : A Story of the Crusades. By E. Bay- 
 ford Harrison. 
 " Sure to prove interesting to young people of both sexes." — Guardian. 
 
 Miss Fenwick's Failures. By Esme" Stuart. 
 
 "A girl true to real life, who will put no nonsense into young heads."— Graphic. 
 Gytha'S Message. By Emma Leslie. 
 
 "This is the sort of book that all girls like."- Journal of Education. 
 
BLACKIE & SON'S BOOKS FOR YOUNG PEOPLE. 
 
 27 
 
 HALF-CROWN SERIES— Continued. 
 
 Illustrated by eminent Artists. In crown 8vo, cloth elegant. 
 
 Hammond's Hard Lines. By Skelton Kuppord. 
 
 " It is just what a boy would 
 choose if the selection of a 
 story-book is left in his own 
 hand." — School Guardian. 
 
 Dulcie King 1 : A Story 
 
 for Girls. By M. 
 Corbet-Seymour. 
 
 "An extremely graceful, 
 well-told tale of domestic life. 
 . . . The heroine, Dulcie, is a 
 charming person, and worthy 
 of the good fortune which she 
 causes and shares." — Guar- 
 dian. 
 
 Hugh Herbert's In- 
 heritance. By 
 
 Caroline Austin. 
 
 "Will please by its simpli- 
 city, its tenderness, and its 
 healthy interesting motive. 
 It is admirably written." — 
 Scotsman. 
 
 NiCOla : The Career of 
 a Girl Musician. By 
 M. Corbet-Seymour. 
 
 Jack o' Lanthorn: 
 
 A Tale of Adventure. 
 By Henry Frith. 
 
 W\Wn 
 
 Reduced Illustration from " Hammond's Hard Lines ". 
 
 My Mistress the Queen. By m. a. Paull. 
 The Stories of Wasa and Menzikoff. 
 Stories of the Sea in Former Days. 
 Tales of Captivity and Exile. 
 Famous Discoveries by Sea and Land. 
 Stirring" Events of History. 
 Adventures in Field, Flood, and Forest. 
 
 "It would be difficult to place in the hands of young- people books which 
 combine interest and instruction in a higher degree." — Manchester Courier. 
 
 A Rough Road: or, How the Boy Made a Man of Himself. 
 By Mrs. G. Linnaeus Banks. 
 " Mrs. Banks has not written a better book than A Rough Road." — Spectator . 
 
28 
 
 BLACK1E & SON'S BOOKS FOli YOUNG PEOPLE. 
 
 HALF-CROWN SERIES— Continued. 
 
 Laugh and Learn : The Easiest Book of Nursery Lessons 
 and Nursery Games. By Jennett Humphreys. Charmingly 
 Illustrated. Square 8vo, cloth extra, 2s. 6d. 
 "One of the best books of the kind imaginable, full of practical teaching in 
 
 word and picture, and helping the little ones pleasantly along a right royal road 
 
 to learning." — Graphic. 
 
 The TWO Dorothys. By Mrs. Herbert Martin. 
 " A book that will interest and please all girls." — The Lady. 
 
 Penelope and the Others. By Amy Walton. 
 
 " This is a charming book for children. Miss Walton proves herself a perfect 
 adept in understanding of school-room joys and sorrows." — Christian Leader. 
 
 A Cruise in ClOUdland. By Henry Frith. 
 
 "A thoroughly interesting story." — St. James's Gazette. 
 
 Marian and Dorothy. By Annie E. Armstrong. 
 
 " This is distinctively a book for girls. A bright wholesome story."— Academy. 
 
 StiniSOn'S Reef: A Tale of Adventure. By C. J. Hyne. 
 " It may almost vie with Mr. K. L. Stevenson's Treasure Island." — Guardian. 
 
 Gladys Anstruther. By Louisa Thompson. 
 " It is a clever book : novel and striking in the highest degree. ''—Schoolmistress. 
 
 BLACKIE'S TWO-SHILLING SERIES. 
 
 Illustrated by eminent Artists. In crown Svo, cloth elegant. 
 
 In the Days Of Drake. Being the Adventures of Humphrey 
 Salkeld. By J. S. Fletcher. 
 
 Wilful Joyce. By W. L. Booper. 
 
 Proud Miss Sydney. By Geraldine Mockler. 
 
 Queen Of the Daffodils : A Story of High School Life. By 
 Leslie Laing. 
 
 The Girleen. By Edith Johnstone. 
 
 The Organist's Baby. By Kathleen Knox. 
 
 SehOOl-DayS in France. By An Old Girl. 
 
 The Ravensworth Scholarship: a High School story 
 
 for Girls. By Mrs. Henry Clarke. 
 Sir Walter's Ward : A Tale of the Crusades. By William 
 
 EVERARD. 
 
 Raff's Ranche : A Story of Adventure among Cow-boys and 
 Indians. By F. M. Holmes. 
 
BLACKIE & SOWS BOOKS FOR YOUNG PEOPLE. 29 
 
 TWO-SHILLING SERIES— Continued. 
 
 Illustrated by eminent Artists. In crown 8vo, cloth elegant. 
 
 An Unexpected Hero. By Eliz. j. Lysaght. 
 
 The Bushranger's Secret. By Mrs. Henry Clarke, m.a. 
 The White Squall. By John C. Hutcheson. 
 
 The Wreck of the "Nancy Bell". By J. c. Hutcheson. 
 The Lonely Pyramid. By J. H. Yoxall. 
 
 Bat) : or, The Triumph of Unselfishness. By Ismay Thorn. 
 Brave and True, and other Stories. By Gregson Gow. 
 The Light Princess. By George Mac Donald. 
 
 Nutbrown Roger and I. By J. H. Yoxall. 
 Sam Silvan' s Sacrifice. By Jesse Colman. 
 
 Insect Ways On Summer Days in Garden, Forest, Field, 
 and Stream. By Jennett Humphreys. With 70 Illustrations. 
 
 Susan. By Amy Walton. 
 
 A Pair Of ClOgS. By Amy Walton. 
 
 The Hawthorns. By Amy Walton. 
 
 Dorothy's Dilemma. By Caroline Austin. 
 
 Marie's Home. By Caroline Austin. 
 
 A Warrior King. By J. Evelyn. 
 
 Aboard the "Atalanta". By Henry Frith. 
 
 The Penang Pirate. By John C. Hutcheson. 
 
 Teddy: The Story of a "Little Pickle ". By John C. Hutcheson. 
 
 A Rash Promise. By Cecilia Selby Lowndes. 
 
 Linda and the Boys. By Cecilia Selby Lowndes. 
 
 SwiSS Stories for Children. From the German of Madam 
 Johanna Spyri. By Lucy Wheelock. 
 
 The Squire's Grandson. By J. m. Callwell. 
 
 Magna Charta Stories. Edited by Arthur Gilman, a.m. 
 
 The WingS Of Courage ; and The Cloud - Spinner. 
 Translated from the French of George Sand, by Mrs. Corkran. 
 
 Chirp and Chatter: Or, Lessons from Field and Tree. 
 By Alice Banks. With 54 Illustrations by Gordon Browne. 
 
 Four Little Mischiefs. By Bosa Mulholland. 
 
30 
 
 BLACKIE 6s SOWS BOOKS FOR YOUNG PEOPLE. 
 
 TWO-SHILLING SERIES— Continued. 
 
 Illustrated by eminent Artists. In crown 8vo, cloth elegant. 
 
 New Light through Old Windows. By Gregson Gow. 
 
 Little Tottie, and Two Other Stories. By Thomas Archer. 
 
 Naughty Miss Bunny. By Clara Mulholland. 
 Adventures of Mrs. Wishing-to-be. By Alice Corkran. 
 
 The JoyOUS Story Of TotO. By Laura E. Eichards. 
 Our Dolly: Her Words and Ways. By Mrs. B. H. Read. 
 Fairy Fancy : What she Heard and Saw. By Mrs, Read. 
 
 LIBRARY OF FAMOUS BOOKS FOR 
 BOYS AND GIRLS. 
 
 In Crown 8vo. Illustrated. Cloth extra, Is. 6d. each. 
 
 Miss Austen's Northanger Abbey. 
 
 Miss Edgeworth's The Good Gov- 
 erness. 
 
 Martineau's Feats on the Fiord. 
 
 Marryat's Poor Jack. 
 
 The Snowstorm. By Mrs. Gore. 
 
 Life of Dampier- 
 
 The Cruise of the Midge. M. Scott. 
 
 Lives and Voyages of Drake and 
 Cavendish. 
 
 Edgeworth's Moral Tales. 
 
 Marryat's The Settlers in Canada. 
 
 Michael Scott's Tom Cringle's Log. 
 
 White's Natural History of Sel- 
 borne. 
 
 Waterton's Wanderings in S. 
 America. 
 
 Anson's Voyage Round the World. 
 
 Autobiography of Franklin. 
 
 Lamb's Tales from Shakspeare. 
 
 Southey's Life of Nelson. 
 
 Miss Mitford's Our Village. 
 
 Two Years Before the Mast. 
 
 Marryat's Children of the New 
 Forest. 
 
 Scott's The Talisman. 
 
 The Basket of Flowers. 
 
 Marryat's Masterman Ready. 
 
 Alcott's Little Women. 
 
 Cooper's Deerslayer. 
 
 The Lamplighter. By Miss Cummins. 
 
 Cooper's Pathfinder. 
 
 The Vicar of Wakefield. 
 
 Plutarch's Lives of Greek Heroes. 
 
 Poe's Tales of Romance and Fan- 
 tasy. 
 
 BLACKIE'S EIGHTEENPENNY SERIES. 
 
 With Illustrations. In crown 8vo, cloth elegant. 
 
 The Little Girl from Next Door. 
 
 By Geralpine Mockler. 
 
 Uncle Jem's Stella. By Author of 
 
 " The Two Dorothys". 
 The Ball of Fortune. By C. Pearse. 
 The Family Failing. By Darley 
 
 Dale. 
 Warner's Chase: Or, The Gentle 
 
 Heart. By ANNIE S. Swan. 
 Climbing the Hill. By Annie S. 
 
 Swan. 
 
 Into the Haven. By Annie S. Swan. 
 
 Down and Up Again. By Gregson 
 
 Gow. 
 Madge's Mistake. By Annie K. 
 
 Armstrong. 
 The Troubles and Triumphs of 
 
 Little Tim. By Gregson Gow. 
 The Happy Lad: A Story of Peasant 
 
 Life in Norway, By B. B.tornson. 
 
 A Box of Stories. Packed for Young 
 Folic by Horace Havpyman. 
 
 The Patriot Martyr, and other Nar- 
 ratives of Female Heroism. 
 
BLACK IE d- SON'S BOOKS FOR YOUNG PEOPLE. 
 
 31 
 
 THE EIGHTEENPENNY SERIES.— Continued. 
 With Illustrations. In crown 8vo, cloth elegant. 
 
 Olive and Robin : or, A .Tourney to 
 Nowhere. By the author of " The 
 Two Dorothys". 
 
 Mona's Trust : A Story for Girls. By 
 
 Penelope Leslie. 
 
 [Reduced Specimen of the Illustrations.] 
 From. "Pleasures and Pranks". 
 
 Little Jimmy: A Story of Adventure. 
 By Rev. D. Rice- Jones, m.a. 
 
 Pleasures and Pranks. By Isa- 
 bella Pearson. 
 
 In a Stranger's Garden : A Story 
 
 for Boys and Girls. By CONSTANCE 
 
 Cuming. 
 A Soldier's Son : The Story of a Boy 
 
 who Succeeded. By ANNETTE Lys- 
 
 TER. 
 
 By F. Bayfori* 
 By 
 
 Mischief and Merry-making, 
 
 Isabella Pearson. 
 
 By 
 
 Littlebourne Lock. 
 
 Harrison 
 
 Wild Meg and Wee Dickie. 
 
 Mary E. Popes. 
 Grannie. By Elizabeth J. Lysaght. 
 
 The Seed She Sowed. By 
 
 Emma Leslie. 
 Unlucky: A Fragment of a 
 
 Girl's Life. By Caroline 
 
 Austin. 
 Everybody's Business: Or, A 
 
 Friend in Need. By Ismay 
 
 Thorn. 
 Tales of Daring and Dan- 
 ger. By G. A. Henty. 
 The Seven Golden Keys. By 
 
 James E. Arnold. 
 The Story of a Queen. By 
 
 Mary C. Kowsell. 
 Edwy: Or, Was he a Coward? 
 
 By Annette Lyster. 
 
 The Battlefield Treasure. 
 
 By F. Bayford Harrison. 
 
 Joan's Adventures at the 
 
 North Pole. By Alice 
 
 Cokkran. 
 Filled with Gold. By J. Per- 
 
 rett. 
 Our General: A Story for 
 
 Girls. By ELIZABETH J. 
 
 LTSAGHT. 
 
 Aunt Hesba's Charge. By 
 Elizabeth J. Lysaght. 
 
 By Order of Queen Maude : 
 
 A Stoiy of Home Life. By 
 Louisa Crow. 
 
 The Late Miss Hollingford. 
 
 By Rosa Mulholland. 
 
 Our Frank. By Amy Walton. 
 
 A Terrible Coward. By G. 
 
 Manville Fenn. 
 Yarns on the Beach. By 
 
 G. A. Henty. 
 Tom Finch's Monkey. By J. C. 
 
 HUTCHESON. 
 
 Miss Gran tley's Girls and the Stories 
 she Told Them. By THOS. Archer. 
 
 The Pedlar and his Dog. 
 
 C. PiOWSELL. 
 
 Town Mice in the Country 
 
 M. E. Francis. 
 Phil and his Father, 
 
 thorn. 
 
 By Mary 
 By 
 By Ismay 
 
 Prim's Story. By L. E. Tiddeman. 
 * ¥ *Also a large selection of Rewards at Is., 9d., 6d., 3d., 2d,, and Id. A 
 complete list will be sent post free on application to the Publishers, 
 
32 
 
 BLACKIE <fc SON'S BOOKS FOR YOUNG PEOPLE. 
 
 BLACKIE'S 
 SCHOOL AND HOME LIBRARY. 
 
 Under the above title the publishers have arranged to issue, for 
 School Libraries and the Home Circle, a selection of the best and most 
 interesting books in the English language. The Library will include 
 lives of heroes, ancient and modern, records of travel and adventure by 
 sea and land, fiction of the highest class, historical romances, books of 
 natural history, and tales of domestic life. 
 
 The greatest care will be devoted to the get-up of the Library. The 
 volumes will be clearly printed on good paper, and the binding made 
 specially durable, to withstand the wear and tear to which well-circu- 
 lated books are necessarily subjected. 
 
 In crown 8vo volumes. Strongly bound in imperial cloth. Price is. 4d. each. 
 
 Michael Scott's Tom Cringle's Log. 
 Irving's Conquest of Granada. 2 vols. 
 Lives of Drake and Cavendish. 
 Michael Scott's Cruise of the Midge. 
 Edgeworth's Moral Tales. 
 Passages in the Lifeof a Galley-Slave. 
 The Snowstorm. By Mrs. Gore. 
 Life of Dampier. 
 
 Marryat's The Settlers in Canada. 
 Martineau's Feats on the Fiord. 
 Marryat's Poor Jack. 
 The Good Governess. By Maria 
 
 Edgevvorth. 
 Northanger Abbey. By Jane Austen. 
 The Log Book of a Midshipman. 
 Autobiographies of Boyhood. 
 Holiday House. By Catherine Sincla'r. 
 Wreck of the "Wager". 
 What Katy Did. By Miss Coolidge. 
 What Katy Did at School. By Do. 
 Scott's Life of Napoleon. 
 
 Dana's Two Years before the Mast. 
 
 Southey's Life of Nelson. 
 
 Waterton'sWanderings in S.America. 
 
 Anson's Voyage Round the World. 
 
 Lamb's Tales from Shakspeare. 
 
 Autobiographyof Benjamin Franklin. 
 
 Marryat's Children of the New Forest. 
 
 Miss Mitford's Our Village. 
 
 Scott's Talisman. 
 
 The Basket of Flowers. 
 
 Marryat's Masterman Ready. 
 
 Alcott's Little Women. 
 
 Cooper's Deerslayer. 
 
 Parry's Third Voyage. 
 
 Dickens' Old Curiosity Shop. 2 vols. 
 
 Plutarch's Lives of Greek Heroes. 
 
 The Lamplighter. 
 
 Cooper's Pathfinder. 
 
 The Vicar of Wakefield. 
 
 White's Natural History of Selborne. 
 
 Scott's Ivanhoe. 2 vols. 
 
 To be followed by a new volume on the first of each month. 
 
 "We feel sure that they will form a collection which boys and girls alike, 
 but especially the former, will highly prize; for whilst they contain interest- 
 ing, and at times very exciting reading, the tone throughout is of that 
 vigorous, stirring kind which is always appreciated by the young." — 
 Sheffield Independent. 
 
 Detailed Prospectus and Press Opinions will be sent post free on Application. 
 
 LONDON: 
 BLACKIE & SON, Limited, 50 OLD BAILEY, E.C. 
 

 
 mm 
 
 tmmm 
 
 S§iK