ROMANCE OF REALITY
THE LIBRARY
OF
THE UNIVERSITY
OF CALIFORNIA
LOS ANGELES
^
t
"ROMANCE OF REALITY" SERIES
Edited by Ellison Hawks
THE MAN-OF-WAR
VOLUMES ALREADY ISSUED
1. THE AEROPLANE.
By Graham White and Harry Harper.
2. THE MAN-OF-WAR.
By Commander E. H. Currey, R.N.
"ROMANCE OF REALITY" SERIES
THE MAN-OF-WAR
WHAT SHE HAS DONE, AND WHAT
SHE IS DOING
BY
Commander E. HAMILTON GURREY
R.N. (Retired)
AUTHOR OF
"SEA WOLVES OF THE MEDITERRANEAN" "WITH MORGAN TO PANAMA"
"THE CAPTAIN OF THE KING'S GUARD" "IAN HARDY, NAVAL CADET"
ETC. ETC.
LONDON: T. G. & E. G. JAGK
67 LONG ACRE, W.G., & EDINBURGH
/
7
FOREWORD
I SHOULD wish here to acknowledge my indebtedness
to those whose help I have received in the production
of this book. To my friend Mr. Walter Wood, the
well-known author, for hints as to the best method of
its arrangement, and for placing at my disposal some of
the very excellent pictures that are here reproduced, I
owe a debt of gratitude that I shall find it difficult to
repay. To my brother, Mr. W. F. Currey, I am in-
debted for the coloured illustration, which is a picture
full of interest, representing as it does the carrack in
which the Knights of St. John of Jerusalem arrived
at Malta, after their expulsion from Rhodes, at the
hands of the Turks, in the year 1530. It may be
added that this is no fancy picture, no mere dream of the
artist's imagination, but an actual copy. The original
hangs in the house of a distinguished ecclesiastic in
Malta. To Mr. John Murray I tender my thanks
for permission to reproduce the pictures of the oar-
driven Mediterranean galleys and galeasses ; to Messrs.
Chambers for permission to reproduce two little-known
sea stories, "The French Galleys and English Frigate"
v
3049475
Foreword
and " How Pierre le Grand took the Galleon of Spain."
Also, I wish to thank the great Elswick firm, Sir W. G.
Armstrong Whitworth & Co. Ltd., for the very in-
teresting modern photographs that they have allowed
me to reproduce.
E. HAMILTON CURREY,
Commander, Royal Navy, Retired.
VI
CONTENTS
CHAP. PAGE
I. Concerning a Sailing Passage . . . i
II. A Navy of Oars — Moslem Pirates of the
Mediterranean . . . . .22
III. French Galleys and English Frigate — The
Galleon of Venice at Prevesa . . .42
IV. Tudor Ships and Men . . . . .69
V. When the Invincible Armada came . . .86
VI. In what manner Admiral Robert Blake dealt
WITH the Tunis " Pyrats " ; and how Sir
Richard Stayner captured the Spanish
Treasure Fleet . . . . -103
VII. Buccaneers of the Spanish Main — How Pierre le
Grand took a Spanish Galleon — A Pirate's
Epitaph . . . . .120
VIII. "When Hawke came Swooping from the West" . 137
IX. Frigates — How Pellew and Reynolds fought the
Droits des Hommes in a Biscay Gale, and
Edward Hamilton in the Surprise cut out
THE Hermione at Puerto Cabello . -154
X. Cochrane at the Basque Roads . . ■ ^11
b vii
Contents
CHAP. PAGE
XL Sail and Steam — The Boom at Obligado — The
Training of the Seaman . , . .189
XII. The Progress of the British Battleship, from H.M.S.
Warrior, i860, to H.M.S. Iron Duke, 1914 . 207
XIII. Two Great Disasters — The Loss of H.M.S. Captain
off Finisterre, 7TH September 1870; The Loss
OF H.M.S. Victoria off the Coast of Syria on
22ND June 1893 ..... 222
XIV. Slavers and Slave Hunting — Cruising in Pursuit —
Of the Great Fight that was Fought off
Pemba by Lieutenant Fegen with an Armed
Slave Dhow ..... 237
XV. Treats of Torpedo Craft and Typhoons . . 260
XVI. Odd Jobs— The End . . . . .280
Index ....... 295
Vlll
LIST OF PLATES
The Carrack in which the Knights of St. John of
Jerusalem arrived at Malta in 1530 . . Frontispiece
PLATE
I. A Galeasse under Sail, i6th Century
FACING PAGE
16
Galley under Sail . . . . .16
II. A "Brigantine" chasing a Felucca . . .26
Enterprize, First Steam Vessel to round the Cape 26
III. Model of Royal Charles, 17TH Century
Model of 64-GuN Ship about 1750
IV. H.M.S. Ajaa; 1795 .
H.M.S. Vanguard, 1835
V. Midship Section of H.M.S. Rodney, 1833
VI. H.M.S. Albion, 1842
VII. Ships of the Line of the 'Fifties
VIII. H.M.S. Victoria, Sunk in Collision .
IX. Torpedo-Boat Destroyer
X. Four-Funnelled Cruiser steaming 25 Knots
XI. Royal Yacht, Battleship, and Cruiser
ix
30
30
36
36
48
58
68
78
86
100
114
List of Plates
PLATE FACING PAGE
XII. Torpedo Tube of Submarine . . . .124
XIII. Instantaneous Photograph of the Striking of a
"Krupp Cemented" Armour Plate . -136
XIV. Showing Resistance of Modern Armour to Pro-
jectiles . . . . . .150
XV. The Launch of H.M.S. Thunderer . . . 196
XVI. Upper Deck of H.M.S. London, showing i 2-inch
Guns ...... 218
Submarine ...... 218
THE MAN-OF-WAR
CHAPTER I
CONCERNING A SAILING PASSAGE
Let us go down to the sea ; and when we arrive there it
shall not concern us what the weather may be. Perchance
we shall look out upon skies of azure and seas of lapis
lazuli \ or it may happen that it will be grey-green, as
are the waters of the English Channel and the North
Sea ; again it is possible that the surface will show itself
black and livid, torn and tormented into shapeless masses
that are capped with an ugly yellow foam by the breath
of the typhoon, the cyclone, or the hurricane, which are,
after all, only different names for one and the same
thing. All these are different aspects of the same element,
which never changes, which never grows old, with which
throughout all time man has battled, sometimes victori-
ously, at others meeting with dire disaster.
And when we have reached the sea, for what is it
that we shall seek ? We shall seek the man-of-war, the
vessel in which mariners have contended for the mastery
of the ocean since the beginning of all history : a tale so
old that it can never all be told, as men learned to fight
long before the time came when the scribe was able to
A I
The Man-of-War
set down on paper the valiant deeds that they had
done.
The men-of-war go by in a stately procession ; a
pageant full of interest. Everywhere, and at all times,
in all the seven seas she has sailed on her mission, but
it must not be imagined that always her aim was war.
Conflict, it is true, is the end for which she has been
built, but particularly may it be said of our own sea
service, that more than anything has it served as a force
which has enabled all the ships of all the nations in all
the seas to do that which is set down in our naval prayer,
" to allow them to pass upon the seas on their lawful
occasions."
In the days that are past, wild and lawless men have
been attracted to the sea in order that by the strong
hand, by the plunder of the peaceful trading ships, they
mio^ht be enabled to live a life of ease and licence on the
spoils so easily obtained. And these were not men of
any one or specialised nationality ; white men and black,
brown men and yellow, and men of all the shades that
are intermediate have done these things, have proved
themselves a scourge to the community, have had to be
suppressed with a strong and ruthless hand ; and it is by
the man-of-war that this task has been accomplished.
And even as the sea is unchanging, so has it hap-
pened that the vessels which sail thereon have preserved
very much the same shape and form until quite recent
years. It is true that steam as a method for the propul-
sion of ships dates back more than a hundred years ; all
the same, it took many years for steam to be recognised
as indispensable to the sailor, who because he is perhaps
more addicted to the ways of his grandfathers and great-
2
Concerning a Sailing Passage
grandfathers than any other type of man, treated this
"newfangled idea" with scorn. He had to admit, be-
cause he could not deny the evidence of his own senses,
that under the influence of the steam engine a ship could
now progress directly in the way from which the wind
was blowing ; that was a fact from which he could not
get away. But this did not dismay him in the least ;
his comment on the situation was that of course it was
all right until your engines broke down ; then, he
demanded in triumph, where were you ? For a long
time the engineers provided no answer to this question ;
you did break down, and when you did you made sail
and fetched your port under canvas, while the ancient
shellback who was described in far back days in the
navy as "every hair a ropeyarn, every finger a fish-hook,
and his blood Stock'ollum (Stockholm) tar," snorted in
derision and said hurtful and nasty things to the men
responsible for the engines.
That things went the other way more frequently,
that the masts and sails helped out the engines far less
often than the engines got masts and sails out of a mess,
counted for nothing in the estimation of these fine old
conservatives of the sea. They had been brought up
to sail a ship ; not to progress through the ocean in
a condemned tea-kettle, liable to blow up at any moment
of the day or night.
There is an old story dating back as far as the
Crimean war concerning a captain who came into Bala-
klava harbour. The land was high and in consequence
the wind was baffling, and in spite of every trick known
to the seaman in handling his ship under sail, this
particular vessel fell across the bows of another which
3
The Man-of-War
was at anchor. Then and only then did there come
a hail, which said, " Why didn't you go astern with
your engines ? " A new light seemed to break in
on the mariner in fault, slowly understanding came
to him, then he smote his hand down on the rail in
front of him, ejaculating as he did so, " I forgot I was
a steamer."
The British Admiralty, not only in the earliest days
of steam — when it must be admitted that breakdowns
were frequent — but for years and years afterwards,
regarded steam, and all that was connected with it, with
the greatest suspicion and dislike. They were of opinion
that it would ruin our breed of sailors, and further that
it introduced an element of expense into naval affairs
that the country would never stand. Therefore orders
were issued that as little coal as possible was to be
burned ; all passages to be made under sail as far as
possible ; and to this ruling all His Majesty's ships
conformed until quite recent years. It is also, com-
paratively speaking, only the other day that the train-
ino- of both officers and men ceased to be that of the
old time, and quite young men in the navy to-day, of
not more than twenty-six or twenty-seven years of
age, were brought up with the knowledge of how to
manage a ship under sail, and with all the particular in-
struction which goes to make a man efficient in that art.
And now that all this has gone by the board, when
the old-time seamanship is as extinct as the Dodo, there
are still persons who contend that you will never make
a real seaman without it, and that some day we shall
return to the old teaching as a preliminary to modern
requirements of the sea.
4
Concerning a Sailing Passage
We are dealing in this book with the man-of-war,
but there is something even more important than any
ship, and that is the men who sail beneath the shadow
of her flag ; and it is extraordinary when the seaman
looks back and considers the times as they are now, and
the times as they were forty or fifty years ago, how the
account, as far as the man and the officer are concerned,
seems to balance between the old time and the new.
The present-day sailor is better fed and better housed
than was his predecessor ; but his life is duller and he
sees less of the foreign countries ; as nowadays for certain
reasons the navy of our country is concentrated around
our own shores, whereas aforetime it was, in bulk, in the
far distant waters of the world. The modern sailor does
not have to turn up twenty times in a watch which lasts
four hours, in the middle of the night, to trim sails ;
neither does he have to go aloft in a howling tempest to
reef or furl ; all that side of the seaman's life is dead and
gone. But as he does not know the pains of the sailing
ship, neither, on the other hand, does he know its
pleasures. Not for him is the cruise down the heart of
the trades or in front of the monsoon, in the fashion that
it was known aforetime to his predecessor. Those long
days when the stately, well-trimmed ship, a pile of tower-
ing canvas, sailed on and on day after lovely day. When
the stainless blue vault of heaven met the azure of the
sea on the far horizon ; when day and night the strong
sweet breath of the never-varying wind bore her on-
wards and ever onwards, while all on board luxuriated
in the most perfect type of perfect weather that the world
has to show. There was no work to do, for the wind
was doing all that was necessary ; there was no dust,
5
The Man-of-War
there was no smell, there was no noise. When the red
sun dipped, a gallant silver moon soared overhead in
his place, and all the sails were silvern and all the
shadows black as ink. At such a time even a middle
watch, which happens between midnight and four in the
morning, was a pleasure ; there would be no going aloft
to reef topsails, of that you were assured ; and if you
were a midshipman, you dozed in a surreptitious manner
on the side tackle of a gun, with one eye open in case
you were wanted.
On one cruise such as this it was demonstrated
beyond a doubt that the midshipmen were not born to
be drowned — they were evidently reserved for a drier
fate ! It happened that the ship was fitted with what
was known as "a lifting screw," which meant that the
propeller could be uncoupled from the shaft if necessary,
and by means of a tackle rove through blocks attached
to what was known as a "banjo frame," it could be
hoisted on deck. The midshipmen had orders to have
their baths on the upper deck behind a screen stretched
across abaft the mizzen mast. One morning one of the
young gentlemen discovered that he could squeeze him-
self past the boss of the screw propeller, and in this
manner get into the screw well, the aperture in which
the screw travelled up and clown vertically. Inside the
well were rungs clamped to its vertical side, and down
these the midshipman went until he stood with his feet
just clear of the water. The ship was sailing ten knots
an hour, and beneath him as she lifted to the slight
following swell, the small portion of the Indian Ocean
that he could see boiled and bubbled. Above him
curious eyes peered down through the aperture, and a
6
Concerning a Sailing Passage
voice hailed him to know what it was like. To this he
replied that it was all right ; at the same time wondering
if he went any lower down if he would be torn from his
hold and drowned. Again the voices from the outer air
made themselves heard ; they shouted opprobrium, they
asked if he were afraid to go any lower, they informed
him that so far he had not had the courage to wet his
feet.
If the midshipman in the screw well had told the
exact truth at this moment he would have replied that
seldom had he been more frightened ; all the same, he
was more concerned as to what would be said to him if
he came up his precarious ladder without going to the
very bottom rung of all ; so he went down another step.
This time the sea boiled and swirled around him as hig-h
as his waist, and he discovered, much to his surprise, that
there seemed to be no particular drag on him : so he
went down yet another rung. The water rose to his
shoulders. Then takings his courage — as well as the
bottom and last rung — in both hands, he lowered himself
down and waited. For all he knew he might be torn
from his hold, dashed against the stern post, and
drowned ; but none of these direful things happened.
The stern of the ship rose, and he was left hanging with
only his toes in the water ; then as the stern sank again
he held on like grim death and waited for what was
about to happen. She went down, down, down, over
his head, over his clinging hands, and the water all
around him bubbled and danced as if he were immersed
in a gigantic bottle of soda water ; the sea was cool and
pleasant, but all the same it seemed rather a long time
to him until she lifted again and he saw the dark wooden
The Man-of-War
side of the screw well. Then he heard the voices from
above again, demanding what it was like. To which he
replied that it was simply ripping ; whereupon he was
adjured with contumelious adjectives to come up out of
that and make room for his betters.
He came up dripping and grinning, inwardly proud
of himself that it was he who had been the first to dare
this great adventure. Then one by one other slim pink
forms insinuated themselves into the well and tested this
new and glorious form of bathing ; and for the remainder
of that cruise, as long as the screw was up, it was in
this manner that the midshipmen enjoyed their baths ;
and it is needless to say that the manner in which their
morning ablutions were taken, was strictly concealed
from their superior officers.
The ship was homeward bound after a commission
on the China station. The little enclosed ports and the
mighty rushing rivers ; the huddled, queer-looking
houses, with their queer-twisted roofs and pig-tailed
inhabitants, seemed very far away now, as the midship-
men looked back and remembered. They had had a
grand send off from Hong Kong with the Chinese
bumboatmen firing royal salutes from funny little guns
mounted in the bumboat, while the crews of the other
men-of-war, and the merchant seamen too, had crowded
the rigging of their ships and cheered them to the echo
as they steamed out through the Lye-eemoon Pass.
South to Singapore they had come, and then south
again through the swirling muddy currents that race
through the dangerous waters that lie between Banca
and Sumatra ; where the tigers come down to the sea
beach — apparently to hunt for crabs ! — where the
w
o
^
Concerning a Sailing Passage
vampire bats fly in flocks from island to island, and
where the air is heavy with the smell of spices. So
they had fared on through Java Sea to Batavia, that
neat Dutch settlement, which next to Singapore itself is
the great meeting-place of all the queer folk who inhabit
Borneo, Celebes, Sumatra, and that tangle of islands
which lie between Formosa and Northern Australia.
Then they had steamed through the Straits of Sunda
out into the Indian Ocean, and it had seemed to them
that then had the real homeward-bound voyage begun.
They had done with the East at last, with its yellow
people, its queer sights, and still queerer smells ; and
best of all, they had done with the engines for quite a
long time ; for in those days the seaman still clung to
his old-time ideas, to the cult of the mast and yard
and sail.
Those who do not know the sea, or those whose
experience of it is confined perhaps to one particular
crossing" of its waters, are apt to think of it as all very
much the same, as a vast expanse in which monotony
reigns supreme. But in this they are mistaken, for the
ocean is infinite in the variations that it can show.
Here, for instance, in the Indian ocean, in this voyage
with which we are for the moment concerned, sailing
deep in the heart of the south-east trade wind, the sea
was full of life. As the ship's great forefoot rose and
fell, crashino- throuiih the blue water and leavinof behind
her a wake white as milk, there rose on either side of
her bows coveys of flying-fish that skimmed from wave
top to wave top at a most amazing speed, exactly in the
same manner as you will see on shore a covey of
partridges flushed from among the turnips. Then again
II
The Man-of-War
at times they might be seen flying in front of some
enemy of the deep, in such a hurry as not to notice
particularly where they were going : and on these
occasions it was by no means infrequent that, either not
seeing the ship, or perhaps attempting to take her in
their stride as they went, they would fly in through an
open port, or perchance even land with a mighty flop on
the upper deck. When they did this there was a rush
to secure the prize, as fresh fish is the last thing that
the bluewater sailor ever secures for his dinner.
It cannot be said, however, that the flying-fish, the
albacore, the bonita, the dolphin, or any of the fish that
can be caught in warm-water latitudes, are much value
for the table ; nature, it appears, has ordained that a fish
to be fit to eat must live in northern waters, and, if you
want good fish, even the Mediterranean is too far south
to provide you with those that are really palatable. But
if in the Indian ocean the fish is not much value when
you can secure him, he still is good enough to provide
you with a considerable amount of sport in the catching.
With the permission of the first lieutenant the midship-
men on the voyage of which we speak had a good deal
of fun out of attempting to beguile the inhabitants of the
deep. The fish that they turned their attention to was
the dolphin ; and it must be explained that what the
sailor calls a dolphin is not what the scientific naturalist
calls by that name. However, this is all the same to
the mariner ; from time immemorial he has called a
certain fish a dolphin, and he has done and will continue
so to do until the end of time ; for, as has been before
explained, it takes something little short of an earthquake
to move those who go down to the sea in ships from the
12
Concerning a Sailing Passage
notions that they have derived from their tarpaulin
ancestors !
What the sailor calls a dolphin is a very beautiful fish,
slim and graceful in shape, and when he can find a ship
sailing in his neighbourhood, nothing apparently gives
him so much delight as to play continuously around her
bows ; dartinof from one side to another ; now eoinof
ahead for a few yards, anon dropping astern for a space,
but keeping all the while quite close in to the oncoming
cutwater. The midshipmen went to the boatswain, a
veteran seaman for whom they had deepest respect, and
upon whom nevertheless they occasionally played tricks,
and begged from him a grain wherewith to secure the
elusive dolphin. A grain is a sort of harpoon ; it has
three barbed prongs running in a line one way, and
two at right angles the other, so that it forms a cross.
Into a socket above this cross is fitted an ash staff, which
is weighted with lead at the upper end, and it is secured
inboard by a light line to which it is made fast. The
method of using it is for the operator to have a belt
around his waist which will enable him to lean well out
so as to clear the side of the ship. Standing with feet
strongly braced and supported by the belt, the grain is
held half-way down the shaft with the left hand, while
the right rests on the weighted leaden top. The sports-
man has to wait until the fish swims directly underneath,
and at the opportune moment directs his weapon down-
wards with all his force ; then, if his aim be good — and
it may be remarked that it is hardly so once in a hundred
times — he will drive the prongs of his weapon through
the fish, which will be secured in this manner.
The difficulty is the fish ; the way in which the most
13
The Man-of-War
enticing dolphin will swim for hours just out of reach,
is really most annoying. He is in a position in which
he is perfectly safe, as it is no good darting the heavy
grain sideways. One thing must be conceded to the
dolphin when you have caught him ; and that is that he
turns every colour of the rainbow before he dies ; this
is not one of those sea legends that have been invented
by the unveracious mariner for the delectation of the
landsman. They caught very few dolphins, but they
got a few, some in the manner described, some caught
with a hook baited with red bunting trailing astern from
one of the quarter boats. Of course there were also
porpoises, but your porpoise, although fond of gambolling
around a ship, always keeps at a respectful distance, and
has no liking for beinor orained. The whale also of the
Indian Ocean is metaphorically a shy bird ; far on the
blue horizon he could be discerned blowino- into the air
jewelled streams of water which formed rainbows, but
although he mio-ht come within rifle shot he would
o o
approach no nearer ; he had reminiscences perchance of
South Sea whalers by whom he was sadly harried. It
was different with the sharks, for the shark is always
hungry, and anything from a dead bullock to a discarded
kerosene tin comes gratefully to his maw.
The shark is the sailor's most deadly foe ; so one
evening when the wind had taken off a little, and the
ship was sailing not quite so fast in consequence, and a
fine specimen cruised hungrily under the lee quarter, the
midshipmen put up a petition that they might be allowed
to try and catch this sea tiger. The first lieutenant was
agreeable, and a shark hook was bent on to a stout rope,
baited with a four-pound piece of ship's pork and towed
14
Concerning a Sailing Passage
enticingly in front of his nose. For a time it appeared
that he was suspicious ; he smelt it and dallied with it,
while the midshipmen, almost crazy with excitement,
hung so far over the rail that they were in danger of
falling into his jaws. At last he made up his mind that
this was a thing too good to be missed ; there was a
swirl in the water as he turned, there was a flash in the
evening sunlight as his white belly turned uppermost — for
the shark is so overhung that he must turn on his back to
seize his prey — and the next moment they had him fast.
Then there was no ceremony ; the watch tailed on to
the rope from which the hook — and now the shark —
depended, and he was run up to the block through which
the rope was rove and hung suspended. Then an able
seaman got a running bowline around his tail, and a
moment or so after he was sprawling and lashing out with
his tail on the deck. Shouts went up for "Chippy" to
bring his axe, and the carpenter appearing put an end
to his gyrations by cutting through the spine close to
the tail. When he was opened up there was found the
whole of a turkey that had gone bad and had been
thrown overboard, and a miscellaneous collection of
oddments, including several of the gunroom sardine
tins. How a shark digests sardine tins must be left
to the naturalist to decide.
And then one morning on the far horizon there
appeared feathery umbrella-shaped things, which, as
they rose on straight slim stems, determined themselves
into palm trees ; and some few hours afterwards the
best bower anchor crashed down into the coral trash
and silver sand which forms the bottom of Mah^
Harbour in the Seychelle Islands.
15
The Man-of-War
Here the midshipmen went ashore and wandered
among the palm groves by the side of a little lovely
river that ran clear as crystal over its bed of silver sand
to the sea. They bought stores of the coco-de-mer, the
double coconut that alone grows in these favoured isles.
The coco-de-mer got its name in old days when it was
washed up on the shores of India — having made an
independent voyage across the ocean. Those persons
who found it made up their minds that it grew somehow
in the sea, as no man had ever before seen a double
coconut ; and they called it accordingly the coconut of
the sea.
Also the midshipmen went on board the whalers at
anchor at Mah^ and bought from those solitary seamen
who spent their lives in pursuit of the biggest of sea
animals, whales teeth curiously carved and fashioned.
But, as the boatswain said, "the girls at home had got
hold of the towrope," and they dallied but a short time
beneath the shade of the coco-de-mer trees. Once more
the capstan spun round, the anchor came to the bows,
and due north for Guardafui did the ship take her
course.
And now what a change came in the sea conditions !
No longer was peace and comfort the lot of those
voyagers ; as for the soft embraces of the south-east
trade wind they exchanged the blustering rigour of
the south-west monsoon. Worst of all for those who
had had their blood thinned by three years practically
continuous service in the tropics, the thermometer
dropped until they exchanged their white uniforms for
blue and shivered in the unaccustomed cold. It blew
a whole gale, and although the good ship was running
16
PLATE I.
A ]^C. A I . K A S S |-. 1 1 \ 1 ) !•: R S A U ,, I 6t H C E N 1' U R Y .
GALLEY UNDER SAIL FLYING THE STANDARD OF THE CHIEF
OF THE SQUADRON.
.^
^
«<;
17
Concerning a Sailing Passage
in front of it, she had to snug down and reef until she
vv^as prepared for the raving squalls that swept up from
the southward. Monstrously in a monstrous sea did
she labour ; at one time with her stern cocked so hl^h.
in the air that it seemed as if she would overbalance in
that direction, and the next shift of the sea would cause
her to lie flat along on her side, while the hungry green
water sloshed on board at bow and stern. The midship-
man of the watch, when not aloft taking in a fresh reef,
slid miserably about the sloping decks, his sea boots full
of water, his oilskins indignantly refusing to keep out
tons of the Indian Ocean that fell over the high bulwarks
on to his head.
In this fashion did they stagger northwards; their
one consolation being that it blew so hard that, at any
rate, it blew them along in the direction in which they
wished to go. Then one day the wind dropped to a
light breeze, for they were nearing that cape which the
Arabs, the pioneer seamen of these waters, have named
"the cape of the wind's death." Then Guardafui hove
in sight, came abeam, and there was a flat calm. They
furled their soaking- sails and once again steam was
raised. They turned to the westward into the Gulf of
Aden, and in one short hour the thermometer ran up
from 68° Fahrenheit to 104°. For the wind which
comes across the Somaliland desert in summer is
as a breath from the nethermost pit, superheated
as it is by hundreds of leagues of unrelieved desert
sand.
Then they changed their clothes once more and sat
down and wished that they were dead. There was no
long tarrying at Aden, which in the summer time is not
19
The Man-of-War
a place in which to linger. All around them the black
fish, which are a sort of second-class whale, rolled and
wallowed in the oily calm that prevailed as they steamed
out of Aden Roads and steered for Bab-el- Mandeb ; but
no one had the energy to make any demonstration
aofainst them, or even the seventeen-foot-lonof sharks
that haunt the Strait that has again been aptly named
by the Arabs as " the gate of tears," The Red Sea shut
down upon them in choking clammy heat until they
reached the Gulf of Suez, where a special hand got at
those bellows which send the north wind down that
narrow gully with most surprising force. On either side
gaunt wrecks marked the passage, ships with their
bottoms beaten out of them by the knife-edged ledges of
rock. She stood first on her head and then on her tail,
she made two knots and a half per hour ; until the boat-
swain gloomily opined that all the young women at home
must have let go the towrope. However, in the end
Suez was reached and a voluble French pilot took her in
charge. It was in the early days of the Canal, and ships
had to tie up to the bank at night and listen to the
jackals howling in the desert ; but they got through
without sticking, which was by no means an unusual
occurrence to take place then, and won their way clear
into the Mediterranean. Then came Malta, the Rock
of Gibraltar, and all those old seamarks of the oft-sailed
road, that are so familiar to seamen of all nations ; and
at last they found themselves for the first time in nearly
four years once again on the broad bosom of the Atlantic.
And then at last came that day of all days, when they
ran the anchor to the bows for the last time that commis-
sion at Spithead ; with a Portsmouth pilot in charge, and
20
Concerning a Sailing Passage
with a paying-off pendant so long that the gilded bladder
at its end danced along Southsea beach, and was chased
by small boys as they passed the Castle and the Pier,
they fared into Portsmouth Harbour, tied her up along-
side the Dockyard, and were at rest. Then three weeks
later she paid off, and the midshipmen, laden with cocos-
de-mer, monkeys, and parrot cages, sought the railway
station, bidding one another boisterous farewells, and
wondering which would be their next ship, and consider-
ing that, after all, they might do quite a lot worse than
try the good old China station once again.
21
CHAPTER II
A NAVY OF OARS— MOSLEM PIRATES OF THE
MEDITERRANEAN
If we search through the records of the past we find that
the man-of-war has usually been propelled through the
water by her sails. Nevertheless there was a period,
and a most interesting one, in which her motive-power
was provided by oars rowed by men who formed part of
the crew. The vessels which used this means of pro-
ceeding from port to port were in their heyday in the
Mediterranean Sea in the sixteenth century. By this
we do not mean to say that with the date 1600 the oar-
propelled vessels ceased to be used as men-of-war, but
that this was the period during which they performed
their most important work ; also in which two battles
which live in history, and about which we shall have
something to say presently, took place. The reason
why the galley and the galeasse — by which name the
rowing men-of-war were known — were more common in
the sixteenth century than in those by which it was
succeeded, was not alone the fact that the development
of the sailing vessel and the improvement of artillery
rendered her comparatively weak and unimportant as a
fighting ship ; but also owing to the peculiar conditions
that obtained in the Mediterranean between 1500 and
22
A Navy of Oars
1600. It is a self-evident fact that if you are to have a
vessel that is to be propelled by oars it is necessary to
have someone to row. The rowing of the galley was
almost entirely confined to slaves, as the toil was so
terrific and the conditions of life for the rowers so miser-
able, that no free men could be found to undertake the task.
In consequence the toilers at the oar were either
enemies captured in battle or else criminals of the most
degraded type, who were "condemned to the galleys."
From those far-distant days has come down to us the
saying "to work like a galley slave," which we all know
means to toil to the very utmost limit of our powers, or
perchance to break down under the strain. The sixteenth
century was pre-eminently the century of the warrior ;
kings and emperors, princes and governors, all those
who held rule and governance over their fellow-men,
were first, last, and all the time fighting men devoured
with ambition, entirely reckless of the price to be paid in
human life and human suffering. Also in the Medi-
terranean these warriors were divided roughly into two
opposing camps ; one was that of the Christians, the
other that of the Mohammedans.
Throughout the length and breadth of this sea,
conflict was practically unending, and one of its prime
objects was to secure from the opposing side men who
could be chained to the rower's bench. Thus if the
galley were one belonging to the Moslems, the slaves
who rowed were Christians ; if she flew the flag of a
Christian Power, those unfortunates who tugged at the
oars were followers of the Prophet Mohamet. The
galley was a vessel that was long, narrow, and of ex-
tremely low freeboard and small depth of hold. One of
23
The Man-of-War
these vessels, to give a fairly typical average example,
was of a length of 125 feet between perpendiculars, and
180 feet over all, taking in the poop and the prow. She
would have a beam (or breadth) of 19 feet and a depth
of hold of 7 feet 6 inches. At this period a sailing vessel
of the same length would have had a beam of 40 feet
and an extremely high free-board (as contemporary
pictures show), with the result that she was a ridiculously
slow sailer, and almost incapable of progressing in any
direction save in front of the wind.
In the language of the day they were known respec-
tively as the "long ship" and the "round ship," which
names described them pretty accurately. So distinct,
however, were the two types of vessel — that is to say, the
galley and the sailing ship — that the nautical terminology,
or names of different parts of the ship, differed entirely
the one from the other. By this is meant that the words
used to denote masts, sails, rudders, tillers, bow, stern,
etc., were different. Perhaps to bring before the reader
vividly what a galley really looked like, we may quote
the words of Barras de la Penne, a French officer, who
in the year 17 13 first went on board one of these craft;
this is what he says :
" Those who see a galley for the first time are
astonished to see so many persons ; there are an infinite
number of villages in Europe which do not contain an
equal number of inhabitants ; however, this is not the
principal cause of one's surprise, but that so many men
can be assembled in so small a space. It is truth that
many of them have not room to sleep at full length, for
they put seven men on one bench ; that is to say, on a
space about ten feet long and four broad.
24
A Navy of Oars
" At the bows one sees some thirty sailors who have
for their lodging the floor space of the rambades (this is
the platform in the prow of the galley), which consists of
a rectangular space ten feet long by eight in width.
The captain and officers, who live on the poop, are
scarcely better lodged, and one is tempted to compare
their grandeur with that of Diogenes in his tub. When
the unpitying Libyan Sea surprises these galleys upon
the Roman coasts, when the Norther lashes to foam the
Gulf of Lyons, when the humid east wind of Syria is
driving them offshore, everything combines tto make
life on board a modern galley a hell of misery and dis-
comfort. The creaking of the blocks and cordage, the
loud cries of the sailors, the horrible maledictions of the
galley slaves, the groaning of the timbers, mingled with
the clank of chains and the bellowing of the tempest,
produce sentiments of affright in the most intrepid
breasts. The rain, the hail, the lightning, habitual
accompaniments of these terrific storms, the waves which
dash over the vessel, all add to the horror of the situa-
tion, and although devotion is not as a rule very strongly
marked on board a galley, you will hear these folk praying
to God, and others making vows to the saints ; these
would do much better not to forc^et God and His saints
when the danger is past.
"Calm itself has its inconveniences, as the evil smells
which arise from the galley are then so strong that one
cannot get away from them in spite of the tobacco with
which one is obliged to plug one's nostrils from morning
till night."
There are further details given by Barras de la Penne,
into which it is impossible to enter ; his case is complete
25
The Man-of-War
w'thout further words. We can supplement his account,
however, with that of Jean Marteille de Bergerac, who was
an actual galley slave himself. He was "condemned to
serve on board the galleys in 1707, in his quality of
Protestant " — which seems rather hard upon him — and
his description of the life of a " forgat " or galley slave is
as follows :
"They are chained six to a bench ; the benches are
four feet wide covered with sacking stuffed with wool,
over which are thrown sheepskins which reach to the
floor. The officer who is master of the galley slaves
remains aft with the captain to receive his orders ; there
are two under officers, — one amidships and one at the
prow ; all of these are armed with whips, with which
they flog the absolutely naked bodies of the slaves.
When the captain gives the order to row, the officer
gives the signal with a silver whistle which hangs on a
cord round his neck ; the signal is repeated by the under
officers, and very soon all the fifty oars strike the water
as one. Imagine six men chained to a bench as naked
as they were born, one foot on the stretcher, the other
raised and placed on the bench in front of them, holding
in their hands an oar of enormous weight, stretching
their bodies towards the after part of the galley with
arms extended to push the loom (or handle) of the oar
clear of the backs of those in front of them, who are in
the same attitude. They plunge the blades of the oars
into the water and throw themselves back, falling on to
the seat, which bends beneath their weight. Sometimes
the galley slaves row their ten, twelve, or even twenty
hours at a stretch, without the slightest relapse or rest,
and on these occasions the officer will go round putting
26
PLATE II.
"r.RIGANTINi:" CHASlN'd A FELUCCA— THE MOMENT BEP'ORE BOARDING.
iVo/e. — The term " Brigantine " was generic for small craft, not "galleys'" or
"galeasses" in i6th and 17th centur\' in the Mediterranean.
ENTERPRIZE, FIRST STEAM VESSEL TO ROUND THE CAPE UNDER COMMAND
OF LIEUTENANT JOHNSTONE, R.N., ENTERING -MADRAS ROADS.
A Navy of Oars
into the mouths of the wretched rowers pieces of bread
soaked in wine to prevent them from fainting. Then
the captain will call upon the officers to redouble their
blows, and if one of the slaves falls fainting on his oar,
which is a common occurrence, he is flogged until he
appears to be dead, and is then flung overboard without
ceremony."
The Royal Sovereign^ built in 1637. From a painting by Vandervelde.
There is really very little to add to this terrible and
realistic picture drawn by one who actually underwent
and survived this treatment for the crime of being a
Protestant. There were times, of course, when the
galley slave was at rest, as these vessels were fitted with
two, and sometimes three masts, and if the wind were
favourable it was naturally taken advantage of by those
27
The Man-of-War
in command. There is a good deal of misapprehension
concerning the speed at which a galley could travel.
She is frequently spoken of as abnormally swift ; but
this was far from beinor the case. No doubt some of
O
them, owing to their fine lines and narrow beam, were
swift sailers, but when one of these craft started with her
"gallerians" quite fresh, all that could be got out of her
in a flat calm was some four and a half knots for the first
hour ; this dropped probably to three or three and a half
during the second hour ; and after that, let the boatswains
flog never so mercilessly, she progressed at an average
of about two and a half. The advantage that she pos-
sessed over the sailing ship was the same (only in an
infinitely lesser degree) as that possessed by the steam-
ship ; that is to say, she could be moved against the
wind, or she could be navigated in perfectly windless
weather. It was this that rendered her so formidable
in the Mediterranean. During the winter months she
lay up in harbour, as the sixteenth century mariner, like
a sensible man, had no affection for gales and storms.
But when the spring came, when "winter's rains and
ruins were over," then did the longships fit out once
more and put to sea seeking the enemy ; or, perchance,
merely seeking their prey.
This was the period in which piracy as a profession
was practised on the grand scale ; and the leaders of the
Moslem corsairs, such men as Uruj Barbarossa and
Kheyr-ed-Din Barbarossa (who were brothers), or Dragut
Reis and Occhiali, or Ali Basha, commanded forces of
great size and strength, and were actually makers of
history at the time in which they flourished. Kheyr-ed-Din
Barbarossa was certainly the greatest pirate that the
28
A Navy of Oars
world has ever seen. From nothing at all — going to sea
in a small vessel seeking for what he could steal from
luckless Christian merchant ships — he rose to be King
of Algiers and Tunis, and Admiralissimo to the Sultan
of Turkey, known as Soliman the Magnificent — the
really great ruler who then sat on the throne of the
Ottoman Empire. Personal force, consisting of a
greater and more indomitable courage than those
desperate characters who followed his fortunes, was
his ; and allied to this was an intellect which never
faltered and seldom blundered ; a character so marvellous
that it never failed to make its mark upon those with
whom he was associated, whether that person was Soli-
man himself or the rudest swordsman who followed his
fortune in the corsair flotilla that he commanded. His
history is one of the greatest romances that the world
has ever seen ; for, villain as he undoubtedly was, he
surmounted all obstacles, and in all the happenings of
his unusually prolonged life — for he died in his bed when
over ninety years of age — no reverse of fortune ever
found him unprepared. Time and again circumstances
arose which, with ninety-nine men out of a hundred,
would have spelt irremediable ruin ; but ever and always
the greatest of the corsairs rose superior to disaster and,
collecting new forces, continued his devastating career
as one of the most dangerous foes that Christendom had
ever known.
That in which he was absolutely supreme was his
craft as a seaman ; on shore in his capacity as a Kino-
of Algiers and Tunis his setbacks and defeats were many
and disastrous ; but let Kheyr-ed-Din once set his foot
on board of his war-worn galley, then he proved his
29
The Man-of-War
superiority to all and sundry. When Ibrahim, the Grand
Vizier of Soliman the Magnificent, was ordered by his
master to find someone to command the Turkish forces
at sea, it was to Barbarossa he turned ; he disregarded the
murmurs of the Bashas in Constantinople against "the
pirate," and told the Sultan that he had set his hand "on
a veritable man of the sea."
Ranged against him on the side of the Christians was
that notable admiral of the Emperor Charles v., Andrea
Doria. All the strength of the most powerful empire in
Europe was set in battle array against the corsair king ;
and yet, when at last these two lifelong enemies met at
the battle of Prevesa, in September 1538, it was the
Christian Admiral who fled from the encounter, although
he had 200 ships to the 122 that his great adversary
could muster.
We cannot, however, linger over the career of
Kheyr-ed-Din Barbarossa (which has been treated at
length by the writer in his book. Sea Wolves of the
Mediterranean), but must pass on to his successor as a
pirate leader in the tideless sea, Dragut Reis. This
man, if the inferior of Kheyr-ed-Din as a leader, was
inferior only to him, as he also was not only a born sea-
man, but also a born leader of men. We will here treat
of one incident in his career as illustrative of what the
galley could do when she was in the hands of one who
really understood her capabilities.
Dragut, in the year 1548, was carrying out his
piratical business, and had captured from the Spaniards
the towns of Susa, Sfax, Monastir, and, strongest of
them all, one known as "Africa," the other name of
which was Mehedia, on the coast of Tunis. At this
30
PLATE IH.
MODEL OF KOVAL CNAKLES, 17TH CENTURV.
MODEL OF 64-GUN SHIP ABOUT 1750.
A Navy of Oars
time the Emperor Charles v. was in the very height of
his fame and his power ; and the idea that a pirate
should capture his property, that the sea rover should
man the rowing benches of his galleys with subjects of
the greatest Empire then in the world, was a matter that
called for the promptest punishment. Accordingly the
great Genoese seaman, Andrea Doria, who served the
Emperor as head of his navy, was ordered to put to sea
and to fight against neither small nor great until he had
accomplished the destruction of Dragut, who was to be
taken dead or alive.
The corsair had repaired to a harbour in the island
of Jerbah, off the coast of Tunis, known as "la Bocca
de Cantara," there to repose himself after his late strenuous
exertions. He was unaware that the Emperor had put
Doria on his track ; and it was only when the Genoese
admiral appeared and anchored with twenty-two royal
galleys in the mouth of the harbour, thus completely
cutting off his retreat, that the Moslem leader became
aware of his danger. But " one Dragut, a corsair odious
to both God and man " — as he had been described by the
Emperor — was not only as brave and fierce as a lion, he
was also as slippery as an eel. He was in no case to
fight Doria at sea, by trying to force his way out of the
harbour, as he had neither ships nor men enough present
to attempt this with any chance of success. As a pre-
liminary measure he disembarked guns from his galleys,
mounted them at the mouth of the harbour, and began a
brisk cannonade on the fleet of his adversary. At this
Doria merely smiled and withdrew his galleys out of
range. He had no intention of fighting; he did not
intend to lose a man ; sooner or later, when starvation
The Man-of-War
had done its work, the pirates must surrender. He sent
off to Sicily and Naples for reinforcements, and at the
same time dispatched letters saying, " The fox is trapped."
This news, we are told, " rejoiced all Christendom, and
most powerful succours came daily flocking to the sea-
ports from every quarter, so eager were the sufferers to
revenge themselves on this so much dreaded corsair."
At the entrance to the Bocca de Cantara great earth-
works were arising, and every ship that approached
within range was subjected to a furious cannonade ;
extraordinary exertions were apparently being made on
shore to resist to the death.
Those who manned the Christian fleet looked on and
laughed ; they had no intention of adventuring their
lives against these earthworks ; all that they had to do
was to wait ; when this pantomime was over the starving
corsairs must surrender and be carried off to Europe to
receive their just deserts. It appeared absolutely certain
that unless Dragut were possessed of wings and was able
to fly away, the end of his career was only the matter of
a few days. But even yet Doria and his captains did
not know the infinite resourcefulness of the man with
whom they had to deal. All the cannonading, all the
throwing up of earthworks, the disembarkation of guns,
the marchings and counter-marchings of armed men
upon the shore, were nothing but a blind, a sort of stage
play destined to amuse the foe, and to prevent him from
fathoming what the corsair was really doing.
We have said that Dragut knew that escape by way
of the Bocca de Cantara was now impossible ; as he could
not go that way he determined to go another. His plan
was simple, and it succeeded, as it deserved to succeed.
32
a.
XI
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43
French Galleys and English Frigate
own country. He was received graciously by the King,
who promised him the first vacant commission as captain,
and in the meanwhile advised him to serve as a volunteer
on board the galley of the Chevalier Langeron at Dun-
kirk. In those days the advice of such a monarch as
Louis was not to be disregarded, and Smith repaired at
once to Dunkirk, where he was politely received by the
Chevalier, who entertained him at his own expense.
The teller of the tale then proceeds :
"In all our toilsome but fruitless expeditions to the
coasts of England, Captain Smith was one. He would
often advise us to make a descent upon the coast in
order to burn their towns, where he might at the
same time have an opportunity of showing his bravery
and gratifying his unnatural hatred. But it was thought
too dangerous to comply ; the coasts were guarded by
patrolling parties, while large bodies of trained troops
were placed at convenient distances from each other ; a
species of animal with which French soldiers do not
care to meddle." The story goes on to say that Smith
wished particularly to burn Harwich, " a little town
situated at the mouth of the Thames " — which shows
that our historian was not particularly strong in his
geography of the English coast — and that he thought
he could accomplish this amiable design if "six galleys
were submitted to his command." There was no nice
feeling concerning the criminality of burning an inoffen-
sive and unfortified town in those days ; and the King
approved of the project. He gave orders to Commodore
Langeron to follow Captain Smith's instructions ; and
to the Intendant to furnish whatever was necessary for
carrying the expedition to a successful issue.
45
The Man-of-War
Commodore the Chevalier Langeron, like the gallant
French gentleman that he was, had no taste for being
put thus at the disposal of an English traitor, whom, in
his heart, he despised ; but he had no choice in the
matter, and upon 5th September he put to sea on a fine
clear morning, with a gentle, favourable wind from the
north-east.
"We arrived at the mouth of the Thames," goes on
the story, "without using our oars, at about five in the
morning ; but Smith being of opinion that we were too
early, and that we might be discovered if we came too
near the shore, ordered us to stand off to sea till night
fell, and make our descent when it was dark. We had
not laid to half an hour when the sailor at the masthead
cried, ' A fleet to the north, steering west, thirty-six
sail merchant-built, and escorted by a frigate of about
thirty guns.' It was, in fact, a fleet of merchant ships
which had left the Texel and were makino- for the mouth
of the Thames. Our Commodore immediately called a
council of war, at which it was concluded that, without
regarding Harwich, we should endeavour to make our-
selves masters of this fleet ; that this would be doing the
King more service than by burning Harwich ; that an
opportunity every day would occur for that, but so rich
a booty as was now in sight seldom fell to the lot of the
seamen of His Majesty. For some reason Smith did
not agree with the decision of the council, and urged
that it was the duty of the galleys to carry out the orders
they had received and to proceed with the burning of
Harwich. He was, however, over-ruled, and the galleys
stood down with all speed of sails and oars to capture
the English merchantmen.
46
French Galleys and English Frigate
" The Commodore gave orders that four of the galleys
should round up and secure the convoy, while he in his
Commodore galley, assisted by one other, commanded
by the Chevalier Manviliers, should attack and capture
the frigate. Four galleys in pursuance of these orders
made all speed to interpose themselves between the
convoy and the mouth of the Thames, thus entirely
cutting off their retreat ; while at a more leisurely and
dignified pace the two Chevaliers approached the frigate,
which they already regarded as their prey."
The tale continues : " The frigate perceiving our
designs and the danger which threatened the whole or
the greater part of the fleet, took its measures accord-
ingly. It was an English ship, the captain of which had
the character of being one of the most resolute yet prudent
commanders in the British navy ; and indeed his con-
duct in this conjuncture did not give fame the lie."
The ship in question was the Nightingale frigate, of
24 guns and 176 men ; she was commanded by Captain
Seth Jermy. Our Protestant goes on : " He ordered the
merchantmen to crowd all sail possible to get into the
Thames, doubting not for his own part that he should
be able with his little frigate to cut out work enoufjh
for six French galleys, and let what would be the result
of the engagement, he was determined not to give out
till he saw the ships under his convoy in safety.
Pursuant on this resolution he bore down on us as if he
intended to be the first aggressor.
" Of the two galleys ordered to attack the frigate, one
alone was in a capacity to begin the engagement, as our
associate had fallen back a league behind us, either
because she did not sail as fast as we, or else her
47
The Man-of-War
captain chose to let us have the honour of striking the
first blow.
"Our Commodore, who seemed in no way disturbed
at the approach of the frigate, thought our galley alone
would be more than a match for the Englishman ; but
the sequel will show that he was somewhat deceived in
this conjecture. As we approached one another and
came within cannon shot, the galley was the first to dis-
charge her guns ; meanwhile the din was increased by
the shouts of the officers and the yells and curses of the
galley slaves as the whips resounded on their bare backs
to stimulate them to further exertions.
"The frigate, silent as death, approached us without
firing, but seemingly resolved to reserve all her terrors for
more close engagement. Our Commodore nevertheless
mistook English resolution for cowardice. What, cried
he, is the frigate weary of flying English colours, and
does she come to surrender without striking a blow ?
The boast was premature. Still we approached each
other and were now within musket shot. The galley
incessantly poured in her fire of great guns and small-
arms ; the frigate meanwhile preserving the most dreadful
tranquillity that imagination can conceive. At last the
Englishman seemed all at once struck with a panic and
began to fly. Nothing gives more spirit than a flying
enemy. In consequence the officers began boasting
loudly : ' We could at one blast sink a man-of-war : ay,
that we could, and with ease too. If the Englishman does
not strike within two minutes, down he goes to the
bottom ' : thus the talk ran.
" All this time the frigate was preparing for the
tragedy that was to ensue. Her flight was but pretended
48
PLATE v.
MIDSHIP SECTION OF H.M.S. ROVyiiV, 1S33.
French Galleys and English Frigate
and done with a view to entice us to board her over
the stern, which as being the weakest quarter, galleys
generally chose to attack. Against this they endeavour
to drive their beak, and then generally board the enemy,
after having cleared the deck with their five pieces of
cannon. The Commodore, in such a favourable con-
juncture as he imagined this to be, ordered the galley to
board, and bid the man at the helm to bury her beak, if
possible, in the stern of the frigate. All the sailors and
soldiers stood ready with their sabres and battle-axes to
execute his commands.
" The frigate, who perceived our intentions, dextrously
avoided our beak, which was just ready to dash against
her stern, so that instead of seeing the frigate sink in
the dreadful encounter, as was expected, we had the
mortification to behold her fairly alongside of us, an
interview which struck us with terror. Now it was that
the English captain's courage was conspicuous. As he
had foreseen what would happen he was ready with his
grappling irons, and fixed us close by his side. His
artillery began to open, charged with grapeshot. All on
board the galley were as much exposed as if upon a raft ;
not a gun was fired that did not make horrible execu-
tion ; we were near enough to be scorched with the
flame.
"The English masts were crowded with sailors, who
threw hand grenades among us like hail, that scattered
wounds and death wherever they fell. Our crew no
longer thought of attacking ; they were even unable to
make the least defence ; and the terror was as great
among the officers as among the common men ; so much
so, that they seemed incapable of resistance, and those
D 49
The Man-of-War
who were neither killed nor wounded, lay flat and
counterfeited death to find safety. The enemy, perceiv-
ing our fright, now added to it by throwing on board of
us forty or fifty men, who hewed down with their cut-
lasses all who ventured to oppose them, sparing, how-
ever, the slaves who made no resistance. After they had
cut away thus for some time, being constrained back by
our superior numbers, they continued to pour a dreadful
fire among us. Chevalier Langeron, seeing himself
reduced to this extremity, finding the greater part of
his crew either killed or wounded, was the only man
on board who had courage enough to wave the flag of
distress, by which he called the other galleys of the
squadron to his aid.
"The galley which had laid astern was soon up with
us ; and the other four, who had almost taken possession
of the merchantmen, upon seeing our signal and perceiv-
ing our distress, quitted the intended prey to come to
our assistance. Thus the whole fleet of merchantmen
saved themselves in the Thames. The galleys rowed
with such swiftness that in less than half an hour the
whole six had encompassed the frigate. Her men were
no longer able to keep the deck, and she presented a
favourable opportunity for being boarded. Twenty-five
grenadiers were ordered for this service, and met with
no opposition in coming on ; but scarcely were they
crowded on the deck than they were once again saluted
h r Anglais.
** The officers of the frigate were entrenched in the
forecastle and fired on the grenadiers incessantly ; the
rest of the crew, who were down below, fired up at them
through the gratings, and at last cleared the ship of the
50
French Galleys and English Frigate
enemy. Another detachment was ordered on board, and
met with the same reception and the same fate.
" By now it must be remembered that the entire six
galleys were alongside the frigate ; in spite of the over-
whelming numbers of which they were possessed they
were unable to beat down her stubborn resistance. Not
one of her crew now showed upon her upper deck, and
the small-arm fire both from the forecastle and from up
the hatches was galling and deadly in the extreme."
The next move on the part of the French was,
according to the narrator, to lay open her deck with
axes in order to get at the men below. This, of course,
is a mistake, as it could hardly have been done had there
been no active and resourceful enemy to oppose such
action. What happened probably is that they succeeded
in breaking in the gratings on the hatches. It some-
what resembled the opening of a sardine tin ; with this
difference, that the sardines were resisting violently from
inside the lid. At last it was done and the crew forced
to surrender ; but then the same operation had to be
gone through with the officers in the forecastle, and they
gave a great deal of trouble. At last they also were
forced to surrender, and the Commodore of the galleys
thought that he had finished this troublesome business.
But this was far from being the case. It is true that
the officers and the crew of the frigate had been disposed
of ; but they had yet to defeat the captain. This officer
had barricaded himself in his cabin in the after part of
the vessel, and continued to fire on the foe, swearing
that he would spill the last drop of his blood before he
would see the inside of a French prison.
The rest of the English officers, who by this time
51
The Man-of-War
had been taken on board the Commodore's galley, de-
scribed their captain as a man perfectly foolhardy, as one
who was determined to blow the frigate into the air
rather than strike. They painted his resolution in such
colours that the victors began to tremble. Should this
madman fire the magazine of his ship, then he would
go to glory, — not alone, as he would sink all the six galleys
now clinging to the sides of the ship he was fighting so
gallantly. In this extremity it was decided to summon
the captain in the most gentle terms, and to promise him
the kindest treatment should he agree to surrender.
But his answer to their blandishments was to keep up
an even more rapid and well-sustained fire than before.
Orders were accordingly issued that he must be taken
dead or alive, and a sergeant and twelve grenadiers re-
ceived orders to fix bayonets, to charge and break open
the door, and to kill him if he refused to surrender.
The sergeant and his men would soon have burst in this
frail barrier, but the captain, who had anticipated this
move, was ready and waiting, and, as soon as the
grenadiers got so close that it was impossible to miss,
shot the sergeant through the head with his pistol. He
dropped dead upon the deck, and the grenadiers betook
themselves to flight. They were ordered to return, but
refused ; they pointed to the dead body of the sergeant,
and said that it was quite certain the next man would
meet with the same fate ; for themselves they preferred
to live to fight another day.
Again recourse was had to gentle methods, and
entreaty was used which at last had the desired success.
All this seeming resolution, this conduct which appeared
rather the effect of insensibility than prudence, was
52
French Galleys and English Frigate
artfully assumed only to prolong the engagement till the
merchant fleet was in safety. As soon as the English
captain perceived that this was the case — which he saw
from his cabin window — he began to listen to the offers
that were being made to him : yet, in order to prolong
the time as much as lay in his power, he pretended
another obstacle to his surrendering. He declared that
it would be beneath his dignity to deliver up his sword
to anyone save the Commodore in person ; and he
demanded that that officer should come and receive it
from his hands, adding that brave men should only be
prisoners of each other.
Accordingly a truce was agreed upon until his
demand should be reported to the Commodore, who sent
word by his second lieutenant that a commander should
never quit his post nor his ship. There was after this
a good deal of talk, but at last the captain — says the
narrator — gave up his sword without further parley,
like a real Englishman, despising ceremony when cere-
mony could be no longer useful. He was now brought
before the Commodore, who could not help testifying to
some surprise at the inconsiderable figure which had
made such a mighty uproar. He was humpbacked,
pale-faced, and as much deformed in person as beautiful
in mind. The Commodore complimented him on his
bravery, adding that his present captivity was but the
fortune of war. It was true that he had lost his ship, but
he had saved his convoy ; and that he should have no
reason to regret his being a prisoner, since by the treat-
ment that he should receive his bondaore would be
merely nominal.
" I feel no regret," replied the little captain ; " my duty
53
The Man-of-War
called me to defend my charge, though at the loss of my
vessel. In what light my services will be represented to
my country, I neither know nor care. I might, perhaps,
have had more honour among them by saving Her
Majesty's ship by flight, and I should certainly have
more profit, as I should have been continued in com-
mand ; but this consolation remains, that I have served
England faithfully, nor can I feel any private loss by an
action which enriches the public and serves to make my
country more happy. Your kind treatment of me may
not perhaps be without its reward ; though I should
never have the opportunity, you will find some of my
countrymen who have gratitude, and the fortune which
puts me in your power may one day put you in their's."
The noble boldness with which he expressed himself
charmed the Commodore. He returned him his sword,
saying very politely, "Take, sir, a weapon no man
better deserves to wear ; forget you are my prisoner, but
remember I expect you to be my friend."
The Commodore had cause almost immediately to
regret that, in his admiration for the bravery of the
Englishman, he had returned to him his sword. The
captain, being introduced into the cabin of the galley,
beheld the traitor Smith and instantly recognised him.
England had set a price of ^^looo on the head of this
wretch ; so he regarded everything that was English
with detestation. These two could not long behold each
other without feeling those emotions which a contrast
between the greatest virtue and vice occasions ; and the
little captain was all on fire to take vengeance for his
country on its betrayer. " Perfidious man," said he,
drawing his sword, "since the hand of justice cannot
54
French Galleys and English Frigate
give you the death you merit, take it from mine," and at
the same time he ran against him, resolved to plunge the
sword into his breast. Fortunately the Commodore was
near enough to protect Smith and prevent the rashness
of his conduct by taking the assailant in his arms. In
this manner he prevented the contemplated blow, thereby
causing more chagrin to the captain than by the loss of
his frigate, for he would sooner have slain Smith than
have taken all the six galleys.
Captain Smith represented to the Commodore that
it was highly unfit the prisoner should be in the same
vessel as himself — which perhaps in the circumstances
is not surprising — and begged that he might be removed
to another. This request was refused by the Com-
modore, alleging that as the prisoner was his, he must
abide in his ship, whereas Captain Smith had the choice
of five other galleys in which to live. " We took
possession of our prize," the tale concludes, " which was
called the Nightingale ; the name of the brave little
fellow who commanded her I am not able to remember."
His name, as we know, was Seth Jermy, and seldom has
any action been fought at sea which reflects more credit
on the British flag. What the captain of the Nightingale
never lost sight of for one moment, was the duty that he
had to perform. It was to prevent any damage coming
to his convoy, and that duty was carried out not only by
hard fighting, but with a grasp of the actual situation,
and a liorhtnine-like decision as to the manner in which
it was to be met, which stamps this captain as a man of
very superior professional attainments. It was by
artifice that he drew on the galley of the French
Commodore until he had so placed her that she was at
55
The Man -of- War
the greatest possible disadvantage ; it was then the
sheer hard fighting quahty of a perfectly trained crew
that dealt with her in so terrible a manner, that in the
end she had to call upon all her five consorts to come to
her aid. A man of lesser calibre might then perchance
have given in, arguing that he had done all that was
possible, and that further fighting would only lead to
useless slaughter.
The captain of the Nightingale thought otherwise ;
all the time he had one eye on the foe, the other on the
convoy. He had by the desperate fight he had put up
drawn all the enemy around his own ship ; he saw that
they must be kept there until all the merchantmen had
reached the security of the Thames. Even when his
officers and his crew had been overwhelmed with
numbers, he managed by his single-handed fight in the
cabin to put off surrender, with a further delay in the
wrangle as to whom he should surrender his sword.
That he lost his ship is true, but as he saved his
convoy he saved that which was of infinitely greater
value.
The story loses nothing in the telling ; though how
its author, in his capacity as a galley slave, was able to
hear the somewhat longr-winded conversations between
the Commodore and the captain, and to report exactly
what passed between the traitor Smith and the English-
man in the cabin of the galley, it is somewhat difficult
to understand. However, Jean Marteilhe, for such was
his name, was there, and has set forth the story with
every evidence of being a truthful account of what
happened.
There was, however, a sequel which can by no
56
I
I,' I ^
57
PLATE VI.
French Galleys and English Frigate
means be passed over. The Nightingale, it would
appear, was handed over to Smith, who fitted her out
as a privateer and sailed her from the port of Dunkirk,
from whence so many of those old-time sea rovers have
sailed and devastated the commerce of England. This
was the period during which the famous Jean Bart, the
almost equally well-known Duguay Trouin, and Jacques
Cassard were makingr the narrow seas between France
and England almost impossible for the wretched
mariners who navigated the merchant ships of England,
and to their malign activities were now added those of
Captain Smith, Englishman and traitor. He must, to
give him his due, have been a dauntless villain, as he
fought always with a rope around his neck : time was to
decide for him when it was to tighten, and when he
should come to the end that he had so richly deserved.
This end it happened was not very long delayed ; the
Nightingale fell in with the British ship of war Ludlow
Castle, commanded by Captain Haddock, and by her
was taken. Great was the jubilation when it was dis-
covered that Smith had fallen into their hands ; Haddock,
in his official dispatch, said : " I am glad it has been my
good fortune to bring that gentleman to England,"
Smith, with his lieutenant Aislaby, Harwood, an
Irish priest, and two others were tried at the Old Bailey,
2nd June 1708. On i8th June he was "put on a hurdle
and conveyed to the place of execution ; . . . being dead,
he was cut down, his body opened, and his heart shown
to the people, and afterwards burnt with his bowels and
his body quartered."
We have dealt with the navy of oars at some length,
because, in its day, it was highly important, and by it a
59
The Man-of-War
great deal of hard fighting was done. At the same time
it must not be imagined that because there was a voorue
o o
for oar-propelled vessels, especially in the Mediterranean,
that therefore the sailing ship was not also employed to
a large extent. Both at the battle of Prevesa in 1538,
and the battle of Lepanto in 1571, although the greater
number of the craft employed were galleys, galeasses, and
others that made use of oars, still there were squadrons
of sailing vessels as well, to some of which the rowing
craft were apt to give a wide berth. At Prevesa one
of these sailing ships was known as the Galleon of
Venice. She was what we should now call the flagship
of the Venetian " Nefs." Here we may remark that the
names of different classes of ships in the old days are
most confusing ; sometimes they are alluded to as Nefs,
sometimes as galleons, sometimes as carracks, but all
these names denote sailing ships, some of large tonnage
for their date, and with an armament that was most
formidable in their day.
It was indeed this quality of theirs, that of being able
to carry heavier and more powerful guns, that caused the
galley and other craft of that description to fall into dis-
repute. The day on which Prevesa was fought — it was
in September — a calm prevailed during the day, in con-
sequence of which the galleys were able to manoeuvre,
and the sailing ships floated idly on the calm surface of
the sea. The Galleon of Venice was separated from her
consorts and, in consequence, formed an object of attack
for the galleys, which came on, squadron after squadron,
discharged their guns at her and then wheeled outwards,
making room for another division of their comrades. But
the galleon was then supposed to be the most formidable
60
The " Galleon of Venice " at Prevesa
fighting vessel in the Mediterranean. She was reckoned
an excellent sailer ; she was far the most heavily armed
sailing craft afloat ; in fact, in the opinion of the seamen
of her time, she was considered to be "an invincible
fortress." As this is perhaps one of the best instances
of a battle between sails and oars, we may quote the
description which appears of it in the author's book,
Sea Wolves in the Mediterranean.
" The position of Condalmiero (he was the captain of
the Galleon of Ve7iice) was that of a modern battleship
which is disabled and surrounded by foes in full posses-
sion of their motive power ; the great galleon floated
inert upon the waters, while the galleys could fight or fly
as they wished. The captain of the galleon, however,
had no alternative save to surrender or fight ; but there
was no hesitation on his part, for a more gallant officer
never trod the decks of a warship of the proud Republic
to which he belonged.
" The Moslem galleys were now close upon him,
although as yet out of gunshot ; around him they circled
and wheeled like a flight of great seabirds, their ferocious
crews shouting their war-crys, calling upon Allah and the
Prophet to give them the victory for which they craved ;
many a brave Venetian, who heard for the first time the
name of Barbarossa shouted in battle, must have braced
himself for the coming conflict, knowing all that was
imported by that terrible name. The sun shone in a
cloudless sky, the galleon lay becalmed in the middle of
furious and ravening foes, the succour promised by Doria
(Andrea Doria, the Christian Admiral in command on
this day) was ten miles away ; they saw no movement
which indicated help, and the odds against them were
6i
The Man-of-War
heavy indeed. But all the nervousness was not on one
side, for the Galleon of Veiiice was something new in
the naval warfare of the time ; she carried engines of
destruction in the shape of great guns which the corsairs
could by no means equal. Of this they were well aware,
and the attack was delayed while the oarsmen in the
galleys rested on their oars out of range to allow them
breathing time before the supreme moment arrived.
But the hounds were only held in the leash ; there came
a signal which was answered by a concentrated yell of
fury and hate ; then from right ahead, right astern, on
the port side and the starboard, the galleys were launched
to the attack. But all on board the great Venetian vessel
was still as that death which awaited so many of the
combatants in this supreme struggle. Condalmiero had
caused the crew of the galleon to lie down upon her
decks and stood himself, a gallant solitary figure in his
shininof armour, a mark for the hail of shot so soon to be
discharged. It came, and with it the mast of the galleon
bearing the Lion Standard of St. Mark crashed over the
side into the water ; renewed yells of triumph came from
the Moslems, but still that ominous silence reigned on
board the galleon. Untouched, unharmed, the Osmanlis
came on, firing as rapidly as possible until they were
absolutely within arquebuss range. Closer they came
and closer ; then the sides of the galleon burst into
sheeted flame, and the guns, levelled at point-blank
range, tore through the attacking host. Condalmiero was
throwing away no chances ; he had directed his gunners
to allow their balls to ricochet before striking rather than
to throw them away by allowing them to fly over the
heads of the enemy.
62
The ** Galleon of Venice" at Prevesa
" The first broadside did terrible execution ; a ball
1 20 lb. in weight, fired by the chief bombardier, Fran-
cisco d'Arba, in person, burst in the prow of a galley so
effectually that all her people flew aft to the poop to
prevent the water rushing in ; but the vessel was
practically split in twain and sank in a few moments.
All around were dead and dying men, disabled galleys,
floating wreckage ; the Galleon of Venice had taken a
terrible toll of the Osmanli ; the order to retreat out of
range was given, and never was order obeyed with
greater alacrity.
** With accuracy and precision the galleon played upon
such vessels as remained within range, doing great
execution. But she was now to be subjected to an even
severer test than the first headlong attack. She had
demonstrated to the Moslem leaders that here was no
vessel to be carried by mere reckless valour ; a disciplined
and ordered offensive was the only plan which promised
success ; the Osmanli must use their brain as well as
their courage if that tattered flag, rescued from the water
and nailed to the stump of the mast of the galleon, was
ever to be torn down. There was something daunting
in the very aspect of the solid bulk of the huge Venetian,
something weird in the way in which her crew never
showed, save only the steadfast figure of her captain,
immovable as a figure of bronze, where he stood on
her shot-torn poop.
" This Homeric conflict was a triumph of discipline
and gunnery on the part of the Venetians ; alert, accurate,
and cool, the gunners of the galleon threw away none of
their ammunition. Inspired by the heroic spirit of their
captain, great was the honour which they did on this
63
The Man-of-War
stricken field to the noble traditions of their forbears and
the service to which they belonged. The first attack had
been most brilliantly repulsed, but this was only pre-
liminary to a conflict which was to last all through the
day ; the Moslem galleys withdrew out of gunshot and
re-formed ; then a squadron of twenty advanced, delivered
their fire and retired, their place being taken by a second
squadron, which went through the same performance,
only to give place to a third. In this manner the attack,
which began one hour after noon, and which was con-
tinued until sunset, was conducted.
" The galleon had thirteen men killed and forty
wounded ; no doubt the slaughter would have been
much greater had it not been for the enormous thickness
of her sides, and for the fact that the guns carried by the
galleys were necessarily light. Notwithstanding, the
galleon suffered terribly, and she was little better than
a mass of wreckag-e. Twice fire had broken out on
board, and she was cumbered by fallen masts, battered
almost out of recognition, but still Condalmiero and his
gallant crew fought on imperturbably with no thought of
surrender. Covered with blood, wounded in the face
and the right leg by flying splinters, her captain
preserved his magnificent coolness, and his decimated
crew responded nobly to his call. At eventide the fire
from the galleon was almost as deadly as it had been at
the first onslaught, and many galleys of the Turks were
only saved from sinking by the activity and bravery of
their carpenters, who, slung over their sides in "boat-
swain's chairs," drove home huge plugs of wood with
their mallets into the shot-holes made by the Venetian
guns.
64
t.
s
65
The " Galleon of Venice " at Prevesa
"At the hour when the sun dipped below the
horizon all the Turkish fleet seemed assembled to
assault the colossus which so long had resisted their
attack ; there was a pause in the combat and the firing
died down, Condalmiero and his men braced them-
selves for the assault which they felt to be inevitable ;
for now the darkness was swiftly coming, and they
would no longer be able to see to shoot, while under
cover of night their numerous foes could assail them by
boarding in comparative safety. Now the moment had
come for the last act in this terrible drama of the sea.
They had held their own at long odds throughout the
whole of a hot September day, and as the level beams of
the setting sun shone on their shattered ship they were
prepared to die fighting to the last man for the honour
of Venice and the glory of St. Mark.
" Stiff and worn, wearied almost to the breaking
strain, there was no man on board who even dreamt of
surrender ; all the o-uns were charged to the muzzle with
bullets and broken stone ; the artillerists, match in hand,
stood grimly awaiting the order to fire, straining their
eyes and their ears in the gathering darkness : in a few
minutes at most they knew that the fate of the Galleon
of Venice must be decided.
" On board his galley, decorated for the occasion
with scarlet banners, Barbarossa himself directed the
assaulting line. Never before when the battle was
joined had the gallant corsair been known to draw
back ; and yet on this occasion he not only hesitated
but actually hauled off. The Venetians saw to their
amazement that the expected attack was not to be
pushed home, for Barbarossa and his captains fell
^1
The Man-of-War
upon some lesser vessels. The Galleon of Venice was
victorious !
" There was glory won on this day, but it was gained
neither by Andrea Doria nor Kheyr-ed-Din Barbarossa.
The Galleon of Venice^ with Alessandro Condalmiero
and his gallant crew, had shown to all a splendid example
of disciplined valour unexcelled in sixteenth century
annals."
We have seen how, nearly two centuries after the
battle of Prevesa, the galley was still actively employed ;
but notwithstanding this, she did not count for much
after the end of the seventeenth century ; as from the
time of the Galleon of Venice onwards, the sailing man-
of-war was increasing in size and power to such an
extent, that small craft were not likely to prevail in any
conflict in which they were engaged. Although the
galleys kept the sea, still they were frail vessels, obliged
to seek shelter when bad weather came on, and were
kept in harbour during the winter for fear of their being
overwhelmed by the winds and the waves.
68
PLATE :Vli.
1
f
4
1
Imi-
< 1 IS
CHAPTER IV
TUDOR SHIPS AND MEN
The sailing man-of-war in the time of Henry viii.
reached a considerable size, although she was far from
being what seamen would call a weatherly vessel. In
spite of the fact that her progression through the water
— unless she were in front of the wind — was apt to
resemble that of a crab, still she was big and strong and
able to withstand the ordinary buffetings that any ship
has cause to expect when she puts to sea.
Everyone has heard of The Great Harry ; but owing
to the practice in the times of the Tudors to name
successive ships alike, it has been difficult to distinguish
between the Great Harry — supposed to have been built
by King Henry vii. about 148S-1503 — and the Great
Harry, or Henri Gi'ace a Dieu, of the reign of Henry viii.
Authentic records, however, exist of this last-named ship
having been built at Woolwich in 15 12-15, of her
engagement with a French Beet in 1545 off the Isle of
Wight, and of her accidental destruction by fire at
Woolwich in 1553. She carried four masts, each made
in a separate piece without a topmast ; all the masts
were square-rigged ; that is to say, they had yards which
went across them, and she was fitted with a long
bowsprit. She was about 1000 tons burden, and carried
69
The Man-of-War
a crew of 700 men. She had twenty to thirty large
cannon and a very large number of smaller guns.
In "The Rolle declaring the Nombre of the
Kynges Maiesty's owne Galliasses," half of which is in
the British Museum and the other half in the Pepysian
Library of Magdalene College, Cambridge, are coloured
drawings by one Anthony Anthony representing ships
of the time. This "Rolle" originally belonged to
Samuel Pepys, the secretary to the Admiralty in the
time of Charles 11. Here are two pictures of the
Murrian and the Struse. The Murrian was a ship
of 500 tons, with a crew of 300 men, and she carried 10
brass and 53 iron guns. The Struse was 450 tons, with
a crew of 250 men, carrying 39 iron guns. All the
ships of this time, and for many years after, resembled
one another in the way that they were built. They
were provided with a sterncastle and a forecastle —
which latter name has survived on board ship to the
present day — and the space in between these two
"castles," known as the waist, was, comparatively
speaking, very low.
There was one matter to which the seamen of the
Tudor period paid an amount of attention that has been
the wonder and surprise of all succeeding generations of
mariners ; this was the manner in which their vessels
were beflao-ored. The modern British man-of-war flies
a White Ensign at her peak, the Union Jack forward
on what is known as the jackstaff, and a pennant, a
thin whip of bunting, at the maintruck if she be com-
manded by a captain, or a white flag with a red St.
George's Cross in it at mizzen main or fore if she
carries an Admiral, But such simplicity as this would
70
Tudor Ships and Men
not do for the tarpaulins of King Henry viii. ! The
picture of the Struse, for instance, displays the national
flag on a staff in the stern, and around the sterncastle
are five additional flags of size equal to it, each on its
separate staff. On the forecastle are four more flags
similarly displayed ; and at each truck — which means
the extreme summit of the mast — is also displayed a
large square flag. In addition to all these there
depend from the "tops," — which are platforms about
two-thirds of the way up the masts, — of three of the
masts out of the four with which the vessel is provided,
immense streamers, or swallow-tailed banners, as
long as the ship itself. Two more square flags on
staves in the waist, complete her equipment in this
respect.
The tops of the castles were painted with the colours
and devices of the Admiral or the captain ; the arms of
these officers were also displayed on shields ; and
apparently as much colour as possible was used in the
painting of the hull. Also, it was by no means in-
frequent to have the sails painted with different devices ;
so altogether a ship in Tudor times must indeed have
presented a brave and gallant show when she first put
to sea. After a couple of heavy gales of wind it is
possible to imagine, however, that most of this rare show
had disappeared.
The question that the modern seaman puts when he
sees the pictures of these vessels, is how they managed to
keep all the flags and the streamers clear of their sails
and running rigging ; and even when they did haul
them down, how they found room for them in their
dreadfully overcrowded ships. A ship such as the
71
The Man-of-War
Great Harry would be manned by some 700 men, and
the number of g-uns that she mounted on board were
not only almost beyond calculation, but also were of
so many diverse descriptions as to be absolutely be-
wildering. Each separate sort of gun on board any
man-of-war naturally has a different projectile and a
different cartridge with which it is loaded ; the more
classes of guns you carry the more you have to split up
your ship below into magazines, and the more you have
to divide your crew into different parties for providing
ammunition.
William Bourne, who wrote a book in the year 1587,
entitled The art of shootinge in great ordnance. Con-
tayning very necessary matters for all sorts of servitours
eyther by land or sea, tells us of the guns that were then
in use. His list besfins with the Double Cannon or Can-
non Royal. This piece was a muzzle-loading weapon
1 1 feet long with a bore of 8| inches, firing a ball weigh-
ing 60 lb. The Demi Cannon was 10 feet long with
a 6j-inch bore, firing a 30-lb. shot. The Whole Culverin
was a 1 7-pounder. The Demi Culverin was a 9-pounder.
The Saker was a 5-pounder. The Minion was a 4-
pounder. The Falcon was a 3-pounder. The Falconet
was a I ^-pounder. The Robinet was a i -pounder.
The Base was a breechloader with a bore of \\ inches,
4 feet long, with a 9-inch chamber for the charge and
projectile. There was also a Cannon Perier, a short-
range 24-pounder gun that fired broken stones.
In the Elizabeth Jonas — a "great ship" of 900
tons belonging to Queen Elizabeth's navy^there were
mounted no less than 50 guns, 34 heavy and 16 light.
There were Demi Cannon, Cannon Perier, Culverins,
72
a.
C.
When the Invincible Armada came
Elizabeth liesitated as to whether Drake should be
put in prison as a pirate, or whether he should be
suitably rewarded ; she decided on the latter course, and
the adventurous mariner was knighted by his sovereign
on the deck of his ship, the Golden Hind. At this time
King Philip ii. of Spain was busily engaged in a war
with his subjects in what were then known as " The
Low Countries," meaning that part of the Northern
Coast of Europe which now forms the Kingdoms of
Holland and Belgium. This war, which was conducted
in the name of religion, the Low-Country folk having
embraced the Reformed or Protestant form of worship,
which Philip was attempting to stamp out by force of
arms, was enormously costly both in men and money.
Literally, "to carry on the war," the Spanish King
relied on the safe arrival of the Lima galleon. That it
should have been captured by a foreigner was not a
matter that so mighty a sovereign could overlook, and the
Spanish ambassador in England was called upon to repre-
sent this fact in no uncertain terms to the English Oueen.
The Ambassador accordingly took a very high hand
with Elizabeth ; threatening war unless reparation were
made, the booty returned to its original owners, and the
freebooter Drake given up to his master to deal with as
he should think fit. But the English Queen was not an
easy person to intimidate ; the Tudors had many faults,
but want of courage can never be brought to their charge ;
and the Ambassador had to report to his master that she
answered all his bluster by telling him "quietly, in her
most natural voice, as if she were telling a common story,
that if I used threats of that kind she would fling me into
a dungeon." Talk such as this could have but one end,
87
The Man-of-War
and war was now inevitable between the two countries.
In 1587, Drake put to sea again, destroyed thirty-seven
of the enemy's vessels in Cadiz Bay, and made an attack
on Corunna, thus, in his own words, "singeing the King
of Spain's beard." He would have done far more damage
had he not been recalled to England by the Queen. All
this time the Armada that was destined to attempt the
conquest of England was in course of preparation.
Drake's attacks, destroying as they did many ships and
much in the way of accumulated stores, delayed the
sailing of that force very considerably. Then the Duke
of Santa Cruz, who had been appointed to the chief
command, died, and Philip had great difficulty in finding
a successor. There were no more gallant and capable
soldiers than were the nobles and caballeros of Spain,
but they had not the habit of the sea, and felt that such
a command might lead to ignominious failure — as, indeed,
in the end it did.
Someone, however, had to go, and in the sixteenth
century it was bound to be a man of high rank. Ac-
cordingly, Philip ordered the Duke of Medina Sidonia
to assume the post vacated by the death of Santa Cruz.
It was quite in vain that Medina Sidonia protested that
he was neither soldier not sailor ; Philip had issued his
orders ; there was nothing for it but for his great subject,
who was one of the principal, if not the most important
noble in Spain, to obey. Had Philip not been what he
was, an incurably stupid man, he would never have
insisted on this appointment. Here was "the happy
Armada," as it was called, about to start on a voyage to
conquer a kingdom which counted her mariners by the
thousand, sea dogs whose mettle had been tried and proved
When the Invincible Armada came
in many a stern encounter ; and the man to hold the chief
command in Philip's fleet was self-confessedly incompetent.
A more amazing instance of human folly than was exhi-
bited by that king on this occasion it would be hard to
find ; all history does not provide for us a parallel case.
The task that the "happy Armada" had before it
was first to clear the sea of such pestilent freebooters as
Sir Francis Drake — that "el Draque " who was con-
fidently believed by devout Spaniards to be in league
with the author of all evil, whose name was invoked by
Spanish mothers to frighten their naughty children — and
when he, and others like unto him, had been slain and
their ships destroyed, then the conquest of England itself
was to be taken in hand.
To give some idea of the composition of the Armada,
we will here set down the details of one division, this is —
THE FLEET OF BISCAY, COMMANDED BY DON JUAN
MARTINEZ DE RECALDE, CAPTAIN-GENERAL.
Ships.
Tons.
Guns.
Mariners.
Soldiers.
St. Ann. Admiral
768
30
114
323
Gangrina, Admiral
1 160
36
100
300
St. James
660
30
102
250
Conception of Zubclzu
468
20
70
ICXD
Conception of Juan del Cavo
418
24
70
164
Magdalena de Juan Francisca
d'Ayala .....
330
24
70
200
St. John
350
24
80
130
Mary ......
165
24
100
180
Manuel
520
16
54
130
St. Mary de Monte Majore
707
30
50
220
Mary of Aquiare
70
10
23
30
Isabella
71
12
23
30
Michael de Susa
96
12
24
30
St. Stephen ....
78
12
26
30
Totals .
5861
302
906
2II7
89
The Man-of-War
A total number of men of 3023 were thus embarked
in a tonnage of 5861 ; the stowage must have been so
close that they could hardly have had room to breathe.
We have no room for more details here, but will give
the totals of the remaining divisions of this great fleet :
Ships.
Tons.
Guns.
Soldiers.
Mariners.
Total.
The armada of Portugal under the\ ^
Duke of Medina Sidonia J ^^
772,7
347
3330
1290
4623
Armada of the galleons of Castille) ,
under Diego Flores de Valdes J
8714
384
2458
1719
4177
Armada of ships of Andalusia\
under Don Pedro de Valdez J '^
8762
240
2325
780
3105
Armada of the Province of Guipuz-\
coa under Miguel de Oquendo J ^"
6991
247
1992
616
2608
Armada of the Levant ships under)
Martin de Bertendonna j ^°
7705
280
2780
767
3527
Armada of hulks under Juan\
Gomez de Medina J "^
10,271
384
3121
608
3729
Patasses and Zabras under Don) ^^
Antonio Hurtado de Mendoza / ~"
1131
91
479
574
1093
Galeasses of Naples, under \ 4 with
Don Hugo de Moncada \ '°°°
" J rowers
290
200
873
468
1341
Galleys of Portugal under \ ^ ^'^
Don Diego Medrano J ^^^^^^
—
20
—
362
362
There were altogether — Spanish soldiers, 16,973;
Portuguese soldiers, 2000; adventurers, 124; mariners,
8052 ; adventurers* servants, 465 ; entretenidos, 238 ;
their servants, 163 ; artillerymen, 167 ; religious people
of all orders, 180 ; ministers, officials, and auditors of the
Treasury, 17 ; their servants, 50; Ministers of Justice, 19.
Paz Salas, a Spanish authority, says that the Armada
consisted of 130 ships of, in round figures, 58,000 tons;
some 2400 guns, 20,000 soldiers, over 8000 mariners,
and 2888 rowers, a total of nearly 30,000 men. But this
90
When the Invincible Armada came
force was not nearly so formidable as it appears to be on
paper. The Spaniard, to begin with, was never at his
best when dealing with ships and the sea. The finest
soldiers then in Europe were the Spanish infantry, but
Head of the Invincible^ French 74-gun ship, captured 1747.
as seamen they were singularly incapable. The organi-
sation of such a force as the Armada called for much
competent administration, and that, like many other
things, was lacking. The consequence was that the
fleet put to sea short of water, and very soon after it
sailed the provisions began to go bad. The result of
91
The Man-of-War
this, coupled with the bad weather that they met with at
the outset, caused maHgnant sickness to break out on
board the ships, and the men died not only in hundreds,
but in thousands. The ships put back for shelter into
Corunna to avoid the heavy weather ; and by that time
so bad was the state of things that the King was advised
to delay the expedition until affairs could be put on a
more satisfactory footing.
But Philip was the last man to listen to reason, and
commanded them to set forth once more ; and on 12th
July they left Corunna fairly committed to the enterprise
of the conquest of England. The English fleet to meet
the Armada consisted of 34 of Her Majesty's ships,
great and small, with 6705 men ; 34 merchantmen with
Sir Francis Drake, westward, 2294 men ; 30 ships and
barques paid by the city of London, 2130 men ; 33 ships
and barques with 1 5 victuallers, under the Lord Admiral,
1 65 1 men ; 20 coasters, great and small, under the Lord
Admiral, paid by the Queen, 993 men ; 23 voluntary
ships, great and small, 1059 men ; 23 coasters, under
the Lord Henry Seymour, paid by the Queen, 1093
men; total, 197 ships, 15,925 men. In the Ark, of 800
tons and 55 guns, was Lord Howard of Effingham, Lord
High Admiral of England, with 430 men. In the
Elizabeth Bonaventure, of 600 tons, was the Earl of
Cumberland. In the Rainbow, of 500 tons, was Lord
Henry Seymour. In the Golden Lion, of 500 tons, was
Lord Thomas Howard. In the White Bear, of 1000
tons, was Lord Sheffield. In the Vanguard was Sir
William Wynter. In the Revenge, 500 tons, was Sir
Francis Drake, Vice- Admiral. In the Elizabeth Jones,
of 900 tons, was Sir Robert Southwell. In the Victory^
92
When the Invincible Armada came
of 800 tons, was Sir John Hawkyns, Rear-Admiral. In
the Antelope, of 400 tons, was Sir Henry Palmer. In
the Triumph, of iioo tons, was Sir Martin Frobisher,
and in the Dreadnotight was Sir George Beeston.
These were the principal ships and the principal officers.
Althoug^h the total of the Enp:lishmen enoaaed has
been put down at over 15,000, a great many were sick ;
some ships had not full crews, others embarked were not
really fighting men, and it is reasonable to assume that
not more than 9000 were actually engaged. Although
far inferior in numbers to the invaders, they were more
than a match for them for two reasons : first, owine to
their superior seamanship ; second, owing to the fact
that they were far better gunners. The proud, haughty,
but unpractical Spaniard had not moved with the times ;
he detested guns and " villainous saltpetre," and held
that hand-to-hand fighting was the only method of con-
flict suitable to " caballeros " such as themselves. They
pinned their military faith to action by boarding, to the
overwhelming of the English crews by sheer valour, by
stroke of sword and push of pike. Had the English
given them the chance that they desired, then it is
possible that history might have taken a different course.
It was on 19th July that the Armada was sighted
near the Lizard; and, as is well known, the high sea
officers of England were playing bowls on Plymouth
Hoe, on the spot where now stands the statue of Drake.
When the skipper of the fishing craft arrived breathless
with the news that the Spaniards were steering up
Channel, Drake waved him on one side, saying that
there was still plenty of time to win the game and to
tackle the foe when it was finished. Then they put to
93
The Man-of-War
sea, each ship vying with the other to see which might
have the honour to strike the first blow for Ensjland.
On the 20th, Howard, the Lord High Admiral, was off
the Eddystone (the rock on which the lighthouse is
visible from Plymouth Hoe on a clear day ; there was
of course no lighthouse then) and in sight of the foe,
whose fleet reached as far westward as Fowey. All the
ships of the Armada had not yet come up, and Medina
Sidonia, who was waiting for them, now flung out to the
winds the Royal Standard of Spain at the fore, while to
his maintruck he hoisted a sacred banner, which displayed
a crucifix between the figures of Our Lady and Mary
Magdalene.
The next morning the Lord Howard, having the
wind, sent the pinnace Disdain — in the circumstances
a happily-named craft — "to give the Duke of Medina
defiance" ; and then bore down in the Ark and engaged
the Spanish commander-in-chief. So furious was his
attack, so well-directed was his fire, that Sidonia had to
be rescued by some of his consorts. Drake, Hawkyns,
and Frobisher at the same time fell on the Santa Anna,
that galleon of Portugal which was commanded by Juan
Martinez de Recalde. So well executed was the attack
on this ship that she soon gave way and endeavoured to
escape to the eastward. In trying to do this she forced
Nuestra Senora del Rosario, of 1 1 50 tons, 46 guns, with a
crew of 422 soldiers and sailors, to fall foul of another
vessel. The result was that her commander, Don Pedro
de Valdes, found himself without either bowsprit or fore-
mast, and lay a helpless log upon the water. He was
"with great dishonour left behind by the Duke," and his
ship fell into the hands of the English. The next mis-
94
When the Invincible Armada came
fortune that befell the Spaniards was an explosion of
a barrel of gunpowder on board the Biscayan galleon
San Salvado7\ This disaster split her decks, blew out
her stem, and rendered her unmanageable by destroying
the rudder. She escaped that night, being towed away
by some of the rowing craft, but the next day she also,
abandoned by the Duke and her consorts, fell into the
hands of the English, and was eventually towed into
Weymouth. The fight went on from day to day as it
had been begun ; the English taking every advantage
of the superior mobility of their ships, and their more
skilful method of handling them ; always they declined
to close and to be overwhelmed by the greater number
of people of whom Sidonia disposed. Off Portland the
Spaniards turned at bay and a desperate series of conflicts
raged, until on the Wednesday the Admiral was com-
pelled to send on shore for new supplies of every sort, as
ammunition and provisions alike were all but exhausted.
For five days and nights now the battle had con-
tinued in calms and fluky winds ; the English sailors
sometimes towing their ships into action with their long-
boats, while along the coast earls and barons, Knights
of the Shire and Justices of the Peace, aided and abetted
by all able-bodied persons, did their best to keep the
fighting men afloat supplied with those things of which
they stood in need. On the Friday in this wonderful
week the Lord High Admiral called on board his flagship
the Ark, Lord Thomas Howard, Lord Shefifield, Roger
Townsend, Frobisher, Hawkyns, and George Beeston,
and conferred upon them the honour of knighthood.
Then the wind got up and throughout this day and
Saturday the Spaniards "went always before the
95
The Man-of-War
English army like sheep." On the Saturday evening
the Armada found temporary refuge near Calais, where
they anchored some two miles from the shore, hoping
vainly that the English might be driven by the wind and
so be to leeward and unable to get at them ; but these
hopes came to nothing. "In happy time it was soon
espied, and prevented by bringing our fleet to an anchor
also in the wind of them,"
Howard had been joined by Seymour and Wynter,
and his fleet now numbered 140 craft of different
descriptions. The object of Medina Sidonia, now that
he had failed to effect a landing in England on his own
account, was to join forces with the Prince of Parma, the
general of Philip's army in the Low Countries. From
Calais he sent messages to the Prince imploring him to
send his force over and land it in England. To this
Parma made answer that no one was more anxious to
invade England than was he ; at the same time he
wished to know how he was to get there, while the navy
of that country rode everywhere triumphant in the
narrow seas? Howard had the Spaniards in a trap, and
we can imagine the joy with which he and his captains
planned the next pleasant surprise for those weather-
beaten and shot-torn galleons, which were now situated
with France under their lee and the English anchored
well to windward and within culverin shot of them. At
midnight on that disastrous Sunday, Howard sent in
eight fireships on the flood tide among the anchored
ships of the Armada. The effect was that of putting an
equal number of ferrets into a rabbit hole ; the rabbits
were obliged to leave their burrow.
There was no more terrible engine of war at this
96
When the Invincible Armada came
time than the fireship ; if she got home to her mark, then
the fireship and her foe, wrapped in flames, were both
burnt to ashes, or destroyed together by the explosion
of the powder-magazine of the warship. They were
not, however, very frequently successful, as, human
nature being what it is, the men by whom these awful
instruments of destruction were manned usually decided
to leave them before they were in actual contact with
any vessel of the enemy, in order to save their own lives.
On this occasion the English did matters on the grand
scale. They sent in no less than eight of these infernal
contrivances, and, as they came along blazing to heaven,
borne towards their destination by the swiftly running
flood tide, the spectacle, from the point of view of the
Spaniards, must have been a specially terrifying one.
Huddled together in the anchorage, without form or
order, were the ships of the Spanish King. To await
the arrival of the fireships was to court an awful death ;
therefore as they approached the cables were cut, sail
was made, and desperate attempts to escape were the
order of the day, or rather of the night.
Naturally, in the mad effort to clear the fireships
the rowinof craft had a better chance than the sailinof
vessels ; all the same the great galeasse Sa7t Lorenzo
fell foul of another vessel and broke her rudder ; she
was headed for Calais and beached near that place.
The longboat of the Ark, and the pinnace of Margaret
a^ndjokn of London, pursued, and lOO Englishmen flung
themselves on board of her and a desperate battle raged
between these sailors of Howard's fleet and the 300
soldiers who, with 450 slaves, formed the crew of the
San Lorenzo. For long the conflict wavered in the
G 97
The Man-of-War
balance, as the assailants slipped back from the lofty sides
of the galeasse in their attempts to board. At last,
however, they effected a footing, the captain of the San
Lorenzo was shot dead, the soldiers lost heart and began
to leap from her sides for the shore, in which endeavour
many were drowned, though some escaped to the shore
with nothing worse than a wetting. Then the governor
of Calais sent a message to say that the plunder be-
longed to the brave Englishmen who had taken the San
Lorenzo, but that the hull of the vessel belonged to him,
as "she lay on ground under his bulwarks."
The Englishmen received his message with derision
and proceeded to plunder the Frenchmen by whom it
was brought ; the governor replied by firing his cannon at
them from the walls. Eventually, however, the galeasse
herself settled the matter for them, by becoming engulfed
in the sands and being of no possible use to anyone.
While this spirited encounter was proceeding on
Calais beach the rest of the English fleet was just as
busy. Drake in the Revenge, Thomas Fenner in the
Nonpareil, Hawkyns in the Victory, Edward Fenton in
the Mary Rose, Beeston in the Dreadnotight, Richard
Hawkyns, son to Sir John, all sailed into the middle of
their totally disorganised foes and fought them almost to a
finish. The Bonaventure, Rainbozv, and Vanguard handled
one great galleon so roughly that she sank that night.
Seymour and Wynter so battered the San Felipe and
Matteo that they were forced to run for shelter to the coast
of Flanders. Here the wild Zealanders fell upon them,
captured the crews, plundered the vessels, and carried
them into Flushing. The Armada was having no luck.
From nine in the morning till six in the evening did
98
When the Invincible Armada came
the Spaniards experience the disciplined and controlled
fury of the English sailors. Those whom they had come
to attack were now the assailants; the "Invincible"
Armada was nothing but a badly beaten force acting on
the defensive. The Duke of Medina Sidonia did what
he could ; he was, on his own admission, neither sailor
nor soldier, but he was a gallant Spanish gentleman
determined to do all in his power for the cause in which
he had been embarked. On that fatal Sunday, powder
barrels exploded on board the ship of Vice-Admiral
Oquendo, and her two decks and her poop were blown
up. Many people were killed, more horribly burned,
the ship was a wreck, and upon the following day she
foundered. On the Monday the Duke collected forty-
three of his best ships with which to confront the enemy ;
and gave orders in writing to each captain, saying that
any ship "which keep not that order, or left her ap-
pointed place, that without further stay they should hang
the captain of the said ship." Further, the Duke caused
provost marshals to be put on board the ships with their
men to carry out the sentence if it became necessary.
On 30th July, Medina Sidonia summoned the generals
and Don Alonso de Leyva to consider what was best to
be done ; whether it were better to turn round and face
the Channel — and the English — once more, or to try
to escape by way of the North Sea. The council was
desirous of returning by the Channel if the weather
would permit. But the weather was in a wicked mood ;
it was breezing up from the south-south-west, and to
work down Channel against the wind was more than the
battered galleons were capable of accomplishing. So
they continued on their now desperate and headlong
99
The Man-of-War
flight out into the North Sea. What their sufferings
must have been is something dreadful to contemplate.
They were short of water and provisions, their ammuni-
tion was all expended, their ships, even had they been
in their very best trim, were not fitted to cope with the
wild autumnal weather that had now set in. When we
consider that added to all this there was not one of them
that was not burdened with wounded and sick, for whom
no provision could be made, it would seem that human
suffering on board this fleet had reached the extreme
limit. For many of them the agony was of short
duration, as they were flung upon the inhospitable coasts
of Ireland and Scotland, where any among them who
succeeded in reaching the shore were immediately killed
by the waiting inhabitants. Secretary Fenton relates
that in a walk of less than five miles on the coast of
Sligo he himself had counted "above iioo dead corpses
of men which the sea had driven on the shore."
Sir Richard Bingham, Governor of Connaught, wrote
from Shrule, County Mayo : " I had intelligence sent me
from my brother that the 700 Spaniards were dispatched.
... In all 15 or 16 ships cast away on the coast of this
province there hath perished at least 6000 or 7000 men,
of which there have been put to the sword, first and last,
by my brother George, and executed one way and another,
about 700 or 800, or upwards, besides those that be
yet alive. What the exact loss of the Spaniards was, no
one has ever known exactly ; approximately it may be
put down at 63 ships, disposed of in the following manner :
abandoned to the enemy, 2 ; lost in France, 3 ; lost in
Holland, 2 ; sunk in battle, 2 ; wrecked in Scotland and
Ireland, 19 ; fate unknown, 35 ; total, 63.
100
When the Invincible Armada came
Dreadful as all this undoubtedly is, we have yet to
consider what would have been the fate of England had
this expedition succeeded ; had the Prince of Parma and
the Duke of Medina Sidonia been able to join hands
and to land their forces on the coast of our country we
should have been a conquered nation, we should have
shared the fate of the Low Countries, and the sons and
daughters of England would have perished at the hands
of the familiars of the Spanish Inquisition. As it was,
no Spaniard landed except as a prisoner, and from them
it was learned what was to be the fate of those enemies
of King Philip that the Armada had put to sea to
exterminate. " They were determined to put all to the
sword that should resist them, but they had no particular
charge to use greater extremity to one than to another."
Thus was frustrated the great attempt to invade and
to conquer England ; not only was this design brought
to naught, but the defeat of the Armada did much to
help to break the immense power of Spain, which
country had long been predominant in the councils of
Europe. To the men who led, to the men who followed
that lead, upon the waters of the Channel and the North
Sea in that July of 1588, England is eternally indebted.
Over and over again has the story been told, yet it
never becomes stale by repetition ; each successive
narrative brings out some fresh point in this evergreen
tale. Not the least pathetic part of it is the sufferings of
many of our own brave seamen when they returned, rag-
ged, starving, and ill from the chase of those who had fled
in headlong rout from the majesty of their attack. "A
great infection " pervaded the ships, and in the Elizabeth
Jonas alone, out of 500 men no less than 200 perished in
lOI
The Man-of-War
the month succeeding to that in which the Armada
arrived. The Lord High Admiral, in writing to Mr.
Secretary Burleigh, says : "It would grieve any man's
heart to see them that have served so valiantly, to die so
miserably." No doubt there was mismanagement, but in
this period there were no hospitals on the coasts, neither
was anyone at all skilled in dealing with infectious disease.
But in all our checquered history there is nothing
that stirs the blood more, even now, when over four and
a quarter centuries have gone by, than this deathless
feat of the Elizabethan seamen. They died in heaps, it
is true, from the bullet and the sword, from drowning,
hunger, thirst, cold, and disease ; but their glory lives in
the hearts of their grateful countrymen, and will continue
to live until the last of the English folk shall have passed
into the great beyond. Howard of Effingham, Lord
High Admiral, Drake, Hawkyns, Frobisher, Seymour,
all the list of noble names we have by heart. But also
do we cherish the fame of the valour of those whose
names are not written for us to read on this scroll of
fame ; but in memory of all those who in that campaign
gave their lives for England, we may borrow those lines
of Sir Francis Hastings Doyle concerning that " Private
of the Buffs " who preferred to die standing erect, rather
than perform the kow-tow, or act of slavish salutation,
to his Eastern captors. Of the men of the Armada, of
each individual of them, we can say :
"Then let his name through Europe ring,
A man of low estate :
Who died, as firm as Sparta's King,
Because his soul was great."
I02
CHAPTER VI
IN WHAT MANNER ADMIRAL ROBERT BLAKE
DEALT WITH THE TUNIS "PYRATS"; AND
HOW SIR RICHARD STAYNER CAPTURED
THE SPANISH TREASURE FLEET
Robert Blake, Admiral and General at sea, was one of
England's most remarkable sea commanders. Not only
was this so on account of the fights that he fought and
the victories that he won, but because his career at sea
did not begin until he was fifty years of age. At a time
when most seamen are thinking of "coiling up their
ropes," to use a phrase of their own, and of retiring to
the shore after a life spent on blue water, this stout
soldier took ship, and ordering his sailing masters to
wheel to the right, to wheel to the left, or to form in
squadron or column, he affronted the enemies of his
country, and proved to all whom it might concern that
whether England were ruled by King or by Common-
wealth, all ships must " veil their topsails " when they
met with an EnoHsh man-of-war in the narrow seas.
He joined the Republican Army in the year 1642 — he
was born in 1599 — but with his career as a soldier we
have no concern here. In the summer of 1649, being
then fifty years of age, he was appointed to command
the fleet. At this time Prince Rupert, the well-known
103
The Man-of-War
dashing cavalry leader and nephew of King Charles i.,
had also taken to the sea and had begun a system of
naval war against the Parliament that was scarcely dis-
tinguishable from piracy ; and it was against him and his
brother Prince Maurice that the Admiral and General at
sea first directed his energies. He blockaded him first
in Kinsale harbour in Ireland ; but a gale dispersed the
Parliamentary fleet, and Rupert, taking advantage of
this circumstance, slipped out and sailed for the coast of
Portugal and the Straits of Gibraltar. Here he preyed
upon commerce; and Blake in June 1650 was ordered
to sea to hunt him down.
The General at sea did not finally start on this quest
until March in the following year, when he blockaded
Rupert — whose cause was supported by the King of
Portugal — in the Tag^us River. Here the Prince, who
was a mechanical genius of no mean order, anticipated
modern methods of warfare by trying to blow up his
adversary with a torpedo, but without success. Blake
retaliated by seizing nine merchant ships sailing out of
the Taofus for Brazil with English crews on board ; and
we are told that he removed the officers, strengthened
the crews, and converted these vessels into men-of-war ;
but in what manner he performed this apparent miracle
we have no information, and chroniclers are silent on the
subject. As the cargoes of the ships that had been cap-
tured belonged to Portuguese, the king of that country
got tired of entertaining such inconvenient guests as
Rupert and his brother Maurice ; accordingly he requested
them to leave and have it out with the General at sea
in some place remote from his territorial waters. The
princes got clear on 29th September 1650, and sailed
104
Stern of the Invincible, French 74-gun ship, captured 1747.
105
Admiral Blake and Sir Richard Stayner
for the Straits of Gibraltar, plundering as they went.
Blake, having seized the Brazil fleet sailing into the
Tagus, went in pursuit. The King of Portugal, having
lost two fleets of merchantmen on account of a quarrel
among the English, in which he was in no way concerned,
must have been devoutly thankful to see the hulls of the
ships of both parties sink beneath the distant horizon.
In November, Rupert's fleet having become scattered
in a gale off Cape de Gata on the Spanish coast just
inside the Mediterranean, Blake came upon several
detached ships and chased them into Cartagena, Here,
being in a Spanish port, they deemed that they would
be safe ; but the General at sea had orders to treat any
foreigners who afforded comfort or shelter to Rupert as
enemies of his country, and in consequence drove the
hunted vessels on shore and burned them on the beach
of Cartagena Harbour. What the Spaniards said to
this high-handed proceeding we are not told. Shortly
after this the princes, with three ships, sailed for the
West Indies, where the ship commanded by Maurice was
lost with all hands in a hurricane. As we have no room
here to follow Blake in his memorable conflicts with the
Dutch in home waters, we will turn aside to some of the
lesser known episodes in the life of this truly great
Englishman. No one was ever more jealous of the
honour of his country, no one was ever more determined,
in all circumstances, to uphold the flag, to see that
British subjects were supported in all their rights and
privileges.
In 1654, Blake being in the Mediterranean at the
time, the ruler of Tunis — whom the Admiral in his
dispatch calls "the Dye," which is only another and
107
The Man-of-War
17th century way of spelling "Dey" — seized upon an
English ship called the Princesse. The Algerines and
the Tunisians at this date were neither more nor less
than pirates; "the people of Algeria are robbers and
I am their ruler," said the Dey of Algiers a few years
later than the time of which we are now speaking. All
was fish that came into his net or into that of his
"opposite number" of Tunis. The extraordinary thing
was that their villainies were tolerated so long by the
European Powers. But our General at sea was not of
those who suffer pirates gladly, no matter to what nation-
ality they might belong. As soon as it came to his ears
that the Princesse had been seized upon, he " hasted away
towards Tunis directly, and somewhat sooner than did
stand well with the state of our provisions at that tyme."
He reached Tunis on 7th February 1654, and lost no
time in sending on shore to the " Dye of Tunis " " a paper
of demands for restitution of the ship Princesse, with
satisfaction for losses and enlargement of captives ac-
cording to the particular instruction, which I received
for that purpose." We may be sure that Blake's demands
were not couched in particularly mild language ; but, all
the same, he was met with the usual dilatoriness of the
Eastern ruler. There were several meetings of the
Tunisians with the Admiral on board his ship, but as
they only talked and refused to do what he ordered,
" we sailed away before Porto Farina, not farre off
where theire ships of warr lay, being kept in by a party
of our frigates sent thither before." It will be seen that
the Admiral left nothing to chance.
But the Tunis pirates had apparently no desire to
get to sea when this stern and uncompromising person
108
Admiral Blake and Sir Richard Stayner
was in their waters ; and upon the arrival of the English
ships it was seen that all the pirate vessels had been
lightened as far as possible, unrigged, drawn in as near
to the shore as they could be hauled, while their guns
had been landed and planted "upon diverse batteries
upon the land, and a kind of campe formed, consisting
of some thousands of horse and foot, as if they feared
some invasion."
So formidable were the defensive works, and so small
was the harbour, that Blake decided for the present not
to risk the assault, as he would have " to anchor his great
ships at half-muskett shot, and the port too narrow for
our fleete to turn in it especially at that time." He was
also so short of provisions that it was impossible to
remain on this barren and inhospitable coast any longer,
so he " desisted from the enterprize at that present, and
sailed directly for this place, leaving the PliniotUh, Kent,
Newcastle, Mermaid, Taunton, Foresight, to attend that
service."
The dispatch to Secretary Thurloe is dated "in the
Bay of Calarie (Cagliari ?), abord the George, 14th
March 1654," and deals with various other matters, such
as the capture of "a French frigat of 15 guns, but one
which will beare morr ; " also of the capture of " the Percy,
an English vessel well knowne, of 30 guns." This ship
(a Royalist vessel) was driven ashore at Majorca and sold
to the governor of that place for 3000 dollars. But all
this time Blake was not forgetting his friend the " Dye"
of Tunis. He was provisioning as rapidly as possible.
" Our intention is to sail hence with the first opportunity
to the Bay of Tunis, to put an end to the business there,
which we shall endeavour to doe with all the resolution
109
The Man-of-War
and circumspection which we can, as God shall direct
us, it being a business of manifold concernments and
interests and subject to divers consequents and con-
structions, of the issue thereof, with all the particular
passages, I will hereafter (the Lord willing) give you an
account. Sir. Your affectionate friend, Robert Blake."
The PlimoiUh and her consorts must have had a
hungry time on the coast of Tunis until the return of
their Admiral ; but one of the disagreeables of sea life
was then, and for two centuries later, a state of semi-
starvation when any long time elapsed in the passage
from port to port. At last the Admiral got to sea again,
but was greatly delayed by contrary winds, which he
described as " the stopp which hath been put upon us
by contrary and stormy winds." When he got back to
Tunis "we found them more wilful and untractable than
before, adding to their obstinacy much insolence and
contumely, denying us all commerce and civility, and
hindering all others as much as possible from the same.
These barbarous provocations did soe far worke uppon
our spirits, that we judg'd it necessary for the honour of
the fleet, our nation and religion, seeing they would not
deal with us as friends, to make them feel us as enemyes ;
it was thereupon resolved at a council of warre to en-
deavour the fireing of their ships in Porto Farina."
Acting on this decision the fleet put to sea, and
arrived off Porto Farina on 3rd April in the afternoon.
The next morning, very early, "the Lord being pleased
to favour us with a gentle gale off the sea," they weighed
their anchors and stood in to the harbour, anchoring
"before their castles." Blake's plan was to destroy the
pirate fleet, which, as has been said, was dismantled and
110
Admiral Blake and Sir Richard Stayner
secured as near to the shore as possible. While the
ships engaged the castles, each vessel sent out a long-
boat armed and manned by picked men, whose duty it
was to fire the pirate craft inshore. With a loss of
twenty-five men killed, this service was satisfactorily
performed "after some hours' dispute," as the dispatch
says. The enemy's ships to the number of nine were
thus destroyed, and the fleet then worked out of the
harbour. Immediately afterwards the weather changed
and became stormy, " soe that we could not have effected
the business, had not the Lord afforded that nick of time
in which it was done." At the conclusion of his narra-
tion of these events Blake becomes almost apologetic
for what he had done. " I confess," he says, "that in
contemplation of some seeming ambiguity in my instruc-
tions I did awhile much hesitate myselfe and was
ballanced in my mind until the barbarous carriage of
those pyrats did turne the scale." It must have been
an altogether unpleasant surprise for " those pyrats,"
as their insolence was based upon the impossibility of
any ships ever entering their harbour. " Here are the
castles of Guletta and Porto Farina," had the " Dye of
Tunis" said to the General at sea; "you may do your
worst, we do not fear you."
Blake was only one of the many valiant sea com-
manders who served his country so well at this time ;
and we will now turn to an exploit of one of his captains
which took place a year and a half after the discomfiture
of the "pyrats" of Tunis. In September 1655 an
English fleet was cruising off the coast of Spain in the
neighbourhood of Cadiz, but at the time of the episode
with which we are concerned, most of the ships had
III
The Man-of-War
gone off to the coast of Portugal to obtain provisions
and water, leaving behind them a small squadron of six
or seven ships. These were under the command of
Captain (afterwards Sir Richard) Stayner, whose
pennant was flying from ''Speaker frigot " (we have to
take our spelling as we find it in seventeenth century
dispatches !). Captain Stayner was keeping an eye on
the entrance to Cadiz Bay, and approaching that port
from the West Indies was the King of Spain's treasure
fleet, consisting of four ships of war and three merchant
vessels, richly laden with gold, silver, pearls, and other
merchandise of the most valuable description. In "A
true narrative of the late success which it hath pleased
God to give to some part of the fleet of the Common-
wealth upon the Spanish coast against the King of
Spain's West India fleet," the ships are thus described :
"The Admiral Don Marquis Del Porto, General.
"Vice- Admiral, a Gallion, Don Francisco de Esque-
val, Commander.
"The Rear-Admiral, a Gallion, Don Francisco del
Hayo, Commander.
"A ship commanded by Captain John Rodriguez
Caldron.
" A ship commanded by Captain John de la Torre.
"Another small man-of-war and a vessel of advice
(Aviso, a dispatch vessel) from the Viceroy of Mexico
to the King of Spain."
This fleet was fifty-eight days out, and had, un-
fortunately for themselves, "in the way betwixt the
Western Islands and Mazagam in Africk, seized upon a
small Portugal as a prize." Whether the captain of " the
small Portugal " gave the information to the Spaniards,
112
Admiral Blake and Sir Richard Stayner
out of revenge for having been captured, we shall never
know ; but he certainly informed them that the Spaniards
had beaten the English off their coast a month before ;
so they sailed on confidently for the haven to which
they were bound with quiet minds, anticipating no
disaster.
On 8th September, "plying to sea being driven
thither by a strong westerly wind," Captain Stayner
" did at the evening of the day discover the said Spanish
fleet five or six leagues to the westward of Cadiz ; and
the approach of night denying opportunity of present
action, they endeavoured to fall in with them the next
day, which accordingly they did about nine o'clock in
the morning."
The Spaniards, it appears, took no alarm, as they
imagined Stayner's fleet " to be fisher boats," and it is
evident that for some reason or other those on board
the treasure fleet thought that they were in no danger.
It had been blowing hard during the night, and Stayner's
fleet had, with the exception of his own ship, the
Speaker, the Bridgwater, and the Plimouth, been driven
so far to leeward that they could not get up in time to
join in the attack on the Spanish fleet. Stayner would
not wait for his consorts, but " ingaged with the fleet, and
a sharp dispute there was betwixt them." The flag of
the Spanish admiral being hoisted on a small ship, the
English frigates disregarded her, thinking that no
Admiral would sail in so inconsiderable a vessel ; and
accordingly this warrior, apparently not liking the look
of things, escaped into Cadiz Bay, where for some
unaccountable reason she was run on shore and sunk ;
" it being reported to have in her 600,000 pieces of eight.
H 113
The Man-of-War
The ship of the Vice- Admiral was of enormous value ;
in her were 600,000 pieces of eight, " besides jewels and
plate upon the accompt of the Marquis of Badex to the
value of 500,000 pieces of eight."
The Vice- Admiral, being cut off, had no chance but
to fight or surrender, and he fought bravely for six hours.
At the expiration of this period he hauled down his
colours ; but before possession could be taken of the
ship she was set on fire by the Spaniards and burned to
the water's edge and sank. "In her were destroyed
one hundred and ten men, the principal of whom was the
Marquis of Badex, who with his wife and daughter were
burnt. The ship of the Rear-Admiral was taken ; but as
the report does not mention that she had any treasure on
board, we can conclude that she was a comparatively
valueless capture. Stayner and his men certainly seem
to have had bad luck on this occasion as far as prize
money was concerned. The Admiral escaped, the Vice-
Admiral's ship was burned ; then the vessel commanded
by Captain John' Rodriguez Caldron was captured, and
she also caught fire, or was fired by her crew, and utterly
destroyed. She was said to have had in her money and
jewels to the value of 600,000 pieces of eight. The ship
of de la Torre, which was laden with hides and sugar,
was taken and remained in the hands of her captors,
while "the small man-of-war" escaped into Gibraltar.
However, if little but glory came to those mariners of
England by whom this victory was won, the loss to the
enemy was enormous.
" The value of what is taken and possessed is not
justly known," says " a true narrative of the late success,"
"but by the calculation of the Spaniards there are taken
114
Admiral Blake and Sir Richard Stayner
and lost about 9,000,000 pieces of eight, besides the said
ships and their lading. There are many prisoners taken,
350 being found in the Rere-Admiral and about 90
saved out of the Vice-Admiral, among whom are the
eldest son, a younger son, and two daughters of the said
Marquis (besides a childe) ; as also Don Diego de Villa
Alva, the Governor of Havanna, and several others of
quality and Spanish merchants. And as all this was
done without the loss of one vessel of the English, so it
pleased the wisdom of God to chuse to effect so great a
work by a little force, as also by suffering the enemy to
be foolishly ensnared into a presumptuous confidence
by an enemy's information [this, of course, was the " small
Portugal "], on which they so relyed that they neglected
the haling of a vessel which came from St. Lucar and
might have informed them of the truth."
Information both ashore and afloat was not always
strictly accurate in the seventeenth century ; and for
news from an ambassador to his government the follow-
ing extract from a letter of Mynheer Borrel, the Dutch
Ambassador in Paris, would be hard to equal. He
wrote to the States-General on 22nd January 1656,
four months after the destruction of the treasure fleet
off Cadiz by Stayner : " Here is news from Spain.
That the English fleet under Admiral Blake, beino-
arrived in the Bay of Cadiz and afterwards at Gibraltar,
an agreement was there made with them by the com-
missaries from the court of Spain that the said EnoHsh
fleet should go in the Spanish service, receiving for the
same . . . . (/ ?) per month." It seems impossible that
any person in the position of an Ambassador could have
been so credulous and so foolish, especially when he
115
The Man-of-War
must have known the furious hatred that then existed
between England and Spain.
We have said that the Spanish fleet mistook the
frigates of Captain Stayner for "fisher boats"; and
although this seems almost impossible to believe, we
still have to recollect that ships of war in those days
were not very large. The dimensions of men-of-war in
the seventeenth century may be given here.
First Rate, Britannia, built at Chatham by the most
famous naval architect of his day, Sir Phineas Pett.
She was 1620 tons, and carried when in home waters
100 guns ; when abroad, 90 guns. Her length was 146
feet ; beam (or breadth), 47 feet ; depth of hold, 19 feet ;
draught of water aft, 24 feet. There was at this time a
very curious regulation with regard to the number of
men and guns carried by the man-of-war. Thus, in the
Britannia in times of peace at home, 605 men were
carried ; in time of war at home she increased her com-
plement to 710 men ; but if she were ordered abroad it
went up to 815. To the sailorman of the present day
"the everlasting miracle remains" of where in a ship of
these dimensions 815 men were stowed away. One
thing is perfectly certain, that the unhealthiness from
which these old-time vessels suffered so terribly was due
very largely to overcrowding.
Before we go any further with the ships of the same
date as the Britannia we will set down the figures for
Nelson's famous ship the Victory, which was built almost
exactly one hundred years after the Britannia. She
was built from the design of Sir Thomas Slade at
Chatham Dockyard, and launched on 7th May 1765 ;
her dimensions are as follows : length from figurehead
116
Admiral Blake and Sir Richard Stayner
to taffrail, 226 feet 6 inches; length of keel, 151 feet
3 inches; length of gun deck, 186 feet; extreme beam,
52 feet; depth of hold, 21 feet 6 inches; tonnage, 2162.
Her armament in 1778 was: On lower deck, thirty
long 32-pounders ; on middle deck, thirty 24-pounders ;
on main deck, thirty-two 12-pounders; on upper deck,
twelve short 12-pounders ; total, 104 guns. In 1793
she had four 32-pounder carronades substituted on upper
deck and six i8-pounder carronades were added on
poop, making her total number of guns at this time 1 10.
The six last were subsequently removed, as at Trafalgar
she had no guns on the poop. In 1803 ^^^ 65-pounder
carronades were placed on the forecastle instead of
32-pounders, when the weight of the broadside fired
from fifty-two guns was 11 60 Ib.^ We may here
remark that the weight of the broadside of the French
battleship Lyon, now building, will be 23,000 lb. in
weight, or almost exactly twenty times as great. It is
not generally known that the name " carronade," as
applied to cannon for use on board men-of-war, came
from the place at which they were made, the Carron
ironworks in the south of Scotland.
But to return to our seventeenth century men-of-war.
The Second Rate Harwich was built by Isaac Bets at
Harwich. Her tonnage was 1462; length, 142 feet;
beam, 44 feet; depth of hold, 18 feet; and draught of
water aft, 18 feet. Her complement in time of peace at
home was 500 men; in time of war at home, 580; in
time of war abroad, 660. In time of war at home she
carried 90 guns ; war abroad, 82 guns.
^ Details concerning Victory are from Commander Wharton's History
of H.M.S. Victory.
117
The Man-of-War
Third Rate, The Anne, was built from the designs
of Phineas Pett at Chatham. Her tonnage was 1089 ;
length, 128 feet ; beam, 40 feet; depth of hold, 17 feet,
and draught of water aft, 18 feet. In time of peace at
home her complement was 300 ; war at home, 380 ;
war abroad, 460. She carried 70 guns during war at
home ; 62 for war abroad.
Fourth Rate, Advenhtre, built by Pett at Woolwich ;
392 tons ; length, 92 feet ; beam, 27 feet 9 inches ; depth
of hold, 12 feet ; draught of water aft, 14 feet ; comple-
ment, 120 men for peace at home ; 160 for war at home ;
190 for war abroad. She carried 48 guns in home
waters, and 42 when sent on foreign service.
Fifth Rate, Dai^iinoutk, was built from the designs
of John Tippets at Portsmouth ; 266 tons ; length,
2>o feet ; beam, 25 feet ; depth of hold, 10 feet ; draught
of water aft, 1 2 feet ; complement, peace at home, 90 ;
war at home, 115; abroad, 135. Guns, 32 at home and
28 abroad.
Sixth Rate, Drake, was built at Deptford by Peter
Pett; 146 tons; length, 38 feet ; beam, 12 feet; depth of
hold, 7 feet 8 inches ; draught of water aft, 9 feet ; com-
plement, 45, 65, 75 ; guns, 16 at home and 14 abroad.
There were, in addition to these six classes of rated ships,
" Hulkes, Fireships, Yachts, Ketches, Hoys, which
carried 5 men. Smacks, which carried 2. Sloopes,
manned by 4 sailors." There were also " Prizes from
Barbary " : Two Lyons, Golden Horse, Half moon, Rose
of Sally (this was the port on the Atlantic coast of
Morocco from which the much-dreaded Rovers of Sallee
issued and carried on their piratical warfare against the
ships of all nations), Rose of Algier (Algiers was another
Admiral Blake and Sir Richard Stayner
piratical stronghold which endured until the place was
finally destroyed by Lord Exmouth in 1816), Dumbarton
Argile's prize, Heldenburgh, and Monmouth's ship.
For the manning of these various vessels the follow-
ing was the scale of pay, and, considering the hardships
that every man who went to sea underwent, it cannot be
said that they erred at all on the side of generosity : A
captain of a first rate got 15 shillings a day ; a lieutenant,
3 shillings ; a master got jQy a month, and a boatswain
£^ ; the yeoman of the sheets got £1, 12s. ; the gunner,
£^; the quartermaster got £1, 6s. ; the carpenter, £^ ;
ordinary or crew, ^i, 6s. ; while the services of the
" chyrurgeon " ^ were only rated at £2, los., and his
" mate " got ^i, los. ; the purser got ^4 ; the trumpeter,
£1, los. ; cook, ^i, 5s,; the armourer and the gunsmith
got the same. The yeoman of the powder, the cook's
mate, the coxswain's mate, the swabber, and the cooper
rejoiced in ^i, 4s. per month, while the ordinary seaman,
shifter, and barber were remunerated with 19 shillings.
What the shifter did does not appear, and there is another
and equally mysterious person, known as "the gromet
at sea," who got 14s. 3d. The boy got 6d., not an
extavagant wage for the month's work that a boy was
doubtless expected to put in at this time.
We have of course to remember that in the middle
of the seventeenth century a pound was worth at least
two and a half to three times as much as it is to-
day ; but even taking this into consideration, the salaries
that we have here set down cannot be considered as
excessive.
^ Doctor or surgeon.
119
CHAPTER VII
BUCCANEERS OF THE SPANISH MAIN — HOW
PIERRE LE GRAND TOOK A SPANISH
GALLEON— A PIRATE'S EPITAPH
There is a grim and terrible significance in the word
"pirate," and although the deeds of these outlaws of the
seas have a certain fascination in them, they were as a
rule but sorry villains who preyed on the weak and
defenceless, pursuing their nefarious careers and plying
their butcherly trades with a most abandoned cruelty.
We have dealt at some length with the pirates who were
the scourge of the Mediterranean for so many centuries,
and we will now turn our attention to those, perhaps
better known to the general reader, who operated in the
West Indies, on the mainland and among the islands.
In 1654, Jamaica was captured by Penn and Venables,
and from that date until the peace of Ryswick in 1697
the buccaneers, as the pirates of the Spanish Main came
to be called, were at the height of their maleficent
activity. Whatever blame, however, is to be meted out
to these sea rovers must be shared by all nationalities
alike, as twenty-nine years before the English and French,
owing to the increasing value of trade in these waters,
planted a colony side by side in the island of St. Kitts.
This venture proved very successful, and the English
also occupied the adjacent island of Nevis. In 1629 a
120
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o, be in
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■~ ~ 1-.
^
JD u oj i"
§ >
prices.
Let us set down how it was possible for them to do
this, for a rifle as a rule is a fairly expensive article, even
when bought in laroe numbers. Yet the Arabs were
able to buy them at what the cheap-jack at a fair calls
" knock-out prices." After the death and burial of the
muzzle-loading gun all the great nations proceeded to
arm their big battalions with rifles of a breech-loading
type. As these weapons increased in accuracy better
ones were provided, and the nations were re-armed.
What then became of all the tens and hundreds of
thousands of perfectly good rifles that had been dis-
carded ? Certain astute gentlemen saw their way plainly
marked out before them to introduce modern improve-
ments into Africa, and at the same time make a hand-
some fortune for themselves. As soon, therefore, as it
became known that an army was discarding its present
rifle for something better, the old ones were bought from
the government that was making the change, at scrap-iron
239
The Man-of-War
prices, and were shipped off to Zanzibar/ Mozambique,
and other places on the coast, where if they did not fetch
two or three times the price at which they had been
bought, the sellers were grievously disappointed. The
tribesmen of Central Africa could only obtain these
weapons through the Arabs, by whom they were bought
wholesale.
Our traders, as we have said, joined up with the
stronger side ; and when matters reached a satisfactory
conclusion by the defeat of the tribe against whom the
Arabs were contending, these gentlemen adventurers
claimed their reward. This was the larger proportion
of the persons who had not been killed in the fighting.
It will be seen that such an arrangement suited the
victorious tribe admirably. Keeping only such a number
of slaves for themselves as they could easily manage,
they saw the rest of their foes disappear down country
in the direction of the coast, with the comforting certainty
that they were perfectly certain never to see any of them
again. As bad as — if not even worse than — the fighting
was the march that then began of the unfortunate de-
feated ones. If it happened to be an elephant country,
in which ivory in the shape of elephants' tusks was pro-
curable, the slaves would be laden with the cumbrous
tusks. Even if they travelled unencumbered their lot
was sufficiently wretched. Roped or chained together,
men and women struggled in single file through the
stifling heat of the jungle or the bitter cold of the scarps
of mighty hills ; starving, thirsty, hopeless, and miserable,
goaded on by men who knew not what was meant by
^ Of Zanzibar the Arabs had a proverb : " When you play the flute at
Zanzibar all Africa, as far as the lakes, dances."
240
Slavers and Slave Hunting
the word mercy. If they failed by the way, if exhausted
nature could no longer hold out, then there came a swift
ending to their sufferings, as a spear was thrust through
them — the Arabs would not waste a cartridg-e on a slave
— and their bones were left to whiten on that awful track
that could be traced all along by the skeletons of those
who had preceded the present caravan. It was always
hurry, it was always drive, as the sooner the traders
could get them to the coast and ship them, the sooner
could they return for another consignment. Those who
reached the seashore were instantly shipped in a dhow
and dispatched to their destination.
We have now reached the Indian Ocean, where the
man-of-war took a hand in attempting to stop this de-
plorable business. The duty of the ships was simple,
if arduous. Briefly, their business was to cruise within
certain defined limits ; to overhaul every dhow that they
saw ; to cause her to lower her sail ; to send on a boat
to board, to see in the first place that she had no slaves
on board (if she had she was instantly seized), and in
the second to make sure that she was not enoraeed in
this traffic. This could be easily ascertained from the
internal fittings of the vessel. But it was not sufficient
that the man-of-war herself should cruise. To increase
the area of the operations that she could cover, her
boats, manned, armed, and provisioned, cruised inde-
pendently of her for weeks at a time ; coming back at
stated intervals to a rendezvous agreed upon, when they
shipped more provisions and started once again on their
weary round.
It comprised the best of hard work and the worst of
bad food ; for salt pork and biscuit, varied by salt beef
Q 241
The Man-of-War
and biscuit, or the dreadful preserved meat of those days
known as " Fanny Adams," washed down with one tot
of rum per day, was not exactly luxurious fare, particu-
larly in the blazing heat of the tropics. There was a
legend in the Navy at that time that Fanny Adams had
fallen into the boiler in which the preserved meat was
being cooked, and had never been got out again. The
truth of this remarkable legend is not vouched for, but
it was known to every officer and man in the fleet.
There is an old saying in the Navy that " we growls and
goes," more remarkable for its truth than its grammar,
and certain it was that it described those of us who
spent our time in hunting down the slave dhow from
Muscat to Mozambique.
And yet it was by no means all bad, for the command
of the boats was in the hands of young lieutenants and
subs, who were delighted to get away from the ship,
and to taste that quasi-independence that was theirs,
when once the topgallant-masts of the ship had sunk
below the far horizon, where the stainless blue of
those southern seas merged in the deep azure of the
tropic sky.
Down in the Mozambique Channel the cruising was
on the coast of Madagascar, up and down which the
boats quested like hounds on a trail ; while in mid-
channel, between the mainland and the island, the ship,
with her topgallant masts on deck, sailed slowly under
her topsails and courses, watching for the dhows with
their human cargo on board. Sometimes the monotony
of the boardship life would be varied with a stay in port
for a day or two, when the boats would come back and
be hoisted up to dry after their long immersion, to paint
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Slavers and Slave Hunting
and repair ; to get ready generally for the next cruise,
starting the day after to-morrow. While this was in
progress there were visits of state to be paid to local
chiefs and notabilities — matters of high ceremony that
do not fade from the memory of those whose amazing
good fortune it was to participate in these international
courtesies. Let us describe one which may stand as a
sample for others.
The captain of the corvette and a sub. landed to make
a formal call on the representative of the Queen of
Madagascar, who had his official residence at the port
of Majunga. It was known that the captain was coming,
and as he landed he was received by a guard of honour.
Out of Madagascar it may be stated with some confi-
dence that no such guard of honour ever was seen. It
consisted partly of Hovas — who are a singularly light-
coloured race, and were then the ruling caste in the
island, which has long since been annexed by France —
and partly of Sakalavas, a coast tribe as black as your
shoe. Like all primitive peoples the Hovas and the
Sakalavas had, and no doubt still have, a great admira-
tion for fine clothes glittering with gold lace. The only
resplendent persons that they had ever seen wearing
such garments were naval officers in their full dress ;
and it became the desire of every self-respecting
Madagascan to array himself like one of these. Not
many succeeded, as was natural in the circumstances,
but the guard drawn up to receive the captain of the
corvette on this occasion had risen superior to their
fellow-countrymen. There were in all some twelve or
fourteen men drawn up in two lines on the quay where
the reception was to take place.
243
The Man-of-War
The captain stared at them. "Those fellows look
mighty queer," he remarked.
The sub. chuckled. " Not much wonder, sir, they've
all got naval officers' full-dress coats on."
" By the Lord, so they have," answered his amazed
superior ; " if you laugh when we land I'll court-martial
you !
" Suppose you laugh, sir ? "
But the captain vouchsafed no response and stepped
on shore with an iron visage.
" Queen of Madagascar present arms," said the officer
of the guard all in one breathless bellow, waving a
sword that he carried in his hand ; he wore a sword belt,
but the scabbard was missingf. The officers looked at
the guard of honour, and let it be set down to their
eternal honour that both kept their countenances, though
smothered sniggerings were distinctly audible from the
crew of the captain's galley. Every man in that re-
presentation of the might of Madagascar wore the full
dress coat of an English, a French, a Spanish, or a
Portuguese naval officer. Some were admirals, some
sub-lieutenants ; some wore two epaulettes, some one,
some none at all ; the upstanding wool on the fuzzy
heads of the Sakalavas was crowned with cocked hats ;
while in contrast to this the Hovas mostly assumed their
own national headgear, which consists of a tall hat
made of white straw. No one among them was
prouder than he who displayed the ancient scarlet tunic
of a full private in the Royal Marine Light Infantry.
Most of the buttons, it is true, were missing, and had
been replaced temporarily with thorns, but this did not
seem to cause the wearer any anxiety. But the most
244
Slavers and Slave Hunting
remarkable part of the whole parade was, that not one
of those of which it was formed possessed a pair of
trousers. The really well-dressed sported the Malay
sarong, which is a kind of abbreviated — very much
abbreviated — Scotch kilt, made of silk in gay colours.
These formed a pleasing contrast to the dark blue and
gold of the full-dress coats, while the effect was some-
what detracted from by those warriors who could only
rise to the ordinary and rather dingy native loin cloth.
From beneath sarong and loin cloth protruded long
black or yellow legs which terminated in bare feet of a
decidedly useful size.
After this display nothing mattered, and the captain
and his sub. were able to go through with the elaborate
reception which followed in a mud fort with unwinking
gravity. But such distractions as these were the mere
fringe and embroidery, the purple patches as it were, in
the lives of those detailed by their fellow-countrymen to
put an end to the slave trade on the east coast of
Africa. Let us now see what one day's routine was like
on board a boat detached for cruising ?
It is daylight at six in the morning in the tropics ; at
that hour the sun pops up from below the horizon like
a red-hot jack-in-the-box, determined to put in a
heavy day's work — which he invariably does. At
5.30 a.m. the coxswain of the boat rouses the hands
from their luxurious slumbers — on a bed consisting of
the oars laid side by side — with a stentorian demand for
them to "show a leg." If they do not respond with
sufficient alacrity, he lets go the peak and throat halyards
supporting the awning under which they have been
sleeping, and nearly smothers them in the folds of canvas.
245
The Man-of-War
The men are awake In a moment, the awning is unlaced
and furled, and by this time the ashen grey sky in the
east has a pink tinge in it. Splash, splash, splash,
white bodies glimmer in the gloom as one by one the
men shed shirts and flannels and leap over the side. It
is the only form of washing that they can do while boat
cruising, and they would much sooner miss their dinner
than their morning dip. The officer of the boat goes in
over the stern, till all hands are overboard save the
interpreter, who, being a coloured man, has no use for
such nonsensical practices.
As with considerable personal effort the crew return
on board, the sun rises. They struggle into their clothes
— which, after all, consist only of a pair of trousers and
a "flannel" — and then hoist the mainsail. Next the
anchor is got up, the head sails hoisted, and with a
gentle breeze from off the land she stands out to sea.
All this time the only marine in the crew has been light-
ing the cooking stove that shares the platform of stout
oak planking before the mast with the carriage of the
7 -pounder gun that is carried by the boat. The gun
itself, lashed up in a tarpaulin bag, is secured under the
after-thwart ; and is regarded by everyone as a most
unmitigated nuisance. In no conceivable circumstances
could it be the slightest use, yet there it is. Not only is
the gun there and the carriage which blocks up all the
forepart, but there are also the bulky boxes of ammuni-
tion belonging to it that have to be stowed away. In
addition to this abomination there were the arms of the
men, rifle and cutlass stowed in beckets secured under-
neath the thwart on which each man sat ; there was the
rifle and pistol ammunition — the latter for the pistols
246
Slavers and Slave Hunting
carried by the officer and coxswain ; there was the
medicine chest, principally filled with bandages and
quinine ; a box containing rockets and portfires ; each
man's small bag containing a change of clothing ; there
was a barrico containing rum ; four larger ones contain-
ing water ; several ditto containing salt pork ; tins of
" Fanny Adams " ; and tin-lined cases of biscuit. There
was also the boat's awning and the thin wire warp to
which it was secured (running round outside the boat at
night) ; there was a canvas roll which contained the
signal flags ; the officer's kit, consisting of old flannel
trousers and tooth powder ; and there was the
interpreter.
All this was stowed in a 28-foot pinnace, 7 feet
wide, rigged as a cutter with one mast but no boom.
Her crew consisted of an officer, coxswain, interpreter,
10 seamen and i marine ; and in this certainly confined
space did they live week after week.
The marine having made the cocoa — which with the
sugar and tea formed yet another package to be stowed
away — the hands were "piped to breakfast," which con-
sisted of the cocoa and some hard biscuit. When this
luxurious meal was finished the boat was cleaned with
that thoroughness which always distinguishes such an
operation in the Navy. Everything was moved that
could be moved, and everything was scrubbed, within
an inch of its life, that could be possibly got at. The
gun, in the gloomy seclusion of its tarred canvas bag,
alone escaping. Then each man got out his rifle and
cutlass and cleaned them ; and when they had been
returned to their beckets beneath the thwarts, there was
really nothing more to do, except for the marine, who
247
The Man-of-War
in due time put lumps of salt pork on to boil for dinner
at twelve o'clock. By this time the sun would be high
in the heavens and the heat great ; and it was a study-
in ingenuity to see the manner in which the awning
was so handled as to be spread while the boat was
actually sailing on a wind. The officer and the man
who went slave cruising in those days had to expunge
the word "impossible" from his dictionary; and if he
did not want to be slowly roasted alive he was bound
to seek for some shelter from the sun. There was
nothing to do but to doze or to smoke, and for one man
to keep a bright look out. Whenever a sail was sighted
then the boat was steered to cut her off; she was over-
hauled if possible, boarded, vouched for as not being
employed in the slave trade, and let go. Of course if
she had slaves on board, or indications that she was
employed in the trade, she was detained and sailed back
to the rendezvous if possible ; if not, she was destroyed
where she was.
As a rule a long stretch out to sea was made in the
morning, the boat's head being turned in towards the
land in the afternoon ; as the sun went down, as snug
an anchorage as was possible in the circumstances
was sought for, and the boat fixed for the night.
Then the awning was spread, and by half-past eight
everyone was sound asleep save the one man on the
look out.
Once a week or so the boat had to be watered from
some spring or river. These were gala days, some-
thing out of the ordinary routine. First the barricos
were filled with the utmost care, not to disturb the mud
or sand at the bottom ; then, as soon as this had been
248
249
Slavers and Slave Hunting
done, all hands were in the water in a trice, each bearing
an enormous lump of yellow soap. As soon as everyone
had scrubbed himself — and it was a point of honour for
each man to lather himself till he was quite unrecognis-
able — he then set to work on his clothes, until after
a joyful two hours the boat would proudly put out to
sea looking like a marine laundry with trousers and
flannels dependent from every point on which they
could be hung.
There were great days when the officer and the in-
terpreter would manage to pick up a few dozen eggs
or half a dozen skinny fowls from a Sakalava village ;
then the company feasted royally on these unaccustomed
luxuries. The greatest day of all, however, was when
a whole bullock was secured, and all hands ate fresh
beef for breakfast, dinner, and tea, and spent the intervals
between meals in salting down the rest. In the south-
west monsoon, when it blew hard and rained with persis-
tency, the lot of the boat cruiser was not a happy one.
Even when it did not rain there was generally a big sea
on, which prevented him from cooking his food, and he
rarely got a hot meal. He was flayed alive and pickled
by the flying spindrift ; he was soaked to the marrow
of his bones with the tropical rains ; he had no dry
clothing ; he developed fever and boils, of which he
had to make the best, and his diet consisted mainly of
quinine.
At such time he was accustomed to make pointed
remarks concerning the slave trade ; giving it as his
opinion that those who wished to suppress this traffic
were quite welcome to come out to the Mozambique or
the Pemba Channel and do it for themselves ; but that
251
The Man-of-War
he would guarantee one week's experience would cure
all their philanthropy. This, he asserted with much
bitterness, would be washed out of them so completely
by the sea and the rain, that all the niggers in East Africa
might be shipped from the slave rivers, and all that
these people would do would be to stand on the beach
and cheer. But when you have been wet through for
a week, have been unable to face salt pork for dinner,
and have had four heavy goes of quinine per day, you
are apt to take a jaundiced view of life and the problems
that it presents !
There was, however, even in the darkest hour
something which always upheld the spirits ; this was the
ever-present hope that some day there would come the
bold, bad slave trader who was prepared to fight for his
dhow and his cargo of slaves. Great traditions lived
on the coast of mighty men of valour who had put to
sea, swearing by Allah and his Prophet that they would
stop for no accursed giaour of them all ; but would
assert the right of the Moslem to deal in slaves at the
point of the scimitar. And it was the dream of every
officer and every man in every boat's crew that shoved
off and set sail in those waters, that their's might be
the luck, and that the lot might fall to them to show the
world that the sailor who was serving now was every
whit as good as those who had gone before. It was a
very natural ambition, but it was very seldom gratified, as
although the Arab is a stark fighting man, he prefers his
adversaries to be of a less strenuous temperament than
the average British bluejacket. What the really tough
specimen of the slave trader would sometimes attempt
cannot be better embodied than in the following account,
252
Slavers and Slave Hunting
extracted from official records, of what happened to a
boat belonging to H.M.S. Turquoise in the year
1887. On 20th June, Captain Woodward wrote to
the Commander-in-Chief on the East Indian station as
follows :
" Sir, — I have the honour to enclose herewith cor-
respondence with reference to the capture of an Arab
slave dhow and 53 slaves by Lieutenant Frederick
Fogerty Fegen in the pinnace of H.M. ship under my
command at Pemba on 30th May, and in so doing I beg
specially to bring to your notice the most gallant and
determined conduct of that officer and his boat's crew.
It is especially my duty to mention that on the dhow
attempting to run down the pinnace with the intention
of carrying her by boarding, Lieutenant Fegen immedi-
ately rushed forward (the dhow having caught the
pinnace's forestay with her bowsprit) to repel the Arabs,
seven of whom were ready to board. He promptly shot
two with his revolver, then drew his cutlass and ran another
through the body. Whilst thus engaged he received
a very severe wound, a sword-cut on the right arm, from
an Arab who came to assist the one he was engaged
with. This Arab was run through by John W. Pearson,
A.B., before he had time to inflict further injury. Not-
withstanding his severe wound this officer continued
fighting with his cutlass until the dhow got clear (at this
time there were three men in the bottom of the boat
wounded), the remainder of the crew, three in number,
fighting hard and supporting him. When the dhow got
clear nine Arabs had already been killed. No sooner
had this occurred than she endeavoured to escape.
Lieutenant Fegen picking up the dingy gave chase, and
253
The Man-of-War
a running fight was maintained until the helmsman of
the dhow was shot, when she broached to and capsized
in shallow water. He immediately anchored his boat
as near the sunken dhow as possible, and proceeded to
rescue the slaves, the four unwounded men saving as
many as they could by means of the dingy and also by
jumping overboard ; 53 all told were saved. I am
informed by Mr. Holmwood, Consul-General, that of the
13 Arabs on board the dhow 9 were the most notorious
slave dealers in Pemba, and in all there were upward of
20 armed men, the arms being Snider rifles and swords.
Of the 13 Arabs, 11 have been killed, which will doubt-
less deal a heavy blow against the slave trade. Two
Arabs succeeded in reaching the shore, one of whom sub-
sequently died of his wounds, and the other escaped :
measures have been taken for his capture. I cannot
speak too highly of the brave and gallant behaviour of
Lieutenant Fegen and his crew. In rushing forward
and preventing the Arabs from boarding, he, in my
opinion, saved annihilation. The advantage in numbers,
3 to I at least, and position was decidedly in favour of
the dhow. He was backed up most bravely by his
boat's crew, four received severe wounds, one having
since died. I would respectfully suggest that you will be
pleased to submit for the favourable consideration of
their Lordships the conduct of Lieutenant Fegen and
his boat's crew : this is not the first time that this
officer has been the subject of special report from me.
The gallant defence made by the boat's crew makes
selections invidious, but Lieutenant Fegen informs
me that Frederick J. Russell and Joseph E. Greep,
leading seamen, fought with distinguished gallantry.
254
PLATE IV.
H.INI.S. AJAX, 1795.
H.M.S. r^iVG6'^/CZ?, 1835.
•-*-■
c