UC-NRLF 
 
 *B SSt, 33fi 
 
 
 THE 
 
 ^^^ ^-^ TLOR'S. LI I- 
 
THE LIBRARY 
 
 OF 
 
 THE UNIVERSITY 
 
 OF CALIFORNIA 
 
 GIFT OF 
 
 C, S, Forester 
 
STORY 
 
 SAILOR'S LIFE. 
 
 AS RELATED BY 
 
 FRANCIS BERGH. 
 
 GOSPORT: 
 
 TO BE HAD OF GEORGE LEGG. 
 
 PORTSMOUTH: 
 
 TO BE HAD OF GEORGE AUSTIN LEGG. 
 
 1852. 
 
LOAN STACK 
 GIFT 
 
B5l(o 
 
 PREFACE. 
 
 The following Story is the History of the Life of an 
 Old Sailor, still living at Gosport, in Hampshire — 
 told in his own words, as written in his Autobiography, 
 and published for his benefit, by his friends and 
 employers. 
 
 038 
 
STORY OF A SAILOR'S LIFE, 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 I AM writing this to show the wonderful mercies the Lord has shown 
 me in fifty years'* life-time at sea, and I hope that whoever may have 
 a chance to look at it, it will teach them not to despair, or give them- 
 selves up for lost ; for by perseverance, and a firm trust in the Al- 
 mighty, we can do anything that the Giver of all good will allow us 
 to do ; for there is a " Sweet little cherub that sits up aloft, keeps a 
 watch for the life of poor Jack/"' By accounts that I had from 
 my friends, when I came to the years of recollection, I was informed 
 that 1 was born at sea, in the year of our Lord 1777, on the 20th 
 of August ; my father being master of a brig belonging to Hull in 
 Yorkshire, and when I was born, he was bound on a voyage from 
 London to Hamburg. My mother being at sea along with her 
 husband, and being at sea, and by contrary winds and bad weather 
 being detained longer than what they expected, I was born on 
 board of the " Jane and Margaret,*" belonging to the port of Hull, 
 when the brig was nearly abreast of Heligoland, an island that lays 
 at the entrance of Hamburg River ; but my mother being very 
 poorly, she and I were left at a place called Cuxhaven, at the 
 entrance of the River Elbe. But my father being obliged to 
 proceed upon his voyage, my mother and me were left at Hamburg 
 at the consul's. And the winter setting in sooner and severer than 
 
2 THE STORY OF 
 
 my father expected, for he expected to make another voyage before 
 the winter set in, me and my mother were left at Hamburg all the 
 winter ; but I being very poorly, and not expected to live, my 
 mother was pursuaded to have me christened. And I was christened 
 at St. Katharine's Church at Hamburg, when I was four months'" 
 old. 
 
 My father was expected to be at Hamburg in the beginning 
 of the next year ; but in the first voyage that he was going to 
 make, in the year 1778, he was cast away, and all hands drowned, 
 at the entrance of the river, near about the spot where I was born. 
 My mother belonging to Kirkwall, in the Orkneys, she and me 
 went down there, and there 1 spent my childhood, till my mother 
 died, when I was about eight years old. My mother having a sister 
 who lived at Boston, in Lincolnshire, who was down in Kirkwall 
 when my mother died, she, after all things were settled, took me 
 with her to Boston, where I had a grandmother living, and between 
 her and my grandmother I soon became a spoiled child: for as 
 young as I was, I soon found out that they were very fond of me ; 
 for my aunt had no children herself, and my grandmother never 
 had any more children but my father ; so if I committed a fault at 
 my aunfs, where I lived, I only had to run to my grandmother''s 
 and she was sure to take my part ; and the same if 1 committed 
 myself at my grandmother's, my aunt was sure to take my part. 
 It was my misfortune to lose my parents so soon. I shan't say 
 nothing of the many tricks and pranks I played my poor old 
 grandmother and my aunt; but I passed my time at Boston till the 
 begining of the year 1790, when 1 got acquainted with a young 
 man by the name of William Jackson, and his father was mate of 
 a brig belonging to Boston, and they wanted an apprentice, and I 
 persuaded my poor old grandmother to let me go a voyage upon 
 trial, which I did, and it being summer-time, and fine weather, and 
 I liked it so well, that when we returned to Boston, I was bound 
 apprentice for seven years, to Mr. Ingelow ; and I was put on 
 
A sailor's life. 3 
 
 board of a brig called the "Joseph and Ann."" The master of the 
 brig, a man called William Turner, was a very good man, as far 
 as seamanship goes ; but he was in other respects a man of very- 
 bad morals; and me being young and giddy, I did not gain 
 anything by it, for what good qualities I had belonging to me were 
 soon lost ; for I had always been used to say my prayers night and 
 morning, and at my meals ; but seeing no one else do it, I soon 
 forgot it, and I thought within myself I should do as well as 
 the rest. 
 
 Our first voyage, after I joined the brig, was from Boston to 
 London with a cargo of oats, and, thanks be to God, we got there 
 safe, as many ships were lost, for it blew a gale of wind nearly the 
 whole three weeks we were on our passage ; for it was in the month 
 of November, and I wished myself many times back again in 
 Boston along with my old grandmother ; but I soon forgot it all 
 when I came to London ; for, when we got there, our captain got 
 a freight to go to Naples, up the Mediterranean, to carry a cargo 
 of pilchards from Falmouth. When I heard that we were going 
 to a foreign country, I forgot all the troubles of my former voyage, 
 and I was glad to go. We proceeded on our voyage to Falmouth, 
 and I got on middling well ; we sailed from Falmouth as soon as 
 the convoy was ready, and I left the Land's End of old England 
 the last day of the year 1790, and thanks be to God, we arrived 
 safe at Naples after a passage of six weeks. I don't wish to trouble 
 the reader with an account of the different places we traded to, but 
 we stood up the Mediterranean, trading from one place to another 
 till the year 1794, when we got a freight for London, where we 
 arrived safe in August the same year, and after discharging our 
 cargo, our brig was obliged to go into dock to get repaired, and when 
 that was done, we went down to Boston ; when we got there I 
 found that my grandmother was dead, and my aunt was going to 
 live at Hull. What property my grandmother had left was left to 
 me ; but, being young and foolish, I soon got clear of it all ; and 
 
 b2 
 
4 THE STORY OF 
 
 our brig being bound to London again, where we arrived at the 
 beginning of 1795, and we got a freight to go to Cardiff in Wales, 
 to get a cargo of iron to take to Gibraltar. 
 
 We sailed from London in the beginning of March, and we had 
 a strong north-east gale to drive us down Channel ; and when we 
 got to the Land's End of England, the wind was against us, for we 
 were bound up the Bristol Channel ; so we were obliged to keep 
 the ship off and on in Mount'^s Bay till the weather moderated, for 
 it blew a heavy gale of wind from the the north north-east. 
 
 Now, I forgot to mention how many hands we carried in the 
 brig when we sailed from London ; we had eight on board, 
 alogether, namely — the master and mate, four men before the 
 mast, and two boys; and we had the misfortune to lose one man 
 overboard when we got underweigh in the Downs ; so there were but 
 seven left on board when our misfortune happened, which was on 
 the 17th day of March, about two o'clock in the morning, when, 
 standing off the land, we struck upon a rock called the Randell 
 Stone, which lays in Mount's Bay, about three or four miles off 
 the land ; and it blowing a heavy gale of wind, and at the same 
 time a heavy sea running, our poor old brig soon went to pieces ; 
 but, thanks be to God Almighty, who allowed us time to get our 
 long-boat out before the mast went out of her, and six of us, out 
 of the seven, got safe into her before the brig went to pieces ; the 
 other man must have been knocked overboard when the mast fell, 
 for we could see nothing of him, for it was very dark ; and we that 
 were in the boat saved nothing, only what we had on ; and I had 
 the misfortune of losing my shoes off my feet in getting into the 
 boat. After we got clear of the wreck we tried our best to get the 
 boat in-shore, but it blowing so hard, we could not hold our own ; 
 and, when daylight came, we found ourselves about six or seven 
 miles from the land, and still drifting out as fast as we could. The 
 weather being clear, we could see the Islands of Scilly to leeward 
 of us, and our master being a man that had been brought up in 
 
A SAILOR S LIFE. O 
 
 the coastidg trade, was well acquainted, for he had been several 
 times in the Scilly Islands ; so we determined to bear up for a place 
 called Grimsby, and our master intended to go through a place 
 called the Crow Sound ; but our misfortune was not complete yet, 
 for it being nearly high water by the time we got near the Island, 
 and the rocks being* nearly all covered, our master mistook the 
 channel, and we were hove in among the breakers, though we tried 
 our best to get clear of them ; and the second sea that struck us 
 capsized our boat, and I found myself hove against a middling 
 steep rock, where, by God''s help, I contrived to hold on ; and, 
 having no shoes on, 1 got up to the top of the rock, where I could see 
 my shipmates trying to get ; but only one succeeded in getting up, and 
 that was our old mate, a man nearly sixty years of age, and he 
 kicked off his shoes before he succeeded in getting where I was ; 
 and here, now, 1 had a great cause to be thankful to the Almighty 
 Giver of all mercies for his providential care over me in making me 
 lose my shoes before I left the brig; for what I thought the 
 greatest misfortune to me ten minutes before, proved the only 
 means for me to preserve my life ; for if I had been struggling in 
 the water along with my shipmates, I should have had no thought 
 of kicking my shoes off* to preserve my life ; for I know, myself, that 
 three men out of the four that we saw struggling for their lives, had 
 heavy sea boots on, and they being full of water caused them soon 
 to go down; for the mate told me himself, afterwards, that the 
 rocks being so slippery that he would never have got up, if he had 
 not hove his shoes away ; so here we got on the top of the rock, seeing 
 our poor shipmates drowning one after the other, and we were not 
 able to help them. But, as I said before that it was near high- 
 water when our second misfortune happened; and we soon found 
 that as the tide ebbed, the water got a good deal smoother, and me 
 and the mate considered it best for us to contrive to get nearer to 
 the island, from which we were about three quarters of a mile. So 
 we waited till about half past two ©""clock, for the mate had his 
 
b THE STORY OF 
 
 watch in his pocket ; and then we contrived to get in shore, and a 
 tiresome job we had of it, for we had several places to swim across ; 
 and the mate being an old man, was very much fatigued, being wet 
 and cold such a long time — for a north-east wind blows pretty cold 
 in the month of March. But, thanks be to God, we contrived to 
 get to the main island about six o'clock that evening, and we both 
 kneeled down to thank the Almighty for his mercy to us. 
 
 And now, that through the mercy of the Almighty, we got safe 
 landed, what to do next was to be considered, for you may depend 
 that we both were hungry ; and night coming on, and in a strange 
 place, where there are no roads to direct you — for I had been upon 
 the highest rock that I could see near us, to see if I could see 
 anything of a house, or any signs of any habitation ; but I could 
 not see anything : so we resolved to try to get under the lee of 
 some rock, for we were still on the windward part of the island. 
 But before we left the beach, I went to see if I could find any 
 shell fish, for 1 felt hunger pinching me since I came on shore, and, 
 thanks be to God, I found some ; and I took them up to my partner 
 in distress, and we eat them ; and afterwards we went to look for 
 some place to shelter us from the wind and the weather ; and after a 
 little time, we found a place like a cave, under the lee of a rock ; 
 and close by I found a small puddle of fresh water, which we 
 wanted very much, for we were very thirsty ; and after returning 
 thanks to the Almighty, we laid ourselves down to sleep, and, thanks 
 be to God, I slept very well till the morning, when my partner 
 called me, for he was very poprly, and could not stand upon his 
 legs. I felt very stiff when I first got up ; but, thanks be to God, 
 I soon got pretty well again. And now we resolved that, as my 
 partner was not able to move, I was to go by myself to see if I 
 could find anybody to help me to bring my partner away, and to 
 get something to eat ; for the old mate, as luck would have it, had 
 three shillings and sixpence in his pocket, besides his watch ; the 
 money he gave to me, and I parted from him with a heavy heart, 
 
A SAILOK S LIFE. 
 
 for I was afraid I should never see him again alive, for he was very 
 bad ; so away I went : and then I found for the first time what it 
 was to be alone in a strange place. I had travelled, I suppose, 
 about two miles, when coming to an open bay, where I saw some 
 ships lying at an anchor ; and you may depend 1 was glad enough 
 at seeing them ; and shortly after 1 had the pleasure of seeing 
 some houses, but I was still a good distance from them ; but I 
 travelled on till I got pretty near them, when I had the satisfaction 
 of seeing two men, I sung out to them as loud as I could, for fear 
 of losing them again ; but they heard me, and they came towards 
 me ; and when I came to them I told them my case, and they very 
 kindly took me home with them, and gave me something to eat and 
 to drink ; and I told them of my poor old partner that I had left 
 in the cave, and I told them what state I had left him in. I offered 
 them some money for what they gave me, but they refused it ; and 
 as soon as I had finished what they had given me to eat, they took 
 me to a man by the name of Mr. Gilbert, who I found afterwards 
 was the head man in the place — and a very good man he was ; — 
 and he sent three men along with me to fetch my old partner from 
 the cave, which, after a good deal of trouble we found ; and glad 
 enough I was to find that he was alive : and, after giving the old 
 man something to eat and to drink, we carried the old man to 
 Grimsby, for that was the name of the place I had been to, where 
 the people used us very kindly ; but my poor old partner got worse 
 and worse every day. Though Mr. Gilbert was kind enough to 
 send for a doctor to St. Mary's for him, which is the head town in 
 the island, he died the sixth day after we were wrecked. As for 
 myself, thanks be to God, I got pretty well in a few days ; and 
 after staying and lending a hand to bury my old shipmate, I 
 shipped myself on board of a brig called the " Hope,'' belonging to 
 Bridgewater, which was bound to London. But before I left Old 
 Grimsby, I told Mr. Gilbert where the owner of the brig lived that 
 I had been cast away in, so that he might get paid for the trouble 
 
8 THE STORY OF 
 
 and expenses he had been at, during our stay there; and as soon as 
 the wind and weather would permit, I sailed for London in my new 
 brig. The master of her was a very good man, and we arrived in 
 London the 17th day of April. My new master liked me very 
 well, and he wrote to Mr. Ingelow in Boston, about me, to let him 
 know where I was; and Mr. Ingelow having no ship that wanted 
 an apprentice, sent me my indentures and my wages, after serving 
 him five years out of the seven years that I was bound for ; so my 
 new master got me bound apprentice to him for three 3^ears. I 
 sailed in the " Hope"" of Bridge water, till the year 1798 — chiefly in 
 the coasting trade — and I was very well contented, for our master 
 was a very good man, and the owners had promised me a mate'*s 
 situation as soon as I got out of my time. And in April in 1798, 
 we were bound from London to Bridgewater, and getting down 
 Channel as far as the Lizard, and we being bound off the Bristol 
 Channel, the wind being at that time about north-east, and blowing 
 a strong gale, and our ship being rather light, we got blown off the 
 land ; and the gale continuing for eight or ten days, we got drifted 
 a long ways off; and our master not being a navigator, though he 
 was a very good coaster, so that when the gale was over, and we 
 got fine weather, we did not know where we were, but we knew well 
 enough that we had been drifted to the westward. We had to run 
 back to the eastward, and the second day after we had fine weather, 
 we fell in with a Mounfs-Bay boat, who, like ourselves, had been 
 blown off the land, who was very short of provisions and water, of 
 which, thanks be to God, we had plenty ; and we gave them some, 
 and they gave us some brandy and tobacco — for they were 
 smugglers — for the provisions which we gave them ; and they 
 directed us what course to steer in for the land, and we parted 
 company. And the next morning we fell in with the " Brilliant'*'* 
 frigate, who made us heave to, and she sent a boat on board of us 
 to go a-pressing ; and our master being half drunk, and the rest of 
 the crew being no better, we got a-quarrelling, when the lieutenant 
 
A sailor's life. 9 
 
 of the frigate came on board, and through our master being drunk, 
 I got pressed ; for I being out of my time two days before this 
 happened, and the master told the lieutenant so when we were 
 mustered ; so I was sent on board of the frigate ; and a fine large 
 ship I thought she was when 1 first got on board of her, and I was 
 put in the main-top ; but I soon found my mistake out, for the 
 very first night, at reefing topsail, 1 saw seven men flogged for not 
 being smart enough ; and me, never seeing a man flogged before, 
 I wished myself back again in my little brig. So here I could see 
 the fruits of drunkenness ; for if all hands had been sober a-board 
 of the " Hope*" when we fell in with the frigate, I should have been 
 stowed away ; but it was my lot, and I was obliged to content 
 myself where I was, for our usage on board of the " Brilliant'" was 
 very cruel ; for we had nine men doing duty as boatswains'* mates 
 on board of her, and there was starting and flogging all day long, 
 and the usage was very little fit to reconcile me to a man-of-war ; 
 but being young, and finding it was no use to fret, I made the best 
 I could of it. And our ship being only just come out of Ply- 
 mouth, and being bound on a six months'* cruise in the Bay of 
 Biscay, we went away to the westward on a cruise ; and on the 
 20th of October we fell in with part of a West India convoy, 
 homeward bound, who had been separated in a gale of wind on the 
 banks of Newfoundland, and had lost their commander ; and there 
 being no man-of-war along with them, our captain found himself 
 in duty bound to see them safe into port ; and away we went along 
 with them for Old England, and in five days we arrived safe in 
 Plymouth Sound, having a strong westerly wind all the way. And 
 one of the masters of one of the ships told our captain, that about 
 a week before they fell in with our ship they had been chased by a 
 French privateer, and that the privateer had taken two ships 
 belonging to London, deeply laden, and he believed that the 
 privateer had taken them into Santa Cruz, a town in the island of 
 Teneriffe, one of the Canary Islands. Our Captain acquainting 
 
10 THE STORY OF 
 
 the admiral that was in Plymouth with it, he gave him permission 
 to go to TenerifFe, and try to cut them out ; and he sent the 
 '' Talbot,'** a sloop of war, along with us ; and we sailed from 
 Plymouth in the middle of November, and having nothing but 
 strong westerly winds against us, we were nearly three weeks before 
 we got to Teneriffe ; and in our passage we had the good fortune 
 of taking two prizes — the one, the very privateer that had taken 
 the two ships that we were going to cut out. She was a fine brigan- 
 tine belonging to St. Maloes, and the other a ship belonging to 
 Bristol, that had been taken by the privateer, homeward bound, 
 only two days before we took them again. 
 
 And now having arrived off the island, we arranged every thing 
 to go in with the boats to cut the two ships out, and on the 4th day 
 of December we left the ships, about four o'^clock in the afternoon. 
 There were seven boats of us altogether — four from our ship, and 
 three from the " Talbot.'** The boat that I was in was a five-oared 
 boat, half gig and half cutter ; she was a very fine boat, and the 
 commanding officer was in her, which was the first-lieutenant of our 
 frigate, who pulled backwards and forwards to the rest of the boats, 
 to encourage the men and to give his orders 
 
 We got into Santa Cruz harbour about ten o'clock in the evening, 
 and we were lucky enough to board one of the ships, and get 
 possession of her without getting any one hurt ; but not so with 
 the other ship, for the noise we made in boarding the first ship put 
 them on their guard, and she being a ship which mounted ten guns, 
 opened her fire on our boats, which were three boats which had to 
 board her ; and I belonging to the commanding officer's boat, who 
 was on board of the first ship that had been taken, and who was 
 under-way by this time, and was going out of the harbour with a 
 light breeze of wind off the land, and our officer seeing how the 
 other boats were likely to be handled, ordered the pinnace and his 
 own boat to go to the assistance of their shipmates ; and just as our 
 boat got clear of the quarter of the ship, a shot struck her right in 
 
A sailor's life. 11 
 
 the middle, and killed one man and wounded two more; and it 
 being very dark by this time, and our boat being very soon full of 
 water, we could not give any assistance to our shipmates, nor could 
 we pull back to the prize ; so we were obliged every man to do the 
 best they could for themselves, and I was once more left in a bad 
 situation ; but, thanks be to God, I could swim very well, and I 
 seeing a vessel lying very close to me, I swam to her, which proved 
 to be an American schooner. I hung on by her cable some time, 
 and the people being all on deck, I could hear them speak English ; 
 and at last one of them looking over the bows of the schooner, I 
 spoke to him, and asked him to let me come on board, and he gave 
 me a ropeVend, and 1 soon got on board. ^ 
 
 When I first got on board of her, I was taken aft to the mate, 
 and I told him how I came there, and he told the captain, who 
 told me that he would be obliged to take me on shore in the 
 morning to the Governor ; but ordered some of the men to give 
 me some dry clothing and something to eat and to drink ; and, in 
 fact, they behaved very well to me. All this time the ship kept 
 firing at the boats, and the boats were obliged to retreat with their 
 one prize ; for the forts, getting alarmed by this time, began to 
 open fire ; but the boats got their ship safe out, for we could not 
 see anything of her in the morning. When morning was come, 
 and I could see what sort of people I had got amongst, I saw a 
 young man on board of the schooner that I thought I had seen 
 somewhere ; and, when I came to inquire, I found that he was an 
 old shipmate of mine, and fellow-apprentice in the '' Joseph and 
 Ann,'"* and he was second mate of the schooner, and his name was 
 James Martin. And, when we began to know one another, he 
 told the captain of the schooner that I was a man that served my 
 time to the sea service ; and, the schooner being short of hands, 
 the captain of the schooner sent for me, and told me, that as I was 
 a young man that served my time out of Boston — and he had no 
 business to know what Boston it was, whether it was Boston in 
 
12 THE STORY OF 
 
 England or America — and if I had a mind to sign the Articles, he 
 would put me on the schooner's books, and give me thirty dollars a . 
 month ; and he would take good care no one should know how I 
 got there. 
 
 Now you may depend I was not long considering about what to 
 do; for, if I had refused to join the schooner, I should have had 
 to go to a Spanish prison ; so I agreed with the captain of the 
 schooner — she was called the '* Speedy 5*" of Baltimore. Now, this 
 schooner had brou^t out a new Governor, from Cadiz, for the 
 Islands, and she was going to carry the old one home again, to any 
 part of Spain or France she might be able to pitch into ; and we 
 I laid at TenerifFe for nearly two months before the Governor was 
 ready to go, and by this»time I got quite comfortable on board of 
 her. And we sailed in the latter end of February, 1799, from 
 TenerifFe. And, after being chased by many of the English 
 cruisers, for the " Speedy" sailed remarkably fast, we got into a 
 place called Cordivan, in France, the entrance of the Bourdeaux 
 River, by the latter part of March ; and we got up to Bordeaux by 
 the beginning of April. And, after the Governor was landed, and 
 his things out of the schooner, and there being no freights for the 
 schooner, the Captain sold her to the French Government, she 
 being a very fast-sailing vessel. And the crew, me in number, 
 were paid our wages, and sent aboutour business ; and me and my old 
 shipmate, James Martin, went and shipped on board of a large 
 ship, under Hamburg colours, that was taking in a cargo of wine 
 for Hamburg ; and you may depend that me and my friend were 
 glad to go somewhere, for it was dangerous to be ashore ; for, if 
 the police knew that you was a sailor, and not belonging to any 
 ship, they took you and sent you on board one of their frigates ; 
 but, thanks be to God, we kept ourselves clear of them ; and, by 
 the latter part of April, our ship being loaded, we sailed from the 
 town of Bordeaux, and we got clear of the river by the begining of 
 May. And, after being at sea some days, our captain called the 
 
A sailok's life. 13 
 
 men aft, and told them that he was not bound to Hamburg, but 
 that he expected to go to London, but that his orders were to go to 
 the Island of Guernsey and wait for orders; and, after a long and 
 tiresome passage, we arrived at Guernsey in the middle part of 
 June. And me and my old shipmate, knowing well enough that if 
 the ship went to London we should be pressed, and having such a 
 great dread of an English man-of-war, on account of the usage I 
 had received, we went to our master, who was a very good man, 
 and asked him for our discharge from the ship ; and, after telling 
 him our reason for doing so, he gave it to us, and paid us our 
 wages ; and ashore we went at Guernsey. And after staying ashore 
 three or four days, me and my shipmate joined a privateer, called 
 the " Blue-Eyed Maid of Guernsey.'' 
 
 Our vessel was lugger-rigged, and mounted sixteen guns ; and 
 we carried one hundred and twenty men, with six months' protection 
 from the press ; and, thanks be to God, we were very lucky in her, 
 for we took a great many prizes and recaptures — the lugger being a 
 very fast-sailing vessel ; and me and my partner stopped in her till 
 the year 1801. 
 
 When peace came, we were paid off, and I had about three 
 hundred and fifty pounds wages and prize money altogether ; and 
 me and my friend went from Guernsey to London, intending to go 
 to Boston, where we had served our time, and to see our old friends. 
 But this is the way of the world, for man appoints and the 
 Almighty disappoints : for tlie second day after I arrived in London 
 — where we got in June, 1801 — I was taken very bad of a fever, 
 and I was obliged to keep my bed for two months ; but, thanks be 
 to God, I soon got better. And my old shipmate, who during my 
 illness, had gone to Boston, and had promised to return to London 
 again as soon as his business was settled, but he did not ; for, poor 
 fellow, he was taken with the same complaint that I had, as soon as 
 he arrived in Boston, and died in a week after he got home. So 
 
14 THE STORY OF * 
 
 now, being left to myself again, and being tired of going to sea, I 
 intended to settle myself on shore. 
 
 With this intent I went to Mr. S. who was owner of several 
 wharfs, where the traders used to discharge and take in their 
 cargoes, and spoke to him, and told him my intention, and likewise 
 to ask him what the best use would be that I could make of my 
 money ; and he was very kind to me, and told me that I had best 
 put my money in the bank, and that I should have lijonstant 
 employment at any wharf that he had, that I was a mind to 
 choose. 
 
 And now, having this point settled, I got to come to another ; 
 and that is, that during my illness a young woman that used to 
 attend on me, I found that I got very fond of her, and I could see, 
 by the attention she paid me, that I was not indifferent to her ; 
 and as I was going to stop on shore, I thought I wanted a wife, 
 and after a little courtship 1 gained her consent, and we got 
 married at St. 01ave*'s Church, which is in Tooley Street, in the 
 Borough, on the 27th day of December, 1801. 
 
 I had taken a little house in Vine Yard, close to Pickle Herring 
 Stairs ; and having money I set up a little shop to sell cabbages, 
 and potatoes, and wood, and coals; and, thanks be to God, me 
 and my wife we done very well, for I used to go every day to work 
 at the wharves, loading and discharging coasting vessels, and my 
 wife minded the shop. And so things went on quite comfortable 
 till the latter part of July, 1802, when a strange accident occurred 
 which put an end to all my happiness for a long time. The case 
 was this; my wife'^s mother-in-law was a woman greatly given to 
 drink, and she used to come to my wife and get things upon 
 trust, and go and spend the money in drink ; and having run 
 up a pretty good score, my wife spoke to her about it ; but she, 
 being half drunk, abused my wife, and struck her. 
 
 My landlord, Mr. B., seeing the affair, came down and told 
 me of it, for my house was close to the wharf where 1 was 
 
A SAILOR**S LIFE. 15 
 
 working ; and I ran up directly, and ordered her out of the house, 
 and told her not to come there any more ; and a good many words 
 passed between us ; and at last she told me she would make me 
 sorry for turning her out of doors ; but I did not mind her. But 
 I soon had occasion to be sorry for what had happened ; for the 
 war between France and England had broke out again, and the 
 press was very hot ; and my wife's mother-in-law went to the lieu- 
 tenant of the press-gang, and informed against me that I was a 
 sea-faring man, and served my time at sea ; and about half-past ten 
 o'clock that same evening, just when I was going to shut my shop 
 up, the press-gang came, and took me to. I had a scuffle for it 
 before I was taken, for I knocked the first two down that came into 
 my house ; but I was soon overpowered, and was taken by force, 
 and was taken down to the boat which they had brought to Pickle 
 Herring Stairs; and from there I was taken on board the 
 " Enterprise," which lay at Tower-Hill Stairs, where I was put 
 both legs in irons and my hands tied behind me ; and there I laid 
 till the morning, when me and some more pressed men were put on 
 board of a tender, and sent down to the big Nore on board of the 
 '' Old Namur,'" which lay flag-ship there ; and next morning I was 
 sent on board of the " Childers,'*' ten-gun brig, to be sent round to 
 Spithead, where we arrived on the 5th of August, 1802. 
 
 And now having come a little to myself, you may depend my 
 feelings and my mind were none of the best. The chief thing that 
 grieved me was thinking about my wife ; for I knew she was about 
 seven months gone in the family way ; but the only way I had left 
 to do her any good was to write to her ; and having, by good luck, 
 three guineas in my pockety which I put there in the evening before 
 I was pressed, to pay for some potatoes in the morning, which I 
 had bought, I went and bought some paper, and pens, and ink, 
 and I wrote letter to my landlord, Mr. B., and told him where I 
 was ; and I told him to go to Mr. S., the gentleman that had my 
 money, for him to get two substitutes for mc, which would come to 
 
16 THE STORY OF 
 
 about sixty pounds per man, and to let me know how my wife was, 
 and to be sure not to let my wife's mother-in-law come there. 1 
 directed this letter to Mr. B., for fear, if I directed it to my own 
 house, it might have been stopped. 
 
 I remained on board the '' Childers*" three days after we arrived 
 at Spithead ; and then I was sent on board of the '• Royal William,'*'' 
 which lay flag-ship at Spithead. And now all my hopes being at an 
 end of getting an answer to my letter, as my letter would be 
 directed to the " Childers,'''* I turned to and wrote again, and told 
 them where I was ; but I might have saved myself the trouble, for 
 I was only three days on board of the " Royal WilUam,**" before I 
 was drafted to the " Albion,"''* of seventy -four guns, and she was 
 bound to the East Indies for to take out a convoy of merchant 
 ships. We sailed from Spithead in the beginning of September, 
 1802 ; and 1 left England with a heavy heart, not having heard from 
 my friends. 
 
 I often thought that none of my letters had gone ; and being 
 very careless of myself, I gave way to all sorts of badness, 
 gambling, drunkenness, cursing and swearing, which brought me 
 continually into trouble. 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 We were obliged to bear up in a heavy gale from the westward, 
 for Plymouth, after being clear of the Land's End; and after 
 having all our defects made good, we sailed from Plymouth, the 
 29th day of September, 1802, with a fine breeze from the north- 
 east, and we had a very fine passage till the fifth of November, 
 when we fell in with two French merchant ships, who did not know 
 that the war had broke out again between England and France, 
 
A sailor's life. 17 
 
 and so they became easy prizes to us ; and I had the good luck to 
 be sent on board of one of* them, called the " La Favorite ;'" she 
 was from the Isle of France, and was bound to Bordeaux, in 
 France. And after the exchange of the crew, and our captain 
 sending water and provisions on board, we parted company from the 
 Fleet for Old England ; and you may depend I was glad enough. 
 But the ship that I was in was a very dull-sailing vessel, and she 
 was very leaky, so we made very slow progress across the Trade 
 Winds ; but by the beginning of December we fell in with 
 a westerly wind, which was a fair wind for England ; and you may 
 depend we made the best use we could of it; for we were only 
 complete with six weeks' provisions when we left our ship, and we had 
 now left her a month, and still were a long distance from England. 
 
 Now the other prize, our partner, sailed a good deal better than 
 us ; and parted company with us the second night after. We had 
 a fair wind, and we never saw any more of her ; which was a very 
 rascally trick of them ; for they knowing we were very leaky, they 
 ought to have stopped by us. But we having a fair wind and ^ne 
 weather, we kept on our course till we got into soundings, on the 
 15th day of December ; and the next day, in the morning, it being 
 very hazy and very little wind, we saw a lugger close to us, which 
 proved to be a French privateer. 
 
 Now if our partner had been along with us, we might have had 
 a fight for it ; but being by ourselves, and only mounting four 
 guns, and being short of provisions, for we had been six upon four 
 for several days, and being continually at the pumps, we were very 
 little fit to fight a vessel mounting sixteen guns, and one 
 hundred and twenty men ; so we were boarded, and taken by 
 the privateer ; and we found that our other prize had been taken 
 two days before, by the same lugger. For, getting information 
 from some of the Frenchmen that there was another ship coming, 
 she laid to for us in our track, and we were taken, and I was sent 
 on board of the French lugger. And now 1 had a sure prospect 
 
18 THE STORY OF 
 
 before me to be made a prisoner of war at the very commencement 
 of it ; but, thanks be to God, I did not stay very long with them ; 
 for the Frenchmen on board of the lugger used us very well, and 
 I had not been many days on board of the lugger, when I fell in 
 with a young man on board of her, who was a prisoner like myself, 
 who had been a shipmate of mine in the " Blue-eyed Maid,'"* of 
 Guernsey, who could speak the French language as well as any 
 Frenchman going, and he told me that he would not go to a 
 French prison, if he could help it, and 1 told him the same. We 
 steered with the prize in tow for St. Maloes, and we got into the 
 harbour on the 5tli day of January, 1803. 
 
 Now the captain and the mate of the privateer had both been in 
 an English prison, and they had been used very well in England, 
 and the pair of them spoke very good English, and he told us he 
 was very sorry to see us go to prison ; and he told me and the 
 Guernsey man that he would do anything in his power to keep us 
 out of prison. 
 
 Now, when the privateer and the prizes got into St. Maloes it 
 was late in the afternoon, and the crew being overjoyed at taking 
 so many prizes, and got them all safe in, and their friends coming 
 to see them, and bringing them something to eat and drink, that by 
 the time it was dark, there was scarce a sober man on board the priva- 
 teer; and the captain not being able to send us on shore in the evening 
 he kindly told us to look out for ourselves, for he would be obliged 
 to send us on shore in the morning. We thanked him kindly for 
 his good wishes towards us, and me and the Guernsey man said we 
 would make the most of it. 
 
 Now one of the prizes' boats was towed astern of the privateer, 
 and with her we attempted to make our escape ; and the first thing 
 we done after it was dark, was to see how many of our fellow- 
 prisoners we could get to go along with us ; and we soon got nine 
 more besides ourselves. And the next thing we done was to haul 
 the boat up alongside, and put in her anything that we thought 
 
A sailor's life. 19 
 
 necessary for our voyage, such as provisions and water. We had 
 the good luck to find two breakers of water, each breaker holding 
 about seven gallons ; and, as I told you before, the Frenchmen'^s 
 friends fetched plenty of bread and other things on board, we 
 found a pretty good stock of it, enough, with care, to last us two 
 or three days, by which time we expected, with God's help, to be in 
 England. And after getting one of the privateer's compasses into 
 the boat, we were all ready ; but it would not do for us to start 
 before the rounds had been, which was a guard-boat that pulled 
 round the harbour once a night ; so we dropped our boat a-stern 
 again, and laid down quietly till the guard-boat was past, which 
 came round about ten o'clock in the evening. And our Guernsey 
 man was lucky enough to hear the watchword for the morning ; for 
 in going out of the harbour, we had to pass close to a fort on our 
 starboard hand, and the sentry was sure to hail you to ask the 
 countersign. So after the guard-boat was gone, and everything 
 quiet, we started, and we passed the fort about three o'clock 
 in the morning ; and, thanks be to God, we got clear of the mouth 
 of the harbour long before daylight. 
 
 Now the wind, when we left the harbour, was about east-south- 
 east, and we being bound to the northward, we had a fair wind 
 and a fine breeze ; and we all expected to have made some part of 
 England by the next day ; but our hopes were very soon all frustrated, 
 for towards the middle part of our first day at sea, the wind came 
 round to the north east, and from there to north-north-east ; and it 
 came to blow very hard, and we were obliged to close reef our 
 sails, and lay as close to the wind as we could : and we made our 
 course nearly north-west, which was four points off our course 
 that we intended to steer for. It blew very hard all night, and it 
 was very cold, and you may depend we were all very glad when it 
 pleased the Almighty to send us daylight once more ; but we could 
 not see anything of any ship or land, and we all sat down to eat 
 our scanty breakfast ; but before we sat down, we all went to 
 
20 THE STORY OF 
 
 prayers to return thanks to God for preserving us during the 
 night, and hoping that the Almighty would protect us during 
 the day. 
 
 After we had done our breakfast, the wind lulling a bit, we 
 shook one reef out of our foresail. But not to tire my reader with 
 every thing that we done ; we stayed in this condition for four 
 days, the weather being very thick and hazy, and very little wind. 
 We saw a large ship close by us, and being all hands very weak, 
 we got our oars out, and pulled after the ship, which at last we 
 accomplished ; and she proved to be a ship belonging to Bremen, 
 with emigrants from Hanover ; for the French had drove them out 
 of their country, and they were bound to Baltimore, in America. 
 When we first got alongside of the ship, the people on board of 
 her came to the gangway, and seemed quite surprised to see so 
 many poor wretched-looking men in so small a boat ; for our boat 
 was only twenty-five feet long ; and they asked us in German 
 where we came from, and what we wanted. Now, I being the only 
 one that could understand a little of the German language, which 
 I learned at the time that I belonged to the Hamburg ship that I 
 mentioned, I told them that we were Englishmen that had run 
 away from a French prison. As soon as they heard it, they told us to 
 come up ; and you may depend we were glad to hear that ; and we 
 tried our best to get up, but we could not, for we were so weak, and 
 so cold, that we could not stand upon our legs. So the captain 
 seeing this, he was kind enough to send some of the crew into the 
 boat to help us, and they were obliged to haul us up the ship''s 
 side with ropes ; and, thanks be to God, we all got safely on board ; 
 and a miserable set we were, for we had been nearly five days in a 
 small open boat, and when we started we had scarcely provisions 
 enough to last us two days : and then to be exposed in the month 
 of January to a cold north-east wind, and plenty of snow beating 
 about us ; so you may depend we were in a very bad state ; and 
 if they had given us the ship and all her cargo, we could not stand 
 
A sailor's life. 21 
 
 upon our legs. But the captain and the passengers were very kind 
 to us ; and the doctor had us put to bed as soon as he could, and 
 they gave me a little sago and some wine, and 1 soon fell into a 
 sound sleep, from which I did not awake till the next day ; and 
 thanks be to God, and the good people's care, I was able to come 
 on deck in four or five days' time ; but we had the misfortune to 
 lose three of my companions, who died the day after we were 
 picked up. 
 
 And now there being only six of us left, and some of them were 
 a long time before they got well ; but, in eight or ten days' time, 
 I was as well as ever I was, and I was able to be of some service 
 to my preservers ; for we falling in with some very squally weather, 
 we split a good many of our sails, and I being a middling good 
 sail-maker, I was able to repair them, which pleased the captain 
 very much. 
 
 Now the captain had been kind enough to hoist our boat in, and 
 she being a very good boat, the captain asked me if I would sell 
 the boat to him ; for I being the- only one that could speak any 
 German, is the reason the captain asked me. I told him that if he 
 thought the boat was of any use to him, he might have her and 
 welcome ; for, in my opinion, we owed him a great deal more than 
 the value of the boat, for his kindness towards us all. But he said 
 he would not have the boat at that price, for he had done 
 no more than his duty ; but, as we were very short of clothing, he 
 would give us a suit of clothes and a couple of shirts a-piece out of 
 the slop chest for the boat, to which I agreed at once, and thanked 
 him very kindly for his kind offer ; and he gave us our clothes, 
 and in fact every one on board of that ship behaved better 
 than if we had been their own brothers ; and we all were very 
 comfortable on board of her, till the 16th day of February, when 
 we fell in with an English brig who had lost her foremast and 
 bowsprit, by running foul of an iceberg ; and she lost five men 
 over board when the accident happened, so had only four men left. 
 
2^ THE STORY OF 
 
 Our captain asked us if we would go on board of the brig to assist 
 our countrymen, and we agreed to go on board of the brig ; and 
 you may depend we left the Bremen ship with a heavy heart, for 
 they all had been so kind to us ; and our old captain was kind 
 enough to give us a spare spar for to rig a jury foremast ; and he 
 told the master of the brig to pay the price of the spar to us, if it 
 pleased God to send him safe into port. We all thanked the 
 captain heartily for his kindness towards us, and we parted company. 
 
 Now the brig that we got on board of, was called the " Spring- 
 flower,"" belonging to Liverpool ; and she was last from Port Royal, 
 Jamaica, bound to Liverpool. She sailed from Port Royal, under 
 convoy of a frigate ; but being very deeply laden, and a very dull 
 sailer, she lost the convoy in a gale of wind ; and a few days after- 
 wards she had the misfortune to run foul of an iceberg, and lost her 
 foremast and bowsprit, and five of her men. When we came on 
 board of the brig, we found the master, two men, and a boy, and 
 us six coming on board, made ten altogether ; and we turned to 
 with a good will, and got our shears up, and rigged our jury fore- 
 mast and bowsprit, which, with God's help, we finished the second 
 day ; so that we were able to set a maintop gallant sail for a fore- 
 topsail, and a lower studding sail for a foresail, and a fore-topmast 
 staysail for a jib. 
 
 Now the captain of the brig being well pleased with our work, 
 and seeing we were very short of clothing, and especially when he 
 heard how we got on board of the Bremen ship, was kind enough 
 to give us the men"'s clothes that had been drowned, for our use ; 
 and the mate of the brig being drowned, he made me mate in his 
 stead, for I was the only man out of the whole that could read and 
 write. Now the brig had been out a long time at sea, and though 
 she was bound to England, we could not attempt a passage to 
 England in that time of the year, in the state the vessel was in. 
 The Island of Bermuda was the nearest land to us, so we steered 
 for Bermuda, where we arrived safe on the 3rd day of March, 1803. 
 
A sailor's life. 23 
 
 Now when we got to Bermuda, there being one of the owner**s 
 agents there, we discharged our cargo ; and the brig being found 
 unfit to go to sea without a thorough repair, we were paid off; and 
 the captain paid us the same wages that would have been due to 
 his old crew that had been drowned ; and the agent gave the 
 twenty-five dollars to divide amongst me and my shipmates, for 
 exerting ourselves in bringing the " Spring-flower" safe into port. 
 
 And now being upon my own hands again, and having a little 
 money and a few clothes, me, and my old shipmate, the Guernsey 
 man, shipped on board of a brig called the " Sprightly,'*' about one 
 hundred and twenty tons burden, and she was bound to Barbadoes, 
 one of the West India Islands ; and we sailed from Bermuda on 
 the 2nd day of April, 1803, and we arrived at the Island of Barba- 
 does, after a pleasant passage, the latter end of April ; and 1 traded 
 on board of the " Sprightly,*" from one island to another, till 
 August, 1804. 
 
 And I had made a good bit of money by this time, when, on the 
 24th day of August, 1804, we were coming up to windward, and I 
 had the middle watch : it was just after two o'clock in the morning, 
 for I had just been relieved from the helm ; the weather being 
 very thick and hazy, were run down by a large ship, called the 
 " Big Ann," of London. She came down upon us so quick and 
 unawares, that I had only just time to get hold of her bobstays, 
 and I sung out to the rest of them that was on deck ; but only 
 one, beside myself, had the good fortune to save himself, and that 
 was the mate of the brig. The rest of the crew, six in number, 
 found a watery grave. The captain of the '' Big Ann*" tried the 
 best that he could do, for he hove his ship to directly, and lowered 
 two boats down, and pulled about in our direction. We could not 
 see any thing of the brig, or of the unfortunate crew ; so, when 
 every thing was quiet again on board, and made sail again, the 
 captain called the mate and me, and asked us the particulars about 
 our brig, and we told him all we knew about it. He sent us down 
 
24 THE STORY OF 
 
 belo\r, and told us to lay down till the morning, and he would see 
 what he could do for us ; but, for my part, I could not sleep, and 
 I believe my partner in misfortune was the same, for I heard him 
 getting up, every now and then, and singing out for one of his old 
 shipmates, or singing out " Hard a-starboard ! there she comes.*''' 
 I went to him, and tried to quiet him, but it was of no use, for by 
 the morning he was raving mad ; and the captain and some of the 
 passengers did all they could for him by bleeding him and giving 
 him what medicines they thought would do him good ; but all was 
 of no use, for he died the next day about four o'clock in the after- 
 noon. And now, I being the only one that was saved from the 
 '* Sprightly 's"" crew, however all well and hearty only twenty-four 
 hours ago, I knelt down and thanked the Almighty Giver of all 
 good for his wonderful mercy towards me ; and I felt greatly 
 relieved afterwards. 
 
 Now the ship that I was in, was from London, bound to Port 
 Royal, Jamaica, and she had a good many passengers on board, 
 and the captain was kind enough to make a collection for me, and 
 he collected forty-seven dollars for me, which he gave me, in the 
 name of the passengers, for the loss of my clothes, and I returned 
 them my sincere thanks for their kindness ; and the captain told 
 me that, if I liked, I could stay on board of his ship all the time 
 that the ship lay in Port Royal, or till I got another ship. 
 
 We arrived in Port Royal on the 28th day of August, 1804 ; 
 and I was obliged to go on shore the next day to go to the consul, 
 and tell all that I knew about the loss of the " Sprightly" brig. 
 The brig being insured, I received the wages that was due to me to 
 the time she was lost, which amounted to about one hundred and 
 eighty dollars ; so I was able to lay myself in a good stock of 
 clothes, which I wanted very much ; and I stayed on board the 
 " Big Ann"'' till the 15th day of September, when I shipped on 
 board of a ship belonging to Liverpool, called the " King George.'*'' 
 She was bound to the Coast of Africa, for a cargo of slaves ; she 
 
A sailor's life. ^5 
 
 was a fine ship, mounting eighteen guns, and carried eighty men ; 
 and she had a letter-of-marque commission for to fight her own way. 
 
 We sailed from Port Royal the latter part of September, and we 
 had a very pleasant passage across the Trades, and we arrived on 
 the Coast of Africa at a place called Anne Bone, the latter part of 
 November ; and we traded up and down the coast till we got our 
 cargo, which we completed by the beginning of February, 1805 ; 
 but just before we sailed, our captain got information, by a ship 
 that arrived there, that two French frigates were cruising in their 
 track, from the Coast of Africa to the West Indies ; so our captain 
 altered his mind, and, in room of going to the West Indies, we 
 steered for Rio de Janeiro on the Coast of the Brazils, where we 
 arrived on the 15th day of April, 1805 ; and as soon as we got our 
 cargo of slaves out, and our ship cleaned, we took in a cargo of 
 sugar for Liverpool, and we sailed from Rio de Janeiro the last day 
 of May, and we were bound for Liverpool ; and we had a very 
 good passage, though rather a long one, for we were becalmed for 
 twelve days, in what is called the " Horse latitudes;'"* that was just 
 after we had crossed the line ; but afterwards we got a fine breeze 
 across the North-east Trades, till the 17th day of July, when we 
 fell in with a fleet of English men-of-war. The time of our letter- 
 of-marque commission being expired, they came on board of us, 
 and pressed forty men out of us ; and I was pressed among the 
 rest, and sent on board of the " Spashot,'' of seventy-four guns. 
 
 So there I was, once more, on board of an English man-of- 
 war; and I hailed for a foreigner, and I said that I belonged 
 to Hamburg, in Germany, thinking that I should get clear; 
 but it would not do ; they would not let me go ; so when I 
 found I could not get clear, I contented myself and tried to 
 make the best of a bad bargain. We kept cruizing at sea, looking 
 out for French or Spanish ships, till the month of October, when 
 Admiral Nelson joined the fleet with some more ships; and then 
 we were stationed off Cadiz, till the glorious twenty-first of 
 
 c 
 
26 THE STORY OF 
 
 October, when we brought the French and Spanish fleet to action ; 
 and we had pretty warm work while it lasted, but, thanks be to God, 
 we beat them and gained the victory. And after the action I was 
 sent on board one of the prizes, a Spanish seventy-four , and she 
 had lost her fore and mizen-mast by the board, and it being late in 
 the afternoon before we got on board of her, and got the prisoners 
 secured and exchanged, it was nearly night before we began 
 rigging our jury, fore, and mizen-mast; but by daylight next 
 morning we got our fore and mizen standing ; but they proved of 
 very little use to us, for, it coming on a gale of wind, we soon lost 
 our jury-mast again, and we were driving as fast as we could 
 towards the Spanish shore. 
 
 It is bad enough to be on a lee-shore in a gale of wind at any 
 time, but especially when that lee-shore is an enemy^s coast ; but 
 we found that, if the gale continued, we should have to go on 
 shore before morning ; so our commanding officer thought best to 
 run her on shore whilst it was daylight. To effect this, we had to 
 get the ship before the wind, which we could not effect without 
 cutting away the main-mast, which we were obliged to do, and 
 then setting a spritsail upon the bowsprit, we got the ship before 
 the wind ; and as soon as we got the ship before the wind we 
 opened the hatches to let our prisoners come up, so that the poor 
 fellows could look out to save their own lives ; but the ship ran 
 upon a sandy beach, but, thanks be to God, being nearly a new 
 ship, and very strong built, she kept together, and she soon 
 worked herself broadside on ; and us on board, heaving all the 
 starboard guns overboard, and rolling all the shot we could get at 
 or any heavy thing, over to the larboard side, we made shift to 
 give her good list in-shore. And the ship having worked herself 
 broadside on, and well into the sand, we contrived to get ashore 
 under her lee ; which we did by cutting her port gangway and 
 hammock nettings away, and launching her boom-boats ; which 
 we effected, after a good deal of trouble, and by which I got my 
 
A sailor's life. 27 
 
 right leg and my arm hurt a good deal, which laid me up for some 
 time afterwards. Now, after we got the boats baled out, we sent 
 the prisoners ashore first, and then followed ourselves afterwards ; 
 and by four o'clock the next morning — that is to say, the 23rd day 
 of October — we all got safe on shore. 
 
 Now the Spanish prisoners, that had come on shore first, some 
 of them had been and seen their friends, and, as daylight come on, 
 they came down to assist us , which they did, for they brought us 
 some bread, and some figs, and some wine, to refresh us ; which 
 we wanted very much, for we had scarcely tasted anything^ the last 
 twenty-four hours; and the Spaniards behaved very kind to us. 
 As for myself, after I had eaten some bread and fruit, and drank 
 some wine, I tried to get up, but I could not ; and one of the 
 Spaniards, seeing the state that I was in, was kind enough to get 
 two or three more of his companions, and lifted me up in one of 
 tlie bullock-carts in which they had brought down the provisions 
 for us, and covered me up with one of their great ponchos ; and 
 he tapped me on the shoulder, and said, " Bono English V 
 And, being upon the cart, I was out of the wind and rain — for it 
 
 I blew a heavy gale of wind ; and I felt myself quite comfortable, 
 only my leg pained me a good deal ; but, thanks be to God, I soon 
 fell into a sound sleep ; and, as I heard afterwards, the French 
 soldiers came down and marched the rest of my shipmates up to 
 Cadiz, and they put them into a Spanish prison. As for my part, 
 I was taken up to Cadiz in the bullock-cart, and my kind friend 
 took me to his own house, and had me put to bed, where I found 
 myself when I woke. 
 Now, in the house where I was, it happened to be a boarding- 
 house, and a good^many American sailors boarded there, and when 
 I came to myself, my friend, the Spaniard, brought one of the 
 American sailors to me for to ask me if wanted anything. I told 
 the man, very kindly, that I wanted some one to look at my leg ; 
 for I felt my leg very painful. 
 
 c2 
 
28 THE STORY OF 
 
 Now this young man was mate of an American ship that was 
 getting repaired at Cadiz, and he spoke very good Spanish, so he 
 told the Spaniard what I wanted, and my friend went away and 
 fetched a doctor, who could speak very good English, who dressed 
 my leg, and assured me there were no bones broken, only he told 
 me that I must keep myself very quiet, and to be sure not to 
 drink any spirits. I forgot to tell you that the first night that I 
 got on board the prize, whilst I was down below, to look for some 
 rope for to lash the jury foremast to the stump of the old foremast, I 
 picked up a belt ; but, being in a hurry, I never looked into it, but put 
 it round me, under my frock, and, being busy at work all the time that 
 I was on board of her, I never thought no more about it till, now I 
 was laying in bed, I felt it uncomfortable round me, and I asked 
 my new friend, the American mate, if he would be kind enough to 
 take it off me. But what was my surprise when, on overhauling 
 of it, I found that there were forty doubloons, ten dollars, and some 
 smaller money in it ! My surprise was so great that my young 
 friend perceived it, and I told him the whole truth of it, how I 
 came by it. My friend advised me to keep it quiet, and say 
 nothing about it ; I told him I would. 
 
 And now it came into my thoughts that the money might be 
 serviceable to me, to keep me from going to prison ; and I 
 spoke to my young friend about it, and he went down and spoke to 
 the old Spaniard about it, who came up to me directly, and he 
 told the American mate to tell me to make myself quite easy about 
 that ; for he had been to the prison to hear if he could find out 
 that I had been missing, and, when I had been missed, that they 
 supposed that I had been drowned ; so he said, " It will be your 
 own fault if you go to prison.*" 
 
 You may depend I was very glad to hear what he said, and I 
 offered the old man a doubloon, for the kindness he had shown me; 
 which he, at first, refused ; but, after a good deal of persuading, 
 he took it for to pay the doctor. And now, this affair being settled. 
 
A sailor's life. 29 
 
 I rested myself quite contented till it pleased the Almighty to restore 
 to me the use of my leg and arm, which got quite well in about a 
 month's time ; and me and the American mate got quite friendly 
 together ; and, their ship being nearly ready for sea, he persuaded 
 me to join the ship that he belonged to, for they were several hands 
 short, and they would be obliged to ship Spaniards, without they 
 could get any of my former shipmates to run away out of prison 
 and join their ship ; so I agreed to go along with him, and I 
 joined the " Matilda,'" of Boston, on the first day of L^ecember, 
 1805. On leaving my old friend, the Spaniard, who had been so 
 kind to me, I made him a present of five Spanish doubloons, 
 which he accepted ; and I parted from him with a sorrowful heart. 
 
 When I came on board the " Matilda," I was quite surprised 
 to find four of my old shipmates there before me ; they had made 
 their escape out prison through the assistance of some good 
 Spaniards, and had got on board there before me. But you may 
 depend that their surprise was great to see me, for 1 was believed, 
 by every one, to be drowned ; but we soon reconciled ourselves ; 
 and by the 4th day of December we were out at sea, clear of 
 them all ; and our ship, the " Matilda," was bound to Boston, in 
 America, where we arrived the S5th day of January, 1806. I 
 liked my ship so well that I agreed to go along with them another 
 voyage ; and we sailed from Boston in the beginning of March ; 
 and we went back to Cadiz again, and I had the pleasure 
 of seeing my old friend, the Spaniard, again — who was well and 
 hearty. 
 
 xAnd now, I must tell my readers that I staid in the " Matilda," 
 of Boston, till, in a voyage from Boston to London, in the begin- 
 ning of the year 1807, I was pressed out of her, whilst lying at 
 the Big Nore ; and I was taken on board of the " Namur" guard- 
 ship, at Sheerness, and from there I was drafted on board of the 
 " Spitfire" sloop of war. Although I was on the books as a 
 foreigner, I could not get clear ; so 1 wrote up to my old landlord, 
 
30 THE STORY OF 
 
 Mr. B., to hear if I could learn anything of my wife ; and I asked 
 him if he would be kind enough to come down to me and see me, 
 and bring my wife along with him. I sent this letter away on 
 Friday, and on Sunday morning Mr. B. came on board of the 
 " Spitfire," to see me. M^hen we got down below, I asked him 
 how my wife was ; and then I heard that my wife was dead ; that 
 she died the day after I was pressed ; that through the fright she 
 got she was taken in labour, and she died in childbed, but that the 
 child lived, and was grown a fine boy, and that he would be five 
 years old if he lived till July ; and he told me that he had never 
 received only one letter from me. and that was the one I had sent 
 from the " Albion," before I sailed in her ; and Mr. B. told me 
 that he and his wife had taken care of everything ; that after my 
 wife was buried, and they got a nurse for the child, they sold every- 
 thing that I had in the house ; and knowing that I had money in 
 Mr. S.'s hands, he went to him and told him all about it ; and 
 Mr. S. had allowed him seven shillings a-week for to take care of 
 the child and pay the nurse ; and he showed me the account of the 
 expenses he had been at, and I found that it amounted to nearly 
 ninety-five pounds ; so Mr. S. was still a debtor to me. And after 
 we had settled all our accounts, I gave Mr. B. thirty doubloons and 
 about one hundred and tw^enty Spanish dollars, and told him to 
 take them to Mr. S. to put to the rest of my stock ; and I told 
 him to be careful of my boy, and whatever he wanted, to get 
 money from Mr. S. and get it for him ; and 1 gave him two 
 doubloons — one for himself and the other for his wife ; and I 
 returned him my kind thanks for the trouble he had been at on 
 my account. And after Mr. B. was gone, I sat down, and had 
 a good cry for the loss of my wife, and 1 returned my sincere 
 thanks to God for his great mercy to me for raising up friends to 
 look after my child. And now this business being settled, I went 
 on deck to my work, and the next day we sailed for to join a 
 
A SAILOR^S LIFE. 31 
 
 convoy in Yarmouth Roads, and from there we went to Gottenburg, 
 where we arrived in May. 
 
 Nothing particular happened to me whilst in the " Spitfire"** 
 sloop of war, not till the 1st of August, 1810, when an accident 
 happened to me. We were cruising off the coast of Norway, and 
 the weather being rather thick and hazy, for it had been blowing 
 strong all night ; and in the morning, sending our top-gallant-yards 
 up, a strange sail was reported from the mast-head on the lee-beam ; 
 and the hands being turned up to make sail, and I being at the 
 mast-head, binding the top-gallant-yard ; but not getting our 
 jewelblocks on the yard before we were ordered to loose the sail, 
 and was obliged to put them on after the sail was set ; and I being 
 out on the starboard foretop gallant-yard-arm, and the slack of the 
 lifts not being taken down, the top-gallant halyards carried away, 
 and the slack of the lift caught me under my rump, and hove me 
 right over the yard ; but, as luck would have it, I caught right 
 across the top-gallant bow-line, and it being slack, I lowered myself 
 down till I got hold of the leech of the topsail just before the ship 
 was luffed to the wind. I mention this to show the wonderful 
 mercy and care of God Almighty over us poor mortals ; for if I 
 had fell down on deck, I must have been killed upon the spot ; but 
 I got safe down on deck without any hurt, and I got the name of 
 the " Flying Dutchman" amongst my shipmates. 
 
 During our cruise off the coast of Norway, we took several 
 prizes, and our time passed away merrily enough till the year 1812, 
 wlien the American war broke out ; and the '' President"" American 
 frigate, Commodore Rogers, was off the North Cape, when our 
 ship the " Spitfire"" sloop of war, the " Alexander,"" thirty-two gun 
 frigate, and the " Bonne Citoyenne"" corvette, were sent off the 
 North Cape, to protect our trade, and to see if we could see any- 
 thing of him. 
 
 We arrived off the Cape in the latter part of May, and we 
 found it very cold there ; and we kept cruising there till the 
 
3^ THE STORY OF 
 
 10th of June, when, about four o'clock in the afternoon, the 
 weather clearing up, we saw the American frigate, and a large 
 schooner along with her : she was about five or six miles dead to 
 leeward of us, and we made all sail in chase. Now our ship would 
 out-sail the other two ships ; but our commander would not allow 
 us to go alongside of her, for she was too heavy a ship for us to 
 engage ; so we chased her till the 14th of June, when both she and 
 us got stuck amongst the ice ; we had chased her as far as eighty- 
 three degrees of north latitude. 
 
 Now at this time of the year, in this part of the world, there is 
 scarcely any night, but all daylight. We stuck fast among the ice 
 till the 17th day of June, when the ice broke up; but the 
 " President''*' getting clear of it before we did, he made the best of 
 his way to the southward ; and before we got clear we could see 
 nothing of him nor any other ship ; for the corvette had been sent 
 after the schooner, and the " Alexander"" frigate had been drifted 
 off the ice by strong currents, and we did not fall in with the 
 " Alexander"" till the §lst June, and then we kept cruising off the 
 North Cape again. 
 
 Now the '' President"" frigate had taken a great many of our 
 Archangel traders, and a good many Russian vessels, before we 
 came on the coast, and taken them into a place called Colla, which 
 is a large bay, with very good anchorage and a very good harbour. 
 And when she got them in there, they took the best what they 
 wanted out of the ships, and then set fire to them ; and they took 
 one of our Greenland ships belonging to Hull, and had put all the 
 English prisoners on board of her, and the Russians they had set 
 ashore at Colla, a small town about twenty miles up the river ; so 
 the Russians were very much embittered against the Americans. 
 I mention this, because it interferes with my story. We and the 
 frigate kept cruising about the North Cape till the latter part of 
 July ; and our water getting very short, we put into Colla, for to 
 water and to get some wood ; and our cask and people being sent 
 on shore, we sent them their provisions on shore every day 
 
A SAILOR S LIFE, 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 Now, the second day that we lay off Colla, being the 1st day of 
 August, 1812, I was ordered to go into the boat ; and our captain, 
 doctor, and purser, went ashore to go a-shooting. We landed the 
 captain and the rest of the officers on an island, about a quarter of 
 a mile from where our people were at work ; and our captain gave 
 me orders to land the provisions, and then come back for them to 
 take them on board to dinner : and accordingly we went, and I 
 delivered what provisions I had to the officer in charge of the 
 working party ; and telling him the orders that I had received from 
 the captain, he sent me away to obey them ; and we tried to go 
 back the same way we came, but we could not, for the tide run so 
 strong that we could not fetch round the island where our captain 
 was, so we tried to go round the other way ; but all our trying was 
 in vain, for the more we pulled, the further we got away from the 
 island ; and having no grabbling or anchor in the boat, we resolved 
 to go alongside of some of the small vessels which were lying there, 
 to hold on till the tide was down, which we did ; and the people on 
 board of them seemed to be glad to receive us. Now, these vessels 
 were fishing-vessels, seemingly waiting for the tide to slack before 
 they could go to sea ; and the one we got on board of hailed 
 another that lay pretty close to us, but we could not understand a 
 single word they said, and we had no suspicion that they were 
 talking about us. So we laid ourselves down quite unconcerned, 
 for the weather was warm, and we being rather tired after our long 
 pull ; and we might have laid down about two hours, for I could 
 not sleep sound, for I knew that our captain would be very angry 
 
 c3 
 
34 THE STORY OF 
 
 for not fetching him to go on board to his dinner. But what was 
 my surprise^ on getting up, to see two large boats, with about 
 twenty men in each, close to us. And, coming alongside, they 
 took us out of our boat and tied us back to back, and beat us 
 unmercifully, and called us American spies, for they took us and 
 our ships to be Americans ; and they had such a spite against the 
 Americans for burning their ships, that they would not hearken to 
 anything that we had to say if they could have understood us. 
 
 So, after they were tired beating and ill-using us, which they did 
 in a cruel manner — for they were a cowardly set of men, for a 
 coward is always cruel when he gets the upper hand of you ; — so, 
 after they were tired of beating us, they took our boat in tow and 
 took us up to Colla, the name of a small town in Russian Lapland ; 
 and when we got there we were put into prison, and they gave us 
 some black bread to eat and some w^ater to drink, and the next day 
 they put irons on us, and joined two and two together ; we had a 
 shackle round one of our legs and another on our hands, and so we 
 were chained together ; and then they sent a serjeant and eight 
 soldiers as a guard along with us to march us to Archangel, which 
 was about one thousand two hundred miles distant. And so we 
 started on our travels in a very helpless condition. Our first fort- 
 night travel was the worst, for we travelled through nothing but 
 woods ; and when our stock of black bread got low, they used to 
 feed us upon the bark of trees ; for every fir-tree has^ three different 
 barks or rinds upon it, and the middle rind, when roasted by the 
 fire, makes a good substitute for bread. But this was not the worst 
 misfortune we had to deal with, for having irons on our legs and 
 arms we could not pull our clothes off. 
 
 And so we travelled on till we got clear of the woods, and we got 
 in amongst what they called their towns ; and here we got a good 
 deal better used, and our travelling was a good deal better, for we 
 used to get horses from place to place ; and tied the two horses' 
 heads together, and when we were mounted on them, chained 
 
A sailor's life. 35 
 
 together as we were, our poor horses had to keep regular step to- 
 gether, or else we were likely to be hauled off our horses, which 
 was very painful to our legs. And sometimes we travelled in boats 
 for whole days together ; and the nearer we got to Archangel our 
 food became a good deal better, for they used, sometimes, to give 
 us some mi^k along with our bread in the room of water ; and in 
 this way we kept on travelling till the beginning of September, 
 when we arrived in Archangel, where we were put into prison. 
 
 We had been in Archangel prison two or three days, when we 
 found out by the few words of Russian that we had picked up, 
 that we were going to be sent to Siberia along with some more 
 prisoners. And now we thought our fate very hard to be trans- 
 ported without having a trial ; but it happened otherwise. For one 
 morning, when I was out in the prison yard, I heard two gentle- 
 men talking together in German, and me understanding a little of 
 the German tongue, I made bold to speak to one of them as well 
 as I could. I told him what we were, and what ship we belonged 
 to. Now this gentleman that I spoke to, happened to be one of 
 the English Consul's clerks; and he soon spoke to me in good 
 English, and told me that he would speak to the Consul about us ; 
 and he was kind enough to put his hand in his pocket and give me 
 a silver ruble, and away he went. And I went to acquaint my 
 shipmates of the news that I had to tell them ; and you may depend 
 they were very glad to hear the news, especially when I showed them 
 the silver ruble that the gentleman had been kind enough to give me. 
 And 1 went and bought something to eat with part of the money ; 
 for you may depend we were kept pretty short of provisions : and 
 after we had eaten our bellies full, we all returned thanks to 
 God for his kindness towards us, and waited with patience till about 
 half-past ten o'clock, when the turnkey came in and called us, and 
 told us that we were wanted. 
 
 And when we came into the room where the gentleman was that 
 I had spoken to the day before, he told me that the Consul would 
 
36 THE STORY OF 
 
 be there directly ; and, when the Consul came, he spoke to us, and 
 asked us what ships belonging to England were stationed off the 
 North Cape, and how we came to leave our ship. We told him ; 
 and he spoke to the Governor, and the next morning we got our 
 discharge fi'om the prison. 
 
 Now, in the state that we were in, we were not fit to go into a 
 clean house, or amongst clean people : so the Consul put us into an 
 outhouse that he had, and gave us some clean straw to lie on, and 
 two duck frocks and trowsers a piece, for our old clothes were fairly 
 worn out. And he used to send us our provision every day from 
 his own house ; and in a week's time we were clear of all vermin, 
 and as clean as anybody need to be. And the English merchants 
 and their ladies who resided at Archangel, when they came to know 
 how we had been served by the Russians, made a subscription for 
 us, and bought us many things that we stood in need of. 
 
 We stopped with our good Consul till the latter end of Septem- 
 ber, when the '' Oberon," an English gun-brig, arrived at Arch- 
 angel, for to take a convoy home to England ; and the captain of 
 her. Captain Y., a very good man, heard about us, and seeing the 
 state that we were in — for the places that the vermin had eaten into 
 us were not quite healed up — he told us he would take us to 
 England. 
 
 And on the first day of October, we were sent on board of the 
 " Oberon,'' and the captain and officers behaved very kindly to us ; 
 and we sailed from Archangel on the 4th day of October, and on 
 the 17th of October, when nearly off the North Cape, we fell in 
 with our ship the '' Spitfire,"' and the " Alexander'' frigate. We 
 were sent on board of our ship ; and, to our great surprise, we were 
 put in irons. So Captain Y. stated to our captain the state he 
 found us in at Archangel, and the punishment that we had received 
 from the Russians But our captain swore that we intended to run 
 away from the ship^ and we were kept in irons till we arrived at 
 Leith Roads, when orders came on board to let us out of irons ; 
 
A SAILOR^S LIFE. 37 
 
 for Admiral Y. had his flag at Leith Roads, and his son, the captain 
 of the " Oberon,'*'* had acquainted his father with the state he had 
 found us in, at Archangel. 
 
 And so now we thought it was all over with this affair ; but it 
 was not so, for our ship received orders to go round to Portsmouth 
 to be refitted ; and in going round from Leith, as soon as we left 
 the Downs — for we were then under another admiral — our captain 
 turned the hands up, and gave me and a man named Andrew 
 Paddon three dozen lashes a-piece ; for he swore that we two had 
 been ringleaders, and that we intended to run away from the ship. 
 The other two men he forgave : and thus the affair ended. 
 
 Now when we arrived at Portsmouth, we refitted our ship, and 
 we were sent to cruise off Cherbourg along with some men-of-war. 
 On the 10th day of February, 1813, it being a fine morning, we 
 chased a French lugger, close into the land, and the wind dying 
 away, and what there was coming from the northward, the lugger 
 got clear of us ; and we being close in-shore, and standing away to 
 the westward, I happened to be at the masthead to look out. 
 
 It was about half-past ten o'clock in the forenoon, and I was 
 sitting on the maintop-gallant yard, when a little battery, which we 
 had not seen before, opened fire upon us, and the second or third 
 shot they fired, carried away our main- top gallant-mast ; and me 
 sitting on the main-top gallant-yard, I had a very clumsy fall ; but 
 our mainsail being hauled up, I had the good fortune to fall into 
 the belly of the main-sail, where after some time lying there sense- 
 less — for I must have struck against the main-yard in my fall, for I 
 was bleeding a good deal — when there were some hands sent to help 
 me out of the main-sail ; and when I got on deck, I was obliged to 
 be sent to the doctor, when I soon got well. 
 
 Now our ship, in this skirmish, had her foremast badly wounded, 
 and we had several men wounded beside myself; so, after we got 
 clear of the Frenchmen and joined our commodore, which was the 
 '* Fishguard'"* frigate, we were sent to Spithead to have our damages 
 
38 THE STORV OF 
 
 repaired ; whilst I and about a dozen of our men were sent on 
 board of the guard-ship, at Spithead, for fear we should run away. 
 And, by the time that our ship came out to Spithead again, and 
 ready for sea, we were sent on board of her again, and we hoisted 
 the convoy signal for the coast of Africa ; and, on the ^Oth of 
 April, 1813, we sailed from Spithead with about three hundred 
 sail of ships, all under different convoys, some for the East and 
 some for the West Indies, and some for the Straits. And, thanks 
 be to God, we had fine weather and a fine breeze, and we soon 
 cleared the land; nothing occurring worth mentioning, till we 
 parted company from the rest of the ships, and with our own 
 convoy, ten in number, we steered for the Island of Teneriffe, 
 where we arrived on the 5th of May ; and seeing, early in the 
 morning, two schooners close under the land, which appeared to be 
 Americans by their rig, and by the look of their faces. 
 
 Our captain lowered his boat down, there being very little wind, 
 and went on board of a ship called the " Lady Jane,"' of London, 
 which was a transport and had troops on board, and she was a very 
 good looking ship and mounted twelve guns, and she sailed 
 remarkably well ; and he told the captain of her that he was to act 
 as commodore of the convoy, and that he intended to lay astern 
 to see what these two schooners were that we see in shore of us. 
 And acccordingly we went on board again and disguised our ship as 
 much as we could ; for we had cloths to go over her side, and she 
 shewed a bright side in the room of painted ports, and we had 
 some trusses of hay in our mizen chains, and we had a lower 
 studding sail, with some loads to the bottom of it, over the bows 
 to keep the ship astern ; and we had only about twelve hands about 
 the decks, and they were rigged in red shirts, and red caps, and as 
 the breeze came on we set one sail after another martshipman 
 fashion, and we very soon dropped astern of the convoy, and the 
 two schooners coming after us with all the canvas they could%arry, 
 and one of the schooners kept straight for us, but the other kept 
 
r 
 
 A SAILOR^'s LIFE. 39 
 
 more after the other ships ; and our captain seeing it kept away 
 a point more to the southward, so as to spread the chase a 
 little more. 
 
 Now all hands that was on board of us, except those that sat 
 about the decks, were down to their quarters, and our guns were 
 all loaded with round and grape, so we were all ready to receive 
 them. And about three o'clock in the afternoon the schooner that 
 was in chase of us, came pretty close to us, and hailed us, and told 
 us to heave to, whilst he sent a boat on board of us. Our captain 
 answered him — aye, aye, sir, and at the same time we, porting our 
 helm, and up ports the same time, we gave him a broadside that 
 astonished them, for they were all ready to send a boat on board of 
 us ; but our first broadside must have killed a great many men on 
 board of her, for they were all hands on deck, and, not expecting 
 such a reception, they did not know what to do. We still kept 
 firing at her, and at last we shot away her main-mast, and after 
 that was gone, we boarded her; and, thanks be to God, we soon 
 carried her — she was called the " Kentucky j**' of Marblehead. She 
 was a fine schooner, and carried sixteen guns, and one hundred 
 and fifty-six men, and her consort was about the same size that she 
 was, called the " True Blotted Yankee '*'' 
 
 Now when the " I'rue Blotted Yankee" saw how her partner 
 was handled, she hauled her wind and went away, and left their 
 countrymen to fight it out as well as they could. So, after taking 
 charge of our prize and securing the prisoners, of which we found 
 only ninety alive, and a good many of them badly wounded, we col- 
 lected our convoy together, and we steered our course for the Cape 
 de Verd, and from thence to Senegal, where several of our ships 
 were bound, which we reached on the 18th of May ; and from thence 
 we went to Sierra Leone, where we left the rest of the ships and 
 our prize, and we went down along the coast to a place called Cape 
 Three Points, to settle some dispute they had there ; and we kept 
 cruizing up and down the coast till the beginning of July, when 
 
40 THE STORY OF 
 
 we went to a place called Prince's Island to get some wood and 
 water, and when we got there, and got the best part of our water casks 
 on shore, and a wooding party, an English merchant-brig came in 
 shore, and said she had been chased by an American schooner, and 
 our captain and some of the officers went on shore on the heights, 
 to see what they could make of her ; and sure enough it proved to 
 be the " True Blotted Yankee^' American schooner, our old friend, 
 and she lay about two miles from the land, becalmed. 
 
 Now we got every thing we could on board tliat night, for we 
 intended to go out early in the morning to see our old friend. 
 Now our captain ordered the brig to go out first, and see if 
 the schooner would chase her, and we should be close to her to 
 take care of her. And sure enough, the- schooner gave chase to 
 the brig, and not seeing us till we were outside, clear of the 
 Island; but as soon as she saw us, she hauled her wind and 
 left off chasing the brig, and the brig went into port again; 
 and we went in chase of the schooner, but the winds in those 
 parts of the world are not steady, and sometimes we made a 
 fresh breeze of wind, and sometimes she would, and we chased 
 her for two days and two nights, and at last she got clear of 
 us, and left us lying becalmed between four and five degrees 
 to the northward of the line ; and here we were becalmed for 
 five weeks, and our provisions and water getting very scarce by 
 this time, we were very badly off, and we should have been 
 worse, only for the heavy rains that we fell in with, for we had 
 very little water on board when we first started from Prince's 
 Island ; but, thanks be to God, we got a breeze at last, and 
 we steered for Prince's Island, where we arrived on the 10th day 
 of August ; and we watered our ship, and got what provisions on 
 board that we could get on the Island, and we sailed from 
 thence and made the best of our way to Sierra Leone, where we 
 arrived in the beginning of September. 
 
A sailor's life. 41 
 
 Now when we got there, our captain went up to a place called 
 Ben's Island, to the Governor, to report himself; and he took his 
 boat's crew along with him, and he stopped there three days ; and 
 when they came back they had not been long on board, when 
 they were all taken with the fever, the captain and all ; and before 
 the next morning three out of the seven that had been away along 
 with the captain died, and before twenty-four hours was over our 
 heads we had sixty men in their hammocks ; and the sickness went 
 all through the ship, and we lost thirty-six men and officers in 
 about six weeks' time And it was here where I lost my long hair ; 
 for sailors in those days wore long hair ; but we had no long 
 hair left in our ship, for we nearly all had our heads shaved, for the 
 complaint chiefly lay in the head; and by the latter part of 
 October we were all pretty well restored to health. 
 
 We staid on the coast till the begining of May, 1814, when we 
 fell in with an English brig from London, who brought us the 
 news of the Peace, and of Buonaparte giving himself up ; and 
 the brig brought us some newspapers, and some letters for the 
 captains and officers, for she had been to Sierra Leone. You may 
 depend we were all very glad to hear of the news of the Peace ; 
 and the next morning we went to sea, and shaped our course for 
 Portsmouth, were we arrived on the 20th of July. Now when we got 
 home an order was issued from the Admiralty that all men that had 
 served eleven years, and all foreigners, were to be discharged. Now, I 
 being entered as a foreigner on the ship's books, I claimed my dis- 
 charge; and I got my discharge from the service on the 2ndof August, 
 1814; and I went to Portsmouth Dockyard to get my pay, and as soon 
 as I got it I went to the coach-office and booked myself for London. 
 
 By six o'clock that evening I was on my journey, and I arrived 
 safe at the Elephant and Castle by seven o'clock in the morning, 
 after being away from London a little better than twelve years. I was 
 well and hearty after all my trials and crosses ; and, as soon as I got 
 some breakfast, I went to Vine Yard, to see Mr. B. ; but when I 
 
42 THE STORY OF 
 
 got there, Mr. B. was not at home, but Mrs. B. was. I soon told her who 
 I was, and asked her where my boy was. She told me that the boy was 
 very well, and that he was at school ; but she soon sent for him. And I 
 told her not to tell him who I was, for I wanted to surprise him myself. 
 
 At last, when he came into the room where I was, I could see a 
 good deal of his mother's face in him, and it was not long before I 
 had him in my arms, for I could not keep myself from him ; and 
 the poor boy, when he was told that I was his father, fell a crying ; 
 but he still crept close to me, and we soon all got reconciled 
 together. And, when Mr. B. came in, we passed the day away in 
 talking over past affairs ; and the next day me and Mr. B. settled 
 our accounts together, and I went to Mr. S. 
 
 I found that I still had better than a hundred pounds in his 
 hands ; and, after all that was settled, I thanked Mr. S. for the 
 kindness that he had shown me, and I asked his advice what I 
 had best do. 
 
 He told me that I had best not enter into any sort of business 
 at present till I saw how things would turn out, for the Peace 
 had made a great stagnation in trade ; but, if I liked, I might go to 
 work at any of his wharfs, and he would allow me twenty-five 
 shillings a week to go as boatswain at Topping Wharf, in Tooley 
 Street, and I agreed with him. 
 
 I began to make myself quite comfortable, when an accident 
 happened. On the 15th day of September, when we were in the 
 act of lowering a cask of sugar into a brig's hold, one of the 
 handles of the crane came off, and struck me with such a force 
 that it knocked me down for dead. And as soon as Mr. S. was 
 acquainted with it, I was sent to Guy's Hospital, and there I 
 remained for five months ; and at last I recovered, and came out 
 of the Hospital the last day of February, 1815 ; but I was a long 
 time before I had strength enough to go to work ; and Mr. S. was 
 kind enough to allow me twelve shillings a week, after I came out 
 
A sailor's life. 43 
 
 of the hospital, for keeping watch, at night, at the wharf; and 
 here I continued. 
 
 In the middle of May I fell in with an old shipmate of mine 
 that had been a master's mate along with me in the " Spitfire,'"* 
 and he was master of a new bark called the " X. Y. Z.," and he 
 was bound to Riga, and he wanted a second mate; and when 1 
 told him my circumstances he persuaded me to go along with him. 
 So I went. We had a very fine passage across the North Sea, and 
 we arrived at Riga the 10th of July ; and, as soon as our cargo 
 was discharged, we commenced taking in our cargo for London. 
 
 On the 5th of September, it being Sunday morning, the breeze 
 having nearly died away to a calm, the captain ordered me to call 
 the mate ; for he said that he had smelled fire. We all smelled it 
 too. I advised the captain that the best thing we could do was to 
 get the boats out before we opened any of our hatches. Accord- 
 ingly we turned the hands up, and got the boats out, and put oars 
 and sails in them, and then we took one hatch off; but no sooner 
 had we done this, but a good deal of smoke came up the hatchway. 
 We roused some of the bales of flax on deck, for we were laden 
 with flax, hemp, and tallow ; and we mustered all buckets and 
 began to heave water down the place where the smoke came from. 
 And our mate thinking that if the after hatchway was open, he 
 would be able to heave some water down there ; but no sooner were 
 the after hatches taken off, but the flames struck up the after part, 
 and in a very few minutes our main rigging was in a blaze. 
 
 And now all chance of saving the ship was over, for the fire 
 spread rapidly. The middle part of the ship being on fire, those 
 that were aft could not get forward, and those that were forward 
 could not get aft; so we found it a great blessing that we got 
 our boats out. So all hands got into the boats, and we had a 
 chance to save some of our clothes, and some provision and 
 water, which we put into the long boat. Now there were fif- 
 teen of us, men and boys altogether, and we divided ourselves 
 
44 THE STORY OF 
 
 in three boats — that is, the long-boat, pinnace, and jolly boat ; 
 and we lay by the ship till she was burnt to the water"*s edge. 
 
 When the accident happened to us, we could see an Island 
 in the East Sea that belongs to the Danes, for which we pull- 
 ed, taking the boats in tow. But the people on the island see- 
 ing the fire at sea, the governor of the island sent two boats to 
 our assistance, which we met about half-way from our ship to 
 the shore, and they very kindly offered us any assistance in 
 their power ; but we thanked them kindly and pulled on shore 
 in company, where we arrived about eight o'clock in the even- 
 ing, and there was no one hurt. 
 
 In two days we were sent in a Danish vessel to Copenhagen, 
 where we arrived on the 11th day of September ; and when we got 
 there and our captain reported our accident to the Consul, we were 
 all obliged to go to the Consul to state what we knew about the 
 fire ; when one of the boys said, that the evening before we left 
 Riga, he and the mate had been down in the after hold with a 
 candle and lantern to take the numbers of some of the bales of flax ; 
 and that the mate, having taken the candle out of the lantern to 
 look for something, and, in putting the candle back again, the candle 
 had fallen down, lighted as it was, between some of the bales, and 
 they could not reach the candle ; they had hove several pots of 
 water down upon it till they thought it was out. Upon this account, 
 the mate not denying it, the mate and the boy were detained, and 
 we were sent about our business ; and I staid in Copenhagen till 
 the 20th of September, when I shipped in a brig, called the 
 " Fame," and arrived in London on the 24th day of November. 
 
 I found my boy and Mr. and Mrs. B. well and hearty ; and my 
 boy made very good progress in his learning, and I put him 
 apprentice to a sail-maker. 
 
 Here I had the misfortune to lose my money. When I asked 
 Mr. B. about it, I found it was gone ; and though I have since 
 
A sailor's life. 45 
 
 heard that the story I was told about it was not true, I never could 
 hear the rights of it — but the money was gone. 
 
 My son was bound apprentice to Mr. M. for seven years, and 
 Mr. M. told me, when I told him of my misfortune, to make my- 
 self quite easy about him ; that he had taken a great liking to the 
 boy, and, if he behaved himself, he would be as good as a father to 
 him ; and, as Mr. M. had a great many South-Sea-men, and I 
 wanted to make a long voyage, I had best join one of his ships ; 
 and there being a ship of his called the '' Policy,''' now fitted out, 
 if I liked he would speak to the captain of her for me ; and I, 
 being tired of these short voyages, agreed with the captain When 
 the captain was gone, he called me to him, and said to me, " Upon 
 account of your late misfortune, losing nearly all, I make you a 
 present of this for to fit you out for the voyage ;'''' and he gave me 
 two ^ve pound notes. I thanked him very kindly. 
 
 On the 20th of June, 1816, we sailed from Gravesend, and we 
 t had a very good passage, and we got round Cape Horn by the 
 Ibeginning of October, and we soon had the pleasure of getting into 
 [the Pacific Ocean. 
 
 On the 25th of October, whilst cruising near the Island of Juan 
 Fernandez, we saw a large school of spermaceti whales, and we 
 lowered our boats down, and we got three fine whales, which made 
 us nearly one hundred and fifty barrels of oil. This being the first 
 time that I was in a boat alongside of one of these great sea- 
 rnonsters, you may depend I did not half like myself ; but I soon 
 got used to it, and I was eager for the sport. 
 
 On the 20th of May 1817, we saw the spout of a fish 
 about four o'clock in the afternoon, and there being very little wind 
 we lowered our boat, got up to her, and made fast to her. She ran 
 us about ^ye or six miles, when she hove to and we soon killed 
 her ; but, by the time that she was dead and we got her in tow, it 
 was past sunset, and we could scarcely see our ship ; but we 
 pulled towards her as fast as we could, and tlie ship, the last time 
 
46 THE STORY OF 
 
 we saw her, was coming towards us ; and when it got dark, we 
 hoisted our lantern at our mast-head, so that the ship might see us. 
 
 We kept pulling away till about twelve o'^clock at night, when 
 our candle went out, and being all very tired, the mate ordered us 
 to lay our oars in and rest ourselves a bit, and told all hands to 
 look out sharp to see if they could see anything of the ship ; but 
 we could not see any thing of her. 
 
 So, after having a small drop of rum and water and a bit of biscuit, 
 we got our oars out again, and pulled in the direction where we had 
 seen the ship last ; for we could see a large rock, called Rodondo, 
 and we steered for it, and we kept pulling till daylight ; and then, 
 to our great misfortune, we could not see anything of the ship, 
 and we were a long way drifted from Rodondo. And we, finding 
 that our pulling was of little use, laid our oars in, and we had a 
 consultation what was best for us to do ; and after different opinions, 
 we agreed that, as there was a little breeze of wind, we should 
 set our sail, and stand to the northward, in hopes to fall in with 
 some ship. For when we started from our own ship there were 
 six of us in the boat, and all the provisions we had was a breaker 
 of water, which held about six gallons, and about a dozen biscuits, 
 and about a pint of rum, and as we had not been very careful of 
 it the first night, we had very little of it left. So we were not in a 
 very fit state to pull, and we thought by sailing we might have a 
 chance of falling in with some ship. 
 
 And now we had a hard chance before us, in an open boat, in 
 the great Pacific Ocean, and nearly under the equator, with the 
 sun hot enough to roast us, and scarcely any water to drink, and 
 very little to eat ; but it was of no use to fret about it, and we 
 were obliged to make ourselves content, and pray to God to release 
 us out of calamity. 
 
 We staid in this way in the boat for three days, when we had 
 the last cup of our water ; and you may depend that we were all 
 hungry enough, and some of our men hauled up to the whale, and 
 
A sailor'^s life. 47 
 
 cut some of his tail off, and broiled it in the sun, and eat it. And 
 1 and the mate tried to persuade them from doing it, but they took 
 no notice of it ; and the consequence was, that it made them sick, 
 and caused them to heave up what little substance they had on 
 their stomachs. And the next day morning, being the fourth day, 
 we found one of our boatmates lying dead in the boat ; and after 
 we said a few prayers over him, we committed his body to the deep 
 with a sorrowful heart ; for we were all very weak by this time. 
 And that same day about four o'clock, another of our boatmates 
 was taken raving mad, and after ill-using himself a good deal, he 
 jumped overboard, and the sharks soon finished him. 
 
 And now, there were only four of us left, and we suffered a 
 good deal with thirst. I can'^t say I was very hungry, but I was 
 terribly dry ; and the next morning, being the fifth day, we found 
 another of our boatmates dead. It was as much as the three of 
 us could do to heave him overboard, for we were so weak we could 
 not stand upon our feet; but after a good deal of trouble we 
 got him out of the boat* And after that we turned to and licked 
 the dew off the oars and the boat, to quench our thirst ; and so we 
 passed away the fifth day. And sometime during the night our 
 other comrade died ; we heard him groan but we could not help 
 him. And when daylight came the next morning, we saw a ship 
 quite close to us, but botli me and my partner were so weak that 
 we could not get up to shew ourselves; but I made shift to hold 
 one of the boat'^s flags up. The ship, when she came close to us, 
 hove to, and lowered a boat down, and towed us alongside of the 
 ship ; but which way we got on board of her I can't tell. 
 
 When I came to myself I found that I was on board of a whaler, 
 belonging to London, and that my poor partner, the mate of our 
 ship, had died about four hours after he got on board of her, and 
 the doctor told me that there was no fear of me if the fever only 
 kept off. I found myself very weak, and I could not stand upon 
 my legs. Now the four men that died in the boat were the 
 
48 THE STORY OF 
 
 four men that eat of the whale that we were towing of. The ship 
 that I got on board of was called the " Neptune,*" and she was a 
 full ship, bound home, and 1 was obliged to go home in her. 
 
 We arrived safe at Gravesend, the 24th day of September, 
 after being away two years and four months. After we got the 
 ship safe into the docks, I went to Mr. M.'s to see my son; but, 
 what was my surprise to find that my son had gone to sea, and that 
 Mr. B. was dead, and that his widow had gone into the country 
 to live along with her friends. 
 
 Mr. M. told me that my son, after hearing of my misfortune, 
 had been continually teazing him to let him go to sea in one of his 
 ships, for he said he wanted to look for his father ; and, having a 
 ship ready to sail, he at last consented to let him go, and he sailed 
 in a ship, called the " Seringapatam,'' and was gone from England 
 about ^ve months. And Mr. M. told me that he had been a very 
 good lad, and that he was very sorry to lose him from his sail-loft. 
 And now, after our oil was sold, 1 received my wages, which 
 amounted to ninety-three pounds, for the captain and Mr. M. were 
 kind enough to pay me for the whole time that I had been away 
 from the ship. In a South-Sea-man the men have no monthly 
 wages, but go by the shares, and they got a good many fish during 
 the time I had been away. And now, having no acquaintance in 
 London, 1 intended to go in the first ship that was bound to the 
 South Seas, to look after my son. 
 
 Mr. M. had a ship fitting out, called the *' Spring Grove," and I 
 agreed to go as second mate ; and we sailed from Gravesend on the 
 8rd of November, 1818, and, thanks be to God, we had a very 
 good passage to James'*s Island. Our passage lay round the 
 south-west point of the island, where there lies a dangerous reef, 
 called the Papases. By going inside of the reef you can fetch 
 your anchorage without making a tack. 
 
 Now, on the evening of the 2nd of February, it being a fine 
 night, our captain intended to go inside the reef. I reasoned 
 
A sailor's life. 49 
 
 against it as much as 1 could, but it was of no use, for the mate 
 said he had been through the passage a dozen times, and he could 
 take the ship through it ; for he said if we went outside of the reef, 
 it would take us a whole day to work up to our anchorage ; and 
 accordingly we went. 
 
 I had the first watch on deck, which is from eight o'clock till 
 twelve at night ; but the captain being on deck all my watch, 
 everything went according to his direction. And at twelve oVlock 
 the mate came up, and took charge from me, and I went below to my 
 cabin, and I soon went to sleep ; but I had not laid long, when I 
 was awoke by the ship striking upon the rocks. I jumped up and 
 put on my trowsers and my old jacket, and on deck I went ; but 
 when I got there, the sea was making a clean breach right over the 
 ship. And as soon as I got clear of the companion hatch, a cross 
 sea took me and hove me against the larboard bulwarks, and carried 
 me, bulwarks and all, away overboard ; and I tried to swim a bit, 
 but I still kept hold of the piece of bulwark till another tre- 
 mendous sea took me and hove me on shore. 
 
 But the blow that I received knocked me senseless, and there I 
 lay till about seven or eight o'clock next morning, when I came to 
 myself, and I found our dog Nero standing alongside of me, licking 
 my wounds ; for my head was cut, and my left side, where I had 
 been hove against the rocks. 
 
 When I got up, which I could scarcely do, I looked round to see 
 if I could see anything of the ship or any of my shipmates ; but 
 I could see nothing, only the dog, and he kept running to a short 
 distance from me, and kept barking at something, and then came 
 back to me again — as much as to say, " come here and look."" 
 And at last 1 went to see what it was, though I had a good deal of 
 trouble to get there : and when I got there, I found one of my 
 shipmates lying amongst the rocks, and you may depend I was glad 
 to see it; but when 1 tried to get him up, 1 found he was quite 
 dead, for his head was all cut to pieces. 
 
50 THE STORY OF 
 
 The man that I found was our carpenter, and his name was 
 James Roberts. Now, when I found that he was quite dead, I sat 
 down beside him, and I cried like a child, for I was in great hopes 
 that I should have had a partner in my misfortune ; for I could see 
 nothing but starvation before me, and I had a great mind to lie 
 down alongside of my shipmate and die ; but the dog would not let 
 me, for he kept pulling me by the trowsers for to get up ; and the 
 sun was very powerful and hot ; so up 1 got to look for a place to 
 shelter myself, and at last I found one under some trees, where I 
 sat down to rest myself; but I had not sat there long before I 
 heard my dog barking again very loud, and I got up in hopes of 
 seeing some one alive beside myself, but I could not see anybody ; and 
 when I came to my dog I saw that he had found a land tortoise, 
 which 1 knew was very good eating, but I had no fire to cook it 
 by ; but I knew that the land tortoises have three bladders in them, 
 one full of blood, and two full of water ; and, as I was very dry, I 
 killed the tortoise, for I had my knife about me, the only thing 
 then, excepting the clothes I had on, that I had saved from the 
 wreck ; and I took one of the bladders of water out of the tortoise 
 and I drank it, and I found it very good, and I gave the one full of 
 blood to my dog ; and I eat some of the lean of the tortoise, and 
 cut it in thin slices and beat it, and spread it out in the sun to dry 
 for myself to eat, and the rest I gave to my dog ; and the other 
 bladder of water I buried in the sand close to the trees where I had 
 fixed my present habitation. And after I had eaten, and drank my 
 water, 1 felt myself a good deal better, and 1 knelt down to thank 
 the Almighty Giver of all good for his wonderful mercy to me, to 
 send me food in the wilderness that I was in ; and I humbly begged 
 the Lord to forgive my grumbling and discontentment that I shewed 
 at my first landing, and I begged heartily that the Lord would 
 extend His mercy towards me, to help me out of my misery ; but 
 I intended, with God's help, to make myself as happy as my 
 circumstances would allow me to be ; and after that I felt happier ; 
 
A sailor'^s life. 51 
 
 and I laid myself down and fell asleep about the middle part of the 
 day, and after I awoke, I went down to where my poor old ship- 
 mate lay, for I intended to bury him, and for that purpose I 
 collected some sharp flat stones, and with the help of them I dug a 
 grave, which cost me a good deal of trouble and time, and at length, 
 having made it deep enough, I brought the body to it. But before 
 I put his body into the grave, I took off his trowsers and his shirt, 
 and his waistcoat — he had a flannel and a pair of drawers on, for I 
 thought that these things might come handy, and I did not know 
 how long I might have to stop on the island — and after praying to 
 God to have mercy on him, I put him into his grave, and covered 
 him up as well as I could, for I put as many stones as I was able 
 to man-handle on the top of his grave, and by the time I hud 
 finished, it was nearly dark. And I went up to my trees again, and 
 I gathered as much grass and leaves as I could to make myself a 
 bed, for I had been on shore before on the island, in the " Policy," 
 the last voyage I made, and I was not afraid of any wild beast or 
 venomous insects to hurt me. And now, I must explain the reason 
 why I could not see anything belonging to the ship I had belonged 
 to — she, striking on the south-west point of the island, and the 
 wind is always to the south-east, and the current most in general 
 sets from the north-west, which causes an outset ; 'and everything 
 as it broke adrift from the ship was swept out to seaward, and it 
 was God's mercy that I got washed on shore ; and here I am likely 
 to remain till it pleases the Almighty to release me. 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 My prayer all alone on the solitary island made me feel a good 
 deal easier; and 1 had strength to bury my comrade. I then made 
 my bed, and laid myself down, with my dog alongside of me, and 
 soon fell asleep, and I slept very soundly till the next morning. 
 
 d2 
 
52 THE STORY OF 
 
 After I awoke I went to the beach to see if I could find anything 
 washed on shore from the ship, though I found my side and my 
 head very sore ; but I could find nothing that had been washed on 
 shore. And next thing I looked for was to see if I could find 
 anything like a flint ; for my chief object was to try to get a fire, 
 for then I should be able to cook my meat; for I had found in my 
 poor shipmate^s pockets, a knife and a gimlet, and a few nails, and 
 some chalk ; and I tried my knife and his knife on all the stones 
 that looked like flint stones, to try to strike fire; but I could not 
 find any that would do, so the only thing I had to do was to 
 try to get two pieces of touchwood and rub them together, 
 which I had seen the Indians do, and I knew that there was plenty 
 of touchwood in the island, for we gathered some when I was there 
 before in the " Policy" ; but we had axes then to cut it down 
 with, but now I had nothing but two pocket knives, but I thought 
 that, with God's help, I should be able to manage it. And I went 
 back to my grove, where 1 had slept the night before, to get some- 
 thing to eat ; but, not coming back the same way that I went, I 
 found some sorrel — which has a small leaf and a big stem — which 
 is a capital thing to quench your thirst ; for the stem is full of 
 moisture, of a sourish taste, and it is a very good substitute for 
 water. 
 
 At finding this prize, I returned my hearty thanks to God for 
 sending me in the way to find it. Although the water that I got 
 out of the tortoise's bladder was very good, still the sorrel and it 
 made it more pleasant; and, after I and my dog had our breakfast, 
 we went to look for some touchwood, which, thanks be to God, I 
 found, after a good deal of trouble. And it cost me nearly three 
 months' trouble and hard work before I got a fire, which 1 did by 
 rubbing the two pieces of wood together ; and during this time I 
 lived nearly as I have mentioned, only that I tried several more 
 herbs ; and 1 found a sort of asparagus which I found contained a 
 good deal of moisture, which was a great help to me ; and I tried 
 
I 
 
 A SAILOR'S LIFE. 53 
 
 a good many different barks of trees to make something as a 
 substitute for bread ; and, at last, after trying a good many, I 
 found some that, after being baked in the sun, did very well ; so, 
 thanks be to God, I got on better and better every day. 
 
 Now I must tell you the way I kept an account of my time: — 
 I dug two holes in the earth, and I got thirty small stones, and 
 the day that I was cast away upon the island being the 3rd 
 day of February, I counted from that time, and put a stone into 
 the empty hole every day, till the thirty stones were all gone ; and 
 then with my knife I cut a great notch on a tree that stood close 
 by ; so, by these means, I could tell how many days I had been on 
 the island. And now, after I got a fire, I used to cook my meat, 
 and make myself as comfortable as my circumstances would allow me 
 to be. But you might perhaps wish to know what I did for a pot or 
 a frying pan ? — why, I used the top shell of a tortoise for a pot, 
 and the under shell for a frying pan. And I took great care that 
 my fire should not go out, for there was plenty of cork or match- 
 wood on the island ; and I knew, by former trials, that the wood 
 would keep alight whilst there was a bit of it left, but it would 
 never come to a blaze ; and, to prevent my fire from going out, 
 I always had two or three pieces alight. 
 
 Being busy the chief part of the time that I had been on the 
 island in making a fire, 1 had scarcely gone any distance from the 
 beach, and from my grove. I resolved now to go into the interior 
 of the island, and with this intent I lighted a couple of large pieces 
 of matchwood, that I knew would last two or tliree days ; and 
 away I and my dog started for the middle part of the island; and 
 we travelled on a good while, when my dog fell a barking at 
 something ; and to my great surprise, what should it be but two 
 wild goats, that had been laying down, when the dog came close to 
 them. 
 
 Now my seeing these goats put a desire into my head, that I 
 ghould like to get some of them ; for I thought that I might get 
 
54 THE STORY OF 
 
 some goat's milk, which would be a great addition to me. 1 began 
 to get tired of walking, and I went and got a small tortoise, and 
 killed him ; and I found plenty of sorrel here, so I give my dog 
 something to eat and to drink. I had some myself; for I had 
 taken care to bring a piece of matchwood along with me, and there 
 being plenty of dry brushwood, I soon made a fire, and roasted my 
 meat ; and after I had my dinner, and returned thanks to God, 1 
 and my dog went on our travels again ; and we travelled a good 
 distance, and we saw plenty more goats, And by tracing the goats 
 1 found a small spring of water, and you may depend that I shall 
 never forget how sweet the first drop of water tasted, that I had ; 
 and after having a good drink, I returned thanks to the Almighty 
 for his wonderful mercy to me. 
 
 And now, as it was beginning to be late, I resolved to stop where 
 I was for the night ; so, on that account, I began to look out for a 
 place to shelter from the dew ; and when I had found one, I 
 gathered some leaves and some moss, and made myself a bed. As 
 it was early yet, I looked round to see what sort of a place I had 
 got to ; but I soon found that I had nearly got to the north-east 
 part of the island, for I had not walked far from my new habitation 
 when I could see the sea: and finding the place so convenient to 
 the sea, and more cool than the lee-side of the island,, I resolved 
 to shift my habitation round to this part of the island ; and, with 
 this intention, I went to my new lodging ; and, after I had some 
 supper, and given some to my dog, and returned my sincere thanks 
 to God for the many blessings he had showered down on me, I laid 
 myself down to sleep : but I could not sleep for a long time, for 
 my thoughts were occupied, how I should be able to make myself 
 master of some of the goats I had seen. At length I came to the 
 resolution to make myself a bow and some arrows ; and I thought 
 that if I was able to wound a goat, my dog would be able to catch 
 him. And, with this thought, 1 went to sleep, and I slept very 
 soundly till the next morning ; when, after returning my thanks 
 
A sailok's life. 55 
 
 to God for preserving me during the night, I made a fire, and 
 cooked myself some breakfast ; and, after I and my dog had done, 
 we travelled on to my old habitation, and soon packed up my all. 
 And, when I counted my stones, I found that I had been one 
 hundred and fifteen days on the island. And away I and my dog 
 went back to my new lodgings ; and we got back before sunset — 
 for we had taken a nearer road than we did the first day. And 
 after I had put all my store in my new house, I went to bed, for I 
 was tired; and the first thing I did, next morning, was to regulate 
 my time-keeper, in digging two more holes, and put my stones in 
 them; and cutting my notches in a tree, that stood close by. And 
 now I began to work at my bow and arrows ; for that purpose I 
 killed a large tortoise, to get his gut to make a string for my bow ; 
 and after getting a piece of wood, fit for a bow, I made it ; and I 
 found my gimlet that I had found in my poor shipmate's trow^ers'* 
 pocket very handy. And after my bow was done, I went to work 
 to make the arrow, and I finished my weapon in three days — 
 which I don't think very long, considering I had nothing but my 
 knife to do it with, and I had every thing to look for before I could 
 use it. 
 
 I was soon repaid for my trouble ; for the fourth day that I was 
 out with my bow and arrow, and my dog, I wounded an old she- 
 goat, and my dog soon caught it ; and as he and I were bringing the 
 goat home, I found that two young ones followed the old one ; 
 and as the old goat was only wounded in the leg, I tied her up 
 outside my grove ; and I had the pleasure of seeing them come 
 to the old one, and sucking her. After they were tired of sucking, 
 they laid down beside the old dam. 
 
 My next trouble was to make a place to keep my goats in ; and 
 I turned to, and fenced a piece of ground all round, which cost me 
 a good deal of trouble ; but I completed a piece in four days, and 
 I put my goats into it ; and now, keeping the young ones by 
 themselves, I had some milk to drink, which was a great help to 
 
56 THE STORV OF 
 
 me; and I returned the Almighty God thanks for his wonderful 
 mercy to me. And now that I saw I had made a good job of the 
 fence that I had made for my goats, I intended to make a sort of 
 fence round my dwelling-place, and to try to cover it more from 
 the sun, for rain is scarcely ever known in these islands, for I had 
 been here now one hundred and eighty-four days, and I had no 
 rain all that time ; so to work I went, and finished my job in about 
 thirty days, and I found myself a good deal more comfortable 
 than I was before. 
 
 I had not long finished my job, when one night, which I 
 believed to be nearly the latter end of September, it came on to 
 blow and rain as if heaven and earth were coming together, and 
 very heavy lightning and thunder along with it. It was a night 
 such as I had not experienced since I had been on the island, and 
 I thanked the Lord Almighty for putting it into my head to put 
 my house to rights, in order to shelter me from the weather. But 
 about midnight, as near as I could guess, the roof, and everything 
 that I had put on my house, was blown off, and I was exposed to 
 the open air. The only thing that I was fretting about was, that 
 the rain would put my fire out, which I had been at so much 
 trouble in getting ; but about four or five o'clock next morning 
 the rain ceased, and the wind died away, and by sunrise it was 
 quite a fine morning. And, thanks be to God, my fire was not 
 gone out ; but, on looking round me, to see the destruction which 
 the wind and lightning had caused, and still I was saved amongst 
 the living to praise the Lord, which I did, I hope, with a true 
 heart, I had the misfortune to find that one of my young goats 
 had been killed by lightning, for he was black and blue all over ; 
 my house was much damaged, and my bed soaking with rain. 
 
 Repairing my house and bed cost me a good deal of trouble 
 and time, for I had never been properly well since the night the 
 hurricane swept over the island, and I found myself getting worse 
 every day. My legs began to swell very much, so that I was 
 
A sailor'*s life. 57 
 
 Scarcely able to go to the spring to fetch my water, or able to 
 catch a tortoise ; but my dog, my only companion, used to fetch 
 them to me. But at last I got that bad, that I was not able to get 
 up out of my bed-place, and I nearly gave myself up for lost. 
 But still I put my trust in God, and I said, '' O Lord, thy will be 
 done, not mine.*" 
 
 1 had lain in this state two or three days, when one day, as I 
 was nearly famishing with thirst, I heard my dog barking a good 
 deal more than he used to do. I tried to get up, but 1 could not. 
 1 called my dog, " Nero ! Nero !" as loud as I could, but still he 
 kept on barking, but I could hear that he was getting nearer to my 
 habitation. But what was my surprise when I heard a human voice 
 singing out to some one, '' Come along. Jack, I must go and sec 
 where this dog is going to !''' 
 
 I cannot express my feelings at the first sound of a human voice. 
 Joy and fear overcame me, so that I was nearly fainting away when 
 my dog came in, and two men close to him. They were quite 
 surprised at finding me there, and they asked me several questions, 
 which I was scarcely able to answer ; but after a little while, I 
 asked one of them to give me a drink of water which I had in my 
 hat, and after I got a little revived, I asked them how they came 
 there. They told me they belonged to an American schooner, 
 called the '' Flying Fish,"** of Baltimore, and that they came on 
 shore there to get some wood, and to try if they could find any 
 water, and that, on landing, they had seen the dog; and being 
 surprised at seeing a dog upon the island, which they knew was 
 uninhabited, the second mate and one man had followed the dog 
 till they found me ; and I told them as well as I was able how I 
 came on the island, and how long I had been there. 
 
 The second mate, who was talking to me, told me that he would 
 go on board of the schooner directly, and acquaint the captain of the 
 schooner of my condition ; but I begged of him to allow his ship- 
 mate to stop along with me whilst he was gone, to which he agreed, 
 
 d3 
 
58 THE STORY OF 
 
 and away he went ; but my feelings during the time he was gone^ 
 T can't express, for hope and fear were mixed together. I asked 
 the man that was left along with me, to make my fire up, and fry 
 some tortoise, for the dog had dragged a large one close to my hut, 
 and my new companion killed him, and cooked the best part of it, 
 and before it was quite done, the captain of the schooner came up 
 to my hut, and he brought four men along with him to carry me 
 down to the boat, and he brought some rum and water, and some 
 biscuit along with them, for me to have something to eat and to 
 drink before they took me away ; and the captain and the men 
 had some of my tortoise that their shipmate had cooked, and they 
 liked it very well. But the first morsel of bread that I tasted I 
 could scarcely get down, for it was now two hundred and seventy 
 days since I had tasted a bit of bread ; and still the Lord had been 
 kind enough to preserve me, and send me help when I was in the 
 greatest distress, and could not help myself; and how wonderful 
 that the dog should be the means of my deliverance ! Then after 
 thanking the Almighty disposer of all events for his kind love to 
 me, and his wonderful deliverance, I took my last farewell of my 
 hut and the island, and we started for the boat, and the captain of 
 the schooner ordered one of the men to fetch my bow and arrows, 
 and my goats, and everything that 1 had belonging to cooking 
 utensils, and to bring them on board : then me, and my dog first, 
 got on board of the schooner ; I fainted away. 
 
 It was a long time before I came to again, when I got on board 
 the schooner; and the people on board told me afterwards that 
 they could not keep the dog from me during the time F was lying 
 senseless ; and as soon as he saw that 1 moved and spoke again, he 
 ran fore and aft the decks like as if he was mad. 
 
 When I came on board of the " Flying Fish,'' it was the 29th 
 day of October, 1820, and I was cast away on the 3rd day of 
 February, which made exactly two hundred and seventy days that 
 I had been on James's Island. Now the schooner lay there eight 
 
A sailor's life. 59 
 
 or ten days after I had been on board, to get wood and tortoises on 
 board ; and then we sailed from tlie island, and the schooner being 
 bound to Baltimore, in America, we went to windward. 
 
 In the beginning of January, 1821, but a few days after we got 
 round Cape Horn, and being off the Falkland Islands, a sad mis- 
 fortune befell me : I lost my dog, who died through eating some 
 porpoise liver. Some of the crew of the schooner had caught a 
 porpoise, and the dog, being used so long to live upon raw meat, 
 eat two greedily of the liver, and he died on the fifteenth day of 
 January, and you may depend that I was very sorry for it ; but he 
 was gone, and all the fretting about him would do no good ; so we 
 kept on our course, and, thanks be to God, we had very fine 
 weather, and we arrived in Baltimore on the Snd of March, 1821. 
 Now, the captain and the crew had given me a good many clothes 
 on the passage, for what'l had on the island were all worn out, and 
 my legs, thanks be to God, were a good deal better : and the captain 
 of the schooner took me up to the owners, and told them what state 
 he had found me in ; and the owners were kind enough to send me 
 to a boarding-house, where I was to stay till I got well, and they 
 made me a present of twenty dollars ; for which, and all the other 
 kindnesses which I had received from them, I thanked them 
 kindly. 
 
 I stayed in Baltimore till the 20th day of April, when I found 
 myself quite well, and shipped on board of a brig called the 
 " Buck,"" of Boston, and she was bound to New Orleans, where we 
 arrived on the 16th day of May. 
 
 I forgot to mention that before I left Baltimore I sent a letter to 
 Mr. M., in an English ship bound to Liverpool, to acquaint him 
 with the loss of the " Spring Grove,*" and I acquainted him that 
 the ship had one thousand three hundred barrels of oil in her when 
 she was lost, and every other particular about her ; and I told him 
 that I intended to come to London myself, as soon as I had an 
 opportunity. 
 
60 THE STORY OF 
 
 Now when we arrived at New Orleans, our brig was found unfit 
 for sea, for she was very leakey, and we the crew were discharged 
 from her ; and I being in a strange place, and having very little 
 money, I was obliged to look out for another ship as soon as I 
 could ; and I shipped myself in a steamboat called the " Olive 
 Branch,''' to go from New Orleans up the Mississippi to the Falls 
 of Ohio ; and I got twenty-five dollars per month. I went up in 
 the " Olive Branch^' as far as a place called Shipping Point, close 
 to the Falls of the Ohio ; but it now being the latter part of June, 
 and the river being very low, our steamer was laid up, and I was 
 paid off. But, thanks be to God, though I was in a strange place 
 I was not long before I got employment, for being a good hand at 
 sail making, I soon found plenty of employment to make sails for 
 barges and awnings for shops in the town ; and I stopped in 
 Shipping Point till the beginning of October, when I shipped 
 myself in a steamboat called the " La Fayette,"*' and we went to a 
 place called Pittsburgh, the upper end of the Ohio. And being 
 shipped on board of this vessel as second mate or shipping master, 
 I had the charge of the cargo — for in those vessels you are con- 
 stantly discharging and loading, so it required to be a man that was 
 a scholar ; and I had forty-five dollars per month. 
 
 We arrived at Pittsburgh the 1st day of November, and then 
 we began to load for New Orleans as soon as our cargo was dis- 
 charged ; and by the 12th of November we started from Pitts- 
 burgh, and got back to New Orleans the 10th of December ; but 
 I had the misfortune to hurt my leg on the passage down : and, 
 when we got to New Orleans, and our cargo discharged, I found 
 my leg so bad that I was obliged to take my discharge from the 
 " La Fayette," and go on shore under the doctor's hands ; and I 
 was obliged to go to a boarding house ; but thanks be to God, I 
 had saved up a little money. 
 
 Now the house that I was recommended to was kept by a widow 
 woman, and she seemed to be a very industrious woman, but 
 
A sailor's life. 61 
 
 she was obliged to keep a bar-keeper or a man to look after the 
 business. 
 
 Now, after I had been in the house for about two months, she 
 asked me, one day, if I could read and write ; I told her yes. She 
 asked me if I would be kind enough to have a look at her books, 
 for she was pretty well sure that the man that she had for a bar- 
 keeper had cheated her. I told her that I would do it with plea- 
 sure ; for, thanks be to God, my leg was getting nearly well ; and, 
 on overhauling her book, I found a great many frauds. And when 
 the man was asked about it, he said that he would settle everything 
 in the morning; but that night he ran away, and took nearly fifty 
 dollars, that he had received from different people, along with him ; 
 and we never saw no more of him. 
 
 Now my leg, as I told you before, was nearly well ; and she 
 asked me if I would be kind enough to look after her bar ; and, 
 after a little consideration, I consented. And I showed her what 
 money I had of my own before I had anything to do with her 
 money ; and she agreed to give me twenty dollars a month, and 
 my board ; and I went and took charge of everything. 
 
 But to make a long story short, before I had been her bar-keeper 
 two months, I became her husband ; for I married her the 
 5th of April, 1822; and, thanks be to God, a very good wife she 
 proved to be. And I began to look upon myself as settled ; and I 
 wrote a letter to my son and to Mr. M., telling Mr. M. that, if he 
 thought my son deserved it, or stood in need of it, to let him have 
 the sixty pounds that I put in his hands when I was paid off from 
 the " Policy." 
 
 I was beginning to do very well ; "but we appoint, and the 
 Almighty disappoints ; for, the sickly season 'setting in very severe, 
 my wife, my dearest Martha, caught the fever, and died in three 
 days after she was taken bad ; and I buried her on the 25th of 
 July, 1822. I had not been long at home before I was taken bad, 
 and the doctor advised me to go to the hospital, which I according- 
 
6^ THE STORY OF 
 
 ly did ; but, before I went to the Hospital, I had my house shut 
 up, and I left what goods there were in charge of my late wife's 
 sister ; and I took about two hundred dollars, in notes, along with 
 me in the hospital. 
 
 I stayed in the hospital about six weeks, when it pleased God to 
 let me recover and get to my senses again ; for I had been out of 
 my mind nearly all the time that I had been there. And, when I 
 came to enquire after my late wife's sister, I was obliged to hear 
 that she died about four days after I had gone into the hospital. 
 But I soon got better, and I came out of the hospital on the 
 1st day of October ; and I felt myself very weak when I came out 
 into the fresh air. And when I got home to where I had lived, I 
 found an empty house ; for, after my sister-in-law died, everything 
 was taken out of the house, and was ordered to be burnt. 
 
 So here I was again, nearly as bad as I was when I first came to 
 New Orleans ; and I began to take a dislike to the place, and I 
 intended to leave it as soon as I could ; and the very next day I 
 shipped myself on board the " Friendship ;'' and we sailed from 
 New Orleans, the 1 0th day of October, for Campeachy, to take in 
 a cargo of logwood, to take to London ; and, thanks be to God, I 
 got quite well again. And we soon got our cargo, and we sailed 
 from Campeachy the 2nd of November, and we had a very good 
 passage home, as far as the English Channel, when the wind got 
 round to the eastward, which delayed us three or four weeks. Our 
 provisions got very short, and especially our water ; and our ship 
 being very leaky, we were obliged to put into Falmouth harbour, where 
 we discharged all her cargo ; and the owners came down to 
 Falmouth, and, finding that the ship wanted a great deal of repair, 
 they paid the crew their wages, and 1 was discharged on the 5th 
 day of January, 1823. Now, it being the dead of the winter, and, 
 knowing that there would be very few ships in London, to be got 
 at that time of the year, I shipped myself on board of a brig, 
 belonging to Bangor, in Wales, called the '' Jane Ellen ;" and she 
 
A sailor's life. 63 
 
 was bound up the Straits, to Smyrna, with a cargo of pilchards. 
 And we sailed from Falmouth the 12th day of January ; and, 
 thanks be to God, we had a very good passage out to Smyrna, and 
 we arrived there the 3rd day of March ; and we kept trading from 
 one place to another, till the latter part of 1824; and nothing 
 particular happened during that time. And, thanks be to God, I 
 was in good health ; when, on the 10th of October, 1824 — when 
 we were lying at Cephalonia — our captain got a freight for London 
 to take a cargo of currants there ; and when we got our cargo in, 
 we sailed from Cephalonia, on the 24th of October. And we had 
 a very good passage down as far as the rock of Gibraltar, where we 
 were obliged to lay wind-bound for several days, for it blew a very 
 heavy gale of wind ; but, thanks be to God, we held on, though a 
 great many ships parted from their anchors and were driven on 
 shore ; but, on the 10th of December it moderated, and we got 
 under-way, and, thanks be to God, we arrived safe at the Downs on 
 the 24th of December. 
 
 Our master being eager to get something fresh on board for 
 Christmas Day, for dinner, he sent me on shore, in one of the 
 Deal boats, to get something ; for the master himself was very 
 poorly, and he was not able to go. And I had been mate of the 
 brig for about eighteen months — for we lost our mate that came out 
 from England with us, at Smyrna, by sickness ; so ashore I went. 
 And when I left the brig, the weather looked very fair, for the time 
 of the year, and the wind was about west by south ; but we scarcely 
 got on shore when the wind shifted round to the south-south-east, 
 and it came on to blow tremendous hard, and a heavy sea came 
 tumbling in upon the beach. And I wanted the watermen to go 
 off at once, but they refused to go off till low water, which was 
 about three o'clock in the afternoon, and when I landed, it was 
 about eleven o'clock in the forenoon ; and the weather came on in 
 thick snow showers ; and two of the Deal boats tried to get off, but 
 both boats were swamped, and two of the Deal men belonging to 
 
64 THE STORY OP 
 
 the boats, were drowned. Now, here I was on shore in a heavy 
 gale of wind, and my poor shipmates out there by themselves ; 
 for our captain, as I told you before, was very poorly, and had been 
 so ever since we left Gibraltar ; and there were only three men and 
 two boys on board beside himself; but I could not help them, if 
 I had given a hundred guineas. 
 
 I could not get a boat to take me on board of the " Jane Ellen.'''' 
 When I found that none of the boats could go off with me, I went 
 to Lloyd's Agents, and acquainted them how I was situated, for I 
 knew that the brig and cargo were insured ; but they told me that 
 I must content myself till the weather moderated, and they would 
 take care to send me on board as soon as possible. But as night 
 came on, the gale was still increasing, and there were no hopes of 
 me getting on board that night. But I could not sleep, though 
 several people offered me a bed, and I stayed on the beach till 
 daylight next morning. But it was still blowing very hard, but the 
 weather was clearer, and we could see no vessel in the Downs, only 
 one large ship, and that was a man-of-war, and the poor " Jane 
 Ellen'" was nowhere to be seen. 
 
 What to do, or what to think, I did not know ; but I concluded 
 that the brig was lost, and all hands perished. 
 
 I went to Lloyd'^s Agents again, and asked them what they 
 thought of it ? They told me that they expected she was lost ; 
 and they told me I ought to think myself very lucky that I was on 
 shore out of her ; but still, the captain of the brig was to blame 
 to send any of his crew on shore out of the ship, while she was 
 lying in an open roadstead, and especially this time of the year ; 
 and that was all the satisfaction I could get from them. 
 
 Now I was on shore, but scarce any money in my pocket ; for 
 I had been nearly two years in this brig, and had no occasion to 
 draw any money from the captain ; for, when I joined her, 1 had 
 my pay from the ^' Friendship''^ to fit me out, and I had money 
 on board, beside my clothes. 
 
A sailor's life. 65 
 
 But here I was hove upon the wide world once more ; and I 
 stayed in Deal for one week, to try if I could hear anything con- 
 cerning the '* Jane Ellen ;'" but hearing nothing by New Year''s 
 Day, I intended to travel up to London, and go and see if my 
 son was alive or not. 
 
 Now, all the money I had in my pocket when I started from 
 Deal, which is seventy-two miles from London, was three shillings 
 and sixpence ; and it was bitter cold weather, for I started from 
 Deal on the 2nd day of January, 1825 ; and, thanks be to God 
 and good friends, I arrived in London on the 6th of the month ; 
 and tired enough I was ; and all the money that 1 had left was 
 twopence. 
 
 I had middling good clothes on my back, and I went to Mr. M. 
 to enquire after my son ; and when I told Mr. M. of my new 
 misfortune, he told me that I was a wonderful man. But when 
 I asked him concerning my son, he told me that he was married to 
 his housekeeper, and that they were doing very well ; and that he 
 had paid the sixty pounds to my son, according to my wish. I 
 thanked him very kindly, and he told me that my son, in coming 
 home in the " Seringapatam,"" liad the misfortune to fall out of the 
 main-top and broke his left arm, and it not being properly set, he 
 had partly lost the use of it ; and when he came home, having a 
 very good character, Mr. M. made him wharfinger at his wharf, 
 and after a little time he got married. 
 
 I told Mr. M. how I was situated in regard to money, and he was 
 kind enough to give me five pounds ; and he told me, that if my 
 circumstances would ever allow me to pay him, I might, but he 
 should never ask me for it, I thanked him very kindly for it, and 
 I asked him if he would be kind enough to send for my son, which 
 he did ; and when my son came in, he was quite surprised at seeing 
 me, and he and 1 went home to his house. And when I came to 
 tell him how I was situated, he called his wife in, and told her that 
 I should have to stay along with them a few days, and that I was 
 
66 THE STORY OF 
 
 his father ; but I could see by the first appearance of her actions 
 that I was an unwelcomed guest, for she said she did not know how 
 to make room for me. I told my son, " Francis,"' said I, " seem- 
 ingly your wife, whom 1 thought to embrace as a daughter, is not 
 agreeable for me to stay here. Give me a few shillings, so that I 
 can go and get a lodging somewhere for the night ;'" for I did not 
 let him know that Mr. M. had given me ^ve pounds. He told me 
 he would try what he could do, and away he went ; and I heard 
 him and his wife having very high words outside of the room, and 
 between other words that passed, I heard her calHng me a beggar. 
 My temper at that present time could not stand that, and I got up 
 and went out, and wished them a good night, and 1 left the house, 
 and 1 have never seen her since ; and away I went down to Tooley 
 Street, in the Borough, and there I got a lodging. 
 
 In a few days I got pretty well round again, and I went to 
 Lloyd's Office to report the loss of my brig, and likewise to see if 
 I could recover any of my wages ; for I was sent on shore on duty, 
 and certainly I ought to be entitled to my wages to the time we 
 sailed from the last port ; and they told me that as I gave in my 
 claim for wages due to me for tlie " Jane Ellen,"*' that as soon as 
 they had returns from Sierra Leone, they would pay me what was 
 was due to me. 
 
 Now, I knew well enough that it might be ^ve or six months 
 before they got any returns from Sierra Leone. I went to Mr. M. 
 and acquainted him with it, and the next day he went along with 
 me, and I empowered Mr. M. to receive any money that might be 
 due to me from the '' Jane Ellen ;" and Mr. M. told me that if I 
 wanted any more money before I left London, he would let me have 
 it. I thanked him very kindly. 
 
A sailor's life. 67 
 
 k 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 I STAYED in London till the middle of March, when I shipped 
 on board of a brig called the " Intrepid'' packet, and she was 
 bound from London to Gibraltar, and from there to Buenos Ayres. 
 And we sailed from London the second day of April, 1825, and, 
 thanks be to God, we had a very good passage to Gibraltar, where 
 we arrived the first day of May, and sailed from there the 5th of 
 June for Buenos Ayres, where we arrived on the 30th day of July. 
 
 Now at this present time the Buenos Ayreans were at war with 
 the Brazilians, and the River Plate was blocked up ; so we were 
 obliged to go and lay in a place called Helsenado, about seven 
 miles from Buenos Ayres, and there we laid till March 1826, when 
 our captain got a freight for Gibraltar, to carry some of the old 
 Spaniards home to their own country ; and we sailed from Helse- 
 nado on the 5th April, 1826. But coming from Helsenado, down 
 the River Plate, we were caught in a very heavy Pampiro, and we 
 were very near losing the brig ; for our mate that came out from 
 England with us, had left us at Buenos Ayres ; and the young 
 man that we got in the room of him was not experienced with the 
 country he was sailing in ; and at twelve o'clock, when I came on 
 deck, he told me to clear away the flying-jib, and I told him, " You 
 had better shorten sail as fast as you can, or else you will lose 
 every stitch of canvas that you have got set, for I see it arising;" 
 and 1 showed it to him ; but he said, '' Never mind, do as you are 
 told." And I told him that for the safety of myself and the brig, 
 I could not do it; but, if he would not shorten sail, I should be 
 obliged to call Captain Gordon, which I accordingly did. And 
 
68 THE STORY OF 
 
 when he came on deck, we began to shorten sail ; but it was too 
 late then, for the Pampiro struck the brig, and she was hove on 
 her beam ends, and every stitch of canvas blown into ribbons. 
 
 1 advised our captain to let go both anchors, so as to fetch the 
 ship's head to wind, that she might righten ; and accordingly I 
 went forward, and got some of the men to lend me a hand ; and I 
 let go the best bower anchor, which brought her head to wind ; and 
 the brig rightened, for she had then been nearly a quarter of an 
 hour on her beam ends ; but still she would not bring up ; I then 
 let go the small bower anchor, and she took the chain to the beam- 
 end, but still she would not bring up, but kept drifting ; and we 
 were afraid we should drive on a sand called the English Bank. 
 
 So, after a good deal of trouble, we got our stream anchor clear, 
 and let it go ; and thanks be to God, after she got the best part of 
 the stream cable, she brought up in five fathoms water. But all 
 this time neither the captain nor I could see anything of the mate, 
 and we were afraid that he had gone overboard, and had been 
 drowned ; but after we got everything middling snug, we found 
 our mate stowed away down in the fore-hold, amongst the water 
 casks ; and he said that he was knocked down the fore hatchway 
 when the squall first struck the ship. We did not believe his 
 story ; but the captain had been obliged to make him mate, for he 
 was one of the owner's nephews. 
 
 Now, after we got everything pretty snug, we set the watch 
 again, and next morning it turned out to be very fine, and we went 
 to work to bend a fresh set of sails, for our old ones were all blown 
 to pieces ; and after getting our anchors up, and stowing them, 
 which took us two days, we went down to Monte Video, where we 
 arrived on the 12th day of April. And after putting everything 
 to rights, we sailed for Rio de Janeiro, where we arrived on the 1st 
 of May. 
 
 Now, as I told you that we had lost all our canvas in the 
 Pampiro, and bent all new ones, except what we called our 
 
A sailor's life. 69 
 
 fore and aft spencer, and the brig having only one on board, I was 
 obliged to make a new one, for the captain knew 1 was able to 
 do it ; and, accordingly, the captain bought the canvas, and I cut 
 the sail out ; and on the 18th of May I and the mate were working 
 about the sail, and I saw him putting a piece of canvas the wrong 
 away ; and 1 said, " Mr. Middleton, you are putting that piece in 
 the wrong way." He told me to mind my own business ; and 
 words arose between him and me, and at last he jumped up and 
 struck me. 
 
 I was obliged to stand in my defence, and I gave him a 
 good beating, so that he was obhged to go below. Now I knew 
 well enough that when the captain came on board he would take the 
 mate'^s part, and I should have to go on shore to go to prison, 
 which I did not like at all. 
 
 Knowing the '' Ranger"" frigate wanted hands, I hailed the 
 " Ranger's"" boat, and she came alongside, and I told the officer of 
 the boat what had happened, and that I intended to enter for his 
 Majesty's service ; upon which he told me to get into the boat ; 
 and so 1 got once more on board of a man-of-war. 
 
 My old captain tried all that he could do to get me back again ; 
 but I found that a man-of-war was quite different from what it was 
 when I was in them in war time ; for there was no starting or fears 
 of any flogging ; and if a man was only attentive, and clean, and 
 did what he was told, he never needed to be afraid of getting him- 
 self into trouble. 
 
 So after I got settled on board of the " Ranger,"" the captain 
 was kind enough to give me the rate of gunner"s mate ; and, thanks 
 be to God, I did very well. And we sailed from Rio de Janeiro the 
 latter part of May ; and we went to Monte Video, and there we 
 laid for about six months ; and nothing particular occurring, we 
 went from Monte Video to Rio de Janeiro, where we arrived on the 
 15th of December. 
 
70 THE STORY OF 
 
 We had been lying at Rio for about two months, when Lord 
 Ponsonby arrived from England, to go round to Lima, to settle 
 some business ; and as lie intended to travel across the Cordilleras, 
 we were ordered to go and take him and his things to Buenos Ayres ; 
 and from there we were ordered to go round Cape Horn to attend 
 upon his lordship ; and after delivering his lordship's things at 
 Buenos Ayres, we came down to Monte Video, and sailed from 
 there the 2nd of April, 1827, and were bound to Callao, on the 
 coast of Peru. We had a long and tedious passage round the 
 Cape, but arrived safe at Valparaiso on the 19th of June, after a 
 passage of seventy-seven days. We stayed on the coast of Peru 
 till the beginning of 1828 ; and on the 5th of February a sad 
 accident happened to me — for I was both shot and drowned on 
 that day ! 
 
 To explain this, I must go to some particulars that occurred 
 when we were lying at a place called Coquimbo, the last place we 
 were going to touch at before we went round the Horn. And the 
 Governor of the place and his suite, being on board to take their 
 farewell of our captain and officers, and our ship being hove short, 
 and all ready for starting, our captain intended to salute the governor 
 when he left the ship ; and in getting the ship under weigh, I was 
 sent to look out for the buoy. And I being in the larboard fore-chains, 
 when the anchor was up to the bows, and after the anchor was 
 settled and fixed, I went forward upon the anchor, to try to get the 
 buoy rope clear of the anchor-stock ; and whilst in the act of 
 going forward, they fired the forecastle gun, which was a long nine- 
 pounder ; and the whole cliarge reached me, and hove me away 
 from the ship, and knocked the senses out of me, so that I laid 
 upon the water like one dead ; but I soon began to go down. 
 But there was an English brig lying there, called the " Mediaeval"" 
 of London, and her boat had been on board of our ship, to put 
 some letters on board, for us to take home ; and she shoving off 
 from the ship when the accident happened, they saw my hat, and 
 
A sailor's life. 71 
 
 they picked it up, and then they saw the wake I made in going 
 down, and they hooked me with a boat-hook, for I was going down 
 as fast as I could ; and they hauled me into the boat, and brought 
 me on board of my ship. 
 
 But I was senseless to the whole of it ; so I did not come to 
 myself again, not till next day, about dinner time. And I was 
 told that our doctor said that I was dead, and that they were going 
 to heave me overboard ; but a young gentleman, a doctor's mate, 
 a passenger, said that I was not dead ; and he, with God's help, 
 saved my life. 
 
 If anybody should doubt my tale, about being shot and drowned, 
 I could bring plenty of witnesses that saw it, both officers and men. 
 
 The next day, when I came to my senses, I felt very weak ; but 
 thanks be to God, I soon got better, and I was able to go to my 
 duty in about a fortnight's time. And we had a very good passage 
 round Cape Horn ; and we arrived in Rio de Janeiro in the begin- 
 ning of April ; and after we completed our water, we sailed for 
 England; and we arrived at Spithead on the tenth of June, 1828. 
 We were ordered to go round to Chatham, to be paid off; and I 
 was paid off from the " Ranger" on the seventh day of July ; and 
 I joined the "Crocodile," of twenty-eight guns, and she was bound 
 to the JCast Indies. 
 
 I got five weeks' liberty to go and see my friends, and I went 
 down to Kirkwall in the Orkneys, to see if I could find any one 
 alive that knew me ; but I could find no one that knew anything about 
 me. And so, when my liberty was up, I returned to my ship, and 
 from Chatham we went to Spithead; and from Spithead we sailed 
 on the SI St of September, and we arrived safe at the Cape of 
 Good Hope on the 18th day of December. 
 
 When 1 came back after the voyage, being on my own hands 
 again once more, and after receiving my pay, at Somerset House, I 
 resolved to go down to Boston, in Lincolnshire, to see if I could 
 see any body that would know me ; and 1 had the good luck to fall 
 
72 THE STORY OF 
 
 in with an old shipmate of mine, whose name was Thomas Blyth, 
 and he was master of a brig, called the " Ocean ;''"' and he was 
 bound for Rio de Janeiro, in the Brazils, and 1 agreed to go as 
 mate along with him, and we both went up to London together, for 
 the brig was lying in the London Docks ; and after fitting the brig 
 out, and packing our cargo in, we sailed from London the 20th day 
 of August, and, thanks be to God, we had a very good passage 
 out to Rio de Janeiro, for we arrived there the 2nd day of 
 October, and we took in a large cargo ; and we were bound to the 
 Isle of Wight, for orders where we were to take our cargo to. 
 
 We sailed from Rio de Janeiro the latter part of November, 
 and we arrived at Cowes the 20th day of January, 1832. And 
 when we arrived there, our orders were to go to Hamburg 
 to deliver our cargo ; but being in the dead of winter we were 
 obliged to lay at Cowes till the beginning of March; for the 
 river Elbe was frozen up. 
 
 So we sailed from Cowes the 10th day of March: and thanks 
 be to God, we arrived safe at Hamburgh the 19th of March. 
 And when our cargo was out, we were chartered again to go to 
 Rio de Janeiro, after another cargo, and we got down to Cux- 
 haven, which is the entrance of Hamburg river, by the 1st of 
 May ; and on the 2nd of May, when going out to sea, and 
 before the pilot left us, our brig struck upon a sand, called the 
 Nerwash Sand ; and it being ebb tide, we were soon high and 
 dry ; and the wind coming round to the south west, and coming 
 to blow whilst it was low water^ so that we had very little chance 
 of getting the brig off, I persuaded the captain to let us get 
 our long boat out, before the tide come in, which we accordingly 
 did, and kept her under the lee side of the brig ; and a good 
 job we did so, for as the tide flowed it came to blow harder 
 and harder ; and accordingly the sea rose, and by the time that 
 the brig began to float, it blowed a hurricane, and our ])oor brig 
 was soon knocked to pieces ; but, thanks be to God, all hands 
 
A SAILOH S LIFE. 73 
 
 got safe into the long boat, and we all got on shore at Cuxhaven 
 by nine o'clock that evening ; but we had lost all our clothes, for we 
 had no chance to get anything. All 1 saved was my watch, and 
 about three pounds in money, that I put in my pocket in the 
 morning when the brig first struck. 
 
 So from Cuxhaven we were sent up to Hamburg, and the 
 Consul at Hamburg was kind enough to send us to London in 
 a steamer; and I arrived in London the 15th of May. And 
 having scarcely any clothes, and very little money, I intended to 
 join the first man-of-war that I could get, for it appeared to me 
 that I was to have no luck in the merchant service. And thanks 
 be to God that I did, for if 1 had not, I should never have 
 received a pension. And accordingly after I had stayed in Lon- 
 don a couple of days I went down to Woolwich, where the 
 '^ Vernon*" frigate was fitting out ; but I was refused because I 
 had not got a good suit of clothes on my back, though my cha- 
 racter and my discharge was very good. 
 
 So I went from Woolwich back to Deptford, where the '' Snake" 
 brig was fitting out, but I was refused on the same account ; and 
 you may depend that I got pretty down hearted. But still, putting 
 my trust in the Almighty, who had helped me through so many 
 dangers, I intended the next day to travel down to Chatham, 
 where I heard that the " Castor*" frigate was fitting out ; and I 
 slept that night under the lee of a barn, for I could not afford to 
 pay for a bed, for I had only sixpence left in my pocket. 
 
 But, thanks be to God, I slept very well, it being a fine night ; 
 and the next morning, after returning my sincere thanks to the 
 Almighty for preserving me through the night, I went on the road 
 for Gravesend, and travelling through Woolwich I got a penny 
 loaf and a basin of coffee, which only left me fourpence in my 
 pocket. And as I went on the road, I had not got out of Woolwich 
 above half a mile, when a light cart with one horse came driving 
 behind me, and a man in the cart hailed me, saying, '' Halloo, old 
 
 £ 
 
74 THE STORY OF 
 
 fellow, do you want a lift?''' You may depend I very gladly 
 received the invitation, and into the cart I got, and when I got 
 there, I found a young man in the cart going home to his friends, 
 and the driver — but, I am very sorry to say, that the pair of them 
 were nearly tipsy ; but I was glad to get a lift along the road — 
 and at the first place that we stopped at to refresh ourselves, the 
 young man called me on one side, and told me the reason that he 
 called me, was because he did not like the man that was driving 
 him, and as he had all his money about him, he hoped that 1 
 would be kind enough to go along with him to Chatham, where his 
 father and mother lived, and that he would willingly bear my 
 expences back again if I was going no further than Gravesend. 
 
 I told him that I wanted to go to Chatham, to try to get on 
 board of the " Castor" frigate, and my young friend said he was 
 very glad to hear it : and we went in to have something to eat and 
 to drink, and I made a very hearty meal, and after we had done 
 we started again ; but our driver by this time was so tipsy that he 
 could not manage his horse, and I drove on to Gravesend ; and by 
 the time that we arrived there both my partners were fast asleep. 
 I drove up to an inn, and I made shift to get my young friend out 
 of the cartj and by watching of him, I got him pretty sensible, 
 and we hired another cart, which drove us down to Chatham ; but 
 whilst we were at Gravesend, and I was trying to get him a little 
 sensible, his pocket book fell out of his breast, and thanks be to 
 God, I picked it up, and kept it till we got down to Chatham. 
 
 And when I got him home, I gave it to his mother, and she 
 opened it in my presence, and found fourteen five pound notes in 
 it. So it was a lucky chance for him that he took me up to travel 
 with him, for if any one on the road had picked it up, ten to one if 
 he had ever seen it again. 
 
 His father and his mother behaved very kindly to me, and they 
 made me stop there that night and the next day. When he come 
 to himself, and found out how I was situated, he made me 
 
A sailor's life. 75 
 
 a present of a five pound note, and told me that I might stop at 
 his father's house till I got a ship. I thanked him kindly, and 
 the first thing I did was to buy myself some clothes, and then 
 I went on board of the " Castor' frigate, and I was shipped 
 as able seaman, for she had no vacancy for a petty oflicer, but I 
 was promised the first vacancy that occurred. We went to join the 
 experimental squadron in the North Sea, under the command of 
 Sir Pulteney Malcolm, and there we cruised till the beginning of 
 August ; and then the fleet went to the Cove of Cork, and from 
 there we went a-cruising off the Land's End, and from there we 
 were ordered to Spithead, where we arrived on the 2nd of Septem- 
 ber ; and one of our gunner's mates being invalided, I was made 
 gunner's mate in his room ; and here we got a new captain ; he 
 was a very good man, and I got on very welL 
 
 Now, about this time, the Dutch disturbance broke out, and 
 we were sent into the North Sea again, to cruise off the Texel, to 
 stop all Dutch ships that were coming home ; and we stopped a 
 good many, and sent them to Sheerness. We stopped here till the 
 5th of February 1833, when we were ordered to go to Chatham, 
 to refit. 
 
 And whilst at Chatham, fitting out, I got married to an old widow 
 woman, who was nearly my own age, and a very good wife I found 
 she was ; and I married her on account that she had a heavy 
 family to bring up, and I thought I could do no better with my 
 money than to assist the widow and the fatherless ; and, thanks be 
 to God, 1 have never missed it. 
 
 Now, after our ship was fitted out, we were ordered to go to 
 Lisbon, where we arrived on the 12th of June, and from there we 
 were ordered to go to Oporto to lay off the bar ; and our captain, God 
 bless him ! was kind enough to make me quarter-master. And on 
 the 13th of September, I having the middle watch on deck, that 
 is, from twelve o'clock at night till four o'clock next morning, our 
 butcher — his name was Henry Ellis — was very bad in the sick 
 
 e2 
 
76 THE STORY OF 
 
 bay ; and the sick bay men came to me, about two oVlock, telling 
 me that Ellis, the butcher, was very bad, and that he wanted to see 
 me ; and after asking permission from the officer of the watch, I 
 went down to the sick bay, and I found Ellis very bad, for the 
 doctor did not expect he would live till the morning. And Ellis 
 asked me to grant him one favour, and he being in the state that 
 he was in, I could not well refuse him ; and I told him that any- 
 thing that laid in my power I would do for him, and he asked me 
 to speak to the captain, to have him buried on shore, for " I know 
 I can't live much longer.*" And then, getting hold of my hand, he 
 said to me, " Swear, that if it ever lay in your power, you will 
 protect my wife and children.*" I promised it to him ; for I 
 being a married man at that time, I had little thought that it 
 would ever be in my power to perform it, for my wife lived at 
 Chatham, and his at Portsmouth, and I only promised him to 
 satisfy his mind ; and, poor soul ! he died very shortly after I 
 had left him. And the next morning, the first thing that I did 
 was to acquaint the captain of poor Ellis's last wish, and the 
 captain very kindly granted it ; and we took him on shore in the 
 bar boat, and he was buried in the English burial-ground at Oporto; 
 
 We stayed off Portugal till February, when we were relieved 
 by the " Belvidera"" frigate. And went to Lisbon, and here we 
 laid till March, when orders came out from England for our 
 ship to proceed to Plymouth, to refit our ship, to attend upon the 
 Queen, who was going that summer to the Continent to see 
 her friends. 
 
 We arrived in Plymouth by the latter part of April : and after 
 we had refitted our ship, we went round to Portsmouth, to take the 
 state barge on board, in order to attend upon Queen Adelaide ; 
 and from Portsmouth we went to the Nore, where we laid till the 
 Queen came down from London in her yacht. 
 
 And from there we went to Helvoetsluys, on the coast of 
 Holland; and after landing the Queen, we went back to Sheer- 
 
A sailor's life. 77 
 
 ness, where we took in stores for the flag-ship at Lisbon, And 
 on the S3rd day of August we sailed from the Nore, and went 
 down to the Downs ; and on the 26th day of August, at three 
 o'clock in the morning, we got underweigh from the Downs, 
 with the wind about north-north-east. And a little after six 
 oVlock in the morning, being just below Dover, we had the 
 misfortune to run the " Chameleon" revenue-cutter down ; and 
 out of seventeen men and officers on board of her, we could only 
 save two men and two boys. 
 
 Though our ship was hove to instantly, and our quarter-boats 
 down, we could not save more ; so there were thirteen poor souls 
 drowned. We staid by the spot some time afterwards, but we 
 could see no more of anything belonging to her. And we 
 proceeded down to Plymouth, and there we had a court-martial 
 upon our captain and officers, and, our captain was honourably 
 acquitted ; but our third lieutenant was dismissed tlie service, 
 and all hands on board were very sorry for it, for he was a 
 very good man. 
 
 And after the court-martial was over we sailed for Santander, 
 on the coast of Spain, where we arrived on the 1st of October ; 
 but it being a very bad roadstead for ships to lay in, in winter 
 time, we went down to a place called Passages, and there we 
 got our ship in and moored her. But we found that our ship 
 struck at low water, and we were obliged to go from there to San- 
 tander again ; and we went into Santander harbour, and there we 
 laid snug enough. And our seamen and marines went round to 
 Passages, and they built a fortification which they called Lord 
 John Hay's fort, in honour of our good captain. We laid in 
 Santander till the latter part of 1836, for we sailed from Santander 
 the 27th day of December, to go home to England to be paid off; 
 and we arrived at Portsmouth, the 4th day of January, 1837. 
 And as our ship was ordered to be sent round to Chatham to be 
 paid off, about twenty petty officers and men volunteered to join 
 
78 THE STORY OP 
 
 the " North Star," twenty-eight, for she was commissioned for our 
 old captain, who was left out on the coast of Spain as commodore ; 
 and I was one that joined the " North Star,*" for I intended, if I 
 could, to stay along with my old captain. 
 
 I had not been on board the '' North Star**' above a month 
 when the '• Princess Charlotte*" was commissioned at Portsmouth, 
 and the captain of her seeing me, asked me if I should like to 
 join his ship ; and he told me the difference there would be in 
 my pay, which would be nine shillings per month ; for my pay 
 in the " North Star" as quarter-master was one pound seventeen 
 shillings, per month, and in the " Princess Charlotte'" my wages 
 would be two pounds six shillings, per month ; and after con- 
 sidering, I told him that I would, if my commanding officer 
 would give me permission, and he told me that he would settle 
 all that ; and I went on board, and I told my commanding 
 officer of it. 
 
 He told me that he should be very sorry to lose me, but if 
 I could better myself, he would not wish to hinder me from it; 
 and accordingly I was exchanged from the " North Star" to the 
 " Princess Charlotte ;" and I joined the " Princess Charlotte" 
 on the £^nd day of February 1837. But before I left the 
 " North Star,"' a circumstance occurred to me which I am 
 obliged to mention. 
 
 One of my shipmates, that came out of the " Castor" along 
 with me, got married, and he lived at Gosport ; and he asked 
 me to come over with him, one night, before I left the ship, to 
 spend the evening with him and his wife, and I agreed ; and, 
 enjoying ourselves till it was too late for me to go on board, 
 I was obhged to get a bed somewhere for the night ; and my 
 shipmate's wife took me to a widow woman, who let beds. 
 What was my surprise when I found this woman to be the 
 widow of my old shipmate, Ellis, our butcher in the " Castor" 
 frigate ! 
 
A sailor'^s life. 79 
 
 All my promises that I made to him came fresh in my mind ; 
 and after paying for my bed, I gave her half the money that 
 I had in my pocket, which was no great deal, and when I left 
 the " North Star"'' I took my chest and things to her house, 
 and she washed my clothes for me whilst we were fitting out ; 
 for my wife lived round at Chatham ; and after the '' Princess 
 Charlotte" was ready for sea, we sailed from Spithead on the 
 8rd day of July ; and we were bound up the Mediterranean, to 
 relieve the " Caledonia ;" and we relieved her on the 2nd day 
 of August. 
 
 We kept cruizing about at sea, for we could not go into Malta, 
 for it was very sickly. We arrived at Malta the latter part of 
 October ; and I had not been there long, when I received a letter 
 from Chatham, acquainting me of my wife*'s death ; she died the 
 same day that I sailed from Spithead, after being bad only twenty- 
 four hours. We lay in Malta all the winter ; and the latter part 
 of January 1838, I was taken very bad ; and I was obliged to be 
 invalided on the 14th day of February, from Malta Hospital. As 
 soon as I was able to be moved, I was sent home in the " Portland""' 
 frigate ; and she took me and some more invalids as far as the rock 
 of Gibraltar, where we were sent on board of the " Bellerophon,"" 
 and she took us to Portsmouth ; and we arrived at Spithead on the 
 8th day of April. And from her I was sent on board of the flag- 
 ship, and from there I was discharged. 
 
 And after I got my pay from the " Princess Charlotte,"" I went 
 up to London, to pass the Board of Admiralty, for my pension : 
 but all they gave me was seventeen pounds, four shillings, per 
 annum. And from there I went to Chatham, to see my late wife"s 
 family ; but I found that they had made away with everything that 
 belonged to me. And when I found how things were, I came back 
 again to Gosport, with a full intent to fulfil my oath, that I swore 
 to Henry Ellis, when he was dying. And accordingly I told Ellis"s 
 widow all that had happened between me and her late husband ; and 
 
80 THE STORY OF 
 
 I told her that I would do anything in my power for her and her 
 children ; and that, if she was a mind to wait till my last wife had 
 been dead a twelve-month, I would marry her; and, after a little 
 consideration, she consented. And we were married on the S6th 
 day of July, 1838, in Stoke Church. And I staid at home till 
 April, 1839, when the " Powerful," eighty-four, was lying at Spit- 
 head ; and I heard that she wanted a good many men. 
 
 I went on board of her and got shipped as able seaman ; and I 
 joined her the 9th day of April ; and we went from Spithead to 
 Plymouth Sound, and from there to the Cove of Cork, where we 
 got a good many men. And on the 4th of June we sailed from 
 the Cove of Cork for the Mediterranean; and we arrived at Malta 
 on the first of July, and from there we were ordered to go to 
 Majorca Bay to join the fleet; and shortly after we were at sea 
 from Malta, I was made captain of the after-guard, and I kept that 
 situation all the time that I was in the ship. 
 
 We staid along with the fleet till the beginning of September, 
 when we were ordered to go to Smyrna ; and from Smyrna we 
 came down to Wolla Bay, where the fleet was going to winter. We 
 staid along with the fleet till the beginning of April, 1840, when 
 we were ordered to go to Beyrout and the coast of Syria ; and there 
 we stopped till the fleet joined us. And our captain being made 
 commander, we were the second in command, and there we 
 stopped blockading Beyrout till the 10th of September, when 
 we made a landing, and encamped our troops en shore. But 
 the climate and the weather being very bad, we had a good 
 many people who died, and I, myself, in the beginning of 
 October, was taken very bad, and was sent down, with some 
 more, to Malta Hospital, in the " Hastings,**' seventy-four, which 
 had been on shore somewhere along the coast. But before I left 
 the "PowerfuF I was invalided, on the 14th day of October; and 
 we arrived at Malta on the 4th day of November, the same day 
 that Jean d' Acre was taken. 
 
A sailor's life. 81 
 
 I stayed in Malta Hospital till the ^' Phoenix"' steamer came 
 down from Beyrout and Jean d'Acre, with despatches for England 
 concerning the action ; and all of them that was able to go, were 
 sent on board of her, and I was sent, for one. And we arrived in 
 Plymouth Sound the 29th day of November, and, thanks be to 
 God, I got quite well; and I went down to Portsmouth as soon as 
 my business was settled ; and from Portsmouth I went to London, 
 to pass the Board of Admiralty again, and their Lordships were 
 kind enough to augment my pension to nineteen pounds eight 
 shillings per annum. And when I came down to Portsmouth again, 
 I joined the '' Victory,'' to serve in the Portsmouth ordinary ; for 
 I had a recommendation from my last captain to the captain of the 
 '' Victory," and I was taken on directly. And I stayed in ordinary 
 till August, 1841, when the " Warspite" frigate was commissioned, 
 and my old captain of the " Castor" got the ship. He sent for me, 
 and I joined the " War spite" as quarter-master. 
 
 I stayed on board the " Warspite" about four months, when I 
 had the misfortune to be knocked down the main hatchway ; and I 
 fell down into the hold, and was obliged to be taken to Haslar 
 Hospital. I stopped in the hospital for six weeks, and then, thanks 
 be to God, I got quite well. 1 was sent on board the flag-ship, 
 which I joined the 3rd of February, 1842; and when our ship 
 came back again to Spithead, my captain was kind enough to 
 return me back to the ordinary again ; for he said he was afraid 
 that I was too old to go to sea. 
 
 And I remained in the ordinary till the 15th of August, 1844, 
 and then I was discharged. And the captain of the " Victory" 
 was kind enough to write up to the Board of Admiralty to get my 
 pension augmented, which he got done for me ; and the Admiralty 
 granted me a pension of twenty-one pounds per annum for life ; 
 and, with what little I can earn, I live as comfortable as circum- 
 stances will allow me to be: and I hope that I am truly thankful to 
 
8^ THE STORY OF A SAILOr's LIFE. 
 
 the Lord for the many blessings and mercies that I have received 
 at his hands through life. 
 
 Oft-times, when I see a poor man or woman going along without 
 any shoes on them, or scarcely any clothes to cover them, how 
 thankful I am to feel that I have got a bed to lie on, and clothes 
 to cover me, and a house to shelter me from the weather. Have I 
 deserved to be thus favoured any more than them ? No. But it 
 is God'^s mercy that provides for me ; and I hope that the Lord will 
 grant me one prayer, and that is contentment with the lot the 
 Almighty has been pleased to give me. 
 
 And I find every day new blessings and mercies to be thankful 
 for ; and especially for health, which is one of the greatest blessings 
 we can enjoy ; for here I am, a man seventy-three years old, and 
 knocked about at sea better than fifty years, in which time I 
 experienced some hard trials; and still, thanks be to God, I am 
 able to go out every day to Anglesea from Gosport ; and some days 
 I walk above twenty miles, which is a great deal for a man of my 
 age. But 1 know that the Lord fits the back to the burden. I 
 have received many kindnesses from the ladies and gentlemen 
 about Anglesea these last two or three years; and may the 
 Lord reward them for the many kindnesses I have received at 
 their hands, shall be the chiefest prayer of your humble and 
 obedient servant ! 
 
 THE END. 
 
 J. C. Goodier, Printer, Well Street, Hackney. 
 

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A Copy of a Certificate which I received from the Right 
 Honourable Lord John Hay, on leaving the " Castor" 
 
 This is to certify the Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty, 
 that Francis Bergh served as a first-class petty officer, on board 
 of H. M. S. Castor, under my command, from the 29th day 
 of November 1832, to the date hereof; during which time he 
 has proved himself to be a steady, sober, and well-conducted 
 excellent Seaman. And I have the greatest satisfaction in 
 recommending him to the notice and consideration of the 
 Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty as a Candidate for 
 Greenwich Hospital. 
 
 Given under my Handy on hoard H, M. S. " Castor,'' 
 at Santander, the Tth day of February 1837. 
 
 JOHN HAY, Commodore.