isiiSi v\ '< C -I' ,* ' , .vJ- ,»■ ."J v' 1 1R^ ;'::}',■ ■, ■4' :g2M:<ere. SiECLE DE Louis XIV. On entering the city, so eagerly sought, and so pleasant to behold, I was struck with astonish- ment at the dirty, filthy state of the suburbs, and the ragged, squalid appearance of the inhabitants. But soon this changed, and we came into the Plaza : here was all magnificence, all beauty ; and here were concentrated the wealth, the govern- ment, the antiquities, the rehgion of the Mexi- cans. On the eastern side stands the Cathedral ; THE LIFE OF A SAILOR. 71 on the north, the Portal de las Flores ; on the southern is the Government-house or Palace. On the west is a place called the Parian : this latter is the only part which would bear improvement, the houses being very low, and the resort of all the huxters and clothes-venders in the capital. The cathedral is beautifully placed, the architecture perfect, and the structure not like our modern lath-and-plaster buildings, but apparently built to last as long as the world exists. The palace of the Duke de Monte Leone, exiled after the revo- lution, stands on the spot formerly occupied by the palace of Montezuma ; and the government- house, or the palace of the president, which is on the southern side facingthe Duke of Monte Leone's former abode, was esteemed by a very old tra- veller to be more of a royal residence, than any palace in Europe : — to this I do not subscribe. It is a beautiful building, but cannot be mentioned with the royaL palace at Stockholm, nor bear a comparison with the Imperial winter- residence in Petersburg. I shall cut short all descriptions in a few words. The city in some parts is splendid, in others dirty 72 THE LIFE OF A SAILOR. and disgusting ; the streets immediately in the neighbourhood of the square, or Plaza, are broad, regular, and handsome. The Calle Capuchinas might rival the Strada Balbi at Genoa ; and few cities can boast of such streets as the Calle St. Francisco, or the Calle Plateros. Mexico had 150,000 inhabitants, 2,500 of whom are Europeans, 65,500 white Creoles, 40,000 Indians, 28,000 Mestisas, and 10,000 Mulattoes : it is estimated that 20,000 of these, mostly Indians, have no other covering than the canopy of Heaven, or the porch of the churches. Of the clergy of this city, the following is nearly correct. — There are 550 secular, and 1646 re- gulars. In all New Spain the regular and secu- lar clergy amounts to 14,000 ; and if the Mexican government were required to bring into the field of battle all their troops, they could not muster more than 20,000 men — so that nearly each individual of the army could have his father confessor by his side. The clergy are the most powerful class in the state, possessing immense wealth, and holding the minds of the natives in the most abject sub- THE LIFE OF A SAILOR. 73 jection and bigoted ignorance. The salary alone of the archbishop of Mexico amounts to 1 30,000 dol- lars. The bishop of Puebla is paid annually 1 10,000 dollars, and the bishop of Valladorid 100,000. But this is but a trifle in the immense scale. What will not bigotry and folly offer for a sup- posed eternity in Heaven ? who would not heap gold upon gold to have ** one's foul bosom cleansed of the perilous stuff which runs within it ?" and who would not pay for trifling absolutions, which excused a folly, or obliterated a crime ? However poor the government, the clergy con- trive to receive their dues : they revelled in riches, when the rulers of the land were obhged to so- licit aid from the foreign merchants to pay their turbulent soldiers, and thus to maintain peace. Well are the clergy aware of their unbounded power ; once, and only once, I believe, have they made a sacrifice to public opinion, and that was in the case of Padre Arenas, who was de- tected in a conspiracy to overthrow the govern- ment. So completely were the charges proved, that the order to which he belonged, refused for a wonder to shelter or uphold him ; the arch- VOL. III. D 74 THE LIFE OF A SAILOR. bishop of Mexico deprived him of all ecclesias- tical pretensions or protection, and Padre Arenas was shpt through the head in the great square of the capital. That execution shook the power of the clergy to its base, and now the fabric is tottering. My companion, who hardly spoke a word of Spanish, got into a curious dilemma from the wording of a sentence ; he had lost his way in the city, and was anxious to learn his proper path. He was on horseback, and a ragged Mexican kept close to his horse's head with a crucifix in his hand, which no doubt he wished to sell. As he importuned my friend excessively, and as he kept kissing the crucifix himself and then tried to poke it in the face of my companion, the latter soon lost his equanimity of temper, and stopped short to inquire his way, and to get rid of his per- secutor. While he was bungling out the question concerning the road, the Mexican thrust the cru- cifix into the rider's face, and afterwards made signs for some money ; this being interpreted as implying a wish to sell the article, my companion called out hastily — " No — noquere Jesu Christo." The whole street reverberated with the yell set up THE LIFE OF A SAILOR. 75 by the crowd ; and had not the spur and the whip been called into requisition, a fatal result might have been the consequence. They show every outward respect to the sym- bol of their religion. Independently of the obliga- tion to walk bareheaded, should you be in the streets every day at noon, at three and at six o'clock, during the time the priests are saying the prayers for the dead, great care is requisite to pay proper respect whenever the carriage, which conveys the holy father who administers the sacred unction, passes through the streets. This carriage, which is painted all over with religious subjects, and which is drawn by four piebald mules, is preceded by a man who carries a small bell, which is unceasingly tinkled as long as the carriage is in motion. Then came four men bearing long candles : by the side of the coach four boys marched, and chaunted ; four more men with lights brought up the rear. A number of troops always attended the procession to enforce order, obedience, and reverence ; and every man, woman, and child, within sight of the carriage, on hearing the bell, are expected to fall on their 76 THE LIFE OF A SAILOR. knees, and so remain until the carriage may have passed, or the bell be inaudible. In spite, how- ever, of the numerous cautions I had received re- lative to not daring to look into the interior of the s;icred vehicle, I was resolved to satisfy my here- tical curiosity, and saw all therein. A priest robed in white, holding a crucifix, with a boy in front of him, who held a candle in one hand, and supported an open book against his bosom with the other, was all I saw for my profanity. The processions not unfrequently lead to murders. During the time I remained in Mexico, an unfor- tunate foreign shoemaker, who was rapidly rising in wealth owing to his perseverance and talent, omitted to kneel in his shop when the host passed. His next-door neighbour, a follower of the same line of business, after having paid his devotional respects, suddenly entered his neighbour's shop, and stabbed him to the heart. This was a truly laudable act ; absolution unasked was given, the murdered was buried at Chipoltepec, and the murderer prospered for his piety. On Christmas night, no less than six men were naudered, and left for public gaze the next morn- THE LIFE OF A SAILOR. 77 ing in the great square opposite the government- house. The Mexicans have become so used to these exhibitions, that they pass the lacerated dead with unfeehng calmness : more indifference could not be manifested by a Turk, when his friend is going to receive the bastinado ; custom does cer- tainly reconcile a man to many a strange sight. The impartial distribution of justice where bigotry predominates, is a consummation devoutly to be wished, but which never occurs. In the house in which we resided, was an old fanatical woman, who hated us most cordially, and I trust without any other reason than that of a difference of creeds. She tried various modes of annoyance, all of which we managed to overcome ; and she in despair resorted to the very improper decla- ration, that we should be in bed by ten o'clock, or that we might sleep in the streets. Neither one nor the other suited our taste, and we resolved that neither the one nor the other should be put in force. It happened that the very next day we danced at some large party, and cards and con- versation occupied our time until midnight. Re- turning home, we rapped at the large door — and 78 THE LIFE OF A SAILOR, rapped in vain ; at last, after many loud re- proaches, a strange voice warned us to depart — that the key was up-stairs— and the door closed for the night. In answer to this, I men- tioned my intention of applying a pistol to the lock, and saving the porter the trouble of going for the key. Antonio, hearing the noise, opened the window, and warned me not to fire, for that six armed men from the country were in the Patio, all ready for action, and preparing to fight. I de- sired him to make a lasso fast to the balcony, and give me the end of it. With this our party soon got into our apartment, and prepared to take the enemy by surprise : our noise, however, warned them of our success, and they retired to rest, leaving us unmolested to do the same, after we had cautiously fastened and secured our doors. The next morning we resolved to bring the case before the Alcalde, and at the proper hour we ap- peared at the hall of justice. Our case was a very simple one : we only wanted to know if we were not allowed to enter our own house at any time we thought fit : strange as it may appear, there is great doubt on the subject ; for it is THE LIFE OF A SAILOR. .79 held by some, that the person to whom the house actually belongs, if she resides therein, has the right to close the door at ten o'clock, to the exclu- sion of her lodgers. '^ Very well !" quoth I, " if you have a law, or if custom has made it a law, there is an end to that question ; but, pray tell me, by what right four or five men are placed in the yard, armed at all points, to shoot us if we venture to come in, and who were actually brought from the country for that purpose ?" ^' Why !" replied the Alcalde, ** I do not ex- actly see what right yOu have to ask the question, because none of you were shot ; and therefore you only surmise that you might have been shot." *' Very true, Senor!" I replied, '* but they hap- pened to present their muskets ; and Antonio saw them too.'' ** Ah — but," replied the Alcalde, •' they did not shoot any of you." " But supposing, Senor, that they had shot one of us ?" *' Ah, that indeed !" ejaculated the misnamed Justice. " In that case," he continued, " the man so doing would have been fined a dollar ; and had 80 THE LIFE OF A SAILOR. the deceased been a pauper, the murderer must have paid the burial expenses — you are heretics, you know ?" *' What !" said I, ** are heretics' Hves only worth one dollar ?" ■* Quien sabe ?" repHed the Alcalde, and turned to some more important case. Throughout either the Mexican or the Col urn- bian governments, these two words, ** Quien sabe?" are used every minute of the day ; the literal meaning is, ** who knows ?" In asking a question as to what hour it may be, " Quien sabe" is the reply. *' How many leagues are we from the Ca- pital?" *^ Quien sabe," invariably was the an- swer. The name of Justice is quite a bye-word. The scales are never impartially held ; and the sword often falls on the wrong neck. In cases of mur- der, the offender is not very hastily pursued ; and, when brought to his trial, is never, provided he is rich, executed. In a city like Mexico, is it likely, if proper attention were paid by the police, and the Alcaldi fearlessly performed their duty with impartiahty, that foreigners would be obliged to THE LIFE OE A SAILOR. 81 walk about, armed like heavy dragoons ? or would six or seven men have their throats cut on a hohday? or would murdered subjects be exposed before the palace, their bodies cruelly lacerated ? or would the inhabitants ride about ^vith a large knife, stuck in their boots, to cut a lasso, should they be encircled ? or would a man be obliged to get into the window of his own house, because an old bigoted harridan would not let him in at the door? or would any misnamed Christian bring from the country his own servants, to murder the inmates of his sister's house ? In Vera Cruz, be- tween the 12th of January 1826, and the 18th of the same month, ten gentlemen were murdered, and neither law or justice pursued the assassins. As in speaking of the mines I intend to make some allusions to the laws, I shall for the present quit the subject. There is no country which the jealousy of despotism so cautiously guarded from inquisitive eyes, as ^ew Spain. Until Humboldt wrote, we were in the darkest ignorance as to its cities, its mines, and its laws. The veil has been with- drawn, and nominal liberty has courted scru- 82 THE LIFE OF A SAILOR. tiny. I have never read one Spanish historian on Mexico, whose works could command belief. Their religious hatred of the inhabitants, the se- cresy practised by the government, the rapa- cities and heartless cruelties of the conquerors, all tend to blind the historian, and to render his accounts partial. To attempt at this late date to throw any new light upon the antiquities of Mexico, must be quite hopeless : the only task for the traveller is to give an account of such curiosities, and, as Jo- sephus said, ''to let every man think of these things as he liketh best." In the square of the university, several valuable relics of antiquity are to be seen. The Calendar Stone, or Montezuma's Watch, which is about ten feet in diameter, is now enclosed behind a wooden screen; but the traveller gets a pretty close in- spection. The reason assigned for such conceal- ment was, that groups of Indians, still adhering to their ancient customs, come to pray to the large stone goddess, and enticed other good Christians to relapse into heresy and paganism. To give an adequate description of this huge THE LIFE OF A SAILOR. 83 lump of carved stone is impossible : it appears one immense mass of tigers, snakes, and reptiles of all descriptions, so interwoven as to resemble the human form. The part most easily described is the necklace which adorns the goddess ; it is a composition of hearts, hands, feet, and skulls : the face we had great difficulty in tracing. A former elucidator of the figure remarks, that " instead of arms, it is supphed with two large serpents, and its drapery is composed of wreathed snakes, in- terwoven in the most disgusting manner, the sides terminating in the wings of a vulture." I confess, although I persevered for more than an hour, that I could not follow the picture above given ; nor can I venture to say more, than that to ignorant minds this deity must be what a venerable Greek author says death is to mortals, **of all dreadful things the most dreadful." Mr. Bullock gave, in his Mexico, a detailed ac- count of the manner of sacrificing the victims ; this description was extracted from the old Spa- nish writers : every act which could be construed into an exaggeration of the absurdities, brutalities, and horrid barbarities of the Mexican religion, 84 THE LIFE OF A SAILOR. was gladly seized by the Christian conquerors of that unhappy land. If the secrets of the Inquisi- tion could be fairly brought to light, I have no doubt that the orthodox Spaniard would have very little to boast of, in regard to religious perse- cutions, or wanton barbarity. That sacrifices, and cruel sacrifices, were fre- quently offered at the shrine of this devil of hu- man invention, I am not inclined to discredit ; but, when a steady writer affirms that thirty thousand human beings were murdered at the coronation of Montezuma, and when Kirwan records the annual amount of victims to have been two thousand five hundred, I think it as well to have a saving clause — and to introduce, by way of amendment, the words " more or less." From the indescri- bable ignorance of the Indians, their bhnd obe- dience to their priest, and their fearless Christian fanaticism, I much doubt any one or two of them venturing to compromise with their conscience by offering prayers to the gods of their forefathers. Without the secret has descended amongst them- selves, and been cautiously kept, it is a fair sur- mise that they cannot know what kind of adora- THE LIFE OF A SAILOR. 85 tion was offered to this stone monster ; and from the nature of the place in which these divinities are enclosed, it is more than certain that many assemble for some other purpose than to say their prayers. Another curiosity of great antiquity is kept in the Academy of Fine Arts : it is a Mexican god about the size of a man's head, constructed en- tirely of basket- v/ork, with two small chestnuts for eyes ; its mouth partially open, displaying about a hundred dogs' teeth ; the head part is co- vered with some long lanky horse-hair locks, sur- mounted by a helmet of the same basket-work, exactly corresponding in similitude to those worn by the Romans. The gentleman to whose kind- ness we were indebted for the sight of this di- vinity only mentioned, that formerly it was held in high veneration by the Indians, and was wor- shipped with particular honors. How they came by it, where it was found — its history, in short, or the many questions which naturally suggested themselves to men anxious for information — were all answered by the eternal '* Quien sabe." It is no sinecure, extracting the little, the confused 86 THE LIFE OF A SAILOR. little, a Mexican does know. Voltaire says, "that a Turk rarely thinks, because it is a species of work." So a Mexican considers it a great exertion to talk ; and after several puffs of the never-failing cigar, he ensconces himself under the shelter of his voluminous *^ Quien sabe ;" and then, God give you patience and discretion ! Behind the convent of St. Domingo another deity of the former Indians is to be seen. This monstrous divinity appears in the act of swallow- ing a human victim, who is represented as under- going all the pain of so exquisite a torture. The last curiosity I shall mention is the head of the great serpent, which stands at the corner of Jesus Square. A serpent one hundred and seventy-five feet in length stopped the army of Regulus. The Americans have seen a sea-serpent three hundred feet long : indeed, I once heard an American captain declare, that he found his vessel at day- light close to the tip of the great monster ; and that after saihng all day, at the rate of seven knots an hour, he only made the head at sun-set. The Mexicans have, or had, also a great serpent ; the body was one hundred and forty-nine feet THE LIFE OF A SAILOR. 87 long, and was sold to a Colonel C. for two thou- sand dollars. What has become of it now, I know not. This country can boast of as many valuable an- tiquities as any under the sun ; and it has often astonished me, that no speculator has bought the first-named goddess, and offered her for public sale. There are always some liberal-minded men, who step forward when the British Museum retro- grades. For instance, when Belzoni brought over the famous Sarcophagus, most decidedly one of the greatest curiosities of antiquity, (inasmuch as it is the largest specimen known of that beautiful variety of calcareous stone denominated antique or oriental alabaster,) it was, after having been coveted by the French, Russian, and Bavarian governments, placed in the British Museum. The expense of its removal from the Nile to the Thames must have been very considerable. Mr, Belzoni demanded two thousand pounds for this relic of Egyptian magnificence ; but this sum was considered exorbitant, and the British Museum rehnquished the curiosity. The splendid munifi- cence of a private individual supphed the sum 88 THE LIFE OF A SAILOR. which the pubHc had denied ; and Sir John Soane is the possessor of that, which foreign govern- ments sohcited, and which the British Museum were too niggardly to purchase.* A strano;er in Mexico soon becomes sensible of the rarefaction of the atmosphere. At first, for I first felt it in the Opera, I attributed the difficulty of respiration to the unceasing puffs of an old lady's cigar : she smoked six without intermission, and gave me the full benefit of the narcotic weed, after it had been purified by her breath. I soon found that it was with great difficulty I ascended a flight of stairs, without serious inconvenience ; and ultimately so completely was I deprived of all excitement by this invader of health, that I could look with stoical indifference even on the rare sight of a Mexican beauty. Mexico has a beautiful market ; fruit is very abundant, from the cherrymoyas to the common * In Sir John Soane's house in Lincoln's Inn Fields there is a museum, in which maj be found some most valuable specimens of the arts and sciences : his kindness in allowing strangers ta visit his collection, is only surpassed by his numerous charitable dona- tions, and his splendid munificence. THE LIFE OF A SAILOR. 89 Siberian crab-apple ; the latter are very plentiful, and the crop is more abundant than elsewhere. There is always a great supply of bananas, plan- tains, paw-paws, custard-apples, citrons, sour- sops, Ackee shaddocks, grape firuit, avocata sapo- tas, petalli, chennini, tunnels, pomegranates, Gra- nadilla mangoes, melons, star-apples, &c. &c. ; not to mention apples, pears, peaches, oranges, ;^c. Beef and mutton is more generally bought in the butchers* shops, although yards of meat are bv no means uncommon in the market. Game, such as wild duck, teal, snipes, are abundant, and purchased for the veriest trifle. All the requisites, and most of the luxuries of life, are to be found in Mexico. Venison is very plentiful ; and veal, although a law does exist that none shall be killed, is easily purchased, and not uncommonly publicly exposed for sale. Where law is only nominal, the money-makers will never respect it. Of the lower class of people I wish I could speak favorably. They are far from honest ; gene- rally speaking they are disgustingly dirty, not unfrequently drunkards, and always gamblers. The fairy tales of some travellers have given 90 THE LIFE OF A SAILOR. accounts of the Indian dances — their splendid dresses, and their quiet manners. The dances I have seen certainly could not come under this de- scription. I have seen a punt full of common In- dians discharged on the bank of the canal of Chalco, and begin to the strum of a guitar to enjoy their recreation : these were always dirty in the extreme, ragged as to vestment, and boisterous as to noise. The women's fingers supersede combs ; and from the evident success of their search, the society must be large indeed. Revolutions are no friends to society. It is clear that Mexico must have been a much more animated place under the old Spaniards, than at present. The transfer of so much property, the banishment of so much wealth, must obviously have impoverished society : the eternal change in the laws, and the nominal administration of jus- tice, has shaken the very foundation of social in- tercourse ; whilst the sudden elevation of a common smuggler for a president, and a chocolate-vender for a prime-minister, is not hkely to improve the elegancies, or heighten the enjoyments of hfe. If liberty in rags is preferable to despotism and THE LIFE OF A SAILOR. 91 plenty, the Mexicans have, to a certain extent, been successful; but they will affirm what I state, that now they work harder, feed worse, and are more severely taxed, than during the greatest tyranny of the Spaniards. How can it be other- wise ? No sooner had Guadaloupe Vittoria settled in the presidental chair, than St. Anna, Bravo, Bari- gan, and a host of other aspiring chiefs, quarrelled for supremacy. Revolutions were effected by a handful of troops ; mob-leaders, who had every thing to gain and nothing to lose but fickle popu- larity, urged on their savage herds to murder and to rapine ; and to such an extent was this prac- tised, that the followers of a certain refractory subject poisoned their swords and bayonets with garlic, in order to insure a death where they struck a foe. The treasury shortly was drained : the high roads were infested by savage banditti ; the laws were disregarded, society disorganized, the civil power abrogated ; personal security with- drawn, the mob the rulers, and the government a puppet. Neither has this deplorable state of things occurred only in Mexico : the separation Bravo attempted to effect, by sundering the pro- 92 THE LIFE OF A SAILOR. vince of Yucatan from the Mexican government was imitated by Paez in Venezuela. In regard to Columbia, Peru, Quito, the kingdom of Bogota, the provinces of St. Martha and Carthagena, all endeavoured to separate one from the other ; and all the toil, all the labour and slavery of Bo- livar fell to the ground when he died. The country for which he sacrificed every social joy and do- mestic happiness, became separated states, with upstart rulers ; the inhabitants are drained of their resources, and what might have been a wealthy country, is now a barren, and divided state. Are these the results of Liberty, or is Liberty merely a word ? — Look at St. Domingo : we may pass over all the refinements of cruelty practised by men who apprehended no punishment from the law, to the actual fact that the island which for- merly supplied France with sugar cannot at pre- sent supply itself ; and that the very men who cried out the loudest against the tyranny of their masters, are now driven at the point of the bayonet to cultivate the soil. The roads are overgrown by grass and brushwood, through which the traveller can scarcely force his way. Trade is ruined : the THE LIFE OF A SAILOR. 93 confidence between man and man is as much shaken as at present between the master and slave in Jamaica ; and St. Domingo is another proof that revolutions occasioned by a supposed tyranny, instead of curing the nominal evil, tend to increase it. I cannot conclude these remarks against revolutions, without drawing attention to the present state of France, Poland, Greece, the Netherlands, Portugal, and Spain ; and after noticing, by mentioning the above countries, the miseries they have undergone, in comparison with the liberty (blessings on that word !) they enjoy. Ask any man if he had not better bear the ills we have. Than fly to others that we know not of. Society, after a revolution, must always be mixed ; and few who have not seen the incon- gruous heap, can fancy the reality. Either at the Tuileries or in Mexico it is one and the same thing ; nor is it very long since that at the former, during one of the balls, I encountered my own boot-maker, and saw the master of the hotel in which I lodged dancing amongst the nobihty ! It 94 THE LIFE OF A SAILOR. may be all very right that it should be so, and very natural for those in the lower sphere of life to wish for such a change ; but there must be a distinction : whereas, in France and South Ame- rica, it is a distinction, but without a difference. At the Instituto de Literatura y Comercio, it is customary at certain seasons of the year to give balls once a month ; and here it was that I first saw the grand melange of people under the deno- mination of ' proper society.' The Mexicans are accustomed to smoke at all times and in all places, when they are awake, church alone excepted ; even the ladies sometimes smoke in bed. The English people who gave the ball, although willing enough to conform fo national habits and preju- dices, could not overcome their predilection for cleanliness ; and it was agreed by them, that no smoking (they could not prevent spitting) should be allowed in the ball-room ; and consequently, punch and pipeSj or rather cigars, were provided in another apartment. It is impossible to con- vey an idea of the disgust this occasioned ; and some of the gallant Mexican soldiers, who had risen upon the liberty and equality system, soon THE LIFE OF A SAILOR. 95 broke through the resolutions, and raised a cloud. They dance prettily, these half-Spanish girls ; there is something natural in their style, which art seldom attains. Of their dresses little need be said ; at the period to which I allude few wore stays, and the under-garments were not very plentiful. The education of the Mexican ladies is very limited. Music, saving the guitar, is little cultivated : they have a general lassitude of man- ner, and a common want of energy to surmount any difficulty : they seldom speak any language but their own, and are lamentably ignorant in geography. I once had to chalk upon the floor the situation of England, and, after all, could not persuade my charming pupil that it was not a revolted province of Spain. She was quite cer- tain that we paid an annual ^' piage," or tax to the Castilian monarch, and we had lapsed into heresy, when we endeavoured to declare our in- dependence. She knew that the Havannah was near Cadiz ; nor could I make her comprehend the immense space of water between Cuba and Spain. I am quite of the poet's opinion — *^ If ignorance is bliss, 'tis folly to be wise:'' the 96 THE LIFE OF A SAILOR. Mexicans would be infinitely more miserable if they only knew what a degraded set of beings they are : they are quite satisfied that they are the most instructed people on the face of the earth, and there can be no use in undeceiving them. The women of these parts are far from handsome, and the men are small in stature, arid poor in intellect. The Spanish blood, although it mixes admirably with that of the Negress, and produces the finest Creoles in the world, has not succeeded so well with the Mexicans: these people seem to have retained all the bad qualities of the Spaniard, and to have lost the pride and honorable feeling which was proverbial to their conquerors. In their amusements they are idle. The women rise early, and go to mass; they then change their garb, sip chocolate, and swing in a hammock. A siesta kills two hours ; about four o'clock in the afternoon they are dressed for the Almeida : to this they repair in their carriages, and, drawing up in a line, they sit and smoke in silence. The postilions or coachmen alight and form another group ; and thus some hours are expended, and life shortened. In the evening, a tertullia, either THE LIFE OF A SAILOR. 97 at their own or at a friend's house, offers the never- failing '' monte,"* and they retire to rest rather early than otherwise. In the streets, gambhng is as common as sapotas. Groups of natives are to be seen playing for their last farthings ; and during some of the fiestas, the sums staked, which had been previously religiously hoarded, are immense. They merely follow the ex- ample of the rich in this respect. I have seen on a table in the streets of MedelHn, a place near Vera Cruz, heaps of doubloons to entice the poor and the avaricious. Often have I observed an arriero lose his last dollar with unruffled temper, and after- wards look with most provoking coolness on the table on which he had been ruined. Monte and guarapo (an extract from the sugar-cane)- forms the heaven of a Mexican. They are prover- bially dishonest, and consequently dishonorable : it is very rare that a servant can be found who abstains from gambling, or who can be trusted. They have their theatres and their cock-fighting : * Monti is a gambling game, at wtiich none but an Indian can cheat : it is said they mark the cads with horse-bair. VOL. III. E 98 THE LIFE OF A SAILOR. in Columbia they mised large sums of money by taxing this amusement. The Provisional Opera was formerly the Cockpit : here I saw the Tancredi performed ; and, considering that the actors were the second-rates of the Havannah, it was not a discreditable affair. Over the curtain is written in large letters, '' Con riso llanto gracia y artificio, inspiro la virtud, condeno el vicio :" this was sur- mounted by a Mexican eagle on the nopal, with a wreath, on which was inscribed the magic word, *' Libertad.*' In the Bayle, or Ballet, the Society for the Suppression of Vice, notwithstanding the above motto, might be very beneficially employed : the dancers were positively nearly naked ; our English and French exhibition is decent, compa- ratively speaking. Had Mexico been conquered by England, what a magnificent country it would have become ! It only now requires a safe repose from intestine wars and continued revolts. The soil is capable of pro- ducing more than the inhabitants can consume, one hundred fold. The climate is excellent ; and I know of no other drawback to Mexican great- ness, but the want of harbours for its trade. < THE LIFE OF A SAILOR. 99 Tampico has a bar, over which large ships can- not pass ; Vera Cruz is too small and too dan- gerous a port ; Campeachy altogether too shallow. This alone is the actual necessity which cannot be remedied. By activity and energy the roads might be made secure and passable; the mines might be worked again by Mexicans : the retro- spective law, that foreigners cannot hold land, should be abrogated. Trade might again revive, and that country, which half a century ago deluged Europe with gold, might become a great, a power- ful, and a prosperous nation. They have all the materials, they only want the workmen ; — a few heads — ambitious heads — stuck upon poles, and Mexico would be Mexico again. 100 THE LIFE OF A SAILOR. CHAPTER IV. For bira no wretches, born to work or weep, Explore the mine or tempt the treacherous deep — No surly porter stands in guilty state, To spurn deploring famine from his gate. Goldsmith. The total quantity of gold and silver taken from the mines of Mexico, from 1690 to 1823, amounted to £284,224,924 sterling ; from 1802 to 1821, the money coined was 303,319,928 dollars ; in 1809 they coined 26,000,000 dollars; and in 1812, such was the fluctuation, that only 40,000 were struck. It is quite impossible that any man can read the above statement without the inference, that, where so much has been obtained, there may still THE LIFE OF A SAILOR. 101 be more ; and all know that, although one vein be worked out, yet another may be found. It has been this reasoning which has induced the many to advance their money, to become the proprietors of golden stores, or rather places, from which the Old World has been enriched, and which still offers the allurements of chance in behalf of the modem speculator; but it is requisite, although late in the day, to show the speculators in this under- taking the numerous chances against success, in comparison with the prospect of being suddenly enriched. It is quite true, that in former days the Mexi- cans had no steam-engines, or wheelbarrows ; that the slaves carried the ore and the dirt, in bags, upon their backs ; that the labour was a million times more irksome than with the aid of modern inventions ; and that still, with all these difficul- ties to contend against, an immense quantity of gold and silver was obtained, which enriched Spain, and ultimately almost deluged the world. It must be admitted in the argument, that when a government, such as at present exists in Mexico, will allow foreigners to become the proprietors of 102 THE LIFE OF A SAILOR. their wealth, they must have some sinister motive for so doing, or that they consider the mines so filled with water, as to render them impossible to be worked. It will be requisite here to state that a law does exist, and which was passed in 1825, that no foreigner should hold any landed property within the bounds of the Mexican go- vernment ; and although I admit the law is a dead letter, yet it is capable of resuscitation. This law has a retrospective view ; and Mr. Baring, who had purchased a great estate from the Marquis Miguel, called Paras, found his property in consi- derable j eopardy from the perfidy of the govern- ment, they having been privy to the first purchase, and having pledged themselves that no such law did or was to exist. I mention the case, merely to convince the mine-holders that the government of that country cannot be trusted for one moment, and that therefore, however rich the mines may be, still they are insecure as to the permanency of the purchase. It certainly might occur to the public, that, if the Mexicans, or the proprietors of the Mexican mines from which such amazing wealth has been THE LIFE OF A SAILOR. 103 drawn, had any confidence in their rulers, they could have contracted for steam-engines them- selves, and could have worked the mines far better and far more beneficially than strangers. It is impossible to believe that the Conde de Regla, the proprietor of the Real del Monte and many other mines, would have sacrificed his prospects for so small a sum as he received, had he not had some great misgivings as to the security of his property ; for the Mexican miners assert that we have not taught them any thing in their art, saving the use of the wheelbarrow. Now look at the amazing expense that must be incurred, before the implements which are to be used to work the mines can be brought to their destination. Let us begin at the beginning : — a company is formed ; the shares in the market ; the money forthcoming ; the flattering side of the question exhibited ; iiope alive, and a house taken, certainly without any ruinous expense. It then becomes requisite to form a working company; and now begins the outlay of money. In the first place, (I speak of the Real del Monte,) two commissioners, as they are termed, are engaged to 104 THE LIFE OF A SAILOR. superintend the wliole, at one thousand pounds a-year each ; and these again are assisted by two assistant commissioners, at a somewhat less salary ; and from twenty to twenty-four assistants, at two or three hundred a-year each. Stable-keepers, armourers, saddlers, carpenters, turners, rope- makers, doctors, clerks, apothecaries, agents, lazvyersy mule-drivers, conductors, arrieros, and treasurers, follow to swell the amount ; and after these hungry cormorants have been appointed, and money advanced, comes the necessity of char- tering ships, purchasing steam-engines, and adding thereto the numerous implements requisite for so great an undertaking. We will suppose the ships arrived at their destination, either Alvorado, Mo- cambo, or Vera Cruz : the cargoes of men and iron are landed ; the first are housed, and the latter left on the beach. Now come the difficulties. The flattering statements made by Bullock want the confirmation of reality. The roads are found impassable, unless waggons of a peculiar con- struction and force can be procured. Mules by hundreds must be purchased, and, when purchased, unable to convey the boilers, &c. The company THE LIFE OF A SAILOR. 105 are regularly fed at the expense of the proprietors. Sickness occurs. The commissioners leave the assistants to do the best they can, while they go to reconnoitre the mine and Mexico ; and, after five months' toil and trouble, a small part of the cargo is removed the amazing distance of nine miles. Here again is a dead halt ; and, if I have not been very grossly deceived, at this very mo- ment, in the year 1832, some of that cargo, which was landed in 1825, is still under the sand, or on the beach at Mocambo. It was calculated by a man who had long been resident in Vera Cruz, that such were the difficulties to be encountered, such the obstacles to be surmounted, that each pipe would have cost its weight in gold by the time it was safely landed in the Real del Monte. It must be ocular demonstration to estimate the difficulties of traversing the sandy plains of the Perote, or toiling through the almost impassable road between Alcaxete and Omasoqui. I know that by the plains of Appas the pipes could be taken ; and I know the difficulties to be encoun- tered on the route. But this may all be foreign to the argument ; 106 THE LIFE OF A SAILOR. for the pipes, buckets, commissioners, and boilers, with all the hangers-on of the establishment, have arrived ; the mine has been cleared of the water ; the vast expense of conveying the materials over, and the establishments at Santa Fe, Enceima, the Hacienda of Lucas Martin, and another not far from Perote, all reUnquished ; the smelting-houses complete, and the village of Regla rebuilt; some ore extracted ; the pleasure of hope great, and anti- cipation lively. No sooner was this perceived than tax upon tax was laid by the government. Very nearly 20 per cent is paid before the money can reach the coast: then comes the freight home, which is 2 per cent more ; and, after all, the addi- tional expense of removing it to London — for cap- tains, now, are not such dolts as to take bills of lading, binding themselves to land the treasure in London: they cautiously have the word England inserted; and thus, if they anchor at Falmouth, they can there land the money, and the owners may get it the best way they can. There was a celebrated man, since banished to and since returned from California, called Gomez, (a robber of no ordinary kind, for Ali Baba and his THE LIFE OF A SAILOR. 107 forty thieves were harmless to this desperate thief,) who, assisted by about four hundred men, and safely ensconced in the wood of the Pinal, com- mitted the most extravagant acts, and actually bearded the authorities of the country in Mexico. Gomez openly professed to war only against the old Spaniards; he swore to extirpate them, root and branch, from the soil over which they had spread themselves, and so well did he keep to his recorded vow, that no Gachupin would venture to cross the wood through which the high and only road runs from Mexico to Puebla. It was not supposed, even by the friends of Gomez, that he was actuated by only honorable motives of re- venging the tyranny which the old Spaniards had practised, or that he would have allowed the wealth of the mines to pass his stronghold with- out stopping the conduct a ^ and purloining the gold. He was, without any exception, the boldest and most desperate thief ever known in any country, saving always those licensed tyrants who confiscate estates of half their nobility, and send the wretched owners to dig the distant mines of Siberia, until age and decrepitude, dirt and disease. 108 THE LIFE OF A SAILOR. relieve the noble slave from the oppression of his master, and send him to that long and eagerly sought home, '^ w^here the wicked cease from troubling, and the weary are at rest." The famous " thief of Touchin," mentioned in the Russian History, who kept that country in conti- nual fear, until Menin and Pojarsky rose to libe- rate the soil, was far below Gomez in the self- appropriation art, and knew very little of the refinement of cruelty so often practised by the Transatlantic marauder. I have introduced Gomez in this part of my narrative, as I shall hereafter show that he has left behind him many of his associates, who have profited by the example of that masterpiece of villany, and who still infest the roads and woods of Mexico. Gomez was systematic in his cruelties. A poor fellow, who was accosted by the robber near St. Martin, in the course of conversation mentioned his very sincere hope that he might not fall into the hands of Gomez. '*Why not?" asked his companion, who was the robber in disguise. " Because," continued the traveller, '^ he is not THE LIFE OF A SAILOR. 109 only partial to robbing his victim, but he delights in the shedding of blood, and in the exercise of cruelty." " And who told you that?" said Gomez. " Common report," said the traveller. " We know for a certainty that he murders every man he captures, and washes his hands in the blood." ** Indeed !" replied the robber, " now you shall yourself be a witness to the contrary; for here," said he, pointing to a path in the wood, '^ is the way to the abode of Gomez ; and I will take the liberty to introduce you to him." In vain the traveller expressed his detestation of all new acquaintances, or urged the importance of his business; he was forcibly conducted to the ground, and then had the inexpressible horror of finding the robber in his companion. '' Here," said Gomez to some of his gang, "bring that large chest here." It was brought. " Now get in here," he continued, addressing himself to his new acquaintance ; which being complied with, the lid was fastened down, and the captive heard the following remark : — ^* Now, senhor, you shall know how false is common report. You shall 110 THE LIFE OF A SAILOR. die; but your blood shall not be spilt, neither shall I gloat over the murder, or wash my hands in the stream of life ; — now starve, suffocate, and die r The poor wretch in vain solicited mercy, and perished while the brutal murderers were laughing at his woes, and gambling on the chest.^ At the present moment every man is more or less a robber ; a plunderer he is in the fullest sense of the word. No sooner is one revolution put down, than, like the Hydra's heads, ten spring up. Fifteen hundred men are sufficient to overturn the government. General Teran marches and seizes Tampico ; St. Anna offers his paternal care and protection to the inhabitants of Vera Cruz ; whilst a host of others of inferior note keep up the excite- ment in every part of the country — rendering the roads insecure, and aiding and abetting the inde- pendent gentlemen, who, laughing at all parties, live in the Pinal, and follow the wholesale method, or robbing indiscriminately friend or foe. This is by no means an exaggerated statement, nor is it the worst side of the question ; there are public disturbances which render the conveyance, or the THE LIFE OF A SAILOR. Ill possession, of property insecure ; but private dis- sensions not unfrequently occur, and then the busi- ness of obtaining the wealth becomes doubly doubtful. Two cleverer men, more devoted to a cause, could not have been found than Vetch and Col- quhoun ; private intrigue soon sapped their power, and they both came home. Two other commis- sioners were appointed ; the same intrigues soon displaced them : the method pursued by one was abandoned by the successors, and hence a variety of plans, or, in short, a constant " always beginning and never-ending" ensued, to the very serious detriment of the speculator. Mr. Ward, who wrote his Mexico in 1828, mentions, that he, from authority which no other writer could obtain, feels confident, that in 1831 the mines will make a return of 15 per cent, besides having repaid the capital embarked. In 1832, not one farthing has been returned in the shape of interest, and the capital is sunk ! In 1833, every dollar taken from the mine will have cost a doubloon ; then, if the country settles down into a quiescent state, which is just as im- probable and just as impossible as that France 112 THE LIFE OF A SAILOR. should do the same, — then, I say, there may be a chance of a beginning to remit some trifle ; but that the speculation can answer, is obvi- ously impossible, if we judge of the future by the past. To say that the committee acted hastily in send- ing out, at a tremendous expense, certain articles obtained much cheaper in Mexico, is merely to re-echo what has been said one thousand times : they were deceived by the reports of some authors as to the state of the roads, the country in gene- ral, the laws, their administrators, the difficulties to be surmounted, and the general dishonesty of the inhabitants. In the beginning they employed, or rather engaged a host of people, who could not be turned to any possible use, and who quietly rode out at their pleasure, or eat and drank at the table kept for them by the Company : these gentlemen were at the trifling salary of three hundred pounds per annum, were very numerous, and very much in the way of impeding business. I think, the Real del Monte Company had, at one time, one thou- sand mules, besides four large establishments in the country, — a most enormous outgoing without one farthing's return ; and now, after seven years' THE LIFE OF A SAILOR. 113 experience, — after the erection of steam-engines, and smelting-houses, the immense sums ex- pended in quicksilver, the concentration of all their estabhshment at the mine, what has been the return to the shareholders ? It is quite useless sending out men to make reports as to the state of the mine ; — let us see one ship freighted with the wealth, and that will be more beneficial than all the calculations about fifteen per cent, &c. To attempt to strike out a plan, by which the shareholders are to be benefited, is quite im- possible : the country must first be in a condition to maintain its laws, and to defend its subjects ; — until this is done, it is useless to risk a conducta^ even if the money was forthcoming. The other mines, I consider as quite desperate : from the first moment I saw the country, I was satisfied the speculation never would answer. I had opportunity enough to form my opinion, and I have never had occasion, from any agreeable surprise in the shape of a remittance, to alter it. It is even now not worth gambling about on the Stock Exchange. It is a dull subject, and I dismiss it. On my return to Vera Cruz, I was robbed by 114 THE LIFE OF A SAILOR. my own escort, and certainly had very nearly the pleasure of walking a long part of the way. I had ridden a considerable distance in advance of the carriage, and had taken up my night's quarters at the respectable inn of the Purissima Conception in Alcaxete : as usual, I laid my weary self upon a large bench, and placed my arms ready, in the event of any necessity to use them. I had with me a young Englishman, who had not been used to rough-riding, and who now, overcome by the fatigue of the long sultry ride, had fallen into a sound asleep by my side. Weary and fatigued as I was, I could not fall asleep ; there are times when the mind will not subside into forgetfulness, or the eyes close in slumber : some guardian angel kept me from repose, and I lay with my eyes and ears open and attentive. A little after midnight, I heard the voices of Spaniards, who, although they knew we were at the inn, did not know our room : the door opened into the court-yard, on the steps of which sat smoking and talking the premeditators of mis- chief: the conversation was, of course, in Spanish, but amounted to the following : — '' There are three of them^ two senhors and one THE LIFE OF A SAILOR. 115 criado (servant); they all rode horses, and the animals are in the same stable as our mules." ^' It may be," was the short reply. " Are they English ?" continued the first voice. *' Quien sabe," was the answer. *' There can be no harm," continued the ^en- tleman of easy conscience, '^ in taking the horse of a heretic." ** Xot in the least," was replied ; and here fol- lowed an audible sigh, such as a man sometimes srets rid of after a Ions: whiff of tobacco. " Well," said the former, " suppose I drive the mules out, and you take the horses into the wood (the Pinal) ; do you think they will find them ?" " Quien sabe." '^ But do you think we can get off clear to- morrow with them ?" *' Quien sabe." *' WTiere can we sell them ?" ** Quien sabe." '^ Do you think the Enghshmen are asleep ?" *' Quien sabe." After much such a conversation, it was decided 116 THE LIFE OF A SAILOR. to rob the heretics, and forthwith I heard them walk away from the steps. My companion, who was fast asleep, started into activity when he heard me fastening on my sabre, and fumbling with my pistols ; he was soon ready for action ; and with a cautious hand I opened the door, to watch operations, before I commenced any hostile demonstration. It was a fine clear night — not a noise to be heard, save now and then a grunting curse from the thieves as they moved the mules in the stable to make way for our horses to pass : the stable-door was exactly opposite to ours, and the light of the moon fell upon that side of the court-yard ; so that we remained in our room unseen, whilst we had a good view of our enemies. At last, after a considerable time had elapsed, I saw my black stallion coming out of the stable, followed very closely by the other two horses : the foremost man held the lasso which secured the different animals, whilst the other thief crept along the wall to open the gate. I now began to think that my friends had gone far enough ; so, with very little courtesy, I walked over the way. THE LIFE OF A SAILOR. 117 seized the Spaniard by the collar, and trotted him and the horses into their proper places ; in the mean time my companion was making very deter- mined signs of his eagerness to commit murder upon the " Quien sabe " gentleman, who was on the point of opening the gate. " Prepare to die, you vagabond scoundrel you, directly !" said the little fire-eater. '* What ! steal our horses, will you ? This is the last night you ever perform so vile a part. What are you doing at the gate, you villain ?" " Quien sabe !" was the cool reply. " Go and help your vagabond companion in placing the horses in the stable, and then come out and be shot!" The Spaniard walked away, struck a hght for his cigar, and, after having placed the horses in their proper places, fastened the stable-door, and said, with the greatest coolness, '* that they be- longed to the house, and were only going to take the horses to water, knowing that we always departed early in the morning." " And where did you intend to sell them ?" I asked. 118 THE LIFE OF A SAILOR. " Quien sabe !" was the rejoinder. The next morning they spread a report, that we were going to steal their mules, and that they had detected us in the act of committing the theft. They could not even get any credit from their own countrymen. In three days we were at Vera Cruz : the season had been unusually unhealthy, and the church- yard, or rather burial-ground, had scarcely a spare resting-place for the victims of the yellow fever. It was in one of my rambles, that I wit- nessed the following scene : Struck by the appearance of the skulls, which are piled up exactly like shot in a garrison, I en- tered this Campo Santo, if so it can be called ; and after gazing for some moments at the awful piles of bleached heads, which met the eye in every direction, and were convincing evidences of the fatal effects of the prevalent disorder, my at- tention was attracted by a loud laugh of a female, who was in conversation witli two men digging a grave. I instantly turned to witness the operation, and, on nearing the spot, observed the workmen relinquishing their undertaking, as the grave was THE LIFE OF A SAILOR. 119 considered finished : it was so shallow, that it was evident that the body would scarcely be covered, and would half-breed a pestilence from the putrid stench it would create in a very short time. ''Why, my good friends !" said I, **this will never do ; why, the man will be on a level with the ground, — his flesh will be visible." *' And what if he is ?" rephed one of the grave- diggers ; *' the crows will soon finish him ; look behind you !" he continued. I did, and there saw the arm of a dead, and nominally buried man, clear of his grave, with two crows sitting quietly and undisturbed as they tore the remaining flesh from the bone, and bolted the unsavoury meal. The woman, who stood by the grave, seemed quite delighted at my disgust, and my endeavour to scare the intruders from so unhallowed a repast : no sooner had they flapped their lazy wings in the air, and lifted themselves from the almost bared arm, the fingers of which had served for a perch, than they seemed to " caw" a kind of defiance ; and, lengthening their long legs, they touched the prey with their claws, whilst the flap of the wing 120 THE LIFE OF A SAILOR. kept them independent of support. I watched them with an anxious eye, as they again relaxed their idle efforts and settled on the arm, again dug their savage beaks into the flesh, and again strained their arched necks, as the tenacity of their food forced them to use their utmost strength. Whilst I had been occupied in gazing on this honid scene, the man destined for the shallow grave had been brought, and left in an open shell : he was perfectly naked, and had died, not of the yellow fever, but from a stab, apparently of a bayonet, a little below the heart. No priest at- tended to offer a last prayer for the poor man's benefit ; no friend was to moisten the grave with the tear of affection ; no wife, no child, no former companion appeared to weep for a loss they must have sustained, or to hallow the last act of hu- manity. On a tree hard-by, some scavenger birds, with thirsty beaks, seemed eyeing the pre- parations, whilst the crows on the bared arm looked savagely on a fresher repast. " My friend!" said I, addressing one of the men, who without his shirt had been toiling at the grave, " I will give you half a dollar, if you THE LIFE OF A SAILOR. 121 dig this resting-place so deep, that those black devils of birds shall be disappointed." '' And what if I do?" said he. " They only rob the cayotte ;* when the sun is down, deep or no deep, they will find him out." '* Will you dig it deeper for half a dollar ?" With a lassitude common in those sultry coun- tries, and after exchanging a word or two with the woman, whose eyes indicated any thing else but seriousness of thought, or affection at the scene, both workmen again began to deepen the grave ; the pickaxe struck against something hard ; and a skull was taken from the place, which one of the workmen rolled at the crows which had left their prey, and had advanced nearer to us. They rose upon the wing, and passing close over our heads, settled near to the dead man. Even the woman was dismayed at the sight, and urged her child to go and scare them away : but the birds only walked about, and seemed to defy its efforts to turn them from their intentions. The grave was not dug deep enough, but still * The cayotte is an animal not unlike a jackall, something be- tween a wild dog and a fox. VOL. III. F 122 THE LIFE OF A SAILOR. as deep as they would dig it : and I awaited the finale of so degrading a sight. No dog could have been hurried to his grave with less ceremony, or been kicked from this world with less feeling. After having been seated for some moments, and amused themselves during that time in making love to the lady, they arose to finish the last act ; one took the dead man by both hands, whilst the other grasped his feet, and in this manner brought him near the grave : he could not have been dead an hour, for the body hung down in all the flexi- bility of life, not a joint seemed stiffened; when within a yard of the spot, they swung the corpse backwards and forwards three times, one man saying with unfeeling mimickry, " Here is some- ihins for the father of the next world :" then throwing the body into the grave, gave a loud ** ah !'* and finished the ejaculation with thanking God that the labour was past. It fell into the spot destined for its reception, with a dead and heavy sound : all that a day before was the image of God, was rolled into the dust of oblivion: no voice besides my own, even said " Amen j" and the softer part of human nature, THE LIFE OF A SAILOR. 123 the woman, stood by with folded arms and heartless indifference. The child, that emblem of inno- cence, alone seemed conscious of the barbarity, and screamed to its unfeeling mother for protec- tion ; whilst the men, hardened to the task, from the frequent repetition, kicked the scanty dust over their companion, and trampled upon him as he lay, a heap of flesh and bones, not even stretched in decent posture in his narrow grave. Alas ! alas ! thought I, as I slowly retreated from the scene — is this the end of life ? Is it for this men toil, fight, slave, court the popular god — ambition — worship — fortune ; and from the cradle to the grave, torment themselves and their neighbours in some useless speculation, or abor- tive scheme ? But yesterday, and that was a man moving in his own sphere ; perhaps the envy of some, and the friend of many : a drunken brawl, a hasty word, a ready dagger, and then a grave and forgetfulness ; and, alas ! what are we ? — the food of the birds which sing our requiem, and flap, with a kind of funereal noise, a dusky pall in their sable wings. When I arrived at the gate, long since broken from its hinges, I turned to look 124 THE LIFE OF A SAILOR. at the grave ; the woman and the child, the grave- digger and his companion, had gone ; and the first bird at the repast was stooping on its wing to drop upon the loose dirt which covered the corpse. My companion in my Mexican trip took a pas- sage in the packet for England, and I returned to Jamaica to report myself to the commander-in- chief. I was placed as a supernumerary on the books of the Magnificent, and very shortly after my return received my commission as commander of a ten-gun brig : vessels so admirably con- structed as neither to be able to fight or fly, as occasion may require. They are the most useless class of vessels ever constructed, and which are admirably calculated to depress the courage of our seamen, and to heighten that of our adversaries. There is not a ten-gun brig in the service which is a match for any smart American schooner with a long gun on board ; and what would be the cry if an English man-of-war brig was taken by a schooner? The same remarks are applicable to the little, short, useless, leewardly class of ships called Jack-ass frigates, out of compliment to the proposer or builder, I know not which, of these THE LIFE OF A SAILOR. 125 deformed vessels. An American sloop of war ought to take them to a certainty ; and should we then survive the disgrace of losing a frigate in such an action ? It was the evening preceding my departure in my new command that I was dining in Kingston at the house of a very celebrated physician and surgeon, alike known for his hospitality and his talent : — we had divested ourselves of our lum- bering coats, and were sitting in quiet comfort, enjoying the cool breeze of the land-wind, and refreshing nature with some slightly chilled claret* '* Massa, massa," said a black boy, who burst through the verandah in which we were regaling ; " Massa, come quick, him wanted, sar, Massa Brown him dead, sar — him shot, sar, wid a pistol, sar.'* " Get out, you black fool !" said the doctor; " if Mr. Brown is dead, I can be of no use. I can't bring a dead man to life, you booby ! Who sent you ?" '^ Missy Brown, sar — him say, sar, him broder dead, sar, and wanted the doctor, sar. I really wish you come, sar. Missy quite frightened." 126 THE LIFE OF A SAILOR. " Missy and you are two fools together : come, be off; if the boy is not killed, I might be of ser- vice ; but to doctor the dead is both unprofitable and useless." Away went blacky, and the doctor and myself were again left alone. " Surely," said I, " some- thing must be the matter, or the boy never would have looked so frightened. Come, doctor, sup- pose you go and see." *' Not I, truly; it is very seldom that, through- out the year, I get a quiet and comfortable dinner. Some old blockhead pricks her finger in hemming her handkerchief, and then is monstrously sur- prised that we cut it off to prevent tetanus. It was but the other day that I got into my top-chaise* to go to dinner, when a black girl came and told me her mistress was dying ; I went, and found a young woman about twenty-five, who had by some carelessness ran the needle into her thumb, and complained of pain running up her arm. Ten minutes after the clumsiness, she had only four fingers on her left hand !" • A top-chaise is a kind of stanhope with a head resting upon four upright iron supporters. THE LIFE OF A SAILOR. 127 At this moment another clatter was heard, and in came a black boy nearly white with fear. " Massa say, sar, massa doctor come directly, that Massa Brown only dying ; him no dead yet, sar — him shot through the head." The doctor immediately prepared to visit his patient, and I went with him. On arriving at the door, we found a crowd collected crying and be- wailing. Some of the httle black girls seemed half frantic ; and while the doctor was arranging his dignified looks, I sprung up stairs, and in a moment was in the fatal room. On the floor, in the centre, was a white boy of about fourteen years of age, stretched out as if dead. Around him stood about sixteen or seven- teen black and mulatto women, all drooping their heads, and in tears. On seeing me, they made an opening, and I knelt down by the side of the boy's head to inspect the wound. The ball had entered the left temple, and the brains were oozing through the orifice. The body was occasionally convulsed : the haggard features were indicative of the ap- proach of death, whilst the gurgling in the throat, and the glassy fixture of the eyes, confirmed 128 THE LIFE OF A SAILOR. my worst apprehensions. By this time the doctor, who had dropped his hat in the hurry, and had been in search of it, entered the room ; and as he came to me, I said, in a low tone, " It is no use, the boy is on the point of death." The blacks caught the sound, and cried'most piteously. " Oh, massa Charlie, no leave us, sar — no leave us, sar — look up, massa Charlie." With some difficulty, the doctor procured a razor, and began to shave the head near the wound ; but no sooner had he inspected the place, than he left the boy flat on his back ; and as he rose, said, *' He is dying, and will be dead in a moment." The jaw began to droop, the noise in the throat ceased, and a pin might have been heard to fall, notwithstanding the crowd in the room. At this instant a slight shudder affected the boy — a shiver previous to death. The blacks rushed to the body, and each endeavoured to get her mouth over the dying boy's ; and each, as she neared his lips, started up and cried, ^^ I have it ! I have it !" meaning, that she had caught his soul. The boy stiffened into death, and his mi- sery was over. The servants now commenced a THE LIFE OF A SAILOR. 129 loud bewailing, very similar to the low howl of the Irish. They tossed their aprons in the air, and gave vent to their feelings in their usual wild manner : but it was evident that the slaves wept for the loss of their young master ; and the grief they expressed was decisive of the dead never having tyrannised over his servants ; but that he had used them with kindness and regard. The accident arose from a hasty word. One brother was in the habit of tormenting the other. The father happened to say, " Why, Tom, don't you shoot him ?" Upon which the son took down a pistol and cocked it. " Take care," said the father, '* it is loaded." " Will you leave me alone, Bob, or I will shoot your Bob still continued to plague him ; the brother advanced within a yard, and firing, shot him through the forehead. As I have, and had, a mortal antipathy to a coroner's inquest, I left the house, ran to my boat, rowed down to Port Royal ; and the next morning, at daylight, was standing out of the harbour through the leeward passage, bound to St. Jago de Cuba. 130 THE LIFE OF A SAILOR. CHAPTER v., Then rose from sea to sky the wild farewell, Then shriek'd the timid, and stood still the brave ; Then some leap'd overboard with dreadful yell, As eager to anticipate their grave. And the sea yawn'd around her like a hell, As down it sank with her the whirling wave. Don Juan. I KNOW many men in the navy, who have served their years and years afloat, who have passed through the rugged Hfe of a sailor, un- touched by the enemy, and unhurt by misfortune. How true it is, '* that in the midst of hfe we are in death!" that the very moment of intoxicating joy may be our last of existence ; and the instant of the greatest apparent security, the date of our THE LIFE OF A SAILOR. 131 death ; — how vain are all our precautions against the unerring hand of fate ! The Magpie, a small schooner, under the com- mand of Lieutenant Smith, an active, inteUigent officer, was ordered to cruise between the Colora- dos, a shoal at the western extremity of the island of Cuba, and the Havannah, in order to intercept a piratical vessel, which had committed innu- merable depredations both on shore and at sea, and which every trader had seen, but none could accurately describe. It was a service of the utmost importance, inasmuch as the existence of this vessel rendered higher insurances requisite ; the merchant-vessels dared not to sail without a convoy, and the men-of-war were otherwise in great request in every part of Columbia and Mexico, to protect the merchant from the rapacity of the different governments, or the constant re- volutions which threw the weak entirely on the power of the strongest, without a chance of as- sistance. The Magpie proceeded to her destination, and there remained, in hopes of capturing the ma- rauder. It was one evening when the sea-breeze ]32 THE LIFE OF A SAILOR. had lulled, and the calm in being which occurs before the land-breeze commences, that the schooner lay upon the silent waters without a motion, with her head towards the shore, and about eight miles distant from the Colorados. Smith, who had swept the horizon with his glass from the mast-head of his charge, until the twi- light had died into darkness, was in his cabin, the mate on deck, the crew talking over past scenes and occurrences, every thing apparently in the most perfect security, when an event occurred, which I well know I cannot paint in the glowing colours the heart-rending tale deserves. It is requisite here to mention, that the schooner had her fore-topsail set, the yard being braced for the starboard tack ; the fore-sail was in the brails, and the jib and boom mainsail, the latter with the tack triced up, hanging up and down in the calm. On the larboard bow a small black cloud had hung over the land ; and in tropical climates, almost invariably, the clouds settling on the hills is the sign of the land-breeze being about to commence. Perhaps many of my readers have not been in these climates, where the bless- THE LIFE OF A SAILOR. 133 ings of the cool night-breeze must be felt to be appreciated ; generally speaking, the land-wind comes on in light flaws, until it settles into its strength, which is rarely sufficient to drive a frigate at the rate of five knots an hour. No one can guess with what impatience the navigator, who has been beating all day against the sea-breeze and current, aw^aits the arrival of his fair wind, and cooling breeze, which is to give him renewed existence by its bracing qualities, and to forward him towards his port. It is a blessing eagerly sought after, and heartily wel- come when it comes. The cloud which at first seemed only of small dimensions, gradually increased ; and the moon, which was shining brightly just over the vapour, perhaps made it appear darker than it really was. The mate looked at the gathering blackness with- out apprehension, although some foreboding of approaching mischief seemed to render him un- quiet and uneasy. "Mr. Smith," said the mate, looking down the hatchway, " I think the land-breeze is coming off rather strong, Sir ; the clouds look very black. 134 THE LIFE OF A SAILOR. " Very well," replied Smith ; ** keep a sharp look-out. I shall be on deck myself in a mo- ment." It is proper for the historian of all misfortunes, to show how by cautious attention such misfor- tunes might have been guarded against. When the mate observed the increasing blackness and density of the cloud, he ought to have braced the fore-yard round, and thus to have prevented the schooner being taken aback ; for there are no ves- sels so ticklish (as we call it) as schooners, and no yards so diflScult to manage in a squall, as the long overgrown yard for a schooner's fore-topsail, or square-sail. Had this slight manoeuvre been executed, the horrible consequences which ensued might have been obviated ; at any rate the men ought to have been kept in readiness, the fore- topsail should have been furled, or lowered, and preparations to meet any circumstances ought to have been made. It is a singular fact, that the crew, who had been engaged in relating all kinds of wonderful events about five minutes before the catastrophe occurred, became awfully silent ; not a word THE LIFE OF A SAILOR. 135 escaped them : there seemed a preparatory still- ness for death itself, or a respectful fear at its approach. A squall of wind, which must have been fear- fully strong, seemed to burst from the cloud along- side the schooner ; it reached her before the mate could call the watch into activity. The vessel was taken aback ; and Mr. Smith, as he put his foot upon the last step of the ladder, found his schooner upset, and scarcely time had he to reach the deck before she sunk, to rise no more. The crew, amoimting in all to twenty-four, hap- pened luckily to be on deck, with the exception of two who were drowned in the schooner ; and in one minute they found themselves struggling in the water — their home, their ship, and some of their companions lost for ever. The wild cry for assistance from some, of surprise from others, and fear from all, seemed to drown the wind ; for, as if sent by Providence to effect this single event, no sooner had the schooner sunk, than the wind entirely ceased, a calm came on, and the bright rays of the moon fell upon the wet faces of the struggling crew — most fortunately, as some would 136 THE LIFE OF A SAILOR. think, but in reality the most painfully unfortu- nate from what followed : the boat on the booms of the schooner floated clear of the sinking vessel, and seemed prepared for their salvation ; the fore- yard-arm had somehow got fixed on the gunwale, and as the schooner sunk, it naturally heeled the boat, until she was nearly upset and half full of water, when the yard got disentangled, the schooner sunk, and the boat floated. The only ark of their safety was amply large enough to have saved the twenty-two men who in- stantly swam to her ; and such was the impetuosity occasioned by their fright, that prudence was overlooked : and in the hurried exertion of eight or ten endeavouring to scramble in, all on one side, the half-filled boat heeled below her gunwale in the water, and rolled over and over ; some got across her keel — the others held on by her — and all were safe from drowning. Mr. Smith, who appears to have been a man of most consummate command and coolness, began to reason with his crew on the impossibility of their being saved, if they continued in their pre- sent position ; for those who were on the keel THE LIFE OF A SAILOR. ]37 would shortly roll off, and exertion and fatigue would soon force the others to relinquish their holds, or urge them to endeavour forcibly to dis- lodge the possessor from their quiet seats. He pointed out the necessity of righting the boat, of allowing only two men to get in her to bale her out, whilst the others, supported by the gunwales which they kept upright, might remain in the water until the boat was in such a condition as to receive two more ; and thus by degrees to ship the whole crew in security. Even in this moment of peril, the discipline of the navy assumed its command. At the order from the lieutenant, for the men on the keel to relinquish their position, they instantly obeyed, the boat was turned over, and once more the ex- pedient was tried — but quite in vain ; for no sooner had the two men begun to bale with a couple of hats, and the safety of the crew to appear within the bounds of probability, than one man declared he saw the fin of a shark. No lans^uaoe can convey the panic which seized the struggling seamen: a shark is at all times an object of horror to a sailor ; and those who have seen the 138 THE LIFE OF A SAILOR. destructive jaws of these voracious fish, and their immense and almost incredible power — their love of blood, and their bold daring to obtain it — alone can form an idea of the sensations produced to a swimmer by the cry of " a shark ! a shark !" Every man now struggled to obtain a moment's safety. Well they knew that one drop of blood would have been scented by the everlasting pilot- fish, the jackalls of the shark; and that their de- struction was inevitable, if one only of these mon- sters should discover the rich repast, or be led • to its food by the little rapid hunter of its prey. All discipline was now unavailing, the boat again turned keel up : one man only gained his secu- rity, to be pushed from it by others ; and thus their strength began to fail from long-continued exertion. As however the enemy so much dreaded did not make its appearance, Smith once more urged them to endeavour to save themselves by the only means left, that of the boat ; but as he knew that he would only increase their alarm by endeavouring to persuade them that sharks did not abound in those parts, he used the wisest plan of desiring those who held on by the gunwale, to THE LIFE OF A SAILOR. 139 keep splashing in the water with their legs, in order to frighten the monsters at which they were so alarmed. Once more had hope begun to dawn ; the boat was clear to her thwarts, and four men were in her hard at work : a little forbearance and a little obedience, and they were safe. At this moment, when those in the water urged their messmates in the boat to continue baling with unremitted exer- tion, a noise was heard close to them, and about fifteen sharks came rioht in among-st them. The panic was ten times more dreadful than before : the boat again was upset by the simultaneous en- deavour to escape the danger ; and the twenty- two sailors were again devoted to destruction. At first the sharks did not seem inclined to seize their prey, but swam in amongst the men, play- ing in the water, sometimes leaping about and rubbincr ao;ainst their victims. This was of short duration — a loud shriek from one of the men an- nounced his sudden pain: a shark had seized him by the leg, and severed it entirely from the body. No sooner had the blood been tasted, than the long-dreaded attack took place ; another and ano- }40 THE LIFE OF A SAILOR. ther shriek proclaimed the loss of limbs : some were torn from the boat, to which they vainly en- deavoured to chng — some, it was supposed, sunk from the fear alone — all were in dreadful peril. Mr. Smith even now, when of all horrible deaths the most horrible seemed to await him, gave his orders with clearness and coolness ; and to the everlasting honour of the poor departed crew be it known, they were obeyed : again the boat was righted, and again two men were in her. Incredible as it may appear, still however it is true, that the voice of the officer was heard amidst the danger ; and the survivors actually, as before, clung to the gunwale, and kept the boat upright. Mr. Smith himself held by the stern, and cheered and applauded his men. The sharks had tasted the blood, and were not to be driven from their feast; in one short moment, when Mr. Smith ceased splashing, as he looked into the boat to watch the progress, a shark seized both his legs, and bit them off just above the knees. Human nature was not strong enough to bear the immense pain without a groan ; but Smith endeavoured to conceal the misfortune : nature, true to herself, re- THE LIFE OF A SAILOR. 141 sisted the endeavour, and the groan was deep and audible. The crew had long respected their gal- lant commander; they knew his worth and his courage : on hearing him express his pain, and seeing him relinquish his hold to sink, two of the men grasped their dying officer, and placed him in the stern sheets. Even now in almost insup- portable agony, that gallant fellow forgot his own sufferings, and thought only on rescuing the re- maining few from the untimely grave which awaited them : he told them again of their only hope, deplored their perilous state, and concluded with these words : *Mf any of you survive this fatal night, and return to Jamaica, tell the admiral (Sir Laurence Halsted) that I was in search of the pirate, when this lamentable occurrence took place ; tell him, I hope I have always done my duty, and that I" here the endeavour of some of the men to get into the boat, gave her a heel on one side; the men who were supporting poor Smith, relinquished him for a moment, and he rolled overboard and was drowned. His last bubbling cry was soon lost amidst the shrieks of his former companions — he sunk to rise no more. Could he 142 THE LIFE OF A SAILOR. have been saved, his life would have been irksome ; and, but for the time which even the best desire to make atonement for the sins and errors of early life — to offer their contrite prayers to the throne of grace — to implore that salvation we all hope for, and none of themselves can claim — he had better have died as he did, than Uve to be dependent on others ; — to hear the peevish complaint of his atten- dants, or to sigh for pleasures he could never enjoy, or for comforts he could never obtain. With him died every hope : all but two of the crew gave way to loud execrations and cursings. Some, who had not been so seriously injured by the monsters of the deep, endeavoured to get upon the keel of the boat, which was again upset ; but worn out with excessive fatigue, and smarting under the keen pain, they gave up the chance of safety, and were either eaten immediately by the sharks, or courting death, which appeared inevi- table, they threw themselves from their only sup- port, and were drowned. At eight o'clock in the evening the Magpie was upset ; it was calculated by the two survivors, that their companions had all died by nine. The sharks THE LIFE OF A SAILOR. 143 seemed satisfied for the moment ; and they with gallant hearts resolved to profit by the precious time in order to save themselves : they righted the boat, and one getting over the bows, and the other over the stem, they found themselves, al- though nearly exhausted, yet ahve, and in com- parative security ; they began the work of baling, and soon lightened the boat sufficiently not to be easily upset, when both sat down to rest. The return of the sharks was the signal for their return to labour. The voracious monsters endeavoured to upset the boat : they swam by its side in seeming anxiety for their prey ; but, after waiting some time, they separated— the two rescued sea- men found themselves free from their insatiable enemies, and, by the blessing of God, saved. Tired as they were, they continued their labour until the boat was nearly dry, when both lay down to rest, the one forward and the other aft : so completely had fear operated on their minds, that they did not dare even to move, dreading that an incautious step might again have capsized the boat. They soon, in spite of the hojrrors they had witnessed, fell into a sound sleep— and day 144 THE LIFE OF A SAILOR. had dawned before they awoke to horrible reflec- tions, and apparently worse dangers. The sun rose clear and unclouded, the cool calm of the night was followed by the sultry calm of the morning ; and heat and hunger, thirs,t and fatigue, seemed to settle on the unfortunate men, rescued by Providence and their own exertions from the jaws of a horrible death. They awoke and looked at each other — the very gaze of despair was appalhng: far as the eye could reach, no object could be discerned ; the bright haze of the morning added to the strong refraction of light; one smooth interminable plain, one endless ocean, one cloudless sky, and one burning sun were all they had to gaze upon. The boat lay like the ark, in a world alone ! They had no oar, no m^st, no sail — nothing but the bare planks and them- selves, without provisions or water, food or rai- ment. They lay upon the calm ocean, hopeless, friendless, miserable. It was a time of intense anxiety ; their eyes rested upon each other in silent pity, not unmixed with fear. Each knew the dreadful alternative to which nature would urge them. The cannibal was already in their THE LIFE OF A SAILOR. 145 looks, and fearful would have been the first attack on either side, for they were both brave and stout men, and equals in strength and courage. " 'Tis a bad business this, Tom,'^ said the man on the bow — " a very bad business, indeed ; I think I am sorry I was not eaten by the sharks with the rest of the poor fellows, and then I should never have known the misery of this moment." '' I have been," replied Jack, " in many a heavy squall before now; but I never felt such a gale as this — no hope, Tom, none ! Here we are, doomed to die of thirst and hunger ! — nothing to eat, you know, Tom, nothing !" The word " no- thing" was repeated by Tom, who afterwards con- tinued the conversation: — ^^ Well, boy, many's the ship that passes through the Gulf of Florida, and which must come nearly within hail of us ; so that if we, or one of us, can but live a little — and I dare say we can find food for one — why, then, you know, the whole of the story will be told, and that will be son sthing." ** Food for one," re-echoed the other, and ad- vanced a little towards his only companion, with a look of savage determination. Both understood VOL. III. o 146 THE LIFE OF A SAILOR. the allusion : there was no doubt but that they could have outlived the day without resorting to the last resource ; but they stood afraid of each other. Both had knives, for sailors always carry these instruments suspended to their necks by a strong piece of white line, which they call a lan- yard. Although not driven to the dreadful alter- native, they anticipated the worst results ; they knew they could not both long survive the awful situation in which they were placed. If no ship passed them within four-and-twenty hours, it was evident that one must have been murdered to save the other. In all times of tribulation and danger, men turn their thoughts to God, and solicit that support for which when in health and security they had omitted to pray. There is a delightful calm which generally comes over the mind of the most hardened after they have been induced to pray for support and forgiveness ; and few there are who, having once experienced the consolations of religion, totally abandon it afterwards. In the situation in which the two men were placed, they had not even the comfort of employment, for they THE LIFE OF A SAILOR. 147 had nothing to employ themselves upon : all they could do, was, or could be done, in a second — namely, when the sea-breeze came, to place a thwart upright with a jacket upon it in the bows of the boat, and scud before the wind ; in which case, if they could exist four or five days, they might reach the western shore of the Gulf of Mexico. The man abaft fell upon his knees, and, lifting his clasped hands to heaven, silently began his prayer. The throb of religion reached the heart of his companion, who, fearing to approach too near the only human being he was likely to see again, knelt down on the fore-part of the boat ; and thus, in silence, they prayed for support, and a happy issue out of all their afflictions. It was now about half-past six in the morning : the sun was beginning to prove its burning power, the sea was as smooth as a looking-glass; and, saving now and then the slight cat's-paw of air, which ruffled the face of the water for a few yards, all was calm and hushed. In vain they strained their eyes — in vain they turned from side to side to escape the burning rays of the sun; 148 THE LIFE OF A SAILOR. they could not sleep, for now anxiety and fear kept both vigilant and on their guard : they dared not to court sleep, for that might have been the last ^ of mortal repose. Once, they nearly quarrelled, but fortunately the better feehngs of humanity overcame the bitterness of despair. The foremost man had long complained of thirst, and had frequently dipped his hand into the" water, and sucked the fluid : this was hastily done, for all the horrors of the night were still be- fore them, and not unfrequently the sharp fin of a shark was seen not very far from the boat. In the midst of the excruciating torments of thirst, heightened by the salt water, and the irritable temper of the bowman, as he stamped his impatient foot against the bottom boards, and tore his hair with unfeeling indifference, he suddenly stopped the expression of his rage, and called out— " By God, there is a sail!" The extravagance of joy was now equal to the former despair : they jumped into each other's arms — they laughed, and cried together. It was a sail, a brig which had a light breeze aloft, and was steer- ing exactly in their direction. Every means of THE LIFE OF A SAILOR. 149 making a signal was resorted to : one stood upon the thwart and flung his jacket in the air, whilst the other, although the stranger was miles dis- tant, endeavoured to hail her. Sometimes they hailed together, in order to produce a louder sound, and occasionally both stood up to make some signal. Their eyes were never off the brig : they thought no longer of the burning sun, or of hunger or of thirst ; dehverance was at hand, at least so they flattered themselves , and no time of greatest joy could have beat the excitement and gratification of that moment. Whilst they stood watching in silence the approach of the brig, which slowly made her way through the water, — and at the very instant that they were assuring each other that they were seen, and that the vessel was purposely steered on the course she was keeping to reach them, — the whole fabric of hope was de- stroyed in a second ; the brig kept away about three points, and began to make more sail. Then was it an awful moment : their countenances saddened as they looked at each other; for in vain they hailed — in vain they threw their jackets in 150 THE LIFE OF A SAILOR. the air — it was evident they had never been seen, and that the brig was steering her proper course. Both now attempted to break adrift one of the fixed thwarts : the loose ones had been lost during the night ; and although, as all may fancy, every muscle was exerted, and all the strength nature had given them pushed to its utmost, yet were they insufficient in power to succeed. Their object was to use two of these thwarts as paddles, and to edge down at an angle from the course of the brig; so that they would, if they did not reach her, at any rate pass so near, as to be certain of being seen. This last was a sad dis- appointment ; but, sailor-like, they would not des- pair while hope was in sight: they endeavoured, by heeling the boat on one side, to propel her by their hands : but they were soon worn out with fatigue, and obliged to relinquish the attempt ; for, independently of the impossibility of success in such an undertaking, they lost the better oppor- tunity of being seen from the vessel. It was after a long deep sigh from the man in the stern-sheets, and after wiping away a stream THE LIFE OF A SAILOR. 151 of tears as he looked at the vessel, then about two miles and a half distant, that he broke into a loud lamentation on the utter hopelessness of their condition if they were not seen. In vain they declared that the brig had purposely altered her course to avoid them — in vain they pointed to a man going aloft, whom they could distinctly see — and in vain they waved their jackets, and assisted the signal with speech. The time was slipping away, and if once they got abaft the beam of the brig, every second would lessen the chance of being seen; besides, the sea-breeze might come down, and then she would, be far away, and be- yond all hope in a quarter of an hour. Now was it, that the man who had been so loudly lament- ing his fate, seemed suddenly inspired with fresh hope and courage ; he looked attentively at the brig, then at his companion, and said — *' By Heaven, I 41 do it, or we are lost !" *^ Do what ?" said his shipmate. " Though," said the first man, '* it is no trifle to do, after what we have seen and known ; yet I will try, for if she passes us, what can we do ? I tell you. Jack, I '11 swim to her : if I get safe to 152 THE LIFE OF A SAILOT?. her, you are saved ; if not, why I shall die with- out adding, perhaps, murder to my crimes." ** What! jump overboard, and leave me all alone !" replied his companion : " look, look at that shark, which has followed us all night — why it is only waiting for you to get in the water to swal- low you, as it did perhaps half of our messmates : — no, ho — wait, do wait, perhaps another vessel may come; besides, I can't swim half the dis- tance, and I should be afraid to remain behind : think, Tom — only think of the sharks, and of last night." This appeal staggered the determination of the gallant fellow. There, about twenty yards from the boat, was the fin of the shark, and now and then another and another might be seen : he looked at his enemies, and then at himself. Certain death awaited him in the boat, perhaps heightened by crime : a chance of death awaited him in the sea ; but there was hope to buoy him up — the time was flying, the breeze had begun to freshen a little, the brig was fast advancing, and hope was every minute growing less. '' Well," said he, ^' Jack, it comes to this, THE LIFE OF A SAILOR. 153 you see, that ifwe wait we must die, — if I get to the brig we must be saved. If the sharks — God Al- mighty protect me ;" said he, shuddering as he men- tioned the word^-" should take me, and you live to get back again, you know where to remember me. I say, Jack, it 's no use being frightened to death, when we can but die : come, give us your hand, my last companion. I '11 do it, if it is to be done. Good bye : — now, if you see those devils in chase of me, splash, or make some noise to frighten them, but don't tell me you see them coming. Another shake of the hand — God bless you, Jack ! keep your eye upon me, and make signals to the brig : — there," said he, ** putting his knife down, ^' that might be of use to you, and here *s my toggery. If I 'm taken, it 's none the better for last night's swim." Then falling on his knees, and saying, *^ God protect me !" he jumped over- board with as much calmness, as if he was bath- ing in security. No sooner had he begun to strike out in the direction he intended, than his companion turned towards the sharks. The fins had disappeared, and it was evident they had heard the splash, and would scon follow their* 154 THE LIFE OF A SAILOR. prey. It is hard to say who suffered the most anxiety. The one left in the boat cheered his Companion, looked at the brig, and kept waving his jacket — then turned to watch the sharks: his horror may be imagined, when he saw three of these terrific monsters swim past the boat, exactly in the direction of his companion : he splashed his jacket in the water, to scare them away, but they seemed quite aware of the impotency of the at- tack, and lazily pursued their course. The man swam well and strongly. There was no doubt he would pass within hail of the brig, provided the sharks did not interfere ; and he, knowing that they would not be long in following him, kept kicking the water, and splashing as he swam. There is no fish more cowardly, and yet more desperately savage, than a shark. I have seen one harpooned twice, with a hook in its jaws, and come again to a fresh bait : yet will they suffer themselves to be scared by the smallest noise, and hardly ever take their prey, without it is quite still. Generally speaking, any place surrounded by rocks where the surf breaks, although there may be a passage for a ship, will THE LIFE OF A SAILOR. 155 be secure from sharks. It was not until a great distance had been accomplished, that the swimmer became apprised of his danger, and saw by his side one of the terrific creatures : still however he bravely swam, and kicked ; his mind was made up for the worst, and he had little hope of suc- cess. In the mean time the breeze had gradually freshened, and the brig passed with greater ve- locity through the water ; every stitch of canvass was spread. To the poor swimmer the sails seemed bursting with the breeze ; and as he used his utmost endeavour to propel himself, so as to cut off the vessel, the spray appeared to dash from the bow, and the brig to fly through the sea. He was now close enough to hope his voice might be heard ; but he hailed and hailed in vain — not a soul was to be seen on deck : the man who steered was too intent upon his avocation to listen to the call of mercy. The brig passed, and the swimmer was every second getting farther in the distance : every hope was gone, not a ray of that bright divinity remained : the fatigue had nearly exhausted him, and the sharks only waited for the first quiet moment to swallow their victim. 156 THE LIFE OF A SAILOR. It was in vain he thought of returning towards the boat, for he never could have reached her, and his companion had no means of assisting him. In the act of offering up his last prayer ere he made up his mind to float and be eaten, he saw a man look over the quarter of the brig : he raised both his hands; he jumped himself up in the water, and, by the singularity of his motions, fortunately attracted notice. A telescope soon made clear the object : the brig was hove-to, a boat sent, and the man saved. The attention of the crew was then awakened to the Magpie's boat : she was soon alongside ; and thus, through the bold exertions of as gallant a fellow as ever breathed, both were rescued from their perilous situation. At first the dreadful tale was discredited ; and the American captain rather fancied the addition to his crew to be two pirates, who had, to avoid a surer death, put to sea in an oarless, mastless, sail-less boat. They were landed at the Havannah, and then conveyed to Port Royal in the first man-of-war. Such were the sufferings and the deaths of the THE LIFE OF A SAILOR. J57 crew of the unfortunate Magpie ; and these facts were related to the officers composing the court- martial which sat upon the two remaining men. The story was told with unaffected modesty ; and he who had so generously risked his life to save his messmate, could not be prevailed upon to tell that part which solely related to himself : but when the truth was out, and his messmate had done ample justice to the heroic act, they both burst into tears in the court, and ran into each other's arms. There was not a man in that court, either as captain or crev/, who did not show how quickly the feehngs of sailors can be touched, and how alive they are to recording a generous and manly act. The survivors were both strongly recommended for promotion ; and the recommendation was not in vain — a few short months saw them warrant- officers ; and when I left that station some years afterwards, these two men had gained the con- fidence and esteem of their commanding officers, who found them sober, attentive, and alert in doing their duties : and thus it sometimes hap- 158 THE LIFE OF A SAILOR. pens that the most unfortunate circumstances are the best roads to promotion and contentment. Strictly speaking, this anecdote has no business in my Life ; but it is a scene in a sailor's life, and such a one as is not easily forgotten. T shall now introduce my readers to some small conviviahty which occurred rather farther to windwaril than the island of Cuba ; for I do not mean to leave a track by which any one may hunt me up ; and henceforth the scenes will be detached, without any regard to time or dates. THE LIFE OF A SAILOR. 159 CHAPTER VI. O'er the dread feast malignant Chemia scowls, And mingles poison in the nectar'd bowJsj Fell Gout peeps grinning thro' the flimsy screen, And bloated Dropsy pants behind unseen. Darwin. The absence, or the scarcity in these colonies, of those many and varied amusements that in other countries minister to the public appetite, occasions a proportionable degree of excitement among the colonists, whenever a circumstance occurs to bring them together in pursuit of plea- sure. Balls and dinner parties are the principal, almost the only occasions of these public solemni- ties : and every charitable allowance is to be made 160 THE LIFE OF A SAILOR. for the devotion with which the votaries of Terp- sichore and Bacchus fulfil the rites of their re- spective deities. The ball-room is the scene of action, where the long pent-up sympathies of the fair dancers of the West are released from the thraldom of that monotony which the climate impresses on their general habits. In the unrepressed animation of spirit, and untiring activity and joyousness of movement which the occasion calls forth, it would be difficult to recognise any of that diffidence and reserve, so naturally engendered by the retire- ment of a Creole lady's life. . The pleasures of dancing are no where more thoroughly appreciated than in this country ; and in no civilised society is this enjoyment less al- loyed with envy and rivalry. The spirit of the fair dancers is proof against the yawning of parents, or aged chaperones, and even the melting appeal of the early beams of a tropical sun ; and when the ungracious ^a^ of de- parture could no longer be resisted, many a fair form has slowly retreated with excited looks, and THE LIFE OF A SAILOR. 16J maiiy a bright eye drooped in silent but touching sorrow over the scene of their still unsated enjoy- ment. A dinner party is equally redolent of excite- ment and enjoyment, though of a somewhat different character. C. had been prepared for the novelty of the event, and arrived at the house of feasting in full anticipation of much amuse- ment. He was greeted at the door by his friend Mr. Peters, clothed in scarlet and buff, as captain of the militia ; and who, as one of the stewards of the festival, conducted C. down a long room, having a table garnished for the accommodation of sixty or eighty people, into a sort of waiting- room, v/here huge goblets of punch and sangaree invited the guests to the usual preliminary liba- tions. There was something appalling in this initiatory rite, it seemed typical of the absolute submersion that was to follow ; and C. slowly, and with some trepidation, obeyed the repeated and cordial in- vitations to taste the contents of one of these mighty reservoirs. The punch, however, prpved excellent; as how could it be otherwise, w^en 162 THE LIFE OF A SAILOR. capital old rum, and limes fresh from the tree, formed its basis ? The guests rapidly dropped in after C, and the punch and sangaree as rapidly waned in the crystal goblets. The manner of treating the subject was, to the judicious ob- server, characteristic of the individual. The Irishman occasionally gulped down an incautious allowance, with an air of supreme defiance ; others of that class diffidently sipped a modest portion ; the man of habitual thirst took a long and hearty pull — at once doing homage to the generous liquor, and expressing his confidence of his capa- city for all that might follow ; while the steady and experienced old proser planted his thumb- nail on the outside of the glass, and at a certain depth below the surface of its contents, and drank down to the prescribed mark with admirable ex- actitude. Symptoms of drought were appearing, and a jovial steward had issued orders of re- plenishment. New sluices were about to be opened, when a band, stationed in the verandah, struck up "God save the King:" the hum of voices ceased — the measured tread of a multitude was heard above the martial notes, and His Honor THE LIFE OF A SAILOR. 163 the president entered, accompanied by six aides- de-camp, the commandant and staff of the gar- rison, and several civil as well as military func- tionaries : dinner was immediately served, and the party proceeded with due state to occupy their places at the table. Colonel H. assumed the presidental chair, having on his right the " Commander-in-Chief," a portly, handsome man ; the naturally jovial ex- pression of whose countenance was somewhat tempered and restrained by a j ust sense of official dignity. On the chairman's left sat the worthy major, with that sort of quiet sober certainty of happiness in his visage, usually acquired by those who have been frequently accustomed to sit at " good men's feasts.*' Official dignitaries ranged right and left of these worthies ; while divines, planters, lawyers, merchants, soldiers, militiamen, and other guests, whose avocations could not be precisely defined, completed the arrangement of the table. Captain Peters, at the foot of the genial board, presided over the lower regions. Betsey Carter, the venerable mulatto priestess of this solemn festival, had faithfully discharged her duties. Turtles, from the most celebrated 164 THE LIFE OF A SAILOR. keys in the neighbourhood, had been for some time in private training for the occasion, and now appeared as soup in huge tureens, or as calipash and cahpee in weighty tin dishes of the size and fashion of ancient coal-scuttles. There was no lack of fish, both various and excellent, out of the abundance of the sea-coast ; and rounds of English beef, and joints of well- approved Nevis mutton, completed the substantial portion of the feast. Turkeys, geese, ducks, and guinea-birds, interspersed with that peculiarly indigenous luxury, the land-crab, were among the lighter affairs. Irish potatoes, (almost esteemed a luxury,) yams, plantains, ochios, the Jamaica bean, pigeon-pea, and the mountain-cabbage — the most delicate, delicious, and costly of all ve- getables — and pastry of those fruits that in England are deemed both rich and rare, helped abundantly to furnish out the feast. These excellent matters were discussed with ail due gravity, and in silence that was only inter- rupted by the clatter of knives and forks, the grinding of masticators, and the occasional inter- change of bibulous compliments. " Will vour Honor take punch after your turtle ? THE LIFE OF A SAILOR. 165 —Major, will you join his Honor and myself in a glass of punch ?" '' Glass of wine, Mr. President ?" " With all my heart." ^' Boy, bring some madeira— the yellow cork — {aside) — now take it to the president, and when he has helped himself, bring it again — you under- stand?" *' Yes, massa," with a grin of intelligence. ^^ Titus, a glass of porter." " Reverend, I '11 join you, if you please." " Titus, two glasses — one to Dr. Bowes." *' Reverend, your good health." '' Sir, I thank you." *^ Boy, go and tell that gentleman at the other end of the table I shall be happy to take wine with him." *' Which gentleman, massa?" *' Next to Colonel Magoree." '' Dis side TomeyTGeneral, massa?" '' Yes." '* Massa C, Captain Peters say, 'pose you take wine wi' him." *' Madeira or claret, sir?" 166 THE LIFE OF A SAILOR. " Which you please, sir." ' *' Name it, sir." " Claret, if you please." " Tom, any swizzle ?" " Yes, massa." " Bring me some." *^ After you, sir." " Simpson, here 's some excellent pale ale ; will you join Peters and me ?" " Colonel, I recommend a glass of barsac. Mr. Solicitor-General will perhaps join us?" &c. &c. Towards the middle of the feast, champagne was produced, and passed briskly round the table. ** Collector," said a bilious-looking wag, hold- ing up a glass of the contraband liquor, and cocking his eye cunningly at the Receiver of Customs, *' a glass of perry ?" '* Ha ! ha ! ha ! with all my heart. Major, don't wait for me." The by-acting of the servants during these ceremonies was not without its appropriate cha- racter. There might be about twenty in attend- ance, all decently attired, as is customary in the THE LIFE OF A SAILOR. 167 old colonies, but in various costumes. Some in stately liveries, more guarded than those of their fellows, others with merely a livery coat, and the rest of their accoutrements for the " working- day," and here and there the cast-oflP habiliments of the master, gave " a shabby-genteel" air to Hector, or Demosthenes ; full suits of white, how- ever, prevailed more generally. The contests between the servants to answer the several de- mands of their masters would occasionally inter- rupt the solemnity of the feast. ^^ Hector, where you get dat wine ? gib it me. You no hear'ee commander-chief call for it?" **Chaw! I no care; massa call me."^ " De debbil, Tom ! what for you go 'pill dat suisel on me for?" *' He — he ! 'tan 'way den." ** Chaw ! dat d — m big Eboe debbil take da punch, just when massa caa' for it, Scipio ! Tom no hear'ee Colonel De'brough call for claret ? I really shamed of you ! You no sense of shame — why you not attend massa commandment?" " You no buckra — why you talk grand to me for?" 168 THE LIFE OF A SAlLOR. While matters were at their highest, a tall portly dame, of the mulatto tribe, with an expression of high good-humour in her face, peeped respectfully into the room, and was immediately recognised by Colonel H. '^ Ah, Betsey, my old lady, happy to see you. Capital dinner, Betsey." /' I glad to my heart to hear'ee you say so. Turtle good, massa?" *' Excellent— couldn't be better." *' Tankee, massa: I wis' you all happy, my massas." ** Here, Betsey — glass of madeira ?" '' Tankee, massa. Very good health !" The old lady retired, satisfied at finding her la- bors had been duly appreciated. At length the heavy work of the day was got over, the cloth removed, wine and fruits in abun- dance were placed on the table, and each man shifted himself with a joyous chuckle, in his seat, as preparatory to a prolonged and hearty booze. C. felt that he had already partaken very libe- rally of the various fluids that had circulated during the dinner — and' now looked with no small THE LIFE OF A SAILOR. 169 anxiety at the arrangement of the table for further indulgence. The length of the table had at first deluded him with the hope that the wine would be slow in its progress, but a second glance de- stroyed this hope. Provision had been made to pass the bottles by short stages from one steward to another ; and the countenance of each of these officials bespoke a steady, unflinching sense of duty. It was now that the convivial qualities of the ex- cellent chairman unfolded themselves. The dig- nity of his important office had tempered the flash of his moist and merry eye, and kept in abeyance those lines of humour that usually quivered round his mouth, as long as the turtle and mutton were the subject matters of discussion ; but his official mask dropped off with the removal of the cloth, and the health of his Majesty delivered with due emphasis and discretion. The health of the Queen and Royal family fol- lowed ; and both toasts having been greeted with right loyal shouts of approbation, the chairman rose to propose the health of his Honour the com- mander-in-chief ! The toast was prefaced by a VOL. III. H . 170 THE LIFE OF A SAILOR. sparkling eulogium on his many excellent quali* ties, and a congratulatory appeal to the company on the pride and satisfaction with which they were enabled to recognise in him a native of their favoured island. The reply in due course suc- ceeded, acknowledging the high honour and hap- piness in the accustomed style of sentimental twaddle. The generous bumpers, and the ecstatic " high hurrahs," that hailed these speeches, seemed by far the most essential part of the business. The health of other dignitaries followed, the chairman thrqwing off several spirited biographi- cal sketches of public characters. " Mr. Vice," said the chairman, on one of these occasions, '* a bumper, if you please ! Gentlemen aH, I must insist on a genuine bumper ! Captain Peters, be good enough to see the glasses filled at your end of the table. Reverend, I can allow of no heel-taps on this occasion: I am quite sure the chief judge would not allow daylight in his glass if he knew my toast ; and I am satisfied every body present will heartily approve of the toast I am about to propose. ** Gentlemen," continued the Colonel, rising T3HE LIFE OF SAILOR. 171 from his seat, '* I have to propose the health of a distinguished guest, who, though recently come among us, has already secured our esteem and warmest good-will — a gentleman of that high and honorable profession, to which we look for the protection of our liberties, our laws, and our domestic hearths. Gentlemen, I feel how inade- quate I am to the task of fully describing the claims this gallant officer has on our regard — (with a look of fierce admiration at the Major,) — who having, with his distinguished regiment, met the enemy in a hundred tented fields," (loud ap- plause, during which the Major modestly decHned eighty per cent of these achievements to his neighbour,) " amid the snows of America, the burn- ing plains of India, and wherever the banner of the enemy was unfurled." — (** Dear me," said the be- wildered Major, ** he must be thinking of the forty- second.") — *' I say, gentlemen, having perilled himself and his gallant regiment in these adven- tures, he is now come among us with his brave comrades, to assist in the protection of our na- tive island, and, I hope, long to continue among us. Gentlemen, 1 will only add the health of 172 THE LIFE OF A SAILOR. Majot Weatherspoon, and the gallant regiment of !!" Shouts, shrieks, and yells of applause rose hke the din of battle to welcome this toast, and ap- peared to startle even the redoubted veteran in whose honour they had burst forth. When the uproar had lulled, and a few faint " hip, hips" only were bubbUng in the throat, and a few ultras were prolonging the chimes of their glasses, the Major rose to reply. Conticuere omnes ; every eye was fixed on him : but the trusty old soldier had already recovered from the flutter of the mo- ment, and, having a just notion of his own oratory, had no mind to indulge his auditors with any flights of fancy. ^' Gentlemen," he said, '^ unaccustomed as I am to be called on to acknowledge so handsome a public compliment" — (many a county dinner and corporate feast would have testified against this,) — " all that I can say, gentlemen, is, I shall never forget it — never, gentlemen — never" — (a shght halt, and quiver of the voice here) — '4 say again, gentlemen, never. I wish you all a very good health, and I hope, gentlemen, you may always THE LIFE OF A SAILOR. 173 be as happy as I am at this present moment ; I am sure I speak the feelings of the whole regi- ment." However modestly the Major might have re- flected on his parts of speech, his oration met with unbounded applause. — " Capital speech that." — ^' Just what it ought to be." — *' No hum- bug there."—" D— e, I like that old Major."— *' Spoke from the heart." — " A right good fel- low."— '' Thorough soldier, I'll be bound," &c. &c. The fruits of the stewards' faithful administra- tion of their functions, under the equally praise- worthy vigilance of the President and his Vice, were beginning to exhibit themselves. The con- fusion of tongues was rapidly augmenting : flow- ers of speech were profusely springing up, from hitherto barren soils, now well irrigated with ex- cellent old madeira; and joke, song, repartee, argument, and noise, were contributing to the perfection of this Babel. ** Sir," said the Re- verend Magnus Bultree, a venerable relic of the ancient episcopal establishment of the West, and attorney for sundry estates, addressing his opposite 174 THE LIFE OF A SAILOR. neighbour, — " these are fearful times ; a perilous spirit of innovation is stalking abroad. Our parent country, Sir, is afflicted with the democratic, de- moralising, atheistical doctrines of their neigh- bours : the pestilence is spreading to these once tranquil shores; social order is trembling to its very base, and men scoff at the wise institutions of our ancestors, and seek to break down the barriers that have been sanctioned by ages for the well- being of communities." *' Or what say you, Reverend," rephed his neighbour. Dr. Bowes, a tall thin man, the expres- sion of whose countenance was quiet and unpre- tending, unless when a pair of small grey piercing eyes were lighted up by excitement — ** to this pe- rilous spirit merely seeking to remove the barriers, that all may run who have the power ?" The doctor was shrewdly suspected of certain heresies, quite at variance with the existing order of things in the Colonies, His reply provoked at- tention from those in his neighbourhood. '* What, sir ! would you level the distinctions of society ?" THE LIFE OF A SAILOR. 175 '' On the contrary, Reverend, I would exalt them, by making the attainment of them more a matter of merit than accident." ** The delusive dream, sir, of all those who have only superficially studied the history of mankind, — unworthy the sound sense and pene- tration of Dr. Bowes." *' I must risk my character for sense and pene- tration," said the doctor, rejecting the divine's tempting bait; " and while I deprecate the anarchy you apprehend, I shall still indulge hopes that the mass of mankind will gradually rise in social and political estimation, and — " " Become masters in their turn !" said Colonel Magoree, a Colonial A. D. C, and proprietor of some four or five hundred slaves. " I think," said another planter, with a look of confiding triumph at the divine, ** the Reverend can give you law as well as gospel against that." '* Ha ! doctor, that will be a black dose, after your own fashion. — Beg pardon. Reverend." " It won't do," said a heavy-looking man, who had recently cast the slough of merchandise, and was now, by virtue of his dominion over a planta- 176 THE LIFE OF A SAILOR. tion well stocked with cattle and slaves, one of the aristocrats of the land — " it won't do, doctor — must have order, distinction, and so forth ; no keeping up discipline without it ; must have au- thority properly supported." *' Most people think so, after they have once obtained it," replied the imperturbable doctor. *^ He hit the old shingle-merchant there," ob- served one of the ancien regime to his nei^i- bour. But the ci-devant vender of lumber and flour did not, or would not appropriate to himself the allusion to his fungus origin. *' I say, doctor, now, you will swear, I suppose, that one of these days my slaves will become masters in their turn ?" '' Then he '11 swear black 's white !" *' But what the devil 's going on at the top pf the table ?" Shouts of laughter from the neighbourhood of the President's chair acted as a decision in favour of the doctor, and attracted the attention of the table. The gallant Major's immediate neighbour was a venerable gentleman, of sober visage, and THE LIFE OF A SAILOR. 177 manners eminently courteous. His white hair was placidly smoothed over his head, and gathered up behind into a short and unpretending tail. He wore a full suit of black, of ancient fashion ; and his whole appearance and manners bespoke the gentleman of *^ the old school ;" while the gravity of his countenance well befitted the important functions he fulfilled. The veteran chiefs had been gradually cultivating each other's acquaintance throughout the evening. They had both stea- dily prosed over their wine, interchanging much profitable discourse both on civil and military afl^airs. The coincidence of their opinions on many important matters, and their mutually regular ob- servation of the bottle as it passed, was gradually opening the fountains of their hearts, and at length their affections gushed forth. In the delirium of their tenderness, they had risen from their seats, and with an arm of each thrown round the neck of the other, were swearing eternal friendship under the solemn pledge of a bumper. "For ever — Judge — for ever!" — *' Cha — os — shall come again, when I forget thee, Major !" 178 THE LIFE OF A SAILOR. " Bravo — bravo !" shouted the President, amid the merriment of the scene. *' Gentlemen, a bumper. Weatherspoon and Bamet for ever ! Py- lades and Orestes!" " Weatherspoon and Barnet for ever !" echoed Peters, from the lower regions. *' The ladies, and the rest of us !" — ** Hip, hip, hurrah !" After this achievement, the party commenced •separating. Some few stalked sedately out of the house, evidently well accustomed to carry their burthens ; others staggered along the wall in very suspicious plight; some appeared meditating a bivouac under the table ; while C — , with the as- sistance of his friend Peters, found himself at the house of the latter, totally unable to explain the route he had adopted. A few however had remained behind, who, col- lecting near the head of the table, held it matter of conscience to testify their fealty to the Presi- dent, until he chose to abdicate. Divers devilled matters were produced to stimulate the faithful few in despatching the skeleton of what had been a well-appointed regiment of bottles of madeira THE LIFE OF A SAILOR. 179 and claret, at the commencement of the feast, and which had been arranged in very imposing tiles on one side of the room. The riot and revelry of the party soon attained its climax : in the transports of their loyalty, they exalted the jovial President to a seat on the table — sang * God save the King ' in full chorus, with an extempore verse in honour of King H., by the Colonial Laureate ; and having joined hands, and executed sundry capers round the table, in compliment to the throne, concluded their homage, and the joys of the evening, by passing round those huge crystal goblets, well replenished with sangrorum, that had ushered in the feast. As the loyal band were staggering out of the house, an empty mule cart was passing, and a halt immediately ordered. As many as could crowd the vehicle took possession of it ; and the President, in full uniform, with his cocked hat, and flash feather, occupied the seat in front, flou- rishing a huge cart-whip, to the annoyance equally of bipeds and quadrupeds. Having ascer- tained the tranquiUity of the town, by indulging his party with a drive through its suburbs, he 180 THE LIFE OF A SAILOR. managed, with the assistance of the driver, to cart his goods in safety to their respective homes, and availed himself of Mulatto Bob's kind offices in reaching his own domicile. This is a specimen of life in the colonies ; for, notwithstanding yellow fever, mosquitoes, centi- pedes, scorpions, tarantulas, flees, flies, bugs, and gnats, pleasure is not altogether out of reach; that is, if pleasures consist in convivial society, and sometimes drowning the cares of this world in the oblivion of the bowl. Lord Byron says, and truly perhaps, *' Man being reasonable, must get drunk. The best part of life is but intoxication : Glory — the grape — love — war — in these are sunk The wealth of all men, and of every nation." THE LIFE OF A SAILOR. 181 CHAPTER VII. The restless cattle moan'd within the stall, The very dogs stood howling in despair ; In vain, in vain, th' affrighted females call, And rend with shrieking cries the midnight air. Hark to the crash of yonder ruin'd wall ; The thunders thunder, and the lightnings glare ! All 's hush'd ! Aurora dawns and smiles again ; But where Caraccas stood — is now a plain. The constant insurrectionary movements which had agitated Columbia from Marguerita to Peru, induced Bolivar to repair, as circumstances re- quired, to place after place, in order to crush the hydra-headed rebelhon, and to restore that peace and confidence, which had been lost by the in- temperance and ambition of his servants. Paez 182 THE LIFE OF A SAILOR. had declared Venezuela independent of the king- dom of Bogota ; he had meditated being the so- vereign of this large tract of country. The Llaneros, or people of the plains of Apure, where he was himself born, had declared themselves friendly to his views; and this rough bold sol- dier found support in his numerous followers, who had ever considered the sway of Boli- var as a tyranny, and had always sighed for an independent government under their idol, Paez. Such was the state of Columbia when I anchored in the roads of La Guayra. Paez had consented to wave all pretensions to sove- reignty for the present, and Bolivar had hastened from Bogota to effect a reconciliation, and to confirm his friendship with his old ally. The place destined, or rather predetermined, for the meeting, was at a small inn, situated on the top of the mountain over which the road passes from Puerto Caballo to Caraccas. Bolivar arrived in the vicinity of the inn at the appointed time, at- tended only by Colonel Wilson, (the son of Sir Robert Wilson,) now consul-general in Peru, and one or two domestics. On arriving at the inn, they THE LIFE OF A SAILOR. 183 found that Paez was not true to his engagement ; no tidings had reached the owner of the venta of the Venezuelan chief's approach. It was an hour of intense anxiety to all but Bolivar ; he was the only one who could have been much injured by the perfidy of Paez, who had so often broken his faith, had so frequently involved his country in civil discord, that no rehance could be placed in his word. The Libertador, however, knew, that to retreat was worse than to advance, for had any treachery been intended, he was evidently so far in the mesh, that escape would have been im- possible ; he therefore bore his usual serenity on his countenance, and, mounting his mule, began to descend into the valley. Far as the eye could reach, no trace was visible of Paez ; but, on turn- ing a sudden angle, the surprise was great at beholding a plain covered with tents, and bearing the appearance of a hostile force encamped. As Bolivar neared his friend, he perceived the soldiers forming in two files, and flanking the road along which he was obliged to pass : here it was, that his faithful aid-de-camp ventured to hint that some perfidy might be intended, and mentioned 184 THE LIFE OF A SAILOR. the propriety of a careful advance, or what per- haps he wished more — a precipitate retreat. It ehcited no answer : the President was already in the plains, and, as he advanced along the road, the line of soldiers as he passed closed in his rear, so that he was perfectly hemmed in. On this being mentioned to Bolivar, he had the presence of mind not even to turn round to watch the ma- noeuvre, but steadily to pursue his course. Not far distant was Paez, standing by some of his principal officers, dressed in dazzling uniform, surrounded by his soldiers. Bolivar knew him immediately, and, directing his mule to the place, quietly dismounted, and, folding the treacherous chief in his arms, said aloud — " By this behaviour, and this submission to the government, you have saved your country." The army immediately shouted "Viva Bolivar!" The mountains re- echoed the cheer, and Paez, apparently overcome by his feelings, reclined on the breast of the Presi- dent. It was immediately agreed, that both should together make a kind of triunfphal entry into Ca- raccas and La Guayra ; and the putting into effect this resolution gave rise to the following scenes. ' THE LIFE OF A SAILOR. 185 So little, however, has been known of the true character of thje heroes above mentioned, that I propose here to give one or two anecdotes descrip- tive of both ; although the distinguished bravery of BoHvar, and his cool disregard of danger, could not be more highly developed than in the pre- ceding behaviour. Paez was about five feet eight inches in height, dark, athletic, and well formed ; he had a full round countenance, with large black penetrating eyes ; but he bore no outward sign of either the talent or the cunning he possessed. That he was a brave man, could not be doubted ; that he was honest, was not quite so well ascertained : he is a man of strong vindictive feelings, hasty in liis temper, and rash in his enterprises. When his great personal enemy, Mendoza, died, Paez could not help showing his vindictive meanness, by in- sulting the dead, and rejoicing that Death had gained the triumph which he had long anticipated in imagination as the work of his own hand. At the dead of night, Paez, accompanied by some of his fierce and lawless companions, retired to the grave of his enemy ; and there, seated round the coffin. 186 THE LIFE OF A SAILOR. I which they converted into a table, they joyfully caroused as they drank their miserable guarapo, and played at their favorite monte. The merri- ment became more furious, as they dashed their glasses over the head of the inanimate form ; and their spiteful eyes glistened in horrid exultation, as they called upon the dead to rise from his grave, and drink a long good night to the power of the President. It is reported that the Vene- zuelan chief poured a libation on the coffin, as he drained the glass to the eternal damnation of his former foe. To such a being as Paez, honour is but a name ; it exists merely in imagination, and he has been kept honest through the fear of detection : but a drunkard and gambler can never very long wear the irksome mask ; and nature speaks when the prudent hand of sobriety has been withdrawn. In 1827, certain sums of money were forwarded from Bogota, to pay the troops in the district of Carac- cas. Paez took the money under his protection, and forthwith began to gamble with it in large stakes. Fortune, not always faithful to her sons, was unfortunately false on this occasion ; and the THE LIFE OF A SAILOR. 187 chief soon lost the gold, previously destined for his soldiers. The next morning he sent a strong guard to desire the winners to refund, as the money was not his to lose, but belonged to the government ; and in this manner added a theft to his dishono- rable conduct. I beheve it was this same Paez who staked a large sum for the Virgin Mary, and insisted upon winning in so righteous a cause; although he lost, he took care to be paid. When the dividends, to the great and welcome astonishment of the bondholders, were, for a won- der, likely to be forthcoming, partly in gold, and partly in tobacco, the wily Paez allowed both to be actually shipped ; nay, one of the vessels was positively under weigh, when he seized ship and cargo, sold the produce to pay his troops, and himself pocketed the doubloons, and left the bond- holders to relapse into their Tormer fears, which certainly have never been dissipated, and never will be obUterated. I believe the stories of this man's having fre- quently dived into the rivers to attack the alliga- tors, to be mere fiction ; it must be more than a man who will face those horrid monsters ; and all 188 THE LIFE OF A SAILOR. the dexterity of throwing the lasso would be of little avail against these voracious creatures. Paez was a man of no education ; he had been bom and bred in the plains of Apure, where, ma- naging a horse, and throwing a lasso, constitute the principles of education. On the above plains, after a violent shower, the whole extent appears a lake ; and it is reported, that when this great general first saw the sea, as he wound down the road from Caraccas to La Guayra, he exclaimed, " Hombre, que aquacero ha Jiahido aqua /" (What a shower of rain they have had here !) When he first tasted champagne, at a dinner given by Udeneta, the captain-general of Maracaibo, the uneducated Paez called out, '^Hombre, que guar apo tan fuerteV* Guarapo is a miserable extract of the sugar-cane. The word hombre is apphed at the beginning of almost every exclamation. I remember at Mara- caibo, when the consul's large Newfoundland dog- knocked down an independent Columbian, the youngster, as he rose and caught sight of the tremendous animal, vociferated, " Hombre, que perro tan grande !" which might be interpreted-^ "My eye, what a big dog!" Paez placed an THE LIFE OF A SAILOR. 189 officer under arrest, for officially announcing the arrival of a seventyfour-gun ship, as he declared the existence of such a thing perfectly impossible. Of Bolivar, thousands of hair-breadth escapes are recounted. Long before his fame had reached its highest point, and during his stay in Jamaica, he one day dined at the house of Dr. Chamber- laine ; after dinner, a heavy rain began to fall, and, by the advice of his host, Bolivar slept v^here he dined. In the mean time, his secretary, who had some papers of consequence ready for signa- ture, was impatiently awaiting the arrival of his master, and, after walking about the verandah in unquiet haste, he threw himself into the Spanish hammock which was suspended, and served for the siesta couch of Bolivar. The fumes of the cigar (for a Spaniard smokes during every ope- ration of nature) soon favored his sleep, and in a few minutes he was wrapped in forgetfulness ; scarcely however had he closed his eyes, when a black slave entered the verandah, and, seeing the supposed Bolivar asleep, drew close to the hammock, and struck the sleeping secretary to the heart : undismayed at the consequences, the mur- 190 THE LIFE OF A SAILOR. derer ran into the streets, and exulted in his good fortune in having killed Bolivar. Some old Spa- niards were the instigators of the crime ; but they escaped, and their victim was hanged. We found the town of La Guayra in great ex- citement, in consequence of the news of the arrival of Bolivar and Paez at Caraccas, and of their in- tention to make a public entry into the town. On the 30th of January, 1827, the show took place. The town had been previously decorated with triumphal arches; the streets were adorned with flowers, boughs of trees, and plantain-leaves ; on almost every wall was painted " Viva Bolivar !" The excitement of revolution and rebellion gave way to that occasioned by a general reconciUation ; party spirit seemed terminated ; and saving that now and then, in the narrow and obscurer parts of the town, a death's head surmounted with " Viva Paez !" was discernible, the traveller might have believed that a general union of sen- timents, as well as a general union of merriment, prevailed. The boys and girls in their holiday dresses, adorned with flowers, waved little Co- lumbian ensigns ; every house displayed the flag THE LIFE OF A SAILOR. 391 of the country ; whilst, here and there, a large standard hung from a window, and almost reached the street, as it fluttered in the breeze. Poetry is as common in Columbia as in a young lady's album ; almost every wall could boast of some attraction of this kind ; and whilst some of the verses savoured much of a secret lurking of rebel- lion, yet many wore the appearance of honest love and affection for the President : of the latter kind the following is a specimen ; De Bolivar la fama Resuona in todo el orbe, Por sus hazanas y valor, For sus constancia y gratitud — Y los Venezolanos en su corazon Gravada tendran para siempre Su dulce e grata memoria.* However expressive of gratitude these senti- ments may be supposed to be, the people of Venezuela were the very first to turn against the * Fame resounds the name of Bolivar throughout the world, for his constancy, his gratitude, his exploits, and his valour; and the people of Venezuela will for ever retain his memory engraven on their hearts. 192 THE LIFE OF A SAILOR. object of this panegyric ; and after hurling him from his high and proud situation as President of such a people, suffered the man who had fought their hundred battles, extirpated their oppressors, and founded an extensive government, to die almost solely of a broken heart, in an insignificant village by the sea-side, surrounded by spies, and occasionally scoffed at by the populace. The municipality addressed invitations to every resident and every officer, to assemble in the custom-house by half-past eight a. m., in order to move in line to receive the President ; and those whose violent attachment to the great man over- came their prejudice against dust and dirt, trumpets and drums, shrill voices and cannons, met the Liberator at the foot of the Caraccas mountain ; where, dismounting the Don, they placed him in an old gig, but so covered with flowers, crowns, and trophies, that the shabby conveyance was wisely doomed to shun the public sight. Two of the free — two who had shaken off the yoke of des- potism — consented to be yoked to the chariot of their rulers ; and, thus escorted, the whole party advanced along the bay to the town of La Guaym. THE LIFE OF A SAILOR. 193 As they passed abreast of the ship, she fired a salute of nineteen guns ; which, though unshotted, produced a disagreeable effect. An old woman, mounted on a mule, and carrying a burden of eggs in a pannier, was passing when our first gun was fired. Whether the motion of her hand, as she raised it to make the sign of the cross, or the noise, startled her restive animal, did not transpire ; but the creature shied across the road, upset the good dame, ran the pannier against the wheels of the triumphal car ; and then putting his head down between his fore-legs, he elevated his hinder parts, and lashed out at every passer-by : the line was soon broken, and one of the yoked citi- zens, fearful of a kick, swerved against his fellow labourer, and very nearly overturned the Presi- dent. It was emblematic of what afterwards oc- curred ; and any prophet might have risen high in popular favour, had he drawn aside the mantle of futurity, and proclaimed that the time was at hand when the stubborn and refractory people would, by opposing all soothing measures, upset the whole state, and hurl the ruler into the slough VOL. ill. 1 I 194 THE LIFE OF A SAILOR. of misfortune. No one enacted prophet, and the omen was disregarded. Although I very willingly contributed my trifling power to add to the respectability of the show, I confess I never saw any better representation of Guy Fawkes, in any country village in England, on the 5th of November. In the car of triumph sat also General Paez : a gang of dingy generals and colonels followed immediately in the rear ; and then came the foreign merchants, and the tag- rag, whose loud viva's were only silenced by the volumes of dust obstructing the voice, or the con- founded burst of the Chinese crackers — a species of detonating balls, which are always used upon every occasion in which it is necessary to make noise the substitute for joy. In advance rode a kind of harlequin-dressed man, who blew a trumpet, and then read aloud the pardon to all those in any way concerned in the rise of Vene- zuela. This mode of restoring tranquillity by re- conciliation and forgiveness, is in many instances erroneous : when the revolters are men of high character you may turn a formidable foe into a I THE LIFE OF A SAILOR. 195 firm friend ; but when the disturbing spirit has only operated upon the lowest classes, whose minds are swayed and changed, like the branches of a tree in a breeze — then pardon sometimes becomes a, kind of premium for insurrection, and fear is impUed, or fancied to be implied, that the law is too sanguinary to be carried into effect. Having paraded the objects of their temporary affection through every lane and street of La Guayra, the citizens dislodged the contents of the car at the custom-house. After the fatigue of the triumph, it was proposed that the President should rest from his labours ; but no ! in spite of the Peruvian guard of honour, every child of the state resolved to see the Padre de la Patria : therefore, decorating their coats with the ribbon of pa- triotism, in which the words " Gloria a Bolivar ! Viva la Republica de Colombia !" were in- scribed, they broke through the fence of disci- pline, and ushered themselves into the presence of the Liberator. In the midst of the noise and tumult created by the intrusion, I advanced to pay my respects to the senior officer at La Guayra, having a sufficient I 196 THE LIFE OF A SAILOR. number of officers with me to give a better appear- ance to my insignificancy. I had had numerous complaints from the EngUsh merchants p.nd con- sul, that not unfrequently their horses had been taken to mount the cavalry ; that their property was insecure ; and, in point of fact, if I felt inclined to make a hostile demonstration, I had plenty of reasonable objections to bring forward. His Ex- cellency received me in his bed-chamber, he himself being stretched out for a moment's re- pose. On a sofa were Generals Paez and Silva, tickling one another, and romping about like two school girls. That ruffian Bermudez, a man whose countenance was a true index of his mind, was looking from the window towards the ship in the bay, and never even turned to give that sa- lutation, which all Spaniards of the lowest breed would blush to omit. Our conversation was short. I soon remarked that the journey had fatigued the President, and therefore intended to with- draw ; but when I found the large room crowded with citizens eager for an audience, I sat myself down near a window to witness the scene. In about half an hour he appeared ; and my surprise THE LIFE OF A SAILOR. 197 was great when I remarked that no person rose at his entrance ; every person was seated, with the exception of one or two near the door. I could not divest myself of the common mark of respect shown to a casual stranger in our country, and I found myself the only man standing besides the President : he immediately advanced to me, and, after some trivial remarks, desired me to be seated. Bolivar was a thin, haggard, worn-out man in appearance, but very different in reahty ; he looked as unUke a great man, or a man capable of great exertion, as any man I ever saw : he resembled a French postilion more than a warrior. When he addressed me, he never looked at my face, but occasionally cast a quick scrutinizino^ glance, more indicative of cunning, than open manliness of behaviour. The municipality had issued invitations (under the protection of about a dozen angels, who were represented on the card as blowing the loud trum- pet of fame) for a ^'Bauquetef en la Sola Prmcipal de la Aduana ;" and being resolved to make as much show, and to appear as liberal as possible, they 198 THE LIFE OF A SAILOR. extended their request to every man in La Guayra, who could come under the denomination, either by himself, or his friends, of a gentleman : the courteous mode of flattery so common with Spa- niards was not forgotten on this occasion : the invitation concluded with these words, which cer- tainly, considering to whom in many instances it was addressed, savoured very strongly of flattery : " Esperan que V. los favoresca con su asistencia para mayor lucimiento y sufituosidad:'' the time fixed, was five o'clock, and we w^ere true to the request. The room was decorated with wreaths of flowers, and with the Columbian and English en- signs blended together. The table was well co- vered with comestibles, and on the signal being- given, we advanced to the **banquete." Bolivar took the chair ; on his right was seated a rather elderly lady ; on his left were Paez, Silva, Colonel Bolivar, and myself; Sir Robert Porter sat on the right of the lady; the rest of the company took their places according as they found their names. During the time generally devoted to eating a respectable silence was observed, and only now and then the THE LIFE OF A SAILOR. 199 national customs appeared to break the monotony. A servant came to me with a piece of meat stuck on a fork, and told me it was from the senhorita. I immediately directed my eyes to the fair object, and making an inclination of the head, as is done in drinking a health, I swallowed the savoury morsel : it was what she no doubt thought was de- licious ; but English and Spanish tastes differ much in regard to garlic and such odoriferous concomi- tants to meat. This mode of sending meat to one another is a great compliment ; but if the lady takes a piece from the plate of the man, it is going as far as prudence and delicacy will allow. After dinner Paez amused himself by rolling up pellets of bread, and flipping them with great dexterity into the faces of his neighbours : it excited a consi- derable degree of merriment, if the general pitched his shot into the mouth or ear, or nostril, of the unconscious person attacked, who of course started with amazement at finding himself so unex- pectedly contributing to the amusement of the company. Perhaps there is no place where more tact is re- quired in a great man than at a banquet of this 200 THE LIFE OF A SAILOR. kind, surrounded by the representatives of every monarch in Europe. To make any pointed allu- sion to one, is an implied disrespect to the others. It is positively requisite to say something in prefacing a toast ; and in this nice tact certainly Bolivar was excessively deficient : he allowed him- self to be carried away by the stream of his own eloquence, which flowed so smoothly and fluently, that for the moment he swept his attentive listeners away, charmed by the rapidity and beauty of his language. The speech was handsome in the extreme to the English nation ; but when the Pre- sident expressed his wish that, from the southern point of Spain to the banks of the Neva, all should be one Great Britain, under one great George, the French and Dutch consuls were by no means gra- tified, and gave very evident marks of their dis- pleasure. There was still time to have rectified the mistake, or at any rate to have soothed the parties ; but by some unaccountable oversight, no reference was, throughout the diflferent speeches, made to either one country or the other, and the party broke up without having drained one drop to either the king of the Netlierlands or the sove- THE LIFE OF A SAILOR. 201 reign of France. The insult, evidently not in- tended, was quickly forgotten by the lazy Dutch- man, whilst the French representative soon danced off his spleen ; but the Americans — the fathers of republics, the emblem of the free, the first nation which recognised these Columbians — they bitterly felt the neglect, and, like free men, were not slow to show it. The American consul had, a week previous to the banquet, concocted a most lumi- nous and lengthy response to what he considered a certainty — namely, the health of John Quincy Adams : but when he found that no allusion was even made to his country, he looked as pale as Mrs. Elizabeth Woodcock, who was found buried in the snow near Cambridge, in 1799 ; and directly the President rose, the whole of the free-born walked out in great dudgeon, and left us to la- ment their loss in the ball-room. A band played the overture to Tancredi as we entered the sa- loon, at the conclusion of which some singers sang a complimentary song to the President, about as long as Chevy Chase ; at the end of which Paez seized a fiddle from one of the musicians, and playing an air, sung an extemporary verse in 202 THE LIFE OF A SAILOR^ honour of England. The party separated about eleven o'clock, at which time I walked round the town to see the illuminations. They were splendid, and, owing to the branches of trees, and flowers, arcades, &c., it resembled Vauxhall. On the 31st of January a grand ball was given to the President ; but the neglect previously men- tioned occasioned a great drawback to the convi- viality of the evening. The Americans met in th^ morning, intending to pay their respects, and re- monstrate on the omission and apparent neglect manifested towards them ; but, like the President, they allowed themselves to be carried away by the heat of argument, and ultimately decided that they would neither visit Bolivar, nor add their luciniieuto y suntuosidad to the ball-room. The French and Dutch consuls and people behaved more like Christians ; they forgave an unintentio- nal insult, and joined the merry dance. This oc- currence, trifling as it may appear, raised a very serious clamour against Bolivar, and made him several very powerful enemies. On the first of February I mounted a mule and proceeded to Caraccas. I am a wander- THE LIFE OF A SAILOR. 203 ing sailor, and never felt the luxury of repose ex- cepting in bed : to see strange places was always my uppermost wish, and to the gratification of this desire may be attributed my visits to almost every place of note in either Europe or America. The early part of the day would have better suited for the mountain excursion in regard to comfort ; but then, generally speaking, a mist settles in the val- leys, and the hills are covered with clouds : by noon this has all disappeared, and the view is mi- interrupted. Mules and their masters very sel- dom agree, and not unfrequently the former so entirely disapproves of the proceedings of the lat- ter, that, instead of going to Caraccas, he turns short round, dislodges his rider, and trots back again home. The road, which is paved in most parts, winds up a very steep and by no means easy ascent, for in one part it is six thousand feet above the level of the sea. The view of the valleys, the sides of which are coffee plantations — the upland scenery — the prodigious extent of country — the sudden preci- pices — the sparkling rivulet — the broad clear ocean — -the ships — the busy town — when combined in .204 THE LIFE OF A SAILOR. almost one glance, is a sight not often seen, equal to that which meets the eye of the traveller as he winds his weary way to the Venta. From this inn the view is beautifully romantic ; it stands on the slope of a mountain, peeping over a precipice of about two thousand feet. In crossing the Silla of Caraccas no pen can do justice to the scenery ; it is a magnificent sight, and heightened from the con- stant variation : whilst gazing at the rugged moun- tain — or lost in admiration at the sublimity of the scene, the mule turns a sharp angle of the road, and the valley of Caraccas, as if produced by a stroke of the enchanter's wand, shows its peaceful level, and its rushing river. From this sudden and unex- pected turn, the traveller sees beneath him, some three thousand feet, the city of Caraccas, the cul- tivated valley, and the rapid Guayra ; and here, in a cooler atmosphere than is generally felt by the West Indian, and relieved for a moment from the buzzing mosquitoes, or biting sand- fly, from op- pressive heat, and sleepy lassitude, he may gaze on one of Nature's most delightful scenes, and ru- minate over one of her fairest works. On nearing Caraccas, but at a respectable height. THE LIFE OF A SAILOR. 205 stands the ruin of an old church. In the past age of foolish bigotry this church was used as the limit of the march of penitence, it being frequently pronounced requisite previous to obtaining abso- lution for numerous peccadilloes, to walk bare- footed from Caraccas to hear mass in ^' L'Iglesia de Penitencia." This could have been no party of pleasure for such offenders, for the levelling spirit of M'Adam has never crossed the Silla of Caraccas, nor have the sharp rocks been crushed into powder by the heavy wheel of Pickford's van ; still, however, the road is reckoned the best in Columbia ; but it must be infinitely worse than that which led the pilgrim to Loretto. I arrived at about five o'clock ; the setting sun cast the lengthened shadows of the houses over the ruins of the numerous buildings which had been shaken into their present state by the great earthquake in 1812, and directing my mule to the house of Sir Robert Ker Porter, I took up my portmanteau and my quarters in his hospitable and comfortable abode. The name of this city is so connected with our remembrance of the earthquake, when 16,000 peo- 206 THE LIFE OF A SAILOH. pie lost their lives, that the stranger immediately inquires if there still exists any record of the catastrophe. The principal part of the people who were swallowed up by the rending of the earth, or buried beneath the r.uins occasioned by the shock, were at prayers when the fearful de- struction occurred. Every church, protected either by St. Francis or St. Nicholas, fell to the ground : the belfry of the cathedral alone with- stood the concussion ; but, as if sensible of the calamity, and alarmed at the work of desolation which threatened the general extinction of the in- habitants, and aware that some record should re- main to inform the historian of the hour and mi- nute when the shock occurred, the clock stopped at seven minutes past four, at the very instant when the first rumbling noise was heard, and still remains with its hands pointed to the hour, as a fearful memorial of the past, and an awful warn- ing of the future. The superstitious reverence paid to this clock grants it an eternal repose ; and this and the ruins of the former palace are the only sights that strangers are shown as worthy of observation. THE LIFE OF A SAILOR. 207 The cathedral, which has been rebuilt, and which has little to offer in its interior to attract the curious, is not without some strange exterior beauties, calculated to awaken the pious and Christian feelings of both husbands and wives, and of brothers and sisters. In the walls of this stately edifice are divers niches, in which affectionate mothers leave their living or dead children, to await alike — a sepulchre. The baskets which contain in many instances the former, but mostly the latter freight, are not covered, and are placed in these niches : they contain not only the body, but a requisite fee to the church. If the unna- tural mother forgets this last important point, the child is left until the heat of the sun, or the more putrefying rays of the moon give ample notice that it is unburied, whilst the gathering of the crows offers the only chance of removing the pestilence. This capital contrivance to dispose of the consequences of illicit love, or to shield a murderer, continues to this day, and has in some respects a decided advantage over the '* enfans trouves" at Moscow ; for although in the latter place no questions are asked, excepting if the child 208 THE LIFE OF A SAILOR. is baptised, or by what name it is to be called, yet they will not receive dead children ; whereas at Caraccas, it is by no means uncommon to leave them in either state, dead or alive, to the service or the compassion of the church. In a work entitled " Calabria during a Mili- tary Residence," there is a very excellent account of an earthquake, with the preceding indications. " CJose, compact, and immovable mists seem to hang heavily over the earth : in some places the atmosphere appeared to be red-hot, so that peo- ple expected every moment that it would burst into flames; the water of the rivers assumed an ashy and turbid colour, while a suffocating stench of sulphur diffused itself around." These signs do not always precede the earthquake ; for pre- vious to my retiring to bed I had remarked the state of the barometer — had seen the Guayra run- ning in its usual clearness ; the stars were forth ; the moon beautifully clear ; not a cloud was to be seen, except one dark funereal pall, which hung over the summit of the Silla ; the inhabitants had long before deserted the streets, and Caraccas was still, save now and then the dismal moan of THE LIFE OF A SAILOR. 209 the cattle ; the howl, the long, low, melancholy howl of the dog broke the silence of the night. The horses were restless, and moved about in an odd and unnatural manner; the more domestic animals appeared frightened ; and flights of birds passed in rapid velocity. Still however the glass indicated no sudden change ; the night was not unusually close ; and when I went to my room, I Httle thought of the destruction so near at hand. About three a. m. the rumbling of an earth- quake was heard — and felt. It appeared to me exactly what might be experienced by a man un- accustomed to London, who had taken up his night's lodging near the White Horse in Piccadilly, or a stranger on the Rez de Chaussee in Paris, when one of their thousand acceleres passes through the street: the bed shook precisely in the same manner. A wild confusion followed the first indication of the earthquake. The inhabitants left their tottering houses and rushed into the streets. Fe- males in almost a perfect state of nudity ran with dishevelled hair, screaming through the town ; the aged and infirm sat crying, and wringing their 210 THE LIFE OF A SAILOR. hands in anguish and despair; the church bell tolled in a sad, monotonous, and dismal toll ; a black cloud hung over the devoted city ; while the rattling of the houses, the crash of the walls, the shrieks of the children, and the thunder of the elements, gave an awful foreboding of the mischief and misery likely to follow. The inhabitants who had outlived the former earthquake considered this as likely to finish their existence. In the Calle St. Juan a house fell in w:ith a most tre- mendous crash at the very time when an interval of calm and silence occurred. In the Candalario another crash occurred ; and dayhght had dawned before the poor frightened females forsook the churches, into which they had crowded, and were seen in a truly laughable condition, picking their steps over the sudden ruin. The bravest men in action are not proof against these sudden visitations of Providence. Bolivar rushed in his shirt into the streets of La Guayra, for the earthquake was severely felt there ; and Paez, as if aware of his former misdeeds, and the probability of a speedy death, was discovered on his knees. So unusual a position excited the wonder THE LIFE OF A SAILOR. 211 of his adherents ; and the circumstance was for some time discredited. Some people never profit by example. The churches were the very places which ought to have been avoided ; but this time the interposition of the saints was declared to have saved the ruin, and St. Francis and St. Nicholas gained thousands of votaries. 212 THE LIFE OF A SAILOR. CHAPTER VIII. Then came the absolution and the masses — The penitential payments — the confessions — The holy candles from ihe pious classes — By which to wrathful saints ihey make concessions — New altar-coverings — and splendid glasses To cover saints to whom they made professions. Some dress'd the Virgin Mary out again — And some knelt down and ventured to complain. — The morning broke through the thick cloud which had veiled the city, and displayed the heart- breaking consequences of the night ; some who had but the day before been in affluence, were now ruined ; and many a haughty man was left to fight his way through poverty, and bear up against his own and the world's caprice. The dead were num- THE LIFE OF A SAIIOR. 213 bered and buried — the widow left her tears and her prayers — the orphan in vain solicited the aid of a parent, and the father wept for his lone and miserable existence ; almost every house was rent — the ruin was immense — the town shaken to its very foundation — every thing suffered but the churches and the priests. These dreadful visitations of Providence occur frequently at Caraccas, although in a much slighter