LEONARD LINDSAY;

Waipawa Mail, Volume XIII, Issue 2502, 6 September 1890, Page 5

LEONARD LINDSAY;

OS, nrE STORY OF A BUCCANEER. BY ANGUS 13. REACH. CHAPTER I.—Continued. At this I could not avoid looking- steadfastly at ray Englishman, such phrases being little apt to fall from the lips of sailors. By the light of tho lantern I saw that he was a tall and stout old man, with something of great grandeur, as I thought, in his high fcrow and eereno eyes. He could not have been much younger than sixty-five, hut he was still a very strong great man, with a presence ft ad bearing not like these of a wild sailor who has lived, as I may say, all his life with his hands in tho tar-buoket. After some pause he went on to inform me, that besides himself there was no Englishman amongst the crew, and that ho counted upon being safely put ashore at Tortugas, from whence he could get to Jaraaiea; for, as he said, he was not unkuown to the hunters and frivateers who frequented the former island, j n reply to my entreaties, that he would ea- j deavour to take me with him, he said it was not possible ; for although the captain might eoneenfc, yet that many of the crew were ' greedy low fellows, who would not render up a marevedi of the profits, to which, by the articles of tho voyage, it seems that they were all in some sort uad in different proportions | entitled. •‘Bat be thankful,*’ said my comrade, “ that you are not a Spaniard : for had you but a drop of the blood of that people in your veins a speedy death would bo tho best fate you could hope for on board a ship commanded by Louis Montbars.” “Why,” said I, “is he so inveterate against the people of Spain? ” “I find,’' ret a rued the Englishman, that you do indoed know little of tho Adventures of tho West Indies, if you havo never heard of oae of the most noted captains of them ell. He is a gentleman of good birth, of Languedoc in France. In his early manhood, having taken great interest in reading various relations of the barbarities committed by the Spaniards upon the ancient and inoffensive Indians, the inhabitants of tho islands, and the main discovered by Christopher Columbus and bis c©-adjutors and successors, Montbars, being, like many in the South of France, a man of warm and fierce passions and feelings, made a solemn vow to God and the Virgin, that the whole of his future life should be devoted to the task of revengiug upon every Spaniard who might be placed in bis power the injuries received at the hands of their fathers, alike by the fierce Charibs of the islands, all d the gentle Peruvians of tho main. To this intent, he spent all his patrimony in fitting out a ship, in which he sailed to tho West Indies, and speedily made hia name famous, and so terrible to the Spaniards, that they call him in thair language “The Exterminator,” and know tlidt they can h«»pe for not one moment’s life after they come into hispower. In general,” pursued my informant, “heis grave, staid, and eourt-eous. unless his mind run upon what I cannot but thiuk the sort of bloody madness wherewith he is afflicted. And thon, indeed, and more especially when in action with the Spaniards, ho demeans himself more l.ke a raging demon than a Christian man. He has lately had occasion to visit his native land, and I being also in Paris on my own business, and hearing that ho proposed to set forth again, joined him as a mariner, but to be put ashore after the voyage at the Eland of Tortugas.”

This was the substance of our conversation that night. After which the quartermaster came to me, and saying he understood that I had been a fisherman in my youth, and so must needs knmv how to make nets ; and that they were in want of some seine nets for use in the keys or small islands of tho Indies, I might therefore by making them, pay my passage. To this arrangement I very willingly acceded, and the next day had a hammock assigned to me, and set about my task of net-makiug r which was enough, pursued in fine weather upon the deck ; although, indeed, my heart was heavy and sore with thinking of what was betore me.

I soon discovered, that my Englishman's appellation, by which he was known, was Richard Wright, although that was not, indeed, as I e .terwards found, his proper name. The vi . ,v were now reaionably kind to me, and the more so because Wright, whom they seemed to respect, took me in some sort under Lis protection, aud upon the whole I found myself not ill off. The captain mixed very familiarly with the men, as is common oi. !*xird of privateers, and sometimes he w uid recite to them tales of the cruelties of tho Spaniards to the Indians; bow in Hispaniola tho number of these latter were reduced in fifteen years from n million to sixty thousaud; how the Spaniards worked them to a miserable death in the gold mines, or hunted them with bloodhounds through the mountains, feeding i the dogs only upon tho victim’s flesh ; how the Spaniards would often kill these miserable people for mere diversion, or for wagers, or to I keep their hands in as they called it; and bow many of these white savages had made a vow—ay, and kept it- -that, for a certain time, they would destroy thirteen Indians every morning before breakfast, in honour of our Saviour and the twelve apostles ! With loch relations, and all of them I believe to bo true, would M .atbars seek to stir up the

» deadly wrath of the ship’s company against pI the Spaniards. But, in truth, this was i( l flame which required but little fanning, it being- my opinion that had the D Spaniards behaved like angels rather than J( b lions, still tho great body of ordinary ■ buccaneers would be content to treat thorn as I the latter, so Eng as they possessed fair j* towns and licit mines ashore, and many * toeas are-ships uad galleons at sea. Notj® withstanding, however, it must be confessed that there never being a nation more proud, it ouel, aud arrogant than these Spanish—at M bet, in all that refors to their American f^Vominions —so there never was a people igHnore justly to !>• despoiled of their ill-gotteu Iqß But these are • onsi lerations apart from my 1 Oar voyage was reasonably prosthe west wind having soon given to more favourable breezes, and at H&gth, but net. until after many teasing Bl&u, which delayed our progress, the first Qwfre’como fannii gs of the trade winds caught sails, and wo glided swiftly towards fye .-eiting sun, over the great heaving ocean B*ells aud ui.' ulations, from whose shining flying fh-iies would leap briskly forth, within wLioh, the water being wond»"Ew bulwarks of the bark, swift dolphins, id swam round and round us, even when ship was sailing three leagues an hour, many smaller fishes, one individual called by sailors a bonetta, about a long and of a reddish colour, swam for days uud three nights just before our that fish, "and used, to feed it with be |Bunl>s from the cud of the bowsprit, be the 6th of Jane, the weather being very hot. with light breezes, we crossed as it i* called—not, of course, the equator or equinox, but the of Cancer. This was, accordto the custom of the sea, festival on board, those who had not that way before being obliged to subthe ceieiuouy of baptism, as they call ! was performed after the manner yioM *» in use amongst French ships as folmaster’s mate dressed himself in a i c sort of garment, fashioned so as to and burlesque, and reaching to heels, with a hat or cap made to match. In hand he held a great clumsy wooden **left a pot of ink. His face he with soot, and ho wore an 00 necklace made of strings of blocks such h* are used in the rigging | topes to pass through. Thus accoutred, Of novices knelt down before him, ■ he favoured the shoulders of a smart slap of the sword QBSI also :* great cross upon his brows, over all his face with the ink. after, the novice was drenched dozens of buckets of water, and the ended by his depositing his offer*s they call it. of a bottle of brandy, must be placed in perfect silence at

the foot of the mainmast. For myself, I underwent the mummery with tho rest, and had, fortunately, sufficient in my pocket to contribute my bottle of brandy. One of the Hollanders on board told me that their mode of baptism was different ; they either insisting upon a ransom, according to the station of the novice, or hoisting him to the main yard, and from tlience chopping him into the sea three several times. ‘ If, however,’ said my informant, a simple man, ‘ho bo hoisted a fourth time in the name of the Prince of Orange, or of the master of the vessel, his honour is reckoned more than ordinary.’ la case of the ship—l speak still of the Hollanders—never having passed that place before, the captain is bound to give the mariners a small runlet of wine, which, if he neglect to do, they maintain they may cat the stem off the vessel. But in French and in Dutch ships the profits accruing from the ceremony are kept by tho master’s mate, and spent, upon tho arrival in port, in a general dobauoli bv all the seamen.

“CHAPTER 11. j OT ICY ESCAPE FROM THE FRENCH SHIP, AND ITT LANDING IN HISPANIOLA. And now, being fairly within the grasp of the trade wind, we sped swiftly on towards those western islands whither we were bound, experiencing, however, as we approached the Indies, some of the squally weather common in these latitudes. Such gusts soon blow over, but are troublesome aud fatiguing to mariners, and wearing to ship and rigging. First comes a black cloud ou the horizon, then the waves to windward become tipped with whitish foam. Presently the gust strikes with great force, the firmament being very dark and threatening. At the time of its greatest strength there will be a flash of lightuing and a thunder-clap or two, after which a pelt of rain and a sudden clearing of the skv, the squall being for that time over. Meanwhile, 1 often discussed with Wright the question ©f my deliverance. He said that there was now so much jealousy between the French and the English in the West Indies that I could possibly look for no other fate than being sold to serve my time as a slave in Tortugas ; where I would be employed in field labour, suck as the cultivation of tobacco, great ©reps of which are grown in that island. Wright’s opinion was, that I ought, in some way or other, to attempt an escape before being landed at Tortugas ; but this was easier talked of than done. While all was still unsettled between us, “ Land ” was one day proclaimed from the mast-head. This announcement surprised us all, for we had not expected to see any land until wo came in si“*ht of the mountains of Hispaniola, which still lay well to the westward. However, we soon found that, either through currents or errors in the reckoning, we were further to the south than wo had calculated, and that the island we saw was one of tho Virgin Isles, forming a cluster just where the long line of windward islands which stretch northward from the mainland, trend away to the west. This discovery necessitated a change in our steering—we hauling up two or three points more to the northward. The next day we saw, at a very great distance to leeward, a long faint blue ridge rising out of the water, which was the mountain line of the high ground of Porto Rico. Towards evening, the trade wind abated, being influenced, as we conjecture.!, by the distant landbreeze, which blows at night off the shore, in and near tkeso islands; and before the sotting of the sun the weather grew well nigh calm. It was then that one of the crew discovered a bottle floating not far from the felucca, and pointed it out to the captain, who straightway commanded it to be brought aboard ; inasmuch as mariners in distress often fling such into the sea, with letters and papers relating their sad condition. Now, on board the felucca were two boats—the pinnace, in which I had been rescued, and a little skiff, not bigger than a canoe, which, being hoisted out and manned by two hands, brought in the bottle. It turned out to be empty aud of no account. Still the finding of it was a lucky accijlent for me, inasmuch as the skiff wns_jgaji* hoisted on board, but—the wcatEor DeTTTg exceedingly fine, and we soon expecting to use her to help in mooring ship —left towing astern. That same night, Wright came to mo and pointed her out as a means of escape. “ Look you,” says he, “ your basiness is to get ashore on somo island where you will find Englishmen, and which is not entirely under French or Spanish influence. Now, on the co.is* of Hispaniola are not a few of yoar countrymen and mine, sometimes cruizing, sometimes hunting and slaughtercattle. By the course we are now lying, we shall have to run all along the northern coast of Hispuniola, which we will probably approach close to, for the benefit of the landbreeze at night, and because the shore is bold and the sea deep. Provided the skiff be left towing astern, it will not be difficult for you to smuggle yourself into it in the night-time, and so escape ashore.” "This advice appeared to me admirable, and threw me quite into a fever of eagerness and anxiety. I was in the middle watch that night, and how often I gazed upon the little boat—the expected ark of my deliverance—as she tossed upon the smooth ridges of swell, which glanced like silver in the bright moonlight ! About nine o'clock in tho morning tho trade wind resumed its powers, and we soon saw rising out of the ocean, upon our lee bow, tlio blue-pecked mountains of Hispaniola. All day, you may be sure, I very eagerly watched the weather, fearing lest the approach of a squall would cause Montbars to order the skiff to bo taken ou deck, but the sky continued quite cloudless, the sun was burning hot, and tho seabreeze—for jsuc.h amid the Western Indies they call the regular daily trade wind—blow most refreshingly upon our starboard quarter, urging the felucca gloriou:4y along. We were now fust closing in with the coast, which stretched in a long high range under the lee ; aud as we approached an exceeding bold promontory, oaUecT* Le Viaux Cap Francois, I saw how delicious was tho land, with its bright green forests—its rocks, rising from thick bushes and brushwood—and the great blue mountain peaks in tho distance. Besides onrsel ycs the ocean was solitary. No sail scudded before the breeze—no fishingboat rode head to sea, surrounded by the buoys of her nets and lines. All above was a sky of dazzling aud lustrous brightness beneath was a limpid and foaming sea, from which arose the groves and rocks, tho deep ravines and the green savannahs of an isle which seemed Paradise. I stood in the bows of the felucca, and stretched forth my arms, and prayed for the moment when I should set foot on shore.

When I was in this kind of rapture, Wright came to me privately, and asked whether I was determined to make the attempt. I replied, I only longed for night to come. Then at his request I went below with him to hia berth, when he showed me, all else being on deck, a short-barrelled musket, hid in the bedding, with a flask of fine glazed powder anti a small bag of balls. There was also a leathern bcttle, called a broc, well stoppered and fall of water, and some biscuits. “ These .things,” says he, “ will be necessary for you, so that you may not want, until you pick up some comrade along shore. Should you not sncceed at first, you must trust to your gun for food, and you will soon find water, of which there is abundance, fresh and clear. *’ I thanked him heartily for his goodness and foresight, for I had thought of nothing but how I should get ashore, not even how 1 should satisfy my hunger and thirst when I landed. But Wright was my good genius, and, taking advantage of our being now alone, for the deck was so much the more pleasant that all wore there, he made mo put on a couple of stout linen shirts which he gave me, as also a good jacket, such as sailors wear, and a pair of strong yot light shoes, like pumps. I was quite overpowered with such goodness, anrl could scarce refrain from weeping What a poor forlorn, miserable creature I should have been had Wright not been on board ! and although I was nothing to him, yet bad I been his son, the old man could not have used me with more grave and simple kindness. I told him that when he first spoke to me I was in great desolation aud despair of sviiit, but that now my heart was cheery ana buoyant,

and that I well trusted to see ihy own land again. At this bis face darkened, and he heaved a great sigh. I went on, and said that lie, too, I hoped, would end hia days, not in these burning climes, but in the green valley of Hertfordshire, whore he told me he “No, no,*’ says lie, “never—never! I shall see England no more. I am but a wanderer and an outcast, even like Cain of old, and the place that once knew me, shall know me no more for ever.” (.TO BE CONTINUED.)