Chapter IX
Accepts the Command of a Ship—The Pirates—The Fight—Victory—Meets an Old Friend—His Friend’s Adventures.
“Come, peace of mind, delightful guest!
Return and make thy downy nest
Once more in this sad heart:
Nor riches I, nor power pursue,
Nor hold forbidden joys in view;
We therefore need not part.”
—COWPER.
“The blessing of Heaven seemed to rest upon my humble employment, and I was not only able to earn sufficient to keep myself, but was able to lay by a little money from time to time, so that within two years I saved sufficient to repay my kind friends the money they had lent me to start with. Among those who had interested themselves in my welfare was a rich merchant who was the owner of several ships; and on the death of the captain of one of these, he wrote to me and offered me the command of it. I did not at all like the idea of leaving my peaceful cottage, where for nearly two years I had lived a very happy and contented life, studying the Word of God, and rejoicing in His mercy, but at the same time I did not think it my duty positively to decline such an offer as this without careful consideration.
“In this state of uncertainty, I resolved to consult my good friend the clergyman, from whom I had no secrets, and who had already rendered me so many services. I did so, and his first question was, whether I had really considered the motives which led me to think of accepting the offer, and if I was quite sure that I was not influenced by the desire of riches, or any contempt for my present humble lot. I replied truly that no such idea had ever entered my head. I was quite contented and happy in my present employment, but I hoped to be able, by means of an increased income, to pay all my old creditors in full, and perhaps lay by some provision for my old age. Satisfied with this explanation, he advised me by all means to accept the appointment, and added that he himself had induced the merchant to make me the offer. Having now no longer any doubt as to which was the right course to pursue, I let my cottage to a fisherman, and taking the portrait of my father with me, I set sail, full of confidence in God’s protecting care.
“I was now in the Mediterranean trade, and had to call at several ports with merchandise, and to take in goods for England. On our return, we left the island of Corsica in company with several other vessels. My ship, however, being a very fast sailor, we were not long before we left them all behind. The weather was fair, and our voyage had been very successful, so that I was in good spirits. Suddenly the sailor at the masthead saw a suspicious-looking craft in the distance. I examined her attentively with the glass, and at length became convinced that we were chased by pirates. I felt at once that escape was impossible, and resistance seemed almost hopeless, as we numbered in all only seventeen hands and six passengers. Nevertheless, I resolved to fight to the death rather than suffer myself and all on board to be earned away into slavery. I hastily ordered the decks to be cleared, and having armed all the crew and the passengers, I had our six cannons loaded, and waited, with a beating heart, for our deadly enemy to overtake us. The pirates evidently did not expect any resistance on our part, hoping, no doubt, that we should yield without striking a blow. They had made no preparations for action until they saw that we were prepared for an engagement. We heard afterwards, too, that their vessel had received a good deal of damage in an action the day before with an English cruiser, in which several of their crew had been killed; indeed, their vessel only escaped by her wonderfully fast sailing. As soon as they got within range, I fired one of the guns, which created great confusion on board our enemy, having, as I afterwards learned, killed their captain and two of the crew. I kept up a brisk cannonade for some time, to which they replied very feebly, and without doing us any serious injury. In a short time they ceased firing, and I perceived that they were endeavouring to retreat, but had much difficulty in doing so in consequence of the damage our firing had caused. Seeing this, I crowded all sail in chase, and we soon came up with them, when they threw down their arms and suffered us to board them without any resistance. We took about fifteen prisoners, whom I landed at Gibraltar, and delivered over to the authorities there to take their trial for piracy. As for the ship, we found it needed but little repair to render it sea-worthy, though the mainmast was shot away, and the rest of the rigging had suffered considerably; so, after doing what was absolutely necessary to keep her afloat, I brought both ship and cargo with me to England.
“In the hold we found several prisoners whom the pirates had taken, and whose joy at their happy deliverance was unbounded. Among these, to my great surprise and delight, I recognised my old fellow-student the surgeon, whom I met at Rotterdam, and whose kindness to me, in my distress, had saved me from dying of starvation. His astonishment and joy at such an unexpected meeting was as great as mine, and was increased on finding so great a change for the better in my circumstances. I told him my history since our last meeting, and he in return told me his, which was almost as full of adventures as my own. He had, he said, been wrecked on a desert island in his last voyage, his ship and all the crew, except himself and two sailors, being lost. Having built themselves a hut, they supported themselves for some months on some edible roots and berries, which his knowledge of botany enabled him to discover on the island, and their fare was occasionally improved by the addition of a bird or animal, which they managed to shoot with roughly-made bows and arrows. During this time they were busily engaged in constructing a boat, in which they hoped to be able to reach the mainland, which was just visible in very clear weather. After more than one failure they succeeded in making their boat water-tight, and set out with as large a store of provisions and water as their frail craft could carry with safety. Having chosen a calm day for their attempt, and the wind being in their favour, they reached the land without any accident, but found themselves scarcely in a better position, if so good, as when they were on the island. Before they were wrecked the ship had been driven entirely out of her course by a terrific gale, and they were now utterly ignorant as to their whereabouts. They had not been many days on shore before a band of armed savages discovered them, and as they were not in a position to offer any resistance, they were taken prisoners, and led away some distance inland. Here they suffered many hardships, and were in constant fear of being put to death by their cruel captors. Several months passed away in this manner, during which they were compelled to do the most laborious work, and were very scantily fed, and were often besides beaten and threatened with death, until at length they effected their escape, made their way to the sea-shore, and were fortunate enough to be rescued by a homeward-bound Austrian merchantman, which had stood in near the coast for the purpose of obtaining fresh water. While on their voyage up the Mediterranean, (the destination of the vessel being Trieste), they were captured by the pirate from whom I had so providentially rescued them. When we reached England my friend seemed so much to dread going to sea again that I easily persuaded him to accept from me a sum of money sufficient to enable him to return to his own country, where I have since heard he set up as doctor in his native town, and died a short time ago, beloved and respected by all who knew him.”