Newton Forster; Or, The Merchant Service

by Frederick Marryat

  VOLUME THREE, CHAPTER FOUR.

  "British sailors have a knack, Haul away, yo ho, boys, Of hauling down a Frenchman's jack 'Gainst any odds, you know, boys."--Old Song.

  There was, I flatter myself, some little skill in the introduction ofthe foregoing chapter, which has played the part of chorus during thetime that the _Bombay Castle_ has proceeded on to Canton, has taken inher cargo, and is on her passage home, in company with fifteen otherEast Indiamen and several country ships, all laden with the riches ofthe East, and hastening to pour their treasures into the lap of theircountry. Millions were floating on the waters, intrusted to the skillof merchant-seamen to convey them home in safety, and to their courageto defend them from the enemy, which had long been lying in wait tointercept them. By a very unusual chance or oversight, there had beenno men-of-war despatched to protect property of such enormous value.

  The Indian fleet had just entered the Straits of Malacca, and weresailing in open order, with a fresh breeze and smooth water. Thehammocks had been stowed, the decks washed, and the awnings spread.Shoals of albicore were darting across the bows of the different ships;and the seamen perched upon the cat-heads and spritsail-yard, hadsucceeded in piercing with their harpoons many, which were immediatelycut up, and in the frying-pans for breakfast. But very soon they had"other fish to fry:" for one of the Indiamen, the _Royal George_, madethe signal that there were four strange sail in the South West.

  "A gun from the commodore, sir," reported Newton, who was officer of thewatch. "The flags are up--they are not our pennants."

  It was an order to four ships of the fleet to run down and examine thestrange vessels.

  Half an hour elapsed, during which time the glasses were at everymast-head. Captain Drawlock himself, although not much given toclimbing, having probably had enough of it during his long career in theservice, was to be seen in the main-top. Doubts, suspicions,declarations, surmises, and positive assertions were bandied about,until they were all dispelled by the reconnoitring ships telegraphing,"a French squadron, consisting of one line-of-battle ship, threefrigates, and a brig." It was, in fact, the well-known squadron ofAdmiral Linois, who had scoured the Indian seas, ranging it up and downwith the velocity as well as the appetite of a shark. His forceconsisted of the _Marengo_, of eighty guns; the famed _Belle Poule_, aforty-gun frigate, which outstripped the wind; the _Semillante_, ofthirty-six guns; the _Berceau_, ship corvette, of twenty-two, and a brigof sixteen. They had sailed from Batavia on purpose to intercept theChina fleet, having received intelligence that it was unprotected, andanticipating an easy conquest, if not an immediate surrender to theiroverpowering force.

  "The recall is up on board of the commodore," said Mathews, thefirst-mate, to Captain Drawlock.

  "Very well, keep a good look-out; he intends to fight, I'll answer forit. We must not surrender up millions to these French scoundrelswithout a tussle."

  "I should hope not," replied Mathews; "but that big fellow will make ageneral average among our tea canisters, I expect when we do come to thescratch. There go the flags, sir," continued Mathews, repeating thenumber to Captain Drawlock, who had the signal-book in his hand.

  "Form line of battle in close order, and prepare for action," readCaptain Drawlock from the signal-book.

  A cheer resounded through the fleet when the signal was made known. Theships were already near enough to each other to hear the shouting, andthe confidence of others added to their own.

  "If we only had _all_ English seamen on board, instead of these Lascarsand Chinamen, who look so blank," observed Newton to Mathews, "I thinkwe should show them some play."

  "Yes," growled Mathews; "John Company will some day find out the truthof the old proverb, `Penny wise and pound foolish!'"

  The French squadron, which had continued on the wind to leeward untilthey could fetch the India fleet, now tacked, and laid up directly forthem. In the meantime, the English vessels were preparing for action:the clearing of their lumbered decks was the occasion of many a coop offowls, or pig of the true China breed, exchanging their destiny for awatery grave. Fortunately, there were no passengers. Homeward-boundChina ships are not encumbered in that way, unless to astonish themetropolis with such monstrosities as the mermaid, or as the Siamesetwins, coupled by nature like two hounds (separated lately indeed byLytton Bulwer, who has satisfactorily proved that "unity betweenbrethren," so generally esteemed a blessing, on the contrary, is abore). In a short time all was ready, and the India fleet continuedtheir course under easy sail, neither courting nor avoiding theconflict.

  At nightfall, the French squadron hauled to the wind; the conduct of theChina fleet rendered them cautious, and the French admiral considered itadvisable to ascertain, by broad daylight, whether a portion of theEnglish ships were not men-of-war; their cool and determined behaviourcertainly warranted the suspicion. It was now to be decided whether theIndiamen should take advantage of the darkness of the night to escape,or wait the result of the ensuing day. The force opposed to them wasformidable and concentrated; their own, on the contrary, was weak fromdivision, each ship not having more than sixty English seamen on board;the country ships none at all, the few belonging to them havingvolunteered on board the Indiamen. In this decision, Commodore Danceproved his judgment as well as his courage. In an attempt to escape,the fleet would separate; and, from the well-known superior sailing ofthe French squadron, most of them would be overtaken, and, beingattacked single-handed, fall an easy prey to the enemy.

  In this opinion the captains of the Indiamen, who had communicatedduring the night, were unanimous, and equally so in the resolutionfounded upon it, "to keep together and fight to the last." The Indiafleet lay to for the night, keeping their lights up and the men at theirquarters; most of the English seamen sound asleep, the Lascars andChinese sitting up in groups, expressing, in their own tongues, theirfear of the approaching combat, in which, whether risked for nationalhonour or individual property, they could have no interest.

  The morning broke, and discovered the French squadron about three milesto windward. Admiral Linois had calculated that if the fleet consistedonly of merchant vessels they would have profited by the darkness tohave attempted to escape, and he had worked to windward during thenight, that he might be all ready to pounce down upon his quarry. Butwhen he perceived that the English ships did not attempt to increasetheir distance he was sadly puzzled.

  The French tricolour hardly had time to blow clear from their taffrails,when the English unions waved aloft in defiance; and that Admiral Linoismight be more perplexed by the arrangements of the night, three of themost warlike Indiamen displayed the red ensign, while the remainder ofthe ships hoisted up the blue. This _ruse_ led the French admiral tosuppose that these three vessels were men-of-war, composing the escortof the fleet.

  At nine o'clock the commodore made the signal to fill; and the Frenchsquadron not bearing down, the India fleet continued its course undereasy sail. The French admiral then edged away with his squadron, withthe intention of cutting off the country ships, which had been stationedto leeward; but which, since the British fleet had hauled their wind,had been left in the rear. It was now requisite for the Britishcommander to act decidedly and firmly. Captain Timmins, an officer forcourage and conduct not surpassed by any in our naval service, whocommanded the _Royal George_, edged to within hail of the commodore, andrecommended that the order should be given to tack in succession, beardown in a line a-head, and engage the enemy. This spirited advice wasacted upon; the _Royal George_ leading into action, followed by theother ships in such close order that their flying jib-booms were oftenpointed over the taffrails of their predecessors.

  In a quarter of an hour was to be witnessed the unusual spectacle of afleet of merchant ships exchanging broadsides with the best equipped andhighest disciplined squadron that ever sailed from France. In less thanan hour was presented the more unusual sight of this squadron flyingfrom the merchant ships, and the signal for a general chase answ
eredwith enthusiastic cheers.

  That Admiral Linois might have supposed, previous to the engagement,that some of the British ships were men-of-war, is probable; but that heknew otherwise after they had commenced action, must also have been thecase. The fact was, he was frightened at their determined courage andtheir decided conduct; and he fled, not from the guns, but from the_men_.

  I do not know on record any greater instance of heroism on the part ofBritish seamen; and I am delighted that Newton Forster was in theconflict, or of course I could not have introduced it in this work.

  And now, those who read for amusement may, if they please, skip over thenext chapter. There are points connected with the India service which Iintend to comment upon; and as all the wisdom of the age is confined tonovels, and nobody reads pamphlets, I introduce them here.

  When one man is empowered to hold in check, and to insist upon theobedience of a large proportion of his fellows, it can only be by"opinion" that his authority can be supported.

  By "opinion" I mean the knowledge that he is so empowered by the laws ofthe country to which they all belong, and by which laws they will bepunished, if they act in opposition to his authority. The fiat of theindividual commanding is in this case the fiat of the nation at large;to contend with this fiat is not contending with the individual, butwith the nation, to whose laws they must submit, or to return to theircountry no more. A commander of a vessel, therefore, armed with martiallaw, is, in fact, representing and executing, not his own will, but thatof the nation who have made the law; for he is amenable, as well as hisinferiors, if he acts contrary to, or misuses it.

  In the merchant service martial law is not permitted; the bye-lawsrelative to shipping, and the common law of the country, are supposed tobe sufficient; and certainly the present system is more advisable thanto vest such excessive power in the hands of men, who, generallyspeaking, neither require nor are fit to be entrusted with it. Where,as in the greater number of merchant vessels, the master and hissubordinate officers compose one-third, if not one-half of thecomplement on board, nothing but the most flagrant conduct is likely toproduce insubordination.

  But in the East India service the case is different. The vesselsthemselves are of dimensions equal, if not superior, to our largestclass of frigates, and they carry from thirty to forty guns; theproperty embarked in them is also of such an extent, that the lossalmost becomes national: their commanders are men of superiorattainments, as gentlemen and as officers; finally, the complement ofseamen under their command is larger than on board of many of the king'sships.

  The above considerations will at once establish that those bye-lawswhich afford protection to the well-governing of the merchant service ingeneral, are not sufficient to maintain the necessary discipline onboard of the East India ships. The greater the disproportion betweenthe unit who commands and the numbers who obey, the greater the chanceof mutiny. Sedition is the progeny of assembly. Even where grievancesmay be real, if there is no contact and no discussion, there will be noinsubordination; but imaginary grievances, canvassed and discussed inassembly, swell into disaffection and mutiny. When, therefore, numbersare collected together, as in the vessels of the East India service,martial law becomes indispensable; and the proof of it is, that thecommanders of these vessels have been forced to exercise it upon theirown responsibility. A letter of marque should be granted to all vesselscarrying a certain number of men, empowering the commanders, undercertain sureties and penalties, to exercise this power. It would be aboon to the East India ships, and ultimately a benefit to the navy.

  To proceed. The merchant ships of the Company are men-of-war; themen-of-war of the Company are--what shall I call them? By their rightnames--they are all _Bombay Marine_: but let me at once assert, inapplying their own name to them as a reproach, that the officerscommanding them are not included in the stigma. I have served withthem, and have pleasure in stating that, taking the average, the vesselsare as well officered as those in our own service; but let us describethe vessels and their crews. Most of the vessels are smaller inscantling than the run down (and constantly _going down_) ten-gun brigsin our own service, built for a light draft of water (as they wereoriginally intended to act against the pirates, which occasionallyinfest the Indian seas), and unfit to contend with anything like a heavysea. Many of them are pierced for, and actually carry fourteen orsixteen guns; but, as effective fighting vessels, ought not to have beenpierced for more than eight I have no hesitation in asserting that anEnglish cutter is a match for any of them, and a French privateer has,before now, proved that she was superior. The crews are composed of asmall proportion of English seamen, a small proportion of Portuguesesea-cunnies, a proportion of Lascars, and a proportion of Hindoo Bombaymarines. It requires two or three languages to carry on the duty;custom; religions, provisions, all different, and all living and messingseparate. How is it possible that any officer can discipline a ship'scompany of this incongruous description, so as to make them "pulltogether?" In short, the vessels and the crews are equallycontemptible, and the officers, in cases of difficulty, must besacrificed to the pride and meanness of the Company. My reason fortaking notice of the "Bombay Marine" arises from an order latelypromulgated, in which the officers of this service were to take rank andprecedence with those of the navy. Now, as far as the officersthemselves are concerned, so far from having any objection to it, Iwish, for their own merits and the good-will that I bear them, that theywere incorporated into our navy-list; but as long as they commandvessels of the above description, in the event of a war, I will put acase, to prove the absurdity and danger which may result. There is notone vessel at this present time in their service which would not be sunkby one well-directed broadside from a large frigate; yet, as many oftheir officers are of long standing, it is very probable that a squadronof English frigates may fall in with one of these vessels, the captainof which would be authorised by his seniority to take the command of thewhole of them. We will suppose that this squadron falls in with theenemy, of equal or superior force; can the officer in command lead onthe attack? If so, he will be sent down by the first broadside. If hedoes not, from whom are the orders to proceed during the action? Theconsequences would be as injurious as the arrangement is ridiculous.

  The charter of the East India Company will soon expire; and if it is tobe renewed, the country ought to have some indemnification for the threemillions which this colony or conquest (which you please) annually drawsfrom it. Now there is one point which deserves consideration: theconstitutional protection of all property is by the nation, and as anaval force is required in India, that force should be supplied by thearmaments of the nation, at the expense of the Company. I have alreadyproved that the Bombay Marine is a useless and incompetent service: letit be abolished altogether, and men-of-war be sent out to supply theirplace. It is most important that our navy should be employed in time ofpeace, and our officers gain that practical knowledge without which thetheoretical is useless. Was this insisted upon, a considerable forcewould be actively employed, at no expense to the country, and manyofficers become valuable, who now are remaining inactive, and forgettingwhat previous knowledge they may have acquired of their nautical duties.

  At the same time, every East India ship should be compelled to take onboard her whole complement of English seamen, and not be half manned byLascars and Chinamen.

  But I presume I must be careful how I attempt to legislate for thatcountry, or I shall have two tame elephants sent after me by the man_what_ puts his hair in papers!