CHAPTER VII--Concerning the Treasure Island
Hardly had the fleet anchored when Captain Poynings boarded the flagshipand obtained, with little ado, permission to part company. We thenrevictualled, took in fresh powder, and weighed, steering a westerlycourse till Negrille Point was well abeam. Thereupon we stoodnor'-westward, passing close to Grand Cayman. Here misfortune dogged us.For days we were becalmed, the _Gannet_ wallowing motionless in the oilysea within one hundred leagues of our destination. Then the dreaded"yellow jack" made its appearance amongst us, and forty men lay sick todeath on the ballast, of whom, I grieve to relate, more than half died.
When the pestilence would have ended it would be hard to say, had not afavourable breeze sprung up, and on the eighteenth day after leavingPort Royal we brought up off the cay shown in the chart.
It was an island some three miles in extent, and about half thatdistance in breadth, a line of rugged hills running from east to west,terminating in low cliffs. Viewed from the north'ard, where we lay, theshore appeared to be flat and lined with breakers, but Pedro told usthat a little creek opened out close to the western end, where a boatcould make a landing in safety.
No sign of a human being could be seen, even as the Portuguese had said,yet it is passing strange how easily even a trained seaman can bedeceived.
Being late in the day when we arrived off the cay, it was decided not toland till the morrow. Nevertheless, we made preparations for theexpedition, provisioning the longboat and the like.
Early on the morrow we weighed anchor, and, under the guidance of Pedro,towed the _Gannet_, there being no wind, through a gap in the reef, sothat her new berth was within half a league of the landingplace--thoughthere was an inner reef close inshore, on which the sea brake, thoughnot with such violence as on the outer reef.
In his eagerness, Captain Poynings himself took command of the landingparty, though it was his duty to remain aboard. With him went thebos'n, three midshipmen, whereof Greville Drake and I were included, andtwenty-five men. Between us we had but five musketoons and threepistols, the men carrying, on account of the heat, nothing but theirmattocks and spades. Pedro also went as a guide, so that our partynumbered thirty-one men, sufficient, indeed, to carry off thetreasure--if treasure it were--in one journey.
After rowing for nearly a league, viz. a quarter of a league towards theshore, and the same distance parallel to it, the breakers preventing usfrom going nearer, we espied the mouth of the little cove or creek, andten minutes labour at the oars sufficed to beach the boat in verysheltered water, the trees overhanging the banks and almost meetingthose on the opposite side.
We landed and formed up on a small stretch of sand, the only clear spacethat was to be seen.
"Hark ye, Dommett," said the captain. "Do you stay here with the boat,and keep her off if needs be we must embark in a hurry. 'Tis now nineo' the clock; by five we will return. If peradventure we fail to do so,signal to the ship for more men. Keep eyes and ears open, and if anyman shall come upon you, push off and fire your piece. Now, SenhorPedro, lead on."
It was an exciting moment. The Portuguese led, pressing forward withmarvellous agility and with the air of a man who is following a familiartrack. We followed in straggling order, for the way was rough, merelyallowing two men to walk abreast. Dense foliage enclosed us on eitherside, and, save for the noise of the men's footsteps, and the occasionalcrackle of dry underwood, not a sound either of man or beast broke thestillness of the forest.
The path led gradually upwards, till we emerged into a clearing, theground rising still steeper to the foot of a low, precipitous cliff. Atthe base of this cliff we halted for breath, observing that all aroundlay masses of broken rock that had at some time fallen from the heightsabove. Looking backwards we could see over the tops of the trees to thesea, the _Gannet_ looking like a cockboat in the distance.
On resuming our march we had to scale the cliff, which, though steep,was jagged with projections of rock, which, with strong tendrils oftropical vegetation, afforded plenty of foothold for any ordinaryclimber to make use of.
"A pest on these Spaniards!" exclaimed the captain angrily. "Why didthey take the treasure so far inland; eh, Pedro?"
The Portuguese shrugged his shoulders. "_Qual sabe, Senhor?_" he repliednonchalantly.
The men, strapping their spades on their backs, began the ascent, thePortuguese being told to remain till half the party had gained thesummit.
When my turn came I leapt with all the buoyancy of youth on to thelowermost crag, grasping an overhanging tuft of reeds and grass to gainthe next step; but the reeds were as sharp as a razor, and before Irealized it the palm of my hand was cut to the bone, and the bloodpoured in a stream down my arm and over my doublet.
The sudden pain and the loss of blood caused me to slip to the foot ofthe cliff, and for a time everything became blank and my head swam.Someone forced my head betwixt my knees, so that in a short space oftime I felt better.
"You would do well to return to the boat," said Captain Poynings in atone that meant no refusal. "Can you manage to find the path, or shallI send a man with you?"
I replied that I was well enough to go, and reluctantly I turned back.
Drake laid a hand on my shoulder. "Never heed, Aubrey," said hesympathetically. "'Tis better to return with a gashed hand like yours.But I'll tell you all when we come back."
Slowly I went till I reached the edge of the wood. Then I lingered,watching the party make the ascent, which they did speedily and withoutfurther mishap. Then I heard their footsteps die away as they plungedthrough the thick underwood, and I was alone.
The path, by reason of the numbers that had but recently passed, was nowwell-defined, and I had no difficulty in finding it. Dommett, theboatkeeper, received me without signs of surprise, and on telling him ofmy misadventure, he merely ejaculated a loud "Well done", which was afavourite expression of his, no matter what caused him to make it,insomuch that on board he was dubbed by his messmates "Well doneDommett".
However, he bathed my hand in seawater, although the salt did make itsmart mightily, and, tying it with a strip of wet linen, he told me tokeep quiet, so as not unduly to excite my head, which was by nowthrobbing like to burst.
Throughout the forenoon Dommett smoked a short black pipe incessantly,though he kept his eyes shifting, looking frequently for signals fromthe _Gannet_ and the island, both towards the path and along the shore.
There was no sign or sound till about one hour after noon, when we bothheard a faint noise like a musket being fired afar off. We listenedalertly, but no other sound was heard.
"'Tis one of the men who has fallen over his piece, perchance," remarkedthe sailor as he refilled his pipe, ramming the weed down with hislittle finger.
Hardly had he made the flint and steel to work when there was anothernoise, like the distant crashing of brushwood. The sound came nearer,so we both stood up, the boat-keeper thrusting an oar into the water soas to keep the longboat off shore.
Nearer came the sound, till at length a man appeared, torn and bleeding,and spent with running. It was one of the _Gannet's_ men--the bos'n'smate,--and, throwing himself into the boat, he lay like a log.
"Pull yourself together, man," shouted Dommett, shaking the man in hisanxiety. "What's amiss? What's amiss?"
"Push off for your life!" he panted. "It's all up; we are all undone!"
This was all he could say. Nevertheless we shoved off, and waited atabout a boat's length from the mouth of the creek--waited for anystragglers who might appear.
Nevertheless no more of our men appeared, though a musket was fired atus from the brushwood, followed by an irregular volley. At the whiz ofthe bullets, though they passed well above us, I threw myself on thebottom of the boat; but the firing had the opposite effect on thebos'n's mate, for, cursing horribly, he raised himself and seized anoar. Dommett had already done likewise, and before the volley could berepeated we were well out of range, though throughout the wh
ole time wewere under fire the man still kept his pipe firmly between his teeth.
Then they called upon me to take an oar, and feeling miserably ashamedof myself I got up, and, as well as my hand would allow, I rowed withthem. By a special providence we made the gap between the reef insafety, then rowed slowly, for the longboat was an unwieldy craft,towards the _Gannet_.
The master, perceiving that something was amiss, sent a boat to meet us,and on going on board we were surrounded by the anxious remainder of thecrew.
The bos'n's mate told his tale, how that the expedition came across aflat piece of ground surrounded by steep rocks, like a basin. Here, thePortuguese said, was the spot where the treasure was buried. The menlaid aside their arms, took their spades, and began to dig. Three feetdown in the hard soil they went, but there was no sign of the treasure.Suddenly they heard a mocking laugh, and, looking up, saw that Pedro hadslipped away and was jeering at them from the top of the rocks, and,what was more, he spoke like an Englishman, without any of his formeraccent. Captain Poynings, maddened by the man's treachery, fired apistol at him, but without effect. The seamen looked around for theirarms to give pursuit, but these had been stealthily removed, and insteadthey found themselves surrounded by at least a hundred armed scoundrels,who demanded that they should yield themselves. The bos'n's mate,however, having separated himself from the rest, took to his heels andfled for the boat, hotly pursued by half a dozen of the villains. Hegained the longboat in safety, as I have said, and the fate of CaptainPoynings and his men was still a mystery.
Shouts and threats came from the crew of the _Gannet_ when they heardthat their beloved captain and their comrades had been treacherouslytrapped. Some proposed that all hands should form an avenging landingparty, but of this our lieutenant would not hear, as the nature of theisland would be against open attack.
Several plans were discussed, with no good result, till there came aseaman, who offered to track the villains and try and discover the fateof our comrades. He was of New England, having joined us at theBermudas on our voyage hither, and was skilled in savage warfare andwoodcraft, for at one time he had been a member of the trainband ofSalem, in New England, which town had oft been in jeopardy from thesavages.
"Let me but land after it is night," said he, "and I'll warrant ye'llsee me with news of some sort by noon to-morrow. If so be I do notreturn by that time, let the purser mark me off the books, 'D.D.'(Discharged--dead), and send what money should be owing to me to my wifeat Providence, in Rhode Island."
This man's offer being accepted, and assurances given that his wishesshould be carried out if he failed to return, we could do nothing butwait for nightfall.
Directly darkness set in we lowered a boat, the oars and tholes beingmuffled to deaden all sound. The New Englander had stripped, and hadanointed himself from head to foot with a dark, offensive-smellinggrease, which, he assured us, would keep him immune from insect bites,and at the same time render him nearly invisible.
Nimbly he lowered himself into the boat, where the men were waiting withtossed oars. Silently they shoved off, and were lost in the darkness;but in a quarter of an hour the boat returned, having gone as close aspossible to the inner line of breakers, so that the man could withlittle difficulty swim ashore.
All night double watches were set, and the guns, double-shotted, wererun out ready for instant use. Still, not a sound was heard to cause usalarm, only the dull roar of the surf both ahead and astern of us. Itwas a miserable, anxious night, for the disaster to our shipmates (wenot knowing whether they were dead or alive) threw a gloom over thewhole ship.
For my part I could not sleep, my hand paining me greatly, while Itroubled deeply for my comrades, particularly my friend Greville Drake;so by choice I paced the deck the entire night, till with extraordinarysuddenness day broke and the sun rose above the horizon.
The whole of the forenoon passed without incident, but just at middaythe lookout perceived a man leaping across the rocks by the tree-fringedshore. It was the New England seaman.
Instantly a boat was lowered, and urged by lusty strokes headed straightfor the shore. The man had thrown himself into the sea, and we couldmake out his head and shoulders as from time to time he appeared betweenthe white masses of foam. He was an active and powerful swimmer, andgained the boat in safety, though probably it was well that the breakershad subsided somewhat.
His tale was soon told. Fearing to follow the path from the cove, sincethe villain might have set a guard there, he made his way through theundergrowth directly towards the centre and highest part of the island.Over and over again he had to attempt a fresh passage, the thicketsproving too dense even for his accustomed skill. At length he cameacross a small stream, which he followed to its source, which afterwardsproved to be not far from the spot where our men were surprised.
Here he concealed himself till daybreak, when he found himselfpractically overlooking the whole island. On the south side, oppositeto where we were lying, he espied a cove, off which was anchored a craftwhich he declared was the same vessel as we had chased, and from whichPedro had thrown himself. Another hour's careful tracking brought himclose to the creek, where he saw our comrades being escorted on board bythe buccaneers in gangs, twenty-seven all told, so that they wereapparently all alive and well. Then he made out a party of men comingdown from the hillside, where they had been posted as rearguard, andwith them was Pedro. They passed quite close to where he lay hid, andhe could swear that Pedro was no more a Portuguese than he was.
Directly this last body of men embarked the sails were shaken out, andthe swift buccaneering craft stood seaward. Having made sure that theyhad all embarked, the man returned by the beaten path, striking thenorth side of the island at the cove where we had landed. Thence heskirted the shore till we perceived him and sent off a boat.
The officers now debated as to the best course to pursue--whether tofollow the buccaneer, which, undermanned as we were, was hazardous andreckless, or to return with all haste to Port Royal, report our loss,and join with the rest of the fleet in the capture of the insolentpirates.
The latter course was decided upon, but again ill fortune looked uponus. A strong southerly wind suddenly sprang up, and, though protectedby the outer reef, we were on a lee shore. The master would not attemptto beat out through the gap in the reef, as his knowledge of the passagewas none too good, neither could we kedge nor tow the _Gannet_ againstthe wind. So we had perforce to remain weatherbound for seven long days,knowing full well that the same breeze that kept us prisoners within thereef was bearing the buccaneers away in safety.
When at length the wind veered sufficiently to enable the _Gannet_ tosail close-hauled through the surf-encompassed passage, all plain sailwas set, and back to Port Royal we sped.
Four days later the _Gannet_ dropped anchor in the harbour, and withdespondent mien the remaining officers went ashore to report the loss ofthe captain and his men. To their unbounded astonishment and delightthey heard that Captain Poynings and his twenty-six companions werealive and well on board the _Lizard_, man-of-war, then lying off thecastle.
Their adventures can best be described in the story that Drake told tome on the evening of the day that they rejoined the _Gannet_:
"You must know, Aubrey," said he, after telling me of their capture andforced embarkation on board the buccaneer's ship, "that this Pedro wasin reality a Cornishman, and second in command to the renegade CaptainLewis, then lying under sentence of death at Port Royal. The whole ofthis bad business had been carefully planned by the villain, and easilywe fell into the trap. Three days after we left the island the _SeaWolf_, for such is the name of the buccaneer's ship, hove to in sight ofPort Royal, and with the greatest audacity Pedro, or Red Peter, to givehim the name he is generally known by, went ashore under a flag oftruce, taking me with him as hostage. Would you believe it, he wentstraight to the castle and demanded to see the governor! Oddsfish! Andhis impudence took even the governor aback. 'I have on board,' q
uoth RedPeter, 'twenty-five officers and men of his Britannic Majesty's ship_Gannet_, not including this youngster (meaning me) and another; youhave Captain Lewis and four other of our men. So, my lord, I thinkyou'll see we hold a good balance in hand. Now, sink me! 'tis a fairexchange: give us the five and take your enterprising' (how he sneeredwhen he said this) 'king's men unhurt, or else, for every man of ourswho dances at the end of a rope, five of yours shall dangle from ouryardarm. Come now, your answer?'
"What could the governor say? He gave way so easily that Red Peterspoke again. 'And, taking into consideration our great magnanimity,'twould not be amiss to grant a free pardon to us all; then, for ourpart, we do agree to cease from plundering and fighting, and becomehonest men once more. Right glad would I be to see Falmouth once moreother than with a hempen rope round my neck, or with gyves and manaclesto prevent my full enjoyment of my native place. How say you, my lord?'
"After all, I verily believe the governor was content, for he hadsucceeded in ridding the Indies of these buccaneers, even as it wasordered, though the manner of the fulfilment thereof was hardly as hehad wished. So he sent for his secretary, ordered him to write out ageneral pardon, which he sealed and delivered to Red Peter with anelaborate bow, whereat the rogue as courteously took his leave.
"The same day the _Sea Wolf_ came into the harbour and landed ourpeople, Lewis and his companions were released, and, after a generalcarouse on shore, the ship sailed to communicate the news to herconsorts. All the same, the trick was neatly done, and little harm cameof it."
Such was the tale that Greville told. Years later I learned that bothCaptain Lewis and Red Peter returned to England and were received by HisMajesty, who, with the same generosity as he showed towards CaptainMorgan, Colonel Blood, and other cutthroats of like nature, restored toLewis his commission; while Red Peter, under his real name of PeterTregaskis, became a red-hot Tory squire in his native Cornwall.
However, to resume my story, Captain Poynings rejoined the _Gannet_without delay, and after a year or so of comparatively uneventfulsojourning in the Caribbean Sea, we received orders to proceed again tothe Mediterranean.
A Lad of Grit: A Story of Adventure on Land and Sea in Restoration Times Page 7