The King's Own

by Frederick Marryat

  CHAPTER TWENTY FOUR.

  He was a shrewd philosopher, And had read every text and gloss over, Whatever sceptic could inquire for, For every _why_ he had a _wherefore_. He could reduce all things to acts, And knew their nature by abstracts. HUDIBRAS.

  Captain M--- was not unmindful of the promise which he had made toMcElvina relative to our hero; and when he returned to the ship he sentfor Macallan, the surgeon, and requested as a personal favour that hewould superintend Willy's education, and direct his studies.

  Macallan was too partial to Captain M--- to refuse, and fortunately hadimbibed a strong regard for Willy, whose romantic history, earlycourage, and amiability of disposition, had made him a generalfavourite. Macallan, therefore, willingly undertook the tuition of aboy who combined energy or mind with docility of disposition andsweetness of temper. There could not have been selected a person betterqualified than the surgeon for imparting that general knowledge sovaluable in after-life; and, under his guidance, Willy soon proved thatstrong intellectual powers were among the other advantages which he hadreceived from nature.

  The _Aspasia_ flew before the trade winds, and in a few weeks arrived atBarbadoes, where Captain M--- found orders left by the admiral of thestation, directing him to survey a dangerous reef of rocks to thenorthward of Porto Rico, and to continue to cruise for some weeks inthat quarter, after the service had been performed. In three days thefrigate was revictualled and watered; and the officers had barely timeto have their sea arrangements completed, before the frigate againexpanded her canvas to a favourable breeze. In a few hours the islandwas left so far astern as to appear like the blue mist which so oftendeceives the expectant scanner of the horizon.

  "You Billy Pitt! is all my linen come on board?"

  "Yes, sar," replied Billy, who was in Courtenay's cabin; "I make billout; just now cast up multerpication of whole."

  "I'm afraid you very often use multiplication in your addition, MrBilly."

  "True bill, sar," replied Billy, coming out of the cabin, and handing apaper to Courtenay.

  "What's this?--nineteen tarts! Why, you black thief, I never had anytarts."

  "Please let me see, sar," said Billy, peering over his shoulder. "Yes,sar, all right--I count em. Tell washerwoman put plenty of tarch incollar."

  "Shirts, you _nigger_--why don't you learn to spell with that dictionaryof yours?"

  "Know how to spell very well, sar," replied Billy, haughtily; "that myway spell `_tarts_.'"

  "`Fourteen tockin, seventeen toul.'--You do know how to spell to a T."

  "Massa Courtenay, doctor not write same way you write."

  "Well, Mr Billy."

  "You not write same way me--ebery gentleman write different hand. Now,if ebery gentleman write his own way, why not ebery gentleman spell hisown way? Dat my way to spell, sar," continued Billy, very muchaffronted.

  "I can't argue with you now, Mr Billy--there's one bell after fourstriking, and I have hardly had a glass of wine, from your bothering me.Upon my soul, its excessively annoying."

  "One bell, Mr Courtenay!" cried Jerry at the gun-room door; "Mr Pricewill thank you to relieve him."

  "I say, Mr Prose," continued Jerry, as he passed through the steerageto return on deck, "I'll just trouble you to hand your carcase up assoon as convenient."

  "Directly, Jerry,--I--will--but my tea--is so hot."

  "Well, then leave it, and I'll drink it for you," replied Jerry,ascending the ladder.

  "Well, Mr G---, did you tell Mr Courtenay?" inquired Price.

  "Yes, sir," replied Jerry.

  "What did he say?"

  "He said, `Pass the bottle, sir,'" replied Jerry, touching his hat, andnot changing a muscle of his countenance, although delighted with thevexation that appeared in that of the tired lieutenant, as he walkedaway forward.

  For two or three days the frigate sailed between the islands, whichreared their lofty crests abruptly from the ocean, like theembattlements of some vast castle which had been submerged to thewater's edge. Her progress was slow, as she was only indebted to theland or sea breezes as they alternately blew, and was becalmed at theclose of the day, during the pause between their relieving each otherfrom their never-ceasing duty. Such was the situation of the _Aspasia_on the evening of the third day. The scene was one of those splendidpanoramas which are only to be gazed upon in tropical climes. The sunwas near setting: and as he passed through the horizontal streaks ofvapour, fringed their narrow edges with a blaze of glory, strongly incontrast with the deep blue of the zenith, reflected by the still wavein every quarter, except where the descending orb poured down his volumeof rays, which changed the sea into an element of molten gold. Thefrigate was lying motionless in the narrow channel between two of theislands, the high mountains of which, in deep and solemn shade, werereflected in lengthened shadows, extending to the vessel's sides, and,looking downwards, you beheld the "mountains bowed." Many of theofficers were standing abaft admiring the beauty of the scene; but notgiving vent to their feelings, from an inward consciousness of inabilityto do justice to it in their expressions.

  Macallan first broke the silence. "Who would imagine, Courtenay, that,ere yonder sun shall rise again, a hurricane may exhaust its rage upon aspot so calm, so beautiful, as this, where all now seems to whisperpeace?"

  The remark was followed by a noise like that proceeding from a distantgun. "Is it pace you mane, doctor?" said one of the midshipmen, fromthe sister kingdom. "By the powers, there's `war to the knife,'already. Look," continued he, pointing with his finger in a directionunder the land, "there's a battle between the whale and the thrasher."

  The remark of the midshipman was correct, and the whole partycongregated on the taffrail to witness the struggle which had alreadycommenced. The blows of the thrasher, a large fish, of the same speciesas the whale, given with incredible force and noise on the back of thewhale, were now answered by his more unwieldy antagonist, who lashed thesea with fury in his attempts to retaliate upon his more activeassailant; and while the contention lasted, the water was in a foam.

  In a few minutes, the whale plunged, and disappeared.

  "He has had enough of it," observed the master; "but the thrasher willnot let him off so easily. He must come up to breathe directly, andyou'll find the thrasher yard-arm and yard-arm with him again."

  As the master observed, the whale soon reappeared, and the thrasher, whohad closely pursued him, as if determined to make up for lost time,threw himself out of the water, and came down upon the whale, strikinghim with tremendous force upon the shoulder. The whale plunged soperpendicularly, that his broad tail was many feet upraised in the air,and the persecuted animal was seen no more.

  "That last broadside settled him," said Courtenay.

  "_Sunk_ him too, I think," cried Jerry.

  "Strange," observed Courtenay, addressing Macallan, "that there shouldbe such an antipathy between the animals. The West Indians assert, thatat the same time the thrasher attacks him above, the sword-fish pierceshim underneath--if so, it must be very annoying."

  "I have heard the same story, but have never myself seen thesword-fish," replied Macallan: "it is, however, very possible, as thereis no animal in the creation that has so many enemies as the whale."

  "A tax on greatness," observed Jerry; "I'm glad it goes by _bulk_. MrMacallan," continued he, "you're a philosopher, and I have heard youargue that whatever is, is right--will you explain to my consummateignorance, upon what just grounds the thrasher attacks that unoffendingmass of blubber?"

  "I'll explain it to you," said Courtenay, laughing. "The whale, who hasjust come from the northward, finds himself in very comfortable quartershere, and has no wish to heave up his anchor, and proceed on his voyageround Cape Horn. The thrasher is the port-admiral of the station, andhis blows are so many guns to enforce his orders to sail forthwith."

  "Thank you, sir," answered Jerry, sarcastically, "for your veryingenious explanation; but I do not see why his guns should be sh
otted.Perhaps Mr Macallan will now oblige me by his ideas on the subject."

  "How far these islands may be the Capua to the whale, which MrCourtenay presumes, I cannot say," answered the surgeon, pompously; "butI have observed that all the cetaceous tribe are very much annoyed byvermin, which adhere to their skins. You often see the porpoises, andsmaller fish of this class, throw themselves into the air, and fall flaton the water, to detach the barnacles and other parasitical insects,which distress them. May it not be that the whale, being so enormous ananimal, and not able to employ the same means of relief, receives itfrom the blows of the thrasher?"

  "Bravo, doctor! Why, then, the thrasher may be considered as a medicalattendant to the whale; and, from the specimen we have witnessed of hishumanity, a naval practitioner, I have no doubt," added Jerry.

  "Very well, Mr Jerry; if ever you come under my hands, you shall smartfor that."

  "Very little chance, doctor: I'm such a miserable object, that evendisease passes by me with contempt. If I ever am in your list, Ipresume it will be for a case of plethora," replied Jerry, spanning histhin waist.

  "Young gentlemen, get down directly. What are you all doing there onthe taffrail?" bawled out the first-lieutenant, who had just come up theladder.

  "We've been looking at a sea-bully," said Jerry in a tone of voicesufficiently loud to excite the merriment of those about him, withoutbeing heard by the first-lieutenant.

  "What's the joke?" observed Mr Bully, coming aft, as the midshipmenwere dispersing.

  "Some of Mr J---'s nonsense," replied the surgeon.

  This answer not being satisfactory, the first-lieutenant took it forgranted, as people usually do, that the laugh was against himself, andhis choler was raised against the offending party.

  "Mr J---! Ay, that young man thinks of anything but his duty. Therehe is, playing with the captain's dog; and his watch, I'll answer forit, or he would not be on deck. Mr J---," continued thefirst-lieutenant to Jerry, who was walking up and down to leeward,followed by a large Newfoundland dog, "is it your watch?"

  "Yes, sir," replied Jerry, touching his hat.

  "Then why are you skylarking with that dog?"

  "I am not skylarking with the dog, sir. He follows me up and down. Ibelieve he takes me for a _bone_."

  "I am not surprised at it," replied the first-lieutenant, laughing.

  The surgeon, who remained abaft, was now accosted by Willy, who had beenamusing himself, leaning over the side of a boat which had been lowereddown, by the first-lieutenant, to examine the staying of the masts, andcatching in a tin pot the various minute objects of natural historywhich passed by, as the frigate glided slowly along.

  "What shell is this, Mr Macallan, which I have picked up? It floatedon the surface of the water by means of these air-bladders, which areattached to it."

  "That shell, Willy," replied Macallan, who, mounting his favouritehobby, immediately spouted his pompous truths, "is called by naturaliststhe Ianthina fragilis, perhaps the weakest and most delicate in itstexture which exists, and yet the _only one_ [see note 1] which venturesto contend with the stormy ocean. The varieties of the nautili have thesame property of floating on the surface of the water, but they seldomare found many miles from land. They are only coasters in comparisonwith this adventurous little navigator, which alone braves the Atlantic,and floats about in the same fathomless deep which is ranged by thedevouring shark, and lashed by the stupendous whale. I have picked upthese little sailors nearly one thousand miles from the land. Yetobserve, it is his security--his tenement, of such thin texture toenable him to float with greater ease, would not be able to encounterthe rippling of the wave upon the smoothest beach."

  "What use are they of?"

  "Of no direct use that I know of, William; but if it has no other usethan to induce you to reflect a little, it has not been made in vain.All created things are not applicable to the wants or the enjoyment ofman; but their examination will always tend to his improvement. Whenyou analyse this little creature in its domicile, and see howwonderfully it is provided with all means necessary for its existence,--when you compare it with the thousand varieties upon the beach, in allof which you will perceive the same Master-hand visible, the sameattention in providing for their wants, the same minute and endlessbeauty of colour and of form,--you cannot but acknowledge the vastnessand the magnificence of the Maker. In the same manner the flowers andshrubs, which embellish, as they cover the earth, are not all so muchfor use, as they are for ornament. What human ingenuity can approach tothe perfection of the meanest effort of the Almighty hand? Has it notbeen pointed out in the Scriptures, `Consider the lilies of the field,how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin: And yet I say untoyou, That even Solomon, in all his glory, was not arrayed like one ofthese.' Never debate in your mind, Willy, of what use are these thingswhich God has made--for of what _use_, then, is man, the most endowedand the most perverse of all creation, except to show the goodness andthe forbearance of the Almighty! You may, hereafter, be inclined todebate why noxious reptiles and ferocious beasts, that not only areuseless to man, but a source of dread and of danger, have been created.They have their inheritance upon earth, as well as man, and combine withthe rest of animated nature to show the power, and the wisdom, and theendless variety of the Creator. It is true that all animals were madefor our use; but recollect, that when man fell from his perfect state,it was declared, `In the sweat of thy brow thou shalt eat bread.' Aretrackless forests and yet unexplored regions to remain without livingcreatures to enjoy them, until they shall be required by man? And isman, in his fallen state, to possess all the earth and its advantages,without labour,--without fulfilling his destiny? No. Ferocious andnoxious animals disappear only before cultivation. It is part of thelabour to which he has been sentenced, that he should rend them out asthe `thistle and the thorn;' or drive them to those regions, which arenot yet required by him, and of which they may continue to havepossession undisturbed."

  Such was the language of Macallan to our hero, whose thirst forknowledge constantly made fresh demands upon the surgeon's fund ofinformation; and, pedantic as his language may appear, it containedimportant truths, which were treasured up by the retentive memory of hispupil.

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  Note 1. I am aware that there are two or three other pelagic shells,but at the time of this narrative they were not known.