Captain Barker

“ Captain Barker received an epistle from Dr. Davis, by which he learned that the Governor declined having any thing to do with the stores landed from the Thompson and Amity [6] accepting only of the live animals and two buoys.
Being informed, that by a boat belonging to H.M.S. Sulphur, there was daily intercourse to and from Perth, Captain Barker, anxious to communicate with the Governor, left the vessel with the intention of proceeding thither; but the boat had departed some time before he reached the shore. ”

“ The ringleaders were French refugers, who were fighting against their own country and had no love for ours,—fellows that it was dangerous to trust; and yet what is very remarkable, the captain does not appear to have suspected evil designs, so confident was he of his own supposed superiority in preserving discipline. But there was one whose eyes looked on with anxious apprehensions,—for like the soundings to the pilot, those eyes had studied the various changes in the features of man to fathom out the depths of the heart,—it was woman, your honour. ”

“ Signal-man! bend the colours at the peak, and have our number ready to show at the main. Main-top there!—stand by to hoist the pennant, and mind it blows out clear. Be smart, my lads: one lubberly act would make them suspect that Captain P—— was not on board, or that his cat had lost its tails.’
“In a few minutes every man was at his appointed station, and the duty was carrying on with as much alacrity and attention as if nothing had happened. The Mermaid, a two-and-thirty gun frigate, was nearing them fast, and the cruisers in-shore were stretching out from the land to join her. ”

“ The master had always been a great favourite with the captain, and, indeed, for the matter of that, every soul fore-and-aft looked upon him as a friend. He had come in at the hawse-holes, knew the duty of a tar, and was lenient to a seaman’s failings. No man could ever complain that Mr. Soundings had laid a finger upon him, or been the means of bringing him to the gangway, and, above all, stopping his grog. He was strict with the purser’s-steward, and kept the cook to his tethers. ”

“ These unfavourable surmises were not realized, as Captain Barker was treated with the greatest attention and kindness. Wellington would neither accept of any present himself, nor would he permit any of his followers to do so, although, when in the camp, he was constantly begging for something. In the evening, they prepared a mess of fish, which they had speared, and were highly delighted to perceive Captain Barker partake of it. In travelling, whenever they came to a stream, or marsh, one of the natives, named Marambal, insisted on carrying him over. ”

“ Ships can't be spared for that; they've much more important work on hand."
"Still, 'tis a pity, sir," said Desmond. "'Tis not only that Captain Barker is an interloper; he has been in league with pirates, and his being at Chandernagore all these months means no good."
"It means at any rate that he hasn't been able to get a cargo. Trade's at a standstill. Well, I'd give something to lay Mr. Barker and his crew by the heels--on behalf of the Company, Burke, for don't forget, as some of our friends of the Calcutta Council do, that I am here to save the Company, not their private property. ”

“ Barker heard him ask. “I have blankets and can sleep on the deck.”
“Walking is good, on you can ride on a log, the water is fine.” “Not another soul,” replied the captain. “Get off the gang-plank, you’re in the way.”
“But I must get to St. Louis,” the man argued.
“I don’t care what you must do,” the captain replied gruffly. “Walking is good, or you can ride on a log, the water is fine. Now get off the gang-plank. This boat leaves in five minutes.”
“Hicks,” whispered Tatanka. “Bad man Hicks,” as the man slouched back up town. “I’d like to throw my ax at him.” ”

“ At about a quarter of a mile, the soldiers stopped, and expressed their wish to return, as their minds misgave them, and they feared that Captain Barker had met with some accident. While conversing, they heard a distant shout, or cry, which Mr. Kent thought resembled the call of the natives, but which the soldiers positively declared to be the voice of a white man. On their return to their companions, they asked if any sounds had caught their ears, to which they replied in the negative. The wind was blowing from the E.S.E., in which direction Captain Barker had gone ”

“ About a dozen sail ahead, sir!"
The captain spluttered out a round dozen oaths, and his dark face grew still darker. So many vessels in company must surely mean the King's ships with a convoy. The French, so far as Captain Barker knew, had no such fleet in Indian waters, nor had the Dutch or Portuguese. If they were indeed British men-o'-war he would be caught between two fires, for there was not a doubt that they would support the Company's vessels.
"We ought to be within twenty miles o' the coast, Mr. Toley," said Captain Barker.
"Ay, sir, and somewhere in the latitude of Gheria." ”

“ Captain Barker had a great deal of difficulty to contend with, in his method of treating the natives; as no other individual in the settlement could be brought to consider these poor beings in any other light than wild beasts. Those who had to work in the bush, conscious, perhaps, of their own conduct, were occasionally under great alarm, not being entrusted with fire-arms. Several times they were frightened, but never received any injury,—the natives wishing to be on friendly terms. ”

“ He thought about his dream, and he thought about the girl called Kitty, who was not so distractingly fair as Sally Rose, and wondered if she had got safe away. He thought about Captain Blakeslee lying dead under the locust tree. True, he had never wanted to be a soldier, but once he became one, he’d expected to bear his part well. Once he’d have been eager to march out when he heard firing, but he was none so eager now. Maybe he was afraid. Maybe that was a bad omen. He’d heard around the campfire that men who were going into their last battle often felt that way. ”

“ Well, every soul fore-and-aft mustered in the twinkling of a hand-spike, and they all crowded together as if they’d been stowed with a jack-screw for a long voyage; and then the captain up and tells ’em that he meant to head the boats himself and cut the Harmoine out, if they would do their duty like men and back him. ”

“ The same individuals that they had been accustomed, to consider, to treat, and to fear, as wild beasts, were now found to be, if not quite tame, at all events, not so maliciously disposed as represented. Indeed, it was impossible for any person, possessing common feelings of humanity, not to rejoice at the happy change brought about, in a great measure, if not entirely, by the judicious conduct of Captain Barker. ”

“ Kent, who accompanied the lamented officer to whom the further exploration of that part of coast unhappily proved fatal. There is a melancholy coincidence between Captain Barker’s death and that of Captain Cook, which cannot fail to interest the public, as the information that has been furnished will call for their serious consideration. ”

“ There was something in the cold, calm, passionless manner of Rowland, which awed the lieutenant into compliance, notwithstanding he was naturally a brave man, and he therefore walked forward and repeated to one of the men the captain's order, which a moment afterwards was sullenly obeyed, then a shout of exultation rose up from the crew of the piratical brig, whilst a gun was fired in triumph as her commander prepared to board the ship which had been so ingloriously placed without a struggle within his grasp. ”

“ But I should have told you, sir, that just before going into action, the admiral walked round the quarters attended by the captain and, I thinks, Mr. Quillem, the first leftenant, but I won’t be sure. The gunner, Mr. Rivers, was along with ’em, I know, and a worthy old gemman he was; his son, a midshipman, was stationed on the same deck with us,—a fine spirited youth, with his light [20] hair flowing about his ears and his little laughing eyes,—up to all manner of mischief. Well, round they came, and the hero seemed proud of his men ”

“ Well, on the day before the mutiny,—I think I told you there was a mutiny, but if not I tell you so now,—on the day before the mutiny, the hands were turned up as usual and the mizen-topmen were rather slack in stays; so he, that’s the captain, your honour,—swore he would flog the last man off the mizen-top-sail yard. Now you must understand, the smartest seamen are always at the yard-arms to haul out the earings, and consequently, unless they can spring over the heads of the other topmen, they must be the last to lie-in. ”

“ He got among the breakers, when he received the second spear in the shoulder. On this, turning round he received a third full in the breast; with such deadly precision do these savages cast their weapons. It would appear that the third spear was already on its flight, when Captain Barker turned, and it is to be hoped, that it was at once mortal. He fell on his back into the water. The natives then rushed in, and dragging him out by the legs, seized their spears, and inflicted innumerable wounds upon his body ”

“ Farmer walked forward, and then hailed one of the quarter-masters to bring him the glass out of the cabin. The glass was brought,—it was the captain’s; and as he took it in his hand, it was plainly seen by the quick changes of his countenance, that there was a tempest in his soul.
“The sail was now distinctly visible about two points on the larboard beam, her hull rising from the water, and her masts showing she was a ship, whilst their position indicated she was crossing the frigate’s track. Farmer raised the glass to his eye; there was a breathless silence fore-and-aft. ”

“ Have you been in many battles?”
“Why yes, your honour,” he replied, “I’ve had my share of it; but notwithstanding the many chafes I got, if another war was to break out, and I was fifty years younger, provided I could get a good captain and a sweet ship, worthy messmates and a full allowance of grog, I’d sooner sarve in a man-of-war than in any other craft whatsomever. But mark my words, we shan’t never have another such a navy as the last. Arn’t they arming the ships on purpose for them to make use of their legs, and run away? ”

“ Surely it was impossible to mistake his character, for when called before the captain he behaved with a gentlemanly respect that commanded admiration. But Captain S—— [4] was one of those (happily there were but very few in the service) who were tyrannical and brutal by nature; and when poor Tom approached, he exclaimed, “Well, fellow, whose pocket have you been picking?”
Surely this might have been spared; for Tom’s [150] countenance was an index to an honest and an upright mind; his attire was most respectable, and every action bespoke the experienced seaman. Never shall I forget his look ”

“ He said he hung around the Bay and Beagle some!”
Still the young man in the shadows did not speak.
“The Gerry Malory I heard of,” went on Tom Trask, “was said to be a captain in the Twenty-third. That’d mean he’s a British officer.” He waited accusingly.
The landlord slapped his thigh. “Well, pickle my brains in rum!” he cried. “I think ye be right, lad. He was talking like a Britisher just before ye got here. Saying times was dark for us, and no man would give his life for America. Out o’ that corner, sir, and answer the charge! Be ye a lobsterback come in disguise among us?” ”

“ That's pretty big odds against eleven."
"Beggin' your pardon, sir," said Barker, who was the oldest man of the crew, "but there's some of our mates over there that wouldn't never fight on the side of that Bug-eye—meanin' no disrespect to the mate, sir. Whitlock wouldn't for one, nor Gunther, nor Trent. I'd lay to that, sir."
"No, sir," put in Thompson; "an' Ashley wouldn't neither. No more would Sanders."
"I believe you, my lads," replied the captain. "They've sailed with us before. But even if they don't fight against us, they can't fight with us as things stand now. ”

“ Indeed, many a time [165] he had paddled about in one of the Grace and Ella’s dories, and despite Mr. Barker’s enmity, the lad had received more than one invitation from Captain Jordan to make a trip in the schooner to the fishing-grounds, though he had declined to do so, at the desire of his father.
“You say the tug ain’t coming straight out o’ Greenport?” the skipper asked.
“No telling when she will be here,” replied Jack. “I don’t think she can be long, though.”
“Well, I’ll have to drop my anchor soon as the tide turns again,” replied the fisherman, “unless you like to give us a tow. ”

“ Well, as I was a saying, there we stood, cutting [128] and slashing right and left, while the officers watched our motions, and practised among themselves. ‘That’s a bonnie lad there,’ said the captain’s lady, leaning on the arm of the marine officer, and pointing to Bill; ‘a bonnie lad, in gude truth, Mr. M.’—‘Yes, ma’am,’ replied the officer, ‘a fine muddle for a Polly.’ But, Lord love you! as for being muddled, why he was as sober as a judge, and warn’t no more like a Polly than this pewter pot’s like a wooden platter.
“Well, d’ye see, there the boarders continued exercising ”