Captain Hull

“ Captain Hull inspected ship. Silent, deep-breathing men watched him as he passed along. At every division he stopped and said a few words. "Lads, we are not going to give this man up upon demand. Remember the Chesapeake. We are going to defend ourselves if necessary, and be ready for it." He made the same speech in about the same words at least half a dozen times. Then he went into his cabin and donned his best new uniform, with a shining pair of bullion epaulets. This done, he gave a touch to his shirt frills before the glass and went on deck. ”

“ But Captain Hull had not furled a sail, and the minute a vapor hid his ship from the enemy all his sails were spread to the winds and away went the Yankee ship in rapid flight. He had taught his foes a lesson in American seamanship.
When the squall cleared away the British [134] ships were far astern. But the wind fell again and all that night the chase kept up. Captain Hull threw water on his sails and made every rag of canvas draw. When daylight came only the top sails of the enemy could be seen. At eight o'clock they gave up the chase and turned on their heels. ”

“ More than one of them had his own private score to settle with the British navy. Many of them had been at one time or another taken off American merchant-ships and impressed into the service of the enemy, and some of them still bore upon their backs the scars of the bloody lashes of the relentless “Cat.” The father of Captain Hull had died in the pest-ship “Jersey,” in the Revolution, and the other officers had all some grievances of their own which made them look eagerly forward to the battle which they intended should mean victory or death. ”

“ When the captain was told what had taken place, he saw that the British were trying to make trouble about the Irish deserter. But he was not the man to be caught by any trick. He loaded his guns and cleared the ship for action. Then he pulled up his anchor, slipped round the British frigates, and put to sea.
He had not gone far before the two frigates started after him. They came on under full sail, but one of them was slow and fell far behind, so that the other came up alone. [131]
"If that fellow wants to fight he can have his chance," said Captain Hull, and he bade his men to make ready. ”

“ In half an hour the glass was brought to bear upon the distant vessel, and she was declared to be a frigate and to be sailing toward the American.
Captain Hull began to make preparations for the meeting.
He acted with deliberation.
The Constitution was a valuable ship, and he dare not expose her to unnecessary risks.
The topgallant sails were furled, and the lighter spars lowered to the decks.
"The enemy is preparing also," said Tempest, who stood looking through the glass.
"I am glad to hear it," answered Captain Hull. "The better prepared she is the greater our victory will be." ”

“ At half past three, P.M., Captain Hull made out his antagonist to be a frigate, and continued the chase till he was within about three miles, when he cleared for action; the chase backed her main-topsail and waited for him to come down. As soon as the Constitution was ready, Hull bore down to bring the enemy to close action immediately; but, on coming within gunshot, the Guerriere gave a broadside and filled away and wore, giving a broadside on the other tack; but without effect, her shot falling short. ”

“ She was the larger ship, and the odds in her favor were as ten to seven, reckoned in men and guns, for which reasons Captain Hull ought to have won. The significance of his victory was that at every point he had excelled a British frigate and had literally blown her out of the water. His crew had been together only five weeks and could fairly be called green while the Guerrière, although short-handed, had a complement of veteran tars. The British navy had never hesitated to engage hostile men-of-war of superior force and had usually beaten them. ”

“ At the commencement of the war of 1812, Hull having been advanced in the meantime to the rank of captain, was placed in command of the frigate Constitution, in which he was destined to perform those brilliant actions which have rendered him one of the most celebrated heroes of our navy. ”

“ Captain Hull, finding that his friends in Boston are correctly informed of his situation when chased by the British squadron off New32 York, and that they are good enough to give him more credit for having escaped it than he ought to claim, takes this opportunity of requesting them to transfer their good wishes to Lieutenant Morris and the other brave officers, and the crew under his command, for their very great exertions and prompt attention to his orders while the enemy were in chase. ”

“ Captain Hull cut the harpoon-line, now no longer required, because the whale, maddened with pain and grief for the loss of its offspring, would certainly make no further attempt to escape, but would fight desperately to the very end.
The finback was obviously bent on a third onslaught upon the boat, which, being in spite of all the men's exertions still more than half full of water, no longer answered readily to the rudder-oar.
No one thought of flight. The swiftest boat could be overtaken in a very few bounds. There was no alternative but to face the encounter. ”

“ Howik then steered the whale-boat, following the rather elongated curve of that reddish shoal, in the midst of which floated the jubarte. They would thus turn the curve.
The boatswain, set over this work, was a seaman of great coolness, who inspired Captain Hull with every confidence. He had not to fear either hesitation or distraction from Howik.
"Attention to the steering, Howik," said Captain Hull. "We are going to try to surprise the jubarte. We will only show ourselves when we are near enough to harpoon it." ”

“ Above all, whatever may happen, do not put a boat to sea, and do not leave the ship."
"That is understood."
"If it should become necessary for the 'Pilgrim' to come to us, I shall make a signal to you, by hoisting a flag at the end of a boat-hook."
"Rest assured, captain, I shall not lose sight of the whale-boat," replied Dick Sand.
"Good, my boy," replied Captain Hull. "Courage and coolness. Behold yourself assistant captain. Do honor to your grade. No one has been such at your age!" ”

“ But it said and meant plainly enough: "Just take our advice and hand this fellow over, Captain Hull,—right away please, no delay; don't stop for anything. He deserves to be abolished for presuming that he has a country that will protect him."
The word had flown about the decks that the English cutter was alongside with a message from the flagship. The crew had all tumbled up from below, and a hum of voices arose from the forecastle. ”

“ Captain Hull was perplexed. He bit his nails and knitted his brow.
"Mamma!" cried little Jack, "I should so much like to see a whale close,-quite close, you know."
"And so you shall, my boy," replied the captain, who was standing by, and had come to the resolve that if his men would back him, he would make an attempt to capture the prize.
He turned to his crew,-
"My men! what do you think? shall we make the venture? Remember, we are all alone; we have no whalemen to help us; we must rely upon ourselves; I have thrown a harpoon before now; I can throw a harpoon again ”

“ Nor did he omit duly to combine the practical with the theoretical; and when he was bound apprentice on board the "Pilgrim," a vessel not only belonging to his benefactor, but under the command of his kind friend Captain Hull, he congratulated himself most heartily, and felt that the experience he should gain in the southern whale-fisheries could hardly fail to be of service to him in after-life. A first-rate sailor ought to be a first-rate fisherman too. ”

“ George Campbell Read, was sent on board the prize, and the Constitution remained by her during the night; but at daylight it was found that she was in danger of sinking. Captain Hull at once began removing the prisoners, and at three o'clock in the afternoon set the Guerrière on fire, and in a quarter of an hour she blew up. He then set sail for Boston, where he arrived on August 30th. "Captain Hull and his officers," writes Captain Dacres in his official letter, "have treated us like brave and generous enemies; the greatest care has been taken that we should not lose the smallest trifle." ”

“ The jubarte was all this time swimming in the middle of the vast red field of crustaceans, opening its large mouth automatically, and absorbing at each draught myriads of animalcules.
According to the experienced ones on board, there was no fear that the whale dreamt of escaping. It was, doubtless, what the whalers call a "fighting" whale.
Captain Hull strode over the netting, and, descending the rope ladder, he reached the prow of the whale-boat.
Mrs. Weldon, Jack, Cousin Benedict, Tom, and his companions, for a last time wished the captain success. ”

“ Weldon," continued Captain Hull. "He is at the helm, his eye fixed on the point of the foresail. No distraction on the part of this young novice, as well as no lurch to the ship. Dick Sand has already the confidence of an old steersman. A good beginning for a seaman. Our craft, Mrs. Weldon, is one of those in which it is necessary to begin very young. He who has not been a cabin-boy will never arrive at being a perfect seaman, at least in the merchant marine. ”

“ In this affair, the ship, no less than those who worked her, gained a high reputation, if not with the world generally, at least with those [208] who, perhaps, as seldom err in their nautical criticism as any people living.” Not long after this affair, Captain Hull met the British frigate Guerriere, and, to the surprise of the whole world, conquered her. That fight was of more importance to America than all the subsequent victories, because it demonstrated that the notion of the British navy being invincible on the seas was incorrect. ”

“ And yet in their mad efforts to overhaul the Yankee after they felt the weight of the squall, the British captains had cut adrift their small boats, that they might not be obliged to stop and pick them up or be encumbered with the weight.
The winds proved light and baffling all night, but having observed how much better the sails held the air while they were wet, Captain Hull started his force-pumps at work to keep the lower sails wet, and sent men to the highest yards to draw up water in buckets and keep everything drenched to the highest thread. ”

“ The Guerriere kept on firing at a distance, but Captain Hull continued to take in sail and get his ship in fighting trim, without firing a gun. After a time Lieutenant Morris came up and said to him:
"The British have killed two of our men. Shall we return their fire?" ”

“ Under the command of Captain Hull, a good seaman, and also one of the most skilful harpooners of the flotilla, was a crew composed of five sailors and a novice. It was a small number for this whale-fishing, which requires a good many persons. Men are necessary as well for the management of the boats for the attack, as for the cutting up of the captured animals. But, following the example of certain ship-owners, James W. Weldon found it much more economical to embark at San Francisco only the number of sailors necessary for the management of the vessel. ”

“ So he told her the story of how he had been a small planter in Jamaica, a man of English birth, and how a great tobacco merchant of that place had fitted out a ship to convey his produce to the Turkish ports, and how he, William Hull, had sailed with her, being minded to take a voyage. They had a fair crossing, and Hull said to himself that now at last he was living, now at last, he was seeing life. Then, off the Tripoli coast, the ship was attacked by corsairs and captured, and the captain and crew were thrown in prison. ”

“ One day, February 6th, she spoke of Dick to Captain Hull, and the captain praised the young novice in the highest terms.
"That boy," he said to Mrs. Weldon, "will be a good seaman some day, I'll guarantee. He has truly a passion for the sea, and by this passion he makes up for the theoretical parts of the calling which he has not yet learned. What he already knows is astonishing, when we think of the short time he has had to learn." ”

“ Any ship, old or new, is as frail as the crew that mans it. The strength of any vessel varies directly with its discipline and personnel. Hull, Jones, Decatur, Bainbridge, and Stewart, in the old days, knew with some accuracy the forces they had to reckon with. Their guns were of simple contrivance, and their men knew them as well as they knew how to reef a topsail or smartly pass a weather-earing. They feared nothing so long as they were confident of their captain. ”

“ She was evidently bound to New York. To decoy her (for she looked like a Yankee) the Belvidera hoisted American colors, but Captain Hull stopped that game by hoisting the British ensign, whereat the merchantman braced up and escaped, while the Constitution slipped along with every thread drawing and the green water between her and the enemy slowly widening, until at noon the nearest one was estimated to be three and a half miles astern. The wide-beam, shoal-draft ship had the best of the race in a light air, as others have since67 had in races of less importance near the same ground. ”

“ Weldon smiling. "I believe that the poor animal is dying of hunger, and it will prefer a good mess to your morsel of sugar."
"Well, then, let it have my soup," cried little Jack. "I can do without it very well."
At that moment the barking was more distinctly heard. Three hundred feet, at the most, separated the two ships. Almost immediately a dog of great height appeared on the starboard netting, and clung there, barking more despairingly than ever.
"Howik," said Captain Hull, turning toward the master of the
"Pilgrim's" crew, "heave to, and lower the small boat." ”