Captain Roberts

“ The Shearwater was paid off at Portsmouth, in the beginning of 1822; and in June following, Captain Roberts received an appointment to the Thracian 18, fitting out for the Jamaica station, where his boats, under the command of Lieutenant Amos Plymsell, assisted those of the Tyne 28, Captain John Edward Walcott, in capturing the Spanish piratical schooner Zaragozana, mounting one long 18-pounder, four 9-pounders, and eight swivels, with a crew of from 70 to 80 men, of whom 24 were soon afterwards sentenced to death, and executed. ”

“ Captain Roberts was a stalwart man, and hats off to his eight-year-old crew!
The other boy who had rowed ashore was anxiously looking for the vessel, and he appeared aboard with a gang of negroes whom he had hired to work her into the nearest port. They brought food and water with them, and affairs seemed to have taken an auspicious turn, but during the first night out the sail split from top to bottom. There was no other canvas to set, and the negroes promptly tumbled into the boat and made for the island. The voyage appealed to their simple intellects as very much of a failure. ”

“ There being no other man-of-war then in company, Mr. Roberts, who had been first lieutenant of the Serpent ever since he held a commission, appointed himself successor to Captain Buckoll; but as a commodore was on the coast at the time, the Admiralty did not consider the death vacancy properly filled, and therefore refused to confirm him. After interring the remains of his late commander, at James Fort, Accra, Lieutenant Roberts immediately collected a large and valuable fleet of merchantmen, chiefly bound to Surinam ”

“ It seemed as if their troubles might be nearing an end, but a storm blew next day, and the sloop went upon the rocks. Captain Roberts and the two lads were rescued by the kindly natives, who swam out through the raging surf, but the sloop was soon dashed to pieces. She deserved to win a happier fortune.
The voyage to the Guinea coast was ruined, and Captain Roberts had no money to back another venture; but he set about building a boat from the wreck of his sloop, and made such a success of it that with the two lads and three negro sailors he was soon doing a brisk trade from island to island. ”

“ One of Captain Roberts's crew taken by H.M.S. Swallow, from which ship he had previously deserted.
In an account of his execution on board H.M.S. Weymouth we read: "Being on board a Man of War there was no Body to press him to an Acknowledgement of the Crime he died for, nor of sorrowing in particular for it, which would have been exemplary, and made suitable Impressions on seamen; so that his last Hour was spent in lamenting and bewailing his Sins in general, exhorting the Spectators to an honest and good life, in which alone they could find Satisfaction." ”

“ Captain Roberts walked the poop, every now and then taking a glance at the stranger through his telescope. Stephen and Roger joined him there. He looked calm and determined.
“If I can, I intend to avoid fighting,” he said; “but if we are attacked, I know I can rely on you two, as I have seen what stuff you are made of. You will do your best to keep the crew at their guns; and should anything happen to me, you will fight the ship as long as there is a shot in the locker or a charge of powder remains. I wish I had more confidence in my mates ”

“ Captain Roberts soon became suspicious of their movements and watched them closely, as they were gaining on us. We were going hardly more than two or three knots an hour, having little more than steering way, but they spreading much sail were faster. The captain soon gave orders to have an inventory taken of the firearms on board that could be used in case of need, but these were found to be few in number and in poor condition. The cook was ordered to heat as much boiling water as his small galley would allow, to be ready to repel any attempt to board the vessel. ”

“ Next day they said that for certain the Captain could not live, and men went solemnly in the ship. But Black Tarvin hugged himself in dark places and chuckled villainously, for his time was at hand.
And one night when the vessel went plunging in golden fire, and shook ten thousand green stars in flame from the blown crest of a curving wave, he went out and slid down the dipping martingale, and sat to look up at the Dead that was a prophecy against one still living. But in the golden foam-flowers hissed many sea-snakes, and they swam swiftly in and out, weaving a sea-shroud for a sea-prince. ”

“ That men of the most abandoned characters should so far forget what humanity is due their fellow men, as to expose any one to almost certain destruction, merely on account of a foolish toast, may excite the astonishment of the reflecting; nor perhaps shall we wonder much less at the romantic resolution of Captain Roberts who braved death rather than submit to an insignificant form.
In the dead of night the sloop was cast off, and the pirates even pilfered all the candles to make matters as uncomfortable as possible. ”

“ Here was a crew provided by a sort of unholy miracle, and they were ready to help take the ship to port to save their own perfectly worthless lives. They managed to carry her close to a harbor called St. John’s, and one of the black rascals declared that he was an able pilot; but when the vessel drew close to the rocks he lost his courage and dived overboard, whereupon his comrades followed him, and all swam ashore like fishes. The afflicted Captain Roberts let go his anchor and waited through the night, after which other natives came off to the sloop and brought fresh provisions and water. ”

“ Lieutenant Roberts, with instantaneous promptness, took advantage of his captain’s suggestion, pushed off in the gig, boarded la Ville de Varsovie through the lower-deck port abaft the gangway, and, with the coxswain, John Newton, made his way through her crew, at quarters, to the poop. – Finding there an English union-jack amongst a confused heap of flags, dead bodies, and lumber, the coxswain proceeded with it flying in his hand, to the mizen-top-mast head, – a token of submission, and a hint to the British frigates to turn their fire to a more deserving object. ”

“ The men were happy, for the fo'c'sle didn't leak, and the galley-fire was kept going every night to dry their clothes. At midnight every man got a mug of cocoa, and those that rose up called Mrs. Ryder blessed, and those that lay down agreed with them. The Star was a happy ship. There was no rule against playing the concertina on a Sunday in her fo'c'sle, and the men were not reduced to playing 'blind swaps' with their oldest rags for amusement as they were in the Battle-Axe. And yet every man in the Star knew his time for growling was coming on with every pitch and scend of the sea. ”

“ Jones, Mr. Ladd, you hear that I hope they won't be able to say as much for themselves this day three months."
And the crew laughed, as in duty bound. But Hunt and Gawthrop did not laugh.
"D'ye think there's any truth in what those two men said?" asked Captain Singleton of his mate.
"Likely enough, sir," replied Ladd. "Aren't we out of San Francisco?"
"I certainly don't seem to remember their faces," said the skipper, "but they'll have to do. Make what you can of them. If it's any ways true, it's no good telling them we think so." ”

“ All she remembered was that she sat huddled in her cloak, or paced up and down the deck and talked of she knew not what to the kind Captain John Stayner, and watched the space of sea between the ships slowly—slowly—slowly diminish.
For diminish it did. That marvel, as it seemed to her, actually took place—as even the watched pot will boil at last, if the fire be kept burning. While it yet wanted more than an hour of noon, the two ships came near abreast; and at an imperative hail from the “Good Hope” her consort hove to. ”

“ It was even asserted of Captain Roberts that, so anxious was he to maintain the smart appearance of the ship, he would, whenever she ran into a calm, have the quarterboat lowered and manned, in order that he might pull round his vessel and assure himself that her masts were all accurately stayed to precisely the same angle of rake; and woe betide the unhappy boatswain if there seemed to be the slightest occasion for fault-finding. ”

“ A tall, dark man, he used to wear a rich damask waistcoat and breeches, a red feather in his cap, a gold chain round his neck with a large diamond cross dangling from it, a sword in his hand, and two pairs of pistols hanging at the end of a silk sling flung over his shoulders.
We first hear of Roberts as sailing, in honest employ, as master of the Princess (Captain Plumb) , from London in November, 1719, bound for the coast of Guinea to pick up a cargo of "black ivory" at Anamaboe. Here his ship was taken by the Welsh pirate Howel Davis. ”

“ Yvonne thanked me with a look, and laid her hand on the captain’s arm.
“We will dress your wound, monsieur,” said she. “Mother Pêche has a wondrous skill in such matters.” And she led the captain away.
By this Marc was come up, with a squad of his men fully armed. Some half score approached the second cabin. A window opened, a thin stream of fire flashed out, with a sharp report of a pistol; and a man fell, shot through the head. Another report, with the red streak in the front of it, and a tall Acadian threw up his arms, screamed chokingly, and dropped across a coil of rope. ”

“ He led the way back to the boat, and under the wondering eye of the skipper, which was just then glued to a telescope, they embarked and rowed back like a funeral procession.
'Captain Balaam has taken all the provisions, sir,' said the mate.
'All?'
'Every biscuit, sir.'
'Get the anchor up and make sail,' said the skipper. He went below, and when he came on deck again the Scanderbeg was standing out to sea.
'Muster the men aft, Mr. Briggs,' said Captain Wood. And when they came aft the old man addressed them. The pith of his address lay in the tail of it. ”

“ He commanded a smart little twin-screw steamer called the Don, in fact one of the first twin-propeller steamers ever built. And very proud he was of his craft, in which he made several successful runs under the assumed name of Captain Roberts. On her first trip after Captain Roberts gave up command in order to go home, the Don was captured after a long chase, and his late chief officer, who was then in charge, was assumed by his captors to be Roberts. ”

“ And still Blaker bellowed scripture down the wind. He was still bellowing, though what he bellowed wasn't scripture, when Simpson and Wiggins took him down below after five minutes of a row in which the deposed captain showed something of his ancient form as the terror of the Western Ocean. As they went, the admiral, now promoted to being captain of a Cape Horner, picked up the battered speaking trumpet and wiped some blood from his face, which had been in collision.
"Up aloft with you and make those topsails fast," he roared. "Look alive, men, look alive!" ”

“ Shafto, however, he was frankly delighted.
“Right soldierly said, gentlemen!” he exclaimed. “A good officer stands by his men. I am honoured in meeting you!” and with a very precise civility he shook hands with us in turn.
“But it is very cold here, is it not?” cried Yvonne, with a little shiver, pulling her cloak close. “Let me invite you all to my cabin.”
This invitation she gave with a flying radiance of look at Captain Eliphalet, wherewith he stood a millionfold rewarded.
In the cabin I was not greatly astonished, though more than greatly pleased, to find Mother Pêche. ”

“ There was nothing to be done but to watch the ship and the wind, which promised in due time to be a gale, but as yet was not even a reefing breeze. They had got upon a standing topic between the two,—vessels out of their course. The second night out, we had made a light which the captain insisted was a ship's light, but old Roberts declared was one of the lights on the coast of Maine,—Mount Desert, or somewhere thereabouts. He was an old shipping-merchant, had been many a time across the water in his own vessels, and thought he knew as much as most men. ”

“ The discussion on the poop was broken up by the captain, who came on deck with a face like the north-west moon in a fog. Having demanded the presence of the crew aft, he gave them an address on their duties to their superiors.
"You think yourselves a fine lot of chaps," said the captain fiercely, "but my opinion of you is that you are a scaly crowd of wharf-rats, and all your relations of both sexes are no better than they should be. So look here, you swine, I'll have you know I'm Captain Joseph Prowse, and the man that gives any slack jaw to any officer of mine gives it to me. ”

“ They looked at the sea and at each other with shifty eyes, but not at him.
"Why, sir, 'tis our opinion that no boat can't live in this sea," said the bo'son.
"I think it can," said the captain, "and I'm goin' to try. Do any of you volunteer to come with your captain? I ask no man to do what I won't do myself."
There was something very fine about the liar of the Ullswater as he spoke, and everyone knew that now at least he was telling no lies. ”

“ And the men went out feeling that for once they had a captain who understood men a little. There was not one of them who did not make up his mind to keep sober and stay by the Oriana. And as a crew is a crowd, and with the obstinate affections of a crowd, the initial direction given to their thoughts persisted long. The runners were given the cold shoulder, and every suggestion they made was looked on as a trap. The men followed Jacobs and Hillyer, who both had some knowledge of Portland. ”