Convict ship

“ All this while the ocean remained breathless. Far away were the two black specks of quarter-boats, and beyond was the gleam of the long-boat’s sail, a point of light under the horizon like the image of a star. Fortunately for the convicts, the lay of the yards flung the shadow of the canvas upon the deck. Otherwise it was broiling where the sun was. The poop was sheltered by the awning that stretched from the mizzen-mast to the brass rail. Many of the people stood with their coats over their arms and their shirts open. ”

“ A crowd of men, many of them armed with the small-arms which they had found in the ship, gathered around the main-hatch and obstructed the view. A fellow, with a fiddle in his hand, climbed on the bulwark-rail close to the yawn of the gangway, and putting the fiddle into his neck, screwed out a tune. He was the convict who used to play the prisoners round the decks at exercise. When the mass of felons heard this music, they burst into a great shout of laughter. Such a wild, dreadful shout of merriment has seldom gone up out of human throats. ”

“ We were washing through it at seven knots, and the great dim cloud of canvas astern at eleven or twelve. She had now shaped herself into a clear outline against the thin stars, and I could see the white water boiling at her forefoot.
‘Captain Butler,’ exclaimed the mate, in a voice of agitation, ‘that’s the Childe Harold!’
‘Yes! She’s the convict ship,’ said Tom, catching me by the hand. ‘Do you see that [179] her main-royal lies furled? Whither away? Whither away?’ cried he, looking at the ship.
‘Fore and maintopmast stu’n’sails!’ exclaimed Mr. Bates. ”

“ My aunt averted her face as though annoyed by my coupling Will with Tom in the same breath.
Having begun to talk, I continued; and our conversation for some time was all about the Childe Harold and convict ships. My uncle knew a good deal about this sort of vessel. Long association with seafaring people had taught him much that is not commonly known to lawyers. He explained that ships chartered for convicts often went to Deptford to fit out. The lower decks were cleared fore and aft; strong bulkheads of oak, frequently loopholed for muskets, erected ”

“ They start well equipped—I’ve seen to that. It’s odds if they’re not picked up in a day or two, spite of our friend Will’s misgivings. They’ll take three boats from the ship. That’ll leave two and the gig. The gig’s for us. The convicts must see to themselves. It’s not a thing to be debated. It’s every man for himself at such times as these,’ and his eye went to the stain at the head of the poop-ladder where the sentry had been butchered.
‘Tom,’ said I, ‘if the sailors are leaving the ship, who’s to carry on the work?’
‘Seven or eight rogues stay,’ he answered. ”

“ I am driven as though I were a mad and dangerous beast; I am herded with ruffians, and I am innocent! I swear by your pure heart, Marian, I am guiltless of the crime for which they have put me into this ship and for which they send me ashore by day to—to—— Why are you here, dear?’ he cried, still wildly, and now a little incoherently. ‘They have hellishly sworn me, innocent as I am, into this. They have made a felon of me. They are sending me from my country, and my heart must break—my heart must break!’ he said, sobbing convulsively. ‘And they will bury me in a convict’s grave. ”

“ The soldier lounged across the deck and leaned against the barricade, looking at the great hulk, whose topmost tier of grated ports, and whose dingy height of bulwarks and rude, hut-shaped structures forward seemed to tower to half the height of the convict ship’s lower masts. I darted a swift glance round, and observed two figures on [276] the poop, both young fellows. Some soldiers stood forward near the convicts’ galley. A small group of men—lumpers or riggers—at the main hatch within the barricade inclosure were smoking and talking. ”

“ Many people have a very erroneous opinion of a convict ship, in which they believe, anarchy, disorder, and irregularity, to hold undisputed sway; whereas, on the contrary, decorum, cleanliness, and quietness, prevail, in as great a degree as in a well-regulated man-of-war; and I have no hesitation in stating, that, in these respects, a convict ship is far superior to the very best merchant vessel that sails from the port of London. ”

“ It is not from the impregnable structure of the prison 300in a convict ship, that the great object of transportation is alone to be sought. The arm of the law, which deprives the convict of the power of committing mischief by sanctioning the coercive bolt or massy bar, can be as effectual in restraining the licentious seaman from transgressing the bounds of duty, and committing acts of violence towards the persons confined; such are powers of ordinary and every day efficacy. ”

“ There are parsons there,’ said Tom, ‘and vessels to carry us to the island again; you and Will ’ll take the salvage you’ll get on this brig at Cape Town, and so home.’
‘English men-of-war touch at Tristan,’ said Will.
‘One in about eighteen years; whalers often enough, Marian, to find us fresh safety in the South Seas should a fit of flitting take us. There are goods under here,’ said he, stamping the deck, ‘that’ll earn us a cordial hand-grip at Tristan. They’ll represent my share of the salvage. Why, it’s right that a convict should take what he wants, hey, [155] Bates? ”

“ I was amazed that the wretches could draw breath. At this foremost end of the table, high-perched like the ruffian Abram, was the hare-lipped convict; he, too, had a big pail of liquor betwixt his legs, the contents of which he served out with a pannikin. Nearly every man had a pipe, and again and again one or another of the convicts rose to get a light at the lamps. ”

“ Next, Tom might not prove one of the convicts of his ship. Suppose he (Will) should be unable to communicate with me in my hiding-place until I had been carried too great a distance from England to be set ashore; I should be in a convict ship, a woman locked up with [243] rogues and villains, sailing to Tasmania for no purpose at all, with the chance of missing my sweetheart and never meeting him again in this world. ”

“ The sailor said that when the convicts are removed they’re double cross ironed and chained down to the deck. Everybody’s afraid of them. Now what would you do there in a settlement of a few troops and scores of horrible villains?’
I smiled and said: ‘Where Tom is sent, I go;’ and then starting up, and flashing upon him in my old hot-tempered impulsive fashion, I cried: ‘I know all about Norfolk Island; I shall know what to do, Will.’ I sobered my voice and added, ‘I have been scheming for months all alone, dear. All the while that my darling has been in jail I have been planning and planning. ”

“ Why, haven’t you watched me whilst I [148] tramped in a gang to the tune of a fiddle, watched me at a felon’s work about the deck of the ship you were chief mate of, watched me with the irons upon my legs as I shuffled out of the hatch to the cries of a brother-convict? You’re a respectable man—oh, very respectable! ”

“ And perhaps two hundred rogues in each ship.’
‘At least,’ exclaimed my uncle.
‘Are they passenger ships?’ I asked.
‘Many of them.’
‘Could one take one’s passage in a convict ship?’
‘Love you, no! No more than one could take one’s passage in a man-of-war.’
‘Marian, you are making no breakfast,’ said my aunt.
‘What do they do with the convicts when they arrive at their destination?’ I inquired.
‘Why,’ said my uncle, passing his cup for more tea, ‘I can only tell you what I have read. The convicts are lent out as servants to persons in want of labour on their farms, [159] houses, shops, and so on ”

“ I beg to be understood distinctly, in drawing the above comparison, not to imply any thing of an invidious nature towards officers of the army doing duty in convict ships, every one of whom, I am persuaded, justly merits whatever comfort can be enjoyed in such a situation.
It is in place here to observe, that misunderstandings are likely to occur from the first moment of sending the convicts on board. The Master of the ship having signed a bond making himself responsible for the safe custody of the prisoners, he alone is held accountable in the event of any of them escaping ”

“ But I want to get home—rig out afresh—sign for a new ship—and start again. This sort of thing is merely pickling one. It will qualify me as a lobscouser, I dare say, but I’m learning nothing useful, never have a quadrant in my hand, and get no jobs of seamanship to do.’
[280] ‘Tom told you he’ll steer the brig straight for England, and put you and Bates in the way of getting home. What more do you want? But for him you’d have been murdered by the convicts. Or you might be lying dead in an open boat along with Captain Sutherland and the others. ”

“ Not bad pay, as times go. The captain receives so much a head for every man delivered in the colony. This makes him careful. Formerly, the skipper took the job in the lump, and the more deaths during the voyage the better, because deaths saved victuals. If Butler wants to sail I hope he’s pretty well.’
‘Why?’ I asked.
‘They’ll carry no sickly convicts to sea,’ said he. ‘The surgeon inspects the fellows and rejects those whom he considers unfit for the voyage. But they’re mostly so wild to get transported that they’d cheat Old Nick himself ”

“ I sprang on to the floor, and for a long while practised the paces of a man, striding round the room and [260] stretching my legs, and whilst I walked I told over a few things I might require when I should be hidden under the forecastle of the convict ship, and paused at the table from time to time to note down the articles.
And, first of all, I was resolved not to lie in a black hole for a week, perhaps a fortnight, without the means of procuring a light. ”

“ The convicts embark this afternoon or to-morrow morning. There are only three apprentices, including me, this voyage; two are aft there on the poop. It don’t matter if you are seen. They’ll think you went ashore by way of the hulk. But I must get you below before the chief mate comes on deck. I’m supposed to be keeping a look-out at the gangway, and I mustn’t be missed.’
All this he hurriedly said as we walked forward to his quarters, which, as you may [278] remember, were in a wing of the forecastle on the port or left-hand side. ”

“ When all was ready with the long-boat, the armed convicts formed themselves into a lane betwixt the open gangway and the hatchway. They fell in with the precision of soldiers to the cries which commanded them, and stood erect and orderly, every man letting the butt of his musket rest upon [17] the deck. ”

“ The convicts had seized the ship. One had but to look toward the now distant long-boat to appreciate the felons’ estimate of human life. I could not pity them when I thought of how they would have kept the women and children and of the havoc they had wrought below, and when I looked at their faces, recalled their songs and oaths in drink, their bestial speech, and saw the plunder on their vile backs.
Tom and Abram and a little crowd of men stood near the gangway. My sweetheart looked on. He gave no orders. Poor Mr. ”

“ The convicts massed themselves upon the main-deck; their faces were white or scarlet with the heat. The drink had been distilled out of them by the roasting temperature, and the unhappy beings stood looking up at Tom with as orderly a bearing as ever they exhibited when the doctor addressed them.
‘Men,’ said my sweetheart, ‘I’ve taken charge of this vessel. It’s the interests of everybody aboard her that I’ve now to consider; it’s for us, all assembled as we are, [43] to consider what’s to be done. And first understand this: No ship can be sailed without discipline. ”

“ I bade the waterman wait, got upon the ladder, and ascended. The warder or officer at the gangway inquired my business. I told him I was a visitor come to see one of the convicts, Thomas Butler. He bade me pass on to the quarter-deck, where were assembled two or three groups of persons who were also arrived to visit friends. The people might have come on board by way of a gallery [176] which connected the ship with the shore on the port or left-hand side; this gallery was defended under the forecastle by a huge iron palisade with two strong gates for padlocking. ”

“ One of the remaining crew of the ship—a sailor with a cast eye and a head of hair so exactly resembling oakum that no convict could look at it without finding something personal and a sort of reflection in it—this man, who sat high-perched above the heads of the throng on the quarter-deck winch, snapped his fingers at the poop and asked leave to address the gents. ”

“ Presently a faint cry sounded. The bucket was drawn up, emptied into some noisy receptacle above, and lowered again. This business lasted nearly half an hour; the fellow below uprose with the shovel and lantern and put the lower hatch on, swearing to himself. He then climbed through the second hatch, which he also closed, and my hiding-place was plunged afresh into blackness.
I gathered from their speaking of the [295] convicts’ breakfast and from their procuring coal, no doubt for the galleys, that it was early morning, and that I had slept through the night. ”

“ There wasn’t a whole tumbler to be seen.
‘Them convicts is gone mad,’ he said, as he sulkily grasped the wheel. ‘Them as ain’t singing’s fighting. The cabin floor’s a-running with blood. They’re mostly the young ’uns. I never bargained for the likes of this raree-show. What’s a-going to befall the fired ship if this sort of carrying-on’s to last?’
‘It was to be a roasting hot job,’ said I pointing to the injured topgallantmast.
He gave me an evil look, but, meeting Tom’s eyes, turned his head and stared away into the white, sultry, stagnant distance. ”