Jack In The Forecastle; Or, Incidents In The Early Life Of Hawser Martingale Part 26

I was astonished, dumbfounded at this intelligence, which effectually silenced further inquiries. After a short pause, Murray proceeded: "The fact is, Mr. Church told me all about the matter yesterday afternoon.

Bohun found it difficult to procure you such a situation as you wanted, and was anxious to get you off his hands. Meeting Mr. Church in town, he asked him to take you. Mr. Church objected, telling him it would be a pity to place you on the Pearl plantation, where you might drop off in less than six weeks. But Bohun urged the matter; requested it as a personal favor; and they being countrymen, you know and so and so you see your business was done, and here you are."

I undoubtedly looked grave at the interesting information thus frankly given; and Murray, remarking it, continued, in a consolatory tone: "Never mind, my good fellow; keep up your spirits. I thought it best to tell you the worst at once, and let you know what you have to expect.

You will have to go through a regular seasoning; and if you can stand that on the Pearl estate, you may take your degree of M.D. as Doctor of Malaria, and bid defiance to yellow fever forever after!"

I was not ambitious of such a distinction, and would gladly have declined it, were it possible; but, on calmly surveying my position, there appeared no alternative. Relying on the correctness of Bohun's suggestions and the disinterestedness of his counsels, I had taken a step which could not, for a time at least, be retraced. I therefore determined to go forward and make the best of it; look on the bright side of my situation, if it had any bright side, faithfully perform the duties of my office, and trust to my const.i.tution and regular habits, in spite of the counsels of Murray, for the rest.

I felt hurt at the conduct of Bohun, which from Murray's version was not such as I was prepared to expect, notwithstanding my experience in the dark side of human nature. I still hoped that Murray's statements might be exaggerated, and that Bohun was actuated in his conduct towards me by feelings of grateful kindness.

On the following day Mr. Church visited the estate. He was a middle-aged man, had held a captain's commission in one of those British West India regiments which, after having been reduced to mere skeletons by battles with the French and yellow fever, were unjustly and inhumanly disbanded, at a long distance from "home," leaving the brave men, who were thus rewarded for their services, to return to their native country as they could, or struggle for a precarious existence in a tropical climate.

Mr. Church chose to remain in the island and engage in the planting business. Possessing energy of character and rect.i.tude of principle, and having influential connections, he became in a few years the attorney for the Pearl estates, married the daughter of a Scotch planter, and resided very pleasantly and happily at a beautiful seat called Bel-Air, situated a few miles from the Upper Pearl. He entered into conversation with me, instructed me in my duties, regretted the absence of the manager, which might unpleasantly affect my comforts, and gave me some precautionary hints in relation to my health. I felt somewhat rea.s.sured by my conversation with that gentleman, and erroneously believing it would be in my power to leave the island if I should think proper, at no distant period, indulged in no unavailing regrets, but philosophically resolved to make myself as comfortable as circ.u.mstances would allow.

The treatment I met with among the planters, during my whole residence in the island, was that of unvarying kindness; many of them were well educated and cultivated a literary taste; had well-furnished libraries, which were not kept for show; and the history and writings of Ramsay, Ferguson, Burns, Beattie, Robertson, Blair, and other distinguished Scottish authors, were as familiar with some of the planters in Grenada "as household words." The early novels of the "Wizard of the North" were then exciting much interest, which was shared by the inhabitants of the English West India Islands.

The mildness of the climate seemed to have a tendency to melt away that frigidity which is a characteristic of people of the north, and the residents of the island were as frank, free, and hospitable as if they had never been out of the tropics. I soon formed many pleasant acquaintances and acquired many friends. And this, with the aid of books in abundance, enabled me to pa.s.s my leisure hours agreeably.

Notwithstanding the heat of the climate, and the prevalence of the erroneous idea that violent physical exercise in the tropics is injurious to the health of strangers, I indulged often in recreations of a kind which excited the surprise and called forth the remonstrances of my friends.

From my earliest recollection, I was a devoted disciple of good old Izaak Walton, and the rivers on the north side of the island, rus.h.i.+ng down from the mountains, with deep pools, and rocky channels, and whirling eddies, being well stocked with finny inhabitants, furnished me with fine opportunities to indulge in the exciting sport of angling.

My efforts were chiefly confined to the capture of the "mullet," a fish resembling the brook trout in New England in size and habits, although not in appearance. It is taken with the artificial fly or live gra.s.shopper for bait; and to capture it, as much skill, perseverance, and athletic motion is required as to capture trout in the mountain gorges of New Hamps.h.i.+re.

I also occasionally indulged my taste for rambling in the mountains.

In these excursions, which, although exceedingly interesting, were solitary, for I never could persuade anyone to accompany me, I always took a gun, making the ostensible object of my rambles the shooting of RAMEES birds of the pigeon species, of beautiful plumage, nearly as large as a barnyard fowl, and of delicate flavor. These birds inhabited the deepest recesses of the woods, and, although seldom molested, were exceedingly shy.

Few animals are found in the forests and mountains of Grenada. The agouti, the armadillo, and the opossum, are sometimes, though rarely, seen. The only quadruped I ever met with in my rambles was an opossum, which I shot as it was climbing a tree. Of reptiles there are none in the mountains. There are several kinds of snakes in the island, some of which have never been described by naturalists. The species which is most common is a black snake (constrictor) of large size, being frequently eight or ten feet in length, and three or four inches in diameter. These snakes are treated not only with forbearance but kindness by the planters, and in return render important service on the sugar plantations, being most persevering and successful RAT CATCHERS; rats are abundant, and exceedingly destructive to the sugar cane, on which they subsist during a considerable portion of the year. None of the serpents in Grenada are poisonous, but in some of the islands, particularly St. Lucia, there exists a snake which resembles the rattlesnake in the ferocity of its attacks and the deadly venom of its bite. Having no rattles, no warning of danger is given to the unwary traveller until the snake darts from its ambush and inflicts a fatal wound; hence the name given to this dangerous reptile is the LANCE DE FER.

In penetrating those mountain gorges, and climbing those mountain ridges, steep and thickly covered with forest trees and vines of many kinds, and of luxuriant growth, I sometimes pa.s.sed hours without meeting any sign of life, except the flitting and hum of the humming-bird, and the loud and musical coo of the ramee. That mountain wilderness seemed the chosen home of the humming-bird. I there met with many varieties, some of which were exceedingly beautiful. My appearance in those forests caused them much surprise, and to gratify their curiosity they sometimes flew towards me, and hovered within a few feet of my face, as if eager to examine my appearance and learn what object led me to intrude on their mountain haunts.

There were, however, other and less interesting inhabitants in that region, as I one day discovered to my great consternation. I was pa.s.sing up the bed of a small stream, where the water, by attrition during many ages, had worn a chasm or "flume" through the solid basaltic rock, the walls of which rose at least a hundred feet nearly perpendicularly, when I found an obstacle to my further progress in the shape of some large rocks, which had fallen from above and blocked the pa.s.sage. I was unable to scale the CHEVAUX-DE-FRISE; but the whole body of water poured through an aperture three or four feet above the bed of the stream; and although it looked dark and dreary within, instead of retracing my steps to find another route through the woods to the spot I wished to reach, I determined to force my way into the gloomy cavern, with the expectation of being able to emerge on the opposite side.

I listened for a moment at the mouth of the aperture, but heard only the murmuring of the stream as it swept along through the uneven channel. I then thrust in my head, when I heard a rus.h.i.+ng noise as of the flapping of a thousand wings, and the next moment I was sprawling on my back in the water, having been summarily capsized, partly by force and partly by an involuntary start of terror!

I raised my head and beheld a legion of BATS, some of them of uncommon size, issuing in a stream from the mouth of the cave. These animals in the tropics are numerous, and seclude themselves from the light of day in caverns or other dark and lonely recesses, where they attach themselves to the roof, and clinging to each other are suspended in large pyramidal cl.u.s.ters or festoons. When disturbed, they take wing, and hastily quit their abodes. By unthinkingly intruding on their territories, which had probably never before been invaded, great alarm was excited among the inmates; a terrible confusion ensued, and the general rush to the aperture caused my unceremonious overthrow.

In one of my mountain excursions, I lost my way while enveloped in a dense mist, and, after descending a steep ridge, came upon a platform or terrace of several acres' extent, which at first view seemed to have been formed by artificial means on the mountain side. This plain was level, and thickly covered with coa.r.s.e gra.s.s, which, finding a genial soil and region, grew to a height of five or six feet. Near the centre of the prairie stood the only tree which flourished on this fertile spot. It was a silk cotton tree. I made my way through the gra.s.s with difficulty to the tree, which by measurement I found to be twenty-five feet in circ.u.mference larger than any other tree I ever saw in the island. Immense branches shot out horizontally about twenty feet from the ground, extending to a distance in every direction from the trunk sixty or eighty feet. Indeed, the gigantic size of the tree, its rich and luxuriant foliage, and its n.o.ble and majestic appearance, were in perfect keeping with the place. I tarried some time beneath its branches, and gazed with interest on the picturesque scene, regretting that I had no companion to share my admiration, and thinking that as doubtless no human being, unless some wild Carib in days of yore, had ever previously visited that singular spot, so it was likely centuries would pa.s.s away before any other individual would chance to behold and admire that beautiful terrace on the mountain side. I then plunged among the trees and vines growing upon the steep declivity on the further side, and, after a precipitous retreat of two or three hundred feet, heard the murmuring of a stream below, by following which I at length reached a cultivated district.

The clouds on those mountain tops often collect with extraordinary quickness, and, while the sun is s.h.i.+ning brightly on the cultivated lands, pour down the rain in deluging showers, which, rus.h.i.+ng in cataracts through the gorges, swell the rivers unexpectedly, sometimes causing fatal disasters by sweeping away hors.e.m.e.n or teams when fording the streams. The rise of a river from this cause is sometimes alarmingly sudden; the water comes down in solid phalanx, six or eight feet in perpendicular height, and extends from bank to bank; and with irresistible force sweeps down rocks and trees, shaking the earth on the banks, and making a loud and rumbling noise like distant thunder.

The vicinity of Grenada to the continent causes this island, as well as Tobago and Trinidad, to be exempt from the hurricanes which have proved a terrible scourge in several of the Windward Islands, and from time to time have been terribly destructive to life and property. In Barbadoes, on the 10th of October, 1780, nearly all the plantations were ruined by a hurricane of inconceivable fury, and between four and five thousand persons lost their lives. Grenada has only once been visited by a hurricane since its first settlement by a French colony from Martinico, in 1650. But this hurricane was the means of removing a far greater evil, the circ.u.mstances attending which were of an extraordinary nature, and which I shall relate as I learned them from the lips of many who were witnesses of their occurrence.

It was about the commencement of the present century that this island suffered much from a visitation, which threatened to bring famine and desolation, and destroy, not only the present, but the future hopes of the planter. There suddenly appeared, simultaneously in different parts of the island, a great number of BLACK ANTS, of large size, being fully an inch in length, and of a kind until then unknown in Grenada. They probably belonged to the species known as "the large black ant of Africa," remarkable for its boldness and voracity. Although the inhabitants of that fruitful island were wont to treat strangers with hospitality, they were inclined to depart from their usual habit so far as related to these new and strange visitants, who seemed inclined to be more troublesome than was consistent with the welfare of the old residents.

In the course of a couple of years the number of these invaders increased to an incredible amount; they attacked the fruit on the trees and the vegetables in the gardens; and the fields of sugar cane, once so green and flouris.h.i.+ng, soon looked as if a fire from heaven, the scourge of an offended deity, had pa.s.sed over them. Not only the fields, but the trees, the roads, and the dwelling houses, were covered with these ants; and when all sustenance was destroyed in one quarter, they took up their line of march in immense armies and proceeded elsewhere in search of food. In these migratory excursions, if they came to a brook or small river, their progress was not stayed. Those in front were impelled into the stream by the pressure from behind; and, although myriads were swept away and drowned in the rus.h.i.+ng waters, many were borne to the other side and continued their journey. In some cases, where the current was not strong, a sort of living bridge was formed, over which immense numbers of these pestiferous insects pa.s.sed in safety and dry shod.

Nothing seemed to check their progress or reduce their numbers.

The inhabitants, both white and black, as may be conceived, were in great consternation, and were about to make preparations to move to some more favored soil, when a furious hurricane was experienced. The destruction of property was great; dwelling houses and sugar works were destroyed, and lives were lost. The inhabitants who survived the tempest were in despair, believing their calamities would never cease. But they soon found, to their great joy, that this hurricane was a blessing, rather than a curse. THE BLACK ANTS WERE EXTERMINATED, and none have since been seen in the island.

Chapter XXIX. INSURRECTION IN GRENADA

I have already stated that the French established their first settlement in the island of Grenada in 1650. They found the island inhabited by the Carib Indians, who, regarding the white men as beings superior in goodness as well as intellect, gave them a cordial welcome, and treated them with kindness and hospitality. The French, well pleased with their reception, gave the cacique a few hatchets, knives, and beads, and a barrel of brandy, and very coolly took possession of the island they had thus purchased. Their conduct in this respect reminds one of the language of the ill-treated Caliban to the proud Prospero:

"This island's mine, Which thou tak'st from me. When thou camest first, Thou strok'dst and made much of me; wouldst give me Water with berries in't; and teach me how To name the bigger light, and how the less, That burn by day and night; and then I loved thee, And showed thee all the qualities of the isle The fresh springs, brine pits, barren place and fertile; Cursed be I that did so."

The remonstrances of the Caribs against the wrongs they were doomed to suffer were as little heeded by the colonists as the complaints of Caliban by Prospero. The French were resolute, powerful, and rapacious, and treated the red men with inhumanity. The Indians, unable to contend with their oppressors by open force, fled to their mountain fastnesses, and commenced an obstinate predatory warfare upon the whites, murdering without discrimination all whom they found defenceless. This led to a b.l.o.o.d.y and protracted struggle for the mastery; and a reenforcement of troops having been sent from France to aid the infant colony, it was decided, after mature deliberation, that the most expeditious and effectual mode of ending the war, and establis.h.i.+ng peace on a permanent basis, was TO EXTERMINATE THE CARIBS.

These original "lords of the soil" were accordingly driven from their fastnesses, hunted by parties of soldiers, shot down like wild beasts wherever found, until their number was reduced from thousands to about one hundred. Bing cut off from the mountains by a military force, this remnant of a powerful band fled to a promontory on the north part of the island which overlooked the ocean, and, hard pressed by their civilized foes, more than half their number leaped over the rocky precipice into the sea which dashed against its base. The others were ma.s.sacred.

This promontory has ever since been known as "Morne des Sauteurs," or the "Hill of the Leapers." I have stood upon the extreme point of this promontory, where I could look down some eighty or a hundred feet into the raging abyss beneath, and listened to the mournful tradition as detailed by one of the oldest inhabitants of the island. This is only ONE of the vast catalogue of cruelties and wrongs that have been inflicted on the Indians by the whites in constant succession, from the first settlement of the New World to the present time.

The French, who were long in possession of the island of Grenada, established on the plantations French customs, the French language, and the Roman Catholic religion. When the island fell into the hands of the English, although no organized plan was adopted to interfere with the customs of the slaves, or change their language, the English failed in acquiring the attachment of the negroes, who lamented the absence of their French masters, and sighed for their return.

Early in the year 1795, during the French revolution, a plan was conceived by some white men and five mulattoes, in Guadaloupe, who were aware of the existence of this discontented feeling, to create an insurrection among the slaves in Grenada, and take possession of the island. Emissaries were sent among the plantations, who conferred with the princ.i.p.al negroes, and secretly made arrangements for the work they contemplated. In the month of August, two or three sloops, each containing thirty or forty men, with a supply of arms and ammunition, arrived in the harbor of La Baye, on the eastern side of the island.

The expedition was commanded by an active and intelligent mulatto named Fedon, and landed in the night, captured the small fort which overlooked the harbor, took possession of the town, murdered a number of the white inhabitants, and plundered the houses and stores. Runners were employed to convey the news to the different plantations, and the insurrection of the slaves was complete.

Some of the white men of the plantations received secret intelligence of the rising among the blacks, and lost no time in fleeing to a place of safety; others remained unconscious of the approach of danger, and were murdered. Deeds of cruelty were perpetrated on this occasion by the negroes, a relation of which would chill the stoutest heart.

It unfortunately happened that when this insurrection broke out, the acting governor with several members of the council, and some merchants and planters of great respectability, were on a visit to the eastern part of the island. As soon as they heard of the attack on La Baye, and the progress of the insurrection, they left the quarters where they had been hospitably entertained, and, accompanied by their host and some other gentlemen, proceeded to the sea sh.o.r.e, and embarked in a sloop, with the intention of proceeding to St. George, which was the seat of government, and was strongly fortified and garrisoned.

As the sloop was pa.s.sing the little village of Guayave, some negroes appeared on the sh.o.r.e, bearing a flag of truce, and indicated by expressive gestures a wish to hold a conference with the governor.

This functionary, not aware of the dreadful atrocities that had been committed, and hoping that some means might be agreed upon to heal the disturbances, imprudently ordered the vessel to be anch.o.r.ed in the roadstead, and himself and a number of the most influential of his friends went ash.o.r.e in a boat, and were landed on the beach. A party of armed blacks, who until that moment had been concealed, immediately surrounded them, pinioned them, and marched them away. The boat was seized by the negroes, and a party pushed off for the purpose of boarding the sloop, and securing the remainder of the white men; but they, having witnessed the capture of the governor and his companions, suspected the object of this maneuver, cut the cable, and with a fine breeze, distanced the boat which had started in pursuit, and proceeded to St. George with the mournful news.

The rebel chief, Fedon, collected around him, as it were by a single tap of the drum, an army of some thousands of blacks, and distributed among them a considerable number of fire-arms. Others were armed with weapons hastily prepared; and the great body of the insurgents, being desperate men, stimulated by the hope of freedom and the desire of vengeance, with leaders of ability and some military skill, the insurrection a.s.sumed a formidable appearance.

Fedon took possession of Mount Quaqua, a high, steep, and somewhat bald mountain in the interior, and there encamped with his army. The base of the mountain was cultivated, and furnished excellent pasturage for the many cattle which were driven thither from the various plantations to furnish subsistence for his army. This place he fortified, determined to make it his stronghold in case of adversity; and he went vigorously to work in organizing and disciplining his army with a view to make an attack on St. George before the government could receive reenforcements, and thus get possession of the whole island.

The governor and his friends, and other prisoners, princ.i.p.ally planters, having been strictly confined for several days, and treated with many indignities, were conveyed under a guard to the camp of the rebel chieftain. Fedon caused them to be brought before him, and after exulting over their capture, and heaping upon them insults and abuse, ORDERED THEM TO BE SHOT. This sentence was executed on the following day. Only one of the number escaped to tall the sad tale. This was Mr.

Bruce, a merchant residing at St. George, who had acted as attorney for the Pearl plantations. When led out with others to be executed, a negro whispered in his ear, "Ma.s.sa, my capen tells me, shoot you! But I no shoot you! Only make b'live. You stand up straight when I fire, you fall to ground, and scream, and twist, all same as if you be dead!"

The deception was successful. The negro, whose name was Quamina, and belonged to the Lower Pearl estate, was stationed opposite to Bruce. The word was given. Bruce fell with the rest, and imitated to admiration the agonies of a dying man; and Quamina, at the risk of his life, succeeded in saving that of the white man. That night, he contrived to get him outside the lines, conducted him on the road leading to St. George, and left him. Mr. Bruce, after much fatigue and several hair-breadth escapes, reached the town, being the only one among the prisoners carried to the camp who escaped from the clutches of the monster.

I may as well state here, that after the insurrection was quelled, Mr.

Bruce manifested towards his preserver a grateful spirit. He wished to give him his freedom, but Quamina, who was a negro of consequence on the estate, refused to accept it. Quamina was elevated to the situation of head-boiler; and Mr. Bruce every year made him a visit, gave him a sum of money, clothing, and valuable presents for himself and wife.

The military forces in the island were not more than were needed to occupy the forts and defences of St. George, where the white population had fled, with the little property they could take with them on the breaking out of the rebellion. Parties of insurgents, commanded by chiefs appointed by Fedon, who exercised absolute power, had the range of the rest of the island. The rebels made a desperate attempt to capture St. George, but were repulsed with great loss.

Affairs remained in this condition for nearly a year, before any efficient measures were adopted by the British authorities to regain possession. At length General Abercrombie, with a large military power, landed, and, joined by the regular forces in St. George, and some companies of militia, succeeded in driving the insurgents from the sea coast to the mountains. He then invested Mount Quaqua, cut off all supplies from the army of Fedon, and compelled him to fight, surrender, or starve. The insurgent chief, with some of the leaders of the insurrection, and a portion of the rebels, attempted to cut their way through the English army, and some of them succeeded, among whom was Fedon. He proceeded to the sea coast, embarked in an open boat with a few companions, and was probably drowned, as he was never heard of afterwards.

The plantation negroes, generally, returned to the estates to which they had been attached, and, with a few exceptions, were forgiven, and work on the plantations was resumed. A number of the colored persons, slaves and freemen, who were chieftains under Fedon, or had signalized themselves by extraordinary acts of cruelty, were arrested and hanged.

One of the most efficient officers among the rebels was named Jack Shadow. He was a free mulatto, a shrewd, intelligent creole, and previous to the insurrection, had resided in the town of Guayave, and exercised the trade of carpenter. With the a.s.sistance of his wife, a mulatto, he also cultivated a garden, and contrived to gain a comfortable living. When the insurrection, instigated by the French revolutionists, broke out in the eastern part of the island, Jack hastened to join the insurgents, and was cordially received by Fedon, who intrusted him with an important mission, which he executed with such adroitness as to gain the confidence of the chief, who appointed him to a high command in the army. Jack was one of Fedon's most efficient officers, and signalized himself by his bitter hatred to the whites, and the zeal with which he abetted his chief in the horrid scenes of cruelty that were enacted.

When the insurrection was quelled, Jack Shadow, although wounded, made his escape, with some others of the most obnoxious rebels, to the woods and mountains in the interior of the island. They endeavored to conceal themselves from the pursuit of the whites, but in the course of one or two years were all, with the exception of Jack, ferreted out and shot when apprehended, or taken to jail, tried, and hanged.

Jack, however, remained in the mountains. A large reward was offered for him, dead or alive; and parties of armed men often scoured the woods, hoping to find his lair and shoot or capture the rebel chief. But though it was known he was hid in a certain part of the island, he eluded all endeavors to arrest him for ten or twelve years, and might perhaps have died of old age, had he not been betrayed by his wife.