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Digitized by the Internet Archive 
 in 2011 with funding from 
 The Library of Congress 
 
 http://www.archive.org/details/nedmyersOOcoop 
 
D 
 
 NED MYEKS; 
 
 OK, 
 
 A LIFE BEFORE THE MAST. 
 
 BY J.>''FENIMORE COOPER. 
 
 Thon unrelenting Past! 
 Strong are the barriers round thy dark domain, 
 
 And fetters sure and fast 
 Hold all that eater thy nnbreatbing reign. 
 
 BryanL 
 
 NEW EDITIOSr. 
 
 NEW YORK: 
 RTRINGER AND T0WNSEN1> 
 
 1857. 
 
. 06.7? 
 
 
 NED MYERS. 
 
 Entered, according to the Act of Congress, m the year 1843, by 
 
 J. FENIMORE COOPER, 
 
 (n the clcrk'fc office of the District Court of the United Slates for the 
 Northern distnoi of New- York. 
 
 i£ 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 It is an old remark, that the life of any man, could 
 the incidents be faithfully told, would possess interest 
 and instruction for the general reader. The convic- 
 tion of the perfect truth of this saying, has induced 
 the writer to commit to paper, the vicissitudes, escapes, 
 and opinions of one of his old shipmates, as a sure 
 means of giving the public some just notions of the 
 career of a common sailor. In connection with the 
 amusement that many will find in following a foremast 
 Jack in his perils and voyages, however, it is hoped 
 that the experience and moral change of Myers may 
 have a salutary influence on the minds of some of 
 those whose fortunes have been, or are likely to be, 
 cast in a mould similar to that of this old salt. 
 
 As the reader will feel a natural desire to under- 
 stand how far the editor can vouch for the truth of 
 that which he has here written, and to be informed on 
 the subject of the circumstances that have brought 
 him acquainted with the individual whose adventures 
 form the subject of this little work, as much shall be 
 old as may be necessary to a proper understanding 
 of these two points. 
 
IV PREFACE. 
 
 First, then, as to the writer's own knowledge of the 
 career of the subject of his present work. In the year 
 1806, the editor, then a lad, fresh from Yale, and des- 
 tined for the navy, made his first voyage in a mer- 
 chantman, with a view to get some practical knowledge 
 of his profession. This was the fashion of the day, 
 though its utility, on the whole, may very well be 
 questioned. The voyage was a long one, including 
 some six or eight passages, and extending to near the 
 close of the year 1807: On board the ship was Myers, 
 an apprentice to the captain. Ned, as Myers was 
 uniformly called, was a lad, as well as the writer ; 
 and, as a matter of course, the intimacy of a ship 
 existed between them. Ned, however, was the junior, 
 and was not then compelled to face all the hardships 
 and servitude that fell to the lot of the writer. 
 
 Once, only, after the crew was broken up, did the 
 writer and Ned actually see each other, and that only 
 for a short time. This was in 1809. In 1833, they 
 were, for half an hour, on board the same ship, with- 
 out knowing the fact at the time, A few months 
 since, Ned, rightly imagining that the author of the 
 Pilot must be his old shipmate, wrote the former a 
 letter to ascertain the truth. The correspondence 
 produced a meeting, and the meeting a visit from Ned 
 to the'editor. It was in consequence of the revala- 
 tions made in this visit that the writer determined to 
 produce the following work. 
 
PREFACE. V 
 
 The writer has the utmost confidence in all the 
 statements of Ned, so far as intention is concerned. 
 Should he not be mistaken on some points, he is an 
 exception to the great rule which governs the opinions 
 and recollections of the rest of the human family. 
 Still, nothing is related that the writer has any rea- 
 sons for distrusting. In a few instances he has inter- 
 posed his own greater knowledge of the world 
 between Ned's more limited experience and the narra- 
 tive; but, this has been done cautiously, and only in 
 cases in which there can be little doubt that the nar- 
 rator has been deceived by appearances, or misled by 
 ignorance. The reader, however, is not to infer that 
 Ned has no greater information than usually falls to 
 the share of a foremast hand. This is far from being the 
 case. When first known to the writer, -his knowledge 
 was materially above that of the ordinary class of 
 lads in his situation ; giving ample proof that he had 
 held intercourse with persons of a condition in life, if 
 not positively of the rank of gentlemen, of one that 
 was not much below it. In a word* his intelligence 
 on general subjects was such as might justly render 
 him the subject of remark on board a ship. Although 
 much of his after-life was thrown away, portions of it 
 passed in improvement; leaving Ned, at this moment, 
 a man of quick apprehension, considerable knowledge, 
 and of singularly shrewd comments. If to this be 
 1 * 
 
VI PREFACE. 
 
 added tlie sound and accurate moral principles thai 
 now appear to govern both his acts and his opinions, 
 we find a man every way entitled to speak for him- 
 self; the want of the habit of communicating his 
 thoughts to the public, alone excepted. 
 
 In this book, the writer has endeavoured to adhere 
 as closely to the very language of his subject, as cir- 
 cumstances will at all allow; and in many places he 
 feels confident that no art of his own could, in any 
 respect, improve it. 
 
 It is probable that a good deal of distrust will exist 
 on the subject of the individual whom Ned supposes 
 to have been one of his godfathers. On this head the 
 writer can only say, that the account which Myers 
 has given in this work, is substantially the same as 
 that which he. gave the editor nearly forty yoBj-s ago, 
 at an age and under circumstances that forbid the 
 idea of any intentional deception. The account 
 is confirmed by his sister, who is the oldest of the 
 two children, and who retains a distinct recollec- 
 tion of the prince, as indeed does Ned himself The 
 writer supposes these deserted orphans to have 
 been born out of wedlock — though he has no direct 
 proof to this effect — and there is nothing singular 
 in the circumstance of a man of the highest rank, 
 that of a sovereign excepted, appearing at the font in 
 behalf of the child of a dependant. A member of the 
 
PREFACE. Vn 
 
 royal family, indeed, might be expected to do this, to 
 favour one widely separated from him by birth and 
 station, sooner than to oblige a noble, who might pos- 
 sibly presume on the condescension. 
 
 It remains only to renew the declaration, that every 
 part of this narrative is supposed to be true. The 
 memory of Ned may occasionally fail him ; and, as 
 lor his opinions, they doubtless are sometimes errone- 
 ous ; but the writer has the fullest conviction that it 
 IS the intention of the Old Salt to relate nothing that 
 ne does not believe to have occurred, or to express an 
 unjust sentiment. On the subject of his reformation, 
 so far as " the tree is to be known by its fruits" it is 
 entirely sincere ; the language, deportment, habits, 
 and consistency of this well-meaning tar, being those 
 of a cheerful and confiding Christian, without the 
 smallest disposition to cant or exaggeration. In thi . 
 particular, he is a living proof of the efficacy of faith, 
 and of the power of the Holy Spirit to enlighten the 
 darkest understanding, and to quicken the most 
 apathetic conscience. 
 
NED MYERS. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 In consenting to lay before the world the experience of a 
 common seaman, and, I may add, of one who has been such 
 a sinner as the calling is only too apt to produce, I trust 
 that no feeling of vanity has had an undue influence. 1 
 love the seas ; and it is a pleasure to me to converse about 
 them, and of the scenes I have witnessed, and of the hard- 
 ships I have undergone on their bosom, in various parts of 
 the world. Meeting with an old shipmate who is disposed 
 to put into proper form the facts which I can give him, and 
 believing that my narrative may be useful to some of those 
 who follow the same pursuit as that in which I have been so 
 .ong engaged, I see no evil in the course I am now taking, 
 while I humbly trust it may be the means of effecting some 
 little good. God grant that the pictures I shall feel bound 
 to draw of my own past degradation and failings, contrasted 
 as they must be with my present contentment and hopes, may 
 induce some one, at least, of my readers to abandon the ex- 
 cesses so common among seamen, and to turn their eyes in 
 the direction of those great truths which are so powerful to 
 reform, and so convincing when regarded with humility, and 
 with a just understanding of our own weaknesses. 
 
 I know nothing of my family, except through my own 
 youthful recollections, and the accounts I have received from 
 my sister. My father I slightly remember ; but of my mo- 
 ther I retain no distinct-impressions. The latter must have 
 died while I was very young. The former, I was in the 
 habit of often seeing, until I reached my fifth or sixth year. 
 He was a soldier, and belonged to the twenty-third regimen 
 of foot, in the service of the King of Great Britain.* The 
 
 * The writer left a blank for this regiment, and now inserts it from 
 memory. It is probable hi' is wrong. 
 
10 NEDMYERS;OR, 
 
 fourth son of this monarch, Prince Edward as he was then 
 called, cr the Duke of Kent as he was afterwards styled, 
 commanded the corps, and accompanied it to the British 
 American colonies, where it was stationed for many years. 
 
 I was born in Quebec, between the years 1792 and 1794* 
 probably in 1793, Of the rank of my father in the regi 
 ment, I am unable to speak, though I feel pretty confident 
 he was a commissioned officer. He was much with the 
 prince ; and I remember that, on parade, where I have often 
 seen him, he was in the habit of passing frequently from the 
 prince to the ranks — a circumstance that induces my old 
 shipmate to think he may have been the adjutant. My 
 father, I have always understood, was a laative of Hanover, 
 and the son of a clergyman in that country. My mother, 
 also, was said to be a German, though very uttle is now 
 known of her by any of the family. She is described tome 
 as living much alone, as being occupied in pursuits very dif- 
 ferent from those of my father, and as being greatly averse 
 to the life of a soldier. 
 
 I was baptized in the Church of England, and, from 
 earliest boyhood, have always been given to understand that 
 His Royal Highness, Prince Edward, the father of Queen 
 Victoria, stood for me at the font; Major Walker, of the 
 same regiment, being the other god-father, and Mrs. Walker, 
 his wife, my god-mother. My real names are Edward Robert 
 Meyers ; those received in baptism having been given me 
 by my two sponsors, after themselves. This christening, 
 like my birth, occurred in Quebec. I have, however, 
 called myself Edward, or Ned, Myers, ever since I took to 
 the sea. 
 
 Before I was old enough to receive impressions to be re- 
 tained, the regiment removed to Halifax. My fatner accom- 
 panied it ; and, of course, his two children, my sister Harriet 
 and myself, were taken to Nova Scotia. Of the period of 
 my life that was passed in Halifax, I retain tolerably distinct 
 recollections; moreespecially of the later years. The prince 
 and my father both remained with the regimedt for a con- 
 siderable time ; though all quilted Halifax .several years 
 before I left it myself. I remember Prince Ed-w ard perfectly 
 well. He sometimes resided at a house called ihe Lodge, a 
 little out of town ; and I was often taken out ti see him. He 
 
A LIFE BEFORE TUE MAST. 11 
 
 also had a residence in town. He took a good deal of notice 
 of me ; raising me in his arms, and kissing me. When ha 
 passed our house, I would run to him ; and he would lead 
 me through the streets himself. On more than one occasion, 
 he led me off, and sent for the regimental tailor ; direct- 
 ing suits of clothes to be made for me, after his own taste. 
 He was a large man ; of commanding presence, and fre- 
 quently wore a star on the breast of his coat. He was not 
 then called the Duke of Kent, but Prince Edward, or The 
 Prince. A lady lived with him at the Lodge ; but who she 
 was, I do not know. 
 
 At this time, my mother must have been dead; for oHier 
 I retain no recollection whatever. I think, my father left 
 HaUfax some time before the prince. Major Walker, too, 
 went to England ; leaving Mrs. Walker in Nova Scotia, for 
 some time. Whether my father went away with a part of 
 the regiment to which he belonged, or not, I cannot say 
 but I well remember a conversation between the prince, the 
 major and Mrs. Walker, in which they spoke of the loss of 
 a transport, and of Meyers's saving several men. This must 
 have been at the time when my father quitted Nova Scotia ; 
 to which province, I think, he never could have returned. 
 Neither my sister, nor myself, ever saw him afterwards. 
 We have understood that he was killed in battle ; though 
 when, or where, we do not know. My old shipmate, the 
 editor, however, thinks it must have been in Canada ; as 
 letters were received from a friend in Quebec, after I had 
 quitted Nova Scotia, inquiring after us children, and stating 
 that the effects of my father were in that town, and ought to 
 belong to us. This letter gave my sister the first account 
 of his death ; though it was not addressed to her, but to 
 those in whose care she had been left. This property was 
 never recovered ; and my shipmate, who writes this account, 
 thinks there may have been legal difficulties in the way. 
 
 Previously to quitting the province of Nova Scotia, my 
 father placed Harriet and myself in the house of a Mr. 
 Marchinton, to live. This gentleman was a clergyman, 
 who had no regular parish, but who preached in a chapel 
 of his own. He sent us both to school, and otherwise took 
 charge of us. I am not aware of the precise time when the 
 
12 NEDMYERS;OK, 
 
 prince left Halifax, but it must have been when I was five 
 or six years old — probably about the year 1798 or 1799.* 
 
 From that time I continued at Mr. Marchinton's, attending 
 school, and busied, as is usual with boys of that age, until 
 the year 1805. I fear I was naturally disposed to idleness 
 and self-indulgence, for I became restive and impatient under 
 the restraints of the schoolmaster, and of the gentleman m 
 whose family I had been left. I do not know that I had any 
 just grounds of complaint against Mr. Marchinton ; but his 
 rigorous discipline disgusted me; principally, I am now in- 
 clined to believe, because it was not agreeable to me to be kept 
 under any rigid moral restraint. I do not think I was very 
 vicious ; and, I know, I was far from being of a captious 
 temperament ; but I loved to be my own master ; and I par- 
 ticularly disliked everything like religious government. Mr. 
 Marchinton, moreover, kept me out of the streets ; and it was 
 my disposition to be an idler, and at play. It is possible he 
 may have been a little too severe for one of my tempera- 
 ment ; though, I fear, nature gave me a roving and change- 
 ful mind. 
 
 At that time the English cruisers sent in many American 
 vessels as prizes. Our house was near the water ; and i 
 was greatly in the habit of strolling along the wharves, 
 whenever an opportunity occurred ; Mr. Marchinton owning 
 a good deal of property in that part of the town. The Cam- 
 brian frigate had a midshipman, a little older than myself, 
 who had been a schoolmate of mine. This lad, whose name 
 was Bowen, was sent in as the nominal prize-master of a 
 brig loaded with coffee ; and I no sooner learned the fact, 
 'than I began to pay him visits. Young Bowen encouraged 
 me greatly, in a wish that now arose within me, to become 
 a sailor. I listened eagerly to the history of his adventures, 
 and felt the usual boyish emulation. Mr. Marchinton seemed 
 averse to my following the profession, and these visits be- 
 came frequent and stealthy ; my wishes, most probably, 
 
 * Edward, Duke of Kent, was born November 2, 1767,- and mada 
 a peer April 23, 1799 ; when he was a httle turned of one-and-thirty. 
 It is probable that this creation took place on his return to England ; 
 after passing some six or eight years in America and the West Indies 
 He served in the West Indies with great personal distinction, during 
 his stay in this hemisphere. — Editor. 
 
A LIFE BEFORE THE MAST. 13 
 
 increasing, in proportion as they seemed difficult of accom- 
 plishment. 
 
 I soon began to climb the rigging of the brig, ascending 
 to the mast-heads. One day Mr. Marchinton saw me quite 
 at the main-truck ; and, calling me down, I got a severe 
 flogging for my dexterity and enterprise. It sometimes 
 happens that punishment produces a result exactly opposite 
 to that which was intended ; and so it turned out in the pre- 
 sent instance. My desire to be a sailor increased in conse- 
 quence of this very flogging; and I now began seriously to 
 think of running away, in order to get to sea, as well as to 
 escape a confinement on shore, that, to me, seemed unreason- 
 able. Another prize, called the Amsterdam Packet, a Phila- 
 delphia ship, had been sent in by, I believe, the Cleopatra, 
 Sir Robert Laurie. On board this ship were two American 
 lads, apprentices. With these boys I soon formed an inti- 
 macy ; and their stories of the sea, and their accounts of the 
 States, coupled with the restraints I fancied I endured, gave 
 rise to a strong desire to see their country, as well as to 
 become a sailor. They had little to do, and enjoyed great 
 liberty, going and coming much as they pleased. This 
 idleness seemed, to me, to form the summit of human happi- 
 ness. I did not often dare to play truant ; and the school 
 became odious to me. According to my recollections, this 
 desire for a change must have existed near, or quite a 
 twelvemonth ; being constantly fed by the arrival and de- 
 parture of vessels directly before my eyes, ere J set about 
 the concocting of a serious plan to escape. 
 
 My project was put in execution in the summer of 1805, 
 when I could not have been more than eleven years old, if, 
 indeed, quite as old. I was in the market one day, and 
 overheard some American seamen, who had been Ifrought 
 in, conversing of a schooner that was on the point of leaving 
 Halifax, for New York. This vessel belonged to North 
 Carolina, and had been~ captured by the Driver, some time 
 before, but had been liberated by a decision of the Admi- 
 ralty Court. The men I overheard talking about her, in- 
 tended taking their passages back to their own country in 
 the craft. This seemed to me a good opportunity to effect 
 my purpose, and I went from the market, itself, down to the 
 schooner. The mate was on board alone, and I took coii 
 2 
 
14 NEDMYERS;OR, 
 
 rage, and asked him if he did not want to ship a boy. My 
 dress and appearance were both against me, as I had never 
 done any work, and was in the ordinary attire of a better 
 class lad on shore. The mate began to laugh at me, and to 
 joke me on my desire to go to sea, questioning me about 
 my knowledge. I was willing to do anything ; but, per- 
 ceiving that I made little impression, I resorted to bribery. 
 Prince Edward had made me a present, before he left Hali- 
 fax, of a beautiful little fowling-piece, which was in my own 
 possession ; and I mentioned to the mate that I was the owner 
 of such an article, and would give it to him if he would con- 
 sent to secrete me in the schooner, and carry me to New 
 York. This bait took, and I was told to bring the fowling- 
 piece on board, and let the mate see it. That night I car- 
 ried the bribe, as agreed on, to this man, who was perfectly 
 satisfied with its appearance, and we struck a bargain on 
 the spot. I then returned to the house, and collected a few 
 of my clothes. I knew that my sister, Harriet, was making 
 some shirts for me, and I stole into her room, and brought 
 away two of them, which were all I could find. My ward- 
 robe was not large when I left the house, and I had taken 
 the precaution of carrying the articles out one at a time, and 
 of secreting them in an empty cask in the yard. When I 
 thought I had got clothes enough, I made them into a bundle, 
 and carried them down to the schooner. The mate then 
 cleared out a locker in the cabin, in which there were some 
 potatoes, and told me I must make up my mind to pass a 
 few hours in that narrow berth. Too thoughtless to raise 
 any objections, I cheerfully consented, and took my leave 
 of him with the understanding that I was to be on board, 
 again, early in the morning. 
 
 Before going to bed, I desired a black servant of Mr. 
 Marchinton's to call me about day-break, as I desired to go 
 out and pick berries. This was done, and I was up and 
 dressed before any other member of the family was stirring. 
 I lost no time, but quitted the house, and walked deliberately 
 down to the schooner. No one was up on board of her, and 
 I was obliged to give the mate a call, myself. This man 
 now seemed disposed to draw back from his bargain, and ] 
 had to use a good deal of persuasion before I could prevail 
 on him to be as good as his word. He did not like to part 
 
A LIFE BEFORE THE MAST. 15 
 
 with the fowling-piece, but seemed to think it would be fairly 
 purchased, could he persuade me to run away. At length 
 he yielded, and 1 got into the locker, where I was covered 
 with potatoes. 
 
 I was a good while in this uncomfortable situation, before 
 there were any signs of the vessel's quitting the wharf. I 
 began to grow heartily tired of the confinement, and the 
 love of change revived within me in a new form. The po- 
 tatoes were heavy for me to bear, and the confined air ren- 
 dered my prison almost insupportable. I was on the point of 
 coming out of prison, when the noise on deck gave me the 
 comfortable assurance that the people had come on board, 
 and that the schooner was about to sail. I could hear men 
 conversing, and, after a period of time that seemed an age, 
 I felt satisfied the schooner was fairly under way. I heard 
 a hail from one of the forts as we passed down the harbour, 
 and, not long after, the Driver, the very sloop of war that 
 had sent the vessel in, rnet her, and quite naturally hailed 
 her old prize, also. All this I heard in my prison, and it 
 served to reconcile me to the confinement. As everything 
 was right, the ship did not detain us, and we were permitted 
 to proceed. 
 
 It was noon before I was released. Going on deck, 1 
 found that the schooner was at sea. Nothing of Halifax was 
 visible but a tower or two, that were very familiar objects 
 to me. I confess I now began to regret the step I had taken, 
 and, could I have been landed, it is probable my roving dis- 
 position would have received a salutary check. It was too 
 late, however, and I was compelled to continue in the thorny 
 and difficult path on which I had so thoughtlessly entered. 
 I often look back to this moment, and try to imagine what 
 might have been my fortunes, had I never taken this unlucky 
 step. What the prince might have done for me, it is impos- 
 sible to say ; though I think it probable that, after the death 
 of my father, I should have been forgotten, as seems to have 
 been the case with my sister, who gradually fell from beinir 
 considered and treated as one of the family in which she 
 lived, into a sort of upper servant. 
 
 I have learned, latterly, that Mr. Marchinton had a great 
 search made for me. It was his impression I was drowned, 
 Bnd several places were dragged for my body. This opinion 
 
16 NED MYERS; OR, 
 
 lasted until news of my being in New York reached tho 
 family. 
 
 My appearance on deck gave rise to a great many jokes 
 between the captain of the schooner, and his mate. I was 
 a good deal laughed at, but not badly treated, on the whole. 
 My office was to be that of cook — by no means a very diffi- 
 cult task in that craft, the camboose consisting of two pots 
 set in bricks, and the dishes being very simple. In the 
 cabin, sassafras was used for tea, and boiled pork and beef 
 composed the dinner. The first day, I was excused from 
 entering on the duties of my office, on account of sea-sick- 
 ness ; but, the next morning, I set about the work in good 
 earnest. We had a long passage, and my situation was not 
 very pleasant. The schooner was wet, and the seas she 
 shipped would put out my fire. There was a deck load of 
 shingles, and I soon discovered that these made excellent 
 kindling wood ; but it was against the rules of the crafl to 
 burn cargo, and my friend the mate had bestowed a few 
 kicks on me before I learned to make the distinction. In 
 other respects, I did tolerably well ; and, at the end of about 
 ten days, we entered Sandy Hook. 
 
 Such was my first passage at sea, or, at least, the first I 
 can remember, though I understand we were taken from 
 Quebec to Halifax by water. I was not cured of the wish 
 to roam by this experiment, though, at that age, impressions 
 are easily received, and as readily lost. Some idea may be 
 formed of my recklessness, and ignorance of such matters, 
 at this time, from the circumstance that I do not remember 
 ever to have known the name of the vessel in which I lefl 
 Nova Scotia. Change and adventure were my motives, and 
 it never occurred to me to inquire into a fact that was so 
 immaterial to one of my temperament. To this hour, I am 
 ignorant on the subject. 
 
 The schooner came up,, and hauled in abreast of Fly 
 Market. She did not come close to the wharf, but made 
 fast, temporarily, at its end, outside of two or three oti.or 
 vessels. This took place not long after breakfast. I set 
 about the preparations for dinner, which was ready, as usual, 
 at twelve o'clock. While the crew were eating this meal, 
 I had nothing to do, and, seeing a number of boys on the 
 wharf, I went ashore, landing for the first time in this, my 
 
A LIFE BKFORE THE MAST. 17 
 
 adopted country. I was without hat, coat, or shoes ; my 
 feet having become sore from marching about among the 
 shincrles. The boys were licking molasses from some hogs- 
 heads, and I joined in the occupation with great industry. I 
 might have been occupied in this manner, and in talking 
 with the boys, an hour or more, when I bethought me of my 
 duty on board. On looking for the schooner, she was gone J 
 Her people, no doubt, thought I was below, and did not 
 miss me, and she had been carried to some other berth; 
 where, I did not know. I could not find her, nor did I ever 
 see her again. 
 
 Suclv then, was my entrance on a new scene. Had I 
 known enough to follow the wharves, doubtless I should 
 have found the vessel ; but, after a short search, I returned 
 to the boys and the molasses. 
 
 That I was concerned at finding myself in a strange 
 place, without a farthing in my pockets — without hat, shoes 
 or coat, is certain — but it is wonderful how little apprehen- 
 sion I felt, I knew nothing, and feared nothing. While 
 licking the molasses, I told the boys my situation ; and I met 
 with a great deal of sympathy among them. The word 
 passed from one to the other, that a " poor English boy had 
 lost his vessel, and did not know where to go to pass the 
 night." One promised me a supper ; and, as for lodgings, 
 ti)e general opinion seemed to be, that I might find a berth 
 under one of the butchers' stalls, in the adjacent market. I 
 had different projects for myself, however. 
 
 There was a family of the name of Clark, then residing 
 in New York, that I had known in Halifax. I remembered 
 to have heard my sister, Harriet, speaking of them, not long 
 before I quitted home, and that she said they lived in, or 
 near, Fly Market. I knew we were at Fly Market ; and 
 the name recalled these people. I inquired, accordingly, if 
 any one knew such a family ; but met with no success ia 
 discovering them. They were strangers ; and no one knew 
 them. It was now near sunset ; and I determined to look 
 for these people myself. On this errand, then, I set off; 
 walking up the market until I reached Maiden Lane, While 
 strolling along the street, I heard a female voice suddenly 
 exclaim : " Lord I here is Edward Myers, without anything 
 &n him 1" At the next instant, Susan Clark, one of the. 
 2* 
 
18 NED MYERS; OR, 
 
 daughters, came running into the street ; and presently I was 
 in the house, surrounded by the whole family. 
 
 Of course, I was closely questioned ; and I told the whole 
 truth. The Clarks were extremely kind to me, offering me 
 clothes, and desiring to keep me with them ; but I did not 
 like the family, owing to old quarrels with the boys, and a 
 certain sternness in the father, who had made complaints of 
 my stealing his fruit, while in Halifax. I was innocent ; and 
 the whole proceeding had made me regard Mr. Clark as a 
 sort of enemy. My principal motive, in inquiring for the 
 family, was to learn where a certain Dr. Heizei'* lived. 
 This gentleman was a German, who had formerly |?een in 
 the army ; and I knew he was then in New York. In him 
 I had more confidence ; and I determined to throw myself on 
 his kindness- 
 After declining a great many offers, I got the address of 
 Dr. Heizer, and proceeded in quest of his residence, just as 
 I was. It was moonlight, and I went through the streets 
 with boyish confidence. My route lay up Broadway, and 
 my destination was one of its corners and Hester Street. 
 In 1805, this was nearly out of town, being near Canal 
 street. I had been told to look for a bridge, which then 
 stood in Broadway, and which answered for a landmark, in 
 my new navigation. The bridge I found easily ; and, 
 making inquiries at a house, I was told the family I sought 
 lived next door. 
 
 The Heizers were greatly surprised at my appearance. 
 I was questioned, of course ; and told them the naked truth. 
 I knew concealment would be useless ; was naturally frank, 
 notwithstanding what I had just done ; and I began to feel 
 the want of friends. I was fed ; and that same evening, Dr. 
 and Mrs. Heizer led me down Broadway, and equipped me 
 in a neat suit of clothes. Within a week, I was sent regu- 
 larly to school. 
 
 I never knew what Dr. Heizer did, in relation to my 
 arrival. I cannot but think that he communicated the cir- 
 cumstances to Mr. Marchinton, who was well known to 
 
 * This is Ned's pronunciation ; though it is probable the name is 
 not spelt correctly. The names of Ned are taken a good dcfil ai rm 
 dom ; and, doubtless, are often misspelled. — Editor. 
 
A LIFE BEFORE T HE MAST. 19 
 
 liim ; though, Harriet tells me, the first intelligence they got 
 of me was of a much later date, and came from another 
 source. Let this be as it might, I was kindly treated ; living, 
 in all respects, as if I were one of the family. There was no 
 son ; and they all seemed to consider me as one. 
 
 I remained in this family the autumn of 1805, and the 
 winter and spring of 1806. I soon tired of school, and 
 began to play truant ; generally wandering along the 
 wharves, gazing at the ships. Dr. Heizer soon learned this ; 
 and, watching me, discovered the propensity I still retained 
 for the sea. He and Mrs. Heizer now took me aside, and 
 endeavoured to persuade me to return to Halifax ; but I had 
 become more and more averse to taking this backward step. 
 To own the truth, I had fearful misgivings on the subject of 
 floggings ; and I dreaded a long course of severity and disci- 
 pline. It is certain, that, while rigid rules of conduct are 
 very necessary to some dispositions, there are others with 
 which they do not succeed. Mine was of the latter class ; 
 for, I think, I am more easily led, thars driven. At all 
 events, I had a horror of going back ; and refused to listen 
 to the proposal. After a good deal of conversation, and 
 many efforts at persuasion. Dr. Heizer consented to let me 
 go to sea, from New York ; or affected to consent ; I never 
 knew which. 
 
 The Leander, Miranda's flag-ship, in his abortive attempt 
 to create a revolution in Spanish-America, was then lying 
 ji the Hudson; and Dr. Heizer, who was acquainted with 
 some one connected with her, placed me' in this ship, with 
 the understanding I was to go in her to Holland. I passed 
 the day on board ; going up to my new employer's house, 
 for my meals, and to sleep. This course of life may have 
 lasted a fortnight ; when I became heartily tired of it. . I 
 found I had a mistress, now, as well as a master. The 
 former set me to cleaning knives, boots, candlesticks, and 
 other similar employments ; converting me into a sort of 
 scullion. My pride revolted at this. I have since thought 
 it possible, all this was done to create disgust, and to induce 
 me to return to Mr. Marchinton ; but it had a very contrary 
 efl'ect. 
 
 My desire was to be a sailor. One Sunday I had been 
 on board the ship, and, after assisting the mate to show the 
 
20 NEDMYERS;OK, 
 
 bunting fore and aft, I went back to the house. Here my 
 mistress met me with a double allowance of knives to clean. 
 We had a quarrel on the subject ; 1 protesting against all 
 such work. But to clean the knives I was compelled. About 
 half were thrown over the fence, into the adjoining yard ; 
 and, cleaning what remained, I took my hat, went to the 
 doctor's, and saw no more of my mistress, or of the Le- 
 ander. 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 An explanation took place. Dr. and Mrs. Heizer remon- 
 strated about my conduct, and endeavoured, once more, to 
 persuade me to return to Mr. March Eton's. A great deal 
 was told me of the kind intentions of that gentleman, and 
 concerning what I might expect from the protection and pa- 
 tronage of my god-father, the Duke of Kent. I cannot help 
 thinking, now, that much of the favour which was extended 
 towards me at that early period of life, was owing to the 
 circumstance that the prince had consented to stand for me 
 at my baptism. He was a great disciplinarian — so great, 
 indeed, I remember to have heard, as to cause more than 
 one mutiny — and my father being a German, and coming 
 from a people that carried military subordination to extremes, 
 it is highly probable I was indebted, for this compliment, to 
 a similarity of tastes between the two. I cared little for all 
 this, however, in 1805, and thought far less of being pro- 
 tected by a prince of the blood royal, than of going to sea, 
 and especially of escaping from the moral discipline of Mr. 
 Marchinton. Finding his arguments vain. Dr. Heizer sent 
 me to school again, where I continued a few months longer. 
 
 All this time, my taste for ships rather increased than 
 diminished. At every opportunity I was on the wharves, 
 studying the different craft, and endeavouring to understand 
 their rig. One day I saw a British ensign, and, while look- 
 ing at it, with a feeling of strong disgust, I heard myself 
 called by name. A glance told me that I was seen by a 
 Halifax man, and I ran away, under the apprehension tha 
 
A LIFE BEFORE TUh MAST. 21 
 
 he might, by some means, seize me and carry me back. My 
 feelings on this head were all alive, and that very day one of 
 the young ladies said, in a melancholy way, " JEdouard," 
 " Halifa-v." These girls spoke scarcely any English, having 
 been born in Martinique ; and they talked much together in 
 French, looking at me occasionally, as if I were the subject 
 of their discourse. It is probable conscience was at the bot- 
 tom of this conceit of mine ; but the latter now became so 
 strong, as to induce me to determine to look out for a vessel 
 for myself, and be off again. With this view, I quitted a 
 negro who had been sent with me to market, under the pre- 
 tence of going to school, but went along the wharves until I 
 found a ship that took my fancy. She was called the Ster- 
 ling, and there was a singularly good-looking mate on her 
 deck, of the name of Irish, who was a native of Nantucket 
 The ship was commanded by Capt. John Johnston, of Wis- 
 casset, in Maine, and belonged to his father and himself. 
 
 I went on board the Sterling, and, after looking about for 
 some time, I ventured to offer myself to Mr. Irish, as a boy 
 who wished to ship. I was questioned, of course, but evaded 
 any very close answers. After some conversation, Capt. 
 Johnston came on board, and Mr. Irish told him what I 
 wanted. My examination now became much closer, and I 
 found myself driven to sheer fabrication in order to effect my 
 purposes. During my intercourse with different sea-going 
 lads of Halifax, I had learned the particulars of the capture 
 of the Cleopatra 32, by the French frigate Ville de Milan 38, 
 and her recapture by the Leander 50, which ship captured 
 the Ville de Milan at the same time. I said my father had 
 been a serjeant of marines, and was killed in the action — 
 that I had run away when the ships got in, and that I wished 
 to be bound to some American ship-master, in order to be- 
 come a regularly-trained seaman. This story so far imposed 
 on Capt. Johnston as to induce him to listen to my proposals, 
 and in part to accept them. We parted with an understand- 
 mg that I was to get my clothes, and come on board the 
 vessel. 
 
 It was twelve at noon when I got back to Dr. Heizer's. 
 My first business was tO' get my clothes into the yard, a few 
 at a time ; after which I ate my dinner with the family. As 
 soon as we rose from table, I stole away with my bundle. 
 
 k: 
 
22 N£DMYEBS;OR, 
 
 leaving these kind people to believe I had returned to school. 
 I never saw one of them afterwards ! On my return to New 
 York, several years later, I learned they had all gone to 
 Martinique to live. I should not have quitted this excellent 
 family in so clandestine a manner, had I not been haunted 
 with the notion that I was about to be sent back to Halifax, 
 a place I now actually hated. 
 
 Capt. Johnston received me good-naturedly, and that 
 night I slept and supped at the Old Coffee House, Old Slip^ 
 his own lodgings. He seemed pleased with me, and I was 
 delighted with him. The next day he took me to a slop- 
 shop, and I was rigged like a sailor, and was put in the 
 cabin, where I was to begin my service in the regular way. 
 A boy named Daniel McCoy was in the ship, and had been 
 out to Russia in her, as cabin-boy, the last voyage. He was 
 now to be sent into the forecastle, and was ordered to instruct 
 me in my duty. 
 
 I was now comparatively happy, though anxious to be 
 bound to Capt. Johnston, and still more so to be fairly at sea. 
 The Sterling had a good, old-fashioned cabin, as cabins went 
 in 1806 ; and I ran about her state-room, rummaged her 
 lockers, and scampered up and down her companion-way, 
 with as much satisfaction as if they had all belonged to a 
 palace. Dan McCoy was every day on board, and we had 
 the accommodations of the ship very much to ourselves. 
 Two or three days later, Capt. Johnston took me to the 
 proper place, and I was put under regular indentures, to 
 serve until I was twenty-one. I now felt more confidence 
 in my situation, knowing that Dr. Heizer had no legal 
 authority over me. The work I did, in no manner offended 
 my dignity, for it was on ship-board, and belonged properly 
 to my duty as a cabin-boy. 
 
 The Sterling soon began to take in. her cargo. She was 
 to receive a freight of flour, for Cowes and a market. Not 
 only was the hold filled, but the state-room and cabin, leav- 
 ing barely room to climb over the barrels to reach the berths. 
 A place was left, just inside of the cabin door, for the table. 
 Passengers were not common in that day, while commerce 
 was pushed to the utmost. Our sails were bending when 
 the consignee, followed by another merchant, came down 
 to the ship, accompanied by a youth, who, it was un 
 
AtlilFE BEFORE THE MAST. 23 
 
 derstood, wished also to be received in the vessel. This 
 youth was named Cooper, and was never called by any other 
 appellation in the ship. He was accepted by Capt. Johnston, 
 signed the articles, and the next day he joined us, in sailor's 
 rig. He never came to the cabin, but was immediately em- 
 ployed forward, in such service as he was able to perform, 
 it was afterwards understood that he was destined for the 
 navy. 
 
 The very day that Cooper joined us, was one of deep dis- 
 grace to me. The small stores came on board for the cabin, 
 and Dan McCoy persuaded me to try the flavour of a bottle 
 of cherry-bounce. I did not drink much, but the little I 
 swallowed made me completely drunk. This was the first 
 time I ever was in that miserable and disgraceful plight ; 
 would to God I could also say it was the last ! The last it 
 was, however, for several years ; that is some comfort. I 
 thank my Divine Master that I have lived to see the hour 
 when intoxicating liquors have ceased to have any command 
 over me, and when, indeed, they never pass my lips. Capt. 
 Johnston did not flog me for this act of folly, merely pulling 
 my ears a little, and sharply reprimanding me ; both he and 
 Mr. Irish seeming to understand that my condition had pro- 
 ceeded from the weakness of my head. Dan was the prin- 
 cipal sufferer, as, to say the truth, he ought to have been. 
 He was rope's-ended for his pains. 
 
 Next day the stevedores took the ship into the stream, and 
 the crew came on board. The assembling of the crew of a 
 merchantman, in that day, was a melancholy sight. The 
 men came off, bearing about them the signs of the excesses 
 of which they had been guilty while on shore ; some listless 
 and stupid, others still labouring under the effects of liquor, 
 and some in that fearful condition which seamen themselyes 
 term having the " horrors." Our crew was neither better 
 nor worse than that of other ships. It was also a sample 
 of the mixed character of the crews of American vessels 
 during the height of her neutral trade. The captain, chief- 
 mate, cook, and four of those forward, were American born; 
 while the second-mate was a Portuguese. The boys were, 
 one Scotch, and one a Canadian ; and there were a Spanii/rd, 
 a Prussian, a Dane, and an Englishm-an, in the forecastle. 
 There was also an Englishman who worked his passage, 
 
24 nedmyi:rs;ob, 
 
 having been the cooper of a whaler that was wrecked. As 
 Dan McCoy was sent forward, too, this put ten in the fore- 
 castle, besides the cook, and left five aft, including the master 
 of another wrecked English vessel, whom we took out as a 
 passenger. 
 
 That afternoon we lifted our anchor, and dropped down 
 abreast of Governor's Island, where we brought up. Next 
 day all hands were called to get under way, and, as soon aa 
 the anchor was short, the mate told Cooper and myself to 
 go up and loose the foretopsail. I went on one yard-arm 
 and Cooper went on the other. In a few minutes the second 
 mate came up, hallooing to us to "avast," and laughing. 
 Cooper was hard at work at the " robins," and would soon 
 have had his half of the sail down in the top, had he been let 
 alone ; while I was taking the gaskets from the yard, with 
 the intention of bringing them carefully down on deck, where 
 it struck me they would be quite safe. Luckily for us, the 
 men were too busy heaving, and too stupid, to be very criti- 
 cal, and we escaped much ridicule. In a week we both 
 knew better. 
 
 The ship only got to the quarantine ground that day, but 
 in the morning we went to sea. Our passage was long and 
 stormy. The ship was on a bow-line most of the time, and 
 we were something like forty days from land to laud. No- 
 thing extraordinary occurred, however, and we finally made 
 the Bill of Portland. The weather came on thick, but we 
 found a pilot, and- ran into St. Helen's Roads and anchorea 
 The captain got into his boat, and taking four men pulled 
 ashore, to look for his orders at Cowes. 
 
 That afternoon it cleared off", and we found a pilot lying 
 a little outside of us. About sunset a man-of-war's cutter 
 came alongside, and Mr. Irish was ordered to muster the 
 crew. The English lieutenant, who was tolerably bowsed 
 up, took his seat behind the cabin table, while the men came 
 down, and stood in the companion-way passage, to be over- 
 hauled. Most of the foreigners had gone in the boat, but 
 two of the Americans that remained were uncommonly fine- 
 looking men, and were both prime seamen. One, whose 
 name was Thomas Cook, was a six-footer, and had the air 
 of a thorough sea-dog. He filled the lieutenant's eye might- 
 ily, and Cook was very coolly told to gather his dun<»ege, 
 
A LIFi: BEFOBE THE MAST. 20 
 
 as he was wanted. Cook pointed to his protection, but the 
 lieutenant answered — " Oh ! these things are nothing — any- 
 body can have one for two dollars, in New York, You are 
 an Englishman, and the King has need of your services." 
 Cook now took out of his pocket a certificate, that was sign 
 ed by Sir John Beresford, stating that Thomas Cook had 
 been discharged from His Maj. Ship Cambrian, after a pretty 
 long service in her, because he had satisfactorily proved that 
 he was a native-born American. The lieutenant could not 
 very well dishonour this document, and he reluctantly let 
 Cook go, keeping his protection, however. He next select- 
 ed Isaac Gaines, a native New Yorker, a man whose father 
 and friends were known to the captain. But Gaines had no 
 discharge like that of Cook's, and the poor fellow was obliged 
 to rowse up his chest and get into the cutter. This he did 
 with tears in his eyes, and to the regret of all on board, he 
 being one of the best men in the ship. We asked the boat'3 
 crew to what vessel they belonged, and they gave us the 
 name of a sixty-four in the offing, but we observed, as they 
 pulled away from us, that they took the direction of another 
 ship. This was the last I ever saw, or heard,, of Isaac 
 Gaines. Cook went on with us, and one day, while in Lon- 
 don, he went with Cooper to Somerset House to get an or- 
 der for some prize-money, to which he was entitled for his 
 service in the Cambrian, -as was showa by his discharge. 
 The clerk asked him to leave the certificate, and call a day 
 or two later, when he would have searched out the amount. 
 This was done, and Cook, being now without certiiicate or 
 protection, was pressed on his way back to the ship. We 
 never heard of him, either. Such was often the fate of 
 Bailors, in that day, who were with you one day, and lost 
 for ever the next. 
 
 Captain Johnston did not get back to the ship for four 
 and-twenty hours. He brought orders for us to go up to 
 London ; and, the wind being fair, and almost a gale, we got 
 under way, and were off as soon as possible. The nex 
 morning we were in the straits of Dover ; the wind light, 
 but fair. This was at a moment when all England was in 
 arms, in anticipation of an invasion from France. Forty 
 •odd sail of vessels of war were counted from our ship, as the 
 3 
 
2G N K 1) M Y £ R S ; O R . 
 
 day dawned, that had been cruising in the narrow waters, 
 during the night, to prevent a surprise. 
 
 We worked our way up to London, with the tides, .ind 
 were carried into London dock ; where we discharged. Thia 
 was my first visit to the modern Babylon, of course ; but 1 
 had little opportunity of seeing much. I had one or two 
 cruises, of a Sunday, in tow of Cooper, who soon became a 
 branch pilot, in those waters, about the parks and west end • 
 but I was too young to learn much, or to observe much. 
 Most of us went to see the monument, St. Paul's, and the 
 lions ; and Cooper put himself in charge of a beef-eater, and 
 took a look at the arsenals, jewels and armoury. He had 
 a rum time of it, in his sailor rig, but hoisted in a wonderful 
 deal of gibberish, according to his own account of his cruise. 
 
 Captain Johnston now got a freight for the ship, and we 
 hauled into the stream, abreast of the dock-gates, and took 
 in shingle ballast. The Prussian, Dane, second mate, and 
 the English cooper, all left us, in London. We got a Phila- 
 delphian, a chap from Maine, who had just been discharged 
 from an English man-of-war, and an Irish lad, in their 
 places. In January we sailed, making the b6st of our way 
 for the straits of Gibraltar. The passage was stormy — the 
 Bay of Biscay, in particular, giving us a touch of its 
 qualities. It was marked by only two incidents, however, 
 out of the usual way. While running down the coast of 
 Portugal, with the land in sight, we made an armed felucca 
 astern, and to windward. . This vessel gave chase ; and, 
 the captain disliking her appearance, we carried hard, in 
 order to avoid her. The weather was thick, and it blew 
 fresh, occasionally, in squalls. Whenever it lulled,, the 
 felucca gained on us, we having, a very little, the advantage 
 in the puffs. At length the felucca began to fire ; and, find- 
 mg that his shot were coming pretty near, Captiain Johnston, 
 knowing that he was in ballast, thought it wisest to heave-to. 
 Ten minutes after our maintopsail was aback, the felucca 
 ranged up close under our lee ; hailed, and ordered us to 
 send a boat, with our papers, on board her. A more ras- 
 cally-looking craft never gave such an order to an unarmea 
 merchantman. As our ship rose on a sea, and he fell into 
 the trough, we could look directly down upon his decks, and 
 Jhus form some notion of what we were to expect, when hr 
 
A^LIPE B£FOR£ THE MAST. 27 
 
 got possession of us. His people were in red caps and shirts, 
 and appeared to be composed of the rakings of such places? 
 as Gibraltar, Cadiz and Lisbon. He had ten long guns ; 
 and pikes, pistols and muskets, were plenty with him. On 
 the end of each latine-yard was a chap on the look-out, who 
 occasionally turned his eyes towards us, as if to anticipate 
 the gleanings. That we should be plundered, every one 
 expected ; and it was quite likely we might be ill-treated. 
 As soon as we hove-to, Captain Johnston gave me the best 
 spy-glass, with orders to hand it to Cooper, to hide. The 
 latter buried it in the shingle ballast. We, in the cabin, 
 concealed a bag of guineas so effectually, that, after all was 
 over, we could not find it ourselves. 
 
 The jolly-boat had been stowed in the launch, on account 
 of the rough weather we had expected to meet, and tackles 
 had to be got aloft before we could hoist it out. This con- 
 sumed some time, during which there was a lull. The fe- 
 lucca, seeing us busy at this work, waited patiently until we 
 had got the boat over the side, and into the water. Cooper, 
 Dan McCoy, Big Dan, and Spanish Joe, then got into her ; 
 and the captain had actually passed his writing-desk into the 
 boat, and had his leg on the rail, to go over the side himself, 
 when a squall struck the ship. The men were called out 
 of the boat to clew down the topsails, and a quarter of an 
 hour passed in taking care of the vessel. By this time the 
 squall had passed, and it lightened up a little. There lay 
 the felucca, wailing for the boat ; and the men were reluc- 
 tantly going into the latter again, when the commander of 
 the felucca waved his hand to us, his craft fell off and filled, 
 wing-and-wing, skimming away towards the coast, like a 
 duck. We stood gaping and staring at her, not knowing 
 what to make of this manoeuvre, when " bang !" went a 
 heavy gun, a little on our weather quarter. The shot passed 
 our wake, for we had .filled our topsail, and it went skipping 
 from sea to sea, after the felucca. Turning our eyes in the 
 direction of the report, we saw a frigate running down upon 
 the felucca, carrying studding-sails on both sides, with the 
 water foaming up to her hawse-holes. As she passed our 
 stern, she showed an English ensign, but took no other no- 
 tice of us, continuing on after the felucca, and occasionally 
 measuring her distance with a shot. Both vessels soon dis 
 
28 NEDMyERS;OR, 
 
 appeared in the mist, though we heard guns for some tima. 
 As for ourselves, we jogged along on our course, wishing 
 good luck to the Englishman. The felucca showed no en- 
 sign, the whole day. Our guineas were found, some weeks 
 later, in a bread-locker, after we had fairly eaten our way 
 down to them. 
 
 The other adventure occurred very soon after this escape; 
 for, though the felucca may have had a commission, she was 
 a pirate in appearance, and most probably in her practices. 
 The thick westerly weather continued until we had passed 
 the Straits. The night we were abreast of Cape Trafalgar, 
 the captain came on deck in the middle watch, and, hailing 
 the forecastle, ordered a sharp look-out kept, as we must be 
 running through Lord Collingwood's fleet. The words were 
 hardly out of his mouth, when Spanish Joe sung out, " sail 
 ho !" There she was, sure enough, travelling right down 
 upon us, in a line that threatened to take us between the 
 fore and main masts. The captain ordered our helm hard 
 up, and yelled for Cooper to bring up the cabin lantern. 
 The youngster made one leap down the ladder, just scraping 
 the steps with his heels, and was in the mizzen rigging with 
 the light, in half a minute. That saved us. So near was 
 the stranger, that we plainly heard the officer of the deck 
 call out to his own quarter-master to " port, hard a-port — 
 hard a-port, and be d — d to you !" Hard a-port it was, and 
 a two-decker came brushing along on our weather beam — 
 so near, that, when she lifted on the seas, it seemed as if the 
 muzzles of her guns would smash our rails. The Sterling 
 did not behave well on this occasion, for, getting a yaw to 
 windward, she seemed disposed to go right into the English- 
 man, before she would mind her helm. After the man-of- 
 war hailed, and got our answer, her officer quaintly re- 
 marked that we were " close on board him." It blew too 
 fresh for boats, and we were suffered to pass without being 
 boarded. 
 
 The ship proceeded up to Carthagena, and went in. Here 
 we were put in quarantine for several days. The port was 
 full of heavy ships of war, several of which were three- 
 deckers ; and an arrival direct from London made quite a 
 sensation among them. We had divers visits from the 
 officers, though T do not know what it all amounted to. 
 
A LIFE BEFORE THE MAST. 29 
 
 From Carthagena we were sent down the coast to a little 
 place called Aguilas, where we began to take in a cargo of 
 barilla. At night we would discharge our shingle ballast 
 into the water, contrary to law ; and, in the day, we took 
 in cargo. So clear was the water, that our night's work 
 might easily be seen next morning, lying beneath the ship. 
 As we lay m a roadstead, it mattered little, few vessels 
 touching at \\e port. While at this place, there was an 
 alarm of an attack from an English man-of-war that was 
 seen in the offing, and priests enough turned out to defend 
 an ordinary town. 
 
 We got about half our freight at this little village, and 
 then came down as low as Almeria, an old Moorish town, 
 just below Cape de Gatte, for the remainder. Here we lay 
 several weeks, finishing stowing our cargo. I went ashore 
 almost every day to market, and had an opportunity of seeing 
 something of the Spaniards. Our ship lay a good distance 
 off, and we landed at a quarantine station, half a mile, at 
 least, from the water-gate, to which we were compelled to 
 walk along the beach. 
 
 One of my journeys to the town produced a little adven- 
 ture. The captain had ordered Cooper to boil some pitch 
 at the galley. By some accident, the pot was capsized, and 
 the ship came near being burned. A fresh pot was now 
 provided, and Cooper and Dan McCoy were sent ashore, at 
 the station, with orders to boil down pitch on the land. There 
 was no wharf, and it was always necessary to get ashore 
 through a surf. The bay is merely an elbow, half the winds 
 blowing in from the open sea. Sometimes, therefore, land- 
 ing is ticklish work and requires much skill. I went ashore 
 with the pitch, and proceeded into the town on my errands, 
 whilst the two lads lighted their fire and began to boil down. 
 When all was ready, it was seen there was a good deal of 
 swell, and that the breakers looked squally. The orders, 
 however, were to go off, on such occasions, and not to wait, 
 as delay generally made matters worse. We got into the 
 boat, accordingly, and shoved off. For a minute, or more, 
 things went well enough, when a breaker took the bows of 
 the jolly-boat, lifted her nearly on end, and turned her keel 
 uppermost. One scarcely knows how he gets out of such 
 a scrape. We all came ashore, however, heels over head, 
 3* 
 
30 nedmyi:rs;or, 
 
 people, pot, boat, and oars. The experiment was renewed, 
 less the pitch and a pair of new shoes of mine, and it met 
 with exactly the same result. On a third eifort, the boa/ 
 got through the surf and we succeeded in reaching the ship. 
 These are the sorts of scenes that harden lads, and make 
 them ti)nd of risks. I could not swim a stroke, and cer- 
 tainly would have been drowned had not the Mediterranean 
 cast me ershore, as if disdaining to take a life of so little 
 value to anybody but myself. 
 
 After lying several weeks at Almeria, the ship got' under 
 way for England again. We had fresh westerly gales, and 
 beat to and fro, between Europe and Africa, for some time, 
 when we got a Levanter that shoved us out into the Atlan- 
 tic at a furious rate. In the Straits we passed a squadron 
 of Portuguese frigates, that was cruising against the Alge- 
 rines. It was the practice of these ships to lie at the Rock 
 until it blew strong enough from the eastward to carry ves- 
 sels throQgh the Gut, when they weighed and kept in the 
 offing until the wind shifted. This was blockading the At- 
 lantic against their enemies, and the Mediterranean against 
 their own ships. 
 
 • We had a long passage and were short of salt provisions. 
 Falling in with an American in the Bay of Biscay, we got 
 a barrel of beef which lasted us in. When near the chops 
 of the channel, with a light southerly wind, we made a sail 
 in our wake, that came up with us hand over hand. She 
 went nearly two feet to our one, the barilla pressing the 
 Sterling down into the water, and making her very dull, 
 more especially in light airs. When the stranger got near 
 enough, we saw that he was pumping, the water running 
 out of his scuppers in a constant stream. He was several 
 hours in sight, the whole time pumping. This ship passed 
 within a cable's-Iength of us, without taking any more no- 
 tice of us than if we had been a mile-stone. She was an 
 English two-decker, and we could distinguish the features 
 of her men, as they stood in the waist, apparently taking 
 breath after their trial at the pumps. She dropped a hawse- 
 bucket, and we picked it up, when she was about half a mile 
 ahead of us. It had the broad-arrow on it, and a custom- 
 house officer seeing it, some time after, was disposed to seizfl 
 it as a prize. 
 
▲ LIF£B£FOR£ THE MAST. 31 
 
 We never knew the name of this ship, but there was 
 Bonciething proud and stately in her manner of passing us, 
 in her distress, without so much as a hail. It is true, we 
 could have done her no good, and her object, doubtless, was 
 to get into dock as soon as possible. Some thought she had 
 been in action, and was going home to repair damages that 
 could not be remedied at sea. 
 
 Soon after this vessel was seen, we had proof how diffi- 
 cult it is to judge of a ship's size at sea. A vessel was made 
 ahead, standing directly for us. Mr. Irish soon pronounced 
 her a sloop of war. Half an hour later she grew into a fri- 
 gate, but when she came abeam she showed three tiers of 
 ports, being a ninety. This ship also passed without deign- 
 ing to take any notice of us. 
 
 CHAPTER Hi. 
 
 We made the Land's End in fine weather, and with a 
 fair wind. Instead of keeping up channel, however, our 
 ship hauled in for the land. Cooper was at the helm, and 
 the captain asked him if he knew of any one on board who 
 had ever been into Falmouth. He was told that Philadel- 
 phia Bill had been pointing out the different head-lands on 
 tiie forecastle, and that, by his own account, he had sailed a 
 long time out of the port. This Bill was a man of fifty, 
 steady, trust-worthy, quiet, and respected by every man in 
 the ship. He had taken a great liking to Cooper, whom he 
 used to teach how to knot and splice, and other niceties of 
 the calling, and Cooper often took him ashore with him, and 
 amused him with historical anecdotes of the different places 
 we visited. In short, the intimacy between them was as 
 great as well could be, seeing the difference in their educa- 
 tions and: ages. But, even to Cooper, Bill always called 
 himself a Philadelphian. In appearance, indeed, he resem- 
 bled one of those whom we call Yankees, in America, mor 
 than anything else. 
 
 Bill was now sent for and questioned. He seemed un- 
 easy, but admitted he could take the ship into Falmouth, 
 Tliere was nothing in the way, but a rock abreast Penden- 
 
32 NEDMY£KS;OR, 
 
 nis Castle, but it was easy to give that a berth. We now 
 learned that the captain had made up his mind to go into 
 this port and ride out the quarantine to which all Mediterra- 
 nean vessels were subject. Bill took us in very quietly, 
 and the ship was ordered up a few miles above the town, to 
 a bay where vessels rode out their quarantine. The next 
 day a doctor's boat came alongside, and we were ordered to 
 show ourselves, and flourish our limbs, in order to make it 
 evident we were alive and kicking. There were four men 
 in the boat, and, as it turned out, every one of them recog- 
 nised Bill, who was born within a few miles of the very spot 
 where the ship lay, and had a wife then living a great deal 
 nearer to him than he desired. It was this wife — there hap- 
 pening to be too much of her — that had driven the poor fei 
 low to America, twenty years before, and which rendered 
 him unwilling to live in his native country. By private 
 means. Bill managed to have some communication with the 
 men in the boat, and got their promises not to betray him. 
 This was done by signs altogether, speaking being quite out 
 of the question. 
 
 We were near, or quite, a fortnight in quarantme ; after 
 which the ship dropped down abreast of the town. This 
 was of a Saturday, and Sunday, a portion of the crew were 
 permitted to go ashore. Bill was of the number, and when 
 he returned he admitted that he had been so much excited 
 at finding himself in the place, that he had been a little 
 indiscreet. That night he was very uncomfortable, but 
 nothing occurred to molest any of us. The next morning 
 all seemed right, and Bill began to be himself again ; often 
 wishing, however, that the anchor was a-weigh, and the 
 ship turning out of the harbour. We soon got at work, and 
 began to work down to the mouth of the haven, with a light 
 breeze. The moment we were clear of the points, or head- 
 lands, we could make a fair wind of it up channel. The 
 ship was in stays, pretty well down,, under Pendennis, and 
 the order had been given to swing the head yards. Bill and 
 Cooper were pulling together at the foretopsail brace, when 
 the report of a musket was heard quite near the ship. Bill 
 let go the brace, turned as white as a sheet, and exclaimed, 
 " I'm gone !" At first, the men near him thought he was 
 shot, but a gesture towards the boa' which had fired, ex- 
 
ALIFEBEORETHEMAST. 33 
 
 plained his meaning. The order was given to belay the 
 head braces, and we waited the result in silence. 
 
 The press-gang was soon on board us, and its officer asked 
 to have the crew mustered. This humiliating order was 
 obeyed, and all hands of us were called aft. The officer 
 seemed easily satisfied, until he came to Bill. " What coun- 
 tryman are youV he asked. "An American — a Philadol- 
 phian," answered Bill. " You are an Englishman." " No, 
 
 sir ; I was born " " Over here, across the bay," inter- 
 
 ■tipted the officer, wich a cool smile, " where your dear wife 
 
 IS at this moment. Your narne is , and you are 
 
 well known in Falmouth. Get your clothes, and be ready 
 lo go in the boat." 
 
 This settled the matter. Captain Johnston paid Bill his 
 wages, his chest was lowered into the boat, and the poor 
 fellow took an affectionate leave of his ship-mates. He told 
 those around him that his fate was sealed. He was too old 
 to outlive a war that appeared to have no end, and they 
 would never trust liim on shore. " My foot will never touch 
 the land again," he said to Cooper, as he squeezed his young 
 friend's hand, " and I am to live and die, with a ship for my 
 vprison," 
 
 The loss of poor Bill made us all sad ; but there was no 
 remedy. We got into the offing, and sqitared away for the 
 river again. When we reached London, the ship discharged 
 down at Limehouse, where she lay in a tier of Americans 
 for some time. We* then took in a little ballast, and went 
 up opposite to the dock gates once more. We next docked 
 and cleaned the ship, on the Deptford side, and then hauled 
 into the wet-dock in which we had discharged our flour. 
 
 Here the ship lay part of May, all of June, and most of 
 July, taking in freight for Philadelphia, as it offered. This 
 gave our people a good, deal of spare time, and we were 
 allowed to go ashore whenever we were not wanted. Cooper 
 now took me in tow, and many a drift I had with him and 
 Dan McCoy up to St. Paul's, the parks, palaces, and the 
 Abbey. A little accident that happened about this time, 
 attached me to Cooper more than common, and made me 
 more desirous than ever to cruise in his company. 
 
 I was alone, on deck, one Sunday, when I saw a little 
 dog running about on board a vessel that lay outside of us. 
 
ti4 N£DMYERS;OR, 
 
 Arouncl the neck of this animal, some one had fastened a 
 sixpence, by a bit of riband rove through a hole. I thought 
 this sixpence might be made better use of, in purchasing 
 some cherries, for which I had a strong longing, and I gave 
 chase. In attempting to return to our own ship, with the 
 dog, I fell into the water, between the two vessels. I could 
 not swim a stroke ; and I sang out, lustily, for help. As 
 good luck would have it, Cooper came on board at that pre- 
 cise instant ; and, hearing my outcry, he sprang down be- 
 tween the ships, and rescued me from drowning. I thought 
 I was gone ; and my condition made an impression on me 
 that never will be lost. Had not Cooper accidentally 
 appeared, just as he did, Ned Myers's yarn would have 
 ended with this paragraph. I ought to add, that the six- 
 pence got clear, the dog swimming away with it. 
 
 I had another escape from drowning, while we lay in the 
 docks, having fallen overboard from the jolly-boat, while 
 making an attempt at sculling. •! forget, now, how I was 
 saved ; but then I had the boat and the oar to hold on to. In 
 the end, it will be seen by what a terrific lesson I finally 
 learned to swim. 
 
 One Sunday we were drifting up around the palace; and 
 then it was that I told Cooper that the Duke of Kent was my 
 godfather. He tried to persuade me to make a call ; saying 
 I could do no less than pay this respect to the prince. I had 
 half a mind to try my hand at a visit ; tut felt too shy, and 
 too much afraid. Had I done as Cooper so strongly urged 
 me to do, one cannot say what might have been the conse- 
 quences, or what change might have been brought about in 
 my fortunes.* 
 
 One day Mr. Irish was in high glee, having received a 
 message from Captain Johnston, to inform him that the lat- 
 ter was pressed ! The captain used to dress in a blue long- 
 tog, drab-breeches and top-boots, when he went ashore. 
 " He thought he could pass for a gentleman from the coun- 
 try," said Mr. Irish, laughing, ■ " but them pressgang chaps 
 
 * I well remember using these arguments to Ned ; though less with 
 any expectations of being admitted, than the boy seemed to believe, 
 There was more roguery, than anythmg else, in my persuasion ; 
 though it was mixed with a latent wish to see the interior of the pa- 
 ]ace. — Editoh. 
 
A LlFJj} BEFORE TII£ MAST. 35 
 
 smelt the tar in his very boots !" Cooper was sent to the 
 rendezvous, with the captain's desk and papers, and the 
 latter was liberated. We all liked the captain, who was 
 kind and considerate in his treatment of all hands ; but it 
 was fine fijn for us to have " the old fellow" pressed — " old 
 felloio" of six or eight-and-twenty, as he was then. 
 
 About the last of July, we left London, bound home. Our 
 crew had again undergone some changes. We shipped a 
 second mate, a New-England man. Jim Russel left us. 
 We had lost Bill ; and, another Bill, a dull Irish lad, who 
 had gone to Spain, quitted us also. Our crew consisted of 
 only Spanish Joe ; Big Dan ; Little Dan ; Stephen, the Ken- 
 nebunk man ; Cooper ; a Swede, shipped in London ; a man 
 whose name I have forgotten ; and a young man who passed 
 
 by the name of Davis, but who was, in truth, , a 
 
 son of the pilot who had brought us in, and taken us out, 
 each time we passed up or down the river. This Davis had 
 sailed in a coaster belonging to his father, and had got pressed 
 in Sir Home Popham's South-American squadron. They 
 made him a midshipman ; but, disliking the sea, he was de 
 termined to go to America. We had to smuggle him out 
 of the country, on account of the pressgang; he making his 
 appearance on board us, suddenly, one night, in the river. 
 
 The Sterling was short-handed this passage, mustering 
 but four hands in a watch. Notwithstanding, we often 
 reefed in the watch, though Cooper and Little Dan were 
 both scarcely more than boys. Our mates used to go aloft, and 
 both were active, powerful men. The cook, too, was a 
 famous fellow at a drag. In these delicate times, when two 
 or three days of watch and watch knock up a set of young 
 men, one looks back with pride to a passage like this, when 
 fourteen men and boys — four of the latter — brought a good 
 sized ship across the ocean, reefing in the watch, weathering 
 many a gale, and thinking nothing of it. I presume half 
 our people, on a pinch, could have brought the Sterling in. 
 One of the boys I have mentioned was named John Pugh, a 
 little fellow the captain had taken as an apprentice in Lon- 
 don, and who was now at sea for the first time in his life. 
 
 We had a long passage. Every inch of the way to the 
 Downs was tide-work. Here we lay several days, waiting 
 for a wind. It blew fresh from the southwest half of that 
 
36 NI^DMYERS; OR, 
 
 summer, and the captain was not willing to go out with a 
 foul wind. We wer-tj surrounded with vessels of war, most 
 of the Channel Fleet being at anchor around us. This 
 made a gay scene, and we had plenty of music, and plenty 
 of saluting. One day all hands turned-to together, and fired 
 starboard and larboard, until we could see nothing but a few 
 mast-heads. What it all meant I never heard, but it made 
 a famous smoke, and a tremendous noise. 
 
 A frigate came in, and anchored just ahead of us. She 
 lowered a boat, and sent a reefer alongside to inform us that 
 
 she was His Majesty's ship ; that she had lost all her 
 
 anchors but the stream, and she might strike adrift, and he 
 advised us to get out of her way. The captain held on 
 that day, however, but next morning she came into us, 
 sure enough. The ships did not get clear without some 
 trouble, and we thought it wisest to shift our berth. Once 
 aweigh, the captain thought it best to turn out of the 
 Downs, which we did, working through the Straits, and 
 anchoring under Dungeness, as soon as the flood made. 
 Here we lay until near sun-set, when we got under way to 
 try our hand upon the ebb. I believe the skipper had made 
 up his mind to tide it down to the Land's End, rather than 
 remain idle any longer. There was a sloop of war lying 
 in-shore of us, a mile or so, and just as we stretched out 
 from under the land, she began to telegraph with a signal 
 station ashore. Soon after, she weighed, and came out, 
 also. In the middle watch we passed this ship, on opposite 
 tacks, and learned that an embargo had been laid, and that 
 we had only saved our distance by some ten or fifteen min- 
 utes ! This embargo was to prevent the intelligence of the 
 Copenhagen expedition from reaching the Danes. That very 
 day, we passed a convoy of transports, carrying a brigade 
 from Pendennis Castle to Yarmouth, in order to join the 
 main fleet. A gun-brig brought us to, and came near press - 
 ing the Swede, under the pretence that being allies of his 
 king, England had a right to . his services. Had not the 
 man been as obstinate as a bull, and positively refused to 
 go, I do believe we should have lost him. He was ordered 
 into the boat at least half-a-dozen times, but swore he would 
 not budge. Cooper had a little row with this boarding o^ 
 rer, but was silenced by the captain. 
 
A lilFE BEFORE THE MAST. 37 
 
 After the news received from the sloop of war, it may be 
 supposed we did not venture to anchor anywhere on English 
 ground. Keeping the channel, we passed the Isle of Wight 
 several times, losing on the flood, the distance made on the 
 ebb. At length we got a slant and fetched out into the At- 
 lantic, heading well to the southward, however. Our pas- 
 sage was long, even after we got clear, the winds carrying 
 us down as low as Corvo, which island we made, and then 
 taking us well north again. We had one very heavy blow 
 that forced us to scud, the Sterling being one of the wettest 
 ships that ever floated, when heading up to the sea. 
 
 When near the American coast, we spoke an English brig 
 that gave us an account of the affair between the Leopard 
 and the Chesapeake, though he made his own countrymen 
 come out second-best. Bitter were the revilings of Mr. Irish 
 when the pilot told us the real state of the case. As was 
 usual with this ship's luck, we tided it up the bay and river, 
 and got safe alongside of the wharf at Philadelphia, at last. 
 Here our crew was broken up, of course, and, with the ex- 
 ception of Jack Pugh, my brother apprentice, and Cooper, I 
 never saw a single soul of them afterwards. Most of them 
 went on to New York, and were swallowed up in the great 
 vortex of seamen. Mr. Irish, I heard, died the next voyage 
 he made, chief mate of an Indiaman. He was a prime fel- 
 low, and fit to command a ship. 
 
 Such was my first voyage at sea, for I count the passage 
 round from Halifax as nothing. I had been kept in the 
 cabin, it is true, but our work had been of the most active 
 kind. The Sterling must have brought up, and been got 
 under way, between fifty and a hundred times ; and as for 
 tacking, waring, chappelling round, and box-hauling, we had 
 so much of it by the channel pilots, that the old barky scarce 
 knew which end was going foremost. In that day, a ship 
 did not get from the Forelands up to London without some 
 trouble, and great was our envy of the large blocks and 
 light cordage of the colliers, which made such easy work 
 for their men. We singled much of our rigging, the second 
 voyage up the river, ourselves, and it was a great relief to 
 the people. A set of grass foresheets, too, that we bought 
 in Spain, got to be great favourites, though, in the end, they 
 cost the ship the life of a very valuable man. 
 4 
 
 X. 
 
38 N£DHrERS;OR, 
 
 Captain Johnston now determined to send me to Wiscas- 
 set, that I might go to school. A Wiscasset schooner, called 
 the Clarissa, had come into Philadelphia, with freight from 
 the West Indies, and she was about to sail for home in bal- 
 last. I was put on board as a passenger, and we sailed 
 about a week after the ship got in from London. Jack Pugh 
 staid behind, the Sterling being about to load for Ireland. 
 On board the Clarissa I made the acquaintance of a Phila- 
 delphian born, who was an apprentice to the master of the 
 schooner, of the name of Jack Mallet. He was a little oldei 
 than myself, and we soon became intimate, and, in time, 
 were fated to see many strange things in company. 
 
 The Clarissa went, by the Vineyard Sound and the Shoals, 
 into Boston. Here she landed a few crates, and then sailed 
 for Wiscasset, where we arrived after a pretty long passage. 
 I was kindly received by the mother and family of Captain 
 Johnston, and immediately sent to school. Shortly after, 
 we heard of the embargo, and, the Clarissa being laid up, 
 Jack Mallet became one of my school-mates. We soon 
 learned that the Sterling had not been able to get out, and, 
 ere long. Jack Pugh joined our party. A little later. Captain 
 Johnston arrived, to go into the commercial quarantine with 
 the rest of us. 
 
 This was the long embargo, as sailors called it, and it did 
 not terminate until Erskine's arrangement was made, in 
 1809. All this time I remained in Wiscasset, at school, 
 • well treated, and, if anything, too much indulged. Captain 
 Johnston remained at home all this time, also, and, having 
 nothing else to do, he set about looking out for a wife. We 
 had, at school. Jack Pugh, Jack Mallet, and Bill Swett, the 
 latter being a lad a little older than myself, and a nephew 
 of the captain's. I was now sixteen, and had nearly gotten 
 my growth. 
 
 As soon as the embargo was removed, Captain Johnston, 
 accompanied by Swett, started for Philadelphia, to bring the 
 ship round to New York. Froni that place he intended to 
 Rail for Liverpool, where Jack Pugh and myself were to join 
 him, sailing in a ship called the Columbia. This plan was 
 changed, however, and we were sent round by sea to join 
 the Sterling again, in .the port where I had first found her. 
 As this was near three years after I had quitted the He.' 
 
A LIFE BEFORE THE MAST. 39 
 
 Eer's so unceremoniously, I went to look for them. Their 
 old neighbours told me they had been gone to Martinique, 
 about a twelvemonth. This was the last intelligence I ever 
 heard of them. Bill Swett was now put into the cabin, and 
 Jack Pugh and myself were sent regularly to duty before 
 the mast. We lived in the steerage, and had cabin fare ; 
 but, otherwise, had the t'brtunes of foremast Jacks. Our 
 freight was wheat in the lower hold, flour betwixt decks, and 
 cotton on deck. The ship was very deep. Our crew was 
 good, but both our mates were foreigners. 
 
 Nothing occurred until we got near soundings, when it 
 came on to blow very heavy from the southward and west- 
 ward. The ship was running under a close-reefed main-top- 
 sail and foresail, with a tremendous sea on. Just as night 
 set in, one Harry, a Prussian, came on deck from his supper 
 to relieve the wheel, and, fetching a lurch as he went aft, he 
 brought up against the launch, and thence down against our 
 grass fore-sheet, which had been so great a favourite in the 
 London passages. This rope had been stretched above the 
 deck load for a ridge rope, but, being rotten, it gave way 
 when the poor Prussian struck it, and he went into the sea. 
 We could do no more than throw him the sky-light, which 
 was large ; but the ship went foaming ahead, leaving the 
 poor fellow to his fate, in the midst of the hissing waters. 
 Some of our people thought they saw poor Harry on the 
 sky-light, but this could not have made much difference in 
 such a raging sea. It was impossible to round-to, and as 
 for a boat's living, it was out of the question. This was the 
 first man I saw lost at sea, and, notwithstanding the severity 
 of the gale, and the danger of the ship herself, the fate of 
 this excellent man made us all melancholy. The captain 
 felt it bitterly, as was evident from his manner. Still, the 
 thing was unavoidable. 
 
 We had begun to shorten sail early in the afternoon, and 
 Harry was lost in the first dog-watch. A little later the 
 larboard fore-sheet went, and the sail was split. All hands 
 were called, and the rags were rolled up, and the gaskets 
 passed. The ship now laboured so awfully that she began 
 to leak. The swell was so high that we did not dare to 
 come by the wind, and the seas would come in, just about 
 the main chains, meet in board and travel out over her bows 
 
40 NED MYERS; OR, 
 
 in a way to threaten everything that could be moved. Wc; 
 lads were lashed at the pumps, and ordered to keep at work ; 
 and to make matters worse, the wheat began to work its 
 way into the pump- well. While things were in this state, 
 the main-top-sail split, leaving the ship without a rag of sail 
 on her. 
 
 The Sterling loved to be under water, even in moderate 
 weather. Many a time have I seen her send the water aft, 
 into the quarter-deck scuppers, and, as for diving, no loon 
 was quicker than she. Now, that she was deep and was 
 rolling her deck-load to the water, it was time to think of 
 lightening her. The cotton was thrown overboard as fast 
 as we could, and what the men could not start the seas did. 
 After a while we eased the ship sensibly, and it was well we 
 did ; the wheat choking the pumps so often, that we had 
 little opportunity for getting out the water. 
 
 I do not now recollect at what hour of this fearful night, 
 Captain Johnston shouted out to us all to " look out" — and 
 " hold on." The ship was broaching-to. Fortunately she 
 did this at a lucky moment, and, always lying-to well, 
 though wet, we made much better weather on deck. The 
 mizzen-staysail was now set to keep her from falling off 
 into the troughs of the sea. Still the wind blew as hard as 
 ever. First one sail, then another, got loose, and a hard 
 time we had to keep the canvass to the yards. Then the 
 foretopmast went, with a heavy lurch, and soon after the 
 main, carrying with it the mizzen-top-gallant-mast. We 
 owed this to the embargo, in my judgment, the ship's rig- 
 ging having got damaged lying dry so long. We were all 
 night clearing the wreck, and the men who used the hatch- 
 ets, told us that the wind would cant their tools so violently 
 that they sometimes struck on the eyes, instead of the edge 
 The gale fairly seemed like a hard substance. 
 
 We passed a fearful night, working at the pumps, anif 
 endeavouring to take care of the ship. Next morning it 
 moderated a little, and the vessel was got before the wind, 
 which was perfectly fair. She could carry but little sail ; 
 though we got up top-gallant-masts for top-masts, as soon as 
 the sea would permit. About four, I saw the land myself, 
 and pointed it out to the mate. It was Cape Clear, and we 
 
ALIFE BEFORE THE MAST. 41 
 
 were heading for it as straight as we could go. We hauled 
 up to clear it, and ran into the Irish channel. A large fleet 
 of vessels had gathered in and near the chops of the chan- 
 nel, in readiness to run into Liverpool by a particular day 
 that had been named in the law opening the trade, and great 
 had been the destruction among them. I do not remember 
 the number of the ships we saw, but there must have been 
 more than a hundred. It was afterwards reported, that near 
 fifty vessels were wrecked on the Irish coast. Almost every 
 craft we fell in with was more or less dismasted, and one 
 vessel, a ship called the Liberty, was reported to have gone 
 down, with every soul on board her. 
 
 The weather becoming moderate, all hands of us went 
 into Liverpool, the best way we could. The Sterling had 
 good luck in getting up, though we lay some time in the 
 river before we were able to get into dock. When we got 
 out the cargo, we found it much damaged, particularly the 
 wheat. The last was so hot that we could not bear our feet 
 among it. We got it all out in a few days, when we wcnl 
 into a dry dock, and repaired. 
 
 This visit to Liverpool scattered our crew as if it had 
 been so much dust in a squall. Most of our men were 
 pressed, and those that were not, ran. But one man, us 
 boys excepted, stuck by the ship. The chief mate — a 
 foreigner, though of what country I never could discover — 
 lived at a house kept by a handsome landlady. To oblige 
 this lady, he ordered William Swett and myself to <5arry a 
 bucket-full of salt, each, up to her house. The salt came 
 out of the harness-cask, and we took it ashore openly, but 
 we were stopped on the quay by a custom-house officer, who 
 threatened to seize the ship. Such was the penalty for land- 
 ing two buckets of Liverpool salt at Liverpool ! 
 
 Captain Johnston had the matter explained, and he dis- 
 charged the mate. Next day, the discharged man and the 
 second mate were pressed. We got the last, who was a 
 Swede, clear ; and the chief mate, in the end, made his 
 escape, and found his way back to New York. Among 
 those impressed, was Jack Pugh, who having been bound 
 in London, we did not dare show his papers. The captain 
 tried hard to get the boy clear, but without success. I rK)ver 
 4* 
 
42 N £ D M Y £ R S ; O R , 
 
 saw poor Jack after this ; though I learn he ran from the 
 market-boat of tlie guard-ship, made his way back to Wis- 
 casset, where he stayed some time, then shipped, and was 
 lost at sea. 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 At length we got* a new crew, and sailed for home. We 
 bad several passengers on board, masters of American ships 
 who could go back themselves, but not carry their vessels with 
 them, on account of certain liberties the last had taken with 
 the laws. These persons were called " embargo captains." 
 
 One of them, a Captain B , kept Captain Johnston's 
 
 watch, and got so much into his confidence and favour, that 
 he gave him the vessel in the end. The passage home was 
 stormy and long, but offered nothing remarkable. A non- 
 importation law had been passed during our absence, and 
 our ship was seized in New York in consequence of having 
 a cargo of English salt. We had taken the precaution, 
 however, to have the salt cleared in Liverpool, and put afloat 
 before the day named in the law, and got clear after a de- 
 tention of two months. Salt rose so much in the interval, 
 that the seizure turned out to be a good thing for the own- 
 ers. 
 
 While the ship was lying off the Battery, on her return 
 from this voyage, and before she had hauled in, a boat came 
 alongside with a young man in her in naval uniform. This 
 was Cooper, who, in pulling across to go aboard his own 
 vessel, had recognised our mast-heads, and now came to 
 look at us. This was the last time I met him, until the year 
 1843; or, for thirty-four years. 
 
 We now loaded with naval stores, and cleared again foi 
 Liverpool. Bill Swett did not make this voyage with us, 
 the cook acting as steward. We had good passages out and 
 home, experiencing no detention or accidents. In the spring 
 
 of 1810, Captain Johnston gave the ship to Captain B :-, 
 
 who carried us to Liverpool for the third time. Nothing 
 
A LIFE BEFORE THE MAST. 43 
 
 took place this voyage either, worthy of being mentioned, 
 the s.hip getting back in good season. We now took in a 
 cargo of staves for Limerick. Off the Hook we were 
 brought-to by the Indian sloop-of-war, one of the Halifax 
 cruisers, a squadron in company. Several vessels were 
 coming out at the same time, and among them were several 
 of the clippers in the French trade. The Amiable Matilda 
 and the Colt went to windward of the Englishmen as if the 
 last had been at anchor ; but the Tameahmeah, when near- 
 est to the English, got her yards locked in stays, and was 
 captured. We saw all this, and felt, as was natural to men 
 who beheld such things enacted at the mouth of their own 
 port. Our passages both ways were pleasant, and nothing 
 occurred out of the usual course. I fell in with a press- 
 gang, however, in Limerick, which would have nabbed me, 
 but for a party of Irishmen, who showed fight and frighten- 
 ed the fellows so much that I got clear. Once before, I had 
 been in the hands of these vermin in Liverpool, but Captain 
 Johnston had got me clear by means of my indentures. I 
 was acting as second-mate this voyage. 
 
 On our return home, the ship was ordered to Charleston 
 to get a cargo of yellow pine, under a contract. Captain 
 B was still in command, my old master. Captain John- 
 ston, being then at home, occupied in building a niew ship. 
 I never saw this kind-hearted and indulgent seaman until 
 the year 1842, when I made a journey to Wiscasset ex- 
 pressly to see him. Captain B and myself were never 
 
 very good friends, and I was getting to be impatient of his 
 authority ; but I still stuck by the ship. 
 
 We had an ordinary run to Charleston, and began to 
 prepare for the reception of our cargo. At this time, there 
 were two French privateers on the southern coast, that did 
 a great deal of damage to our trade. One went into Sa- 
 vannah, and got burned, for her pains ; and the other came 
 into Charleston, and narrowly escaped the same fate. A 
 mob collected — made a fire-raft, and came alongside of our 
 ship, demanding some tar. To own the truth, though then 
 clothed with all the dignity of a " Dicky,"* I liked the fun, 
 and offered no resistance. Bill Swett had come in, in a ship 
 
 * Second-mate. 
 
44 NEDMYERS;OR, 
 
 called the United States ; and he was on board the Sterling, 
 at the time, on a visit to me. We two, off hatches, and 
 whipped a barrel of tar on deck ; which we turned over to 
 the raftsmen, with our hearty good wishes for their success. 
 All this was, legally, very wrong; but, I still think, it was 
 not so very far from being morally just ; at least, as regards 
 the privateersmen. The attempt failed, however, and those 
 implicated were blamed a great deal more than they would 
 have been, had they burned up the Frenchmen's eye-bolts. 
 It is bad to fail, in a legal undertaking; but success is indis- 
 pensable for forgiveness, to one that is illegal. 
 
 That night. Captain B and the chief mate, came 
 
 down upon me, like a gust, for having parted with the tar. 
 They concluded their lecture, by threatening to work me 
 up. Bill Swett was by, and he got his share of the dose. 
 When we were left to ourselves, we held a council of war, 
 about future proceedings. Our crew had run, to a man, the 
 cook excepted, as usually happens, m Charleston ; and we 
 brought in the cook, as a counsellor. This man told me, 
 that he had overheard the captain and mate laying a plan to 
 give me a threshing, as soon as I had turned in. Bill, now, 
 frankly proposed that I should run, as well as himself; for 
 he had already left his ship ; and our plan was soon laid. 
 Bill went ashore, and brought a boat down under the bows 
 of the ship, and I passed my dunnage into her, by going 
 through the forecastle ; I then left the Sterling, for ever, 
 never putting my foot on board of her again. I saw her, 
 once ar twice, afterwards, at a distance, and she always 
 looked like a sort of home to me. She was subsequently 
 lost, on the eastern coast, Captain Johnston still owning her, 
 and being actually on board her, though only as a passeager. 
 I had been out in her twelve times, from country to country, 
 besides several short runs, from port to port. She always 
 seemed natural to me ; and I had got to know every tim- 
 ber and stick about her. I felt more, in quitting this ship, 
 than I did in quitting Halifax. This desertion was the third 
 great error of my life. The first was, quitting those with 
 whom I had been left by my father ; the second, abandoning 
 my good friends, the Heizers ; and the third, leaving the 
 Sterling. Had Captain Johnston been in the ship, I never 
 should have dreamed of running. He was always kind to 
 
A LIFE BEFORE THE3 MAST. 45 
 
 me i and, if he failed in justice, it was on the side of indul- 
 gence. Had I continued with him, I make .30 doubt, my 
 career would have been very difierent from what it has since 
 turned out to be ; and, I fear, I must refer one of the very 
 bad habits, that afterwards marred my fortunes, that of 
 drinking too much, to this act. Still, it will be remembered, 
 I was only nineteen, loved adventure, and detested Captain 
 B 
 
 After this exploit, Swett and I kept housed for a week. 
 He then got into a ship called the President, and I into an- 
 other called the Tontine, and both sailed for New York, 
 where we arrived within a few days of each other. We 
 now shipped together in a vessel called the Jane, bound to 
 Limerick. This was near the close of the year 1811. Our 
 passage out was tremendously bad, and we met with some 
 serious accidents to our people. We were not far from the 
 mouth of the Irish channel when the ship broached-to, in 
 scudding under the foresail and main-top-sail, Bill Swett be- 
 ing at the helm. The watch below ran on deck and hauled 
 up the foresail, without orders, to prevent the ship from go- 
 ing down stern foremost, the yards being square. As the 
 ship came-to, she took a sea in on her starboard side, which 
 drove poor Bill to leeward, under some water-casks and 
 boards, beating in two of his ribs. Both mates were injur- 
 ed also, and were off duty in consequence for several weeks. 
 The plank sheer was ripped off the vessel from aft to amid- 
 ships, as neatly as if it had been done by the carpenters. 
 We could look down among the timbers the same as if the 
 vessel were on the stocks. 
 
 The men braced up the after-yards, and then the ship was 
 lying-to under a close-reefed main-top-sail. After this, she 
 did well enough. We now passed the hurt below, and got 
 tarred canvass over the timber-heads, and managed to keep 
 out the water. Next day we made sail for our port. It 
 blowing too fresh to get a pilot, we ran into a roadstead at 
 the mouth of the Shannon, and anchored with both bowers. 
 We rode out the gale, and then went up to Limerick. Here 
 all hands got well, and returned to duty. In due time, wo 
 sailed for home in ballast. As we came into the Hook, we 
 were hailed by a gun-boat, and heard of the " Little Em- 
 bargo." 
 
16 NEI> MYERS; OK, 
 
 The question now came up seriously between Bill and 
 myself, what was best to be done. I was for going to Wis- 
 casset, like two prodigals, own our fault, and endeavour to 
 amend. Bill thought otherwise. Now we were cast ashore, 
 without employment, he thought it more manly to try and 
 shift for ourselves. He had an uncle who was a captain of 
 artillery, and who was then stationed on Governor's Island, 
 and we took him into our councils. This gentleman treated 
 us kindly, and kept us with him on the island for two days. 
 Finding his nephew bent on doing something for himself, he 
 gave us a letter to Lt. Trenchard, of the navy, by whom 
 we were both shipped for the service. Swett got a master's- 
 mate's berth, and I was offered the same, but felt too much 
 afraid of myself to accept it. I entered the navy, then, for 
 the first time, as a common Jack. 
 
 This was a very short time before war was declared, and 
 a large flotilla of gun-boats was getting ready for the New 
 York station. Bill was put on board of No. 112, and I was 
 ordered to No. 107, Sailing-Master Costigan. Soon after, 
 we were all employed in fitting the Essex for sea ; and while 
 thus occupied the Declaration of War actually arrived. On 
 this occasion I got drunk, for the second time in my life. A 
 quantity of whiskey was started into a tub, and all hands 
 drank to the success of the conflict. A little upset me, then, 
 nor would I have drunk anything, but for the persuasions 
 of some of my Wiscasset acquaintances, of- whom there 
 were several in the ship. I advise all young men, who feel 
 no desire to drink, to follow their own propensities, and not 
 to yield themselves up, body and soul, to the thoughtless 
 persuasions of others. There is no real good-fellowship in 
 swilling rum and whiskey ; but the taste, once acquired, is 
 hard to cure. I never drank much, as to quantity, but a 
 little filled me with the love of mischief, and that little served 
 to press me down for all the more valuable years of my life ; 
 valuable, as to the advancement of my worldly interests, 
 though I can scarcely say I began really to live, as a crea- 
 ture of God's should live, to honour his name and serve his 
 ends, until the year 1839. 
 
 After the Essex was fitted out, the flotilla cruised in the 
 Sound, and was kept generally on the look-out, about the 
 waters of New York. Towards the end of the season, ouj 
 
A LIFE BEFORE THE MA.ST. 41 
 
 bO!.t, with several others, was lying abreast of the Yard, 
 when orders came off to meet the Yard Commandei, Cap- 
 tain Chauncey, on the wharf. Here, this officer addressed 
 us, and said he was about to proceed to Lake Ontario, to 
 take command, and asking who would volunteer to go with 
 Lim. This was agreeable news to us, for we hated the gun- 
 boats, and would go anywhere to be quit of them. Every 
 man and boy volunteered. We got twenty-four hours' lib- 
 erty, with a few dollars in money, and when this scrape was 
 over every man returned, and we embarked in a sloop for 
 Albany. Our draft contained near 140 men, and was com- 
 manded by Mr. Mix, then a sailing-master, but who died a 
 commander a few years since. Messrs. Osgood and Malla- 
 by were also with us, and two midshipmen, viz : Messrs. 
 Sands and Livingston. The former of these young gentle- 
 men is now a commander, but I do not know what became 
 of Mr. Livingston. We had also two master's-mates, 
 Messrs. Bogardus and Emory. 
 
 On reaching Albany, we paid a visit to the Governor, 
 gave him three cheers, got some good cheer in return, and 
 were all stowed in wagons, a mess in each, before his door. 
 We now took to our land tacks, and a merry time we had 
 of it. Our first day's run was to a place called Schenec- 
 tady, and here the officers found an empty house, and 
 berthed us all together, fastening the doors. This did not 
 suit our notions of a land cruise, and we began to grumble. 
 There was a regular hard horse of a boatswain's-mate with 
 us, of the name of McNally. This man had been in the 
 service a long time, and was a thorough man-of-war's man. 
 He had collected twenty-four of us, whom he called his 
 ' disciples,' and shamed am I to say, I was one. McNally 
 called all hands on the upper deck, as he called it, that is to 
 say, in the garret, and made us a speech. He said this was 
 no way to treat volunteers, and proposed that we should 
 " unship the awning." We rigged pries, and, first singing 
 out, " stand from under," hove one half of the roof into the 
 street, and the other into the garden. We then gave three 
 cheers at our success. The officers now came down, and 
 gave us a lecture. But we made out so good a case, that 
 they let us run till morning, when every soul was back and 
 mustered in the wagons. In this way we went through the 
 
48 R£I>MY£KS;OR, 
 
 country, cracking our jokes, laughing, and noting all oddi* 
 ties that crossed our course. I believe we were ten or 
 twelve days working our way through the state, to Oswego. 
 At Onondago Lake we got into boats, and did better than in 
 the wagons. At a village on the lake shore, the people 
 were very bitter against us, and we had some difficulty. 
 The word went among us they were Scotch, from the Cana- 
 das, but of this I know nothing. We heard in the morning, 
 however, thfit most of our officers were in limbo, and we 
 crossed and marched up a hill, intending to burn, sink, and 
 destroy, if they were not liberated. Mischief was prevented 
 by the appearance of Mr. Mix, with the other gentlernen, 
 and we pushed off without coming to blows. 
 
 It came on to rain very hard, and we fetched up at a soli- 
 tary house in the woods, and tried to get quarters. These 
 were denied us, and we were told to shift for ourselves. 
 This, we did in a large barn, where we made good stowage 
 until morning. In the night, we caught the owner coming 
 ubout with a lantern to set fire to the barn, and we carried 
 him down to a boat, and lashed him there until morning, 
 letting the rain wash all the combustible matter out of him. 
 That day we reached Oswego Falls, where a party of us 
 were stationed some time, running boats over, and carrying 
 stores across the portage. 
 
 When everything reached, Oswego, all hands turned to, 
 to equip some lake craft th'at had been bought for the ser- 
 vice. These were schooners, salt droggers, of about sixty 
 or eighty tons. All we did at Oswego, however, was to 
 load these vessels, some six or eight in all, and put to sea. 
 I went off in one of the first, a vessel called the Fair Ame- 
 rican. Having no armaments, we sailed in the night, to 
 avoid John Bull's cruisers, of which there were several out 
 at' the time. As we got in with some islands, at no great 
 distance from Sackett's Harbour, we fell in with the Oneida's 
 launch, which was always kept in the offing at night, row- 
 ing, or sailing, guard. Bill Swett was in her, and we then 
 met for the first time on fresh waters, I now learned that 
 Jack Mallet was on the station, too, whom I had not fallen 
 in with since we parted at Wiscasset, more than three years 
 before. A fortnight later I found him, acting as boat- 
 
A lilFE BEFORE THE MAST. 49 
 
 sw£un of the Julia, Sailing-Master Trant, a craft I have every 
 reason to remember as long as I shall live. 
 
 The day after I reached the harbour, I was ordered on 
 board the Scourge. This vessel was English-built, and had 
 been captured before the war, and conden/ned, for violating 
 the revenue laws, under the name of the Lord Nelson, by 
 the Oneida 16, Lt. Com. Woolsey — the only cruiser we then 
 had on the lake. This craft was unfit for her duty, but time 
 pressed, and no better offered. Bulwarks had been raised 
 on her, and she mounted Cight sixes, in regular broadside. 
 Her accommodations wer-i Liad enough, and she was so ten- 
 der, that we could do little or nothing with her in a blow. 
 It was often prognosticated that she would prove our coffin. 
 Besides Mr. Osgood, who was put in command of this vessel, 
 we had Mr. Bogardus, and Mr. Livingston, as officers. We 
 must have had about forty-five souls on board, all told. We 
 did not get this schooner out that season, however. 
 
 The commodore arriving, and an expedition against Kings- 
 'on being in the wind, a party of us volunteered from the 
 Scourge, to go on board the Oneida. This was in Novem- 
 ber, rather a latish month for active service on those waters. 
 The brig went out in company with the Conquest, Hamilton, 
 Governor Tompkins, Pert, Julia, and Growler, schooners. 
 These last crat't were all merchantmen, mostly without quar- 
 ters, and scarcely fit for the duty on which they were em- 
 ployed. The Oneida was a warm little brig, of sixteen 24 
 lb. carronades, but as dull as a transport. She had been 
 built to cross the bars of the American harbours, and would 
 not travel to windward. 
 
 We went off the False Ducks, where we made the Royal 
 George, a ship the English had built expressly to overlay 
 the Oneida, two or three years before, and which was big 
 enough to eat us. Her officers, however, did not belong to 
 the Royal Navy ; and we made such a show of schooners, 
 that, though she had herself a vessel or two in company, she 
 did not choose to wait for us. We chased her into the Bay 
 of Quinte, and there we lost her in the darkness. Next 
 morning, however, we saw her at anchor in the channel that 
 eads to Kingston. A general chase now commenced, and 
 we ran down into the bay, and engaged the ship and batte- 
 ries, as close as we conM well get. The firing was sharp 
 5 
 
60 N K D M Y E R S ; O R, 
 
 on both sides, and it lasted a great while. I was stationed 
 at a gun, as her second captain, and was too busy to seo 
 much; but I know we kept our piece speaking as fast as we 
 could, for a good bit. We drove the Royal George from a 
 second anchorage, quite up to a berth abreast of the town ; 
 and it was said that her people actually deserted her, at one 
 time. We gave her nothing but round-shot from our gun, 
 and these we gave her with all our hearts. Whenever we 
 noticed the shore, a stand of grape was added. 
 
 I know nothing of the damage done the enemy. We had 
 the best of it, so far as I could see ; and I think, if the wea- 
 ther had not compelled us to haul off, something serious 
 might have been done. As it was, we beat out with flying 
 colours, and anchored a few miles from the light. 
 
 These were the first shot I ever saw fired in anger. Our 
 brig had one man killed and three wounded, and she was 
 somewhat injured aloft. One shot came in not far from my 
 gun, and scattered lots of cat-tails, breaking in the ham- 
 mock-cloths. This was the nearest chance I ran, that day ; 
 and, on the whole, I think we escaped pretty well. On our 
 return to the harbour, the ten Scourges who had volun- 
 teered for the cruise, returned to their own schooner. None 
 of us were hurt, though all of us were half frozen, the water 
 freezing as fast as it fell. 
 
 Shortly after both sides went into winter quarters, and 
 both sides commenced building. We launched a ship called 
 the Madison, about this time, and we laid the keel of an- 
 other, that was named the Pike. What John Bull was 
 about is more than I can say, though the next season 
 showed he had not been idle. The navigation did not abso- 
 lutely close, notwithstanding, until December. 
 
 Our vessels were moored about the harbour, and we were 
 all frozen in, as a matter of course. Around each craft, 
 however, a space was kept cut, to form a sort of ditch, in 
 order to prevent being boarded. Parties were regularly sta- 
 tioned to defend the Madison,. and, in the days, we worked 
 at her rigging, and at that of the Pike, in gangs. Our lar- 
 board guns were landed, and placed in a block-house, while 
 he starboard were kept mounted. My station was that of 
 captain of one of the guns that remained. 
 
 The winter lasted more than four months, and we madt! 
 
A L I F E B E F O R E Til E M A S T. 51 
 
 good times of it. We often went after wood, and occasion 
 ally we knocked over a deer. We had a target out on the 
 lake, and this we practised on, making ourselves rather 
 expert cannoneers. Now and then they rowsed us out on a 
 false alarm, but I know of no serious attempt's being made 
 by the enemy, to molest us. 
 
 The lake was fit to navigate about the middle of April. 
 Somewhere about the 20th* the soldiers began to embark, 
 to the number of 1700 men. A com|)any came on board 
 the Scourge, and they filled us chock-a-block. It came on 
 to blow, and we were obliged to keep these poor fellows, 
 cramped as we were, most of the time on deck, exposed to 
 rain and storm. On the 25th we got out, rather a showy 
 force altogether, though there was not much service in our 
 small craft. We had a ship, a brig, and twelve schooners, 
 fourteen sail in all. The next morning we were off Little 
 York, having sailed with a fair wind. All h':inds anchored 
 about a mile from the beach. I volunteered o go in a boat, 
 to carry soldiers ashore. Each of us brought across the 
 lake two of these boats in tow, but we had lost one of ours, 
 dragging her after us in a staggering breeze. I got into 
 the one that was left, and we put half our soldiers in her, 
 and shoved off. We had little or no order in landing, each 
 boat pulling as hard as she could. The English blazed 
 away at us, concealed in a wood, and our men fired back 
 again from the boat. I never was more disappointed in 
 men, than I was in the soldiers. They were mostly tall, 
 pale-looking Yankees, half dead with sickness and the bad 
 weather — so mealy, indeed, that half of them could not take 
 their grog, which, by this time, I had got to think a bad 
 sign. As soon as they got near the enemy, however, they 
 became wide awake, pointed out to each other where to aim, 
 and many of them actually jumped into the water, in order 
 to get the sooner ashore.' No men could have behaved bet- 
 ter, for I confess frankly I did not like the work at all. It 
 is no fun to pull in under a sharp fire, with one's back to 
 nis enemy, and nothing but an oar to amuse himself with. 
 The shot flew pretty thick, and two of our oars were split. 
 This was all done with musketry, no heavy guns being used 
 
 * 22d. — Editor. 
 
52 N£DMY£Ils;OR, 
 
 at this place. [ landed twice in this way, but the dangef 
 was principally in the fii'st affair. There was fighting up 
 on the bank, but it gave us no trouble. Mr. Livingston 
 commanded the boat. 
 
 When we got back to the schooner, we found her lifting 
 her anchors. Several of the smaller craft were now ordered 
 up the bay, to open on the batteries nearer to the town. We 
 were the third from the van, and we all anchored within 
 canister range. We heard a magazine blow up, as we stood 
 in, and this brought three cheers from us. We now had 
 some sharp work with the batteries, keeping up a steady fire. 
 The schooner ahead of us had to cut, and she shifted her 
 berth outside of us. The leading schooner, however, held 
 on. In the midst of it all, we heard cheers down the line, 
 and presently we saw the commodore pulling in among us, 
 in his gig. He came on board us, and we greeted him with 
 three cheers. While he was on the quarter-deck, a hot shot 
 struck the upper part of the after-port, cut all the boarding- 
 pikes adrift from the main-boom, and wounded a man named 
 Lemuel Bryant, who leaped from his quarters and fell at my 
 feet. His clothes were all on fire when he fell, and, after 
 putting them out, the commodore himself ordered me to pass 
 him below. The old man spoke encouragingly to us, and a 
 little thing took place that drew his attention to my crew. 
 Two of the trucks of the gun we were fighting had been 
 carried away, and I determined to shift over its opposite. 
 My crew were five negroes, strapping fellows, and as strong 
 as jackasses. The gun was called the Black Joke. Shoving 
 the disabled gun out of the way, these chaps crossed the 
 deck, unhooked the breechings and gun-tackles, raised the 
 piece from the deck, and placed it in the vacant port. The 
 commodore commended us, and called out, " that is quick 
 work, my lads !" In less than three minutes, I am certain, 
 we were playing on the enemy with the fresh gun. 
 
 As for the old man, he pulled through the fire as coolly 
 as if it were only a snow-balling scrape, though many a pooi 
 fellow lost the number of his' mess in the boats that day 
 When he left us, we cheered him again. He had not left 
 us long, before we heard an awful explosion on shore. Stones 
 as big as my two fists fell on board of us, though nobody 
 Was hurt by them. We cheered, thinking some dire cala- 
 
A LIFE BEFORE THE MAST 53 
 
 mity had befallen the enemy. The firing ceased soon after 
 this explosion, though one English gun held on, under the 
 bank, for some little time. 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 We did not know the cause of the last explosion, until 
 after the firing ceased. I had seen an awful black cloud, 
 and objects in the air that I took for men ; but little did we 
 imagine the explosion had cost us so dear. Our schooner 
 lay at no great distance from the common lauding, and no 
 sooner were we certain of the success of the day, than Mr. 
 Osgood ordered his boat's crew called away, and he landed. 
 As I belonged to the boat, I had an early opportunity of 
 enteringthe town. " 
 
 We found the place deserted. With the exception of our 
 own men, I found but one living being in it. This was an 
 old woman whom I discovered stowed away in a potatoe 
 locker, in the government house. I saw tables set, and 
 eggs in the cups, but no inhabitant. Our orders were of 
 the most severe kind, not to plur ^er, and we did not touch 
 a morsel of food even. The liquor, however, was too much 
 for our poor natures, and a parcel of us had broke bulk in 
 a better sort of grocery, when some ofiicers came in and 
 stove the casks. I made sail, and got out of the company. 
 The army had gone in pursuit of the enemy, with the ex- 
 ception of a few riflemen, who, being now at liberty, found 
 their way into the place. 
 
 I ought to feel ashamed, and do feel ashamed of what 
 occurred that night; but I must relate it, lest I feel more 
 ashamed for concealing the truth. We had spliced the 
 main-brace pretty freely throughout the day, and the pull I 
 got in the grocery just made me ripe for mischief. When 
 we got aboard the schooner again, we found a canoe that 
 had drifted ath wart-hawse and had been secured. My 
 gun's crew, the Black Jokers, wished to have some fun in 
 the town, and they proposed to me to take a cruise ashore. 
 5* 
 
54 NBDMYERS;0 1l, 
 
 We had few officers on board, and the boatswain, a boai 
 swain's mate in fact, consented to let us leave. We all 
 went ashore in this canoe, then, and were soon alongside 
 of a wharf. On landing, we were near a large store, 
 and looking in at a window, we saw a man sitting asleep, 
 with a gun in the hollow of his arm. His head was on the 
 counter, and there was a lump burning. One of the blacks 
 pitched through the window, and was on him in a momr nt. 
 The rest followed, and we made him a prisoner. The poor 
 fellow said he had come to look after his property, and he 
 was told no one would hurt him. My blacks now began to 
 look about them, and to help themselves to such articles as 
 they thought they wanted. I confess I helped myself to 
 some tea and sugar, nor will I deny that I was in such a 
 state as to think the whole good fun. We carried otF one 
 canoe load, and even returned for a second. Of course 
 such an exploit could not have been effected without letting 
 all in the secret share; and one boat-load of plunder was 
 not enough. The negroes began to drink, however, and I 
 was sober enough to see the consequences, if they were 
 left ashore any longer. Some riflemen came in, too, and 1 
 succeeded in getting my jokers away. 
 
 The recklessness of sailors may be seen in our conduct. 
 All we received for our plunder was some eight or ten gal- 
 Ions of whiskey, when we got back to the harbour, and this 
 at the risk of being flogged through the fleet I It seemed to 
 us to be a scrape, and that was a sufficient excuse for diso- 
 beying orders, and for committing a crime. For myself, 1 
 was influenced more by the love of mischief, and a weak 
 desire to have it said I was foremost in such an exploit, than 
 from any mercenary motive. Notwithstanding the severity 
 of the orders, and one or two pretty sharp examples of pun- 
 ishment inflicted by the commodore, the Black Jokers were 
 not the only plunderers ashore that night. One master's- 
 mate had the buttons taken off* his coat, for stealing a feather 
 bed, besides being obliged to carry it back again. Of course 
 he was a shippea master's-mate. 
 
 I was ashore every day while the squadron remained in 
 Jhe port. Our schooner never shifted her berth from the 
 last one she occupied in the battle, and that was pretty well 
 up the bay. I paid a visit to the gun that had troubled U3 
 
A LIFE BEFORE TIIK MAST. 55 
 
 all so much, and which we could not silence, for it was 
 under a bank, near the landing-place. It was a long French 
 eighteen, and did better service, that day, than any other 
 piece of John Bull's. I think it hulled us several times. 
 
 I walked over the ground where the explosion took place. 
 It was a dreadful sight ; the dead being so mutilated that it 
 was scarcely possible to tell their colour. I saw gun-barrels 
 bent nearly double. I think we saw Sir Roger Sheafe, the 
 British General, galloping across the field, by himself, a few 
 minutes before the explosion. At all events, we saw a 
 mounted officer, and fired at him. He galloped up to the 
 government-house, dismounted, went in, remained a short 
 time, and then galloped out of town. All this I saw ; and 
 the old woman in the potato-locker told me the general had 
 been in the house a short time before we landed. Her account 
 agreed with the appearance of the officer I saw ; though I 
 will not pretend to be certain it was General Sheafe. 
 
 I ought to mention the kindness of the commodore to tht 
 poor of York. As most of the inhabitants came back to 
 their habitations the next day, the poor were suffering for 
 food. Our men were ordered to roll barrels of salt meat 
 and barrels of bread to their doors, from the government 
 stores that fell into our hands. We captured an immense 
 amount of these stores, a portion of which we carried away. 
 We sunk many guns in the lake ; and as for the powder, 
 that had taken care of itself. Among other things we took, 
 was the body of an English officer, preserved in rum, which, 
 they said, was General Brock's. I saw it hoisted out of the 
 Duke of Gloucester, the man-of-war brig we captured, at 
 Sackett's Harbour, and saw the body put in a fresh cask. I 
 am ashamed to say, that some of our men were inclined to 
 drink the old rum. 
 
 We burned a large corvette, that was nearly ready for 
 launching, and otherwise did the enemy a good deal of 
 harm. The inhabitants that returned were very submissive, 
 and thankful for what they received. As for the man of 
 he red store, I never saw him after the night he was plun- 
 dered, nor was anything ever said of the scrape. 
 
 Our troops had lost near three hundred men in the attack 
 the wounded included ; and as a great many of these green 
 s«>.dlers were now sick from exposure, the army was much 
 
56 NEDMY£RS;OK, 
 
 reducod in force. We took the troops on board on the Ist 
 of May, but could not sail, on account of a gale, until the 
 8th, which made the matter worse. Then we got undei 
 way, and crossed the lake, landing the soldiers a few miles 
 to the eastward of Fort Niagara. Our schooner now went 
 to the Harbour, along with the commodore, though some of 
 the craft remained near the head of the lake. Here we took 
 in another lot of soldiers, placed two more large batteaux in 
 tow, and sailed for the army again. We had good passages 
 both ways, and this duty was done within a few days. While 
 at the Harbour, I got a message to go and visit Bill Swett, 
 but the poor fellow died without my being able to see him. 
 I heard he was hurt at York, but never could come at the 
 truth. 
 
 On the 27th May, the army got into the batteaux, formed 
 in two divisions, and commenced pulling towards the mouth 
 of the Niagara. The morning was foggy, with a light wind, 
 and the vessels getting under way, kept company with the 
 boats, a little outside of them. The schooners were closest 
 in, and some of them opened on Fort George, while others 
 kept along the coast, scouring the shore with grape and ca- 
 nister as they moved ahead. The Scourge came to an an- 
 chor a short distance above the place selected for the landing, 
 and sprung her broadside to the shore. We now kept up a 
 steady fire with grape and canister, until the boats had got 
 in-shore and were engaged with the enemy, when we threw 
 round-shot, over the heads of our own men, upon the Eng- 
 lish. As soon as Colonel Scott was ashore, we sprung our 
 broadside upon a two-gun battery that had been pretty busy, 
 and we silenced that among us. This affair, for our craft, 
 was nothing like that of York, though I was told the vessels 
 nearer the river had warmer berths of it. We had no one 
 hurt, though we were hulled once or twice. A little rigging 
 was cut ; but we set this down as light work compeared to 
 what the old Black Joke had seen that day month. There 
 was a little sharp fighting ashore, but our men were too 
 strong for the enemy, when they could fairly get their feet 
 on solid ground. 
 
 Just after we had anchored, Mr. Bogardus was sent aloft 
 to ascertain if any enemy were to be seen. At first he found 
 nobody ; but, after a little while, he called out to have my 
 
A LIFE BEFORE THE MAST. 57 
 
 gun fired at a little thicket of brushwood that lay on an in- 
 clined plain, near the water. Mr. Osgood came and ele- 
 «rated the gun, and I touched it off. We had been looking 
 out for the blink of muskets, which was one certain guide to 
 find a soldier ; and the moment we sent this grist of grape 
 and canister into those bushes, the place lighted up as if a 
 thousand muskets were there. We then gave the chaps the 
 remainder of our broadside. We peppered that wood well, 
 and did a good deal of harm to the troops stationed at the 
 place. 
 
 The wind blew on shore, and began to increase ; and the 
 commodore now threw out a signal for the boats to land, to 
 take care of the batteaux that were thumping on the beach, 
 and then for their crews to assist in taking care of the 
 wounded. Of course I went in my own boat, Mr. Bogardus 
 having charge of her. We left the schooner, just as we 
 quitted our guns, black with powder, in our shirts and trow- 
 sers, though we took the precaution to carry our boarding- 
 belts,- with a brace of pistols each, and a cutlass. On land- 
 ing, we first hauled up the boats, taking some dead and 
 wounded men out of them, and laying them on the beach. 
 
 We were now ordered to divide ourselves into groups of 
 three, and go over the ground, pick up the wounded, and 
 carry them to a large house that had been selected as a hos- 
 pital. My party consisted of Bill Southard, Simeon Grant, 
 and myself, we being messmates. The first man we fell in 
 with, was a young English soldier, who was seated on the 
 bank, quite near the lake. He was badly hurt, and sat 
 leaning his head on his hands. He beg-^ed for water, and 
 I took his cap down to the lake and filled it, giving him a 
 drink ; then washing his face. This revived him, and he 
 offered us his canteen, in which was some excellent Jamaica. 
 To us chaps, who got nothing better than whiskey, this was 
 a rare Ireat, and we emptied the remainder of his half pint, 
 at a pull a-piece. After tapping this rum, we carried the 
 poor lad up to the house, and turned him over to the doctors. 
 We found the rooms filled with wounded already, and the 
 American and English doctors hard at work on them. 
 
 As we left the hospital, we agreed to get a canteen a-piece. 
 «nd go round among the dead, and fill them with Jamaica. 
 When our canteens were about a third full, we camo upon a 
 
58 N E D M V E K S ; O R 
 
 young American rifleman, who was lying under an apple 
 tree. He was hit in the head, and was in a very bad way. 
 We were all three much struck with the appearance of this 
 young man, and I now remember him as one of the hand- 
 somest youths I had ever seen. His wound did not bleed, ^ 
 though I thought the brains were oozing out, and I felt so 
 much sympathy for him, that I washed his hurt with the 
 rum. I fear I did him harm, but my motive was good. Bill 
 Southard ran to find a surgeon, of whom several were 
 operating out on the field. The young man kept saying 
 " no use," and he mentioned " father and mother," " Ver- 
 mont." He even gave me the names of his parents, but I 
 was too much in the wind, from the use of rum, to remem- 
 ber them. We might have been half an hour with this 
 young rifleman, busy on him most of the time, when he 
 murmured a few words, gave me one of the sweetest smiles 
 I ever saw on a man's face, and made no more signs of life. 
 I kept at work, notwithstanding, until Bill got back with the 
 doctor. The latter cast an eye on the rifleman, pronounced 
 him dead, and coolly walked away. 
 
 There was a bridge, in a sort of a swamp, that we had 
 fired on for some time, and we now moved down to it, just 
 to see what we had done. We found a good many dead, 
 and several horses in the mire, but no wounded. We kept 
 emptying canteens, as we went along, until our own would 
 hold no more. On our return from the bridge, we went to 
 a brook in order to mix some grog, and then we got a full 
 view of the offing. Not a craft was to be seen ! Every- 
 thing had weighed and disappeared. This discovery knocked 
 us all a-back, and we were quite at a loss how to pro- 
 ceed. We agreed, however, to pass through a bit of woods, 
 and gel into the town, it being now quite late in the day. 
 There we knew we should find the army, and might get 
 tidings of the fleet. The battle-ground was now nearly de- 
 serted, and to own the truth we were, all three, at least two 
 sheets in the wind. Still I remember everything, for my 
 stomach would never allow me' to get beastly drunk ; it re- 
 jecting any very great quantity of liquor. As we went 
 through the wood, open pine trees, we came across an offi- 
 cer lying dead, with one leg over his horse, which was dead 
 also. I went up to the body, turned it over, and examined 
 
A L1F£ BEFORE THE MAST. 59 
 
 It for a canteen, but found none. We made a few idle re 
 marks, and proceeded. 
 
 In quitting the place, I led the party ; and, as we went 
 through a little thicket, I heard female voices. This startled 
 me a little ; and, on looking round, I saw a white femah» 
 dress, belonging to a person who was evidently endeavour 
 ing to conceal herself from us. I was now alone, and walked 
 up to the women, when I found two ; one, a lady, in dres? 
 and manner, and the other a person that I have always sup 
 posed was her servant. The first was in white ; the last in 
 a dark calico. They were both under thirty, judging from 
 their looks ; and the lady was exceedingly well-looking 
 They were much alarmed ; and, as I came up, the lad} 
 asked me if I would hurt her. I told her no ; and that no 
 person should harm her, while she remained with us. This 
 relieved her, and she was able to give an account of he 
 errand on the field of battle. Our looks, half intoxicated, 
 and begrimed with the smoke of a battle, as we were,, 
 certainly were enough to alarm her ; but I do not think one 
 of the three would have hesitated about fighting for a female, 
 that they thus found weeping, in this manner, in the open 
 field. The maid was crying also. Simeon Grant, and 
 Southard, did make use of some improper language, at first ; 
 but I brought them up, and they said they were sorry, and 
 would go all lengths, with me, to protect the women. The 
 fact was, these men supposed we had fallen in with common 
 camp followers ; but I had seen too much of officers' wives, 
 in my boyhood, not to know that this was one. 
 
 The lady then told her story. She had just come from 
 Kingston, to join her husband ; having arrived but a few 
 hours before. She did not see her husband, but she had 
 heard he was left wounded on the field ; and she had come 
 out in the hope of finding him. She then described him, as 
 an officer mounted, with a particular dress, and inquired if 
 we had met with any such person, on the field. We told 
 ner of the horseman we had just left ; and led her back to 
 the spot. The moment the lady saw the body, she threw 
 herself on it, and began to weep and mourn over it, in a very 
 touching manner. The maid, too, was almost as bad as 
 the mistress. We were all so much aflfected, in spite of the 
 rum, that, I believe, all three of us shed tears. We said all 
 
60 NEDMYERS;OR, 
 
 we could, tO console her, and swore we would stand by her 
 until she was safe back among her friends. 
 
 It was a good bit before we could persuade the lady to 
 quit her husband's body. She took a miniature from his 
 neck, and I drew his purse and watch from him and handed 
 them to her. She wanted me to keep the purse, but this we 
 all three refused, up and down. We had hauled our manly 
 tacks aboard, and had no thoughts of plunder. Even the 
 maid urged us to keep the money, but we would have no- 
 thing to do with it. I shall freely own my faults ; I hope I 
 shall be believed when I relate facts that show I am not 
 altogether without proper feelings. 
 
 The officer had been hit somewhere about the hip, and 
 the horse must have been killed by another grape-shot, fired 
 from the same gun. We laid the body of the first over in 
 such a manner as to get a good look at him, but we did not 
 draw the leg from under the horse.* 
 
 When we succeeded in persuading the lady to quit her 
 husband's body, we shaped our course for the light-house. 
 Glad were we three tars to see the mast-heads of the ship- 
 
 * When Myers related this circumstance, I remembered that a Lieu- 
 tenant-Colonel Meyers had been killed in the aifair at Fort George, 
 something in the way here mentioned. On consulting the American 
 official account, I found that my recollection was just, so far as this — 
 a Lieutenant-Colonel Meyers was reported as wounded and taken 
 prisoner. I then recollected to have been present at a conversation 
 between Major-General Lewis and Major Baker, his adjutant-general, 
 shortly after the battle, in which the question arose whether the same 
 shot had killed Colonel Meyers that killed his horse. General Lewis 
 thought not ; Major Baker thought it had. On my referring to the 
 official account as reporting this gentleman to have been only wound- 
 ed, I was told it was a mistake, he having been killed. Now for the 
 probabilities. Both Ned and his sister understand that their father 
 was slain in battle, about this time. Ned thought this occurred at 
 Waterloo, but the sister thinks not. Neither knew anything of the 
 object of my inquiry. The sister says letters were received from Que- 
 bec in relation to the father's personal effects. It would be a strange 
 thing, if Ned had actually found his .own father's body on the field, 
 in this extraordinary manner ! I pretend not to say it is so ; but it 
 must be allowed it looks very much like it. The lady may have been 
 a wife, married between the years 1796 and 1813, when Mr. Meyers 
 had got higher rank. This occurrence was related by Ned without 
 the slightest notion of the inference thatl have here drawn — Editor. 
 
A LIF£ B£FOR£ THE MAST. 61 
 
 pmg in the river, as we came near the banks of the Niagara. 
 The house at the light was empty ; but, on my hailing, a wo- 
 man's voice answered from the cellar. It was an old wo- 
 man who had taken shelter from shot down in the hold, the 
 rest of the family having slipped and run. We now got 
 some milk for the lady, who continued in tears most of the 
 time. Sometimes she would knock off crying for a bit, 
 when she seemed to have some distrust of us ; but, on the 
 whole, we made very good weather in company. After 
 staying about half an hour at the light-house, we left it for 
 the town, my advice to the lady being to put herself under 
 the protection of some of our officers. I told her if the 
 news of what had happened reached the commodore, she 
 might depend on her husband's being buried with the honours 
 of war, and said such other things to comfort her as came 
 to the mind of a man who had been sailing so near the 
 wind. 
 
 I forgot to relate one part of the adventure. Before we 
 had got fairly clear of the woods, we fell in with four of 
 Forsyth's men, notoriously the wickedest corps in the army. 
 These fellows began to crack their jokes at the expense of 
 the two females, and we came near having a brush with 
 them. When we spoke of our pistols, and of our determi- 
 nation to use them, before we would let our convoy come 
 to harm, these chaps laughed at our pop-guns, and told us 
 they had such things as ' rifles.' This was true enough, 
 and had we come to broadsides, I make no doubt they 
 would have knocked us over like so many snipes. I began 
 to reason with them, on the impropriety of offending re- 
 snectable females ; and one of the fellows, who was a kind of 
 a corporal, or something of that sort, shook my hand, said 
 I was right, and offered to be friends. So we spliced the 
 main-brace, and parted. Glad enough was the lady to be 
 rid of them so easily. ~ In these squalls 'she would bring up 
 in her tears, and then when all went smooth again, she 
 would break out afresh. 
 
 After quitting the light, we made the best of our way for 
 
 the town. Just as we reached it, we fell in with a party of 
 
 soldier-officers, and we turned the lady and her woman over 
 
 to their care. These gentlemen said a good word in our 
 
 6 
 
63 NED M Y E R S ; OR, 
 
 favour, and here we parted company with our convoy, 1 
 never hearing, or seeing, anything of either afterwards. 
 
 By this time it was near dark, and Bill Southard and ^ 
 b«igan to look out for the Scourge. She was anchored in 
 tKe river, with the rest of the fleet, and we went down upon 
 a wharf to make a signal for a boat. On the way we saw 
 a woman crying before a watch-maker's shop, and a party 
 ot Forsyth's close by. On enquiry, we learned these fel- 
 lows had threatened to rob her shop. We had been such 
 defenders of the sex, that we could not think of deserting 
 this woman, and we swore we would stand by her, too. 
 We should have had a skirmish here, I do believe, had no< 
 one or two rifle officers hove in sight, when the whole party 
 made sail from us. We turned the woman over to these 
 gentlemen, who said, " ay, there are some of our vagabonds, 
 again." One of them said it would be better to call in their 
 parties, and before we reached the water we heard the bu 
 gle sounding the recall. 
 
 They had given us up on board the schooner. A repor; 
 of some Indians being out had reached her, and we three 
 were set down as scalped. Thank God, I've got all the 
 hair on my head yet, and battered as my old hulk has got 
 to be, and shattered as are my timbers, it is as black as a 
 raven's wing at this moment. This, my old ship-mate, who 
 is logging this yarn, says he thinks is a proof my mother 
 was a French Canadian, though such is not the fact, as it 
 has been told to me. 
 
 Those riflemen were regular scamps. Just before we 
 went down to the wharf, we saw dne walking sentinel be- 
 fore the door of a sort of barracks. On drawing near and 
 asking what was going on inside, we were told we had no- 
 thing to do with their fun ashore, that we might look in at a 
 window, however, but should not go in. We took him at 
 his word ; a merry" scene it was inside. The English offi- 
 cers' dunnage had been broken into, and there was a party 
 of the corps strutting about in uniform coats and feathers. 
 We thought it best to give these dare-devils a berth, and so 
 we letl them. One was never safe with them on the field 
 of battle, friend or enemy. 
 
 We met a large party of marines on the wharf, marching 
 up under Major Smith. They were going to protect the 
 
A LIFE BFORE THE MAST. 63 
 
 people of the town from further mischief. Mr. Osgood was 
 glad enough to see us, and we got plenty of praise for what 
 we had done with the women. As for the canteens, we had 
 to empty them, after treating the crew of the boa* hat was 
 sent to take us off. I did not enter the towh after that 
 night. 
 
 We lay some time in the Niagara, the commodo/e going 
 to the harbour to get the Pike ready. Captain Crane took 
 the rest of us off Kingston, where we were joined by the 
 commodore, and made sail again for the Niagara. Here 
 Colonel Scott embarked with a body of troops, and we went 
 to Burlington Bay to carry the heights. They were found 
 to be too strong; and the men, after landing, returned to the 
 vessels. We then went to York, again, and took possession 
 of the place a second time. Here we destroyed several 
 boats, and stores, set fire to the barracks, and did the enemy 
 a good deal of damage otherwise ; after which we left the 
 place. Two or three days later we crossed the lake and 
 landed the soldiers, again, at Fort Niagara. 
 
 Early in August, while we were still in the river. Sir 
 James Yeo hove in sight with two ships, two brigs, and two 
 schooners. We had thirteen sail in all, such as they were, 
 and immediately got under way, and manceuvred for the 
 weather-gauge. All the enemy's vessels had regular quar- 
 ters, and the ships were stout craft. Our squadron sailed 
 very unequally, some being pretty fast, and others as dull 
 as droggers. Nor were we more than half fitted out. On 
 board the Scourge the only square-sail we had, was made 
 out of an English marquee we had laid our hands on at 
 York, the first time we were there. I ought to say, too, 
 that we got two small brass guns at York, four-pounders, I 
 believe, which Mr. Osgood clapped into our two spare ports 
 forward. This gave us ten guns in all, sixes and fours. 
 I remember that Jack Mallet laughed at us heartily for the 
 fuss we made with our pop-guns, as he called them, while 
 we were working upon the English batteries, saying we 
 might just as well have spared our powder, as for any good 
 we did. He belonged to the Julia, which had a long thirty- 
 two, forward, which they called the " Old Sow," and one 
 smart eighteen aft. She had two sixes in her ■waist, also ; 
 but they disdained to use them. 
 
64 NEDMYERS;OR, 
 
 While we were up at the harbour, the last time, Mr. Mix 
 who had married a sister of Mr. Osgood, took a party of U3 
 in a boat, and we went up Black River, shooting. The two 
 gentlemen landed, and as we were coming down the river, 
 we saw something swimming, which proved to be a bear. 
 We had no arms, but we pulled over the beast, and had a 
 regular squaw-fight with him. We were an hour at work 
 with this animal, the fellow coming very near mastering us. 
 I struck at his nose with an iron tiller fifty times, but he 
 warded the blow like a boxer. He broke our boat-hook, 
 and once or twice, he came near boarding us. At length a 
 wood-boat gave us an axe, and with this we killed him. 
 Mr. Osgood had this bear skinned, and said he should send 
 the skin to his family. If he did, it must have been one of 
 the last memorials it ever got from him. 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 I LEFT the two fleets manoeuvring for the wind, in the 
 last chapter. About nine o'clock, the Pike got abeam of the 
 Wolfe, Sir James Yeo's own ship, hoisted her ensign, and 
 fired a few guns to try the range of her shot. The distance 
 was too great to engage. At this time our sternmost vessels 
 were two leagues off, and the commodore wore round, and 
 hauled up on the other tack. The enemy did the same 
 but, perceiving that our leading ships were likely to weathet 
 on him, he tacked, and hauled off to the northward. We 
 stood on in pursuit, tacking too ; but the wind soon fell, and 
 about sunset it was quite calm. 
 
 Throughout the day, the Scourge had as much as she 
 could do to keep anywhere near her station. As for the old 
 Oneida, she could not be kept within a long distance of her 
 proper berth. We were sweeping, at odd times, for hours 
 that day. Towards evening, all the light craft were doing 
 the same, to close with the commodore. Our object was to 
 get together, lest the enemy should cut off some of our small 
 vessels during the night. 
 
A LIFE B£FOR£ THE MAST. 65 
 
 Before dark the whole line was formed again, with the 
 exception of the Oneida, which was still astern, towing. 
 She ought to have been near the commodore, but could not 
 get there. A little before sunset, Mr. Osgood ordered us to 
 pull in our sweeps, and to take a spell. It was a lovely 
 evening, not a cloud visible, and the lake being as smooth 
 as a looking-glass. The English fleet was but a short dis- 
 tance to the northward of us ; so near, indeed, that we could 
 ulmost count their ports. They were becalmed, like our- 
 selves, and a little scattered. 
 
 We took in our sweeps as ordered, laying them athwart 
 the deck, in readiness to be used when wanted. The vessels 
 ahead and astern of us were, generally, within speaking dis- 
 tance. Just as the sun went below the horizon, George 
 Turnblatt, a Swede, who was our gunner, came to me, and 
 said he thought we ought to secure our guns ; for we had 
 been cleared for action all day, and the crew at quarters. 
 We were still at quarters, in name ; but the petty officers 
 were allowed to move about, and as much license was given 
 to the people as was wanted. I answered that I would gladly 
 secure mine if he would get an order for it ; but as we were 
 still at quarters, and there lay John Bull, we might get a 
 slap at him in the night. On this the gunner said he would 
 go aft, and speak to Mr. Osgood on the subject. He did so, 
 Dut met the captain (as we always called Mr. Osgood) at the 
 break of the quarter-deck. When George had told his 
 errand, the captain looked at the heavens, and remarked 
 that the night was so calm, there could be no great use in 
 securing the guns, and the English were so near we should 
 certainly engage, if there came a breeze ; that the men 
 would sleep at their quarters, of course, and would be ready 
 to take care of their guns ; but that he might catch a turn 
 with the side-tackle-falls around the pommelions of the guns, 
 which would be sufficient. He then ordered the boatswain 
 to call all hands aft, to the break of the quarter-deck. 
 
 As soon as the people had collected, Mr. Osgood said — 
 '' You must be pretty well fagged out, men ; I think we may 
 have a hard night's work, yet, and I wish you to get your 
 suppers, and then catch as much sleep as you can, at your 
 g jns." He then ordered the purser's steward to splice the 
 main-brace. These were the last words I ever heard from 
 fi* 
 
66 NEDMY£RS;OR, 
 
 Mr. Osgood. As soon as he gave the order, he went below 
 leaving the deck in charge of Mr. Bogardus. All our old 
 crew were on board but Mr. Livingston, who had left us, 
 and Simeon Grant, one-of my companions in the cruise over 
 the battle-ground at Fort George. Grant had cut his hand 
 off, in a saw-mill, while we were last at the Harbour, and 
 had been left behind in the hospital. There was a pilot on 
 board, who used to keep a look-out occasionally, and some- 
 times the boatswain had the watch. 
 
 The schooner, at this time, was under her mainsail, jib, 
 and fore-top-sail. The foresail was brailed, and the foot 
 stopped, and the flying-jib was stowed. None of the hal- 
 yards were racked, nor sheets stoppered. This was a pre- 
 caution we always took, on account of the craft's being so 
 tender. 
 
 We first spliced the main-brace and then got our suppers, 
 eating between the guns, where we generally messed, indeed. 
 One of my messmates, Tom Goldsmith, was captain of the 
 gun next to me, and as we sat there finishing our suppers, I 
 says to him, " Tom, bring up that rug that you pinned at 
 Little York, and that will do for both of us to stow our- 
 selves away under." Tom went down and got the rug, 
 which was an article for the camp that he had laid hands 
 on, and it made us a capital bed-quilt. As all hands were 
 pretty well tired, we lay down, with our heads on shot- 
 boxes, and soon went to sleep. 
 
 In speaking of the canvass that was set, I ought to have 
 said something of the state of our decks. The guns had 
 the side-tackles fastened as I have mentioned. There was 
 a box of canister, and another of grape, at each gun, be- 
 sides extra stands of both, under the shot-racks. There 
 was also one grummet of round-shot at every gun, besides 
 the racks being filled. Each gun's crew slept at the gun 
 and its opposite, thus dividing the people pretty equally on 
 both sides of the deck. Those who were stationed below, 
 .slept below. I think it probable that, as the night grew 
 cool, as it always does on the fresh waters, some of the men 
 stole below to get warmer berths. This was easily done in 
 that craft, as we had but two regjlar officers on board, the 
 acting boatswain and gunner being litlle more than two oJ 
 ourselves. 
 
ALIFE BEFORE THE MAST. 67 
 
 I was soon asleep, as sound as if lying in the bed of a 
 king. How long my nap lasted, or what took place in the 
 interval, I cannot say. 1 awoke, however, in consequence 
 of large drops of rain falling on my face. Tom Goldsmith 
 awoke at the same moment. When I opened my eyes, it 
 was so dark I could not see the length of the deck. I arose 
 and spoke to Tom, telling him it was about to rain, and that 
 I meant to go down and get a nip, out of a little stuff we 
 kept in our mess-chest, and that I would bring up the bottle 
 if he wanted a taste. Tom answered, " this is nothing ; 
 we 're neither pepper nor salt." One of the black men 
 spoke, and asked me to bring up the bottle, and give hira a 
 nip, too. All this took half a minute, perhaps. I now re- 
 member to have heard a strange rushmg noise to windward 
 as I went towards the forward hatch, though it made no 
 impression on me at the time. We had been lying between 
 the starboard guns, which was the weather side of the ves- 
 sel, if there were any weather side to it, there not being a 
 breath of air, and no motion to the water, and I passed 
 round to the larboard side, in order to find the ladder, which 
 led up in that direction. The hatch was so small that two 
 men could not pass at a time, and I felt my way to it, in no 
 haste. One hand was on the bitts, and a foot was on the 
 ladder, when a flash of lightning almost blinded me. The 
 thunder came at the next instant, and with it a rushing of 
 winds that fairly smothered the clap. 
 
 The instant I was aware there was a squall, I sprang for 
 the jib-sheet. Being captain of the forecastle, I knew where 
 to find it, and throw it loose at a jerk. In doing this, I 
 jumped on a man named Leonard Lewis, and called on him 
 to lend me a hand. I next let fly the larboard, or lee top- 
 sail-sheet, got hold of the clew-line, and, assisted by Lewis, 
 got the clew half up.- All this time I kept shouting to the 
 man at the wheel to put his helm " hard down." The water 
 was now up to my breast, and I knew the schooner must go 
 over. Lewis had not said a word, but I called out to him to 
 shift for himself, and belaying the clew-line, in hauling myself 
 forward of the foremast, I received a blow from the jib-sheet 
 that came near breaking my left arm. I did not feel the 
 effect of this blow at the time, though thie arm has since 
 
08 NEDMYERS;OK, 
 
 been operated on, to extract a tumour produced by this very 
 injury. 
 
 All this occupied less than a minute. The flashes of 
 lightning were incessant, and nearly blinded me. Our decka 
 seemed on fire, and yet I could see nothing. I heard no 
 hail, no order, no call ; but the schooner was filled with 
 the shrieks and cries of the men to leeward, who were lying 
 jammed under the guns, shot-boxes, shot, and other heavy 
 things that had gone down as the vessel fell over. The 
 starboard second gun, from forward, had capsized, and come 
 down directly over the forward hatch, and I caught a glimpse 
 of a man struggling to get past it. Apprehension of this 
 gun had induced me to drag myself forward of the mast, 
 where I received the blow mentioned. 
 
 I succeeded in hauling myself up to windward, and io 
 getting into the schooner's fore-channels. Here I met Wil- 
 liam Deer, the boatswain, and a black boy of the name of 
 Philips, who was the powder-boy of our gun. " Deer, she's 
 gone I" I said. The boatswain made no answer, but walked 
 out on the fore-rigging, towards the mast-head. He proba- 
 bly had some vague notion that the schooner's masts would 
 be out of water if she went down, and took this course as 
 the safest. The boy was in the chains the last I saw of him. 
 I now crawled aft, on the upper side of the bulwarks, 
 amid a most awful and infernal din of thunder, and shrieks, 
 and dazzling flashes of lightning ; the wind blowing all the 
 while like a tornado. When I reached the port of my own 
 gun, I put a foot in, thinking to step on the muzzle of the 
 piece ; but it had gone to leeward with all the rest, and 1 
 fell through the port, until I brought up with my arms. I 
 struggled up again, and continued working my way aft. As 
 I got abreast of the main-mast, I saw some one had Jet run 
 the halyards. I soon reached the beckets of the sweeps, 
 and found four in them. I could not swim a stroke, and it 
 crossed my mind to get one of the sweeps to keep me afloat. 
 In striving to jerk the becket clear, it parted, and the forward 
 ends of the four sweeps rolled down the schooner's side 
 into the water. This caused the other ends to slide, and all 
 the sweeps got away from me. I then crawled quite aft, as 
 far as the fashion-piece. The water was pouring down the 
 
A. LIFC BEFORE THE MAST. 69 
 
 cabin companion-way like a sluice ; and as I stood, for an 
 instant, on the fashion-piece, I saw Mr. Osgood, with his 
 head and pait of his shoulders through one of the cabin 
 windows, struggling to get out. He must have been within 
 six feet of me. I saw him but a moment, by means of a 
 flash of lightning, and I think he must have seen me. At 
 the same time, there was a man visible on the end of the 
 main- boom, holding on by the clew of the sail. I do not 
 know who it was. This man probably saw me, and that I 
 was about to spring; for he called out, "Don't jump over- 
 board ! — don't jump overboard ! The schooner is righting." 
 
 I was not in a state of mind to reflect much on anything. 
 I do not think more than three or four minutes, if as many, 
 had passed since the squall struck us, and there I was stand- 
 ing on the vessel's quarter, led by Providence more than 
 by any discretion of my own. It now came across me that 
 if the schooner should right she was filled, and must go 
 down, and that she might carry me with her in the suction. 
 I made a spring, therefore, and fell into the water several 
 feet from the place where I had stood. It is my opinion the 
 schooner sunk as I left her. I went down some distance 
 myself, and when I came up to the surface, I began to swim 
 vigorously for the first time in my life. I think I swam 
 several yards, but of course will not pretend to be certain 
 of such a thing, at such a moment, until I felt my hand hit 
 something hard. I made another stroke, and felt my hand 
 pass down the side of an object that I knew at once was a 
 clincher-built boat. I belonged to this boat, and I now 
 recollected that she had been towing astern. Until that 
 instant I had not thought of her, but thus was I led in the 
 dark to the best possible means of saving my life. I made 
 a grab at the gunwale, and caught it in the stern-sheets. 
 Had I swum another yard, I should have passed the boat, 
 and missed her altogether ! I got in without any difficulty, 
 being all alive and much excited. 
 
 My first look was for the schooner. She had disappeared, 
 and I supposed she was just settling under water. It rained 
 as if the flood-gates of heaven were opened, and it lightened 
 awfully. It did not seem to me that there was a breath of 
 air, and the water was unruffled, the effects of the rain ex- 
 ceptf^A. All this I saw, as it might be, at a glance. But 
 
70 NEDMYERS;OR, 
 
 my chief concern was to preserve my own life. I w&i 
 cockswain of this very boat, and had made it fast to ift'j 
 taffi-ail that same afternoon, with a round turn and two half- 
 hitches, by its best painter. Of course I expected the vessel 
 would drag the boat down with her, for I had no knife to 
 cut the painter. There was a gang-board in the boat, how- 
 ever, which lay fore and aft, and I thought this might ke'ep 
 me afloat until some of the fleet should pick me up. To 
 clear this gang- board, then, and get it into the water, was 
 my first object. I ran forward to throw off" the lazy-painter 
 that was coiled on its end, and in doing this T caught the 
 boat's painter in my hand, by accident. A pull satisfied me 
 that it was all clear ! Some one on board must have cast 
 off" this painter, and then lost his chance of getting into the 
 boat by an accident. At all events, I was safe, and I now 
 dared to look about me. 
 
 My only chance of seeing, was during the flashes ; and 
 these left me almost blind. 1 had thrown the gang-board 
 into the water, and I now called out to encourage the men, 
 telling them I was in the boat. I could hear many around 
 me, and, occasionally, I saw the heads of men, struggling 
 m the lake. There being no proper place to scull in, I got 
 an oar in the after ruUock, and made out to scull a little, in 
 that fashion. I now saw a man quite near the boat ; and, 
 hauling in the oar, made a spring amidships, catching this 
 poor fellow by the collar. He was very near gone ; and I 
 had a great deal of difficulty in getting him in over the gun- 
 wale. Our joint weight brought the boat down, so low, that 
 she shipped a good deal of water. This turned out to be 
 Leonard Lewis, the young man who had helped me to clew 
 up the fore-topsail. He could not stand, and spoke with 
 difficulty. I asked him to crawl aft, out c{ the water ; which 
 he did, lying down in the stern-sheets 
 
 I jiow looked about me, and heard another ,' leaning over 
 the gunwale, I got a glimpse of a man, struggling, quite 
 near the boat. I caught him by the collar, too; and had to 
 drag him in very much in the way I had done with Lewis. 
 This pi'oved to be Lemuel Bryant, the man who had beer 
 wounded by a hot shot, at York, as already mentioned, 
 while the commodore was on board us. His wound had not 
 yet healed, but he was less exhausted than Lewis. He coula 
 
A LIFE BEFORE THE MAST. 71 
 
 lot help me, however, lying down in the bottom of the boit, 
 .he instant he was able. 
 
 For a few moments, I now heard no more in the water ; 
 and I began to scull again. By my calculation, I moved a 
 [ew yards, and must have got over the spot where the 
 schooner went down. Here, in the flashes, I saw many 
 heads, the men swimming in confusion, and at random. By 
 this time, little was said, the whole scene being one of fear- 
 ful struggling and frightful silence. It still rained ; but the 
 flashes were less frequent, and less fierce. They told me, 
 afterwards, in the squadron, that it thundered awfully ; bui 
 I cannot say I heard a clap, after I struck the water. The 
 next man caught the boat himself. It was a mulatto, from 
 Martinique, who was Mr, Osgood's steward ; and I helped 
 him in. He was much exhausted, though an excellent 
 swimmer ; but alarm nearly deprived him of his strength. 
 He kept saying, " Oh ! Masser Ned — Ohi Masser Ned !" 
 and lay down in the bottom of the boat, like the two others ; 
 I taking care to shove him over to the larboard side, so as 
 to trim our small craft. 
 
 I kept calling out, to encourage the swimmers, and pre- 
 sently I heard a voice, saying, " Ned, I 'm here, close by 
 you." This was Tom Goldsmith, a messmate, and the very 
 man under whose rug I had been sleeping, at quarters. He 
 did not want much help, getting in, pretty much, by himself. 
 I asked him, if he were able to help me. " Yes, Ned," he 
 answered, " I '11 stand by you to the last ; what shall I do?" T 
 told him to take his tarpaulin, and to bail the boat, which, 
 by this time, was a third full of water. . This he did, while 
 I sculled a little ahead. " Ned," says Tom, " she 's gone 
 down with her colours flying, for her pennant came near 
 getting a round turn about my body, and carrying me down 
 with her. Davy has made a good haul, and he gave us a 
 close shave ; but he didn't get you and me." In this manner 
 did this thoughtless sailor express himself, as soon as res- 
 cued from the grasp of death ! Seeing something on the 
 water, I asked Tom to take my oar, while I sprang to the 
 gunwale, and caught Mr. Bogardus, the master's mate, who 
 was clinging to one of the sweeps. I hauled him in, and 
 he told me, he thought, some one had hold of the other end 
 of the sweep. It was so dark, however, we could not see 
 
72 NEDMYERS;OR, 
 
 even that distance. I hauled the sweep along, until I found 
 Ebenezer Duffy, a mulatto, and the ship's cook. He could 
 not swim a stroke ; and was nearly gone. I got him .'n, 
 alone, Tom bailing, lest the boat, which was quite small, 
 should swamp with us. 
 
 As the boat drifted along, she reached another man. 
 whom I caught also by the collar. I was afraid to !aaul 
 this person in amidships, the boat being now so deep, and 
 so small, and so I dragged him ahead, and hauled him in 
 over the bows. This was the pilot, whose name I never 
 knew. He was a lake-man, and had been aboard us the 
 whole summer. The poor fellow was almost gone, and like 
 all the rest, with the exception of Tom, he lay down and 
 said not a word. 
 
 We had nov/ as many in the boat as it would carry, and 
 Tom and myself thought it would not do to take in any 
 more. It is true, we saw no more, everything around us 
 appearing still as death, the pattering of the rain excepted. 
 Tom began to bail again, and I commenced hallooing. J 
 sculled about several minutes, thinking of giving others a 
 tow, or of even hauling in one or two more, after we got 
 the water out of the boat ; but we found no one else. I 
 think it probable I sculled away from the spot, as there was 
 nothing to guide me. I suppose, however, that by this time, 
 all the Scourges had gone down, for no more were ever 
 heard from. 
 
 • Tom Goldsmith and myself now put our heads together 
 as to what was best to be done. We were both afraid of 
 falling into the enemy's hands, for, they might have bore 
 up in the squall, and run down near us. On the whole, 
 however, we thought the distance between the two squad- 
 rons was too great for this ; at all events, something must 
 be done at once. So we began to row, in what direction 
 even we did not know. It still rained as hard as it could 
 pour, though there was not a breath of wind. The lightning 
 came now at considerable intervals, and the gust was evi- 
 dently passing away towards the broader parts of the lake. 
 While. we were revving and talking about our chance of 
 falling in with the enemy, Tom cried out to me to " avas' 
 pulling." He had seen a vessel, by a flash, and he though* 
 she was English, from her size. As he said she was s 
 
A LIFE B£FURE TH£ MAST. 73 
 
 schooner, however, I thought it must be one of our own 
 craft, and got her direction from him. At the next flash I 
 saw her, and felt satisfied she belonged to us. Before we 
 began to pull, however, we were hailed " boat ahoy 1" I 
 answered. " If you pull another stroke, I '11 fire into you" — 
 came back — " what boat 's that ? Lay on your oars, or I '11 
 fire into you." It was clear we were mistaken ourselves 
 for an enemy, and I called out to know what schooner it 
 was. No answer was given, though the threat to fire was 
 repeated, if we pulled another stroke. I now turned to Tom 
 and said, " I know that voice — that is old Trant." Tom 
 thought "we were in the v ong shop." I now sung out, 
 " This is the Scourge's boat — our schooner has gone down, 
 and we want to come alongside." A voice next called from 
 the schooner — " Is that you, Ned ?" This I knew was my 
 old ship-mate and school-fellow. Jack Mallet, who was act- 
 ing as boatswain of the Julia, the schooner commanded by 
 sailing-master James Trant, one of the oddities of the ser- 
 vice, and a man wiih whom the blow often came as soon as 
 the word. I had known Mr. Trant's voice, and felt more 
 afraid he would fire into us, than I had done of anything 
 which had occurred that fearful night. Mr. Trant, himself, 
 now called out — " Oh-ho ; give way, boys, and come 
 alongside." This we did, and a very few strokes took us 
 up to the Julia, where we were received with the utmost 
 kindness. The men were passed out of the boat, while I 
 gave Mr. Trant an account of all that had happened. This 
 took but a minute or two. 
 
 Mr. Trant now inquired in what direction the Scourge 
 had gone down, and, as soon as I had told him, in the best 
 manner I could, he called out to Jack Mallet — " Oh-ho, Mal- 
 let — take four hands, and go in the boat and see what you 
 can do — take a lantern,, and I will show a light on the wa- 
 ter's edge, so you may know me." Mallet did as ordered, 
 and was off in less than three minutes after we got along- 
 side. Mr. Trant, who was much humoured, had no officer 
 in the Julia, unless Mallet could be called one. He was an 
 Irishman by birth, but had been in the American navy ever 
 since the revolution, dying a lieutenant, a few years aftei 
 this war. Perhaps no man in the navy was more generally 
 known, or excited more am isement by his oddities, or more 
 - 7 
 
74 NEDMYERS;OR, 
 
 respect for his courage. He had come on the lake with the 
 commodore, with whom he was a great pet, and had been 
 active in all the fights and afTairs that had yet taken place. 
 His religion was to hate an Englishman. 
 
 Mr. Trant now called the Scourges aft, and asked more 
 of the particulars. He then gave us a glass of grog all 
 round, and made his own crew splice the main-brace. The 
 Julias now offered us dry clothes. I got a change from 
 Jack Reilly, who had been an old messmate, and with whom 
 I had always been on good terms. It knocked off raining, 
 but we shifted ourselves at the galley fire below. I then 
 went on deck, and presently we heard the boat pulling back. 
 It soon came alongside, bringing in it four more men that 
 had been found floating about on sweeps and gratings. On 
 inquiry, it turned out that these men belonged to the Hamil- 
 ton, Lt. Winter — a schooner that had gone down in the 
 same squall that carried us over. These men were very 
 much exhausted, too, and we all went below, and were told 
 to turn in. 
 
 I had been so much excited during the scenes through 
 which I had just passed, and had been so much stimulated 
 by grog, that, as yet, I had not felt much of the depression 
 natural lo buch events. I even slept soundly that night, nor 
 did I turn ouu until six the next morning. 
 
 When I got uti deck, there was a fine breeze ; it was a 
 lovely day, and the lake was perfectly smooth. Our fleet was 
 in a good line, in pretty close order, with the exception of 
 the Governor Tompkins, Lieutenant Tom Brown, which was 
 a little to leeward, but carrying a press of sail to close with 
 the commodore. Mr. Tiant perceiving that the Tompkins 
 wished to speak us in pasrsing, brailed his foresail and let 
 her Ijiff up close under out lee. "Two of the schooners, 
 the Hamilton and the Scouige, have gone down in the night," 
 called out Mr. Brown ; " foi I have picked up four of the 
 Hamilton's." " Oh-ho !" — answered Mr. Trant — "That's 
 no news at all ! for I have picked up twelve ; eight of the 
 Scourge's, and four of the Hamilton's — aft fore-sheet." 
 
 These were all that were ever saved from the two schoon- 
 ers, which must have had near a hundred souls on board 
 them. The two commanders. Lieutenant Winter and Mr, 
 Osgood were both lost, and .<ith Mr. Winter went down 
 
A LITE BEFORE THE MAST. 75 
 
 I believe, one or two young gentlemen. The squadron 
 could not have moved much between the time when the 
 accidents happened and that when I came on deck, or we 
 must have come round and gone over the same ground 
 again, for we now passed many relics of the scene, floating 
 about in the water. I saw spunges, gratings, sweeps, hats, 
 &c., scattered about, and in passing ahead we saw one of 
 the latter that we tried to catch ; Mr. Trant ordering it 
 done, as he said it must have been Lieutenant Winter's. 
 We did not succeed, however ; nor was any article taken 
 on board. A good look-out was kept for men, from aloit, 
 but none were seen from any of the vessels. The lake had 
 swallowed up the rest of the two crews ; and the Scourge, 
 as had been often predicted, had literally become a coffin to 
 a large portion of her people. 
 
 There was a good deal of manoeuvring between the two 
 fleets this day, and some efforts were made to engage ; but, 
 to own the truth, I felt so melancholy about the loss of so 
 many ship-mates, that I did not take much notice of what 
 passed. All my Black Jokers were drowned, and nothing 
 remained of the craft and people with which and whom 1 
 had been associated all summer. Bill Southard, too, was 
 among the lost, as indeed were all my messmates but Tom 
 Goldsmith and Lemuel Bryant. T had very serious and 
 proper impressions for the moment ; but my new shipmates, 
 some of whom had been old shipmates in other crafts, man- 
 aged to cheer me up with grog. The effect was not durable, 
 and in a short time I ceased to think of what had happened. 
 I have probably reflected more on the merciful manner in 
 which my life was spared, amid a scene so terrific, within 
 the last five years, than I did in the twenty-five that imme- 
 diately followed the accidents. 
 
 The fleet went in, off" the Niagara, and anchored. Mr. 
 Trant now mustered the remaining Scourges, and told us 
 he wanted just our number of hands, and that he meant to 
 get an order to keep us in the Julia. In the meantime, he 
 should station and quarter us. I was stationed at the braces, 
 Rnd quartered at the long thirty-two as second loader. The 
 Julia mounted a long thirty-two, and an eighteen on pivots, 
 besides two sixes in the 'waist. The last were little used, as 
 I have already mentioned. She was a small, but a fast 
 
76 NEDMYERS;OR, 
 
 schooner, and had about forty souls on board. She waa 
 altogether a better craft than the Scourge, though destitute 
 of any quarters, but a low rail with wash-boards, and car- 
 rying fewer guns. 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 I NEVER knew what became of the four Hamiltons that 
 were picked up by the Julia's boat, though I suppose they 
 were put in some other vessel along with their shipmates ; 
 nor did I ever learn the particulars of the loss of this schooner, 
 beyond the fact that her topsail-sheets were stoppered, and 
 her halyards racked. This much I learned from the men 
 Avho were brought on board the Julia, who said that their 
 craft was ready, in all respects, for action. Some seamen 
 have thought this wrong, and some right; but, in my 
 opinion, it made but little difference in such a gust as that 
 which passed over us. What was remarkable, the Julia, 
 which could not have been far from the Scourge when we 
 went over, felt no great matter of wind, just luffing up, and 
 shaking her sails, to be rid of it! 
 
 We lay only one night off the mouth of the Niagara. 
 The next morning the squadron weighed, and stood out in 
 pursuit of the English. The weather was very variable, 
 and we could not get within reach of Sir James all that 
 day. This was the 9th of August. The Scourge had gone 
 down on the night of the 7th, or the morning of the 8th, I 
 never knew which. On the morning of the 10th, however, 
 we were under the north shore, and to windward of John 
 Bull. The Commodore now took the Asp, and the Madison 
 the Fair American, in tow, and we all kept away, expecting 
 certainly a general action. But the wind shifted, bringing 
 the English to windward. The afternoon was calm ; oi 
 had variable airs. Towards sunset, the enemy was be- 
 calmed under the American shore^ and we got a breeze 
 from the southward. We now closed, and at 6 formed our 
 )ine for engaging. We continued to close until 7, when 
 
A LIFE BEFORE THE MAST. 71 
 
 ihe wind came out fresh at S. W., putting John again to 
 windward. 
 
 I can hardly tell what followed, there was so much ma- 
 noeuvring and shifting of berths. Both squadroas were 
 standing across the lake, the enemy being to windward, and 
 a little astern of us. We now passed within hail of the 
 commodore, who gave us orders to form a new line of bat- 
 tle, which we did in the following manner. One line, com- 
 posed of the smallest schooners, was formed to windward, 
 while the ships, brig, and two heaviest schooners, formed 
 another line to leeward. We had the weathermost line, 
 having the Growler, Lieutenant Deacon, for the vessel next 
 astern of us. This much I could see, though I did not un- 
 derstand the object. I now learn the plan was for the 
 weather line to engage the enemy, and then, by edging 
 away, draw them down upon the lee line, which line con- 
 tained our principal force. According to the orders, we 
 ought to have rather edged off, as soon as the Englisli 
 began to fire, in order to draw them down upon the commo 
 dore ; but it will be seen that our schooner pursued a ver) 
 different course. 
 
 It must have been near midnight, when the enemy began 
 to fire at the Fair American, the sternmost vessel of oui 
 weather line. We were a long bit ahead of her, and did 
 not engage for some time. The firing became pretty smart 
 astern, but we stood on, without engaging, the enemy not 
 yet being far enough ahead for us. After a while, the four 
 sternmost schooners of our line kept off", according to orders, 
 but the Julia and Growler still stood on. I suppose the 
 English kept off", too, at the same time, as the commodore 
 had expected. At any rate, we found ourselves so well up 
 with the enemy, that, instead of bearing up, Mr. Trant 
 tacked in the Julia, and the Growler came round after us. 
 We now began to fire on the headmost ships of the enemy, 
 which were coming on towards us. We were able to lay 
 past the enemy on this tack, and fairly got to windward of 
 them. When we were a little on John Bull's weather boWj 
 we brailed the foresail, and gave him sevei'al rounds, within . 
 1 pretty fair distance. The enemy answered us, and, from 
 
 that moment, he seemed to give up all thoughts of the ves- 
 
 7 * 
 
78 NEDMY£RS;OR, 
 
 sels to leeward of him, turning his whole attention on the 
 Julia and Growler. 
 
 The English fleet stood on the same tack, until it had got 
 between us and our own line, when it went about in chase 
 of us. We now began to make short tacks to windward ; 
 the enemy separating so as to spread a wide clew, in order 
 that they might prevent our getting past, by turning their 
 line and running to leeward. As for keeping to windward, 
 we had no difficulty — occasionally brailing our foresail, and 
 even edging off, now and then, to be certain that our shot 
 would tell. In moderate weather, the Julia was the fastest 
 vessel in the American squadron, the Lady of the Lake 
 excepted ; and the Growler was far from being dull. Had 
 there been room, I make no doubt we might have kept clear 
 of John Bull, with the greatest ease; touching him up with 
 our long, heavy guns, from time to time, as it suited us. I 
 have often thought that Mr. Trant forgot we were between 
 the enemy and the land, and that he fancied himself out at 
 sea. It was a hazy, moonlight morning, and we did not see 
 anything of the main, though it turned out to be nearer to 
 us than we wished. 
 
 All hands were now turning to windward ; the two 
 schooners still edging off, occasionally, and firing. The 
 enemy's shot went far beyond us, and did us some mischief, 
 though nothing that was not immediately repaired. The 
 main throat-halyards, on board the Julia, were shot away, 
 as was the clew of the mainsail. It is probable the enemy 
 did not keep his luff, towards the last, on account of the land. 
 
 Our two schooners'kept quite near each other, sometimes 
 one being to windward, sometimes the other. It happened 
 that the Growler was a short distance to windward of us, 
 when we first became aware of the nature of our critical 
 situation. She up helm, and, running down within hail. 
 Lieutenant Deacon informed Mr. Trant he had just sounded 
 in two fathoms, and that he could see lights ashore. He 
 thought there must be Indians, in great numbers, in this 
 vicinity, and that we must, at all events, avoid the land. 
 "What do you think we had best do?" asked Lieutenant 
 Deacon. "Run the gauntlet," called out Mr. Trant. " Very 
 well, sir : which shall lead ?" " I'll lead the van," answered 
 Mr. Trant, and then all was settled. 
 
A L I F E B E F O R E THE MAST. 70 
 
 We now up helm, and steered for a vacancy aniong the 
 British vessels. The enemy seemed to expect us, for they 
 formed m two lines, leaving us room to enter between them. 
 When we bore up, even in these critical circumstances, it 
 was under our mainsail, fore-top-sail, jib, flying-jib, and fore- 
 sail. So insufficient were the equipments of these small 
 craft, that we had neither square-sail nor studding-sails on 
 board us. I never saw a studding-sail in any of the schoon- 
 ers, the Scourge excepted. 
 
 The Julia and Growler now ran down, the former lead- 
 ing, half a cable's-length apart. When we entered between 
 the two lines of the enemy, we were within short canister- 
 range, and got it smartly on both tacks. The two English 
 ships were to leeward, each leading a line ; and we had a 
 brig, and three large, regular man-of-war schooners, to get 
 past, with the certainty of meeting the Wolfe and Royal 
 George, should we succeed in clearing these four craft. Both 
 of us kept up a heavy fire, swivelling our guns round, so as 
 not to neglect any one. As we drew near the ships, how- 
 ever, we paid them the compliment of throwing all the heavy 
 shot at them, as was due to their rank and size. 
 
 For a few minutes we fared pretty well ; but we were no 
 sooner well entered between the lines, than we got it, hot 
 and hard. Our rigging began to come down about our ears, 
 and one shot passed a few feet above our heads, cutting both 
 topsail-sheets, and scooping a bit of wood as big as a thirty- 
 two pound shot, out of the foremast. I went up on one side, 
 myself, to knot one of these sheets, and, while aloft, disco- 
 vered the injury that had been done to the spar. Soon after, 
 the tack of the mainsail caught fire, from a wad of one of 
 the Englishmen ; for, by this time, we were close at it. 1 
 think, indeed, that the nearness of the enemy alone pre- 
 vented our decks from being entirely swept. The grape and 
 canister were passing just above our heads like hail, and the 
 foresail was literally in ribands. The halyards being gone, 
 the mainsail came down by the run, and the jib settled as 
 low as it could. The topsail-yard was on the cap, and the 
 schooner now came up into the wind. 
 
 All this time, we kept working the guns. The old man 
 went from one gun to the other, pointing each himself, as it 
 vas ready. He was at the eighteen when things were get- 
 
80 NEDMYERS;OR, 
 
 ting near the worst, and, as he left her, he called out to hei 
 crew to "fill her — fill her to the muzzle!" He then came 
 to our gun, which was already loaded with one round, a 
 stand of grape, and a case of canister shot. This I know, 
 for I put them all in with my own hands. At this time, the 
 Melville, a brig of the enemy's, was close up with us, firing 
 upon our decks from her fore-top. She was coming up on 
 our larboard quarter, while a large schooner was nearing us 
 fast on the starboard. Mr. Trant directed our gun to be 
 elevated so as to sweep the brig's forecastle, and then he 
 
 called out, " Now 's the time, lads — fire at the b s I fire 
 
 away at 'em !" But no match was to be found I Some one 
 had thrown both overboard. By this time the brig's jib- 
 boom was over our quarter, and the English were actually 
 coming on board of us. The enemy were now all round us. 
 The Wolfe, herself, was within hail, and still firing. The 
 last I saw of any of our people, was Mallet passing forward, 
 and I sat down on the slide of the thirty-two, myself, suiisji 
 as a bear. Two or three of the English passed me, without 
 saying anything. Even at this instant, a volley of bullets 
 came out of the brig's fore-top, and struck all around me ; 
 some hitting the deck, and others the gun itself. Just then, 
 an English officer came up, and said — " What are you doing 
 here, you Yankee?" I felt exceedingly savage, and an- 
 swered, " Looking at your fools firing upon their own men." 
 " Take that for your sauce," he said, giving me a thrust 
 with his sword, as he spoke. The point of the cutlass just 
 passed my hip-bone, and gave me a smart flesh-wound. The 
 hurt was not dangerous, though it bled freely, and was some 
 weeks in healing. I now rose to go below, and heard a hail 
 from one of the ships — the Wolfe, as I took her to be. 
 " Have you struck ?" demanded some one. The officer who 
 had hurt me now called out, " Don't fire into us, sir, for I'm 
 on board, and have got possession." The officer from the 
 ship next asked, "Is there anybody alive on board her?" 
 To which the prize-officer answered, " I don't know, sir , 
 I 've seen but one man, as yet." 
 
 I now went down below. First, I got a bandage on my 
 wound, to stop the bleeding, and then I had an opportunity 
 to look about me. A party of English was below, and 
 some of our men having joined them, the heads were knock- 
 
A LIFE B£FOR£ THE MAST. 81 
 
 ed out of two barrels of whiskey. The kids and bread-bags 
 were procured, and all hands, without distinction of country, 
 sat down to enjoy themselves. Some even began to sing, 
 and, as for good-fellowship, it was just as marked, as it 
 would have been in a jollification ashore. 
 
 In a few minutes the officer who had hurt me jumped 
 down among us. The instant he saw what we were at, he 
 sang out — " Halloo 1 here 's high life below stairs 1" Then 
 he sailed to another officer to bear a hand down and see the 
 fun. Some one sung out from among ourselves to " dowse 
 the glim." The lights were put out, and then the two offi- 
 cers capsized the whiskey. While this was doing, most of 
 the Englishmen ran up the forward hatch. We Julias all 
 remained below. 
 
 In less than an hour we were sent on board the enemy's 
 vessels. I was carried to the Royal George, but Mr. Trant 
 was taken on board the Wolfe. The Growler had lost her 
 bowsprit, and was otherwise damaged, and had been forced 
 to strike also. She had a man killed, and I believe one or 
 two wounded.* On board of us, not a man, besides myself, 
 had been touched 1 We seemed to have been preserved by 
 a miracle, for every one of the enemy had a slap at us, and, 
 for some time, we were within pistol-shot. Then we had 
 00 quarters at all, being perfectly exposed to grape and 
 canister. The enemy must have fired too high, for nothing 
 else could have saved us. 
 
 In July, while I still belonged to the Scourge, I had been 
 sent with a boat's crew, under Mr. Bogardus, on board an 
 English flag of truce that had come into the Harbour. 
 While in this vessel, our boat's crew were "hail-fellows- 
 well-met" with the Englishmen, and we had agreed among 
 us to take care of each other, should either side happen to 
 be taken. I had been on board the Royal George but a 
 short time, when two of these very men came up to me with 
 some grog and some grub ; and next morning they brought 
 
 * It is supposed that Capt. Deacon died, a few years since, in con- 
 Bequence of an injury he received on board the Growler, this night. 
 A shot struck her main-boom, within a short distance of one of his 
 ears, and he ever after complained of its effects. 'At his death this 
 side of bis head was much swollen and afiected. — Editor. 
 
82 NEl>MYIiRS;OR, 
 
 me my bitters. I saw no more of them, however, excepH 
 when they came to shake hands with us at the gang-way, as 
 we were leaving the ship. 
 
 After breakfast, next morning, we were all called aft to 
 the ward-room, one at a time. I was pumped as to the 
 force of the Americans, the names of the vessels, the num- 
 bers of the crews, and the names of the commanders. 1 
 answered a little saucily, and was ordered out of the ward- 
 room. As I was quitting the place, I was called back by 
 one of the lieutenants, whose appearance I did not like from 
 the first. Although it was now eight years since I left Hali- 
 fax, and we had both so much altered, I took this gentleman 
 for Mr. Bowen, the very midshipman of the Cleopatra, who 
 had been my schoolmate, and whom I had known on board 
 the prize-brig I have mentioned. 
 
 This officer asked me where I was born. I told him New 
 York. He said he knew better, and asked my name. J 
 told him it was what he found it on the muster-roll, and traf 
 by which I had been called. He said I knew better, and 
 that I should hear more of this, hereafter. If this were my 
 old schoolfellow, he knew that I was always called Edward 
 Robert Meyers, whereas I had dropped the middle name," 
 and now called myself Myers. He may not, however, have 
 been the person I took him for, and might have mistaken 
 me for some one else ; for I never had an opportunity of 
 ascertaining any more about him. 
 
 We got into Little York, and were sent ashore that even- 
 ing. I can say nothing of our squadron, having been kept 
 below the whole time I was on board the Royal George. I 
 could not find out whether we did the enemy any harm, or 
 not, the night we were taken ; though I remember that a 
 sixty-eight pound carronade, that stood near the gang-way 
 of the Royal George, was dismounted, the night I passed 
 into her. It looked to me as if the trucks were gone. This 
 I know, that the ship was more than usually screened off; 
 though for what reason I will npt pretend to say. 
 
 At York, we were put in the gaol, where we were kept three 
 weeks. Our treatment was every way bad, with the excep- 
 tion that we were not crowded. As to food, we were kept 
 " six upon four" the whole time I was prisoner.* The bread 
 
 * By this, Ned means six men had to subsist on the usual allow 
 
A LIFE BEFORE THE MAST. 83 
 
 was bad, and the pork little better. While in this gaol, a 
 party of drunken Indians gave us a volley, in passing; but 
 luckily it did us no harm. 
 
 At the end of three weeks, we received a haversack 
 apiece, and two days' allowance. Our clothes were taken 
 from us, and the men were told they would get them below; 
 a thing that happened to very few of us, I believe. As for 
 myself, I was luckily without anything to lose ; my effects 
 having gone down in the Scourge. All I had on earth was 
 a shirt and two handkerchiefs, and an old slouched hat, that 
 I had got in exchange for a Scotch cap that had been given 
 to me in the Julia. I was without shoes, and so continued 
 until I reached Halifax. All this gave me little concern ; 
 my spirits being elastic, and my disposition gay. My great 
 trouble was the apprehension of being known, through the 
 recollections of the officer I have mentioned. 
 
 We now commenced our march for Kingston, under the 
 guard of a company of the Glengarians and a party of 
 Indians. The last kept on our flanks, and it was understood 
 they would shoot and scalp any man who left the ranks. 
 We marched two and two, being something like eighty pri- 
 soners. It was hard work for the first day or two, the road 
 being nothing but an Indian trail, and our lodging-places 
 the open air. My feet became very sore, and, as for food, 
 we had to eat our pork raw, there being nothing to cook in. 
 The soldiers fared no better than ourselves, however, with 
 the exception of being on full allowance. It seems that our 
 provisions were sent by water, and left for us at particular 
 places ; for every eight-and-forty hours we touched the lake 
 shore, and found them ready for us. They were left on the 
 beach without any guard, or any one near them. In this 
 way we picked up our supplies the whole distance. 
 
 At the depot, Mr. Bogardus and the pilot found a boat, 
 and managed to get into her, and put out into the lake. 
 After being absent a day and night, they were driven in by 
 rough weather, and fell into the hands of a party of dra- 
 goons who were escorting Sir George Prevost along the laka 
 
 ance of four men ; a distinction that was made between men on dutj 
 aiid men off. Prisoners, too, are commonly allowed to help themselves 
 in a variety of ways. — Editor. 
 
84 NEDIHYERS;OR, 
 
 shore. We found them at a sort of tavern, where were the 
 English Governor and his escort at the time. They were 
 sent back among us, with two American army officers, who 
 had fallen into the hands of the Indians, and had been most 
 foully treated. One of these officers was wounded in the 
 arm. 
 
 The night of the day we fell in with Sir George Prevost, 
 we passed through a hamlet, and slept just without it. As 
 we entered the village the guard played Yankee Doodle, 
 winding up with the Rogue's March. As we went through 
 the place, I got leave to go to a house and ask for a drink 
 of milk. The woman of this house said they had been ex- 
 pecting us for two days, and that they had been saving their 
 milk expressly to give us. I got as much as I wanted, and 
 a small loaf of bread in the bargain, as did several others 
 with me. These people seemed to me to be all well affected 
 So the Americans, and much disposed to treat us kindly. 
 We slept on a barn floor that night. 
 
 We were much provoked at the insult of playing fhe 
 Rogue's March. Jack Reilly and I laid a plan to have our 
 revenge, should it be repeated. Two or three days later 
 we had the same tune, at another village, and I caught up 
 a couple of large stones, ran ahead, and dashed them through 
 both ends of the drum, before the boy, who was beating it, 
 knew what I was about. Jack snatched the fife out of the 
 other boy's hand, and it was passed from one to another 
 among us, until it reached one who threw it over the railing 
 of a bridge. After this, we had no more music, good or 
 bad. Not a word was said to any of us about this affair, 
 and I really think the officers were ashamed of themselves. 
 
 After a march of several days we came to a hamlet, not 
 a great distance from Kingston. I saw a good many geese 
 about, and took a fancy to have one for supper. I told Mal- 
 let if he would cook a goose, I would tip one over. The 
 matter was arranged between us, and picking up a club I 
 made a dash at a flock, and knocked a bird over. I caught 
 up the goose and ran, when my fellow-prisoners called out 
 to me to dodge, which I did, behind a stump, not knowing 
 from what quarter the danger might come. It was well I 
 did, for two Indians fired at me, one hitting the stump, and 
 fhe other ball passing just over my head. A militia officoj 
 
A LIFE BEFORE THE MAST. 85 
 
 now gallopped up, and drove back the Indians who were 
 running up to me, to look after the scalp, I suppose. This 
 officer remonstrated with me, but spoke mildly and even 
 kindly. I told him I was hungry, and that I wanted a warm 
 mess. " But you are committing a robbery," he said. " If 
 I am, I 'm robbing an enemy." " You do not know but it 
 may be a friend," was his significant answer. " Well, if I 
 am, he '11 not grudge me the goose," says I. On hearing 
 this, the officer laughed, and asked me how I meant to cook 
 Ihe goose. I told him that one of my messmates had pro- 
 mised to do this for me. He then bade me carry the goose 
 into the ranks, and to come to him when we halted at night. 
 I did this, and he gave us a pan, some potatoes, onions, &c., 
 out of which we made the only good mess we got on our 
 march. I may say this was the last hearty and really pala- 
 table meal I made until I reached Halifax, a period of seve- 
 ral weeks. 
 
 While Jack Mallet was cooking the goose, I went in be- 
 hind a pile of boards, attended by a soldier to watch me 
 and, while there, I saw an ivory rule lying on the boards, 
 with fifteen pence alongside of it. These I pinned, as a 
 lawful prize, being in an enemy's country. The money 
 served to buy us some bread. The rule was bartered for 
 half a gallon of rum. This made us a merry night, taking 
 all things togej.her. 
 
 We made no halt at Kingston, though the Indians left us. 
 We now marched through a settled country, with some 
 militia for our guards. Our treatment was much better than 
 Jt had been, the people of the country treating us kindly. 
 When we were abreast of the Thousand Islands, Mr. Bo- 
 gardus and the pilot made another attempt to escape, and 
 got fairly off". These were the only two who did succeed. 
 How they effected it I cannot say, but I know they escaped. 
 I never saw either afterwards. 
 
 At the Long Sault, we were all put in boats, with a Ca- 
 nadian pilot in each end. The militia staid behind, and 
 down we went ; they say at the rate of nine miles in fifteen 
 minutes. We found a new guard at the foot of the rapids. 
 This was done, beyond a doubt, to save us and themselves, 
 though we thought hard of it at the time, for it appeared to 
 us, as if they thrust us into a danger they did not like to 
 8 
 
96 NEDMYERS;OR, 
 
 run themselves. I have since heard that even ladies travel- 
 ling, used to go dov^'n these formidable rapids in the same 
 way ; and that, with skilful pilots, there is little or no dan- 
 ger. 
 
 When we reached Montreal we were confined in a gaol 
 where we remained three weeks. There was an American 
 lady confined in this building, though she had more liberty 
 than we, and from her we received much aid. She sent us 
 soap, and she gave me bandages &c., for my hurt. Occa- 
 sionally she gave us little things to eat. I never knew her 
 name, but heard she had two sons in the American army, 
 and that she had been detected in corresponding with them. 
 
 We remained at Montreal two or three weeks, and then 
 were sent down to Quebec, where we were put on board of 
 prison-ships. I was sent to the Lord Cathcart, and most 
 of the Julia's men with me. Our provisions were very bad, 
 and the mortality among us was great. The bread was 
 intolerably bad. Mr. Trant came to see us, privately, and 
 he brought some salt with him, which was a great relief to 
 us. Jack Mallet asked him whether some of us might not 
 go to work on board a transport, that lay just astern of us, 
 in order to get something better to eat. Mr. Trant said yes, 
 and eight of us went on board this craft, every day, getting 
 provisions and grog for our pay. At sunset, we returned 
 regularly to the Cathcart. I got a second shirt and a pair 
 of trowsers in this way. 
 
 About a fortnight after this arrangement, the Surprise^ 
 32, and a sloop-of-war, came in, anchoring some distance 
 below the town. These ships sent their boats up to the 
 prison-ships to examine them for men. After going through 
 those vessels, they came on board the transport, and finding 
 us fresh, clean, fed and tolerably clad, they pronounced us 
 all Englishmen, and carried us on board the frigate. We 
 were not permitted even to go and take leave of our ship- 
 mates. Of the eight men thus taken, five were native 
 Americans, one was from Mozambique, one I suppose to 
 have been an English subject born, but long settled in 
 America; and, as for me, the reader knows as much of m} 
 origin as I know myself. 
 
 We were asked if we would go to duty on board the Sur« 
 prise, and we all refused. We were then put in close con- 
 
A LIFE BEFORE THE MAST. 87 
 
 finernent, on the berth-deck, under the charge of a sentry 
 In a day or two, the ship sailed ; and off Cape Breton we 
 met with a heavy gale, in which the people suffered severely 
 with snow and cold. The ship was kept off the land, with 
 great difficulty. After all, we prisoners saved the ship, 
 though I think it likely the injury originally came from 
 some of us. The breechings of two of the guns had been 
 cut, and the guns broke adrift in the height of the gale. All 
 the crew were on deck, and the sentinel permitting it, we 
 went up and smothered the guns with hammocks. We 
 were now allowed to go about deck, but this lasted a short 
 time, the whole of us being sent below, again, as soon as 
 the gale abated. 
 
 On reaching Halifax, we were all put on board of the 
 Regulus transport, bound to Bermuda. Here we eight were 
 thrown into irons, under the accusation of being British 
 subjects. At the end of twenty-four hours, however, the 
 captain came to us, and offered to let us out of irons, and 
 to give us ship's treatment, if we would help in working the 
 vessel to Bermuda. I have since thought we were ironed 
 merely to extort this arrangement from us. We consulted 
 together ; and, thinking a chance might offer to get posses- 
 sion of the Regulus, which had only a few Canadians in 
 her, and was to be convoyed by the Pictou schooner, we 
 consented. We were now turned up to duty, and I got the 
 first pair of shoes that had been on my feet since the Scourge 
 sunk from under me. 
 
 The reader will imagine I had not been in the harbour 
 of Halifax, without a strong desire to ascertain something 
 about those I had left behind me, in that town. I was ner- 
 vously afraid of being discovered, and yet had a feverish 
 wish to go ashore. The manner in which I gratified this 
 wish, and the conseqiiences to which it led, will be seen in 
 he sefjuel. 
 
88 NEDMYERS;OR, 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 Jack Mallet had long known my history. He was 
 my confidant, and entered into all my feelings. The night 
 we went to duty on board the transport, a boat was lying 
 alongside of the ship, and the weather being thick, it afforded 
 a good opportunity for gratifying my longing. Jack and 
 myself got in, after putting our heads together, and stole off 
 undetected. I pulled directly up to the wharf of Mr. Mar- 
 chinton, and at once found myself at home. I will not pre- 
 tend to describe my sensations, but they were a strange 
 mixture of apprehension, disquiet, hope, and natural attach- 
 ment. I wished much to see my sister, but was afraid to 
 venture on that. 
 
 There was a family, however, of the name of Fraser, that 
 lived near the shore, with which I had been well acquainted, 
 and in whose members I had great confidence. They were 
 respectable in position, its head being called a judge, and 
 they were all intimate with the Marchintons. To the Era- 
 sers, then, I went ; Jack keeping me company. I was 
 afraid, if I knocked, the servant would not let me in, ap- 
 pearing, as I did, in the dress of a common sailor; so I 
 opened the street-door without any ceremony, and went 
 directly to that of the parlour, which I entered before there 
 was time to stop me. Jack brought up in the entry. 
 
 Mrs. Fraser and her daughter were seated together, on a 
 settee, and the judge was reading at a table. My sudden 
 apparition astonished them, and all three gazed at me in 
 silence. Mr. Fraser then said, " In the name of heaven, 
 where did you come from, Edward I" I told him I had 
 been in the American service, but that I now belonged to an 
 English transport that was to sail in the morning, and that 
 I had just come ashore to inquire how all hands did ; par- 
 ticularly my sister. He told me that my sister was living, 
 a married woman, in Halifax ; that Mr. Marchinton was 
 dead, and had grieved very much at my disappearance ; 
 that I was supposed to be dead. He then gave me much 
 advice as to my future course, and leminded me how much 
 I had lost by my early mistakes. He was particularly 
 
A lilFB BEFORE THE MAST. 89 
 
 nnxious I should quit my adopted country, and wished me 
 to remain in Halitax. He offered to send a servant with 
 me to find my sister, but I was afraid to let my presence be 
 known to so many. I begged my visit might be kept a 
 secret, as I felt ashamed of being seen in so humble circum- 
 stances. I was well treated, as was Jack Mallet, both of 
 us receiving wine and cake, &c. Mr. Fraser also gave me 
 a guinea, and as I went away, Mrs. Fraser slipped a pound 
 note into my hand. The latter said to me, in a whisper — 
 " I know what you are afraid of, but I shall tell Harriet of 
 your visit ; she will be secret." 
 
 I staid about an hour, receiving every mark of kindness 
 from these excellent and respectable people, leaving them to 
 believe we were to sail in the morning. When we got 
 back to the transport no one kne\y of our absence, and no- 
 thing was ever said of our taking the boat. The Regulus 
 did not sail for twenty hours after this, but I had no more 
 communication with the shore. We got to sea, at last, two 
 transports, under the convoy of the Pictou. 
 
 During the whole passage, we eight prisoners kept a sharp 
 look-out for a chance to get possession of the ship. We 
 were closely watched, there being a lieutenant and his boat's 
 crew on board, besides the Canadians, the master, mate, &c. 
 All the arms were secreted, and nothing was left at hand, 
 that we could use in a rising. 
 
 About mid passage, it blowing fresh, with the ship under 
 double-reefed topsails, I was at the weather, with one of the 
 Canadians at the lee, wheel. Mallet was at work in the lar- 
 board, or weather, mizen chains, ready to lend me a hand. 
 At this moment the Pictou came up under our lee, to speak 
 us in relation to carrying a light during the night. Her 
 masts swung so she could not carry one herself, and her 
 commander wished us to carry our top-light, he keeping near 
 it, instead of our keeping near him. The schooner came 
 very close to us, it blowing heavily, and Mallet called out, 
 " Ned, now is your time. Up helm and into him. A couple 
 of seas will send him down." This was said loud enough 
 to be heard, though all on deck were attending to the 
 schooner ; and, as for the Canadian, he did not understand 
 English. I managed to get the helm hard up, and Mallet 
 jumped inboard. The ship fell off fast ; but the lieutenant. 
 8* 
 
90 N£DMY£RS;OR, 
 
 who was on board as an agent, was standing in the compa« 
 nion-way with his wife, and, the instant he saw what I had 
 done, he ran aft, struck me a sharp blow, and put the hehn 
 hard down with his own hands. This saved the Pictou, 
 though there was a great outcry on board her. The Heu- 
 tenant's wife screamed, and there was a pretty uproar for a 
 mij^ute, in every direction. As the Regulus luffed-to, her 
 jib-boom-end just cleared the Pictou's forward rigging, and 
 a man might almost have jumped from the ship to the 
 schooner, as we got alongside of each other. Another mi- 
 nute, and we should have travelled over His Majesty's 
 schooner, like a rail-road car going over a squash. 
 
 The lieutenant now denounced us, and we prisoners were 
 all put in irons. I am merely relating facts. How far we 
 were right, I leave others to decide ; but it must be remem- 
 bered that Jack had, in that day, a mortal enmity to a British 
 man-of-war, which was a little too apt to lay hands on all 
 that she fell in with, on the high seas. Perhaps severe mo- 
 ralists might say that we had entered into a bargain with the 
 captain of the Regulus, not to make war on him during the 
 passage ; in answer to which, we can reply that we were 
 not attacking him, but the Pictou. Our intention, it must 
 be confessed, however, was to seize the Regulus in the con- 
 fusion. Had we been better treated as prisoners, our tem- 
 pers might not have been so savage. But we got no good 
 treatment, except for our own work ,• and, being hedged in 
 in this manner, common sailors reason very much as they 
 feel. We were not permitted to go at large again, in the 
 Regulus, in which the English were very right, as Jack 
 Mallet, in particular, was a man to put his shipmates up to 
 almost any enterprise. 
 
 The anchor was hardly down, at Bermuda, before a signal 
 was made to the Goliah, razee, for a boat, and we were sent 
 on board that ship. This was a cruising vessel, and she 
 went to sea next morning. We were distributed about the 
 ship, and ordered to go to work. The intention, evidently. 
 was to swallow us all in the enormous maw of the British 
 navy. We I'efused to do duty, however, to a man; mosi 
 of our fellows being pretty bold, as native Americans. We 
 were a fortnight in this situation, the greater part of the time 
 playing green, with our tin pots slung round ou'* necks. Wh 
 
A LIFE liGFORE THE MAST. 91 
 
 did so much of this, that the people began to laugh at us, ua 
 real Johnny Raws, thoUi.;h the old salts knew better. The 
 last even helped us aiv^ng, some giving us clothes, extra grog, 
 and otherwise being vsry kind to us. The other, -^ treated 
 us pretty well, too, all ti^uigs considered. None of us got 
 flogged, nor were we evea threatened with the gangway. 
 At length the plan was changed. The boatswain was asked 
 if he got anything out of us, and, making a bad report, we 
 were sent down to the lower gun-deck, under a sentry's 
 charge, and put at " six upon four," again. Here we remained 
 until the ship went into Bermuda, after a six weeks' cruise. 
 This vessel, an old seventy-four cut down, did not answer, 
 for she was soon after sent to England. I overheard her 
 officers, from our berth near the bulkhead, wishing to fall in 
 with the President, Commodore Rodgers — a vessel they fan- 
 cied they could easily handle. I cannot say they could not, 
 but one day an elderly man among them spoke very ration 
 ally on the subject, saying, they might, or they might not 
 get the best of it in such a fight. For his part, he did not 
 wish to see any such craft, with the miserable crew they had 
 in the Goliah. 
 
 We found the Ramilies, Sir Thomas Hardy, lying in 
 Bermuda roads. This ship sent a boat, which took us 
 on board the Ardent, 64, which was then used as a prison- 
 ship. About a week before we reached this vessel an 
 American midshipman got hold of a boat, and effected his 
 escape, actually making the passage between Bermuda and 
 Cape Henry all alone, by himself.* In consequence of this 
 unusual occurrence, a bright look out was kept on all the 
 boats, thus defeating one of our plans, which was to get off 
 in the same way. When we reached the Ardent, we found 
 but four Americans in her. After we had been on board 
 her about a week, three men joined us, who had given 
 themselves up on board English men-of-war, as native 
 Amfericans. One of these men, whose name was Baily, 
 had been fourteen years in the English service, into which 
 he had been pressed, his protection having been torn up be- 
 fore his face. He was a Connecticut man, and had given 
 
 — * ^ . 
 
 * The name of this young officer was King. He is now dead, 
 having been lost in the Lynx, Li. Madison. — Editop. 
 
92 N£DMYERS;OR, 
 
 himself up at the commencement of the war, getting Three 
 dozen for his pains. He was then sent on the Halifax sta- 
 tion, where he gave himself up again. He received three 
 dozen more, then had his shirt thrown over his back and 
 was sent to us. I saw the back and the shirt, myself, and 
 Baily said he would keep the last to be buried with him. 
 Bradbury and Patrick were served very much in the same 
 manner. I saw all their backs, and give the remainder of 
 the story, as they gave it to me. Baily and Bradbury got 
 off in season to join the Constitution, and to make the last 
 cruise in her during this war. I afterwards fell in with 
 Bradbury, who mentioned this circumstance to me. 
 
 It is good to have these things known, for I do believe the 
 English nation would be averse to men's receiving such 
 treatment, could they fairly be made to understand it. It 
 surely is bad enough to be compelled to fight the battles of 
 a foreign country, without being flogged for not fighting 
 them when they happen to be against one's own people. For 
 myself, I was born, of German parents, in the English ter- 
 ritory, it is true ; but America was, and ever has been, the 
 country of my choice, and, while yet a child, I may say, I 
 decided for myself to sail under the American flag; and, if 
 my father had a right to make an Englishman of me, by 
 taking service under the English crown, I think I had a 
 right to make myself what I pleased, when he had left me 
 iO get on as I could, without his counsel and advice. 
 
 After being about three weeks in the Ardent, we eight 
 prisoners were sent on board the Ramilies, to be tried as 
 Englishmen who had been fighting against their king. The 
 trial took place on board the Asia, 74, a flag-ship ; but we 
 ived in the Ramihes, during the time the investigation was 
 going on. Sir Thomas Hardy held several conversations 
 with me, on the quarter-deck, in which he manifested great 
 kindness of feeling. He inquired whether I was really an 
 American ; but I evaded any direct answer. I told 'him, 
 however, that I had been an apprentice, in New York, in 
 the employment of Jacob Barker ; which was true, in one 
 sense, as Mr. Barker was the consignee of the Sterling, and 
 knew of my indentures. I mentioned him, as a pei'son 
 more likely to be known than Captain Johnston. Sir Tho- 
 mas said he had some knowledge of Mr. Barker ; and, I 
 
A LIF£ BEFORE THE MAST. 93 
 
 Jiink, 1 have heard that they were, in some way, connected 
 This was laying an anchor to- windward, as it turned out, in 
 .he end. 
 
 We were all on board the Asia, for trial, or investigation, 
 two days, before I was sent for into the cabin. I was very 
 much frightened ; and scarce kne\^what I said, or did. It is 
 a cruel thing to leave sailors without counsel, on such occa- 
 sions J though the officers behaved very kindly and conside- 
 rately to me ; and, I believe, to all of us. There were 
 several officers seated round a table ; and all were in swabs. 
 They said, the gentleman who presided, was a Sir Borlase 
 Warren, the admiral on the station.* This gentleman, 
 whoever he was, probably saw that I was frightened. He 
 slewed himself round, in his chair, and said to me ; " My 
 man; you need not be alarmed ; we know rvko you are, and 
 what you are ; but your apprenticeship will be of great ser- 
 vice to you." This was not said, however, until Sir Thomas 
 Hardy had got out the story of my being an apprentice in 
 Jacob Barker's employ, again, before them all, in the cabin. 
 I was told to send for a copy of my indentures, by one of 
 the white-washed Swedes, that sailed between Bermuda and 
 New York. This I did, that very day. I was in the cabin 
 of the Asia, half an hour, perhaps ; and I felt greatly relieved, 
 when I got out of it. It was decided, in my presence, to 
 send me "back among the prisoners, on board the Ardent. 
 The same decision was made, as to the whole eight of as, 
 that had come on in the Regulus. 
 
 When we got back to the Ramilies, Sir Thomas Hardy 
 had some more conversation with me. I have thought, ever 
 since, that he knew something about my birth, and of my 
 being the prince's godson. He wished me to join the British 
 service, seemingly, very much, and encouraged me with the 
 hope of being promoted. But, it is due to myself, to say, I 
 held out against it all. I do not believe America had a 
 truer heart, in her service, than mine ; and I do not think an 
 English commission would have bought me. I have nothing 
 
 * If this be true, this could hardly have been a court, but must have 
 been a mere investigation ; as Sir John Borlase Warren was com- 
 mander-in-chfef, and would scarcely sit in a court of his own order- 
 ing. — Editor. 
 
94 MEDMY£RS;OIl, 
 
 Lo hope, from saying this, for I am now old, and a cripple 
 . but, as I have sat down to relate the truth, let the truth be 
 told, whether it tell for, or against me. 
 
 We were now sent back to the Ardent ; where we re- 
 mained three weeks, or a month, longer. During this time 
 we got our papers from New York ; I receiving a copy of 
 my indentures, together with the sum often dollars; which 
 reached me through Sir Thomas Hardy, as I understood. 
 Nothing more was ever said, to any of the eight, about their 
 being Englishmen ; the whole of us being treated as prisoners 
 of war. Prisoners arrived fast, until we had four hundred 
 in the Ardent. The old Ruby, a forty-four, on two decks, 
 was obliged to receive some of them. Most of these prisoners 
 were privateersmen ; though there were a few soldiers, and 
 some citizens that had been picked up in Chesapeake Bay. 
 Before we left Bermuda, the crew of a French frigate was 
 put into the Ardent, to the number of near four hundred 
 men. In the whole, we must have had eight hundred souls, 
 and all on one deck. This was close stowage, and I was 
 heartily glad when I quitted the ship. 
 
 Soon after the French arrived, four hundred of us Ameri- 
 cans were put on board transports, and we sailed for Hali- 
 fax, under the convoy of the Ramilies. A day or two after 
 we got out, we fell in with an American privateer, which 
 continued hovering around us for several days. As this 
 was a bold fellow, frequently coming within gun-shot, and 
 sporting his sticks and canvass in all sorts of ways, Sir 
 Thomas Hardy felt afraid he would get one of the four 
 transports, and he took all us prisoners into the Ramilies, 
 We staid in the ship the rest of the passage, and when we 
 went into Halifax it was all alone, the four transports hav- 
 ing disappeared. Two of them subsequently got in ; but 1 
 think the other two were actually taken by that saucy 
 fellow. 
 
 The prisoners, at first, had great liberty allowed them, on 
 hoard the Ramilies. On all occasions. Sir Thomas Hardy 
 treated the Americans well. A party of marines was sta- 
 tioned on the poop, and another on the forecastle, and the 
 ship's people had arms ,* but this was all the precaution that 
 was used. The opportunity tempted some of our men to 
 plan a rising, with a view to seize the ship. Privateei 
 
A LIFE BEFORE THE MAST. 95 
 
 officers were at the head of this scheme, which was com- 
 municafed to me, among others, soon after the plot was laid. 
 Most of the prisoners knew of the intention, and everybody 
 seemed to enter into the affair with hearty good-will. Our 
 design was to rise at the end of the second dog-watch, over- 
 come the crew, and carry the ship upon our own coast. If 
 unable to pass the blockading squadrons, we intended to run 
 her ashore. The people of the Ramilies outnumbered us by 
 near one-half, Etnd they had arms, it is true ; but we trusted 
 to the effect of a surprise, and something to the disposition 
 of most English sailors to get quit of their own service. 
 Had the attempt been made, from what I saw of the crew, 
 I think our main trouble would have been with the officers 
 and the marines. We were prevented from trying the ex- 
 periment, however, in consequence of having been betrayed 
 by some one who was in the secret, the whole of us being 
 suddenly sent into the cable tiers and amongst the water 
 casks, under the vigilant care of sentinels posted in the 
 wings. After that, we were allowed to come on deck sin- 
 gly, only, and then under a sentinel's charge. When Sir 
 Thomas spoke to us concerning this change of treatment, 
 he did not abuse us for our plan, but was mild and reason- 
 able, while he reminded us of the necessity of what he was 
 doing. I have no idea he would have been in the least 
 injured, had we got possession of the ship ; for, to the last, 
 our people praised him, and the treatment they received, 
 while under his orders. 
 
 Before we were sent below, Sir Thomas spoke to me 
 again, on the subject of my joining the English service. He 
 was quite earnest about it, and reasoned with me like a 
 father ; but I was determined not to yield. I did not like 
 England, and I did like America. My birth in Quebec was 
 a thing I could not help ; but having chosen to serve under 
 the American flag, and having done so now for years, I did 
 not choose to go over to the enemy. 
 
 At Halifax, fifteen or twenty of us were sent on board the 
 old Centurion, 44, Lord Anson's ship, as retaliation-men. 
 We eight were of the number. We found something like 
 thirty more in the ship, all retaliation-men, like ourselves. 
 Those we found in the Centurion did not appear to me to 
 be foremast Jacks, but struck me as being citizens from 
 
96 N£:dmyi:rs;or, 
 
 ashore. We were well treated, however, suffering no other 
 confinement than that of the ship. We were on " six upon 
 four," it is true, like other prisoners, but our own country 
 gave us small stores, and extra bread and beef. In the way 
 of grub, we fared like sailor kings. At the end of three 
 weeks, we eight lakesmen were sent to Melville Island, 
 among the great herd of prisoners. I cannot explain the 
 reason of all these changes ; but I know that when the gate 
 was shut on us, the turnkey said we had go&e into a home 
 that would last as long as the war lasted. 
 
 Melville is an island of more than a mile in circumference, 
 with low, rocky shores. It lies about three miles from the 
 town of Halifax, but not in sight. It is connected with the 
 main by a bridge that is thrown across a narrow passage 
 of something like a quarter of a mile in width. In the cen- 
 tre of the island is an eminence, which was occupied by the 
 garrison, and had some artillery. This eminence com- 
 manded the whole island. Another post on the main, also, 
 commanded the prisoners' barracks. These barracks were 
 ordinary wooden buildings, enclosed on the side of the island 
 with a strong stone wall, and on the side of the post on the 
 main, by high, open palisades. Of course, a sufficient guard 
 was maintained. 
 
 It was said there were about twelve hundred Americans 
 on the island, when I passed the gate. Among them were 
 a few French, some of whom were a part of the crew of the 
 Ville de Milan, the ship that had been taken before I first 
 left Halifax ; or more than eight years previously to this time. 
 This did, indeed, look like the place's being a home to a 
 poor fellow, and I did not relish the circumstance at all. 
 Among our people were soldiers, sailors, and 'long-shore- 
 men. There was no difference in the treatment, which, for 
 a prison, was good. We got only " six upon four" from the 
 English, of course ; but our own country made up the differ- 
 ence here, as on board the Centurion. They had a prison 
 dress, with one leg of the trowsers yellow and the other blue, 
 &;c. ; but we would not stand that. Our agent managed the 
 matter so that we got regular jackets and trowsers of the 
 true old colour. The poor Frenchmen looked like pea- 
 cocks in their dress, but we did not envy them their finery. 
 
 I had been on the island about a fortnight, when I was 
 
A LIFE BEFORE THE MAST. 9? 
 
 .old by Jack Mallet that a woman, whom he thought to be 
 my sister, was at the gate. Jack knew my whole history, 
 and came to his opinion from a resemblance that he saw 
 between me and the person who had inquired for me. I 
 refused to go to l/ie gate, however, to see who it was, and 
 Jack was sent back to tell the woman that I had been left 
 behind at Bermuda. He was directed to throw in a few 
 hints about the expediency of her not coming back to look 
 for me, and that it would be better if she never named me. 
 All this was done, I getting a berth from which I could see 
 the female. I knew her in a moment, although she was 
 married, and had a son with her, and my heart was very 
 near giving way, especially when I saw her shedding 
 tears. She went away from the gate, however, going up 
 on the ramparts, from which she could look down into the 
 prison-yardi There she remained an hour, as if she wished 
 to satisfy her own eyes as to the truth of Jack's story ; but I 
 (ook good care to keep out of her sight. 
 
 As I knew there was little hope of an exchange of pri- 
 soners, I now began to think of the means of making my 
 escape. Jack Mallet dared not attempt to swim, on ac- 
 count of the rheumatism and cramps, having narrowly es- 
 caped drowning at Bermuda, and he could not join in our 
 ■ichemes. As for myself, I have been able to swim ever 
 gince danger taught me the important lesson, the night the 
 Scourge went down. Money would be necessary to aid me 
 m escaping, and Jack and I put our heads together, in order 
 to raise some. I had still the ten dollars given me by Sir 
 Thomas Hardy, and I commenced operations by purchasing 
 shares in a dice-board, a vingt et un table, and a quino 
 table.* Jack Mallet and I, also, set up a shop, on a capital 
 of three dollars. We sold smoked herring, pipes, tobacco, 
 segars, spruce beer, and, as chances of smuggling it in 
 offered, now and then a little Jamaica. All this time, the 
 number of the prisoners increased, until, in the end, we got 
 to have a full prison, when they began to send them to Eng 
 land. Only one of the Julias was sent away, however, all 
 the rest remaining at Melville Island, from some cause I 
 cannot explain. 
 
 * Ned means Loto, probably. — Editor, 
 
98 ft ifi 1> >1 Y E K Sj O K, 
 
 I cannot say we made money very last. On every shil 
 ling w^on at dice, we received a penny ; at vingt et wi, the 
 commission was the same ; as it was also at the other 
 games. Noav cards, however, brought a little higher rate. 
 AH this was wrong I now know, but then it gave me very 
 little trouble. I hope I would not do the same thing over 
 again, even to make my escape from Melville Island, bu' 
 one never knows to what distress may drive him. 
 
 Some person among the American prisoners — a soldier it 
 was said — commenced counterfeiting Spanish dollare. I 
 am afraid most of us helped to circulate them. We though' 
 it no harm to cheat the people of the canteens, for we knew 
 they were doing all they could to cheat us. This was pri- 
 son morality, in war-time, and I say nothing in its favour ; 
 though, for myself, I will own I felt more of the conscious- 
 ness of wrong-doing in holding the shares in the gambling 
 establishments, than in giving bad dollars for poor rum. 
 The counterfeiting business was destroyed by one of the 
 dollars happening to break, as some of the officers were 
 pitching them ,• when, on examination, it turned out that 
 most of the money in the prison was bad. It was said the 
 people of the canteens had about four hundred of the dollars 
 when they came to overhaul their lockers. A good many 
 found their way info Halifax. 
 
 My trade lasted all winter — (that of 1813 — 14,) and by 
 March I had gained the sum of eighty French crowns. 
 Dollars I was afraid to hold on account of the base money. 
 The ice now began to give way, and a few of us, who had 
 been discussing the matter all winter, set about forming se- 
 rious plans to escape. My confederates were a man of the 
 name of Johnson, who had been taken in the Snapdragon 
 privateer, and an Irishman of the name of Littlefield. Bar- 
 net, the Mozambique man, joined us also, making four in all. 
 It was quite early in the month, when we made the attempt. 
 Our windows were long, and had perpendicular bars of 
 wrought iron to secure them, but, no cross-bars. There was 
 no glass ; but outside shutters, that we could open at our 
 pleasure. Outside of the windows were sentinels, and there 
 were two rows of pickets between us and the shore. 
 
 I put my crowns in a belt around my waist. Another 
 belt, or slun, was filled with rum, for the double purpose 
 
A LIFE BEFORE THE MAST. i)9 
 
 of buoying me in the water, and of comforting me when 
 ashore. At that day, I found rum one of the great blessings 
 of life; now I look upon it as one of the greatest evils. My 
 companions made similar provisions of money and rum, 
 though neither was as rich as myself. I left Mallet and 
 Leonard Lewis my heirs at law if I escaped, and my trus- 
 tees should I be caught. Lewis was a young man of better 
 origin than most in the prison, and I have always thought 
 some calamity drove him to the seas. He was in ill health, 
 and did not appear to be destined to a long life. He would 
 have joined us, heart and hand, but was not strong enough 
 to endure the fatigue which we well knew we must undergo, 
 before we could get clear. 
 
 The night selected for the attempt was so cold, dark, and 
 dismal, as to drive all the sentinels into their boxes. It 
 rained hard, in the bargain. About eight, or as soon as the 
 lights were out, we got the lanyards of our hammocks 
 around two of the window bars, and using a bit of fire- wood 
 for a heaver, we easily brought them together. This left 
 room for our bodies to pass out, without any difficulty. Jack 
 Mallet, and those we left behind, hove tha bars straight 
 again, so that the keepers were at a loss to know how we 
 had got off. We met with no obstacle between the prison 
 and the water. The pickets we removed, having cut them 
 in the day-time. In a word, all four of us reached the shore 
 of the Island in two or three minutes after we had taken 
 leave of our messmates. The difficulty lay before us. We 
 entered into the water, at once, and began to swim. When 
 I was a few rods from the place of landing, which was quite 
 near the guard-house, on the main, Johnson began to sing 
 out that he was drowning. I told him to be quiet, but it was 
 of no use. The guard on the main heard him, and com- 
 menced firing, and of course we swam all the harder. 
 Three of us were soon ashore, and, knowing the roads well, 
 I led them in a direction to avoid the soldiers. By running 
 into the woods, we gob clear, though poor Johnson fell again 
 into the hands of the enemy. He deserved it for bawling as 
 he did ; it being the duty of a man in such circumstances to 
 He with a shut mouth. 
 
iOO NED MYERS; OR, 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 The thi'ee who had escaped ran, for a quarter of a mile, 
 in the woods, when we brought up, and took a drink. Hear- 
 ing no more firing, or any further alarm, we now consulted 
 as to our future course. There were some mills at the head 
 of the bay, about four miles from the guard-house, and I led 
 the party thither. We reached the place towards morning, and 
 found a berth in them before any one was stirring. We hid 
 ourselves in an old granary ; but no person appeared near 
 the place throughout the next day. We had put a little 
 bread and a few herrings in our hats, and on these we sub- 
 sisted. The rum cheered us up, and, if rum ever did good, 
 I think it was to us on that occasion. We slept soundly, 
 with one man on the look-out ; a rule we observed the whole 
 time we were out. It stopped raining' in the course of the 
 day, though the weather was bitter cold. 
 
 Next night we got under way, and walked in a direction 
 which led us within three miles of the town. In doing this, 
 we passed the Prince's Lodge, a place where I had often 
 been, and the sight of which reminded me of home, and of 
 my childish days. There was no use in regrets, however, 
 and we pushed ahead. The men saw my melancholy, and 
 they questioned me; but I evaded the answer, pretending 
 that nothing ailed me. There was a tavern about a league 
 from the town, kept by a man of the name of Grant, and 
 Littlefield ventured into it. He bought a small cheese and a 
 loaf of bread ; getting off clear, though not unsuspected. 
 This helped us along famously, and we pushed on as fast as 
 we could. Before morning we came near a bridge, on which 
 there was a sentinel posted, with a guard-house near its end. 
 To avoid this danger, we turned the guard-house, striking 
 the river above the bridge. Here we met two Indians, and 
 fell into discourse with them. Our rum now served us a 
 better turn than ever, buying the Indians in a minute. W^e 
 told these chaps we were deserters from the Bulwark, 74, 
 and begged them to help us along. At first, they thought 
 wc were Yankees, whom they evidently disliked, and thai 
 
A LIFE BEFORE THE MAST. 101 
 
 right heartily ; but the story of the desertion took, and made 
 them disposed to serve us. 
 
 These two Indians led us down to the bed of the river, 
 and actually carried us beneath the bridge, on the side of 
 the river next the guard, where we found a party of about 
 thirty of these red-skins, men, women and children. Here 
 we stayed no less than three days ; faring extremely well, 
 having fish, bread, butter, and other common food. The 
 weather was very bad, and we did not like to turn out in it, 
 besides, thinking the search for us might be less keen after 
 a short delay. All this time, we were within a few rods of 
 the guard, hearing the sentinels cry " all's well," from half- 
 hour to half-hour. We were free with our rum, and, aa 
 much as we dared to be, with our money. These people 
 never betrayed us. 
 
 The third night we left the bridge, guided by a young 
 Indian. He led us about two miles up the river, passing 
 through the Maroon town in the night, after which he left 
 us. We wished him to keep on with us for some distance 
 further, but he refused. He quitted us near morning, and 
 we turned into a deserted log-house, on the banks of the 
 river, where we passed the day. The country was thinly 
 populated, and the houses we saw were poor and mean- 
 We must now have been about five-and-twenty miles from 
 Halifax. 
 
 Our object was to cross the neck of land between tht* 
 Atlantic and the Bay of Fundy, and to get to Annapolis 
 Royal, where we expected to be able to procure a boat, by 
 fair means if we could, by stealth if necessary, and cross 
 over to the American shore. We had still a long road be- 
 fore us, and had some little difficulty to find the way. The 
 Indians, however, gave us directions that greatly assisted 
 us ; and we travelled a long bit, and pretty fast all that 
 night. In the morning, the country had more the appear- 
 ance of being peopled and cultivated, and I suspected we 
 were getting into the vicinity of Horton, a place through 
 which it would be indispensable to pass. The weather became 
 bad again, and it was necessary to make a halt. Coming 
 near a log-house, we sent Littlefield ahead to make some 
 nquiries of a woman who appeared to be in it alone. On 
 nis return, he reported well of the woman. He had t M 
 9* 
 
102 NED MYERS; OK, 
 
 lier we were deserters from the Bulwark, and had promisf^d 
 to pay her if she would let us stay about her premises that 
 day, and get us something to eat. The woman had con- 
 sented to our occupying an out-house, and had agreed to 
 buy the provisions. We now took possession of the out- 
 house, where the woman visited us, and getting some money, 
 she left us in quest of food. We were uneasy during her 
 absence, but she came back with some meat, eggs, bread, 
 and butter, at the end of an hour, and all seemed right. We 
 made two comfortable meals in this out-house, where we 
 remained until near evening. I had the look-out about noon, 
 and I saw a man hanging about the house, and took the 
 alarm. The man did not stay long, however, and I got a 
 nap as soon as he disappeared. About four we were all up, 
 and one of us taking a look, saw this same man, and two 
 others, go into the house. The woman had already told us 
 that a party of soldiers had gone ahead, in pursuit of three 
 Yankee runaways ; that four had broken prison, but one 
 had been retaken, and the rest were still out. This left lit- 
 tle doubt that she knew who we were ; and we thought it 
 best to steal away, at once, lest the men in the house should 
 be consulting with her, at that very moment, about selling 
 us for the reward, which we know was always four pounds 
 ahead. The out-house was near the river, and there was a 
 good deal of brush growing along the banks, and we suc- 
 ceeded in getting away unseen. 
 
 We went down to the margin, under the bank, and pui 
 sued our way along the stream. Before it was dark w( 
 came in sight of the bridge, for which we had been travel 
 ling ever since we left the other bridge, and were sorry tc 
 see a sentry-box on it. We now halted for a council, and 
 came to a determination to wait until dark, and then ad 
 vance. This we did, getting. under this bridge, as we had 
 done with the other. We had no Indians, however, to com 
 fort and feed us. 
 
 I had known a good deal of this part of the country when 
 a boy, from the circumstance that Mr. Marchinton had a 
 large farm, near a place called Cornwallis, on the Bay, 
 where I had even spent whole summers with the family. 
 This bridge I recollected well ; and I remembered there was 
 a ford a little on one side of it, when the tide was out. Tho 
 
A LIFE BEFORE THE MAST. 103 
 
 tides are tremendous in lliis part of the world, and we did 
 not dare to steal a boat here, lest we should be caught in one 
 of the bores, as they are called, when the tide came in. It 
 was now half ebb, and we resolved to wait, and try the 
 ford. 
 
 It was quite dark when we left the bridge, and we had a 
 delicate bit of work before us. The naked flats were very 
 wide, and we sallied out, with the bridge as our guide. I 
 was up to my middle in mud, at times, but the water was 
 not very deep. We must have been near an hour in the 
 mud, for we were not exactly on the proper ford, of course, 
 and made bad navigation of it in the dark. But we were 
 afraid to lose sight of the bridge, lest we should get all adrift. 
 
 At length we reached the firm ground, covered with mud 
 and chilled with cold. We found the road, and the village 
 of Horton, and skirted the last, until all was clear. Then 
 we took to the road, and carried sail hard all night. When- 
 ever we saw any one, we hid ourselves, but we met few 
 while travelling. Next morning we walked until we came 
 to a deserted saw-mill, which I also remembered, and here 
 we halted for the day. No one troubled us, nor did I see 
 any one ; but Littlefield said that a man drove a herd of 
 cattle past, during his watch on deck. 
 
 I told my companions that night, if they would be busy, 
 we might reach Cornwallis, where I should be at home. We 
 were pretty well fagged, and wanted rest, for Jack is no 
 great traveller ashore ; and I promised the lads a good snug 
 berth at Mr. Marchinton's farm. We pushed ahead briskly, 
 in consequence, and I led the party up to the farm, just as 
 day was dawning. A Newfoundland dog, named Hunter, 
 met us with some ferocity ; but, on my calling him by name, 
 he was pacified, and began to leap on me, and to caress me. 
 I have always thought that dog knew me, after an absence 
 of so many years. There was no time to waste with dogs, 
 however, and we took the way to the barn. We had wit 
 nough not to get on the hay, but to throw ourselves on a 
 niow filled with straw, as the first was probably in use. 
 Here we went to sleep, with one man on the look-out. This 
 was the warmest and most comfortable rest we had got since 
 quitting the island, fi'om which we had now been ab?=pnt 
 pitri-it or nine da vs. 
 
104 NED MYERS; OR, 
 
 We remained one night and two days in this barn. The 
 workmen entered it often, and even stayed some time on the 
 barn-floor ; but no one seemed to think of ascending our 
 mow. The dog kept much about the place, and I was greatly 
 afraid he would be the means of betraying us. Our provi- 
 sions were getting low, and, the night we were at the farm 
 I sallied out, accompanied by Barnet, and we made our way 
 into the dairy. Here we found a pan of bread, milk, cheese, 
 butter, eggs, and codfish. Of course, we took our fill of 
 milk ; but Barnet got hold of a vessel of sour cream, and 
 came near hallooing out, when he had taken a good pull at 
 it. As we returned to the barn, the geese set up an outcry, 
 and glad enough was I to find myself safe on the mow again, 
 without being discovered. Next day, however, we overheard 
 the men in the barn speaking of the robbery, and complain- 
 ing, in particular, of the uselessness of the dog. I did not 
 know any of these persons, although a young man appeared 
 among them, this day, who I fancied had been a playfellow 
 of mine, when a boy. I could not trust him, or any one 
 else there ; and all the advantage we got from the farm, was 
 through my knowledge of the localities, and of the habits of 
 the place. 
 
 I had never been further on the road between Halifax and 
 Annapolis, than to Cornwallis. The rest of the distance 
 was unknown to me, though I was familiar with the route 
 which went out of Cornwallis, and which was called the An- 
 napolis road. It was a fine star-light evening, and we made 
 good headway. We all felt refreshed, and journeyed on full 
 stomachs. We did not meet a soul, though we travelled 
 through a well-settled country. The next morning we halted 
 in a wood, the weather being warm and pleasant. Here we 
 slept and rested as usual, and were off again at night. Lit* 
 ilefield pinned three fowls as we went along, declaring that 
 he intended to have a warm mess next day, and he got off 
 without discovery. About four o'clock in the morning, we 
 fell in with a river, and left the highway, following the banks 
 of the stream for a short distance. It now came on to blow 
 and ram, with the wind on shore, and we saw it would no/ 
 do to get a boat and go out in such a time. There was a 
 rising ground, in a thick wood, near us, and we went up the 
 hill to pass the day. We had seen two men pulling ashore 
 
A. lilFE BEFORE THE MAST. 105 
 
 in a good-looking boat, and it was our determination to get 
 this boat, and shape our course down stream to the Bay, as 
 soon as it moderated. From the hill, we could overlook the 
 river, and the adjacent country. We saw the fishermen 
 land, take their sail and oars out of the boat, haul the latter 
 up, turn her over, and stow their sails and oars beneath her. 
 They had a breaker of fresh water, too, and everything 
 seemed fitted for our purposes. We liked the craft, and, 
 what is more, we liked the cruise. 
 
 We could not see the town of Annapolis, which turned 
 out to be up-stream from us, though we afterwards ascer- 
 tained that we were within a mile or two of it. The fisher- 
 men walked in the direction of the town, and disappeared. 
 All we wanted now was tolerably good weather, with a fair 
 wind, or, at least, with less wind. The blow had driven in 
 th-e fishermen, and we thought it wise to be governed by 
 their experience. Nothing occurred in the course of the 
 day, the weather remaining the same, and we being exposed 
 to the rain, with no other cover than trees without leaves. 
 There were many pines, however, and they gave us a little 
 shelter. 
 
 At dusk, Littlefield lighted a fire, and began to cook his 
 fowls. The supper was soon ready, and we eat it with a 
 good relish. We then went to sleep, leaving Barnet on the 
 look-out. I had just got into a good sleep, when I was 
 awoke by the tramp of horses, and the shouting of men. 
 On springing up, I found that a party of five horsemen were 
 upon us. One called out — " Here they are — we 've found 
 them at last." This left no doubt of their errand, and we 
 were all retaken. Our arms were tied, and we were made 
 to mount behind the horsemen, when they rode off with us, 
 taking the road by which we had come. We went but a 
 tew miles that night, when we halted. 
 
 We were taken the whole distance to Halifax, in this 
 manner, riding on great-coats, without stirrups, the horses 
 on a smart walk. We did not go by Cornwallis, which, it 
 seems, was not the nearest road ; but we passed through 
 Horton, and crossed the bridge, beneath which we had 
 waded through the mud. At Horton we passed a night. 
 We were confined in a sort of a prison, that was covered 
 with mud. We did not like our berths ; and, finding thai 
 
106 NED MYERS; OR, 
 
 the logs, of which the building was made, were rotten, wo 
 actually worked our way through them, and got fairly out. 
 Littlefield, who was as reckless an Irishman as ever lived, 
 swore he would set fire to the place ; which he did, by re- 
 turning through the hole we had made, and getting up into 
 a loft, that was dry and combustible. But for this silly act, 
 we might have escaped ; and, as it was, we did get off for 
 the I'est of the night, being caught, next morning, nearly 
 down, again, by the bridge at Windsor. 
 
 This time, our treatment was a good deal worse, than at 
 first. A sharp look-out was kept, and they got us back to 
 Halifax, without any more adventures. We were pretty 
 well fagged ; though we had to taper off with the black hole, 
 and bread and water, for the next ten days ; the regular 
 punishment for such misdemeanors as ours. At the end of 
 the ten days, we were let out, and came together again. 
 Our return brought about a great deal of discussion ; and, 
 not a little criticism, as to the prudence of our course. To 
 hear the chaps talk, one would think every man among 
 them could have got off, had he been in our situation ; though 
 none of them did any better ; several having got off the 
 island, in our absence, and been retaken, within the first 
 day or two. While I was in prison, however, I remember 
 but one man who got entirely clear. This was a privateers- 
 man, from Marblehead ; who did get fairly off; though ho 
 was back again, in six weeks, having been taken once more, 
 a few days out. 
 
 We adventurers were pretty savage, about our failure ; 
 and, the moment we were out of the black hole, we began 
 to lay our heads together for a new trial. My idea was, to 
 steer a different course, in the new attempt ; making the bes' 
 of our way towards Liverpool, which lay to the southward, 
 coastwise. This would leave us on the Atlantic, it was 
 true ; but our notion was, to ship in a small privateer, called 
 the Liverpool, and then run our chance of getting off from 
 her ; as she was constantly crossing over to the American 
 coast. As this craft was quite small, and often had but few 
 hands in her, we did not know but we might get hold of the 
 schooner itself. Then there was some probability of being 
 put in a coaster ; which we might run away with. At all 
 events, any chance seemed belter to us, than that of remain* 
 
A. LIFE BEFORi: THE MAST. 107 
 
 Jig in prison, until the end of a war that might last years, 
 or until we got to be grey-headed. I remembered, when the 
 Ville de Milan was brought into Halifax ; this was a year, or 
 two, before I went to sea ; and yet here were some of her 
 people still, on Melville Island ! 
 
 I renewed my trade as soon as out of the Black Hole, 
 but did not give up the idea of escaping. Leonard Lewis 
 and Jack Mallet were the only men we let into the secret. 
 They both declined joining us ; Mallet on account of his 
 dread of the water, and Lewis, because certain he could not 
 outlive the fatigue ; but they wished us good luck, and aided 
 us all they could. With Johnson we would have no further 
 concern. 
 
 The keepers did not ascertain the means by which we had 
 left the barracks, though they had seen the cut pickets of 
 course. We did not attempt, therefore, to cut through again, 
 but resolved to climb. The English had strengthened the 
 pickets with cross-pieces, which were a great assistance to 
 us, and I now desire to express my thanks for the same. 
 We waited for a warm, but dark and rainy night in May, 
 before we commenced our new movement. We had still 
 plenty of money, I having brought back with me to prison 
 forty crowns, and having driven a thriving trade in the in- 
 terval. We got out through the bars, precisely as we had 
 done before, and at the very same window. This was a 
 small job. After climbing the pickets, either Littlefield or 
 Barnet dropped on the outside, a little too carelessly, and 
 was overheard. The sentinel immediately called for the 
 corporal of the guard, but we were in the water, swimming 
 quite near the bridge, and some little distance from the guard- 
 house on the main. There was a stir on the island, while 
 we were in the water, but we all got ashore, safe and un- 
 seen. 
 
 We took to the same woods as before, but turned south in- 
 stead of west. Our route brought us along by the water- 
 side, and we travelled hard all that night. Littlefield pre- 
 tended to be our guide, but we got lost, and remained two 
 days and nights in the woods, without food, and completely 
 at fault as to which way to steer. At length we ventured 
 out into a high-way, by open day-light, and good luck threw 
 in old Irish seaman, who then lived by fishing, in our way. 
 
108 NED MYERS; OR, 
 
 After a little conversation, we told this old man , we wore 
 deserters from a vessel of war, and he seemed to like us all 
 the better for it. He had served himself, and had a son 
 impressed, and seemed to like the English navy little better 
 than we did ourselves. He took us to a hut on the beach, 
 and fed us with fish, potatoes, and bread, giving us a very 
 comfortable and hearty meal. We remained in this hut 
 until sunset, receiving a great deal of useful advice from the 
 old man, and then we left him. We used some precaution 
 in travelling, sleeping in the woods ; but we kept moving 
 by day as well as by night, and halting only when tired, 
 and a good place offered. We were not very well off for 
 food, though we brought a little from the fisherman's hut, 
 and found quantities of winter- berries by the way-side. 
 
 We entered Liverpool about eight at night, and went iia 
 mediately to the rendezvous of the privateer, giving a little 
 girl a shilling to be our guide. The keeper of the rendez- 
 vous received us gladly, and we shipped immediately. Of 
 course we were lodged and fed, in waiting for the schooner 
 to come in. Each of us got four pounds bounty, and both 
 parties seemed delighted with the bargain. To own the 
 truth, we now began to drink, and the next day was pretty 
 much a blank with us all. The second day, after breakfast. 
 the landlord rushed into our room with a newspaper iri his 
 hand, and broke out upon us, with a pretty string of names, 
 denouncing us for having told him we were deserters, when 
 we were only runaway Yankees ! The twelve pounds trou- 
 bled him, and he demanded it back. We laughed at him, 
 and advised him to be quiet and put us aboard the privateer. 
 He then told us the guard was after us, hot-foot, and that it 
 was too late. This proved to be true enough, for, in less 
 than an hour an officer and a platoon of men had us in 
 custody. We had some fun in hearing the officer give it to 
 the landlord, who still kept talking about his twelve pounds. 
 The officer told him plainly that he was rightly served, for 
 attempting to smuggle off deserters, and I suppose this was 
 the reason no one endeavoured to get the money away from 
 us, except by words. We kept the twelve pounds, right or 
 wrong. 
 
 We were now put in a coaster, and sent to Halifax by 
 water. We were in irons, but otherwise wore well enough 
 
A LIFE BEFORE THE MAST. 109 
 
 treated. We were kept in the Navy-yard guard-house, at 
 Halifax, several hours, and were visited by a great many 
 (Officers. These gentlemen were curious to hear our story, 
 and we let them have it, very frankly. They laughed, and 
 said, generally, we were not to be blamed for trying to get 
 off, if their own look-outs were so bad as to let us. We did 
 not tell them, however, by what means we passed out of the 
 prison-barracks. Among the officers who came and spoke 
 to us, was an admiral. Sir Isaac Coffin. This gentleman 
 was a native American, and was then in Halifax to assist 
 the Nantucket men, whom he managed to get exchanged. 
 His own nephew was said to be among them ; but him he 
 would not serve, as he had been captured in a privateer. 
 Had he been captured in a man-of-war, or a merchant-man, 
 he would have done all he could for him ; but, as it was, he 
 let him go to Dartmoor — at least, this was the story in the 
 prison. The old gentleman spoke very mildly to us, and 
 said he could not blame us for attempting to escape. I do 
 not think he had ever heard of the twelve pounds ; though 
 none of the navy officers were sorry that the privateer's- 
 men should be punished. As for us, we considered them 
 all enemies alike, on whom it was fair enough to live in a 
 time of war. 
 
 We were sent back to the island, &nd were quarantined* 
 again ; though it was for twenty days, this time. When we 
 got pratique, we learned that some one had told of the man- 
 ner in which we got out of prison, and cross-bars had been 
 placed in all the windows, making them so many " nine of 
 diamonds." This was blocking the channel, and there was 
 no more chance for getting off in that way. 
 
 A grand conspiracy was now formed, which was worthy 
 of the men in prison. The plan was to get possession of 
 Halifax itself, and go off in triumph. We were eighteen 
 hundred prisoners in all ; though not very well off for offi- 
 cers. About fifty of us entered into the plan, at first ; nor 
 did we let in any recruits for something like six weeks. 
 A. Mr. Crownlnshield, of Salem, was the head man among 
 as, he havmg been an officer in a privateer. Th-ere were a 
 good many privateer officers in the prison, but they were 
 berthed over-head, and were intended to be separated from 
 js at night. The floor was lifted between us, however, aod 
 10 
 
110 NED MYEllS; OR, 
 
 we held our communications by these means. The ofRcerg 
 came down at night, and lent us a hand with the work. 
 
 The scheme was very simple, though I do not think it 
 was at all difficult of execution. The black-hole cells were 
 beneath the prison, and we broke through the floor, into one 
 of them, from our bay. A large mess-chest concealed the 
 process, in the day-time. We woi'ked in gangs of six, dig 
 ging and passing up the dirt into the night-tubs. These 
 tubs we were permitted to empty, every morning, in a tide's 
 way, and thus we got rid of the dirt. At the end of two 
 months we had dug a passage, wide enough for two abreast, 
 some twenty or thirty yards, and were nearly ready to 
 come up to the surface. We now began to recruit, swear- 
 ing in each man. On tho whole, we had got about four 
 hundred names, when the project was defeated, by that 
 great enemy which destroys so many similar schemes, 
 treachery. We were betrayed, as was supposed by one of 
 our own number. 
 
 Had we got out, the plan was to seize the heights of the 
 island, and get possession of the guns. This effected, it 
 would have been easy to subdue the guard. We then 
 would have pushed for Citadel Hill, which commanded Hali- 
 fax. Had we succeeded there, we should have given John 
 BpU a great deal of trouble, though no one could say what 
 would have been the result. Hundreds would probably 
 have got off, in different craft, even had the great plan 
 failed. We were not permitted to try the experiment, how- 
 ever, for one day we were all turned out, and a party of 
 English officers, army and navy, entered the barracks, re 
 moved the mess-chest, and surveyed our mine at their 
 leisure. A draft of six hundred was sent from the prison 
 that day, and was shipped for Dartmoor ; and, by the end 
 of the week, our whole number was reduced to some three 
 or four hundred souls. One of the Julias went in this drafl, 
 but all the rest of us were kept at Halifax. For some rea- 
 son or other, the English seemed to keep their eyes on us. 
 
 I never gave up the hope of escaping, and the excitement 
 of the hope was beneficial to both body and mind. We 
 were too well watched, however, and conversation at 
 night was even forbidden. Most of the officers were gone 
 and this threw me pretty much on my own resources, i 
 
A LIFE BEFORE THE MAST. Ill 
 
 have forgotten to say that Lemuel Bryant, the man who 
 fell at the breech of my gun, at Little York, and whom I 
 afterwards hauled into the Scourge's boat, got otf, very early 
 after our arrival at Halifax. He made two that got quite 
 clear, instead of the one I have already mentioned. Bry 
 ant's escape was so clever, as to deserve notice. 
 
 One day a party of some thirty soldiers was called out 
 for exchange, under a capitulation. Among the names was 
 that of Lemuel Bryant, but the man happened to be dead. 
 Our Bryant had found this out, beforehand, and he rigged 
 himself soldier-fashion, and answered to the name» It is 
 probable he ascertained the fact, by means of some relation 
 ship, which brought him in contact with the soldier previously 
 to his death. He met with no difficulty, and I have never 
 seen him since. I have heard he is still living, and that he 
 receives a pension for the hurt he received at York. Well 
 does he deserve it, for no man ever had a narrower chance 
 for his life. 
 
 Nothing new, worthy of notice, occurred for several 
 months, until one evening in March, 1815, we heard a 
 great rejoicing in Halifax ; and, presently, a turnkey ap- 
 peared on the wa is, and called out that England and Ame- 
 rica had made peace ! We gave three cheers, and passed 
 the night happy enough. We had a bit of a row with the 
 turnkeys about locking us in again, for we were fierce for 
 liberty ; but we were forced to submit for another night. 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 The following morning, eight of the names that stood 
 first on the prison-roll were called off, to know if the men 
 would consent to work a liberated Swedish brig to New 
 York, I was one of the eight, as was Jack Mallet and 
 Barnet. Wilcox, one of those who had gone with us to 
 Bermuda, had died, and the rest were left on the island. I 
 never fell in with Leonard Lewis, Littlefield, or any of the 
 rest of those chaps, after I quitted the prison. Lewis, I 
 
112 Sf£D MYERS; OR, 
 
 > 
 
 think, could not have lived long ; and as for Littlefield, 1 
 heard of him, afterwards, as belonging to the Washington 74. 
 
 The Swede, whose name was the Venus, was lying at the 
 end of Marchinton's wharf, a place that had been so familiar 
 to me in boyhood. We all went on board, and I was not 
 sorry to find that we were to haul into the stream immedi- 
 ately. I had an extraordinary aversion to Halifax, which 
 my late confinement had not diminished, and had no wish 
 to see a living soul in it. Jack Mallet, however, took on 
 himself the office of paying my sister a visit, and of telling 
 her where I was to be found. This he did contrary to my 
 wishes, and without my knowledge ; though I think he 
 meant to do me a favour. The very day we hauled into the 
 stream, a "boat came alongside us, and I saw, at a glance, 
 that Harriet was in it. I said a few words to her, requesting 
 her not to come on board, but promising to visit her that 
 evening, which I did. 
 
 I stayed several hours with my sister, whom I found living 
 with her husband. She did not mention my father's name 
 to me, at all ; and I learned nothing of my other friends, if 
 I ever had any, or of my family. Her husband was a tailor, 
 and they gave me a good outfit of clothes, and treated me 
 with great kindness. It struck me that the unaccountable 
 silence of my father about us children, had brought my sis- 
 ter down in the world a little, but it was no affair of mine ; 
 and, as for myself, I cared for no one. After passing the 
 evening with the family, I went on board again, without 
 turning to the right or lefl to see a single soul more. Even 
 the Frasers were not visited, so strong was my dislike to 
 have anything to do wnth Halifax. 
 
 The Venus took on board several passengers, among 
 whom were three or four officers of the navy. Lieutenant 
 Rapp, and a midshipman Randolph were among them, and 
 there were also several merchant-masters of the party. We 
 sailed two days after I joined the brig, and had a ten or 
 twelve days' passage. The moment the Venus was along- 
 side the wharf, at New York, we all left, and found ourselves 
 free men once more. I had been a prisoner nineteen months, 
 and that was quite enough for me for the remainder of my 
 life. 
 
 We United States' men reported ourselves, the next day 
 
A LIFE BEFORE THE MAST. 113 
 
 lo Captain Evans, the commandant of the Brooklyn Yard, 
 and, after giving in our names, we v^^ere advised to go on 
 board the Epervier, which was then fitting out for the Medi 
 terranean, under the command of Captain Downes. To 
 this we objected, however, as we wanted a cruise ashore, 
 before we took to the water again. This was a lucky deci- 
 sion of ours, though scarcely to be defended as to our views: 
 the Epervier being lost, and all hands perishing, a few 
 months later, on her return passage from the Straits. 
 
 Captain Evans then directed us to report ourselves daily, 
 which we did. But the press of business at Washington 
 prevented our cases from being attended to ; and being des- 
 titute of money, while wages were high, we determined, 
 with Captain Evans' approbation, to make a voyage, each, 
 in the merchant service, and to get our accounts settled on 
 our return. Jack Mallet, Barnet and I, shipped, therefore, 
 in another brig called the Venus, that was bound on a sealing 
 voyage, as was thought, in some part of the world where 
 seals were said to be plenty. We were ignorant of the 
 work, or we might have discovered there was a deception 
 intended, from the outfit of the vessel. She had no salt 
 ftven, while she had plenty of cross-cut saws, iron dogs, 
 chains, &c. The brig sailed, however, and stood across the 
 Atlantic, as if in good earnest. When near the Cape de 
 Verds, the captain called us aft, and told us he thought the 
 season too far advanced for sealing, and that, if we would 
 consent, he vvould run down to St. Domingo, and make an 
 arrangement with some one there to cut mahogany on shares, 
 with fustick and lignum-vitse. The secret was now out ; 
 but what could we poor salts do ? The work we were asked 
 to do turned out to be extremely laborious ; and I suppose 
 we had been deceived on account of the difficulty of getting 
 men, just at that time, for such a voyage. There we were, 
 in the midst of the ocean, and we agreed to the proposal, 
 pretty much as a matter of course. 
 
 The brig now bore up, and stood for St. Domingo. She 
 first went in to the city of St, Domingo, where the arrange- 
 ments were made, and Spaniards were got to help to cut the 
 wood, when we sailed for a bay, of which I have forgotten 
 the name, and anchored near the shore. The trees were 
 sawed down, about ten miles up a river, and floated to its 
 10* 
 
114 NED MYERS; OR, 
 
 bar, across which they had to be hauled by studding-sail 
 halyards, through the surf; one man hauling two logs at a 
 time, made into a sort of raft. Sharks abounded, and we 
 had to keep a bright look-out, lest they got a leg while we 
 were busy with the logs. I had a narrow escape from two 
 while we lay at St. Domingo. A man fell overboard, anc 
 I went after him, succeeding in catching the poor fellow. A 
 boat was dropped astern to pick us up, and, as we hauled 
 the man in, two large sharks came up close alongside. This 
 affair had set us drinking, and I got a good deal of punch 
 aboard. The idea of remaining in the brig was unpleasant 
 to me, and I had thought of quitting her for some days. A 
 small schooner bound to America, and short of hands, lay 
 near us ; and I had told the captain I would come and join 
 him that night. Jack Mallet and the rest tried tc persuade 
 me not to go, but I had too much punch and grog in me to 
 listen to reason. When all hands aft were asleep, therefore, 
 I let myself down into the water, and swam quite a cable's- 
 length to the schooner. One of the men was looking out 
 for me. He heard me in the water, and stood ready to re- 
 ceive me. As I drew near the schooner, this man threw me 
 a rope, and helped me up the side, but, as soon as I was on 
 the deck, he told me to look behind me. I did so, and there 
 I saw an enormous shark swimming about, a fellow that 
 was sixteen or eighteen feet long. This shark, I was told, 
 had kept company with me as long as I had been in 
 sight from the schooner. I cannot well describe the effect 
 that was produced on me by this discovery. When I en- 
 tered the water, I was under the influence of liquor, but this 
 escape sobered me in a minute ; so much so, indeed, that I 
 insisted on being put in a boat, and sent back to the brig, 
 which was done. I was a little influenced in this, however, 
 by some reluctance that was manifested to keep me on boar<i 
 the schooner. I got on board the Venus without being dis- 
 covered, and came to a resolution to stick by the crafl; until 
 the' voyage was up. 
 
 We filled up with mahogany, and took in a heavy deck- 
 load, in the course of four months, which was a most labo- 
 rious process. When ready, the brig sailed for NewTork, 
 We encountered a heavy gale, about a week out, which swepl 
 away our deck-load, bulwarks, &c. At this time, ♦^^he mas- 
 
A LIFE BEFORE THE MAST. 115 
 
 ter, supercargo, mate, cook, and three of the crew, were 
 down with the fever; leaving Mallet, Barnet and myself, to 
 take care of the brig. We three brought the vessel up as 
 far as Barnegat, where we procured assistance, and she 
 arrived safe at the quarantine ground. 
 
 As soon as we got pratique. Mallet, Barnet and myself, 
 went up to town to look after our affairs, leaving the brig 
 below. The owners gave us thirty dollars each, to begin 
 upon. We ascertained that our landlord had received our 
 wages from government, and held it ready for us, sailor 
 fashion. I al«io sold my share in the Venus' voyage for one 
 hundred and twenty dollars. This gave me, in all, about 
 five hundred dollars, which money lasted me between five 
 and six weel's ! How true is it, that "sailors make their 
 money like horses, and spend it like asses !" I cannot say 
 this prodi:?aI waste of my means afforded me any substan- 
 tial gratification. I have experienced more real pleasure 
 from one day passed in a way of which my conscience could 
 approve, than from all the loose and thoughtless follies, in 
 which I was then in the habit of indulging when ashore, of 
 a whole life. The manner in which this hard-earned gold 
 was thrown away, may serve to warn some brother tar of 
 the dangers that beset me ; and let the reader understand the 
 real wants of so large a body of his fellow-creatures. 
 
 On turning out in the morning, I felt an approach to that 
 which seamen call the " hoi-rors," and continued in this 
 state, until I had swallowed several glasses of rum. I had 
 no appetite for breakfast, and life was sustained principally 
 by drink. Half of the time I ate no dinner, and when I did, 
 it was almost drowned in grog. Occasionally I drove out 
 in a coach, or a gig, and generally had something extra to 
 pay for damages. One of these cruises cost me forty dol- 
 lars, and I shall always think I was given a horse that sailed 
 crab-fashion, on purpose to do me out of the money. At night, 
 ] generally weitl to the play, and felt bound to treat the land- 
 lord and his family to tickets and refreshments. We always 
 had a coach to go in, and it was a reasonable night that cost 
 me only ten dollars. At first I was a sort of" king among 
 beggars ;" but as the money went, Ned's importance went 
 with it, until, one day, the virtuous landlord intimated to 
 me that it would b^ well, as I happened to be sober, to over- 
 
IIG NEDMYERS;OR, 
 
 haul our accounts. He then began to read from his books 
 ten dollars for this, twenty dollars for that, and thirty for the 
 other, until I was soon tired, and wanted to know how much 
 was left. I had still fifty dollars, even according to his ac- 
 count of the matter ; and as that might last a week, with 
 good management, I wanted to hear no more about the items 
 
 Air this time, 1 was separated from my old shipmates, 
 being left comparatively among strangers. Jack Mallet had 
 gone to join his friends in Philadelphia, and Barnet went 
 south, whither I cannot say. I never fell in with either of 
 them again, it being the fate of seamen to encounter the 
 greatest risks and hardships in company, and then to cut 
 adrift from each other, with little ceremony, never to meet 
 again. I was still young, being scarcely two-and-twenty 
 and might, even then, have hauled in my oars, and come to 
 be an officer and a man. 
 
 As I knew I must go to sea, as soon as the accounts were 
 balanced,! began to think a little seriously of my prospects. 
 Dissipation had wearied me, and I wanted to go a voyage 
 of a length that would prevent my falling soon into the same 
 course of folly and vice. I had often bitter thoughts as to 
 my conduct, nor was I entirely free from reflection on the 
 subject of my peculiar situation, I might be said to be with- 
 out a friend, or relative, in the world. " When my hat was 
 on, my house was thatched." Of my father, I knew no- 
 thing ; I have since ascertained he must then have been 
 dead. My sister was little to me, and I never expected to 
 see her again. The separation from all my old lakers, too, 
 gave me some trouble, for I never met with one of them 
 after parting from Barnet and Mallet, with the exception of 
 Tom Goldsmith and Jack Reilly. Tom and I fell in with 
 each other, on my return from St. Domingo, in the streets 
 of New York, and had a yarn of two hours, about old times. 
 This was all I ever saw of Tom, He had suffered a good 
 deal with the English, who kept him in Kingston, Upper 
 Canada, until the peace, when they let him go with the rest. 
 As for Reilly, we have been in harbour together, in our old 
 age, and I may speak of him again. 
 
 Under the feelings I have mentioned, as soon as the looks 
 of my landlord let me know that there were no more shot in 
 the locker, I shipped in a South Sea whaler, named the Ed- 
 
A LIFE B E F O 11 i; THE MAST. 117 
 
 ward, that was expected to be absent between two and three 
 years. She was a small vessel, and carried only three 
 boats. I got a pretty good outfit from my landlord, though 
 most of the articles were second-hand. We parted good 
 friends, however, and I came back to him, and played the 
 same silly game more than once. He was not a bad land- 
 lord, as landlords then went, and 1 make no doubt he took 
 better care of my money than I should have done myself. 
 On the whole, this class of men are not as bad as they seem, 
 though there are precious rascals among them. The re 
 spectable sailor landlord is quite as good, in his way, as 
 one could expect, all things considered. 
 
 The voyage I made in the Edward was one of very little 
 mterest, the ship being exceedingly successful. The usage 
 and living were good, and the whaling must have been good 
 too, or we never should have been back again, as soon as 
 we were. We went round the Horn, and took our first 
 whale between the coast of South America and that of New 
 Holland. I must have been present at the striking of thirty 
 fish, but never met with any accident. I pulled a mid-ship 
 oar, being a new hand at the business, and had little else to 
 do, but keep clear of the line, and look out for my paddle. 
 The voyage is now so common, and the mode of taking 
 whales is so well known, that I shall say little about either. 
 We went off the coast of Japan, as it is called, though a 
 long bit from the land, and we made New Holland, though 
 without touching. The return passage was by the Cape of 
 Good Hope and St. Helena. We let go our anchor but 
 once the whole voyage, and that was at Puna, at the mouth 
 of the Guayaquil river, on the coast of Chili. We lay there 
 ft week, but, with this exception, the Edward was actually 
 under her canvass the whole voyage, or eighteen months. 
 We did intend to anchor at St. Helena, but were forbidden 
 on account of Bonaparte, who was then a prisoner on the 
 Island. As we stood in, we were met by a man-of-war 
 brig, that kept close to us until we had sunk the heights, on 
 our passage off again. We were not permitted even to send 
 a boat in, for fresh grub. 
 
 I sold my voyage in the Edward for two hundred and 
 fifty dollars, and went back to my landlord, in Water street. 
 Of course, everybody was glad to see me, a sailor's im 
 
118 NED MYERS; OR, 
 
 portance in such places being estimated by the length of his 
 voyage. In Wall street they used to call a man "a hun- 
 dred thousand dollar man," and in Water, " an eighteen 
 months, or a two years' voyage man." As none but 
 whalers, Indiamen, and Statesmen could hold out so long, 
 we were all A. No. 1, for a fortnight or three weeks. The 
 man-of-war's-man is generally most esteemed, his cruise 
 lasting three years ; the lucky whaler comes next, and the 
 Canton-man third. 1'he Edward had been a lucky ship, 
 and, insomuch, I had been a lucky fellow. I behaved far 
 better this time, however, than I had done on my returr 
 from St. Domingo. I kept sober more, did not spend my 
 money as foolishly or as fast, and did not wait to be kicked 
 out of doors, before 1 thought of getting some more. When 
 I shipped anew, I actually left a hundred dollars behind me 
 in my landlord's hands; a very extraordinary thing for 
 Jack, and what is equally worthy of notice, I got it all 
 again, on my next return from sea. 
 
 IVly steadiness was owing, in a great measure, to the fol- 
 lowing circumstances. I fell in with two old acquaint- 
 ances, who had been in prison with me, of the names of 
 Tibbets and Wilson. This Tibbets was not the man who 
 had been sent to Bermuda with me, but another of the same 
 name. These men had belonged to the Gov. Tompkins pri- 
 vateer, and had received a considerable sum in prize-money, 
 on returning home. They had used their money discreetly, 
 having purchased an English prize-brig, at a low price, and 
 fitted her out. On board the Tompkins, both had been 
 foremost hands, and in prison they had messed in our bay, 
 so that we had been hail-fellows-well-met, on Melville 
 Island. After getting this brig ready, they had been to the 
 West Indies in her, and were now about to sail for Ireland. 
 They wished me to go with them, and gave me so much 
 good advice, on the subject of taking care of my money, 
 that it produced the effect I have just mentioned. 
 
 The name of the prize-brig was the Susan, though I for- 
 get from what small eastern pOrt she hailed. She was of 
 about two hundred tons burthen, but must have been old 
 and rotten. Tibbets was master, and Wilson was chief- 
 mate. I shipped as a sort of second-mate, keeping a 
 watch, though I lived forward at my own request. We 
 
A LIFE BEFORE THE MAST. 119 
 
 .iiust have sailed about January, 1818, bound to Belfast. 
 There were fourteen of us, altogether, on board, most of 
 us down-easfers. Our run off the coast was with a strong 
 north-west gale, which compelled us to heave-to, the sea 
 being too high for scudding. Finding that the vessel la- 
 boured very much, however, and leaked badly, we kept off 
 again, and scudded for the rest of the blow. On the whole, 
 we got out of this difficulty pretty well. We got but two 
 observations the whole passage, but in the afternoon of the 
 twenty-third day out, we made the coast of Ireland, close 
 aboard, in thick weather ; the wind directly on shore, blow- 
 ing a gale. The brig was under close-reefed topsails, run- 
 ning free, at the time, and we found it necessary to haul up. 
 We now discovered the defects of old canvass and old rigging, 
 splitting the fore-topsail, foresail, and fore-topmast-staysail, 
 besides carrying away sheets, &c. We succeeded in haul- 
 ing up the foresail, however, and I went upon the yard and 
 mended it, after a fashion. It was now nearly night, and 
 it blew in a way " to need two men to hold one man's hair 
 on his head." I cannot say I thought much of our situa- 
 tion, my principal concern being to get below, with some 
 Warm, dry clothes on. We saw nothing of the land after 
 the first half-hour, but at midnight we wore ship, and came 
 up on the larboard tack. The brig had hardly got round 
 before the fore-tack went, and the foresail split into ribands. 
 We let the sail blow from the yard. By this time, things 
 began to look very serious, though, for some reason, I felt 
 no great alarm. The case was different with Tibbets and 
 Wilson, who were uneasy about Cape Clear. I had had a 
 bit of a spat with them about waring, believing, myself, 
 that we should have gone clear of the Cape, on the star- 
 board tack. This prevented them saying much to me, and 
 we had little communication with each other that night. To 
 own the truth, I was sorry I had shipped in such a craft. 
 He/ owners were too poor to give a sea-going vessel a pro- 
 per outfit, and they were too near my own level to create 
 respect. 
 
 The fore-topsail had been mended as well .as the foresail, 
 and was set anew. The sheets went, however, about two 
 in the morning, and the sail flew from the reef-band like a 
 bit of muslin torn by a shop-boy. The brig now had no- 
 
I.i0 NEDMYEKS;OR, 
 
 »hing set but a close-reefed main-topsail, and this I expected, 
 every minute, would follow the other canvass. It rained^ 
 blew tremendously, and the sea was making constant 
 breaches over us. Most of the men were fagged out, some 
 going below, while others, who remained on deck, did, or 
 could do, nothing. At the same time, it was so dark that 
 we could not see the length of the vessel. 
 
 I now went aft to speak to Tibbets, telling him I thought 
 it was all over with us. He had still some hope, as the bay 
 was deep, and he thought light might return before we got 
 to the bottom of it. I was of a different opinion, believing 
 the brig then to be within the influence of the ground-swell, 
 though not absolutely within the breakers. All this time 
 the people were quiet, and there was no drinking. Indeed, 
 I hardly saw any one moving about. It was an hour after 
 the conversation with Tibbets, that I was standing, holding 
 on by the weather-main-clew-garnet, when I got a glimpse 
 of breakers directly under our lee. I sung out, " there's 
 breakers, and everybody must shift for himself." At the 
 next instant, the brig rose on a sea, settled in the trough, 
 and struck. The blow threw me off my feet, though I held 
 on to the clew-garnet. Then I heard the crash of the fore- 
 mast as it went down to leeward. The brig rolled over on 
 Ker beam-ends, but righted at the next sea, drove in some 
 distance, and diT'wn she came again, with a force that threat- 
 ened to break her up. I bethought me of the main-mast, 
 and managed to get forward as far as the bitts, in order to 
 be out of its way. It was well I did, as I felt a movement 
 as if her upper works were parting from the bottom. I was 
 near no one, and the last person I saw, or spoke to on board, 
 was Tibbets, who was then standing in the companion-way. 
 This was an hour before the b3.ig struck. 
 
 There might have been an interval of half a minute be- 
 tween the time I reached the windlass, and that in which 
 I saw a tremendous white foaming sea rolling down upon 
 the vessel. At this ominous sight, I instinctively seized the 
 bitts for protection. I can remember the rushing of the 
 water down upon me, and have some faint impressions ot 
 passing through a mass of rigging, but this is all. When 
 I came to my senses, it was in an Irish mud-cabin, with an 
 old woman and her daughter taking care of me. My head 
 
A. LIFE BETORE THE MAST. 121 
 
 was bandaged, and most of the hair had been cut off ill front 
 I was stiff and sore all over me. Fortunately, none of my 
 bones were broken. 
 
 The account given me of what had passed, was this. I 
 was found by the old man, who lived in the hut, a fisherman 
 and the husband of my nurse, with some other persons, lying 
 on my face, between two shelves of rock. There was no- 
 thing very near me, not even a bit of wood, or a rope. Two 
 iads that belonged to the brig were found not far from me, 
 both alive, though both badly hurt, one of them having had 
 his thigh broken. Of the rest of the fourteen souls on board 
 the Susan, there were no traces. I never heard that even 
 their bodies were found. Tibbets and Wilson had gone with 
 their old prize, and anything but a prize did she prove to me. 
 I lost a good outfit, and, after belonging to her about three 
 weeks, here was I left naked on the shores of Ireland. I 
 am sorry to say, my feelings were those of repining, rather 
 than of g'.atitude. Of religion I had hardly a notion, and I 
 am afraid that all which had been driven into me in child- 
 hood, was already lost. In this state of mind, I naturally 
 felt more of the hardships I had endured, than of the mercy 
 that had been shown me. I look back with shame at the 
 hardness of heart which rendered me insensible to the many 
 mercies I had received, in escaping so often from the perils 
 of my calling. 
 
 It was three days after the wreck, before I left my bed. 
 Nothing could have been kinder than the treatment I received 
 from those poor Irish people. Certainly no reward was be- 
 fore them, but that which Heaven gives the merciful ; and 
 yet I could not have been more cared for, had I been their 
 own son. They fed me, nursed me, and warmed me, with- 
 out receiving any other return from me than my thanks. I 
 staid with them three weeks, doing nothing on account of 
 the bruises I had received. The Susan's had been a tho- 
 rough wreck. Not enough of her could be found, of which 
 to build a launch. Her cargo was as effectually destroyed 
 as her hull, and, to say the truth, it took but little to break 
 her up. As for the two lads, I could not get as far as the 
 cabin in which they had been put. It was two or three 
 miles along the coast, and, having no shoes, I could not 
 walk that distance over the sharp stones. Several messages 
 11 
 
122 NED MYERS; OR, 
 
 passed between us, but I never saw a single soul that be- 
 longed to the brig, after the last look I had of Tibbets in the 
 companion-way. 
 
 A coaster passing near the cabin, and it falling calm, the 
 fisherman went off to her, told my story, and got a passage 
 for me to Liverpool. I now took my leave of these honest 
 people, giving them all I had — my sincere thanks — and went 
 on board the sloop. Here I was well treated, nor did any 
 one expect me to work. "We reached Liverpool the second 
 day, and I went and hunted up Molly Hutson, the landlady 
 with whom the crew of the Sterling had lodged, when Cap- 
 tain B-^ had her. The old woman helped me to some 
 
 clothes, received me well, and seemed sorry for my misfor- 
 tunes. As it would not do to remain idle, however, I shipped 
 on board the Robert Burns, and sailed for New York within 
 the week. I got no wages, but met with excellent treatment, 
 and had a very short winter passage. In less than three 
 months after I left him, I was back again with my old land- 
 lord, who gave me my hundred dollars without any difficult5^ 
 I had sailed with him in the Sterling, and he always seemed 
 to think of me a little differently from what landlords gene- 
 rally think of Jack. 
 
 A good deal was said among my associates, now, about 
 the advantages of making a voyage to the coast of Ireland 
 for the purpose of smuggling tobacco, and I determined to 
 try my hand at one. Of the morality of smuggling I have 
 nothing to say. I would not make such a voyage now, if 
 I know myself; but poor sailors are not taught to make just 
 distinctions in such things, and the merchants must take 
 their share of the shame. I fear there are few merchants, 
 and fewer seamen, man-of-war officers excepted, who will 
 not smuggle.* 
 
 I laid out most of my hundred dollars, in getting a new 
 outfit, and then shipped in a small pilot-boat-built schooner. 
 
 * Ned might have added " few duchesses." The ambassadors' bags 
 in Europe, might tell many a tale of foulards, &c., sent from one court 
 to another. The writer beUeves that the higher class of American 
 gentlemen and ladies smuggle less than those of any other country. 
 ft should be remembered, too, that no seaman goes in a smuggler, th». 
 13 n )t sent by traders ashore Editor. 
 
A LIFE BEFORE THE MAST. 123 
 
 called the M'Donough, bound to Ireland, to supply such 
 holiest fellows as my old fisherman with good tobacco, cheap. 
 Our caTgo was in small bales, being the raw material, in- 
 tended to be passed by hand. We had seventeen hands 
 before the mast, but carried no armament, pistols, &c., ex- 
 cepted. The schooner sailed like a witch, carrying only 
 two gafT-topsails. We made the land in fourteen days after 
 we left the Hook, our port being Tory Island, off the north- 
 west coast of Ireland. We arrived in the day-time, and 
 showed a signal, which was answered in the course of the 
 day, by a smoke on some rocks. A large boat then came 
 off to us, and we filled her with tobacco the same evening. 
 In the course of the night, we had despatched four or five 
 more boats, loaded with the same cargo ; but, as day ap- 
 proached, we hauled our wind, and stood off the land. Next 
 night we went in, again, and met more boats, and the suc- 
 ceeding morning we hauled off, as before. When we saw 
 a boat, we hailed and asked " if they were outward bound." 
 If the answer was satisfactory, we brailed the foresail and 
 permitted the boat to come alongside. In this manner we 
 continued shoving cargo ashore, for quite a week, sometimes 
 falling in with only one boat of a night, and, at others, with 
 three or four ; just as it might happen. We had got about 
 two-thirds of the tobacco out, and a boat had just left us, on 
 the morning of the sixth or seventh day, when we saw a 
 man-of-war brig coming round Tory Island, in chase. At 
 this sight, we hauled up close on a wind, it blowing very 
 fresh. As the English never employed any but the fastest 
 cruisers for this station, we had a scratching time of it. 
 The brig sailed very fast, and out-carried us ,* but our little 
 schooner held on well. For two days and one night we had 
 it, tack and tack, with her. The brig certainly gained on 
 us, our craft carrying a. balanced reefed-mainsail, bonnet off 
 the foresail and one reef in, and bonnet off the jib. The 
 flying-jib was inboard. At sunset, on the second night, the 
 brig was so near us, we could see her people, and it was 
 blowing fresher than ever- This was just her play, while 
 ours was in more moderate weather. Our skipper got un- 
 easy, now, and determined to try a trick. It set in dark 
 and rainy ; and, as soon as we lost sight of the brig, we 
 tacked, stood on a short distance, lowered everything, and 
 
124 NED MYERS; OR, 
 
 extinguished all our lights. We lay in this situation three 
 hours, when we stuck the craft down again for Tory Island 
 as straight as we could go. I never knew what became of 
 the brig, which may be chasing us yet, for aught I know 
 for I saw no more of her. Next day we had the signal fly- 
 ing again, and the smoke came up from the same rock, as 
 before. It look us three days longer to get all the tobacco 
 ashore, in consequence of some trouble on the island ; but 
 it all went in the end, and went clear, as I was told, one or 
 two boat-loads excepted. The cargo was no sooner out, 
 than we made sail for New York, where we arrived in an- 
 other short passage. We were absent but little more than 
 two months, and my wages and presents came to near one 
 hundred dollars. I never tried the tobacco trade ao;ain. 
 
 CHAPTER XI. 
 
 I NOW stayed ashore two months. I had determined to 
 study navigation, and to try to get off the forecastle, in 
 which wise course I was encouraged by several discreet 
 friends. I had fallen in with a young woman of respectable 
 character and agreeable person, and, to own the truth, was 
 completely in irons with her. I believe a mother is a good 
 deal more on the look-out than a father, in such matters ; 
 for I was overhauled by the old woman, and questioned as 
 to my intentions about Sarah, whereas the old man wa-i 
 somewhat more moderate. I confessed my wish to marry 
 her daughter; but the old woman thought I was too wild, 
 which was not Sarah's opinion, I believe. Had we been 
 left to ourselves, we should have got married ; though I was 
 really desirous of going out once as an officer, before I took 
 so impoi'tant a step. I have sometimes suspected that 
 Sarah's parents had a hand in getting me shipped, again, as 
 they were intimate with the captain who now proposed to 
 take me with him as his second-mate. I consented to go. 
 with some reluctance ; but, on the whole, thought it was the 
 best thing I could do. My reluctance proceeded from ^j 
 
A LIFE BEFORE THE MAST. 125 
 
 Jesire to remain with Sarah, when the time came ; though 
 the herth was exactly the thing I wanted, whenever I rea- 
 soned coolly on the subject. 
 
 I shipped, accordingly, in a vessel of the Costers', called 
 the William and Jane, bound to Holland and Canton, as her 
 second-mate. My leave-taking with Sarah was very tender ; 
 and I believe we both felt much grieved at the necessity of 
 parting. Nothing occurred on the passage out worth men- 
 tioning. I got along with my duty well enough, for I had 
 been broken-in on board the Sterling, and one or two other 
 vessels. We went to the Texel, but found some difficulty in 
 procuring dollars, which caused us to return to New York, 
 after getting only twenty thousand. We had no other return 
 cargo, with the exception of a little gin. We were absent 
 five months ; and I found Sarah as pretty, and as true, as 
 ever. I did not quit the vessel, however ; but, finding my 
 knowledge of the lunars too limited, I was obliged to go 
 backward a little — becoming third-mate. We were a month 
 in New York, and it was pretty hard work to keep from eloping 
 with Sarah ; but I clawed off the breakers as well as I could. 
 I gave her a silver thimble, and told her to take it to a smith, 
 and get our joint names cut on it, which she did. The con- 
 sequences of this act will be seen in the end. 
 
 We had a little breeze on board the ship before we could 
 get off; the people refusing to sail with a new fii'st-mate 
 that had joined her. It ended by getting another mate, when 
 we went to sea. I believe that no other vessel ever went 
 out with such articles as our crew insisted on. The men 
 stipulated for three quarts of water a day, and the forenoon's 
 watch below. All this was put in black and white, and it 
 gave us some trouble before we got to our destination. 
 
 Our passage out was a very long one, lasting two hundred 
 and ten days. When we got into the trades, we stripped 
 one mast after the other, to a girt-line, overhauling every 
 thing, and actually getting new gangs of rigging up over 
 the lower-mast-heads. We were a long time about it, but 
 lost little or nothing in distance, as the ship was going before 
 the wind the whole time, with everything packed on the 
 masts that were rigged. Before overhauling the rigging, 
 we fell in with an English ship, called the General Blucher, 
 and kept company with her for quite a fortnight. While 
 11* 
 
126 NED MYERS; OR, 
 
 .he two ships were together, we were chased by a sfrango 
 brig, that kept in sight three or four days, evidently watch- 
 ing us, and both vessels suspected him of being a pirate. 
 As we had six guns, and thirty-one souls, and the Blucher 
 was, at least, as strong, the two captains thought, by stand- 
 ing by each other, they might beat the fellow otf, should he 
 attack us. The brig frequently came near enough to get 
 a good look at us, and then dropped astern. He continued 
 this game several da3's, until he suddenly hauled his wind, 
 and left us. Our ship would have been a famous prize; 
 having, it vvas said, no less than two hundred and fift^y 
 thousand Spanish dollars on board. 
 
 We parted com.pany with the Blucher, in a heavy gale ; 
 our ship bearing up for Rio. After getting rid of some of 
 our ballast, however, and changing the cargo of pig-lead, 
 our vessel was easier, and did not go in. Nothing further 
 occurred, worth mentioning, until we got off Van Diemen's 
 Land. Two days after seeing the land, a boy fell from the 
 fore-top-gallantyard, while reevingthestudding-sailhalyards, 
 I had just turned in, after eating my dinner, having the 
 watch below, when I heard the cry of " a man overboard !" 
 Running on deck, as I was, I jumped into a quarter-boat, 
 followed by four men, and we were immediately lowered 
 ilown. The ship was rounded-to, and I heard the poor fel- 
 low calling out to me by name, to save him. I saw him, 
 astern, very plainly, while on the ship's quarter ; but lost 
 sight of him, as soon as the boat was in the water. The 
 skylight-hood had been thrown overboard, and was floating 
 in the ship's wake. We steered for that ; but could neither 
 see nor hear anything more of the poor fellow. We got his 
 hat, and we picked up the hood of the skylight, but could 
 not find the boy. He had, unquestionably, gone down 
 before we reached the spot where he had been floating, as 
 his hat must have pointed out the place. We got the hat 
 first ; and then, seeing nothing of the lad, we pulled back to 
 take in the hood ; which was quite large. While employed 
 in taking it in, a squall passed over the boat ; which nearly 
 -blew it away from us. Being very busy in securing the 
 hood, no one had leisure to look about ; but the duty was no 
 sooner done, than one of the men called out, that he could 
 not see the ship ! Sure enough, the William and Jane had 
 
A LIFE BEFORE THE MAST. 127 
 
 disappeared ! and there we were, left in llie middle of the 
 ocean, in a six-oared pinnace, without a morsel of food, and I 
 myself, without hat, shoes, jacket or trowsers. In a word, 
 I had nothing on me but my drawers and a flannel shirt. 
 Fortunately, the captain kept a breaker of fresh water in each 
 boat, and we had a small supply of this great requisite ; — 
 enough, perhaps, to last five men two or three days. 
 
 All our boats had sails ; but those of the pinnace had been 
 spread on the quarter-deck, to dry ; and we had nothing but 
 the ash to depend on. Kt first, we pulled to leeward ; but 
 the weather was so thick, we could not see a cable's-length ; 
 and our search for the vessel, in that direction, proved use- 
 less. At the end of an hour or two, we ceased rowing, and 
 held a consultation. I proposed to pull in the direction of 
 the land ; which was pulling to windward. If the ship should 
 search for us, it would certainly be in that quarter ; and if 
 we should miss her, altogether, our only chance was in 
 reaching the shore. There, we might find something to 
 eat ; of which there was little hope, out on the ocean. The 
 men did not relish the idea of quitting the spot ; but, after 
 some talk, they came into my plan. 
 
 It remained thick weather all that afternoon, night, and 
 succeeding day, until about noon. We were without a com- 
 pass, and steered by the direction of the wind and sea. Oc- 
 casionally it lightened up a little, so as to show us a star or 
 two, or during the day to permit us to see a few miles around 
 the boat ; but we got no glimpse of the ship. It blew so 
 heavily that we made no great progress, in my judgment 
 doing very little more than keeping the boat head to sea. 
 Could we have pulled four oars, this might not have been 
 the case, but we took it watch and watch, two men pulling, 
 while two tried to get a little rest, under the shelter of the 
 hood» I steered as long as I could, but was compelled to 
 row part of the time to keep myself warm. In this manner 
 were passed about six-and-twenty of the most unpleasant 
 hours of my life, when some of us thought they heard the 
 report of a distant gun. I did not believe it ; but, after lis- 
 tening attentively some ten or fifteen minutes, another report 
 was heard, beyond all dispute, dead to leeward of us ! 
 
 This signal produced a wonderful effect on us all. The 
 four oars were manned, and away we went before the wind 
 
128 NED MYERS;OR, 
 
 and sea, as fast as we could pull, I steering for the jeports 
 as they came heavily up to windward at intervals of about 
 a quarter of an hour. Three or four of these guns were 
 heard, each report sounding nearer than the other, to our 
 great joy, until I got a glimpse of the ship, about two miles 
 distant from us. She was on the starboard tack, close haul- 
 ed, a proof she was in search of us, with top-gallant-sails 
 set over single-reefed topsails. She was drawing ahead of 
 us fast, however, and had we not seen her as we did, we 
 should have crossed her wake, and been lost without a hope, 
 by running to leeward. We altered our course the instant 
 she was seen ; but what could a boat do in such a sea, pull- 
 ing after a fast ship under such canvass ? Perhaps we felt 
 more keen anxiety, after we saw the ship, than we did be- 
 fore, since we beheld all the risk we ran. Never shall I for- 
 get the sensations with which I saw her start her main-tack 
 and haul up the sail ! The foresail and top-gallant-sail foU 
 lowed, and then the main-yard came round, and laid the 
 topsail aback ! Everything seemed to fly on board her, and 
 we knew we were safe. In a few minutes we were alongside. 
 The boat was at the davits, the helm was up, and the old 
 barky squared away for China. 
 
 We in the boat were all pretty well fagged out with hun- 
 ger, toil, and exposure. I was the worst off, having so lit- 
 tle clothing in cool weather, and I think another day would 
 have destroyed us all, unless we had taken refuge in the 
 well-known dreadful alternative of seamen. The captain 
 was delighted to see us, as indeed were all hands. They 
 had determined to tui'n to windward, on short tacks, until 
 they made the land, the best thing that could have been 
 done, and the course that actually saved us. 
 
 When we got into the latitude of Port Jackson, the crew 
 was put on two quarts of water a man, three quarts having 
 been stipulated for in the articles. This produced a mutiny, 
 the men refusing duty. This was awkward enough, in that 
 distant sea. The captain took advantage of the men's go- 
 ing below, however, to secure the scuttle and keep them 
 there. He then mustered us, who lived aft, six men and 
 three boys, and laid the question before us, whether we wovld 
 take the ship into Canton, or go into Port Jackson, and get 
 some water. He admitted we were about seventy-five days 
 
A LIFE BEFORE THE MAST. 129 
 
 run from Canton, but he himself leaned to the plan of con- 
 tinuing on our course. We saw all the difiiculties before 
 us, and told him of them. 
 
 There were twenty men below, and to carry them eight 
 or ten thousand mites in that situation, would have been 
 troublesome, to say the least, and might have caused the 
 death of some among them. We were armed, and had no 
 apprehensions of the people, but we did not like to work a 
 ship of five hundred tons v/ith so kw hands, one-third of 
 whom were boys, so great a distance. The crew, more- 
 over, had a good deal of right on their side, the articles stip- 
 ulating that they should have the water, and this water was 
 to be had a short distance to windward. 
 
 The captain yielded to our reasoning, and we beat up to 
 Port Jackson, where we arrived in three or four days. The 
 people were then sent to prison, as mutineers, and we wa- 
 tered the ship. We were in port a fortnight, thus occu- 
 pied. All this time the men were in gaol. No men were 
 to be had, and then arose the question about trusting the old 
 crew. There was no choice, and, the ship being ready to 
 sail, we received the people on board again, and turned 
 them all to duty. We had no further trouble with them, 
 however, the fellows behaving perfectly well, as men com- 
 monly will, who have been once put down. No mutiny is 
 dangerous when the officers are apprized of its existence, 
 and are fairly ready to meet it. The king's name is a 
 tower of strength. 
 
 We arrived at Canton in due time, and found our cargo 
 ready for us. We took it in, and sailed again, for the 
 Texel, in three weeks. Our passage to Europe was two 
 hundred and eleven days, but we met with no accident. At 
 the Texel I found two letters from New York, one being 
 from Sarah, and the other from a female friend. Sarah 
 was married to the very silversmith who had engraven our 
 names on the thimble ! This man saw her for the first 
 time, when she carried that miserable thimble to him, fell 
 m love with her, and, being in good circumstances, her 
 friends prevailed on her to have him. Her letter to me ad- 
 mitted her error, and confessed her unhappiness; but there 
 was no remedy. I did not like the idea of returning to New 
 Vork, under the" circumstances, and resolved to quit the 
 
1 30 N E D M Y Ji il S ; O il , 
 
 ship. I got my discharge, therefore, from the Wihiarr and 
 June, and left her, never seeing tiie vessel allervvards. 
 
 There was a small Baltimore ship, called the Wabash, at 
 the Texel, getting ready for Canton, and I entered on board 
 her, as a foremast Jack, again. My plan was to quit her in 
 China, and to remain beyond the Capes for ever. The dis- 
 appointment in my matrimonial plans had soured me, and I 
 wanted to get as far from America as I could. This was 
 the turning point of my life, and was to settle my position 
 in my calling. I was now twenty-seven, and when a man 
 gets stern-way on him, at that age, he must sail a good 
 craft ever to work his way into his proper berth again. 
 
 The Wabash had a good passage out, without any un- 
 usual occurrence. On her arrival at Canton, I told the 
 captain my views, and he allowed me to go. I was now 
 adrift in the Imperial Empire, with a couple of hundred 
 dollars in my pocket, and a chest full of good clothes. So 
 far all was well, and I began to look about me for a berth. 
 We had found an English country ship lying at Whampao, 
 smuggling opium, and I got on board of her, as third-mate, a 
 few days after I quitted the Wabash. This was the first 
 and only time I ever sailed under the English flag, for I do 
 not call my other passages in English vessels, sail'mgunder 
 the flag, though it was waving over my head. My new 
 ship was the Hope, of Calcutta, commanded by Captain 
 Kid, or Kyd, I forget which. The vessel was built of teak, 
 and had been a frigate in the Portuguese service. She was 
 so old no one knew exactly when she was built, but sailed 
 like a witch. Her ci*ew consisted principally of Lascars, 
 with a kw Europeans and negroes, as is usual in those 
 craft. My wages did not amount to much in dollars, but 
 everything was so cheap, they counted up in the long run. 
 I had perquisites, too, which amounted to something hand- 
 some. They kept a very good table. 
 
 The Hope had a good deal of opium, when I joined her, 
 and it was all to be smuggled before we sailed. As this 
 trade has made a great deal of noise, latterly, I will relate 
 the manner in which we disposed of the drug. Of the mo- 
 rality of this species of commerce, J have no more to say in 
 its defence, than I had of the tobacco voyage, unless it be 
 ID aver that were I compelled, now, to embark in one of the 
 
A LIFE BEFORE THE MAST. 131 
 
 .WO, rt should be to give the countrymen of my honest fish- 
 orman cheap tobacco, in preference to making the Chinese 
 drunk on opium. 
 
 Our opium was packed in wooden boxes of forty cyhn- 
 ders, weighing about ten pounds each cylinder. Of course 
 each box weighed about four hundred pounds. The main 
 cargo was cotton, and salt-petre, and ebony ; but there were 
 four hundred boxes of this opium. 
 
 The sales of the article were made by the captain, up at 
 the factory. They seldom exceeded six or eight boxes at a 
 time, and were oftener two or three. The purchaser then 
 brought, or sent, an order on board the Ship, for the delivery 
 of the opium. He also provided bags. The custom-house 
 officers did not remain in the ship, as in other countries, but 
 were on board a large armed boat, hanging astern. These 
 crafts are called Hoppoo boats. This arrangement left us 
 tolerably free to do as we pleased, on board. If an officer 
 happened to come on board, however, we had early notice 
 of it, of course. As third-mate, it was my duty to see the 
 boxes taken out of the hold, and the opium delivered. The 
 box was opened, and the cylinders counted off, and stowed 
 in the bags, which were of sizes convenient to handle. All 
 this was done on the gun-deck, the purchaser receiving 
 possession of his opium, on board us. It was his loss, if 
 anything failed afterwards. 
 
 As soon as the buyer had his opium in the bags, by 
 placed the latter near two or three open ports, amidships, 
 and hung out a signal to the shore. This signal was soon 
 answered, and then it was look out for the smuggling boats ! 
 These smuggling boats are long, swift, craft, that have 
 double-banked paddles, frequently to the number of sixty 
 men. They are armed, and are swift as arrows. When 
 all is ready, they appear suddenly on the water, and dash 
 alongside of the vessel for which ^fiey are bound, and find 
 the labourers of the purchaser standing at the ports, with 
 the bags of cylinders ready. These bags are thrown into 
 the boat, the purchaser and his men tumble after them, and 
 away she paddles, like a racer. The whole operation oc- 
 cupies but a minute or two. 
 
 As soon as the Hoppoo boat sees what is going on, it be- 
 gins to blow conches. This gives the alnrm, and then follows 
 
132 NED MYERS; OR, 
 
 a chase from an armed custom-house boat, of which .here 
 are many constantly plying about. It always appeared to 
 me that the custom-house people were either afraid of the 
 smugglers, or that they were paid for not doing their duty. 
 I never saw any fight, or seizure, though I am told such 
 sometimes happen. I suppose it is in China, as it is in 
 other parts of the world ; that men occasionally do their 
 whole duty, but that they oftener do not. If the connivance 
 of custom-house officers will justify smuggling in China, it 
 will justify smuggling in London, and possibly in- New 
 York. 
 
 We not only smuggled cargo out, but we smuggled cargo 
 in. The favourite prohibited article was a species of metal, 
 that came in plates, like tin, or copper, of which we took in 
 large quantities. It was brought to us by the smuggling- 
 boats, and thrown on board, very much as the opium was 
 taken out, and we stowed it away in the hold. All this was 
 done in the day-time, but I never heard of any one's follow- 
 ing the article into the ship. Once there, it appeared to be 
 considered safe. Then we got sycee silver, which was pro- 
 hibited for exportation. All came on board in the same 
 manner. For every box of opium sold, the mate got a china 
 dollar as a perquisite. Of course my share on four hundred 
 boxes came to one hundred and thirty-three of these dollars, 
 or about one hundred and sixteen of our own. I am ashamed 
 to say there was a great deal of cheating all round, each 
 party evidently regarding the other as rogues, and, instead 
 of" doing as they would be done by," doing as they thought 
 they were done by. 
 
 The Hope sailed as soon as the opium was sold, about a 
 month, and had a quick passage to Calcutta. I now began 
 to pick up a little Bengalee, and, before I left the trade, could 
 work a ship very well in the language. The Lascars were 
 more like monkeys than men aloft, though they wanted 
 strength. A topsail, that six of our common men would 
 furl, would employ twenty of them. This was partly from 
 habit, perhaps, though they actually want physical force. 
 They eat little besides rice, and are small in frame. We 
 had a curious mode of punishing them, when slack, aloft. 
 Our standing rigging was of grass, and wiry enough to cut 
 even hands that were used to it. The ratlines were not 
 
A LIFE BEFORE THE MAST. 133 
 
 seized to the forward and after shrouds, by means of eyes, 
 as is done in our vessels, but were made fast by a round 
 turn, and stopping back the ends. We used to take down all 
 the ratlines, and make the darkies go up without them. In 
 doing this, they took the rigging between the great and se- 
 cond toe, and walked up, instead of shinning it, like Chris- 
 tians. This soon gave them sore toes, and they would beg 
 hard to have the ratlines replaced. On the whole, they were 
 easily managed, and were respectful and obedient. We had 
 near a hundred of these fellows in the Hope, and kept them 
 at work by means of a boatswain and four mates, all coun- 
 trymen of their own. In addition, we had about thirty more 
 souls, including the Europeans — Christians, as we were 
 called 1 
 
 At Calcutta we loaded with cotton, and returned to Can- 
 ton, having another short passage. We had no opium in 
 the ship, this time, it being out of season ; but we smuggled 
 cargo in, as before. We lay at Whampao a few weeks, and 
 returned to Calcutta. By this time the Hope was dying of 
 old age, and Captain Kyd began to think, if he did not bury 
 her, she might bury him. Her beams actually dropped, as 
 we removed the cotton at Canton, though she still remained 
 tight. But it would have been dangerous to encounter heavy 
 weather in her. 
 
 A new ship, called the Hopping Castle, had been built by 
 Captain Kyd's father-in-law, expressly for him. She was 
 a s'.out large vessel, and promised to sail well. The officers 
 wore »l'i transferred to her ; but most of the old Lascars 
 refused to ship, on account of a quarrel with the boatswain. 
 This compelled us to ship a new set of these men, most of 
 whom were strangers to us. 
 
 By a law of Calcutta, if anything happens to a vessel 
 before she gets to sea, the people retain the two months' 
 advance it is customary to give them. This rule brought 
 us into difficulty. The Hopping Castle cleared for Bombay, 
 with a light cargo. We had dropped down the river, dis- 
 charged the pilot, and made sail on our course, when a fire 
 suddenly broke up out of the fore-hatch. A quantity of 
 grass junk, and two or three cables of the same material, 
 were in that part of the ship, and they all burnt like tinder. 
 f went with the other officers and threw overboard the pow- 
 12 
 
134 NED MYERS; OR, 
 
 der, but it was useless to attempt extinguishing the flar les, 
 Luckily, there were two pilot brigs still near us, and they 
 came alongside and received all hands. The Hopping Cas- 
 tle burnt to the water's edge, and we saw her wreck go 
 down. This was a short career for so fine a ship, and it 
 gave us all great pain; all but the rascals of Lascars. I 
 lost everything I had in the world in her, but a few clothes 
 I saved in a small trunk. I had little or no money, Calcutta 
 being no place for economy. In a country in which it is a 
 distinction to be a white man, and called a Christian, one 
 must maintain his dignity by a little extravagance. 
 
 Captain Kyd felt satisfied that the Lascars had set his 
 ship on fire, and he had us all landed on Tiger Island. 
 Here the serang, or boatswain, took the matter in hand, and 
 attempted to find out the facts. I was present at the pro- 
 ceeding, and witnessed it all. It was so remarkable as to 
 deserve bring mentioned. The men were drawn up in rings, 
 of twenty or thirty each, and the boatswain stood in the 
 centre. He then put a little white powder into each man's 
 hand, and ordered him to spit in it. The idea was that the 
 innocent men would spit without any difficulty, while the 
 mouths of the guilty would become too dry and husky to 
 allow them to comply. At any rate, the serang picked out 
 ten men as guilty, and they were sent to Calcutta to be tried. 
 I was told, afterwards, that all these ten men admitted their 
 guilt, criminated two more, and that the whole twelve were 
 subsequently hanged in chains, near Castle William. Of 
 the legal trial and execution I know nothing, unless by re- 
 port ; but the trial by spittle, I saw with my own eyes ; and 
 it was evident the Lascars looked upon it as a very serious 
 matter. I never saw criminals in court betray more uneasi- 
 ness, than these fellows, while the serang was busy with 
 them. 
 
 I was now out of employment. Captain Kyd wished me 
 to go on an indigo plantation, offering me high wages. I 
 never drank at sea, and had behaved in a way to gain his 
 confidence, I believe, so that he urged me a good deal to 
 accept his offers. I would not consent, however, being 
 afraid of death. There was a Philadelphia ship, called the 
 Benjamin Rush, at Calcutta, and I determined to join her. 
 By this time, I felt less on the subject of my disappointment, 
 
A LIFE BEFORE THE MAST. 135 
 
 and had a desire to see home, again. I shipped, accordingly, 
 in the vessel mentioned, as a foremast hand. We sailed 
 50on after, and had a pleubant passage to the Capes of the 
 Delavvare, which I now entered, again, for the first time 
 I'-dce I had done so on my return from my original voyage 
 r the Sterling. 
 
 As soon as paid off, I proceeded to New York. I was 
 short of cash ; and, my old landlord being dead, I had to 
 look about me for a new ship. This time, I went in a brig, 
 called the Boxer, a clipper, belonging to John Jacob Astor, 
 bound to Canton. This proved to be a pleasant and suc- 
 cessful voyage, so far as the vessel was concerned, at least; 
 the brig being back at New York, again, eight months after 
 ve sailed. I went in her before the mast. 
 
 My money was soon gone ; and I was obliged to ship 
 again. I now went as second-mate, in the Trio ; an old 
 English prize-ship, belonging to David Dunham. We were 
 bound to Batavia, and sailed in January. After being a 
 short time at sea, we found all our water gone, with the ex- 
 ception of one cask. The remainder had been lost by the 
 bursting of the hoops, in consequence of the water's having 
 frozen. We went on a short allowance ; and suffered a good 
 deal by the privation. Our supercargo, a young gentleman 
 of the name of Croes, came near dying. We went on, 
 however, intending to go into one of the Cape de Verdes. 
 We got up our casks, and repaired them, in the meanwhile. 
 Off the Island of Fuego, we hove to, and found we could get 
 no water. We got a few goats, and a little fruit ; but were 
 compelled to proceed. Luckily, it came on to rain very 
 hard, and we stopped all the scuppers, filling every cask we 
 had, in this easy manner. We began about eight at night, 
 and were through before morning. Capital water it proved ; 
 and it lasted us to Batavia. There, indeed, it would even 
 have brought a premium ; being so much better than any- 
 thing to be had in that port. It changed ; but sweetened 
 Itself very soon. 
 
 We first went into Batavia, and entered the ship ; after 
 which, we sailed for a roadstead, called Terragall, to take 
 in rice. The vessel was in ballast, and had brought money 
 to make her purchases with. We got our cargo off in boats, 
 and sailed for Batavia, to clear ; all within a few weeks. 
 
136 NED MYERS; OR, 
 
 The second night out, the ship struck, in fair weather, and 
 a moderate sea, on a mud-bank ; and brought up all stand- 
 ing. We first endeavoured to force the vessel over the bank ; 
 but this did not succeed ; and, the tide leaving her, the ship 
 fell over on her bilge ; bringing her gunwales under water. 
 Luckily, she lay quiet; though a good deal strained. The 
 captain now took a boat, and four men, and pulled ashore, 
 to get prows, to lighten the vessel. We had but eight men 
 before the mast, and six aft. This, of course, left only nine 
 souls on board. That night nothing occurred ; but, in the 
 morning early, two piratical prows approached, and showed 
 a disposition to board us. Mr. Croes was the person who 
 saved the ship. He stuck up handspikes, and other objects, 
 about deck ; putting hats and caps on them, so as to make 
 us appear very strong-handed. At the same time, we got a 
 couple of sixes to bear on the prows ; and succeeded in keep- 
 ing them at a safe distance. They hovered about until sun- 
 set, when they left us ; pulling ashore. Just as they were 
 quitting us, twenty-seven boats hove in sight ; and we made 
 a signal to them, which was not answered. We set them 
 down as enemies, too ; but, as they came nearer, we per- 
 ceived our own boat among them, and felt certain it was the 
 captain. 
 
 We discharged everything betwixt decks into the boats, 
 that night, and got the ship afloat before morning. We now 
 hove clear of the bank, restowed the cargo, and made sail 
 for Batavia. The ship leaked badly, and kept us hard at 
 the pumps. As there were no means for repairing the ves- 
 sel where we were, it was resolved to take in extra hands, 
 ship two box-pumps, and carry the vessel to the Isle of 
 France, in order to repair her. I did not like the prospect 
 of such a passage, and confess I played " old soldier" to get 
 rid of it. I contrived to get, on a sick ticket, into the hos- 
 pital, and the ship sailed without me. At the Isle of France, 
 the Trio was condemned ; her hulk being, in truth, muclrt 
 worse than my own, docked though I was. 
 
a LIFE BEFORE THE MAS?. 137 
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 
 As soon as the Trio was off, I got well. Little did I 
 then think of the great risk I ran in going ashore ; for it 
 was almost certain death for an European to land, for any 
 length of time, at that season. Still less did I, or could I, 
 anticipate what was to happen to myself, in this very hos- 
 pital, a few years later ; or how long I was to be one of its 
 truly suffering, and, I hope, repentant inmates. The consul 
 was frank enough to tell me that I had been shamming 
 Abraham ; and I so far imitated his sincerity as distinctly 
 to state, it was quite true. I thought the old Trio ought to 
 have been left on the bank, where Providence had placed 
 her ; but, it being the pleasure of her captain and the super- 
 cargo to take her bones to the Isle of France for burial, I 
 did not choose to go so far, weeping through the pumps, to 
 attend her funeral. 
 
 As the consul held my wages, and refused to give me any 
 money, I was compelled to get on board some vessel as soon 
 as I could. Batavia was not a place for an American con- 
 stitution, and I was glad to be off. I shipped, before the 
 mast, in the Clyde, of Salem, a good little ship, with good 
 living and good treatment. We sailed immediately, but not 
 soon enough to escape the Batavia fever. Two of the crew 
 died, about a week out, and were buried in the Straits of 
 Banca. The day we lost sight of Java Head, it came on to 
 blow fresh, and we had to take in the jib, and double-reef 
 the topsails. A man of the name of Day went down on the 
 bowsprit shrouds to clear the jib-sheets, when the ship made 
 a heavy pitch, and washed him away. The second mate 
 and myself got into the boat, and were lowered as soon as 
 the ship was rounded-to. There was a very heavy sea on, 
 but we succeeded in finding the poor fellow, who was swim- 
 ming with great apparent strength. His face was towards 
 the boat, and, as we came near, I rose, and threw the blade 
 of my oar towards him, calling out to him. to be of good 
 cheer. At this instant, Day seemed to spring nearly his 
 'ength out of water, and immediately sunk. What caused 
 this extraordinarj' effort, ar d sudden failure, was never 
 12* 
 
138 NED MYERS; OR 
 
 known. I ha\ e scmetimes thought a shark must have strack 
 him, though I saw neithei- blood nor fish. The man was 
 hopelessly lost^ and we returned to the ship, feeling as seamen 
 always feel on such occasions. 
 
 A few days later, another man died of the fever. This 
 left but five of us in the forecastle, with the ship a long way 
 to the eastward of the Cape of Good Hope. Before we got 
 up with the Cape, another foremast hand went crazy, and, 
 instead of helping us, became a cause of much trouble for 
 the rest of the passage. In the end, he died, mad. We had 
 now only three men in a watch, the officers included ; and 
 of course, it was trick and trick at the helm. Notwithstand- 
 ing all this, we did very well, having a good run, until we 
 got on the coast, which we reached in the month of January. 
 A north-wester di'ove us off, and we had a pretty tough week 
 of it, but brought the ship up to the Hook, at the end of that 
 time, and anchored her safely in the East River. The Clyde 
 must have been a ship of about three hundred tons, and, in- 
 cluding every one on board, nine of us sailed her from the 
 eastward of the Cape to her port, without any serious diffi- 
 culty. 
 
 I did not stay long ashore, for the money went like smoke, 
 but shipped in a brig called the Margaret, bound to Belfast. 
 This vessel struck in the Irish channel, but she was backed 
 off with little difficulty, and got safe into her port. The re- 
 turn passage was pleasant, and without any accident. 
 
 Such a voyage left little to spend, and I was soon on the 
 look-out for a fresh berth. I shipped this time as mate, in 
 a brig called the William Henry, bound on a smuggling 
 voyage to the coast of Spain. We took in tobacco, segars, 
 &c, &c,,and the brig dropped down to Staten Island. Here 
 I quarrelled with the captain about some cotton wick, and 1 
 threw up my situation, I knew there were more ships than 
 parish churches, and felt no concern about finding a place in 
 one, up at town. The balance of my advance was paid 
 back, and I left the smuggling trade, like an honest man. I 
 only wish this change of purpose had proceeded from a better 
 moiive. 
 
 My next windfall was Jack's berth on board a beautiful 
 .ittle schooner called the Ida, that was to sail for Curaqoa, 
 in the hope of being purchased by the governor of the island 
 
A LIFE BEFORE THE MAST. 139 
 
 or a yacht. I expected to find my way to the Spanish 
 main, alter the craft was sold. We got out without any 
 accident, going into port of a Sunday morning. The same 
 morning, an English i'rigate and a sloop of-war came in and 
 anchored. That allernoon these vessels commenced giving 
 liberty to their men. We were alongside of a wharf, and, 
 m the afternoon, our crew took a drift in some public gar- 
 dens in the suburbs of the town. Here an incident occurred 
 that is sufficiently singular to be mentioned. 
 
 I was by myself in the garden, ruminating on the past, 
 and, I suppose, looking melancholy and in the market, when 
 I perceived an English man-of-war's-man eyeing me pretty 
 closely. After a while, he came up, and fell into discourse 
 with me. Something that fell from him made me distrust 
 him from the first, and I acted with great caution. After 
 sounding me for some time, he inquired if I had any berth. 
 I told him, no. He then went on, little by little, until he got 
 such answers as gave him confidence, when he let me into 
 the secret of his real object. He said he belonged to the 
 frigate, and had liberty until next morning — that he and four 
 of his shipmates who were ashore, had determined to get 
 possession of the pretty little Yankee schooner that was lying 
 alongside of the Telegraph, at the wharf, and carry her down 
 to Laguayra. All this was to be done that night, and he 
 wished me to join the party. By what fell from this man, 
 I made no doubt his design was to turn pirate, after he had 
 sold the flour then in the Ida. I encouraged him to go on, 
 and we drank together, until he let me into his whole plan. 
 The scheme was to come on board the schooner, after the 
 crew had turned in, to fasten all hands below, set the foresail 
 and jib, and run out with the land-breeze ; a thing that was 
 feasible enough, considering there is never any watch kept 
 in merchant-vessels that lie at wharves. 
 
 Aftei a long talk, I consented to join the enterprise, and 
 agreed to be, at nine o'clock, on board the Telegraph, a 
 Philadelphia ship, outside of which our schooner lay. This 
 vessel had a crew of blacks, and, as most of them were then 
 ashore, it was supposed many would not return to her that 
 night. My conspirator observed — " the Yankees that be- 
 'ong to the schooner are up yonder in the garden, and will 
 be half drunk, so they will all be sound asleep, and can 
 
i.4.0 NED MYERS; OR, 
 
 give us little trouble." I remember he professed to have no 
 intention of hurting any of us, but merely to run away with 
 us, and sell the craft from under us. We parted with a 
 clear understanding of the manner in which everything was 
 to be done. 
 
 I know no other reason why this man chose to select me 
 for his companion in such an adventure, than the circum- 
 stance that I happened to be alone, and perhaps I may have 
 looked a little under the weather. He was no sooner gone, 
 however, than I managed to get near my shipmates, and to 
 call them out of the garden, one by one. As we went 
 away, I told them all that had happened, and we laid our 
 counter-plot. When we reached the Telegraph, it was near 
 night, and finding only two of the blacks on board her, we 
 let them into the secret, and they joined us, heart and hand. 
 We got something to drink, as a matter of course, and tried 
 to pass the time as well as we could, until the hour lor 
 springing the mine should arrive. 
 
 Pretty punctually to the hour, we heard footsteps on the 
 quay, and then a gang of men stopped alongside of the ship. 
 We stowed ourselves under the bulwarks, and presently the 
 gentlemen came on board, one by one. The negroes were 
 too impatient, however, springing out upon their prey a little 
 too soon. We secured three of the rascals, but two escaped 
 us, by jumping down upon the quay and running. Consider- 
 ing we were all captains, this was doing pretty well. 
 
 Our three chaps were Englishmen, and I make no doubt 
 belonged to the frigate, as stated. As soon as they were 
 fairly pinned, and they understood there was no officer 
 among us, they began to beg. They said their lives would 
 be forfeited if we gave them up, and they entreated us to let 
 them go. We kept them about half an hour, and finally 
 yielded to their solicitations, giving them their liberty again. 
 They were very thankful for their escape, especially as I 
 told them what had passed between myself and the man in 
 the garden. This fellow was one of the two that escaped, 
 and had the appearance of a man who might very well be- 
 come a leader among pirates. 
 
 The next day the two men-of-war went to sea, and I 
 make no doubt carried off the intended pirates in them. As 
 for us seamen, we never told our own officers anything 
 
A LIFE BEFORE TH£ MAST. 141 
 
 about the affair, for I was not quite satisfied with myself, 
 after letting the scoundrels go. One scarcely knows what 
 to do in such a case, as one does not like to be the means 
 of getting a fellow-creature hanged, or of letting a rogue es- 
 cape. A pirate, of all scoundrels, deserves no mercy, and 
 yet Jack does not relish the idea of being a sort of Jack 
 Ketch, neither. If the thing were to be done over again, I 
 think I should hold on to my prisoners. 
 
 We discharged our cargo of flour, and failing in the at- 
 tempt to sell the schooner, we took in dye-wood, and re- 
 turned to New York. I now made a serious attempt to 
 alter my mode of living, and to try to get up a few rounds 
 of the great ladder of life. Hitherto, I had felt a singular 
 indifference whether I went to sea as an officer, or as a 
 foremast Jack, with the exception of the time I had a mar- 
 riage with Sarah in view. But I was now drawing near to 
 thirty, and if anything was to be done, it must be done at 
 once. Looking about me, I found a brig called the Hippo- 
 menes, bound to Gibraltar, and back. I shipped before the 
 mast, but kept a reckoning, and did all I could to qualify 
 myself to become an officer. We had a winter passage out, 
 but a pleasant one home. Nothing worthy of being record- 
 ed, however, occurred. I still continued to be tolerably 
 correct, and after a short stay on shore, I shipped in the 
 Belle Savage, commanded by one of the liberated Halifax 
 prisoners, who had come home in the Swede, at the time of 
 my own return. This person agreed to take me as chief 
 mate, and I shipped accordingly. The Belle Savage was a 
 regular Curacoa trader, and we sailed ten or twelve days 
 after the Hippomenes got in. Our passages both ways were 
 pleasant and safe, and I stuck by the craft, endeavouring to 
 be less thoughtless and careless about myself I cannot 
 say, however, I had any very serious plans for making 
 provision for old age, my maxim being to live as I went 
 along. 
 
 Our second passage out to Curaqoa, in the Belle Savage, 
 was pleasant, and brought about nothing worthy of being 
 mentioned. At Curacoa we took in mahogany, and in so 
 doing a particularly large log got away from us, and slid, 
 end on, against the side of the vessel. We saw no con- 
 sequences at the time, and went on to fill up, with different 
 
142 NED BIYERS; OR, 
 
 articles, principally dye-woods, coffee, cocoa, &c. We got 
 some passengers, among whom was a Jew merchant, who 
 had a considerable amount of money on board. When 
 ready, we sailed, being thirty souls in all, crew and passen- 
 gers included. 
 
 The Belle Savage had cleared the islands, and was stand- 
 ing on her course, one day, with a fair wind and a five or 
 six knot breeze, under a fore-top-mast studding-sail, every- 
 thing looking bright and prosperous. The brig must have 
 been about a day's run to the southward of Bermuda. It 
 was my watch below, but having just breakfasted, I was on 
 deck, and looking about me carelessly, I was struck with 
 the appearance of the vessel's being deeper than common, 
 I had a little conversation about it, with a man in the fore- 
 chains, who thought the same thing. This man leaned over, 
 in order to get a better look, when he called out that he 
 could see that we had started a butt 1 I went over, imme- 
 diately, and got a look at this serious injury. A butt had 
 started, sure enough, just under the chains, but so low down 
 as to be quite out of our reach. The plank had started 
 quite an inch, and it was loosened as much as two feet, 
 forward and aft. We sounded the pumps, as soon as pos- 
 sible, and found the brig was half full of water ! 
 
 All hands were now called to get both the boats afloat, 
 and there was certainly no time to be lost. The water rose 
 over the cabin-floor while we were doing it. We did not 
 stand to get up tackles, but cut away the rail and launched 
 the long-boat by hand. We got the passengers, men, wo- 
 men, children, and servants into her, as fast as possible, and 
 followed ourselves. Fortunately, there had been a brig in 
 company for some time, and she was now less than two 
 leagues ahead of us, outsailing the Belle Savage a little. We 
 had hoisted our ensign, union down, as a signal of distress, 
 and well knew she must see that our crafl; had sunk, after 
 It happened, if she did not observe our ensign. She per- 
 ceived the signal, however, and. could not fail to notice the 
 manner in which the brig was all adrift, as soon as we de- 
 serted the helm. The strange brig had hauled up for us 
 even before we got out the launch. This rendered any sup- 
 ply of food or water unnecessary, and we were soon readj 
 to sho\e off, I was in the small boat, with three men. We 
 
A LIFE BEFORE THE MAST. 14S 
 
 pjlled off a little distance, and lay looking at our sinking 
 craft with saddened eyes. Even the gold, that precious dust 
 which lures so many souls to eternal perdition, was abandon- 
 ed in the hurry to save the remnants of lives to be passed 
 on earth. The Belle Savage settled quite slowly into the 
 ocean, one sail disappearing after another, her main-royal 
 being the last thing that went out of sight, looking like the 
 lug of a man-of-war's boat on the water. It is a solemn 
 thing to see a craft thus swallowed up in the great vortex 
 of the ocean. 
 
 The brig in sight proved to be the Mary, of New York, 
 from St. Thomas, bound home. She received us kindly, 
 and six days later landed us all at no great distance from 
 Fulton Market. When my foot touched the wharf, my 
 whole estate was under my hat, and my pockets were as 
 empty as a vessel with a swept hold. On the wharf, itself, 
 I saw a man who had been second-mate of the Tontine, the 
 little ship in which I had sailed when I first ran from the 
 Sterling. He was now master of a brig called the Mechanic, 
 that was loading near by, for Trinidad de Cuba. He 
 heard my story, and shipped me on the spot, at nine dollars 
 a. month, as a forward hand. I began to think I was born 
 to bad luck, and being almost naked, was in nowise partic- 
 ular what became of me. I had not the means of getting 
 a mate's outfit, though I might possibly have got credit ; but 
 at no period of my life did I run in debt. Here, then, my 
 craft got stern-way on her again, and I had a long bit of 
 rough water to go over. 
 
 The Mechanic sailed four or five days after the Mary 
 arrived, and I travelled the old road over again. Nothing 
 happened until we got to the southward of Cuba. But my 
 bad luck had thrown me into the West India trade at the 
 very moment when piracy was coming to its height in those 
 seas, though I never thought on the subject at all. Off" the 
 Isle of Pines, one morning, we made a schooner and a sloop, 
 inshore of us, and both bore up in chase. We knew them 
 to be pirates, and crowded sail dead before the wind to get 
 clear. The captain determined, if necessary, to run dowr 
 as far as Jamaica, where he expected to fall in with some 
 of the English cruisers. The schooner sailed very fast, and 
 was for commg up with us, but they made the mistake of 
 
144 NED MYERS OR, 
 
 setting a flying-topsail on board her, and from that moment 
 we dropped her. It was thought in our brig, that the little 
 craft buried too much, with such a pressure aloft. The 
 shase lasted all day, a Sunday, and a part of the night ; but 
 the following morning nothing was to be seen of either of 
 our pursuers. Our captain, whose name was Ray, thought 
 he knew who commanded the schooner, a man who had 
 been his enemy, and it was believed the pirates knew our 
 brig, as she was a regular trader to Trinidad. This made 
 our captain more ticklish, and was the reason he was off so 
 soon. 
 
 When we found the coast clear, we hauled up, again, and 
 made our port without further molestation. The chase was 
 so common a thing, that little was said about the affair. We 
 discharged, took in a new cargo, and sailed for home in due 
 time. Care was had in sailing at an early hour, and we sent 
 a boat out to look if the coast were clear, before we put to 
 sea. We met with no interruption, however, reaching New 
 York in due time. 
 
 Captain Ray was desirous I should stick by the brig; but, 
 for some reason I cannot explain, I felt averse to returning 
 to Trinidad. I Uked the vessel well enough, was fond of 
 the captain, and thought little of the pirates ; and yet I felt 
 an unaccountable reluctance to re-shipping in the craft. It 
 was well I had this feeling, for, I have since heard, this very 
 schooner got the brig the next passage out, murdered all 
 hands, and burnt the vessel, in sight of the port ! I set this 
 escape down, as one of the many unmerited favours I have 
 received from Providence. 
 
 • My next berth was that of second-mate on board a new 
 ship, in the Charleston trade, called the Franklin. I made 
 the voyage, and, for a novelty, did not run in the southern 
 port, which was a rare circumstance in that place. 
 
 I got but twelve dollars, as dickey, in the Franklin, and 
 left her to get twenty, with the same berth, on board a ship 
 called the Foster, commanded by the same master as had 
 commanded the Jane, in my former voyag . to Ireland. 
 The Foster was bound to Belfast, which port we reached 
 without any accident. We took in salt, and a few boxes of 
 linens, for Norfolk ; arrived safe, discharged, and went up 
 the James river to City Point, after a cargo of tobacco 
 
A LIFE BEFORE THE MAST. 145 
 
 Thence we sailed for Rotterdam. The ship brought back a 
 quantity of gin to New York, and this gin caused me some 
 trouble. We had a tremendous passage home — one of the 
 worst I ever experienced at sea. The ship's rudder got 
 'oose, and was secured with difficulty. We had to reef all 
 three of our top-masts, also, to save the spars ; after which 
 we could only carry double-reefed topsails. It was in the 
 dead of winter, and the winds hung to the westward for a 
 long time. The cook, a surly negro, was slack in duty, and 
 refused to make scous for us, though there were plenty of 
 potatoes on board. All the people but five were off duty, 
 and it came hard on those who kept watch. We determined, 
 at length, to bring the black to his senses, and I had him 
 seized to the windlass. Everybody but the captain took 
 three clips at him ; the fellow being regularly cobbed, accord- 
 ing to sea usage. This was lawful punishment for a cook. 
 We got our scous after this, but the negro logged the 
 whole transaction, as one may suppose. He was particu- 
 larly set against me, as I had been ringleader in the cobbing. 
 The weather continued bad, the watches were much fagged, 
 and the ship gave no grog. At length I could stand it no 
 longer, or thought I could not ; and I led down betwixt decks, 
 tapped a cask of gin, introduced the stem of a clean pipe 
 and took a nip at the bowl. All my watch smoked this pipe 
 pretty regularly, first at one cask and then at another, until 
 we got into port. The larboard watch did the same, and I 
 do think the strong liquor helped us along that time. As 
 bad luck would have it, the cook's wood was stowed among 
 the casks, and, one morning, just as the last of us had 
 knocked off smoking, we saw the wool of this gentleman 
 heaving in sight, through the hatch by which we went down. 
 Still, nothing was said until we came to be paid off, when 
 the darky came out with his yarn. I owned it all, and in- 
 sisted we never could have brought the ship in, unless we 
 had got the gin. I do believe both captain and owner were 
 sorry we had been complained of, but they could not over- 
 look the matter. I was mulcted five-and-twenty dollars, and 
 left the ship. I know I did wrong, and I know that the 
 owners did what was right ; but I cannot help thinking, bad 
 fts gin is on a long pull, that this did us good. I was not 
 driven from the ship ; on the contrary, both master and 
 13 
 
146 NED MYERS; OK, 
 
 owners wished me to remain ; but I felt a little savage, and 
 quitted their employment. 
 
 That I did not carry a very bad character away with me, 
 is to be proved by the fact that I shipped, the same day, on 
 board the Washington, a vessel bound to London, and which 
 lay directly alongside of the Foster. I had the same berth 
 as that I had just left, with the advantage of getting better 
 wages. This voyage carried me to London for the first time 
 since I left it in the Sterling. Too many years had elapsed, 
 in the interval, for me to find any old acquaintances ; and I 
 had grown from a boy to a man. Here I got a little insight 
 into the business of carrying passengers, our ship bringing 
 more or less, each passage. I stuck by the Washington a 
 year, making no less than three voyages in her ; the last, as 
 her chief mate. Nothing occurred worth mentioning in the 
 four first passages across the Atlantic ; but the fifth pro- 
 duced a little more variety. 
 
 The Washington had proved to be a leaky ship, every 
 passage I made in her. We had docked her twice in Lon- 
 don, and it had done her good. The first week out, on the 
 fifth passage, the ship proved tight, but the weather was mo- 
 derate. It came on to blow heavily, however, when we got 
 to the eastward of the Banks ; and the vessel, which was 
 scudding under her close-reefed main-topsail and foresail, 
 laboured so much, that I became uneasy. I knew she was 
 overloaded, and was afraid of the effects of a gale. It was 
 my practice to keep one pump ready for sounding the wells, 
 and I never neglected this duty in my watch. When the 
 gale was at the height, in my forenoon's watch below, I felt 
 so uncomfortable, that I turned out and went on deck, in no- 
 thing but my trowsers, to sound, although I had sounded less 
 than two hours before, and found the water at the sucking- 
 height, only. To my surprise, it was now three feet ! 
 
 This change was so great and so sudden, all of us thought 
 there must be some mistake. I carried the rod below, to dry 
 it, and covered the lower part with ashes. I could not have 
 been busy in drying the rod more than ten or fifl;een minutes, 
 when it was lowered again. The water had risen several 
 inches in that short period ! 
 
 All tiiis looked very serious ; and I began to think a third 
 craft was to founder under mo. After a short consultation 
 
A LIFE BEFORE THE MAST. 147 
 
 il was determined to lighten the ship. The foresail was 
 hauled up, the men got into the rigging to keep clear of the 
 seas, and the vessel was rounded-lo. We then knocked 
 away the wash-boards in the wake of the two hatches, and 
 began to tumble the barrels of turpentine on deck, I never 
 felt so strong in my life, nor did so much work in so short a 
 lime. During the labour I went below to splice the main- 
 brace, and, after putting a second-mate's nip of brandy into my 
 glass, filled it, as I supposed, with water, drinking it all down 
 without stopping to breathe. It turned out that my water 
 was high- proof gin ; yet this draught had no more effect on 
 me than if it had been so much cold water. In ordinary 
 times, it would have made me roaring drunk. 
 
 We tumbled up all the cargo from betwixt decks, landing 
 it on deck, where it rolled into the sea of itself, and were 
 about to begin upon the lower hold, when the captain called 
 out avast, as the pumps gained fast. Half an hour later, 
 they sucked. This was joyful news, indeed, for I had be- 
 gun to think we should be driven to the boats. Among the 
 cargo were some pickled calf-skins. In the height of the 
 danger I caught the cook knocking the head out of a cask, 
 and stowing some of the skins in a tub. Asking the reason 
 why he did this, he told me he wanted to take some of those 
 line skins home with him ! It was a pity they should be 
 lost! 
 
 As soon as the pumps sucked, the ship was kept away to 
 her course, and she proved to be as tight as a bottle. Eight 
 or ten days later, while running on our course under stud- 
 ding-sails, we made a large vessel ahead, going before the 
 wind like ourselves, but carrying reefed topsails, with top- 
 gallant-sails over them, and her ensign whipped. Of course 
 we neared her fast, and as we came up with her, saw that 
 she was full of men, and that her crew were pumping and 
 bailing. We knew how to pity the poor fellows, and run- 
 ning alongside, demanded the news. We were answered 
 first with three cheers, after which we heard their story. 
 
 The vessel was an English bark, full of soldiers, bound 
 to New Brunswick. She had sprung a leak, like ourselves, 
 find was only kept afloat by constant pumping and bailing. 
 She had put back for England on account of the wind and 
 the distance. Our captain was asked to keep near the tians- 
 
148 NED MYERS ; OR, 
 
 port, and we shortened sail accordingly. For three days 
 and nights the two vessels ran side by side, within hail 
 our passengers and officers drinking to theirs, and vice versd, 
 at dinner. On the fourth day, the weather being fine, the 
 wind fair, and our reckoning making us near the channel, 
 we told the Englishman we would run ahead, make the land, 
 and heave-to. We stood in so far that the poor fellows 
 owned afterwards they thought we had left them. This was 
 not our intention, however, for we no sooner made the land 
 than we hauled up, and brought them the joyful news of its 
 vicinity. They cheered us again, as we closed with them, 
 and both ships jogged on in company. 
 
 Next morning, being well in with the land, and many 
 vessels in sight, the Englishmen desired us to make sail, as 
 they could carry their bark into Falmouth. We did so, 
 and reached London, in due time. On our return to New 
 York, the Washington was sold, and I lost my preferment 
 in that employment, though I went with a character to an- 
 other vessel, and got the same berth. 
 
 CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 My next craft was the Camillus, a ship that was bound 
 to Greenock, via Charleston. We got to the latter port 
 without accident, and took in a cargo of cotton. The ship 
 was all ready for sailing of a Saturday, and the captain had 
 gone ashore, telling me he would be on board early in the 
 morning, when we could haul out and go to sea, should the 
 wind be favourable. I gave the people their Saturday's 
 night, and went into the cabin to freshen the nip, myself. 
 I took a glass or two, and certainly had more in me than is 
 good for a man, though I was far from being downright 
 drunk. In a word, I had too much, though I could have 
 carried a good deal more, on a pinch. The steward had 
 gone ashore, and there being no second- mate, I Wcis all 
 alone. 
 
 In this state of things, I heard a noise, and went on deck 
 
A LIFE BEFORE THE MAST. 149 
 
 CO inquire what was the matter. My old ship, the Frank- 
 lin, was shifting her berth, and her jib-boom had come foul 
 of our tafirail. After some hailing, I got on the tatFrail to 
 shove our neighbour off, when, by some carelessness of my 
 own, I fell head-foremost, hitting the gunwale of the boat, 
 which was hanging, about half way up to the davits, into 
 the water. The tide set me away, and carried me between 
 the wharf and the ship astern of us, which happened to be 
 the William Thompson, Captain Thompson, owner Thomp- 
 son, mate Thompson, and all Thompson, as Mathews used 
 to have it. Captain Thompson was reading near the cabin 
 windows, and he luckily heard me groan. Giving the 
 alarm, a boat was got round, and I taken in. As the 
 night was dark, and 1 lost all consciousness after the fall, I 
 consider this escape as standing second only to that from 
 the shark in the West Indies, and old Trant's gun, the 
 night the Scourge went down. I did not recover my recol- 
 lection for several hours. This was not the effect of liquor, 
 but of the fall, as I remember everything /distinctly that oc- 
 curred before I went from the taffrail. Still I confess that 
 liquor did all the mischief, as I had drunk just enough to 
 make me careless. 
 
 In the morning, I found myself disabled in the left 
 arm. and I went to a doctor. This gentleman said he 
 never told a fellow what ailed him until he got his whack. 
 I gave him a dollar, and he then let me into the secret. 
 My collar-bone was broken. " And, now," says he, " for 
 another dollar I'll patch you up." I turned out the other 
 Spaniard, when he was as good as his word. Going in the 
 ship, however, was out of the question, and I was obliged 
 to get a young man to go on board the Camillus in my 
 place ; thus losing the voyage and my berth. 
 
 I was now ashore, with two or three months of drift be- 
 fore me. Since the time I joined the Washington, I had 
 been going regularly ahead, and I do think had 1 been able 
 to stick by the Camillus, I might have brought up a master, 
 I had laid up money, and being employed while in port, 
 I was gradually losinj- my taste for sailor amusements, 
 and getting more respect for myself. That fall from the 
 (aflrail was a sad drawback for me, and 1 never recovered 
 the lee-way it brought about. 
 13* 
 
150 NEDMYERS;OR, 
 
 I was more than two months ashore, behaving myself 
 rationally on account of my arm. At the end of that time, 
 I went on board the Sally, a ship also bound to Greenock^ 
 as her second-mate. This vessel belonged to Charleston, 
 and it was intended she should return to her own port. The 
 voyage turned out well, and my arm got as strong as ever. 
 On reaching Charleston, I left the craft, which was laid up, 
 and shipped in a schooner of the same name, bound to St. 
 Domingo, as her chief mate. This was no great craft, cer- 
 tainly, though she proved a tight, wholesome sea-boat. We 
 went out without any accident, arriving in safety at Cape 
 Henry. After discharging cargo, and smuggling on board 
 a quantity of doubloons — four hundred and eighty, it was 
 said — we got under way for the island of Cuba. We in- 
 fended to go into Matanzas, and kept along the coast. After 
 crossing the Windward Passage, we reached Cuba; and 
 were standing on, with a light wind, under our squaresail, 
 the morning of the third day out, when we saw a large boat, 
 carrying two sails, standing out from the shore, evidently in 
 chase of the schooner. We had on board eight souls, viz. 
 the owner, a Frenchman, who had been a dragoon in the 
 service of his own country, but who was now between sev- 
 enty and eighty ; the captain, myself, a boy, the cook, and 
 four men forward. We could see that there were nine men 
 in the boat. We had no arms in the schooner, not even a 
 pistol, and the men in the boat had muskets. We did not 
 ascertain this last fact, however, for some time. I thought 
 the strangers pirates the moment I saw them come out from 
 inder the land, but the captain maintained that they were 
 turtle-men. The boat was rowing, and came up with us, 
 hand over hand. When near, they commenced firing mus- 
 kets at us, to drive us below. All the crew forward, with 
 the cook, ran down into the forecastle, leaving no one on 
 deck but the captain, the old Frenchman, and myself. The 
 boy got into the companion-way. 
 
 What the others did on deck, as these gentry came along- 
 side, amusing themselves with keeping up a smart fire of 
 musketry, I do not know; but my own occupation was to 
 dodge behind the foremast. It was not long, however, be- 
 fore they came tumbling in, and immediately got possession 
 of the schooner. One or two came forward and secured tho 
 
A LIFE BEFORE THE MAST. 151 
 
 forecastle hatch, to keep the people down. Then they pro- 
 bably felt that they were masters. One chap drew a fear- 
 ful-looking knife, long, slender, sharp and glittering, and he 
 cut the halyards of the square-sail. All the men I saw in 
 the schooner struck me as Americans, or English, affecting 
 to be Spaniards. There is such a difference in the height, 
 complexion, and general appearance of the people of Spain, 
 and those of the two other countries, without reference to 
 the manner of speaking, that I do not think I could be mis- 
 taken. I saw but one man among these pirates, whom I 
 took for a real Spaniard. It is true their faces were all 
 blacked to disguise them, but one could get enough glimpses 
 of the skin to judge of the true colour. There was no negro 
 among them. 
 
 The chap who cut away the square-sail halyards, I felt 
 certain was no Spaniard. The sail was no sooner down, 
 than he ran his knife along the head, below the bolt-rope, as 
 if to cut away the cloth with the least trouble to himself. I 
 was standing near, and asked him why he destroyed the 
 sail ; if he wanted it, why he did not take it whole 1 At 
 this, he turned short round upon me, raised his arm, and 
 struck a heavy b-low at me with his fearful-looking knife. 
 The point of the deadly weapon struck square on my breast- 
 bone ! I fell, partly through the force of the blow, and 
 partly from policy ; for I thought it safest to be lying on 
 my back. I got several hearty kicks, in addition to this 
 fierce attack, together with sundry curses in broken Spanish. 
 I spoke in English, of course ; and that the man understood 
 me was clear enough by the expression of his countenance, 
 and his act. The wound was slight, though it bled a good 
 deal, covering my shirt and trowsers with blood, as much as 
 if I had been run through the heart. An inch or two, either 
 way, in the direction of the knife, would certainly have 
 killed me. 
 
 I do not know what might have been the end of this 
 affair, had not one of the pirates come forward, at this criti- 
 cal instant, and checked my assailant by shaking a fingei 
 at him. This man, I feel very certain, I knew. I will not 
 mention his name, as there is a doubt ; but I cannot think I 
 was mistaken. If I am right, he was a young man from 
 Connecticut, who sailed one voyage to Liverpool wiih mn in 
 
152 NED MYERS; OR, 
 
 the Sterling. With that young man I had been very int 
 mate, and was oftener with him ashore than with any other 
 of the crew. His face was blackened, like those of all his 
 companions, but this did not conceal his air, manner, size, 
 eyes and voice. When he spoke, it was in a jargon of 
 broken English and broken Spanish, such as no man accus- 
 tomed to either language from infancy would have used. 
 The same was true as to all the rest I heard speak, with the 
 exception of an old fellow in the boat, whom I shall presently 
 have occasion to mention, again. 
 
 The man I took to be my old shipmate, also seemed to 
 know me. I was but a lad when I quitted the Sterling, it is 
 true ; but they tell me I have not altered a great deal in 
 general appearance. My hair is still black ; and then, when 
 I was in the very prime of life, it must have been easy to 
 recognize me. So strongly was I impressed, at the time, 
 that I saw an old acquaintance, I was about to call him by 
 name, when, luckily, it crossed my mind this might be dan- 
 gerous. The pirates wished clearly to be unknown, and it 
 was wisest to let them think they were so. My supposed 
 shipmate, however, proved my friend, and I received no 
 more personal ill treatment after he had spoken to his com- 
 panion. I sometimes think he was the means, indeed, of 
 saving all our lives. He asked me if there was any money, 
 and, on my denying it, he told me they knew better : the 
 schooner was in ballast, and must have got something for 
 her outward cargo. I refused to tell, and he ordered me 
 into their boat, whither the captain had been sent before me. 
 In doing all this, his manner wore an appearance, to me, of 
 assumed severity. 
 
 The poor old Frenchman fared worse. They seemed to 
 know he was owner, and probably thought he could give 
 the best account of the money. At any rate, he was un- 
 mercifully flogged, though he held out to the last, refusing 
 to betray his doubloons. The boy was next attacked with 
 threats of throwing him overboard. This extracted the se- 
 cret, and the doubloons were soon discovered. 
 , The captain and myself had been stowed under a half- 
 deck, in the boat, but as soon as the money was found, the 
 old Spaniard, who stood sentinel over us, was told to let ug 
 out, that we might see the fun. There were the eight scoun 
 
A LIFE BEFORE THE MAST. 153 
 
 drels, paraded around the trunk of the schooner, dividing 
 the doubloons. As soon as this was done, we were told to 
 come alongside with our boat, which had been used to carry 
 us to the piratical craft. The captain got on board the Sally 
 and I was ordered to scull the rogues, in one gang, back to 
 their own craft. The scamps were in high spirits, seeming 
 much pleased with their haul. They cracked a good many 
 jokes at our expense, but were so well satisfied with their 
 gold, that they left the square-sail behind them. They had 
 robbed the cabin, however, carrying off, for me, a quadrant, 
 a watch, and a large portion of my clothes. The forecas- 
 tle had not been entered, though the men had four hundred 
 dollars lying under a pile of dirt and old junk, to keep them 
 out of sight. 
 
 My supposed ship-mate bore me in mind to the last. When 
 we reached his craft, he poured out a glass of brandy and 
 offered it to me. I was afraid to drink, thinking it might 
 be poisoned. He seemed to understand me, and swallowed 
 it himself, in a sign'ficant manner. This gave me courage, 
 and I took the next nip without hesitation. He then told 
 me to shove off, which I did without waiting for a second 
 order. The pirates pulled away at the same time. 
 
 We were a melancholy party, as soon as we found ourselves 
 left to ourselves. The old Frenchman was sad enough, and 
 all of us pitied him. He made no complaint of the boy, 
 not\yithstanding, and little was said among us about the rob- • 
 bery. My wound proved trifling, though the old man was 
 so bruised and beaten that he could scarcely walk. 
 
 As soon as a breeze came, we went into Charleston, hav- 
 ing no means to buy the cargo we had intended to get at 
 Matanzas. This was the first time I was ever actually 
 boarded by a pirate, although I had had several narrow 
 escapes before. The first was in the Sterling, off the coast 
 of Portugal ; the next was in the William and Jane, out- 
 ward bound to Canton ; the third was on the bank, in the 
 Trio, off the coast of Java ; and the fourth, in the Mechanic, 
 on the other side of Cuba. It was not the last of my affairs 
 with them, however, as will be seen in the sequel. 
 
 I went out in the Sally again, making a voyage to Ma- 
 tanzas and back, without any accident, or incident, worth 
 mentioning. I still intended to remain in this schooner, the 
 
1 54 N£DMYERS;OR, 
 
 captain and I agreeing perfectly well, had I not been driven 
 out of her by one of those unlucky accidents, of which so 
 many have laid me athwart-hawse. 
 
 We were discharging sugar at Charleston, in very heavy 
 casks. The tide being in, the vessel's rail was higher than 
 the wharf, and we landed the casks on thcrail, from which 
 they were rolled down some planks to the shore. Two ne- 
 groes were stationed on the wharf to receive the casks, and 
 to ease them down. One of these fellows v/as in the prac- 
 tice of running up the planks, instead of standing at their 
 side and holding on to the end of the hogsheads. I remon- 
 strated with him several times about the danger he ran, but 
 he paid no attention to what I said. At length my words 
 came true ; a cask got away from the men, and rolled di- 
 rectly over this negro, flattening him like a bit of dough. 
 
 This was clearly an accident, and no one thought of ac- 
 cusing me of any connection with it. But the owner of the 
 black looked upon him as one would look upon a hack-horse 
 that had been lamed, or killed ; and he came down to the 
 schooner, on hearing that his man was done for, swearing 
 I should pay for him ! As for paying the price of an ath- 
 letic " nigger," it was even more impossible for me, than it 
 would seem it is for the great State of Pennsylvania to pay 
 the interest on its debt ; and, disliking a lawsuit, I carried 
 my dunnage on board another vessel that same afternoon, 
 > and agreed to work my passage to New York, as her second- 
 mate. 
 
 The vessel I now went on board of was the Commodore 
 Rodgers, a regular liner between the two ports. We sailed 
 next morning, and I paid for the poor " nigger" with the 
 fore-topsail. The ship's husband was on board as we hauled 
 out, a man who was much in the habit of abusing the mates. 
 On this occasion he was particularly abusive to our chief 
 mate ; so much so, indeed, that I remonstrated with the lat- 
 ter on his forbearance. Nothing came of it, however, though 
 I could not forgei the character of the man who had used 
 such language. When we reached New York, our chief 
 mate left us, and I was offered the berth. It was a little 
 hazardous to go back to Charleston, but wages were low, 
 and business dull, the yellow fever being in New York , and 
 
A LIFE BEFORE THE MAST. 155 
 
 I thought, by a httle management, I might give my " nigger 
 owner" a sufficient berth. I accordingly agreed to go. 
 
 When we got back to Charleston, our ship lay at her own 
 wharf, and I saw nothing of my chap. He worked up town, 
 and we lay low down. But another misfortune befel me, 
 that led even to worse consequences. The ship's husband, 
 who was so foul-mouthed, was as busy as ever, blackguard- 
 ing right and left, and finding fault with everything. Our 
 cargo was nearly out, and this man and I had a row about 
 some kegs of while lead. In the course of the dialogue, he 
 called me "a saucy son of a b — h." This was too much 
 for my temper, and I seized him and sent him down the 
 hatchway. The fall was not great, and some hemp lay in 
 the wake of the hatch ; but the chap's collar-bone went. He 
 sung out like a singing-master, but I did not stop to chime 
 in. Throwing my slate on deck in a high passion, I left the 
 ship and went ashore. I fell in with the captain on the 
 wharf, told him my story, got a promise from him to send 
 me my clothes, and van'shed. In an hour or two, half the 
 constables in Charleston were in chase of me. I kept so 
 close they could not find me, lying snug for a couple of days. 
 This state of things could not last for ever. The consta- 
 bles were not half so ferocious as they seemed ; for one 
 of them managed to get me off, on board a coaster, called 
 the Gov. Russtil ; where I engaged, I may say, as chief 
 mate and all hands. The Gov. Russel was a Buford trader, 
 making trips about fifteen or twenty leagues long. This was 
 the smallest navigation, and the smallest craft,' a gun-boat 
 excepted, with which I ever had anything to do. The crew 
 consisted of two negroes, both slaves to the owner ; while 
 the captain and myself were aft. Whether she would have 
 held so many, or not, I never knew, as the captain did not 
 join, while I belonged to her. The schooner lay three 
 miles below the town ; and, in so much, was a good craft for 
 me ; as no one would think of following an old Canton 
 trader into such a 'long-shore-looking thing. We busied 
 ourselves in painting her, and in overhauling her rigging , 
 while the ship's husband, and his myrmidons, amused them- 
 selves in searching for me up in town. 
 
 I had been on board the Gov. Russel three days, when it 
 came on to blow from the southward and westward, in truo 
 
l56 NEDMYERS;ORj 
 
 southern style. The gale came on butt-end foremost ; and 
 was thought to be as severe, as anything seen in the port 
 for many a year. Most of the shipping broke adrift from 
 the wharves ; and everything that was anchored, a man-of- 
 war and a revenue-cutter excepted, struck adrift, or dragged. 
 As for ourselves, we were lying at single anchor ; and soon 
 began to walk down towards the bar. I let go the spare 
 anchor ; but she snapped her cables, as if they had been 
 pack-thread ; and away she went to leeward. Making sail 
 was out of the question, had any been b'ent, as ours were 
 not ; and I had to let her travel her own road. 
 
 All this happened at night ; when it was so dark, one 
 could not see, between the spray, the storm and the hour, 
 the length of the craft. I knew we were going towards the 
 ocean ; and my great cause of apprehension was the bar. 
 Looking for the channel, was out of the question ; I did not 
 know it, in the first place ; and, had I been a branch-pilot, 
 I could not find it in the dark. I never was more completely 
 adrift, in my life, ashore or afloat. We passed a most 
 anxious hour, or two ; the schooner driving, broadside-to, I 
 knew not whither, or to what fate. The two blacks were 
 frightened out of their wits ; and were of no assistance tc 
 me. 
 
 At length, I felt the keel come down upon the sands ; and 
 then I knew we were on the bar. This happened amid a 
 whirlwind of spray ; with nothing visible but the white foam 
 of the waters, and the breakers around us. The first blow 
 threw both masts out of the steps ; ripping up the decks to a 
 considerable extent. The next minute we were on our 
 beam-ends ; the sea making a clear breach over us. All we 
 could do, was to hold on ; and this we did with difficulty. 
 I and the two blacks got on the weather-quarter of the 
 schooner, where we lashed ourselves with the main-sheet. 
 As this was a stout rope, something must part, before we 
 could be washed away. The craft made but two raps on 
 the bar, when she drifted clear. ■ 
 
 I now knew we were at sea, and were drifting directly ofF 
 the coast. As we got into deep water, the sea did not make 
 such terrible surges over us ; though they continued to break 
 over our quarter. The masts were thumping away ; but for 
 this I cared little, the hold being full of watei already. Sink 
 
A LIFE BEFORE THE MAST. 157 
 
 we could not, having a swept hold, and being built, in a great 
 measure, of pine. The schooner floated with about five feet 
 of her quarter-deck above water. Her bows had settled the 
 most ; and this gave us rather a better chance aft. 
 
 Fortunately, we got the worst of this blow at the first go 
 off. The wind began to lessen in strength soon after we 
 passed the bar, and by daylight it only blew a stiff breeze. 
 No land was in sight, though I knew, by the colour of the 
 water, that we could not be a very great distance from the 
 coast. We had come out on an ebb-tide, and this had set 
 us off the land, but all that southern coast is so low, that it 
 was not to be seen from the surface of the ocean at any 
 great distance. 
 
 The day that succeeded was sad and dreary enough. 
 The weather was fine, the sun coming out even hot upon 
 us, but the wind continued to blow fresh off the land, and 
 we were drifting further out, every instant, upon the bosom 
 of the ocean. Our only hope was in falling in with some 
 coaster, and I began to dread drifting outside of their track. 
 We were without food or water, and were partly seated on 
 the rail, and partly supported by the main-sheet. Neither 
 of us attempted to change his berth that day. Little was 
 said between us, though I occasionally encouraged the ne- 
 groes to hold on, as something would yet pick us up. I had 
 a feeling of security on this head that was unreasonable, 
 perhaps ; but a sanguine temperament has ever made me a 
 little too indifferent to consequences. 
 
 Night brought no change, unless it was to diminish the 
 force of the wind. A short time before the sun set, one of 
 the negroes said, to me, "Masser Ned, John gone." I was 
 forward of the two blacks, and was not looking at them at 
 the time ; I suppose I may have been dozing ; but, on look- 
 ing up, I found that qne of the negroes had, indeed, disap- 
 peared. How this happened I cannot say, as he appeared 
 to be well lashed ; but I suppose he worked himself free, 
 and being exhausted, he fell into the water, and sunk before 
 I could get a glimpse of him. There was nothing to be 
 done, however, and the loss of this man had a tendency to 
 make me think our situation worse than it had before seem- 
 ed to be. Some persons, all good Christians I should sup- 
 pose, will feel some curiosity to know whether a man in my 
 14 
 
158 NEDMYERS;OR, 
 
 situation had no disposition to take a religious view of his 
 case, and whether his conscience did not apprise him of the 
 chances of perdition that seemed to stare him in the face. 
 In answer to this, I am compelled to say that no such 
 thoughts came over me. In all my risks and emergencies, 
 I am not sensible of having given a thought to my Maker. 
 I had a sense of fear, an apprehension of death, and an in- 
 stinctive desire to save my life, but no consciousness of the 
 necessity of calling on any being to save my soul. Not- 
 withstanding all the lessons I had received in childhood, I 
 was pretty nearly in the situation of one who had never 
 heard the name of the Saviour mentioned. The extent of 
 my reflections on such subjects, was the self-delusion of 
 believing that I was to save myself — I had done no great 
 harm, according to the notions of sailors ; had not robbed ; 
 had not murdered ; and had observed the mariner's code of 
 morals, so far as I understood them ; and this gave me a 
 sort of claim on the mercy of God. In a word, the future 
 condition of my soul gave me no trouble whatever. 
 
 I dare say my two companions on this little wreck had 
 the same indifference on this subject, as I felt myself. I 
 heard no prayer, no appeal to God for mercy, nothing in- 
 deed from any of us, to show that we thought at all on the 
 subject. Hunger gave me a little trouble, and during the 
 second night I would fall into a doze, and wake myself up 
 by dreaming of eating meals that were peculiarly grateful 
 to me. I have had the same thing happen on other occa- 
 sions, when on short allowance of food. Neither of the 
 blacks said anything on the subject of animal suffering, and 
 the one that was lost, went out, as it might be, like a can- 
 dle. 
 
 The sun rose on the morning of the second day bright and 
 clear. The wind shifted about this time, to a gentle breeze 
 from the southward and eastward. This was a little en- 
 couraging, as it was setting the schooner in-shore again, but 
 I could discover nothing in sight. There was still a good 
 deal of sea going, and we were so low in the water, that 
 our range of sight was very limited. 
 
 It was late in the forenoon, when the negro called out 
 suddenly, " Massa Ned, dere a vessel !" Almost at the 
 same instant, I hoard voices calling out ; and, looking round 
 
A LIFE BEFORE THE MAST. 159 
 
 ) saw a small coasting schooner, almost upon us. She was 
 'doming down before the wind, had evidently seen us some 
 time before we saw her, and now ranged up under our lee, 
 and hove-to. The schooner down boat, and took us on 
 board without any delay. We moved with difficulty, and I 
 found my limbs so stiff as to be scarcely manageable. The 
 black was in a much worse state than I was myself, and I 
 think twelve hours longer would have destroyed both of us. 
 The schooner that picked us up was manned entirely with 
 blacks, and was bound into Charleston. At the time she 
 fell in witli us, we must have been twenty miles from the 
 bar, it takir^g us all the afternoon, with a fair wind, to reach 
 it. We went below, and as soon as I got in the cabin, I 
 discovered a kettle of boiled rice, on which I pounced like a 
 hawk. The negroes wished to get it away from me, think- 
 ing I should injure myself; but I would not part with it. 
 The sweetest meal I ever had in my life, was this rice, a 
 fair portion of which, however, I gave to my companion. 
 We had not fasted long enough materially to weaken our 
 stomachs, and no ill consequences followed from the indul- 
 gence. After eating heartily, we both lay down on the ca- 
 bin floor, and went to sleep. We reached the wharf about 
 eight in the evening. Just wijhin the bar, the schooner was 
 spoken by a craft that was going out in search of the Gov. 
 Russel. The blacks told her people where the wreck was 
 to be found, and the craft stood out to sea. 
 
 I was strong enough to walk up to my boarding-house, 
 where I went again into quarantine. The Gov. Russel was 
 found, towed into port, was repaired, and went about her 
 business, as usual, m the Buford trade. I never saw her or 
 her captain again, however. I parted with the negro that 
 was saved with me, on the wharf, and never heard anything 
 about him afterwards, either. Such is the life of a sailor ! 
 I was still afraid of the constables. So much damage 
 had been done to more important shipping, and so many 
 lives lost, however, that little was said of the escape of the 
 Gov. Russel. Then I was not known in this schooner by 
 my surname. When I threw the ship's husband down the 
 hold, I was Mr. Myers ; when wrecked in the coaster, only 
 Ned. 
 
160 NED MY£RS; OR, 
 
 CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 Notwithstanding my comparative insignificance, thers 
 was no real security in remaining long in Charleston, and 
 it was my strong desire to quit the place. As " beggars 
 cannot be choosers," 1 was glad to get on board the schooner 
 Carpenter, bound to St. Mary's and Philadelphia, for, and 
 with, ship-timber, as a foremast hand. I got on board unde- 
 tected, and we sailed the same day. Nothing occurred until 
 after we left St. Mary's, when we met with a singular acci- 
 dent. A few days out, it blowing heavy at the time, our 
 deck-load pressed so hard upon the beams as to loosen them^ 
 and the schooner filled as far as her cargo — yellow pine — 
 would allow. This calamity proceeded from the fact, that 
 the negroes who stowed the craft neglected to wedge up the 
 beams; a precaution that should never be forgotten, with a 
 heavy weight on deck. No very serious consequences fol- 
 lowed, however, as we managed to drive the craft ahead, 
 and finally got her into Philadelphia, with all her cargo on 
 board. We did not lose a stick, which showed that our 
 captain was game, and did not like to let go when he had 
 once got hold. This person was a down-easter, and was 
 well acquainted with the Johnstons and Wiscasset. He 
 tried hard to persuade me to continue in the schooner as 
 mate, with a view to carrying me back to my old friends ; 
 but I turned a deaf ear to his advice. To own the truth, I 
 was afraid to go back to Wiscassett. My own desertion 
 could not well be excused, and then I was apprehensive the 
 family might attribute to me the desertion and death of 
 young Swett. He had been my senior, it is true, and was 
 as able to influence me as I was to influence him ; but con- 
 science is a thing so sensitive, that, when we do wrong, it is 
 apt to throw the whole error into our faces. 
 
 Quitting the Carpenter in Philadelphia, therefore, I went 
 to live in a respectable boarding-house, and engaged to go 
 out in a brig called the Margaret, working on board as a 
 rigger and stevedore, until she should be ready to sail. My 
 berth was to be that of mate. The owner of this brig was 
 as notorious, in his way, as the ship's husband in Charleston, 
 
A LIFE BEFORE THE MAST. 161 
 
 I had heard his character, and was determined, if he at- 
 tempted to ride me, as he was said to do many of his mates, 
 and even captains, he should find himself mounted on a 
 hard-going animal. One day, things came to a crisis. The 
 owner was on the wharf, with me, and such a string of abuse 
 as he launched out upon me, I never before listened to. A 
 crowd collected, and my blood got up. I seized the man, 
 and dropped him off the wharf into the water, alongside of 
 some hoop-poles, that I knew must prevent any accident. 
 In this last respect, I was sufficiently careful, though the 
 ducking was very thorough. The crowd gave three cheers, 
 which I considered as a proof I was not so very wrong. 
 Nothing was said of any suit on this occasion; but I walked 
 off, and went directly on board a ship called the Coroman- 
 del, on which I had had an eye, as a lee, for several days. 
 In this vessel I shipped as second-mate ; carrying with me 
 all the better character for the ducking given to the notori- 
 
 The Coromandel was bound to Cadiz, and thence round 
 the Horn. The outward bound cargo was flour, but to which 
 ports we were going in South America, I was ignorant. Our 
 crew were all blacks, the officers excepted. We had a good 
 passage, until we got off Cape Trafalgar, when it came on 
 to blow heavily, directly on end. We lay-to off the Cape 
 two days, and then ran into Gibraltar, and anchored. Here 
 we lay about a fortnight, when there came on a gale from 
 the south-west, which sent a tremendous sea in from the At- 
 lantic. This gale commenced in the afternoon, and blew 
 very heavily all that night. The force of the wind increased,, 
 little by little, until it began to tell seriously among the ship- 
 ping, of which a great number were lying in front of the 
 Rock. The second day of the gale, our ship was pitching 
 bows under, sending the water aft to the taffrail, while many 
 other craft struck adrift, or foundered at their anchors. The 
 Coromandel had one chain cable, and this was out. It was 
 the only cable we used for the first twenty-four hours. As 
 the gale increased, however, it was thought necessary to let 
 go the sheet-anchor, which had a hempen cable bent to it. 
 Our chain, indeed, was said to be the first that was ever used 
 out of Philadelphia, though it had then been in the ship for 
 sometime, and had proved itself a faithful servant the vovaga 
 14* 
 
162 NED MYERS; OR, 
 
 before. Unfortunately, most of the chain was out before we 
 let go the sheet-anchor, and there was no possibility of get- 
 ting out a scope of the hempen cable. Dragging on shore, 
 where we lay, was pretty much out of the question, as the 
 bottom shelved inward, and the anchor, to come home, must 
 have gone up hill.* 
 
 In this manner the Coromandel rode for two nights and 
 two days, the sea getting worse and worse, and the wind, it 
 anything, rather increasing. We took the weight of the 
 last in squalls, some of which were terrific. By this time 
 the bay was well cleared of craft, nearly everything having 
 sunk, or gone ashore. An English packet lay directly ahead 
 of us, rather more than a cable's length distant, and she held 
 on like ourselves. The Governor Brooks, of Boston, lay 
 over nearer to Algesiras, where the sea and wind were a little 
 broken, and, of course, she made better weather than our- 
 selves. 
 
 About eight o'clock, the third night, I was in the cabin, 
 when the men on deck sung out that the chain had gone. 
 At this time the ship had been pitching her spritsail-yard 
 under water, and it blew a little hurricane. We were on 
 deck in a moment, all hands paying out sheet. We brought 
 the ship up with this cable, but not until she got it nearly to 
 the better end. Unfortunately, we had got into shoal water, 
 or what became shoal water by the depth of the troughs. It 
 was said, afterwards, we were in five fathoms water at this 
 time, but for this I will not vouch. It seems too much water 
 for what happened. Our anchor, however, did actually lie 
 in sixteen fathoms. 
 
 We had hardly paid out the cable, before the ship came 
 down upon the bottom, on an even keel, apparently, with a 
 force that almost threw those on deck off their feet. These 
 blows were repeated, from time to time, at intervals of sev- 
 eral minutes, some of the thumps being much heavier than 
 
 * A friend, who was then American Consul at Gibraltar, and an old 
 navy officer, tells me Net is mistaken as to the nature of the anchor- 
 age. The ship was a little too far out for the best holding ground. 
 The same friend adds that the character of this gale is not at all over- 
 charged, the vessels actually lost, including small craft of every descrip- 
 tion, amounting to the every way extraordinary number of just three 
 hundred and sixty-five. — Editor. 
 
A LIFE BEFORE THE MAST. 163 
 
 Others. The English packet must have struck adrift at the 
 same time with ourselves, for she came down upon us, let- 
 ting go an anchor in a way to overlay our cable, I suppose 
 the rocks and this sawing together, parted our hempen ca- 
 ble, and away we went towards the shore, broadside-to. As 
 the ship drifted in, she continued to thump; but, luckily for 
 us, the sea made no breaches over her. The old Coroman- 
 del was a very strong ship, and she continued working her 
 way in-shore, until she lay in a good substantial berth, with- 
 out any motion. We manned the pumps, and kept the ship 
 tolerably free of water, though she lay over considerably. 
 The English packet followed us in, going ashore more to- 
 wards the Spanish lines. This vessel bilged, and lost some 
 of her crew. As for ourselves, we had a comfortable berth, 
 considering the manner in which we had got into it. No 
 apprehension was felt for our personal safety, and perfect 
 order was observed on board. The men worked as usual, 
 nor was there any extra liquor drunk. 
 
 That night the gale broke, and before morning it had 
 materially moderated. Lighters were brought alongside, 
 and we began to discharge our flour into them. The cargo 
 was all discharged, and all in good order, so far as the wa- 
 ter was concerned ; though several of the keelson bolts were 
 driven into the ground tier of barrels. I am almost afraid 
 to tell this story, but I know it to be true, as I released the 
 barrels with my own hands. As soon as clear, the ship was 
 nove off into deep water, on the top of a high tide, and was 
 found to leak so much as to need a shore-gang at the pumps 
 to keep her afloat. She was accordingly sold for the bene- 
 fit of the underwriters. She was subsequently docked and 
 sent to sea. 
 
 Of course, this broke up our voyage. The captain ad- 
 vised me to take a second-mate's berth in the Governor 
 Brooks, the only American that escaped the gale, and I did 
 so. This vessel was a brig, bound round the Horn, also, 
 and a large, new craft. I know of no other vessel, that lay 
 in front of the Rock that rode out this gale ; and she did it 
 with two hempen cables out, partly protected, however, by 
 a good berth. There was a Swede that came back next day 
 to her anchorage, which was said to have got back-strapped, 
 behind the Rock, by some legerdem.ain, and so escaped 
 
164 NED MYEKS; OR, 
 
 also. I do not know how many lives were lost on liiis oc 
 casion ; but the destruction of property must have oeen very 
 great. 
 
 Three weeks after the gale, the Governor Brooks sailed. 
 We had a hard time in doubling the Cape, being a fortnight 
 knocking about between Falkland and the Main. We were 
 one hundred and forty-four days out, touching nowhere, un- 
 til we anchored at Callao. We found flour, of which our 
 cargo was composed, at seven dollars a barrel, with seven 
 dollars duty. The Franklin 74, was lying here, with the 
 Aurora English frigate, the castle being at war with the peo- 
 ple inland. Our flour was landed, and what became of it 
 is more than I can tell. 
 
 We now took in ballast, and ran down to Guayaquil. 
 Here an affair occurred that might very well have given me 
 the most serious cause of regret, all the days of my life. 
 Our steward was a Portuguese negro, of the most vicious 
 Hnd surly temper. Most of the people and ofiicers were 
 really afraid of him. One evening, the captain and chief 
 mate being both ashore, I was sitting on deck, idle, and I 
 took a fancy to a glass of grog. I ordered the steward, 
 accordingly, to pour me out one, and bring it up. The man 
 pretended that the captain had carried off the keys, and no 
 rum was to be had. I thought this a little extraordinary ; 
 and, as one would be very apt to be, felt much hurt at the 
 circumstance. I had never been drunk in the craft, and 
 was not a drunkard in one sense of the term, at ail ; sel- 
 dom drinking so as to affect me, except when on a frolic, 
 ashore. 
 
 As I sat brooding over this fancied insult, however, I 
 smelt rum ; and looking down the sky-light, saw this same 
 steward passing forward with a pot filled with the liquor. I 
 was fairly blinded with passion. Running down, I met il.e 
 fellow, just as he was coming out of the cabin, and brought 
 him up all standing. The man carried a knife along his 
 leg, a weapon that had caused a good deal of uneasiness in 
 the brig, and he now reached down to get it. Seeing there 
 was no time to parley, I raised him from the floor, and threw 
 him down with great force, his head coming under. There 
 he lay like a log, and all my efforts with vinegar and watef 
 had no visible effect. 
 
A LIFE BEFORE THE HAST. 165 
 
 I now thought the man dead. He gave no sign of life 
 that I could detect, and fear of the consequences came over 
 me. The devil put it into my head to throw the body over- 
 board, as the most effectual means of concealing what I had 
 done. The steward had threatened to run, by swimming, 
 more than once, and I believe had been detected in making 
 such an attempt ; and I fancied if I could get the body 
 through one of the cabin-windows, it would seem as if he 
 had been drowned in carrying his project into execution. I 
 tried all I could first to restore the steward to life ; but fail- 
 ing of this, I actually began to drag him afl, in order to force 
 his body out of a cabin-window. The transom was high, 
 and the man very heavy ; so I was a good while in drag- 
 ging the load up to the necessary height. Just as I got it 
 there, the fellow gave a groan, and I felt a relief that I had 
 never before experienced. It seemed to me like a reprieve 
 from the gallows. 
 
 I now took the steward down, upon one of the lower tran- 
 soms, where he sat rubbing his head a {ew minutes, I watch- 
 ing him closely the whole time. At length he got up, and 
 staggered out of the cabin. He went and turned in, and I 
 saw no more of him until next day. As it turned out, good, 
 instead of harm, resulted from this affair ; the black being 
 ever afterwards greatly afraid of me. If I did not break his 
 neck, I broke his temper; and the captain used to threaten 
 to set me at him, whenever he behaved amiss. I owned the 
 whole affair to the captain and mate, both of whom laughed 
 heartily at what had happened, though I rejoiced, in my 
 inmost heart, that it was no worse. 
 
 The brig loaded with cocao, in bulk, at Guayaquil, and 
 sailed for Cadiz. The passage was a fine one, as we dou- 
 bled the Horn at midsummer. On this occasion we beat 
 round the cape, under top-gallant-sails. The weather was 
 so fine, we stood close in to get the benefit of the currents, 
 after tacking, as it seemed to me, within a league of the 
 land. Our passage to Cadiz lasted one hundred and forty- 
 one, or two, days, being nearly the same length as that out 
 though much smoother. 
 
 The French had just got possession of Cadiz, as we got 
 in, and we found the white flag flying. We lay here a 
 month, and then went round to the Rock. After passing a 
 
166 NED MYERS; OR, 
 
 week at Gibraltar, to take in some dollars, we sailed ht 
 New Orleans, in ballast. As I had been on twenty-two 
 dollars a month, there was a pretty good whack coming lo 
 me, as soon as v/e reached an American port, and I I'ell a 
 desire to spend it, before I went to sea again. They wished 
 me to stick by the brig, which was going the very same 
 voyage over ; but I could not make up my mind to travel 
 so long a road, with a pocket full of money. I had passed 
 so many years at sea, that a short land cruise was getting 
 to be grateful, as a novelty. 
 
 The only craft I could get on boai-d of, to come round 
 into my own latitude, in order to enjoy myself in the old 
 way, was an eastern schooner, called the James. On board 
 this vessel I shipped as mate, bound to Philadelphia. She 
 was the most meagre craft, in the way of outfit, I ever put 
 to sea in. Her boat would not swim, and she had not a 
 spare spar on board her. In this style, we went jogging 
 along north, until we were met by a north-west gale, be- 
 tween Bermuda and Cape Hatteras, which forced us to 
 heave-to. During this gale, I had a proof of the truth that 
 " where the treasure is, there will the heart be also." 
 
 I was standing leaning on the rail, and looking over the 
 schooner's quarter, when 1 saw what I supposed to be a 
 plank come up alongside 1 The idea of sailing in a craft of 
 which the bottom was literally dropping out, was not very 
 pleasant, and I thought all was lost. I cannot explain the 
 folly of my conduct, except by supposing that my many 
 escapes at sea, had brought me to imagine I was to be 
 saved, myself, let what would happen to all the rest on 
 board. Without stopping to reflect, I ran below and se- 
 cured my dollars. Tearing up a blanket, I made a belt, 
 and lashed about twenty-five pounds weight of silver to my 
 body, with the prospect before me of swimming two or 
 three hundred miles with it, before I could get ashore. As 
 for boat, or spars, the former would not float, and of the 
 last there was not one. I now look back on my acts of this 
 day with wonder, for I had forgotten all my habitual know- 
 ledge of vessels, in the desire to save the paltry dollars. 
 For the first and only time in my life I felt avaricious, and 
 lost sight of everything in money ! 
 
 It was my duty to sound the pumps, but this I did nol 
 
A LIFE BEFORE THE MAST. 16? 
 
 deem necessary. No sooner were the dollars secure, or, 
 rather, ready to anchor me in the bottom of the ocean, than 
 I remembered the captain. He was asleep, and waking 
 him up, I told him what had happened. The old man, a 
 dry, drawling, cool, downeaster, laughed in my face for my 
 pains, telling me I had seen one of the sheeting-boards, with 
 which he had had the bottom of the schooner covered, to 
 protect it from the worms, at Campeachy, and that I need 
 be under no concern about the schooner's bottom. This 
 was the simple truth, and I cast off the dollars, again, with 
 a sneaking consciousness of not having done my duty. I 
 suppose all men have moments when they are not exactly 
 themselves, in which they act very differently from what il 
 has been their practice to act. On this occasion, I was not 
 alarmed for myself, but I thought the course I took was ne- 
 cessary to save that dross which lures so many to perdi 
 tion. Avarice blinded me to the secrets of my own trade. 
 
 I had come all the way from New Orleans to Philadel- 
 phia, to spend my four hundred dollars to my satisfaction. 
 For two months I lived respectably, and actually began to 
 go to church. I did not live in a boarding-house, but in a 
 private family. My landlady was a pious woman, and a 
 member of the Dutch Reformed Church, but her husband 
 was a Universalist. I must say, I liked the doctrine of the 
 last the best, as it made smooth water for the whole cruise. 
 I usually went with the man to church of a morning, which 
 was falling among shoals, as a poor fellow was striving to 
 get into port. I received a great deal of good advice from 
 my landlady, however, and it made so much impression on 
 me as to influence my conduct; though I cannot say it really 
 touched my heart. I became more considerate, and better 
 mannered, if I were not truly repentant for my sins. These 
 two months were passed more rationally than any time of 
 mine on shore, since the hour when I ran from the Sterling. 
 
 The James was still lying in Philadelphia, undergoing 
 repairs, and waiting for freight; but being now ready for 
 sea, I shipped in her again, on a voyage to St. Thomas, 
 with a cargo of flour. When we sailed, I left near a hun- 
 dred dollars behind me, besides carrying some money to sea 
 the good effects of good company. At St. Thomas we 
 discharged, and took in ballast for Turk's Island, where we 
 
168 NED MYEKS; OR, 
 
 got a cargo of salt, returning with it to Philadelphia. My 
 conduct had been such on board this schooner, that her 
 commander, who was her owner, and very old, having de- 
 termined to knock ofT going to sea, tried to persuade me to 
 stick by the craft, promising to make me her captain as soon 
 as he could carry her down east, where she belonged. I 
 now think I made a great mistake in not accepting this offer, 
 though I was honestly diffident about my knowledge of navi- 
 gation. I never had a clear understanding of the lunars, 
 though I worked hard to master them. It is true, chrono- 
 meters were coming into general use, in large vessels, and I 
 could work the time ; but a chronometer was a thing never 
 heard of on board the James. Attachment to the larger 
 towns, and a dislike for Httle voyages, had as much influence 
 on me as anything else. I declined the offer ; the only 
 direct one ever made me to command any sort of craft, and 
 remained what I am. I had a little contempt, too, for ves- 
 sels of such a rig and outfit, which probably had its influence. 
 I liked rich owners. 
 
 On my return to Philadelphia, I found the family in which 
 I had last lived much deranged by illness. I got my money, 
 but was obliged to look for new lodgings. The respectable 
 people with whom I had been before, did not keep lodgers, I 
 being their only boarder; but I now went to a regular sail- 
 or's boarding-house. There was a little aristocracy, it is 
 true, in my new lodgings, to which none but mates, dickies, 
 and thorough salts came ; but this was getting into the hur- 
 ricane latitudes as to morals. I returned to all my old 
 habits, throwing the dollars right and left, and forgetting all 
 about even a Universalist church. 
 
 A month cleaned me out, in such company. I spent 
 every cent I had, with the exception of about fifteen dollars, 
 that I had laid by as nest-eggs. I then shipped as second- 
 mate, in the Rebecca Simms, a ship bound to St. Jago de 
 Cuba, with flour. The voyage lasted four months ; pro- 
 ducing nothing of moment, but a little affair that was per- 
 sonal to myself, and which cost me nearly all my wages. 
 The steward was a saucy black ; and, on one occasion, in 
 bad weather, he neglected to give me anything warm for 
 breakfast. I took an opportunity to give him a taste of the 
 end of the main-clew-garnet, as an admonisher ; and there 
 
A LIFE BEFORE THE MAST. 169 
 
 tiiQ matter ended, so long as I remained in the ship. Ii 
 seemed quite right, to all on board, but the steward. He 
 bore the matter in mind, and set a whole pack of quakers oq 
 me, as soon as we got in. The suit was tried ; and it cost 
 me sixty dollars, in damages, beside legal charges. I dare 
 say it was all right, according to law and evidence ; but I 
 feel certain, just such a rubbing down, once a week, would 
 have been very useful to that same steward. Well-meaning 
 men often do quite as much harm, in this world, as the evil- 
 disposed. Philanthropists of this school should not forget, 
 that, if colour is no sufficient reason why a man should be 
 always wrong, it is no sufficient reason why he should be 
 always right. 
 
 The lawsuit drove me to sea, again, in a very short time. 
 Finding no better berth, and feeling very savage at the 
 blindness of justice, I shipped before the mast, in the Supe- 
 rior, an Indiaman, of quite eight hundred tons, bound to 
 Canton. This was the pleasantest voyage I ever made to 
 sea, in a merchantman, so far as the weather, and, I may 
 say, usage, were concerned. We lost our top-gallant-masts, 
 homeward bound ; but this was the only accident that oc- 
 curred. The ship was gone nine months ; the passage from 
 Whampao to the capes having been made in ninety-four 
 days. When we got in, the ovvn&rs had failed, and there 
 was no money forthcoming, at the moment. To remain, 
 and libel the ship, was dull business ; so, leaving a power of 
 attorney behind me, I went on board a schooner, called the 
 Sophia, bound to Vera Cruz, as foremast Jack. 
 
 The Sophia was a clipper ; and made the run out in a few 
 days. We went into Vera Cruz ; but found it nearly de- 
 serted. Our cargo went ashore a little irregularly ; some- 
 times by day, and sometimes by night ; being assorted, and 
 suited to all classes of customers. As soon as ready, we 
 sailed for Philadelphia, again ; where we arrived, after an 
 absence of only two mouths. 
 
 I now got my wages for the Canton voyage ; but they 
 lasted me only a fortnight ! It was necessary to go to sea, 
 again ; and I went on board the Caledonia ; once more 
 bound to Canton. This voyage lasted eleven months ; but, 
 like most China voyages, produced no event of importance. 
 We lost our top-gallant-masts, this time, too ; but that is 
 15 
 
170 NED MVERS; OR, 
 
 nothing unusual, off Good Hope. I can say but little, in 
 favour of the ship, or the treatment. 
 
 On getting back to Philadelphia, the money went in the 
 old way. I occasionally walked round to see my good re- 
 ligious friends, with whom I had once lived, but they ceased 
 to have any great influence over my conduct. As soon as 
 necessary, I shipped in the Delaware, a vessel bound to Sa- 
 vannah and Liverpool. Southern fashion, I ran from this 
 vessel in Savannah, owing her nothing, however, but was 
 obliged to leave my protection behind, as it was in the cap- 
 tain's hands. I cannot give any reason but caprice for 
 quitting this ship. The usage was excellent, and the wages 
 high ; yet run I did. As long as the Delaware remained m 
 port, I kept stowed away ; but, as soon as she sailed, I 
 came out into the world, and walked about the wharves as 
 big as an owner. 
 
 I now went on board a ship called the Tobacco Plant, 
 bound to Liverpool and Philadelphia, for two dollars a month 
 less wages, worse treatment, and no grog. So much fox 
 following the fashion. The voyage produced nothing to be 
 mentioned. 
 
 On my return to Philadelphia, I resolved to shift my 
 ground, and try a new tack. I was now thirty-four, and 
 began to give up all thoughts of getting a lift in my profes- 
 sion. I had got so many stern-boards on me, every time I 
 was going ahead, and was so completely alone in the world, 
 that I had become indifferent, and had made up my mind to 
 take things as they offered. As for money, my rule had 
 come to be, to spend it as I got it, and go to sea for more. 
 " If I tumbled overboard," I said to myself, " there is none 
 to cry over me ;" therefore let things jog on their own 
 course. All the disposition to morality that had been 
 aroused within me, at Philadelphia, was completely gone, 
 and I thought as little of church and of religion, as ever. 
 It is true I had bought a Bible on board the Superior, and 
 I was in the practice of reading in it, from time to time, 
 though it was only the narratives, such as those of Sampson 
 and Goliah, that formed any interest for me. The history 
 of Jonah and the whale, I read at least twenty times, i 
 cannot remember that the morality, or thought, or devotion 
 of a single passage ever struck me on these occasions. In a 
 
A lilFE BEFORE THE MAST. 171 
 
 word, I read this sacred book for amusement, and not foi 
 light. 
 
 1 now wanted change, and began to think of going back 
 to the navy, by way of novelty. I had been round the 
 world once, had been to Canton five times, doubling the 
 Cape, round the Horn twice, to Batavia once, the West- 
 Indies, on the Spanish main, and had crossed the Atlantic 
 so often, that I thought I knew all the mile-stones. I had 
 seen but httle of the Mediterranean, and fancied a man-of- 
 war's cruise would show me those seas. Most of the Tobacco 
 Plants had shipped in Philadelphia, and I determined to go 
 with ihem, to go in the navy. There is a fashion in all 
 things, and just then it was the fashion to enter in the service. 
 
 I was shipped by Lieutenant M'Kean, now Commander 
 M'Kean, a grandson of the old Governor of Pennsylvania, 
 as they tell me. All hands of us were sent on board the 
 Cyane, an English prize twenty-gun ship, where we remain- 
 ed about six weeks. A draft was then made, and more 
 than a hundred of us were sent round to Norfolk, in a sloop, 
 to join the Delaware, 80, then fitting out for the Mediterra- 
 nean. We found the ship lying alongside the Navy-yard 
 wharf, and after passing one night in the receiving-ship, 
 were sent on board the two-decker. The Delaware soon 
 hauled out, and was turned over to Captain Downes, the 
 very officer who had almost persuaded me to go in that ill- 
 fated brig, the Epervier. 
 
 I was stationed on the Delaware's forecastle, and was 
 soon ordered to do second captain's duty. We had for 
 lieutenants on board, Mr. Ramage, first, Messrs. William- 
 son, Ten Eick, Shubrick, Byrne, Chauncey, Harris, and 
 several whose names I have forgotten. Mr. Ramage has 
 since been cashiered, I understand ; and Messrs. Ten Eick, 
 Shubrick, Chauncey, ^arris, and Byrne, are now all com- 
 manders. 
 
 The ship sailed in the winter of 1828, in the month of 
 January I think, having on board the Prince of Musignano, 
 and his family, who were going to Italy. This gentleman 
 was Charles Bonaparte, eldest son of Lucien, Prince of 
 Canine, they tell me, and is now Prince of Canino himself. 
 He had been living some time in America, and got a pas- 
 sage in our ship, on account of the difiiculfy oi' Iravel'ing in 
 
1 7XJ NED iM V JS 11 s ; O K , 
 
 Europe, for one of his name aud family. Ho was the fira^ 
 
 ard <^nly Priaoo I ever had for a shipmate. 
 
 CHAPTER XV. 
 
 Opr passage out in the Delaware was very rough, the 
 ship rot.bg heavily. It was the lirst time she had been at 
 sea, and t required some little time to get her trim aud sail- 
 ing. Sht> turned out, however, to he a good vessel; sailing 
 fairly, stewing well, and proving an excellent sea-boat. We 
 w^nt into \lgesiras, where we lay only twenty-lour liours. 
 We th<ni sttiled lor fthdion, hut were met by orders oli' the 
 port, 10 p/oeeed to Leghorn and land our passengers. I 
 have Leer, told this was done on aecount of the Princess of 
 ]\lusignnnvy's being a daughter of the ex-King of Spain, and 
 it was no. thought delicate to bring her within tiie territory 
 of the ro^^uing king. 1 have even heard that the commo- 
 dore was olfered an order of knighthood for the delicacy ho 
 manifested on this occasion, which otler he declined accept- 
 ing, as fw matter of course. 
 
 The ^hip had a good run from otf JMahon to Leghorn 
 where we anchored in the outer roads. We landed the pas 
 peugers. the atternoou oi' the day we arrived. That verj 
 night i\ came on to blow heavily Irom the northward and 
 eastward, or a little otf shore, according to the best of my 
 recollection. This was the tirst time I ever saw preparation? 
 made vo send down lower yards, and to house top-masts — 
 merchantmen not being strong-handed enough to cut such 
 caperj with their sticks. We had three anchors ahead, if 
 not fiui", the ship labouring a good deal. We lost one man 
 from the starboard forechains, by his getting caught in the 
 buoy-rope, as we let go a sheet-anchor. The poor fellow 
 could not be picked up, on account of the sea and the dark- 
 ness of the night, though an attempt was made to save him. 
 
 The next day the weather moderated a little, and we gx)t 
 under way for Mahon. Our passage down was pleasant, 
 nnd this time we went in. Captain Downes now lell us, and 
 
A L,IFE BEFOIli: THE MAST. 173 
 
 Commodore Crane hoisted his broad-pennant on board us. 
 The ship now lay a long time in port. The commodore 
 went aloft in one of the sloops, and was absent several 
 months. 1 was told he was employed in making a treaty 
 with the Turks, but us poor Jacks knew little of such mat- 
 ters. On his return, there was a regular blow-up witii the 
 first-lieutenant, who left the ship, to nobody's regret, so far 
 as I know. Mr. Mix, who had led our party to the lakes in 
 1812, and was with us in all my lake service, and who was 
 Mr. Osgood's brother-in-law, now joined us as first-lieute- 
 nant. 1 had got to be first-captain of the forecastle, a berth 
 I held to the end of the cruise. 
 
 The treatment on board this ship was excellent. The 
 happiest time I ever spent at sea, was in the Di.laware. Af- 
 ter Mr. Mix took Mr. Ramage's place, everybody seemed 
 contented, and I never knew a better satisfied ship's com- 
 pany. The third year out, we had a long cruise off Cape 
 de Gattc, keeping the ship under her canvass quite three 
 months. We took in supplies at sea, the object being to 
 keep us from getting rusty. On the fourth of July we had 
 a regular holiday. At four in the morning, the ship was 
 close in under the north shore, and we wore off the land. 
 Sail was then shortened. After this, we had music, and 
 more saluting and grog. The day was passed merrily, and 
 1 do not remember a fight, or a black eye, in the ship. 
 
 I volunteered to go one cruise in the Warren, under Mr. 
 Byrne. The present Commodore Kearny commanded this 
 ship, and he took us down to the Rock. The reason of our 
 volunteering was this. The men-of-war of the Dutch and 
 the French, rendezvoused at Mahon, as well as ourselves. 
 The French and our people had several rows ashore. 
 Which was right and which wrong, I cannot say, as it was 
 the Java's men, and hot the Delaware's, that were engaged 
 in them, on our side. One of the Javas was run through 
 the body, and a French ofiicer got killed. It was said the 
 French suspected us of a design of sending away the man 
 who killed their officer, and meant to stop the Warren, which 
 was bound to the Rock on duty. All I know is, that two 
 French brigs anchored at the mouth of the harbour, and 
 some of us were called on to volunteer. Forty-five of us 
 did so, and went on board the sloop. 
 15* 
 
174 NED MYERS; OR, 
 
 After the Warren got under way, we went to quarters, 
 manning both batteries. In this mariner we stood down 
 between the two French brigs, with top-gallant-sails furled 
 and the courses in the brails. We passed directly between 
 the two brigs, keeping a broadside trained upon each ; but 
 nothing was said, or done, to us. We anchored first at the 
 Rock, but next day crossed over to the Spanish coast. In 
 a short time we returned to Mahon, and we volunteers went 
 back to the Delaware. The two brigs had gone, but there 
 was still a considerable French force in port. Nothing came 
 of the difficulty, however, so far as I could see or hear. 
 
 In the season of 1830, the Constellation, Commodore Bia- 
 dle, came out, and our ship and Commodore were relieved. 
 We had a run up as far as Sicily, however, before this took 
 place, and went off Tripoli. There I saw a wreck, lying 
 across the bay, that they told me was the bones of the Phi- 
 ladelphia frigate. We were also at Leghorn, several weeks, 
 the commodore going to some baths in the neighbourhood, 
 for his health. 
 
 Among other ports, the Delaware visited Carthagena, 
 Malta, and Syracuse. At the latter place, the ship lay six 
 weeks, I should think. This was the season of our arrival 
 out. Here we underwent a course of severe exercise, that 
 brought the ci-ew up to a high state of discipline. At four 
 in the morning, we wouW turn out, and commence our work. 
 All the manoeuvres of unmooring, making sail, reefing, furl- 
 ing, and packing on her again, were gone through, until the 
 people got so much accustomed to work together, the great 
 secret of the efficiency of a man-of-war, that the officer of 
 the deck was forced to sing out " belay 1" before the yards 
 were up by a foot, lest the men should spring the spars. 
 When we got through this drill, the commodore told us we 
 would do, and that he was not ashamed to show us along- 
 side of anything that floated. I do not pretend to give our 
 movements in the order in which they occurred,. however, 
 nor am I quite certain what year it was the commodore 
 went up to Smyrna. On reflection, it may have been later 
 than I have stated. 
 
 Our cruise off Cape de Gatte was one of the last things 
 we did ; and when we came back to Mahon, we took in sup- 
 plies for America. We made the southern passage home^ 
 
A LIFE BEFORE THE MAST. 175 
 
 ind anchored in Hampton Roads, in the winter of 1831. 
 I beheve the whole crew of the Delaware was sorry when 
 the cruise was up. There are always a certain number of 
 'long-shore chaps in a man-of-war, who are never satisfied 
 with discipline, and the wholesome restraints of a ship ; but 
 as for us old salts, I never heard one give the Delaware a 
 bad name. We had heard an awful report of the commo- 
 dore, who was called a " burster," and expected sharp times 
 under him ; and his manner of taking possession was of a 
 nature to alarm us. All hands had been called to receive 
 him, and the first words he said were " Call all hands to 
 witness punishment." A pin might have been heard falling 
 among us, for this sounded ominous. It was to clear the 
 brig, only, Captain Downes having left three men in it, 
 whom he would not release on quitting the vessel. The 
 offences were serious, and could not be overlooked. These 
 three chaps got it ; but there was only one other man brought 
 regularly to the gangway while I was in the ship, and he 
 was under the sentence of a court, and belonged to the War- 
 ren, As soon as the brig was cleared, the commodore told 
 us we should be treated as we treated others, and then turned 
 away among the officers. The next day we found we were 
 to live under a just rule, and that satisfied us. One of the 
 great causes of the contentment that reigned in the ship, was 
 the method, and the regularity of the hours observed. The 
 men knew on what they could calculate, in ordinary times, 
 and this left them their own masters within certain hours. 
 I repeat, she was the happiest ship I ever served in, though 
 I have always found good treatment in the navy. 
 
 I can say conscientiously, that were my life to be passed 
 over again, without the hope of commanding a vessel, it 
 should be passed in the navy. The food is better, the ser- 
 vice is lighter, the treatment is better, if a man behave him- 
 self at all well, he is better cared for, has a port under his 
 lee in case of accidents, and gets good, steady, wages, with 
 the certainty of being paid. If his ship is lost, his wages 
 are safe ; and if he gets hurt, he is pensioned. Then he is 
 pretty certain of having gentlemen over him, and that is a 
 great deal for any man. He has good quarters below ; and 
 if he serve in a ship as large as a frigate, he has a cover 
 over his head, half the time, at least, in bad weather. This 
 
176 NED MYERS; OR, 
 
 is the honest opinion of one who has served in all sorts of 
 crafts, liners, Indiamen, coasters, smugglers, whalers, and 
 transient ships. I have been in a ship of the line, two fri- 
 gates, three sloops of war, and several smaller craft ; and 
 such is the result of all my experience in Uncle Sam's navy. 
 No man can go to sea and always meet with fail -weather , 
 but he will get as little of foul in one of our vessels of war, 
 as in any craft that floats, if a man only behave himself. I 
 think the American merchantmen give better wages than 
 are to be found in other services ; and I think the American 
 men-of-war, as a rule, give better treatment than the Amer- 
 ican merchantman. God bless the flag, I say, and this, too, 
 without the fear of being hanged ! 
 
 - The Delaware lay two or three weeks in the Roads be- 
 fore she went up to the Yard. At the latter place we began 
 to strip the ship. While thus employed, we were told that 
 seventy-five of us, whose times were not quite out, were to 
 be drafted for the Brandywine 44, then fitting out at New 
 York, for a short cruise in the Gull'. This was bad news, 
 for Jack likes a swing ashore after a long service abroad. 
 Go we must, and did, however. We were sent round to 
 New York in a schooner, and found the frigate still lying at 
 the Yard. We were hulked on board the Hudson until she 
 was ready to receive us, when we were sent to our new ves- 
 sel. Captain Ballard commanded the Brandywine, and 
 among her lieutenants, Mr. M'Kenny was the first. This 
 is a fine ship, and she got her name from the battle in 
 which La Fayette was wounded in this country, having 
 been first fitted out to carry him to France, after his last 
 visit to America. She is a first-class frigate, mounting 
 thirty long thirty-two's on her gun-deck ; and I conceive it 
 to be some honour to a sailor to have it in his power to say 
 he has been captain of the forecastle in such a ship, for I 
 was rated in this frigate the same as I had been rated in the 
 Delaware ; with this difference, that, for my service in the 
 Brandywine, I received my regular eighteen dollars a month 
 as a petty officer ; whereas, though actually captain of the 
 Delaware's forecastle for quite two years, and second-captain 
 nearly all the rest of the time I was in the ship, I never got 
 more than seaman's wages, or twelve dollars a month. I 
 do not know how this happened, though I supposed it *^o 
 
A LIFE BEFORE THE MAST. 177 
 
 have arisen from some mistake connected with the ciicum- 
 stance that I was paid off for my services in the Delaware, 
 by the purser of the frigate. This was in consequence of 
 he transfer. 
 
 The Brandy wine sailed in March for the Gulf. Our cruise 
 lasted about five months, during which time we went to Vera 
 Cruz, Pensacola, and the Havana. We appeared to me to 
 be a single ship, as we were never in squadron, and saw no 
 broad-pennant. No accident happened, the cruise being 
 altogether pleasant. The ship returned to Norfolk, and 
 twenty -five of us, principally old Delawares, were dis- 
 charged, our times being out. We all of us intended to 
 return to the frigate, after a cruise ashore, and we chartered a 
 schooner to carry us to Philadelphia in a body, determining 
 not to part company. 
 
 The morning the schooner sailed, I was leading the whole 
 party along one of the streets of Norfolk, when I saw some- 
 thing white lying in the middle of the carriage-wav. It 
 turned out to be an old messmate, Jack Dove, who had been 
 discharged three days before, and had left us to go to Phila- 
 delphia, but had been brought up by King Grog. While we 
 were overhauling the poor fellow, who could not speak, his 
 landlady came out to us, and told us that he had eat nothing 
 for three days, and did nothing but drink. She begged us 
 to take care of him, as he disregarded all she said. This 
 honest woman gave us Jack's wages to a cent, for I knew 
 what they had come to ; and we made a collection of ten 
 dollars for her, calculating that Jack must have swallowed 
 that much in three days. Jack we took with us, bag and 
 hammock ; but he would eat nothing on the passage, calling 
 out constantly for drink. We gave him liquor, thinking it 
 would do him good ; but he grew worse, and, when we 
 reached Philadelphia, Tie was sent to the hospital. Here, in 
 the course of a few days, he died. 
 
 Never, in all my folly and excesses, did I give myself so 
 much up to drink, as when I reached Philadelphia this time. 
 ] was not quite as bad as Jack Dove, but I soon lost my 
 appetite, living principally on liquor. When we heard of 
 Jack's death, we proposed among ourselves to give him a 
 sailor's funeral. We turned out, accordingly, to the number 
 ~if a hundred, or more, in blue jackets and white trowsers, 
 
178 NED MYERS; OR, 
 
 and marched up to the hospital in a body. I was one of the 
 leaders in this arrangement, and felt much interest in it, as 
 Jaclc had been my messmate ; but, the instant I saw his 
 coffin, a fit of the " horrors" came over me, and I actually 
 left the place, running down street towards the river, as if 
 Dursued by devils. Luckily, I stopped to rest on the stoop 
 of a druggist. The worthy man took me in, gave me some 
 soda water, and some good advice. When a little strength- 
 ened, I made my way home, but gave up at the door. Then 
 followed a severe indisposition, which kept me in bed for a 
 fortnight, during which I suffered the torments of the damned. 
 
 I have had two or three visits from the " horrors," in the 
 course of my life, but nothing to equal this attack. I came 
 near following Jack Dove to the grave ; but God, in His 
 mercy, spared me from such an end. It is not possible for 
 one who has never experienced the effects of his excesses, in 
 this particular form, to get any correct notions of the sufTer- 
 mgs I endured. Among other conceits, I thought the colour 
 which the tar usually leaves on seamen's nails, was the sign 
 that I had the yellow fever. This idea haunted me for days, 
 and gave me great uneasiness. In short, I was like a man 
 suspended over a yawning chasm, expecting, every instant, 
 ro fall and be dashed to pieces, and yet, who could not die. 
 
 For some time after my recovery, I could not bear the 
 smell of liquor ; but evil companions lured me back to my 
 old habits. I was soon in a bad way again, and it was only 
 owing to the necessity of going to sea, that I had not a 
 return of the dreadful malady. When I shipped in the 
 Delaware, I had left my watch, quadrant, and good clothes, 
 to the value of near two hundred dollars, with my present 
 landlord, and he now restored them all to me, safe and 
 sound. I made considerable additions to the stock of clothes, 
 and when I again went to sea, left the whole, and more, with 
 the same landlord. 
 
 Our plan of going back to the Brandywine was altered by 
 circumstances ; and a party of us shipped in the Mononga- 
 hela, a Liverpool liner, out of Philadelphia. The cabin of 
 this vessel was taken by two gentlemen, going to visit 
 Europe, viz. : Mr. Hare Powell and Mr. Edward Burd ; and 
 getting these passengers, with their families, on board, the 
 ship sailed. By this time, I had pretty much given up the 
 
A tilFE BEFORE THE MAST. 179 
 
 nope of preferment, and did not trouble myself whether 1 
 lived forward or aft. I joined the Monongahela as a forward 
 hand, therefore, quite as well satisfied as if her chief mate. 
 We left the Delaware in the month of August, and, a 
 short time out, encountered one of the heaviest gales of wind 
 I ever witnessed at sea. It came on from the eastward, and 
 would have driven us ashore, had not the wind suddenly 
 shifted to south-west. The ship was lying-to, under bare 
 poles, pressed down upon the water in such a way that she 
 lay almost as steady as if in a river ; nor did the force of 
 the wind 'allow the sea to get up. A part of the time, our 
 lee lower yard-arms were nearly in the water. We had 
 everything aloft, but sending them down was quite out of 
 the question. It was not possible, at one time, for a man to 
 go aloft at all. I tried it myself, and could with difficulty 
 keep my feet on the ratlins. I make no doubt I should have 
 been blown out of the top, could I have reached it, did I let 
 go my hold to do any work. 
 
 We had sailed in company with the Kensington, a corvcii,.- 
 belonging to the Emperor of Russia, and saw a ship, during 
 the gale, that was said to be she. The Kensington was dis- 
 masted, and had to return to refit, but we did not part a 
 rope-yarn. When the wind shifl:ed, we were on soundings ; 
 and, it still continuing to blow a gale, we set the main-top- 
 sail close-reefed, and the fore-sail, and shoved the vessel ofi 
 the land at the rate of a steam-boat. After this, the wind 
 favoured us, and our passage out was very short. We 
 stayed but a few days in Liverpool ; took in passengers, and 
 got back to Philadelphia, after an absence of a little more 
 than two months. The Kensington's report of the gale, and 
 of our situation, had caused much uneasiness in Philadel- 
 phia, but our two passages were so short, that we brought 
 the news of our safety. 
 
 I now inquired for the Brandywine, but found she had 
 sailed for the Mediterranean. It was my intention to have 
 gone on board her, but missing this ship, and a set of offi- 
 cers that I knew, I looked out for a merchantman. I found 
 a brig called the Amelia, bound to Bordeaux, and shipped 
 in her before the mast. 
 
 The Amelia had a bad passage out. It was in the au- 
 tumn, and the brig leaked badly. This kept us a great 
 
180 NED MYERS; OR, 
 
 deal at the pumps, an occupation that a sailor does ciny- 
 thing but delight in. I am of opinion that pumping a leaky 
 ship is the most detestable work in the world. Nothing bui 
 the dread of drowning ought to make a man do it, although 
 some men will pump to save their property. As for myself, 
 I am not certain I would take twenty-four hours of hard 
 pumping to save any sum 1 shall probably ever own, or evei 
 did own. 
 
 After a long passage, we made the Cordovan, but, the 
 wind blowing heavy off the land, we could not get in for 
 near a fortnight. Not a pilot would come out, and if they 
 had, it would have done us no good. After a while, the 
 wind shifted, and we got into the river, and up to the town. 
 We took in a return cargo of brandy, and sailed for Phila- 
 delphia. Our homeward-bound passage was long and 
 stormy, but we made the capes, at last. Here we were 
 boarded by a pilot, who told us we were too late ; the Dela- 
 ware had frozen up, and we had to keep away, with a 
 south-east wind, for New York. We had a bad time of it, 
 as soon as night came on. The gale increased, blowing 
 directly into the bight, and we had to haul up under close- 
 reefed topsails and reefed foresail, to claw off the land. 
 The weather was very thick, and the night dark, and all 
 we could do was to get round, when the land gave us a 
 hint it was time. This we generally did in five fathoms 
 water. We had to ware, for the brig would not tack under 
 such short canvass, and, of course, lost much ground in so 
 doing. About three in the morning we knew that it was 
 nearly up with us. The soundings gave warning of this, 
 and we got round, on what I supposed would be the Amelia's 
 last leg. But Providence took care of us, when we could 
 not help ourselves. The wind came out at north-west, as 
 it might be by word of command ; the mist cleared up, and 
 we saw the lights, for the first time, close aboard us. The 
 brig was taken aback, but we got her round, shortened sail. 
 and hove her to, under a closed-reefed main-topsail. We 
 now got it from the north-west, making very bad weather. 
 The gale must have set us a long way to leeward, as we 
 did not get in for a fortnight. We shipped a heavy sea, 
 that stove our boat, and almost swept the decks. We were- 
 out of pork and beef, and our fire-wood was nearly gone. 
 
A LIFE BEFORE THE MAST. 181 
 
 The binnacle was also gone. As good luck would have it, 
 we killed a porpoise, soon after the wind shifted, and on 
 this we lived, in a great measure, for more than a week, 
 sometimes cooking it, but oftener eating it raw. At length 
 the wind shifted, and we got in. 
 
 I was no sooner out of this difficulty, than a hasty temper 
 got me into another. While still in the stream, an Irish 
 
 boatman called me a "Yankee son of a ," and I lent 
 
 him a clip. The fellow sued me, and, contriving to catch 
 me before I left the vessel, I was sent to jail, for the iirst and 
 only time in my life. This turned out to be a new and very 
 revolting school for me. I was sent among as precious a 
 set of rascals as New York could furnish. Their conversa- 
 tion was very edifying. One would tell how he cut the 
 hoses of the engines at fires, with razor-blades fastened to 
 his shoes ; another, how many pocket-books he and his 
 associates had taken at this or that fire ; and a third, the 
 manner of breaking open stores, and the best mode of dis- 
 posing of stolen goods. The cool, open, impudent manner 
 in which these fellows spoke of such transactions, fairly 
 astounded me. They must have thought I was in jail for 
 some crime similar to their own, or they would not have 
 talked so freely before a stranger. These chaps seemed to 
 value a man by the enormity and number of his crimes. 
 
 At length the captain and my landlord found out where I 
 had been sent, and I was immediately bailed. Glad enough 
 was I to get out of prison, and still more so to get out of the 
 company I found in it. Such association is enough to under- 
 mine the morals of a saint, in a week or two. And yet these 
 fellows were well dressed, and well enough looking, and 
 might very well pass for a sort of gentlemen, with those who 
 had seen but little of men of the true quality. 
 
 I had got enough of law, and wished to push the matter 
 no farther. The Irishman was sent for, and I compromised 
 with him on the spot. The whole affair cost me my entire 
 wages, and I was bound over to keep the peace, for, I do not 
 know how long. This scrape compelled me to weigh my 
 anchor at a short notice, as there is no living in New York 
 without money. I went on board the Sully, therefore — a 
 Havre liner — a day or two after getting out of the atmo- 
 sphere of the City Hall. They may talk of Batavia, if they 
 16 
 
182 NED MYERS; OR, 
 
 please ; but, in my judgment, it is the healthiest place of th6 
 two. 
 
 Our passages, out and home, produced nothing worth 
 mentioning, and I left the ship in New York, My wages 
 went in the old way, and then I shipped in a schooner called 
 the Susan and Mary, that was about to sail for Buenos Ayres, 
 in the expectation that she would be sold there. The craft 
 was a good one, though our passage out was very long. On 
 reaching our port, I took my discharge, under the impression 
 the vessel would be sold. A notion now came over me, that 
 I would join the Buenos Ayrean navy, in order to see what 
 sort of a service it was. I knew it was admixed American 
 and English affair, and, by this time, I had become very 
 reckless as to my own fate. I wished to do nothing very 
 wrong, but was incapable of doing anything that was very 
 right. 
 
 My windfall carried me on board a schooner, of eight or 
 ten guns, called the Suradaha. I did not ship, making an 
 arrangement by which 1 was to be left to decide for myself, 
 whether I would remain in her, or not. Although a pretty 
 good craft, I soon got enough of this service. In one week 
 I was thoroughly disgusted, and left the schooner. It is well 
 I did, as there was a " revolution''' on board of her, a few 
 days later, and she was carried up the river, and, as I was 
 told, was there sunk. With her, sunk all my laurels in that 
 service. 
 
 The Susan and Mary was not sold, but took in hides for 
 New York. I returned to her, therefore, and we sailed for 
 home in due time. The passage proved long, but mild, and 
 we were compelled to run in, off Point Petre, Gaudaloupe, 
 where we took in some provisions. After this, nothing oc- 
 curred until we reached New York. 
 
 I iiow shifted the name of my craft, end for end, joining 
 a half-rigged brig, called the Mary and Susan. I gained 
 little by the change, this vessel being just the worst-looking 
 hooker I did ever sail in. Still she was tight, strong enough, 
 and not a very bad sailing vessel. But, for some reasoji 
 or other, externals were not regarded, and we made any- 
 thing but a holiday appearance on the water. I had seen 
 ihe time when I would disdain to go chief-mate of such 
 
A LIFE BEFORE THE MAST. 183 
 
 a looking craft ; but I now shipped in hei' as a common 
 hand. 
 
 We sailed for Para, in Brazil, a port nearly under the 
 line, having gunpowder, dry-goods, &c. Our passage, un- 
 til we came near the coast of South America, was go^d, and 
 nothing occurred to mention. When under the line, how- 
 ever, we made a rakish-looking schooner, carrying two top- 
 sails, one forenoon. We made no effort to escape, knowing 
 it to be iseless. The schooner set a Spanish ensign, and 
 brought us to. We were ordered to lower our boat and to 
 go on board the schooner, which were done, I happened 
 to be at the helm, and remained in the Mary and Susan. 
 The strangers ordered our people out of the boat, and sent 
 an armed party in her, on board us. These men rummaged 
 about for a short time, and then were hailed from their ves' 
 sel to know if we promised well. Our looks deceived the 
 head man of the boarders, who answered that we were very 
 poor. On receiving this information, the captain of the 
 schooner ordered his boarding party to quit us. Our boat 
 came back, but was ordered to return and bring another 
 gang of the strangers. This time we were questioned about 
 canvass, but got off by concealing the truth. We had thirty 
 bolts on board, but produced only one. The bolt shown did 
 not happen to suit, and the strangers again left us. We 
 were told not to make sail until we received notice by signal, 
 and the schooner hauled her wind. After standing on some 
 time, however, these gentry seemed indisposed to quit us, 
 for they came down again, and rounded to on our weather- 
 beam. We were now questioned about our longitude, and 
 whether we had a chronometer. We gave the former, but 
 had nothing like the latter on board. Telling us once more 
 not to make sail without the signal, the schooner left us, 
 standing on until fairly out of sight. We waited until she 
 sunk her topsails, and then went on our course. 
 
 None of us doubted that this fellow was a pirate. The 
 men on board us were an ill-looking set of rascals, of all 
 countries. They spoke Spanish, but we gave them credit 
 for being a mixture. Our escape was probably owing to 
 our appearance, which promised anything but' a rich booty. 
 Our dry-goods and powder were concealed in casks under 
 the ballast, and I suppose the papers were not particularly 
 
184 NEDMyERS;OR, 
 
 minute. At any rate, when we got into Para, most of the 
 cargo went out of our schooner privately, being landed 
 from lighters. We had a passenger, who passed fcr some 
 revolutionary man, who also landed secretly. This gen- 
 tleman was in a good deal of concern about the pirates,, 
 keeping himself hid while they were near us. 
 
 CHAPTER XVI. 
 
 Our passage from Para was good until the brig reached 
 the latitude of Bermuda. Here, one morning, for the first 
 time in this craft, Sundays excepted, we got a forenoon 
 watch below. I was profiting by the opportunity to do a lit- 
 tle work for myself, when the mate, an inexperienced young 
 man, who was connected with the owners, came and ordered 
 us up to help jibe ship. It was easy enough to do this in 
 the watch, but he thought differently. As an old seaman, 
 I do not hesitate to say that the order was both inconsiderate 
 and unnecessary ; though I do not wish to appear even to 
 justify my own conduct, on the occasion. A hasty temper 
 is one of my besetting weaknesses, and, at that time, I was 
 in no degree influenced by any considerations of a moral 
 nature, as connected with language. Exceedingly exaspe- 
 rated at this interference with our comfort, I did not hesitate 
 to tell the mate my opinion of his order. Warming with 
 my own complaints, I soon became fearfully profane and 
 denunciatory. I called down curses on the brig, and all 
 that belonged to her, not hesitating about wishing that she 
 might founder at sea, and carry all hands of us to the bot- 
 tom of the ocean. In a word, I indulged in all that loose 
 ness and profanity of the tongue, which is common enough 
 with those who feel no restraints on the subject, and whr 
 are highly exasperated. 
 
 • I do think the extent to which I carried my curses ao'\ 
 wishes, on this occasion, frightened the officers. They sa>d 
 nothing, but let me curse myself out, to my heart's content, 
 A man soon wearies of so bootless a task, and the storm 
 
A LIFE BEFORE THE MAST. 185 
 
 passed off, like one in the heavens, with a low rumbling. 1 
 gave myself no concern about the matter afterwards, but 
 things took their course until noon. While the people were 
 at dinner, the mate came forward again, howevei*, and called 
 all hands to shorten sail. Going on deck, I saw a very 
 menacing black cloud astern, and went to work, with a will, 
 to discharge a duty that everybody could see was necessary. 
 
 We gathered m me canvass as fast as we could ; but, be- 
 fore we could get through, and while I was lending a hand 
 to furl the foresail, the squall struck the brig. I call it a 
 squall, but it was more like the tail of a hurricane. * Most 
 of our canvass blew from the gaskets, the cloth going in 
 ribands. The foresail and fore-topsail we managed to save, 
 but all our light canvass went. I was still aloft when the 
 brig broached-to. As she came up to the wind, the fore- 
 topmast went over to leeward, being carried away at the 
 cap. All the hamper came down, and began to thresh 
 against the larboard side of the lower rigging. Just at this 
 instant, a sea seemed to strike the brig under her bilge, and 
 fairly throw her on her beam-ends. 
 
 All this appeared to me to be the work of only a minute. 
 I had scrambled to windward, to get out of the way of the 
 wreck, and stood with one foot on the upper side of the bitts, 
 holding on, to steady myself, by some of the running rig. 
 ging. This was being in a very different attitude, but on 
 the precise spot, where, two or three hours before, I had 
 called on the Almighty to pour out his vials of wrath upon 
 the vessel, myself, and all she contained I At that fearful 
 instant, conscience pricked me, and I felt both shame and 
 dread, at my recent language. It seemed to me as if I had 
 been heard, and that my impious prayers were about to be 
 granted. In the bitterness of my heart, I vowed, should my 
 life be spared, never to be guilty of such gross profanity, 
 again. 
 
 These feelings, however, occupied me but a moment. I 
 was too much of a real sea-dog to be standing idle at a time 
 like that. There was but one man before the mast on whom 
 I could call for anything in such a strait, and that was a 
 New Yorker, of the name of Jack Neal. This man was 
 near me, and I suggested to him the plan of getting the fore- 
 ^op-mast staysail loose, notwithstandmg the mast v/as gone 
 
186 * NEDMYERS;OR 
 
 m the hope it might blow open, and help the brig's bowa 
 round. Jack was a fellow to act, and he succeeded in loos- 
 ening the sail, which did blow out in a way greatly to help 
 us, as 1 think. I then proposed we should clamber aft, and 
 try to get the helm up. This we did, also ; though I ques- 
 tion if the rudder could have had much power, in the posi- 
 tion in which the brig lay. 
 
 Either owing to the fore-top-mast staysail, or to some 
 providential sea, the vessel did fall off, however, and pre- 
 sently she righted, coming up with great force, with a heavy 
 roll to windward. The staysail helped us, I feel persuaded, 
 is the stay had got taut in the wreck, and the wind had 
 blown out the hanks. The brig's helm being hard up, as 
 soon as she got way, the craft flew round like a top, coming 
 up on the other tack, in spite of us, and throwing her nearly 
 over again. She did not come fairly down, however, though 
 1 thought she was gone, for an instant. 
 
 Finding it possible to move, I now ran forward, and suc- 
 ceeded in stopping the wreck into the rigging and bitts. At 
 this time the brig minded her helm, and fell off, coming under 
 command. To help us, the head of the spencer got loose, 
 from the throat-brail up, and, blowing out against the wreck, 
 the whole formed, together, a body of hamper, that acted as 
 a sort of sail, which helped the brig to keep clear of the 
 seas. By close attention to the helm, we were enabled to 
 prevent the vessel from broaching-to again, and, of course, 
 managed to sail her on her bottom. About sunset, it mode- 
 rated, and, next morning, the weather was fine. We then 
 went to work, and rigged jury-masts ; reaching New York 
 a few days later. 
 
 Had this accident occui'red to our vessel in the night, as 
 did that to the Scourge, our fate would probably have been 
 decided in a few minutes. As it was, half an hour, in the 
 sort of sea that was going, would have finished her. As for 
 my repentance, if I can use the term on such an occasion, 
 and for such a feeling, it was inore lasting than thorough. 
 I have never been so fearfully profane since ; and often, 
 when I have felt the disposition to give way to passion in 
 this revolting form, my feelings, as I stood by those bitts, 
 have recurred to my mind — my vow has been remembered, 
 and I hope, together, they did some good, until I was made 
 
A LIFE BEFORE THE MAST. 187 
 
 lo see the general errors of my life, and the necessity of 
 throwing all my sins on the mei'ciful interposition of my 
 
 Saviour. 
 
 I was not as reckless and extravagant, this time, in port, 
 as I had usually been, of late years. I shipped, before my 
 money was all gone, on board the Henry Kneeland, for 
 Liverpool, via New Orleans. On reaching the latter port, 
 all hands of us were beset by the land-sharks, in the shape 
 of landlords, who told us how much better we should be off' 
 by running, than by sticking by the ship. We listened to 
 these tales, and went in a body. What made the matter 
 worse, and our conduct the less excusable, was the fact, that 
 we got good wages and good treatment in the Henry Knee- 
 land. The landlords came with two boats, in the night ; we 
 passed our dunnage down to them, and away we went, leaving 
 only one man on board. The very next day we all shipped 
 on board the Marian, United States' Revenue Cutter, where I 
 was rated a quarter-mate, at fifteen cellars a month ; leav 
 ing seventeen to obtain this preferment ! 
 
 We got a good craft for our money, however. She was 
 a large comfortable schooner, that mounted a few light guns, 
 and our duty was far from heavy. The treatment turned 
 out to be good, also, as some relief to our folly. One of 
 our Henry Kneelands died of the " horrors" before we got 
 to sea, and we buried him at the watering-place, near the 
 lower bar. I must have been about four months in the 
 Marion, during which time we visited the different keys, and 
 went into Key West. At this place, our crew became 
 sickly, and I was landed among others, and sent to a board- 
 ing-house. It was near a month before we could get the 
 crew together again, when we sailed for Norfolk. At Nor- 
 folk, six of us had relapses, and were sent to the hospital; 
 the cutter sailing without us. I never saw the craft after- 
 wards. 
 
 I was but a fortnight in the hospital, the disease being 
 only the fever and ague. Just as I came out, the Alert, the 
 New York cutter, came in, and I was sent on board her. 
 This separated me from all the Henry Kneelands but one 
 old man. The Alert was bound south, on duty connected 
 with the nullification troubles ; and, soon after I joined her, 
 she sailed for Charleston, South Carolina. Here a little 
 

 
 88 NEDMYERS;OR, 
 
 eet of cutters soon collected ; no less than seven of us 
 6eing at anchor in the waters of South Carolina, to prevent 
 any breach of the tariff laws. When I had been "on board 
 the' Alert about a month, a new cutler called the Jackson, 
 came in from New York, and being the finest craft on the 
 station, our officers and crew were transferred to her in a 
 body ; our captain being the senior of all the revenue cap- 
 tains present. 
 
 I must have been at least six months in the waters of South 
 Carolina, thus employed. We never went to sea, but oc- 
 casionally dropped down as far as Rebellion Roads. We 
 were not allowed to go ashore, except on rare occasions, and 
 towards the last, matters got to be so serious, that we al- 
 most looked upon ourselves as in an enemy's country. 
 Commodore Elliott joined the station in the Natchez sloop- 
 of-war, and the Experiment, man-of-war schooner, also 
 arrived and remained. Afler the arrival of the Natchez, 
 the Commodore took command of all hands of us afloat, and 
 we were kept in a state of high preparation for service. We 
 were occasionally at quarters, nights, though I never ex- 
 actly knew the reasons. It was said attacks on us were 
 anticipated. General Scott was in the fort, and matters 
 looked very warlike, for several weeks. 
 
 At length we got the joyful news that nullification had 
 been thrown overboard, and that no more was to be appre- 
 hended. It seems that the crews of the different cutters 
 had been increased for this particular service ; but, now it 
 was over, there wei'e more men employed than Government 
 had needed. We were told, in consequence, that those 
 among us who wished our dischai'ges, might have them on 
 application. 
 
 I had been long enough in this 'long-shore service, and 
 applied to be discharged, under this provision. My time 
 was so near out, however, that I should have got away 
 soon, in regular course. 
 
 I now went ashore at Charleston, and had my swig, as 
 long as the money lasted. 1 gave myself no trouble about 
 the ship's husband, whose collar-bone I had broken ; nor do 
 I now know whether he was then living, or dead. In a 
 word, I thought only of the present time ; the past and the 
 future being equally indifferent to me. My old landlord 
 
A LIFE B£FOR£ TH£ MAST. 189 
 
 (vas dead ; and I fell altogether into the hands of a new set. 
 ( never took the precaution to change my name, at any 
 period of my life, with the exception, that I dropped the 
 Robert, in signing sliipping-articles. I also wrote my name 
 Myers, instead of Meyers, as, I have been informed by my 
 sister, was the true spelling. But this proceeded from igno- 
 rance, and not from intention. In all times, and seasons, 
 and weathers, and services, 1 have sailed as Ned Myers ; and 
 as nothing else. 
 
 It soon became necessary to ship again ; and I went on 
 board the Harriet and Jesse, which was bound to Havre de 
 Grace. This proved to be a pleasant, easy voyage ; the 
 ship coming back to New York filled with passengers, who 
 were called Swiss ; but most of whom, as I understand, came 
 from Wurtemberg, Alsace, and the countries on the Rhine. 
 On reaching New York, I .went on to Philadelphia, to obtain 
 the effects I had left there, when I went out in the Amelia. 
 But my landlord was dead ; his family was scattered ; and 
 my property had disappeared. I never knew who got it ; 
 but a quadrant, watch, and some entirely new clothes, wenf 
 in the wreck. I suppose I lost, at least, two hundred dol 
 lars, in this way. What odds did it make to me 1 it would 
 have gone in grog, if it had not gone in this manner. 
 
 I staid but a short time in Philadelphia, joining a brig, 
 called the Topaz, bound to Havana. We arrived out, after 
 a short passage ; and here I was exposed to as strong a 
 temptation to commit crime, as a poor fellow need encounter. 
 A beautiful American-built brig, was lying in port, bound to 
 Africa, for slaves. She was the loveliest craft I ever laid 
 eyes on ; and the very sight of her gave me a longing to go 
 m her. She offered forty dollars a month, with the privi- 
 lege of a slave and a half. I went so far as to try to get on 
 board her ; but met with some difficulty, in having my things 
 seized. The captain found it out ; and, by pointing out to 
 me the danger I ran, succeeded in changing my mind. 
 
 I will not deny, that I knew the trade was immoral ; but 
 so is smuggling ; and I viewed them pretty much as the 
 same thing, in this sense. I am now told, that the law of 
 this country pronounces the American citizen, who goes in 
 a slaver, a pirate; and treats him as such ; which, to me, 
 seems very pxfraordinarv. I do not understand, how a 
 
190 NED MYERS; OR 
 
 Spaniard can do that, and be no pirate, which makes an 
 American a pirate, if he be guilty of it. I feel certain, thai 
 very few sailors know in what light the law views slaving. 
 Now, piracy is robbing, on the high seas, and has always 
 h^en contrary to law; but slaving was encouraged by all 
 nations, a short time since ; and we poor tars look upon the 
 change, as nothing but a change in policy. As for myself, 
 I should have gone in that brig, in utter ignorance of the 
 risks I ran, and believing myself to be about as guilty, in a 
 moral sense, as I was when I smuggled tobacco, on the 
 coast of Ireland, or opium in Canton.* 
 
 * This is the reasoning of Ned. I have always looked upon the 
 American- law as erroneous in principle, and too severe in its penal- 
 ties. Erroneous in principle, as piracy is a crime against the law of 
 nations, and it is not legal for any one community to widen, or nar- 
 row, the action of international law. It is peculiarly the policy of this 
 country, rigidly to observe this principle, since she has so many in- 
 terests dependent on its existence. The punishment of death is too 
 severe, when we consider that nabobs are among us, who laid the 
 foundations of their wealth, as slaving merchants, when slaving was 
 legal. Sudden mutations in morals, are not to be made by a dash of 
 the pen ; and even public sentiment can hardly be made to consider 
 slaving much of a crime, in a slave-holding community. But, even 
 the punishment of death might be inflicted, without arrogating to 
 Congress a power to say what is, and what is not, piracy. 
 
 It will probably be sdd, the error is merely one of language ; the 
 jurisdiction being clearly legal. Is this true ? Can Congress, legally 
 or constitutionally, legislate for American citizens, when undeniably 
 within the jurisdiction of foreign states? Admit this as a principle, 
 and what is to prevent Congress from punishing acts, that it may be 
 the policy of foreign countries to exact from even casual residents. 
 If Congress can punish me, as a pirate, for slaving under a foreign 
 flag, and in foreign countries, it can punish me for carrying arms 
 against all American allies ; and yet military service may be exacted 
 of even an American citizen, resident in a foreign state, under particular 
 circumstances. The same difficulty, in principle, may be extended to 
 the whole catalogue of legal crime. 
 
 Congress exists only for specified purposes. It can punish piracy, 
 but it cannot declare what shall, or shall not, be piracy; as this would 
 be invading the authority of international law. Under the general 
 power to pass laws, that are necessary to carry out the system, it can 
 derive no authority ; since there can be no legal necessity for any 
 such double legislation, under the comity of nations. Suppose, fof 
 instance, England should legalize slaving, again. Could the Unitfid 
 
A hlthj BEFORE THE MAST. 191 
 
 As the Topaz was coming out of the port of Havana, 
 homeward bound, and just as she was abreast of the Moro, 
 the brig carried away her bobstay. I was busy in helping 
 to unreeve the stay, when I was seized with sudden and vio- 
 lent cramps. This attack proved to be the cholera, which 
 came near carrying me off. The captain had me taken aft, 
 where I was attended with the greatest care. God be praised 
 for his mercy ! I got well, though scarcely able to do any 
 more duty before we got in. 
 
 A short voyage gives short commons ; and I was soon 
 obliged to look out for another craft. This time I shipped 
 in the Erie, Captain Funk, a Havre liner, and sailed soon 
 after. This was a noble ship, with the best of usage. Both 
 our passages were pleasant, and give me nothing to relate. 
 While I was at work in the hold, at Havre, a poor female 
 passenger, who came to look at the ship, fell through the 
 hatch, and was so much injured as to be left behind. I 
 mention the circumstance merely to show how near I was 
 to a meeting with my old shipmate, who is writing these 
 pages, and yet missed him. On comparing notes, I find he 
 was on deck when this accident happened, having come to 
 see after some effects he was then shipping to New York. 
 These very effects 1 handled, and supposed them to belong 
 to a passenger who was to come home in the ship ; but, as 
 they were addressed to another name, I could not recognise 
 them. Mr. Cooper did not come home in the Erie, but 
 passed over to England, and embarked at London, and so 
 I failed to see him. 
 
 In these liners, the captains wish to keep the good 'men of 
 their crews as long as they can. V/e liked the Erie and 
 her captain so much, that eight or ten of us stuck by the 
 ship, and went out in her again. This time ogr luck was 
 not so good. The passage out was well enough, but home- 
 ward-bound we had a hard time of it. While in Havre, 
 
 States claim the American citizen, who had engaged in slaving, under 
 the English flag, and from a British port, under the renowned Ash- 
 burton treaty ? Would England give such a man up ? No more 
 than she will now give up the slaves that run from the American ves- 
 sel, which is driven in by stress of weather. One of the vices of 
 philanthropy is to overreach its own policy, by losing sight of all 
 tollateral principles and interests Editor. 
 
192 NED MYERS; OR, 
 
 too, we had a narrow escape. Christmas night, a fire broke) 
 out in the cabin, and came near smothering us all, forward, 
 before we knew anything about it. Our chief mate, whose 
 name was Everdy,* saved the vessel by his caution and 
 exertions ; the captain not getting on board until the fire hiid 
 come to a head. We kept everything closed until an engine 
 was ready, then cut away the deck, and sent down the hose 
 This expedient, with a fi'ee use of water, saved the ship. It 
 is not known how the fire originated. A good deal of 
 damage was done, and some property was lost. 
 
 Notwithstanding this accident, we had the ship ready for 
 sea early in January, 1834. For the first week out, we 
 met with head winds and heavy weather ; so heavy, in- 
 deed, as to render it difficult to get rid of the pilot. The 
 ship beat down channel with him on board, as low as the 
 Eddystone. Here we saw the Sully, outward bound, run- 
 ning up channel before the wind. Signals were exchanged, 
 and our ship, which was then well off" the land, ran in and 
 spoke the Sully. We put our pilot on board this ship, 
 which was doing a good turn all round. The afternoon 
 proving fair, and the wind moderating, Captain Funk filled 
 and stood in near to the coast, as his best tack. Towards 
 night, however, the gale freshened, and blew into the bay, 
 between the Start Point and the Lizard, in a heavy, steady 
 manner. 
 
 The first thing M'as to ware off shore ; after which, we 
 were compelled to take in nearly all our canvass. The 
 gale continued to increase, and the night set in dark. 
 There were plenty of ports to leeward, but it was ticklish 
 work to lose a foot of ground, unless one knew exactly 
 where he was going. We had no pilot, and the captain de- 
 cided to hol.d on. I have seldom known it to blow harder 
 than it did that night ; and, for hours, everything depended 
 on our main-topsail's standing, which sail we had set, close- 
 reefed. I did not see anything to guide us, but the com- 
 pass, until about ten o'clock, when I caught a view of a 
 light close on our lee bow. This was the Eddystone, 
 which stands pretty nearly in a line between the Start and 
 the Lizard, and rather more than three leagues from the 
 
 • Ned's pronunciation. 
 
A LIFE B£FOR£ THE MAST. 193 
 
 land. As we headed, we might lay past, should every- 
 thing stand ; but, if our topsail went, we should have been 
 pretty certain of fetching up on those famous rocks, where 
 a three-decker would have gone to pieces in an hour's time 
 in such a gale. 
 
 I suppose we passed the Eddystone at a safe distance, or 
 the captain would not have attempted going to windward of 
 it ; but, to me, it appeared that we were fearfully near. The 
 sea was breaking over the light tremendously, and could be 
 plainly seen, as it flashed up near the lantern. We went 
 by, however, surging slowly ahead, though our drift must 
 have been very material. 
 
 The Start, and the point to the westward of it, were still 
 to be cleared. They were a good way off, and but a little 
 to leeward, as the ship headed. In smooth water, and with 
 a whole-sail breeze, it would have been easy enough to lay 
 past the Start, when at the Eddystone, with a south-west 
 wind ; but, in a gale, it is a serious matter, especially on a 
 flood-tide. I know all hands of us, forward and aft, looked 
 upon our situation as very grave. We passed several un- 
 easy houi's, after we lost sight of the Eddystone, before we 
 got a view of the land near the Start. When I saw it, the 
 heights appeared like a dark cloud hanging over us, and I 
 certainly thought the ship was gone. At this time, the cap- 
 tain and mate consulted together, and the latter came to us, 
 in a very calm, steady manner, and said — " Come, boys ; 
 we may as well go ashore without masts as with them, and 
 our only hope is in getting more canvass to stand. We 
 must turn-to, and make sail on the ship." 
 
 Everybody was in motion on this hint, and the first thing 
 we did was to board fore-tack. The clews of that sail came 
 down as if so many giants had hold of the tack and sheet. 
 We set it, double-reefed, which made it but a rag of a sail, 
 and yet the ship felt it directly. We next tried the fore-top- 
 sail, close-reefed, and this stood. It was well we did, for I 
 feel certain the ship was now in the ground-swell That 
 black hill seemed ready to fall on our heads. We tried the 
 mizen-topsail, but we found it would not do, and we furled 
 it again, not without great difficulty. Things still looked 
 serious, the land drawing nearer and nearer ; and we tried 
 to get the mainsail, double-reefed, on the ship. Everybody 
 17 . 
 
194 NED MYERS; OR, 
 
 mustered at the tack and sheet, and we dragged down thai 
 bit of cloth as if it had been muslin. The good ship now 
 quivered like a horse that is over-ridden, but in those liners- 
 everything is strong, and everything stood, I never saw 
 spray thrown from a ship's bows, as it was thrown from the 
 Erie's that night. We had a breathless quarter of an hour 
 after the mainsail was set, everybody looking to see what 
 would go first. Every rope and bolt in the craft was tried 
 to the utmost, but all stood ! At the most critical moment, 
 we caught a glimpse of a light in a house that was known 
 to stand near the Start ; and the mate came among us, pointed 
 it out, and said, if we weathered that, we should go clear. 
 After hearing this, my eyes were never off that light, and 
 glad was I to see it slowly drawing more astern, and more 
 under our lee. At last we got it on our quarter, and knew 
 that we had gone clear ! The gloomy-looking land disap 
 peared to leeward, in a deep, broad bay, giving us plenty of 
 sea-room. 
 
 -We now took in canvass, to ease the ship. The mainsail 
 and fore-topsail were furled, leaving her to jog along under 
 the main-topsail, foresail, and fore-topmast staysail. I look 
 upon this as one of my narrowest escapes from shipwreck ; 
 and I consider the escape, under the mercy of God, to have 
 been owing to the steadiness of our officers, and the goodness 
 of the ship and her outfit. It was like pushing a horse to 
 the trial of every nerve and sinew, and only winning the 
 race under whip and spur. Wood, and iron, and cordage, 
 and canvass, can do no more than they did that night. 
 
 Next morning, at breakfast, the crew talked the matter 
 over. We had a hard set in this ship, the men being prime 
 seamen, but of i-eckless habits and characters. Some of the 
 most thoughtless among them admitted that they had prayed 
 secretly for succour, and, for myself, I am most thankful 
 that / did. These confessions were made half-jestingly, but 
 I believe them to have been true, judging from my own case. 
 It may sound bravely in the ears of the thoughtless and 
 foolish, to boast of indifference on such occasions ; but, few 
 men can face death under circumstances like those in which 
 we were placed, without admitting to themselves, however 
 reluctantly, that there is a Power above, on which they must 
 lean for personal safety, as vvell as for spiritual supporf 
 
A LIFE BEFORE THE MAST. 195 
 
 More than usual care was had for the future welfare of sailors 
 among the Havre liners, there being a mariners' church at 
 Havre, at which our captain always attended, as well as his 
 mates ; and efforts were made to make us go also. The 
 effect was good, the men being better behaved, and more 
 sober, in consequence. 
 
 The wind shifted a day or two after this escape, giving 
 us a slant that carried us past Scilly, fairly out into the At- 
 lantic. A fortnight or so after ouc interview with the Ed- 
 dystone we carried away the pintals of the rudder, which 
 was saved only by the modern invention that prevents the 
 head from dropping, by means of the deck. To prevent the 
 .strain, and to get some service from the rudder, however, 
 we found it necessary to sling the latter, and to breast it 
 into the stern-post by means of purchases. A spar was laid 
 athwart the coach-house, directly over the rudder, and we 
 rove a chain through the tiller-hole, and passed it over this 
 spar. For this purpose the smallest chain-cable was used, 
 the rudder being raised from the deck by means of sheers. 
 We then got a set of chain-topsail sheets, parcelled them 
 well, and took a clove hitch with them around the rudder, 
 about half-way up. One end was brought into each main- 
 chain, and set up by tackles. In this manner the wheel did 
 tolerably well, though we had to let the ship lie-to in heavy 
 weather. 
 
 The chain sheets held on near a month, and then gave 
 way. On examination, it was found that the parcelling had 
 gone under the ship's counter, and that the copper had nearly 
 destroyed the iron. After this, we mustered all the chains 
 of the ship, of proper size, parcelled them very thoroughly, 
 got another clove hitch around the rudder as before, and 
 brought the ends to the hawse-holes, letting the bights fall, 
 one on each side of the ship's keel. The ends were next 
 brought to the windlass and hove taut. This answered pretty 
 well, and stood until we got the ship into New York. Our 
 whole passage was stormy, and lasted seventy days, as near 
 as I can recollect. The ship was almost given up when we 
 got in, and great was the joy at our arrival. 
 
 As the Erie lost her turn, in consequence of wanting re- 
 pairs, most of us went on board the Henry IVth, in the 
 same line. This vovage was comfortable, and successful, 
 
19G NKD MYERS; OR, 
 
 a fine ship and good usage. On oui' return to New York 
 most of us went back to the Erie, liking both vessel and 
 captain, as well as her other officers. I went twice more 
 to Havre and back in this ship, making four voyages in her 
 in all. At the end of the fourth voyage our old mate left 
 us, to do business ashore, and we took a dislike to his suc- 
 cessor, though it was without trying him. The mate we 
 lost had been a great favourite, and we seemed to think if 
 he went we must go too. At any rate, nearly all hands 
 went to the Silvie de Grasse, where we got another good 
 ship, good officers, and good treatment. In fact, all these 
 Havre liners were very much alike in these respects, the Sil- 
 vie de Grasse being the fourth in which I had then sailed, 
 and to me they all seemed as if they belonged to the same 
 family. I went twice to Havre in this ship also, when I left 
 her for the Normandy, in the same line. I made this change 
 in consequence of an affair about some segars in Havre, in 
 which I had no other concern than to father another man's 
 fault. The captain treated me very handsomely, but my 
 temperament is such that I am apt to fly off in a tangent 
 when anything goes up stream. It was caprice that took 
 me from the Silvie de Grasse, and put me in her sister- 
 liner. 
 
 I liked the Normandy as well as the rest of these liners, 
 except that the vessel steered badly. I made only one voy- 
 age in her, however, as will be seen in the next chapter. 
 
 CHAPTER XVII. 
 
 I HAD now been no less than eight voyages in the Havre 
 \rade, without intermission. So regular had my occupation 
 become, that I began to think 1 was a part of a liner myself. 
 I liked the treatment, the food, the ships, and the officers. 
 Whenever we got home, I worked in the ship, at day's work, 
 until paid off; after which, no more was seen of Ned until 
 it was time to go on board to sail. When I got in, in the 
 Normandy, it happened as usual, though I took a short swing 
 
« lilFE BEFORE THE MAST. 197 
 
 only. Mr. Everdy, our old mate in the Erie, was working 
 gangs of stevedores, riggers, &c., ashore ; and when I went 
 and reported myself to him, as ready for work in the Nor- 
 mandy again, he observed that her gang was full, but that, 
 by going up-town next morning, to the screw-dock, 1 should 
 find an excellent job on board a brig. The following day, 
 accordingly, I took my dinner in a pail, and started off for 
 the dock, as directed. On my way, I fell in with an old 
 shipmate in the navy, a boatswain's-mate, of the name of 
 Benson. This man asked me where I was bound with my 
 pail, and I told him. " What's the use," says he, " of drag- 
 ging your soul out in these liners, when you have a man-of- 
 war under your lee !" Then he told me he meant to ship, 
 and advised me to do the same. I drank wilh him two or 
 three times, and felt half persuaded to enter ; but, recollect- 
 ing the brig, I left him, and pushed on to the dock. When 
 I got there, it was so late that the vessel had got off the dock, 
 and was already under way in the stream. 
 
 My day's work was now up, and I determined to make a 
 full holiday of it. As I went back, I fell in with Captain 
 Mix, the officer with whom I had first gone on the lakes, and 
 my old first-lieutenant in the Delaware, and had a bit of 
 navy talk with him ; after which I drifted along as far as 
 the rendezvous. The officer in charge was Mr. M'Kenny, 
 my old first-lieutenant in the Brandywine, and, before I quit- 
 ted the house, my name was down, again, for one of Uncle 
 Sam's sailor-men. In this accidental manner have I floated 
 about the world, most of my life — not dreaming in the morn- 
 ing, what would fetch me up before night. 
 
 When it was time to go off, I was ready, and was sent on 
 board the Hudson, which vessel Captain Mix then com- 
 manded. I have the consolation of knowing that I never 
 ran, or thought of rilnning, from either of the eleven men- 
 of-war on board of which I have served, counting big and 
 little, service of days and service of years. I had so long a 
 pull in the receiving-ship, as to get heartily tired of her; 
 and, when an opportunity offered, I put my name down for 
 the Constellation 38, which was then fitting out for the West 
 India station, in Norfolk. A draft of us was sent round to 
 that ship accordingly, and we found she had hauled off from 
 the yard, and was lying between the forts. When I got or 
 17* 
 
198 NEDMYEIlS;OR, 
 
 board, I ascertained that something like fifty of my old liners 
 were in this very ship, some common motive inducing them 
 to take service in the navy, ail at the same time. As for 
 myself, it happened just as 1 have related, though I always 
 liked the navy, and was ever ready to join a ship of war, foi 
 a pleasant cruise. 
 
 Commodore Dallas's pennant was flying in the Constella- 
 tion when I joined her. A short time afterwards, the ship 
 sailed for the West Indies. As there was nothing material 
 occurred in the cruise, it is unnecessary to relate things in 
 the order in which they took place. The ship went to 
 Havana, Trinidad, Cura^oa, Laguayra, Santa Cruz, Vera 
 Cruz, Campeachy, Tampico, Key West, &c. We lay more 
 or less time at all these ports, and in Santa Cruz we had a 
 great ball on board. After passing several months in this 
 manner, we went to Pensacola. The St. Louis was with us 
 most of this time, though she did not sail from America in 
 company. The next season the whole squadron went to 
 Vera Cruz in company, seven or eight sail of us in all, giving 
 the Mexicans some alarm, I believe. 
 
 But the Florida war gave us the most occupation. I was 
 out in all sorts of ways, on expeditions, and can say I never 
 saw an Indian, except those who came to give themselves 
 up. I was in steamboats, cutters, launches, and on shore, 
 marching like a soldier, with a gun on my shoulder, and 
 precious duty it was for a sailor. 
 
 The St. Louis being short of hands, I was also drafted for 
 a cruise in her ; going the rounds much as we had done in 
 the frigate. This was a fine ship, and was then commanded 
 by Captain Rousseau, an officer much respected and liked, 
 by us all. Mr. Byrne, my old shipmate in the Delaware, 
 went out with us as first-lieutenant of the Constellation, but 
 he did not remain out the whole cruise. 
 
 Altogether I was out on the West India station three 
 years, but got into the hospital, for several months of the 
 time, in consequence of a broken bone. While in the hos- 
 pital, the frigate made a cruise, leaving me ashore. On her 
 return, I was invalided home, in the Levant, Captain Pauld- 
 ing, another solid, excellent officer. In a word, I was lucky 
 in my officers, generally ; the treatment on board the frigate 
 being just and good. The duty in the Constellation was 
 
A LIFE BEFORE THE MAST. 199 
 
 very hardj being a sort of soldier duty, which may be very 
 well for those that are trained to it, but makes bad weather 
 for us blue-jackets. Captain Mix, the officer with whom I 
 went to the lakes, was out on the station in command of the 
 Concord, sloop of war, and, for some time, was in charge 
 of our ship, during the absence of Commodore Dallas, in 
 his own vessel. In this manner are old shipmates often 
 thrown together, after years of separation. 
 
 In the hospital I was rated as porter, Captain Bolton and 
 Captain Latimer being my commanding officers ; the first 
 being in charge of the yard, and the second his next in rank. 
 From these two gentlemen I received so many favours, that 
 it would be ungrateful in me not to mention them. Dr. Ter- 
 rill, the surgeon of the hospital, too, was also exceedingly 
 kind to me, during the time I was under his care. 
 
 As I had much leisure time in the hospital, I took charge 
 of a garden, and got to be somewhat of a gardener. It was 
 said I had the best garden about Pensacola, which is quite 
 likely true, as I never saw but one other. 
 
 The most important thing, however, that occurred to me 
 while in the hospital, was a disposition that suddenly arose 
 in my mind, to reflect on my future state, and to look at 
 religious things with serious eyes. Dr. Terrill had some 
 blacks in his service, who were in the habit of holding little 
 Methodist meetings, where they sang hymns, and conversed 
 together seriously. I never joined these people, being too 
 white for that, down at Pensacola, but I could overhear them 
 from my own little room. A Roman Catholic in the hospi- 
 tal had a prayer-book in English, which he lent to me, and 
 I got into the habit of reading a prayer in it, daily, as a sort 
 of worshipping of the Almighty. This was the first act of 
 mine, that approached private worship, since the day I left 
 Mr. Marchinton's ; if I except the kw hasty mental petitions 
 put up in moments of danger. 
 
 After a time, I began to think it would never do for me, a 
 Protestant born and baptised, to be studying a Romish prayer- 
 book ; and I hunted up one that was Protestant, and which 
 bad been written expressly for seamen. This I took to my 
 room, and used in place of the Romish book, Dr, Terrill 
 had a number of bibles under his charge, and I obtained one 
 of thost!, also, and I actually got into the practice of reading 
 
200 NED MYERS; OR, 
 
 a chapter every night, as well as of reading a prayer. I 
 also knocked off from drink, and ceased to swear. My 
 reading in the bible, now, was not for the stories, but seri- 
 ously to improve my mind and morals. 
 
 1 must have been several months getting to be more and 
 more in earnest on the subject of morality, if not of vita, 
 religion, when I formed an acquaintance with a new stew- 
 ard, who had just joined the hospital. This man was ready 
 enough to converse with me about the bible, but he turned 
 out to be a Deist. Notwithstanding my own disposition to 
 think more seriously of my true situation, I had many mis- 
 givings on the subject of the Saviour's being the Son of 
 God. It seemed improbable to me, and I was falling into 
 the danger which is so apt to beset the new beginner — that 
 of self-sufficiency, and the substituting of human wisdom 
 for faith. The steward was not slow in discovering this ; 
 and he produced some of Tom Paine's works, by way of 
 strengthening me in the unbelief. I now read Tom Paine, 
 instead of the bible, and soon had practical evidence of the 
 bad effects of his miserable system. I soon got stern-way 
 on me in morals ; began to drink, as before, though seldom 
 intoxicated, and grew indifferent to my bible and prayer- 
 book, as well as careless of the future. I began to think 
 that the things of this world were to be enjoyed, and he was 
 the wisest who made the most of his time. 
 
 I must confess, also, that the bad examples which I saw set 
 by men professing to be Christians, had a strong tendency 
 to disgust me with religion. The great mistake I made was, 
 in supposing I had undergone any real change of heart. 
 Circumstances disposed me to reflect, and reflection brought 
 me to be serious, on subjects that I had hitherto treated with 
 levity ; but the grace of God was still, in a great degree, 
 withheld from me, leaving me a prey to such arguments as 
 those of the steward, and his great prophet and master, 
 Mr. Paine. 
 
 In the hospital, and that, too, at a place like Pensacola 
 there was little opportunity for me to break out into my old 
 excesses ; though I found liquor, on one or two occasions, 
 even there, and got myself into some disgrace in conse- 
 quence. On the whole, however, the discipline, my situa 
 tion, and my own resolution, kept me tolerably correct. It 
 
A lilFE BEFORE THE MAST. 201 
 
 IS the restraint of a ship that alone prevents sailors from 
 dying much sooner than they do ; for it is certain no man 
 could hold out long who passed three or four months 
 every year in the sort of indulgencies into which I myself 
 have often run, after returning from long voyages. This is 
 one advantage of the navy ; two or three days of riotous 
 livmg being all a fellow can very well get in a three years' 
 cruise. Any man who has ever been in a vessel of war, 
 particularly in old times, can see the effect produced by the 
 system, and regular living of a ship. When the crew first 
 came on board, the men were listless, almost lifeless, with 
 recent dissipation; some suffering withthe "horrors," perhaps; 
 but a kw weeks of regular living would bring them all 
 round ; and, by the end of the cruise, most of the people 
 would come into port, and be paid off, with renovated con- 
 stitutions. It is a little different, now, to be sure, as the men 
 ship for general service, and commonly serve a short ap- 
 prenticeship in a receiving vessel, before they are turned 
 over to the sea-going craft. This brings them on board the 
 last in a little belter condition than used to be the case; but, 
 even now, six months in a man-of-war is a new lease for a 
 seaman's life. 
 
 [ say I got myself into disgrace in the hospital of Pensa- 
 cola, in consequence of my habit of drinking. The facts 
 were as follows, for I have no desire to conceal, or to pa- 
 rade before the world, my own delinquencies ; but, I con- 
 fess them with the hope that the pictures they present, may 
 have some salutary influence on the conduct of others. 
 The doctor, who was steadily my friend, and often gave me 
 excellent advice, went north, in order to bring his wife to 
 Pensacola. I was considered entitled to a pension for the 
 hurt which had brought me into the hospital, and the doctor 
 had promised to see something about it, while at Washing- 
 ton. This was not done, in consequence of his not passing 
 through Washington, as had been expected. Now, nature 
 has so formed me, that any disgust, or disappointment, 
 makes me reckless, and awakens a desire to revenge 
 myself, on myself, as I may say. It was this feeling which 
 first carried me from Halifax ; it was this feeling that made 
 me run from the Sterling ; and which has often changed 
 md sometimes marred my prospects, as I have passe i 
 
202 JVED MYIiRS; OR, 
 
 through life. As soon as I learned that nothing had bcor 
 said about my pension, this same feeling came over mc, 
 and 1 became reckless. 1 had not drawn my grog fol 
 months, and, indeed, had left off drinking entirely ; but 1 
 now determined to have my fill, at the first good opportu- 
 nity. I meant to make the officers sorry, by doing some- 
 thing that was very wrong, and for which I should be sorry 
 myself. 
 
 I kept the keys of the liquor of the hospital. The first 
 thing was to find a confederate, which I did in the person 
 of a Baltimore chap, who entered into my plan from pure 
 love of liquor. I then got a stock of the wine, and we went 
 to work on it, in my room. The liquor was sherry, and it 
 took nine bottles of it to lay us both up. Even this did not 
 make me beastly drunk, but it made me desperate and im- 
 pudent. I abused the doctor, and came very near putting 
 my foot into it, with Captain Latimer, who is an officer that 
 it will not do, always, to trifle with. Still, these gentlemen, 
 with Captain Bolton, had more consideration for me, than 
 I had for myself, and I escaped with only a good reprimand. 
 It was owing to this frolic, however, that I was invalided 
 home — as they call it out there, no one seeming to consider 
 Pensacola as being in the United States. 
 
 When landed from the Levant, I was sent to the Navy 
 Yard Hospital, Brooklyn. After staying two or three days 
 here, I determined to go to the seat of government, and take 
 a look at the great guns stationed there, Uncle Sam and all. 
 I was paid off from the Levant, accordingly, and leaving 
 the balance with the purser of the yard, I set off on my 
 journey, with fifty dollars in my pockets, which they tell 
 me is about a member of Congress' mileage, for the dis- 
 tance I had to go. Of course this was enough, as a mem- 
 ber of Congress would naturally take care and give himself 
 as much as he wanted. 
 
 When I got on board the South-Amboy boat, I found a 
 party of Indians there, going to head-quarters, like myself. 
 The sight of these chaps set up all my rigging, and I felt 
 ripe for fun. I treated them to a breakfast each, and gave 
 them as much to drink as they could swallow. We all got 
 merry, and had our own coarse fun, in the usual thought 
 less manner of seamen. This was a bad beginning, and 
 
A LIFE BEFORE THE Mi ST 203 
 
 by the time we reached a tavern, I was ready to anchor. 
 Where this was, is more than I know ; for I was not in a 
 state to keep a ship's reckoning. Whether any of my mo- 
 ney was stolen or not, I cannot say, but I know that some 
 of my clothes were. Next day I got to Philadelphia, where 
 I had another frolic. After this, I went on to Washington, 
 keeping it up; the whole distance. I fell in with a soldier 
 chap, who was out of cash, and who was going to Wash- 
 ington to get a pension, too ; and so we lived in common. 
 When we reached Washington, my cash was diminished to 
 three dollars and a half, and all was the consequences of 
 brandy and folly. I had actually spent forty-six dollars 
 and a half, in a journey that might have been made with 
 ten, respectably ! 
 
 I got my travelling companion to recommend a boarding- 
 house, which he did. I felt miserable from my excesses, 
 and went to bed. In the morning, the three dollars and a 
 half were gone. I felt too ill to go to the Department that 
 day, but kept on drinking — eating nothing. Next day, my 
 landlord took the trouble to inquire into the state of my 
 pocket, and I told him the truth. This brought about a 
 pretty free explanation between us, in which I was given to 
 understand that my time was up in that place. I afterwards 
 found out I had got into a regular soldier-house, and it was 
 no wonder they did not know how to treat an old salt. 
 
 Captain Mix had given me a letter to Commodore Chaun- 
 cey, who was then living, and one of the Commissioners. I 
 felt pretty certain the old gentleman would not let one of the 
 Scourges founder at head-quarters, and so I crawled up to 
 the Department, and got admission to him. The commodore 
 seemed glad to see me; questioned me a good deal about the 
 loss of the schooner, and finally gave me directions how to 
 proceed. I then discovered that my pension ticket had 
 actually reached Washington, but had been sent back to 
 Pensacola, to get some informality corrected. This would 
 compel me to remain some time at Washington. I felt 
 unwell, and got back to my boarding-house with these 
 tidings. The gentleman who kept the house was far from 
 being satisfied with this, and he gave me a hint that at once 
 Dut the door between us. This was the first lime I ever had 
 R door shut upon me, and I ani thankful it happened at a 
 
204 NED MYERS; OR, 
 
 soldier rendezvous. I gave the man all my spare clothes in 
 pawn, and walked away from his house. 
 
 I had undoubtedly brought on myself a fit of the " horrors," 
 by my recent excesses. As I went along the streets, I 
 thought every one was sneering at me ; and, though burning 
 with thirst, I felt ashamed to enter any house to ask even 
 for water. A black gave me the direction- of the Navy 
 Yard, and I shaped my course for it, feeling more like lying 
 down to die, than anything else. When about half-way 
 across the bit of vacant land between the Capitol and the 
 Yard, I sat down under a high picket-fence, and the devil 
 put it into my head, that it would be well to terminate suf- 
 ferings that seemed too hard to be borne, by hanging myself 
 on that very fence. I took the handkerchief from my neck, 
 made a running bow-line, and got so far as to be at work at 
 a standing bow-line, to hitch over the top of one of the poles 
 of the fence. 
 
 I now stood up, and began to look for a proper picket to 
 make fast to, when, in gazing about, I caught sight of the 
 mast-heads of the shipping at the yard, and of the ensign 
 under which I had so long served ! These came over me, 
 as a lighthouse comes over a mariner in distress at sea, and 
 I taought there must be friends for me in that quarter. The 
 sight gave me courage and strength, and I determined no old 
 shipmate should hear of a blue-jacket's hanging himself on 
 a picket, in a fit of the horrors. Casting off the bowlines, I 
 replaced the handkerchief on my neck, and made the best 
 of my way towards those blessed mast-heads, which, under 
 God's mercy, were the means of preventing me from com- 
 mitting suicide. 
 
 As I came up to the gate of the yard, the marine on post 
 sung out to me, " Halloo, Myers, where are you come from? 
 You look as if you had been dragged through h — , and beaten 
 with a soot-bag !" This man, the first I met at the Navy 
 Yard, had been with me three years in the Delaware, and 
 knew me in spite of my miserable appearance. He advised 
 me to go on board the Fulton, then lying at the Yard, where 
 he said I should find several more old Delawares, who would 
 take good care of me. I did as he directed, and, on getting 
 on board, I fell in with lots of acquaintances. Some brought 
 mo tea, and some brought me grog. I told my yarn, and 
 
A LIFE BEFORE THE MAST. 2lliJ 
 
 the chaps around me laid a plan to get ashore on liberty that 
 night, and razee the house from which I had been turned 
 away. But I persuaded them out of the notion, and the 
 landlord went clear. 
 
 After a while, I got a direction to a boarding-house near 
 the Yard, and went to it, with a message from my old ship- 
 mates that they would be responsible tor the pay. But to 
 this the man would not listen ; he took me in on my own 
 account, saying that no blue-jacket should be turned from 
 his door, in distress. Here I staid and got a comfortable 
 night's rest. Next day I was a new man, holy-stoned the 
 decks, and went a second time to the Department. 
 
 All the gentlemen in the office showed a desire to serve 
 and advise me. The Pension Clerk gave me a letter to Mr. 
 Boyle, the Chief Clerk, who gave me another letter to Com- 
 modore Patterson, the commandant of the Navy-Yard. It 
 seems that government provides a boarding-house for us pen- 
 sioners to stay in, while at Washington, looking after our 
 rights. This letter of Mr. Boyle's got me a berth in that house, 
 where I was supplied with everything, even to washing and 
 mending, for six weeks. Through the purser, I drew a 
 stock of money from the purser at New York, and now 
 began, again, to live soberly and respectably, considering 
 all things. 
 
 The house in which I lived was a sort of half-hospital, 
 and may have had six or eight of us in it, altogether. 
 Several of us were cripples from wounds and hurts, and, 
 among others, was one Reuben James, a thorough old man- 
 of-war's man, who had been in the service ever since he was 
 a youth. This man had the credit of saving Decatur's life 
 before Tripoli ; but he owned to me that he was not the 
 person who did it. He was in the fight, and boarded with 
 Decatur, but did not save his commander's life. He had 
 been often wounded, and had just had a leg amputated for 
 an old wound, received in the war of 1812, 1 believe. Liquor 
 brought him to that. 
 
 The reader will remember that the night the Scourge went 
 down I received a severe blow from her jib-sheet blocks. A 
 lump soon formed on the spot where the injury had been 
 inflicted, and it had continued to increase until it was now 
 SIS large as my fist, or even larger. I showed this lump to 
 18 
 
206 NED MYERS; CR, 
 
 James, one day, and he mentioned it to Dr. Foltz, the sur 
 geon who attended the house. The doctor took a look at 
 my arm, and recommended an operation, as the lump would 
 continue to increase, and was already so large as to be in- 
 convenient. I cannot say that it hurt me any, though it 
 was an awkward sort of swab to be carrying on a fellow'.s 
 shoulder. I had no great relish for being carved, and think 
 I should have refused to submit to the operation, were it noi 
 for James, who told me he would not be carrying Bunker 
 Hill about on his arm, and would show me his own stump 
 by way of encouragement. This man seemed to think an 
 old sailor ought to have a wooden leg, or something of the 
 sort, after he had reached a certain time of life. At all 
 events, he persuaded me to let the doctor go to work, and I 
 am now glad I did, as everything turned out well. Doctor 
 Foltz operated, after 1 had been about a week under medi- 
 cine, doing the job as neatly as man could wish. He told 
 me the lump he removed weighed a pound and three quar- 
 ters, and of course I was so much the lighter. I was about 
 a month; after this, under his care, when he pronounced me 
 •c be sea-worthy again. 
 
 I now got things straight as regards my pension, for the 
 aurt received on board the Constellation. It was no great 
 matter, only three dollars a month, being one of the small 
 pensions ; and the clerks, when they came to hear about the 
 hurt, for which Dr. Foltz had operated, advised me to get 
 evidence and procure a pension for that. I saw the Secre- 
 tary, Mr. Paulding, on this subject, and the gentlemen were 
 so kind as to overhaul their papers, in order to ascertain who 
 could be found as a witness. They wrote to Captain Dea- 
 con, the officer who commanded the Growler ; but he knew 
 nothing of me, as I never was on board his schooner. This 
 gentleman, however, wrote me a letter, himself, inviting me 
 to come and see him, which I had it not in my power to do. 
 I understand he is now dead. Mr. Trant had been dead 
 many yeai's, and, as for Mr. Bogardus, I never knew what 
 became of him. He was not in the line of promotion, and 
 probably left the navy at the peace. In overhauling the 
 Dooks, however, the pension-clerk came across the name 
 of Lemuel Bryant. This man received a pension for the 
 wound he got at Little York, and was one of those I harl 
 
A LIFE BEFORE THE MAST. 207 
 
 hauled into the boat when the Scourge went down. He was 
 then living at Portland, in Maine, his native State. Mr. 
 Paulding advised me to get his certificate, for all hands in 
 the Department seemed anxious I should not go away with- 
 out something better than the three dollars a month. I pre- 
 mised to go on, and see Lemuel Bryant, and obtain his tes- 
 timony. 
 
 Quitting Washington, I went to Alexandria and got on 
 board a brig, called the Isabella, bound to New York, at 
 which port we arrived in due time. Here I obtained the 
 rest of my money, and kept myself pretty steady, more on 
 account of my wounds, I fear, than anything else. Still 1 
 drank too much ; and by way of putting a check on myself, 
 I went to the Sailor's Retreat, Staten Island, and of course 
 got out of the reach of liquor. Here I staid eight or ten 
 days, until my wounds healed. While at the Retreat, the 
 last day I remained there indeed, which was a Sunday, the 
 physician came in, and told me that a clergyman of the 
 Dutch Reformed Church, of the name of Miller, was about 
 to have service down stairs, and that I had better go down 
 and be present. To this request, not only civilly but kindly 
 made, I answered that I had seen enough of the acts of re • 
 ligious men to satisfy me, and that I believed a story I was 
 then reading in a Magazine, would do me as much good as 
 a sermon. The physician said a little in the way of reproof 
 and admonition, and left me. As soon as his back was 
 turned, some of my companions began to applaud the spirit 
 t had shown, and the answer I had given the doctor. But 
 I was not satisfied with myself. I had more secret respect 
 for such things than I was willing to own, and conscience 
 upbraided me for the manner in which I had slighted so 
 well-meaning a request. Suddenly telling those around me 
 that my mind was changed, and that I would go below and 
 hear what was said, I put this new resolution in effect im 
 mediately. 
 
 I had no recollection of the text from which Mr. Miller 
 preached ; it is possible I did not attend to it, at the moment 
 it was given out ; but, during the whole discourse, I fancied 
 the clergyman was addressing himself particularly to me, 
 and that his eyes were never off me. That he touched my 
 conscience I know, for the effect produced by this sermon, 
 
208 NED MYERS; OR 
 
 though not uninterruptedly lasting, is remembered to the 
 present hour. I made many excellent resolutions, and se- 
 cretly resolved to reform, and to lead a better life. My 
 thoughts were occupied the whole night with what I had 
 heard, and my conscience was keenly active. 
 
 The next morning I quitted the Retreat, and saw no more 
 of Mr. Miller, at that time ; but I carried away with me 
 many resolutionssthat would have been very admirable, had 
 they only been adhered to. How short-lived they were, 
 and how completely I was the slave of a vicious habit, will 
 be seen, when I confess that I landed in New York a good 
 deal the worse for having treated some militia-men who 
 were in the steamer, to nearly a dozen glasses of hot-stuff, 
 in crossing the bay. I had plenty of money, and a sailor's 
 disposition to get rid of it, carelessly, and what I thought 
 generously. It was Evacuation-Day, and severely cold, 
 and the hot-stuff pleased everybody, on such an occasion. 
 Nor was this all. In passing Whitehall slip, I saw the 
 Ohio's first-cutter lying there, and it happened that I not 
 only knew the officer of the boat, who had been one of the 
 midshipmen of the Constellation, but that I knew most of its 
 crew. I was hailed, of course, and then I asked leave to 
 treat the men. The permission was obtained, and this se- 
 cond act of liberality reduced me to the necessity of goino- 
 "nto port, under a pilot's charge. Still I had not absolutely 
 lorgotten the sermon, nor all my good resolutions. 
 
 At the bourding-house I found a Prussian, named God- 
 frey, a steady, sedate man, and I agreed with him to go to 
 Savannah, to engage in the shad-fishery, for the winter, and 
 to come north together in the spring. My landlord was not 
 only ill and poor, but he had many children to support, and 
 it is some proof that all my good resolutions were not for- 
 gotten, that I was ready to go south before my money was 
 gone, and willing it should do some good, in the interval of 
 my absence. A check for fifty dollars still remained un- 
 touched, and I gave it to this man, with the understanding 
 he was to draw the money, use it for his own wants, and 
 return it to me, if he could, when I got back. The money 
 was drawn, but the man died, and I saw no more of it, 
 
 Godfrey and I were shipped in a vessel called th-- William 
 Taylor, a regular Savannah packet. It was out intention 
 
A LIFE BEFORE THE MAST. 209 
 
 quit her as soon as she got in — by running, if necessary. 
 We had a bad passage, and barely missed shipwreck on 
 Hatteras, saving the brig by getting a sudden view of the 
 
 ight, in heavy, thick weather. We got round, under close- 
 reefed topsails, and that was all we did. After this, we had 
 a quick run to Savannah. Godfrey had been taken with 
 the small-pox before we arrived, and was sent to a hospital 
 as soon as possible. In order to prevent rflnning, I feigned 
 illness, too, and went to another. Here the captain paid me 
 several visits, but my conscience was too much hardened by 
 the practices of seamen, to let me hesitate about continuing 
 to be ill. The brig was obliged to sail without me, and the 
 same day I got well, as suddenly as I had fallen ill. 
 
 I was not long in making a bargain with a fisherman to 
 aid in catching shad. All this time, I lived at a sailor board- 
 ing-house, and was surrounded by men who, like myself, 
 had quitted the vessels in which they had arrived. One 
 night the captain of a ship, called the Hope, came to the 
 house to look for a crew. He was bound to Rotterdam, and 
 his ship lay down at the second bar, all ready for sea. After 
 some talk, one man signed the articles ; then another, and 
 another, and another, until his crew was complete to one 
 man. I was now called on to ship, and was ridiculed for 
 wishing to turn shad-man. My pride was touched, and I 
 agreed to go, leaving my fisherman in the lurch. 
 
 The Hope turned out to be a regular down-east craft, and 
 
 1 had been in so many flyers and crack ships as to be saucy 
 enough to laugh at the economical outfit, and staid ways of 
 the vessel. I went on board half drunk, and made myself 
 conspicuous for such sort of strictures from the first hour. 
 The captain treated me mildly, even kindly ; but I stuck to 
 my remarks during most of the passage. I was a seaman, 
 and did my duty ; but this satisfied me. I had taken a dis- 
 gust to the ship ; and though I had never blasphemed since 
 the hour of the accident in the way I did the day the Susan 
 and Mary was thrown on her beam-ends, I may be said to 
 have crossed the Atlantic in the Hope, grumbling and swear- 
 ing at the ship. Still, our living and our treatment were 
 both good. 
 
 At Rotterdam, we got a little money, with liberty. When 
 he last was up I asked for more, and the captain refused it. 
 18* 
 
210 NEJ MYERS; OR, 
 
 This brought on an explosion, and I swore I would quit the 
 ship. After a time, the captain consented, as well as he. 
 could, leaving my wages on the cabin-table, where I found 
 them, and tolling me I should repent of what I was then 
 doing. Little did I then think he would prove so true a 
 prophet 
 
 CHAPTER XVIII. 
 
 I HAD left the Hope in a fit of the sulks. The vessel 
 never pleased me, and yet I can now look back, and ac- 
 Knowledge that both her master and her mate were respect- 
 able, considerate men, who had my own good in view more* 
 than I had myself. There was an American ship, called 
 the Plato, in port, and I had half a mind to try my luck in 
 her. The master of this vessel was said to be a tartar, 
 however, and a set of us had doubts about the expediency 
 of trusting ourselves with such a commander. When we 
 came to sound around him, we discovered he would have 
 nothing to do with us, as he intended to get a crew of regu- 
 lar Dutchmen. This ship had just arrived from Batavia, 
 and was bound to New York. How he did this legally, or 
 whether he did it at all, is more than I know, for I only tell 
 what I was told myself, on this subject. 
 
 There was a heavy Dutch Indiaman, then fitting out for 
 Java, lying at Rotterdam. The name of this vessel was 
 the Stadtdeel— so pronounced ; how spelt, I have no idea — 
 and I began to think I would try a voyage in her. As is 
 common with those who have great reason to find fault 
 with themselves, I was angry with the whole world. I 
 began to think myself a sort of outcast, forgetting that I 
 had deserted my natural relatives, run from my master, and 
 thrown off many friends who were disposed to serve me in 
 everything in which I could be served. I have a cheerful 
 temperament by nature, and I make no doubt that the som- 
 bro view I now began to take of things, was the effects o, 
 
A LIFE BEFORE THE MH£T. , 211 
 
 drixik. It was necessary for me to get to sea, for there I 
 was shut out from all excesses, by discipline and necessity. 
 
 After looking ai'ound us, and debating the matter amcng 
 ourselves, a party of five of us shipped in the Stadtdeel. 
 What the others contemplated I do not know, but it was 
 my intention to double Good Hope, and never to return. 
 Chances enough would offer on the other side, to make a 
 man comfortable, and I was no stranger o the ways of that 
 quarter of the world. I could find enough to do between 
 Bombay and Canton ; and, if I could not, there were the 
 islands and all of the Pacific before me. I could do 
 a seaman's whole duty, was now in tolerable health and 
 strength, and knew that such men were always wanted. 
 Wherever a ship goes. Jack must go with hei', and ships, 
 dollars and hogs, are now to be met with all over the globe. 
 
 The Stadtdeel lay at Dort, and we went to that place to 
 join her. She was not ready for sea, and as things moved 
 Dutchman fashion, slow and sure, we were about six weeks 
 at Dort before she sailed. This ship was a vessel of the 
 size of a frigate, and carried twelve guns. She had a crew 
 of about forty souls, which was being very short-handed. 
 The ship's company was a strange mixture of seamen, 
 '.hough most of them came from the north of Europe. 
 Among us were Russians, Danes. Swedes, Prussians, Eng- 
 lish, Americans, and but a very few Dutch. One of the 
 mates, and two of the petty officers, could speak a little 
 Enujlish. This made us eight who could converse in that 
 language. We had to learn Dutch as well as we could, 
 and made out tolerably well. Before the ship sailed, I 
 could understand the common orders, without much difficul- 
 ty. Indeed, the language is nothing but English a little 
 flattened down. 
 
 So bng as we remained at Dort, the treatment on board 
 this vessel was well enough. We were never well fed, 
 though we got enough food, such as it was. The work 
 was hard, and the weather cold ; but these did not frighten 
 me. The wages were eight dollars a month ; — I had aban- 
 doned eighteen, and an American ship, for this preferment ! 
 A. wayward temper had done me this service. 
 
 The Stadtdeel no sooner got into the stream, than there 
 was a great change in the treatment. We were put on an 
 
212 , NEDMYERS;OR, 
 
 allowance of food and water, in sight of our place of depar 
 Hire; and the rope's-end began to fly round among the crew 
 we five excepted. For some reason, that I cannot explain 
 neither of us was ever struck. We got plenty of curses 
 in Low Dutch, as we supposed ; and we gave them back, 
 with interest, in high English. The expression of our faces 
 let Ihe parties into the secret of what was going on. 
 
 It is scarcely necessary to add, that we English and Ame- 
 ricans soon repented of the step we had taken. I heartily 
 wished myself on board the Hope, again, and the master's 
 prophecy became true, much sooner, perhaps, than he had 
 himself anticipated. This time, I conceive that my disgust 
 was fully justified ; though I deserved the punishment 1 was 
 receiving, for entering so blindly into a service every way 
 so inferior to that to which I properly belonged. The 
 bread in this ship was wholesome, I do suppose, but it was 
 nearly black, and such as I was altogether unused to. Infe- 
 rior as it was, we got but five pounds, each, per week. In 
 our navy, a man gets, per week, seven pounds of such bread 
 as might be put on a gentleman's table. The meat was little 
 better than the bread in quality, and quite as scant in quan- 
 tity. We got one good dish in the Stadtdeel, and that we 
 got every morning. It was a dish of boiled barley, of which 
 I became very fond, and which, indeed, supplied me with 
 the strength necessary for my duty. It was one of the best 
 dishes I ever fell in with at sea; and I think it might be intro- 
 duced, to advantage, in our service. Good food produces 
 good work. 
 
 As all our movements were of the slow and easy order, 
 the ship lay three weeks at the Helvoetsluys, waiting for pas- 
 sengers. During this time, our party, three EngHsh and 
 two Americans, came to a determination to abandon the ship 
 Our plan was to seize a boat, as we passed down channel 
 and get ashore in England. We were willing to run all th? 
 risks of such a step, in preference of going so long a voy 
 age under such treatment and food. By this time, our dis- 
 content amounted to disgust. 
 
 At length we got all our passengers on board. These 
 consisted of a family, of which the head was said to be, or 
 to have been, an admiral in the Dutch navy. This gentle- 
 man was going to Java to remain ; and he took with hinr. 
 
A LIFE BEFORE THE MAST. 213 
 
 his wife, several children, servants, and a lady, who seemed 
 to be a companion to his wife. As soon as this party was 
 on board, the wind coming fair, we sailed. The Plato went 
 to sea in company with us, and little did I then think, while 
 wishing myself on board her, how soon 1 should be thrown 
 into this very ship — the last craft in which I ever was at sea. 
 I was heaving the lead as we passed her ; our ship, Dutch- 
 man or not, having a fleet pair of heels. The Stadtdeel, 
 whatever might be her usage, or her food, sailed and worked 
 well, and was capitally found in everything that related to 
 the safety of the vessel. This was her first voyage, and 
 she was said to be the largest ship out of Rotterdam. 
 
 The Stadtdeel must have sailed from Helvoetsluys in May^ 
 1839, or about thirty-three years after I sailed from New 
 York, on my first voyage, in the Sterling. During all this 
 time I had been toiling at sea, like a dog, risking my health 
 and life, in a variety of ways ; and this ship, with my station 
 on board her, was nearly all I had to show for it ! God be 
 praised ! This voyage, which promised so little, in its com- 
 mencement, proved, in the end, the most fortunate of any in 
 which I embarked. 
 
 There was no opportunity for us to put our plans in exe 
 cution, in going down channel. The wind was fair, and it 
 blew so fresh, it would not have been easy to get a boat into 
 the water ; and we passed the Straits of Dover, by day-light, 
 the very day we sailed. The wind held in the same quar- 
 ter, until we reached the north-east trades, giving us a quick 
 run as low down as the calm latitudes. All this time, the 
 treatment was as bad as ever, or, if anything, worse; and 
 our discontent increased daily. There were but one or two 
 native Hollanders in the forecastle, boys excepted ; but 
 among them was a man who had shipped as an ordinary 
 seaman. He had been a soldier, I believe ; at all events, he 
 had a medal, received in consequence of having been in one 
 of the late affairs between his country and Belgium. It is 
 probable this man may not have been very expert in a sea- 
 man's duty, and it is possible he may have been drinking, 
 though to me he appeared sober, at the time the thing oc- 
 urred which I am about to relate. One day the captain fell 
 foul of him, and beat him with a rope severely. The ladies 
 •nterferod, and got the poor fellow out of the scrane ; fho 
 
214 NED MYERS; OR, 
 
 captain letting him go, and telling him to go forward. As 
 the man complied, he fell in with the chief mate, who at- 
 tacked him ai'resh, and beat him very severely. The man 
 now went below, and was about to turn in, as the captain 
 had ordeied, — which renders it probable he had been drink- 
 ing, — when the second mate, possibly ignorant of what had 
 occurred, missing him from his duty, went below, and beat 
 him up on deck again. These different assaults seem to 
 have made the poor fellow -desperate. He ran and jumped 
 into the sea, just forward of the starboard lower-studding- 
 sail-boom. The ship was then in the north-east trades, and 
 had eight or nine knots way on her ; notwithstanding, she 
 was rounded to, and a boat was lowered — but the man was 
 never found. There is something appalling in seeing a fel- 
 low-creature driven to such acts of madness ; and the effect 
 produced on all of us, by what we witnessed, was profound 
 and sombre. 
 
 I shall not pretend to say that this man did not deserve 
 chastisement, or that the two mates were not ignorant of 
 what had happened ; but brutal treatment was so much in 
 use on board this ship, that the occurrence made us five 
 nearly desperate. I make no doubt a crew of Americans, 
 who were thus treated, would have secured the officers, and 
 brought the ship in. It is true, that flogging seems neces- 
 sary to some natures, and I will not say that such a crew 
 as ours could very well get along without it. But we might 
 sometimes be treated as men, and no harm follow. 
 
 As I have said, the loss of this man produced a great 
 impression in the ship, generally. The passengers appeared 
 much affected by it, and I thought the captain, in particular, 
 regretted it greatly. He might not have been in the least to 
 blame, for the chastisement he inflicted was such as masters 
 of ships often bestow on their men, but the crew felt very 
 indignant against the mates ; one of whom was particularly 
 obnoxious to us all. As for my party, we now began to 
 plot, again, in order to get quit of the ship. After a great 
 deal of discussion, we came to the following resolution : 
 
 About a dozen of us entered into the conspiracy. We 
 contemplated no piracy, no act of violence, that should not 
 bo rendered necessary in self-defence, nor any robbery 
 beyond what we conceived indispensable to our object. As 
 
A LIFE BEFOKE THE MAST. 215 
 
 ihe ship passed the Straits of Sunda, we intended to lower 
 as many boats as should be necessary, arm ourselves, place 
 provisions and water in the boats, and abandon the ship. 
 We felt confident that if most of the men did not go with us, 
 they would not oppose us. I can now see that this was a 
 desperate and unjustifiable scheme ; but, for myself, I was 
 getting desperate on board the ship, and preferred risking 
 my life to remaining. I will not deny that I was a ring- 
 leader in this affair, though I know I had no other motive 
 than escape. This was a clear case of mutiny, and the only 
 one in which I was ever implicated. I have a thousand 
 times seen reason to rejoice that the attempt was never 
 made, since, so deep was the hostility of the crew to the 
 officers, — the mates, in particular, — that I feel persuaded a 
 horrible scene of bloodshed must have followed. I did not 
 think of this at the time, making sure of getting off unre- 
 sisted ; but, if we had, what would have been the fate of a 
 parcel of seamen who came into an English port in ship's 
 boats 1 Tried for piracy, probably, and the execution of 
 some, if not all of us. 
 
 The ship had passed the island of St. Pauls, and we were 
 impatiently waiting for her entrance into the S' raits of 
 Sunda, when an accident occurred that put a sjp to the 
 contemplated mutiny, and changed the whole current, as I 
 devoutly hope, of all my subsequent life. At t'iO calling of 
 the middle watch, one stormy night, the ship being under 
 close-reefed topsails at the time, with the mainsail furled, I 
 went on deck as usual, to my duty. In stepping across the 
 deck, between the launch and the galley, I had to cross 
 some spars that were lashed there. Whde on the pile of 
 spars, the ship lurched suddenly, and I lost my balance, 
 falling my whole length on deck, upon my left side. No- 
 thing broke the fall, 'my arms being raised to seize a hold 
 above my head, and I came down upon deck with my en- 
 tire weight, the hip taking the principal force of the fall. 
 The anguish I suffered was acute, and it was some time be- 
 fore I would allow my shipmates even to touch me. 
 
 After a time, I was carried down into the steerage, where 
 it was found necessary to sling me on a grating, instead of 
 a hammock. We had a doctor on board, but he could do 
 nothing for me. My clothes could not be taken off, and 
 
216 NED MYERS; OR, 
 
 tnere I lay wet, and suffering to a degree; that I should find 
 difficult to describe, hours and hours. 
 
 I was now really on the stool of repentance. In body, 1 
 was perfectly helpless, though my mind seemed more active 
 than it had ever been before. I overh§iuled my whole life, 
 beginning with the hour when I first got drunk, as a boy, 
 on board the Sterling, and underrunning every scrape I have 
 mentioned in this sketch of my life, with many of which I 
 have not spoken ; and all with a fidelity and truth that 
 satisfy me that man can keep no log-book that is as accu- 
 rate as his own conscience. I saw that I had been my own 
 worst enemy, and how many excellent opportunities of get- 
 ting ahead in the world, I had wantonly disregarded. Li- 
 quor lay at the root of all my calamities and misconduct, 
 enticing me into bad company, undermining my health and 
 strength, and blasting my hopes. I tried to pray, but did 
 not know how ; and, it appeared to me, as if I were lost, 
 body and soul, without a hope of mercy. 
 
 My shipmates visitqd me by stealth, and I pointed out to 
 them, as clearly as in my power, the folly, as well as the 
 wickedness, of our contemplated mutiny. I told them we 
 had come on board the ship voluntarily, and we had no 
 right to be judges in our own case ; that we should have 
 done a cruel thing in deserting a ship at sea, with women 
 and children on board ; that the Malays would probably 
 have cut our throats, and the vessel herself would have been 
 very apt to be wrecked. Of all this mischief, we should 
 have been the fathers, and we had every reason to be 
 grateful that our project was defeated. The men listened 
 attentively, and promised to abandon every thought of ex- 
 ecuting the revolt. They were as good as their words, and 
 I heard no more of the matter. 
 
 As for my hurt, it was not easy to say what it was. The 
 doctor was kind to me, but he could do no more than give 
 me food and little indulgencies. As for the captain, I think 
 he was influenced by the mate, who appeared to believe I 
 was feigning an injury much greater than I had actually 
 received. On board the ship, there was a boy, of good 
 parentage, who had been sent out to commence his career 
 at sea. He lived aft, and was a sort of genteel cabin-boy 
 He could not have been more than ten or eleven years old 
 
A LIFE BEFORE THE MAST. 217 
 
 but he proved to be a ministering angel to me. He brought 
 me delicacies, sympathised with me, and many a time did 
 we shed tears in company. The ladies and the admiral's 
 children sometimes came to see me, too, manifesting much 
 sorrow for my situation ; and then it was that my conscience 
 pricked the deepest, for the injury, or risks, I had contem- 
 plated exposing them to. Altogether, the scenes I saw daily, 
 and my own situation, softened my heart, and I began to 
 get views of my moral deformity that were of a healthful 
 and safe character. 
 
 I lay on that grating two months, and bitter months they 
 were to me. The ship had arrived at Batavia, and the cap- 
 tain and mate came to see what was to be done with me. 1 
 asked to be sent to the hospital, but the mate insisted nothing 
 was the matter with me, and asked to have me kept in the 
 ship. This was done, and I went round to Terragall in her, 
 where we landed our passengers. These last all C3.me and 
 took leave of me, the admiral making me a present of a 
 good jacket, that he had worn himself at sea, with a quan- 
 tity of tobacco. I have got that jacket at this moment. The 
 ladies spoke kindly to me, and all this gave my heart fresh 
 pangs. 
 
 From Terragall we wont to Sourabaya, where I prevailed 
 on the captain to send nje to the hospital, the mate still in- 
 sisting I was merely shamming inability to work. The 
 surgeons at Sourabaya, one of whom was a Scotchman, 
 thought with the mate ; and at the end of twenty days, I was 
 again taken on board the ship, which sailed for Samarang. 
 While at Sourabaya there were five English sailors in the 
 hospital. These men were as forlorn and miserable as my 
 self, death grianing in our faces at every turn. The men 
 who were brought into the hospital one day, were often dead 
 ihe next, and none of us knew whose turn would come next 
 "We often talked together, on religious subjects, after our 
 own uninstructed manner, and greatly did we long to find 
 an English bible, a thing not to be had there. Then it was 
 I thought, again, of the sermon I had heard at the Sailors' 
 Retreat, of the forfeited promises I had made to reform ; and, 
 more than once did it cross my mind, should God permit 
 me to return home, that I would seek out that minister, and 
 ask his prayers and spirit-nal advice. 
 19 
 
218 NED MYERS; OR, 
 
 On our arrival at Samarang, the mate got a doctor from 
 a Dutch frigate, to look at me, who declared nothing ailed 
 me. By these means nearly all hands in the ship were 
 set against me, but my four companions, and the little boy • 
 fancying that I was a skulk, and throwing labour on them. 
 1 was ordered on deck, and set to work graffing ring-bolts 
 for the guns. Walk I could not,, being obliged, literally, to 
 crawl along the deck on my hands and knees. I suffered 
 great pain, but got no credit for it. The work was easy 
 enough for me, when once seated at it, but it caused me infi- 
 nite suffering to move. I was not alone in being thought a 
 skulk, however. The doctor himself was taken ill, and the 
 mate accused him,^too, very much as he did me, of shirking 
 duty. Unfortunately, the poor man gave him the lie, by 
 dying. 
 
 I was kept at the sort of duty I have mentioned until the 
 ship reached Batavia again. Here a doctor came on board 
 from another ship,^ on a visit, and ray case was mentioned. 
 The mate ordered me afl, and I crawled upon the quarter- 
 deck to be examined. They got me into the cabin, where 
 the strange doctor looked at me. This man said I must be 
 operated on by a burning process, all of which was said to 
 frighten me to duty. After this I got down into the fore- 
 castle, and positively refused to do anything more. There 
 I lay, abused and neglected by all but ray four friends. I 
 told the mate I sufiered too much to work, and that I must 
 be put ashore. Suffering had made rae desperate, and I 
 cared not for the consequences. 
 
 Fortunately for me, there were two cases of fever and ague 
 in the ship. Our own doctor being dead, that of the admiral's 
 ship was sent for to visit the sick. The mate seemed 
 anxious to get evidence against me, and he asked the admi- 
 ral's surgeon to come down and see me. The moment this 
 gentleman laid eyes on me, he raised both arms, and ex- 
 claimed that they were killing me. He saw, at once, that 
 I was no impostor, and stated as much in pretty plain lan- 
 guage, so far as I could understand what he said. The 
 mate appeared to be struck with shame and contrition ; and 
 I do believe that every one on board was sorry for the treat- 
 ment I had received. I took occasion to remonstrate with 
 he mate, and to tell him of the necessity of my being sen! 
 
A IjIfe before the mast. 219 
 
 .'mmediately to the hospital. The man promised to repre- 
 sent my case to the captain, and the next day I was landed. 
 
 My two great desires were to get to the hospital and to 
 procure a bible. I did not expect to live ; one of my legs 
 being shrivelled to half its former size, and was apparently 
 growing worse ; and could I find repose for my body and 
 relief for my soul, I felt that I could be happy. I had heard 
 my American ship-mate, who was a New Yorker, a Hudson 
 river man, say he had a bible ; but I had never seen it. It 
 lay untouched in the bottom of his chest, sailor-fashion. I 
 offered this man a shirt for his bible ; but he declined tak- 
 ing any pay, cheerfully giving me the book. I forced the 
 shirt on him, however, as a sort of memorial of me. Now 
 I was provided with the book, I could not read for want of 
 spectacles. I had reached a time of life when the sight be- 
 gins to fail, and I think my eyes were injured in Florida. 
 In Sourayaba hospital I had raised a few rupees by the sale 
 of a black silk handkerchief, and wanted now to procure a 
 pair of spectacles. I sold a pair of boots, and adding the 
 little sum thus raised to that which I had already, I felt my- 
 self rich and happy, in the prospect of being able to study 
 the word of God. On quitting the ship, everybody, for- 
 ward and aft, shook hands with me, the opinion of the man- 
 of-war surgeon suddenly changing all their opinions of me 
 and my conduct. 
 
 The captain appeared to regret the course things had 
 taken, and was willing to do all he could to make me com- 
 fortable. My wages were \ei\ in a merchant's hands, and I 
 was to receive them could I quit this island, or get out of 
 the hospital. I was to be sent to Holland, in the latter case, 
 and everything was to be done according to law and right. 
 The reader is not to imagine I considered myself a suffering 
 saint all this time. On the contrary, while I was thought 
 an impostor, I remembered that I had shammed sickness in 
 this very island, and, as I entered the hospital, I could not 
 forget the circumstances under which I had been its tenant 
 fifteen or twenty years before. Then I was in the pride 
 of my youth and strength ; and, now, as if in punishment 
 for the deception, I was berthed, a miserable cripple, within 
 half-a-dozen beds of that on which I was berthed when feign- 
 ing an illness I did not really suffer. Under such circum- 
 
220 NED MYERS; OR, 
 
 stances, conscience is pretty certain to remind a sinner of 
 his misdeeds. 
 
 The physician of the hospital put me on very low diet 
 and gave me an ointment to " smear" myself with, as he 
 called it ; and I was ordered to remain in my berth. By 
 means of one of the coolies of the hospital, I got a pair of 
 spectacles from the town, and such a pair, as to size ana 
 form, that people in America regard what is left of them as 
 a curiosity. They served my purpose, however, and enabled 
 me to read the precious book 1 had obtained from my north- 
 river shipmate. This book was a copy from the American 
 Bible Society's printing-office, and if no other of their v.'orks 
 did good, this must be taken for an exception. It has since 
 been placed in the Society's Library, in memory of the good 
 it has done. 
 
 My sole occupation was reading and reflecting. There I 
 lay, in a distant island, surrounded by disease, death daily, 
 nay hourly making his appearance, among men whose lan- 
 guage was mostly unknown to me. It was several weeks 
 before I was allowed even to quit my bunk. I had begun 
 to pray before I left the ship, and this practice I continued, 
 almost hourly, until I was permitted to rise. A converted 
 Lascar was in the hospital, and seeing my occupation, he 
 came and conversed with me, in his broken English. This 
 man gave me a hymn-book, and one of the first hymns I 
 rcad in it afforded me great consolation. It was written by 
 a man who had been a sailor like myself, and one who had 
 been almost as wicked as myself, but who has since done a 
 vast deal of good, by means of precept and example. This 
 hymn-book I now read in common with my bible. But I 
 cannot express the delight I felt at a copy of Pilgrim's Pro- 
 gress which this same Lascar gave me. That book I con- 
 sider as second only to the bible. It enabled me to under- 
 stand and to apply a vast deal that I found in the word of 
 God, and set before my eyes so many motives for hope, that 
 I began to feel Christ had died for me, as well as for the rest 
 of the species. I thought if the thief on the cross could be 
 saved, even one as wicked as I had been had only to repent 
 and believe, to share in the Redeemer's mercy. All this 
 time I fairly pined for religious instruction, and my thoughts 
 would constantly recur to the sermon I had heard at the 
 
.1 LIFB BEFORE THE MAST. 221 
 
 Sailor's Retreat, and to the clergyman who had preach- 
 ed it. 
 
 There was an American carpenter in the Fever Hospital, 
 who, hearing of my state, gave me some tracts that he had 
 brought from home with him. This man was not pious, 
 but circumstances had made him serious ; and, being about 
 to quit the place, he was willing to administer to my wants 
 He told me there were several Englishmen and one Ameri 
 can in his hospital, who wanted religious consolation greatly, 
 and he advised me to crawl over and see them ; which I did, 
 as soon as it was in my power. 
 
 At first, I thought myself too wicked to offer to pray and 
 converse with these men, but my conscience would not let 
 me rest until I did so. It appeared to me as if the bible had 
 been placed in my way, as much for their use as my own, 
 and I could not rest until I had offered them all the consola- 
 tion it was in my power to bestow. I read with these men 
 for two or three weeks; Chapman, the American, being the 
 man who considered his own moral condition the most hope- 
 less. When unable to go myself, I would send my books, 
 and we had the bible and Pilgrim's Progress, watch and 
 watch, between us. 
 
 All this time we were living, as it might be, on a bloody 
 battle-field. Men died in scores around us, and at the shortest 
 notice. Batavia, at that season, was the most sickly ; and, 
 although the town was by no means as dangerous then as 
 it had been in my former visit, it was still a sort of Gol- 
 gotha, or place of skulls. More than half who entered the 
 Fever Hospital, left it only as corpses. 
 
 Among my English associates, as I call them, was a 
 young Scotchman, of about five-and-twenty. This man 
 had been present at most of our readings and conversations, 
 though he did not appear to me as much impressed with the 
 importance of caring for his soul, as some of the others. 
 One day he came to take leave of me. He was to quit the 
 hospital the following morning. I spoke to him concerning 
 his future life, and endeavoured to awaken in him some feel- 
 ings that might be permanent. He listened with proper 
 respect, but his answers were painfully inconsiderate, though 
 I do believe he reasoned as nine in ten of mankind reason, 
 when they think at all on such subjects. " What's the use 
 19* 
 
 / 
 
222 NED MYflRS; OR, 
 
 of my giving up so soon," he said ; " I am young, and 
 strong, and in good health, and have plenty of sea-room to 
 leeward of me, and can fetch up when there is occasion for 
 it. If a fellow don't live while he can, he '11 never live." I 
 read to him the parable of the wise and foolish virgins, but 
 lie left me holding the same opinion, to the last. 
 
 Directly in front of my ward was the dead-house Thither 
 all the bodies of those v/ho died in the hospital were regu- 
 larly carried for dissection. Scarcely one escaped being 
 subjected to the knife. This dead-house stood some eighty, 
 or a hundred, yards from the hospital, and between them 
 was an area, containing a few large trees. I was in the 
 habit, after I got well enough to go out, to hobble to one of 
 these trees, where I would sit for hours, reading and. medi- 
 tating. It was a good place to make a man reflect on the 
 insignificance of worldly things, disease and death being all 
 around him. I frequently saw six or eight bodies carried 
 across this area, while sitting in it, and many were taken 
 to the dead-house, at night. Hundreds, if not thousands, 
 were in the hospital, and a large proportion died. 
 
 The morning of the day but one, after I had taken leave 
 of the young Scotchman, I was sitting under a tree, as 
 usual, when I saw some coolies carrying a dead body across 
 the area. They passed quite near me, and one of the coolies 
 gave me to understand it was that of this very youth I He 
 had been seized with the fever, a short time after he left me, 
 and here was a sudden termination to all his plans of enjoy- 
 ment and his hopes of life ; his schemes of future repentance. 
 
 Such things are of frequent occurrence in that island, but 
 this event made a very deep impression on me. It helped 
 to strengthen me in my own resolutions, and I used it, I 
 hope, with effect, with my companions whose lives were 
 still spared. * 
 
 All the Englishmen got well, and were discharged. Chap- 
 man, the American, however, remained, being exceedingly 
 feeble with the disease of the country. With this poor 
 young man, I prayed, as well as I knew how, and read, 
 daily, to his great comfort and consolation, I believe. The 
 reader may imagine how one dying in a strange land, sur. 
 rounded by idolaters, would lean on a single countryman 
 >.ho was disposed to aid him. In this manner did Chap 
 
A LIFE BETORE THE MAST. 223 
 
 man lean on me, and all my efforts were to induce him to 
 lean on the Saviour. He thought he had been too great a 
 sinner to be entitled to any hope, and my great task was to 
 overcome in him some of those stings of conscience which 
 it had taken the grace of God to allay in myself. One day, 
 the last time I was with him, I read the narrative of the 
 thief on the cross. He listened to it eagerly, and when I 
 had ended, for the first time, he displayed some signs of 
 hope and joy. As I left him, he took leave of me, saying 
 we should never meet again. He asked my prayers, and I 
 promised them. I went to my own ward, and, while ac- 
 tually engaged in redeeming my promise, one came to tell 
 me he had gone. He sent me a message, to say he died a 
 happy man. The poor fellow — happy fellow, would be a 
 better term — sent back all the books he had borrowed ; and 
 it will serve to give some idea of the condition we were in, 
 in a temporal sense, if i add, that he also sent me a few 
 coppers, in order that they might contribute to the comfort 
 of his countrymen. 
 
 CHAPTER XIX. 
 
 About three months after the death of Chapman, I was 
 well enough to quit the hospital. I could walk, with the aid 
 of crutches, but had no hope of ever being a sound man 
 again. Of course, I had an anxious desire to get home ; 
 for all my resolutions, misanthropical feelings, and resent- 
 ments, had vanished in the moral change I had undergone. 
 My health, as a whole, was now good. Temperance, absti- 
 nence, and a happy frame of mind, had proved excellent 
 doctors ; and, although I had not, and never shall, altogether, 
 "ecover from the effects of my fall, I had quite done with 
 the " horrors." The last fit of them I suffered was in the 
 deep conviction I felt concerning my sinful state. I knew 
 nothing of Temperance Societies — had never heard that 
 such things existed, or, if I had, forgot it as soon as heard ; 
 and yet, unknown to myself, had joined the most effectivft 
 19** 
 
234 NED MVERS; OR, 
 
 and most permanent of all these bodies. Since my fall, I 
 have not tasted spirituous liquors, except as medicine, and 
 in very small quantities, nor do I now feel the least desire 
 to drink. By the grace of God, the great curse of my life 
 has been removed, and I have lived a perfectly sober man 
 for the last five years. I look upon liquor as one of the 
 great agents of the devil in destroying souls, and turn from 
 it, almost as sensitively as I could wish to turn from sin. 
 
 I wrote to the merchant who held my wages, on the sub- 
 ject of quitting the hospital, but got no answer. I then 
 resolved to go to Batavia myself, and took my discharge 
 from the hospital, accordingly. I can truly say, I left that 
 place, into which I had entered a miserable, heart-broken 
 cripple, a happy man. Still, I had nothing ; not even the 
 means of seeking a livelihood. But I was lightened of the 
 heaviest of all my burthens, and felt I could go through the 
 world rejoicing, though, literally, moving on crutches. 
 
 The hospital is seven miles from the town, and I went 
 this distance in a canal-boat, Dutch fashion. Many of these 
 canals exist in Java, and they have had the effect to make 
 the island much more healthy, by draining the marshes. 
 They told me, the canal I was on ran fifty miles into the 
 interior. The work was done by the natives, but under the 
 direction of their masters, the Dutch. 
 
 On reaching the town, I hobbled up to the merchant, 
 •who gave me a very indifferent reception. He said I had 
 cost too much already, but that I must return to the hospi- 
 tal, until an opportunity offered for sending me to Holland. 
 This I declined doing. Return to the hospital I would not, 
 as I knew it could do no good, and my wish was to get back 
 to America. I then went to the American consul, who 
 treated me kindly. I was told, however, he could do nothing 
 for me, as I had come out in a Dutch ship, unless I relin- 
 quished all claims to my wages, and all claims on the Dutch 
 laws. My wages were a trifle, and I had no difficulty in 
 relinquishing them, and as for. claims, I wished to present 
 none on the laws of Holland. 
 
 The consul then saw the Dutch merchant, and the mat- 
 ter was arranged between them. The Plato, the very ship 
 that left Helvoetsluys in company with us, was then at Bata- 
 via, taking in cargo for Bremenhaven. She had a new cap 
 
A LIFE BEFORE THE MA*ST. 225 
 
 .ain, and he consented to receive me as a consul's man. 
 This matter was all settled the day I reached the town, and 
 I was to go on board the ship in the morning. 
 
 I said nothing to the consul about money, but left his 
 office with the expectation of getting some from the Dutch 
 merchant. I had tasted no food that day, and, on reaching 
 the merchant's, I found him on the point of going into the 
 country ; no one sleeping in the town at that season, who 
 could help it. He took no notice of me, and I got no as- 
 sistance ; perhaps I was legally entitled to none. I now sat 
 down on some boxes, and thought I would remain at that 
 spot until morning. Sleeping in the open air, on an empty 
 stomach, in that town, and at that season, would probably 
 have proved my death, had I been so fortunate as to escape 
 being murdered by the Malays for the clothes I had on. 
 Providence took care of me. One of the clerks, a Portu- 
 guese, took pity on me, and led me to a house occupied by 
 a negro, who had been converted to Christianity. We met 
 with a good deal of difficulty in finding admission. The 
 black said the English and Americans were so wicked he 
 was afraid of them ; but, finding by my discourse that I 
 was not one of the Christian heathen, he altered his tone, 
 and nothing was then too good for me. I was fed, and he 
 sent for my chest, receiving with it a bed and three blankets, 
 as a present from the charitable clerk. Thus were my pros- 
 pects for that night suddenly changed for the better 1 I could 
 only thank God, in my inmost heart, for all his mercies. 
 
 The old black, who was a man of some means, was also 
 about to quit the town ; but, before he went, he inquired if 
 I had a bible. I told him yes ; still, he would not rest un- 
 til he had pressed upon me a large bible, in English, which 
 language he spoke very well. This book had prayers for 
 seamen bound up with it. It was, in fact, a sort of Eng- 
 lish prayer-book, as well as bible. This I accepted, and 
 have now with me. As soon as the old man went away, 
 leaving his son behind him for the moment, I began to read 
 in my Pilgrim's Progress. The young man expressed a 
 desire to examine the book, understanding English perfectly. 
 After reading in it for a short time, he earnestly begged the 
 book, telling me he had two sisters, who would be infinitely 
 pleased to possess it. I could not refuse him, and he nro 
 
226 NEDMYERS;OR, 
 
 mised to send another book in its place, which 1 should find 
 equally good. He thus left me, taking the Pilgrim's Pro- 
 gress with him. Half an hour later a servant brought me 
 the promised book, which proved to be Doddridge's Rise and 
 Progress. On looking through the pages, I found a Mexi- 
 can dollar wafered between two of the leaves. All this I 
 regarded as providential, and as a proof that the Lord would 
 not desert me. My gratitude, I hope, was in proportion. 
 This whole household appeared to be religious, for I passed 
 half the night in conversing with the Malay servants, on 
 the subject of Christianity ; concerning which they had 
 already received many just ideas. I knew that my teach- 
 ing was like the blind instructing the blind ; but it had the 
 merit of coming from God, though in a degree suited to my 
 humble claims on his grace. 
 
 In the morning, these Malays gave me breakfast, and 
 then carried my chest and other articles to the Plato's boat. 
 I was happy enough to find myself, once more, under the 
 stars and stripes, where I was well received, and humanely 
 treated. The ship sailed for Bremen about twenty days 
 after I got on board her. 
 
 Of course, I could do but little on the passage. Whenever 
 I moved along the deck, it was by crawling, though I could 
 work with the needle and palm. A fortnight out, the car- 
 penter, a New York man, died. I tried to read and pray 
 with him, but cannot say that he showed any consciousness 
 of his true situation. We touched at St. Helena for water, 
 and. Napoleon being then dead, had no difficulty in getting 
 ashore. After watering we sailed again, and reached our 
 port in due time. 
 
 I was now in Europe, a part of the world that I had little 
 hopes of seeing ten months before. Still it was my desire 
 to get to America, and I was permitted to remain in the ship. 
 I was treated in the kindest manner by captain Bunting, and 
 Mr. Bowden, the mate, who gave me everything I needed. 
 At the end of a few weeks we sailed agairt, for New York, 
 where we arrived in the month of August, 1840. 
 
 I left the Plato at the quarantine ground, going to the 
 Sailor's Retreat. Here the physician told me I never could 
 recover the use of my limb as I had possessed it before, but 
 that the leg would gradually grow stronger, and that I mighl 
 
A LIFE BEFORE THE MAST. 227 
 
 get along without crutches in the end. All this has turned 
 out to be true. The pain had long before left me, weakness 
 being now the great difficulty. The hip-joint is injured, and 
 this in a way that still compels me to rely greatly on a stick 
 in walking. 
 
 At the Sailor's Retreat, I again met Mr. Miller. I now, 
 for the first time, received regular spiritual advice, and it 
 proved to be of great benefit to me. After remaining a 
 month at the Retreat, I determined to make an application 
 for admission to the Sailor's Snug Harbour, a richly endow- 
 ed asylum for seamen, on the same island. In order to be 
 admitted, it was necessary to have sailed under the flag five 
 years, and to get a character. I had sailed, with two short 
 exceptions, thirty-four years under the flag, and I do believe 
 in all that time, the nineteen months of imprisonment ex- 
 cluded, I had not been two years unattached to a ship. I 
 think I must have passed at least a quarter of a century out 
 of sight of land.* 
 
 I now went up to New York, and hunted up captain Pell, 
 with whom I had sailed in the Sully and in the Normandy. 
 This gentleman gave me a certificate, and, as I left him, 
 handed me a dollar. This was every cent I had on earth. 
 Next, I found captain Witheroudt, of the Silvie de Grasse 
 who treated me in precisely the same way. I told him I 
 had one dollar already, but he insisted it should be tico. 
 With these two dollars in my pocket, I was passing up Wall 
 street, when, in looking about me, I saw the pension office. 
 The reader will remember that I left Washington with the 
 intention of finding Lemuel Bryant, in order to obtain his 
 
 * I find, in looking over his papers and accounts, that Ned, exclu- 
 sively of all the prison-ships, transports, and vessels in which he made 
 passages, has belonged, regularly to seventy -two different crafts ! In 
 some of these vessels he made many voyages. In the Sterling, he 
 made several passages with the writer ; besides four European voyages, 
 at a later day. He^ made four voyages to Havre in the Erie, which 
 counts as only one vessel, in the above list. He was three voyages to 
 London, in the Washington, &c. &c. &c. ; and often made two voy- 
 ages in the same ship. I am of opinion that Ned's calculation of his 
 having been twenty-five years out of sight of land is very probably 
 true. He must have sailed, in all ways, in near a hundred different 
 creft— Editor. 
 
228 NED MYERS; OR, 
 
 certificate, that I might get a pension for the injury received 
 on board the Scourge. With this project, I had connected 
 a plan of returning to Boston, and of getting some employ 
 ment in the Navy Yard. My pension-ticket had, in conse- 
 quence, been made payable at Boston. My arrival at New 
 York, and the shadding expedition, had upset all this plan ; 
 and before I v^^ent to Savannah, I had carried my pension- 
 ticket to the agent in this Wall street office, and requested 
 him to get another, made payable in New York. This was 
 the last I had seen of my ticket, and almost the last I had 
 f,hought of my pension. But, I now crossed the street, went 
 into the office, and was recognised immediately. Every- 
 thing was in rule, and I came out of the office with fifty-six 
 dollars in my pockets I I had no thought of this pension, 
 at all, in coming up to town. It was so much money show- 
 ered down upon me, unexpectedly. 
 
 For a man of my habits, who kept clear of drink, I was 
 now rich. Instead of remaining in town, however, I went 
 immediately down to the Harbour, and presented myself to 
 its respectable superintendant, the venerable Captain Whet- 
 ten.* I was received into the institution without any diffi- 
 culty, and have belonged to it ever since. My entrance at 
 Sailors' Snug Harbour took place Sept. 17, 1840 ; just one 
 month after I landed at Sailors' Retreat. The last of these 
 places is a seamen's hospital, where men are taken in only 
 to be cured ; while the first is an asylum for worn-out mari- 
 ners, for life. The last is supported by a bequest made, 
 many years ago, by an old ship-master, whose remains lie 
 in front of the building. 
 
 Knowing myself now to be berthed for the rest of my 
 days, should I be so inclined, and should I remain worthy 
 to receive the benefits of so excellent an institution, I began 
 to look about me, like a man who had settled down in the 
 world. One of my first, cares, was to acquit myself of the 
 duty of publicly joining some church of Christ, and thus 
 acknowledge my dependence on his redemption and mercy. 
 Mr. Miller, he whose sermons had made so deep an impres- 
 sion on my mind, was living within a mile and a half of the 
 Harbour, and to him I turned in my need. I was an Epia 
 
 * Pronounced, Wheaton.— Editor. 
 
A LIFE BEFORE THE MAST. 220 
 
 eopalian by infant baptism, and I am still as much attached 
 to that form of worship, as to any other ; but sects have little 
 weight with me, the heart being the main-stay, under God's 
 grace. Two of us, then, joined Mr. Miller's church ; and I 
 have ever since continued one of his communicants. I have 
 not altogether deserted the communion in which I was bap- 
 tized ; occasionally communing in the church of Mr. Moore. 
 To me, there is no difference ; though I suppose more learned 
 Christians may find materials for a quarrel, in the distinc- 
 tions which exist between these two churches. I hope never 
 to quarrel with either. 
 
 To my surprise, sometime after I was received into the 
 Harbour, I ascertained that my sister had removed to New 
 York, and was then living in the place. I felt it, now, to 
 he a duty to hunt her up, and see her. This I did ; and we 
 met, again, after a separation of five-and-twenty years. She 
 could tell me very little of my family ; but I now learned, for 
 the first time, that my father had been killed in battle. 
 "Who, or what he was, I have not been able to ascertain, 
 beyond the facts already stated in the opening of the memoir. 
 
 I had ever retained a kind recollection of the treatment 
 of Captain 'Johnston, and accident threw into my way some 
 information concerning him. The superintendant had put 
 me in charge of the library of the institution ; and, one day, 
 I overheard some visiters talking of Wiscasset. Upon this, 
 I ventured to inquire after my old master, and was glad to 
 learn that he was not only living, but in good health and 
 circumstances. To my surprise I was told that a nephew 
 of his was actually living within a mile of me. In Septem- 
 ber, 1842, I went to Wiscasset, to visit Captain Johnston, 
 and found myself received like the repentant prodigal. The 
 old gentleman, and his sisters, seemed glad to see me ; and, 
 I found that the forhier had left the seas, though he still 
 remained a ship-owner ; having a stout vessel of five hun- 
 dred tons, which is, at this moment, named after our old 
 craft, the Sterling. 
 
 I remained at Wiscasset several weeks. During this 
 time, Captain Johnston and myself talked over old times, as 
 a matter of course, and I told him I thought one of our 
 old shipmates was still living. On his asking whom, I in- 
 quired if he remembered the youngster, of the name of 
 
230 NED MYERS; OR, 
 
 Cooper, who had been in the Sterling. He answered, per 
 fectly well, and that he supposed him to be the Captain 
 Cooper who was then in the navy. I had thought so, too, 
 for a long time ; but happened to be on board the Hudson, 
 at New York, when a Captain Cooper visited her. Hearing 
 his name, I went on deck expressly to see him, and was 
 soon satisfied it was not my old ship-mate. There are two 
 Captains Cooper in the navy, — father and son, — but neither 
 had been in the Sterling. Now, the author of many naval 
 tales, and of the Naval History, was from Cooperstown, 
 New York ; and I had taken it into my head this was the 
 very person who had been with us in the Sterling. Captain 
 Johnston thought not ; but I determined to ascertain the 
 fact, immediately on my return to New York. 
 
 Quitting Wiscasset, I came back to the Harbour, in the 
 month of November, 1842. I ought to say, that the men 
 at this institution, who maintain good characters, can always 
 get leave to go where they please, returning whenever they 
 please. There is no more restraint than is necessary to 
 comfort and good order ; the object being to make old tars 
 comfortable. Soon after my return to the Harbour, I wrote 
 a letter to Mr. Fenimore Cooper, and sent it to his residence, 
 at Cooperstown, making the inquiries necessary to know if 
 he were the person of the same family who had been in the 
 Sterling. I got an answer, beginning in these words — " I 
 am your old ship-mate, Ned." Mr. Cooper informed me 
 when he would be in town, and where he lodged. 
 
 In the spring, I got a message from Mr. Blancard, the 
 keeper of the Globe Hotel, and the keeper, also, of Brighton, 
 near the Harbour, to say that Mr. Cooper was in town, and 
 wished to see me. Next day, 1 went up, accordingly ; but 
 did not find him in- After paying one or two visits, I was 
 hobbling up Broadway, to go to the Globe again, when my 
 old commander at Pensacoia, Commodore Bolton, passed 
 down street, arm-in-arm with a stranger I saluted the com- 
 modore, who nodded his head to me, and this induced the 
 stranger to look round. Presently I heard " Ned 1" in a 
 voice that I knew immediately, though I had not heard it in 
 thirty-seven years. It was my old ship-mate — the gentleman 
 who has written out this account of my career, from my 
 verbal narrative of the facts. 
 
A LITB BEFORE TH£ MAST. 281 
 
 Mr. Cooper asked me to go up ^o his place, in the coun- 
 try, and pass a few weeks there. I cheerfully consented, 
 and we reached Cooperstown early in June. Here 1 Ibund 
 a neat village, a beautiful lake, nine miles long, and, alto- 
 gether, a beautiful country. I had never been as far from 
 the sea before, the time when I served on Lake Ontario 
 excepted. Cooperstown lies in a valley, but Mr. Cooper 
 tells me it is at an elevation of twelve hundred feet above 
 tide-water. To me, the clouds appeared so low, I thought 
 I could almost shake hands with them ; and, altogether, the 
 air and country were different from any I had ever seen, or 
 breathed, before. 
 
 My old shipmate took me often on the Lake, which I will 
 say is a slippery place to navigate. I thought I had seen 
 all sorts of winds before I saw the Otsego, but, on this lake 
 it sometimes blew two or three different ways at the same 
 time. While knocking about this piece of water, in a good 
 stout boat, I related to my old shipmate many of the inci- 
 dents of my wandering life, until, one day, he suggested it 
 might prove interesting to publish them. I was willing, 
 could the work be made useful to my brother sailors, and 
 those who might be thrown into the way of temptations like 
 those which came so near wrecking all my hopes, both for 
 this world, and that which is to come. We accordingly 
 went to work between us, and the result is now laid before 
 the world. I wish it understood, that this is literally my 
 own story, logged by my old shipmate. 
 
 It is now time to clew up. When a man has told all he 
 has to say, the sooner he is silent the better. Every word 
 that has been related, I believe to be true ; when I am 
 wrong, it proceeds from ignorance, or want of memory. I 
 may possibly have made some trifling mistakes about dates, 
 and periods, but I think they would turn out to be few, on 
 inquiry. In many instances I have given my impressions, 
 which, like those of other men, may be right, or may be 
 wrong. As for the main facts, however, I know them to 
 be true, nor do I think myself much out ©f the way, in any 
 of the details. 
 
 This is the happiest period of my life, and has been so 
 since I left the hospital at Batavia. I do not know that I 
 nave ever passed a happier summer than the present had 
 
233 NED MYERS. 
 
 been. I should be perfectly satisfied with everything, (fe^ Ja- 
 not my time hang so idle on my hands at the Harbour. 1 
 want something to occupy my leisure moments, and do not 
 despair of yet being able tc find a mode of life more suitable 
 to the activity of nry early days. I have friends enough — ■ 
 more than J. deserve — and, yet, a man needs occupation, 
 vvlio has the .strength and disposition to be employed. That 
 which is to happen is in the hands of Providence, and I 
 humbly trust 1 shall be cared for, to the end,,as I have been 
 cared for, through so many scenes of danger and trial. 
 
 My great wish is that this picture of a sailor's risks and 
 hardships, may have some effect in causing this large and use- 
 ful class of men to think on the subject of their habits. I en- 
 tertain no doubt that the money I have disposed of far worse 
 than if I had thrown it into the sea, which went to reduce 
 me to that mental hell, the ' horrors,' and which, on one 
 occasion, at least, drove me to the verge of suicide, would 
 have formed a sum, had it been properly laid by, on which 
 I might now have been enjoying an old age of comfort and 
 respectability. It is seldom that a seaman cannot lay by a 
 hundred dollars in a twelvemonth — oftentimes I have earned 
 double that amount, beyond my useful outlays — and a hun- 
 dred dollars a year, at the end of thirty years, would give 
 such a man an independence for the rest of his days. This 
 is far from all, however ; the possession of means would 
 awaken the desire of advancement in the calling, and thou- 
 sands, who now remain before the mast, would long since 
 have been officers, could they have commanded the self- 
 respect that property is apt to create. 
 
 On the subject of liquor, I can say nothing that has not 
 oflen been said by others, in language far better than I can 
 use. I do not think I was as bad, in this respect, as per- 
 haps a majority of my associates ; yet, this narrative will 
 show how often the habit of drinking to excess impeded my 
 advance. It was fast converting me into a being inferior to 
 a man, and, but for God's mercy, might have rendered me 
 the perpetrator of crimes that it would shock me to think 
 of, in my sober and sane moments. 
 
 The past, I have related as faithfully as I have been able 
 so to do. The future is with God ; to whom belongeth pow 
 cr, and glory, for ever and ever ! 
 
 THE END. ^p 
 

 
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