Chapter 6 ToC No.6

Unlading-The Good Chinese-A Ray of Hope-A Second Flotilla-Disguise-Hunger-The Father of a Family-Proposed Escape-Refusal of the Crew-Rage of Captain Rooney-Hopes and Disappointments.

Day broke, and the last shades of night faded and fled. The pirates assembled us on deck, counted us over to see that none were missing, lifted the hatches at the foot of the mainmast, and lowered us, one by one, into the hold. Some of them followed us down, and kept a savage watch upon our every movement. This last proceeding struck us with a mortal terror. Believing that our fate was just about to be decided, we sat down mournfully among the bales of goods, and waited like condemned criminals. Our jailers seemed now to be more cruelly disposed than ever. Every moment, and without any kind of provocation, they struck our poor sailors with the handles and flats of their sabres, and amused themselves by flourishing these weapons round my head and that of Captain Rooney. Presently they took to examining our wrists, and laughed to see the wounds which our chains had left upon them. Hearing a noise on deck, they, by and bye, left us; having first taken the precaution of battening down the hatches above our heads. Plunged into utter darkness, and almost suffocated for want of air, we endured this captivity for more than an hour. The hatches were then lifted, a flood of blinding sunlight poured in upon us, and the friendly voice of Than-Sing greeted us from above.

Up to the present time, as I have already shown, the Chinese merchant had had it in his power to render us important services. Of these he never wearied. He was our good genius. His presence alone inspired us with courage and endurance; and whenever he opened his mouth to interpose between our feebleness and the ferocity of his countrymen, our dangers seemed to diminish. His coolness never failed him for an instant. When he was not actually with us, pursuing his work of encouragement and comfort, he was negotiating in our favour. With that expression of calm serenity, his plain features became at times almost patriarchal; and I was amazed to find any Chinese gifted with qualities of such Christian charity.

During the hour which had just gone by, the question of life and death had probably been debated. Providence, however, had watched over us, and we were once more spared. It was now decided by the pirate-chief that our crew should be set to work to unlade the vessel.

The valuable freight of opium which we had on board was the property of Than-Sing, who was accordingly sent below with Captain Rooney to assist the pirates in clearing out these stores. The sailors then passed the packages from hand to hand; the pirates formed a chain from junk to junk; and the bales of sugar, rice, coffee, and other goods were speedily transferred.

Forgotten in the midst of this excitement, I sat alone and watched the work of spoilation.

After about an hour's labour, our sailors were allowed to rest for a few moments, and received a scanty ration of biscuits and water. Several of the poor fellows offered me a share of their food; but, although I eagerly drank what water they could spare me, I found it impossible to eat a morsel. For long hours my throat and chest had been on fire, and I suffered cruelly from thirst.

Soon after this, Than-Sing and the captain came in search of me. Thankful was I, indeed, to see them; for the pirates had of late been thronging around me with gesticulations which filled me with uneasiness. My friends then led me to a cabin, at the other end of the vessel, where I hoped to be left without molestation. Crossing the deck, I saw that we had anchored close in shore, and were surrounded by an immense amphitheatre of wooded hills. At any other time I should have been charmed with this exquisite scene; but the sight of the "Caldera," now a mere wreck, usurped all my attention. Her broken masts were lying along deck-fragments of doors and windows lay scattered all about-the compass had been carried away, and the helm was broken. Add to this the ferocious cries of our barbarian captors, and the picture is complete. I was glad to hurry away from this sight; but our pretty cabins were no longer recognizable. Lying upon a large green velvet sofa, which was the only article of furniture left entire, I yielded to an access of the profoundest melancholy. Every moment the pirates kept passing to and fro, or coming in to cast lots for such of the booty as was yet unshared amongst them. Remembering how they had refused to tie my hands, and the little likelihood I had for supposing them to be actuated by any feeling of compassion or respect, I recalled some frightful stories read in times gone by, and dreaded lest I should become the victim of their brutality. Sooner than this, I resolved to throw myself into the sea. That I should now be living to write these lines-that I should now be relating the long story of my sufferings-seems, if I may dare to say so, like a special manifestation of that divine goodness which measures the trial by the strength of the sufferer.

Our provisions, with the exception of some rice and a few biscuits, had all been carried on board the three junks. Our sailors had been allowed no rest. Groaning under fatigues, which were enforced with the sword, they laboured on till night-fall, and even then, but for the intercessions of Than-Sing, would have been allowed no sleep.

My companions slept in the cabin adjoining mine, and we were allowed to close our doors for the night. Having eaten nothing all day, and being kept awake, moreover, by the vociferations of the pirates, whose numbers had lately been increased by the arrival of fresh junks, I passed a miserable night. Many a time, during these long hours of wakefulness, I opened my little window and leaned out into the air; but each time that I did so, my terrors were increased by the sight of these demons quarrelling over their booty. Day dawned, and a sudden rumour spread all at once throughout the ship. Starting from their sleep, our sailors rushed on deck, and two or three came down crying, "The pirates are leaving us! The pirates are leaving us!" A wild and sudden hope possessed us. We believed that help was at hand, and that the moment of our release had arrived. Could it be the approach of a steamer which caused the flight of our captors? A single glance, however, was sufficient. Alas! that which we had supposed to be a deliverance, proved to be but an added danger. Our pirates were indeed leaving us, but a new flotilla was bearing down upon us with all sail set! For more than a quarter of an hour we were left alone in the wreck, and Than-Sing explained to us that the small junks were making off with their booty, for fear it should be wrested from them by the new comers. These second enemies were, then, fiercer and more numerous than the first! What would they do with us? What would now become of us? What had we to expect? We counted the minutes as they passed, and the junks drew rapidly nearer. I felt my very heart sink within me, and all the horrors to which I might be subjected rushed across my mind. "Oh, captain," said I, "I shall die with fear! Can you not help to disguise me? let me be dressed as you are! What shall I do? I am a woman, and these monsters are coming! Have pity on me! Have pity on me!" "Yes, you are right," said Captain Rooney, kindly and compassionately. Having on two pairs of trousers, he then gave me one. We next found a shirt and a Chinese jacket, and one of the sailors gave me his cap, beneath which I gathered up my hair. I had but one hair-pin left, and on my naked feet a pair of slippers. Hastening into my cabin, I dressed rapidly, and had scarcely completed this transformation when loud shouts proclaimed the approach of our new enemies. The small junks, which had fled before the others like startled water-fowl, were already far away. We hid ourselves in one of the after-cabins, and the captain grouped his men in such a manner as might best conceal me. He and Than-Sing stood before me, and in another moment the pirates were on board. About forty junks now surrounded the "Caldera," each junk carrying from twenty to forty men, and the large ones being mostly mounted with ten or twelve cannons.

The pirates of the Chinese seas make their junks their homes, and carry their wives and children with them on every expedition. The women assist in working the ships, and are chiefly employed in lading and unlading the merchandise. As for the children, they carry them upon their backs in a kind of bag, till they are able to run alone. Each junk is commanded by a chief, and such is the terror of the pirate-name, that, in a country which numbers three hundred and sixty millions of inhabitants, they ravage the seas with impunity. It sometimes happens that they have feuds among themselves, and many a piratical sea-fight takes place, in which the victory rests with the strongest.

Hidden as we were in a lower cabin, we heard these barbarians rush upon our decks, with the force of a torrent that had burst its flood-gates. The first junks having carried away but a small portion of our cargo, these new pirates found an ample prize remaining. They therefore employed themselves in pillaging the ship, without taking the trouble to seek for us. Presently, such of the junks as were sufficiently laden, dropped away, and set sail for those villages along the coast, where they were in the habit of taking refuge. In the meantime, despite the indifference with which they treated us, fresh fears assailed us. We dreaded lest they should exhaust our store of provisions, and found ere long that these apprehensions were but too well grounded. Soon, a sack of rice, and a small bag of biscuits alone remained, and even these they would have taken from us, but for our urgent supplications. We were now utterly destitute. For two days and more, we could scarcely be said to have eaten anything, and, faint with exhaustion, we abandoned ourselves to despair. As if animated with the very spirit of destruction, the pirates demolished everything which came in their way. The panellings in the saloon, the looking-glasses, the windows, the doors, and such of the furniture as was not already destroyed, they smashed into a thousand pieces. They carried away the very hinges and fastenings from off the doors, and even the green velvet divan, which had hitherto been left on account of its size. The deck was strewn all over with tea, coffee, sugar, biscuit, fragments of broken glass, and merchandise. We were constantly obliged to turn out our pockets, in proof that we kept nothing back; and these monsters pressed around us, every now and then, in such numbers that we could scarcely move or breathe. My dress, which I had hidden as best I could, was found and carried off like everything else; and Than-Sing, who had chanced to take off his slippers for a moment, saw them snatched up and appropriated in the twinkling of an eye. The poor man was more annoyed by this loss, than by all his previous misfortunes; for the slippers were made after the fashion of his country. Hereafter, one of our sailors, who was indifferently skilful in such matters, contrived to make him a new pair, out of some fragments of leather which he found about the deck.

Cast upon the mercy of these savages, our situation was inexpressibly horrible. They were not deceived by my costume; for they surrounded me with eager curiosity, and asked Than-Sing if I were the wife of the captain. These questions filled me with terror, and I entreated Mr. Rooney to let me pass for his wife. They gathered round us in brutal mockery, asking if we wished to go to Hong-Kong; and then, finding that we were silent, laughed in our faces. Some of them, who seemed more savage and cruel than the rest, seized our sailors by the hair, and flourished their sabres threateningly before their eyes; whilst I, sinking, and sick at heart, shrank down in a corner, and hoped to be forgotten. Slender indeed was the tenure upon which we now held our lives! Who knows what might have happened had one single drop of blood been actually shed?

That same day, one of these men came, when none of the rest were by, and talked for some time with Than-Sing. I saw the merchant's face light up as the conversation progressed, and the breathless eagerness with which he replied. The pirate was offering, as I afterwards learnt, to effect our escape; and Captain Rooney, by help of Than-Sing, agreed on the amount of our ransom. We were to be landed at Hong-Kong, and, meanwhile, were desired to hold ourselves in readiness for the first chance of escape. Two others came shortly after upon the same errand; but, whether the reward which we offered was insufficient to recompense them for the danger, or whether they dreaded the discovery of their treason, I know not-at all events, not one of the three kept his word, and we saw them no more.

Towards the evening of this day our sailors complained bitterly of hunger. We feared being left to all the agonies of starvation; but, in the midst of our distress, help came whence we had least reason to expect it. Amongst these robbers there was one who seemed actuated by sentiments of compassion. He came to us every now and then, appeared to sympathize with our distress, and, by and bye, pointed out his wife and children on board a neighbouring junk. Pleased to observe the interest with which we looked upon his family, this pirate, at the very moment when we were deploring our hunger, came back with a dish of rice and a huge bowl filled with some kind of Chinese rago?t, dressed after the Chinese fashion, with a thick saffron-coloured sauce. Our poor fellows, little used to dainties, devoured it eagerly. But I could only just touch it with my lips, for the odour of it disgusted me. I contrived, however, to alleviate my hunger with a few spoonfuls of the rice. Towards night, the junks let go the grappling-irons, and put out to sea. It seemed scarcely probable that they would return again in equal numbers, since our plundered state must soon become known throughout the pirate-villages which line that coast.

Their departure left us at least the prospect of a quiet night; but, on the other hand, our ship was dismantled, and we had no available means of action. Had our enemies indeed abandoned us to die slowly of hunger, exposed to all the burning heat of a tropical sun, and swayed helplessly to and fro upon the great ocean, thousands of leagues from our homes and families? Than-Sing had ascertained that we were about twenty miles from Macao. Far away, he said, between two mountains which were just visible on the horizon, lay the city. This knowledge only served to make us still more miserable. Life was there, safety was there, and yet we could do nothing to help ourselves! If even we had succeeded in weighing the anchor, what chance had we, in our dismasted state, of drifting into any place of shelter? Glad to forget our anxieties, if but for a few hours, we all lay down to sleep.

What a picture it was! We had constructed a kind of rude oil-lamp, which cast a flickering glare around the cabin. This room, once so cheerful and pretty, now more nearly resembled some hideous dungeon. Seeing these rough sailors stretched about the floor, these upturned faces weary with suffering, these dismantled walls, and this air of general desolation, I began almost to tremble for my reason. Being so wretched, what more had I to fear? What were death to one whose sufferings had already touched the bounds of human endurance? One by one, my companions sank away to sleep, and I alone remained, wakeful and sorrowful, to meditate the chances of our destiny. I questioned my past life; I searched all the corners of my memory; I asked myself what I had done to merit this great trial? Gladly would I have discovered any fault deserving such retribution, for I could not endure to doubt the justice of Heaven.

It might now have been about ten o'clock at night. I had tried in vain to sleep, and could not keep my eyes closed for five minutes together. Torn by a thousand different emotions, I lay and listened to the silence, till, carried away by an irresistible excitement, I rose, made my way on deck, and, flinging myself wearily down, gazed up at the sky and the stars. The moon shone like a silver mirror, and, seeing the stillness and solitude of the night, I could not help fancying that something might yet be done towards our deliverance. Going back into the cabin, I roused Captain Rooney, and entreated him to come with me on deck. Somewhat surprised at this request, he rose and followed me. No sooner had we gone up, than we heard a sound of voices close under our lee, and found that a small junk was still lying alongside of us. The captain eagerly bent forward, as if to count the number of our enemies. They could not have been more than eight or ten. Having attentively observed them, he became profoundly silent. Amazed at his apathy, I dragged him towards the jolly-boat, which was yet hanging amid-ships, and said, "Well, captain, why do you not rouse your men?" He looked at me with a kind of weary wonder, as if scarcely able to comprehend my meaning. "Will you then do nothing?" said I. "Are you content patiently to await all the horrors of the future? Woman as I am, I would prefer a thousand times to dare something for my safety, than linger here to die by violence or starvation! We are but twenty miles from Macao. This boat will hold us all. Once at sea, it is scarcely likely that the pirates, busy as they are, will observe our flight. Should they even see us, they might no longer care to follow us. Captain, in the name of all that is dear to you, let us at least make the attempt!"

Captain Rooney paused, remained for a few moments lost in thought, and then went quickly back into the cabin. "Rouse up!" said he, "rouse up, all of you! How can you sleep while we are yet in so much danger?" Laying aside his old habits of command, he then consulted them respecting our common danger, and suggested a plan of escape. At the first word of this proposition, the sailors turned disobediently away. "You do not deserve the name of men," said the captain, angrily. "I blush to think that a woman should be braver than you! She has the courage to prefer death to delay; and, while flight yet offers us some chance of safety, you hesitate, you tremble, you behave like cowards! I see fear in every eye! No, I repeat it-no, you have not even the courage of a woman!"

Captain Rooney's plan was this: he proposed that his crew should steal softly upon deck, take the junk by surprise, and slay the eight Chinese by whom it was manned. We might then, without loss of time, set sail for Macao, where we should, in all probability, arrive before daybreak.

I remained silent whilst this consultation was going forward. My wisest course was to remain passive, in order that these men should not have it in their power to say that I proposed such bloodshed. That they did so accuse me was sufficiently plain, and yet I protest that in this suggestion I had no share whatever. The captain had not confided his projects to me; he had simply relied on my courage and co-operation, and had held me up to the men as an example for the mere sake of putting them to shame.

"Captain," said the supercargo, glancing angrily towards me, "that woman is mad; and, if it be by her advice that you are acting, we but consult the dictates of reason in refusing to obey you. This attempt could end only in destruction. Granting that we succeeded in capturing the junk, we should assuredly be overtaken, in the night, by others of the pirates, and they, guessing the means by which we had obtained possession of their cursed junk, would slay us all, without mercy."

There was justice in what he said; and the captain then fell back upon the plan which I had first proposed. It was agreed that the boat should be emptied of the coals with which it was now half-filled, and lowered into the water. While the men were busy at this work, I wandered to and fro about the deck, and, searching amidst the débris, found some fragments of my dear home-letters. They were all torn and soiled, and I gathered them together with a sigh. At this moment, as if for the very purpose of favouring our flight, the last junk put off, and hove away to sea, leaving us alone for the first time since our captivity. Being now enabled to work with less precaution, the men redoubled their efforts, and the boat was soon unloaded. Eagerly and anxiously we crowded round, and examined it. Alas, how great was our disappointment! Several planks had started in the bottom of the boat, and she was no longer sea-worthy. Intense as was their discouragement, our sailors persisted in the attempt. A dull splash followed. We hung over the side of the vessel, and breathlessly prayed to Heaven for help and protection.

Ten minutes thus passed by. "It cannot be done," said the captain, falteringly; "she is already half-full of water." We looked into each others faces, and silently dispersed. Great sorrows are dumb. Till to-morrow nothing could now be done, and who could tell what that morrow might bring forth?

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