"The time has come when I need your help," he said. "I intend to take this ship to England despite her crew of Mohammedans. If the plan goes through, every Christian slave aboard theHawkshall step upon the earth of Europe a free man. I've been watching you. I believe you agree that it's better to risk death than to go on leading such a life. There are other slaves who think the same way. What do you say, lad?"
"Just you try me!" I said. "I owe the infidels a score that can hardly be wiped out. Besides, hasn't the skipper threatened to sew me in a sack and toss me overboard? Of course, you can trust me, and Mustapha, too!"
"Lad, lad," MacWilliams went on, "we English blame the Turks, yet we have been reaping the fruits of what our own race has sowed. The story has passed down to me, through generations of seafaring ancestors, of how when good Queen Elizabeth passed and when the English and Spaniards ceased for a time their warfare at sea, hundreds of sailors who had fought in bloody battles under Drake were at a loss for employment and found it in piracy.
"Down to the Mediterranean they went and entered the service of these evil Moors. It was our forebearswho taught the Moslems how to become good sea-fighters. It was men of our own race who first led the Barbary corsairs forth on buccaneering expeditions. What our forefathers started, some of us have carried on, but the time has come to end it all!"
Continuing, for we had an idle hour to pass, and the mate was desirous of heartening me for our desperate undertaking, MacWilliams told me of how in 1639 William Okeley, an English slave, had constructed in the cellar of his master's shop a light canoe made of canvas, making oars from the staves of empty wind pipes. This craft he and his companions smuggled down to the beach, and five of them embarked in it and made their way safely to Majorca. The hardest part of the enterprise was their farewell to two other English slaves who were to have made the voyage with them, but who were found to overweight the little boat.
"With the help of Gunner Watson," MacWilliams explained as I drew him out as to his plan, "we should be able to trap the Moslems between the decks; get control of the cannon and powder, and sail the ship into some European port. It'll be turning the tables in fine style—a Christian crew bringing infidels as captives to an English harbor!"
He proceeded to set forth his plan in detail. "By to-morrow," he concluded, "I shall know every trustworthy man. I shall then give each man a definite part. Such a way of escape has been in my mind for years. A man with a Presbyterian conscience can never remain a Mohammedan. If our plot succeeds I shall make a contribution to the church of my fathers that I hope shall to some extent offset my wickedness!"
Mustapha carried food from the galley to Murad.MacWilliams told me that it was essential to the success of the plot that Murad be made too ill to note the direction of the ship. The mate was skilful in Oriental medicines, and he produced a phial containing a liquid that, while tasteless, yet had the power to nauseate and weaken a man. While Mustapha obligingly turned his back, and while I kept guard, MacWilliams poured the fluid into Murad's broth. The Egyptian was taken with what seemed to be chronic sea-sickness and kept to his cabin. I do not think he suspected that his food had been "doctored." He ordered MacWilliams to sail close to certain ports and to pursue any vessel that was not plainly a warship.
I told the mate something of the treasure tale—enough for him to know that Murad was in pursuit ofThe Morning Star—and at whatever port it seemed safe for us to stop, MacWilliams brought aboard reports that there was a richly laden vessel bound for America that might be overhauled before we reached the next Atlantic harbor. Thus we continued steadily away from the Straits.
Once an encounter with a strange warship came near to upsetting our plans for capturing theHawk. MacWilliams and Watson, being renegades, were afraid to meet the captain of any European warship, for fear that they might be recognized and treated as buccaneers. Knowing their minds, I watched the outcome of the chase with intense interest.
I happened to be the lookout for that day, and had reported a strange sail ahead.
MacWilliams climbed the mast to a place beside me and adjusted his telescope. Then he went down and approached Uruj, Murad's lieutenant.
"She is well to windward——I doubt if we can pass her!" the mate reported.
"Why should we try to pass her?" Uruj said insolently.
"'Twill go hard with us if we don't," said MacWilliams. "She is double our size—with double our crew and guns. Our only chance is to keep our course and try to weather the ship."
Uruj looked to the wizard for advice. The magician, being a rank coward, found by his book that MacWilliams told the truth. Uruj therefore agreed to MacWilliams's plan.
We could now see the ship over our lee bow, about three miles away. The sea was heavy, but theHawkmet the waves gallantly. We saw a thick white puff of smoke from the forecastle of our pursuer.
"The wind looks like it will die down," said MacWilliams, who had been anxiously watching the sky. "If it does, we will outsail her. The next few moments should tell what the outcome will be."
It looked to us as if we must pass within pistol shot of the vessel, and the thought of having to receive a broadside from her at such a short distance was enough to make a braver lad than I shiver with fright. Watson and his gunners stood at the cannon, waiting for Uruj's command.
Our pursuer was close to us now—in full sail. We could see groups of men about the gun ports, from which cannon jutted.
A voice hailed us.
"Ho! The schooner, ahoy!"
"Hello!" MacWilliams responded.
"What vessel is that?"
"The Tripolitan schoonerHawk, from Tripoli. What ship is yours?"
We could not catch the first part of the reply, but we did hear the last words: "Haul down your flag and heave to!"
Uruj went down to tell Murad. We continued on our course.
"Heave to or we'll sink you," cried the challenger.
MacWilliams spoke to Uruj. "Do as you think best," said Uruj. "Fire the bow guns," MacWilliams commanded Watson.
Our grapeshot whistled through the rigging of the frigate. We saw her foresail fall.
Jets of flame issued from her ports and a broadside swept our decks. Our sails were undamaged, but several shots tore through our hull, injuring several of the sailors and soldiers with flying splinters, though none was seriously hurt.
Before the next cannonade came, we had widened the distance between theHawkand her pursuer. The winds, as MacWilliams had predicted, had grown lighter, and theHawk, a splendid sailer in light winds, showed her heels handily to the enemy. Their shots struck us with less force, and soon we saw the shots from their long gun falling short of us.
We had escaped from capture by a ship that evidently belonged to a country that was hostile to the Tripolitans. If she had seized us the renegades would have been treated in the same way that the Moslems would be used, and therefore MacWilliams took this desperate chance. As for me, I did not know whether to be glad or sorry, for if I had lived through the battle, I could doubtless have proved that I had been held in slavery. Yet theincident must have confirmed the Turks in their opinion of MacWilliams' loyalty.
On another day we sighted a vessel that appeared to beThe Morning Star, but when she was nearly under our guns, and when Mustapha and I were about to surrender hope of saving our riches, a freak of wind bore her away from us, and we never saw her again.
Meanwhile, the scheme of rebellion and seizure was making steady progress. The plan of mutiny as it had formed itself in MacWilliams's mind was to provide ropes and irons near the hatchways, gratings and cabins so that they could be closed from the outside at a moment's notice. When this had been arranged, the next step was to dupe the Moslems so that the most of them would be below deck when the signal for attack was given. MacWilliams went about the work cautiously. To have one traitor among us, he well knew, would cost every Christian his life. Mustapha, being an Arab, hated the Moors, and entered the plot eagerly.
Each man who consented to engage in the plot swore a sacred oath of fidelity.
With those MacWilliams could not trust—renegades or slaves whose character he could not read—his plan was, when the uprising came, to put pistols to their breasts and threaten them with death if they did not assist in the rebellion.
After hours that seemed as long as months had passed, he passed me the word one night that the signal would be given on the morrow, before noon. The rough weather we were laboring through was an aid to our scheme.
The next morning MacWilliams made an inspection of the hold. Then he came up to inform the Moslem lieutenant that there was much water in the bilges, andthat it would be necessary to trim the ship. Uruj, suspecting nothing, consented. Our leader then asked that, for the same purpose, the cannon that were forward should be moved aft. This being done, he further requested that the Moslem soldiers be quartered aft so as to bring the ship's bow out of the water. This was also agreed to. Meanwhile, we had managed to store in a convenient place such weapons as we would need.
When all these things had been done, to avoid suspicion, we went about our regular duties. Our confederates of the gunner's force went below deck with the infidel soldiers so that it would not appear that there was a crowding together of the slaves and renegades. The rest of us were set to pumping water by MacWilliams. I could tell by the arrangement of the men, and by the way they acted, which were sharers in the secret. There were about a score of us, and we had to contend with double our number.
At noon, while most of the Turks that were on deck were aft, using their weight to bring the stern into the water so that the water in the vessel might flow towards the pumps, MacWilliams gave the signal to one of the gunners to fire a cannon. An explosion followed—the signal for us to proceed. With a ringing hurrah we sprang to the attack.
Each man had been assigned a specific duty: first we battened down the hatches down which most of the Moslems had gone, so that the greater part of our enemies were now prisoners; then we turned to conquer the Moslems on deck.
There were twelve of them. They came at us with pistols, knives and hatchets, calling us by their epithet,"Christian dogs!" But the dogs had become bloodhounds now. Johansen, one of the Danes, swung one of the cannon in their direction. They made a rush at him, but he fired the gun directly at them, at which there was a terrific explosion—and the decks became a welter of gore. The terrible death of these Mohammedans caused the remaining Moslems to prostrate themselves before us, their fury turned to abject fear.
Meanwhile, the Moslems imprisoned between decks were trying desperately to break through the hatches. Murad, weak from sickness, yet rose up beside Uruj to thunder threats against us and to urge his men on. However, our victory on deck left us free to attend to those below. Two men were stationed over each passageway, with orders to shoot any infidel who by the use of hatchet or knife was able to break through the planking.
MacWilliams stood over the hatchway below which Murad and Uruj raged.
"If you value your lives," he called, "you will surrender! My men have orders to shoot any man who dares to lift his head. If you come too strongly for our numbers, we will blow you to bits with your own cannon. We are only two days' sail from Plymouth. Your precious wizard hadn't enough insight to see that we were taking you nearer the coast of England every hour we sailed. We will take you there, alive or dead. If you would enter England with breath in your lungs, surrender!"
Uruj at once offered to surrender himself and his men as prisoners of war. Murad cursed Uruj, but at last yielded. He reminded MacWilliams that he had treated him with consideration.
"That I acknowledge," MacWilliams replied, "and I will so treat you as well so long as you make no attempt to thwart us!"
The Mohammedans came out of the hatches one by one to be disarmed. The chains they had in store for such Christians as they might take captives were placed on their wrists and ankles. I was one of those who were called upon to receive the arms. It was a task to make a youth flinch to go from one scowling ruffian to another, collecting muskets, pistols, dirks, and pikes, but I came through without much trouble, having nothing harder thrown at me than curses. Murad flinched as I came toward him with a dirk in my hand, but I only grinned at him. For a keepsake, I took the cowering wizard's book of magic.
When the last Moslem was put in irons, MacWilliams brought out openly his Bible.
"I call on all of you who are willing to be reconciled to their true Savior," he said, "and who repent of being seduced by hopes of riches, honor, preferment, and such devilish baits, to join me in praise and prayer to the true God, whom we re-establish in our hearts and restore in our worship."
With that he read to us this passage from the Psalms:
"They that go down to the sea in ships, that do business in great waters;"These see the works of the Lord, and his wonders in the deep."For he commandeth, and raiseth the stormy wind, which lifteth up the waves thereof."They mount up to the heaven, they go down again to the depths; their soul is melted because of trouble."They reel to and fro, and stagger like a drunken man, and are at their wit's end."Then they cry unto the Lord in their trouble, and he bringeth them out of their distresses."He maketh the storm a calm, so that the waves thereof are still."Then are they glad because they be quiet; so he bringeth them unto their desired haven."
"They that go down to the sea in ships, that do business in great waters;
"These see the works of the Lord, and his wonders in the deep.
"For he commandeth, and raiseth the stormy wind, which lifteth up the waves thereof.
"They mount up to the heaven, they go down again to the depths; their soul is melted because of trouble.
"They reel to and fro, and stagger like a drunken man, and are at their wit's end.
"Then they cry unto the Lord in their trouble, and he bringeth them out of their distresses.
"He maketh the storm a calm, so that the waves thereof are still.
"Then are they glad because they be quiet; so he bringeth them unto their desired haven."
MacWilliams closed the Bible. "Now men," he said, "having given thanks to the Almighty, let us wash the decks of infidel blood, so that our ship will present a decent appearance when we enter the harbor of our hopes."
We thereupon set about washing and holystoning the decks, and repairing the damage resulting from the battle. Two days later, we entered Plymouth harbor, astounding the town as we, in strange garb ourselves, marched our captives in their queer Mohammedan dress to the town jail, where they were left to the disposition of the Government. We heard later that they were used in exchange for citizens of friendly European nations, held in captivity in Tripoli.
"Oh! dream of joy! Is this indeedThe lighthouse top I see?Is this the hill? Is this the kirk?Is this mine own countree?"
"Oh! dream of joy! Is this indeedThe lighthouse top I see?Is this the hill? Is this the kirk?Is this mine own countree?"
"Oh! dream of joy! Is this indeedThe lighthouse top I see?Is this the hill? Is this the kirk?Is this mine own countree?"
"Oh! dream of joy! Is this indeed
The lighthouse top I see?
Is this the hill? Is this the kirk?
Is this mine own countree?"
The owners of theHawkcould not be found. The authorities decided that we had the right to offer her for sale and to divide the money among ourselves in proportions according to rank. Her value was placed at eighteen thousand dollars—but MacWilliams, backed by a group of merchants, purchased the ship for fifteen thousand dollars. He had not, canny Scot, returned from Barbary with empty pockets. He bought theHawkat auction, and was able to obtain it at a low price because other merchants, when they saw his eagerness to obtain possession of her, refrained from bidding.
I was eager to take passage for America, and MacWilliams, to accommodate me, hurried the sale along so that Mustapha and myself could have our share. With three hundred dollars apiece in our possession, we bade him an affectionate farewell.
He changed the name of theHawkto theDove, and vowed to me that she should be used only on honorable missions.
"Lad, lad," he said, as he gripped my hand, "it's glad I am to see you returning to a God-fearing home. When you remember William MacWilliams, blot out theremembrance of ill deeds connected with my name, and think of me as a repentant man who yet intends to leave a good name behind him!"
We sailed for Baltimore in the brigLafayette, Captain Lord. As we entered the Patapsco River Mustapha pointed out a schooner lying off Fell's Point. "Blessed be Allah—it'sThe Morning Star!" he cried.
"Pray then that her crew are not going ashore to spend our fortune!" I said.
Our first thought was to go directly aboard the schooner, but we then considered that we should have to furnish proof to her skipper that the sacks belonged to us, and that in such dealings it would be better to have the rector's support; therefore, we decided to seek him first.
As we passed a shop near the docks, I observed this sign above its door:
ALEXANDER FORSYTHExporter ofFish, Flour, Tobacco, Corn and FursImporter ofTeas, Coffee and Spices
I entered and pounded on a desk.
"I want to buy a shipload of cannon balls to fire at the Dey of Algiers! I want to charter a frigate that will blow Joseph, Bashaw of Tripoli, to perdition! Fish, flour, tobacco—who's dealing in such tame stuff—it's blood and thunder I'm after purchasing; it's muskets and cutlasses I want. Show me your stock, man!"
A man with the build of a mastpole came out of the counting-room and stared at me. I swaggered towardshim, but, suddenly, overcome by amusement at his puzzled look and joy at beholding him again, I sprang forward and threw my arms about him.
"David!" he cried.
"Alexander," I answered.
We stood hugging each other like two polar bears.
In a few minutes of hurried chat, I found out that my brother, recovering his health, had married Nell King, a Baltimore girl, and was prospering as a merchant. Commodore Barney, who had backed Alexander in business, was at sea. (How I fell in with him later and increased the family fortunes by acting as chaplain on his privateerPollymay not be told now.)
Customers came into the shop, and promising to call on Alexander and Nell that night, I broke away and went on up to the house. Mustapha, gaping at the strange western land I had brought him to, and as bewildered as I had been when I wandered through his desert cities, walked closely beside me, clutching my arm. I saw some of the bullies who had mutinied on boardThe Rose of Egypt. I think they recognized me, but Mustapha and I were a stalwart pair, and the looks cast our way by the dock loafers were more of respect than of hostility.
We approached the rector's house at dusk. A welcoming light shone through the elms. I was swaggering along, thinking how much of a man I would appear to the rector. The yellow glow from the window, however, spread an influence that changed me into a soft-hearted boy. Here was I, a sailor hardened through contact with all sorts of men, toughened by wind, wave and warfare, yet brushing a tear from my cheek as I saw the lamp in the parsonage shining out cheerier than the ray of a lighthouse on a tempestuous night.
The door was bolted—I knocked. A girl answered, her face in the shadows.
I was as much taken aback as if I had seen a ghost. I was not used to seeing girls around the old home. Besides, Alexander had not warned me.
"Is it someone to see father?" she asked timidly.
"You are Nell, Alexander's wife?" I said boldly, "and a pretty choice he made!"
"No!" she said, and I stood there in worse confusion than ever.
Yet there was something vaguely familiar in her tone.
"I beg your pardon," I said, "I thought Dr. Eccleston still lived here."
"He does!" she replied. "Please come in!"
We stepped into the hallway. I looked around, taking in each familiar object.
"I am David Forsyth," I said, "perhaps you have heard the rector speak of his boy who went to sea."
"I recognized you at first, David," she said, her face still in the shadows. "What a grand surprise for the rector!"
I walked towards the library, but the rector had heard our voices. He came out, spectacles in one hand, a book in the other. He stared at me as if he could scarcely credit his own sight.
I was in his arms the next moment.
"David," he shouted. "I had almost given you up for lost! No letters! And all the time I've been waiting to thank you for sending me my precious jewel!"
I looked at Mustapha in puzzlement. What did he mean by "jewel"? Had he gotten the treasure?
He turned to the mysterious girl, whose gold hair flashed in the lamplight as if ten thousand diamondswere netted in it. I had seen a girl's hair flashing in just such a way before! But where?
He saw me twirling my hat and grasped the situation:
"David," he explained, "this is my daughter! General Eaton told me that it was you who first pointed her out to him in the Arab camp."
Heigho! I had gone forth to seek adventures, and here at my home door was a more marvelous thing than any I had come upon. The girl that General Eaton had bought from the Bedouin hag was no other than the daughter the rector had lost in the desert! She was taller and lovelier, and the more I looked the more flustrated I became. I had always been shy before girls, and now I stood like a gawk, blushing under her gaze. I wanted the floor to open when she came forward and held up her lips in a matter-of-fact way for my kiss.
However, I did not dodge the invitation, for all my bashfulness. Indeed, I might as well record here that that sisterly kiss became a few months later the kiss of a sweetheart—but since I have no notion of having this book end in a love story, we had better get back to our course.
Mustapha, who had kept himself well in the rear, was now discovered by Anne, and what a jabbering in Arabic took place. Whenever after that I started to tell Anne of my adventures I found that she had already heard it from Mustapha. I can't say that I was displeased at this, because the lad—not that I deserved it—held me in high esteem, and painted me in every episode as a great hero.
Over the supper table we learned how the rector and Anne had been united. General Eaton had landed in Baltimore, and the rector, beholding beside the Generala girl who bore a striking resemblance to his wife, stopped the officer in the street, questioned him, brought him and his ward to the parsonage as his guests, and there, by matching his story with that of Anne's, discovered that she was no other than his own daughter. Her mother—Anne had only a slight remembrance of her—must have died early in her captivity.
The next morning Mustapha and myself induced the rector to take a stroll with us. We reached the dock whereThe Morning Starwas moored just as she was being unloaded. As we started to go aboard we bumped into a string of stevedores. Our search ended there and then, for among the baggage these men carried were our sacks.
"Toss those confounded bags aside," cried the officer in charge of the unloading. "I wonder if the cheeky rascal who sent them aboard thought I was going to hunt over Baltimore for 'Rev. Ezekiel Eccleston of Marley Chapel.'"
I approached him in my most respectful manner.
"Here, sir, is the Reverend Eccleston. He is the gentleman for whom the sacks are intended, and I'm the 'cheeky rascal' who shipped them. Your coxswain will recognize Mustapha here as the lad who stowed them in your cutter. There wasn't much need of shipping the curios after all, since my schooner arrived here almost as quickly as your ship."
He looked at me as if he wanted to pour out a flood of oaths. Then his gaze wandered over the rector's garb and he grew less surly.
"It's lucky for you, sir," he said to my guardian, "that we didn't pitch those sacks overboard! I like this cub'scheek—sending freight aboard without even saying, 'By your leave!' If the bags hadn't been addressed to a parson, overboard they'd have gone!"
"Your forbearance is much appreciated," said the rector. "The boy, I believe, was in a trying situation."
I took out a roll of banknotes.
"We'll pay you in full for all the bother you've been put to. You really saved this stuff from falling into the hands of the Turk, Joseph Bashaw. Yet there was another skipper who wanted in the worst way to carry those bags! In fact, he inquired forThe Morning Starat several South Atlantic ports. I think you came in sight of him. But we're none the less grateful to you, sir!"
He snatched from me a pound note. "Always glad to serve the Church," he said civilly to the rector. "By the way, my men said there appeared to be metal ornaments in the sacks—candlesticks for worship, I suppose?"
The rector, at a loss for a reply, stared at the sacks.
"Something of that sort! They will be very useful to the Church," I answered, shouldering one. Mustapha followed suit with another, and the rector, good man, dragged the third sack to a wagon I had hired. With a load of worry removed from Mustapha and myself, we drove homeward. I heard afterwards thatThe Morning Star, though then a freighter for the Government, was a converted privateer and had even been suspected of piracy while in Uncle Sam's employ. Her men had probably captured and sunk many a ship without obtaining loot half as valuable as these, our riches, which they so carelessly carried.
On the way home the rector questioned me concerning the contents of the sacks, but I evaded him. Now, as westood in the hallway, with the sacks at our feet, I myself popped a question.
"Rector," I said, "if you were suddenly handed a good-sized fortune, what would you do with it?"
He smiled.
"I suppose, David, that we all like to indulge in such day-dreams. First, I should erect a larger church here—this business of hanging our church-bell to a tree is getting sadly out of fashion. Then I should build mission chapels in the border settlements. Then Alexander should have capital with which to expand his trade with the West Indies. Then I should send you to Yale College—it's really time now, David, that you settled down to your studies. Then I should send General Eaton some funds. Congress praised him, but has since neglected him, and the poor fellow is low in spirits and failing in health. Then——"
"Rector," I said, "all those wishes and as many more are granted. I found both Aladdin's lamp and Ali Baba's cave in the deserts of Africa. Stand by and watch me bring all of your day-dreams true! Fall too, Mustapha, servant of the geni!"
With our jackknives we slashed open the sacks. The treasure hoard of the ancients—the priceless jewelry and trinkets which the rector long ago had discovered and then sealed up and abandoned—poured out in gleaming confusion at his feet.
THE END OF THE PIRATES
So far as my fortunes are concerned, I was rid forever of Barbary's corsairs. But, to make my narrative complete, it may be well to state that the end of their piracies was in sight, and that Stephen Decatur was the man who struck the blow that marked the beginning of their end.
The United States had borne these insults and oppressions meekly during the time she was evolving into a nation, but at last, under Decatur, her true spirit showed itself. The Dey of Algiers, the last to affront us, was at length forced to take tribute in the way our naval officers had long wished to deliver it—from the cannon's mouth.
The War of 1812 tempered the spirit of our navy for this closing campaign with the buccaneers of Barbary. The frigateConstitutionthrilled the nation by her victory over the British warshipGuerrière, although theConstitution'scaptain, Isaac Hull, had to steal out to do battle without the knowledge of the timid Monroe administration, which feared that our ships were no match for the British frigates. Then theUnited States, commanded by Captain Stephen Decatur, defeated and captured theMacedonian, one of the swiftest and strongest and best-equipped ships in John Bull's navy, and Lieutenant Archibald Hamilton marched into a ball given to naval officersin Washington with the flag of the captured ship across his shoulders.
Then theConstitutionmet the British frigateJava, and by splendid gunnery reduced her to a burning hulk. Then the British had their innings and Captain Broke, of theShannon, defeated the chivalrous but over-confident Captain Lawrence in theChesapeake.
Decatur, with his feathers drooping somewhat from the fact that he had been forced to surrender thePresidentto two British frigates after a hard fight, was sent, after the treaty of peace had been signed, to deal again with the Barbary states, to which we still paid tribute. These powers had grown insolent again when the United States became engaged in war with England and had resumed their piracy. Decatur sailed in the flagshipGuerrièreand commanded a squadron of nine vessels.
Algiers, the chief offender this time, had organized a strong navy under the command of Admiral "Rais Hammida," called "the terror of the Mediterranean." Decatur's squadron sighted this Algerine admiral in his forty-six-gun frigateMashoudaoff Cape Gatte, and pursued and captured the Turkish ship. Her captain was killed in the first encounter.
Decatur now proceeded to Algiers to bring the Dey to terms. The captain of the port came out insolently to meet him. "Where is your navy?" demanded Decatur.
"Safe in some neutral port!" retorted the Algerine officer.
"Not the whole of it," Decatur said. "We have already captured the frigateMashoudaand the brigEstido, and Admiral Hammida is dead."
The captive lieutenant of theMashoudawas broughtforth to confirm these statements. The Dey's representative became humble and begged that hostilities should cease until a treaty could be drawn up on shore.
"Hostilities will go on until a treaty is made," Decatur replied, "and a treaty will be made nowhere but on board theGuerrière!"
The officer came out again the next day and began haggling over terms in true Oriental fashion. Decatur stuck to his terms, which included the release of all Americans held in slavery and the restoration of their property. He demanded an immediate decision, threatening:
"If your squadron appears before the treaty is signed by the Dey and if American captives are on board, I shall capture it."
The port officer left. An hour afterward an Algerine man-of-war appeared. Decatur ordered his officers to prepare for battle. Manning the forts and ships were forty thousand Turks.
Before the squadron got under way, however, the Dey's envoy was seen approaching, flying a white flag—the token of surrender.
All of the terms had been agreed to. We were to pay no further tributes to the pirate prince. Our ships were to be free from interference. Ten Americans that had been held in captivity were delivered up. They knelt at Decatur's feet to thank God for their release and rose up to embrace their flag.
From Algiers, Decatur sailed to Tunis and then to Tripoli, and actually forced their rulers to pay indemnities for breaking, during the period of our war with Britain, the treaties they had made with the United States.
Decatur thus put an end to the attacks of the Moors upon American merchant ships. He had set an example that Britain was soon to follow.
British consuls and sea-faring men were still being insulted and molested by Moslems. Public indignation in England rose to such a height that the British government sent Sir Edward Pellew, upon whom had been bestowed the title Lord Exmouth, to negotiate similar terms. The fleet sailed first to Tunis and Tripoli and forced the two Beys to promise to abolish Christian slavery. An element of humor came into the situation at Tunis, for Caroline, Princess of Wales, was on a tour of the country, and was not above accepting the hospitality of the Bey, no matter what wrongs to her countrymen went on under the surface. Her entertainment included picnics among the ruins of Carthage and the orange groves of Tunis, to which she was driven in the Bey's coach and six. She was indignant when word reached her that a bombardment from her own fleet threatened to put an end to her pleasures. She sought to interfere, but the Admiral was firm. The Princess took refuge on board one of the English ships; the squadron prepared to attack; but the Bey yielded.
The squadron now proceeded to Algiers. Here the Dey protested so vehemently that the Admiral agreed to the ruler's proposal to send ambassadors to England to lay his case before the final authorities. No sooner had the fleet returned to England than news came of a massacre of Italians under British protection in Bona, by Algerines acting under orders actually given by the Dey while Lord Exmouth was at Algiers.
There was, in the port of Bona, a little to the east of Algiers, a coral fishery carried on under the protection of Britain. Corsicans, Neapolitan and other fishermen came here to gather coral. On the 23rd of May, 1816, Ascension Day, as the fishermen were preparing to attend Mass, a gun was fired from the castle and two thousand Moslem soldiers opened fire on the helpless fishermen and massacred them. Then the English flags were torn to pieces and the British Vice-Consul's house wrecked and pillaged.
Lord Exmouth's squadron, on its way to punish the corsairs for these atrocities, fell in with five frigates and a corvette under the Dutch Admiral, Van de Capellan. All civilized nations had been aroused by the massacre of the Italian coral fishers, and the Dutch were eager to take part in the expedition to punish the murderers. Lord Exmouth welcomed them, and the combined fleets set sail for Algiers.
Lord Exmouth sent a letter ashore to the Dey demanding that the Algerians abolish making slaves of Christians; that they surrender such Christian slaves as they now held; that they restore ransom money exacted from Italian slaves, make peace with Holland, and free the lately imprisoned British Consul, and other English captives. The Dey was allowed three hours in which to reply. No answer came. Lord Exmouth began the battle.
His flagship,Queen Charlotte, led the fleet to the attack. Reaching the left-hand end of the mole, she anchored, thus barring the mouth of the harbor. In this position, her guns could sweep the whole length and breadth of the mole. Up came theSuperb, theMinden, theAlbion, and theImpregnable. Meanwhile, the foehad opened fire and theQueen Charlottehad replied with three broadsides that ruined the mole's defences and killed five hundred men.
The Dutch squadron and the British frigates came in under a heavy fire and engaged the shore batteries. The Algerian gunboats, screened by the smoke of the guns, came out to board theQueen Charlotte. TheLeander, lying beyond the smoke, saw them and sunk thirty-three out of thirty-seven with her batteries.
At last the enemy's guns were silenced. The British and Dutch fleets withdrew into the middle of the bay. The defeated Dey accepted the British terms. The English consul was released. Three thousand slaves were set free; some of these had been in prison for thirty years. The bombardment destroyed part of the house of the American consul Shaler, who, the British afterwards testified, did all in his power to aid the English.
The British squadron gained its victory at the cost of one hundred and twenty-eight men killed and six hundred and ninety men wounded. Lord Exmouth led his men with Nelson-like gallantry. He was wounded in three places, his telescope was knocked from his hand by a shot, and his coat was cut to ribbons. Even this punishment did not entirely crush the corsairs. It was reserved for the French to put an end to their piracies.
But that campaign did not begin until 1830—and my story can not run on forever.
"The Narrative and Critical History of America," edited by Justin Winsor.
"American State Papers, Foreign Relations."
"Debates of Congress," compiled by Thomas H. Benton.
"Life of the Late General William Eaton," by Charles Prentiss, published in 1813 in Brookfield, Mass.
"Ocean Life in the Old Sailing Ship Days," by Captain John D. Whidden.
"From the Forecastle to the Cabin," by Captain S. Samuels.
"Round the Galley Fire," by W. Clark Russell.
"The Story of Our Navy," by Edgar Stanton Maclay.
"A History of the United States Navy," by John R. Spears.
"Our Navy and the Barbary Corsairs," by Gardner W. Allen.
"The Barbary Corsairs," by Stanley Lane-Poole.
"Yankee Ships and Yankee Sailors," by James Barnes.
"Maryland Chronicles," by Scharf.
"Africa," by Frank G. Carpenter.
"Rambles and Studies in Greece," by Mahaffy.
"Winters in Algeria," by F. A. Bridgman.
"The Romance of Piracy," by E. Keble Chatterton. (The episode of David's escape in the shipHawkis founded on an actual adventure that occurred in 1622, related in Mr. Chatterton's book. The story of the mutiny aboardThe Rose of Egyptwas suggested by an actual episode—described in Captain Samuel's autobiography.)
To Deane H. Uptegrove and George Mullien, the writer is indebted for advice concerning the sea episodes that appear in this book. The New York Public Library, The Newark Public Library, the East Orange Public Library, and the private library of theNew York Evening Posthave been helpful in giving the author access to material not easily obtainable.