Every Man Will Do His Duty (65 page)

After this the body of Spafford was committed to the deep, according to the funeral ceremonies of the church.

We, as I before observed, steered to the WNW, and at two P.M. on the 6th, the man at the mast-head cried out a sail; but on standing toward it, in a short time discovered it to be the Rock of Pelado, bearing NE by N. We
soon gave up the chase and stood on our course, as I was anxious to get an offing to fall in with the track of whalers, as, from the best information I could collect on this subject, on this part of the coast they keep at the distance of from thirty to fifty leagues.

At half past three, a sail was discovered from the mast-head, bearing W NW, and we immediately made all sail in chase of her, the
Barclay
making every exertion to keep up with us; but by sundown we had run her out of sight astern. At seven o’clock we brought the chase to. She proved to be a Spanish brig from Callao, bound to Conception, but had taken in a load of salt at Oucho, a place a short distance to the north of Callao. The captain and supercargo of this vessel both came on board, and supposing the
Essex
to be an English vessel, were disposed to give us every information in their power; and, what was of the utmost importance to us, they informed me that an English frigate had been for some time expected at Callao from Cadiz, for the purpose of taking in money; and that the money which was to compose her cargo was nearly all collected. He also informed me that an English armed ship had put in there in distress a few days since, having sprung a-leak; that two English whale-ships had, within a few days, sailed from thence; that they had been sent in for adjudication by the corsairs of Peru, and on examination had been liberated. On inquiry respecting the disposition of the government of Peru towards those of the United States and Great Britain, they informed me that the latter was held in high repute, and its vessels treated with great civility, in consequence of being the allies of Spain; but that the former were held in very little estimation; and that, although war had not actually taken place between Spain and the United States, it was momentarily expected, and every preparation was made in Peru to meet it; that the Americans were notorious violators of their revenue laws
(grandes contrabandistas)
and neither received nor expected much civility; however, it was the policy of the government of Peru to hold out ideas and the appearance of a strict neutrality, and therefore British vessels were not allowed to dispose of their prizes at Callao. The supercargo of this vessel appeared to be a man of considerable intelligence; and when I inquired where was the most suitable place to proceed to give protection to British vessels and annoy those of the United States, he advised me to go to leeward, observing that the Gallipagos Islands were much frequented by the British whale-ships, and between that and the latitude of the Lobos Islands, I should most likely find many Americans, as the sea thereabouts was full of them. The
Barclay
was now a great distance astern; but as we ran to the northward under easy sail after leaving the Spaniard, and made flashes at intervals, she was enabled to join us by midnight.

At daylight in the morning, we stretched away to the westward, leaving the
Barclay
to steer to the northward, and spread to such a distance as just to see her signals, and closed again at night. This course we pursued until our arrival off Cape Ajugia, where we arrived on the morning of the 10th, and in the course of our run saw but two vessels, only one of which we spoke, knowing them to be Spaniards. She was a small brig from Guyaquil, bound to the southward, and could give us no information whatever. In our run we passed near to the islands of Lobos de la Mare, and Lobos de la Terre; they are two small islands, situated some distance from the continent, and at the distance of five leagues from each other, bearing NNW and SSE; they appear to be perfectly destitute of vegetation and serve as a residence to an immense number of birds, with which the hills were covered. There can be no doubt that an abundance of seals may be caught on them, as in passing we were surrounded with them, one of which we struck with the harpoon. The sea was here also covered with pelicans and various other aquatic birds, feeding on the schools of small fish, which were to be seen in great numbers, constantly pursued by seals, bonetas, and porpoises; and such as attempted to escape their ravenous jaws by jumping out of the water were immediately snapped up by the innumerable swarms of birds that were hovering over them.

On our arrival off Ajugia, we had another opportunity of witnessing a similar scene; and as the water was perfectly smooth and the winds light, we were enabled to examine it more minutely. We discovered the sea boiling violently in many places, and wherever this was the case, vast numbers of seals, large fish, and birds were apparently in pursuit of small fish. On approaching one of these places, the water had so much the appearance of having been put into action by violent currents, opposed by sunken rocks, that I felt some uneasiness and directed the helm to be put a-weather to avoid it; however, the next one had the same appearance and was equally attended by fish. I therefore steered close to it and saw that in the centre of the agitated spot (which bore the appearance of water boiling in a pot) were myriads of small fish, collected together, and appeared as though it were impossible for them to escape from this violent whirlpool, which was so powerful as to affect considerably the steerage of the ship. Whether this boiling of the water was occasioned by the vast numbers of seals and large fish which kept constantly darting in among the small fry, which were drawn as it were to a focus, I will not pretend to say. It is possible, however, that whales, or some fish perhaps nearly as large as whales, which did not show themselves above the surface, might also have been concerned in the pursuit and occasioned the agitation that so much surprised us; for I
cannot think it possible that the seals and bonetas, numerous as they were, could have produced so violent a commotion.

A breeze springing up, we stood away for Payta, with a view of looking into that port, and at sunset were in sight of the island of Lobos, which lies a short distance to the southward, where we hove to for the
Barclay
to come up, as we had nearly run her out of sight; and, after speaking her, stretched off under easy sail, and at two o’clock in the morning made sail in shore. The weather at sunrise was hazy and prevented us for some time from seeing the saddle of Payta, which is a remarkably irregular mountain to the south of Payta, and when once seen cannot be mistaken, the highest part making something like a saddle, and running away to a low point to the northward, which is the point forming the harbour of Payta. As we stood in shore we discovered two small sail coming out, and as we approached them were at a loss to know what to make of them; but at last discovered them to be rafts or catamarans, steering by the wind, having each six men to work them. I had at first believed them to be fishing rafts from Payta, but was surprised they should have ventured so great a distance from the land, as we were, when we spoke them, about seven leagues off shore, and was induced, from their strange appearance, to visit them.

On going along side, I learnt, to my astonishment, that they were from Guyaquil, with cargoes of cocoa, bound to Guacho, a port to leeward of Lima, and had already been out thirty days. They were destitute of water and had no other provisions on board than a few rotten plantains. We, however, perceived a number of fish bones and pieces of fish scattered about the rafts, which induced us to believe that they were enabled to catch an abundance of fish, which no doubt follow them to get the small barnacles and grass with which the logs were plentifully supplied. Nothing can exceed the miserable construction of these floats. Eight logs of from twenty-five to thirty feet in length, with the bark scarcely taken off, and three pieces lashed across with a kind of grass rope, to form the floor; each side is formed of two logs, laid one on another, and the deck is composed of rough logs laid crosswise, and projecting from four to six feet beyond the sides, and all lashed (though very insecurely) together. Forward and aft are some pieces of board from three to four feet in length, stuck down between the logs forming the floor, and serving as a substitute for a keel. A mast is stepped in between the logs of the floor, and, instead of partners, secured by a lashing from side to side, and having the additional security of a stay and a shroud, which is shifted always to the weather side, and to this is hoisted a large lug-sail made of cotton. Their ground tackling consists of some bark, twisted in the form of a rope, which serves as a cable, and a large stone with a stick lashed to it, of about eighteen inches long, for a
stock, serves as an anchor; she is steered by a paddle, carries her cargo on the logs forming the deck, and has as a substitute for a caboose, a small quantity of dirt thrown on the logs that project beyond the sides forward. The crews appear equally as miserable in their appearance as the machine they navigate; and it excited no little surprise in our minds when we were informed that the navigation from Guyaquil to Lima, a distance of about six hundred miles, against a constant head wind and frequently rapid current, should be very common with those rafts. This passage takes them two months; and there can be no stronger proof of the mildness of this ocean, so justly, in this part, deserving the name of the Pacific, than the fact, that the loss of those vessels, frail as they are, is very uncommon. Nor can there be a more convincing instance of the unenlightened state of the people of this part of the world than that they should continue the use of such barbarous vessels, when the fastest sailing vessels are so necessary; where materials for building them are so abundant; and where the state of the climate will admit of vessels of such construction as best suits their purpose, without any apprehensions of danger from the violence of the sea. But so far are they behind hand in civilization and intelligence with the rest of the world that the appearance of all the vessels built on the Spanish coast of the Pacific (except the few built at Guyaquil) bespeaks the extreme ignorance of the constructor as well as the navigator. There are established at Guyaquil some European constructors, who have built large vessels that have been justly admired in Europe and other parts of the world; but nothing, except the catamarans, can be more clumsy in their appearance, and apparently more unsuitable to the navigation of this ocean, than the miserable vessels employed in the coasting trade of Peru.

The two catamarans above mentioned had looked into the harbour of Payta and were consequently enabled to give me all the intelligence I required. They informed me there were no vessels lying there except two or three small coasting vessels; and as there was now no necessity for showing ourselves before that place, I shaped my course for the Gallipagos Islands, directing the
Barclay
to steer WNW by compass, in order that we might fall in with the latitude to the eastward of them, intimating to her commander that I should, from time to time, so vary from this course as to look over as much ground in our way as possible. This method we put in practice until we made Chatham Island, which was on the morning of the 17th. During our run we had no opportunity of correcting our dead reckoning by lunar observations, nor have we had a chance of ascertaining the rate of the chronometer since leaving St. Catharines. We were enabled to discover by our latitude that we had a current of fifteen miles per twenty-four hours, setting to the northward; and from the violent ripples we
frequently met with, were induced to believe that its rate was much greater, and concluded it to set also westerly. On our making the land, found we had, since taking our departure from Payta, been set two degrees a-head of our reckoning. We employed ourselves during our passage in getting the magazine in good order for service, as we had been led to expect some resistance from the heavy armed letters of marque that we hoped to meet among the Gallipagos, employed in the whale-fishery. Having understood that calms were very prevalent there, we prepared our boats in the best manner for attacking them, selecting crews for them in addition to their oarsmen; and laid down plans of attack, and established signals for them. The whole, amounting to seven boats, carrying seventy men, were placed under the command of Lieutenant Downes.

I discovered that we should meet with great delays from the prevalence of calms; and as I could form no plans for future operations until my arrival at the general rendezvous of the whalers, I considered it adviseable to put the crew on two quarts of water per day. This reduction was now severely felt, as the weather was extremely hot; but all seemed reconciled to bear every privation without a murmur. The health of the crew had improved in a remarkable manner since leaving Valparaiso, and at this time we had but two men on the sick list, one affected by chronic debility, the other by a pain in the muscles of the neck, but neither disabled from coming to their quarters. Doctor Miller, the surgeon of the ship, a very infirm man, who was in a deep consumption when he joined the ship, and whose health had not improved on board her, requested permission to go with his servant on board the
Barclay,
and there remain, as he believed that a change of water, pure air, and greater tranquillity would render his situation more tolerable. As the extreme debility of the gentleman prevented him from doing his duty on board, and as he was constantly complaining of his sufferings from the confined air of this ship, I was happy he had fallen on an expedient to render his existence more supportable and took the first opportunity of sending him on board the
Barclay,
where he soon found himself more comfortably situated than amidst the noise and confusion of a man of war, for which his low state of health entirely unsuited him.

AT DAY-LIGHT ON
the morning of the 29th
[of April],
I was roused from my cot, where I passed a sleepless and anxious night, by the cry of
“Sail ho!” “Sail ho!”
which was re-echoed through the ship, and in a moment all hands were on deck. The strange sail proved to be a large ship, bearing west, to which we gave chase; and in an hour afterwards we discovered two others, bearing southwest, equally large in their appearance. I had no doubts of
their being British whale-ships; and as I was certain that toward mid-day, as usual, it would fall calm, I felt confident we should succeed in taking the whole of them. I continued my pursuit of the first discovered vessel, and at nine o’clock spoke her under British colours. She proved to be the British whale-ship
Montezuma,
Captain Baxter, with one thousand four hundred barrels of spermaceti oil. I invited the captain on board; and while he was in my cabin, giving me such information as was in his power respecting the other whale-ships about the Gallipagos, I took his crew on board the
Essex,
put an officer and crew in the
Montezuma,
and continued in pursuit of the other vessels, which made all exertions to get from us. At eleven
A.M.,
according to my expectation, it fell calm; we were then at the distance of eight miles from them. I had reason, from the information obtained, to believe them to be the British armed whale-ships
Georgiana,
of six eighteen-pounders, and the
Policy,
of ten six-pounders, the one having on board thirty-five, and the other twenty-six men; but that they were British ships, there could not be a doubt, and we were determined to have them at all hazards. Thick and hazy weather is prevalent here, and, as there was every indication of it, I was fearful that, in the event of a breeze, one or the other of them might make its escape from us, as I had understood that they were reputed fast sailers. I therefore thought it adviseable to attempt them in our boats, and with this view had them prepared for the purpose, and in a few minutes they departed in two divisions.