CHAPTER XI
THE LOSS OF THE CARAK
On the day after I had given my fortune and letters into the charge
of Captain Bell, I watched the 'Adventuress' drop slowly round the
mole of Cadiz, and so sad was I at heart, that I am not ashamed to
confess I wept. I would gladly have the wealth she carried if she
had but carried me. But my purpose was indomitable, and it must be
some other ship that would bear me home to the shores of England.
As it chanced, a large Spanish carak named 'Las Cinque Llagas,' or
'The Five Wounds,' was about to sail for Hispaniola, and having
obtained a licence to trade, I took passage in her under my assumed
name of d'Aila, passing myself off as a merchant. To further this
deception I purchased goods the value of one hundred and five
pesos, and of such nature as I was informed were most readily
saleable in the Indies, which merchandise I shipped with me. The
vessel was full of Spanish adventurers, mostly ruffians of varied
career and strange history, but none the less good companions
enough when not in drink. By this time I could speak Castilian so
perfectly, and was so Spanish in appearance, that it was not
difficult for me to pass myself off as one of their nation and this
I did, inventing a feigned tale of my parentage, and of the reasons
that led me to tempt the seas. For the rest, now as ever I kept my
own counsel, and notwithstanding my reserve, for I would not mingle
in their orgies, I soon became well liked by my comrades, chiefly
because of my skill in ministering to their sicknesses.
Of our voyage there is little to tell except of its sad end. At
the Canary Isles we stayed a month, and then sailed away for
Hispaniola, meeting with fine weather but light winds. When, as
our captain reckoned, we were within a week's sail of the port of
San Domingo for which we were bound, the weather changed, and
presently gathered to a furious tempest from the north that grew
more terrible every hour. For three days and nights our cumbrous
vessel groaned and laboured beneath the stress of the gale, that
drove us on rapidly we knew not whither, till at length it became
clear that, unless the weather moderated, we must founder. Our
ship leaked at every seam, one of our masts was carried away, and
another broken in two, at a height of twenty feet from the deck.
But all these misfortunes were small compared to what was to come,
for on the fourth morning a great wave swept off our rudder, and we
drifted helpless before the waves. An hour later a green sea came
aboard of us, washing away the captain, so that we filled and
settled down to founder.
Then began a most horrid scene. For several days both the crew and
passengers had been drinking heavily to allay their terror, and now
that they saw their end at hand, they rushed to and fro screaming,
praying, and blaspheming. Such of them as remained sober began to
get out the two boats, into which I and another man, a worthy
priest, strove to place the women and children, of whom we had
several on board. But this was no easy task, for the drunken
sailors pushed them aside and tried to spring into the boats, the
first of which overturned, so that all were lost. Just then the
carak gave a lurch before she sank, and, seeing that everything was
over, I called to the priest to follow me, and springing into the
sea I swam for the second boat, which, laden with some shrieking
women, had drifted loose in the confusion. As it chanced I reached
it safely, being a strong swimmer, and was able to rescue the
priest before he sank. Then the vessel reared herself up on her
stern and floated thus for a minute or more, which gave us time to
get out the oars and row some fathoms further away from her.
Scarcely had we done so, when, with one wild and fearful scream
from those on board of her, she rushed down into the depths below,
nearly taking us with her. For a while we sat silent, for our
horror overwhelmed us, but when the whirlpool which she made had
ceased to boil, we rowed back to where the carak had been. Now all
the sea was strewn with wreckage, but among it we found only one
child living that had clung to an oar. The rest, some two hundred
souls, had been sucked down with the ship and perished miserably,
or if there were any still living, we could not find them in that
weltering sea over which the darkness was falling.
Indeed, it was well for our own safety that we failed in so doing,
for the little boat had ten souls on board in all, which was as
many as she could carry--the priest and I being the only men among
them. I have said that the darkness was falling, and as it chanced
happily for us, so was the sea, or assuredly we must have been
swamped. All that we could do was to keep the boat's head straight
to the waves, and this we did through the long night. It was a
strange thing to see, or rather to hear, that good man the priest
my companion, confessing the women one by one as he laboured at his
oar, and when all were shriven sending up prayers to God for the
salvation of our souls, for of the safety of our bodies we
despaired. What I felt may well be imagined, but I forbear to
describe it, seeing that, bad as was my case, there were worse ones
before me of which I shall have to tell in their season.
At length the night wore away, and the dawn broke upon the desolate
sea. Presently the sun came up, for which at first we were
thankful, for we were chilled to the bone, but soon its heat grew
intolerable, since we had neither food nor water in the boat, and
already we were parched with thirst. But now the wind had fallen
to a steady breeze, and with the help of the oars and a blanket, we
contrived to fashion a sail that drew us through the water at a
good speed. But the ocean was vast, and we did not know whither we
were sailing, and every hour the agony of thirst pressed us more
closely. Towards mid-day a child died suddenly and was thrown into
the sea, and some three hours later the mother filled a bailing
bowl and drank deep of the bitter water. For a while it seemed to
assuage her thirst, then suddenly a madness took her, and springing
up she cast herself overboard and sank. Before the sun, glowing
like a red-hot ball, had sunk beneath the horizon, the priest and I
were the only ones in that company who could sit upright--the rest
lay upon the bottom of the boat heaped one on another like dying
fish groaning in their misery. Night fell at last and brought us
some relief from our sufferings, for the air grew cooler. But the
rain we prayed for did not fall, and so great was the heat that,
when the sun rose again in a cloudless sky, we knew, if no help
reached us, that it must be the last which we should see.
An hour after dawn another child died, and as we were in the act of
casting the body into the sea, I looked up and saw a vessel far
away, that seemed to be sailing in such fashion that she would pass
within two miles of where we were. Returning thanks to God for
this most blessed sight, we took to the oars, for the wind was now
so light that our clumsy sail would no longer draw us through the
water, and rowed feebly so as to cut the path of the ship. When we
had laboured for more than an hour the wind fell altogether and the
vessel lay becalmed at a distance of about three miles. So the
priest and I rowed on till I thought that we must die in the boat,
for the heat of the sun was like that of a flame and there came no
wind to temper it; by now, too, our lips were cracked with thirst.
Still we struggled on till the shadow of the ship's masts fell
athwart us and we saw her sailors watching us from the deck. Now
we were alongside and they let down a ladder of rope, speaking to
us in Spanish.
How we reached the deck I cannot say, but I remember falling
beneath the shade of an awning and drinking cup after cup of the
water that was brought to me. At last even my thirst was
satisfied, and for a while I grew faint and dizzy, and had no
stomach for the meat which was thrust into my hand. Indeed, I
think that I must have fainted, for when I came to myself the sun
was straight overhead, and it seemed to me that I had dreamed I
heard a familiar and hateful voice. At the time I was alone
beneath the awning, for the crew of the ship were gathered on the
foredeck clustering round what appeared to be the body of a man.
By my side was a large plate of victuals and a flask of spirits,
and feeling stronger I ate and drank of them heartily. I had
scarcely finished my meal when the men on the foredeck lifted the
body of the man, which I saw was black in colour, and cast it
overboard. Then three of them, whom from their port I took to be
officers, came towards me and I rose to my feet to meet them.
'Senor,' said the tallest of them in a soft and gentle voice,
'suffer me to offer you our felicitations on your wonderful--' and
he stopped suddenly.
Did I still dream, or did I know the voice? Now for the first time
I could see the man's face--it was that of JUAN DE GARCIA! But if
I knew him he also knew me.
'Caramba!' he said, 'whom have we here? Senor Thomas Wingfield I
salute you. Look, my comrades, you see this young man whom the sea
has brought to us. He is no Spaniard but an English spy. The last
time that I saw him was in the streets of Seville, and there he
tried to murder me because I threatened to reveal his trade to the
authorities. Now he is here, upon what errand he knows best.'
'It is false,' I answered; 'I am no spy, and I am come to these
seas for one purpose only--to find you.'
'Then you have succeeded well, too well for your own comfort,
perhaps. Say now, do you deny that you are Thomas Wingfield and an
Englishman?'
'I do not deny it. I--'
'Your pardon. How comes it then that, as your companion the priest
tells me, you sailed in Las Cinque Llagas under the name of
D'AILA?'
'For my own reasons, Juan de Garcia.'
'You are confused, senor. My name is Sarceda, as these gentlemen
can bear me witness. Once I knew a cavalier of the name of de
Garcia, but he is dead.'
'You lie,' I answered; whereon one of De Garcia's companions struck
me across the mouth.
'Gently, friend,' said de Garcia; 'do not defile your hand by
striking such rats as this, or if you must strike, use a stick.
You have heard that he confesses to passing under a false name and
to being an Englishman, and therefore one of our country's foes.
To this I add upon my word of honour that to my knowledge he is a
spy and a would-be murderer. Now, gentlemen, under the commission
of his majesty's representative, we are judges here, but since you
may think that, having been called a liar openly by this English
dog, I might be minded to deal unjustly with him, I prefer to leave
the matter in your hands.'
Now I tried to speak once more, but the Spaniard who had struck me,
a ferocious-looking villain, drew his sword and swore that he would
run me through if I dared to open my lips. So I thought it well to
keep silent.
'This Englishman would grace a yardarm very well,' he said.
De Garcia, who had begun to hum a tune indifferently, smiled,
looking first at the yard and then at my neck, and the hate in his
eyes seemed to burn me.
'I have a better thought than that,' said the third officer. 'If
we hung him questions might be asked, and at the least, it would be
a waste of good money. He is a finely built young man and would
last some years in the mines. Let him be sold with the rest of the
cargo, or I will take him myself at a valuation. I am in want of a
few such on my estate.'
At these words I saw de Garcia's face fall a little, for he wished
to be rid of me for ever. Still he did not think it politic to
interfere beyond saying with a slight yawn:
'So far as I am concerned, take him, comrade, and free of cost.
Only I warn you, watch him well or you will find a stiletto in your
back.'
The officer laughed and said: 'Our friend will scarcely get a
chance at me, for I do not go a hundred paces underground, where he
will find his quarters. And now, Englishman, there is room for you
below I think;' and he called to a sailor bidding him bring the
irons of the man who had died.
This was done, and after I had been searched and a small sum in
gold that I had upon my person taken from me--it was all that
remained to me of my possessions--fetters were placed upon my
ankles and round my neck, and I was dragged into the hold. Before
I reached it I knew from various signs what was the cargo of this
ship. She was laden with slaves captured in Fernandina, as the
Spaniards name the island of Cuba, that were to be sold in
Hispaniola. Among these slaves I was now numbered.
How to tell the horrors of that hold I know not. The place was
low, not more than seven feet in height, and the slaves lay ironed
in the bilge water on the bottom of the vessel. They were crowded
as thick as they could lie, being chained to rings fixed in the
sides of the ship. Altogether there may have been two hundred of
them, men, women and children, or rather there had been two hundred
when the ship sailed a week before. Now some twenty were dead,
which was a small number, since the Spaniards reckon to lose from a
third to half of their cargo in this devilish traffic. When I
entered the place a deadly sickness seized me, weak as I was,
brought on by the horrible sounds and smells, and the sights that I
saw in the flare of the lanterns which my conductors carried, for
the hold was shut off from light and air. But they dragged me
along and presently I found myself chained in the midst of a line
of black men and women, many feet resting in the bilge water.
There the Spaniards left me with a jeer, saying that this was too
good a bed for an Englishman to lie on. For a while I endured,
then sleep or insensibility came to my succour, and I sank into
oblivion, and so I must have remained for a day and a night.
When I awoke it was to find the Spaniard to whom I had been sold or
given, standing near me with a lantern and directing the removal of
the fetters from a woman who was chained next to me. She was dead,
and in the light of the lantern I could see that she had been
carried off by some horrible disease that was new to me, but which
I afterwards learned to know by the name of the Black Vomit. Nor
was she the only one, for I counted twenty dead who were dragged
out in succession, and I could see that many more were sick. Also
I saw that the Spaniards were not a little frightened, for they
could make nothing of this sickness, and strove to lessen it by
cleansing the hold and letting air into it by the removal of some
planks in the deck above. Had they not done this I believe that
every soul of us must have perished, and I set down my own escape
from the sickness to the fact that the largest opening in the deck
was made directly above my head, so that by standing up, which my
chains allowed me to do, I could breathe air that was almost pure.
Having distributed water and meal cakes, the Spaniards went away.
I drank greedily of the water, but the cakes I could not eat, for
they were mouldy. The sights and sounds around me were so awful
that I will not try to write of them.
And all the while we sweltered in the terrible heat, for the sun
pierced through the deck planking of the vessel, and I could feel
by her lack of motion that we were becalmed and drifting. I stood
up, and by resting my heels upon a rib of the ship and my back
against her side, I found myself in a position whence I could see
the feet of the passers-by on the deck above.
Presently I saw that one of these wore a priest's robe, and
guessing that he must be my companion with whom I had escaped, I
strove to attract his notice, and at length succeeded. So soon as
he knew who it was beneath him, the priest lay down on the deck as
though to rest himself, and we spoke together. He told me, as I
had guessed, that we were becalmed and that a great sickness had
taken hold of the ship, already laying low a third of the crew,
adding that it was a judgment from heaven because of their cruelty
and wickedness.
To this I answered that the judgment was working on the captives as
well as on the captors, and asked him where was Sarceda, as they
named de Garcia. Then I learned that he had been taken sick that
morning, and I rejoiced at the news, for if I had hated him before,
it may be judged how deeply I hated him now. Presently the priest
left me and returned with water mixed with the juice of limes, that
tasted to me like nectar from the gods, and some good meat and
fruit. These he gave me through the hole in the planks, and I made
shift to seize them in my manacled hands and devoured them. After
this he went away, to my great chagrin; why, I did not discover
till the following morning.
That day passed and the long night passed, and when at length the
Spaniards visited the hold once more, there were forty bodies to be
dragged out of it, and many others were sick. After they had gone
I stood up, watching for my friend the priest, but he did not come
then, nor ever again.
