Narrative of the Voyages and Services of the Nemesis from 1840 to 1843. Bernard William Dallas

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СКАЧАТЬ horror, discovered the body of his unfortunate captain lying by the side of the fire, and several natives standing around it, some of whom were busy cutting off slices from the fleshy parts of the body, while others roasted them in the fire, with all the appearance of anxious longing for the feast!

      Can any situation be conceived more horrible at this moment than that of the unfortunate wounded man? If he betrayed symptoms of life, he was sure to be beaten with heavy clubs to death; if he lay quiet, to all appearance lifeless, it was far from improbable that, when they should have become satiated with the flesh of his companion, they might be ready to commence their butchery upon himself. Who can picture to himself without horror the dreadful moments which lingered as they passed, and seemed endless in the anxiety of suspense! There the poor fellow lay, in speechless agony, the fated witness of barbarity the most revolting.

      At length, having gorged themselves with that horrible repast in the peculiar manner which those who have ever seen the hungry savage at his meal can never forget, they fell asleep round the fire, under the full oppression of repletion. The poor mate, perceiving this, made a desperate effort to rouse himself from his death-like dreaminess, and try to fly from his impending fate, he knew not how or whither. He could not stand, he could not walk, and almost feinted with the effort; yet he crawled on hands and knees towards the neighbouring bush or thicket, and there contrived to hide himself.

      He lay concealed, in helplessness, until the following day, when he was discovered by the restless eye of the suspicious savage. He asked, by signs, for water; but not only was that refused to him, but he was given to understand, without difficulty, that they looked forward to the pleasure of eating him for their evening meal with particular satisfaction; and a sort of rude table was pointed out to him, upon which they intended to cut him up for their repast, according to their most approved fashion. After this, they left him alone in his misery. It should be mentioned, that when they refused him drink, they did give him a little food, which they forced him to eat, and – horrible to think of! – it was not improbably a part of his murdered companion, upon which they had regaled themselves the evening before.

      As night approached, the man, finding himself somewhat recovered from the shock of his wounds, made another desperate effort to escape. He could now walk; and slowly and cautiously he pursued his way, tracing back his course with the almost unerring instinct which the resolution of despair awakens. The darkness of the night favoured him; and, by sometimes diving into the wood for concealment, sometimes resting in the darkest part of the thicket to collect his failing strength, and then again boldly urging on his course along the more open beach by the sea-side, he at length eluded all his pursuers. They had followed him, for some distance, in vain; and he safely reached, on the following day, the schooner he had left, completely exhausted and helpless.

      Here he found that, even during his short absence, death had done its work among his messmates on board. Finding that there was no hope of procuring relief on shore, another attempt was made to get the boat over the bar – and with success. In this the chief mate, with two other men, embarked, in the hope of being able to make their passage along the coast of Delagoa Bay. The attempt fortunately succeeded; and, at the end of five days, a large boat was descried approaching the wreck, which had been hired by their comrades from the Portuguese authorities for two hundred dollars, for the purpose of bringing them off. But their troubles were not yet destined to end. A heavy sea still continued to beat upon the bar, creating such a surf that they were compelled to wait at least fourteen days more before they could leave the schooner. Happily, they were at length able to embark; and, carrying with them the most portable articles of value they could stow away, they ultimately succeeded in reaching Delagoa Bay.

      It has more than once been suspected that some of the tribes on the eastern coast of Africa were cannibals, under certain circumstances: but others again, and Captain Owen among the number, have declared that, "on inquiry, even their greatest enemies acquitted them of the suspicion." There does not, however, appear to be any well-grounded reason for calling in question the truth of the statement made by this unfortunate man, Reid. His tale was told to Captain Hall with every appearance of truth; and, although it might be suggested that the man was not unlikely to have been in a state of dreamy delirium, after the wounds and blows he had received upon the head, and might have been led by fear to imagine what he pictured to himself to be true, still this is a very unsatisfactory answer to a simple tale of facts, artlessly told, and without any object to be gained by inventing a case of horror. Besides which, he could hardly have found his way back to the schooner without assistance, had he not perfectly recovered his senses before he started.

      Two of the unfortunate men entered as able seamen on board the Nemesis, with liberty to be discharged when they pleased, and continued on board until she arrived at Singapore; but the second mate preferred waiting for any American vessel that might touch at the settlement.

      It may seem that I have dwelt long upon the subjects of interest connected with the stay of the Nemesis at Delagoa Bay; but, in reality, it is a part of the coast of Africa little known to the general reader, and as the vessel was detained there for a considerable time, many objects of interest were noticed and remembered. I have before mentioned that the Portuguese have been very far from advancing the civilization of the natives. There is certainly no love for each other between them; and the debasing influences of the slave-trade seem universally to poison the heart, and destroy all the sympathies of our nature.

      One poor native woman was discovered who spoke English tolerably well, and was found to have been extremely useful as interpreter to all the English and American vessels, whalers, and others, which touched there for supplies. For what particular reason does not appear, but this woman had been strictly forbidden by the governor to go on board the Nemesis, under pain of the severest punishment; indeed, she had been kept in close confinement nearly ever since the arrival of the vessel. But, at length, when an American whaler came into the bay, she was allowed to visit that ship as usual. There was something peculiarly artless and good-natured about the poor woman's manner, and she expressed a particular wish to be allowed to see some person from the English ship. Word was accordingly brought from the American captain to that effect.

      Her tale was a remarkable one, and told with considerable intelligence. She expressed her attachment to the English in strong terms, enumerated the various kindnesses she had received from them, inquired after particular ships and individuals, and seemed to remember almost every trifling incident that had occurred. She was greatly afraid of being punished by the governor for having dared to talk to the English, but could assign no particular grounds for the harsh treatment she received. It was, however, shrewdly suspected that it arose from fear that she might furnish information about the slave-trade, and that, in fact, her remarks might already have been very useful to the English cruisers, and, consequently, injurious to the Portuguese dealers. It has been before stated that the governor himself was not free from the suspicion of countenancing the traffic; and, taking all the circumstances together, it became pretty evident that this poor woman's treatment was only one of the links in the chain of turpitude forged out of the iron rod of slavery.

      For the first time since the arrival of the Nemesis, some of her officers were now able to leave the ship for a day, and make an interesting excursion up the river. They started early in the morning, accompanied by a Portuguese merchant and his servant. It being now the least unhealthy season of the year, there was little or no danger to be apprehended from sickness, particularly as it was not their intention to remain out at night.

      It has already been noticed that the English River, is, in fact, formed by the united waters of three rivers, at the distance of only five or six miles from the fort, the largest being the Temby, to the southward, and the smallest the Dundas, to the westward, while the Mattoll runs up towards the northward. The Dundas was the one chosen on the present excursion, as there was good expectation of finding large herds of hippopotami upon its banks, and perhaps other wild animals, which would furnish a capital day's sport. The banks of the river were low, and the stream sluggish, and on all sides abundance of mangrove shrubs and bushes, sufficient of themselves to indicate that the country must frequently be flooded. Birds СКАЧАТЬ