Part 2

The second action was stubborn and bloody; the two fleets fought nearly the whole day; and in this affair they were well matched, the French having twelve sail of the line, and the English eleven; though in the former they had twelve, and we only nine. Night, together with shoal water, put an end to this sanguinary contest; and the fleets being near the island of Ceylon, parted as by mutual consent, and came to an anchor; perhaps apprehensive of greater danger from rocks, &c. &c. The next morning presented both fleets to view,—about four miles and a half distant from each other; here, no doubt, the minds of all in both fleets were more or less occupied, from admirals to the cabin-boys: here were complicated scenes of distress; masts, yards, carriages, bodies, or trunks of bodies rather, floating in every direction! Our fleet appeared to have had the worst of this severe conflict; two of our line-of-battle ships were nearly dismasted, and one was aground: the French suffered materially in men and rigging, but not in their lower masts. Eight days elapsed in repairing their damages; at the expiration of which time, the enemy was ready, and getting under weigh, stood out, and then tacked, and stood in, offering our fleet battle; but Admiral Hughes, from his recent losses and crippled state, was too wise to accept any overture of the kind; and very prudently lay close, until he had put his ships[1] in the best condition he could. The place where this sanguinary battle terminated was Battecalo, but the seamen named it Bloody Bay, which perhaps it will long retain: its distance from Trincomalee, the principal sea-port in the island of Ceylon, is about sixty miles.

After this affair, the French fleet steered for Tranquebar, a Danish settlement on the coast of Coromandel. Here Captain Byrus solicited the French admiral for leave to go on shore on his parole, being sorely afflicted with the stone and gravel: he included me in this request, but it was not granted; nor was his own, till after several applications, and a rapid increase of his disorder shamed them at a refusal. He was lowered down the ship’s side while I stood on the gunwale; the tears trickled down his manly face, though he strove to hide them, and his eyes spoke parental affection: for my own part, I was truly sorrowful, and felt, and still feel, all that an affectionate son ought to feel for a worthy parent.

I informed my reader, in a preceding page, that I had permission, through this gentleman’s influence, to sleep on the poop. I could swim very well, but the ship lay at least two miles from the shore, and I knew I had a heavy surf to contend with, should I reach it; these were weighty considerations, but I was resolved to try it, and thought it prudent to inform two of our officers, a Mr. Western, who was taken in the Chaser, and another young gentleman, whose name was Covey. They both dissuaded me from any attempt of the kind: but my affection for Captain Byrus, to whom I was conscious, could he have seen me, it would have been a balm in his afflictions,—together with an idea of liberty,— induced me to form a resolution, which is not easily shaken. Accordingly, when night came, I laid myself down on the hencoop as usual, waiting an opportunity of stealing down to the mizzen-chains. In order to accomplish this preparatory step, I conceived it essentially necessary to watch very minutely the quarter-master and sentinel, who were pacing it slowly on the starboard side. It was done; I found myself in the mizzen-chains, the spot I had been some time watching to gain, but no sooner was it gained, than fear seized me; the darkness of the night, the appearance of the sea, which was very rough, and the distance I had to swim, staggered my resolutions, and I cowardly sneaked back again to my coop with as much caution as I had descended to the chains. Here I lay an hour, revolving what was to be done; hope and fear swayed alternately; I knew the danger was great, and now for the first time the sharks, which infest the whole coast, came into my mind. No language can describe my sensations at this crisis; I had used the most solemn asseverations that I would go that night; and, thought I, what will those young gentlemen think, should they see me in the morning? This, with the hope of seeing him, whom of all men, next to my father, I most revered, got the better of my fears, and resolution once more resumed her seat. I cautiously gained the mizzen-chains again, and determinately lowered myself into the water by the main sheet. As soon as I was fairly in, I swam under her stern, and instantly dived, going under as far as I could, in order to elude the vigilance of the watch on the poop: the darkness of the night favoured me much, for when I came up, I could scarcely see the ship; and in this case I was well assured they could not see me. I had nothing about me but a silk handkerchief with two rupees, all my treasure, tied up in the corner; this article was very injurious to me, for as I had a side wind to cope with, it would frequently blow over my face, and cause me to turn my back to the sea till I got it righted again; nor could I by any means untie it, though I often tried. Under those circumstances, I stretched toward the shore; there was a Moor ship about half the distance, which vessel I reached within, I suppose, ten or twelve fathoms, and here I had hopes of resting; but here all my exertions proved fruitless, owing to the handkerchief about my neck. I conclude I must have been under her counter for at least ten minutes; and when I could gain a yard or two the handkerchief would be blown over my face: here I nearly exhausted my strength, without gaining my point, and I was under the necessity of relinquishing the hopes I had entertained of resting, turning my back to the wind, and treading water in order to recruit my strength.

I was soon astern of this ship, and knew not what to do; in fact, I could do but one thing, and that was, to go the way the wind and tide drove me; I knew there were many vessels inside the French fleet, and as I considered myself in the direction of them, I was not without hope. Twenty minutes, or thereabout, brought me alongside of a large ship; I swam astern of her, keeping as near as I could, where, to my no small consolation, I found a boat: I got hold of the gunwale, and, after resting myself some time, made a sufficient effort to see a man in her stern-sheet, asleep: I called, he awoke, and with the utmost humanity hauled me into the boat; Here, thank kind Providence, I found a resting-place; and after a while I proposed to this merciful man (for such I found him) to go on board; he immediately hauled the boat under the ship’s stern, and with his assistance I got up the ladder, walked to the waist, and sat down on the booms; but I very shortly was saluted with a volley of oaths from the mate, who was apprised of an English boy being in the ship. I was not sixteen years old at this time, but it would avail nothing with this monster in human shape: my naked condition, a dark night, a rough sea, and a coast infested with ferocious sharks, made no impression on this brute, for I cannot give him the appellation of man. I solicited, I entreated, to stay a few minutes longer; but it was unavailable, for he swore if I did not instantly leave the ship he would throw me overboard! This roused me to a state of desperation; I called him a monster, ran to the gangway, and sprang into the sea. Judge of this wretch, reader, when I inform you he threatened to throw a six-pound shot at me when in the water! I fear the poor merciful man in the boat was punished for his kindness to me; but surely “there is another and a better world!”

Once more I had to contend with the watery element; it still remained dark, and blew fresh. I had taken the precaution of untying my handkerchief in the boat, and tying it round my waist. The ship I had just left was a small Danish East Indiaman, and I knew, by her situation, that there was another about three quarters of a mile in her wake; this thought animated and gave me hopes. I had no great cause for exertion, the wind and tide being both in my favour. The day was now breaking, and seeing the ship, I swam alongside of her. The men were beginning to wash decks, and on perceiving me they threw out a rope, which I laid hold of; they hauled me about a yard from the water, but not possessing strength enough, I was under the necessity of letting go; they immediately made a running bowline knot, and threw it to me; this I got under my arms, when they drew me, to my great joy, on board. Here I was treated with the utmost tenderness and humanity; but my comforts were transient. After being refreshed with the best they had, I was put into the carpenter’s cot: my recent exertions soon helped me to sleep; but a few minutes after I was awoke, and informed that a French barge was making direct for the ship I was then in, and I soon saw she was from the ship that I swam from, Le Flemand of 50 guns; this to me was alarming indeed. I was hurried down the fore-hold by these humane Danes, and stowed away between the cable and the deck, and I thought all was well, for their search would have been in vain; but the mate betrayed me to the French lieutenant, who desired him to produce me; he learnt where I was, and ordering me on deck, I was obliged to obey. The Danes, I remember, pitied me very much, and inveighed severely against the mate. I was taken to the quarter-deck, and by the French officer ordered into the boat: I had on then a jacket and trowsers, and was stripping myself, to restore them to the merciful man from whom I had them, but the poor fellow refused them, and the tears gushed from his eyes at the time: here the sweet milk of humanity was visible indeed! I was now peremptorily ordered into the boat, and I have every reason to believe that the crew, had they not been awed by the officer, would have put an end to my existence before I reached the ship; and when we came alongside, I never saw a vessel manned to give another three cheers more numerous; they shouting and exulting as if they had taken a first-rate.

I could not at this time assign any reason for their extravagant conduct; but in the course of the next day I understood, that it was firmly, though erroneously believed, throughout the ship, that I had taken a bundle of letters from the English officers on board, to Captain Byrus on shore I was handed on the quarter-deck, and surrounded by numbers; the captain, who was at breakfast, being apprised of my arrival, came up: his countenance was at all times terrific, but now particularly so. After some conversation with his officers, I was ordered on the forecastle; when there, I was informed by a Welshman, who belonged to the ship, that I was to be hung at the yard-arm, if I did not immediately confess. Every means of intimidation was made use of; and when they found it ineffectual, I was ordered to the galley, where both my legs were put in irons, my arms tied behind me, and an iron bolt was forced into my mouth in such a savage manner, that the blood ran from both corners. In this situation I remained about three hours, when they took the gag from my mouth, and untied my arms. Both legs, however, still remained in irons, and in this condition I was kept by these _humane_ Frenchmen, with an allowance of rice and water once in twelve hours, and that after their blacks were served, for they had in each ship from forty to fifty to do their dirty and heavy work, until we were all landed at Cuddalore.

But notwithstanding the treatment I received, they were incessantly soliciting me to enter into their service. I was, and ever shall be, at a loss to know, what kind of an acquisition I should have been to them; but so it was: they used every means to induce me; officers would come, day after day, I supposed sent by the captain, with promises and fine words; but it was useless.

One day I was taken out of irons, and conveyed to the captain’s cabin; here the Welshman was, who had been sent for by the captain as an interpreter; the captain appeared all affability, and the Welshman was desired to ask me, how I dared swim from his ship? I told him I should dare do it again, if I had an opportunity, and a prospect of success; at this he paused, and looked at me with mild attention; the Welshman was now desired to resume the subject of entering into the French service, with great promises from the captain himself, if I would consent; and to enforce this argument, a Dutch cap full of dollars stood by him: I requested him to tell the captain that I should never think of any thing of the kind, and begged to be troubled no more on that subject. This closed the conversation, and he with indignation ordered me to my former situation, during which period not an Englishman was permitted to come near me. At length we were all, to the number of 500, taken in the different ships by their fleet, landed, as before observed, at Cuddalore, after being on board their ships six months.

The air and soil were witness to our joy at meeting; but alas! how transient! Our troubles, which we now supposed were drawing to a close, were just commencing! We were shortly escorted and sent to Chillembroom,[2] one of Hyder Ali’s strong forts. Here a dreadful famine raged; and our provisions consisted of bad rice and carrion beef; this, with the saltpetre ground on which we lay, was the cause of the loss of numbers of our men. I have seen many stout fellows taken one hour, and dead the next. Their disorder was the cramp, and, when seized, their distortions were such, that they scarcely retained the shape of human beings.—What cause induced the French admiral to deliver us up to this unprincipled barbarian, we never could discover. We were equally at a loss to conceive, why we were abandoned by the English, when they might have demanded us. I can only attribute it to the deplorable state of British affairs in India during this period.

CHAP. II.

_Marched to Chillembroom—Famine in the Place—Punishment of some who attempted to escape—Imprisoned—Put in Irons— Provisions scanty and bad—Conducted to Bangalore— General Treatment—Starvation—Inhuman Conduct—Comic Accident—Prisoners divided into three Parties—Sorrow at Separation—Sent to Burrampour—Imprisoned and in Irons—Nearly starved—Sent again to Bangalore—Marched to Seringapatam—Heads shaved—Treacherous European— Compelled to submit to the Mohammedan Rite—Afflictive Situation—Ablution—Death of Hyder Ali._

We were here about two months, when a circumstance took place, which we then considered very fortunate, but soon to our sorrow found it the reverse. Nineteen of our men, with Lieutenant Wilson of the Yarmouth, effected their escape; they had a few blankets among them, of which they made ropes; and by this means, availing themselves of a dark night, descended to the ditch over a stupendous stone wall; but they knew nothing of the country, or which way to steer. Nineteen of them were the next day brought in with their arms pinioned; and the other, our boatswain’s mate, was drowned in attempting to cross a river. Lieutenant Wilson was stripped, and flogged with tamarind twigs very severely, when they plastered his back over with sugar, and exposed him to the sun, by way of finishing the punishment due to his crime; the men were put in irons. In consequence of this affair, in a day or two after, we were marched to a strong prison, and the whole of us put in heavy leg-irons, with a scanty miserable allowance; and the guards were doubled. In this situation we remained two months, when an order came from Hyder Ali to march us from thence to Bangalore; in consequence of which, our irons being knocked off, we were coupled two and two in hand-irons. This being done, we were marched out of the fort, not knowing our destination. In this case there was no distinction, except that the officers were kept separate; for all were linked, both officers and men. We had the painful sight of seeing them pass us in irons; a state of degradation which affected many of us, and myself for one. Our first lieutenant and the lieutenant of marines, named Carthew, were brothers; these worthy men were coupled together in a double sense, viz. fraternal affection, and strong bolts of iron. They were, however, released from bondage in the year 1784, and are, I believe, both still living, one an admiral, and the other a clergyman.

We soon understood that our destination was Bangalore; our march commenced, and a severe one it was: several had no shoes, which was no small misfortune; many being coupled together whose tempers were by no means congenial, was another source of evil, and particularly so after a heavy day’s march. It frequently happened that we were kept, though I believe, not designedly, without food for many hours after reaching the ground on which we were to sleep; and wo to the poor weary wretch who should attempt to sit down to rest himself, for in this case he would be sure to have the application of the but-end of a musket between his shoulders: in short, no butcher ever drove oxen with more cruelty than we were driven. In order to prevent a surprise, we were taken by the most unfrequented ways; and one day, in a most dreadful abyss on the margin of the road, we heard the noise, as we supposed, of a rattlesnake, which alarmed us all; but if it was such, it must have been of an enormous size, otherwise it could not have made the noise it did.

A curious circumstance took place at one of our halting spots, which were mostly under trees, and which, though alarming at the time, was very laughable afterwards. Two of our men, about one o’clock in the morning, were preparing their rice coffee, in order to be ready for the morning’s march; when taking their cudgeree-pot off the fire, it broke, and scalded one of them, who gave a terrible roar, which was mistaken for a tiger’s by those near him, who were not half awake. This induced them to bawl out,—a tiger! a tiger! which was quickly communicated to the whole, as they were successively roused from their sleep. Our officers, being near us, took the alarm also; and such a scene of confusion ensued, as would require an abler pen than mine to describe. All were intent on personal safety, but all were not of one mind; hence, one hauled this way, and another that, till twenty or thirty pairs came in contact; numbers fell on each other, while some endeavoured to haul their weaker partners up into trees. The guards were running about like madmen, not knowing the cause of this hurly-burly; and I am persuaded to this day, had we not been ironed, the guards would never have entered our thoughts, and many would have been miles distant in a very short time. Several had the marks of this dragging business, on their wrists, for months afterwards. Smith, our corporal of marines, being the only man out of irons, and who could talk Moorish well, was sent for by the chief of the guard, who, I believe, was as much frightened as ourselves; but when he understood the cause of all this confusion, he was highly pleased, for he was apprehensive of something worse. Many of the guards were at a considerable distance at this time; but the panic gradually subsiding, the tom-toms were sounded, the horns were blown, the guards collected, and we composed ourselves to sleep, wondering at what had happened.

At the expiration of twenty-one days, under many distressing circumstances, we reached Bangalore. Here we were halted, and after three days, the Mohammedan and Brachmin grandees came from the fort, and separated us into three parties. The division I was in was sent to Burrampour, three days’ march from Bangalore. I do not recollect ever seeing a day of more sorrow. On parting, the tears flowed copiously from many, and grief was portrayed in almost every countenance. When we reached the place of our destination, prior to entering the prison, our hand-irons were knocked off, and leg-irons substituted. They gave us rice for the first eight or ten days, when they changed it to ragee, the flour of which is nearly as black as coal. This, no doubt, occasioned the death of numbers of our poor fellows, who died in excruciating agonies, which I think would not have been the case, had they had medical assistance; but they might as well have asked for mountains of gold, as any thing of this nature.

Here we remained three months, at the expiration of which time, being all ordered out to muster, the youngest were selected from the rest, to the number of fifteen, myself one; our irons were knocked off, and we were put for that night in the prison, as usual. This was mysterious to us; we knew not what to make of it. The next morning, we, the fifteen boys selected, were sent off to Bangalore, where we were told we should be taken good care of. We sorrowfully parted from our companions, and, after three days’ march, arrived at the spot. Here we met with more English youths, who had been taken, in like manner, from other prisons, and sent hither also. We were exceedingly glad to see each other, and, of course, mutual inquiries took place as to the cause of our being thus collected; but we were all equally ignorant, and a kind of gloomy pleasure was the result. We now mustered fifty-two boys, the oldest seventeen, and the youngest (a Mr. Randal Cadman, whom I shall have to mention again) twelve. The first of their operations was, searching us for knives, scissars, &c. and such as they found, they very goodnaturedly took from us; they then sent us several legs of mutton, with cudgeree pots, water, salt, &c. but carefully prevented our having any thing to cut it with. Nine of us formed a mess, and boiled one of the legs, which was our portion; but when ready, we were at a sad loss how to divide it, having been deprived of every instrument necessary for that purpose. After a hungry debate, one, more sagacious than the rest, procured a tile, with which instrument, and our exertions in tearing, we reduced it with much difficulty into three parts; we then formed ourselves into three parties, three in each, and, as we had made three joints of it, each party took one; and after taking it in our hands, and tearing as much as our mouths would contain, we passed it to another, till our turns came again. This was a necessary invention, which the rest were forced to adopt;—could you, my good reader, have done better?

Three days having expired, we were sent for by the killadare, or governor, who, after viewing us with apparent goodnature, gave us some fruit; which kindness we could not account for, all was mystery still, though we were repeatedly told that we were high in the estimation of Hyder, and considered as his children. On this piece of information, some were thoughtful, and some thoughtless. After a few days had elapsed, we were marched off to Seringapatam, Hyder’s capital; but our marches were easy, and our food was abundant. On the ninth day after we left Bangalore, we reached the capital, where we were seated between two gates for nearly three hours, and gazed at by innumerable multitudes, who were passing and repassing through the place, and who had never beheld such a sight before. From thence we were ordered to a tabla, or square, where they continued their kindness to us; but we were all this time quite ignorant of their base intentions. One month passed over our heads very comfortably, when the guards being increased, we were ordered out to muster. Near us stood a number of hodgams, (barbers,) who had orders to shave our heads. This we positively refused, and they did not use force, as this was only preparatory to something of greater moment.