The Log of a Privateersman

The French probably never did a more audacious thing than when, on the night of October 26th, 1804, a party of forty odd of them left the lugger _Belle Marie_ hove-to in Weymout...

The town clock was striking four when, the muster roll having been called and all hands being found to be on board, we cast off the shore- fasts and, under the influence of a li...

"That settles the matter for good and all!" exclaimed the skipper, now in rare good-humour, as he pointed to the Indiaman's stern. "Up with your helm, my man," to the man at the...

The weather had been clearing all day, and when, about six bells that afternoon, we made the high land of Portland, the sky was without a cloud, the atmosphere clear and bright,...

hotly, and both craft were so completely enveloped in smoke that neither party was aware of our presence; I therefore steered so as to just shave clear of the _Dolphin's_ stern;...

Our preventer back-stays--which, for the benefit of the uninitiated, I may explain, were simply extra ropes intended to take a portion of the strain and so relieve the ordinary...

We lowered our two cutters and the gig, and then, picking out my forty men, and arming them with a cutlass and a brace of pistols apiece, I shoved off to take possession of our...

The unwounded prisoners were quickly secured below;--the wounded on both sides being as quickly transferred to the _Dolphin_, in order that they might the more conveniently be a...

The next three days were spent in dodging about the chops of the Channel, during which we saw nothing except a few homeward-bound British merchantmen--all of them armed and quit...

About midnight there were signs that the gale had pretty well blown itself out. There was a distinct, if not very strongly-marked decrease in the strength of the wind, and about...

The brigantine was at this time under all plain sail, to her royal and main-topmast-staysail, standing toward us, close-hauled, on the port tack; but we had no sooner shortened...

For a full week nothing occurred of sufficient importance to be worthy of record; our little squadron making good headway before the fair wind that had come to our assistance; n...

"I will only detain you a moment, gentlemen," said the medico, as he closed the cabin door behind us; "but I wanted to speak to you strictly in private; since, if overheard, wha...

Captain Chesney seemed to be very reluctant, even now, to quit the neighbourhood of the burning ship; and therein I considered that he was displaying sound judgment, for the wea...

The mast and sails of the boat had gone clean over the bows into the water, and would in all probability have been lost to us but for the fact that the shrouds still held; and,...

I must confess that the sudden appearance of those two ferocious monsters of the deep excited within me a feeling of intense horror and uneasiness; for I had heard so much about...

Where was I? What was this darksome, foul, and evil-smelling place? Who was that forbidding-looking individual sitting there smoking under that swaying, smoky, dimly-burning, mi...

At this moment Pierre, who turned out to be the boatswain of the ship, accompanied by the three other men, one of whom carried a length of ratline in his hand, came clattering d...

It was drawing well on toward sunset when Renouf, having apparently appropriated all the most valuable portions of the Spaniard's cargo that he could readily lay hands on, began...

Upon rejoining Dumaresq, I learned from him that the pistol-shot fired in the cabin had attracted only the most casual and momentary notice of the few Frenchmen on deck; the maj...

The task with which I had been intrusted was one of the very greatest responsibility; for the descent of a combined French and Spanish fleet upon West Indian waters could only b...

With the disappearance of the corposant there was nothing whatever to betray the presence of a strange sail in our vicinity; for now, strain my eyes as I would, I could not be a...

This, too, was a very substantial and handsomely made piece of furniture, the material being Spanish mahogany. But, unlike the writing-table, all its drawers were unlocked; and,...

By great good luck the weather happened to be favourable for our immediate embarkation upon our adventure, so after a further and final chat with Hoard, the schooner was headed...

Arrived at the boats, we lost not a moment in tumbling into them and getting under way again, for time was now a precious commodity, there being still a journey of some four mil...

For fully an hour the galley dallied with the tempting bait that I had thrown out, now edging down towards us for a few minutes, and anon hauling her wind again, her commander a...