United States or Ukraine ? Vote for the TOP Country of the Week !
After cruising off those parts of the coast most usually resorted to by slavers until the commencement of the rainy season, these vessels returned to the United States for supplies, and have since been dispatched on a similar service.
I fancy that they thought we were going to shoot them all; for the Portuguese crew had told them so, in the hopes, should we free them, that they might set upon us and throw us overboard. This amiable intention was frustrated, because Mr Talbot had been on the coast of Africa and was well up to the tricks of the slavers.
This was only the beginning of the conflict, however, for before our marines had had time to fire more than thrice in reply to the slavers' musketry fire, five fierce flashes of flame burst simultaneously from the side of the largest of the four craft, accompanied by the sharp, ringing roar of brass nine-pounder guns, and instantly a perfect storm of grape tore and whistled about our ears, splintering the planking of the boats and bowling over our people right and left.
Men, women, and children were seen in great numbers struggling in the water by everyone on board the two tenders, and, dreadful to relate, upward of 150 of these wretched creatures perished in this way." In this case, the slavers did not escape conviction, though the only penalty inflicted was the seizure of their vessels.
Thompson was the man who had been shot through the head and had lain unconscious since the day before. He was an old gold-prospector, who had thrown in his lot with the expedition against the slavers. 'Perkins of course will be down for several days longer. And some of the natives are rather badly hurt. Those devils have got explosive bullets. 'Is there anyone in great danger?
He was busily engaged as we entered laying down in pencil upon this chart certain corrections and remarks with reference to the ebb and flow of the tidal current. "Good evening, gentlemen!" said he as we entered. "Well, Mr Smellie, so you are going to lead the attack upon the slavers to-night, I hear."
With a justice and generosity, never I believe before heard of among slavers, we gave those their liberty whom we had taken up, setting them on shore on the Barbary side, among the poor residue of their companions, who had survived the slaughter of the morning." We shall make but two remarks on this horrid instance of African cruelty.
Wish to goodness, however, that I was there now instead of stewing in these wretched islands chasing slavers we can never catch and assailed by the Australian newspapers as 'lazy, la-de-da "haw-haws." Wish I had one of those newspaper fellows on board the Reynard to show him how the much-maligned naval officer doing patrol work in the South Seas manages to live and keep his men from rank mutiny.
Drake early distinguished himself among the fraternity of sea-rovers by the boldness of his enterprises and the intensity of his hatred of the Spaniards. When still a young man, in 1567-'68, he was captain of a small ship, the Judith, one of a fleet of slavers running between the coast of Africa and the West Indies, under the command of John Hawkyns, another famous freebooter.
Several of the women had infants in their arms, the poor little creatures being mere living skeletons; not a few of them, indeed, died as they were being removed from the slavers to the ship. Most of the slaves, both men and women, looked wretched in the extreme, for the only food they had received for many weeks was a handful of rice and half a cocoa-nut full of water.
Word Of The Day