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The French crew threatened to mutiny, and were with difficulty prevented from breaking into the spirit-room. By the strictest vigilance were they alone kept in order. The Lascars, however, who had belonged to the ship, remained faithful, and readily obeyed Harry's commands. Day after day went by, the hurricane rather increased than lessened.
The spirit-room hatchway, too, is lifted up for his inspection, as well as that of the after-hold.
Then some came up from below who had been in the spirit-room and were full of drink and drink-courage, and heartened on the rest, saying they would have the pinnace out, and every soul should be saved.
"Silence!" cried Cain, who now interrogated the supercargo as to the contents of the hold the poor man answered as well as he could "the plate! the money for the troops where are they?" "The money for the troops is in the spirit-room, but of the plate I know nothing; it is in some of the cases belonging to my lord the bishop."
This was so on board of the English frigate. The spirit-room was broken open, and buckets of grog were passed along the decks, where many of the wounded were lying between the guns. These mariners seized the buckets, and, spite of all remonstrances, gulped down the burning spirits, till, as Tawney said, the blood suddenly spirted out of their wounds, and they fell dead to the deck.
All subordination would have ceased: some would have seized the boats, and left the majority to perish: others would have hastened to the spirit-room, and, by their drunkenness, added to the confusion and horror of the scene: nothing would have been effected, and almost all would, in all probability, have perished miserably.
Scarcely did the news reach the deck when, bad as it was before, matters became now ten times worse, some resolving to give themselves up if the chase happened to be French, and vowing that before surrendering the spirit-room should be forced, and every man let drink as he pleased.
It came from the carelessness of the captain of the hold, who, in direct violation of the written rules of the ship, took a naked light into the spirit-room to pump off liquor by. The moment he commenced operations, the fumes of the spirit took fire, placing the ship for a few minutes in imminent peril.
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