Thrilling Adventures by Land and Sea - James O. Brayman
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"Dispersed groups of half-famished, half-naked, and houseless creatures,
all more or less injured in their persons, many lamenting the loss of
some property, or children, or relations and friends, were wandering
through the country. Of the human bodies, some were seen with their
bowels protruding, others with the flesh all consumed, and the blackened
skeletons smoking; some with headless trunks, and severed extremities;
some bodies were burned to cinders, others reduced to ashes; many
bloated and swollen by suffocation, and several lying in the last
distorted position of convulsing torture; brief and violent was their
passage from life to death, and rude and melancholy was their
sepulchre--'unknelled, uncoffined, and unknown.' The immediate loss of
life was upward of five hundred beings! Thousands of wild beasts, too,
had perished in the woods, and from their putrescent carcasses issued
streams of effluvium and stench that formed contagious domes over the
dismantled settlements. Domestic animals of all kinds lay dead and dying
in different parts of the country. Myriads of salmon, trout, bass, and
other fish, which, poisoned by the alkali formed by the ashes
precipitated into the river, now lay dead or floundering and gasping on
the scorched shores and beaches, and the countless variety of wild fowl
and reptiles shared a similar fate.
"Such was the violence of the hurricane, that large bodies of ignited
timber, and portions of the trunks of trees, and severed limbs, and also
parts of flaming buildings, shingles, boards, &c., were hurried along
through the frowning heavens with terrible velocity, outstripping the
fleetest horses, spreading destruction far in the advance, thus cutting
off retreat. The shrieks of the affrighted inhabitants, mingling with
the discordant bellowing of cattle, the neighing of horses, the howling
of dogs, and the strange notes of distress and fright from other
domestic animals, strangely blending with the roar of the flames and the
thunder of the tornado, beggars description.
"Their only means of safety was the river, to which there was a
simultaneous rush, seizing whatever was buoyant, however inadequate;
many attempted to effect a crossing; some succeeded; others failed, and
were drowned. One woman actually seized a bull by the tail, just as he
plunged into the river, and was safely towed to the opposite shore.
Those who were unable to make their escape across plunged into the water
to their necks, and, by a constant application of water to the head,
while in this submerged condition, escaped a dreadful burning. In some
portions of the country, the cattle were nearly all destroyed. Whole
crews of men, camping in the interior, and engaged in timber-making,
were consumed.
"Such was the awful conflagration of 1825, on the Mirimachi."
PIRATES OF THE RED SEA.
The commerce of the Red Sea has, almost from time immemorial, greatly
suffered from the depredations of Arab pirates, who infest the entire
coasts. The exploits of one individual is dwelt upon by his late
_confreres_ with particular enthusiasm; and his career and deeds were of
so extraordinary a character, that we feel justified in giving the
following brief detail of them, as furnished by an English traveler:
This dreadful man, Ramah ibn Java, the _beau ideal_ of his order, the
personation of an Arab sea robber, was a native of a small village near
Jiddah. At an early period he commenced a mode of life congenial to his
disposition and nature. Purchasing a boat, he, with a band of about
twelve companions, commenced his career as a pirate, and in the course
of a few months he had been so successful that he became the owner of a
vessel of three hundred tons, and manned with a lawless crew. It was a
part of his system to leave British vessels unmolested, and he even
affected to be on good terms with them. We have heard an old officer
describe his appearance. He was then about forty-five years of age,
short in stature, but with a figure compact and square, a constitution
vigorous, and the characteristic qualities of his countrymen--frugality,
and patience of fatigue. Several scars already seamed his face, and the
bone of his arm had been shattered by a matchlock ball when boarding a
vessel. It is a remarkable fact that the intermediate bones sloughed
away, and the arm, connected only by flesh and muscle, was still, by
means of a silver tube affixed around it, capable of exertion.
Ramah was born to be the leader of the wild spirits around him. With a
sternness of purpose that awed those who were near him into a degree of
dread, which totally astonished those who had been accustomed to view
the terms of equality in which the Arab chiefs appear with their
followers, he exacted the most implicit obedience to his will; and the
manner in which he acted toward his son exhibits the length he was
disposed to go with those who thwarted, or did not act up to, the spirit
of his views. The young man, then a mere stripling, had been dispatched
to attack some boats, but he was unsuccessful. "This, dastard, and son
of a dog!" said the enraged father, who had been watching the progress
of the affair, "you return unharmed to tell me! Fling him over the
side!" The chief was obeyed; and but for a boat, which by some chance
was passing some miles astern, he would have been drowned. Of his
existence the father for many months was wholly unconscious, and how he
was reconciled we never heard; but during the interval he was never
known to utter his name. No cause, it appears, existed for a repetition
of the punishment; for while yet a youth, he met the death his father
would have most coveted for him. He fell at the head of a party that was
bravely storming a fort.
Many other acts of cruelty are related of him. Having seized a small
trading boat, he plundered her, and then fastened the crew--five in
number--round the anchor, suspended it from the bows, cut the cable, and
let the anchor, with its living burden, sink to the bottom. He once
attacked a small town on the Persian Gulf. In this town lived one Abder
Russel, a personal friend of the narrator, who related the visit of the
pirates to his dwelling. Seized with a violent illness, he was stretched
on a pallet spread on a floor of his apartment; his wife, to whom he was
devotedly attached, was attending him, his head placed in her lap. A
violent noise arose below--the door was heavily assailed--it yielded--a
sharp conflict took place--shouting and a rushing on the stair-case was
heard, and the pirates were in the apartment. "I read their purpose,"
said Abder to me, "In their looks; but I was bed-ridden, and could not
raise a finger to save her for whose life I would gladly have forfeited
my own, Ramah, the pirate captain, approached her. Entreaties for life
were unavailing; yet for an instant her extreme beauty arrested his arm,
but it was only for an instant. His dagger again gleamed on high, and
she sank a bleeding victim beside me. Cold and apparently inanimate as I
was, I nevertheless felt her warm blood flowing past me, and with her
life it ebbed rapidly away. My eyes must have been fixed with the vacant
look of death: I even felt unmoved as he bent down beside me, and, with
spider-like fingers, stripped the jewels from my hand--the touch of that
villain who had deprived me of all which in life I valued. At length, a
happy insensibility stole over me. How long I remained in this condition
I know not; but when I recovered my senses, fever had left me--cool
blood again traversed my veins. Beside me was a faithful slave, who was
engaged bathing my temples. He had escaped the slaughter by secreting
himself while the murderers remained in the house."
Ramah, although a man of few words with his crew, was nevertheless very
communicative to our officers, whenever he fell in with them. According
to his own account, he managed them by never permitting any
familiarities, nor communicating big plans, and by an impartial
distribution of plunder; but the grand secret, he knew full well, was in
his utter contempt of danger, and that terrible, untaught eloquence, at
the hour of need, where time is brief, and sentences must be condensed
into words, which marked his career. Success crowned all his exploits;
he made war, and levied contributions on whom he pleased. Several times
he kept important sea-port towns in a state of blockade, and his
appearance was every where feared and dreaded.
He took possession of a small sandy islet, not many miles from his
native place, where he built a fort, and would occasionally sally forth,
and plunder and annoy any vessel that he met with. Although now
perfectly blind and wounded in almost every part of his body, yet such
was the dread inspired by the energy of this old chief, that, for a long
time, no one could be found willing to attack the single vessel which he
possessed. At length, a sheik, bolder than his neighbors, proceeded in
three heavy boats to attack Ramah. The followers of the latter, too well
trained to feel or express alarm, save that which arose from affection
for their chief, painted in strong terms the overwhelming superiority of
the approaching force, and counseled his bearing away from them; but he
spurned the idea. The evening drew near, and closed upon him. After a
severe contest they gained the deck. An instant after, dead and dying,
the victor and the vanquished, were given to the wind. Ramah, with a
spirit in accordance with the tenor of his whole career, finding the day
was going against him, was led by a little boy to the magazine, and
then, it is supposed, applied the pipe he had been smoking during the
action to the powder. Such, to his life, was the fitting end of the
pirate chief.
[Illustration: GENERAL JACKSON AND WEATHERFORD]
GEN. JACKSON AND WEATHERFORD.
After the battle of Tallapoosa, General Jackson returned with his
victorious army to Fort Williams; but, determined to give his enemy no
opportunity of retrieving the misfortune that had befallen him, he
recommenced operations immediately afterward. On the 7th of April, 1814,
he again set out for Tallapoosa, with the view of forming a junction
with the Georgia troops under Colonel Milton, and completing the
subjugation of the country. On the 14th of that month, the union of the
two armies was effected, and both bodies moved to a place called the
Hickory Ground, where, it was expected, the last final stand would be
made by the Indians, or terms of submission would be agreed on. The
principal chiefs of the different tribes had assembled here, and, on the
approach of the army, sent a deputation to treat for peace. Among them
was Weatherford, celebrated equally for his talents and cruelty, who had
directed the massacre at Fort Mimms. It had been the intention of
General Jackson, to inflict a signal punishment upon him, if ever in his
power. Struck, however, with the bold and nervous eloquence of this
fearless savage, and persuaded of the sincerity of his wishes for peace,
he dismissed him without injury. Some of the speeches of this warrior
have been preserved, and exhibit a beautiful specimen of the melancholy
but manly tone of a savage hero, lamenting the misfortunes of his race.
Addressing General Jackson, he said, "I am in your power--do with me as
you please. I am a soldier. I have done the white people all the harm I
could; I have fought them, and fought them bravely. There was a time
when I had a choice, and could have answered you: I have none now,--even
hope is ended. Once I could animate my warriors; but I can not animate
the dead. My warriors can no longer hear my voice; their bones are at
Talladega, Tallushatchee, Emuckfaw, and Tohopeka. While there was a
chance of success, I never left my post, nor supplicated peace. But my
people are gone; and I now ask it for my nation and myself." He shortly
afterward became the instrument of restoring peace, which was concluded
by the total submission of the Indians. They agreed to retire in the
rear of the army, and occupy the country to the east of the Coosa; while
a line of American posts was established from Tennessee and Georgia, to
the Alabama, and the power and resources of these tribes were thus
effectually destroyed.
CRUISE OF THE SALDANHA AND TALBOT.
At midnight of Saturday, the 30th of November, 1811, with a fair wind
and a smooth sea, we weighed from our station, in company with the
Saldanha frigate, of thirty-eight guns, Captain Packenham, with a crew
of three hundred men, on a cruise, as was intended, of twenty days--the
Saldanha taking a westerly course, while we stood in the opposite
direction.
We had scarcely got out of the lock and cleared the heads, however, when
we plunged at once into all the miseries of a gale of wind blowing from
the west. During the three following days, it continued to increase in
violence, when the islands of Coll and Tiree became visible to us. As
the wind had now chopped round more to the north, and continued unabated
in violence, the danger of getting involved among the numerous small
islands and rugged headlands, on the northwest coast of Inverness-shire,
became evident. It was therefore deemed expedient to wear the ship
round, and make a port with all expedition. With this view, and favored
by the wind, a course was shaped for Lochswilly, and away we scudded
under close-reefed foresail and main-topsail, followed by a tremendous
sea, which threatened every moment to overwhelm us, and accompanied by
piercing showers of hail, and a gale which blew with incredible fury.
The same course was steered until next day about noon, when land was
seen on the lee-bow. The weather being thick, some time elapsed before
it could be distinctly made out, and it was then ascertained to be the
island of North Arran, on the coast of Donegal, westward of Lochswilly.
The ship was therefore hauled up some points, and we yet entertained
hopes of reaching an anchorage before nightfall, when the weather
gradually thickened, and the sea, now that we were upon the wind, broke
over us in all directions. Its violence was such, that in a few minutes
several of our ports were stove in, at which the water poured in in
great abundance, until it was actually breast high on the lee-side of
the main deck. Fortunately, but little got below, and the ship was
relieved by taking in the foresail. But a dreadful addition was now made
to the precariousness of our situation, by the cry of "land a-head!"
which was seen from the forecastle, and must have been very near. Not a
moment was now lost in wearing the ship round on the other tack, and
making what little sail could be carried, to weather the land we had
already passed. This soon proved, however, to be a forlorn prospect, for
it was found that we should run our distance by ten o'clock. All the
horrors of shipwreck now stared us in the face, aggravated tenfold by
the darkness of the night, and the tremendous force of the wind, which
now blew a hurricane. Mountains are insignificant when speaking of the
sea that kept pace with it; its violence was awful beyond description,
and it frequently broke over all the poor little ship, that shivered and
groaned, but behaved admirably.
The force of the sea may be guessed from the fact of the sheet-anchor,
nearly a ton and a half in weight, being actually lifted on board, to
say nothing of the forechain-plates' board broken, both gangways torn
away, quarter-galleries stove in, &c. In short, on getting into port,
the vessel was found to be loosened through all her frame, and leaking
at every seam. As far as depended on her good qualities, however, I
felt assured at the time, we were safe, for I had seen enough of the
Talbot to be convinced we were in one of the finest sea-boats that ever
swam. But what could all the skill of the ship-builder avail in a
situation like ours? With a night full fifteen hours long before us, and
knowing that we were fast driving on the land, anxiety and dread were on
every face, and every mind felt the terrors of uncertainty and suspense.
At length, about twelve o'clock, the dreadful truth was disclosed to us!
Judge of my sensation when I saw the frowning rocks of Arran, scarcely
half a mile distant on our lee-bow. To our inexpressible relief, and not
less to our surprise, we fairly weathered all, and were congratulating
each other on our escape, when, on looking forward, I imagined I saw
breakers at no great distance on our lee; and this suspicion was soon
confirmed, when the moon, which shone at intervals, suddenly broke out
from behind a cloud, and presented to us a most terrific spectacle. At
not more than a quarter of a mile's distance on our lee-beam, appeared a
range of tremendous breakers, among which it seemed as if every sea
would throw us. Their height, it may be guessed, was prodigious, when
they could be clearly distinguished from the foaming waters of the
surrounded ocean. It was a scene seldom to be witnessed, and never
forgotten! "Lord have mercy upon us!" was now on the lip of every
one--destruction seemed inevitable. Captain Swaine, whose coolness I
have never seen surpassed, issued his orders clearly and collectedly,
when it was proposed, as a last resource, to drop the anchors, cut away
the masts, and trust to the chance of riding out the gale. This scheme
was actually determined on, and every thing was in readiness, but
happily was deferred until an experiment was tried aloft. In addition to
the close-reefed main-topsail and foresail, the fore-topsail, and
trysail were now set, and the result was almost magical. With a few
plunges, we cleared not only the reef, but a huge rock upon which I
could with ease have tossed a biscuit, and in a few minutes we were
inexpressibly rejoiced to see both far astern.
We had now miraculously escaped all but certain destruction a second
time, but much was yet to be feared. We had still to pass Cape Jeller,
and the moments dragged on in gloomy apprehension and anxious suspense.
The ship carried sail most wonderfully, and we continued to go along at
the rate of seven knots, shipping very heavy seas, and laboring
much--all with much solicitude looking out for daylight. The dawn at
length appeared, and to our great joy we saw the land several miles
astern, having passed the Cape and many other hidden dangers during
the darkness.
Matters, on the morning of the 5th, assumed a very different aspect from
that which we had experienced for the last two days; the wind gradually
subsided, and, with it the sea, and a favorable breeze now springing up,
we were enabled to make a good offing. Fortunately, no accident of
consequence occurred, although several of our people were severely
bruised by falls. Poor fellows! they certainly suffered enough; not a
dry stitch, not a dry hammock have they had since we sailed. Happily,
however, their misfortunes are soon forgot in a dry shirt and a can
of grog.
The most melancholy part of the narrative is still to be told. On coming
up to our anchorage, we observed an unusual degree of curiosity and
bustle in the fort; crowds of people were congregated on both sides,
running to and fro, examining us through spyglasses; in short, an
extraordinary commotion was apparent. The meaning of all this was but
too soon made known to us by a boat coming alongside, from which we
learned that the unfortunate Saldanha had gone to pieces, and every man
perished! Our own destruction had likewise been reckoned inevitable,
from the time of the discovery of the unhappy fate of our consort, five
days beforehand; and hence the astonishment at our unexpected return.
From all that could be learned concerning the dreadful catastrophe, I am
inclined to believe that the Saldanha had been driven on the rocks about
the time our doom appeared so certain in another quarter. Her lights
were seen by the signal-tower at nine o'clock of that fearful Wednesday
night, December 4th, after which it is supposed she went ashore on the
rocks at a small bay called Ballymastaker, almost at the entrance of
Lochswilly harbor.
Next morning the beach was strewed with fragments of the wreck, and
upward of two hundred of the bodies of the unfortunate sufferers were
washed ashore. One man--and one only--out of the three hundred, was
ascertained to have come ashore alive, but almost in a state of
insensibility. Unhappily, there was no person present to administer to
his wants judiciously, and, upon craving something to drink, about half
a pint of whiskey was given him by the people, which almost instantly
killed him. Poor Packenham's body was recognized amid the others, and
like these, stripped quite naked by the inhuman wretches, who flocked to
the wreck as to a blessing! It is even suspected that he came on shore
alive, but was stripped and left to perish. Nothing could equal the
audacity of the plunderers, although a party of the Lanark militia was
doing duty around the wreck. But this is an ungracious and revolting
subject, which no one of proper feeling would wish to dwell upon. Still
less am I inclined to describe the heart-rending scene at Buncrana,
where the widows of many of the sufferers are residing. The surgeon's
wife, a native of Halifax, has never spoken since the dreadful tidings
arrived. Consolation is inadmissible, and no one has yet ventured
to offer it.
A CARIB'S REVENGE.
In a work recently published in London, by Captain Millman, are to be
found some of the most thrilling scenes, from life in the tropics, it
has ever been our fortune to meet with. The following account of a
Carib's revenge on a sea captain, named Jack Diver, on one of the narrow
mountain paths of Guadaloupe, is exceedingly graphic and forcible:
While he was making up his mind, a dark figure had stolen unperceived
close behind him, with a small basket in his hand of split reeds, out of
which came a low buzzing, murmuring sound. He lay down quietly across
the path, at the point of the first angle of the elbow of the mountain
spar, not many feet from the hind legs of the horse. Jack Diver with a
scowling look, turned his horse round with some difficulty. It plunged
and reared slightly, but went on. Occupied with retaining his seat, the
master of the transport scarcely perceived the figure lying in the path.
He could not see who it was, for the face of the man was toward the
ground. But the horse saw it at once. The animal, accustomed to mountain
roads from its birth, had often stepped over both men and animals which
are sometimes forced in the narrowest parts to lie down to let the
heavier and stronger pass, in that highly dangerous and disagreeable
method, lifted his feet cautiously, one by one, so as not to tread on
the prostrate figure. As the horse was above him, the man lifted with
one hand the lid of the basket, and a swarm of wasps flew suddenly out,
buzzing and humming fiercely, and in a moment they began to settle on
the moving object. The horse commenced switching his tail to drive them
away, pricking up his ears, and snorting with terror.
The man on the path lay quite still until they had thus moved on a few
yards, and then he raised his head a little, and watched them with his
keen black eyes. The wasps, driven off for a moment, became only the
more irritated, and returned with vigor and wonderful pertinacity to the
attack,--beginning to sting the poor animal furiously in all the tender
parts. They assailed the wretched master in his turn, darting their
venomed barbs into his face and hands, and driving him nearly frantic.
The horse plunged furiously, and Jack Diver, losing his stirrups and his
presence of mind together, twisted his hands into the horse's mane, to
keep his seat, letting the reins fall on his neck. At last, with a rear
and a bound into the air, the maddened animal darted off at a gallop;
but the faster he went, the closer stuck the persevering wasps. Jack
Diver shut his eyes, screaming with fear and pain. Then the Carib chief
rose up, and again the hawk-like scream echoed along the valley. The
turn is to be made--can the horse recover himself? Yes, maddened as he
is, he sees the danger instinctively. His speed slackens--he throws
himself on his haunches, with his fore feet on the very brink of the
precipice. One more chance! The blind, infatuated man remains on his
back. Again the horse feels the stings of his deadly persecutors; again
he plunges forward, striving to turn quickly round the corner. Round,
and he is in comparative safety. On a sudden, from behind a buttress of
projecting rock, there start across the path three dusky forms,
flinging their hands wildly in the air. Then was heard that rare and
awful sound, the shriek of a horse in the fear of a certain and coming
death; when swerving one side, he lost his footing on the slippery
shelf, and struggling madly, but unsuccessfully, to recover it, he fell
over and over--down--down--a thousand feet down! From the sailor's lips
there came no cry.
[Illustration: GEN. COFFEE'S ATTACK ON THE INDIANS.]
MASSACRE OF FORT MIMMS.