THE LIVERPOOL BUCCANEERS. 257 



little that we were well quit of her, Weeks." The latter had been 

 most zealously whistling for some time, invoking, in seamen's fashion, 

 the speedy arrival of the promised breeze. 



" If I be allowed to give my opinion, on that vessel that is closing 

 us now," observed a young sailor, named Heath, " I would lay an 

 even bet that she was in the docks, when we quitted port, and that 

 she is neither more nor less than a Liverpool Trader." 



" So much the better," observed Cornish, " God grant it be so, for 

 were any accident to arrive to our vessel here, the only means of 

 maintenance for my wife and eight young children, would be at once 

 cut off: but silence" he exclaimed, as a musket was fired by the 

 stranger, in the direction of the Helen, cc Let us hear what they want 

 of us." The American being now within hailing distance, a person 

 on board of her, ordered Cornish to put out his boat, and come on 

 board of her with his papers a command that announced no friendly 

 intention, but which the Helen's captain was more disposed to avoid 

 than dispute, in alledging the fact of his boat being lumbered, and 

 the difficulty of getting her clear. His excuse was, however, met 

 with a threat of sinking his vessel, if he did not instantly comply ; 

 and the sight of a lighted lanthorn on the stranger's deck, by the side 

 of the gun, indicated that it was no empty menace he had proffered. 

 The crew were immediately employed in freeing and lowering the 

 boat, and Cornish, having provided himself with the ship's papers, 

 proceeded, with four of his men, to obey the extraordinary mandate 

 of the American. In passing under the larboard quarter of the lat- 

 ter, a long boat filled with men, and, so far as light enabled him to 

 judge, all armed, rowed off towards the Helen; and Cornish was in 

 the act of directing his men to pull after her, when a centinel at the 

 stranger's gangway, ordered him to lie on his oars, under pain of 

 being fired at, until he should receive the commands of the captain of 

 the enemy. After a short delay, he was ordered to return to his own 

 vessel, which he did ; but no sooner had he gained his deck, than he 

 and the sailors were violentlv seized, and hurried beneath into the 

 forecastle, where he found his crew and passengers, together with his 

 eldest son, who served on board as a cabin boy; and, before he could 

 remonstrate with those who had attacked him, the hatches were 

 nailed down upon eleven persons, confined in a space which scarcely 

 permitted them to move their limbs. Their captors were distinctly 

 heard to be employed the whole night, in raising the cargo from the 

 hold, consisting of manufactured goods and colonial produce of great 

 value, destined for Leghorn; while the sufferings of the prisoners 

 were of the most dreadful nature, they being overcome by excessive 

 heat parched with thirst and denied the slightest breath of air. 

 The cries of these wretched men, at length worked upon the feelings of 

 one of the invaders, somewhat more humane than the rest, who, as day 

 broke, was induced to remove the bull's eye that afforded light; and 

 the fresh air of morning, partially admitted through the limited aper- 

 ture, somewhat tended to revive them. Relieved from the apprehen- 

 sion of suffocation, they now listened to the lashing of the two vessels 

 together, bow to bow, for the purpose of transferring the Helen's 

 cargo to the possession of her captors; and the silence was only in- 



M. M, No. 93. 2 L 



