SOME ACCOUNT OF A CAPTIVITY. 93 



saluted us with a rope's-end ; and poor Ward, already suffering much 

 from his bruises, they beat cruelly, exclaiming all the time, " Dam 

 English rascal, you fight, eh ?" I, as a boy, they took less notice of. 

 The next intimation of my change of condition was from a French 

 boy about the same size as myself, who without any ceremony thrust 

 his hand into my pocket, and seized upon my knife. 



" Knife knife!" cried the young ragamuffin, flourishing his prize. 

 I made some show of remonstrance, and requested him to return it ; 

 but he said with a grin, " Oyes oyes you get again by-and-by." 



Meantime our skulking captain and his crew were speedily dragged 

 from their hiding-places. The captain was discovered stowed away in 

 the steerage among some hogsheads of sugar ; the mate was crouched 

 beneath the lee of the long-boat, and the others were in various places 

 of concealment. Our crew consisted of fifteen men and boys, and I 

 have no doubt, had they been all like poor Jem Ward, we might 

 have disabled the lugger by one of our round shots, for she was a 

 mere boat ; or if the captain had not lost his senses from fright we 

 might have run the vessel in our own shore and escaped in the boats. 

 But it was no use to repine ; there we were, with our good ship the 

 Eden, captured by the French privateer " le grand Due de Berg." 



Some idea may be formed of the value of such a capture when I 

 say that we were laden with sugar and coffee, and that sugar was 

 selling in France at five and six francs a pound. The French sailors 

 in their search found some turtle, which they brought upon deck to 

 see whether the creatures walked or flew ; they fancied they were 

 like lady-birds, with wings concealed under their shells. 



We were driven down the fore-hold of the lugger, and there we 

 found the crew of another vessel, the Mary of Dover, which she 

 had captured that morning. Our captors behaved pretty well. 

 They placed before us a few loaves of fresh bread, and plenty of 

 cider, but our miserable chicken-hearted captain was quite crest- 

 fallen ; he and his mate refused to eat, but continued to lament their 

 misfortunes with tears. His pusillanimous conduct had so disgusted 

 me, that instead of sympathizing with him, I could not refrain from 

 laughter. The crew of the privateer was the most curious mixture I 

 had ever seen j it consisted of Dutchmen, Swedes, Spaniards, Portu- 

 gese, Danes, Americans, and, if I mistake not, a few English and 

 Irish, who held American protection. The few French that were on 

 board were young fellows who knew nothing of the sea service, and 

 who had volunteered for the chance of plunder. They all wore red 

 night-caps and enormous boots, and were almost smothered with the 

 weight of their wardrobe, which I found they always carried on their 

 backs, and the extent of which I had no idea of until I saw one un- 

 cased. The lugger had overhauled another British vessel on our way 

 to Dieppe, and had sent a boat on board, but from bad management 

 she had upset under the stern of the vessel, and five out of the six 

 hands perished; the sixth, by incredible exertions, regained the 

 lugger by swimming, and was taken on board in nearly an exhausted 

 state. They gave him some brandy, and he was then brought below, 

 where he proceeded to take off his wet things. The grave-digger in 

 Hamlet was nothing to it ; trousers, shirts, waistcoats, and jackets, 



