THE BRAVE LITTLE "SPEEDY." 219 



Ills -reply was, that as the lieutenant had seen him come up by the side he must be aware 

 that he was not in a fit condition to appear on the quarter-deck. The lieutenant replied 

 so offensively before the ward-room officers, that he was respectfully reminded by Cochrane 

 of a rule he had himself laid down, that " Matters connected with the service were not 

 there to be spoken of." Another retort was followed by the sensible enough reply, 

 " Lieutenant Beaver, we will, if you please, talk of this in another place." Cochrane was 

 immediately reported to the captain by Beaver, as having challenged him : the lieutenant 

 actually demanded a court-martial ! And the court-martial was held, the decision being 

 that Cochrane should be admonished to be "more careful in future." 



Lord Cochrane was soon after given a command. The vessel to which he was appointed 

 was, even eighty years ago, a mere burlesque of a ship-of-war. She was about the size of 

 an average coasting brig, her burden being 158 tons She was crowded rather than 

 manned, with a crew of eighty-four rneu and six officers. Her armament consisted of 

 fourteen ^-pounders ! a species of gun little larger than a blunderbuss, and formerly known 

 in the service as " minion," an appellation quite appropriate. The cabin had not so 

 much as room for a chair, the floor being entirely occupied by a small table surrounded 

 with lockers, answering the double purpose of store-chests and seats. The difficulty was 

 to get seated, the ceiling being only five feet high, so that the object could only be 

 accomplished by rolling on the lockers : a movement sometimes attended with unpleasant 

 failure. Cochrane's only practicable way of shaving consisted in removing the skylight, and 

 putting his head through to make a toilet-table of the quarter-deck ! 



On this little vessel the Speedy Cochrane took a number of prizes, and having on 

 one occasion manned a couple of them with half his crew and sent them away, was forced 

 to tackle the Gamo, a Spanish frigate of thirty-two heavy guns and 319 men. The exploit 

 has hardly been excelled in the history of heroic deeds. The commander's orders were 

 not to fire a single gun till they were close to the frigate, and he ran the Speedy under 

 her lee, so that her yards were locked among the latter's rigging. The shots from the 

 Spanish guns passed over the little vessel, only injuring the rigging, while the Speedy** 

 mere pop-guns could be elevated, and helped to blow up the main-deck of the enemy's 

 ship. The Spaniards speedily found out the disadvantage under which they were fighting, 

 and gave the orders to board the little English vessel ; but it was avoided twice by sheering 

 off sufficiently, then giving them a volley of musketry and a broadside before they could 

 recover themselves. After the lapse of an hour, the loss to the Speedy was only four 

 men killed and two wounded, but her rigging was so cut up and the sails so riddled 

 that Cochrane told his men they must either take the frigate or be taken themselves, in 

 which case the Spaniards would give no quarter. The doctor, Mr. Guthrie, bravely volun- 

 teered to take the helm, and leaving him for the time both commander and crew of the 

 ship, Cochrane and his men were soon on the enemy's deck, the Speedy being put close 

 alongside with admii-able skill. A portion of the crew had been ordered to blacken their 

 faces and board by the Gamo's head. The greater portion of the Spanish crew were 

 prepared to repel boarders in that direction, but stood for a few moments as it were trans- 

 fixed to the deck by the apparition of so many diabolical-looking figures emerging from 

 the white smoke of the bow guns, while the other men rushed on them from behind 



