This, Of Course, Was An Accident, But It
Was Set Down Against Him.
The captain was on board all day Friday,
and everything went on hard and disagreeably.
"The more you drive
a man, the less he will do," was as true with us as with any
other people. We worked late Friday night, and were turned-to
early Saturday morning. About ten o'clock the captain ordered
our new officer, Russell, who by this time had become thoroughly
disliked by all the crew, to get the gig ready to take him ashore.
John, the Swede, was sitting in the boat alongside, and Russell
and myself were standing by the main hatchway, waiting for the
captain, who was down in the hold, where the crew were at work,
when we heard his voice raised in violent dispute with somebody,
whether it was with the mate, or one of the crew, I could not
tell; and then came blows and scuffling. I ran to the side and
beckoned to John, who came up, and we leaned down the hatchway;
and though we could see no one, yet we knew that the captain had
the advantage, for his voice was loud and clear -
"You see your condition! You see your condition! Will you ever
give me any more of your jaw?" No answer; and then came
wrestling and heaving, as though the man was trying to turn him.
"You may as well keep still, for I have got you," said the captain.
Then came the question, "Will you ever give me any more of your jaw?"
"I never gave you any, sir," said Sam; for it was his voice that
we heard, though low and half choked.
"That's not what I ask you. Will you ever be impudent to me again?"
"I never have been, sir," said Sam.
"Answer my question, or I'll make a spread eagle of you! I'll
flog you, by G - d."
"I'm no negro slave," said Sam.
"Then I'll make you one," said the captain; and he came to the
hatchway, and sprang on deck, threw off his coat, and rolling
up his sleeves, called out to the mate - "Seize that man up, Mr.
A - - -! Seize him up! Make a spread eagle of him! I'll teach
you all who is master aboard!"
The crew and officers followed the captain up the hatchway,
and after repeated orders the mate laid hold of Sam, who made
no resistance, and carried him to the gangway.
"What are you going to flog that man for, sir?" said John, the
Swede, to the captain.
Upon hearing this, the captain turned upon him, but knowing
him to be quick and resolute, he ordered the steward to bring the
irons, and calling upon Russell to help him, went up to John.
"Let me alone," said John. "I'm willing to be put in irons. You
need not use any force;" and putting out his hands, the captain
slipped the irons on, and sent him aft to the quarter-deck. Sam by
this time was seized up, as it is called, that is, placed against the
shrouds, with his wrists made fast to the shrouds, his jacket off,
and his back exposed. The captain stood on the break of the deck,
a few feet from him, and a little raised, so as to have a good swing
at him, and held in his hand the bight of a thick, strong rope.
The officers stood round, and the crew grouped together in the waist.
All these preparations made me feel sick and almost faint, angry
and excited as I was. A man - a human being, made in God's likeness -
fastened up and flogged like a beast! A man, too, whom I had lived
with and eaten with for months, and knew almost as well as a brother.
The first and almost uncontrollable impulse was resistance. But what
was to be done? The time for it had gone by. The two best men were
fast, and there were only two beside myself, and a small boy of
ten or twelve years of age. And then there were (beside the
captain) three officers, steward, agent and clerk. But beside
the numbers, what is there for sailors to do? If they resist, it is
mutiny; and if they succeed, and take the vessel, it is piracy.
If they ever yield again, their punishment must come; and if they
do not yield, they are pirates for life. If a sailor resist his
commander, he resists the law, and piracy or submission are his
only alternatives. Bad as it was, it must be borne. It is what
a sailor ships for. Swinging the rope over his head, and bending
his body so as to give it full force, the captain brought it down
upon the poor fellow's back. Once, twice - six times. "Will you
ever give me any more of your jaw?" The man writhed with pain,
but said not a word. Three times more. This was too much, and he
muttered something which I could not hear; this brought as many
more as the man could stand; when the captain ordered him to be
cut down, and to go forward.
"Now for you," said the captain, making up to John and taking
his irons off. As soon as he was loose, he ran forward to the
forecastle. "Bring that man aft," shouted the captain. The second
mate, who had been a shipmate of John's, stood still in the waist,
and the mate walked slowly forward; but our third officer, anxious
to show his zeal, sprang forward over the windlass, and laid hold
of John; but he soon threw him from him. At this moment I would
have given worlds for the power to help the poor fellow; but it
was all in vain. The captain stood on the quarter-deck, bare-headed,
his eyes flashing with rage, and his face as red as blood, swinging
the rope, and calling out to his officers, "Drag him aft!
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