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I Am Again Fooled By The Smugglers

The First Fleet, as the Expedition was soon after named, was now all assembled and lying off the Mother Bank, that shoal in the Solent on which I had been left by the smugglers when they played their scurvy trick.

The fleet was expected to sail in a day after the day I had joined the Sirius, and little leisure was given me to say farewell to my father and the Solcombe folks; so I wrote a few lines wishing them good-bye, sent the letter over to the island by a Ryde fisherman, and settled down to my duty.

When I was rated on board the Sirius on Monday the sixth of May, 1787 — a date ever to be remembered by me — I was astonished at the great state of confusion upon her decks. Everything was so vastly different to all I had heard of the neatness and cleanness of a ship of war; but all this arose from the nature of the undertaking in which the ship was engaged. All sorts of strange stores had to be carried, and so many things to be provided, that it was no wonder that those in authority on board the Fleet were at their wits’ ends where to stow them.

Each transport, in addition to the ordinary stores, carried a great quantity of implements of agriculture, seeds, and such like things, and some extra clothing, such as woollen stockings, shoes, hats, and slops of various kinds. The Marines, besides getting a little extra pay, were also provided with some light clothing suited to the climate of Botany Bay, where we expected to remain about five years, and these things had by some means been sadly mixed with the prisoners’ clothing, through some of these articles having been put on board the Sirius in place of the powder and shot she would have carried in a more honourable service. So, owing to all the hurry and confusion, my awkwardness on first doing duty on shipboard was not noticed, and I escaped the curses and gibes that the Marines generally come in for from the sailors when the red-coats go to sea for the first time.

The principal officers on the Sirius were Captain Phillip, Captain Hunter (the second in command), Major Ross (our commanding officer), and Lieutenant King. Besides these, there were the surgeon and Judge-Advocate Collins, and some other gentlemen whose names now I cannot recall.

Even amid all this turmoil I thought very often of Mary Broad and Will Bryant, and long before had asked Lieutenant Fairfax in a respectful manner if he knew aught of them.

“Yes, Dew,” he replied, “and I’ll willingly tell you all I know about them. Bryant is embarked on one of the transports — which one I do not know—and my father has interceded so far on his behalf as to have secured a promise from the authorities that he shall be a free man shortly after our arrival, but he will not be allowed to return till his sentence has expired.”

“That was very good of the Squire, sir,” I said; “but what of the misguided young woman?”

“By George! Dew, Mary may be a misguided young woman, but she has a devilish fine spirit all the same;” and with that he told me that the Squire had sent the Parson to see her at Winchester Gaol, so that he might get her in a humble frame of mind, and then he was to endeavour to procure her a pardon. “And what think you she said?” asked the lieutenant.

“I suppose, sir, she expressed her sorrow for her folly, and thanked the Squire.”

“Nothing of the sort. She begged the Parson to do his best to get her sent away with Bryant, or at all events, with the female prisoners going out with us. So the Squire said as that appeared to be all she was good for — my sister and myself couldn’t see any reason why she shouldn’t have her own way — he would do his best to get her exiled. That will do, Dew, I have nothing further to say to you.”

That was the way the lieutenant always finished up these little chats of ours, as a reminder, I suppose, of the difference in our rank, which was very proper on his part, for ’twas a great piece of condescension for a commissioned officer to talk of old times like this with one of his men.

This was all the news I could get of the unfortunate smuggler or of Mary, and, although I did make inquiries of the guards on the other ships, the prisoners were always kept in such a way that, right up to the day of our sailing, I never learned whether or not anyone I knew was on board of the transports. All I heard was that most of the prisoners were selected from the county gaols on account of their supposed knowledge of agriculture, but the women were nearly all the most depraved characters taken from Newgate; and, somehow, I did not think Mary would be among them.

And now I come to my last adventure with the smugglers, and when I look back at it now, I think it quite a wonder that I was not transported for my silly way of being taken in by these people, who seemed to mark my ignorance and pursued me with their tricks in quite a marvellous manner.

The lieutenant, full of consideration for my inexperience, and, perhaps, because he liked to have me about him, called me to him one day, and said,—

“I have sent for you, Dew, to make you an offer which you are at liberty to refuse or accept as you please. By the rules of the Service I am entitled to one of the men in my company to attend upon me. You can act in that capacity if you like. Of course, Dew, I can understand that a young farmer, as you were, may have some scruples about acting as a servant, but all the privates are of equal rank here, and this duty may relieve you, perhaps, from still more menial work at sea, for, I can tell you, the Marines are thought precious little of by these coarse, dirty sailors.”

I thanked the young gentleman heartily for his offer, and gladly enough accepted it, and, though our positions are very different now, I say with truth that I am proud of having served so good and honourable a master.

A day or two after this, the first cutter was sent ashore to the Point at Portsmouth to bring off some stores for the ship, and, in addition to the boat’s crew, Lieutenant Fairfax came with us to perform some duty on shore, and another Marine and myself were sent with the boat to help in embarking the stores.

While I was helping to put some of the stores into the boat, an old waterman rowed his wherry into the landing-place, and calling to me asked if our party belonged to the Sirius.

“Yes,” said I.

“Oh, that’s all right, then,” said he. “What officer is with you?”

“My lieutenant, Mr. Fairfax,” said I; “he will be back to the boat directly.”

“Ah! that’s the very thing. Well, you’d better bear a hand and get on with the job so as to be ready to shove off when he comes back.”

“What job?”

“Why, you see this cask of ale?” pointing to a big cask marked thus, XXX. “Well, he wants this changed. They have sent off the wrong ale, and it goes agin his stummick, I suppose, and I’ve just brought it from your ship. They told me aboard that I’d find him at the Point, and some of his boat’s crew would lend me a hand.”

“What are we to do?”

“Help me roll it up the street to the ‘Star and Garter,’ that’s where he got it from.”

And so, after four of us had got the cask out of the boat, I helped the man roll it up the High Street, and very quick we were about it, for the old fellow said that Mr. Fairfax would kick up a great row if the job wasn’t done quickly, as the ale should have been changed long before.

As soon as we had rolled the cask up the roadway from the Point to the street, a Preventive Service officer stepped up, took a look at it, and turned inquiringly to me.

“Officers’ stores,” said the waterman, without waiting to be questioned.

“Cask of ale returned by my officer, Lieutenant Fairfax,” I added.

“All right, my lads,” said the officer, and he made a chalk mark on the cask and away we rolled it.

The “Star and Garter” was not far up the street, but it was, owing to a turn in the road, out of sight of the Point. When he reached the door of the inn, the old waterman turned to me, and said, “Thank you, my lad, here’s the price of a glass of ale for you, and some day I’ll do you a good turn — by George! I’ll do you one now. Take my advice, and when you get to Botany Bay keep your weather eye lifting a bit more than you are doing now.”

“What do you mean?” said I, angrily.

“I’ll tell you,” he answered, with a rude grin, “but take my advice and don’t tell anyone else. This cask is not going to the ‘Star and Garter.’ ’Cause why? ’Cause it’s going to my place. It’s not ale, it’s best French brandy.”

“What do you mean?” I again asked. “Does not the cask belong to my lieutenant?”

“Certainly not, my young lobster. It’s smuggled brandy.”

“You infernal old rascal! I see you have taken advantage of my uniform to land your cask of brandy, and this time I shall be ruined. Never mind, whatever happens, I’ll go at once and inform the Preventive Officer.”

“Oh, no, you won’t. No one will know if you keep your mouth shut, but if you inform the officer you will only get yourself into trouble.”

“Ah, here comes Lieutenant Fairfax, and he has seen me with you. I’ll tell him and see what he has to say about the matter.”

“Yes, tell him, Joey; he’ll only laugh at you. Hang me! I’ll tell him myself.”

Mr. Fairfax, seeing me talking to the man and so far away from the boat, stepped over to us, and the old waterman, touching his hat, said,—

“Beg pardon, yer honour, but I borrowed the loan of one of your Joeys, who seems pretty green;” and then to my shame, he unblushingly told him the whole story.

Mr. Fairfax laughed heartily, and said, “You old rascal, you deserve the brandy for your smartness. We’ll say no more about it,” and, turning to me, he added, “but I really think, Dew, that this should be the last of your smuggling adventures. It is a good job for the pair of you that we sail for the other side of the world in a few days, or you would both hear more about it. However, the best thing we can do is to forget it now, and remember, my lad, that this sort of thing won’t do in the future. We shall have you letting some of our prisoners escape if you don’t use your wits more than you have been doing lately. That will do, Dew. Get into the boat.”