The Cruise of the Black Prince Privateer

Book excerpt: This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can usually download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated. 1886 edition. Excerpt: ... CHAPTER VIII. Next morning, by Dormer's advice, I exercised my men at their guns, and in tacking and veering, and we continued this sort of practice every day, and also manoeuvred the ship in every way that could possibly occur in action. We also saw all our boarding nettings properly fitted, and toggled our lifts and braces, snaked all our stays and backstays, and, in short, did all that experience could devise to make the Black Prince perfectly ready to meet any foe. We also made arrangements in case of fire, and taught our black sail-trimmers how to act in case any necessity might arise for their services being required to extinguish flames in action. All these things took time, and soon after passing the Scillys we met a south-west wind that at first we were able to beat against, but which soon forced us to shorten sail, and after a time we could neither tack nor veer, and had to furl our square-sails, and try under fore and main stay-sails, and to house our jibboom and top gallant-masts, and get the spritsail yard fore and aft. After four days, during which we were unable to open the hatches or light a fire, the gale moderated and the wind drew round to the north-west, so that we were again able to lie our course, and I intended that we should keep well for Finisterre, in order to get a departure; but we had been driven so far to the westward of what I thought, that we were embayed in the Bay of Biscay, and sighted the north coast of Spain some thirty leagues to the eastward of that point. I brought the ship to the wind on the port tack, to make a leg to the northward, and had hardly made above four leagues on that course when the look-out man reported a sail on our lee bow. "Where away?" "Just under the black cloud, sir. She is not...