Chapter XXIII

On shore at Galveston--Appointed to another steamer--The steamer _Jeannette_--Short of coal--Sail for Tampico--An exciting chase--Arrival at Tampico.

As soon as the _Ph[oe]nix_ was alongside of the wharf at Galveston, my duties and responsibilities were over for the inward trip, and it would be several weeks before she would be discharged, loaded, and ready for sea.

The vessel and cargo were consigned to Mr. H., the same gentleman who had aided me by his counsel in my dispute with the Messrs. M. on my second trip, but I had nothing to do with the shore business this trip, which was a source of great relief to me. Having, therefore, nothing to do I was much in company with the officers of the other steamers, then in port, and as those engaged in this calling were always ready to aid each other, I got some information which would be useful to me on the passage out.

There was at the time lying at the wharf a paddle steamer, named the _Jeannette_, which was already loaded and cleared for sea. She had sailed out about the time of our arrival, but meeting with bad weather, and one of her boiler-tubes having given out, she had put back and returned to Galveston on the following night.

A few days after our arrival Mr. H. sent for me, and asked if I would be willing to take the command of this vessel, and take her to Tampico. He said her present captain was in rather an unfortunate position. He lived at Houston, and some of his family were seriously ill; and although it was of great importance that the vessel should sail immediately he, Mr. H., did not like to ask Captain S. to leave his family in their present helpless condition, and although Captain S. had that day expressed his willingness to sail immediately, he believed that was only because of some idle and undeserved remarks which had been made, about his having put back into Galveston after being out through the blockading fleet. He said he had a high regard for Captain S., and felt very much for him, and that he had already talked the matter over with Captain R. of the _Ph[oe]nix_, and proposed that I should take out the _Jeannette_, and Captain S. would take my place as sailing master of the _Ph[oe]nix_ for the outward trip. This would allow him a longer stay in port with his family, and Captain R. had consented.

If I would agree to this they would allow me a hundred dollars extra over my present agreement, and the cost of a passage from Tampico to Havana on the mail steamer. He explained that the boiler tubes of the _Jeannette_ were in bad order, and a new set had been ordered which had arrived at Havana, but owing to this mishap, and having to put back, she had used up so much of her coal that she had not sufficient left to take her to Havana. It was therefore necessary to take her to Tampico as the nearest neutral port, and the tubes would be sent from Havana to Tampico, and the boilers retubed at that place.

I was rather averse to taking command of a steamer with defective boilers, but I was assured that since she had put back into Galveston, all defective tubes had been taken out and the boilers made quite sufficient to take her to Tampico.

Having assured myself of this, an arrangement was made to the satisfaction of all parties and I agreed to start at once. I was to take full command as captain, and they were to send a supercargo to take charge of the cargo when landed.

A note of the change of masters was made on the crew list by the Consul at Galveston, it being thought best not to make any record of it upon the register in a blockaded port.

When I came to examine the vessel I had taken charge of, I found her to be a sharp little steamer drawing a little over five feet of water when loaded; she seemed to have undergone much hard work. I found by her register that she had been built on the Clyde, and had plyed on that river between Glasgow and Rothesay--her original name had been the _Eagle_. She had been purchased to run the blockade, and after making several trips had been captured and taken to New York, condemned in a prize court and sold, afterwards brought out to Havana, again put under the British flag and named the _Jeannette_, and this was the second or third trip between Havana and Galveston.

She was considerably altered in her inward arrangements. Her passengers' saloon was converted into an after-hold, her stewards' refreshment rooms into a forehold, the small ladies' cabin aft was now used as a cabin for the officers, and the steerage forward as a forecastle for the crew. The after part of the paddle-boxes were stripped of the planking, to allow the water to go free from the paddles in heavy seas. She was considered a pretty swift vessel, but owing to a number of tubes in her boilers being at the time shut off, her steaming power was somewhat reduced. She had what is called a haystack boiler standing high above her deck, an oscillating engine, and her light draft of water made her very suitable for running the blockade into Galveston. It was therefore desirable that her boilers should be retubed, and the vessel got ready for business without delay. I was therefore directed to sail as soon as possible.

It now seemed to me that blockade running between Havana and Galveston had been largely taken up by companies or syndicates who owned several vessels, and whose policy seemed to be to play a high stake, by running their vessels harder, taking up less time in precaution, and doing a large trade, and in event of a capture now and then to apportion the loss with the profits. This policy was no doubt more applicable to steamers whose working expenses were high, but I question much if this system of combination and venture was as successful as the more cautious policy adopted by private individuals, barring of course the losses sustained by the latter in the business transactions.

Having now a steamer there was no detention in waiting for a favourable wind, a dark night being all that was necessary; and it being now near the end of the moon, we soon got everything ready, left the harbour about 8 p.m., and steamed slowly down the bay, the policy being to confine steam and proceed slow and make little noise or smoke, until we got abreast of, or past, the blockading fleet, and then dash off at full speed.

I may here observe that such tactics accounted much for the success of so many steamers getting through the blockade.

The blockade runners with help from the shore knew shallow passages which the blockading vessels could not approach, on account of their draught of water. These passages could generally be entered from some point near the shore. The light draught of the blockade-running steamers enabled them to keep at some distance from the fleet, and on a dark night their low hulls were obscured by the dark loom of the laud beyond.

Coming up slowly and noiselessly they were generally up with, or past the fleet before they could be observed, and with caution they often passed without being observed, and if observed, having their steam confined ready for a spurt, they got quickly away in the darkness, and if on the inward run they were soon under cover of the Forts. If on the outward run they were still better prepared for a spurt, and even if fired upon they knew that it was generally done hurriedly and partly at random, and if the first shot did not take fatal effect they were in less danger from those that followed as the smoke of the first shot made the darkness thicker, and shrouded them from view, and they were soon away out of sight in the darkness. They might be chased, but with their speed and the advantage of a dark night they might laugh at their pursuers.

I must confess that I felt a little nervous at first; the steamer seemed so much longer and more unwieldy to handle in the narrow channel than the little schooner. I soon found, however, that this was more than compensated for by the advantage the steamer had in a steady command of headway, and her readiness to turn in any direction without regard to the direction of the wind. I had also found out by this time more about the channel, and at the outer end where the first gunboat lay, that there was sufficient water to allow us to pass closer to the shore if there was not much sea on.

Having got safely into the Swash channel, we stood along, keeping as close as possible to the shore side of the channel. The breakers were sounding loud enough to drown the noise of our paddle wheels, and the land beyond completely darkened the low hull of the steamer, and it now seemed plain to me that the steamer, showing little above her decks, would be less apt to be observed than the schooner with her cloud of canvas.

I could make out with the glass two of the blockading vessels, the nearest was just about the same place as on my two former trips, and I remembered, with some satisfaction, that there was no moon to break through and light up the scene this time.

Having brought the last gunboat on the port quarter, we set off at full speed, intending to stand square off the coast until daylight, and then if nothing was in sight, shape the course straight for Tampico.

I had scarcely spoken to any one on board yet, except the mate and the engineer; I now called all hands, and the watches were set. The steamer was making about twelve knots by the log, the engineer stating that his supply of coals was limited, and in the present condition of the boilers he did not wish to drive her too hard. I therefore concluded to shorten the run as much as possible, and, after getting about thirty miles off the coast, I directed the course straight for Tampico, wishing to save coal as much as possible, in case we might be chased out of our course.

All went well throughout the night, and when daylight broke nothing could be seen, and all was favourable so far. As the day advanced a strong breeze sprung up from north-east, and as this was almost a fair wind for us we set the jib. which helped her a little, and all seemed to be going well when about 1 p.m. a cruiser was seen to leeward; she bore about W.S.W., distant about ten or twelve miles. The position she was in was very much to our disadvantage, our course was about S.S.W. There was a stiff breeze and a heavy sea from north-east. If we stood away from her we should have to breast a heavy wind and sea, which with our short supply of coal was not to be thought of. To continue on our course she would cut us off, or at least come very close to us, and we saw by the way she was shaping her course that such was her intention. The mate was certain that if we could get to leeward of her we would soon leave her astern. I was satisfied of that myself, but the difficulty was to get past her without coming under the range of her guns.

The best we could do in the meantime was to alter our course to about south by east, and keep more away from her until we were certain we could cross her bow without coming within the range of her shot. We soon found, however, that this course brought us rather more into the trough of the sea, which had now got pretty high, and we had to keep her away a little. The whole question now depended upon the speed of the respective vessels. We were certainly the fastest vessel, but, being a paddle steamer, having to lay partly side to the seas was to our disadvantage. The cruiser being a propeller had the sea nearly abeam, which was in her favour.

The winds kept steady from the north-east, and the sea was pretty high. The mate was on the bridge with me, and as he gazed on the large seas coming up quartering, would often say, "Oh, if we could once get her before those seas, would not they make her propeller whirr!"

Of course that was our object, but to gain this advantage we should have to cross the bows of our pursuer, and we must get sufficient distance to enable us to do this with safety.

I had carefully watched the position of the two vessels from the time the chase began. The wind kept steady at north-east. When we first sighted the cruiser she bore W.S.W., distant about twelve miles. We had sailed about south half east, and at 2.30 had run about eighteen miles by the log. The cruiser now bore about due west, and was distant fully four miles, this showed that we had run the greatest distance, but driving so hard with a heavy sea partly on the beam, was both to our disadvantage and danger, but we had not yet sufficient room to cross her track, and we must keep on our course a little longer.

About 3 p.m. we had brought her nearly north-west, and distant fully three miles, and we came round so as to bring the wind and sea nearly astern; this made a marked difference in our sailing, we went along smooth and easy with increased speed. It brought us, however, for a time closer to our pursuer. We now required all the speed we could put on, and our foresail was set to help her along.

"Now," said the mate, "you will see us leave her astern."

"Don't holloa till you are out of the wood," said one of the men, as the report of a gun was heard from the cruiser, and a ball whistled near to us.

The cruiser had altered her course, and was now sailing parallel with us, and being broadside on to us we could see that she was a short vessel, and being before the wind and sea, she was pitching heavily and throwing her propeller out of water. This was just the position we wished to get her into, as her speed would now be greatly impeded, while ours would be increased, but the seaman's warning to the mate was not without cause. The cruiser kept firing with what seemed to be a small rifled gun, which sent shot to a great distance, some of them even passing over and falling beyond us, but all very wide of the mark, and I was just in the act of saying, by way of encouragement, to the men, that the cruiser was rolling too much to throw shot with any accuracy, when a shot struck our funnel, passing through it about three feet above the crown of the boiler. This was rather dangerous, as had that shot been a little lower it would have perforated the boiler. The men looked at me, but I put the best face I could on the matter, and observing that the deck-load of cotton protected the boiler a good way up; I told them to bring a few bales from the forward and after parts of the deck-load and pack over the exposed part of the boiler.

The mate took some hands and set quickly about getting this done, telling the men at the same time that that was only a chance shot, and they could not do it again to save their lives, and it seemed to have been chance as all the shots that followed either fell short or went wide of us. The mate had soon a large pile of cotton bales all round and over the boiler. The hole through the funnel was not over three inches in diameter, showing that it was a gun of very small calibre they were using, and soon every shot was falling short, and we were getting fast beyond range.

Suddenly the engineer came running up to say that the vessel was buckling amidship. I looked and saw her bending up at the bow and stern, as she pitched in the seas. The taking away of the cotton bales from the bow and stern to place round the boiler had lightened her too much at the bow and stern, and weighted her too heavily amidships, and this caused her to strain in running before a heavy sea.

All hands were immediately set to roll out bales towards the bow and stern to stiffen the vessel, and this was rather difficult work in a heavy sea. Fortunately the cruiser had now fallen astern out of range, and had ceased firing, and we got the deck-load arranged, and the vessel properly trimmed again. I saw from this incident the great importance of having the weight properly distributed on such fragile vessels.

The cruiser was now fully five miles astern, but she still kept up the chase, with the view no doubt of keeping us in sight in case of some chance accident which might cause a falling off in our speed, such as a boiler tube giving way, which was not an uncommon incident, and was the cause of several captures, and the Yankees were well aware of the likelihood of such mishaps on this class of steamers. Fortunately nothing happened; all went well, and towards sunset the wind fell, and the sea began to go down, and when darkness set in, I put the steamer upon her proper course again.

The wind died away during the night, and in the morning the sea was calm, and nothing was to be seen from the mast-head.

I was now wishful to ascertain our position: we had been running out of our course, but as part of the time we had been running to the south of it, and the other part to the north of it, we might not be far out of our way. At noon I found by observation that we were about seventy miles north-east of Tampico. We were now out of the track most frequented by the cruisers, but as they sometimes hovered out round Tampico, a strict look out was kept from the masthead, but nothing was seen all day.

About 5 p.m. we sighted Mount Tamana, on the starboard bow, bearing about west, and by sunset we could discover some ships anchored in the roads off Tampico, one of which was a large vessel which we supposed to be a French transport. We took her bearings and steered straight for her, coming up cautiously in the darkness, until we saw her anchor light, and about 8 p.m. we anchored close to her.

All was now well for this trip so far, but I had not yet forgot my experience at this place six months previous, and it now came up in my mind that it was then the equinox in September, and it was now the equinox in March, and I gave orders, as the night was calm, to put very little chain out, the engineer to bank his fires and keep steam up, and everything in readiness to get under weigh in short time, and a double anchor watch was set to keep a strict look out on the weather, and report immediately the slightest appearance of any change or indication of a norther.

Few of the crew had been at Tampico before, and they did not understand the meaning of such extraordinary precautions. I got but little sleep that night, for the watch continued to call me from time to time to observe some little passing cloud or other imaginary indication of a change. This I believe they did out of pure mischief, in retaliation for my having enjoined such precautions, and setting a double anchor watch. Of course I could find no fault after having given such strict orders. If a norther had come it would have been very awkward for us as we would have to put to sea, and lay to until it was over, and our small supply of coal might have been exhausted; I was, therefore, very glad to see the weather continue fine.

About 9 a.m. the pilot come onboard, but I could not prevail upon him to take the steamer in over the bar before the afternoon, when the tide would be full.

I was very anxious to get in, and pressed him hard, and explained our lack of coal and the danger of a norther. It was no use, however, to try to put a Mexican past his usual jog-trot, and we had to wait.

The weather continued fine, however, and about 2 p.m. the pilot returned, and the steamer slipped easily in over the bar, and we passed up the river and anchored off the town. It was very fortunate that we had got in, as there was not sufficient coal left to have steamed six hours longer; and whilst it was pleasing to think of the short time in which we had made the trip from Galveston, as compared to the long and tedious passages on the schooner, there was also some cause to reflect on how it might have been with us in such a vessel if we had been chased far out of our course by a cruiser and got short of coal, or a norther had caused us to put to sea before we got in over the bar.