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The Worlds of Gilbert and Sullivan

Eventually Francis was bequeathed the small old ship he was apprenticed in by the retiring owner Captain Walt. He spent many months lovingly repairing and making her seaworthy with the help of a favourite carpenter, Thomas Moone, (whom we nicknamed Caulkie) and young Sam. He then appointed Caulkie as ship's carpenter, Sam as his Cabin Boy and me as 'Security Staff'. He also engaged some more members of crew, and we plied the coastal waters in her for a couple of years, trading cargoes of coal, foodstuffs and wool to make a comfortable living.

I was employed to help keep the ship in good order and repel unwanted visitors. On at least one occasion I had the pleasure of seeing off troublesome dogs in port who were harassing the ship's company as they were taking stores on board. And rats (of all shapes and sizes) were fair game when it came to maintaining discipline aboard ship! Sam and I had access to all areas of the ship due to the nature of our occupations! Occasionally we came across sailors who weren't entitled to be visiting secure locker rooms with appealing items in them, or cabins that were out of bounds, and we made it our business to make their presence uncomfortable! Very often they were drummed before the mast for the crew to witness corporal punishment with the 'Cat' (Cat-o'-nine-tails)¹. The number of strokes, determined by the Captain, was administered publicly by a detailed crewman, and Bones the ship's doctor supervised the medical treatment afterwards. Whilst dressing their wounds he always advised these 'patients' to keep on the move after a flogging to avoid their backs seizing up and affecting their mobility. His advice was invariably taken and consistently succeeded.  

Francis turned out to be a first class ship's captain. He knew how ships worked. He knew how to navigate the difficult rivers, seas and oceans. And he was a very firm but just leader of men. I (and they) built up a respect for him, and willingly worked for him. I also had a high esteem for the crewmen with their skills, and their climbing expertise and agility in high places (they were like monkeys racing, and dancing in those mast-tops at times). Sam perfected the art and rapidly became one of the best in their frequent races through the rigging; and I could easily match them climbing up, but coming back down was a very tricky business!  (Click thumbnail >>> to get a closer view through the window of sailors in the ship's rigging  - Then Back-button top left to return). It's an awfully long way up above the deck, isn't it?!!

Sam also learned many arts of sailing from the crew, using off-shore and open-sea winds and currents; including how to navigate using the sun and stars as guides in both the northern, and differently in the southern hemispheres. He learned how the sun, moon, planets and stars progressed evenly round the earth, which was the centre of the universe. (None of that heretical nonsense about the earth going round the sun, and all that jazz! . . . Or, . . . does it?). He also learned that a new crescent moon (waxing) (Click thumbnail < < < ) was a crescent in the shape of a back-to-front C and a waning (Click thumbnail > > > ) crescent moon (aging) shaped like a C - (The opposite of C for coming. It's a bit topsy turvy isn't it? I'm still trying to work it out! ) But he was informed that 'this knowledge might one day save your life'. (Well you can't ignore that, can you?!) He was also intrigued to learn that a south wind blows from the South and blows a ship towards the North. Likewise a west wind blows a ship to the East. It took a little concentration to sort out this conundrum. (I'm still working on it!!).

The main characteristics which mark me out are that I am companionable (cuddly really!), vigilant, hard-working, very independent, but with no specifically outstanding features. I have heightened senses, but can fade into the background and move about virtually unnoticed, particularly at night. I've one exception, perhaps, in that I have one green eye and one blue one, a legacy passed down the generations (Our Felix's note: I've got this characteristic also!).

Among the more permanent loyal crew members I remember the admirable skills of Caulkie. Much more than a carpenter, he seemed to be able to make, carve or mend anything in wood, canvas or metal, with the most basic of tools and materials. Then there was Stewie, the ship's cook. He could conjure up food from obscure sources, and make scarce food and liquids last much longer than their 'sell-by dates'; and very often taste better than was intended in their natural states! And of course there was Bones, the ship's doctor - most of us relied on him to perform the miracles which were his stock-in-trade, limited by the primitive materials and technology available at the time. Last but not least was the Reverend Hope, the ship's chaplain (known affectionately by the crew as Revup!). He was far more than just a priest, and had a host of different talents and skills. He was also a fine singer (a baritone I think) and fashioned many a coarse sea shanty into a song worthy of the concert platform (well sort of . . .); worth listening to and joining in. He was also friend and counsellor to many lonely (and sometimes lost) souls far from home for years at a time and in hostile surroundings. 

However, at sea the Captain's word was law. And all on board, without exception, were required to obey all his commands and perform any allocated task for the benefit of the ship, and even to take up a sword, a cutlass or a pike and fight to defend the ship in times of danger or attack. 

Moreover in these troubled times, on the orders of Philip II of Spain, all English shipping in coastal waters was declared 'fair game'. Thus, being circumspect, we decided to look further afield and find other avenues for our sea-going talents. 

But before setting out for further adventures, Francis, realising he might be away at sea for some time, paid a farewell visit to his parents in Chatham, and an already overdue visit to his beloved childhood friend Liz in her Kentish farmhouse. He particularly wished to thank her and her friend Luke for their support in his North Sea business. This encouragement and their overland cartage and supply of farm produce was invaluable help. It had also helped them to develop their business from being tenant farmers to yeoman farmers and now to landowners and gentry. 

They were an excellent team. Liz's cookery skills (her meat and vegetable pies sold by the dozen - and her bacon-butty sandwiches, which were eagerly snapped up by eager purchasers on the London Road and in the docks) were out of this world!. Between them they had developed a tannery for processing hides for leather, and had also built extra storage barns and developed a fleet of horse-drawn carts for transporting produce from their and other farms to the London markets. Liz's social graces and artistic talents soon made her an invaluable marketing manager. 

Luke, who was gradually taking over the farm from his father, was the perfect hands-on gentleman farmer, and Liz with her reading, writing and arithmetical skills (who was looked on with suspicion by their farming colleagues) was a tower of strength with the estate accounts and business management. She was also famed for her cookery demonstrations and collated recipes (collected from many rural sources) - she and Louis entertained the audience with music and songs (while the pots boiled!). Also Louis taught the children to make (and play) reed pipes during prolonged intervals. And Liz thrilled the children with her drawing skills (many of them full of her usual fun). You've never seen cookery demonstrations like these. They were a wow! 

This remarkable combination made them a force to be reckoned with in a world of burgeoning business opportunities. Louis was enlisted as a full member of the marketing team. He and Liz performed many highly successful charitable musical concerts on village greens and in village churches, their songs were veritable show-stoppers and they were acclaimed as ambassadors over a wide area. It was a sad and reluctant parting from this happy and successful group but Francis had his own business to attend to and was determined to make his mark on the high seas.

So, Francis embarked on his first trip across the Atlantic on a visit to the Caribbean islands in search of adventure and Spanish treasure. He discovered the Spaniards to be jealous guardians of their newly acquired territories, and particularly their stolen treasure, and was only partially successful on these initial sorties. 

Nevertheless he and his crew learned a great deal about Atlantic seamanship and the layout of the Caribbean islands and Spanish Main². Meanwhile, Francis meticulously charted the coastlines, creeks, harbours, and coastal waters. He also drew some excellent pictures to illustrate his descriptions of the the terrain, of the Spanish settlements, harbours and fortresses, as well as of the wildlife. and indigenous inhabitants. And he particularly noted several 'safe' and secret places where a sailing ship could be hidden in times of future trouble or need.

When he was 23 Francis was invited by his cousin John Hawkins of Plymouth, Devon, to join him on a venture to Africa. Whilst visiting this mysterious continent we saw many wonderful sights of every shape, colour and description and heard many marvellous new sounds.These phenomena included steamy jungles teeming with exotic wildlife, great plains, and enormous rivers with tremendous cataracts and waterfalls. There were herds of buffalo and antelope, and families of  elephants and giraffes on the plains pursued by carnivores such as lions and cheetahs (and human hunters). The particular favourites of the crew were the elephants with their young.  There were also monkeys, apes, leopards, lizards and snakes, a multitude of of multi-coloured birds, and many other wild creatures and insects in the steamy forests. And the coastal waters contained an abundance of exotic as well as dangerous creatures. (Click thumbnail < < < to see full picture of our giraffe before he (or is it she?) disappears. Are those hills in the background? - Then Back-button top left to return to story)

As part of our African expedition on this occasion we trekked into the interior where we were to meet some natives who would supply us with ivory. We were standing gazing over a huge plain when a flock of small birds passed overhead. Francis exclaimed "Those are swallows!. . . English swallows?. . . Swallows in Africa?!. . . I don't believe it . . .that's one that I saw in Tavistock in Devon."  (He's joking isn't he? . . .Or perhaps he did!) As the little birds passed over a hillock they were attacked and netted by some waiting hunters. The  natives caught and killed at least a hundred of the birds which were considered a delicacy in their cooking pots. We were somewhat shocked by these actions but soon realised that these hunters survived on opportunities of this sort. (But then, as I've consistently observed: 'a good swallow is one that's in the back of the throat!')

On the return journey to our ships we also encountered giant crocodiles guarding the banks of a river, patiently waiting for unsuspecting creatures to stray into their territories. One of the crew, in a fit of masculine bravado, made the fatal mistake of underestimating the speed and agility of these beasts and wandered too close to a docile-looking croc'. In spite of efforts by his shipmates to help by wielding their swords and hurling stones and spears at the reptile, it attacked and dragged him into the river where he screamed for help, finally sinking in a horrifying line of tell-tale bubbles . . .

Back at the ship a sobered trekking party helped to load the shipment of ivory which had been collected by the natives from an elephant graveyard (we were led to believe). However on our return we found that Hawkins and his soldiers had taken on board manacled prisoners from Sierra Leone, captured and enslaved by their own kith and kin from rival tribes, to transport them as slaves to Spanish settlements in the Caribbean. These unfortunate wretches were bundled into overcrowded holds in atrocious conditions and shipped across the Atlantic Ocean to island plantations, or mines in the Spanish Main. Francis and our crew pleaded, to little avail, for them to be better exercised and fed. Many died on route as a result of these harsh conditions; but it was argued that as they were little more than animals they were expendable commodities who must not be allowed to consume too much of the ship's invaluable food and water, and must take their chances. (Click here to listen to [and join in with] one of their later musical creations, the marvellous Negro Spiritual: Steal Away . . .) 

(Click thumbnail > > > to see full picture of our elephants before they disappear over the horizon - Then Back-button top left to return to story)

The Spanish authorities, however, didn't like this English interference, as it broke their own stranglehold on the trade, so they treacherously befriended the English upstarts then attacked them and stole their slaves. Although this could be a lucrative and ' acceptable' line of business, after only one or two attempts Francis wasn't enamoured of the practice and once again quickly turned to other pursuits. However, the experience left him undaunted, with a distinct taste for more adventures in these waters and with the clear objective of avenging himself on the treacherous and murderous Spanish 'thieves'. 

Chapter XVI: Footsteps into a New World!

Footnote 1    Cat-o'-nine-tails: A whip with nine knotted tails - or lashes. Previously used for disciplinary purposes in the army and the navy. Click to return to story.

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