Sent to Dominica—A fatal foot-race—I give up appointment and rejoin my regiment at St. Vincent—An awful voyage

COLONEL POPHAM, of my old regiment, the 24th, was then deputy-quartermaster-general and the head of my department. He was always on the staff, and had not served much with the 24th during my time, so that I was very little known to him; but he received me most kindly, and set me at once to work in his office at correspondence and various public returns, which gave me a good idea of the duties. Thus I continued more than a month, until at last, being considered up to my work, I was sent off to Point À Pitre, thirty miles from Basse Terre, to take the sole charge of that station, or rather of the duties of the department, for there I found Colonel Brown as commandant with his 6th West India Regiment. A more charming man and able officer I have seldom or ever met. I became a member of the mess, which was well conducted and most comfortable. Although we had little society at Point À Pitre, I found enough to do, and spent my time very happily there for some months.

I was then suddenly ordered to hand over my charge to Captain Killy Kelly, of the 6th West India Regiment, and to proceed to Roseau, in the island of Dominica, to take charge of the department there, and I found the change a very agreeable one. The governor at the time, Colonel Maxwell, was a most kind and hospitable man, and I lived within a few yards of Government House. There was a very extensive and pleasant society amongst the residents and settlers in the town of Roseau and its neighbourhood. Parties and dinners were frequent, and I enjoyed them very much; but, alas! our greatest pleasures are subject to change, and ours had a partial check which proved very distressing to many. I was dining with a large party at Government House, and amongst the guests was a Dr. de RaviÈre. The conversation turned on foot races, and he boasted much of his powers and success in that line. I had had some experience in running also, and asked him what odds he would give me in a thousand yards. He declined giving any odds, and so we agreed to run equal for two hundred dollars. A place and day was at once appointed. At the given day and hour (three in the afternoon) no less than four thousand people had assembled, lining each side of the road we were to run. Tents and marquees were pitched for our dressing and for refreshments. Amongst the spectators were Dr. de RaviÈre’s two lovely sisters. We soon appeared, both dressed in flannel, and the word being given we started. I allowed him to lead for twenty yards, then pushed on, and for a few yards we ran abreast; then I passed him, increasing my advantage. He (in trying to overtake me) fell down, and became for a time almost insensible. He was carried home and put to bed; fever soon followed, and next day he was dead. In the absence of a medical man a Major Jack undressed me and put me into a tub of rum as a bath, then to bed, giving me a mixture of brandy and porter till I became almost unconscious, and finally fell into a sound sleep, from which I did not awake till next morning. I was free from fever, but was confined to my bed for that and the following day, and was kept ignorant of the fate of Dr. de RaviÈre for some days longer. It was indeed a foolish frolic to attempt to run a thousand yards in such a climate and at such an hour.

I remained at Roseau for some months after, with an excellent house and good allowances, amounting in all to more than double my regimental pay. Early in 1817 orders arrived from England for the removal of the York Chasseurs from the Windward and Leeward Islands to Jamaica, a distinct and separate command. I was then written to, officially, to say that my staff appointment would be continued if I exchanged into another regiment within that command, but if not I must follow the York Chasseurs to Jamaica in command of a detachment of the regiment still remaining at St. Vincent. This was a serious step for me to decide on, and I took some days before I finally made up my mind. I was then the second captain of my regiment, and to exchange into another would place me at the bottom of the captains, and yet my appointment was a most important and lucrative one, and such as I might never again hope to enjoy. For days I was quite undecided and did not know what to do, but at last I thought the least risk and the best chance of promotion was to give up my appointment and to follow my regiment. I wrote to the adjutant-general (my friend General Douglass) accordingly, and in due course I saw my name in General Orders directing me to hand over the charge of the quartermaster-general’s department and to join a detachment of my regiment at St. Vincent.

The first opportunity was from Barbados, from which island I knew I could readily get a passage to St. Vincent. I left Dominica in a small colonial schooner, the Johanna, commanded by a mulatto and manned exclusively by negroes. Our captain knew nothing of navigation, but was in the habit of making this voyage successfully by taking his departure from Point des Salines, in Martinique, and steering direct east, against the trade winds, for a day or two, to clear the islands, and then due south, with a man at the mast-head to look out for Barbados, which is a very high land. In clear weather it is seen at a distance of fifty-nine or sixty miles, but we had thick fogs and much rain, so that though we cruised about with a man constantly at the mast-head for some days, we could nowhere discover the island nor any other land. In despair our captain turned back before the trade winds, sure of making some of the islands, from which he could again take a fresh departure. About sunset we recognized Martinique, and on the following morning Point des Salines once more, from which we again took our departure; but that effort proved worse than the former, for on the second day we were opposed by a fearful hurricane, which carried away both our masts, and left us a helpless, unmanageable hulk in a wild and terrible sea. Our situation became indeed most fearful and alarming. The sea was constantly breaking over us, and wherever there was any opening it rushed in tons below, until the cabin, where I was alone, was completely flooded by many feet of water. All the crew except the captain gave up in despair, and shut themselves up below, crying and moaning all the time. The captain manfully kept to the deck, lashing himself to the tiller ring-bolts. In this perilous situation we continued for two days and one night, expecting every moment to be our last, for our ill-fated barque, being under no control, was tossed about at the mercy of the raging seas. We gave up all hope—then, recommending ourselves to Providence, we expected every moment to founder. In this awful and long-continued danger I must confess my mind was much troubled about a few hundred pounds which I had on board with me, in doubloons and dollars, and which I sorely grieved to think my sister would now lose. On the second day of this hurricane a sail appeared in sight (or rather a vessel under almost bare poles). It soon passed near us, and our captain managed to show his ensign on a spar upside down, expecting that the stranger would try and come to our assistance; but instead of doing so, he hoisted his own flag reversed, and continued his course. Although this was an English man-of-war, she was in such distress and danger in this heavy gale and raging sea that it was quite impossible for her to come near us or to render any help.

Towards the evening of the following day the storm moderated, and by great exertions our people managed to rig up something like a jury-mast, on which they hoisted one or two of the smaller sails, and we bore away before the trade wind, sure of making some of the islands which we knew must be to leeward. In the evening land was seen ahead, but the sea was still running so high that our captain was afraid to go too near it, and so kept an offing as he best could until next morning. Then at daylight we steered for the land; in a few hours we were satisfied that it was the island of St. Lucia, and about noon we got to the anchorage, with our lives at least in safety, and truly thankful, indeed, for our marvellous escape from death. I took my final leave of the schooner Johanna and landed at once, and here I found my friend General Douglass acting-governor of the island. I dined with him, and on the following day, with his advice, took my passage in a small vessel bound direct for St. Vincent, where I arrived in safety, and took command of the detachment of my regiment, then under orders for Jamaica.