Ramage and the Renegades

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

The first survey boat to come back, commanded by Wagstaffe and with Williams's party, carried two excited men: Garret and Wilkins both came up to Ramage, who was walking up and down the quarterdeck hoping a practical plan would suddenly emerge from the tiderace of ideas coursing through his mind.

Garret's grey hair looked as though it was going to compete with Southwick's white mop, and his boots were dusty and his breeches torn. 'Splendid, splendid!' he exclaimed. 'There's water, and anyway I estimate there's enough rainfall for the crops we want to plant.'

'What about clearing land?'

'Several flat areas - we'll need a few men to cut down some bushes, but I recommend burning. Burn and then dig. A few heavy showers and then we can plant. Then we can go home!'

Ramage turned to Wilkins. 'I trust your notebooks are full!'

'Full enough,' Wilkins said. 'The sight of the ships anchored in the bay. Why, we could see a big reef lying along here -' he pointed over the larboard side. 'If we'd gone outside the prizes, we'd have run into it. A wonderful effect it gives, seen from the hills. It'll be a challenge to get it on to canvas.'

'The Irish potatoes will do well,' Garret said, as though he had been spending the time Wilkins was talking coming to a decision about it. 'Not sure about the sweet potatoes, though.'

'The sailors will shed no tears if you can't make the yams grow,' Ramage said. 'They were brought up on Irish potatoes and most of them hate yams. Same goes for soldiers, I imagine. I mean, they'll hate yams,' he added for the sake of the literal-minded botanist.

'What about the wild life?' he asked both men.

Wilkins grimaced and Garret said: 'Very little that we saw. Some turtles. The land birds you'd expect (and very tame), the usual sea birds of course, but no sign of coneys. I'd have expected some wild dogs - a couple landed from a ship would breed and quickly turn wild - but saw none. Signs of goats, but they're a mixed blessing because they rip out everything.'

Wagstaffe said: 'I saw half a dozen tortoises walking about, and a turtle swimming near the beach, so we might catch one to give us a tasty dinner, sir. There is a fantastic amount of fish.'

Wilkins interrupted excitedly: 'The water is so clear you could see them from the boat, especially round rocks. I've never seen fish like them before - bright colours, gaudy designs, odd shapes.'

Garret shook his head mournfully. 'All colour and no taste, typical tropical fish. Same in the Mediterranean; the French disguise the lack of taste with spicy sauces. Hot water fish has to end up as a foreign kickshaw, I say. You can't beat cold water fish for taste. And I know the captain agrees with me.'

It would be a brave man who disagreed with Garret, Ramage thought, but the botanist was right and he nodded, remembering too late that Garret was in fact repeating a comment of his.

He beckoned to Williams, who hurried up the quarterdeck ladder, dusty yet happy, like a man who had had a successful day's rough shooting.

'Did you see enough today to set your draughtsmen to work?'

The Welshman waved a handful of papers he was carrying. 'There's a week's work for them here, sir, and I expect White has as much or more.'

'What have you done today, then?'

'We've established where the signal station will be. Mr Renwick and Mr Wagstaffe agree on it, and we are using that as the base for all our calculations. We agreed on the site for two batteries, covering this bay, and one at the signal station. All subject to your approval, sir,' he added hurriedly.

'If Mr Renwick approves, I'm sure I shall,' Ramage said, reminding himself that the gunner, the one man whose opinion should have been of most value, was in fact keeping watch on the French Commerce - precisely because everyone knew that his opinion, if he could ever be persuaded or trapped into expressing it, would be worthless.

He caught sight of Rossi and Stafford walking forward and called to the maindeck: 'Pass the word for Mr Martin and Mr Orsini.'

The fourth lieutenant arrived first, the skin of his face red from the day's sun, his hat having protected his brow so that his hair seemed to be sprouting from a white skull cap. Ramage guessed the sunburn was painful; the skin of Martin's face seemed stiff and his eyes were bloodshot.

'A successful day's soundings, Martin?'

'I was just coming to report, sir. Yes, four fathoms over most of the inner half of the bay, we've sounded round that reef on our larboard beam. I have the depths where the privateer's anchored, and depths close to the nearest prize to her, the Commerce.'

'Was the privateer at all suspicious?'

'No, sir. Some of the men gave us a wave as we passed them soon after we began; otherwise they took no notice. I let the men make plenty of noise and sing out the soundings, so there was no doubt what we were doing.'

'Where's Orsini?' Ramage asked impatiently, for no reason other than to relieve an impatience which was born of frustration. The Calypsos are going to have to pay for what should be charged to the Lynx, he thought sourly.

'He took his quadrant below to wipe off the salt spray and clean the shades and mirrors, sir. There was plenty of spray about. Er, there seems to be about thirty men on board the privateer.'

' "About"?'

Martin, suddenly remembering how the captain hated vagueness, said hurriedly: 'We counted thirty-six during the morning. I recognized the men who came on board yesterday. The tall man and the Negro were walking together for five minutes, watching our survey parties landing. They did not seem very interested and didn't bother to look with a glass.'

Twenty-four guards in the prizes, thirty-six men in the Lynx. He still reckoned she would carry a round hundred. So forty men must be on shore guarding the officers and seamen taken from the prizes. Forty to guard a hundred? Anyway, how and where were the Lynx men keeping their prisoners?

Wagstaffe was walking towards him. He saluted and said: 'I waited because I saw one of the surveyors was describing his work.'

'Yes, I've heard about the potato patch. Tell me about the prisoners.'

'Well, you can't see from here, sir, but just southeast from where we landed that line of hills goes round in a tight circle to make a sort of amphitheatre. All the prisoners are camped in the bottom with the guards round the top looking down on them. Both guards and prisoners have rigged up scraps of canvas to make awnings. The prisoners cook over a fireplace made up of rocks.'

'What are the chances of escaping?'

'None, sir: the only way out is over the rim, which means climbing up the side of the hills. There are only a few bushes and rocks. We counted about forty guards.'

Ramage nodded, thankful that the details he had so far did not rule out the sketchy plan beginning to take shape in his mind. 'By the way,' he told Wagstaffe, 'you'll have to make do tomorrow without Stafford and Rossi, and any other good swimmers.'

Soon after dawn next morning the sentry called that Aitken was at the door of Ramage's cabin and a moment later the first lieutenant arrived holding a sheet of paper.

'The list of swimmers you asked for, sir. I started with the twenty men you gave prizes to in Gibraltar. I didn't expect the five-times-round-the-Calypso race to have results a year later! If you remember, sir, Renwick won, Martin was second, Rossi third, Orsini and Jackson tied for fourth position and the gunner nearly drowned!'

'And five guineas cost me six,' Ramage said.

Aitken grinned at the memory. 'Ah yes, the judge's interpretation of "the first five positions", and nothing being laid down about ties.'

'Yes, Judge Aitken and his interpretation of Scottish law! Well, what sort of list do we have?'

'The totals are quite good, sir. Twenty-three are powerful swimmers, fourteen more are good for a steady mile, another eight are fine for a fast half-mile but no good over a long distance, while sixty-eight are weak but can swim. In fact all but fifteen of the ship's company can swim. Of the supernumeraries, one draughtsman, Garret, and the four masons can't swim at all. Wilkins is a powerful swimmer - I've seen him, and when I spoke to him this morning he asked if you'd consider him for - well, whatever you have in mind.'