Old Fires and Profitable Ghosts

icans) shipwrecked among the Quinaiult Tribes of the N.W. Coast of America, in the winter of 1807–8. With some remarkable Experiences of the said

owned and cultivated by our father Renatus Lanyon. Our mother was a Falmouth woman, daughter of a ship's captain of that port: and I suppose it was this inclined us to a sea-fari

the end was that we stole ashore and offered ourselves. Obed had the luck to be picked. Though very like in face, I was already the taller by two inches; and no doubt the Captain judged I had outgrown my strength. But it surprised me to be

shed into Behring's Strait beyond the 70th parallel; was a witness, on February 4th, 1779, of his commander's tragical end; and returned to England in October, 1780. Eleven years later he made another voyage to the same N.W. American Coast; this time as master's mate under Vancouver, who had kept an interest in him since they sailed together under Cook, and thought highly of him as a practical navigator and draughtsman. It was my brother who, under Vancouver, drew up the first chart of the Straits of F

ust then my fortune deserted me. In a sudden fear of French invasion, our Government bought the four new ships which the Company had building (and a bad bargain they proved). This put a stop for the time to all chance of promotion; and a s

sions they have given over - to his favourite amusement of sounding the coast of Vellingey and correcting the printed charts. He kept a small lugger mainly for this purpose, and plied her so briskly that he promised to know the sea-bottom between Kelsey

f the towans, where the ewes were gathered in the lew.2 They kept us so busy that for forty-eight hours we neither changed our clothes (at least, I did not) nor sat down to a meal. The sand about Vellingey is always driving, more or less; and the gale so mixed it up with fine snow that we made our journeys to and from the house, so to speak, blindfold, and took our chance of the drifts. But the evening of the 11th promise

heavy blueish grey, like steel. I was coming over the towans, just then, with a lamb under either arm (making t

arried a mast, stepped right forward; but no sail. She was full of people. I counted five sitting, all white with snow - one by the mast, three amidships, and one in the stern sheets, ste

clear as bells. I shouted to him and pointed towards the boat: and after looking a moment, he set down his pails and started off at a run, down towards the porth. I then hurried towards th

were longer than Obed's; but I dare say he had arrived five minutes ahead of me. He was standing and calling to the boat's crew to get out an oar and pull her head-to-sea: for

d with him -"Pull her round

er one curved on the back-draught and splashed in over her gunwale as she took ground. But what knocked the wind out of our sails was this - As

and fumbled with my line.

men, every mother's son. They're frozen," s

-hogshead pouring over her quarter. This wave knocked her broadside-on again, and the water shipped made her heavier to handle. But by whipping my end of the line round the thwart in which her mas

n board?" O

yself. For twice the heave had tilled me up to the armpits, and once lifted me clean off my feet; and I had no

rst," he said. "I've

s of this," I answered.

k on the gunwale strake by her port quarter - "MARGIT PEDERSEN, BERGEN": but by their

wards the bows. The snow was heaped on his head and shoulders like a double cape. This one had no hair on his face; and his complexion being very fr

im out: and carried him up to the house still holding it. Later on we buried it beside him. This man wore a good blue coat and black breeches; and at first we took him to be the captain. He turned o

the thwart and fallen against the steersman. He was an oldish man, yellow and thin and marked with the small-pox; the only one in the boat who might have come from

d wrapped in a shawl and seaman's jacket, a young woman. Her arms were about the young man and her face pressed close and hidden against

first to speak; and he said "She has beautiful hair." This was the bare truth: a great lock of it lay along the bot

ace and afterwards forget it. It was, then and always, very pale: but this had nothing to do with ill health. In fact I am not sure it would have been noticeable but for the warm colour of her hair and her red lips and (especially) her eyebrows and lashes, of a deep brown that seemed almost b

wild as he. "Get her out, then," I

ough less than a yard apart, we bot

found out when I stepped in to Obed's help. "We must carry

ll above reach of the tide. And here I must tell of something that happened on the way: the first sign of Obed's madness, as I may call it. All

erics. We laid the pair on a blanket before the open fire, and very soon Obed was trying to force some warm milk and brandy between the girl's lips. I think she swallowed a little: but the first time she opened her eyes was when one of the lambs (which everyone had neglected for twen

a word or two, but in Norwegian, which none of us understood. Obed by this time had loosened the dead man's arms; and we thought it best to get her upstairs to bed before the ful

in separate graves, but all close together. The boat being worthless, we sawed it in two just abaft the mast and set the fore-part over the centre grave, which was that of Captain Pedersen, the young man we had carried up with Margit. The mast rotted and fell,

the pocket of the seaman's jacket to which she owed her life. On the first page was some foreign writing which I could not make out. The interpreter translated it: first the names "Margit Hansen to Nils

t wished me to marry him. They were proud. But they left very little money, considering; and with it I bought the brig and cargo. She was an old craft, half rotten. We had fair weather, mostly, down the English Channel and almost to Ushant. There we met a strong southerly gale, and in the middle of it a pintle of our rudder gave way and the loose rudder damaged our stern-post. We tried to bear up for Falmouth, but she would not steer; and we drove up towards the Irish Coast, just missing Scilly. On the 8th the wind changed to N.W. and increased. That night, as Nils tried to lay to, she carr

mes of the dead men, she showed no further interest in them. At first, knowing how weak she was, and fearing to distress her, I fought shy of the subject; but one day, towards the end of the third week - she being strong enough to walk a moderate distance - I plucked up courage and asked if she cared to come with me to the churchyard. She agreed, and that afternoon, after a hea

ble. "This belongs to you," I said: "I have kept it to help me with your language"- but I held it o

lted, expecting her to be angry. But she halted too, and said q

shift the logs on the hearth. "What makes you say so?" he asked. "Well, she will have friends in Bergen, and business -" "Has she written to her friends?" he interrupted. "Not to my knowledge: bu

nd I had not quarrelled since we were boys. I put a stopper on my tongue, and went on s

e made show enough of frankness in his talk, but I knew him far too well to miss the suspicion behind it. And his suspicion bred suspicion in me. Yet though I searched, I could find nothing amiss in his outward bearing. If he were indeed in love with the girl - her age, she told us, was twenty-one - he gave no sign upon which one could lay hold. And certainly Margit's bearing towards u

day she came downstairs, and had a cold way of seeing that her orders were attended to. With about twenty words of English she at once gave battle to Selina, who had bullied us two men from childhood; and routed her. The old woman kept up a running fight for a week before appealing to Obed, and

rposes; and no pleasanter. In the two months that followed I hated myself pretty often, and at times came near to despise myself for the thought that before long I might be hating Obed. This would never have done: and luckily I saw it in time. Towards the end of June I made application to the Board: and left Vel

deal concerning Margit - her health, her walks, her household business - everything, in short, but what I expected and dreaded to hear. "Come," I said

us north-wester blew the Atlantic weather in our teeth as we mounted the rise over Vellingey churchtown. My head being bent down, I did not observe the fig

matter?" I aske

!" she moaned. "My dear, t

e she accused the "foreign woman ": but I, it seemed, had started the quarrel this time; or, rather, it started over the preparation

he should return to us within a week, I could not avoid a foolish pleasure in the thought that Margit deemed my coming of such importance. Then i

round of the farm buildings and lock up. Margit had removed the white cloth,

pen about Selina?" I

lestick. "Selina has g

here alone with us, or with Obed.

suppose the

speak to you: but perhaps, if it had not been for this, I might have put off speaking for some days. If you

ing them gently. She looked up. "I rather thought," she said, "you would have spoken last ni

his is a question

like you better. I shall m

slamming the back-door loudly. He did not look at our fac

ays with them. No married life could well be smoother than was Obed's and Margit's in all this time. He worshipped her to fondness; and she, without the least parade of affection, s

e that I have reasons for not wishing to make public the actual name of this vessel, which, however, will be sufficiently familiar to all who knew me at that time and who have therefore what I may call a pri

the Canton River and back in the Macartney. I had often given this invitation in jest: but such voyages merely for health and pleasure were then far from common. Yet there was no single impedimen

foreign barbarians the Chinese government confines our ships to the one port of Canton and reserves the right of nominating such persons as shall be permitted to trade with us. These Hong merchants (in number less than a dozen) are each and all responsible to the Emperor for any disturbance that may be committed by a

r steady while Margit embarked. She and Obed waited on the step next above, with Mr. Tomlinson close behind. A small crowd had followed us: and just then one dirty Chinaman reached forward and with a word or two (no doubt indecent) laid his open palm on the back of Margit's neck. Quick as thought, she lifted a hand and dealt him a rousing box in the ear.

more of it until early next morning, when Mr. Findlater, the first officer, came with a puzzled face and reported t

n the landing. I told off two of the rowers of the previous day - the two whose position in the bows had given them the best view of the scuffle - to

tory. He brought serious news. The boat had drifted up the river and had been recovered by a crowd of Chinese, who took out the dead man and laid him on the doorstep of the factory, clamo

his testimony would avail in a Chinese court. The two Hong merchants assured me that their brother, the Macartney's guarantor, was already in the hands of the magistrates

penalty of her offence, if proved to the satisfaction of the Chinese magistrates, being - I can hardly bring myself to write it - nothing short of strangulati

who would swear to having seen the Englishwoman strike the deceased. The agents conducted their parley from a boat, and only made off on being threatened with a bucket of slops. I kept the ship's guns loaded, and set on a double watch, night and day. His wife's peril threw Obed into a state of apprehension so pitiable tha

ne day, Mr. Tomlinson reported a boat under our quarter demanding speech with us. I went to the side and saw a

Independence: and I want to come aboard." He pointed to his vessel, which had enter

e he came running up the ladder, and introduced himsel

erve you don't chew." He glanced at the stern-wi

I've come

ave come, sir, to

at. I know all about it, and came in

wish to buy

at all. I'm

"What,

sk of pretty ordinary Geneva

n earth could you h

The captain was drunk, and I traded with the mate. I never miss a chance. The mate said nothing of the woman inside. I believe her to be his captain's wife, preserved for burial ashore. This

hat do y

d. Now it happens I have business up there among the Russian settlements - part trade, part exploring - I needn't say more, for the United States' Government didn't send me to tell secrets. A man like your brother would be money in my pocket all the way: a

git among the negro women at Macao: and our friend engaged that by spending a few hundred additional dollars he would get the Dutchwoman's corpse accepted as full discharge for the offence, provided that Mrs. Lanyon could be smuggled out of the Canton River. This Captain Wills readily undertook to do. Mr. '-' then suggested that his negotiations would be made easier by the disappearance of all implicated in the scuffle - i.e. Mr. Tomlinson and myself, as well as O

brought the famous cask of Geneva alongside, and took us four English people

g, and demanded to know what brought him there? He answered that he wanted water and fresh provisions (we had a plenty of both), and to prove it, ordered several butts to be started, and brought empty on deck. This was enough for the hospitable Japanese; who next day brought supplies of hogs, fish, and vegetables, for which they asked no payment; besides

from the time of our entering the parallels above 50 degrees. Her usual calm bearing had given way to succeeding fits of restlessness and apathy. At times she would sit dejected for hours together; at others, she would walk the deck without pause, her cloak thrown open to the cold wind, which she seemed to drink like a thirsty creature. One day, the vessel being awkwardly becalmed within a mile of an ugly-looking iceberg, her excitement rose to something like a frenzy. The weather being hazy, Obed - who was busy with the

e weather. The natives, too, were friendly beyond expectation. The sight of our vessel brought them off in great numbers and at times we had as many as a hundred canoes about us, the largest holding perhaps a dozen, some armed with muskets, but the most with lances and forks pointed with stags' antlers and a kind of scimet

og came up with some wind and a heavy swell from the south and hid the coast completely. This lasted until November 2nd at daybreak, when the weather lifted and we saw land at about eight miles' distance. Unhappily the wind dropped at once,

at conning the ship, since Captain Wills had received an awkward blow between the shoulders from the swinging of a loose block, and lay below in considerable pain and occa

ep. I believe indeed that, had fate allowed, I could have slept round the clock. But at ten

er was out of the question. We therefore made the best of our way ashore in the dense fog, taking with us all our guns and the best part of our ammunition, as well as provisions and a quantity of sails and spars for rigging up tents. On no side of us could we see further than twenty paces. Of the inhabitants of this dreary spot - if indeed it had inhabitants -

from Margit, who stood by the big cauldron, a few paces off, cooking our dinner o

muskets. These last I soon discovered to be toens, or elders, of the tribe. They stood and observed us with great gravity (indeed in all my acquai

a savage thrust his lance into the pot, drew out our dinner on the end of it, and laid it on the sand. One of t

tives chewed away at the pork. The meal over, we fell to work and finished the second tent without opposition, though curiosity drew some of our visit

p. I own that this impudence tried my temper sorely, and Obed - the only one of us who knew some scraps of the language of these Indians - went so far as to remonstrate with them. But if they understood, they gave

ship. At great risk Obed ran out to seek one of the toens and reason with him: but the mischief happened too quickly. Some of our men caught up their muskets and fired. Our assailants at once broke up and fled; and half-a-dozen of us charged down to the water's edge, where we saw a score and more with torches, busily setting fire

shift to escape, had been either fired or taken off by the savages. At 10 a.m., therefore, Captain Wills called a council of war, and informed us that he could think of no better plan than to push on for a harbour (its name, if I mistake not, was Gray's Harbour) lying about seventy miles to the southward, where a ship of the Company was due to call early in the spring. Obed remembered it, and added t

s more lightly laden were Margit and Captain Wills. The latter, indeed, could with pain manage to walk at all, and so clogged the pace of the party that we ma

f his powers and we allowed him an hour's rest while we cleaned our firearms. Margit gave no sign of fatig

aring to start again, a big stone came crashing down among our stores; and, as we scattered in alarm, two or three others followed. Looking up, I caught sight of a couple of Indians on the crest of the slope, and fired

iscovered a shallow cave in the hillside, and here we huddled and continued all the next day and night, waiting for the storm to abate; wh

nd had died in the night without complaint and, as far as could be learnt, without sound. The rain of stones not being resumed with day

became apparent at about one in the afternoon, when I, too, heard the sound of running water: and an hour later we halted on the edge of a broad vall

airly intelligible to Obed. He proposed to supply us with boats to cross the river, if we would give up our muskets in payment. This, of course, we refused: but offered him the whole collection of beads and trinkets that we had brought with us in the hope of trafficking for food. After some haggling - to which the handsome chief, Yootramaki, listened with seeming disdain - the toen unde

's bottom, at the same time calling to his comrades, who leapt up and flung themselves overboard. The next moment he was after them, and the whole party swimming to shore. The current swept us down and carried us so near to a spit of the shore we had left, that the savages, who now pelted us with arrows, succeeded in killing one seaman, and wounding four

with a volley which disposed of three and sank the canoe. The survivors swam for it, and I dare say reached shore. A second canoe put off, and from the bows of it th

ces aside; for his wishes were madness, yet we were asking him to sacrifice what was dearest to him in the world. In his distraction then he tore off most of his clothes, and piling them in a heap besoug

d not keep a cat alive for another forty-eight hours. Retiring to a clump of firs about 100 yards back from the river's bank, we scooped a hole in the snow and entrenched ourselves as well as

shaking one of the sleepers by the elbow and bidding him watch, I leaped over our low breastwork and ran towards the river in the track of my brother's footsteps. Almost as I started, a flash and a report of a musket right ahead changed the current of my fears. B

now have a hostage for Margit?" I ought at the same time to have begged his pardon for my suspicions. As the reader already knows, Obed had a far keener ear than I, and it had warned him

and watched. The village opposite seemed deserted: but at Obed's hail an Indian woman ran out of the largest hut, and returning, must have summoned the good-looking chief Yootramak

s to take us on our journey. The chief stood considering for a while; then spoke to a native boy, who ran to the house; and in a minute or so Margit her

ll our troubles. We caught him last night, and have brought him along as ransom for you. But stand close to the

and slow, "I think you are wasting your ti

, and then, supposing he had n

e the word. All may depend on your quickness -

xplain. I am not going w

wide eyes. "God of mercy!" he cried hoar

ind. I should be mad, rather, to wander with you through the forests, and in the end fall into worse hands, or perhaps die of starvation or cold. I d

ered it. "Dom," he muttered,

d I know not. Perhaps Margit, having given her answer, turned back towards the house. At any rate, shrilly crying her name, Obed sprang up and discharged his musket. The sho

e down on the sandy spit where we had nearly come to shipwreck, the day before. Several Indians had gathered there. One ran into the w

matter of fact, however, I was allowed to do pretty much as I liked; and my employment (absurd as it may sound) for the most part consisted in designing kit

es turned and fled into the woods: and from that hour no more was heard of them. Probably they perished of we

irksome reminder: and one day early in April Yootramaki took me aside and promised me my liberty if I would travel with him as far as the Strait, where an American brig had lately arrived. Of course I accepted his offer with gratitude; and we set forth next day. The captain of this brig (the Cordelia) was a Mr. Best, and his business in those

Valparaiso, whence I shipped for England, reaching the D