The Corvette (7 page)

Drinkwater looked at the new speaker. Dressed in brown drab he had a heavily pocked face with thin lips and snub nose which was, despite its inherent ugliness, possessed of a certain charm, enhanced by the kindness of the eyes. He caught Drinkwater's glance and bowed from his seat.

‘Jaybez Harvey, Captain, master of the
Narwhal
.' He smiled. ‘Your colleagues are too eager to press our men and pay scant regard to any exemptions . . .'

Drinkwater nodded and felt the need to exonerate his service. ‘There is a war . . .'

‘If there was no wars, Captain, thou knowest there woulds't be no navies to press innocent and God-fearing men from their unfortunate wives and children,' reproved the Quaker Sawyers.

‘This endless debate shows no sign of ending, Captain Drinkwater. Will you tell us, when you propose to sail?' A tall man dressed in a sky-blue uniform elaborately trimmed with fur rose from his place. A similarly dressed colleague joined him and the two officers picked up lavishly trimmed hats and made for the door.

‘Commander Malim and myself will await your instructions at the White Hart. Perhaps you will oblige us with your company at dinner, Captain.'

‘And where are your ships, sir?' asked Drinkwater sharply, aware that the two officers, commanders of two vessels belonging to the Hudson's Bay Company, threatened to break the meeting up.

‘Off Killingholme where they have been at a short scope this past sennight.'

Drinkwater restrained them from leaving as a babble of talk engulfed the whale-captains round the table.

‘Be silent!' he bawled, ‘may I suffer you to be silent for a moment!' Eventually the noise diminished.

‘This morning I visited the Custom House and authorised the release of your clearances.' He paused as this revelation found its mark. At last the Greenlanders fell silent. He turned to the pock-marked Harvey.

‘Do I understand that it is customary to embark additional men at Shetland whether or not men are pressed out of your ships?'

Harvey nodded cautiously. ‘If we are bound for the Greenland fishery. If we are bound for the Davis Strait we recruit in Orkney. We also fill up our water casks.'

‘And to which fishery are you bound, gentlemen?' He looked round expecting a further outbreak of argument but apparently this matter, at least, had been brought to a conclusion.

‘We have resolved that, due to the advance of the season, sir, we shall repair to the Greenland fishery. Shoulds't the fish not prove to be swimming there we may then catch some favourable effects from rounding Cape Farewell and entering the Davis Strait. But this matter we hold in abeyance, to be decided upon later by a majority and for those that wish to try the enterprise.'

‘Thank you, Captain Sawyers. Then I must advise you that I cannot winter in the ice . . .'

‘We do not need you, Captain,' said the black bearded Ellerby aggressively, ‘and we shall in any case fish where the whim takes us, so do not expect us to hang upon your skirts like frightened children.'

‘I have no intention of so doing. I shall require that you attend me upon the passage as I have word that there are French cruisers already at sea. I shall cruise in company with those captains who wish for my protection on grounds of their own choosing. I further purpose we sail the instant we are ready. Shall we say the first of the ebb at daylight tomorrow morning?'

A murmur of surprise greeted this news and the Greenlanders debated briefly among themselves. After a while Sawyers rose.

‘Thou hast our agreement.'

‘Very well. You should each send a boat to the
Melusine
at six of the clock this evening for your written instructions. I shall include a table of signals to be used by us all for our mutual support and the direction of the convoy. The rendezvous will be Bressay Sound until the end of the first week in June. That is all, but for reminding you that I was informed in London that French private ships of war have sailed for the Polar regions, gentlemen. You may yet have need of
Melusine
.' Drinkwater watched for reaction to this slight exaggeration. It would do no harm to induce a little co-operation from these independent ship-masters. He was quite pleased with the result. Even the black bearded ruffian Ellerby exchanged glances of surprise with a captain near him.

Drinkwater rose and picked up his hat. The meeting broke up into
groups. The Hudson Bay Company officers made for the door. The one who had spoken introduced himself as Commander Learmouth and congratulated Drinkwater on taming ‘the polar bears'. He repeated his invitation to dinner which Drinkwater declined on the grounds of insufficient time. Learmouth and Malim departed and Drinkwater paused only to thank the curious Quaker Sawyers for his help.

‘Thou hast an evil calling, friend, but thou dost not discredit it.' Sawyers smiled. ‘And now I shall attend the Custom House and tomorrow pilot thy ship to sea.'

Drinkwater moved towards the door and found himself behind the big, bearded Greenlander. Suddenly the man turned, barring the way so that Drinkwater almost bumped into him and was forced to take a step backwards.

Drinkwater looked up at the face. Beneath the mass of dark hair and the beard he noticed a sharpness of feature and the eyes were a peculiar pale blue which caused the pupils to seem unnaturally piercing.

‘Have you ever been to the polar regions, Captain?'

‘No, I have not.' The big man turned to his companion, the same whaler captain who had sat next to him.

‘They send a novice to protect us, God damn and blast them.' The Greenlander turned on his heel. Behind him Drinkwater was aware of other men gathered in a group. His reserve snapped.

‘Captain!' There was no response and Drinkwater stepped quickly into the corridor where his voice echoed: ‘Captain!'

With ponderous contempt the big man turned slowly.

‘What is your name?'

The big man retraced his steps, intimidating Drinkwater with his height. ‘Ellerby, Jemmett Ellerby of the
Nimrod
.' Drinkwater put out his hand to prevent a further dismissal.

‘I understood, Captain Ellerby,' he said quickly but in a voice that carried to the curious group behind him, ‘I understood you had a
reputation
for good manners. It seemed I was mistaken. Good day to you, gentlemen.'

‘No, sir, you may not go ashore. I require the services of three midshipmen as clerks this afternoon to make copies of my orders to the convoy. You must make the final rounds of the ship to ensure that she is ready to weigh tomorrow morning. We will refill our water casks in Shetland so you may stum a few casks in readiness. Tell me,
did Captain Palgrave lay in a store of practice powder?'

‘Yes, sir,' replied Lieutenant Germaney unhappily.

‘Good. Will you direct the purser to attend me and extend to the gunroom my invitation to dinner. Mr Quilhampton and Mr Gorton are also invited. I shall rate Mr Gorton as master's mate. As for the rest of the young gentlemen I may make their acquaintance in due course.' He turned and peered through the stern windows at the high, white mare's tails in the west.

‘We shall have a westerly breeze in the morning,' he rose, ‘that is all.'

‘Aye, aye, sir. There is a gentleman come aboard, sir, with a trunk and God knows what besides. He has a letter of introduction and says he is to sail with us.'

Drinkwater frowned. ‘Sail with us? What imposition is this?'

Germaney shrugged. ‘He is in the gunroom.'

‘Send him in.'

‘Yes, sir . . . sir, may I not take an hour . . .?'

‘God's bones, Mr Germaney, can you not take no for an answer! We are about to sail for the Arctic, you have a hundred and one things to attend to. I have no objection to your sending a midshipman ashore on an errand. Send Dutfield or Wickham, neither can write a decent hand, judging from their journals. Now where the devil is that pen . . .?'

Drinkwater cursed himself for a fool. In the luxury of Palgrave's cabin he had forgotten he was without half of his own necessaries. Tregembo had not yet arrived and here he was giving orders to sail!

He swore again, furious with Palgrave, Ellerby and that cabal of whale-ship masters that had distracted him. Sudden misgivings about Germaney's competence and the fitness of his ship for Polar service seized him. He had made no preparations himself, relying on those made by Palgrave. But now Palgrave's whole reputation threw doubts upon the matter. He remembered Ellerby's taunt about being a novice in Arctic navigation. His eyes fell on the decanter and he half-rose from the table when a knock came at the door.

‘Yes?'

The man who entered was dressed from head to foot in black. He was about thirty years of age with hair short cropped and thinning. His features were strong and his shaved beard gave his lantern jaw a blue appearance. His brown eyes were full of confidence and his self-assurance had led him into the centre of the cabin where the skylight allowed him to draw himself up to his full height.

‘I give you good day, sir. My credentials.' He handed Drinkwater a packet sealed with the fouled anchor wafer of the Admiralty. It contained a second letter and simply instructed Captain Drinkwater to afford every facility to the bearer consistent with the service he was presently engaged upon, as was set out in the bearer's letter of introduction.

Drinkwater opened the enclosed letter. It was dated from London three days earlier.

Honourable Sir
,

Having been lately acquainted with Their Lordships' Intention of despatching a ship into Arctic Regions, the Governors of this body conceived it their Christian Duty to carry the word of Christ to the peoples Domiciled upon the Coasts of Greenland. It is with this purpose in mind that you are asked to convey thither the bearer of this letter, the Reverend Obadiah Singleton, D.D., M.D
.

Your landing him at a Settlement of the Esquimaux, or causing him to be landed at some such Settlement, will assure you the Warmest Approbation from this Society for your furtherance in the Spread of the Christian Gospel
.

The signature was illegible but was accredited to the Secretary of the Church Missionary Society.

Drinkwater put down the letter and looked up. He was beginning to feel the burden of command too great for him and the decanter beckoned seductively.

‘Mr Singleton, pray take a seat. Will you take a glass of wine?' He rose.

‘I do not drink intoxicating liquors, sir.' Drinkwater sat again, aware that the splendid isolation, the power and the purpose of command was, in reality, a myth. Only men like Palgrave sustained the illusion.

‘Mr Singleton, are you aware of the extreme climate of the Arctic regions? Do you mean to winter there among the Eskimos?'

‘I do, sir.'

‘Entirely alone?'

‘With God, sir,' Singleton answered with devastating simplicity. Drinkwater rose, a sense of helpless exasperation filling him. Almost defiantly he helped himself from the decanter, ignoring the disapproval in Singleton's eyes. Well damn Singleton! There would be much that Singleton did not approve of aboard a King's ship.

‘But like me, Mr Singleton,' he said sipping the wine, ‘you are flesh and blood.'

‘Imbued with the Holy Spirit, sir, and the faith that can move mountains.'

‘Let us hope,' remarked Drinkwater, ‘that your faith sustains you.'

‘Amen to that, sir.'

Drinkwater looked at the missionary, searching for some gleam of humour evident in the man. There was none. He was an alien amongst them, uncomprehending of their jack-ass humour, unable to understand the bawdy small talk, the rigid divisions that made a man-of-war. Singleton was an academic, a product of universities where the distilled wisdom of a thousand generations might be assimilated within the confines of a library. Drinkwater sighed and drained his glass. Singleton's insufferable self-righteousness would doubtless combine with an assumed right to criticise. That augured ill for the future and Drinkwater could see squalls ahead.

‘Where have you been berthed, Mr Singleton? There is little room in the gunroom.'

‘I do not think a
gun
room a fit place for a missionary, sir. No, Lieutenant Germaney has permitted me to use the cockpit.'

Drinkwater could well imagine it! The harassed lieutenant would not want the intrusion of a priggish irrelevance challenging his position in the gunroom.

‘I doubt you will find it to your liking, but this is a small ship and there is no alternative.'

‘It is true the air is mephitic, sir, but it will be a fit preparation for my ministry. The darkness alone will condition me to the Arctic winter.'

‘It was not the darkness I had in mind, Mr Singleton, but no matter. You will see soon enough.' He ignored Singleton's puzzlement and went on: ‘There is one thing you should know and that is that while you remain aboard this ship you are answerable for your conduct under the Articles of War as surely as if you were truly a midshipman. You will doubtless observe things that you do not approve of. Have you ever seen a flogging, sir? No? Well, it does not matter but you must accept that the usages of the naval service will come as a surprise to you and you would do well to remember that the wooden bulwarks behind which your church so comfortably nestles, are purchased at the price of blood, sweat and indignity.'

Singleton ignored this homily. ‘When do you propose to land me, sir?'

‘Land you? Good heavens, do not trouble me with such matters now. First I have to get these confounded ships out of this God-damned river!'

Drinkwater saw the look of shock on Singleton's face and found that it gave him a pleasurable sensation. ‘Saving your cloth, Mr Singleton,' he said ironically and added, ‘I should like you to join the officers and dine with me this evening. And I should like you to make no hasty judgements about the sea service; parsons have a bad reputation at sea, far worse than that of seamen ashore.'