Page:The Naval Officer (1829), vol. 2.djvu/277

 voured to discover from the captain where the leaks were, that we might stop them; but he had been drinking so freely, that I could get nothing from him but Dutch courage and braggadocia. The poor black man, who had been left with the captain, was next consulted. All he knew was, that, when at Bordeaux, the captain had caused holes to be bored in the ship's bottom, that he might pull the plugs out whenever he liked, swearing, at the same time, that she never should enter a British port. He did not know where the leaks were situated, though it was evident to me that they were in the after and also in the fore parts of the ship, low down, and now deep under water, both inside as well as out. The black man added, that the captain had let the water in, and that was all he knew.

I again spoke to the captain, but he was too far gone to reason with: he bad got drunk to die, because he was afraid to die sober—no unusual case with sailors.

"Don't tell me; d—n me, who is a-feard to