The Water Witch or, The Skimmer of the Seas by James Fenimore Cooper
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James Fenimore Cooper >> The Water Witch or, The Skimmer of the Seas
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36 The Water-Witch;
Or,
The Skimmer of the Seas.
A Tale.
By J. Fenimore Cooper.
"Mais, qui diable alloit-il faire dans cette galere!"
Complete in One Volume
1871
Water Witch.
Entered according to the Act of Congress, in the year 1856, by Stringer
and Townsend In the Clerk's office of the District Court for the southern
district of New York.
Preface.
Christendom is gradually extricating itself from the ignorance, ferocity,
and crimes of the middle ages. It is no longer subject of boast, that the
hand which wields the sword, never held a pen, and men have long since
ceased to be ashamed of knowledge. The multiplied means of imparting
principles and facts, and a more general diffusion of intelligence, have
conduced to establish sounder ethics and juster practices, throughout the
whole civilized world. Thus, he who admits the conviction, as hope
declines with his years, that man deteriorates, is probably as far from
the truth, as the visionary who sees the dawn of a golden age, in the
commencement of the nineteenth century. That we have greatly improved on
the opinions and practices of our ancestors, is quite as certain as that
there will be occasion to meliorate the legacy of morals which we shall
transmit to posterity.
When the progress of civilization compelled Europe to correct the violence
and injustice which were so openly practised, until the art of printing
became known, the other hemisphere made America the scene of those acts,
which shame prevented her from exhibiting nearer home. There was little of
a lawless, mercenary, violent, and selfish nature, that the self-styled
masters of the continent hesitated to commit, when removed from the
immediate responsibilities of the society in which they had been educated.
The Drakes, Rogers', and Dampiers of that day, though enrolled in the list
of naval heroes were no other than pirates, acting under the sanction of
commissions; and the scenes that occurred among the marauders of the land,
were often of a character to disgrace human nature.
That the colonies which formed the root of this republic escaped the more
serious evils of a corruption so gross and so widely spread, can only be
ascribed to the characters of those by whom they were peopled.
Perhaps nine-tenths of all the white inhabitants of the Union are the
direct descendants of men who quitted Europe in order to worship God
according to conviction and conscience. If the Puritans of New-England,
the Friends of Jersey, Pennsylvania and Delaware, the Catholics of
Maryland, the Presbyterians of the upper counties of Virginia and of the
Carolinas, and the Huguenots, brought with them the exaggeration of their
peculiar sects, it was an exaggeration that tended to correct most of
their ordinary practices. Still the English Provinces were not permitted,
altogether, to escape from the moral dependency that seems nearly
inseparable from colonial government, or to be entirely exempt from the
wide contamination of the times.
The State of New-York, as is well known, was originally a colony of the
United Provinces. The settlement was made in the year 1613; and the Dutch
East India Company, under whose authority the establishment was made,
claimed the whole country between the Connecticut and the mouth of
Delaware-bay, a territory which, as it had a corresponding depth, equalled
the whole surface of the present kingdom of France. Of this vast region,
however, they never occupied but a narrow belt on each side of the Hudson,
with, here and there, a settlement on a few of the river flats, more
inland.
There is a providence in the destiny of nations, that sets at nought the
most profound of human calculations. Had the dominion of the Dutch
continued a century longer, there would have existed in the very heart of
the Union a people opposed to its establishment, by their language,
origin, and habits. The conquest of the English in 1663, though unjust and
iniquitous in itself, removed the danger, by opening the way for the
introduction of that great community of character which now so happily
prevails.
Though the English, the French, the Swedes, the Dutch, the Danes, the
Spaniards, and the Norwegians, all had colonies within the country which
now composes the United States, the people of the latter are more
homogeneous in character, language, and opinions, than those of any other
great nation that is familiarly known. This identity of character is owing
to the early predominance of the English, and to the circumstance that
New-England and Virginia, the two great sources of internal emigration,
were entirely of English origin. Still, New-York retains, to the present
hour, a variety of usages that were obtained from Holland. Her edifices of
painted bricks, her streets lined with trees, her inconvenient and awkward
stoops and a large proportion of her names, are equally derived from the
Dutch. Until the commencement of this century, even the language of
Holland prevailed in the streets of the capital, and though a nation of
singular boldness and originality in all that relates to navigation, the
greatest sea-port of the country betrays many evidences of a taste which
must be referred to the same origin.
The reader will find in these facts a sufficient explanation of most of
the peculiar customs, and of some of the peculiar practices, that are
exhibited in the course of the following tale. Slavery, a divided
language, and a distinct people, are no longer to be found, within the
fair regions of New-York; and, without pretending to any peculiar
exemption from the weaknesses of humanity, it may be permitted us to hope,
that these are not the only features of the narrative, which a better
policy, and a more equitable administration of power, have made purely
historical.
Early released from the fetters of the middle ages, fetters that bound the
mind equally with the person, America has preceded rather than followed
Europe, in that march of improvement which is rendering the present era so
remarkable. Under a system, broad, liberal, and just as hers, though she
may have to contend with rivalries that are sustained by a more
concentrated competition, and which are as absurd by their pretension of
liberality as they are offensive by their monopolies, there is nothing to
fear, in the end. Her political motto should be Justice, and her first and
greatest care to see it administered to her own citizens.
The reader is left to make the application.
The Water-witch.
Chapter I.
"What, shall this speech be spoke for our excuse?
Or shall we on without apology."
Romeo and Juliet.
The fine estuary which penetrates the American coast, between the fortieth
and forty-first degrees of latitude, is formed by the confluence of the
Hudson, the Hackensack, the Passaic, the Raritan, and a multitude of
smaller streams; all of which pour their tribute into the ocean, within
the space named. The islands of Nassau and Staten are happily placed to
exclude the tempests of the open sea, while the deep and broad arms of the
latter offer every desirable facility for foreign trade and internal
intercourse. To this fortunate disposition of land and water, with a
temperate climate, a central position, and an immense interior, that is
now penetrated, in every direction, either by artificial or by natural
streams, the city of New-York is indebted for its extraordinary
prosperity. Though not wanting in beauty, there are many bays that surpass
this in the charms of scenery; but it may be questioned if the world
possesses another site that unites so many natural advantages for the
growth and support of a widely extended commerce. As if never wearied with
her kindness, Nature has placed the island of Manhattan at the precise
point that is most desirable for the position of a town. Millions might
inhabit the spot, and yet a ship should load near every door; and while
the surface of the land just possesses the inequalities that are required
for health and cleanliness, its bosom is filled with the material most
needed in construction.
The consequences of so unusual a concurrence of favorable circumstances,
are well known. A vigorous, healthful, and continued growth, that has no
parallel even in the history of this extraordinary and fortunate country,
has already raised the insignificant provincial town of the last century
to the level of the second-rate cities of the other hemisphere. The
New-Amsterdam of this continent already rivals its parent of the other;
and, so far as human powers may pretend to predict, a few fleeting years
will place her on a level with the proudest capitals of Europe.
It would seem that, as Nature has given its periods to the stages of
animal life, it has also set limits to all moral and political ascendency.
While the city of the Medici is receding from its crumbling walls, like
the human form shrinking into "the lean and slipper'd pantaloon," the
Queen of the Adriatic sleeping on her muddy isles, and Rome itself is only
to be traced by fallen temples and buried columns, the youthful vigor of
America is fast covering the wilds of the West with the happiest fruits of
human industry.
By the Manhattanese, who is familiar with the forest of masts, the miles
of wharves, the countless villas, the hundred churches, the castles, the
smoking and busy vessels that crowd his bay, the daily increase and the
general movement of his native town, the picture we are about to sketch
will scarcely be recognized. He who shall come a generation later will
probably smile, that subject of admiration should have been found in the
existing condition of the city: and yet we shall attempt to carry the
recollections of the reader but a century back, in the brief history of
his country.
As the sun rose on the morning of the 3d of June 171-, the report of a
cannon was heard rolling along the waters of the Hudson. Smoke issued from
an embrasure of a small fortress, that stood on the point of land where
the river and the bay mingle their waters. The explosion was followed by
the appearance of a flag, which, as it rose to the summit of its staff and
unfolded itself heavily in the light current of air, showed the blue field
and red cross of the English ensign. At the distance of several miles, the
dark masts of a ship were to be seen, faintly relieved by the verlant
back-ground of the heights of Staten Island. A little cloud floated over
this object, and then an answering signal came dull and rumbling to the
town. The flag that the cruiser set was not visible in the distance.
At the precise moment that the noise of the first gun was heard, the door
of one of the principal dwellings of the town opened, and a man, who might
have been its master, appeared on its stoop, as the ill-arranged entrances
of the buildings of the place are still termed. He was seemingly prepared
for some expedition that was likely to consume the day. A black of middle
age followed the burgher to the threshold; and another negro, who had not
yet reached the stature of manhood, bore under his arm a small bundle,
that probably contained articles of the first necessity to the comfort of
his master.
"Thrift, Mr. Euclid, thrift is your true philosopher's stone;" commenced,
or rather continued in a rich full-mouthed Dutch, the proprietor of the
dwelling, who had evidently been giving a leave-taking charge to his
principal slave, before quitting the house--"Thrift hath made many a man
rich, but it never yet brought any one to want. It is thrift which has
built up the credit of my house, and, though it is said by myself, a
broader back and firmer base belongs to no merchant in the colonies You
are but the reflection of your master's prosperity, you rogue, and so much
the greater need that you took to his interests. If the substance is
wasted, what will become of the shadow? When I get delicate, you will
sicken: when I am a-hungered, you will be famished; when I die, you may
be--ahem--Euclid. I leave thee in charge with goods and chattels, house
and stable, with my character in the neighborhood. I am going to the Lust
in Rust, for a mouthful of better air. Plague and fevers! I believe the
people will continue to come into this crowded town, until it gets to be
as pestilent as Rotterdam in the dog-days. You have now come to years when
a man obtains his reflection, boy, and I expect suitable care and
discretion about the premises, while my back is turned. Now, harkee,
sirrah: I am not entirely pleased with the character of thy company. It is
not altogether as respectable as becomes the confidential servant of a man
of a certain station in the world. There are thy two cousins, Brom and
Kobus, who are no better than a couple of blackguards; and as for the
English negro, Diomede--he is a devil's imp! Thou hast the other locks at
disposal, and," drawing with visible reluctance the instrument from his
pocket, "here is the key of the stable. Not a hoof is to quit it, but to
go to the pump--and see that each animal has its food to a minute. The
devil's roysterers! a Manhattan negro takes a Flemish gelding for a gaunt
hound that is never out of breath, and away he goes, at night, scampering
along the highways like a Yankee witch switching through the air on a
broomstick--but mark me, master Euclid, I have eyes in my head, as thou
knowest by bitter experience! D'ye remember, ragamuffin, the time when I
saw thee, from the Hague, riding the beasts, as if the devil spurred them,
along the dykes of Leyden, without remorse as without leave?"
"I alway b'rieve some make-mischief tell Masser dat time;" returned the
negro sulkily, though not without doubt.
"His own eyes were the tell-tales. If masters had no eyes, a pretty world
would the negroes make of it! I have got the measure of every black heel,
on the island, registered in the big book, you see me so often looking
into, especially on Sundays; and, if either of the tire-legs I have named
dares to enter my grounds, let him expect to pay a visit to the city
Provost. What do the wild-cats mean? Do they think that the geldings were
bought in Holland, with charges for breaking in, shipment, insurance,
freight, and risk of diseases, to have their flesh melted from their ribs
like a cook's candle?"
"Ere no'tin' done in all 'e island, but a color' man do him! He do a
mischief, and he do all a work, too! I won'er what color Masser t'ink war'
Captain Kidd?"
"Black or white, he was a rank rogue; and you see the end he came to. I
warrant you, now, that water-thief began his iniquities by riding the
neighbors' horses, at night. His fate should be a warning to every negro
in the colony. The imps of darkness! The English have no such scarcity of
rogues at home, that they could not spare us the pirate to hang up on one
of the islands, as a scarecrow to the blacks of Manhattan."
"Well, I t'ink 'e sight do a white man some good, too;" returned Euclid,
who had all the pertinacity of a spoiled Dutch negro, singularly blended
with affection for him in whose service he had been born. "I hear ebbery
body say, 'er'e war' but two color man in he ship, and 'em bot' war'
Guinea-born."
"A modest tongue, thou midnight scamperer! look to my geldings--Here--here
are two Dutch florins, three stivers, and a Spanish pistareen for thee;
one of the florins is for thy old mother, and with the others thou canst
lighten thy heart in the Paus merrymakings--if I hear that either of thy
rascally cousins, or the English Diomede, has put a leg across beast of
mine, it will be the worse for all Africa! Famine and skeletons! here
have I been seven years trying to fatten the nags, and they still look
more like weasels than a pair of solid geldings."
The close of this speech was rather muttered in the distance, and by way
of soliloquy, than actually administered to the namesake of the great
mathematician. The air of the negro had been a little equivocal, during
the parting admonition. There was an evident struggle, in his mind,
between an innate love of disobedience, and a secret dread of his master's
means of information. So long as the latter continued in sight, the black
watched his form in doubt; and when it had turned a corner, he stood at
gaze, for a moment, with a negro on a neighboring stoop; then both shook
their heads significantly, laughed aloud, and retired. That night, the
confidential servant attended to the interests of his absent master, with
a fidelity and care which proved he felt his own existence identified with
that of a man who claimed so close a right in his person; and just as the
clock struck ten, he and the negro last mentioned mounted the sluggish and
over-fattened horses, and galloped, as hard as foot could be laid to the
earth, several miles deeper into the island, to attend a frolic at one of
the usual haunts of the people of their color and condition.
Had Alderman Myndert Van Beverout suspected the calamity which was so soon
to succeed his absence, it is probable that his mien would have been less
composed, as he pursued his way from his own door, on the occasion named.
That he had confidence in the virtue of his menaces, however, may be
inferred from the tranquillity which immediately took possession of
features that were never disturbed, without wearing an appearance of
unnatural effort. The substantial burgher was a little turned of fifty:
and an English wag, who had imported from the mother country a love for
the humor of his nation, had once, in a conflict of wits before the city
council, described him to be a man of alliterations. When called upon to
explain away this breach of parliamentary decorum, the punster had gotten
rid of the matter, by describing his opponent to be "short, solid and
sturdy, in stature; full, flushed and funny, in face; and proud, ponderous
and pragmatical, in propensities." But, as is usual, in all sayings of
effort there was more smartness than truth in this description; though,
after making a trifling allowance for the coloring of political rivalry,
the reader may receive its physical portion as sufficiently descriptive to
answer all the necessary purposes of this tale. If we add, that he was a
trader of great wealth and shrewdness, and a bachelor, we need say no more
in this stage of the narrative.
Notwithstanding the early hour at which this industrious and flourishing
merchant quitted his abode, his movement along the narrow streets of his
native town was measured and dignified. More than once, he stopped to
speak to some favorite family-servant, invariably terminating his
inquiries after the health of the master, by some facetious observation
adapted to the habits and capacity of the slave. From this, it would seem,
that, while he had so exaggerated notions of domestic discipline, the
worthy burgher was far from being one who indulged, by inclination, in the
menaces he has been heard to utter. He had just dismissed one of these
loitering negroes, when, on turning a corner, a man of his own color, for
the first time that morning, suddenly stood before him. The startled
citizen made an involuntary movement to avoid the unexpected interview,
and then, perceiving the difficulty of such a step, he submitted, with as
good a grace as if it had been one of his own seeking.
"The orb of day--the morning gun--and Mr Alderman Van Beverout!" exclaimed
the individual encountered. "Such is the order of events, at this early
hour, on each successive revolution of our earth."
The countenance of the Alderman had barely time to recover its composure,
ere he was required to answer to this free and somewhat facetious
salutation. Uncovering his head, he bowed so ceremoniously as to leave the
other no reason to exult in his pleasantry, as he answered--
"The colony has reason to regret the services of a governor who can quit
his bed so soon. That we of business habits stir betimes, is quite in
reason; but there are those in this town, who would scarce believe their
eyes did they enjoy my present happiness."
"Sir, there are many in this colony who have great reason to distrust
their senses, though none can be mistaken in believing they see Alderman
Van Beverout in a well-employed man. He that dealeth in the produce of the
beaver must have the animal's perseverance and forethought! Now, were I a
king-at-arms, there should be a concession made in thy favor, Myndert, of
a shield bearing the animal mordant, a mantle of fur, with two Mohawk
hunters for supporters, and the motto, 'Industry.'"
"Or what think you, my Lord," returned the other, who did not more than
half relish the pleasantry of his companion, "of a spotless shield for a
clear conscience, with an open hand for a crest, and the motto, 'Frugality
and Justice?'"
"I like the open hand, though the conceit is pretending. I see you would
intimate that the Van Beverouts have not need, at this late day, to search
a herald's office for honors. I remember, now I bethink me, on some
occasion to have seen their bearings; a windmill, courant; dyke, coulant;
field, vert, sprinkled with black cattle--No! then, memory is
treacherous; the morning air is pregnant with food for the imagination!"
"Which is not a coin to satisfy a creditor, my Lord," said the caustic
Myndert.
"Therein has truth been, pithily, spoken. This is an ill-judged step,
Alderman Van Beverout, that lets a gentleman out by night, like the ghost
in Hamlet, to flee into the narrow house with the crowing of the cock. The
ear of my royal cousin hath been poisoned, worse than was the ear of
'murdered Denmark,' or the partisans of this Mister Hunter would have
little cause to triumph."
"Is it not possible to give such pledges to those who have turned the key,
as will enable your lordship to apply the antidote."
The question stuck a chord that changed the whole manner of the other. His
air, which had borne the character of a genteel trifler, became more grave
and dignified; and notwithstanding there was the evidence of a reckless
disposition in his features, dress and carriage, his tall and not
ungraceful form, as he walked slowly onward, by the side of the compact
Alderman, was not without much of that insinuating ease and blandishment,
which long familiarity with good company can give even to the lowest moral
worth.
"Your question, worthy Sir, manifests great goodness of heart, and
corroborates that reputation for generosity, the world so freely gives. It
is true that the Queen has been persuaded to sign the mandate of my
recall, and it is certain that Mr. Hunter has the government of the
colony; but these are facts that might be reversed, were I once in a
position to approach my kinswoman. I do not disclaim certain
indiscretions, Sir; it would ill become me to deny them, in presence of
one whose virtue is as severe as that of Alderman Van Beverout. I have my
failings; perhaps, as you have just been pleased to intimate, it would
have been better had my motto been frugality; but the open hand, dear Sir,
is a part of the design you will not deny me, either. If I have
weaknesses, my enemies cannot refuse to say that I never yet deserted a
friend."
"Not having had occasion to tax your friendship, I shall not be the first
to make the charge.
"Your impartiality has come to be a proverb! 'As honest as Alderman Van
Beverout;' 'as generous as Alderman Van Beverout,' are terms in each man's
mouth; some say 'as rich;' (the small blue eye of the burgher twinkled.)
But honesty, and riches, and generosity, are of little value, without
influence. Men should have their natural consideration in society. Now is
this colony rather Dutch than English, and yet, you see, how few names are
found in the list of the Council, that have been known in the province
half a century! Here are your Alexanders and Heathcotes, your Morris's and
Kennedies, de Lanceys and Livingstons, filling the Council and the
legislative halls; but we find few of the Van Rensselaers, Van
Courtlandts, Van Schuylers, Stuyvesants, Van Beekmans, and Van Beverouts,
in their natural stations. All nations and religions have precedency, in
the royal favor, over the children of the Patriarchs. The Bohemian
Felipses; the Huguenot de Lanceys, and Bayards, and Jays; the King-hating
Morrises and Ludlows--in short, all have greater estimation in the eyes of
government, than the most ancient Patroon!"
"This has long and truly been the case. I cannot remember when it was
otherwise!"
"It may not be denied. But it would little become political discretion to
affect precipitancy in the judgment of character. If my own administration
can be stigmatized with the same apparent prejudice, it proves the clearer
how strong is misrepresentation at home. Time was wanting to enlighten my
mind and that time has been refused me. In another year, my worthy Sir,
the Council should have been filled with Van's!"
"In such a case, my Lord, the unhappy condition in which you are now
placed might indeed have been avoided."
"Is it too late to arrest the evil? It is time Anne had been undeceived,
and her mind regained. There wanteth nothing to such a consummation of
justice, Sir, but opportunity. It touches me to the heart, to think that
this disgrace should befall one so near the royal blood! 'Tis a spot on
the escutcheon of the crown, that all loyal subjects must feel desirous to
efface, and so small an effort would effect the object, too, with
certain--Mr. Alderman Myndert Van Beverout----?"
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