It seemed disproportionately large for the
schooner; but when I saw that the crew amounted to between thirty and
forty men, I concluded that this boat was held in reserve in case of
any accident compelling the crew to desert the vessel.
As I have before said, the costumes of the men were similar to that of
the captain. But in head-gear they differed not only from him but from
each other, some wearing the ordinary straw hat of the merchant
service, while others wore cloth caps and red worsted night-caps. I
observed that all their arms were sent below, the captain only
retaining his cutlass and a single pistol in the folds of his shawl.
Although the captain was the tallest and most powerful man in the ship,
he did not strikingly excel many of his men in this respect; and the
only difference that an ordinary observer would have noticed was a
certain degree of open candour, straightforward daring, in the bold,
ferocious expression of his face, which rendered him less repulsive
than his low-browed associates, but did not by any means induce the
belief that he was a hero. This look was, however, the indication of
that spirit which gave him the pre-eminence among the crew of
desperadoes who called him captain. He was a lion-like villain, totally
devoid of personal fear, and utterly reckless of consequences, and
therefore a terror to his men, who individually hated him, but unitedly
felt it to be to their advantage to have him at their head.
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