Here are the latest advices from New Granadamore recent I expect than anything you have had. The insurgents
Mr. Sharpe entered into a rapid exposition of the military and political situation in Central America. The Spanish colonies were entering into the final stage of their struggle for independence.
It cannot be long before His Majestys Government recognises that independence, said Sharpe. And our Minister in Washington informs me that the Government of the United States meditates a similar recognition. It remains to be seen what the Holy Alliance will have to say on that score, My Lord.
Europe under the rule of absolute monarchy would turn a jaundiced eye upon the establishment of a whole new series of republics, no doubt. But it hardly mattered what Europe had to say, as long as the Royal Navyeven the depleted peacetime navycontrolled the seas, and the two English-speaking governments continued in amity.
Cuba shows small signs of restlessness, went on Sharpe, and I have information of the issue of further letters of marque by the Spanish Government to vessels sailing from Havana
Letters of marque were one of the principal sources of Hornblowers troubles. They were being issued by insurgent and nationalist governments alike, to prey upon ships flying the old flags and the new, and the bearers of letters of marque turned pirates in the twinkling of an eye in the absence of legitimate prizes and efficient prize courts. Thirteen of Hornblowers fourteen small craft were scattered over the Caribbean keeping an eye on the activities of the privateers.
I have prepared duplicates of my reports for Your Lordships information, concluded Sharpe. I have them here to give to Your Lordship, along with copies of the complaints of the master-mariners concerned.
Thank you, sir, said Hornblower, while Gerard took the papers into his charge.
Now for the slave trade, with Your Lordships permission, went on Sharpe, opening a fresh series of papers.
The slave trade was as acute a question as piracy, even more acute in some ways, because the Anti-Slavery Society in England commanded a great deal of powerful and vocal support in both Houses of Parliament, and would raise an even more violent to-do about a cargo of slaves run into Havana or Rio de Janeiro, than a shipping company pestered by privateers.
At this moment, My Lord, said Sharpe, a raw hand newly brought from the Slave Coast is selling for eighty pounds in the Havana baracoonsand he cost no more than a pound in trade goods at Whydah. Those profits are tempting, My Lord.
Naturally, said Hornblower.
I have reason to believe that ships of both British and American registry are engaged in the traffic, My Lord.
So have I.
The First Sea Lord had tapped ominously on the table in that interview when touching on this part of his instructions to Hornblower. Under the new law British subjects who engaged in the slave trade could be hanged, and the ships seized. But care would be necessary in dealing with ships flying American colours. If they refused to heave-to on the high seas for examination the utmost tact would have to be employed. To shoot away an American spar or to kill an American citizen would mean trouble. America had gone to war with England only nine years before over matters very similar.
We want no trouble, My Lord, said Sharpe. He had a pair of hard, intelligent, grey eyes deep-set in his puffy face.
I am aware of that, sir.
And in this connection, My Lord, I must employ special emphasis in calling Your Lordships attention to a vessel making ready for sea here in New Orleans.
Which ship is this?
She is visible from the deck, My Lord. In factSharpe struggled out of his chair and walked to the cabin windowYes, there she is. What do you make of her, My Lord?
Hornblower looked out from beside Sharpe. He saw a beautiful ship of eight hundred tons or more. Her fine lines, the lofty rake of her masts, the wide spread of her yards, were all clear indications of speed, for which some sacrifice of cargo-carrying capacity had been made. She was flush decked, with six painted gun-ports along each side. American shipbuilders had always evinced a tendency towards building fast ships, but this was an advanced example of the type.
Are there guns behind those ports? asked Hornblower.
Twelve pounders, My Lord.
Even in these days of peace it was not unusual for merchant vessels to carry guns, whether for voyages in the West Indies or the East, but this was a heavier armament than usual.
She was built as a privateer, said Hornblower.
Quite right, My Lord. Shes the Daring; she was built during the war and made one voyage and took six prizes from us before the Treaty of Ghent. And now, My Lord?
She could be a slaver.
Your Lordship is right again, of course.
That heavy armament would be desirable in a slaver anchoring up a West African river liable to a treacherous attack; she could easily have a slave deck with that flush build; her speed would minimise deaths among the slaves during the Middle Passage; her lack of capacity for bulk cargo would be unimportant in a slaver.