Nelson: The Poisoned River (2 page)

Three

The lunge was unsuccessful, and within a minute all four of them had climbed the steps and entered through the wicket door. There were no flunkies visible, which was unusual, but the governor, calmer now, led them directly to a high-ceilinged office room. It had a large rosewood table; one chair pulled back, another sprawled onto the floor. Hastie wondered if there had been fisticuffs.

‘Hah!’
said Dalling. He limped to the fallen chair and jerked it upright. ‘Impertinent fellow! Some men out in these tropics don’t understand the danger of strong liquor.’

Nelson
and Collingwood exchanged glances. There were two large glasses on the table, and only the one near Dalling’s hand was empty.

‘It
is a problem, sir,’ the captain said. ‘You appeared to call him liar, though. May one be permitted to ask you why?’

For
a moment it looked as if the governor might explode once more, but the calmness of Nelson’s face and voice seemed to take out the sting. They were clearly friends.

‘Back
home,’ said Dalling, ‘I would have called him out. Or given him a thrashing, anyway.’

Collingwood
raised an eyebrow. It was a way he had. A silent quizzical look. And Dalling responded.

‘Captain
Nelson knows,’ he said. ‘It is a Norfolk thing.’ He was not understood. ‘We are both men of Norfolk. Quiet men. But dangerous when aroused. Horatio?’

Nelson
nodded. He took a chair, unbidden, and sat down.

‘Norfolk
men,’ repeated Dalling. ‘Gentlemen, forgive me. Sit.’

He
offered drink, and was declined. He touched the decanter in front of him, then took his fingers off. He sighed.

‘It
is my Secret Expedition,’ he said. ‘It is a deadly secret, and there is not a villain in Jamaica who does not know of it. You know of it, I suppose? You will not lie to me, I hope.’

Nelson
laughed. He had a very open laugh. The other two were more circumspect.

‘The
maps across the table might be an indication, sir,’ he said. ‘And the atlas open at the Mosquito Shore. But why is there opposition? I understood you planned to venture some way up the San Juan river, maybe take the first fort or two, and establish that we are a presence there. Not to be trifled with.’

‘Not
a very violent intention,’ Collingwood added. ‘More to reassure our own settlers than anything, mayhap? Why would Mr Harrison object? Or anyone for that matter? Right is on our side, surely?’

Dalling
grew more animated.

‘To
reassure our settlers! Precisely! That was the first plan. It was suggested, in fact, by Lord Germain, in secret communications with London. Yes, gentlemen, the Colonial Secretary. Between us we hatched up a plan to embolden the English settled along the whole Mosquito Shore, and I got in close and constant conflab with James Lawrie, the Superintendent General there. He sent me maps. He sent me memoranda.’

He
reached a sudden hand across the table, and gulped wine from the abandoned glass. He spoke to Nelson, directly.

‘I
came to realise, sir, that I could achieve much more. I could achieve, indeed, a mighty, mighty conquest. I could send the Dons and all their might to hell.’

Collingwood,
a rather dour man, pursed his lips quite obviously, while Hastie – by training not of military bent – nodded non-committally. Nelson, however, was entirely intrigued.

‘Good
God,’ he said. ‘What mean you, sir, exactly? Send them to hell by conquest of what? Surely not the whole of Guatemala?’

The
governor was impassioned.

‘Better
than that! Aye, sir, better than that indeed!’

He
pushed a map across the table and stabbed a finger at it.

‘See
here. The river runs a hundred miles up to Lake Nicaragua. The lake runs for another hundred to within three leagues of the great South Sea, the great Pacific Ocean. And there is talk, sir – and men claim that it is true – there is talk of a canal that joins them. Seize control of that, and the Americas are ours! North and South! The whole of Spain’s possessions!’

Nelson,
although in many ways like Dalling in enthusiasm, was also a cautious man. He leaned forward, pushed his wig back to reveal the sparse pale-ginger hair, and traced the San Juan river from sea, to lake, to ocean.

‘Hhm,’
he said. ‘At the very least we could cut off the Spanish south from their holdings in the north. We could build a port and harry all their fleets to death. What say you, Cuthbert?’

But
Hastie spoke before him.

‘That
whole territory is a grave for white men,’ he said, earnestly. ‘Whole armies are wiped out. Whole navies. Captain Nelson, it would be the death of you.’

To
everyone’s surprise, Nelson laughed. There was joy in it, real humour.

‘Well
I will not last forever, Timothy, and you’re forever telling me I have not long to go in any way. To take this treasure-mine for our dear country, to wrest this cornucopia from the overweening Don. Well, would that not be a triumph for all time?’

Collingwood
said quietly, ‘But there is Granada in the question. As fortified as any town can be. Two hundred miles from when we enter the San Juan.’

‘Well,
Henry Morgan did it,’ Dalling said. ‘A buccaneer leading a rabble of drunken villains waiting for the rope. And he was Welsh, like Mr Hastie here.’

Nelson’s
face spoke satisfaction.

‘I
think that it is possible, at least,’ he said. ‘If there is a canal, well… By God and all the angels, sir, I think that I would like to help you try it.’

Four

It was not just up to the governor, however, whatever Dalling thought. While he went bull-headed onward with the preparations, the chaos and the fury deepened. Nelson went next day to meet Sir Peter Parker, in Admiral’s Pen, and walked into a storm.

‘You
think it is straightforward, do you?’ Parker asked him, icily. ‘You have taken too much notice of that fiery little man. He is like a poison thorn in my side on this matter, and I take it badly that one of my leading officers should so easily be misled.’

Nelson
was without his friend and counsel Collingwood this morning, and it was not Hastie’s place to argue with an admiral. Nelson’s pale face flushed, and he unconsciously shifted his wig across his ravaged scalp.

‘And
can you not turn out more like an English officer?’ said Parker, testily. ‘I have never seen a wig like yours, sir, and it is exceeding unbecoming.’

Direct
attack, as usual, put steel into Nelson’s heart. He plucked the yellow horsehair off his head and tossed it to the floor. Hastie flinched at the impertinence, but Parker, strangely, smiled.

‘Ah
that is better. The real man revealed. By gob, though, you’ll look smarter when it’s fully grown.’

Nelson
wiped his brow.

‘I
beg your pardon, Sir Peter, and agree with all my heart. But it is better, believe me, than it was a month ago, and Mr Hastie has eased most of the soreness. The climate is not suited to my pale skin, I fear. How mean you, sir – misled?’

Parker
made a gesture to a cluttered table.

‘This
phantasie Dalling has of kicking out the Don from all America. This “secret expedition” up to Granada with two thousand men. He is crazed with the idea of silver and gold, I tell you. He sees himself as great as General Wolfe.’

Hastie
and Nelson, at a gesture, took chairs beside the table. A servant brought them lemonade. It was very cool and both men tried not to swallow too greedily.

‘At
first glance,’ said Nelson, circumspectly, ‘it seemed to have a certain merit in it. Lawrie, who superintends the whole of the Shore, thinks Guatemala and all of the Spanish provinces ripe for the taking. Indeed, he thinks their hold on the whole of southern America is rickety. It may not need an outside push. It may collapse from within itself.’

Parker
laughed.

‘Oh,
that would suit Dalling to the ground. He is commander-in-chief of land forces – most of whom are sick, and drunk, and almost worse than useless – and conveniently forgets that Jamaica is an island, and as such depends on nothing but the navy. Which is me, Nelson, and a few good ships and men like you. To fight the Dons we would have to bereave Jamaica of her real defence, and hope the French and Spanish squadrons that are cruising the vicinity are a figment of our imaginations. John Dalling can go and hang himself.’

‘Sir
John,’ said Nelson quietly. ‘He is a man of certain power, however much he…’

He
let that die. Sir Peter was not angry, merely uninterested.

‘Aye,’
he said. ‘Between these walls, perhaps more power than sense. You like him, don’t you, Nelson? You are like him, too. Hotheads, the pair of you.’

‘From
Norfolk,’ put in Hastie. All three chuckled.

‘I’ll
tell you what I plan to do,’ Admiral Parker went on. ‘And even this will be dependent on his actions in the immediate. I will offer him an escort for the ships of his expedition, and I will tell him it will be commanded by one of my best young officers – you. What’s more, captain, I propose giving you a better and a bigger ship. What say you to that?’

Nelson
was pulling at his growing fronds of hair. He shook his head decisively.

‘No,
sir,’ he said. Parker frowned, and Nelson met it with a smile.

‘I
am grateful at the offer, naturally, and flattered by your late description of me. However, the Hinchinbrook suits me perfect. I have worked her up with my loyal people, and we know her inside out. She is roomy, and sound, and sea-kindly. A different vessel, however fine a frigate, would serve as a distraction, sir. It’s a sorry workman who don’t trust his tools.’

‘But
there may be more than
guarda
costa
brigs in the contention,’ Parker responded. ‘John Dalling may think his expedition secret, but who knows what intelligence may have leaked? There are slavers here, and American smugglers, while the soldiers the governor confides in as a fighting force seem not much better than a gang of drunks.’ He paused. ‘And even
guarda
costa
brigs mount sixteen guns apiece, and their sailors are of the very best.’

‘Although
Spanish,’ put in Hastie, satirically. But he did not raise a laugh this time. Hastie was not a sailor.

‘Nelson,’
said Sir Peter Parker. ‘John Dalling is your friend. Do you deny that?’

The
captain’s pale skin coloured.

‘I
am not a man who will deny the truth, sir. Ever.’

‘As
well I know, sir. But you will convey nothing of this to him, under whatever circumstance. Do I have your word?’

Nelson
nodded stiffly.

‘You
do not need my word, sir. Duty is my word. If I ever fail to do my duty, then I hope that I may die. My duty is not to prattle confidences. John Dalling is a man I much admire, but his judgment in matters military is not ever my concern. You are my admiral and my lord.’

‘Well
then,’ said Parker. ‘And the most pressing matter is not precisely military. The recent prize money due from the successful sortie against Omoa is another matter where the governor trifles with me. The prizes must sail back to England to be assessed and allocated, not least because there will be no agreement here. But when I lately put the matter in the hands of Mr Harrison the Advocate General, Governor Dalling threw him from the King’s House on to the street.’

There
was a short silence. Hastie stole a glance at Nelson’s face.

‘I
know it, sir,’ said Nelson. ‘Indeed, I witnessed it, with Mr Hastie here and Lieutenant Collingwood. The governor was intemperate. No one would deny that.’

‘
He
denies it, sir, believe me. But I have set people on to change his mind, and if his mind won’t change, it will be the worse for him. He has two days at most. He will apologise to Harrison, or face the consequences. There, sir, is an end to it.’

The
interview seemed over, but there was more to come.

‘You
will not accept a bigger ship than Hinchinbrook, then? Well, that is your decision, and I admire your principles and reasons. But you do accept the escort duty, I trust?’

Nelson
picked his wig up from the floor. He regarded it as he might something unexpected, alien. His thoughts were furrowed on his brow.

‘I
understood, Sir Peter, that I was to lead an expedition up the San Juan del Norte river. I understand that the first fort is merely thirty miles upstream. I look forward to some action, sir. I cannot perhaps express to you how much I crave it.’

‘And?’

‘And you say escort duty, sir. Which means…?’

‘Which
means I will not risk a good ship and good men on some madcap jaunt up a vile filthy ditch infested with snakes and crocodiles and disease. You escort them to the river mouth, to Greytown, or St John, or however it styles itself these days. The river flotilla will be then commanded by one Captain Collins. He is a volunteer, as are his soldiers of the Jamaica Squadron. If there is dying to be done, I want you to have no part of it.’

When
Nelson maintained his silence, Parker clapped his hand upon the table, then sharply rang a bell.

‘Is
that understood, sir? Is that understood?’

‘Yes,
sir,’ said Nelson, as the door opened. ‘Yes sir, perfectly. And…I thank you for it.’

There
was an officer in the doorway, dressed in the uniform of colonel. Behind him was a younger man, not much more than twenty five or so.

‘Gentlemen,’
said Sir Peter, ‘come you in. This is Horatio Nelson, who is but twenty years old or so and already full post-captain. You may trust him with your lives. This is Timothy Hastie, of the surgical, whom Nelson places great trust in and so, I guess, may you.’

Heads
nodded gravely. Parker switched his gaze.

‘Gentlemen,
I give you Captain Polson of the 60th, who has been awarded the rank, for this sortie, of lieutenant colonel. And of the 79th, Captain Richard Bulkeley. They command, between them, well above two hundred and fifty men – regular – and a force of volunteers as yet uncounted.’

Polson
let out a laugh that was very nearly bitter. Nelson sharply raised his head.

‘There
will be good men among them I have no doubt,’ said Polson. He seemed a very stiff and formal soldier type. ‘But there are the Loyal Irish, and many men from out of prison who have joined the Jamaica Volunteers, then a ragtag from Port Royal slums, then the dregs of discharged sailors and privateersmen. Oh, and the volunteers from a so-called regiment of blacks, both runaway slaves and free, but all quite keen to cut a white man’s throat, no doubt.’

Nelson
disliked this type of talk intensely. He shot one glance at Admiral Parker, then a harder one at Polson.

‘Capital,’
he said, icily. ‘I do so like to run a happy ship. With your permission admiral, I will go about my business. It is pressing.’

The
admiral acceded with only half a smile. And Nelson and his ‘medical’ swept out.