"This man is built like we are, and breathes God's good air just as we breathe it." "But he's got, one misfortune." "He's black." "And because he's black, other men, who are white, have made him a slave." "They put this iron collar round his neck and they treat him like a beast." "And who does this?" "Our American brothers do this, and they still do it to thousands like him." "He's lucky - he's escaped." "But there's still thousands like him over there, slaves," " in the Confederated States of America." " Stop, thief!" " Yes, it is a shame, sir!" " I'm not a thief!" "I'm starving, I've no work!" "Good morning, sir." "Good morning to you." "Can I please you at all, Captain?" "Can you what?" "Can I..." "Can I please you at all, sir?" "'Ere, how old are you?" "Sixteen, come All Saints' Day." " What's your name?" " Jane Bamber." " What mill do you work in, Jane Bamber?" " None." " You are a mill girl, aren't you?" " Aye." " Well, What mill do you work in?" " Blackley Beck at Preston, sir." "But it's shut down." "There's not a bit of cotton for us to weave." "It's the war in America." "Sit down." "I've told these sluts to stay t'other side o' yon..." "This is no slut, this is a young working girl on hard times." " That'll be fourpence, Captain." " Aye, well..." "Now, here's eightpence." "Go and get me another, will you?" " Aye, sir." " Here, drink that." "No, I mustn't." "I've never had rum before." " Go on, drink it." " Saving your presence, Captain, with an empty stomach, she'd probably die on't." "Get her a plate of beef, then, will you?" " Beef, sir?" " Aye." "Not the salt beef, the prime stuff." "You have it, haven't you?" "Aye, I have it." " Well, then, let's see it, man." " Aye, sir." " Here." " A florin, sir?" " I wish it was ten guineas." " Thank you, sir." "Listen, Jane Bamber, get back to Preston." "There's nowt for you but misery in Liverpool." "Cap'n Onedin?" " Hm?" " John Bullock, sir." "Agent in this port for the Confederate States of America." "Sir." "Erm..." "Oh, may I introduce Miss Jane Bamber of Preston?" "Your servant, ma'am." "Go on, eat your vittles." "And straight back home afterwards." "Would you care to take a seat, sir?" " These are sad times, Captain." " Aye." "Half of Lancashire starving and the other half watching 'em." " Did you speak to anybody of my note?" " No, as you requested." "Sir, I've a proposition that may interest you." "The Confederate States are in a bad way for war materials." "Rifles, blankets, boots." " Medical supplies." " Aye." "I'm empowered to recruit captains and crews to run the Yankee blockade with guns and blankets and bring back cotton to Liverpool." "Any man doing both will be a patriot twice over." "Once to my country, once to his own." "I hear patriots die poor." "I'm also empowered to pay high freight rates to such a captain." "Mm." "Patriots not only die poor but young." "The cargo and the profits must be mine." " You disappoint me, sir." " Oh, why?" "But the South is desperate for supplies." "Any man carrying such a cargo into Wilmington can ask his own price." "I'm sorry to say he can." "If he gets there." "You don't seem very impressed by the notion that a man should look to himself." "No, sir, but I've heard it often enough in this war." "Profiteers' bellies grow fat as the South starves." "Sir, I'm an Englishman." "Your war's none of my affair." "If I've an interest in this venture, it's purely as a matter of business." "I thought that's what we were talking about." "Here's my card." "Call on me if I can help you." "Good day to you, sir." "That'll be ninepence for the beef, Captain." "A pleasant gentleman, the American." " Why, do you know him?" " Who doesn't in this port?" "Still, Captain Bullock's backing a loser." "What makes you say that, eh?" "One or two seamen in here done the trip." "Nary a one'd care to do it again." "That Yankee blockade's a noose round the South and round everybody's neck as tries to get in." " Maybe, eh?" " Still, they say the money's good if a sailor lad ever gets home to count it." " Good day to you." " Good day, Captain Onedin." "Hey and you - back home." "D'you hear me?" "Never mind Preston, you slut, get back to t'other side of yon door where you belong!" "And don't let me catch you in this side again!" "The house is made over to you." "There's a small annuity from an uncle of mine." "That too is yours." "It isn't much but it should suffice to keep you and the...the child." "Anyway, it's all I have." "The details are in there." "I..." "I can't beg you to stay." "I've no right to do that." "Have you considered what you're giving up?" "I have lain awake at night considering it." "I've made up me mind." "I'm sorry, Albert." "Believe me." "I do." "I, too, am sorry." "Here you are, Mr Baines." "Thank you." " Robert." " James." "How much monies have we, altogether?" "What, if we realised every penny?" "With the warehouse, the Charlotte Rhodes and the Pampero, I should say... two thousand and four, five hundred pounds." "Aye." "That'll do." "For what, man?" "Cargo, Robert." "Of what?" "What cargo?" "200 dozen pair." "Best calf." "Brand-new." "At two shilling and fourpence the pair." " 200 dozen?" " How much, Robert?" " Not more than two shillings." " Aye." "Two shillings." "There's no profit for me in a florin a pair." " Yes or no, man?" " You'll ruin me, sirrah." "I doubt it." " Very well." " James, will you pray tell me..." " Now, blankets, Smethurst." " 100 dozen... for three shillings and threepence." "Farthing." "How much, Robert?" "They're not worth even three shillings, no." "Three shillings each." "I'll be generous." " Now, look here, Captain." " Aye?" "Three shilling it is." "Now, did you make inquiries about those other items?" " I did, sir." " At a profit, no doubt." "Certainly." "Is that an offence against the Lord's word?" "Er, what price, eh?" " The rifles." " Rifles?" "From the stock of the Austrian army." "In fine condition, greased and unfired, as they left the armourer..." "Price, man!" "There." "It's a bit of a stiff price for old pieces, isn't it?" "Perhaps he knows where they're going, Captain." "Well, try somebody else." "Look, my customers won't accept any old rubbish." "I'll warrant you'll find they'll buy those, sir." "Aye, and glad of it." "There's still a fine profit there." " Get me some that'll fire, at least." " James, will you..." "It won't matter one way or t'other, sir, 50 fathoms down." "This man is built just as we are built." "He breathes God's good air, just like we breathe it." "But this man has one misfortune - he's black!" "And because he's black, other people, who are white, have made a slave out of him." "They've put this iron collar round his neck and they treat him like a beast." "Who does this?" "Our so-called American brothers do this." "And to thousands like him." "He's lucky, he's free." "But there are thousands like him, still slaves, in the so-called Confederated States of America." " Shame!" " Yes, it is a shame, and that's why we must never buy their cotton, even if we're starving, even if our children are starving and begging in the streets." " Thank you, Mr Baines." " Ma'am." "Terrible thing, slavery, Mr Baines." "So I hear tell, ma'am." "That man escaped, he was one of the lucky ones." "Yes, ma'am." "Mr Foote's a very good, religious man." "True enough." "His mother kept a lodging house down Lime Street." " Oh, did she?" " Aye." "As for Bobby Jackson down there..." " Bobby Jackson?" " The slave." "He was lucky he escaped out of Scotland Road." " Oh?" " He was born there." "He's a Liverpool fella." "He wants you to read the good book." "The Volume Of The Sacred Law." "I ask you all..." "Morphine... chloroform." "Must be a lot of pain in the South." "And we'll relieve it, at a price." "Are you carrying medical supplies?" "Where to?" " America." " What's the rest of the cargo?" " Blankets and shoes..." " Rifles and gunpowder." "James?" " Blockade running." " You're not serious?" "Never been more serious." " Robert?" " Don't ask me." "Blockade running?" "To help succour those who keep slavery alive?" "Aye, and bringing back cotton." "Don't forget the poverty." " This ship." "We'll never get insurance on her." " Not a penny." "These bills for cargo will take our entire capital." "Look, Anne, Robert, there's little profit in Portuguese casks at tuppence a barrel." "Now, this voyage answers all our needs." "We must risk it." "Albert?" " Put it down somewhere, Mr Baines." " Aye aye, sir." " Hello, Albert." " James." "Where shall I put Mr Frazer's trunk?" "In the mate's cabin." "Go along with you." "Aye aye, sir." "What, are you going on this voyage, then?" "Er, that's so." "May I?" " To America?" " I have business there." "What of Elizabeth?" "Oh, she's...well, thank you, Anne." " You'll be leaving her in Liverpool?" " Yes." "What business do you have in the Americas?" "Steam." "I'm going to see a man called John Ericsson." "He's a genius with steamships." "He and I have corresponded." "He's interested in British iron-built steamships and has offered me a position as his assistant there." "Where is this Ericsson?" "In Washington, last I heard." " Wherever he is, I'll find him." " Yeah." "James, this wine is fit only for removing paint and barnacles." "James, the crew." "You insisted upon coming." "It was your notion." "It's very beautiful." "Aye." "One day a pearl, the rest of the time it's just the oyster." "It'd be foolish to say one loved the sea because it's so cruel." "Yet on a day like this..." "You're right." "If we were not on such a venture." "Land on the port bow!" "We make landfall in two hours, Anne, but you stay in Bermuda, remember." "Do you know Bermuda, Mr Baines?" "Aye, sir." "I've heard it called paradise." "That's Mr Ferns' house." "Thank you." " It is paradise." " Hm." "Well, he does very well, I must say... for a pilot." "You're not the only one who does well out of the war, it seems." "Thank you." "You come well recommended, Captain." " So you will pilot us into Wilmington?" " A fine lady, your wife." "I think so." "But do you usually discuss business in front of her?" "She is my wife and my partner." " I see." "Rich as well as handsome." " Now, Mr Ferns..." "Mistress Onedin, what do you think of this business?" "I think it's a bad business." "You are right." "It is." "Wine." "Shall I tell you why it is bad business?" "I have no wish for details." "I dislike the whole enterprise." "And your reason for that?" "The cargo my husband carries may help the South to win this war." "And you are against that?" "I am against the slave trade." "But so am I, in principle." "But you would not rob me of my little comforts?" "There is no comfort in slavery, Mr Ferns." "Well said, ma'am." "Well said." "You have a lady who speaks her mind, Capitaine." "No harm in that, so long as it is the last time she says it." "In the company we keep, she may meet men who take her words for Yankee treason." "My wife is to remain in Hamilton, so, er... don't concern yourself with her womanly fancies." "Let's get down to business, eh?" "Very well, Capitaine." "To business." "Now..." "Bermuda." "Wilmington." "The distance between is over 600 nautical miles." "Now, here is the blockade." "Gunboats." "Cruisers." "And here... the main squadron with the flagship." "Now, this is Cape Fear." "Rightly named, hm?" "And here is the Confederate fort on the estuary." "The most powerful guns in the South." "Once we are within her range..." " we are safe." " Mind you." "Go in by day?" "Well, before, yes." " And now?" " Now, by night." "Captain, you are in sail." "Without the right winds, you could be in trouble." "I tell you what we do." "We do not try to run through this blockade." "No." "We set course for the north." "We pick up the coast, we follow it down and we come in... by the back door." " That close to shore?" " Closer than you've ever been." "So close that you will hear nothing but the surf in your ears." "I don't know." "Isn't that a risk?" "A risk?" "Of course it is a risk!" "But not so big a risk as running through three blocks of ships." "Have you been in this close to shore before?" "Only once." "We got away with it." "Right." "Let's try it, then." "Good." "Well, there remains only to be discussed my fee." "750 pounds in gold for the round trip." "I understood 500!" "Some pilots will charge less, but I come back." "I have never lost a ship yet, Captain." "So do what I say, Captain, and I will bring you back." "And me as well, Mr Ferns." " I thought you said she was not coming." " She isn't." "I am, James." "If you're to die, I shall risk it, too." " Master." " Aye?" "Put your best man into the crosstrees." "Give him a silver dollar for every sail he sees." " Silver dollar?" " And fine him five if we see it first." "Well, carry on, Mr Baines." "You see before we are seen, Captain, you see?" "Before we are seen." "I spoke with Elizabeth before we sailed." "So you know that I've left her?" "Yes." "She doesn't blame you." " That is most gracious of her!" " She realises the wrong she did to you." "Could you not in your heart find it to forgive her and go back?" "She's provided for and so is the...child." "I've discharged me duty." "Maybe more than me duty." "I'm sorry I mentioned it." "We have to tuck in close to the surf and creep like a Negro in a henhouse from now on." "By the deep, six!" "Go easy, mister!" "Easy as she goes!" "Sandy bottom, sir." "Starboard, easy!" "Starboard and easy, sir!" " Steady as she goes, Mr Baines." " Where's me sail, sir?" " Go on sounding, sailor." " Sir." " Do you hear that surf?" "Well, we're nearly in it, Captain." "Nothing to port!" "Nothing to starboard!" "Aye aye, sir." "One thing wrong with this ship - she isn't built of iron." "I've never heard surf like that before, not from on board." "Keep her steady as she goes, Mr Baines!" "Aye aye, sir." "Steady as she goes." "We're very close into the shore, aren't we?" " We are meant to be." " Can't we move out a little?" "And run into a Yankee gunboat?" "You are paying me good money to get you into Wilmington." "Please let me do it!" " By the mark, four!" " Very well." "I couldn't abide the noise below." " I can't abide it up here." " Will we get out alive?" "I'm praying hard, ma'am." "He'll have us over, Captain." "He's a good seaman, but he's a madman, sir." "Mr Baines!" "If anybody can do it, he can." "We are in the estuary!" "Steer her west-sou'west!" " Morning, ma'am." " Morning, Mr Baines." "You going ashore, ma'am?" " Yes." " I'll go with you." " Look at that man's back." " I've seen worse, ma'am." "Dear God." "But he'll live." "He wouldn't be walking else." "To think they'd do that to a defenceless black man." "I hate this place." "Well, it isn't a paradise, that's for sure." "More like hell it is - save in your presence, ma'am." "Morning, sir." "Goodbye, Anne." "Should I give Elizabeth any message?" "She'll be waiting for us in Liverpool." "Give her me... regards." " That's all?" " That's all." "Goodbye." " Good luck." " Elizabeth... asked me to give you this letter." "It will be harder getting out, Captain Onedin, a lot harder." "They know we are in by now." " How?" " The place is full of spies." "In this war, it is brother against brother and trust no man." "So I will have my half fee...now." "This cargo took every penny I possessed." "You'll be paid, though, when I'm paid." "Major Morrison from the quartermaster's office, sir." " Captain Onedin." " This is..." " He knows me, don't you, Major?" " I do." "I have read your manifest and I see what you carry." "It is indeed a handsome cargo of inestimable value to my country." "I thank you." " Would you care for some refreshment?" " Later perhaps." "If we can talk privately..." "Don't worry about me, Major." "See you get paid." "Would you care for the seat, Major?" "Sir..." "I will take that refreshment now, if I may." "Oh." "We have strange bedfellows in time of war, do we not, sir?" "To a safe return home, Captain." "Thank you." "Now, sir." "Naturally, we wish to purchase everything on this ship." " No point in your selling it piecemeal." " Well, not unless I have to." "Your prices, Captain, are out of my experience." "Oh?" "I thought I'd been well advised." " May I ask by whom?" " Do you have to?" "Our late friend." "They are very hard, sir." "Very hard indeed." " I would need permission to meet them." " Don't trouble to do that." "I can always put them up for sale to interested parties." " Now..." " Excuse me, James." " Major, my wife, Anne." " Your servant, ma'am." " My wife may stay?" "Er..." "But of course." "Right, erm...you were saying, Major." "If I may expand my objections to your prices as listed..." "Sir, the South is indeed in bad straits." "Lee's army at Potomac has never more than 30 days' rations on which to rely." "Well, our citizens very nearly starve." "Since the war began, bacon has gone up in price ten times, tea 16 times." " The price of flour's double." " Oh, Major." "I've risked my ship and possibly my life for this cargo." "I've done it for money and money alone." "Now, the South is not my cause, neither is the North." "James Onedin is my cause and my ships." "I'm sorry, but unless you meet my prices, I shall put my cargo up for auction, as I am allowed to do by your laws." "Very well, sir." "If that is your final word." "It is." "You hold us to ransom, sir, but we will pay your price." "In gold." "Confederate money, it's a debased currency." " You will take your price in cotton." " In gold." "So you are to go back to Liverpool empty?" "No, with your gold I shall buy the cotton privately from your planters...at bottom prices." "They can't give the stuff away." "Sir, whatever else you may be, you are certainly a man of business." "Well, I don't think you meant that as a compliment but I'm going to take it as one." "Oh, very well." "It is agreed." "Done?" " Done." " Good." "I'll go on deck and give orders to unload the cargo." "I want to sail as soon as possible." "Oh, Anne..." "look after our guest, will you?" "Why, Major?" "Ma'am?" "Why do you fight on?" "The right must prosper in the end." " Why beggar yourselves in such a cause?" " You are an abolitionist, ma'am?" "I try to understand as best I can the issues." "As I see it, slavery must end." "It must!" "This war is not just about slavery, ma'am!" "It is about states' rights." "States must live as they wish, not as Washington wishes." " Do you keep slaves?" " My father does." "But ma'am... even if this were a bad cause, how could I admit to it?" "And besides, if you feel this way, how can you bring yourself to aid us," "to profit from us?" " Bread!" "Please, bread." " Don't touch her, sir!" "Bread." "Give us bread." "Go on!" "Yellow jack." "Fever?" " Here?" "In port?" " Where is it not, sir?" "Well, ma'am, we're leaving this pestilential place." "Yes, Mr Baines." "The sooner, the better." "Aye." " You won't do what?" " I won't take you out tomorrow." " But you've got your money!" " Half fee, Capitaine." " But you agreed!" " Agreed to go when I was ready to go." " Why?" " I've told you." "They know that we are in." "They mean to get us when we go out." "They can come into the surf to get us because they have the boats that can do it." "Then when do you mean to leave this place?" "I mean, a week?" "Two weeks?" "A month maybe." "They have got nothing better to do but wait." " You would we rotted here all month?" " It is better than a Federal jail." "Oh, is it?" "Ah, I see." "You know about the yellow fever?" " Aye, I do." "You should have warned me." " A small outbreak?" " I've my wife to think of." " You should not have brought her." "Well, she stays in this place no longer." " We sail first tide tomorrow." " In that case, you sail without me." "And if you sail without me, you'll be taken." "We'll see." "I don't give advice...but don't do it." "If the yellow fever gets aboard my ship, we're all done for." "I'm between the devil and the deep blue, Mr Ferns." "Oh, no, sir." "You are between two devils, sir - the fever and the Federals." "Go at night." "Keep close in." "Oh, and Capitaine, good luck." " You've forgotten something?" " No." "I thought you'd be halfway to Washington." "No." "Decided not to work with Ericsson?" " For the time being." " What made you change your mind?" "Anne gave me a letter from Elizabeth." "It brought me to me senses." "James, I do believe this stuff gets worse with the keeping." "By the mark, five!" "Steady as she goes, Mr Baines!" "East to half-north, sir!" "And again, seaman." "And again." "By the deep, six!" " Nothing to the north, Baines!" " Aye aye, sir." "By the mark, five!" "I said steady, Mr Baines!" "Every man jack puts his hands on his head!" "This ship is a prize of the United States of America!" "Fortunes of war, Captain." "You gave us a good run but you had no chance, none at all." "We simply knew to expect you." " To expect us?" " Indeed." "Our intelligence is very good." "Is your intelligence called Mr Ferns?" " I cannot tell you that, ma'am." " I take that as an admission." " No, I have said nothing." " You've said enough." "Well, ma'am, all things will be known eventually." "Meantime, this ship is a prize and I have an armed crew aboard." "Now, you may not be happy, ma'am, but I trust you'll be comfortable till we make port in New Orleans." "I am impressed by your consideration, sir." "My wife means..." "That she hates my face at her table but as I say, fortunes of war." "Well, I must on deck to see that we sail in the right direction." "I prefer Maudesley's variable screw propeller myself." "Are you interested in steamships, sir?" "You could say that." "I helped build two of my brother's design." "Back in Scotland, that was." "A Scotsman." "He talks politely but keeps us prisoner." "We could be in irons aboard his gunboat this very minute." " Why upset the fella?" " He only left you here because of me." "It's better than nothing." "Oh, it could have happened any time." "I don't blame you, James." " Blame me?" " You tried a gamble and lost." "If that's a speech of sympathy, God save us!" "We will begin again after they let us go." "You never wanted this enterprise." "Be glad it's ended so badly." " I disapproved but that doesn't mean..." " Oh, hush, woman." "Well, there's no wind, no wind at all." "I'm in no hurry to feel the irons of a Federal jail." "Let it be calm forever." "Anne, if you'll excuse us, eh?" "I've no doubt you'll be impatient to get home, Captain Fergusson, eh?" "Home?" "I lost my wife to the childbed fever three years ago in New York." "I have no home to go to." "The sea's my home." "We all have our misfortunes, sir." "There would have been a profit of some £30,000 for me on this voyage." " As much as that?" " Oh, aye." "£30,000?" "Yeah." "It was to have gone towards building a steamship." "A design of Mr Frazer's here." "He calls it the Golden Nugget." "You have designed a steamship, sir?" "You've got the plans aboard, Frazer." "Why not show them to Captain Ferguson?" " Would you care to see the plans, sir?" " I shall be most interested." "I'll get them from me cabin." "What do you think of it, Captain Ferguson?" "It's a fine design." "I see no fault in it." " None at all." "I congratulate you, sir." " Thank you." "If, erm..." "Oh, I say if we could've built her, what a day it would have been for the men who worked on her, eh?" "It will be a blow in the eye for them that wants to stop progress." "There are few in Liverpool who could work her." "I'd need a top man, a practical man at me right hand, a fully trained man, an engineer." "Qualified engineers are hard to come by." "It so happens that I'm one myself." "Indeed?" "Well, as you say, it's a fine design." "A pity we shall never see her launched." "..you owe this new country of yours?" "When the war's over, what will you do?" "You're no longer a young man." "Your roots are no more American than mine." "What do you owe them?" "I've taken their pay, I'll wear their uniform." "And when the war's over, how far will that uniform take you, eh?" "Now, what happens if you take us to New Orleans?" "My cargo's impounded and the money goes towards a war where it won't show one way or the other." "But put into something like this," "I could do some good in the world." "It could be a new start for you." "You could be me chief engineer." "£200 a year and a house of your own." "And a share of the profits of the Golden Nugget." "You'd have to work 16 hours a day, mind." " You said £30,000?" " Yeah." "Our risk is equal, therefore we take equal profit - 15,000 each." " You want half?" " Or nothing." "Very well." "We will sign articles to that effect." "Here, I've drawn up a document." " Blimey, you've come well prepared." " Aye, I hope so." "Right." "Now..." "How do we get to Liverpool?" "Well, now..." "You just leave that to me, hm?" "Captain." "Mr Frazer." "If you'll excuse me." "Mr Bell." "I have fresh orders for you." "You're to take the men off in the longboats and row for the shore." " But sir..." " I have put these orders in writing, Mr Bell." "Show them to anybody who questions your conduct." " Aren't you coming, sir?" " No." "As a matter of intelligence, Bell..." " Oh?" " Always obey... the last order given, Lieutenant, and you will do well in the navy." "Thank you, sir." "Cast off." "Man on bow." "Ready, together." "This man is built like we are built and breathes God's good air just like we breathe it." "This man has one misfortune..." "Now, who are these people?" "They're our American brothers!" " You did it, James, you did it!" " Yes, we did it." "We're rich, Anne!" "We're rich!" "Yes, Robert." "We went to make a profit and it seems we've made one." "I trust we're all proud of ourselves." "James, do you know that woman?" "Hm?" "No." "Never seen her before in my life." "And who are they?" "Who are these people?" "Our American brothers!" "Our American brothers do this!" "Yes, and to thousands like him!" "This man was lucky - he escaped." "But there's still thousands like him, still slaves, in the so-called Confederate States of America." "The South!" "Yes." "Yes, it is a shame, sir." "And that is why we should never buy their cotton." "Even if we're starving, even if our children are starving and begging in the streets." "I put it to you, God created Man in his own image, black or white, red or brown." "And it is not up to us to fly in the face of the holy Lord!" "No, because he would not countenance this..."