With Clive in India | Page 9

as a man of war. She carried twelve cannon,
two of them thirty-two pounders, which were in those days considered
large pieces of ordnance. All the ships of the Company, and, indeed, all
ocean-going merchantmen of the day, were armed, as the sea swarmed
with privateers, and the black flag of the pirates was still occasionally
to be seen.
The girls were delighted with all they saw, as, indeed, was Charlie; for
accustomed, as they were, only to the coasting vessels which
frequented the port of Yarmouth, this floating castle appeared to them a
vessel of stupendous size and power.
This was Charlie's first visit, also, to the ship, for his uncle had told him
that all directions had been given, that the trunks with the things
necessary for the voyage would be found in his cabin, at the time of
starting, and the rest of the luggage in the hold. Everything was in order,
and Charlie found that his cabin companion was a doctor in the service,
returning to Madras. He was a pleasant man, of some five or six and
thirty, and assured Mrs. Marryat that he would soon make her son at
home on board ship, and would, moreover, put him up to the ways of
things upon his arrival in India. There were many visitors on board,
saying goodbye to their friends, and all sat down to lunch, served in the
saloon.
When this was over, the bell rang for visitors to go ashore. There was a

short scene of parting, in which Charlie was not ashamed to use his
handkerchief as freely as did his mother and sisters. Five minutes later,
the great vessel passed through the dock gates. Charlie stood at the
stern, waving his handkerchief as long as he could catch a glimpse of
the figures of his family; and then as, with her sails spread and the tide
gaining strength every minute beneath her, the vessel made her way
down the river, he turned round to examine his fellow passengers.
These were some twenty in number, and for the most part men. Almost
all were, in some capacity or other, civil or military, in the service of
the Company; for at that time their monopoly was a rigid one, and none
outside its boundary were allowed to trade in India. The Company was,
indeed, solely a great mercantile house of business. They had their own
ships, their own establishments, and bought and sold goods like other
traders. They owned a small extent of country, round their three great
trading towns; and kept up a little army, composed of two or three
white regiments; and as many composed of natives, trained and
disciplined like Europeans, and known as Sepoys. Hence the clergyman,
the doctor, a member of the council of Madras, four or five military
officers, twice as many civilians, and three young writers, besides
Charlie, were all in the employment of the Company.
"Well, youngster," a cheery voice said beside him, "take your last look
at the smoke of London, for it will be a good many years before you
see it again, my lad. You've blue skies and clear ones where you're
going, except when it rains, and when it does there is no mistake about
it."
The speaker was the captain of the Lizzie Anderson, a fine sailor-like
man of some fifty years, of which near forty had been spent in the
service of the Company.
"I'm not a Londoner," Charlie said, smiling, "and have no regret for
leaving its smoke. Do you think we shall make a quick voyage?"
"I hope so," the captain said, "but it all depends upon the wind. A finer
ship never floated than the Lizzie Anderson; but the Company don't
build their vessels for speed, and it's no use trying to run, when you

meet a Frenchman. Those fellows understand how to build ships, and if
they could fight them as well as they build them, we should not long be
mistress of the sea."
Most of the people on board appeared to know each other, and Charlie
felt rather lonely, till the doctor came up and began to chat with him.
He told him who most of his fellow passengers were:
"That gentleman there, walking on the other side of the deck, as if not
only the ship but the river and banks on both sides belonged to him, is
one of the council. That is his wife over there, with a companion
holding her shawl for her. That pretty little woman, next to her, is the
wife of Captain Tibbets, the tall man leaning against the bulwarks.
Those two sisters are going out to keep house for their uncle, one of the
leading men in Madras; and, I suppose, to get husbands, which they