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HISTORY OF THE INDIAN NAVY. 121
told liim in reply that they had no complaints to make of their
officers ; but having been trepanned into the Company's service,
they were resolved to have their liberty or die.
He warned them that the consequences would be fatal to them
if they persevered in their mutiny ; but promised that if they
wouki lay down their arms, tliey should be sent to England as
soon as possible. His address had oidy the effect of n)aking
them more furious. They placed the surgeon and other officers in
irons, and ordered their commander to retire abaft the tiller ropes,
where he was guarded by ten or twelve men armed with pistols,
swords, and blunderbusses. One of their number, named
William Brown, was then appointed captain, but soon found
how much more difficult it is to organise rebellion at sea than
on land. So defective were their arrangements that, unable to
weigh anchor, they were obliged to cut the cable ; then they
found that tide and wind were both against them, and the}'
were drifting on a lee- shore. In haste they let go another
anchor, and, for a time, all remained quiet.
Hough, seeing their incompetency to work the ship, supposed
that tliey would now uiore readily listen to reason, and, with
the permission of his guard, walked forward to hold a conference
with the principal men. One of them, rushing up to him,
presented a blunderbuss at his head, swearing with a fierce oath
to shoot him if he uttered another word. Others declared that
he and his officers were good men, and should not be hurt if
they would only remain silent. Taking advantage of this little
current setting in his favoin*, he desired that the irons should be
removed from his officers. With one voice they said, "By God,
it was the Captain's desire, and should be complied with." The
officers were liberated. All hands came on deck, and the con-
ference was renewed ; but some of the older seamen, suspecting a
design of returning to port, shouted, "No Bombay! No
Bombay!" adding, with horrible oaths, that if they listened to
their captain and laid down their arms, they would all be hanged.
Fortunately, the mutineers felt their helplessness, and, finding
that they could not get the ship to sea, proposed to place the
Captain again in command, on condition that the arms and
magazine should be left in their possession. At last he contrived
to talk with the leaders in private, when, after long hesitation,
from fear of their more obstinate and des})erate comrades, they
were induced to set an example of submission on receiving a
guarantee from Hough that they should be paid 2,000 rui)ees
and sent to England in the first ship. All then gathered round
their Captain, acknowledged that they had been engaged in a
rash undertaking, and expressed their willingness to rely on his
promises. In a quarter of an hour, after all the officers had
signed an agreement not to take any further notice of the