Page 199 - Early English Adventurers in the Middle East_Neat

FAITHFUL UNTO DEATH 199

“ What extremity the Dutch useth unto you,” he wrote,
“ they shall have their measure full and abounding either
in gentleness or rigour ; and whereas they have heretofore
protested fire and sword, fire and sword they shall have
repaid unto their bosoms.”
Fierce as was the spirit of the indomitable Courthope
he had a singularly happy gift of attaching to him­
self the affection of his followers. When some of the
men revolted against the coarse sago bread which now
constituted almost their sole rations, “ his mild carriage
and earnest protestations ” won them back to their allegi­
ance. It was always so when the burden seemed almost
too great for the ordinary seaman to bear. A reminder
of their duty coupled with a personal pica for patience
made them invariably his devoted followers once more.
His influence over the natives was also remarkable. They
rallied to him as they had rallied to no Englishman before,
and they fought under him with a resolution which caused
the Dutch to entertain a wholesome fear of invading the
island. When at length some weeks after the capture
of the Solomon they did essay an attack with a force of
700 men, they were defeated with an ease which suggested
that the disciplinary influence of the gallant Englishman
had gone very deep.
Months went by without any material change in the
situation, Courthope hoping against hope all the while, hold­
ing his tight little island with undiminished determination.
At length early in 1619 his heart was gladdened with the
news that Sir Thomas Dale with a considerable English
fleet had won a victory over the Dutch and was coming to
his relief. It now seemed that the fruits of his long and
stubborn stand for the rights of his country were to be