The Perils of Certain English Prisoners
In 1744, Gill Davis, a private in the Royal Marines, dictates his life story to "my Lady," being unable to read or write himself. He recounts standing aboard the armed sloop Christopher Columbus off the Mosquito shore with his comrade Harry Charker, sailing toward the Island of Silver-Store, an English colony that stores silver mined in Honduras before it is shipped to Jamaica. Davis and a detachment of Marines under Lieutenant Linderwood, including the tyrannical Sergeant Drooce, are sent to reinforce the Island against pirates. Davis nurses resentment toward the easy, comfortable life of the colonists, especially after meeting the beautiful Miss Marion Maryon, sister of the sloop's ill Captain Maryon, and begins to suspect he is jealous of any suitor she might have. He also meets the fawning Sambo pilot Christian George King, whom he distrusts on sight, Mrs. Belltott (Miss Maryon's maid), and the pompous Commissioner Pordage, who quarrels with Captain Maryon over official protocol. The sloop springs a mysterious leak, forcing the cargo ashore and the ship careened for repair. During the ensuing festivities, Davis meets Captain Carton, commander of the anti-pirate boat patrol, and the wider colony, including Mrs. Venning and her daughter Mrs. Fisher. Word arrives that pirates are massing on the mainland; Carton leads most of the men off in boats to intercept them, leaving a small garrison—Davis, Charker, Drooce, and others—on the Island. That night Davis discovers the alarm was a feint: pirates, guided by the treacherous Christian George King, land on the Island itself, having sabotaged the sloop, the powder, and the cartridges. The defenders barricade the fort; Miss Maryon asks Davis to kill her rather than let her be taken alive if defeat is certain. In the desperate hand-to-hand battle, Charker is fatally wounded trying to light a signal fire, Mrs. Venning is shot dead, and Davis is wounded and captured along with many others; the pirates carry off the silver and prisoners to the mainland. The surviving prisoners escape on rafts down a river, enduring hardship, near-drowning, and constant fear of recapture, while Pordage frets over paperwork and his wife over her nightcap. Davis grows devoted to protecting Miss Maryon and Mrs. Fisher. On the eighth day, Davis goes ashore to scout an approaching boat party and discovers it is a rescue expedition led by Captain Carton and Captain Maryon. The reunited group learns the original pirate alarm was a deception; Mrs. Fisher's daughter, feared dead, is found alive, hidden safely by her grandmother before the attack, and is joyfully restored to her parents from a flower-decorated boat. Later, Captain Carton shoots and kills a lurking spy, revealed to be Christian George King. The pirate ship carrying the treasure is eventually captured by a Royal cruiser. The party reaches a Mosquito coast settlement, where the Marines are ordered to march on. Miss Maryon offers Davis a purse of money in gratitude, which he refuses, asking instead for a small keepsake; she gives him her ring, and they part with mutual esteem, Davis concealing his hopeless love for her. Davis closes his narrative in old age, revealing that "my Lady" is Miss Maryon herself, now Lady Carton, wife of Captain Carton, who sought him out years later, found him wounded in hospital, and brought him to live at their country house, where she now writes down his story as he speaks it. A note states Dickens did not write the work's second chapter, in which the prisoners are held for ransom and escape the pirates.
By Charles Dickens · First published 1853 · Genre: Historical Fiction, Adventure, Faction (Fact + Fiction) · 2 chapters · 23,503 words
First lines
It was in the year of our Lord one thousand seven hundred and forty-four, that I, Gill Davis to command, His Mark, having then the honour to be a private in the Royal Marines, stood a-leaning over the bulwarks of the armed sloop Christopher Columbus, in the South American waters off the Mosquito shore.
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The Perils of Certain English Prisoners is listed on Textopian as a novel by Charles Dickens, dated 1853 CE.
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- Work type: Novel
- Author: Charles Dickens
- Date: 1853 CE
- Language: English
- Genres: Historical Fiction, Adventure, Faction (Fact + Fiction), Short Story
- Length: 23,503 words
- Structure: 2 chapters, 324 paragraphs
- Reading fit: Fairly Easy (7th Grade)
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- Work identity for The Perils of Certain English Prisoners by Charles Dickens
- Canonical title URL and first readable passage URL
- Genre and topic classification from the Textopian catalog
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Genres
- Historical Fiction — The book depicts a historical event, being situated during the time of the Crimean War. Dickens uses historical reference points to spin a fictional narrative.
- Adventure — The narrative follows the adventurous journey of the characters who are captured by pirates and face several challenges before eventually liberating themselves.
- Faction (Fact + Fiction) — Dickens based his narrative on the factual backdrop of the Crimean War and the Indian Rebellion, intertwining it with a cast of fictional characters and events.
- Short Story — The narrative is of short length and encapsulates a complete storyline, plot and character development within this limited length, thus qualifying as a short story.
Tags
historical fiction · satire · adventure · colonialism · imprisonment · British literature · 19th century · social commentary · humor · narrative · character study · exploration