THE WORKS OF EDGAR ALLAN POE VOLUME 3
Contents
NARRATIVE OF A. GORDON PYM
INTRODUCTORY NOTE
UPON my return to the United States
a few months ago, after the extraordinary series of adventure in the South Seas
and elsewhere, of which an account is given in the following pages, accident
threw me into the society of several gentlemen in Richmond, Va., who felt deep
interest in all matters relating to the regions I had visited, and who were
constantly urging it upon me, as a duty, to give my narrative to the public. I
had several reasons, however, for declining to do so, some of which were of a
nature altogether private, and concern no person but myself; others not so much
so. One consideration which deterred me was that, having kept no journal during
a greater portion of the time in which I was absent, I feared I should not be
able to write, from mere memory, a statement so minute and connected as to have
the appearance of that truth it would really possess, barring only the natural
and unavoidable exaggeration to which all of us are prone when detailing events
which have had powerful influence in exciting the imaginative faculties.
Another reason was, that the incidents to be narrated were of a nature so
positively marvelous that, unsupported as my assertions must necessarily be
(except by the evidence of a single individual, and he a half-breed Indian), I
could only hope for belief among my family, and those of my friends who have
had reason, through life, to put faith in my veracity—the probability being
that the public at large would regard what I should put forth as merely an
impudent and ingenious fiction. A distrust in my own abilities as a writer was,
nevertheless, one of the principal causes which prevented me from complying
with the suggestions of my advisers.
Among those gentlemen in Virginia
who expressed the greatest interest in my statement, more particularly in
regard to that portion of it which related to the Antarctic Ocean, was Mr. Poe,
lately editor of the “Southern Literary Messenger,” a monthly magazine,
published by Mr. Thomas W. White, in the city of Richmond. He strongly advised
me, among others, to prepare at once a full account of what I had seen and
undergone, and trust to the shrewdness and common-sense of the
public—insisting, with great plausibility, that however roughly, as regards mere
authorship, my book should be got up, its very uncouthness, if there were any,
would give it all the better chance of being received as truth.
Notwithstanding this representation,
I did not make up my mind to do as he suggested. He afterward proposed (finding
that I would not stir in the matter) that I should allow him to draw up, in his
own words, a narrative of the earlier portion of my adventures, from facts
afforded by myself, publishing it in the “Southern Messenger” under the garb of
fiction. To this, perceiving no objection, I consented, stipulating only that
my real name should be retained. Two numbers of the pretended fiction appeared,
consequently, in the “Messenger” for January and February (1837), and, in order
that it might certainly be regarded as fiction, the name of Mr. Poe was affixed
to the articles in the table of contents of the magazine.
The manner in which this ruse was
received has induced me at length to undertake a regular compilation and
publication of the adventures in question; for I found that, in spite of the
air of fable which had been so ingeniously thrown around that portion of my
statement which appeared in the “Messenger” (without altering or distorting a
single fact), the public were still not at all disposed to receive it as fable,
and several letters were sent to Mr. P.‘s address, distinctly expressing a
conviction to the contrary. I thence concluded that the facts of my narrative
would prove of such a nature as to carry with them enough evidence of their own
authenticity, and that I had consequently little to fear on the score of
popular incredulity.
This expos? being made, it will be
seen at once how much of what follows I claim to be my own writing; and it will
also be understood that no fact is misrepresented in the first few pages which
were written by Mr. Poe. Even to those readers who have not seen the
“Messenger,” it will be unnecessary to point out where his portion ends and my
own commences; the difference in point of style will be readily perceived.
A. G. PYM.
CHAPTER 1
MY name is Arthur Gordon Pym. My
father was a respectable trader in sea-stores at Nantucket, where I was born.
My maternal grandfather was an attorney in good practice. He was fortunate in everything
and had speculated very successfully in stocks of the Edgerton New Bank, as it
was formerly called. By these and other means he had managed to lay by a
tolerable sum of money. He was more attached to myself, I believe, than to any
other person in the world, and I expected to inherit the most of his property
at his death. He sent me, at six years of age, to the school of old Mr.
Ricketts, a gentleman with only one arm and of eccentric manners—he is well
known to almost every person who has visited New Bedford. I stayed at his
school until I was sixteen, when I left him for Mr. E. Ronald’s academy on the
hill. Here I became intimate with the son of Mr. Barnard, a sea-captain, who
generally sailed in the employ of Lloyd and Vredenburg—Mr. Barnard is also very
well known in New Bedford, and has many relations, I am certain, in Edgartown.
His son was named Augustus, and he was nearly two years older than me. He had
been on a whaling voyage with his father in the John Donaldson and was always
talking to me of his adventures in the South Pacific Ocean. I used frequently
to go home with him, and remain all day, and sometimes all night. We occupied
the same bed, and he would be sure to keep me awake until almost light, telling
me stories of the natives of the Island of Tinian, and other places he had
visited in his travels. At last I could not help being interested in what he
said, and by degrees I felt the greatest desire to go to sea. I owned a
sailboat called the Ariel, and worth about seventy-five dollars. She had a half-deck
or cuddy and was rigged sloop-fashion—I forget her tonnage, but she would hold
ten persons without much crowding. In this boat we were in the habit of going
on some of the maddest freaks in the world; and, when I now think of them, it
appears to me a thousand wonders that I am alive to-day.
I will relate one of these
adventures by way of introduction to a longer and more momentous narrative. One
night there was a party at Mr. Barnard’s, and both Augustus and I were not a
little intoxicated toward the close of it. As usual, in such cases, I took part
of his bed in preference to going home. He went to sleep, as I thought, very
quietly (it being near one when the party broke up), and without saying a word
on his favorite topic. It might have been half an hour from the time of our
getting in bed, and I was just about falling into a doze, when he suddenly
started up, and swore with a terrible oath that he would not go to sleep for
any Arthur Pym in Christendom, when there was so glorious a breeze from the southwest.
I never was so astonished in my life, not knowing what he intended, and
thinking that the wines and liquors he had drunk had set him entirely beside
himself. He proceeded to talk very coolly, however, saying he knew that I
supposed him intoxicated, but that he was never more sober in his life. He was
only tired, he added, of lying in bed on such a fine night like a dog, and was
determined to get up and dress, and go out on a frolic with the boat. I can
hardly tell what possessed me, but the words were no sooner out of his mouth
than I felt a thrill of the greatest excitement and pleasure and thought his
mad idea one of the most delightful and most reasonable things in the world. It
was blowing almost a gale, and the weather was very cold—it being late in
October. I sprang out of bed, nevertheless, in a kind of ecstasy, and told him
I was quite as brave as himself, and quite as tired as he was of lying in bed
like a dog, and quite as ready for any fun or frolic as any Augustus Barnard in
Nantucket.
We lost no time in getting on our
clothes and hurrying down to the boat. She was lying at the old decayed wharf
by the lumberyard of Pan key & Co., and almost thumping her side out
against the rough logs. Augustus got into her and bailed her, for she was nearly
half full of water. This being done, we hoisted jib and mainsail, kept full,
and started boldly out to sea.
The wind, as I before said, blew
freshly from the southwest. The night was very clear and cold. Augustus had
taken the helm, and I stationed myself by the mast, on the deck of the cuddy.
We flew along at a great rate—neither of us having said a word since casting
loose from the wharf. I now asked my companion what course he intended to
steer, and what time he thought it probable we should get back. He whistled for
a few minutes, and then said crustily: “I am going to sea—you may go home if
you think proper.” Turning my eyes upon him, I perceived at once that, despite
his assumed nonchalance, he was greatly agitated. I could see him distinctly by
the light of the moon—his face was paler than any marble, and his hand shook so
excessively that he could scarcely retain hold of the tiller. I found that
something had gone wrong and became seriously alarmed. At this period, I knew
little about the management of a boat, and was now depending entirely upon the
nautical skill of my friend. The wind, too, had suddenly increased, as we were
fast getting out of the lee of the land—still I was ashamed to betray any
trepidation, and for almost half an hour maintained a resolute silence. I could
stand it no longer, however, and spoke to Augustus about the propriety of
turning back. As before, it was nearly a minute before he made answer, or took
any notice of my suggestion. “By-and-by,” said he at length— “time enough—home
by-and-by.” I had expected a similar reply, but there was something in the tone
of these words which filled me with an indescribable feeling of dread. I again
looked at the speaker attentively. His lips were perfectly livid, and his knees
shook so violently together that he seemed scarcely able to stand. “For God’s
sake, Augustus,” I screamed, now heartily frightened, “what ails you? —what is
the matter? —what are you going to do?” “Matter!” he stammered, in the greatest
apparent surprise, letting go the tiller at the same moment, and falling
forward into the bottom of the boat—“matter—why, nothing is the—matter—going
home—d—d—don’t you see?” The whole truth now flashed upon me. I flew to him and
raised him up. He was drunk—beastly drunk—he could no longer either stand,
speak, or see. His eyes were perfectly glazed; and as I let him go in the
extremity of my despair, he rolled like a mere log into the bilge-water, from
which I had lifted him. It was evident that, during the evening, he had drunk
far more than I suspected, and that his conduct in bed had been the result of a
highly-concentrated state of intoxication—a state which, like madness,
frequently enables the victim to imitate the outward demeanor of one in perfect
possession of his senses. The coolness of the night air, however, had had its
usual effect—the mental energy began to yield before its influence—and the
confused perception which he no doubt then had of his perilous situation had
assisted in hastening the catastrophe. He was now thoroughly insensible, and
there was no probability that he would be otherwise for many hours.
It is hardly possible to conceive
the extremity of my terror. The fumes of the wine lately taken had evaporated,
leaving me doubly timid and irresolute. I knew that I was altogether incapable
of managing the boat, and that a fierce wind and strong ebb tide were hurrying
us to destruction. A storm was evidently gathering behind us; we had neither
compass nor provisions; and it was clear that, if we held our present course,
we should be out of sight of land before daybreak. These thoughts, with a crowd
of others equally fearful, flashed through my mind with a bewildering rapidity,
and for some moments paralyzed me beyond the possibility of making any
exertion. The boat was going through the water at a terrible rate—full before
the wind—no reef in either jib or mainsail—running her bows completely under
the foam. It was a thousand wonders she did not broach to—Augustus having let
go the tiller, as I said before, and I being too much agitated to think of
taking it myself. By good luck, however, she kept steady, and gradually I
recovered some degree of presence of mind. Still the wind was increasing
fearfully, and whenever we rose from a plunge forward, the sea behind fell combing
over our counter, and deluged us with water. I was so utterly benumbed, too, in
every limb, as to be nearly unconscious of sensation. At length I summoned up
the resolution of despair and rushing to the mainsail let it go by the run. As
might have been expected, it flew over the bows, and, getting drenched with
water, carried away the mast short off by the board. This latter accident alone
saved me from instant destruction. Under the jib only, I now boomed along
before the wind, shipping heavy seas occasionally over the counter, but
relieved from the terror of immediate death. I took the helm and breathed with
greater freedom as I found that there yet remained to us a chance of ultimate
escape. Augustus still lay senseless in the bottom of the boat; and as there
was imminent danger of his drowning (the water being nearly a foot deep just
where he fell), I contrived to raise him partially up, and keep him in a
sitting position, by passing a rope round his waist, and lashing it to a
ringbolt in the deck of the cuddy. Having thus arranged everything as well as I
could in my chilled and agitated condition, I recommended myself to God, and
made up my mind to bear whatever might happen with all the fortitude in my
power.
Hardly had I come to this
resolution, when, suddenly, a loud and long scream or yell, as if from the
throats of a thousand demons, seemed to pervade the whole atmosphere around and
above the boat. Never while I live shall I forget the intense agony of terror I
experienced at that moment. My hair stood erect on my head—I felt the blood
congealing in my veins—my heart ceased utterly to beat, and without having once
raised my eyes to learn the source of my alarm, I tumbled headlong and
insensible upon the body of my fallen companion.
I found myself, upon reviving, in
the cabin of a large whaling-ship (the Penguin) bound to Nantucket. Several
persons were standing over me, and Augustus, paler than death, was busily
occupied in chafing my hands. Upon seeing me open my eyes, his exclamations of
gratitude and joy excited alternate laughter and tears from the rough-looking
personages who were present. The mystery of our being in existence was now soon
explained. We had been run down by the whaling-ship, which was close-hauled,
beating up to Nantucket with every sail she could venture to set, and
consequently running almost at right angles to our own course. Several men were
on the look-out forward but did not perceive our boat until it was an
impossibility to avoid coming in contact—their shouts of warning upon seeing us
were what so terribly alarmed me. The huge ship, I was told, rode immediately
over us with as much ease as our own little vessel would have passed over a
feather, and without the least perceptible impediment to her progress. Not a
scream arose from the deck of the victim—there was a slight grating sound to be
heard mingling with the roar of wind and water, as the frail bark which was
swallowed up rubbed for a moment along the keel of her destroyer—but this was
all. Thinking our boat (which it will be remembered was dismasted) some mere
shell cut adrift as useless, the captain (Captain E. T. V. Block, of New
London) was for proceeding on his course without troubling himself further
about the matter. Luckily, there were two of the look-out who swore positively
to have seen some person at our helm and represented the possibility of yet
saving him. A discussion ensued, when Block grew angry, and, after a while,
said that “it was no business of his to be eternally watching for egg-shells;
that the ship should not put about for any such nonsense; and if there was a
man run down, it was nobody’s fault but his own, he might drown and be dammed”
or some language to that effect. Henderson, the first mate, now took the matter
up, being justly indignant, as well as the whole ship’s crew, at a speech
evincing so base a degree of heartless atrocity. He spoke plainly, seeing
himself upheld by the men, told the captain he considered him a fit subject for
the gallows, and that he would disobey his orders if he were hanged for it the
moment he set his foot on shore. He strode aft, jostling Block (who turned pale
and made no answer) on one side, and seizing the helm, gave the word, in a firm
voice, Hard-a-lee! The men flew to their posts, and the ship went cleverly about.
All this had occupied nearly five minutes, and it was supposed to be hardly
within the bounds of possibility that any individual could be saved—allowing
any to have been on board the boat. Yet, as the reader has seen, both Augustus
and I were rescued; and our deliverance seemed to have been brought about by
two of those almost inconceivable pieces of good fortune which are attributed
by the wise and pious to the special interference of Providence.
While the ship was yet in stays, the
mate lowered the jolly-boat and jumped into her with the very two men, I
believe, who spoke up as having seen me at the helm. They had just left the lee
of the vessel (the moon still shining brightly) when she made a long and heavy
roll to windward, and Henderson, at the same moment, starting up in his seat
bawled out to his crew to back water. He would say nothing else repeating his
cry impatiently, back water! back water! The men put back as speedily as
possible, but by this time the ship had gone around, and gotten fully under
headway, although all hands-on board were making great exertions to take in
sail. In despite of the danger of the attempt, the mate clung to the main
chains as soon as they came within his reach. Another huge lurch now brought
the starboard side of the vessel out of water nearly as far as her keel, when
the cause of his anxiety was rendered obvious enough. The body of a man was
seen to be affixed in the most singular manner to the smooth and shining bottom
(the Penguin was coppered and copper-fastened) and beating violently against it
with every movement of the hull. After several ineffectual efforts, made during
the lurches of the ship, and at the imminent risk of swamping the boat I was
finally disengaged from my perilous situation and taken on board—for the body
proved to be my own. It appeared that one of the timber-bolts having started
and broken a passage through the copper, it had arrested my progress as I
passed under the ship and fastened me in so extraordinary a manner to her
bottom. The head of the bolt had made its way through the collar of the green
baize jacket I had on, and through the back part of my neck, forcing itself out
between two sinews and just below the right ear. I was immediately put to
bed—although life seemed to be totally extinct. There was no surgeon on board.
The captain, however, treated me with every attention—to make amends, I
presume, in the eyes of his crew, for his atrocious behavior in the previous
portion of the adventure.
In the meantime, Henderson had again
put off from the ship, although the wind was now blowing almost a hurricane. He
had not been gone many minutes when he fell in with some fragments of our boat,
and shortly afterward one of the men with him asserted that he could
distinguish a cry for help at intervals amid the roaring of the tempest. This
induced the hardy seamen to persevere in their search for more than half an
hour, although repeated signals to return were made them by Captain Block, and
although every moment on the water in so frail a boat was fraught to them with
the most imminent and deadly peril. Indeed, it is nearly impossible to conceive
how the small jolly they were in could have escaped destruction for a single
instant. She was built, however, for the whaling service, and was fitted, as I
have since had reason to believe, with air-boxes, in the manner of some lifeboats
used on the coast of Wales.
After searching in vain for about
the period just mentioned, it was determined to get back to the ship. They had
scarcely made this resolve when a feeble cry arose from a dark object that
floated rapidly by. They pursued and soon overtook it. It proved to be the
entire deck of the Ariel’s cuddy. Augustus was struggling near it, apparently
in the last agonies. Upon getting hold of him it was found that he was attached
by a rope to the floating timber. This rope, it will be remembered, I had
myself tied around his waist, and made fast to a ringbolt, for the purpose of
keeping him in an upright position, and my so doing, it appeared, had been
ultimately the means of preserving his life. The Ariel was slightly put
together, and in going down her frame naturally went to pieces; the deck of the
cuddy, as might have been expected, was lifted, by the force of the water
rushing in, entirely from the main timbers, and floated (with other fragments,
no doubt) to the surface—Augustus was buoyed up with it, and thus escaped a
terrible death.
It was more than an hour after being
taken on board the Penguin before he could give any account of himself or be
made to comprehend the nature of the accident which had befallen our boat. At
length he became thoroughly aroused and spoke much of his sensations while in
the water. Upon his first attaining any degree of consciousness, he found
himself beneath the surface, whirling round and round with inconceivable
rapidity, and with a rope wrapped in three or four folds tightly about his
neck. In an instant afterward he felt himself going rapidly upward, when, his
head striking violently against a hard substance, he again relapsed into
insensibility. Upon once more reviving he was in fuller possession of his
reason—this was still, however, in the greatest degree clouded and confused. He
now knew that some accident had occurred, and that he was in the water, although
his mouth was above the surface, and he could breathe with some freedom.
Possibly, at this period the deck was drifting rapidly before the wind, and
drawing him after it, as he floated upon his back. Of course, if he could have
retained this position, it would have been nearly impossible that he should be
drowned. Presently a surge threw him directly athwart the deck, and this post
he endeavored to maintain, screaming at intervals for help. Just before he was
discovered by Mr. Henderson, he had been obliged to relax his hold through
exhaustion, and, falling into the sea, had given himself up for lost. During
the whole period of his struggles he had not the faintest recollection of the
Ariel, nor of the matters in connection with the source of his disaster. A
vague feeling of terror and despair had taken entire possession of his
faculties. When he was finally picked up, every power of his mind had failed
him; and, as before said, it was nearly an hour after getting on board the
Penguin before he became fully aware of his condition. In regard to myself—I
was resuscitated from a state bordering very nearly upon death (and after every
other means had been tried in vain for three hours and a half) by vigorous
friction with flannels bathed in hot oil—a proceeding suggested by Augustus.
The wound in my neck, although of an ugly appearance, proved of little real
consequence, and I soon recovered from its effects.
The Penguin got into port about nine
o’clock in the morning, after encountering one of the severest gales ever
experienced off Nantucket. Both Augustus and I managed to appear at Mr.
Barnard’s in time for breakfast—which, luckily, was somewhat late, owing to the
party overnight. I suppose all at the table were too much fatigued themselves
to notice our jaded appearance—of course, it would not have borne a very rigid
scrutiny. Schoolboys, however, can accomplish wonders in the way of deception,
and I verily believe not one of our friends in Nantucket had the slightest
suspicion that the terrible story told by some sailors in town of their having
run down a vessel at sea and drowned some thirty or forty poor devils, had
reference either to the Ariel, my companion, or myself. We two have since very
frequently talked the matter over—but never without a shudder. In one of our
conversations Augustus frankly confessed to me, that in his whole life he had
at no time experienced so excruciating a sense of dismay, as when on board our
little boat he first discovered the extent of his intoxication, and felt
himself sinking beneath its influence.
CHAPTER 2
IN no affairs of mere prejudice, pro
or con, do we deduce inferences with entire certainty, even from the simplest
data. It might be supposed that a catastrophe such as I have just related would
have effectually cooled my incipient passion for the sea. On the contrary, I
never experienced a more ardent longing for the wild adventure's incident to
the life of a navigator than within a week after our miraculous deliverance.
This short period proved amply long enough to erase from my memory the shadows
and bring out in vivid light all the pleasurably exciting points of color, all
the picturesqueness, of the late perilous accident. My conversations with
Augustus grew daily more frequent and more intensely full of interest. He had a
manner of relating his stories of the ocean (more than one half of which I now
suspect to have been sheer fabrications) well adapted to have weight with one
of my enthusiastic temperament and somewhat gloomy although glowing
imagination. It is strange, too, that he most strongly enlisted my feelings in
behalf of the life of a seaman, when he depicted his more terrible moments of
suffering and despair. For the bright side of the painting I had a limited
sympathy. My visions were of shipwreck and famine; of death or captivity among
barbarian hordes; of a lifetime dragged out in sorrow and tears, upon some gray
and desolate rock, in an ocean unapproachable and unknown. Such visions or
desires—for they amounted to desires—are common, I have since been assured, to
the whole numerous race of the melancholy among men—at the time of which I
speak I regarded them only as prophetic glimpses of a destiny which I felt
myself in a measure bound to fulfil. Augustus thoroughly entered my state of
mind. It is probable, indeed, that our intimate communion had resulted in a
partial interchange of character.
About eighteen months after the
period of the Ariel’s disaster, the firm of Lloyd and Vredenburg (a house
connected in some manner with the Messieurs Enderby, I believe, of Liverpool)
were engaged in repairing and fitting out the brig Grampus for a whaling
voyage. She was an old hulk, and scarcely seaworthy when all was done to her
that could be done. I hardly know why she was chosen in preference to other
good vessels belonging to the same owners—but so it was. Mr. Barnard was
appointed to command her, and Augustus was going with him. While the brig was
getting ready, he frequently urged upon me the excellency of the opportunity
now offered for indulging my desire of travel. He found me by no means an unwilling
listener—yet the matter could not be so easily arranged. My father made no
direct opposition; but my mother went into hysterics at the bare mention of the
design; and, more than all, my grandfather, from whom I expected much, vowed to
cut me off with a shilling if I should ever broach the subject to him again.
These difficulties, however, so far from abating my desire, only added fuel to
the flame. I determined to go at all hazards; and, having made known my
intentions to Augustus, we set about arranging a plan by which it might be
accomplished. In the meantime, I forbore speaking to any of my relations regarding
the voyage, and, as I busied myself ostensibly with my usual studies, it was
supposed that I had abandoned the design. I have since frequently examined my
conduct on this occasion with sentiments of displeasure as well as of surprise.
The intense hypocrisy I made use of for the furtherance of my project—an
hypocrisy pervading every word and action of my life for so long a period of
time—could only have been rendered tolerable to myself by the wild and burning
expectation with which I looked forward to the fulfilment of my long-cherished
visions of travel.
In pursuance of my scheme of
deception, I was necessarily obliged to leave much to the management of
Augustus, who was employed for the greater part of every day on board the
Grampus, attending to some arrangements for his father in the cabin and cabin
hold. At night, however, we were sure to have a conference and talk over our
hopes. After nearly a month passed in this manner, without our hitting upon any
plan we thought likely to succeed, he told me at last that he had determined
upon everything necessary. I had a relation living in New Bedford, a Mr. Ross,
at whose house I was in the habit of spending occasionally two or three weeks
at a time. The brig was to sail about the middle of June (June, 1827), and it
was agreed that, a day or two before her putting to sea, my father was to
receive a note, as usual, from Mr. Ross, asking me to come over and spend a
fortnight with Robert and Emmet (his sons). Augustus charged himself with the indicting
of this note and getting it delivered. Having set out as supposed, for New
Bedford, I was then to report myself to my companion, who would contrive a hiding-place
for me in the Grampus. This hiding-place, he assured me, would be rendered
sufficiently comfortable for a residence of many days, during which I was not
to make my appearance. When the brig had proceeded so far on her course as to
make any turning back a matter out of question, I should then, he said, be
formally installed in all the comforts of the cabin; and as to his father, he
would only laugh heartily at the joke. Vessels enough would be met with by
which a letter might be sent home explaining the adventure to my parents.
The middle of June at length
arrived, and everything had been matured. The note was written and delivered,
and on a Monday morning I left the house for the New Bedford packet, as
supposed. I went, however, straight to Augustus, who was waiting for me at the
corner of a street. It had been our original plan that I should keep out of the
way until dark, and then slip on board the brig; but, as there was now a thick
fog in our favor, it was agreed to lose no time in secreting me. Augustus led
the way to the wharf, and I followed at a little distance, enveloped in a thick
seaman’s cloak, which he had brought with him, so that my person might not be
easily recognized. Just as we turned the second corner, after passing Mr.
Edmund’s well, who should appear, standing right in front of me, and looking me
full in the face, but old Mr. Peterson, my grandfather. “Why, bless my soul,
Gordon,” said he, after a long pause, “why, why, —whose dirty cloak is that you
have on?” “Sir!” I replied, assuming, as well as I could, in the exigency of
the moment, an air of offended surprise, and talking in the gruffest of all
imaginable tones—“sir! you are a sum 'mat mistaken—my name, in the first place,
been nothing at all like Godin, and I’d want you for to know better, you
blackguard, than to call my new overcoat a dirty one.” For my life I could
hardly refrain from screaming with laughter at the odd way the old gentleman
received this handsome rebuke. He started back two or three steps, turned first
pale and then excessively red, threw up his spectacles, then, putting them
down, ran full tilt at me, with his umbrella uplifted. He stopped short,
however, in his career, as if struck with a sudden recollection; and presently,
turning round, hobbled off down the street, shaking all the while with rage,
and muttering between his teeth: “Won’t do—new glasses—thought it was
Gordon—d—d good-for-nothing salt water Long Tom.”
After this narrow escape we
proceeded with greater caution and arrived at our point of destination in
safety. There were only one or two of the hands-on board, and these were busy
forward, doing something to the forecastle combings. Captain Barnard, we knew
very well, was engaged at Lloyd and Vredenburg's, and would remain there until
late in the evening, so we had little to apprehend on his account. Augustus
went first up the vessel’s side, and in a short while I followed him, without
being noticed by the men at work. We proceeded at once into the cabin and found
no person there. It was fitted up in the most comfortable style—a thing
somewhat unusual in a whaling-vessel. There were four very excellent
staterooms, with wide and convenient berths. There was also a large stove, I
took notice, and a remarkably thick and valuable carpet covering the floor of
both the cabin and staterooms. The ceiling was full seven feet high, and, in
short, everything appeared of a more roomy and agreeable nature than I had
anticipated. Augustus, however, would allow me but little time for observation,
insisting upon the necessity of my concealing myself as soon as possible. He
led the way into his own stateroom, which was on the starboard side of the
brig, and next to the bulkheads. Upon entering, he closed the door and bolted
it. I thought I had never seen a nicer little room than the one in which I now
found myself. It was about ten feet long, and had only one berth, which, as I
said before, was wide and convenient. In that portion of the closet nearest the
bulkheads there was a space of four feet square, containing a table, a chair,
and a set of hanging shelves full of books, chiefly books of voyages and
travels. There were many other little comforts in the room, among which I ought
not to forget a kind of safe or refrigerator, in which Augustus pointed out to
me a host of delicacies, both in the eating and drinking department.
He now pressed with his knuckles
upon a certain spot of the carpet in one corner of the space just mentioned,
letting me know that a portion of the flooring, about sixteen inches square,
had been neatly cut out and again adjusted. As he pressed, this portion rose up
at one end sufficiently to allow the passage of his finger beneath. In this
manner he raised the mouth of the trap (to which the carpet was still fastened
by tacks), and I found that it led into the after hold. He next lit a small
taper by means of a phosphorous match, and, placing the light in a dark
lantern, descended with it through the opening, bidding me follow. I did so,
and he then pulled the cover upon the hole, by means of a nail driven into the underside—the
carpet, of course, resuming its original position on the floor of the
stateroom, and all traces of the aperture being concealed.
The taper gave out so feeble a ray
that it was with the greatest difficulty I could grope my way through the
confused mass of lumber among which I now found myself. By degrees, however, my
eyes became accustomed to the gloom, and I proceeded with less trouble, holding
on to the skirts of my friend’s coat. He brought me, at length, after creeping
and winding through innumerable narrow passages, to an iron-bound box, such as
is used sometimes for packing fine earthenware. It was nearly four feet high,
and full six long, but very narrow. Two large empty oil-casks lay on the top of
it, and above these, again, a vast quantity of straw matting, piled up as high
as the floor of the cabin. In every other direction around was wedged as
closely as possible, even up to the ceiling, a complete chaos of almost every
species of ship-furniture, together with a heterogeneous medley of crates,
hampers, barrels, and bales, so that it seemed a matter no less than miraculous
that we had discovered any passage at all to the box. I afterward found that
Augustus had purposely arranged the stowage in this hold with a view to
affording me a thorough concealment, having had only one assistant in the labor,
a man not going out in the brig.
My companion now showed me that one
of the ends of the box could be removed at pleasure. He slipped it aside and
displayed the interior, at which I was excessively amused. A mattress from one
of the cabin berths covered the whole of its bottom, and it contained almost
every article of mere comfort which could be crowded into so small a space,
allowing me, at the same time, sufficient room for my accommodation, either in
a sitting position or lying at full length. Among other things, there were some
books, pen, ink, and paper, three blankets, a large jug full of water, a keg of
sea-biscuit, three or four immense Bologna sausages, an enormous ham, a cold
leg of roast mutton, and half a dozen bottles of cordials and liqueurs. I
proceeded immediately to take possession of my little apartment, and this with
feelings of higher satisfaction, I am sure, than any monarch ever experienced
upon entering a new palace. Augustus now pointed out to me the method of
fastening the open end of the box, and then, holding the taper close to the
deck, showed me a piece of dark whipcord lying along it. This, he said,
extended from my hiding-place throughout all the necessary windings among the
lumber, to a nail which was driven into the deck of the hold, immediately
beneath the trapdoor leading into his stateroom. By means of this cord I should
be enabled readily to trace my way out without his guidance, provided any unlooked-for
accident should render such a step necessary. He now took his departure,
leaving with me the lantern, together with a copious supply of tapers and
phosphorous, and promising to pay me a visit as often as he could contrive to
do so without observation. This was on the seventeenth of June.
I remained three days and nights (as
nearly as I could guess) in my hiding-place without getting out of it at all,
except twice for the purpose of stretching my limbs by standing erect between
two crates just opposite the opening. During the whole period I saw nothing of
Augustus; but this occasioned me little uneasiness, as I knew the brig was
expected to put to sea every hour, and in the bustle he would not easily find
opportunities of coming down to me. At length I heard the trap open and shut,
and presently he called in a low voice, asking if all was well, and if there
was anything I wanted. “Nothing,” I replied; “I am as comfortable as can be;
when will the brig sail?” “She will be under weigh in less than half an hour,”
he answered. “I came to let you know, and for fear you should be uneasy at my
absence. I shall not have a chance of coming down again for some time—perhaps
for three or four days more. All is going on right aboveboard. After I go up
and close the trap, do you creep along by the whipcord to where the nail is
driven in. You will find my watch there—it may be useful to you, as you have no
daylight to keep time by. I suppose you can’t tell how long you have been
buried—only three days—this is the twentieth. I would bring the watch to your box
but am afraid of being missed.” With this he went up.
In about an hour after he had gone,
I distinctly felt the brig in motion, and congratulated myself upon having at
length fairly commenced a voyage. Satisfied with this idea, I determined to
make my mind as easy as possible and await the course of events until I should
be permitted to exchange the box for the roomier, although hardly more
comfortable, accommodations of the cabin. My first care was to get the watch.
Leaving the taper burning, I groped along in the dark, following the cord
through windings innumerable, in some of which I discovered that, after toiling
a long distance, I was brought back within a foot or two of a former position.
At length I reached the nail, and securing the object of my journey, returned
with it in safety. I now looked over the books which had been so thoughtfully provided
and selected the expedition of Lewis and Clarke to the mouth of the Columbia.
With this I amused myself for some time, when, growing sleepy, I extinguished
the light with great care, and soon fell into a sound slumber.
Upon awakening I felt strangely
confused in mind, and some time elapsed before I could bring to recollection
all the various circumstances of my situation. By degrees, however, I
remembered all. Striking a light, I looked at the watch; but it was run down,
and there were, consequently, no means of determining how long I slept. My
limbs were greatly cramped, and I was forced to relieve them by standing
between the crates. Presently feeling an almost ravenous appetite, I bethought
myself of the cold mutton, some of which I had eaten just before going to sleep
and found excellent. What was my astonishment in discovering it to be in a
state of absolute putrefaction! This circumstance occasioned me great
disquietude; for, connecting it with the disorder of mind I experienced upon
awakening, I began to suppose that I must have slept for an inordinately long
period of time. The close atmosphere of the hold might have had something to do
with this, and might, in the end, be productive of the most serious results. My
head ached excessively; I fancied that I drew every breath with difficulty;
and, in short, I was oppressed with a multitude of gloomy feelings. Still I
could not venture to make any disturbance by opening the trap or otherwise,
and, having wound up the watch, contented myself as well as possible.
Throughout the whole of the next
tedious twenty-four hours no person came to my relief, and I could not help
accusing Augustus of the grossest inattention. What alarmed me chiefly was,
that the water in my jug was reduced to about half a pint, and I was suffering
much from thirst, having eaten freely of the Bologna sausages after the loss of
my mutton. I became very uneasy and could no longer take any interest in my
books. I was overpowered, too, with a desire to sleep, yet trembled at the
thought of indulging it, lest there might exist some pernicious influence, like
that of burning charcoal, in the confined air of the hold. In the meantime, the
roll of the brig told me that we were far in the main ocean, and a dull humming
sound, which reached my ears as if from an immense distance, convinced me no
ordinary gale was blowing. I could not imagine a reason for the absence of
Augustus. We were surely far enough advanced on our voyage to allow of my going
up. Some accident might have happened to him—but I could think of none which
would account for his suffering me to remain so long a prisoner, except,
indeed, his having suddenly died or fallen overboard, and upon this idea I
could not dwell with any degree of patience. It was possible that we had been
baffled by head winds and were still in the near vicinity of Nantucket. This
notion, however, I was forced to abandon; for such being the case, the brig
must have frequently gone about; and I was entirely satisfied, from her
continual inclination to the larboard, that she had been sailing all along with
a steady breeze on her starboard quarter. Besides, granting that we were still about
the island, why should not Augustus have visited me and informed me of the
circumstance? Pondering in this manner upon the difficulties of my solitary and
cheerless condition, I resolved to wait yet another twenty-four hours, when, if
no relief were obtained, I would make my way to the trap, and endeavor either
to hold a parley with my friend, or get at least a little fresh air through the
opening, and a further supply of water from the stateroom. While occupied with
this thought, however, I fell despite every exertion to the contrary, into a
state of profound sleep, or rather stupor. My dreams were of the most terrific
description. Every species of calamity and horror befell me. Among other
miseries I was smothered to death between huge pillows, by demons of the most
ghastly and ferocious aspect. Immense serpents held me in their embrace and
looked earnestly in my face with their fearfully shining eyes. Then deserts,
limitless, and of the most forlorn and awe-inspiring character, spread
themselves out before me. Immensely tall trunks of trees, gray and leafless,
rose up in endless succession as far as the eye could reach. Their roots were
concealed in wide-spreading morasses, whose dreary water lay intensely black,
still, and altogether terrible, beneath. And the strange trees seemed endowed
with a human vitality, and waving to and from their skeleton arms, were crying
to the silent waters for mercy, in the shrill and piercing accents of the most
acute agony and despair. The scene changed; and I stood, naked and alone,
amidst the burning sandplains of Sahara. At my feet lay crouched a fierce lion
of the tropics. Suddenly his wild eyes opened and fell upon me. With a
conclusive bound he sprang to his feet and laid bare his horrible teeth. In
another instant there burst from his red throat a roar like the thunder of the
firmament, and I fell impetuously to the earth. Stifling in a paroxysm of
terror, I at last found myself partially awake. My dream, then, was not all a
dream. Now, at least, I was in possession of my senses. The paws of some huge
and real monster were pressing heavily upon my bosom—his hot breath was in my
ear—and his white and ghastly fangs were gleaming upon me through the gloom.
Had a thousand lives hung upon the
movement of a limb or the utterance of a syllable, I could have neither stirred
nor spoken. The beast, whatever it was, retained his position without
attempting any immediate violence, while I lay in an utterly helpless, and, I
fancied, a dying condition beneath him. I felt that my powers of body and mind
were fast leaving me—in a word, that I was perishing, and perishing of sheer
fright. My brain swam—I grew deadly sick—my vision failed—even the glaring
eyeballs above me grew dim. Making a last strong effort, I at length breathed a
faint ejaculation to God, and resigned myself to die. The sound of my voice
seemed to arouse all the latent fury of the animal. He precipitated himself at
full length upon my body; but what was my astonishment, when, with a long and
low whine, he commenced licking my face and hands with the greatest eagerness,
and with the most extravagant demonstration of affection and joy! I was bewildered,
utterly lost in amazement—but I could not forget the peculiar whine of my
Newfoundland dog Tiger, and the odd manner of his caresses I well knew. It was
he. I experienced a sudden rush of blood to my temples—a giddy and overpowering
sense of deliverance and reanimation. I rose hurriedly from the mattress upon
which I had been lying, and, throwing myself upon the neck of my faithful
follower and friend, relieved the long oppression of my bosom in a flood of the
most passionate tears.
As upon a former occasion my
conceptions were in a state of the greatest indistinctness and confusion after
leaving the mattress. For a long time, I found it nearly impossible to connect
any ideas; but, by very slow degrees, my thinking faculties returned, and I
again called to memory the several incidents of my condition. For the presence
of Tiger I tried in vain to account; and after busying myself with a thousand
different conjectures respecting him, was forced to content myself with
rejoicing that he was with me to share my dreary solitude, and render me
comfort by his caresses. Most people love their dogs—but for Tiger I had an
affection far more ardent than common; and never, certainly, did any creature
more truly deserve it. For seven years he had been my inseparable companion,
and in a multitude of instances had given evidence of all the noble qualities
for which we value the animal. I had rescued him, when a puppy, from the
clutches of a malignant little villain in Nantucket who was leading him, with a
rope around his neck, to the water; and the grown dog repaid the obligation,
about three years afterward, by saving me from the bludgeon of a street robber.
Getting now hold of the watch, I
found, upon applying it to my ear, that it had again run down; but at this I
was not at all surprised, being convinced, from the peculiar state of my
feelings, that I had slept, as before, for a very long period of time, how
long, it was of course impossible to say. I was burning up with fever, and my
thirst was almost intolerable. I felt about the box for my little remaining
supply of water, for I had no light, the taper having burnt to the socket of
the lantern, and the phosphorus-box not coming readily to hand. Upon finding
the jug, however, I discovered it to be empty—Tiger, no doubt, having been
tempted to drink it, as well as to devour the remnant of mutton, the bone of
which lay, well picked, by the opening of the box. The spoiled meat I could
well spare, but my heart sank as I thought of the water. I was feeble in the
extreme—so much so that I shook all over, as with an age, at the slightest
movement or exertion. To add to my troubles, the brig was pitching and rolling
with great violence, and the oil-casks which lay upon my box were in momentary
danger of falling, to block up the only way of ingress or egress. I felt, also,
terrible sufferings from seasickness. These considerations determined me to
make my way, at all hazards, to the trap, and obtain immediate relief, before I
should be incapacitated from doing so altogether. Having come to this resolve,
I again felt about for the phosphorus-box and tapers. The former I found after
some little trouble; but, not discovering the tapers as soon as I had expected
(for I remembered very nearly the spot in which I had placed them), I gave up
the search for the present, and bidding Tiger lie quiet, began at once my
journey toward the trap.
In this attempt my great feebleness
became more than ever apparent. It was with the utmost difficulty I could crawl
along at all, and very frequently my limbs sank suddenly from beneath me; when,
falling prostrate on my face, I would remain for some minutes in a state
bordering on insensibility. Still I struggled forward by slow degrees, dreading
every moment that I should swoon amid the narrow and intricate windings of the
lumber, in which event I had nothing but death to expect as the result. At
length, upon making a push forward with all the energy I could command, I
struck my forehead violently against the sharp corner of an iron-bound crate.
The accident only stunned me for a few moments; but I found, to my
inexpressible grief, that the quick and violent roll of the vessel had thrown
the crate entirely across my path, so as effectually to block up the passage.
With my utmost exertions I could not move it a single inch from its position,
it being closely wedged in among the surrounding boxes and ship-furniture. It
became necessary, therefore, enfeebled as I was, either to leave the guidance
of the whipcord and seek out a new passage, or to climb over the obstacle, and
resume the path on the other side. The former alternative presented too many
difficulties and dangers to be thought of without a shudder. In my present weak
state of both mind and body, I should infallibly lose my way if I attempted it
and perish miserably amid the dismal and disgusting labyrinths of the hold. I
proceeded, therefore, without hesitation, to summon up all my remaining
strength and fortitude, and endeavor, as I best might, to clamber over the
crate.
Upon standing erect, with this end
in view, I found the undertaking even a more serious task than my fears had led
me to imagine. On each side of the narrow passage arose a complete wall of
various heavy lumber, which the least blunder on my part might be the means of
bringing down upon my head; or, if this accident did not occur, the path might
be effectually blocked up against my return by the descending mass, as it was
in front by the obstacle there. The crate itself was a long and unwieldy box,
upon which no foothold could be obtained. In vain I attempted, by every means
in my power, to reach the top, with the hope of being thus enabled to draw
myself up. Had I succeeded in reaching it, it is certain that my strength would
have proved utterly inadequate to the task of getting over, and it was better
in every respect that I failed. At length, in a desperate effort to force the
crate from its ground, I felt a strong vibration in the side next me. I thrust
my hand eagerly to the edge of the planks and found that a very large one was
loose. With my pocket-knife, which, luckily, I had with me, I succeeded, after
great labor, in prying it entirely off; and getting it through the aperture,
discovered, to my exceeding joy, that there were no boards on the opposite
side—in other words, that the top was wanting, it being the bottom through
which I had forced my way. I now met with no important difficulty in proceeding
along the line until I finally reached the nail. With a beating heart I stood
erect, and with a gentle touch pressed against the cover of the trap. It did
not rise as soon as I had expected, and I pressed it with somewhat more
determination, still dreading lest some other person than Augustus might be in
his stateroom. The door, however, to my astonishment, remained steady, and I
became somewhat uneasy, for I knew that it had formerly required but little or
no effort to remove it. I pushed it strongly—it was nevertheless firm: with all
my strength—it still did not give way: with rage, with fury, with despair—it
set at defiance my utmost efforts; and it was evident, from the unyielding
nature of the resistance, that the hole had either been discovered and
effectually nailed up, or that some immense weight had been placed upon it,
which it was useless to think of removing.
My sensations were those of extreme
horror and dismay. In vain I attempted to reason on the probable cause of my
being thus entombed. I could summon up no connected chain of reflection, and,
sinking on the floor, gave way, unresistingly, to the most gloomy imaginings, in
which the dreadful deaths of thirst, famine, suffocation, and premature
interment crowded upon me as the prominent disasters to be encountered. At
length there returned to me some portion of presence of mind. I arose and felt
with my fingers for the seams or cracks of the aperture. Having found them, I
examined them closely to ascertain if they emitted any light from the stateroom;
but none was visible. I then forced the blade of my penknife through them,
until I met with some hard obstacle. Scraping against it, I discovered it to be
a solid mass of iron, which, from its peculiar wavy feel as I passed the blade
along it, I concluded to be a chain-cable. The only course now left me was to
retrace my way to the box, and there either yield to my sad fate, or try so to
tranquilize my mind as to admit of my arranging some plan of escape. I
immediately set about the attempt, and succeeded, after innumerable
difficulties, in getting back. As I sank, utterly exhausted, upon the mattress,
Tiger threw himself at full length by my side, and seemed as if desirous, by
his caresses, of consoling me in my troubles, and urging me to bear them with
fortitude.
The singularity of his behavior at
length forcibly arrested my attention. After licking my face and hands for some
minutes, he would suddenly cease doing so, and utter a low whine. Upon reaching
out my hand toward him, I then invariably found him lying on his back, with his
paws uplifted. This conduct, so frequently repeated, appeared strange, and I
could in no manner account for it. As the dog seemed distressed, I concluded
that he had received some injury; and, taking his paws in my hands, I examined
them one by one, but found no sign of any hurt. I then supposed him hungry, and
gave him a large piece of ham, which he devoured with avidity—afterward,
however, resuming his extraordinary maneuvers. I now imagined that he was
suffering, like myself, the torments of thirst, and was about adopting this
conclusion as the true one, when the idea occurred to me that I had as yet only
examined his paws, and that there might possibly be a wound upon some portion
of his body or head. The latter I felt carefully over but found nothing. On
passing my hand, however, along his back, I perceived a slight erection of the
hair extending completely across it. Probing this with my finger, I discovered
a string, and tracing it up, found that it encircled the whole body. Upon a
closer scrutiny, I came across a small slip of what had the feeling of letter
paper, through which the string had been fastened in such a manner as to bring
it immediately beneath the left shoulder of the animal.
CHAPTER 3
THE thought instantly occurred to me
that the paper was a note from Augustus, and that some unaccountable accident
having happened to prevent his relieving me from my dungeon, he had devised
this method of acquainting me with the true. Trembling with eagerness, I now
commenced another search for my phosphorus matches and tapers. I had a confused
recollection of having put them carefully away just before falling asleep; and,
indeed, previously to my last journey to the trap, I had been able to remember
the exact spot where I had deposited them. But now I endeavored in vain to call
it to mind and busied myself for a full hour in a fruitless and vexatious
search for the missing articles; never, surely, was there a more tantalizing
state of anxiety and suspense. At length, while groping about, with my head
close to the ballast, near the opening of the box, and outside of it, I
perceived a faint glimmering of light in the direction of the steerage. Greatly
surprised, I endeavored to make my way toward it, as it appeared to be but a
few feet from my position. Scarcely had I moved with this intention, when I
lost sight of the glimmer entirely, and, before I could bring it into view
again, was obliged to feel along by the box until I had exactly resumed my
original situation. Now, moving my head with caution to and from, I found that,
by proceeding slowly, with great care, in an opposite direction to that in
which I had at first started, I was enabled to draw near the light, still
keeping it in view. Presently I came directly upon it (having squeezed my way
through innumerable narrow windings) and found that it proceeded from some
fragments of my matches lying in an empty barrel turned upon its side. I was
wondering how they came in such a place, when my hand fell upon two or three
pieces of taper wax, which had been evidently mumbled by the dog. I concluded
at once that he had devoured the whole of my supply of candles, and I felt
hopeless of being ever able to read the note of Augustus. The small remnants of
the wax were so mashed up among other rubbish in the barrel, that I despaired
of deriving any service from them, and left them as they were. The phosphorus,
of which there was only a speck or two, I gathered up as well as I could, and
returned with it, after much difficulty, to my box, where Tiger had all the
while remained.
What to do next I could not tell.
The hold was so intensely dark that I could not see my hand, however close I
would hold it to my face. The white slip of paper could barely be discerned,
and not even that when I looked at it directly; by turning the exterior
portions of the retina toward it—that is to say, by surveying it slightly
askance, I found that it became in some measure perceptible. Thus, the gloom of
my prison may be imagined, and the note of my friend, if indeed it were a note
from him, seemed only likely to throw me into further trouble, by disquieting
to no purpose my already enfeebled and agitated mind. In vain I revolved in my
brain a multitude of absurd expedients for procuring light—such expedients
precisely as a man in the perturbed sleep occasioned by opium would be apt to
fall upon for a similar purpose—each and all of which appear by turns to the
dreamer the most reasonable and the most preposterous of conceptions, just as
the reasoning or imaginative faculties flicker, alternately, one above the
other. At last an idea occurred to me which seemed rational, and which gave me
cause to wonder, very justly, that I had not entertained it before. I placed
the slip of paper on the back of a book, and, collecting the fragments of the
phosphorus matches which I had brought from the barrel, laid them together upon
the paper. I then, with the palm of my hand, rubbed the whole over quickly, yet
steadily. A clear light diffused itself immediately throughout the whole
surface; and had there been any writing upon it, I should not have experienced
the least difficulty, I am sure, in reading it. Not a syllable was there,
however—nothing but a dreary and unsatisfactory blank; the illumination died
away in a few seconds, and my heart died away within me as it went.
I have before stated more than once
that my intellect, for some period prior to this, had been in a condition
nearly bordering on idiocy. There were, to be sure, momentary intervals of
perfect sanity, and, now and then, even of energy; but these were few. It must
be remembered that I had been, for many days certainly, inhaling the almost
pestilential atmosphere of a close hold in a whaling vessel, and for a long
portion of that time but scantily supplied with water. For the last fourteen or
fifteen hours I had none—nor had I slept during that time. Salt provisions of the
most exciting kind had been my chief, and, indeed, since the loss of the
mutton, my only supply of food, with the exception of the sea-biscuit; and
these latter were utterly useless to me, as they were too dry and hard to be
swallowed in the swollen and parched condition of my throat. I was now in a
high state of fever, and in every respect exceedingly ill. This will account
for the fact that many miserable hours of despondency elapsed after my last
adventure with the phosphorus, before the thought suggested itself that I had
examined only one side of the paper. I shall not attempt to describe my
feelings of rage (for I believe I was angrier than anything else) when the
egregious oversight I had committed flashed suddenly upon my perception. The
blunder itself would have been unimportant, had not my own folly and
impetuosity rendered it otherwise—in my disappointment at not finding some
words upon the slip, I had childishly torn it in pieces and thrown it away, it
was impossible to say where.
From the worst part of this dilemma
I was relieved by the sagacity of Tiger. Having got, after a long search, a
small piece of the note, I put it to the dog’s nose, and endeavored to make him
understand that he must bring me the rest of it. To my astonishment, (for I had
taught him none of the usual tricks for which his breed is famous,) he seemed
to enter at once into my meaning, and, rummaging about for a few moments, soon
found another considerable portion. Bringing me this, he paused awhile, and,
rubbing his nose against my hand, appeared to be waiting for my approval of
what he had done. I patted him on the head, when he immediately made off again.
It was now some minutes before he came back—but when he did come, he brought
with him a large slip, which proved to be all the paper missing—it is having
been torn, it seems, only into three pieces. Luckily, I had no trouble in
finding what few fragments of the phosphorus were left—being guided by the
indistinct glow one or two of the particles still emitted. My difficulties had
taught me the necessity of caution, and I now took time to reflect upon what I
was about to do. It was very probable, I considered, that some words were
written upon that side of the paper which had not been examined—but which side
was that? Fitting the pieces together gave me no clue in this respect, although
it assured me that the words (if there were any) would be found all on one
side, and connected in a proper manner, as written. There was the greater
necessity of ascertaining the point in question beyond a doubt, as the
phosphorus remaining would be altogether insufficient for a third attempt,
should I fail in the one I was now about to make. I placed the paper on a book
as before and sat for some minutes thoughtfully revolving the matter over in my
mind. At last I thought it barely possible that the written side might have
some unevenness on its surface, which a delicate sense of feeling might enable
me to detect. I determined to make the experiment and passed my finger very
carefully over the side which first presented itself. Nothing, however, was
perceptible, and I turned the paper, adjusting it on the book. I now again
carried my forefinger cautiously along, when I was aware of an exceedingly
slight, but still discernable glow, which followed as it proceeded. This, I
knew, must arise from some very minute remaining particles of the phosphorus
with which I had covered the paper in my previous attempt. The other, or under
side, then, was that on which lay the writing, if writing there should finally
prove to be. Again, I turned the note, and went to work as I had previously
done. Having rubbed in the phosphorus, a brilliancy ensued as before—but this
time several lines of MS. in a large hand, and apparently in red ink, became
distinctly visible. The glimmer, although sufficiently bright, was but
momentary. Still, had I not been too greatly excited, there would have been
ample time enough for me to peruse the whole three sentences before me—for I
saw there were three. In my anxiety, however, to read all at once, I succeeded
only in reading the seven concluding words, which thus appeared— “blood—your
life depends upon lying close.”
Had I been able to ascertain the
entire contents of the note—the full meaning of the admonition which my friend
had thus attempted to convey, that admonition, even although it should have
revealed a story of disaster the most unspeakable, could not, I am firmly
convinced, have imbued my mind with one tithe of the harrowing and yet
indefinable horror with which I was inspired by the fragmentary warning thus
received. And “blood,” too, that word of all words—so rife at all times with
mystery, and suffering, and terror—how trebly full of import did it now
appear—how chilly and heavily (disjointed, as it thus was, from any foregoing
words to qualify or render it distinct) did its vague syllables fall, amid the
deep gloom of my prison, into the innermost recesses of my soul!
Augustus had, undoubtedly, good
reasons for wishing me to remain concealed, and I formed a thousand surmises as
to what they could be—but I could think of nothing affording a satisfactory
solution of the mystery. Just after returning from my last journey to the trap,
and before my attention had been otherwise directed by the singular conduct of
Tiger, I had come to the resolution of making myself heard at all events by
those on board, or, if I could not succeed in this directly, of trying to cut
my way through the orlop deck. The half certainty which I felt of being able to
accomplish one of these two purposes in the last emergency, had given me
courage (which I should not otherwise have had) to endure the evils of my
situation. The few words I had been able to read, however, had cut me off from
these final resources, and I now, for the first time, felt all the misery of my
fate. In a paroxysm of despair, I threw myself again upon the mattress, where,
for about the period of a day and night, I lay in a kind of stupor, relieved
only by momentary intervals of reason and recollection.
At length I once more arose and
busied myself in reflection upon the horrors which encompassed me. For another
twenty-four hours it was barely possible that I might exist without water—for a
longer time I could not do so. During the first portion of my imprisonment I
had made free use of the cordials with which Augustus had supplied me, but they
only served to excite fever, without in the least degree assuaging thirst. I
had now only about a gill left, and this was of a species of strong peach
liqueur at which my stomach revolted. The sausages were entirely consumed; of
the ham nothing remained but a small piece of the skin; and all the biscuit,
except a few fragments of one, had been eaten by Tiger. To add to my troubles,
I found that my headache was increasing momentarily, and with it the species of
delirium which had distressed me since my first falling asleep. For some hours
past it had been with the greatest difficulty I could breathe at all, and now
each attempt at so doing was attended with the most depressing spasmodic action
of the chest. But there was still another and very different source of
disquietude, and one, indeed, whose harassing terrors had been the chief means
of arousing me to exertion from my stupor on the mattress. It arose from the
demeanor of the dog.
I first observed an alteration in
his conduct while rubbing in the phosphorus on the paper in my last attempt. As
I rubbed, he ran his nose against my hand with a slight snarl; but I was too
greatly excited at the time to pay much attention to the circumstance. Soon
afterward, it will be remembered, I threw myself on the mattress, and fell into
a species of lethargy. Presently I became aware of a singular hissing sound
close at my ears, and discovered it to proceed from Tiger, who was panting and
wheezing in a state of the greatest apparent excitement, his eyeballs flashing
fiercely through the gloom. I spoke to him, when he replied with a low growl,
and then remained quiet. Presently I relapsed into my stupor, from which I was
again awakened in a similar manner. This was repeated three or four times,
until finally his behavior inspired me with so great a degree of fear, that I
became fully aroused. He was now lying close by the door of the box, snarling
fearfully, although in a kind of undertone, and grinding his teeth as if
strongly convulsed. I had no doubt whatever that the want of water or the
confined atmosphere of the hold had driven him mad, and I was at a loss what
course to pursue. I could not endure the thought of killing him, yet it seemed necessary
for my own safety. I could distinctly perceive his eyes fastened upon me with
an expression of the deadliest animosity, and I expected every instant that he
would attack me. At last I could endure my terrible situation no longer and
determined to make my way from the box at all hazards, and dispatch him, if his
opposition should render it necessary for me to do so. To get out, I had to
pass directly over his body, and he already seemed to anticipate my
design—missing himself upon his fore-legs (as I perceived by the altered
position of his eyes), and displayed the whole of his white fangs, which were
easily discernible. I took the remains of the ham-skin, and the bottle
containing the liqueur, and secured them about my person, together with a large
carving-knife which Augustus had left me—then, folding my cloak around me as
closely as possible, I made a movement toward the mouth of the box. No sooner
did I do this, than the dog sprang with a loud growl toward my throat. The
whole weight of his body struck me on the right shoulder, and I fell violently
to the left, while the enraged animal passed entirely over me. I had fallen
upon my knees, with my head buried among the blankets, and these protected me
from a second furious assault, during which I felt the sharp teeth pressing
vigorously upon the woolen which enveloped my neck—yet, luckily, without being
able to penetrate all the folds. I was now beneath the dog, and a few moments
would place me completely in his power. Despair gave me strength, and I rose
boldly up, shaking him from me by main force, and dragging with me the blankets
from the mattress. These I now threw over him, and before he could extricate
himself, I had got through the door and closed it effectually against his
pursuit. In this struggle, however, I had been forced to drop the morsel of
ham-skin, and I now found my whole stock of provisions reduced to a single gill
of liqueur. As this reflection crossed my mind, I felt myself actuated by one
of those fits of perverseness which might be supposed to influence a spoiled
child in similar circumstances, and, raising the bottle to my lips, I drained
it to the last drop, and dashed it furiously upon the floor.
Scarcely had the echo of the crash
died away, when I heard my name pronounced in an eager but subdued voice,
issuing from the direction of the steerage. So unexpected was anything of the
kind, and so intense was the emotion excited within me by the sound, that I endeavored
in vain to reply. My powers of speech totally failed, and in an agony of terror
lest my friend should conclude me dead, and return without attempting to reach
me, I stood up between the crates near the door of the box, trembling
convulsively, and gasping and struggling for utterance. Had a thousand words
depended upon a syllable, I could not have spoken it. There was a slight
movement now audible among the lumber somewhere forward of my station. The
sound presently grew less distinct, then again less so, and still less. Shall I
ever forget my feelings at this moment? He was going—my friend, my companion,
from whom I had a right to expect so much—he was going—he would abandon me—he
was gone! He would leave me to perish miserably, to expire in the most horrible
and loathsome of dungeons—and one word, one little syllable, would save me—yet
that single syllable I could not utter! I felt, I am sure, more than ten
thousand times the agonies of death itself. My brain reeled, and I fell, deadly
sick, against the end of the box.
As I fell the carving-knife was
shaken out from the waistband of my pantaloons and dropped with a rattling
sound to the floor. Never did any strain of the richest melody come so sweetly
to my ears! With the in tensest anxiety I listened to ascertain the effect of
the noise upon Augustus—for I knew that the person who called my name could be only
himself. All was silent for some moments. At length I again heard the word
“Arthur!” repeated in a low tone, and one full of hesitation. Reviving hope
loosened at once my powers of speech, and I now screamed at the top of my
voice, “Augustus! oh, Augustus!” “Hush! for God’s sake be silent!” he replied,
in a voice trembling with agitation; “I will be with you immediately—as soon as
I can make my way through the hold.” For a long time, I heard him moving among
the lumber, and every moment seemed to me an age. At length I felt his hand
upon my shoulder, and he placed, at the same moment, a bottle of water to my
lips. Those only who have been suddenly redeemed from the jaws of the tomb, or
who have known the insufferable torments of thirst under circumstances as
aggravated as those which encompassed me in my dreary prison, can form any idea
of the unutterable transports which that one long draught of the richest of all
physical luxuries afforded.
When I had in some degree satisfied
my thirst, Augustus produced from his pocket three or four boiled potatoes,
which I devoured with the greatest avidity. He had brought with him a light in
a dark lantern, and the grateful rays afforded me scarcely less comfort than
the food and drink. But I was impatient to learn the cause of his protracted
absence, and he proceeded to recount what had happened on board during my
incarceration.
CHAPTER 4
THE brig put to sea, as I had
supposed, in about an hour after he had left the watch. This was on the
twentieth of June. It will be remembered that I had then been in the hold for
three days; and, during this period, there was so constant a bustle on board,
and so much running to and from, especially in the cabin and staterooms, that he
had had no chance of visiting me without the risk of having the secret of the
trap discovered. When at length he did come, I had assured him that I was doing
as well as possible; and, therefore, for the two next days he felt but little
uneasiness on my account—still, however, watching an opportunity of going down.
It was not until the fourth day that he found one. Several times during this
interval he had made up his mind to let his father know of the adventure, and
have me come up at once; but we were still within reaching distance of
Nantucket, and it was doubtful, from some expressions which had escaped Captain
Barnard, whether he would not immediately put back if he discovered me to be on
board. Besides, upon thinking the matter over, Augustus, so he told me, could
not imagine that I was in immediate want, or that I would hesitate, in such
case, to make myself heard at the trap. When, therefore, he considered
everything he concluded to let me stay until he could meet with an opportunity
of visiting me unobserved. This, as I said before, did not occur until the
fourth day after his bringing me the watch, and the seventh since I had first
entered the hold. He then went down without taking with him any water or
provisions, intending in the first place merely to call my attention, and get
me to come from the box to the trap,—when he would go up to the stateroom and
thence hand me down a supply. When he descended for this purpose, he found that
I was asleep, for it seems that I was snoring very loudly. From all the
calculations I can make on the subject, this must have been the slumber into
which I fell just after my return from the trap with the watch, and which,
consequently, must have lasted for more than three entire days and nights at
the very least. Latterly, I have had reason both from my own experience and the
assurance of others, to be acquainted with the strong soporific effects of the
stench arising from old fish-oil when closely confined; and when I think of the
condition of the hold in which I was imprisoned, and the long period during
which the brig had been used as a whaling vessel, I am more inclined to wonder
that I awoke at all, after once falling asleep, than that I should have slept
uninterruptedly for the period specified above.
Augustus called to me at first in a
low voice and without closing the trap—but I made him no reply. He then shut
the trap, and spoke to me in a louder, and finally in a very loud tone—still I
continued to snore. He was now at a loss what to do. It would take him some time
to make his way through the lumber to my box, and in the meanwhile his absence
would be noticed by Captain Barnard, who had occasion for his services every
minute, in arranging and copying papers connected with the business of the
voyage. He determined, therefore, upon reflection, to ascend, and await another
opportunity of visiting me. He was the more easily induced to this resolve, as
my slumber appeared to be of the most tranquil nature, and he could not suppose
that I had undergone any inconvenience from my incarceration. He had just made
up his mind on these points when his attention was arrested by an unusual
bustle, the sound of which proceeded apparently from the cabin. He sprang
through the trap as quickly as possible, closed it, and threw open the door of
his stateroom. No sooner had he put his foot over the threshold than a pistol
flashed in his face, and he was knocked down, at the same moment, by a blow
from a handspike.
A strong handheld him on the cabin
floor, with a tight grasp upon his throat; still he was able to see what was
going on around him. His father was tied hand and foot and lying along the
steps of the companionway, with his head down, and a deep wound in the
forehead, from which the blood was flowing in a continued stream. He spoke not
a word and was apparently dying. Over him stood the first mate, eyeing him with
an expression of fiendish derision, and deliberately searching his pockets,
from which he presently drew forth a large wallet and a chronometer. Seven of
the crew (among whom was the cook, a negro) were rummaging the staterooms on
the larboard for arms, where they soon equipped themselves with muskets and
ammunition. Besides Augustus and Captain Barnard, there were nine men
altogether in the cabin, and these among the most ruffianly of the brig’s
company. The villains now went upon deck, taking my friend with them after
having secured his arms behind his back. They proceeded straight to the
forecastle, which was fastened down—two of the mutineers standing by it with axes—two
also at the main hatch. The mate called out in a loud voice: “Do you hear there
below? tumble up with you, one by one—now, mark that—and no grumbling!” It was
some minutes before anyone appeared: —at last an Englishman, who had shipped as
a raw hand, came up, weeping piteously, and entreating the mate, in the humblest
manner, to spare his life. The only reply was a blow on the forehead from an
axe. The poor fellow fell to the deck without a groan, and the black cook
lifted him up in his arms as he would a child and tossed him deliberately into
the sea. Hearing the blow and the plunge of the body, the men below could now
be induced to venture on deck neither by threats nor promises, until a
proposition was made to smoke them out. A general rush then ensued, and for a
moment it seemed possible that the brig might be retaken. The mutineers,
however, succeeded at last in closing the forecastle effectually before more
than six of their opponents could get up. These six, finding themselves so
greatly outnumbered and without arms, submitted after a brief struggle. The
mate gave them fair words—no doubt with a view of inducing those below to
yield, for they had no difficulty in hearing all that was said on deck. The
result proved his sagacity, no less than his diabolical villainy. All in the
forecastle presently signified their intention of submitting, and, ascending
one by one, were pinioned and then thrown on their backs, together with the
first six—there being in all, of the crew who were not concerned in the mutiny,
twenty-seven.
A scene of the most horrible
butchery ensued. The bound seamen were dragged to the gangway. Here the cook
stood with an axe, striking each victim on the head as he was forced over the
side of the vessel by the other mutineers. In this manner twenty-two perished,
and Augustus had given himself up for lost, expecting every moment his own turn
to come next. But it seemed that the villains were now either weary, or in some
measure disgusted with their bloody labor; for the four remaining prisoners,
together with my friend, who had been thrown on the deck with the rest, were
respited while the mate sent below for rum, and the whole murderous party held
a drunken carouse, which lasted until sunset. They now fell to disputing regarding
the fate of the survivors, who lay not more than four paces off, and could
distinguish every word said. Upon some of the mutineers the liquor appeared to
have a softening effect, for several voices were heard in favor of releasing
the captives altogether, on condition of joining the mutiny and sharing the
profits. The black cook, however (who in all respects was a perfect demon, and
who seemed to exert as much influence, if not more, than the mate himself),
would listen to no proposition of the kind, and rose repeatedly for the purpose
of resuming his work at the gangway. Fortunately, he was so far overcome by
intoxication as to be easily restrained by the less bloodthirsty of the party,
among whom was a line-manager, who went by the name of Dirk Peters. This man was
the son of an Indian squaw of the tribe of Upstrokes, who live among the
fastnesses of the Black Hills, near the source of the Missouri. His father was
a fur-trader, I believe, or at least connected in some manner with the Indian
trading-posts on Lewis river. Peters himself was one of the most
ferocious-looking men I ever beheld. He was short in stature, not more than
four feet eight inches high, but his limbs were of Herculean mold. His hands,
especially, were so enormously thick and broad as hardly to retain a human
shape. His arms, as well as legs, were bowed in the most singular manner, and
appeared to possess no flexibility whatever. His head was equally deformed,
being of immense size, with an indentation on the crown (like that on the head
of most negroes), and entirely bald. To conceal this latter deficiency, which
did not proceed from old age, he usually wore a wig formed of any hair-like
material which presented itself—occasionally the skin of a Spanish dog or
American grizzly bear. At the time spoken of, he had on a portion of one of
these bearskins; and it added no little to the natural ferocity of his
countenance, which betook of the Upstroke character. The mouth extended nearly
from ear to ear, the lips were thin, and seemed, like some other portions of
his frame, to be devoid of natural pliancy, so that the ruling expression never
varied under the influence of any emotion whatever. This ruling expression may
be conceived when it is considered that the teeth were exceedingly long and
protruding, and never even partially covered, in any instance, by the lips. To
pass this man with a casual glance, one might imagine him to be convulsed with
laughter, but a second look would induce a shuddering acknowledgment, that if
such an expression were indicative of merriment, the merriment must be that of
a demon. Of this singular being many anecdotes were prevalent among the
seafaring men of Nantucket. These anecdotes went to prove his prodigious
strength when under excitement, and some of them had given rise to a doubt of
his sanity. But on board the Grampus, it seems, he was regarded, at the time of
the mutiny, with feelings more of derision than of anything else. I have been
thus particular in speaking of Dirk Peters, because, ferocious as he appeared,
he proved the main instrument in preserving the life of Augustus, and because I
shall have frequent occasion to mention him hereafter in the course of my
narrative—a narrative, let me here say, which, in its latter portions, will be
found to include incidents of a nature so entirely out of the range of human
experience, and for this reason so far beyond the limits of human credulity,
that I proceed in utter hopelessness of obtaining credence for all that I shall
tell, yet confidently trusting in time and progressing science to verify some
of the most important and most improbable of my statements.
After much indecision and two or
three violent quarrels, it was determined at last that all the prisoners (with
the exception of Augustus, whom Peters insisted in a jocular manner upon
keeping as his clerk) should be set adrift in one of the smallest whaleboats.
The mate went down into the cabin to see if Captain Barnard was still
living—for, it will be remembered, he was left below when the mutineers came
up. Presently the two made their appearance, the captain pale as death, but
somewhat recovered from the effects of his wound. He spoke to the men in a
voice hardly articulate, entreated them not to set him adrift, but to return to
their duty, and promising to land them wherever they chose, and to take no
steps for bringing them to justice. He might as well have spoken to the winds.
Two of the ruffians seized him by the arms and hurled him over the brig’s side
into the boat, which had been lowered while the mate went below. The four men
who were lying on the deck were then untied and ordered to follow, which they
did without attempting any resistance—Augustus being still left in his painful
position, although he struggled and prayed only for the poor satisfaction of being
permitted to bid his father farewell. A handful of sea-biscuit and a jug of
water were now handed down; but neither mast, sail, oar, nor compass. The boat
was towed astern for a few minutes, during which the mutineers held another
consultation—it was then finally cut adrift. By this time night had come
on—there were neither moon nor stars visible—and a short and ugly sea was
running, although there was no great deal of wind. The boat was instantly out
of sight, and little hope could be entertained for the unfortunate sufferers
who were in it. This event happened, however, in latitude 35 degrees 30’ north,
longitude 61 degrees 20’ west, and consequently at no very great distance from
the Bermuda Islands. Augustus therefore endeavored to console himself with the
idea that the boat might either succeed in reaching the land or come
sufficiently near to be fallen in with by vessels off the coast.
All sail was now put upon the brig,
and she continued her original course to the southwest—the mutineers being bent
upon some piratical expedition, in which, from all that could be understood, a
ship was to be intercepted on her way from the Cape Verde Islands to Porto
Rico. No attention was paid to Augustus, who was untied and suffered to go
about anywhere forward of the cabin companionway. Dirk Peters treated him with
some degree of kindness, and on one occasion saved him from the brutality of
the cook. His situation was still one of the most precarious, as the men were
continually intoxicated, and there was no relying upon their continued
good-humor or carelessness regarding himself. His anxiety on my account he
represented, however, as the most distressing result of his condition; and,
indeed, I had never reason to doubt the sincerity of his friendship. More than
once he had resolved to acquaint the mutineers with the secret of my being on
board, but was restrained from so doing, partly through recollection of the
atrocities he had already beheld, and partly through a hope of being able soon
to bring me relief. For the latter purpose he was constantly on the watch; but,
despite the most constant vigilance, three days elapsed after the boat was cut
adrift before any chance occurred. At length, on the night of the third day,
there came on a heavy blow from the eastward, and all hands were called up to
take in sail. During the confusion which ensued, he made his way below
unobserved, and into the stateroom. What was his grief and horror in
discovering that the latter had been rendered a place of deposit for a variety
of sea-stores and ship-furniture, and that several fathoms of old chain-cable,
which had been stowed away beneath the companion-ladder, had been dragged
thence to make room for a chest, and were now lying immediately upon the trap!
To remove it without discovery was impossible, and he returned on deck as
quickly as he could. As he came up, the mate seized him by the throat, and
demanding what he had been doing in the cabin, was about flinging him over the
larboard bulwark, when his life was again preserved through the interference of
Dirk Peters. Augustus was now put in handcuffs (of which there were several
pairs on board), and his feet lashed tightly together. He was then taken into
the steerage and thrown into a lower berth next to the forecastle bulkheads,
with the assurance that he should never put his foot on deck again “until the
brig was no longer a brig.” This was the expression of the cook, who threw him
into the berth—it is hardly possible to say what precise meaning intended by
the phrase. The whole affair, however, proved the ultimate means of my relief,
as will presently appear.
CHAPTER 5
FOR some minutes after the cook had
left the forecastle, Augustus abandoned himself to despair, never hoping to
leave the berth alive. He now came to the resolution of acquainting the first
of the men who should come down with my situation, thinking it better to let me
take my chance with the mutineers than perish of thirst in the hold,—for it had
been ten days since I was first imprisoned, and my jug of water was not a
plentiful supply even for four. As he was thinking on this subject, the idea
came all at once into his head that it might be possible to communicate with me
by the way of the main hold. In any other circumstances, the difficulty and
hazard of the undertaking would have prevented him from attempting it; but now
he had, at all events, little prospect of life, and consequently little to
lose, he bent his whole mind, therefore, upon the task.
His handcuffs were the first
consideration. At first he saw no method of removing them, and feared that he
should thus be baffled in the very outset; but upon a closer scrutiny he
discovered that the irons could be slipped off and on at pleasure, with very
little effort or inconvenience, merely by squeezing his hands through
them,—this species of manacle being altogether ineffectual in confining young
persons, in whom the smaller bones readily yield to pressure. He now untied his
feet, and, leaving the cord in such a manner that it could easily be readjusted
in the event of any person’s coming down, proceeded to examine the bulkhead
where it joined the berth. The partition here was of soft pine board, an inch
thick, and he saw that he should have little trouble in cutting his way
through. A voice was now heard at the forecastle companion-way, and he had just
time to put his right hand into its handcuff (the left had not been removed)
and to draw the rope in a slipknot around his ankle, when Dirk Peters came
below, followed by Tiger, who immediately leaped into the berth and lay down.
The dog had been brought on board by Augustus, who knew my attachment to the
animal, and thought it would give me pleasure to have him with me during the
voyage. He went up to our house for him immediately after first taking me into
the hold but did not think of mentioning the circumstance upon his bringing the
watch. Since the mutiny, Augustus had not seen him before his appearance with
Dirk Peters, and had given him up for lost, supposing him to have been thrown
overboard by some of the malignant villains belonging to the mate’s gang. It
appeared afterward that he had crawled into a hole beneath a whaleboat, from
which, not having room to turn around, he could not extricate himself. Peters
at last let him out, and, with a species of good feeling which my friend knew
well how to appreciate, had now brought him to him in the forecastle as a
companion, leaving at the same time some salt junk and potatoes, with a can of
water, he then went on deck, promising to come down with something more to eat
on the next day.
When he had gone, Augustus freed
both hands from the manacles and unfastened his feet. He then turned down the
head of the mattress on which he had been lying, and with his penknife (for the
ruffians had not thought it worthwhile to search him) commenced cutting
vigorously across one of the partition planks, as closely as possible to the
floor of the berth. He chose to cut here, because, if suddenly interrupted, he
would be able to conceal what had been done by letting the head of the mattress
fall into its proper position. For the remainder of the day, however, no
disturbance occurred, and by night he had completely divided the plank. It
should here be observed that none of the crew occupied the forecastle as a
sleeping-place, living altogether in the cabin since the mutiny, drinking the
wines and feasting on the sea-stores of Captain Barnard, and giving no more
heed than was absolutely necessary to the navigation of the brig. These
circumstances proved fortunate both for myself and Augustus; for, had matters
been otherwise, he would have found it impossible to reach me. As it was, he
proceeded with confidence in his design. It was near daybreak, however, before
he completed the second division of the board (which was about a foot above the
first cut), thus making an aperture quite large enough to admit his passage
through with facility to the main orlop deck. Having got here, he made his way
with but little trouble to the lower main hatch, although in so doing he had to
scramble over tiers of oil-casks piled nearly as high as the upper deck, there
being barely room enough left for his body. Upon reaching the hatch he found
that Tiger had followed him below, squeezing between two rows of the casks. It
was now too late, however, to attempt getting to me before dawn, as the chief
difficulty lay in passing through the close stowage in the lower hold. He
therefore resolved to return and wait till the next night. With this design, he
proceeded to loosen the hatch, so that he might have as little detention as
possible when he should come again. No sooner had he loosened it than Tiger
sprang eagerly to the small opening produced, snuffed for a moment, and then
uttered a long whine, scratching at the same time, as if anxious to remove the
covering with his paws. There could be no doubt, from his behavior, that he was
aware of my being in the hold, and Augustus thought it possible that he would
be able to get to me if he put him down. He now hit upon the expedient of
sending the note, as it was especially desirable that I should make no attempt
at forcing my way out at least under existing circumstances, and there could be
no certainty of his getting to me himself on the morrow as he intended.
After-events proved how fortunate it was that the idea occurred to him as it
did; for, had it not been for the receipt of the note, I should undoubtedly
have fallen upon some plan, however desperate, of alarming the crew, and both
our lives would most probably have been sacrificed in consequence.
Having concluded to write, the
difficulty was now to procure the materials for so doing. An old toothpick was
soon made into a pen; and this by means of feeling altogether, for the
between-decks was as dark as pitch. Paper enough was obtained from the back of
a letter—a duplicate of the forged letter from Mr. Ross. This had been the
original draught; but the handwriting not being sufficiently well imitated,
Augustus had written another, thrusting the first, by good fortune, into his
coat-pocket, where it was now most opportunely discovered. Ink alone was thus
wanting, and a substitute was immediately found for this by means of a slight
incision with the penknife on the back of a finger just above the nail—a
copious flow of blood ensuing, as usual, from wounds in that vicinity. The note
was now written, as well as it could be in the dark and under the
circumstances. It briefly explained that a mutiny had taken place; that Captain
Barnard was set adrift; and that I might expect immediate relief as far as
provisions were concerned but must not venture upon making any disturbance. It
concluded with these words: “I have scrawled this with blood—your life depends
upon lying close.”
This slip of paper being tied upon
the dog, he was now put down the hatchway, and Augustus made the best of his
way back to the forecastle, where he found no reason to believe that any of the
crew had been in his absence. To conceal the hole in the partition, he drove
his knife in just above it, and hung up a pea-jacket which he found in the berth.
His handcuffs were then replaced, and the rope around his ankles.
These arrangements were scarcely
completed when Dirk Peters came below, very drunk, but in excellent humor, and
bringing with him my friend’s allowance of provision for the day. This consisted
of a dozen large Irish potatoes roasted, and a pitcher of water. He sat for
some time on a chest by the berth and talked freely about the mate and the
general concerns of the brig. His demeanor was exceedingly capricious, and even
grotesque. At one time Augustus was much alarmed by odd conduct. At last,
however, he went on deck, muttering a promise to bring his prisoner a good
dinner on the morrow. During the day two of the crew (harpooners) came down,
accompanied by the cook, all three in nearly the last stage of intoxication.
Like Peters, they made no scruple of talking unreservedly about their plans. It
appeared that they were much divided among themselves as to their ultimate
course, agreeing in no point, except the attack on the ship from the Cape Verde
Islands, with which they were in hourly expectation of meeting. As far as could
be ascertained, the mutiny had not been brought about altogether for the sake
of booty; a private pique of the chief mate’s against Captain Barnard having
been the main instigation. There now seemed to be two principal factions among
the crew—one headed by the mate, the other by the cook. The former party were
for seizing the first suitable vessel which should present itself and equipping
it at some of the West India Islands for a piratical cruise. The latter
division, however, which was the stronger, and included Dirk Peters among its
partisans, were bent upon pursuing the course originally laid out for the brig
into the South Pacific; there either to take whale, or act otherwise, as
circumstances should suggest. The representations of Peters, who had frequently
visited these regions, had great weight, apparently, with the mutineers,
wavering, as they were, between half-engendered notions of profit and pleasure.
He dwelt on the world of novelty and amusement to be found among the
innumerable islands of the Pacific, on the perfect security and freedom from
all restraint to be enjoyed, but, more particularly, on the deliciousness of
the climate, on the abundant means of good living, and on the voluptuous beauty
of the women. Yet, nothing had been absolutely determined upon; but the
pictures of the hybrid line-manager were taking strong hold upon the ardent
imaginations of the seamen, and there was every possibility that his intentions
would be finally carried into effect.
The three men went away in about an
hour, and no one else entered the forecastle all day. Augustus lay quiet until
nearly night. He then freed himself from the rope and irons and prepared for
his attempt. A bottle was found in one of the berths, and this he filled with
water from the pitcher left by Peters, storing his pockets at the same time
with cold potatoes. To his great joy he also came across a lantern, with a
small piece of tallow candle in it. This he could light at any moment, as he
had in his possession a box of phosphorus matches. When it was quite dark, he
got through the hole in the bulkhead, having taken the precaution to arrange
the bedclothes in the berth to convey the idea of a person covered up. When
through, he hung up the pea-jacket on his knife, as before, to conceal the
aperture—this maneuver being easily affected, as he did not readjust the piece
of plank taken out until afterward. He was now on the main orlop deck, and
proceeded to make his way, as before, between the upper deck and the oil-casks
to the main hatchway. Having reached this, he lit the piece of candle, and
descended, groping with extreme difficulty among the compact stowage of the
hold. In a few moments he became alarmed at the insufferable stench and the
closeness of the atmosphere. He could not think it possible that I had survived
my confinement for so long a period breathing so oppressive an air. He called
my name repeatedly, but I made him no reply, and his apprehensions seemed thus
to be confirmed. The brig was rolling violently, and there was so much noise in
consequence, that it was useless to listen for any weak sound, such as those of
my breathing or snoring. He threw open the lantern, and held it as high as
possible, whenever an opportunity occurred, in order that, by observing the
light, I might, if alive, be aware that succor was approaching. Still nothing
was heard from me, and the supposition of my death began to assume the
character of certainty. He determined, nevertheless, to force a passage, if
possible, to the box, and at least ascertain beyond a doubt the truth of his
surmises. He pushed on for some time in a most pitiable state of anxiety,
until, at length, he found the pathway utterly blocked up, and that there was
no possibility of making any farther way by the course in which he had set out.
Overcome now by his feelings, he threw himself among the lumber in despair, and
wept like a child. It was at this period that he heard the crash occasioned by
the bottle which I had thrown down. Fortunate, indeed, was it that the incident
occurred—for, upon this incident, trivial as it appears, the thread of my
destiny depended. Many years elapsed, however, before I was aware of this fact.
A natural shame and regret for his weakness and indecision prevented Augustus
from confiding to me at once what a more intimate and unreserved communion
afterward induced him to reveal. Upon finding his further progress in the hold
impeded by obstacles which he could not overcome, he had resolved to abandon
his attempt at reaching me and return at once to the forecastle. Before
condemning him entirely on this head, the harassing circumstances which
embarrassed him should be taken into consideration. The night was fast wearing
away, and his absence from the forecastle might be discovered; and indeed,
would necessarily be so, if he should fail to get back to the berth by
daybreak. His candle was expiring in the socket, and there would be the
greatest difficulty in retracing his way to the hatchway in the dark. It must
be allowed, too, that he had every good reason to believe me dead; in which
event no benefit could result to me from his reaching the box, and a world of
danger would be encountered to no purpose by himself. He had repeatedly called,
and I had made him no answer. I had been now eleven days and nights with no
more water than that contained in the jug which he had left with me—a supply
which it was not at all probable I had hoarded in the beginning of my
confinement, as I had every cause to expect a speedy release. The atmosphere of
the hold, too, must have appeared to him, coming from the comparatively open
air of the steerage, of a nature absolutely poisonous, and by far more
intolerable than it had seemed to me upon my first taking up my quarters in the
box—the hatchways at that time having been constantly open for many months
previous. Add to these considerations that of the scene of bloodshed and terror
so lately witnessed by my friend; his confinement, privations, and narrow
escapes from death, together with the frail and equivocal tenure by which he
still existed—circumstances all so well calculated to prostrate every energy of
mind—and the reader will be easily brought, as I have been, to regard his
apparent falling off in friendship and in faith with sentiments rather of
sorrow than of anger.
The crash of the bottle was
distinctly heard, yet Augustus was not sure that it proceeded from the hold.
The doubt, however, was enough inducement to persevere. He clambered up nearly
to the orlop deck by means of the stowage, and then, watching for a lull in the
pitching of the vessel, he called out to me in as loud a tone as he could
command, regardless, for the moment, of being overheard by the crew. It will be
remembered that on this occasion the voice reached me, but I was so entirely
overcome by violent agitation as to be incapable of reply. Confident, now, that
his worst apprehensions were well founded, he descended, with a view of getting
back to the forecastle without loss of time. In his haste some small boxes were
thrown down, the noise occasioned by which I heard, as will be recollected. He
had made considerable progress on his return when the fall of the knife again
caused him to hesitate. He retraced his steps immediately, and, clambering up
the stowage a second time, called out my name, loudly as before, having watched
for a lull. This time I found voice to answer. Overjoyed at discovering me to
be still alive, he now resolved to brave every difficulty and danger in
reaching me. Having extricated himself as quickly as possible from the labyrinth
of lumber by which he was hemmed in, he at length struck into an opening which
promised better, and finally, after a series of struggles, arrived at the box
in a state of utter exhaustion.
CHAPTER 6
THE leading particulars of this narration
were all that Augustus communicated to me while we remained near the box. It
was not until afterward that he entered fully into all the details. He was
apprehensive of being missed, and I was wild with impatience to leave my
detested place of confinement. We resolved to make our way at once to the hole
in the bulkhead, near which I was to remain for the present, while he went
through to reconnoiter. To leave Tiger in the box was what neither of us could
endure to think of, yet, how to act otherwise was the question. He now seemed
to be perfectly quiet, and we could not even distinguish the sound of his
breathing upon applying our ears closely to the box. I was convinced that he
was dead and determined to open the door. We found him lying at full length,
apparently in a deep stupor, yet still alive. No time was to be lost, yet I
could not bring myself to abandon an animal who had now been twice instrumental
in saving my life, without some attempt at preserving him. We therefore dragged
him along with us as well as we could, although with the greatest difficulty
and fatigue; Augustus, during part of the time, being forced to clamber over
the impediments in our way with the huge dog in his arms—a feat to which the
feebleness of my frame rendered me totally inadequate. At length we succeeded
in reaching the hole, when Augustus got through, and Tiger was pushed in
afterward. All was found to be safe, and we did not fail to return sincere
thanks to God for our deliverance from the imminent danger we had escaped. For
the present, it was agreed that I should remain near the opening, through which
my companion could readily supply me with a part of his daily provision, and
where I could have the advantages of breathing an atmosphere comparatively
pure.
In explanation of some portions of
this narrative, wherein I have spoken of the stowage of the brig, and which may
appear ambiguous to some of my readers who may have seen a proper or regular
stowage, I must here state that the manner in which this most important duty
had been performed on board the Grampus was a most shameful piece of neglect on
the part of Captain Barnard, who was by no means as careful or as experienced a
seaman as the hazardous nature of the service on which he was employed would
seem necessarily to demand. A proper stowage cannot be accomplished in a
careless manner, and many most disastrous accidents, even within the limits of
my own experience, have arisen from neglect or ignorance in this. Coasting
vessels, in the frequent hurry and bustle attendant upon taking in or
discharging cargo, are the most liable to mishap from the want of a proper
attention to stowage. The great point is to allow no possibility of the cargo
or ballast shifting position even in the most violent rolling's of the vessel.
With this end, great attention must be paid, not only to the bulk taken in, but
to the nature of the bulk, and whether there be a full or only a partial cargo.
In most kinds of freight, the stowage is accomplished by means of a screw.
Thus, in a load of tobacco or flour, the whole is screwed so tightly into the
hold of the vessel that the barrels or hogsheads, upon discharging, are found
to be completely flattened, and take some time to regain their original shape.
This screwing, however, is resorted to principally with a view of obtaining
more room in the hold; for in a full load of any such commodities as flour or
tobacco, there can be no danger of any shifting whatever, at least none from
which inconvenience can result. There have been instances, indeed, where this
method of screwing has resulted in the most lamentable consequences, arising
from a cause altogether distinct from the danger attendant upon a shifting of
cargo. A load of cotton, for example, tightly screwed while in certain
conditions, has been known, through the expansion of its bulk, to rend a vessel
asunder at sea. There can be no doubt either that the same result would ensue
in the case of tobacco, while undergoing its usual course of fermentation, were
it not for the interstices consequent upon the rotundity of the hogsheads.
It is when a partial cargo is
received that danger is chiefly to be apprehended from shifting, and that
precautions should be always taken to guard against such misfortune. Only those
who have encountered a violent gale of wind, or rather who have experienced the
rolling of a vessel in a sudden calm after the gale, can form an idea of the
tremendous force of the plunges, and of the consequent terrible impetus given
to all loose articles in the vessel. It is then that the necessity of a
cautious stowage, when there is a partial cargo, becomes obvious. When lying-to
(especially with a small head sail), a vessel which is not properly modelled in
the bows is frequently thrown upon her beam-ends; this occurring even every fifteen
or twenty minutes upon an average, yet without any serious consequences
resulting, provided there be a proper stowage. If this, however, has not been
strictly attended to, in the first of these heavy lurches the whole of the
cargo tumbles over to the side of the vessel which lies upon the water, and,
being thus prevented from regaining her equilibrium, as she would otherwise
necessarily do, she is certain to fill in a few seconds and go down. It is not
too much to say that at least one-half of the instances in which vessels have
foundered in heavy gales at sea may be attributed to a shifting of cargo or of
ballast.
When a partial cargo of any kind is
taken on board, the whole, after being first stowed as compactly as may be,
should be covered with a layer of stout shifting-boards, extending completely
across the vessel. Upon these boards strong temporary stanchions should be
erected, reaching to the timbers above, and thus securing everything in its
place. In cargoes consisting of grain, or any similar matter, additional
precautions are requisite. A hold filled entirely with grain upon leaving port
will be found not more than three fourths full upon reaching its
destination—this, too, although the freight, when measured bushel by bushel by
the consignee, will overrun by a vast deal (on account of the swelling of the
grain) the quantity consigned. This result is occasioned by settling during the
voyage and is the more perceptible in proportion to the roughness of the
weather experienced. If grain loosely thrown in a vessel, then, is ever so well
secured by shifting boards and stanchions, it will be liable to shift in a long
passage so greatly as to bring about the most distressing calamities. To
prevent these, every method should be employed before leaving port to settle
the cargo as much as possible; and for this there are many contrivances, among
which may be mentioned the driving of wedges into the grain. Even after all
this is done, and unusual pains taken to secure the shifting-boards, no seaman
who knows what he is about will feel altogether secure in a gale of any
violence with a cargo of grain on board, and, least of all, with a partial
cargo. Yet there are hundreds of our coasting vessels, and, it is likely, many
more from the ports of Europe, which sail daily with partial cargoes, even of
the most dangerous species, and without any precaution whatever. The wonder is
that no more accidents occur than do happen. A lamentable instance of this
heedlessness occurred to my knowledge in the case of Captain Joel Rice of the
schooner Firefly, which sailed from Richmond, Virginia, to Madeira, with a
cargo of corn, in the year 1825. The captain had gone many voyages without
serious accident, although he was in the habit of paying no attention whatever
to his stowage, more than to secure it in the ordinary manner. He had never
sailed with a cargo of grain, and on this occasion had the corn thrown on board
loosely, when it did not much more than half fill the vessel. For the first
portion of the voyage he met with nothing more than light breezes; but when
within a day’s sail of Madeira there came on a strong gale from the N. N. E.
which forced him to lie-to. He brought the schooner to the wind under a
double-reefed foresail alone, when she rode as well as any vessel could be
expected to do and shipped not a drop of water. Toward night the gale somewhat
abated, and she rolled with more unsteadiness than before, but still did very
well, until a heavy lurch threw her upon her beam-ends to starboard. The corn
was then heard to shift bodily; the force of the movement bursting opens the
main hatchway. The vessel went down like a shot. This happened within hail of a
small sloop from Madeira, which picked up one of the crew (the only person
saved), and which rode out the gale in perfect security, as indeed a jolly boat
might have done under proper management.
The stowage on board the Grampus was
most clumsily done, if stowage that could be called which was little better
than a promiscuous huddling together of oil-casks {*1} and ship furniture. I
have already spoken of the condition of articles in the hold. On the orlop deck
there was space enough for my body (as I have stated) between the oil-casks and
the upper deck; a space was left open around the main hatchway; and several
other large spaces were left in the stowage. Near the hole cut through the
bulkhead by Augustus there was room enough for an entire cask, and in this space,
I found myself comfortably situated for the present.
By the time my friend had got safely
into the berth, and readjusted his handcuffs and the rope, it was broad
daylight. We had made a narrow escape indeed; for scarcely had he arranged all
matters, when the mate came below, with Dirk Peters and the cook. They talked
for some time about the vessel from the Cape Vends and seemed to be excessively
anxious for her appearance. At length the cook came to the berth in which
Augustus was lying and seated himself in it near the head. I could see and hear
everything from my hiding-place, for the piece cut out had not been put back,
and I was in momentary expectation that the negro would fall against the
pea-jacket, which was hung up to conceal the aperture, in which case all would
have been discovered, and our lives would, no doubt, have been instantly
sacrificed. Our good fortune prevailed, however; and although he frequently
touched it as the vessel rolled, he never pressed against it sufficiently to
bring about a discovery. The bottom of the jacket had been carefully fastened
to the bulkhead, so that the hole might not be seen by its swinging to one
side. All this time Tiger was lying in the foot of the berth and appeared to
have recovered in some measure his faculties, for I could see him occasionally
open his eyes and draw a long breath.
After a few minutes the mate and
cook went above, leaving Dirk Peters behind, who, as soon as they were gone,
came and sat himself down in the place just occupied by the mate. He began to
talk very sociably with Augustus, and we could now see that the greater part of
his apparent intoxication, while the two others were with him, was a feint. He
answered all my companion’s questions with perfect freedom; told him that he
had no doubt of his father’s having been picked up, as there were no less than
five sail in sight just before sundown on the day he was cut adrift; and used
other language of a consolatory nature, which occasioned me no less surprise
than pleasure. Indeed, I began to entertain hopes, that through the
instrumentality of Peters we might be finally enabled to regain possession of
the brig, and this idea I mentioned to Augustus as soon as I found an
opportunity. He thought the matter possible, but urged the necessity of the
greatest caution in making the attempt, as the conduct of the hybrid appeared
to be instigated by the most arbitrary caprice alone; and, indeed, it was
difficult to say if he was at any moment of sound mind. Peters went upon deck
in about an hour, and did not return until noon, when he brought Augustus a
plentiful supply of junk beef and pudding. Of this, when we were left alone, I
partook heartily, without returning through the hole. No one else came down
into the forecastle during the day, and at night, I got into Augustus’ berth,
where I slept soundly and sweetly until nearly daybreak, when he awakened me
upon hearing a stir upon deck, and I regained my hiding-place as quickly as
possible. When the day was fully broke, we found that Tiger had recovered his
strength almost entirely, and gave no indications of hydrophobia, drinking a
little water that was offered him with great apparent eagerness. During the day
he regained all his former vigor and appetite. His strange conduct had been
brought on, no doubt, by the deleterious quality of the air of the hold and had
no connection with canine madness. I could not sufficiently rejoice that I had
persisted in bringing him with me from the box. This day was the thirtieth of
June, and the thirteenth since the Grampus made sail from Nantucket.
On the second of July the mate came
below drunk as usual, and in an excessively good humor. He came to Augustus’s
berth, and, giving him a slap on the back, asked him if he thought he could
behave himself if he let him loose, and whether he would promise not to be
going into the cabin again. To this, of course, my friend answered in the
affirmative, when the ruffian set him at liberty, after making him drink from a
flask of rum which he drew from his coat-pocket. Both now went on deck, and I
did not see Augustus for about three hours. He then came below with the good
news that he had obtained permission to go about the brig as he pleased
anywhere forward of the mainmast, and that he had been ordered to sleep, as
usual, in the forecastle. He brought me, too, a good dinner, and a plentiful
supply of water. The brig was still cruising for the vessel from the Cape Verde,
and a sail was now in sight, which was thought to be the one in question. As
the events of the ensuing eight days were of little importance and had no
direct bearing upon the main incidents of my narrative, I will here throw them
into the form of a journal, as I do not wish to omit them altogether.
July 3. Augustus furnished me with
three blankets, with which I contrived a comfortable bed in my hiding-place. No
one came below, except my companion, during the day. Tiger took his station in
the berth just by the aperture, and slept heavily, as if not yet entirely
recovered from the effects of his sickness. Toward night a flaw of wind struck
the brig before sail could be taken in, and very nearly capsized her. The puff
died away immediately, however, and no damage was done beyond the splitting of
the foretopsail. Dirk Peters treated Augustus all this day with great kindness
and entered a long conversation with him respecting the Pacific Ocean, and the
islands he had visited in that region. He asked him whether he would not like
to go with the mutineers on a kind of exploring and pleasure voyage in those quarters
and said that the men were gradually coming over to the mate’s views. To this
Augustus thought it best to reply that he would be glad to go on such an
adventure, since nothing better could be done, and that anything was preferable
to a piratical life.
July 4th. The vessel in sight proved
to be a small brig from Liverpool and could pass unmolested. Augustus spent
most of his time on deck, with a view of obtaining all the information in his
power respecting the intentions of the mutineers. They had frequent and violent
quarrels among themselves, in one of which a harpooner, Jim Bonner, was thrown
overboard. The party of the mate was gaining ground. Jim Bonner belonged to the
cook’s gang, of which Peters was a partisan.
July 5th. About daybreak there came
on a stiff breeze from the west, which at noon freshened into a gale, so that
the brig could carry nothing more than her trysail and foresail. In taking in
the foretopsail, Simms, one of the common hands, and belonging also to the
cook’s gang, fell overboard, being very much in liquor, and was drowned—no
attempt being made to save him. The whole number of persons on board was now
thirteen, to wit: Dirk Peters; Seymour, the black cook; Jones, Greely, Hartman
Rogers and William Allen, all of the cook’s party; the mate, whose name I never
learned; Absalom Hicks, Wilson, John Hunter Richard Parker, of the mate’s
party;—besides Augustus and myself.
July 6th. The gale lasted all this
day, blowing in heavy squalls, accompanied with rain. The brig took in a good
deal of water through her seams, and one of the pumps was kept continually
going, Augustus being forced to take his turn. Just at twilight a large ship
passed close by us, without having been discovered until within hail. The ship
was supposed to be the one for which the mutineers were on the lookout. The
mate hailed her, but the reply was drowned in the roaring of the gale. At
eleven, a sea was shipped amidships, which tore away a great portion of the
larboard bulwarks and did some other slight damage. Toward morning the weather
moderated, and at sunrise there was very little wind.
July 7th. There was a heavy swell
running all this day, during which the brig, being light, rolled excessively,
and many articles broke loose in the hold, as I could hear distinctly from my
hiding-place. I suffered a great deal from seasickness. Peters had a long
conversation this day with Augustus, and told him that two of his gang, Greely
and Allen, had gone over to the mate, and were resolved to turn pirates. He put
several questions to Augustus which he did not then exactly understand. During
a part of this evening the leak gained upon the vessel; and little could be
done to remedy it, as it was occasioned by the brig's straining, and taking in
the water through her seams. A sail was thrummed, and got under the bows, which
aided us in some measure, so that we began to gain upon the leak.
July 8th. A light breeze sprang up
at sunrise from the eastward, when the mate headed the brig to the southwest,
with the intention of making some of the West India islands in pursuance of his
piratical designs. No opposition was made by Peters or the cook—at least none
in the hearing of Augustus. All idea of taking the vessel from the Cape Verde
was abandoned. The leak was now easily kept under by one pump going every three
quarters of an hour. The sail was drawn from beneath the bows. Spoke two small
schooners during the day.
July 9th. Fine weather. All hands
employed in repairing bulwarks. Peters had again a long conversation with Augustus
and spoke more plainly than he had done heretofore. He said nothing should
induce him to come into the mate’s views, and even hinted his intention of
taking the brig out of his hands. He asked my friend if he could depend upon
his aid in such case, to which Augustus said, “Yes,” without hesitation. Peters
then said he would sound the others of his party upon the subject and went
away. During the remainder of the day Augustus had no opportunity of speaking
with him privately.
CHAPTER 7
JULY 10. Spoke a brig from Rio,
bound to Norfolk. Weather hazy, with a light baffling wind from the eastward.
To-day Hartman Rogers died, having been attacked on the eighth with spasms
after drinking a glass of grog. This man was of the cook’s party, and one upon
whom Peters placed his main reliance. He told Augustus that he believed the
mate had poisoned him, and that he expected, if he did not be on the look-out,
his own turn would come shortly. There were now only himself, Jones, and the
cook belonging to his own gang—on the other side there were five. He had spoken
to Jones about taking the command from the mate; but the project having been
coolly received, he had been deterred from pressing the matter any further, or
from saying anything to the cook. It was well, as it happened, that he was so
prudent, for in the afternoon the cook expressed his determination of siding
with the mate, and went over formally to that party; while Jones took an
opportunity of quarrelling with Peters, and hinted that he would let the mate
know of the plan in agitation. There was now, evidently, no time to be lost,
and Peters expressed his determination of attempting to take the vessel at all
hazards, provided Augustus would lend him his aid. My friend at once assured
him of his willingness to enter any plan for that purpose, and, thinking the
opportunity a favorable one, made known the fact of my being on board. At this
the hybrid was not more astonished than delighted, as he had no reliance whatever
upon Jones, whom he already considered as belonging to the party of the mate.
They went below immediately, when Augustus called to me by name, and Peters and
myself were soon made acquainted. It was agreed that we should attempt to
retake the vessel upon the first good opportunity, leaving Jones altogether out
of our councils. In the event of success, we were to run the brig into the
first port that offered and deliver her up. The desertion of his party had
frustrated Peters’ design of going into the Pacific—an adventure which could
not be accomplished without a crew, and he depended upon either getting
acquitted upon trial, on the score of insanity (which he solemnly avowed had
actuated him in lending his aid to the mutiny), or upon obtaining a pardon, if
found guilty, through the representations of Augustus and myself. Our
deliberations were interrupted for the present by the cry of, “All hands take
in sail,” and Peters and Augustus ran up on deck.
As usual, the crew were nearly all
drunk; and, before sail could be properly taken in, a violent squall laid the
brig on her beam-ends. By keeping her away, however, she righted, having
shipped a good deal of water. Scarcely was everything secure, when another
squall took the vessel, and immediately afterward another—no damage being done.
There was every appearance of a gale of wind, which, indeed, shortly came on,
with great fury, from the northward and westward. All was made as snug as
possible, and we laid-to, as usual, under a close-reefed foresail. As night
drew on, the wind increased in violence, with a remarkably heavy sea. Peters
now came into the forecastle with Augustus, and we resumed our deliberations.
We agreed that no opportunity could
be more favorable than the present for carrying our designs into effect, as an
attempt at such a moment would never be anticipated. As the brig was snugly
laid-to, there would be no necessity of maneuvering her until good weather,
when, if we succeeded in our attempt, we might liberate one, or perhaps two of
the men, to aid us in taking her into port. The main difficulty was the great
disproportion in our forces. There were only three of us, and in the cabin,
there were nine. All the arms on board, too, were in their possession, except
for a pair of small pistols which Peters had concealed about his person, and
the large seaman’s knife which he always wore in the waistband of his
pantaloons. From certain indications, too—such, for example, as there being no
such thing as an axe or a handspike lying in their customary places—we began to
fear that the mate had his suspicions, at least in regard to Peters, and that
he would let slip no opportunity of getting rid of him. It was clear, indeed,
that what we should determine to do could not be done too soon. Still the odds were
too much against us to allow of our proceeding without the greatest caution.
Peters proposed that he should go up
on deck, and enter into conversation with the watch (Allen), when he would be
able to throw him into the sea without trouble, and without making any
disturbance, by seizing a good opportunity, that Augustus and myself should
then come up, and endeavor to provide ourselves with some kind of weapons from
the deck, and that we should then make a rush together, and secure the
companion-way before any opposition could be offered. I objected to this,
because I could not believe that the mate (who was a cunning fellow in all
matters which did not affect his superstitious prejudices) would suffer himself
to be so easily entrapped. The very fact of there being a watch on deck at all
was sufficient proof that he was upon the alert,—it not being usual except in
vessels where discipline is most rigidly enforced, to station a watch on deck
when a vessel is lying-to in a gale of wind. As I address myself principally,
if not altogether, to persons who have never been to sea, it may be as well to
state the exact condition of a vessel under such circumstances. Lying-to, or,
in sea-parlance, “laying-to,” is a measure resorted to for various purposes,
and effected in various manners. In moderate weather it is frequently done with
a view of merely bringing the vessel to a stand-still, to wait for another
vessel or any similar object. If the vessel which lies-to is under full sail,
the maneuver is usually accomplished by throwing round some portion of her
sails, to let the wind take them aback, when she becomes stationary. But we are
now speaking of lying-to in a gale of wind. This is done when the wind is
ahead, and too violent to admit of carrying sail without danger of capsizing;
and sometimes even when the wind is fair, but the sea too heavy for the vessel
to be put before it. If a vessel be suffered to scud before the wind in a very
heavy sea, much damage has usually done her by the shipping of water over her
stern, and sometimes by the violent plunges she makes forward. This maneuver,
then, is seldom resorted to in such case, unless through necessity. When the
vessel is in a leaky condition she is often put before the wind even in the
heaviest seas; for, when lying-to, her seams are sure to be greatly opened by
her violent straining, and it is not so much the case when scudding. Often,
too, it becomes necessary to scud a vessel, either when the blast is so
exceedingly furious as to tear in pieces the sail which is employed with a view
of bringing her head to the wind, or when, through the false modelling of the
frame or other causes, this main object cannot be effected.
Vessels in a gale of wind are
laid-to in different manners, according to their peculiar construction. Some
lie-to best under a foresail, and this, I believe, is the sail most usually
employed. Large square-rigged vessels have sails for the express purpose,
called storm-staysails. But the jib is occasionally employed by itself, —sometimes
the jib and foresail, or a double-reefed foresail, and not unfrequently the
after-sails, are made use of. Foretopsails are very often found to answer the
purpose better than any other species of sail. The Grampus was generally
laid-to under a close-reefed foresail.
When a vessel is to be laid-to, her
head is brought up to the wind just so nearly as to fill the sail under which
she lies when hauled flat aft, that is, when brought diagonally across the
vessel. This being done, the bows point within a few degrees of the direction
from which the wind issues, and the windward bow of course receives the shock
of the waves. In this situation a good vessel will ride out a very heavy gale
of wind without shipping a drop of water, and without any further attention
being requisite on the part of the crew. The helm is usually lashed down, but
this is altogether unnecessary (except on account of the noise it makes when
loose), for the rudder has no effect upon the vessel when lying-to. Indeed, the
helm had far better be left loose than lashed very fast, for the rudder is apt
to be torn off by heavy seas if there be no room for the helm to play. If the
sail holds, a well modelled vessel will maintain her situation, and ride every
sea, as if instinct with life and reason. If the violence of the wind, however,
should tear the sail into pieces (a feat which it requires a perfect hurricane
to accomplish under ordinary circumstances), there is then imminent danger. The
vessel falls off from the wind, and, coming broadside to the sea, is completely
at its mercy: the only resource in this case is to put her quietly before the
wind, letting her scud until some other sail can be set. Some vessels will
lie-to under no sail whatever, but such are not to be trusted at sea.
But to return from this digression.
It had never been customary with the mate to have any watch on deck when
lying-to in a gale of wind, and the fact that he had now one, coupled with the
circumstance of the missing axes and handspikes, fully convinced us that the
crew were too well on the watch to be taken by surprise in the manner Peters
had suggested. Something, however, was to be done, and that with as little
delay as practicable, for there could be no doubt that a suspicion having been
once entertained against Peters, he would be sacrificed upon the earliest
occasion, and one would certainly be either found or made upon the breaking of
the gale.
Augustus now suggested that if
Peters could contrive to remove, under any pretext, the piece of chain-cable
which lay over the trap in the stateroom, we might possibly be able to come
upon them unawares by means of the hold; but a little reflection convinced us
that the vessel rolled and pitched too violently for any attempt of that
nature.
By good fortune I at length hit upon
the idea of working upon the superstitious terrors and guilty conscience of the
mate. It will be remembered that one of the crew, Hartman Rogers, had died
during the morning, having been attacked two days before with spasms after
drinking some spirits and water. Peters had expressed to us his opinion that
this man had been poisoned by the mate, and for this belief he had reasons, so
he said, which were incontrovertible, but which he could not be prevailed upon
to explain to us—this wayward refusal being only in keeping with other points
of his singular character. But whether he had any better grounds for suspecting
the mate than we had ourselves, we were easily led to fall in with his suspicion
and determined to act accordingly.
Rogers had died about eleven in the
forenoon, in violent convulsions; and the corpse presented in a few minutes
after death one of the most horrid and loathsome spectacles I ever remember to
have seen. The stomach was swollen immensely, like that of a man who has been
drowned and lain under water for many weeks. The hands were in the same
condition, while the face was shrunken, shriveled, and of a chalky whiteness,
except where relieved by two or three glaring red blotches like those
occasioned by the erysipelas: one of these blotches extended diagonally across
the face, completely covering up an eye as if with a band of red velvet. In
this disgusting condition the body had been brought up from the cabin at noon
to be thrown overboard, when the mate getting a glimpse of it (for he now saw
it for the first time), and being either touched with remorse for his crime or
struck with terror at so horrible a sight, ordered the men to sew the body up
in its hammock, and allow it the usual rites of sea-burial. Having given these
directions, he went below, as if to avoid any further sight of his victim.
While preparations were making to obey his orders, the gale came on with great
fury, and the design was abandoned for the present. The corpse, left to itself,
was washed into the larboard scuppers, where it still lay at the time of which
I speak, floundering about with the furious lurches of the brig.
Having arranged our plan, we set
about putting it in execution as speedily as possible. Peters went upon deck,
and, as he had anticipated, was immediately accosted by Allen, who appeared to
be stationed more as a watch upon the forecastle than for any other purpose.
The fate of this villain, however, was speedily and silently decided; for
Peters, approaching him in a careless manner, as if about to address him, seized
him by the throat, and, before he could utter a single cry, tossed him over the
bulwarks. He then called to us, and we came up. Our first precaution was to
look about for something with which to arm ourselves, and in doing this we had
to proceed with great care, for it was impossible to stand on deck an instant
without holding fast, and violent seas broke over the vessel at every plunge
forward. It was indispensable, too, that we should be quick in our operations,
for every minute we expected the mate to be up to set the pumps going, as it
was evident the brig must be taking in water very fast. After searching about
for some time, we could find nothing more fit for our purpose than the two
pump-handles, one of which Augustus took, and I the other. Having secured
these, we stripped off the shirt of the corpse and dropped the body overboard.
Peters and myself then went below, leaving Augustus to watch upon deck, where
he took his station just where Allen had been placed, and with his back to the
cabin companionway, so that, if any of the mate's gang should come up, he might
suppose it was the watch.
As soon as I got below, I commenced
disguising myself to represent the corpse of Rogers. The shirt which we had
taken from the body aided us very much, for it was of singular form and
character, and easily recognizable—a kind of smock, which the deceased wore
over his other clothing. It was a blue stockinette, with large white stripes
running across. Having put this on, I proceeded to equip myself with a false stomach,
in imitation of the horrible deformity of the swollen corpse. This was soon affected
by means of stuffing with some bedclothes. I then gave the same appearance to
my hands by drawing on a pair of white woolen mittens and filling them in with
any kind of rags that offered themselves. Peters then arranged my face, first
rubbing it well over with white chalk, and afterward blotching it with blood,
which he took from a cut in his finger. The streak across the eye was not
forgotten and presented a most shocking appearance.
CHAPTER 8
AS I viewed myself in a fragment of
looking-glass which hung up in the cabin, and by the dim light of a kind of
battle-lantern, I was so impressed with a sense of vague awe at my appearance,
and at the recollection of the terrific reality which I was thus representing,
that I was seized with a violent tremors, and could scarcely summon resolution
to go on with my part. It was necessary, however, to act with decision, and
Peters and myself went upon deck.
We there found everything safe, and,
keeping close to the bulwarks, the three of us crept to the cabin companionway.
It was only partially closed, precautions having been taken to prevent its
being suddenly pushed to from without, by means of placing billets of wood on
the upper step to interfere with the shutting. We found no difficulty in
getting a full view of the interior of the cabin through the cracks where the
hinges were placed. It now proved to have been very fortunate for us that we
had not attempted to take them by surprise, for they were evidently on the
alert. Only one was asleep, and he is lying just at the foot of the
companion-ladder, with a musket by his side. The rest were seated on several
mattresses, which had been taken from the berths and thrown on the floor. They
were engaged in earnest conversation; and although they had been carousing, as
appeared from two empty jugs, with some tin tumblers which lay about, they were
not as much intoxicated as usual. All had knives, one or two of them pistols,
and a great many muskets were lying in a berth close at hand.
We listened to their conversation
for some time before we could make up our minds how to act, having as yet
resolved on nothing determinate, except that we would attempt to paralyze their
exertions, when we should attack them, by means of the apparition of Rogers.
They were discussing their piratical plans, in which all we could hear
distinctly was, that they would unite with the crew of a schooner Hornet, and,
if possible, get the schooner herself into their possession preparatory to some
attempt on a large scale, the particulars of which could not be made out by
either of us.
One of the men spoke of Peters, when
the mate replied to him in a low voice which could not be distinguished, and
afterward added more loudly, that “he could not understand his being so much
forward with the captain’s brat in the forecastle, and he thought the sooner
both of them were overboard the better.” To this no answer was made, but we
could easily perceive that the hint was well received by the whole party, and
more particularly by Jones. At this period, I was excessively agitated, the
more so as I could see that neither Augustus nor Peters could determine how to
act. I made up my mind, however, to sell my life as dearly as possible, and not
to suffer myself to be overcome by any feelings of trepidation.
The tremendous noise made by the
roaring of the wind in the rigging, and the washing of the sea over the deck,
prevented us from hearing what was said, except during momentary lulls. In one
of these, we all distinctly heard the mate tell one of the men to “go forward,
have an eye upon them, for he wanted no such secret doings on board the brig.”
It was well for us that the pitching of the vessel at this moment was so
violent as to prevent this order from being carried into instant execution. The
cook got up from his mattress to go for us, when a tremendous lurch, which I
thought would carry away the masts, threw him headlong against one of the
larboard stateroom doors, bursting it open, and creating a good deal of other
confusion. Luckily, neither of our party was thrown from his position, and we
had time to make a precipitate retreat to the forecastle, and arrange a hurried
plan of action before the messenger made his appearance, or rather before he
put his head out of the companion-hatch, for he did not come on deck. From this
station he could not notice the absence of Allen, and he accordingly bawled
out, as if to him, repeating the orders of the mate. Peters cried out, “Ay,
ay,” in a disguised voice, and the cook immediately went below, without
entertaining a suspicion that all was not right.
My two companions now proceeded
boldly aft and down into the cabin, Peters closing the door after him in the
same manner he had found it. The mate received them with feigned cordiality,
and told Augustus that, since he had behaved himself so well of late, he might
take up his quarters in the cabin and be one of them for the future. He then
poured him out a tumbler half full of rum and made him drink it. All this I saw
and heard, for I followed my friends to the cabin as soon as the door was shut
and took up my old point of observation. I had brought with me the two
pump-handles, one of which I secured near the companionway, to be ready for use
when required.
I now steadied myself as well as
possible so as to have a good view of all that was passing within and endeavored
to nerve myself to the task of descending among the mutineers when Peters
should make a signal to me, as agreed upon. Presently he contrived to turn the
conversation upon the bloody deeds of the mutiny, and by degrees led the men to
talk of the thousand superstitions which are so universally current among
seamen. I could not make out all that was said, but I could plainly see the
effects of the conversation in the countenances of those present. The mate was
evidently much agitated, and presently, when someone mentioned the terrific
appearance of Rogers’ corpse, I thought he was upon the point of swooning.
Peters now asked him if he did not think it would be better to have the body
thrown overboard at once as it was too horrible a sight to see it floundering
about in the scuppers. At this the villain absolutely gasped for breath, and
turned his head slowly round upon his companions, as if imploring someone to go
up and perform the task. No one, however, stirred, and it was quite evident
that the whole party were wound up to the highest pitch of nervous excitement.
Peters now made me the signal. I immediately threw open the door of the companionway,
and, descending, without uttering a syllable, stood erect during the party.
The intense effect produced by this
sudden apparition is not at all to be wondered at when the various
circumstances are taken into consideration. Usually, in cases of a similar
nature, there is left in the mind of the spectator some glimmering of doubt as
to the reality of the vision before his eyes; a degree of hope, however feeble,
that he is the victim of chicanery, and that the apparition is not actually a
visitant from the old world of shadows. It is not too much to say that such
remnants of doubt have been at the bottom of almost every such visitation, and
that the appalling horror which has sometimes been brought about, is to be
attributed, even in the cases most in point, and where most suffering has been
experienced, more to a kind of anticipative horror, lest the apparition might
possibly be real, than to an unwavering belief in its reality. But, in the
present instance, it will be seen immediately, that in the minds of the
mutineers there was not even the shadow of a basis upon which to rest a doubt
that the apparition of Rogers was indeed a revivification of his disgusting
corpse, or at least its spiritual image. The isolated situation of the brig,
with its entire inaccessibility on account of the gale, confined the apparently
possible means of deception within such narrow and definite limits, that they
must have thought themselves enabled to survey them all briefly. They had now
been at sea twenty-four days, without holding more than a speaking
communication with any vessel whatever. The whole of the crew, too—at least all
whom they had the most remote reason for suspecting to be on board—were
assembled in the cabin, with the exception of Allen, the watch; and his
gigantic stature (he was six feet six inches high) was too familiar in their
eyes to permit the notion that he was the apparition before them to enter their
minds even for an instant. Add to these considerations the awe-inspiring nature
of the tempest, and that of the conversation brought about by Peters; the deep
impression which the loathsomeness of the actual corpse had made in the morning
upon the imaginations of the men; the excellence of the imitation in my person,
and the uncertain and wavering light in which they beheld me, as the glare of
the cabin lantern, swinging violently to and from, fell dubiously and fitfully
upon my figure, and there will be no reason to wonder that the deception had
even more than the entire effect which we had anticipated. The mate sprang up
from the mattress on which he was lying, and, without uttering a syllable, fell
back, stone dead, upon the cabin floor, and was hurled to the leeward like a
log by a heavy roll of the brig. Of the remaining seven, there were but three
who had at first any degree of presence of mind. The four others sat for some
time rooted apparently to the floor, the most pitiable objects of horror and
utter despair my eyes ever encountered. The only opposition we experienced at
all was from the cook, John Hunt, and Richard Parker; but they made but a
feeble and irresolute defense. The two formers were shot instantly by Peters,
and I felled Parker with a blow on the head from the pump-handle which I had brought
with me. In the meantime, Augustus seized one of the muskets lying on the floor
and shot another mutineer Wilson through the breast. There were now but three
remaining; but by this time they had become aroused from their lethargy, and
perhaps began to see that a deception had been practiced upon them, for they
fought with great resolution and fury, and, but for the immense muscular
strength of Peters, might have ultimately got the better of us. These three men
were—Jones, Greely, and Absalom Hicks. Jones had thrown Augustus to the floor,
stabbed him in several places along the right arm, and would no doubt have soon
dispatched him (as neither Peters nor myself could immediately get rid of our
own antagonists), had it not been for the timely aid of a friend, upon whose
assistance we, surely, had never depended. This friend was no other than Tiger.
With a low growl, he bounded into the cabin, at a most critical moment for
Augustus, and throwing himself upon Jones, pinned him to the floor in an
instant. My friend, however, was now too much injured to render us any aid
whatever, and I was so encumbered with my disguise that I could do but little.
The dog would not leave his hold upon the throat of Jones—Peters, nevertheless,
was far more than a match for the two men who remained, and would, no doubt,
have dispatched them sooner, had it not been for the narrow space in which he
had to act, and the tremendous lurches of the vessel. Presently he was enabled
to get hold of a heavy stool, several of which lay about the floor. With this
he beat out the brains of Greely as he was in the act of discharging a musket
at me, and immediately afterward a roll of the brig throwing him in contact
with Hicks, he seized him by the throat, and, by dint of sheer strength, strangled
him instantaneously. Thus, in far less time than I have taken to tell it, we
found ourselves masters of the brig.
The only person of our opponents who
was left alive was Richard Parker. This man, it will be remembered, I had
knocked down with a blow from the pump-handle at the commencement of the
attack. He now lay motionless by the door of the shattered stateroom; but, upon
Peters touching him with his foot, he spoke, and entreated for mercy. His head
was only slightly cut, and otherwise he had received no injury, having been
merely stunned by the blow. He now got up, and, for the present, we secured his
hands behind his back. The dog was still growling over Jones; but, upon
examination, we found him completely dead, the blood issuing in a stream from a
deep wound in the throat, inflicted, no doubt, by the sharp teeth of the
animal.
It was now about one o’clock in the
morning, and the wind was still blowing tremendously. The brig evidently labored
much more than usual, and it became necessary that something should be done
with a view of easing her in some measure. At almost every roll to leeward she
shipped a sea, several of which came partially down into the cabin during our
scuffle, the hatchway having been left open by myself when I descended. The entire
range of bulwarks to larboard had been swept away, as well as the caboose,
together with the jollyboat from the counter. The creaking and working of the
mainmast, too, gave indication that it was nearly sprung. To make room for more
stowage in the after hold, the heel of this mast had been stepped between decks
(a very reprehensible practice, occasionally resorted to by ignorant shipbuilders),
so that it was in imminent danger of working from its step. But, to crown all
our difficulties, we plumbed the well, and found no less than seven feet of
water.
Leaving the bodies of the crew lying
in the cabin, we got to work immediately at the pumps—Parker, of course, being
set at liberty to assist us in the labor. Augustus’s arm was bound up as well
as we could affect it, and he did what he could, but that was not much.
However, we found that we could just manage to keep the leak from gaining upon
us by having one pump constantly going. As there were only four of us, this was
severe labor; but we endeavored to keep up our spirits, and looked anxiously
for daybreak, when we hoped to lighten the brig by cutting away the mainmast.
In this manner we passed a night of
terrible anxiety and fatigue, and, when the day at length broke, the gale had
neither abated in the least, nor were there any signs of its abating. We now
dragged the bodies on deck and threw them overboard. Our next care was to get
rid of the mainmast. The necessary preparations having been made, Peters cut
away at the mast (having found axes in the cabin), while the rest of us stood
by the stays and lanyards. As the brig gave a tremendous lee-lurch, the word
was given to cut away the weather-lanyards, which being done, the whole mass of
wood and rigging plunged into the sea, clear of the brig, and without doing any
material injury. We now found that the vessel did not labor quite as much as
before, but our situation was still exceedingly precarious, and despite the
utmost exertions, we could not gain upon the leak without the aid of both
pumps. The little assistance which Augustus could render us was not really of
any importance. To add to our distress, a heavy sea, striking the brig to the
windward, threw her off several points from the wind, and, before she could
regain her position, another broke completely over her, and hurled her full
upon her beam-ends. The ballast now shifted in a mass to leeward (the stowage
had been knocking about perfectly at random for some time), and for a few
moments we thought nothing could save us from capsizing. Presently, however, we
partially righted; but the ballast still retaining its place to larboard, we
lay so much along that it was useless to think of working the pumps, which
indeed we could not have done much longer in any case, as our hands were
entirely raw with the excessive labor we had undergone, and were bleeding in
the most horrible manner.
Contrary to Parker’s advice, we now
proceeded to cut away the foremast, and at length accomplished it after much
difficulty, owing to the position in which we lay. In going overboard, the
wreck took with it the bowsprit, and left us a complete hulk.
So far, we had had reason to rejoice
in the escape of our longboat, which had received no damage from any of the
huge seas which had come on board. But we had not long to congratulate
ourselves; for the foremast having gone, and, of course, the foresail with it,
by which the brig had been steadied, every sea now made a complete breach over
us, and in five minutes our deck was swept from stem to stern, the longboat and
starboard bulwarks torn off, and even the windlass shattered into fragments. It
was, indeed, hardly possible for us to be in a more pitiable condition.
At noon there seemed to be some
slight appearance of the gale’s abating, but in this we were sadly
disappointed, for it only lulled for a few minutes to blow with redoubled fury.
About four in the afternoon it was utterly impossible to stand up against the
violence of the blast; and, as the night closed in upon us, I had not a shadow
of hope that the vessel would hold together until morning.
By midnight we had settled very deep
in the water, which was now up to the orlop deck. The rudder went soon
afterward, the sea which tore it away lifting the after portion of the brig
entirely from the water, against which she thumped in her descent with such a
concussion as would be occasioned by going ashore. We had all calculated that
the rudder would hold its own to the last, as it was unusually strong, being
rigged as I have never seen one rigged either before or since. Down its main
timber there ran a succession of stout iron hooks, and others in the same
manner down the sternpost. Through these hooks there extended a very thick
wrought-iron rod, the rudder being thus held to the sternpost and swinging
freely on the road. The tremendous force of the sea which tore it off may be
estimated by the fact, that the hooks in the stern-post, which ran entirely
through it, being clinched on the inside, were drawn every one of them
completely out of the solid wood.
We had scarcely time to draw breath
after the violence of this shock, when one of the most tremendous waves I had
then ever known broke right on board of us, sweeping the companion-way clear
off, bursting in the hatchways, and filling every inch of the vessel with
water.
CHAPTER 9
LUCKILY, just before night, all four
of us had lashed ourselves firmly to the fragments of the windlass, lying in
this manner as flat upon the deck as possible. This precaution alone saved us
from destruction. As it was, we were all stunned by the immense weight of water
which tumbled upon us, and which did not roll from above us until we were
nearly exhausted. As soon as I could recover breath, I called aloud to my
companions. Augustus alone replied, saying: “It is all over with us, and may
God have mercy upon our souls!” By-and-by both the others were enabled to
speak, when they exhorted us to take courage, as there was still hope; it being
impossible, from the nature of the cargo, that the brig could go down, and
there being every chance that the gale would blow over by the morning. These
words inspired me with new life; for, strange as it may seem, although it was
obvious that a vessel with a cargo of empty oil-casks would not sink, I had
been hitherto so confused in mind as to have overlooked this consideration
altogether; and the danger which I had for some time regarded as the most
imminent was that of foundering. As hope revived within me, I made use of every
opportunity to strengthen the lashings which held me to the remains of the
windlass, and in this occupation, I soon discovered that my companions were
also busy. The night was as dark as it could possibly be, and the horrible
shrieking din and confusion which surrounded us it is useless to attempt
describing. Our deck lay level with the sea, or rather we were encircled with a
towering ridge of foam, a portion of which swept over us every instant. It is
not too much to say that our heads were not out of the water more than one
second in three. Although we lay close together, no one of us could see the
other, or, indeed, any portion of the brig itself, upon which we were so
tempestuously hurled about. At intervals we called one to the other, thus endeavoring
to keep alive hope, and render consolation and encouragement to such of us as
stood most in need of it. The feeble condition of Augustus made him an object
of solicitude with us all; and as, from the lacerated condition of his right
arm, it must have been impossible for him to secure his lashings with any
degree of firmness, we were in momentary expectation of finding that he had
gone overboard—yet to render him aid was a thing altogether out of the
question. Fortunately, his station was more secure than that of any of the rest
of us; for the upper part of his body lying just beneath a portion of the
shattered windlass, the seas, as they tumbled in upon him, were greatly broken
in their violence. In any other situation than this (into which he had been
accidentally thrown after having lashed himself in a very exposed spot) he must
inevitably have perished before morning. Owing to the brig’s lying so much
along, we were all less liable to be washed off than otherwise would have been
the case. The heel, as I have before stated, was to larboard, about one half of
the deck being constantly under water. The seas, therefore, which struck us to
starboard were much broken, by the vessel’s side, only reaching us in fragments
as we lay flat on our faces; while those which came from larboard being what
are called back-water seas, and obtaining little hold upon us on account of our
posture, had not sufficient force to drag us from our fastenings.
In this frightful situation we lay
until the day broke to show us more fully the horrors which surrounded us. The
brig was a mere log, rolling about at the mercy of every wave; the gale was
upon the increase, if anything, blowing indeed a complete hurricane, and there
appeared to us no earthly prospect of deliverance. For several hours we held on
in silence, expecting every moment that our lashings would either give way,
that the remains of the windlass would go by the board, or that some of the
huge seas, which roared in every direction around us and above us, would drive
the hulk so far beneath the water that we should be drowned before it could
regain the surface. By the mercy of God, however, we were preserved from these
imminent dangers, and about midday were cheered by the light of the blessed
sun. Shortly afterward we could perceive a sensible diminution in the force of
the wind, when, now for the first time since the latter part of the evening
before, Augustus spoke, asking Peters, who lay closest to him, if he thought
there was any possibility of our being saved. As no reply was at first made to
this question, we all concluded that the hybrid had been drowned where he lay;
but presently, to our great joy, he spoke, although very feebly, saying that he
was in great pain, being so cut by the tightness of his lashings across the
stomach, that he must either find means of loosening them or perish, as it was
impossible that he could endure his misery much longer. This occasioned us
great distress, as it was altogether useless to think of aiding him in any
manner while the sea continued washing over us as it did. We exhorted him to
bear his sufferings with fortitude and promised to seize the first opportunity
which should offer itself to relieve him. He replied that it would soon be too
late; that it would be all over with him before we could help him; and then,
after moaning for some minutes, lay silent, when we concluded that he had
perished.
As the evening drew on, the sea had
fallen so much that scarcely more than one wave broke over the hulk from
windward in the course of five minutes, and the wind had abated a great deal,
although still blowing a severe gale. I had not heard any of my companions
speak for hours, and now called to Augustus. He replied, although very feebly,
so that I could not distinguish what he said. I then spoke to Peters and to
Parker, neither of whom returned any answer.
Shortly after this period I fell
into a state of partial insensibility, during which the most pleasing images
floated in my imagination; such as green trees, waving meadows of ripe grain,
processions of dancing girls, troops of cavalry, and other phantasies. I now
remember that, in all which passed before my mind’s eye, motion was a
predominant idea. Thus, I never fancied any stationary object, such as a house,
a mountain, or anything of that kind; but windmills, ships, large birds,
balloons, people on horseback, carriages driving furiously, and similar moving
objects, presented themselves in endless succession. When I recovered from this
state, the sun was, as near as I could guess, an hour high. I had the greatest
difficulty in bringing to recollection the various circumstances connected with
my situation, and for some time remained firmly convinced that I was still in
the hold of the brig, near the box, and that the body of Parker was that of
Tiger.
When I at length completely came to
my senses, I found that the wind blew no more than a moderate breeze, and that
the sea was comparatively calm; so much so that it only washed over the brig
amidships. My left arm had broken loose from its lashings and was much cut
about the elbow; my right was entirely benumbed, and the hand and wrist swollen
prodigiously by the pressure of the rope, which had worked from the shoulder
downward. I was also in great pain from another rope which went about my waist
and had been drawn to an insufferable degree of tightness. Looking round upon
my companions, I saw that Peters still lived, although a thick line was pulled
so forcibly around his loins as to give him the appearance of being cut nearly
in two; as I stirred, he made a feeble motion to me with his hand, pointing to
the rope. Augustus gave no indication of life whatever and was bent nearly
double across a splinter of the windlass. Parker spoke to me when he saw me
moving, and asked me if I had not sufficient strength to release him from his
situation, saying that if I would summon up what spirits I could, and contrive
to untie him, we might yet save our lives; but that otherwise we must all
perish. I told him to take courage, and I would endeavor to free him. Feeling
in my pantaloons’ pocket, I got hold of my penknife, and, after several
ineffectual attempts, at length succeeded in opening it. I then, with my left
hand, managed to free my right from its fastenings, and afterward cut the other
ropes which held me. Upon attempting, however, to move from my position, I
found that my legs failed me altogether, and that I could not get up; neither
could I move my right arm in any direction. Upon mentioning this to Parker, he
advised me to lie quiet for a few minutes, holding on to the windlass with my
left hand, to allow time for the blood to circulate. Doing this, the numbness
presently began to die away so that I could move first one of my legs, and then
the other, and, shortly afterward I regained the partial use of my right arm. I
now crawled with great caution toward Parker, without getting on my legs, and
soon cut lose all the lashings about him, when, after a short delay, he also
recovered the partial use of his limbs. We now lost no time in getting loose
the rope from Peters. It had cut a deep gash through the waistband of his woolen
pantaloons, and through two shirts, and made its way into his groin, from which
the blood flowed out copiously as we removed the cordage. No sooner had we
removed it, however, than he spoke, and seemed to experience instant
relief—being able to move with much greater ease than either Parker or
myself—this was no doubt owing to the discharge of blood.
We had little hopes that Augustus
would recover, as he evinced no signs of life; but, upon getting to him, we
discovered that he had merely swooned from the loss of blood, the bandages we
had placed around his wounded arm having been torn off by the water; none of
the ropes which held him to the windlass were drawn sufficiently tight to
occasion his death. Having relieved him from the fastenings, and got him clear
of the broken wood about the windlass, we secured him in a dry place to
windward, with his head somewhat lower than his body, and all three of us
busied ourselves in chafing his limbs. In about half an hour he came to
himself, although it was not until the next morning that he gave signs of
recognizing any of us or had enough strength to speak. By the time we had thus
got clear of our lashings it was quite dark, and it began to cloud up, so that
we were again in the greatest agony lest it should come on to blow hard, in
which event nothing could have saved us from perishing, exhausted as we were.
By good fortune it continued very moderate during the night, the sea subsiding
every minute, which gave us great hopes of ultimate preservation. A gentle
breeze still blew from the N. W., but the weather was not at all cold. Augustus
was lashed carefully to windward in such a manner as to prevent him from
slipping overboard with the rolls of the vessel, as he was still too weak to
hold on at all. For ourselves there was no such necessity. We sat close
together, supporting each other with the aid of the broken ropes about the
windlass, and devising methods of escape from our frightful situation. We
derived much comfort from taking off our clothes and wringing the water from
them. When we put them on after this, they felt remarkably warm and pleasant,
and served to invigorate us in no little degree. We helped Augustus off with
his, and wrung them for him, when he experienced the same comfort.
Our chief sufferings were now those
of hunger and thirst, and when we looked forward to the means of relief in this
respect, our hearts sunk within us, and we were induced to regret that we had
escaped the less dreadful perils of the sea. We endeavored, however, to console
ourselves with the hope of being speedily picked up by some vessel and
encouraged each other to bear with fortitude the evils that might happen.
The morning of the fourteenth at
length dawned, and the weather continued clear and pleasant, with a steady but
very light breeze from the N. W. The sea was now quite smooth, and as, from
some cause which we could not determine, the brig did not lie so much along as
she had done before, the deck was comparatively dry, and we could move about
with freedom. We had now been better than three entire days and nights without
either food or drink, and it became necessary that we should try to get up
something from below. As the brig was completely full of water, we went to this
work despondently, and with but little expectation of being able to obtain
anything. We made a kind of drag by driving some nails which we broke out from
the remains of the companion-hatch into two pieces of wood. Tying these across
each other, and fastening them to the end of a rope, we threw them into the
cabin, and dragged them to and from, in the faint hope of being thus able to
entangle some article which might be of use to us for food, or which might at
least render us assistance in getting it. We spent the greater part of the
morning in this labor without effect, fishing up nothing more than a few
bedclothes, which were readily caught by the nails. Indeed, our contrivance was
so very clumsy that any greater success was hardly to be anticipated.
We now tried the forecastle, but
equally in vain, and were upon the brink of despair, when Peters proposed that
we should fasten a rope to his body and let him make an attempt to get up
something by diving into the cabin. This proposition we hailed with all the
delight which reviving hope could inspire. He proceeded immediately to strip
off his clothes except for his pantaloons; and a strong rope was then carefully
fastened around his middle, being brought up over his shoulders in such a
manner that there was no possibility of its slipping. The undertaking was one
of great difficulty and danger; for, as we could hardly expect to find much, if
any, provision in the cabin itself, it was necessary that the diver, after
letting himself down, should make a turn to the right, and proceed under water
a distance of ten or twelve feet, in a narrow passage, to the storeroom, and
return, without drawing breath.
Everything being ready, Peters now
descended in the cabin, going down the companion-ladder until the water reached
his chin. He then plunged in, headfirst, turning to the right as he plunged,
and endeavoring to make his way to the storeroom. In this first attempt,
however, he was altogether unsuccessful. In less than half a minute after his
going down we felt the rope jerked violently (the signal we had agreed upon
when he desired to be drawn up). We accordingly drew him up instantly, but so
incautiously as to bruise him badly against the ladder. He had brought nothing
with him and had been unable to penetrate more than a very little way into the
passage, owing to the constant exertions he found it necessary to make in order
to keep himself from floating up against the deck. Upon getting out he was very
much exhausted and had to rest full fifteen minutes before he could again
venture to descend.
The second attempt met with even
worse success; for he remained so long under water without giving the signal,
that, becoming alarmed for his safety, we drew him out without it, and found
that he was almost at the last gasp, having, as he said, repeatedly jerked at
the rope without our feeling it. This was probably owing to a portion of it
having become entangled in the balustrade at the foot of the ladder. This
balustrade was, indeed, so much in the way, that we determined to remove it, if
possible, before proceeding with our design. As we had no means of getting it
away except by main force, we all descended into the water as far as we could
on the ladder and giving a pull against it with our united strength, succeeded
in breaking it down.
The third attempt was equally unsuccessful
with the two first, and it now became evident that nothing could be done in
this manner without the aid of some weight with which the diver might steady
himself, and keep to the floor of the cabin while making his search. For a long
time, we looked about in vain for something which might answer this purpose;
but at length, to our great joy, we discovered one of the weather-forechains so
loose that we had not the least difficulty in wrenching it off. Having fastened
this securely to one of his ankles, Peters now made his fourth descent into the
cabin, and this time succeeded in making his way to the door of the steward’s
room. To his inexpressible grief, however, he found it locked, and was obliged
to return without effecting an entrance, as, with the greatest exertion, he
could remain under water not more, at the utmost extent, than a single minute.
Our affairs now looked gloomy indeed, and neither Augustus nor myself could
refrain from bursting into tears, as we thought of the host of difficulties which
encompassed us, and the slight probability which existed of our finally making
an escape. But this weakness was not of long duration. Throwing ourselves on
our knees to God, we implored His aid in the many dangers which beset us; and
arose with renewed hope and vigor to think what could yet be done by mortal
means toward accomplishing our deliverance.
CHAPTER 10
SHORTLY afterward an incident
occurred which I am induced to look upon as more intensely productive of
emotion, as far more replete with the extremes first of delight and then of
horror, than even any of the thousand chances which afterward befell me in nine
long years, crowded with events of the most startling and, in many cases, of
the most unconceived and unconceivable character. We were lying on the deck
near the companion-way, and debating the possibility of yet making our way into
the storeroom, when, looking toward Augustus, who lay fronting myself, I
perceived that he had become all at once deadly pale, and that his lips were
quivering in the most singular and unaccountable manner. Greatly alarmed, I
spoke to him, but he made me no reply, and I was beginning to think that he was
suddenly taken ill, when I took notice of his eyes, which were glaring
apparently at some object behind me. I turned my head and shall never forget
the ecstatic joy which thrilled through every particle of my frame, when I
perceived a large brig bearing down upon us, and not more than a couple of
miles off. I sprung to my feet as if a musket bullet had suddenly struck me to
the heart; and, stretching out my arms in the direction of the vessel, stood in
this manner, motionless, and unable to articulate a syllable. Peters and Parker
were equally affected, although in different ways. The former danced about the
deck like a madman, uttering the most extravagant rhodomontade, intermingled
with howls and imprecations, while the latter burst into tears, and continued
for many minutes weeping like a child.
The vessel in sight was a large
hermaphrodite brig, of a Dutch build, and painted black, with a tawdry gilt figurehead.
She had evidently seen a good deal of rough weather, and, we supposed, had
suffered much in the gale which had proved so disastrous to ourselves; for her
foretopmast was gone, and some of her starboard bulwarks. When we first saw
her, she was, as I have already said, about two miles off and to windward,
bearing down upon us. The breeze was very gentle, and what astonished us
chiefly was, that she had no other sails set than her foremast and mainsail,
with a flying jib—of course she came down but slowly, and our impatience
amounted nearly to phrensy. The awkward way she steered, too, was remarked by
all of us, even excited as we were. She yawed about so considerably, that once
or twice we thought it impossible she could see us, or imagined that, having
seen us, and discovered no person on board, she was about to tack and make off
in another direction. Upon each of these occasions we screamed and shouted at
the top of our voices, when the stranger would appear to change for a moment
her intention, and again hold on toward us—this singular conduct being repeated
two or three times, so that at last we could think of no other manner of
accounting for it than by supposing the helmsman to be in liquor.
No person was seen upon her decks
until she arrived within about a quarter of a mile of us. We then saw three
seamen, whom by their dress we took to be Hollanders. Two of these were lying
on some old sails near the forecastle, and the third, who appeared to be
looking at us with great curiosity, was leaning over the starboard bow near the
bowsprit. This last was a stout and tall man, with a very dark skin. He seemed
by his manner to be encouraging us to have patience, nodding to us in a
cheerful although rather odd way, and smiling constantly, to display a set of
the most brilliantly white teeth. As his vessel drew nearer, we saw a red
flannel cap which he had on fall from his head into the water; but of this he
took little or no notice, continuing his odd smiles and gesticulations. I
relate these things and circumstances minutely, and I relate them, it must be
understood, precisely as they appeared to us.
The brig came on slowly, and now
more steadily than before, and—I cannot speak calmly of this event—our hearts
leaped up wildly within us, and we poured out our whole souls in shouts and
thanksgiving to God for the complete, unexpected, and glorious deliverance that
was so palpably at hand. Of a sudden, and all at once, there came wafted over
the ocean from the strange vessel (which was now close upon us) a smell, a
stench, such as the whole world has no name for—no conception
of—hellish—utterly suffocating—insufferable, inconceivable. I gasped for
breath, and turning to my companions, perceived that they were paler than
marble. But we had now no time left for question or surmise—the brig was within
fifty feet of us, and it seemed to be her intention to run under our counter,
that we might board her without putting out a boat. We rushed aft, when, suddenly,
a wide yaw threw her off full five or six points from the course she had been
running, and, as she passed under our stern at the distance of about twenty
feet, we had a full view of her decks. Shall I ever forget the triple horror of
that spectacle? Twenty-five or thirty human bodies, among whom were several
females, lay scattered about between the counter and the galley in the last and
most loathsome state of putrefaction. We plainly saw that not a soul lived in
that fated vessel! Yet we could not help shouting to the dead for help! Yes,
long and loudly did we beg, in the agony of the moment, that those silent and
disgusting images would stay for us, would not abandon us to become like them,
would receive us among their goodly company! We were raving with horror and
despair—thoroughly mad through the anguish of our grievous disappointment.
As our first loud yell of terror
broke forth, it was replied to by something, from near the bowsprit of the
stranger, so closely resembling the scream of a human voice that the nicest ear
might have been startled and deceived. At this instant another sudden yaw
brought the region of the forecastle for a moment into view, and we beheld at
once the origin of the sound. We saw the tall stout figure still leaning on the
bulwark, and still nodding his head to and from, but his face was now turned
from us so that we could not behold it. His arms were extended over the rail,
and the palms of his hands fell outward. His knees were lodged upon a stout
rope, tightly stretched, and reaching from the heel of the bowsprit to a
cathead. On his back, from which a portion of the shirt had been torn, leaving
it bare, there sat a huge sea-gull, busily gorging itself with the horrible
flesh, its bill and talons deep buried, and its white plumage spattered all
over with blood. As the brig moved farther round so as to bring us close in
view, the bird, with much apparent difficulty, drew out its crimsoned head,
and, after eyeing us for a moment as if stupefied, arose lazily from the body
upon which it had been feasting, and, flying directly above our deck, hovered
there a while with a portion of clotted and liver-like substance in its beak.
The horrid morsel dropped at length with a sullen splash immediately at the
feet of Parker. May God forgive me, but now, for the first time, there flashed
through my mind a thought, a thought which I will not mention, and I felt
myself making a step toward the ensanguined spot. I looked upward, and the eyes
of Augustus met my own with a degree of intense and eager meaning which
immediately brought me to my senses. I sprang forward quickly, and, with a deep
shudder, threw the frightful thing into the sea.
The body from which it had been
taken, resting as it did upon the rope, had been easily swayed to and from by
the exertions of the carnivorous bird, and it was this motion which had at
first impressed us with the belief of its being alive. As the gull relieved it
of its weight, it swung round and fell partially over, so that the face was
fully discovered. Never, surely, was any object so terribly full of awe! The
eyes were gone, and the whole flesh around the mouth, leaving the teeth utterly
naked. This, then, was the smile which had cheered us on to hope! this the—but
I forbear. The brig, as I have already told, passed under our stern, and made
its way slowly but steadily to leeward. With her and with her terrible crew
went all our gay visions of deliverance and joy. Deliberately as she went by,
we might possibly have found means of boarding her, had not our sudden
disappointment and the appalling nature of the discovery which accompanied it
laid entirely prostrate every active faculty of mind and body. We had seen and
felt, but we could neither think nor act, until, alas! too late. How much our
intellects had been weakened by this incident may be estimated by the fact,
that when the vessel had proceeded so far that we could perceive no more than
the half of her hull, the proposition was seriously entertained of attempting
to overtake her by swimming!
I have, since this period, vainly endeavored
to obtain some clue to the hideous uncertainty which enveloped the fate of the
stranger. Her build and general appearance, as I have before stated, led us to
the belief that she was a Dutch trader, and the dresses of the crew also
sustained this opinion. We might have easily seen the name upon her stern, and,
indeed, taken other observations, which would have guided us in making out her
character; but the intense excitement of the moment blinded us to everything of
that nature. From the saffron-like hue of such of the corpses as were not
entirely decayed, we concluded that the whole of her company had perished by
the yellow fever, or some other virulent disease of the same fearful kind. If
such were the case (and I know not what else to imagine), death, to judge from
the positions of the bodies, must have come upon them in a manner awfully
sudden and overwhelming, in a way totally distinct from that which generally
characterizes even the most deadly pestilences with which mankind are
acquainted. It is possible, indeed, that poison, accidentally introduced into
some of their sea-stores, may have brought about the disaster, or that the
eating of some unknown venomous species of fish, or other marine animal, or
oceanic bird, might have induced it—but it is utterly useless to form
conjectures where all is involved, and will, no doubt, remain forever involved,
in the most appalling and unfathomable mystery.
CHAPTER 11
WE spent the remainder of the day in
a condition of stupid lethargy, gazing after the retreating vessel until the
darkness, hiding her from our sight, recalled us in some measure to our senses.
The pangs of hunger and thirst then returned, absorbing all other cares and
considerations. Nothing, however, could be done until the morning, and,
securing ourselves as well as possible, we endeavored to snatch a little
repose. In this I succeeded beyond my expectations, sleeping until my
companions, who had not been so fortunate, aroused me at daybreak to renew our
attempts at getting up provisions from the hull.
It was now a dead calm, with the sea
as smooth as I have ever known it, —the weather warm and pleasant. The brig was
out of sight. We commenced our operations by wrenching off, with some trouble,
another of the forechains; and having fastened both to Peters’ feet, he again
made an endeavor to reach the door of the storeroom, thinking it possible that
he might be able to force it open, provided he could get at it in sufficient
time; and this he hoped to do, as the hulk lay much more steadily than before.
He succeeded very quickly in
reaching the door, when, loosening one of the chains from his ankle, he made
every exertion to force the passage with it, but in vain, the framework of the
room being far stronger than was anticipated. He was quite exhausted with his
long stay under water, and it became necessary that some other one of us should
take his place. For this service Parker immediately volunteered; but, after
making three ineffectual efforts, found that he could never even succeed in
getting near the door. The condition of Augustus’s wounded arm rendered it
useless for him to attempt going down, as he would be unable to force the room
open should he reach it, and it accordingly now devolved upon me to exert
myself for our common deliverance.
Peters had left one of the chains in
the passage, and I found, upon plunging in, that I had not enough balance to
keep me firmly down. I determined, therefore, to attempt no more, in my first
effort, than merely to recover the other chain. In groping along the floor of
the passage for this, I felt a hard substance, which I immediately grasped, not
having time to ascertain what it was, but returning and ascending instantly to
the surface. The prize proved to be a bottle, and our joy may be conceived when
I say that it was found to be full of port wine. Giving thanks to God for this
timely and cheering assistance, we immediately drew the cork with my penknife,
and, each taking a moderate sup, felt the most indescribable comfort from the
warmth, strength, and spirits with which it inspired us. We then carefully
recorked the bottle, and, by means of a handkerchief, swung it in such a manner
that there was no possibility of it getting broken.
Having rested a while after this
fortunate discovery, I again descended, and now recovered the chain, with which
I instantly came up. I then fastened it on and went down for the third time,
when I became fully satisfied that no exertions whatever, in that situation,
would enable me to force open the door of the storeroom. I therefore returned
in despair.
There seemed now to be no longer any
room for hope, and I could perceive in the countenances of my companions that
they had made up their minds to perish. The wine had evidently produced in them
a species of delirium, which, perhaps, I had been prevented from feeling by the
immersion I had undergone since drinking it. They talked incoherently, and
about matters unconnected with our condition, Peters repeatedly asking me
questions about Nantucket. Augustus, too, I remember, approached me with a
serious air, and requested me to lend him a pocket-comb, as his hair was full
of fish-scales, and he wished to get them out before going on shore. Parker
appeared somewhat less affected and urged me to dive at random into the cabin
and bring up any article which might come to hand. To this I consented, and, in
the first attempt, after staying under a full minute, brought up a small
leather trunk belonging to Captain Barnard. This was immediately opened in the
faint hope that it might contain something to eat or drink. We found nothing,
however, except a box of razors and two linen shirts. I now went down again and
returned without any success. As my head came above water I heard a crash on
deck, and, upon getting up, saw that my companions had ungratefully taken
advantage of my absence to drink the remainder of the wine, having let the
bottle fall in the endeavor to replace it before I saw them. I remonstrated
with them on the heartlessness of their conduct, when Augustus burst into
tears. The other two endeavored to laugh the matter off as a joke, but I hope
never again to behold laughter of such a species: the distortion of countenance
was frightful. Indeed, it was apparent that the stimulus, in the empty state of
their stomachs, had taken instant and violent effect, and that they were all
exceedingly intoxicated. With great difficulty I prevailed upon them to lie
down, when they fell very soon into a heavy slumber, accompanied with loud
stertorous breathing.
I now found myself, as it were,
alone in the brig, and my reflections, to be sure, were of the most fearful and
gloomy nature. No prospect offered itself to my view but a lingering death by
famine, or, at the best, by being overwhelmed in the first gale which should
spring up, for in our present exhausted condition we could have no hope of
living through another.
The gnawing hunger which I now
experienced was nearly insupportable, and I felt myself capable of going to any
lengths in order to appease it. With my knife I cut off a small portion of the
leather trunk, and endeavored to eat it, but found it utterly impossible to
swallow a single morsel, although I fancied that some little alleviation of my
suffering was obtained by chewing small pieces of it and spitting them out.
Toward night my companions awoke, one by one, each in an indescribable state of
weakness and horror, brought on by the wine, whose fumes had now evaporated.
They shook as if with a violent ague and uttered the most lamentable cries for
water. Their condition affected me in the liveliest degree, at the same time
causing me to rejoice in the fortunate train of circumstances which had
prevented me from indulging in the wine, and consequently from sharing their
melancholy and most distressing sensations. Their conduct, however, gave me
great uneasiness and alarm; for it was evident that, unless some favorable
change took place, they could afford me no assistance in providing for our
common safety. I had not yet abandoned all idea of being able to get up
something from below; but the attempt could not possibly be resumed until some
one of them was sufficiently master of himself to aid me by holding the end of
the rope while I went down. Parker appeared to be somewhat more in possession
of his senses than the others, and I endeavored, by every means in my power, to
rouse him. Thinking that a plunge in the sea-water might have a beneficial
effect, I contrived to fasten the end of a rope around his body, and then,
leading him to the companion-way (he remaining quite passive all the while),
pushed him in, and immediately drew him out. I had good reason to congratulate
myself upon having made this experiment; for he appeared much revived and invigorated,
and, upon getting out, asked me, in a rational manner, why I had so served him.
Having explained my object, he expressed himself indebted to me, and said that
he felt greatly better from the immersion, afterward conversing sensibly upon
our situation. We then resolved to treat Augustus and Peters in the same way,
which we immediately did, when they both experienced much benefit from the
shock. This idea of sudden immersion had been suggested to me by reading in
some medical work the good effect of the shower-bath in a case where the
patient was suffering from mania a pout.
Finding that I could now trust my
companions to hold the end of the rope, I again made three or four plunges into
the cabin, although it was now quite dark, and a gentle but long swell from the
northward rendered the hulk somewhat unsteady. In the course of these attempts
I succeeded in bringing up two case-knives, a three-gallon jug, empty, and a
blanket, but nothing which could serve us for food. I continued my efforts,
after getting these articles, until I was completely exhausted, but brought up
nothing else. During the night Parker and Peters occupied themselves by turns
in the same manner; but nothing coming to hand, we now gave up this attempt in
despair, concluding that we were exhausting ourselves in vain.
We passed the remainder of this
night in a state of the most intense mental and bodily anguish that can
possibly be imagined. The morning of the sixteenth at length dawned, and we
looked eagerly around the horizon for relief, but to no purpose. The sea was
still smooth, with only a long swell from the northward, as on yesterday. This
was the sixth day since we had tasted either food or drink, except for the
bottle of port wine, and it was clear that we could hold out but a very little
while longer unless something could be obtained. I never saw before, nor wish
to see again, human beings so utterly emaciated as Peters and Augustus. Had I
met them on shore in their present condition I should not have had the
slightest suspicion that I had ever beheld them. Their countenances were
totally changed in character, so that I could not bring myself to believe them
really the same individuals with whom I had been in company but a few days
before. Parker, although sadly reduced, and so feeble that he could not raise
his head from his bosom, was not so far gone as the other two. He suffered with
great patience, making no complaint, and endeavoring to inspire us with hope in
every manner he could devise. For myself, although at the commencement of the
voyage I had been in bad health, and was at all times of a delicate
constitution, I suffered less than any of us, being much less reduced in frame,
and retaining my powers of mind in a surprising degree, while the rest were
completely prostrated in intellect, and seemed to be brought to a species of
second childhood, generally simpering in their expressions, with idiotic
smiles, and uttering the most absurd platitudes. At intervals, however, they
would appear to revive suddenly, as if inspired all at once with a
consciousness of their condition, when they would spring upon their feet in a
momentary flash of vigor, and speak, for a short period, of their prospects, in
a manner altogether rational, although full of the most intense despair. It is
possible, however, that my companions may have entertained the same opinion of
their own condition as I did of mine, and that I may have unwittingly been
guilty of the same extravagances and imbecilities as themselves—this is a
matter which cannot be determined.
About noon Parker declared that he
saw land off the larboard quarter, and it was with the utmost difficulty I
could restrain him from plunging into the sea with the view of swimming toward
it. Peters and Augustus took little notice of what he said, being apparently
wrapped up in moody contemplation. Upon looking in the direction pointed out, I
could not perceive the faintest appearance of the shore—indeed, I was too aware
that we were far from any land to indulge in a hope of that nature. It was a
long time, nevertheless, before I could convince Parker of his mistake. He then
burst into a flood of tears, weeping like a child, with loud cries and sobs,
for two or three hours, when becoming exhausted, he fell asleep.
Peters and Augustus now made several
ineffectual efforts to swallow portions of the leather. I advised them to chew
it and spit it out; but they were too excessively debilitated to be able to
follow my advice. I continued to chew pieces of it at intervals, and found some
relief from so doing; my chief distress was for water, and I was only prevented
from taking a draught from the sea by remembering the horrible consequences
which thus have resulted to others who were similarly situated with ourselves.
The day wore on in this manner, when
I suddenly discovered a sail to the eastward, and on our larboard bow. She
appeared to be a large ship, and was coming nearly athwart us, being probably
twelve or fifteen miles distant. None of my companions had yet discovered her,
and I forbore to tell them of her for the present, lest we might again be
disappointed of relief. At length upon her getting nearer, I saw distinctly
that she was heading immediately for us, with her light sails filled. I could
now contain myself no longer and pointed her out to my fellow-sufferers. They
immediately sprang to their feet, again indulging in the most extravagant
demonstrations of joy, weeping, laughing in an idiotic manner, jumping,
stamping upon the deck, tearing their hair, and praying and cursing by turns. I
was so affected by their conduct, as well as by what I considered a sure
prospect of deliverance, that I could not refrain from joining in with their
madness, and gave way to the impulses of my gratitude and ecstasy by lying and
rolling on the deck, clapping my hands, shouting, and other similar acts, until
I was suddenly called to my recollection, and once more to the extreme human
misery and despair, by perceiving the ship all at once with her stern fully
presented toward us, and steering in a direction nearly opposite to that in
which I had at first perceived her.
It was some time before I could
induce my poor companions to believe that this sad reverse in our prospects had
taken place. They replied to all my assertions with a stare and a gesture
implying that they were not to be deceived by such misrepresentations. The
conduct of Augustus most sensibly affected me. Despite all I could say or do to
the contrary, he persisted in saying that the ship was rapidly nearing us, and
in preparing to go on board of her. Some seaweed floating by the brig, he
maintained that it was the ship’s boat, and endeavored to throw himself upon
it, howling and shrieking in the most heartrending manner, when I forcibly
restrained him from thus casting himself into the sea.
Having become in some degree
pacified, we continued to watch the ship until we finally lost sight of her,
the weather becoming hazy, with a light breeze springing up. As soon as she was
entirely gone, Parker turned suddenly toward me with an expression of
countenance which made me shudder. There was about him an air of
self-possession which I had not noticed in him until now, and before he opened
his lips my heart told me what he would say. He proposed, in a few words, that
one of us should die to preserve the existence of the others.
CHAPTER 12
I had for some time past, dwelt upon
the prospect of our being reduced to this last horrible extremity, and had
secretly made up my mind to suffer death in any shape or under any
circumstances rather than resort to such a course. Nor was this resolution in
any degree weakened by the present intensity of hunger under which I labored.
The proposition had not been heard by either Peters or Augustus. I therefore
took Parker aside; and mentally praying to God for power to dissuade him from
the horrible purpose he entertained, I expostulated with him for a long time,
and in the most supplicating manner, begging him in the name of everything
which he held sacred, and urging him by every species of argument which the
extremity of the case suggested, to abandon the idea, and not to mention it to
either of the other two.
He heard all I said without
attempting to controvert any of my arguments, and I had begun to hope that he
would be prevailed upon to do as I desired. But when I had ceased speaking, he
said that he knew very well all I had said was true, and that to resort to such
a course was the most horrible alternative which could enter into the mind of
man; but that he had now held out as long as human nature could be sustained;
that it was unnecessary for all to perish, when, by the death of one, it was
possible, and even probable, that the rest might be finally preserved; adding that
I might save myself the trouble of trying to turn him from his purpose, his
mind having been thoroughly made up on the subject even before the appearance
of the ship, and that only her heaving in sight had prevented him from
mentioning his intention at an earlier period.
I now begged him, if he would not be
prevailed upon to abandon his design, at least to defer it for another day,
when some vessel might come to our relief; again reiterating every argument I
could devise, and which I thought likely to have influence with one of his
rough nature. He said, in reply, that he had not spoken until the very last
possible moment, that he could exist no longer without sustenance of some kind,
and that therefore in another day his suggestion would be too late, as regarded
himself at least.
Finding that he was not to be moved
by anything I could say in a mild tone, I now assumed a different demeanor, and
told him that he must be aware I had suffered less than any of us from our
calamities; that my health and strength, consequently, were at that moment far
better than his own, or than that either of Peters or Augustus; in short, that
I was in a condition to have my own way by force if I found it necessary; and
that if he attempted in any manner to acquaint the others with his bloody and
cannibal designs, I would not hesitate to throw him into the sea. Upon this he
immediately seized me by the throat, and drawing a knife, made several
ineffectual efforts to stab me in the stomach; an atrocity which his excessive
debility alone prevented him from accomplishing. In the meantime, being roused
to a high pitch of anger, I forced him to the vessel’s side, with the full
intention of throwing him overboard. He was saved from his fate, however, by
the interference of Peters, who now approached and separated us, asking the
cause of the disturbance. This Parker told before I could find means in any
manner to prevent him.
The effect of his words was even
more terrible than what I had anticipated. Both Augustus and Peters, who, it
seems, had long secretly entertained the same fearful idea which Parker had
been merely the first to broach, joined with him in his design and insisted
upon its immediately being carried into effect. I had calculated that one at
least of the two former would be found still possessed of sufficient strength
of mind to side with myself in resisting any attempt to execute so dreadful a
purpose, and, with the aid of either one of them, I had no fear of being able
to prevent its accomplishment. Being disappointed in this expectation, it
became absolutely necessary that I should attend to my own safety, as a further
resistance on my part might possibly be considered by men in their frightful
condition a sufficient excuse for refusing me fair play in the tragedy that I
knew would speedily be enacted.
I now told them I was willing to
submit to the proposal, merely requesting a delay of about one hour, in order
that the fog which had gathered around us might have an opportunity of lifting,
when it was possible that the ship we had seen might be again in sight. After
great difficulty I obtained from them a promise to wait thus long; and, as I
had anticipated (a breeze rapidly coming in), the fog lifted before the hour
had expired, when, no vessel appearing in sight, we prepared to draw lots.
It is with extreme reluctance that I
dwell upon the appalling scene which ensued; a scene which, with its minutest
details, no after events have been able to efface in the slightest degree from
my memory, and whose stern recollection will embitter every future moment of my
existence. Let me run over this portion of my narrative with as much haste as
the nature of the events to be spoken of will permit. The only method we could
devise for the terrific lottery, in which we were to take each a chance, was
that of drawing straws. Small splinters of wood were made to answer our
purpose, and it was agreed that I should be the holder. I retired to one end of
the hulk, while my poor companions silently took up their station in the other
with their backs turned toward me. The bitterest anxiety which I endured at any
period of this fearful drama was while I occupied myself in the arrangement of
the lots. There are few conditions into which man can possibly fall where he
will not feel a deep interest in the preservation of his existence; an interest
momentarily increasing with the frailness of the tenure by which that existence
may be held. But now that the silent, definite, and stern nature of the
business in which I was engaged (so different from the tumultuous dangers of
the storm or the gradually approaching horrors of famine) allowed me to reflect
on the few chances I had of escaping the most appalling of deaths—a death for
the most appalling of purposes—every particle of that energy which had so long
buoyed me up departed like feathers before the wind, leaving me a helpless prey
to the most abject and pitiable terror. I could not, at first, even summon up enough
strength to tear and fit together the small splinters of wood, my fingers
absolutely refusing their office, and my knees knocking violently against each
other. My mind ran over rapidly a thousand absurd projects by which to avoid
becoming a partner in the awful speculation. I thought of falling on my knees
to my companions, and entreating them to let me escape this necessity; of
suddenly rushing upon them, and, by putting one of them to death, of rendering
the decision by lot useless—in short, of everything but of going through with
the matter I had in hand. At last, after wasting a long time in this imbecile
conduct, I was recalled to my senses by the voice of Parker, who urged me to
relieve them at once from the terrible anxiety they were enduring. Even then I
could not bring myself to arrange the splinters upon the spot, but thought over
every species of finesse by which I could trick some one of my fellow-sufferers
to draw the short straw, as it had been agreed that whoever drew the shortest
of four splinters from my hand was to die for the preservation of the rest.
Before anyone condemn me for this apparent heartlessness, let him be placed in
a situation precisely like my own.
At length delay was no longer
possible, and, with a heart almost bursting from my bosom, I advanced to the
region of the forecastle, where my companions were awaiting me. I held out my
hand with the splinters, and Peters immediately drew. He was free—his, at
least, was not the shortest; and there was now another chance against my
escape. I summoned up all my strength and passed the lots to Augustus. He also
drew immediately, and he also was free; and now, whether I should live or die,
the chances were no more than precisely even. At this moment all the fierceness
of the tiger possessed my bosom, and I felt toward my poor fellow-creature,
Parker, the most intense, the most diabolical hatred. But the feeling did not
last; and, at length, with a convulsive shudder and closed eyes, I held out the
two remaining splinters toward him. It was fully five minutes before he could
summon resolution to draw, during which period of heartrending suspense I never
once opened my eyes. Presently one of the two lots was quickly drawn from my
hand. The decision was then over, yet I knew not whether it was for me or
against me. No one spoke, and still I dared not satisfy myself by looking at the
splinter I held. Peters at length took me by the hand, and I forced myself to
look up, when I immediately saw by the countenance of Parker that I was safe,
and that he it was who had been doomed to suffer. Gasping for breath, I feel
senseless to the deck.
I recovered from my swoon in time to
behold the consummation of the tragedy in the death of him who had been chiefly
instrumental in bringing it about. He made no resistance whatever, and was
stabbed in the back by Peters, when he feels instantly dead. I must not dwell
upon the fearful repast which immediately ensued. Such things may be imagined,
but words have no power to impress the mind with the exquisite horror of their
reality. Let it suffice to say that, having in some measure appeased the raging
thirst which consumed us by the blood of the victim, and having by common
consent taken off the hands, feet, and head, throwing them together with the
entrails, into the sea, we devoured the rest of the body, piecemeal, during the
four ever memorable days of the seventeenth, eighteenth, nineteenth, and
twentieth of the month.
On the nineteenth, there coming on a
smart shower which lasted fifteen or twenty minutes, we contrived to catch some
water by means of a sheet which had been fished up from the cabin by our drag
just after the game. The quantity we took in all did not amount to more than
half a gallon; but even this scanty allowance supplied us with comparative
strength and hope.
On the twenty-first we were again
reduced to the last necessity. The weather remained warm and pleasant, with
occasional fogs and light breezes, most usually from N. to W.
On the twenty-second, as we were
sitting close huddled together, gloomily revolving over our lamentable
condition, there flashed through my mind all at once an idea which inspired me
with a bright gleam of hope. I remembered that, when the foremast had been cut
away, Peters, being in the windward chains, passed one of the axes into my
hand, requesting me to put it, if possible, in a place of security, and that a few
minutes before the last heavy sea struck the brig and filled her I had taken
this axe into the forecastle and laid it in one of the larboard berths. I now
thought it possible that, by getting at this axe, we might cut through the deck
over the storeroom, and thus readily supply ourselves with provisions.
When I communicated this object to
my companions, they uttered a feeble shout of joy, and we all proceeded
forthwith to the forecastle. The difficulty of descending here was greater than
that of going down in the cabin, the opening being much smaller, for it will be
remembered that the whole framework about the cabin companion-hatch had been
carried away, whereas the forecastle-way, being a simple hatch of only about
three feet square, had remained uninjured. I did not hesitate, however, to
attempt the descent; and a rope being fastened round my body as before, I
plunged boldly in, feet foremost, made my way quickly to the berth, and at the
first attempt brought up the axe. It was hailed with the most ecstatic joy and
triumph, and the ease with which it had been obtained was regarded as an omen
of our ultimate preservation.
We now commenced cutting at the deck
with all the energy of rekindled hope, Peters and myself taking the axe by
turns, Augustus’s wounded arm not permitting him to aid us in any degree. As we
were still so feeble as to be scarcely able to stand unsupported, and could
consequently work but a minute or two without resting, it soon became evident
that many long hours would be necessary to accomplish our task—that is, to cut
an opening sufficiently large to admit of a free access to the storeroom. This
consideration, however, did not discourage us; and, working all night by the
light of the moon, we succeeded in effecting our purpose by daybreak on the
morning of the twenty-third.
Peters now volunteered to go down;
and, having made all arrangements as before, he descended, and soon returned
bringing up with him a small jar, which, to our great joy, proved to be full of
olives. Having shared these among us, and devoured them with the greatest
avidity, we proceeded to let him down again. This time he succeeded beyond our
utmost expectations, returning instantly with a large ham and a bottle of
Madeira wine. Of the latter we each took a moderate sup, having learned by
experience the pernicious consequences of indulging too freely. The ham, except
about two pounds near the bone, was not in a condition to be eaten, having been
entirely spoiled by the saltwater. The sound part was divided among us. Peters
and Augustus, not being able to restrain their appetite, swallowed theirs upon
the instant; but I was more cautious, and ate but a small portion of mine,
dreading the thirst which I knew would ensue. We now rested a while from our
labors, which had been intolerably severe.
By noon, feeling somewhat
strengthened and refreshed, we again renewed our attempt at getting up
provisions, Peters and myself going down alternately, and always with success,
until sundown. During this interval we had the good fortune to bring up,
altogether, four more small jars of olives, another ham, a carboy containing
nearly three gallons of excellent Cape Madeira wine, and, what gave us still
more delight, a small tortoise of the Galapagos breed, several of which had
been taken on board by Captain Barnard, as the Grampus was leaving port, from
the schooner Mary Pitts, just returned from a sealing voyage in the Pacific.
In a subsequent portion of this
narrative I shall have frequent occasion to mention this species of tortoise.
It is found principally, as most of my readers may know, in the group of
islands called the Galapagos, which, indeed, derive their name from the
animal—the Spanish word Galapagos meaning a fresh-water terrapin. From the
peculiarity of their shape and action they have been sometimes called the
elephant tortoise. They are frequently found of an enormous size. I have myself
seen several which would weigh from twelve to fifteen hundred pounds, although
I do not remember that any navigator speaks of having seen them weighing more
than eight hundred. Their appearance is singular, and even disgusting. Their
steps are very slow, measured, and heavy, their bodies being carried about a
foot from the ground. Their neck is long, and exceedingly slender, from
eighteen inches to two feet is a very common length, and I killed one, where
the distance from the shoulder to the extremity of the head was no less than
three feet ten inches. The head has a striking resemblance to that of a
serpent. They can exist without food for an almost incredible length of time,
instances having been known where they have been thrown into the hold of a
vessel and lain two years without nourishment of any kind—being as fat, and, in
every respect, in as good order at the expiration of the time as when they were
first put in. In one these extraordinary animals bear a resemblance to the
dromedary, or camel of the desert. In a bag at the root of the neck they carry
with them a constant supply of water. In some instances, upon killing them
after a full year’s deprivation of all nourishment, as much as three gallons of
perfectly sweet and fresh water have been found in their bags. Their food is
chiefly wild parsley and celery, with purslane, sea-kelp, and prickly pears,
upon which latter vegetable they thrive wonderfully, a great quantity of it
being usually found on the hillsides near the shore wherever the animal itself
is discovered. They are excellent and highly nutritious food, and have, no
doubt, been the means of preserving the lives of thousands of seamen employed
in the whale-fishery and other pursuits in the Pacific.
The one which we had the good
fortune to bring up from the storeroom was not of a large size, weighing
probably sixty-five or seventy pounds. It was a female, and in excellent
condition, being exceedingly fat, and having more than a quart of limpid and
sweet water in its bag. This was indeed a treasure; and, falling on our knees
with one accord, we returned fervent thanks to God for so seasonable a relief.
We had great difficulty in getting
the animal up through the opening, as its struggles were fierce and its
strength prodigious. It was upon the point of making its escape from Peter’s
grasp, and slipping back into the water, when Augustus, throwing a rope with a
slipknot around its throat, held it up in this manner until I jumped into the
hole by the side of Peters, and assisted him in lifting it out.
The water we drew carefully from the
bag into the jug; which, it will be remembered, had been brought up before from
the cabin. Having done this, we broke off the neck of a bottle to form, with
the cork, a kind of glass, holding not quite half a gill. We then each drank
one of these measures full and resolved to limit ourselves to this quantity per
day if it should hold out.
During the last two or three days,
the weather having been dry and pleasant, the bedding we had obtained from the
cabin, as well as our clothing, had become thoroughly dry, so that we passed
this night (that of the twenty-third) in comparative comfort, enjoying a tranquil
repose, after having supped plentifully on olives and ham, with a small
allowance of the wine. Being afraid of losing some of our stores overboard
during the night, in the event of a breeze springing up, we secured them as
well as possible with cordage to the fragments of the windlass. Our tortoise,
which we were anxious to preserve alive if we could, we threw on its back, and
otherwise carefully fastened.
CHAPTER 13
JULY 24. This morning saw us
wonderfully recruited in spirits and strength. Notwithstanding the perilous
situation in which we were still placed, ignorant of our position, although
certainly at a great distance from land, without more food than would last us
for a fortnight even with great care, almost entirely without water, and
floating about at the mercy of every wind and wave on the merest wreck in the
world, still the infinitely more terrible distresses and dangers from which we
had so lately and so providentially been delivered caused us to regard what we
now endured as but little more than an ordinary evil—so strictly comparative is
either good or ill.
At sunrise we were preparing to
renew our attempts at getting up something from the storeroom, when, a smart
shower coming on, with some lightning, we turn our attention to the catching of
water by means of the sheet we had used before for this purpose. We had no
other means of collecting the rain than by holding the sheet spread out with
one of the forechain-plates in the middle of it. The water, thus conducted to the
center, was drained through into our jug. We had nearly filled it in this
manner, when, a heavy squall coming on from the northward, obliged us to
desist, as the hulk began once more to roll so violently that we could no
longer keep our feet. We now went forward, and, lashing ourselves securely to
the remnant of the windlass as before, awaited the event with far more calmness
than could have been anticipated or would have been imagined possible under the
circumstances. At noon the wind had freshened into a two-reef breeze, and by
night into a stiff gale, accompanied with a tremendously heavy swell.
Experience having taught us, however, the best method of arranging our
lashings, we weathered this dreary night in tolerable security, although
thoroughly drenched at almost every instant by the sea, and in momentary dread
of being washed off. Fortunately, the weather was so warm as to render the
water rather grateful than otherwise.
July 25. This morning the gale had
diminished to a mere ten-knot breeze, and the sea had gone down with it so
considerably that we were able to keep ourselves dry upon the deck. To our
great grief, however, we found that two jars of our olives, as well as the
whole of our ham, had been washed overboard, despite the careful way they had
been fastened. We determined not to kill the tortoise as yet, and contented
ourselves for the present with a breakfast on a few of the olives, and a
measure of water each, which latter we mixed half and half, with wine, finding
great relief and strength from the mixture, without the distressing
intoxication which had ensued upon drinking the port. The sea was still far too
rough for the renewal of our efforts at getting up provision from the
storeroom. Several articles, of no importance to us in our present situation,
floated up through the opening during the day, and were immediately washed
overboard. We also now observed that the hulk lay more along than ever, so that
we could not stand an instant without lashing ourselves. On this account we
passed a gloomy and uncomfortable day. At noon the sun appeared to be nearly
vertical, and we had no doubt that we had been driven down by the long
succession of northward and northwesterly winds into the near vicinity of the
equator. Toward evening we saw several sharks and were somewhat alarmed by the
audacious way an enormously large one approached us. At one time, a lurch
throwing the deck very far beneath the water, the monster swam in upon us,
floundering for some moments just over the companion-hatch, and striking Peters
violently with his tail. A heavy sea at length hurled him overboard, much to
our relief. In moderate weather we might have easily captured him.
July 26. This morning, the wind
having greatly abated, and the sea not being very rough, we determined to renew
our exertions in the storeroom. After a great deal of hard labor during the
whole day, we found that nothing further was to be expected from this quarter,
the partitions of the room having been stove during the night, and its contents
swept into the hold. This discovery, as may be supposed, filled us with
despair.
July 27. The sea nearly smooth, with
a light wind, and still from the northward and westward. The sun coming out
hotly in the afternoon, we occupied ourselves in drying our clothes. Found
great relief from thirst, and much comfort otherwise, by bathing in the sea; in
this, however, we were forced to use great caution, being afraid of sharks,
several of which were seen swimming around the brig during the day.
July 28. Good weather still. The
brig now began to lie along so alarmingly that we feared she would eventually
roll bottom up. Prepared ourselves as well as we could for this emergency,
lashing our tortoise, water jug, and two remaining jars of olives as far as
possible over to the windward, placing them outside the hull below the main
chains. The sea very smooth all day, with little or no wind.
July 29. A continuance of the same
weather. Augustus’s wounded arm began to evince symptoms of mortification. He
complained of drowsiness and excessive thirst, but no acute pain. Nothing could
be done for his relief beyond rubbing his wounds with a little of the vinegar
from the olives, and from this no benefit seemed to be experienced. We did everything
in our power for his comfort and trebled his allowance of water.
July 30. An excessively hot day,
with no wind. An enormous shark kept close by the hulk during the whole of the
forenoon. We made several unsuccessful attempts to capture him by means of a
noose. Augustus much worse, and evidently sinking as much from want of proper
nourishment as from the effect of his wounds. He constantly prayed to be
relieved from his sufferings, wishing for nothing but death. This evening we
ate the last of our olives and found the water in our jug so putrid that we
could not swallow it at all without the addition of wine. Determined to kill
our tortoise in the morning.
July 31. After a night of excessive
anxiety and fatigue, owing to the position of the hulk, we set about killing
and cutting up our tortoise. He proved to be much smaller than we had supposed,
although in good condition, —the whole meat about him not amounting to more
than ten pounds. With a view of preserving a portion of this as long as
possible, we cut it into fine pieces, and filled with them our three remaining
olive jars and the wine-bottle (all of which had been kept), pouring in
afterward the vinegar from the olives. In this manner we put away about three
pounds of the tortoise, intending not to touch it until we had consumed the
rest. We concluded to restrict ourselves to about four ounces of the meat per
day; the whole would thus last us thirteen days. A brisk shower, with severe
thunder and lightning, came on about dusk, but lasted so short a time that we
only succeeded in catching about half a pint of water. The whole of this, by
common consent, was given to Augustus, who now appeared to be in the last
extremity. He drank the water from the sheet as we caught it (we holding it
above him as he lay so as to let it run into his mouth), for we had now nothing
left capable of holding water, unless we had chosen to empty out our wine from
the carboy, or the stale water from the jug. Either of these expedients would
have been resorted to have the shower lasted.
The sufferer seemed to derive but
little benefit from the draught. His arm was completely black from the wrist to
the shoulder, and his feet were like ice. We expected every moment to see him
breathe his last. He was frightfully emaciated; so much so that, although he
weighed a hundred and twenty-seven pounds upon his leaving Nantucket, he now
did not weigh more than forty or fifty at the farthest. His eyes were sunk far
in his head, being scarcely perceptible, and the skin of his cheeks hung so
loosely as to prevent his masticating any food, or even swallowing any liquid,
without great difficulty.
August 1. A continuance of the same
calm weather, with an oppressively hot sun. Suffered exceedingly from thirst,
the water in the jug being putrid and swarming with vermin. We contrived,
nevertheless, to swallow a portion of it by mixing it with wine; our thirst,
however, was but little abated. We found more relief by bathing in the sea but
could not avail ourselves of this expedient except at long intervals, on
account of the continual presence of sharks. We now saw clearly that Augustus
could not be saved; that he was evidently dying. We could do nothing to relieve
his sufferings, which appeared to be great. About twelve o’clock he expired in
strong convulsions, and without having spoken for several hours. His death
filled us with the gloomiest forebodings and had so great an effect upon our
spirits that we sat motionless by the corpse during the whole day, and never
addressed each other except in a whisper. It was not until sometime after dark
that we took courage to get up and throw the body overboard. It was then
loathsome beyond expression, and so far, decayed that, as Peters attempted to
lift it, an entire leg came off in his grasp. As the mass of putrefaction
slipped over the vessel’s side into the water, the glare of phosphoric light
with which it was surrounded plainly discovered to us seven or eight large
sharks, the clashing of whose horrible teeth, as their prey was torn to pieces
among them, might have been heard at the distance of a mile. We shrunk within
ourselves in the extremity of horror at the sound.
August 2. The same fearfully calm
and hot weather. The dawn found us in a state of pitiable dejection as well as
bodily exhaustion. The water in the jug was now useless, being a thick
gelatinous mass; nothing but frightful-looking worms mingled with slime. We
threw it out, and washed the jug well in the sea, afterward pouring a little
vinegar in it from our bottles of pickled tortoise. Our thirst could now
scarcely be endured, and we tried in vain to relieve it by wine, which seemed
only to add fuel to the flame, and excited us to a high degree of intoxication.
We afterward endeavored to relieve our sufferings by mixing the wine with
seawater; but this instantly brought about the most violent retching's, so that
we never again attempted it. During the whole day we anxiously sought an
opportunity of bathing, but to no purpose; for the hulk was now entirely
besieged on all sides with sharks—no doubt the identical monsters who had
devoured our poor companion on the evening before, and who were in momentary
expectation of another similar feast. This circumstance occasioned us the most
bitter regret and filled us with the most depressing and melancholy
forebodings. We had experienced indescribable relief in bathing, and to have
this resource cut off in so frightful a manner was more than we could bear.
Nor, indeed, were we altogether free from the apprehension of immediate danger,
for the least slip or false movement would have thrown us at once within reach
of those voracious fish, who frequently thrust themselves directly upon us,
swimming up to leeward. No shouts or exertions on our part seemed to alarm
them. Even when one of the largest was struck with an axe by Peters and much
wounded, he persisted in his attempts to push in where we were. A cloud came up
at dusk, but, to our extreme anguish, passed over without discharging itself.
It is quite impossible to conceive our sufferings from thirst at this period.
We passed a sleepless night, both on this account and through dread of the
sharks.
August 3. No prospect of relief, and
the brig lying still more and more along, so that now we could not maintain a
footing upon deck at all. Busied ourselves in securing our wine and
tortoise-meat, so that we might not lose them in the event of our rolling over.
Got out two stout spikes from the forechains, and, by means of the axe, drove
them into the hull to windward within a couple of feet of the water, this not
being very far from the keel, as we were nearly upon our beam-ends. To these
spikes we now lashed our provisions, as being more secure than their former
position beneath the chains. Suffered great agony from thirst during the whole
day—no chance of bathing on account of the sharks, which never left us for a
moment. Found it impossible to sleep.
August 4. A little before daybreak
we perceived that the hulk was heeling over and aroused ourselves to prevent
being thrown off by the movement. At first the roll was slow and gradual, and
we contrived to clamber over to windward very well, having taken the precaution
to leave ropes hanging from the spikes we had driven in for the provision. But
we had not calculated sufficiently upon the acceleration of the impetus; for,
presently the heel became too violent to allow of our keeping pace with it;
and, before either of us knew what was to happen, we found ourselves hurled
furiously into the sea, and struggling several fathoms beneath the surface,
with the huge hull immediately above us.
In going under the water I had been
obliged to let go my hold upon the rope; and finding that I was completely
beneath the vessel, and my strength nearly exhausted, I scarcely made a
struggle for life, and resigned myself, in a few seconds, to die. But here
again I was deceived, not having taken into consideration the natural rebound
of the hull to windward. The whirl of the water upward, which the vessel
occasioned in rolling partially back, brought me to the surface still more
violently than I had been plunged beneath. Upon coming up I found myself about
twenty yards from the hulk, as near as I could judge. She was lying keel up,
rocking furiously from side to side, and the sea in all directions around was
much agitated, and full of strong whirlpools. I could see nothing of Peters. An
oil-cask was floating within a few feet of me, and various other articles from
the brig were scattered about.
My principal terror was now on
account of the sharks, which I knew to be in my vicinity. In order to deter
these, if possible, from approaching me, I splashed the water vigorously with
both hands and feet as I swam towards the hulk, creating a body of foam. I have
no doubt that to this expedient, simple as it was, I was indebted for my
preservation; for the sea all-round the brig, just before her rolling over, was
so crowded with these monsters, that I must have been, and really was, in
actual contact with some of them during my progress. By great good fortune,
however, I reached the side of the vessel in safety, although so utterly
weakened by the violent exertion I had used that I should never have been able
to get upon it but for the timely assistance of Peters, who, now, to my great
joy, made his appearance (having scrambled up to the keel from the opposite
side of the hull), and threw me the end of a rope—one of those which had been
attached to the spikes.
Having barely escaped this danger,
our attention was now directed to the dreadful immanency of another—that of
absolute starvation. Our whole stock of provision had been swept overboard in
spite of all our care in securing it; and seeing no longer the remotest possibility
of obtaining more, we gave way both of us to despair, weeping aloud like
children, and neither of us attempting to offer consolation to the other. Such
weakness can scarcely be conceived, and to those who have never been similarly
situated will, no doubt, appear unnatural; but it must be remembered that our
intellects were so entirely disordered by the long course of privation and
terror to which we had been subjected, that we could not justly be considered,
at that period, in the light of rational beings. In subsequent perils, nearly
as great, if not greater, I bore up with fortitude against all the evils of my
situation, and Peters, it will be seen, evinced a stoical philosophy nearly as
incredible as his present childlike spineless and imbecility—the mental
condition made the difference.
The overturning of the brig, even
with the consequent loss of the wine and turtle, would not, in fact, have
rendered our situation more deplorable than before, except for the
disappearance of the bedclothes by which we had been hitherto enabled to catch
rainwater, and of the jug in which we had kept it when caught; for we found the
whole bottom, from within two or three feet of the bends as far as the keel,
together with the keel itself, thickly covered with large barnacles, which
proved to be excellent and highly nutritious food. Thus, in two important
respects, the accident we had so greatly dreaded proved to be a benefit rather
than an injury; it had opened to us a supply of provisions which we could not
have exhausted, using it moderately, in a month; and it had greatly contributed
to our comfort as regards position, we being much more at ease, and in
infinitely less danger, than before.
The difficulty, however, of now
obtaining water blinded us to all the benefits of the change in our condition.
That we might be ready to avail ourselves, as far as possible, of any shower
which might fall we took off our shirts, to make use of them as we had of the
sheets—not hoping, of course, to get more in this way, even under the most
favorable circumstances, than half a gill at a time. No signs of a cloud
appeared during the day, and the agonies of our thirst were nearly intolerable.
At night, Peters obtained about an hour’s disturbed sleep, but my intense
sufferings would not permit me to close my eyes for a single moment.
August 5. To-day, a gentle breeze
springing up carried us through a vast quantity of seaweed, among which we were
so fortunate as to find eleven small crabs, which afforded us several delicious
meals. Their shells being quite soft, we ate them entire, and found that they
irritated our thirst far less than the barnacles. Seeing no trace of sharks
among the seaweed, we also ventured to bathe, and remained in the water for
four or five hours, during which we experienced a very sensible diminution of
our thirst. Were greatly refreshed, and spent the night somewhat more
comfortably than before, both of us snatching a little sleep.
August 6. This day we were blessed
by a brisk and continual rain, lasting from about noon until after dark.
Bitterly did we now regret the loss of our jug and carboy; for, despite the
little means we had of catching the water, we might have filled one, if not both.
As it was, we contrived to satisfy the cravings of thirst by suffering the
shirts to become saturated, and then wringing them to let the grateful fluid
trickle into our mouths. In this occupation we passed the entire day.
August 7. Just at daybreak we both
at the same instant descried a sail to the eastward, and evidently coming
towards us! We hailed the glorious sight with a long, although feeble shout of
rapture; and began instantly to make every signal in our power, by flaring the
shirts in the air, leaping as high as our weak condition would permit, and even
by hallooing with all the strength of our lungs, although the vessel could not
have been less than fifteen miles distant. However, she continued to near our
hulk, and we felt that, if she but held her present course, she must eventually
come so close as to perceive us. In about an hour after we first discovered
her, we could clearly see the people on her decks. She was a long, low, and
rakish-looking topsail schooner, with a black ball in her foretopsail, and had,
apparently, a full crew. We now became alarmed, for we could hardly imagine it
possible that she did not observe us, and were apprehensive that she meant to
leave us to perish as we were—an act of fiendish barbarity, which, however
incredible it may appear, has been repeatedly perpetuated at sea, under
circumstances very nearly similar, and by beings who were regarded as belonging
to the human species. {*2} In this instance, however, by the mercy of God, we
were destined to be most happily deceived; for, presently we were aware of a
sudden commotion on the deck of the stranger, who immediately afterward ran up
a British flag, and, hauling her wind, bore up directly upon us. In half an
hour more we found ourselves in her cabin. She proved to be the Jane Guy, of
Liverpool, Captain Guy, bound on a sealing and trading voyage to the South Seas
and Pacific.
CHAPTER 14
THE Jane Guy was a fine-looking
topsail schooner of a hundred- and eighty-tons burden. She was unusually sharp
in the bows, and on a wind, in moderate weather, the fastest sailor I have ever
seen. Her qualities, however, as a rough sea-boat, were not so good, and her
draught of water was by far too great for the trade to which she was destined.
For this peculiar service, a larger vessel, and one of a light proportionate
draught, is desirable—say a vessel of from three hundred to three hundred and
fifty tons. She should be bark-rigged, and in other respects of a different
construction from the usual South Sea ships. It is necessary that she should be
well armed. She should have, say ten or twelve twelve-pound carronades, and two
or three long twelves, with brass blunderbusses, and water-tight arm-chests for
each top. Her anchors and cables should be of far greater strength than is
required for any other species of trade, and, above all, her crew should be
numerous and efficient—not less, for such a vessel as I have described, than
fifty or sixty able-bodied men. The Jane Guy had a crew of thirty-five, all
able seamen, besides the captain and mate, but she was not altogether as well
armed or otherwise equipped, as a navigator acquainted with the difficulties
and dangers of the trade could have desired.
Captain Guy was a gentleman of great
urbanity of manner, and of considerable experience in the southern traffic, to
which he had devoted a great portion of his life. He was deficient, however, in
energy, and, consequently, in that spirit of enterprise which is here so requisite.
He was part owner of the vessel in which he sailed and was invested with
discretionary powers to cruise in the South Seas for any cargo which might come
most readily to hand. He had on board, as usual in such voyages, beads,
looking-glasses, tinder-works, axes, hatchets, saws, adzes, planes, chisels,
gouges, gimlets, files, spokeshaves, rasps, hammers, nails, knives, scissors,
razors, needles, thread, crockery-ware, calico, trinkets, and other similar
articles.
The schooner sailed from Liverpool
on the tenth of July, crossed the Tropic of Cancer on the twenty-fifth, in
longitude twenty degrees west, and reached Sal, one of the Cape Verde islands,
on the twenty-ninth, where she took in salt and other necessaries for the
voyage. On the third of August, she left the Cape Verde and steered southwest,
stretching over toward the coast of Brazil, to cross the equator between the meridians
of twenty-eight- and thirty-degrees west longitude. This is the course usually
taken by vessels bound from Europe to the Cape of Good Hope, or by that route
to the East Indies. By proceeding thus they avoid the calms and strong contrary
currents which continually prevail on the coast of Guinea, while, in the end,
it is found to be the shortest track, as westerly winds are never wanting
afterward by which to reach the Cape. It was Captain Guy’s intention to make
his first stoppage at Kerguelen’s Land—I hardly know for what reason. On the
day we were picked up the schooner was off Cape St. Roque, in longitude
thirty-one degrees west; so that, when found, we had drifted probably, from
north to south, not less than five-and-twenty degrees!
On board the Jane Guy we were
treated with all the kindness our distressed situation demanded. In about a
fortnight, during which time we continued steering to the southeast, with
gentle breezes and fine weather, both Peters and myself recovered entirely from
the effects of our late privation and dreadful sufferings, and we began to
remember what had passed rather as a frightful dream from which we had been
happily awakened, than as events which had taken place in sober and naked
reality. I have since found that this species of partial oblivion is usually
brought about by sudden transition, whether from joy to sorrow or from sorrow
to joy—the degree of forgetfulness being proportioned to the degree of
difference in the exchange. Thus, in my own case, I now feel it impossible to
realize the full extent of the misery which I endured during the days spent
upon the hulk. The incidents are remembered, but not the feelings which the
incidents elicited at the time of their occurrence. I only know, that when they
did occur, I then thought human nature could sustain nothing more of agony.
We continued our voyage for some
weeks without any incidents of greater moment than the occasional meeting with
whaling-ships, and more frequently with the black or right whale, so called in
contradistinction to the spermaceti. These, however, were chiefly found south
of the twenty-fifth parallel. On the sixteenth of September, being in the
vicinity of the Cape of Good Hope, the schooner encountered her first gale of
any violence since leaving Liverpool. In this neighborhood, but more frequently
to the south and east of the promontory (we were to the westward), navigators
have often to contend with storms from the northward, which rage with great
fury. They always bring with them a heavy sea, and one of their most dangerous
features is the instantaneous chopping round of the wind, an occurrence almost
certain to take place during the greatest force of the gale. A perfect
hurricane will be blowing at one moment from the northward or northeast, and in
the next not a breath of wind will be felt in that direction, while from the
southwest it will come out all at once with a violence almost inconceivable. A
bright spot to the southward is the sure forerunner of the change, and vessels
are thus enabled to take the proper precautions.
It was about six in the morning when
the blow came on with a white squall, and, as usual, from the northward. By
eight it had increased very much and brought down upon us one of the most
tremendous seas I had then ever beheld. Everything had been made as snug as
possible, but the schooner labored excessively, and gave evidence of her bad
qualities as a sea boat, pitching her forecastle under at every plunge and with
the greatest difficulty struggling up from one wave before she was buried in
another. Just before sunset the bright spot for which we had been on the
look-out made its appearance in the southwest, and in an hour afterward we
perceived the little headsail we carried flapping listlessly against the mast.
In two minutes more, despite every preparation, we were hurled on our
beam-ends, as if by magic, and a perfect wilderness of foam made a clear breach
over us as we lay. The blow from the southwest, however, luckily proved to be
nothing more than a squall, and we had the good fortune to right the vessel
without the loss of a spar. A heavy cross sea gave us great trouble for a few
hours after this, but toward morning we found ourselves in nearly as good
condition as before the game. Captain Guy considered that he had made an escape
little less than miraculous.
On the thirteenth of October we came
in sight of Prince Edward’s Island, in latitude 46 degrees 53’ S., longitude 37
degrees 46’ E. Two days afterward we found ourselves near Possession Island,
and presently passed the islands of Crozet, in latitude 42 degrees 59’ S.,
longitude 48 degrees E. On the eighteenth we made Kerguelen’s or Desolation
Island, in the Southern Indian Ocean, and came to anchor in Christmas Harbor,
having four fathoms of water.
This island, or rather group of
islands, bears southeast from the Cape of Good Hope, and is distant therefrom
nearly eight hundred leagues. It was first discovered in 1772, by the Baron de Kerulen,
or Kerguelen, a Frenchman, who, thinking the land to form a portion of an
extensive southern continent carried home information to that effect, which
produced much excitement at the time. The government, taking the matter up,
sent the baron back in the following year for the purpose of giving his new
discovery a critical examination, when the mistake was discovered. In 1777,
Captain Cook fell in with the same group, and gave to the principal one the
name of Desolation Island, a title which it certainly well deserves. Upon
approaching the land, however, the navigator might be induced to suppose
otherwise, as the sides of most of the hills, from September to March, are
clothed with very brilliant verdure. This deceitful appearance is caused by a
small plant resembling saxifrage, which is abundant, growing in large patches
on a species of crumbling moss. Besides this plant there is scarcely a sign of
vegetation on the island, if we except some coarse rank grass near the harbor,
some lichen, and a shrub which bears resemblance to a cabbage shooting into
seed, and which has a bitter and acrid taste.
The face of the country is hilly,
although none of the hills can be called lofty. Their tops are perpetually
covered with snow. There are several harbors, of which Christmas Harbor is the
most convenient. It is the first to be met with on the northeast side of the
island after passing Cape Francois, which forms the northern shore, and, by its
peculiar shape, serves to distinguish the harbor. Its projecting point
terminates in a high rock, through which is a large hole, forming a natural
arch. The entrance is in latitude 48 degrees 40’ S., longitude 69 degrees 6’ E.
Passing in here, good anchorage may be found under the shelter of several small
islands, which form an enough protection from all easterly winds. Proceeding on
eastwardly from this anchorage you come to Wasp Bay, at the head of the harbor.
This is a small basin, completely landlocked, into which you can go with four
fathoms, and find anchorage in from ten to three, hard clay bottom. A ship
might lie here with her best bower ahead all the year round without risk. To
the westward, at the head of Wasp Bay, is a small stream of excellent water,
easily procured.
Some seal of the fur and hair
species are still to be found on Kerguelen’s Island, and sea elephants abound.
The feathered tribes are discovered in great numbers. Penguins are very plenty,
and of these there are four different kinds. The royal penguin, so called from
its size and beautiful plumage, is the largest. The upper part of the body is
usually gray, sometimes of a lilac tint; the under portion of the purest white
imaginable. The head is of a glossy and most brilliant black, the feet also.
The chief beauty of plumage, however, consists in two broad stripes of a gold
color, which pass along from the head to the breast. The bill is long, and
either pink or bright scarlet. These birds walk erect; with a stately carriage.
They carry their heads high with their wings drooping like two arms, and, as
their tails project from their body in a line with the legs, the resemblance to
a human figure is very striking, and would be apt to deceive the spectator at a
casual glance or in the gloom of the evening. The royal penguins which we met
with on Kerguelen’s Land were rather larger than a goose. The other kinds are
the macaroni, the jackass, and the rookery penguin. These are much smaller,
less beautiful in plumage, and different in other respects.
Besides the penguin many other birds
are here to be found, among which may be mentioned sea-hens, blue petrels,
teal, ducks, Port Egmont hens, shags, Cape pigeons, the nelly, sea swallows,
terns, sea gulls, Mother Carey’s chickens, Mother Carey’s geese, or the great petrel,
and, lastly, the albatross.
The great petrel is as large as the
common albatross and is carnivorous. It is frequently called the break-bones,
or osprey petrel. They are not at all shy, and, when properly cooked, are
palatable food. In flying they sometimes sail very close to the surface of the
water, with the wings expanded, without appearing to move them in the least
degree, or make any exertion with them whatever.
The albatross is one of the largest
and fiercest of the South Sea birds. It is of the gull species, and takes its
prey on the wing, never coming on land except for the purpose of breeding.
Between this bird and the penguin, the most singular friendship exists. Their
nests are constructed with great uniformity upon a plan concerted between the
two species—that of the albatross being placed in the center of a little square
formed by the nests of four penguins. Navigators have agreed in calling an
assemblage of such encampments a rookery. These rookeries have been often
described, but as my readers may not all have seen these descriptions, and as I
shall have occasion hereafter to speak of the penguin and albatross, it will
not be amiss to say something here of their mode of building and living.
When the season for incubation
arrives, the birds assemble in vast numbers, and for some days appear to be
deliberating upon the proper course to be pursued. At length they proceed to
action. A level piece of ground is selected, of suitable extent, usually
comprising three or four acres, and situated as near the sea as possible, being
still beyond its reach. The spot is chosen with reference to its evenness of
surface, and that is preferred which is the least encumbered with stones. This
matter being arranged, the birds proceed, with one accord, and actuated
apparently by one mind, to trace out, with mathematical accuracy, either a
square or other parallelogram, as may best suit the nature of the ground, and
of just sufficient size to accommodate easily all the birds assembled, and no
more—in this particular seeming determined upon preventing the access of future
stragglers who have not participated in the labor of the encampment. One side
of the place thus marked out runs parallel with the water’s edge and is left
open for ingress or egress.
Having defined the limits of the
rookery, the colony now begin to clear it of every species of rubbish, picking
up stone by stone, and carrying them outside of the lines, and close by them,
so as to form a wall on the three inland sides. Just within this wall a
perfectly level and smooth walk is formed, from six to eight feet wide, and
extending around the encampment—thus serving the purpose of a general
promenade.
The next process is to partition out
the whole area into small squares exactly equal in size. This is done by
forming narrow paths, very smooth, and crossing each other at right angles
throughout the entire extent of the rookery. At each intersection of these
paths the nest of an albatross is constructed, and a penguin’s nest in the center
of each square—thus every penguin is surrounded by four albatrosses, and each
albatross by a like number of penguins. The penguin’s nest consists of a hole
in the earth, very shallow, being only just of enough depth to keep her single
egg from rolling. The albatross is somewhat less simple in her arrangements,
erecting a hillock about a foot high and two in diameter. This is made of
earth, seaweed, and shells. On its summit she builds her nest.
The birds take especial care never
to leave their nests unoccupied for an instant during the period of incubation,
or, indeed, until the young progeny is sufficiently strong to take care of
themselves. While the male is absent at sea in search of food, the female
remains on duty, and it is only upon the return of her partner that she
ventures abroad. The eggs are never left uncovered at all—while one bird leaves
the nest the other nestling in by its side. This precaution is rendered
necessary by the thieving propensities prevalent in the rookery, the
inhabitants making no scruple to purloin each other’s eggs at every good
opportunity.
Although there are some rookeries in
which the penguin and albatross are the sole population, yet in most of them a
variety of oceanic birds are to be met with, enjoying all the privileges of
citizenship, and scattering their nests here and there, wherever they can find
room, never interfering, however, with the stations of the larger species. The
appearance of such encampments, when seen from a distance, is exceedingly
singular. The whole atmosphere just above the settlement is darkened with the
immense number of the albatross (mingled with the smaller tribes) which are
continually hovering over it, either going to the ocean or returning home. At
the same time a crowd of penguins are to be observed, some passing to and from
in the narrow alleys, and some marching with the military strut so peculiar to
them, around the general promenade ground which encircles the rookery. In
short, survey it as we will, nothing can be more astonishing than the spirit of
reflection evinced by these feathered beings, and nothing surely can be better
calculated to elicit reflection in every well-regulated human intellect.
On the morning after our arrival in
Christmas Harbor the chief mate, Mr. Patterson, took the boats, and (although
it was somewhat early in the season) went in search of seal, leaving the
captain and a young relation of his on a point of barren land to the westward,
they having some business, whose nature I could not ascertain, to transact in
the interior of the island. Captain Guy took with him a bottle, in which was a
sealed letter, and made his way from the point on which he was set on shore
toward one of the highest peaks in the place. It is probable that his design
was to leave the letter on that height for some vessel which he expected to
come after him. As soon as we lost sight of him, we proceeded (Peters and me
being in the mate’s boat) on our cruise around the coast, looking for seal. In
this business we were occupied about three weeks, examining with great care
every nook and corner, not only of Kerguelen’s Land, but of the several small
islands in the vicinity. Our labors, however, were not crowned with any
important success. We saw a great many fur seal, but they were exceedingly shy,
and with the greatest exertions, we could only procure three hundred and fifty
skins in all. Sea elephants were abundant, especially on the western coast of
the mainland, but of these we killed only twenty, and this with great
difficulty. On the smaller islands we discovered a good many of the hair seal
but did not molest them. We returned to the schooner on the eleventh, where we
found Captain Guy and his nephew, who gave a very bad account of the interior,
representing it as one of the dreariest and utterly barren countries in the
world. They had remained two nights on the island, owing to some
misunderstanding, on the part of the second mate, regarding the sending a
jollyboat from the schooner to take them off.
CHAPTER 15
ON the twelfth we made sail from
Christmas Harbor retracing our way to the westward, and leaving Marion’s
Island, one of Crozet’s group, on the larboard. We afterward passed Prince
Edward’s Island, leaving it also on our left, then, steering more to the
northward, made, in fifteen days, the islands of Tristan D'Cunha, in latitude
37 degrees 8’ S, longitude 12 degrees 8’ W.
This group, now so well known, and
which consists of three circular islands, was first discovered by the
Portuguese, and was visited afterward by the Dutch in 1643, and by the French
in 1767. The three islands together form a triangle, and are distant from each
other about ten miles, there being fine open passages between. The land in all
of them is very high, especially in Tristan D'Cunha, properly so called. This
is the largest of the group, being fifteen miles in circumference, and so
elevated that it can be seen in clear weather at the distance of eighty or
ninety miles. A part of the land toward the north rises more than a thousand
feet perpendicularly from the sea. A tableland at this height extends back
nearly to the center of the island, and from this tableland arises a lofty cone
like that of Tenerife. The lower half of this cone is clothed with trees of
good size, but the upper region is barren rock, usually hidden among the
clouds, and covered with snow during the greater part of the year. There are no
shoals or other dangers about the island, the shores being remarkably bold and
the water deep. On the northwestern coast is a bay, with a beach of black sand
where a landing with boats can be easily affected, provided there be a
southerly wind. Plenty of excellent water may here be readily procured; also,
cod and other fish may be taken with hook and line.
The next island in point of size,
and the most westward of the group, is that called the Inaccessible. Its
precise situation is 37 degrees 17’ S. latitude, longitude 12 degrees 24’ W. It
is seven or eight miles in circumference, and on all sides presents a
forbidding and precipitous aspect. Its top is perfectly flat, and the whole
region is sterile, nothing growing upon it except a few stunted shrubs.
Nightingale Island, the smallest and
most southerly, is in latitude 37 degrees 26’ S., longitude 12 degrees 12’ W.
Off its southern extremity is a high ledge of rocky islets; a few also of a
similar appearance are seen to the northeast. The ground is irregular and
sterile, and a deep valley partially separates it.
The shores of these islands abound,
in the proper season, with sea lions, sea elephants, the hair and fur seal,
together with a great variety of oceanic birds. Whales are also plenty in their
vicinity. Owing to the ease with which these various animals were here formerly
taken, the group has been much visited since its discovery. The Dutch and
French frequented it at a very early period. In 1790, Captain Patten, of the
ship Industry, of Philadelphia, made Tristan D'Cunha, where he remained seven
months (from August 1790, to April 1791) for the purpose of collecting
sealskins. In this time, he gathered no less than five thousand six hundred,
and says that he would have had no difficulty in loading a large ship with oil
in three weeks. Upon his arrival he found no quadrupeds, except for a few wild
goats; the island now abounds with all our most valuable domestic animals,
which have been introduced by subsequent navigators.
I believe it was not long after
Captain Patten’s visit that Captain Colquhoun, of the American brig Betsey,
touched at the largest of the islands for the purpose of refreshment. He
planted onions, potatoes, cabbages, and a great many other vegetables, an
abundance of all which is now to be met with.
In 1811, a Captain Haywood, in the
Nereus, visited Tristan. He found there three Americans, who were residing upon
the island to prepare sealskins and oil. One of these men was named Jonathan
Lambert, and he called himself the sovereign of the country. He had cleared and
cultivated about sixty acres of land and turned his attention to raising the
coffee-plant and sugarcane, with which he had been furnished by the American
Minister at Rio Janeiro. This settlement, however, was finally abandoned, and
in 1817 the islands were taken possession of by the British Government, who
sent a detachment for that purpose from the Cape of Good Hope. They did not,
however, retain them long; but, upon the evacuation of the country as a British
possession, two or three English families took up their residence there
independently of the Government. On the twenty-fifth of March 1824, the
Berwick, Captain Jeffrey, from London to Van Diemen’s Land, arrived at the
place, where they found an Englishman of the name of Glass, formerly a corporal
in the British artillery. He claimed to be supreme governor of the islands and
had under his control twenty-one men and three women. He gave a very favorable
account of the celebrity of the climate and of the productiveness of the soil.
The population occupied themselves chiefly in collecting sealskins and sea
elephant oil, with which they traded to the Cape of Good Hope, Glass owning a
small schooner. At the period of our arrival the governor was still a resident,
but his little community had multiplied, there being fifty-six persons upon
Tristan, besides a smaller settlement of seven on Nightingale Island. We had no
difficulty in procuring almost every kind of refreshment which we
required—sheep, hogs, bullocks, rabbits, poultry, goats, fish in great variety,
and vegetables were abundant. Having come to anchor close in with the large
island, in eighteen fathoms, we took all we wanted on board very conveniently.
Captain Guy also purchased of Glass five hundred sealskins and some ivory. We
remained here a week, during which the prevailing winds were from the northward
and westward, and the weather somewhat hazy. On the fifth of November we made
sail to the southward and westward, with the intention of having a thorough
search for a group of islands called the Auroras, respecting whose existence a
great diversity of opinion has existed.
These islands are said to have been
discovered as early as 1762, by the commander of the ship Aurora. In 1790,
Captain Manuel de Ayurveda, in the ship Princess, belonging to the Royal
Philippine Company, sailed, as he asserts, directly among them. In 1794, the
Spanish corvette Atreid went with the determination of ascertaining their
precise situation, and, in a paper published by the Royal Hydrographical
Society of Madrid in the year 1809, the following language is used respecting
this expedition: “The corvette Atreid practiced, in their immediate vicinity,
from the twenty-first to the twenty-seventh of January, all the necessary
observations, and measured by chronometers the difference of longitude between
these islands and the port of Soledad in the Manillas. The islands are three,
they are very nearly in the same meridian; the center one is rather low, and
the other two may be seen at nine leagues’ distance.” The observations made on
board the Atreid give the following results as the precise situation of each
island. The most northern is in latitude 52 degrees 37’ 24” S., longitude 47
degrees, 43’ 15” W.; the middle one in latitude 53 degrees 2’ 40” S., longitude
47 degrees 55’ 15” W.; and the most southern in latitude 53 degrees 15’ 22” S.,
longitude 47 degrees 57’ 15” W.
On the twenty-seventh of January
1820, Captain James Weddell, of the British navy, sailed from Staten Land also
in search of the Auroras. He reports that, having made the most diligent search
and passed not only immediately over the spots indicated by the commander of
the Atreid, but in every direction throughout the vicinity of these spots, he
could discover no indication of land. These conflicting statements have induced
other navigators to look out for the islands; and, strange to say, while some
have sailed through every inch of sea where they are supposed to lie without
finding them, there have been not a few who declare positively that they have
seen them; and even been close in with their shores. It was Captain Guy’s
intention to make every exertion within his power to settle the question so
oddly in dispute. {*3}
We kept on our course, between the
south and west, with variable weather, until the twentieth of the month, when
we found ourselves on the debated ground, being in latitude 53 degrees 15’ S.,
longitude 47 degrees 58’ W.—that is to say, very nearly upon the spot indicated
as the situation of the most southern of the group. Not perceiving any sign of
land, we continued to the westward of the parallel of fifty-three degrees south,
as far as the meridian of fifty degrees west. We then stood to the north as far
as the parallel of fifty-two degrees south, when we turned to the eastward, and
kept our parallel by double altitudes, morning and evening, and meridian
altitudes of the planets and moon. Having thus gone eastwardly to the meridian
of the western coast of Georgia, we kept that meridian until we were in the
latitude from which we set out. We then took diagonal courses throughout the
entire extent of sea circumscribed, keeping a lookout constantly at the
masthead, and repeating our examination with the greatest care for a period of
three weeks, during which the weather was remarkably pleasant and fair, with no
haze whatsoever. Of course, we were thoroughly satisfied that, whatever islands
might have existed in this vicinity at any former period, no vestige of them
remained at the present day. Since my return home I find that the same ground
was traced over, with equal care, in 1822, by Captain Johnson, of the American
schooner Henry, and by Captain Morrell in the American schooner Wasp—in both
cases with the same result as in our own.
CHAPTER 16
It had been Captain Guy’s original
intention, after satisfying himself about the Auroras, to proceed through the
Strait of Magellan, and up along the western coast of Patagonia; but
information received at Tristan D'Cunha induced him to steer to the southward,
in the hope of falling in with some small islands said to lie about the
parallel of 60 degrees S., longitude 41 degrees 20’ W. In the event of his not
discovering these lands, he designed, should the season prove favorable, to
push on toward the pole. Accordingly, on the twelfth of December, we made sail
in that direction. On the eighteenth we found ourselves about the station
indicated by Glass and cruised for three days in that neighborhood without
finding any traces of the islands he had mentioned. On the twenty-first, the
weather being unusually pleasant, we again made sail to the southward, with the
resolution of penetrating in that course as far as possible. Before entering
upon this portion of my narrative, it may be as well, for the information of
those readers who have paid little attention to the progress of discovery in
these regions, to give some brief account of the very few attempts at reaching
the southern pole which have hitherto been made.
That of Captain Cook was the first
of which we have any distinct account. In 1772 he sailed to the south in the
Resolution, accompanied by Lieutenant Fornax in the Adventure. In December he
found himself as far as the fifty-eighth parallel of south latitude, and in
longitude 26 degrees 57’ E. Here he met with narrow fields of ice, about eight
or ten inches thick, and running northwest and southeast. This ice was in large
cakes, and usually it was packed so closely that the vessel had great
difficulty in forcing a passage. At this period Captain Cook supposed, from the
vast number of birds to be seen, and from other indications, that he was in the
near vicinity of land. He kept on to the southward, the weather being
exceedingly cold, until he reached the sixty-fourth parallel, in longitude 38
degrees 14’ E. Here he had mild weather, with gentle breezes, for five days,
the thermometer being at thirty-six. In January, 1773, the vessels crossed the
Antarctic circle, but did not succeed in penetrating much farther; for upon
reaching latitude 67 degrees 15’ they found all farther progress impeded by an
immense body of ice, extending all along the southern horizon as far as the eye
could reach. This ice was of every variety—and some large floes of it, miles in
extent, formed a compact mass, rising eighteen or twenty feet above the water.
It being late in the season, and no hope entertained of rounding these
obstructions, Captain Cook now reluctantly turned to the northward.
In the November following he renewed
his search in the Antarctic. In latitude 59 degrees 40’ he met with a strong
current setting to the southward. In December, when the vessels were in
latitude 67 degrees 31’, longitude 142 degrees 54’ W., the cold was excessive,
with heavy gales and fog. Here also birds were abundant; the albatross, the
penguin, and the petrel especially. In latitude 70 degrees 23’ some large
islands of ice were encountered, and shortly afterward the clouds to the
southward were observed to be of a snowy whiteness, indicating the vicinity of
field ice. In latitude 71 degrees 10’, longitude 106 degrees 54’ W., the
navigators were stopped, as before, by an immense frozen expanse, which filled
the whole area of the southern horizon. The northern edge of this expanse was
ragged and broken, so firmly wedged together as to be utterly impassible, and
extending about a mile to the southward. Behind it the frozen surface was
comparatively smooth for some distance, until terminated in the extreme
background by gigantic ranges of ice mountains, the one towering above the
other. Captain Cook concluded that this vast field reached the southern pole or
was joined to a continent. Mr. J. N. Reynolds, whose great exertions and
perseverance have at length succeeded in getting set on foot a national
expedition, partly for the purpose of exploring these regions, thus speaks of
the attempt of the Resolution. “We are not surprised that Captain Cook was unable
to go beyond 71 degrees 10’, but we are astonished that he did attain that
point on the meridian of 106 degrees 54’ west longitude. Palmer’s Land lies
south of the Shetland, latitude sixty-four degrees, and tends to the southward
and westward farther than any navigator has yet penetrated. Cook was standing
for this land when his progress was arrested by the ice; which, we apprehend,
must always be the case in that point, and so early in the season as the sixth
of January—and we should not be surprised if a portion of the icy mountains
described was attached to the main body of Palmer’s Land, or to some other
portions of land lying farther to the southward and westward.”
In 1803, Captains Kristensen and Lusciously
were dispatched by Alexander of Russia for the purpose of circumnavigating the
globe. In endeavoring to get south, they made no farther than 59 degrees 58’,
in longitude 70 degrees 15’ W. They here met with strong currents setting
eastwardly. Whales were abundant, but they saw no ice. Regarding this voyage,
Mr. Reynolds observes that, if Kristensen had arrived where he did earlier in
the season, he must have encountered ice—it was March when he reached the
latitude specified. The winds, prevailing, as they do, from the southward and
westward, had carried the floes, aided by currents, into that icy region
bounded on the north by Georgia, east by Sandwich Land and the South Orkneys,
and west by the South Shetland islands.
In 1822, Captain James Weddell, of
the British navy, with two very small vessels, penetrated farther to the south
than any previous navigator, and this, too, without encountering extraordinary
difficulties. He states that although he was frequently hemmed in by ice before
reaching the seventy-second parallel, yet, upon attaining it, not a particle
was to be discovered, and that, upon arriving at the latitude of 74 degrees
15’, no fields, and only three islands of ice were visible. It is somewhat
remarkable that, although vast flocks of birds were seen, and other usual
indications of land, and although, south of the Shetlands, unknown coasts were
observed from the masthead tending southwardly, Weddell discourages the idea of
land existing in the polar regions of the south.
On the 11th of January 1823, Captain
Benjamin Morrell, of the American schooner Wasp, sailed from Kerguelen’s Land
with a view of penetrating as far south as possible. On the first of February
he found himself in latitude 64 degrees 52’ S., longitude 118 degrees 27’ E.
The following passage is extracted from his journal of that date. “The wind
soon freshened to an eleven-knot breeze, and we embraced this opportunity of
making to the west; being however convinced that the farther we went south
beyond latitude sixty-four degrees, the less ice was to be apprehended, we
steered a little to the southward, until we crossed the Antarctic circle, and
were in latitude 69 degrees 15’ E. In this latitude there was no field ice, and
very few ice islands in sight.”
Under the date of March fourteenth, I find also this entry.
“The sea was now entirely free of field ice, and there were not more than a
dozen ice islands in sight. At the same time the temperature of the air and
water was at least thirteen degrees higher (milder) than we had ever found it
between the parallels of sixty and sixty-two south. We were now in latitude 70
degrees 14’ S., and the temperature of the air was forty-seven, and that of the
water forty-four. In this situation I found the variation to be 14 degrees 27’
easterly, per azimuth.... I have several times passed within the Antarctic
circle, on different meridians, and have uniformly found the temperature, both
of the air and the water, to become more and more mild the farther I advanced
beyond the sixty-fifth degree of south latitude, and that the variation
decreases in the same proportion. While north of this latitude, say between
sixty and sixty-five south, we frequently had great difficulty in finding a
passage for the vessel between the immense and almost innumerable ice islands,
some of which were from one to two miles in circumference, and more than five
hundred feet above the surface of the water.”
Being nearly destitute of fuel and
water, and without proper instruments, it being also late in the season,
Captain Morrell was now obliged to put back, without attempting any further
progress to the westward, although an entirely open, sea lay before him. He
expresses the opinion that, had not these overruling considerations obliged him
to retreat, he could have penetrated, if not to the pole itself, at least to
the eighty-fifth parallel. I have given his ideas respecting these matters
somewhat at length, that the reader may have an opportunity of seeing how far
they were borne out by my own subsequent experience.
In 1831, Captain Briscoe, in the
employ of the Messieurs Enderby, whale-ship owners of London, sailed in the
brig Lively for the South Seas, accompanied by the cutter Tula. On the
twenty-eighth of February, being in latitude 66 degrees 30’ S., longitude 47
degrees 31’ E., he descried land, and “clearly discovered through the snow the
black peaks of a range of mountains running E. S. E.” He remained in this neighborhood
during the whole of the following month but was unable to approach the coast
nearer than within ten leagues, owing to the boisterous state of the weather.
Finding it impossible to make further discovery during this season, he returned
northward to winter in Van Diemen’s Land.
In the beginning of 1832 he again
proceeded southwardly, and on the fourth of February land was seen to the
southeast in latitude 67 degrees 15’ longitude 69 degrees 29’ W. This was soon
found to be an island near the headland of the country he had first discovered.
On the twenty-first of the month he succeeded in landing on the latter and took
possession of it in the name of William IV, calling it Adelaide’s Island, in honor
of the English queen. These particulars being made known to the Royal
Geographical Society of London, the conclusion was drawn by that body “that
there is a continuous tract of land extending from 47 degrees 30’ E. to 69
degrees 29’ W. longitude, running the parallel of from sixty-six to sixty-seven
degrees south latitude.” In respect to this conclusion Mr. Reynolds observes:
“In the correctness of it we by no means concur; nor do the discoveries of
Briscoe warrant any such indifference. It was within these limits that Weddell
proceeded south on a meridian to the east of Georgia, Sandwich Land, and the
South Orkney and Shetland islands.” My own experience will be found to testify
most directly to the falsity of the conclusion arrived at by the society.
These are the principal attempts
which have been made at penetrating to a high southern latitude, and it will
now be seen that there remained, previous to the voyage of the Jane, nearly
three hundred degrees of longitude in which the Antarctic circle had not been
crossed at all. Of course, a wide field lay before us for discovery, and it was
with feelings of most intense interest that I heard Captain Guy express his resolution
of pushing boldly to the southward.
CHAPTER 17
We kept our course southwardly for
four days after giving up the search for Glass’s islands, without meeting with
any ice at all. On the twenty-sixth, at noon, we were in latitude 63 degrees
23’ S., longitude 41 degrees 25’ W. We now saw several large ice islands, and a
flow of field ice, not, however, of any great extent. The winds generally blew
from the southeast, or the northeast, but were very light. Whenever we had a
westerly wind, which was seldom, it was invariably attended with a rain squall.
Every day we had snow. The thermometer, on the twenty-seventh stood at
thirty-five.
January 1, 1828. —This day we found
ourselves completely hemmed in by the ice, and our prospects looked cheerless
indeed. A strong gale blew, during the whole forenoon, from the northeast, and
drove large cakes of the drift against the rudder and counter with such
violence that we all trembled for the consequences. Toward evening, the gale
still blowing with fury, a large field in front separated, and we were enabled,
by carrying a press of sail to force a passage through the smaller flakes into
some open water beyond. As we approached this space we took in sail by degrees,
and having at length got clear, lay-to under a single reefed foresail.
January 2. —We had now tolerably
pleasant weather. At noon we found ourselves in latitude 69 degrees 10’ S,
longitude 42 degrees 20’ W, having crossed the Antarctic circle. Very little
ice was to be seen to the southward, although large fields of it lay behind us.
This day we rigged some sounding gear, using a large iron pot capable of
holding twenty gallons, and a line of two hundred fathoms. We found the current
setting to the north, about a quarter of a mile per hour. The temperature of
the air was now about thirty-three. Here we found the variation to be 14
degrees 28’ easterly, per azimuth.
January 5. —We had still held on to
the southward without any very great impediments. On this morning, however,
being in latitude 73 degrees 15’ E., longitude 42 degrees 10’ W, we were again
brought to a standby an immense expanse of firm ice. We saw, nevertheless, much
open water to the southward, and felt no doubt of being able to reach it
eventually. Standing to the eastward along the edge of the floe, we at length
came to a passage of about a mile in width, through which we warped our way by
sundown. The sea in which we now where were thickly covered with ice islands,
but had no field ice, and we pushed on boldly as before. The cold did not seem
to increase, although we had snow very frequently, and now and then hail
squalls of great violence. Immense flocks of the albatross flew over the
schooner this day, going from southeast to northwest.
January 7. —The sea remained well
open, so that we had no difficulty in holding on our course. To the westward we
saw some icebergs of incredible size, and in the afternoon passed very near one
whose summit could not have been less than four hundred fathoms from the
surface of the ocean. Its girth was probably, at the base, three-quarters of a
league, and several streams of water were running from crevices in its sides.
We remained in sight of this island two days, and then only lost it in a fog.
January 10. —Early this morning we
had the misfortune to lose a man overboard. He was an American named Peter Vredenburg,
a native of New York, and was one of the most valuable hands on board the
schooner. In going over the bows his foot slipped, and he fell between two
cakes of ice, never rising again. At noon of this day we were in latitude 78
degrees 30’, longitude 40 degrees 15’ W. The cold was now excessive, and we had
hail squalls continually from the northward and eastward. In this direction
also we saw several more immense icebergs, and the whole horizon to the
eastward appeared to be blocked up with field ice, rising in tiers, one mass
above the other. Some driftwood floated by during the evening, and a great
quantity of birds flew over, among which were nellies, petrels, albatrosses,
and a large bird of a brilliant blue plumage. The variation here, per azimuth,
was less than it had been previously to our passing the Antarctic circle.
January 12. —Our passage to the
south again looked doubtful, as nothing was to be seen in the direction of the
pole but one apparently limitless floe, backed by absolute mountains of ragged
ice, one precipice of which arose frowningly above the other. We stood to the
westward until the fourteenth, in the hope of finding an entrance.
January 14. —This morning we reached
the western extremity of the field which had impeded us, and, weathering it,
came to an open sea, without a particle of ice. Upon sounding with two hundred
fathoms, we here found a current setting southwardly at the rate of half a mile
per hour. The temperature of the air was forty-seven, that of the water
thirty-four. We now sailed to the southward without meeting any interruption of
moment until the sixteenth, when, at noon, we were in latitude 81 degrees 21’,
longitude 42 degrees W. We here again sounded, and found a current setting
still southwardly, and at the rate of three quarters of a mile per hour. The
variation per azimuth had diminished, and the temperature of the air was mild
and pleasant, the thermometer being as high as fifty-one. At this period not a
particle of ice was to be discovered. All hands-on board now felt certain of
attaining the pole.
January 17. —This day was full of
incident. Innumerable flights of birds flew over us from the southward, and
several were shot from the deck, one of them, a species of pelican, proved to
be excellent eating. About midday a small floe of ice was seen from the
masthead off the larboard bow, and upon it there appeared to be some large
animal. As the weather was good and nearly calm, Captain Guy ordered out two of
the boats to see what it was. Dirk Peters and I accompanied the mate in the
larger boat. Upon coming up with the floe, we perceived that it was in the
possession of a gigantic creature of the race of the Arctic bear, but far
exceeding in size the largest of these animals. Being well armed, we made no
scruple of attacking it at once. Several shots were fired in quick succession,
the most of which took effect, apparently, in the head and body. Nothing
discouraged, however, the monster threw himself from the ice, and swam with
open jaws, to the boat in which were Peters and me. Owing to the confusion
which ensued among us at this unexpected turn of the adventure, no person was
ready immediately with a second shot, and the bear had actually succeeded in
getting half his vast bulk across our gunwale, and seizing one of the men by
the small of his back, before any efficient means were taken to repel him. In
this extremity nothing but the promptness and agility of Peters saved us from
destruction. Leaping upon the back of the huge beast, he plunged the blade of a
knife behind the neck, reaching the spinal marrow at a blow. The brute tumbled
into the sea lifeless, and without a struggle, rolling over Peters as he fell.
The latter soon recovered himself, and a rope being thrown him, he secured the
carcass before entering the boat. We then returned in triumph to the schooner,
towing our trophy behind us. This bear, upon admeasurement, proved to be full
fifteen feet in his greatest length. His wool was perfectly white, and very
coarse, curling tightly. The eyes were of a blood red, and larger than those of
the Arctic bear, the snout also more rounded, rather resembling the snout of
the bulldog. The meat was tender, but excessively rank and fishy, although the
men devoured it with avidity, and declared it excellent eating.
Scarcely had we got our prize
alongside, when the man at the masthead gave the joyful shout of “land on the
starboard bow!” All hands were now upon the alert, and, a breeze springing up
very opportunely from the northward and eastward, we were soon close in with
the coast. It proved to be a low rocky islet, of about a league in
circumference, and altogether destitute of vegetation, if we except a species
of prickly pear. In approaching it from the northward, a singular ledge of rock
is seen projecting into the sea and bearing a strong resemblance to corded
bales of cotton. Around this ledge to the westward is a small bay, at the
bottom of which our boats effected a convenient landing.
It did not take us long to explore
every portion of the island, but, with one exception, we found nothing worthy
of our observation. In the southern extremity, we picked up near the shore,
half buried in a pile of loose stones, a piece of wood, which seemed to have
formed the prow of a canoe. There had been evidently some attempt at carving
upon it, and Captain Guy fancied that he made out the figure of a tortoise, but
the resemblance did not strike me very forcibly. Besides this prow, if such it was,
we found no other token that any living creature had ever been here before.
Around the coast we discovered occasional small floes of ice—but these were
very few. The exact situation of the islet (to which Captain Guy gave the name
of Bennet’s Islet, in honor of his partner in the ownership of the schooner) is
82 degrees 50’ S. latitude, 42 degrees 20’ W. longitude.
We had now advanced to the southward
more than eight degrees farther than any previous navigators, and the sea still
lay perfectly open before us. We found, too, that the variation uniformly
decreased as we proceeded, and, what was still more surprising, that the
temperature of the air, and latterly of the water, became milder. The weather
might even be called pleasant, and we had a steady but very gentle breeze
always from some northern point of the compass. The sky was usually clear, with
now and then a slight appearance of thin vapor in the southern horizon—this,
however, was invariably of brief duration. Two difficulties alone presented
themselves to our view; we were getting short of fuel, and symptoms of scurvy
had occurred among several of the crew. These considerations began to impress
upon Captain Guy the necessity of returning, and he spoke of it frequently. For
my own part, confident as I was of soon arriving at land of some description
upon the course we were pursuing, and having every reason to believe, from
present appearances, that we should not find it the sterile soil met with in
the higher Arctic latitudes, I warmly pressed upon him the expediency of
persevering, at least for a few days longer, in the direction we were now
holding. So, tempting an opportunity of solving the great problem regarding an
Antarctic continent had never yet been afforded to man, and I confess that I
felt myself bursting with indignation at the timid and ill-timed suggestions of
our commander. I believe, indeed, that what I could not refrain from saying to
him on this head had the effect of inducing him to push on. While, therefore, I
cannot but lament the most unfortunate and bloody events which immediately
arose from my advice, I must still be allowed to feel some degree of
gratification at having been instrumental, however remotely, in opening to the
eye of science one of the most intensely exciting secrets which has ever
engrossed its attention.
CHAPTER 18
January 18.—This morning {*4} we
continued to the southward, with the same pleasant weather as before. The sea
was entirely smooth, the air tolerably warm and from the northeast, the
temperature of the water fifty-three. We now again got our sounding-gear in
order, and, with a hundred and fifty fathoms of line, found the current setting
toward the pole at the rate of a mile an hour. This constant tendency to the
southward, both in the wind and current, caused some degree of speculation, and
even of alarm, in different quarters of the schooner, and I saw distinctly that
no little impression had been made upon the mind of Captain Guy. He was
exceedingly sensitive to ridicule, however, and I finally succeeded in laughing
him out of his apprehensions. The variation was now very trivial. In the course
of the day we saw several large whales of the right species, and innumerable
flights of the albatross passed over the vessel. We also picked up a bush, full
of red berries, like those of the hawthorn, and the carcass of a
singular-looking land-animal. It was three feet in length, and but six inches
in height, with four very short legs, the feet armed with long claws of a
brilliant scarlet and resembling coral in substance. The body was covered with
a straight silky hair, perfectly white. The tail was peaked like that of a rat,
and about a foot and a half long. The head resembled a cat’s, except for the
ears—these were flopped like the ears of a dog. The teeth were of the same
brilliant scarlet as the claws.
January 19.—To-day, being in
latitude 83 degrees 20’, longitude 43 degrees 5’ W. (the sea being of an
extraordinarily dark color), we again saw land from the masthead, and, upon a
closer scrutiny, found it to be one of a group of very large islands. The shore
was precipitous, and the interior seemed to be well wooded, a circumstance
which occasioned us great joy. In about four hours from our first discovering
the land we came to anchor in ten fathoms, sandy bottom, a league from the
coast, as a high surf, with strong ripples here and there, rendered a nearer
approach of doubtful expediency. The two largest boats were now ordered out,
and a party, well-armed (among whom were Peters and me), proceeded to look for
an opening in the reef which appeared to encircle the island. After searching
about for some time, we discovered an inlet, which we were entering, when we
saw four large canoes put off from the shore, filled with men who seemed to be
well armed. We waited for them to come up, and, as they moved with great
rapidity, they were soon within hail. Captain Guy now held up a white
handkerchief on the blade of an oar, when the strangers made a full stop, and
commenced a loud jabbering all at once, intermingled with occasional shouts, in
which we could distinguish the words Anemo-moo! and Lama-Lama! They continued
this for at least half an hour, during which we had a good opportunity of
observing their appearance.
In the four canoes, which might have
been fifty feet long and five broads, there were a hundred and ten savages in
all. They were about the ordinary stature of Europeans, but of a more muscular
and brawnier frame. Their complexion a jet black, with thick and long woolly
hair. They were clothed in skins of an unknown black animal, shaggy and silky,
and made to fit the body with some degree of skill, the hair being inside,
except where turned out about the neck, wrists, and ankles. Their arms
consisted principally of clubs, of a dark, and apparently very heavy wood. Some
spears, however, were observed among them, headed with flint, and a few slings.
The bottoms of the canoes were full of black stones about the size of a large
egg.
When they had concluded their
harangue (for it was clear they intended their jabbering for such), one of them
who seemed to be the chief stood up in the prow of his canoe, and made signs
for us to bring our boats alongside of him. This hint we pretended not to
understand, thinking it the wiser plan to maintain, if possible, the interval
between us, as their number more than quadrupled our own. Finding this to be
the case, the chief ordered the three other canoes to hold back, while he
advanced toward us with his own. As soon as he came up with us, he leaped on
board the largest of our boats, and seated himself by the side of Captain Guy,
pointing at the same time to the schooner, and repeating the word Anemo-moo!
and Lama-Lama! We now put back to the vessel, the four canoes following at a
little distance.
Upon getting alongside, the chief
evinced symptoms of extreme surprise and delight, clapping his hands, slapping
his thighs and breast, and laughing obstreperously. His followers behind joined
in his merriment, and for some minutes the din was so excessive as to be
absolutely deafening. Quiet being at length restored, Captain Guy ordered the
boats to be hoisted up, as a necessary precaution, and gave the chief (whose
name we soon found to be Too-wit) to understand that we could admit no more
than twenty of his men on deck at one time. With this arrangement he appeared
perfectly satisfied, and gave some directions to the canoes, when one of them
approached, the rest remaining about fifty yards off. Twenty of the savages now
got on board and proceeded to ramble over every part of the deck, and scramble
about among the rigging, making themselves much at home, and examining every
article with great inquisitiveness.
It was quite evident that they had never
seen any of the white race—from whose complexion, indeed, they appeared to
recoil. They believed the Jane to be a living creature and seemed to be afraid
of hurting it with the points of their spears, carefully turning them up. Our
crew were much amused with the conduct of Too-wit in one instance. The cook was
splitting some wood near the galley, and, by accident, struck his axe into the
deck, making a gash of considerable depth. The chief immediately ran up, and
pushing the cook on one side rather roughly, commenced a half whine, half howl,
strongly indicative of sympathy in what he considered the sufferings of the
schooner, patting and smoothing the gash with his hand, and washing it from a
bucket of seawater which stood by. This was a degree of ignorance for which we
were not prepared, and for my part I could not help thinking some of it
affected.
When the visitors had satisfied, as
well as they could, their curiosity regarding our upper works, they were
admitted below, when their amazement exceeded all bounds. Their astonishment
now appeared to be far too deep for words, for they roamed about in silence,
broken only by low ejaculations. The arms afforded them much food for
speculation, and they were suffered to handle and examine them at leisure. I do
not believe that they had the least suspicion of their actual use, but rather
took them for idols, seeing the care we had of them, and the attention with
which we watched their movements while handling them. At the great guns their
wonder was redoubled. They approached them with every mark of the profoundest
reverence and awe but forbore to examine them minutely. There were two large
mirrors in the cabin, and here was the acme of their amazement. Too-wit was the
first to approach them, and he had got in the middle of the cabin, with his
face to one and his back to the other, before he fairly perceived them. Upon
raising his eyes and seeing his reflected self in the glass, I thought the
savage would go mad; but, upon turning short round to make a retreat, and
beholding himself a second time in the opposite direction, I was afraid he
would expire upon the spot. No persuasion could prevail upon him to take
another look; throwing himself upon the floor, with his face buried in his
hands, he remained thus until we were obliged to drag him upon deck.
The whole of the savages was
admitted on board in this manner, twenty at a time, Too-wit being suffered to
remain during the entire period. We saw no disposition to thievery among them,
nor did we miss a single article after their departure. Throughout the whole of
their visit they evinced the friendliest manner. There were, however, some
points in their demeanor which we found it impossible to understand; for
example, we could not get them to approach several very harmless objects—such
as the schooner’s sails, an egg, an open book, or a pan of flour. We endeavored
to ascertain if they had among them any articles which might be turned to
account in the way of traffic but found great difficulty in being comprehended.
We made out, nevertheless, what greatly astonished us, that the islands
abounded in the large tortoise of the Galapagos, one of which we saw in the
canoe of Too-wit. We saw also some bite de mere in the hands of one of the
savages, who was greedily devouring it in its natural state. These
anomalies—for they were such when considered regarding the latitude—induced
Captain Guy to wish for a thorough investigation of the country, in the hope of
making a profitable speculation in his discovery. For my own part, anxious as I
was to know something more of these islands, I was still more earnestly bent on
prosecuting the voyage to the southward without delay. We had now fine weather,
but there was no telling how long it would last; and being already in the
eighty-fourth parallel, with an open sea before us, a current setting strongly
to the southward, and the wind fair, I could not listen with any patience to a
proposition of stopping longer than was absolutely necessary for the health of
the crew and the taking on board a proper supply of fuel and fresh provisions.
I represented to the captain that we might easily make this group on our
return, and winter here in the event of being blocked up by the ice. He at
length came into my views (for in some way, hardly known to myself, I had
acquired much influence over him), and it was finally resolved that, even in
the event of our finding bite de mere, we should only stay here a week to
recruit, and then push on to the southward while we might. Accordingly we made
every necessary preparation, and, under the guidance of Too-wit, got the Jane
through the reef in safety, coming to anchor about a mile from the shore, in an
excellent bay, completely landlocked, on the southeastern coast of the main
island, and in ten fathoms of water, black sandy bottom. At the head of this
bay there were three fine springs (we were told) of good water, and we saw
abundance of wood in the vicinity. The four canoes followed us in, keeping,
however, at a respectful distance. Too-wit himself remained on board, and, upon
our dropping anchor, invited us to accompany him on shore, and visit his
village in the interior. To this Captain Guy consented; and ten savages being
left on board as hostages, a party of us, twelve in all, got in readiness to
attend the chief. We took care to be well armed, yet without evincing any
distrust. The schooner had her guns run out, her boarding-nettings up, and
every other proper precaution was taken to guard against surprise. Directions
were left with the chief mate to admit no person on board during our absence,
and, in the event of our not appearing in twelve hours, to send the cutter, with
a swivel, around the island in search of us.
At every step we took inland the
conviction forced itself upon us that we were in a country differing
essentially from any hitherto visited by civilized men. We saw nothing with
which we had been formerly conversant. The trees resembled no growth of either
the torrid, the temperate, or the northern frigid zones, and were altogether
unlike those of the lower southern latitudes we had already traversed. The very
rocks were novel in their mass, their color, and their stratification; and the
streams themselves, utterly incredible as it may appear, had so little in
common with those of other climates, that we were scrupulous of tasting them,
and, indeed, had difficulty in bringing ourselves to believe that their qualities
were purely those of nature. At a small brook which crossed our path (the first
we had reached) Too-wit and his attendants halted to drink. On account of the
singular character of the water, we refused to taste it, supposing it to be
polluted; and it was not until sometime afterward we came to understand that
such was the appearance of the streams throughout the whole group. I am at a
loss to give a distinct idea of the nature of this liquid and cannot do so
without many words. Although it flowed with rapidity in all declivities where
common water would do so, yet never, except when falling in a cascade, had it
the customary appearance of limpidity. It was, nevertheless, as perfectly
limpid as any limestone water in existence, the difference being only in
appearance. At first sight, and especially in cases where little declivity was
found, it bore resemblance, as regards consistency, to a thick infusion of gum Arabic
in common water. But this was only the least remarkable of its extraordinary
qualities. It was not colorless, nor was it of any one uniform color—presenting
to the eye, as it flowed, every possible shade of purple; like the hues of a
changeable silk. This variation in shade was produced in a manner which excited
as profound astonishment in the minds of our party as the mirror had done in
the case of Too-wit. Upon collecting a basinful, and allowing it to settle
thoroughly, we perceived that the whole mass of liquid was made up of a number
of distinct veins, each of a distinct hue; that these veins did not commingle;
and that their cohesion was perfect in regard to their own particles among
themselves, and imperfect in regard to neighboring veins. Upon passing the
blade of a knife athwart the veins, the water closed over it immediately, as with
us, and, in withdrawing it, all traces of the passage of the knife were
instantly obliterated. If, however, the blade was passed down accurately
between the two veins, a perfect separation was affected, which the power of
cohesion did not immediately rectify. The phenomena of this water formed the
first definite 2149link in that vast chain of apparent miracles with which I
was destined to be at length encircled.
CHAPTER 19
We were nearly three hours in
reaching the village, it being more than nine miles in the interior, and the
path lying through a rugged country. As we passed along, the party of Too-wit
(the whole hundred and ten savages of the canoes) was momentarily strengthened
by smaller detachments, of from two to six or seven, which joined us, as if by
accident, at different turns of the road. There appeared so much of system in
this that I could not help feeling distrust, and I spoke to Captain Guy of my
apprehensions. It was now too late, however, to recede, and we concluded that
our best security lay in evincing a perfect confidence in the good faith of
Too-wit. We accordingly went on, keeping a wary eye upon the maneuvers of the
savages, and not permitting them to divide our numbers by pushing in between.
In this way, passing through a precipitous ravine, we at length reached what we
were told was the only collection of habitations upon the island. As we came in
sight of them, the chief set up a shout, and frequently repeated the word Clicklock,
which we supposed to be the name of the village, or perhaps the generic name
for villages.
The dwellings were of the most
miserable description imaginable, and, unlike those of even the lowest of the
savage races with which mankind are acquainted, were of no uniform plan. Some
of them (and these we found belonged to the Wampus or Yampies, the great men of
the land) consisted of a tree cut down at about four feet from the root, with a
large black skin thrown over it, and hanging in loose folds upon the ground.
Under this the savage nestled. Others were formed by means of rough limbs of
trees, with the withered foliage upon them, made to recline, at an angle of
forty-five degrees, against a bank of clay, heaped up, without regular form, to
the height of five or six feet. Others, again, were mere holes dug in the earth
perpendicularly, and covered over with similar branches, these being removed
when the tenant was about to enter and pulled on again when he had entered. A
few were built among the forked limbs of trees as they stood, the upper limbs
being partially cut through, to bend over upon the lower, thus forming thicker
shelter from the weather. The greater number, however, consisted of small
shallow caverns, apparently scratched in the face of a precipitous ledge of
dark stone, resembling fuller’s earth, with which three sides of the village
were bounded. At the door of each of these primitive caverns was a small rock,
which the tenant carefully placed before the entrance upon leaving his
residence, for what purpose I could not ascertain, as the stone itself was
never of sufficient size to close up more than a third of the opening.
This village, if it were worthy of
the name, lay in a valley of some depth, and could only be approached from the
southward, the precipitous ledge of which I have already spoken cutting off all
access in other directions. Through the middle of the valley ran a brawling
stream of the same magical-looking water which has been described. We saw
several strange animals about the dwellings, all appearing to be thoroughly
domesticated. The largest of these creatures resembled our common hog in the
structure of the body and snout; the tail, however, was bushy, and the legs
slender as those of the antelope. Its motion was exceedingly awkward and
indecisive, and we never saw it attempt to run. We noticed also several animals
very similar in appearance, but of a greater length of body, and covered with a
black wool. There were a great variety of tame fowls running about, and these
seemed to constitute the chief food of the natives. To our astonishment we saw
black albatross among these birds in a state of entire domestication, going to
sea periodically for food, but always returning to the village as a home, and
using the southern shore in the vicinity as a place of incubation. There they
were joined by their friends the pelicans as usual, but these latter never
followed them to the dwellings of the savages. Among the other kinds of tame
fowls were ducks, differing very little from the canvass-back of our own
country, black gannets, and a large bird not unlike the buzzard in appearance,
but not carnivorous. Of fish there seemed to be a great abundance. We saw,
during our visit, a quantity of dried salmon, rock cod, blue dolphins,
mackerel, blackfish, skate, conger eels, elephant fish, mullets, soles,
parrotfish, leather-jackets, gurnards, hake, flounders, parachutes, and
innumerable other varieties. We noticed, too, that most of them were like the
fish about the group of Lord Auckland Islands, in a latitude as low as
fifty-one degrees south. The Galapagos tortoise was also very plentiful. We saw
but few wild animals, and none of a large size, or of a species with which we
were familiar. One or two serpents of a formidable aspect crossed our path, but
the natives paid them little attention, and we concluded that they were not
venomous.
As we approached the village with
Too-wit and his party, a vast crowd of the people rushed out to meet us, with
loud shouts, among which we could only distinguish the everlasting Anemo-moo!
and Lama-Lama! We were much surprised at perceiving that, with one or two
exceptions, these newcomers were entirely naked, and skins being used only by
the men of the canoes. All the weapons of the country seemed also to be in the
possession of the latter, for there was no appearance of any among the
villagers. There were a great many women and children, the former not
altogether wanting in what might be termed personal beauty. They were straight,
tall, and well formed, with a grace and freedom of carriage not to be found in
civilized society. Their lips, however, like those of the men, were thick and
clumsy, so that, even when laughing, the teeth were never disclosed. Their hair
was of a finer texture than that of the males. Among these naked villagers
there might have been ten or twelve who were clothed, like the party of
Too-wit, in dresses of black skin, and armed with lances and heavy clubs. These
appeared to have great influence among the rest and were always addressed by
the title Wampee. These, too, were the tenants of the black skin palaces. That
of Too-wit was situated in the center of the village and was much larger and
somewhat better constructed than others of its kind. The tree which formed its
support was cut off at a distance of twelve feet or thereabouts from the root,
and there were several branches left just below the cut, these serving to
extend the covering, and in this way prevent its flapping about the trunk. The
covering, too, which consisted of four very large skins fastened together with
wooden skewers, was secured at the bottom with pegs driven through it and into
the ground. The floor was strewed with a quantity of dry leaves by way of
carpet.
To this hut we were conducted with
great solemnity, and as many of the natives crowded in after us as possible.
Too-wit seated himself on the leaves and made signs that we should follow his
example. This we did, and presently found ourselves in a situation peculiarly
uncomfortable, if not indeed critical. We were on the ground, twelve in number,
with the savages, as many as forty, sitting on their hams so closely around us
that, if any disturbance had arisen, we should have found it impossible to make
use of our arms, or indeed to have risen to our feet. The pressure was not only
inside the tent, but outside, where probably was every individual on the whole
island, the crowd being prevented from trampling us to death only by the
incessant exertions and vociferations of Too-wit. Our chief security lay,
however, in the presence of Too-wit himself among us, and we resolved to stick
by him closely, as the best chance of extricating ourselves from the dilemma,
sacrificing him immediately upon the first appearance of hostile design.
After some trouble a certain degree
of quiet was restored, when the chief addressed us in a speech of great length,
and very nearly resembling the one delivered in the canoes, with the exception
that the Anemo-moos! were now somewhat more strenuously insisted upon than the
Lama-Lamas! We listened in profound silence until the conclusion of this
harangue, when Captain Guy replied by assuring the chief of his eternal
friendship and goodwill, concluding what he had to say by a present of several
strings of blue beads and a knife. At the former the monarch, much to our surprise,
turned up his nose with some expression of contempt, but the knife gave him the
most unlimited satisfaction, and he immediately ordered dinner. This was handed
into the tent over the heads of the attendants and consisted of the palpitating
entrails of a specialist of unknown animal, probably one of the slim-legged
hogs which we had observed in our approach to the village. Seeing us at a loss
how to proceed, he began, by way of setting us an example, to devour yard after
yard of the enticing food, until we could positively stand it no longer, and
evinced such manifest symptoms of rebellion of stomach as inspired his majesty
with a degree of astonishment only inferior to that brought about by the
looking-glasses. We declined, however, partaking of the delicacies before us,
and endeavored to make him understand that we had no appetite whatever, having
just finished a hearty dejeuner.
When the monarch had made an end of
his meal, we commenced a series of cross-questioning in every ingenious manner
we could devise, with a view of discovering what were the chief productions of
the country, and whether any of them might be turned to profit. At length he
seemed to have some idea of our meaning and offered to accompany us to a part
of coast where he assured us the bite de mere (pointing to a specimen of that
animal) was to be found in great abundance. We were glad of this early
opportunity of escaping from the oppression of the crowd and signified our
eagerness to proceed. We now left the tent, and, accompanied by the whole
population of the village, followed the chief to the southeastern extremity of
the island, nor far from the bay where our vessel lay at anchor. We waited here
for about an hour, until the four canoes were brought around by some of the
savages to our station. The whole of our party then getting into one of them,
we were paddled along the edge of the reef before mentioned, and of another
still farther out, where we saw a far greater quantity of bite de mere than the
oldest seamen among us had ever seen in those groups of the lower latitudes
most celebrated for this article of commerce. We stayed near these reefs only
long enough to satisfy ourselves that we could easily load a dozen vessels with
the animal if necessary, when we were taken alongside the schooner, and parted
with Too-wit, after obtaining from him a promise that he would bring us, in the
course of twenty-four hours, as many of the canvass-back ducks and Galapagos
tortoises as his canoes would hold. In the whole of this adventure we saw nothing
in the demeanor of the natives calculated to create suspicion, with the single
exception of the systematic way their party was strengthened during our route
from the schooner to the village.
CHAPTER 20
THE chief was as good as his word,
and we were soon plentifully supplied with fresh provisions. We found the
tortoises as fine as we had ever seen, and the ducks surpassed our best species
of wild fowl, being exceedingly tender, juicy, and well-flavored. Besides
these, the savages brought us, upon our making them comprehend our wishes, a
vast quantity of brown celery and scurvy grass, with a canoe-load of fresh fish
and some dried. The celery was a treat indeed, and the scurvy grass proved of
incalculable benefit in restoring those of our men who had shown symptoms of
disease. In a very short time, we had not a single person on the sick list. We
had also plenty of other kinds of fresh provisions, among which may be
mentioned a species of shellfish resembling the mussel in shape, but with the
taste of an oyster. Shrimps, too, and prawns were abundant, and albatross and
other birds’ eggs with dark shells. We took in, too, a plentiful stock of the
flesh of the hog which I have mentioned before. Most of the men found it a
palatable food, but I thought it fishy and otherwise disagreeable. In return
for these good things we presented the natives with blue beads, brass trinkets,
nails, knives, and pieces of red cloth, they are being fully delighted in the
exchange. We established a regular market on shore, just under the guns of the
schooner, where our bartering's were carried on with every appearance of good
faith, and a degree of order which their conduct at the village of Clicklock
had not led us to expect from the savages.
Matters went on thus very amicably
for several days, during which parties of the natives were frequently on board
the schooner, and parties of our men frequently on shore, making long
excursions into the interior, and receiving no molestation whatever. Finding
the ease with which the vessel might be loaded with bite de mere, owing to the
friendly disposition of the islanders, and the readiness with which they would
render us assistance in collecting it, Captain Guy resolved to enter into
negotiations with Too-wit for the erection of suitable houses in which to cure
the article, and for the services of himself and tribe in gathering as much as
possible, while he himself took advantage of the fine weather to prosecute his
voyage to the southward. Upon mentioning this project to the chief, he seemed
very willing to enter into an agreement. A bargain was accordingly struck,
perfectly satisfactory to both parties, by which it was arranged that, after
making the necessary preparations, such as laying off the proper grounds,
erecting a portion of the buildings, and doing some other work in which the
whole of our crew would be required, the schooner should proceed on her route,
leaving three of her men on the island to superintend the fulfilment of the
project, and instruct the natives in drying the bite de mer. Regarding terms,
these were made to depend upon the exertions of the savages in our absence.
They were to receive a stipulated quantity of blue beads, knives, red cloth,
and so forth, for every certain number of piculs of the bite de mere which
should be ready on our return.
A description of the nature of this
important article of commerce, and the method of preparing it, may prove of
some interest to my readers, and I can find no more suitable place than this
for introducing an account of it. The following comprehensive notice of the
substance is taken from a modern history of a voyage to the South Seas.
“It is that Mollusca from the Indian
Seas which is known to commerce by the French name bouche de mere (a nice
morsel from the sea). If I am not much mistaken, the celebrated Cuvier calls it
gastropod pulmonaria. It is abundantly gathered in the coasts of the Pacific
islands, and gathered especially for the Chinese market, where it commands a
great price, perhaps as much as their much-talked-of edible birds’ nests, which
are properly made up of the gelatinous matter picked up by a species of swallow
from the body of these Mollusca. They have no shell, no legs, nor any prominent
part, except an absorbing and an excretory, opposite organs; but, by their
elastic wings, like caterpillars or worms, they creep in shallow waters, in
which, when low, they can be seen by a kind of swallow, the sharp bill of
which, inserted in the soft animal, draws a gummy and filamentous substance,
which, by drying, can be wrought into the solid walls of their nest. Hence the
name of gastropod pulmonaria.
“This Mollusca is oblong, and of
different sizes, from three to eighteen inches in length; and I have seen a few
that were not less than two feet long. They were nearly round, a little
flattish on one side, which lies next to the bottom of the sea; and they are
from one to eight inches thick. They crawl up into shallow water at seasons of
the year, probably for the purpose of gendering, as we often find them in
pairs. It is when the sun has the most power on the water, rendering it tepid,
that they approach the shore; and they often go up into places so shallow that,
on the tide’s receding, they are left dry, exposed to the beat of the sun. But
they do not bring forth their young in shallow water, as we never see any of
their progeny, and full-grown ones are always observed coming in from deep
water. They feed principally on that class of zoophytes which produce the
coral.
“The bite de mere is generally taken
in three or four feet of water; after which they are brought on shore, and
split at one end with a knife, the incision being one inch or more, according
to the size of the Mollusca. Through this opening the entrails are forced out
by pressure, and they are much like those of any other small tenant of the
deep. The article is then washed, and afterward boiled to a certain degree,
which must not be too much or too little. They are then buried in the ground
for four hours, then boiled again for a short time, after which they are dried,
either by the fire or the sun. Those cured by the sun are worth the most; but
where one picul (133 1/3 lbs.) can be cured that way, I can cure thirty piculs
by the fire. When once properly cured, they can be kept in a dry place for two
or three years without any risk; but they should be examined once in every few
months, say four times a year, to see if any dampness is likely to affect them.
“The Chinese, as before stated,
consider bite de mere a very great luxury, believing that it wonderfully
strengthens and nourishes the system, and renews the exhausted system of the
immoderate voluptuary. The first quality commands a high price in Canton, being
worth ninety dollars a picul; the second quality, seventy-five dollars; the
third, fifty dollars; the fourth, thirty dollars; the fifth, twenty dollars;
the sixth, twelve dollars; the seventh, eight dollars; and the eighth, four
dollars; small cargoes, however, will often bring more in Manilla, Singapore,
and Batavia.”
An agreement having been thus entered,
we proceeded immediately to land everything necessary for preparing the
buildings and clearing the ground. A large flat space near the eastern shore of
the bay was selected, where there was plenty of both wood and water, and within
a convenient distance of the principal reefs on which the bite de mere was to
be procured. We now all set to work in good earnest, and soon, to the great
astonishment of the savages, had felled a sufficient number of trees for our
purpose, getting them quickly in order for the framework of the houses, which
in two or three days were so far under way that we could safely trust the rest
of the work to the three men whom we intended to leave behind. These were John
Carson, Alfred Harris, and ___ Peterson (all natives of London, I believe), who
volunteered their services in this respect.
By the last of the month we had
everything in readiness for departure. We had agreed, however, to pay a formal
visit of leave-taking to the village, and Too-wit insisted so pertinaciously
upon our keeping the promise that we did not think it advisable to run the risk
of offending him by a final refusal. I believe that not one of us had at this
time the slightest suspicion of the good faith of the savages. They had
uniformly behaved with the greatest decorum, aiding us with alacrity in our
work, offering us their commodities, frequently without price, and never, in
any instance, pilfering a single article, although the high value they set upon
the goods we had with us was evident by the extravagant demonstrations of joy
always manifested upon our making them a present. The women especially were
most obliging in every respect, and, upon the whole, we should have been the
most suspicious of human beings had we entertained a single thought of perfidy
on the part of a people who treated us so well. A very short while sufficed to
prove that this apparent kindness of disposition was only the result of a
deeply laid plan for our destruction, and that the islanders for whom we
entertained such inordinate feelings of esteem, were among the most barbarous,
subtle, and bloodthirsty wretches that ever contaminated the face of the globe.
It was on the first of February that
we went on shore for the purpose of visiting the village. Although, as said
before, we entertained not the slightest suspicion, still no proper precaution
was neglected. Six men were left in the schooner, with instructions to permit
none of the savages to approach the vessel during our absence, under any pretense
whatever, and to remain constantly on deck. The boarding-nettings were up, the
guns double-shorted with grape and canister, and the swivels loaded with
canisters of musket-balls. She lay, with her anchor speak, about a mile from
the shore, and no canoe could approach her in any direction without being
distinctly seen and exposed to the full fire of our swivels immediately.
The six men being left on board, our
shore-party consisted of thirty-two persons in all. We were armed to the teeth,
having with us muskets, pistols, and cutlasses; besides, each had a long kind
of seaman’s knife, somewhat resembling the bowie knife now so much used
throughout our western and southern country. A hundred of the black skin
warriors met us at the landing for the purpose of accompanying us on our way.
We noticed, however, with some surprise, that they were now entirely without
arms; and, upon questioning Too-wit in relation to this circumstance, he merely
answered that Matter non we pa pa is—meaning that there was no need of arms
where all were brothers. We took this in good part and proceeded.
We had passed the spring and rivulet
of which I before spoke and were now entering upon a narrow gorge leading
through the chain of soapstone hills among which the village was situated. This
gorge was very rocky and uneven, so much so that it was with no little
difficulty we scrambled through it on our first visit to Clock. The whole
length of the ravine might have been a mile and a half, or probably two miles.
It wound in every possible direction through the hills (having apparently
formed, at some remote period, the bed of a torrent), in no instance proceeding
more than twenty yards without an abrupt turn. The sides of this dell would
have averaged, I am sure, seventy or eighty feet in perpendicular altitude
throughout the whole of their extent, and in some portions they arose to an
astonishing height, overshadowing the pass so completely that but little of the
light of day could penetrate. The general width was about forty feet, and
occasionally it diminished so as not to allow the passage of more than five or
six persons abreast. In short, there could be no place in the world better
adapted for the consummation of an ambuscade, and it was no more than natural
that we should look carefully to our arms as we entered upon it. When I now
think of our egregious folly, the chief subject of astonishment seems to be,
that we should have ever ventured, under any circumstances, so completely into
the power of unknown savages as to permit them to march both before and behind
us in our progress through this ravine. Yet such was the order we blindly took
up, trusting foolishly to the force of our party, the unarmed condition of
Too-wit and his men, the certain efficacy of our firearms (whose effect was yet
a secret to the natives), and, more than all, to the long-sustained pretension
of friendship kept up by these infamous wretches. Five or six of them went on
before, as if to lead the way, ostentatiously busying themselves in removing
the larger stones and rubbish from the path. Next came our own party. We walked
closely together, taking care only to prevent separation. Behind followed the
main body of the savages, observing unusual order and decorum.
Dirk Peters, a man named Wilson
Allen, and me were on the right of our companions, examining, as we went along,
the singular stratification of the precipice which overhung us. A fissure in
the soft rock attracted our attention. It was about wide enough for one person
to enter without squeezing and extended back into the hill some eighteen or twenty
feet in a straight course, sloping afterward to the left. The height of the
opening, is far as we could see into it from the main gorge, was perhaps sixty
or seventy feet. There were one or two stunted shrubs growing from the
crevices, bearing a species of filbert which I felt some curiosity to examine,
and pushed in briskly for that purpose, gathering five or six of the nuts at a
grasp, and then hastily retreating. As I turned, I found that Peters and Allen
had followed me. I desired them to go back, as there was not room for two
persons to pass, saying they should have some of my nuts. They accordingly
turned, and were scrambling back, Allen being close to the mouth of the
fissure, when I was suddenly aware of a concussion resembling nothing I had ever
before experienced, and which impressed me with a vague conception, if indeed I
then thought of anything, that the whole foundations of the solid globe were
suddenly rent asunder, and that the day of universal dissolution was at hand.
CHAPTER 21
AS soon as I could collect my
scattered senses, I found myself nearly suffocated, and groveling in utter
darkness among a quantity of loose earth, which was also falling upon me
heavily in every direction, threatening to bury me entirely. Horribly alarmed
at this idea, I struggled to gain my feet, and at last succeeded. I then
remained motionless for some moments, endeavoring to conceive what had happened
to me, and where I was. Presently I heard a deep groan just at my ear, and
afterward the smothered voice of Peters calling to me for aid in the name of
God. I scrambled one or two paces forward, when I fell directly over the head
and shoulders of my companion, who, I soon discovered, was buried in a loose
mass of earth as far as his middle, and struggling desperately to free himself
from the pressure. I tore the dirt from around him with all the energy I could
command, and at length succeeded in getting him out.
As soon as we sufficiently recovered
from our fright and surprise to be capable of conversing rationally, we both
came to the conclusion that the walls of the fissure in which we had ventured
had, by some convulsion of nature, or probably from their own weight, caved in
overhead, and that we were consequently lost forever, being thus entombed
alive. For a long time, we gave up supinely to the most intense agony and
despair, such as cannot be adequately imagined by those who have never been in
a similar position. I firmly believed that no incident ever occurring in the course
of human events is more adapted to inspire the supremeness of mental and bodily
distress than a case like our own, of living inhumation. The blackness of
darkness which envelops the victim, the terrific oppression of lungs, the
stifling fumes from the damp earth, unite with the ghastly considerations that
we are beyond the remotest confines of hope, and that such is the allotted
portion of the dead, to carry into the human heart a degree of appalling awe
and horror not to be tolerated—never to be conceived.
At length Peters proposed that we
should endeavor to ascertain precisely the extent of our calamity, and grope
about our prison; it being barely possible, he observed, that some opening
might yet have left us for escape. I caught eagerly at this hope, and, arousing
myself to exertion, attempted to force my way through the loose earth. Hardly
had I advanced a single step before a glimmer of light became perceptible,
enough to convince me that, at all events, we should not immediately perish for
want of air. We now took some degree of heart and encouraged each other to hope
for the best. Having scrambled over a bank of rubbish which impeded our farther
progress in the direction of the light, we found less difficulty in advancing and
experienced some relief from the excessive oppression of lungs which had
tormented us. Presently we were enabled to obtain a glimpse of the objects around
and discovered that we were near the extremity of the straight portion of the
fissure, where it made a turn to the left. A few struggles more, and we reached
the bend, when to our inexpressible joy, there appeared a long seam or crack
extending upward a vast distance, generally at an angle of about forty-five
degrees, although sometimes much more precipitous. We could not see through the
whole extent of this opening; but, as a good deal of light came down it, we had
little doubt of finding at the top of it (if we could by any means reach the
top) a clear passage into the open air.
I now called to mind that three of
us had entered the fissure from the main gorge, and that our companion, Allen,
was still missing; we determined at once to retrace our steps and look for him.
After a long search, and much danger from the farther caving in of the earth
above us, Peters at length cried out to me that he had hold of our companion’s
foot, and that his whole body was deeply buried beneath the rubbish beyond the
possibility of extricating him. I soon found that what he said was too true,
and that, of course, life had been long extinct. With sorrowful hearts,
therefore, we left the corpse to its fate, and again made our way to the bend.
The breadth of the seam was barely enough
to admit us, and, after one or two ineffectual efforts at getting up, we began
once more to despair. I have before said that the chain of hills through which
ran the main gorge was composed of a species of soft rock resembling soapstone.
The sides of the cleft we were now attempting to ascend were of the same
material, and so excessively slippery, being wet, that we could get but little
foothold upon them even in their least precipitous parts; in some places, where
the ascent was nearly perpendicular, the difficulty was, of course, much
aggravated; and, indeed, for some time we thought insurmountable. We took
courage, however, from despair, and what, by dint of cutting steps in the soft
stone with our bowie knives, and swinging at the risk of our lives, to small
projecting points of a harder species of salty rock which now and then
protruded from the general mass, we at length reached a natural platform, from
which was perceptible a patch of blue sky, at the extremity of a thickly-wooded
ravine. Looking back now, with somewhat more leisure, at the passage through
which we had thus far proceeded, we clearly saw from the appearance of its
sides, that it was of late formation, and we concluded that the concussion,
whatever it was, which had so unexpectedly overwhelmed us, had also, at the
same moment, laid open this path for escape. Being quite exhausted with
exertion, and indeed, so weak that we were scarcely able to stand or
articulate, Peters now proposed that we should endeavor to bring our companions
to the rescue by firing the pistols which still remained in our girdles—the
muskets as well as cutlasses had been lost among the loose earth at the bottom
of the chasm. Subsequent events proved that, had we fired, we should have
sorely repented it, but luckily a half suspicion of foul play had by this time
arisen in my mind, and we forbore to let the savages know of our whereabouts.
After having reposed for about an
hour, we pushed on slowly up the ravine, and had gone no great way before we
heard a succession of tremendous yells. At length we reached what might be
called the surface of the ground; for our path hitherto, since leaving the
platform, had lain beneath an archway of high rock and foliage, at a vast
distance overhead. With great caution we stole to a narrow opening, through
which we had a clear sight of the surrounding country, when the whole dreadful
secret of the concussion broke upon us in one moment and at one view.
The spot from which we looked was
not far from the summit of the highest peak in the range of the soapstone
hills. The gorge in which our party of thirty-two had entered ran within fifty
feet to the left of us. But, for at least one hundred yards, the channel or bed
of this gorge was entirely filled up with the chaotic ruins of more than a
million tons of earth and stone that had been artificially tumbled within it.
The means by which the vast mass had been precipitated were not more simple
than evident, for sure traces of the murderous work were yet remaining. In
several spots along the top of the eastern side of the gorge (we were now on
the western) might be seen stakes of wood driven into the earth. In these spots
the earth had not given way, but throughout the whole extent of the face of the
precipice from which the mass had fallen, it was clear, from marks left in the
soil resembling those made by the drill of the rock blaster, that stakes similar
to those we saw standing had been inserted, at not more than a yard apart, for
the length of perhaps three hundred feet, and ranging at about ten feet back
from the edge of the gulf. Strong cords of grape vine were attached to the
stakes remaining on the hill, and it was evident that such cords had also been
attached to each of the other stakes. I have already spoken of the singular
stratification of these soapstone hills; and the description just given of the
narrow and deep fissure through which we effected our escape from inhumation
will afford a further conception of its nature. This was such that almost every
natural convulsion would be sure to split the soil into perpendicular layers or
ridges running parallel with one another, and a very moderate exertion of art
would be enough for effecting the same purpose. Of this stratification the
savages had availed themselves to accomplish their treacherous ends. There can
be no doubt that, by the continuous line of stakes, a partial rupture of the
soil had been brought about probably to the depth of one or two feet, when by
means of a savage pulling at the end of each of the cords (these cords being
attached to the tops of the stakes, and extending back from the edge of the
cliff), a vast leverage power was obtained, capable of hurling the whole face
of the hill, upon a given signal, into the bosom of the abyss below. The fate
of our poor companions was no longer a matter of uncertainty. We alone had
escaped from the tempest of that overwhelming destruction. We were the only
living white men upon the island.
CHAPTER 22
OUR situation, as it now appeared,
was scarcely less dreadful than when we had conceived ourselves entombed
forever. We saw before us no prospect but that of being put to death by the
savages, or of dragging out a miserable existence in captivity among them. We
might, to be sure, conceal ourselves for a time from their observation among
the fastnesses of the hills, and, as a final resort, in the chasm from which we
had just issued; but we must either perish in the long polar winter through
cold and famine, or be ultimately discovered in our efforts to obtain relief.
The whole country around us seemed
to be swarming with savages, crowds of whom, we now perceived, had come over from
the islands to the southward on flat rafts, doubtless with a view of lending
their aid in the capture and plunder of the Jane. The vessel still lay calmly
at anchor in the bay, those on board being apparently quite unconscious of any
danger awaiting them. How we longed at that moment to be with them! either to
aid in effecting their escape, or to perish with them in attempting a defense.
We saw no chance even of warning them of their danger without bringing
immediate destruction upon our own heads, with but a remote hope of benefit to
them. A pistol fired might suffice to apprise them that something wrong had
occurred; but the report could not possibly inform them that their only
prospect of safety lay in getting out of the harbor forthwith—it could not tell
them that no principles of honor now bound them to remain, that their
companions were no longer among the living. Upon hearing the discharge, they
could not be more thoroughly prepared to meet the foe, who were now getting
ready to attack, than they already were, and always had been. No good,
therefore, and infinite harm, would result from our firing, and after mature
deliberation, we forbore.
Our next thought was to attempt to
rush toward the vessel, to seize one of the four canoes which lay at the head
of the bay, and endeavor to force a passage on board. But the utter
impossibility of succeeding in this desperate task soon became evident. The
country, as I said before, was literally swarming with the natives, skulking
among the bushes and recesses of the hills, so as not to be observed from the
schooner. In our immediate vicinity especially, and blockading the sole path by
which we could hope to attain the shore at the proper point were stationed the
whole party of the black skin warriors, with Too-wit at their head, and
apparently only waiting for some re-enforcement to commence his onset upon the
Jane. The canoes, too, which lay at the head of the bay, were manned with
savages, unarmed, it is true, but who undoubtedly had arms within reach. We
were forced, therefore, however unwillingly, to remain in our place of
concealment, mere spectators of the conflict which presently ensued.
In about half an hour we saw some
sixty or seventy rafts, or flatboats, without riggers, filled with savages, and
coming around the southern bight of the harbor. They appeared to have no arms
except short clubs, and stones which lay in the bottom of the rafts.
Immediately afterward another detachment, still larger, appeared in an opposite
direction, and with similar weapons. The four canoes, too, were now quickly
filled with natives, starting up from the bushes at the head of the bay, and
put off swiftly to join the other parties. Thus, in less time than I have taken
to tell it, and as if by magic, the Jane saw herself surrounded by an immense
multitude of desperadoes evidently bent upon capturing her at all hazards.
That they would succeed in so doing
could not be doubted for an instant. The six men left in the vessel, however
resolutely they might engage in her defense, were altogether unequal to the
proper management of the guns, or in any manner to sustain a contest at such
odds. I could hardly imagine that they would make resistance at all, but in
this was deceived; for presently I saw them get springs upon the cable, and bring
the vessel’s starboard broadside to bear upon the canoes, which by this time
were within pistol range, the rafts being nearly a quarter of a mile to
windward. Owing to some cause unknown, but most probably to the agitation of
our poor friends at seeing themselves in so hopeless a situation, the discharge
was an entire failure. Not a canoe was hit, or a single savage injured, the
shots striking short and ricocheting over their heads. The only effect produced
upon them was astonishment at the unexpected report and smoke, which was so
excessive that for some moments I almost thought they would abandon their
design entirely and return to the shore. And this they would most likely have
done had our men followed up their broadside by a discharge of small arms, in
which, as the canoes were now so near at hand, they could not have failed in
doing some execution, sufficient, at least, to deter this party from a farther
advance, until they could have given the rafts also a broadside. But, in place
of this, they left the canoe party to recover from their panic, and, by looking
about them, to see that no injury had been sustained, while they flew to the
larboard to get ready for the rafts.
The discharge to larboard produced
the most terrible effect. The star and double-headed shot of the large guns cut
seven or eight of the rafts completely asunder, and killed, perhaps, thirty or
forty of the savages outright, while a hundred of them, at least, were thrown
into the water, the most of them dreadfully wounded. The remainder, frightened
out of their senses, commenced at once a precipitate retreat, not even waiting
to pick up their maimed companions, who were swimming about in every direction,
screaming and yelling for aid. This great success, however, came too late for the
salvation of our devoted people. The canoe party were already on board the
schooner to the number of more than a hundred and fifty, the most of them
having succeeded in scrambling up the chains and over the boarding-netting even
before the matches had been applied to the larboard guns. Nothing now could
withstand their brute rage. Our men were borne down at once, overwhelmed,
trodden under foot, and absolutely torn to pieces in an instant.
Seeing this, the savages on the
rafts got the better of their fears and came up in shoals to the plunder. In
five minutes, the Jane was a pitiable scene indeed of havoc and tumultuous
outrage. The decks were split open and ripped up; the cordage, sails, and
everything movable on deck demolished as if by magic, while, by dint of pushing
at the stern, towing with the canoes, and hauling at the sides, as they swam in
thousands around the vessel, the wretches finally forced her on shore (the
cable having been slipped), and delivered her over to the good offices of
Too-wit, who, during the whole of the engagement, had maintained, like a skillful
general, his post of security and reconnaissance among the hills, but, now that
the victory was completed to his satisfaction, condescended to scamper down
with his warriors of the black skin, and become a partaker in the spoils.
Too-wit’s descent left us at liberty
to quit our hiding place and reconnoiter the hill in the vicinity of the chasm.
At about fifty yards from the mouth of it we saw a small spring of water, at
which we slaked the burning thirst that now consumed us. Not far from the
spring we discovered several of the filbert-bushes which I mentioned before.
Upon tasting the nuts, we found them palatable, and very nearly resembling in flavor
the common English filbert. We collected our hats full immediately, deposited
them within the ravine, and returned for more. While we were busily employed in
gathering these, a rustling in the bushes alarmed us, and we were upon the
point of stealing back to our covert, when a large black bird of the bittern
species struggling and slowly arose above the shrubs. I was so much startled
that I could do nothing, but Peters had enough presence of mind to run up to it
before it could make its escape and seize it by the neck. Its struggles and
screams were tremendous, and we had thoughts of letting it go, lest the noise
should alarm some of the savages who might be still lurking in the neighborhood.
A stab with a bowie knife, however, at length brought it to the ground, and we
dragged it into the ravine, congratulating ourselves that, at all events, we
had thus obtained a supply of food enough to last us for a week.
We now went out again to look about us
and ventured a considerable distance down the southern declivity of the hill
but met with nothing else which could serve us for food. We therefore collected
a quantity of dry wood and returned, seeing one or two large parties of the
natives on their way to the village, laden with the plunder of the vessel, and
who, we were apprehensive, might discover us in passing beneath the hill.
Our next care was to render our
place of concealment as secure as possible, and with this object, we arranged
some brushwood over the aperture which I have before spoken of as the one
through which we saw the patch of blue sky, on reaching the platform from the
interior of the chasm. We left only a very small opening just wide enough to admit
of our seeing the bay, without the risk of being discovered from below. Having
done this, we congratulated ourselves upon the security of the position; for we
were now completely excluded from observation, as long as we chose to remain
within the ravine itself, and not venture out upon the hill, We could perceive
no traces of the savages having ever been within this hollow; but, indeed, when
we came to reflect upon the probability that the fissure through which we
attained it had been only just now created by the fall of the cliff opposite,
and that no other way of attaining it could be perceived, we were not so much
rejoiced at the thought of being secure from molestation as fearful lest there
should be absolutely no means left us for descent. We resolved to explore the
summit of the hill thoroughly, when a good opportunity should offer. In the meantime,
we watched the motions of the savages through our loophole.
They had already made a complete
wreck of the vessel and were now preparing to set her on fire. In a little
while we saw the smoke ascending in huge volumes from her main hatchway, and,
shortly afterward, a dense mass of flame burst up from the forecastle. The
rigging, masts and what remained of the sails caught immediately, and the fire
spread rapidly along the decks. Still a great many of the savages retained
their stations about her, hammering with large stones, axes, and cannon balls
at the bolts and other iron and copper work. On the beach, and in canoes and
rafts, there were not less, altogether, in the immediate vicinity of the
schooner, than ten thousand natives, besides the shoals of them who, laden with
booty, were making their way inland and over to the neighboring islands. We now
anticipated a catastrophe and were not disappointed. First, there came a smart
shock (which we felt as distinctly where we were as if we had been slightly
galvanized), but unattended with any visible signs of an explosion. The savages
were evidently startled and paused for an instant from their labors and yelling's.
They were upon the point of recommencing, when suddenly a mass of smoke puffed
up from the decks, resembling a black and heavy thundercloud—then, as if from
its bowels, arose a tall stream of vivid fire to the height, apparently, of a
quarter of a mile—then there came a sudden circular expansion of the flame—then
the whole atmosphere was magically crowded, in a single instant, with a wild
chaos of wood, and metal, and human limbs—and, lastly, came the concussion in
its fullest fury, which hurled us impetuously from our feet, while the hills
echoed and re-echoed the tumult, and a dense shower of the minutest fragments
of the ruins tumbled headlong in every direction around us.
The havoc among the savages far
exceeded our utmost expectation, and they had now, indeed, reaped the full and
perfect fruits of their treachery. Perhaps a thousand perished by the
explosion, while at least an equal number were desperately mangled. The whole
surface of the bay was literally strewn with the struggling and drowning wretches,
and on shore matters were even worse. They seemed utterly appalled by the
suddenness and completeness of their discomfiture and made no efforts at
assisting one another. At length we observed a total change in their demeanor.
From absolute stupor, they appeared to be, all at once, aroused to the highest
pitch of excitement, and rushed wildly about, going to and from a certain point
on the beach, with the strangest expressions of mingled horror, rage, and
intense curiosity depicted on their countenances, and shouting, at the top of
their voices, “Teele-li! Teele-li!”
Presently we saw a large body go off
into the hills, whence they returned in a short time, carrying stakes of wood.
These they brought to the station where the crowd was the thickest, which now
separated to afford us a view of the object of all this excitement. We
perceived something white lying upon the ground but could not immediately make
out what it was. At length we saw that it was the carcass of the strange animal
with the scarlet teeth and claws which the schooner had picked up at sea on the
eighteenth of January. Captain Guy had had the body preserved for the purpose
of stuffing the skin and taking it to England. I remember he had given some
directions about it just before our making the island, and it had been brought
into the cabin and stowed away in one of the lockers. It had now been thrown on
shore by the explosion; but why it had occasioned so much concern among the
savages was more than we could comprehend. Although they crowded around the
carcass at a little distance, none of them seemed willing to approach it
closely. By-and-by the men with the stakes drove them in a circle around it,
and no sooner was this arrangement completed, than the whole of the vast
assemblage rushed into the interior of the island, with loud screams of “Teele-li!
Teele-li!”
CHAPTER 23
DURING the six or seven days
immediately following we remained in our hiding-place upon the hill, going out
only occasionally, and then with the greatest precaution, for water and
filberts. We had made a kind of penthouse on the platform, furnishing it with a
bed of dry leaves, and placing in it three large flat stones, which served us
for both fireplace and table. We kindled a fire without difficulty by rubbing
two pieces of dry wood together, the one soft, the other hard. The bird we had
taken in such good season proved excellent eating, although somewhat tough. It
was not an oceanic fowl, but a species of bittern, with jet black and grizzly
plumage, and diminutive wings in proportion to its bulk. We afterward saw three
of the same kind in the vicinity of the ravine, apparently seeking for the one
we had captured; but, as they never alighted, we had no opportunity of catching
them.
If this fowl lasted, we suffered
nothing from our situation, but it was now entirely consumed, and it became necessary
that we should look out for provision. The filberts would not satisfy the
cravings of hunger, afflicting us, too, with severe gripping of the bowels,
and, if freely indulged in, with violent headache. We had seen several large
tortoises near the seashore to the eastward of the hill, and perceived they
might be easily taken, if we could get at them without the observation of the
natives. It was resolved, therefore, to try at descending.
We commenced by going down the
southern declivity, which seemed to offer the fewest difficulties, but had not
proceeded a hundred yards before (as we had anticipated from appearances on the
hilltop) our progress was entirely arrested by a branch of the gorge in which
our companions had perished. We now passed along the edge of this for about a
quarter of a mile, when we were again stopped by a precipice of immense depth,
and, not being able to make our way along the brink of it, we were forced to
retrace our steps by the main ravine.
We now pushed over to the eastward,
but with precisely similar fortune. After an hour’s scramble, at the risk of
breaking our necks, we discovered that we had merely descended into a vast pit
of black granite, with fine dust at the bottom, and whence the only egress was
by the rugged path in which we had come down. Toiling again up this path, we
now tried the northern edge of the hill. Here we were obliged to use the
greatest possible caution in our maneuvers, as the least indiscretion would
expose us to the full view of the savages in the village. We crawled along,
therefore, on our hands and knees, and, occasionally, were even forced to throw
ourselves at full length, dragging our bodies along by means of the shrubbery.
In this careful manner we had proceeded but a little way, when we arrived at a
chasm far deeper than any we had yet seen and leading directly into the main
gorge. Thus, our fears were fully confirmed, and we found ourselves cut off
entirely from access to the world below. Thoroughly exhausted by our exertions,
we made the best of our way back to the platform, and throwing ourselves upon
the bed of leaves, slept sweetly and soundly for some hours.
For several days after this
fruitless search we were occupied in exploring every part of the summit of the
hill, in order to inform ourselves of its actual resources. We found that it
would afford us no food, except for the unwholesome filberts, and a rank
species of scurvy grass, which grew in a little patch of not more than four
rods square and would be soon exhausted. On the fifteenth of February, as near
as I can remember, there was not a blade of this left, and the nuts were
growing scarce; our situation, therefore, could hardly be more lamentable. {*5}
On the sixteenth we again went around the walls of our prison, in hope of
finding some avenue of escape; but to no purpose. We also descended the chasm
in which we had been overwhelmed, with the faint expectation of discovering,
through this channel, some opening to the main ravine. Here, too, we were
disappointed, although we found and brought up with us a musket.
On the seventeenth we set out with
the determination of examining more thoroughly the chasm of black granite into
which we had made our way in the first search. We remembered that one of the
fissures in the sides of this pit had been but partially investigated, and we
were anxious to explore it, although with no expectation of discovering here
any opening.
We found no great difficulty in
reaching the bottom of the hollow as before and were now sufficiently calm to
survey it with some attention. It was, indeed, one of the most singular-looking
places imaginable, and we could scarcely bring ourselves to believe it
altogether the work of nature. The pit, from its eastern to its western
extremity, was about five hundred yards in length, when all its windings were
threaded; the distance from east to west in a straight line not being more (I
should suppose, having no means of accurate examination) than forty or fifty
yards. Upon first descending into the chasm, that is to say, for a hundred feet
downward from the summit of the hill, the sides of the abyss bore little
resemblance to each other, and, apparently, had at no time been connected, the one
surface being of the soapstone, and the other of marl, granulated with some
metallic matter. The average breadth or interval between the two cliffs was
probably here sixty feet, but there seemed to be no regularity of formation.
Passing down, however, beyond the limit spoken of, the interval rapidly
contracted, and the sides began to run parallel, although, for some distance
farther, they were still dissimilar in their material and form of surface. Upon
arriving within fifty feet of the bottom, a perfect regularity commenced. The
sides were now entirely uniform in substance, in color, and in lateral
direction, the material being a very black and shining granite, and the
distance between the two sides, at all points facing each other, exactly twenty
yards. The precise formation of the chasm will be best understood by means of a
delineation taken upon the spot; for I had luckily with me a pocketbook and
pencil, which I preserved with great care through a long series of subsequent
adventure, and to which I am indebted for memoranda of many subjects which
would otherwise have been crowded from my remembrance.
This figure [No figures in text]
gives the general outlines of the chasm, without the minor cavities in the
sides, of which there were several, each cavity having a corresponding
protuberance opposite. The bottom of the gulf was covered to the depth of three
or four inches with a powder almost impalpable, beneath which we found a
continuation of the black granite. To the right, at the lower extremity, will
be noticed the appearance of a small opening; this is the fissure alluded to
above, and to examine which more minutely than before was the object of our
second visit. We now pushed into it with vigor, cutting away a quantity of
brambles which impeded us, and removing a vast heap of sharp flints somewhat
resembling arrowheads in shape. We were encouraged to persevere, however, by
perceiving some little light proceeding from the farther end. We at length
squeezed our way for about thirty feet and found that the aperture was a low
and regularly formed arch, having a bottom of the same impalpable powder as
that in the main chasm. A strong light now broke upon us, and, turning a short
bend, we found ourselves in another lofty chamber, like the one we had left in
every respect but longitudinal form. Its general figure is here given.
The total length of this chasm,
commencing at the opening a and proceeding round the curve b to the extremity
d, is five hundred and fifty yards. At c we discovered a small aperture like
the one through which we had issued from the other chasm, and this was choked
up in the same manner with brambles and a quantity of the white arrowhead
flints. We forced our way through it, finding it about forty feet long, and
emerged into a third chasm. This, too, was precisely like the first, except in
its longitudinal shape, which was thus.
We found the entire length of the
third chasm three hundred and twenty yards. At the point a was an opening about
six feet wide, and extending fifteen feet into the rock, where it terminated in
a bed of marl, there being no other chasm beyond, as we had expected. We were
about leaving this fissure, into which very little light was admitted, when
Peters called my attention to a range of singular-looking indentures in the
surface of the marl forming the termination of the cul-de-sac. With a very
slight exertion of the imagination, the left, or most northern of these
indentures might have been taken for the intentional, although rude,
representation of a human figure standing erect, with outstretched arm. The
rest of them bore also some little resemblance to alphabetical characters, and
Peters was willing, at all events, to adopt the idle opinion that they were
really such. I convinced him of his error, finally, by directing his attention
to the floor of the fissure, where, among the powder, we picked up, piece by
piece, several large flakes of the marl, which had evidently been broken off by
some convulsion from the surface where the indentures were found, and which had
projecting points exactly fitting the indentures; thus proving them to have
been the work of nature.
After satisfying ourselves that
these singular caverns afforded us no means of escape from our prison, we made
our way back, dejected and dispirited, to the summit of the hill. Nothing worth
mentioning occurred during the next twenty-four hours, except that, in
examining the ground to the eastward of the third chasm, we found two
triangular holes of great depth, and with black granite sides. Into these holes
we did not think it worthwhile to attempt descending, as they had the
appearance of mere natural wells, without outlet. They were each about twenty
yards in circumference, and their shape, as well as relative position regarding
the third chasm, is shown in figure 5. {image}
CHAPTER 24
ON the twentieth of the month,
finding it altogether impossible to subsist any longer upon the filberts, the
use of which occasioned us the most excruciating torment, we resolved to make a
desperate attempt at descending the southern declivity of the hill. The face of
the precipice was here of the softest species of soapstone, although nearly
perpendicular throughout its whole extent (a depth of a hundred and fifty feet
at the least), and in many places even overarching. After a long search we
discovered a narrow ledge about twenty feet below the brink of the gulf; upon
this Peters contrived to leap, with what assistance I could render him by means
of our pocket-handkerchiefs tied together. With somewhat more difficulty I also
got down; and we then saw the possibility of descending the whole way by the
process in which we had clambered up from the chasm when we had been buried by
the fall of the hill—that is, by cutting steps in the face of the soapstone with
our knives. The extreme hazard of the attempt can scarcely be conceived; but,
as there was no other resource, we determined to undertake it.
Upon the ledge where we stood there
grew some filbert-bushes; and to one of these we made fast an end of our rope
of handkerchiefs. The other end being tied round Peters’ waist, I lowered him
down over the edge of the precipice until the handkerchiefs were stretched
tight. He now proceeded to dig a deep hole in the soapstone (as far in as eight
or ten inches), sloping away the rock above to the height of a foot, or
thereabout, so as to allow of his driving, with the butt of a pistol, a
tolerably strong peg into the levelled surface. I then drew him up for about
four feet, when he made a hole like the one below, driving in a peg as before,
and having thus a resting-place for both feet and hands. I now unfastened the
handkerchiefs from the bush, throwing him the end, which he tied to the peg in
the uppermost hole, letting himself down gently to a station about three feet
lower than he had yet been that is, to the full extent of the handkerchiefs.
Here he dug another hole and drove another peg. He then drew himself up, to
rest his feet in the hole just cut, taking hold with his hands upon the peg in
the one above. It was now necessary to untie the handkerchiefs from the topmost
peg, with the view of fastening them to the second; and here he found that an
error had been committed in cutting the holes at so great a distance apart.
However, after one or two unsuccessful and dangerous attempts at reaching the
knot (having to hold on with his left hand while he labored to undo the
fastening with his right), he at length cut the string, leaving six inches of
it affixed to the peg. Tying the handkerchiefs now to the second peg, he
descended to a station below the third, taking care not to go too far down. By
these means (means which I should never have conceived of myself, and for which
we were indebted altogether to Peters’ ingenuity and resolution) my companion
finally succeeded, with the occasional aid of projections in the cliff, in
reaching the bottom without accident.
It was some time before I could
summon enough resolution to follow him; but I did at length attempt it. Peters
had taken off his shirt before descending, and this, with my own, formed the
rope necessary for the adventure. After throwing down the musket found in the
chasm, I fastened this rope to the bushes, and let myself down rapidly,
striving, by the vigor of my movements, to banish the trepidation which I could
overcome in no other manner. This answered sufficiently well for the first four
or five steps; but presently I found my imagination growing terribly excited by
thoughts of the vast depths yet to be descended, and the precarious nature of
the pegs and soapstone holes which were my only support. It was in vain I
endeavored to banish these reflections, and to keep my eyes steadily bent upon
the flat surface of the cliff before me. The more earnestly I struggled not to
think, the more intensely vivid became my conceptions, and the more horribly
distinct. At length arrived that crisis of fancy, so fearful in all similar
cases, the crisis in which we began to anticipate the feelings with which we
shall fall—to picture to ourselves the sickness, and dizziness, and the last
struggle, and the half swoon, and the final bitterness of the rushing and
headlong descent. And now I found these fancies creating their own realities,
and all imagined horrors crowding upon me in fact. I felt my knees strike
violently together, while my fingers were gradually but certainly relaxing
their grasp. There was a ringing in my ears, and I said, “This is my knell of
death!” And now I was consumed with the irrepressible desire of looking below.
I could not, I would not, confine my glances to the cliff; and, with a wild,
indefinable emotion, half of horror, half of a relieved oppression, I threw my
vision far down into the abyss. For one moment my fingers clutched convulsively
upon their hold, while, with the movement, the faintest possible idea of
ultimate escape wandered, like a shadow, through my mind—in the next my whole
soul was pervaded with a longing to fall; a desire, a yearning, a passion
utterly uncontrollable. I let go at once my grasp upon the peg, and, turning
half round from the precipice, remained tottering for an instant against its
naked face. But now there came a spinning of the brain; a shrill-sounding and
phantom voice screamed within my ears; a dusky, fiendish, and filmy figure
stood immediately beneath me; and, sighing, I sunk down with a bursting heart,
and plunged within its arms.
I had swooned, and Peters had caught
me as I fell. He had observed my proceedings from his station at the bottom of
the cliff; and perceiving my imminent danger, had endeavored to inspire me with
courage by every suggestion he could devise; although my confusion of mind had
been so great as to prevent my hearing what he said, or being conscious that he
had even spoken to me at all. At length, seeing me totter, he hastened to
ascend to my rescue, and arrived just in time for my preservation. Had I fallen
with my full weight, the rope of linen would inevitably have snapped, and I
should have been precipitated into the abyss; as it was, he contrived to let me
down gently, so as to remain suspended without danger until animation returned.
This was in about fifteen minutes. On recovery, my trepidation had entirely
vanished; I felt a new being, and, with some little further aid from my
companion, reached the bottom also in safety.
We now found ourselves not far from
the ravine which had proved the tomb of our friends, and to the southward of
the spot where the hill had fallen. The place was one of singular wildness, and
its aspect brought to my mind the descriptions given by travelers of those
dreary regions marking the site of degraded Babylon. Not to speak of the ruins
of the disrupted cliff, which formed a chaotic barrier in the vista to the
northward, the surface of the ground in every other direction was strewn with
huge tumuli, apparently the wreck of some gigantic structures of art; although,
in detail, no semblance of art could be detected. Scoria were abundant, and
large shapeless blocks of the black granite, intermingled with others of marl,
{*6} and both granulated with metal. Of vegetation there were no traces
whatsoever throughout the whole of the desolate area within sight. Several
immense scorpions were seen, and various reptiles not elsewhere to be found in
the high latitudes. As food was our most immediate object, we resolved to make
our way to the seacoast, distant not more than half a mile, with a view of
catching turtle, several of which we had observed from our place of concealment
on the hill. We had proceeded some hundred yards, threading our route
cautiously between the huge rocks and tumuli, when, upon turning a corner, five
savages sprung upon us from a small cavern, felling Peters to the ground with a
blow from a club. As he fell the whole party rushed upon him to secure their
victim, leaving me time to recover from my astonishment. I still had the
musket, but the barrel had received so much injury in being thrown from the
precipice that I cast it aside as useless, preferring to trust my pistols,
which had been carefully preserved in order. With these I advanced upon the
assailants, firing one after the other in quick succession. Two savages fell,
and one, who was in the act of thrusting a spear into Peters, sprung to his
feet without accomplishing his purpose. My companion being thus released, we
had no further difficulty. He had his pistols also, but prudently declined
using them, confiding in his great personal strength, which far exceeded that
of any person I have ever known. Seizing a club from one of the savages who had
fallen, he dashed out the brains of the three who remained, killing each
instantaneously with a single blow of the weapon, and leaving us completely
masters of the field.
So rapidly had these events passed,
that we could scarcely believe in their reality, and were standing over the
bodies of the dead in a species of stupid contemplation, when we were brought
to recollection by the sound of shouts in the distance. It was clear that the
savages had been alarmed by the firing, and that we had little chance of
avoiding discovery. To regain the cliff, it would be necessary to proceed in
the direction of the shouts, and even should we succeed in arriving at its
base, we should never be able to ascend it without being seen. Our situation
was one of the greatest peril, and we were hesitating in which path to commence
a flight, when one of the savages whom I had shot, and supposed dead, sprang
briskly to his feet, and attempted to make his escape. We overtook him,
however, before he had advanced many paces, and were about to put him to death,
when Peters suggested that we might derive some benefit from forcing him to
accompany us in our attempt to escape. We therefore dragged him with us, making
him understand that we would shoot him if he offered resistance. In a few
minutes he was perfectly submissive and ran by our sides as we pushed in among
the rocks, making for the seashore.
So far, the irregularities of the
ground we had been traversing hid the sea, except at intervals, from our sight,
and, when we first had it fairly in view, it was perhaps two hundred yards
distant. As we emerged into the open beach we saw, to our great dismay, an
immense crowd of the natives pouring from the village, and from all visible
quarters of the island, making toward us with gesticulations of extreme fury,
and howling like wild beasts. We were upon the point of turning upon our steps
and trying to secure a retreat among the fastnesses of the rougher ground, when
I discovered the bows of two canoes projecting from behind a large rock which
ran out into the water. Toward these we now ran with all speed, and, reaching
them, found them unguarded, and without any other freight than three of the
large Galapagos turtles and the usual supply of paddles for sixty rowers. We
instantly took possession of one of them, and, forcing our captive on board,
pushed out to sea with all the strength we could command.
We had not made, however, more than
fifty yards from the shore before we became sufficiently calm to perceive the
great oversight of which we had been guilty in leaving the other canoe in the
power of the savages, who, by this time, were not more than twice as far from
the beach as ourselves, and were rapidly advancing to the pursuit. No time was
now to be lost. Our hope was, at best, a forlorn one, but we had none other. It
was very doubtful whether, with the utmost exertion, we could get back in time
to anticipate them in taking possession of the canoe; but there was a chance
that we could. We might save ourselves if we succeeded, while not to make the
attempt was to resign ourselves to inevitable butchery.
The canoe was modelled with the bow
and stern alike, and, in place of turning it around, we merely changed our
position in paddling. As soon as the savages perceived this, they redoubled
their yells, as well as their speed, and approached with inconceivable
rapidity. We pulled, however, with all the energy of desperation, and arrived
at the contested point before more than one of the natives had attained it.
This man paid dearly for his superior agility, Peters shooting him through the
head with a pistol as he approached the shore. The foremost among the rest of
his party were probably some twenty or thirty paces distant as we seized upon
the canoe. We at first endeavored to pull her into the deep water, beyond the
reach of the savages, but, finding her too firmly aground, and there being no
time to spare, Peters, with one or two heavy strokes from the butt of the
musket, succeeded in dashing out a large portion of the bow and of one side. We
then pushed off. Two of the natives by this time had got hold of our boat,
obstinately refusing to let go, until we were forced to dispatch them with our
knives. We were now clear off and making great way out to sea. The main body of
the savages, upon reaching the broken canoe, set up the most tremendous yell of
rage and disappointment conceivable. In truth, from everything I could see of
these wretches, they appeared to be the most wicked, hypocritical, vindictive,
bloodthirsty, and altogether fiendish race of men upon the face of the globe.
It is clear we should have had no mercy had we fallen into their hands. They
made a mad attempt at following us in the fractured canoe, but, finding it
useless, again vented their rage in a series of hideous vociferations, and
rushed up into the hills.
We were thus relieved from immediate
danger, but our situation was still sufficiently gloomy. We knew that four
canoes of the kind we had were at one time in the possession of the savages,
and were not aware of the fact (afterward ascertained from our captive) that
two of these had been blown to pieces in the explosion of the Jane Guy. We
calculated, therefore, upon being yet pursued, as soon as our enemies could get
around to the bay (distant about three miles) where the boats were usually laid
up. Fearing this, we made every exertion to leave the island behind us, and
went rapidly through the water, forcing the prisoner to take a paddle. In about
half an hour, when we had gained probably five or six miles to the southward, a
large fleet of the flat-bottomed canoes or rafts were seen to emerge from the
bay evidently with the design of pursuit. Presently they put back, despairing
to overtake us.
CHAPTER 25
WE now found ourselves in the wide
and desolate Antarctic Ocean, in a latitude exceeding eighty-four degrees, in a
frail canoe, and with no provision but the three turtles. The long polar
winter, too, could not be considered as far distant, and it became necessary
that we should deliberate well upon the course to be pursued. There were six or
seven islands in sight belonging to the same group, and distant from each other
about five or six leagues; but upon neither of these had we any intention to
venture. In coming from the northward in the Jane Guy we had been gradually
leaving behind us the severest regions of ice—this, however little it maybe in
accordance with the generally received notions respecting the Antarctic, was a
fact—experience would not permit us to deny. To attempt, therefore, getting
back would be folly—especially at so late a period of the season. Only one
course seemed to be left open for hope. We resolved to steer boldly to the
southward, where there was at least a probability of discovering other lands,
and more than a probability of finding a still milder climate.
So far we had found the Antarctic,
like the Arctic Ocean, peculiarly free from violent storms or immoderately
rough water; but our canoe was, at best, of frail structure, although large,
and we set busily to work with a view of rendering her as safe as the limited
means in our possession would admit. The body of the boat was of no better
material than bark—the bark of a tree unknown. The ribs were of a tough osier,
well adapted to the purpose for which it was used. We had fifty feet room from
stem to stern, from four to six in breadth, and in depth throughout four feet
and a half-the boats thus differing vastly in shape from those of any other inhabitants
of the Southern Ocean with whom civilized nations are acquainted. We never did
believe them the workmanship of the ignorant islanders who owned them; and some
days after this period discovered, by questioning our captive, that they were
in fact made by the natives of a group to the southwest of the country where we
found them, having fallen accidentally into the hands of our barbarians. What
we could do for the security of our boat was very little indeed. Several wide
rents were discovered near both ends, and these we contrived to patch up with
pieces of woolen jacket. With the help of the superfluous paddles, of which
there were a great many, we erected a kind of framework about the bow, to break
the force of any seas which might threaten to fill us in that quarter. We also
set up two paddle-blades for masts, placing them opposite each other, one by
each gunwale, thus saving the necessity of a yard. To these masts we attached a
sail made of our shirts-doing this with some difficulty, as here we could get
no assistance from our prisoner whatever, although he had been willing enough
to labor in all the other operations. The sight of the linen seemed to affect
him in a very singular manner. He could not be prevailed upon to touch it or go
near it, shuddering when we attempted to force him, and shrieking out, “Teele-li!”
Having completed our arrangements regarding
the security of the canoe, we now set sail to the south-southeast for the
present, with the view of weathering the most southerly of the group in sight.
This being done, we turned the bow full to the southward. The weather could by
no means be considered disagreeable. We had a prevailing and very gentle wind
from the northward, a smooth sea, and continual daylight. No ice whatever was
to be seen; nor did I ever see one particle of this after leaving the parallel
of Bennet’s Islet. Indeed, the temperature of the water was here far too warm
for its existence in any quantity. Having killed the largest of our tortoises,
and obtained from him not only food but a copious supply of water, we continued
on our course, without any incident of moment, for perhaps seven or eight days,
during which period we must have proceeded a vast distance to the southward, as
the wind blew constantly with us, and a very strong current set continually in
the direction we were pursuing.
March 1st. {*7}-Many unusual
phenomena now—indicated that we were entering upon a region of novelty and
wonder. A high range of light gray vapor appeared constantly in the southern
horizon, flaring up occasionally in lofty streaks, now darting from east to
west, now from west to east, and again presenting a level and uniform summit—in
short, having all the wild variations of the Aurora Borealis. The average
height of this vapor, as apparent from our station, was about twenty-five
degrees. The temperature of the sea seemed to be increasing momentarily, and
there was a very perceptible alteration in its color.
March 2d.-To-day by repeated
questioning of our captive, we came to the knowledge of many regarding the
island of the massacre, its inhabitants, and customs—but with these how can I
now detain the reader? I may say, however, that we learned there were eight
islands in the group—that they were governed by a common king, named Salmon or Salmon,
who resided in one of the smallest of the islands; that the black skins forming
the dress of the warriors came from an animal of huge size to be found only in
a valley near the court of the king—that the inhabitants of the group
fabricated no other boats than the flat-bottomed rafts; the four canoes being
all of the kind in their possession, and, these having been obtained, by mere
accident, from some large island in the southwest—that his own name was
Nu-Nu—that he had no knowledge of Bennet’s Islet—and that the appellation of
the island he had left was Stall. The commencement of the words Salmon and Stall
was given with a prolonged hissing sound, which we found it impossible to
imitate, even after repeated endeavors, and which was precisely the same with the
note of the black bittern we had eaten up on the summit of the hill.
March 3d.-The heat of the water was
now truly remarkable, and in color was undergoing a rapid change, being no
longer transparent, but of a milky consistency and hue. In our immediate
vicinity it was usually smooth, never so rough as to endanger the canoe—but we
were frequently surprised at perceiving, to our right and left, at different
distances, sudden and extensive agitations of the surface; these, we at length
noticed, were always preceded by wild flickering in the region of vapor to the
southward.
March 4th. -To-day, with the view of
widening our sail, the breeze from the northward dying away perceptibly, I took
from my coat-pocket a white handkerchief. Nu-Nu was seated at my elbow, and the
linen accidentally flaring in his face, he became violently affected with
convulsions. These were succeeded by drowsiness and stupor, and low murmurings
of “‘Teele-li! Teele-li!”
March 5th. -The wind had entirely
ceased, but it was evident that we were still hurrying on to the southward,
under the influence of a powerful current. And now, —indeed, it would seem
reasonable that we should experience some alarm at the turn events were
taking—but we felt none. The countenance of Peters indicated nothing of this
nature, although it wore at times an expression I could not fathom. The polar
winter appeared to be coming on—but coming without its terrors. I felt a
numbness of body and mind—a dreaminess of sensation but this was all.
March 6th. -The gray vapor had now
arisen many more degrees above the horizon and was gradually losing its
grayness of tint. The heat of the water was extreme, even unpleasant to the
touch, and its milky hue was more evident than ever. Today a violent agitation
of the water occurred very close to the canoe. It was attended, as usual, with
a wild flaring up of the vapor at its summit, and a momentary division at its
base. A fine white powder, resembling ashes—but certainly not such—fell over
the canoe and over a large surface of the water, as the flickering died away
among the vapor and the commotion subsided in the sea. Nu-Nu now threw himself
on his face in the bottom of the boat, and no persuasions could induce him to
arise.
March 7th. -This day we questioned
Nu-Nu concerning the motives of his countrymen in destroying our companions;
but he appeared to be too utterly overcome by terror to afford us any rational
reply. He still obstinately lay in the bottom of the boat; and, upon
reiterating the questions as to the motive, made use only of idiotic
gesticulations, such as raising with his forefinger the upper lip, and
displaying the teeth which lay beneath it. These were black. We had never seen
the teeth of an inhabitant of Stall.
March 8th. -To-day there floated by
us one of the white animals whose appearance upon the beach at Stall had
occasioned so wild a commotion among the savages. I would have picked it up,
but there came over me a sudden listlessness, and I forbore. The heat of the
water still increased, and the hand could no longer be endured within it.
Peters spoke little, and I knew not what to think of his apathy. Nu-Nu
breathed, and no more.
March 9th. -The whole ashy material
fell now continually around us, and in vast quantities. The range of vapor to
the southward had arisen prodigiously in the horizon and began to assume more
distinctness of form. I can liken it to nothing but a limitless cataract,
rolling silently into the sea from some immense and far-distant rampart in the
heaven. The gigantic curtain ranged along the whole extent of the southern
horizon. It emitted no sound.
March 21st.-A sullen darkness now
hovered above us—but from out the milky depths of the ocean a luminous glare arose
and stole up along the bulwarks of the boat. We were nearly overwhelmed by the
white ashy shower which settled upon us and upon the canoe but melted into the
water as it fell. The summit of the cataract was utterly lost in the dimness
and the distance. Yet we were evidently approaching it with a hideous velocity.
At intervals there were visible in it wide, yawning, but momentary rents, and
from out these rents, within which was a chaos of flitting and indistinct
images, there came rushing and mighty, but soundless winds, tearing up the
enkindled ocean in their course.
March 22d.-The darkness had
materially increased, relieved only by the glare of the water thrown back from
the white curtain before us. Many gigantic and pallidly white birds flew
continuously now from beyond the veil, and their scream was the eternal Teele-li!
as they retreated from our vision. Hereupon Nu-Nu stirred in the bottom of the
boat; but upon touching him we found his spirit departed. And now we rushed
into the embraces of the cataract, where a chasm threw itself open to receive
us. But there arose in our pathway a shrouded human figure, very far larger in
its proportions than any dweller among men. And the hue of the skin of the
figure was of the perfect whiteness of the snow.
NOTE
THE circumstances connected with the
late sudden and distressing death of Mr. Pym are already well known to the
public through the medium of the daily press. It is feared that the few
remaining chapters which were to have completed his narrative, and which were
retained by him, while the above were in type, for the purpose of revision,
have been irrecoverably lost through the accident by which he perished himself.
This, however, may prove not to be the case, and the papers, if ultimately
found, will be given to the public.
No means have been left untried to
remedy the deficiency. The gentleman whose name is mentioned in the preface,
and who, from the statement there made, might be supposed able to fill the
vacuum, has declined the task—this, for satisfactory reasons connected with the
general inaccuracy of the details afforded him, and his disbelief in the entire
truth of the latter portions of the narration. Peters, from whom some
information might be expected, is still alive, and a resident of Illinois, but
cannot be met with at present. He may hereafter be found, and will, no doubt,
afford material for a conclusion of Mr. Pym’s account.
The loss of two or three final
chapters (for there were but two or three) is the more deeply to be regretted,
as it cannot be doubted they contained matter relative to the Pole itself, or
at least to regions in its very near proximity; and as, too, the statements of
the author in relation to these regions may shortly be verified or contradicted
by means of the governmental expedition now preparing for the Southern Ocean.
On one point in the narrative some
remarks may well be offered; and it would afford the writer of this appendix
much pleasure if what he may here observe should have a tendency to throw
credit, in any degree, upon the very singular pages now published. We allude to
the chasms found in the island of Stall, and to the whole of the figures upon
pages 245-47 {of the printed edition—ed.}.
(Note: No figures were included with
this text)
Mr. Pym has given the figures of the
chasms without comment and speaks decidedly of the indentures found at the
extremity of the most easterly of these chasms as having but a fanciful
resemblance to alphabetical characters, and, in short, as being positively not
such. This assertion is made in a manner so simple, and sustained by a species
of demonstration so conclusive (viz., the fitting of the projections of the
fragments found among the dust into the indentures upon the wall), that we are
forced to believe the writer in earnest; and no reasonable reader should suppose
otherwise. But as the facts in relation to all the figures are most singular
(especially when taken in connection with statements made in the body of the
narrative), it may be as well to say a word or two concerning them all—this,
too, the more especially as the facts in question have, beyond doubt, escaped
the attention of Mr. Poe.
Figure 1, then, figure 2, figure 3,
and figure 5, when conjoined with one another in the precise order which the
chasms themselves presented, and when deprived of the small lateral branches or
arches (which, it will be remembered, served only as a means of communication
between the main chambers, and were of totally distinct character), constitute
an Ethiopian verbal root—the root “To be shady,’—whence all the inflections of
shadow or darkness.
In regard to the “left or most
northwardly” of the indentures in figure 4, it is more than probable that the
opinion of Peters was correct, and that the hieroglyphical appearance was
really the work of art, and intended as the representation of a human form. The
delineation is before the reader, and he may, or may not, perceive the
resemblance suggested; but the rest of the indentures afford strong
confirmation of Peters’ idea. The upper range is evidently the Arabic verbal
root “To be white,” whence all the inflections of brilliancy and whiteness. The
lower range is not so immediately perspicuous. The characters are somewhat
broken and disjointed; nevertheless, it cannot be doubted that, in their
perfect state, they formed the full Egyptian word, “The region of the south.”
It should be observed that these interpretations confirm the opinion of Peters regarding
the “most northwardly” of the figures. The arm is outstretched toward the
south.
Conclusions such as these open a
wide field for speculation and exciting conjecture. They should be regarded,
perhaps, in connection with some of the most faintly detailed incidents of the
narrative; although in no visible manner is this chain of connection complete. Teele-li!
was the cry of the affrighted natives of Stall upon discovering the carcass of
the white animal picked up at sea. This also was the shuddering exclamative of Stall
upon discovering the carcass of the white materials in possession of Mr. Pym.
This also was the shriek of the swift-flying, white, and gigantic birds which
issued from the vapory white curtain of the South. Nothing white was to be
found at Stall, and nothing otherwise in the subsequent voyage to the region
beyond. It is not impossible that “Stall,” the appellation of the island of the
chasms, may be found, upon minute philological scrutiny, to betray either some
alliance with the chasms themselves, or some reference to the Ethiopian
characters so mysteriously written in their windings.
“I have gravened it within the
hills, and my vengeance upon the dust within the rock.”
THE WORKS OF EDGAR ALLAN POE VOLUME 3
Reviewed by bsm
on
February 21, 2020
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