Yes--two half casks or one whole one--in all, about one hundred gallons
of fresh-water to serve for a crew of forty white men and a cargo of
five hundred black ones; to serve them for weeks! Why, it would not be
a single day's allowance--far less, indeed--it would scarce give each of
them a drink!
I have said, that the announcement, as to the quantity of water
remaining, produced upon the crew a very marked effect. Up to this time
they had been in a state of gloomy apprehension--still not without hope
that among the many casks, whose weight proclaimed them full, they would
find a few containing fresh-water. All had now been carefully examined.
Every bung had been taken out, and the contents tasted; but in every
case disappointment was the result. Nothing but the bitter brine of the
sea was found inside.
Every one of them had been examined and tried by several of the crew--
doubt and apprehension were at an end. The truth had now been reached,
was known to a certainty by all--and the result was a general paroxysm
of despair.
Rage, too, freely exhibited itself. Some, who considered themselves
innocent of having brought about this dilemma, accused and incriminated
those who were responsible for it; and some were bold enough openly to
charge the captain and mate with the neglect. Mutinous language was
freely used, threats uttered aloud, and for awhile all discipline
appeared to have departed from the ship.
After a long time spent in stormy altercation and the profuse exchange
of oaths and menaces, the angry tone died away, and all parties began to
assume a more pacific bearing towards each other. The common danger
made them friends again, or at all events put a stop to their useless
hostility; and at length, calming down to greater moderation, each
proceeded to offer suggestions, or listen to them, about what measures
should be adopted under the circumstances.
Of course, the first idea was, that the water should from this time
forth be measured out: but the question was, how much at a time? and how
often should the rations be issued? This required a nice calculation to
be made; and in this calculation all had the greatest interest. If too
large a quantity were to be allowed daily, then the stock might be
exhausted before relief should be near, and they must perish all the
same. How long would a hundred gallons last? and at what rate might
they use it? These were the two questions of importance.
These calculations were easy enough. There were just forty of the
crew--officers included--and these last were now to be put on equal
rations with the rest; for, in this crisis of peril, the government of
the _Pandora_ had suddenly assumed the form of a republic. Both captain
and mate had lost their authority, and hereafter everything was to be
conducted on the commonwealth system--share and share alike.
There were forty then in all, and, as near as could be ascertained,
about one hundred gallons of water.
After all, the prospects was not so bad--so thought they, as they
hurriedly ran over the calculation. One hundred gallons to forty men
would be two and a half gallons, or twenty pints to each man--which
would give a pint a day for twenty days, and upon a pint a day they
could subsist. In twenty days, and less time than that, they were
confident of coming within sight of land. Even should they not reach a
haven before the twenty days were expired--should they be delayed by
calms, or contrary winds, they might reduce the ration still lower, and
by so doing extend the time. Half a pint a day would enable them to
exist; and even far less in case of extreme necessity. After all, their
prospect was not so perilous as they had at first judged it to be, and
they began to recover from the shook which they had received--for on the
announcement that there was only one hundred gallons left the quantity
had appeared as nothing to them, accustomed as they had been to drinking
and wasting that much daily. The calculation, however, showed that,
with this quantity they might make shift without any great deprivation,
until land, or perhaps a ship, might appear in sight.
With regard to the latter contingency, they had already formed a
purpose. If any ship came in view--excepting, of course, a ship of
war--they had come to the determination to chase and board her; and if a
supply of water was denied them they would take it from the vessel
_nolens volens_. Perhaps, even more than water--for both captain and
crew were now so desperate that they would not have stuck at anything;
very little provocation would have transformed the slaver into a pirate.
Such were the views of the _Pandora's_ crew, and such their
determinations in regard to the use of the water. Each man was to be
allowed a pint _per diem_; and, in case of any obstruction that might
prolong the voyage, the ration was to be reduced still lower--even to a
single glass a day, if this should become necessary.