It soon became evident that the foremost swimmers, who had been for the
moment repulsed, had no intention of turning back. Why should they?
Behind them they had left no hope--not a plank to cling to--only a ship
on fire blazing upward to the skies and now almost hid under the flames.
Even she, before they could reach her, would be burned down to the
water's edge. Why should they think of swimming back? No; the raft was
the only thing upon the whole face of that wide sea upon which human
foot might now find a resting-place. Though it would be but a straw
among so many, at that straw had they determined to clutch, so long as
life remained.
They had no design of leaving us, but now swam round and round the
floating spars, evidently waiting until their main body could come up,
so that all might rush forward together and get possession of the raft.
This was plainly their intention: and, knowing it, the white men were
fast yielding to despair.
Not all of them. There were some of those rough men who still preserved
their presence of mind; and in that perilous hour, when all hope
appeared to have vanished, these men suddenly hit upon a plan to save
the raft, and the lives of those upon it, from the apparently inevitable
fate that threatened them.
I was, myself, in a state of half-stupor. I had watched the movements
of the poor wretches in the water till my head grew giddy, and I scarce
knew what was going on around me. My face was turned towards the
blazing ship, and I had not for a long while looked elsewhere. I heard
the sailors ejaculating loudly, and shouting words of encouragement; but
I supposed they were encouraging each other to repel the attack of the
swimmers, who were now on all sides of the raft, forming a sort of
irregular ring around it, of several feet in depth. I was expecting
that we would soon be sinking into the sea! I was stupefied, and I
thought I was dreaming.
All of a sudden I was aroused from my stupor by hearing a loud huzza.
It came from the sailors behind me. I could not tell its meaning till I
turned round, and then, to my surprise, I saw a piece of sail spread out
transversely across the raft, and held by several men in a vertical
position. There was one at each end and one in the middle, who, with
their arms extended upward, held the sail as high as they could reach.
For what purpose were they doing this? I needed not ask the question.
I saw that there was wind blowing against the canvas. I felt the breeze
upon my cheeks.
I looked back to the water. I saw that the raft was moving rapidly
through it. There was a rushing along the edge of the timbers--there
was froth where the spars were cleaving the sea. I looked for the
swimmers. I saw their round heads and grim faces, but no longer around
the raft--they were already in its wake, every moment falling further
away. Merciful heaven! at least from that terrible fate were we saved.
I kept gazing behind. I still saw the dark heads above the water. I
could no longer distinguish their faces. I thought they had turned them
away. I thought they were swimming back toward the blazing barque.
They may have turned back, but with what hope? They could have had
none; though despair may have driven them in that direction as well as
any other.
It was a sad beacon to guide them; nor did it serve them long. They
could not have got near it--not half-way--before that event, so dreaded
by Brace and myself, came to pass. The crisis had at length arrived.
Wherever the powder had been kept, it was long before the fire had
reached it--far longer than we had expected; but the searching flames
found it at last, and the concussion came.
It was a terrific explosion, that resembled not the report of a cannon,
but a hundred guns simultaneously fired. Bed masses were projected far
up into the heavens, and still farther out to the sea, hurtling and
hissing as they fell back into the water. A cloud of fiery sparks hung
for some minutes over the spot; but these at length came quivering down,
and, as soon as they reached the surface, were observed no more. These
sparks were the last that was seen of the _Pandora_.
The crew at this moment were awed into silence. There was silence far
over the sea; yet for nearly another hour that silence was at intervals
broken by the death-shriek of some exhausted swimmer or some victim of
the ravening shark.
The breeze still continued to blow, the raft moved on, and long before
morning the _Pandora's_ crew were carried far away from the scene of the
terrible tragedy.