"Ay, ay," answered Mr Thudicumb, who had charge of the deck. "It is
land that will not hurt us, though;" and he continued to let the ship
run on in the course she had been steering.
Curious to know what had attracted the man's attention, I went aloft,
and there I saw spread out on the surface of the calm ocean, what looked
like a dark field, but little raised, however, above the water. On
returning on deck, I told the first officer that I really thought there
must be land ahead.
"No, Walter, no fear of that," answered Mr Thudicumb; "we are crossing
the Sargasso Sea. You will observe that it is merely sea-weed and
drift-wood collected in this spot from all parts of the ocean. The
currents and winds bring it, but why this place is selected I do not
exactly know. In a calm it might bother us, but we shall only pass
through a small portion of it, and there is wind enough to send us along
in spite of the obstruction it may offer. We must get a bucket ready,
for Mr Hooker will be anxious to have some of it up on deck, that he
may examine the creatures who live upon it. In the Pacific there is a
collection of the same sort, and people who could not otherwise for want
of fuel inhabit some of the islands in that region, are enabled to do so
in consequence of the supply of drift-wood it brings them."
The ship, soon clear of the Sargasso Sea, glided on proudly, with all
sail set below and aloft. The weather was delightful; the passengers
constantly on deck. Emily and Grace were very happy together, for
everything was new and interesting. They had plenty of employment; for
Mrs Davenport, knowing what a sea voyage is, had brought work of all
sorts. And then they had books; and they were not above running about
the deck, and playing at ball occasionally, and _Les Graces_, and other
games suitable for ship-board.
Thus day after day passed pleasantly by: the sea sparkling, the sky
bright, or occasionally mottled with light clouds. One morning,
however, when they came on deck expecting to see the blue sky above
their heads, they saw only a thick canopy of clouds. The sails were
flapping against the masts; the air was oppressive. There the ship lay,
her head moving now in one direction, now in another. Those who had
before been full of life and spirits began to complain of lassitude and
weariness. The seamen no longer moved actively about the decks, but
went sauntering along when called upon to perform any duty. The heat
grew greater and greater. The iron about the ship was unpleasant to
touch. The pitch bubbled in the seams of the deck and stuck to the
feet. Emily and Grace no longer wished to play at ball, or _Les
Graces_, or any other game. Even Merlin went disconsolately up and down
the decks, as if he thought something serious was going to happen. I
felt as I had seldom felt before.
"Are we going to have a storm, sir?" I asked of the captain. "I have
read that storms are apt to come on after weather such as we now have."
"I do not expect one," answered Captain Davenport, "though we may
possibly have a squall of a few hours' duration; and I should not be
sorry for it, if it would carry us out of this region. We are now in
the Doldrums."
"Not a bad name, considering the condition of all us poor mortals on
board," observed Mr Hooker.
"We are now under the cloud ring which encircles this part of the earth.
God has placed these clouds above our heads in this region for a
particular purpose. You will observe that the thermometer and barometer
stand lower under this cloud ring than they do on either side of it.
The clouds not only promote the precipitation which takes place in this
region, but they also cause the rains to fall on places where they are
most required, shading the surface from which the heating rays of the
sun are to be excluded, and thus giving tone to the atmospherical
circulation of the world and vigour to its vegetation. You have often,
when the sun is sending his rays with great heat down on the earth, seen
the atmosphere dancing, as it were, and trembling. This appearance is
caused by the ascending and descending columns of air. The cloud ring
creates on a greater scale this circulation of the atmosphere; indeed,
the more we examine the phenomena of Nature, the more we shall discover
the hand of a directing Providence, in suiting all things for the
convenience and use of the beings placed by Him on the earth."
Day after day the ship remained in this calm region with a cloudy sky.
People began to feel ill; and some fancied that as they were going
further south the heat would increase, and could scarcely understand
that as they proceeded the atmosphere would again become cold. Captain
Davenport and the officers were on the watch to make use of every breath
of air which would forward the ship on her course; and at length she
once more got the breeze, and those who had before been complaining of
lassitude and illness suddenly revived and came on deck to enjoy the
renovating and refreshing breeze. The sky was clear; the sea bright and
sparkling as before. Cheerful countenances were everywhere visible,
instead of the weary, downcast looks which most of those on board had
worn for the previous ten days. The only person who never seemed
depressed was Mr Hooker. When not taking exercise on deck, he always
had a volume in his hand, from which he was constantly making notes into
his pocket-book.
"You see, my young friend," he said to me one day, "I am anxious to
ascertain what others have known, because all that man can aim at is to
increase the stock of knowledge possessed by his fellow-men."
The varied changes of the ocean, and the creatures which appeared
beneath its surface, and occasionally above it, afforded us an unfailing
source of interest. On a bright morning I was engaged with some work by
the side of the boatswain when I heard Grace cry out--
"Oh, look--look what funny birds!"
"Why, miss, those are not birds, unless they may be called water birds;
those are flying-fish," said Mr Tarbox, who had come with me to the
ship's side.
Others, with Mr Hooker, came also, looking on at the curious sight.
Numbers of fish with wings, or more properly fins, as long as their
bodies, were rising out of the water and darting along for a
considerable distance above the surface, again, however, to fall
helplessly into their native element. Directly after them, in pursuit,
appeared several large fish--now one of the latter leaped half out of
the water, now another, seldom failing to catch one of the beautiful
creatures in its huge jaws.
"The dolphins are getting a fine banquet," I heard Mr Hooker remark.
"The poor _dactylopteri_ are the sufferers; but they do not fall a prey
to their persecutors without a brave attempt to escape. See, no sooner
have they wetted their wings than they are out of the water again, and
will lead them a long chase, till the dolphins are wearied out."
We watched the pursuers and pursued till they were lost to sight in the
distance.
The ship once clear of the Doldrums, met the steady trade-wind blowing
from the south-east. With her tacks aboard, she stood away towards the
South American coast. When I went on deck at night, I observed a change
in the appearance of the constellations; and now the beautiful one of
the Southern Cross became every day clearer, rising as it were in the
sky. The magellhenic clouds also came in sight, showing that the ship
was now in the southern hemisphere. Frequently patches of light were
passed in the water; caused, Mr Hooker told me, by the _pyrosoma_.
They exhibited a beautiful pale silvery light; but when they were taken
out of the water the light disappeared, till any particular part of the
creature was touched, when the light again burst forth at that point,
pervading the whole animal mass.
The _Bussorah Merchant_ did not, however, as many ships do, touch at Rio
de Janeiro; but passing through another belt of calms at the Tropic of
Capricorn, kept away eastward towards the Cape of Good Hope. One
evening, while I was keeping watch under the first officer--for I was
considered fit to take regular duty on board--the ship running at the
rate of four or five knots an hour through the water, I heard a sound as
if substances were falling upon the deck. As I went to windward, a
large dark object, wet and cold, struck me on the shoulder, and then
fell down. I instantly sung out; when the boatswain, who was on deck,
brought a lantern; and there, to the surprise of all of us, a dozen or
more cuttle fish were found, which had sprung over the weather bulwark.
"Well," exclaimed Mr Tarbox, "I never did see such a thing as this
before."
Mr Hooker, however, said that he had heard of it, as the creatures can
spring an immense distance. "I have known some," he said, "to spring
right over a ship; though, certainly, to look at them, it is difficult
to ascertain their means of rising out of the water."
The island of Tristan da Cunha was sighted, looming in the evening light
like some huge monster rising out of the ocean. Looking over the sides
the water appeared unusually clear; and I could see, far down, the fish
swimming about by the side of the ship. Even Mr Hooker, however, did
not succeed in catching any. The stormy petrel now made its appearance;
and I and Emily and Grace were delighted soon afterwards to see a
magnificent white bird with outstretched wings following the ship. "An
albatross! an albatross!" I shouted, for I guessed at once what it was.
Mr Hooker said he wished to catch two or three and prepare them to
send back to England by the _Bussorah Merchant_. He accordingly made
preparations to catch them.
"I should not like to shoot one though," I remarked. "You remember what
became of the `Ancient Mariner' who shot an albatross; how his ship
floated all alone on the ocean day after day, and week after week, and
month after month, till all on board had died and he alone remained."
"Oh no; pray don't!" exclaimed Emily, "lest so dreadful a fate should
overtake us."
"It is only a fancy of the poet's, perhaps," I remarked. "At the same
time I like to try and believe it."
"I hope the same fate does not overtake those who catch the bird with a
bait. It is his own fault, recollect, if he swallows it," said Mr
Hooker, who had now got a strong line with a hook and a piece of meat on
it, with a float to keep it from sinking. This he now veered astern. I
could not help admiring the wondrous power exhibited by the bird as it
glided on without flapping its wings. Now one was seen to dash down at
a piece of refuse which the cook had thrown overboard, slowly again to
rise and then to follow the ship, apparently without the slightest
exertion.
"That gives me an idea," said Mr Hooker, throwing a large piece of fat
overboard before he let go his baited hook. Again the albatross darted
down on it; and then, without rising again, swam vigorously after the
baited hook.
"There--he has snapped it up!" I exclaimed.
Instantly the bird found the obstruction. When the sailors who had come
aft began to attempt to haul him in, out went his wings, with which he
endeavoured to hold himself back, offering a powerful resistance to the
line. Although three men were pulling away with might and main, yet the
bird could not be drawn nearer the stern; and, at length, crack went the
line, and off it flew with the hook and the remainder of the line in its
mouth.
"Poor creature! I am afraid it will die a miserable death, instead of
speedily being put out of its sufferings, as it would have been had it
more wisely come on board," observed Mr Hooker. "However, we must get
another line and take care there is no flaw in it."
The passengers now amused themselves by throwing bits of meat overboard,
and seeing the albatrosses pounce down and snap up the tempting morsels.
At last Mr Hooker's fresh line was got ready. No sooner had the bait
reached the water than down pounced a bird upon it, rising immediately
with the hook in his mouth. This time the sailors, instead of pulling
the line up, had to haul it down, just as a paper kite is hauled down
from the sky; and, at length, by running forward, the huge bird was
brought on deck. Still it fought bravely with its wings, which it would
have been dangerous for any one to have approached. At length Mr
Hooker put an end to its sufferings by a blow from a boat's stretcher.
The other albatrosses, in no way disconcerted by the disappearance of
their companion, still followed the ship. Two more were caught; one
hauled out of the water, the other hauled on deck like the first.
A young gentleman going out to Japan then made his appearance with a gun
in his hand; and in spite of my warnings of what might be our fate
should he kill one, began firing away at the birds. Even a practised
marksman would not have found it easy to hit one of them, although they
were in no way scared by the report of the gun. At length, however, a
bullet struck one of them on the head, just as he descended into the
water. In an instant down pounced his companions, driving their beaks
into the dead body; and in a few minutes, while it still remained in
sight, they had torn it almost to pieces.
"I hope no harm will come of that shot of yours," I said to the young
civilian; "but look out!"
The young gentleman laughed, and said he did not believe in such
nonsense. Mr Hooker was soon busily employed in skinning his
albatrosses and preparing the skins for stuffing.