The steady nor'-east wind that was driving the good ship so gallantly on
her way when Captain Dinks put her about in order to rescue the
Norwegian sailor, continued for days, accompanied by such magnificent
weather, that the _Nancy Bell_ was enabled to make very rapid progress
down to those lower parallels it was necessary for her to reach before
she could stretch forward, in a straight line eastward towards her port
of destination.
"I guess, Cap," said Mr Zachariah Lathrope, noticing the quick change
of temperature in the air, day by day, as they left the tropics behind--
the mornings and evenings becoming gradually colder--"she air making as
straight tracks fur the south as them northern carpet-baggers did after
our little onpleasantness, what you folks called the civil war in the
States; when they used to rush down from Washington arter
postmasterships and other sich like offices, which wer to be hed, they
kinder thought, fur the asking! She air goin' slick, and that's a
fact!"
"Yes," replied the worthy captain, whose face beamed with good humour
and satisfaction at the splendid run the vessel was making; "we are
going ahead, working down our southing, and will soon be able to steer
for New Zealand. She does walk along, and no mistake!" And then he
would look aloft, perhaps, and give an order for a brace to be tautened
here, or a sheet slackened there--the hours thus flying by in halcyon
moments, as far as the wind and sea, and the course of the ship, and all
on board were concerned--collectively and individually.
The nights in these southern latitudes were simply beautiful beyond
compare.
The moon had no sooner died out than she revived again, as if gifted
with perpetual youth--not an evening passing without her presence,
sooner or later, on the scene--and appeared, too, to have more dignity
of position and greater size than in the frigid north, ascending right
up to the very zenith, instead of merely skirting the heavens, as she
sometimes does here, and shining down from thence like a midnight sun in
radiant splendour. The Scorpion, also, amongst the various
constellations, was similarly promoted, occupying a place nearer the
centre of the firmament; while the Southern Cross, quite a new
acquaintance, followed by Castor and Pollux, began to descend towards
the sea, becoming more diagonal as the days drew on than when originally
observed, and finally vanishing from view head foremost.
As for the North Star, it had long since entirely disappeared; and only
the horses in Charles' Wain yet remained above the horizon towards that
point of the compass.
To Kate Meldrum's eyes, the sunsets were especially grand; for, as soon
as the time came for the glorious orb of day to sink to rest in the
golden west, a series of light amber-tinted clouds would arrange
themselves all round the horizon, as if with a studied pictorial effect,
like the stage grouping in what theatrical people term "a set piece;"
and then, by degrees, these clouds would become tinged with the
loveliest kaleidoscopic colours, all vividly bright--while the far-off
heaven that lay between them was of the purest palest rose-hued gold,
and the sky immediately above of a faint, ethereal, blueish, transparent
green.
In the daytime, especially as the ship drew nearer to the meridian of
the Cape, there was more life in, on, and about the ocean; and on
passing the Island of Tristan da Cunha, which the _Nancy Bell_ sailed by
some three hundred miles to the northward, Master Maurice Negus was
greeted with the sight of a sperm-whale.
This fellow was much smaller than the black-fish which had come to such
an untimely end when assailed by the thresher, being scarcely longer
than thirty-two feet. Maurice was especially credited with the
cetacean's discovery, because, when he noticed the spout of spray the
animal threw up from his blow-holes in the distance, he surprised
everybody by calling out that he could see one of the Crystal Palace
fountains--getting much laughed at, as might have been expected, for the
naive announcement.
As those on board watched, they could see the whale every now and then
heave himself out of the water, half the length of his long dark body,
and fall "flop" down again, with a concussion that sent up the water
around him in white surf, like breakers. After this little diversion,
he amused himself with swimming backwards and forwards past the ship, as
if just showing what he could do, at a great rate; exposing only a thin
streak of his back and the fin and tail, but making the sea boil up as
if a plough were going through it, and leaving a wake behind him like
that of a paddle-wheel steamer--finally starting off suddenly due north,
as if he had all at once recollected an appointment in that direction,
when he soon disappeared from sight.
The flying-fish and dolphins, bonetas and sharks, like the "Portuguese
men-of-war," were long since all left behind; but their places were
taken by the albatross, the Cape pigeon, the shearwater, and a sea-bird
called the "parson," dozens of which flew about the ship every day.
The shearwater was a larger species of tern, or sea-swallow; the
"parson," so called for his sombre appearance and sedate manner, was a
kind of sable gull about the size of an English crow. His colour,
however, was not black, but a dusky brownish black, as if the reverend
gentleman's coat had got rusty from wear. These birds had a very odd,
"undertakerish" air about them, which amused Maurice and Florry very
much, and some having venerable white heads, which appeared as if
powdered with flour, like a footman's for a party, were so much more
eccentric looking, that even the grave Mrs Major Negus could not help
smiling at their appearance and queer ways.
"Do look, papa!" exclaimed Kate--who during the voyage would at one time
be in the highest spirits, and the next pensive, as if occupied by a
world of thought--"I declare if that one isn't the very image of Mr
Trotter, our curate at Allington! He has the same little tuft of hair
on top on his head; and, besides, he has the identical same way of
popping it on one side when he used to speak, and staring at you with
his little round eyes. Is he not like Mr Trotter, father?" and she
pointed out one especially jaunty little "parson" to his notice.
"Well, there is a little resemblance, certainly," said Mr Meldrum,
joining in Florry's laughter at the remark. "I don't suppose, though,
my dear, we'll ever see poor Mr Trotter or Allington again."
"Dear old Allington!" murmured Kate with a sigh; and, in a moment, her
memory flew back to the past, with all its sad associations.
The Cape pigeons were the prettiest of all the birds that visited the
ship, being very like the common wood pigeon in the shape of their head
and bill, but having webbed feet to suit their aquatic habits. They
were much plumper, too, than either the shearwaters or parsons--which
latter, by the way, unlike the fat cleric of popular opinion, were of
very slender and delicate proportions.
In the matter of plumage, the Cape pigeons were white and downy, with
the head and wings striped with brown like butterflies, a large species
of which they strongly resembled when flying away from the ship, with
their pinions spread.
But, of all the birds they saw, the albatross was the most wonderful to
observe. Not much larger than a goose in the size of its body, it had
enormous thin-edged wings, that enabled it to float about in the air, at
will apparently, without any perceptible motion, for hours at a stretch.
It seemed to direct its course by the slightest possible turning of its
body, so as to alter the inclination of its wings, which, extending out
straight and firm, bore the bird up or down, or away many miles off in a
second of time, in the most surprising manner.
The albatross floats, or skims along the air, but does not fly according
to our ideas, although it has an extraordinary power of launching itself
from enormous heights down to the level of the sea with the velocity of
lightning.
"Just like a white-winged messenger of light," as Kate Meldrum observed
in the hearing of Captain Dinks, "sent out from the angelic host above
on some divine mission to suffering humanity below!"
"Ah; that sounds very pretty, missy," said the captain; "but the
albatross' mission happens to be fish; and I fancy that spoils the
sentiment a bit!"
Eighteen days after passing the line, some seven weeks from her start,
the _Nancy Bell_ crossed the meridian of Greenwich, or longitude zero--
at which precise time her position could not be said to be either east
or west--in latitude 38 degrees south, a couple of degrees below the
Cape; and the wind, which had kept steadily from the north-east and
northward ever since the South American coast had been left astern, now
got well round to the south-west, enabling every stitch of canvas to
draw, from the spanker to the flying jib. Seeing this Captain Dinks
caused the upper yards to be squared a bit and the main and fore top-
gallant studding-sails set, thus helping the vessel on her way.
This sort of weather lasted for five days, the ship being steered east
by south, meeting the sun and losing an hour a day by the chronometer
and going twelve knots each hour out of the twenty-four; when on
reaching the longitude of the Cape "a change came o'er the spirit" of
the _Nancy Bell's_ "dream."
The wind shifted suddenly from the south-west to the north-east; and the
heavy rolling sea, peculiar to the Southern Ocean, set in, accompanied
by showers of rain, and hail, and snow. Soon, sail had to be reduced,
and the ship, with all her gay canvas stripped off her, had as much as
she could do to stagger along under reefed topsails and foresail, the
mizzen staysail being set to give her more power aft, her steering
becoming very wild after a bit although two men were at the helm.
From merely looking squally, the clouds gathering on the horizon grew
thicker and thicker, till they got as black as ink. The sea, also,
darkened to a dark leaden hue, and the swell increased so rapidly in
height that when the vessel sank down into the intermediate valley not a
glimpse could be obtained of anything beyond the watery mountains on
either side.
"I guess we're going to have it pretty rough, Cap, eh," said the
American to Captain Dinks; "it looks all-powerful squally, it dew!"
"You're right," said the captain. "We're now in the vicinity of the
Cape of Storms, and we've got to look out."
So saying, Captain Dinks showed his determination of "looking out," by
having all the lighter spars of the ship sent down from aloft, besides
causing everything to be made secure on deck and below for the expected
storm.
Not long after the _Nancy Bell_ was made snug the tempest burst upon
her. The high, smooth rolling waves were torn and wrenched asunder, as
it were; and their summits wreathed into masses of foam, which curled
over as they advanced against the wind, and, breaking away in fragments,
blew off in masses of snowy whiteness to leeward. The ship was meeting
this swell nearly head on; and as the rollers caught her fairly on the
bows she struck them with a sound as heavy as that with which the weight
falls in a pile-driving machine, taking in some of the sea over the
forecastle and carrying it aft as far as the break of the poop--washing
about everything in its course until the water finally found vent from
the deck through the scuppers.
One of these waves--a regular mountain of a sea, the water all green,
and standing up like a huge pellucid wall before it toppled over--coming
in over the bows, made a clean sweep of all that was movable lying
forward of the mainmast, carrying over the side all the hen-coops,
sheep-pen, water casks, as well as spare spars that had been stowed
along the deck, nothing being left to show that they had ever been
there! Even Snowball's galley was upset and rolled about in the waist
to leeward, the sea having not been quite strong enough to carry it
overboard, while its unhappy occupant, half drowned in the scuppers and
not able to extricate himself from his perilous position, was loudly
calling for aid.
Ben Boltrope--who had been having a confab with the darkey, and probably
a "drop of something hot," his special failing, in the galley when the
sea washed over the ship and fetched it away--was promptly at hand to
help his sable friend; when the galley was reinstated in its proper
place, and so tightly lashed down to the ring-bolts that a sea would
have had to carry away the deck itself to have lifted it again. But,
sad to relate, the sheep and the poultry had disappeared for ever from
human ken, along with their pens and coops, and the saloon passengers
would thenceforth have to fare without any such delicacies as roast
mutton and boiled fowl--a terrible piece of news for Mr Lathrope when
it was brought to his ears!
As the evening closed in and night came on, the force of the wind and
sea both seemed to increase, and it appeared incredible that a fabric
formed by human hands should have been capable of sustaining the rude
shocks and ponderous blows which the ship received again and again as
she battled with the waves; but the captain had in the end to let the
vessel fall off her course and scud before the gale, going whither the
elements listed.
"Oh, father," said Kate to Mr Meldrum, the two remaining on deck long
after the others had gone below, "what confidence sailors must have in
the qualities of their ship, not to be overcome with dread at such a
scene, especially if they direct a thought to the frail timbers that
only separate them from the watery abyss!"
"Aye, my child," replied he; "but, what greater confidence in God's
protecting power!"
"True, father," said Kate, and after that she remained silent until Mr
Meldrum declared it was time to go below. They did not retire, however,
until it was as dark as pitch, when nothing could be seen beyond the
wall of water on either side of the taffrail--the tumid mass looking
like a black avalanche about to overwhelm them, while the roaring of the
wind and rattling of blocks and creaking of cordage, in conjunction with
the groaning of the ship's timbers, and crashing sounds of the waves as
they broke against the quarter, as if trying to beat the vessel's sides
in, made such a discord and concert altogether that it drowned
conversation, even had either been inclined to talk in the presence of
such a display of the mighty power of Him who rules the waves.
Down in the cuddy, the scene was certainly more cheerful; and, what with
the bright light of the swinging lamps, and the well-spread table
comfortably arranged for tea, with the cups and saucers placed between
"fiddles" to prevent them from slipping adrift when the vessel pitched
or rolled, it afforded a strong contrast to the barren bareness and
gloomy discomfort of the deck, especially on such a cold night, with
suspicions of hail, and sleet, and snow at intervals. But, still, here
also everything was not quite so rose-coloured as might have at first
appeared; for stormy weather at sea discounts what might be called the
market value of the comforts and conveniences of everyday life to a most
surprising extent!
The cups and saucers were all right, or so they seemed at first sight in
their abnormal position; but, the moment those who sat down at the table
began to use them, they took to flying about like shuttles in a carpet-
loom. Bread-baskets and cake-dishes discharged their contents like
catapults against the panelling of the cabin doors, while jugs of
condensed milk--which was used not from any special liking for the
article, but through default of there being a cow on board--were emptied
most impartially on to the shirt-fronts and dresses of the gentlemen and
ladies who unfortunately sat opposite to them.
"Durn my boots!" ejaculated the American once; "but if them air sheep
hadn't gone overboard to feed the fishes, I guess we'd hev hed capers
enuff goin' on down har to sarve for sass to the biled mutton!"
All put up, however, with these petty annoyances gleefully enough, only
too glad to be able to joke and make capital out of them and pleased
that their present calamities were not too serious for laughter; and
when they separated at bedtime, it was with the cheerful wish that the
weather might be a trifle brighter on the morrow. No one seemed to
think for a moment of danger, or took heed of the bustle on deck, or of
the quivering and shaking of everything in the saloon, which seemed
suffering from what Mr Lathrope styled a "seaquake"--in
contradistinction to earthquake.
But, hardly had six bells been struck in the first watch when the order
"out lights" was given and the welcome gleam of the cuddy lamp
disappeared summarily, plunging all in darkness--than a sudden
stupendous shock assailed the ship startling the sleepers.
There came first a stunning blow, apparently from a wave, right
amidships; and then, the vessel seemed to go down to the very water's
edge on one side, heeling over as rapidly immediately afterwards to the
other.
Away went everything that was movable below, flung backwards and then
forwards right across the ship--the thumping noise made by the heavy
boxes falling in the cabins and state-rooms, combined with the crashing
and smashing of glass and crockeryware in the cuddy, where the table and
settle-seats had been carried away by the run, and the outcry of the
sailors yelling and stamping above, not to speak of the grinding and
groaning of the bulkheads and shuddering of the ship's timbers between
decks, all making up a babel of sound and confusion that was worse by a
thousand fold than what had previously occurred during the first storm
which the vessel, experienced in the Bay of Biscay.
Naturally, the majority of those below thought that all was over, and
piercing cries of terror and appeal for help resounded through the ship.