Boxall did his uttermost, by his cheerful conversation, to keep up our
spirits; but we were little inclined to talk, and sometimes we sat for
an hour together without speaking, when his remarks would arouse us.
Boxall was one of those quiet, unpretending men who can dare and do
great things without making a boast of it, and at the same time endure
trial and suffering without complaining. He did not tell us his
thoughts, but we might have supposed that he felt certain of being
preserved, so calm and even cheerful did he appear.
Halliday was an excellent fellow, who had never, that I know of, done an
unworthy action; but he was apt to take things as he found them, and not
to look far beyond the present. When with merry companions, he was as
merry and happy as any of them; but if in sedate society, he was quiet
and sedate.
Ben was, like many other British seamen, indifferent to danger, of a
cheerful disposition, and generous and self-sacrificing; always ready to
take a glass with an old messmate whenever an opportunity offered,--
though he seldom if ever got intoxicated, even on shore, and never on
duty.
I may be excused if I say but little about myself. I felt our position,
and could not hide from myself the fearful danger we were in, although I
did not altogether despair of escaping.
We had been silent for some time, when Halliday exclaimed,--"I could
stand the hunger, but this thirst is terrible. I must take a gulp of
the water alongside."
"On no account, my dear fellow, as you value your life," cried Boxall;
"it will only increase your thirst, and very probably bring on delirium.
Numbers have died in consequence of doing as you propose. Bear it
manfully. Providence may save us when we least expect it."
"You had better take a bite of my biscuit, sir," said Ben, turning
round; "it will give your mouth something to do. Chew it well, though.
I and four companions were once in the Pacific in a whale-boat for three
days, under the line, without a drop of water to cool our tongues; and
all we had to eat were some flying-fish which came aboard of their own
accord--or rather, it's my belief that Heaven sent them. Three of us
who stuck to the fish were taken aboard by our own ship on the fourth
day; and two who would drink the salt water sprang overboard raving mad
just before she hove in sight. It has been a lesson to me ever since."
"Thank you, Ben; we will profit by it," said Boxall.
We were paddling along as at first, all this time,--though, as we made
but slow progress towards the shore, Boxall began to suspect that the
current was carrying us to the southward. Still, we hoped that a breeze
would again spring up and send us along faster; at all events, should a
vessel appear in sight, our mast and sail, such as they were, would
afford us a better chance of being seen than would otherwise have been
the case. But hour after hour passed away, and still no sail hove in
sight; indeed, while the calm lasted we could not expect to see one.
"What sort of people are we likely to meet with on yonder shore, should
we ever get there?" asked Halliday. "Charlie, do you know?"
"Moors or Arabs; I don't suppose any black fellows are to be found so
far north," I answered.
"I would rather land among blacks than Moors, from what I have heard of
the latter," said Boxall. "However, we may, I hope, be picked up by
some European vessel."
It was the first time Boxall had made any remark calculated to increase
our anxiety, and his words had apparently slipped out unintentionally.
I remembered having read an account of the barbarous way in which the
wild Arabs of the African Desert had treated some European sailors
wrecked on the coast; and I could not help reflecting that the most
abject slavery might be our lot, should we fall into their hands. A
discussion as to the character of the natives we were likely to meet
with, should we reach the shore, occupied us for some time. Again
Halliday complained of fearful thirst, when Ben succeeded at length in
persuading him to munch a piece of his biscuit; but he declared that
without a drop of moisture he could not get a morsel down. Just then
Ben sang out that he saw some round things floating in the water a short
way ahead.
"It may be sea-weed--though I have a notion it is something else," he
added, as we paddled eagerly forward.
"They are oranges!" he soon shouted out; "and whether they have come
from our vessel or some other, there they are."
We strained every nerve to urge on the raft, as if they would sink
before we could reach the spot. How eagerly we picked them up! There
were two dozen altogether. Directly Ben got hold of one he handed it to
Halliday, who began sucking away at it with the greatest eagerness.
They were all perfectly ripe; and even had they been green, they would
have been most welcome.
"Providence has sent this fruit for our relief," said Boxall. "Let us
be thankful to the Giver."
There were six apiece. We stowed them away in our pockets, for we had
nowhere else to put them. They might be, we thought--as indeed they
were--the means of preserving our lives. By Boxall's advice we ate only
one each, reserving the others till hunger and thirst might press us
more than at present. I suspect that otherwise Halliday would have
consumed all of his share--as perhaps might the rest of us.
All day we were on the look-out for a sail; but the calm continuing, no
vessel could approach us. We had reason, however, to be thankful that a
strong wind and heavy sea did not get up, as our frail raft, on which we
could with difficulty balance ourselves, would speedily have been
overwhelmed. On we paddled; but, as before, we made but little
progress. A light breeze springing up towards evening, we hoisted our
sail; and steering as well as we could with our paddles, or rather the
pieces of board which served as such, we glided on towards the still
far-distant shore. Had we known more about the coast and the dangers
which fringed it, we should probably have endeavoured to gain the
offing, where we might possibly be seen by a vessel passing either to
the north or south--which none was likely to do closer in with the
shore. Still, we all agreed that if we remained at sea and no vessel
should come near us for a couple of days, we must, without food and
water, inevitably perish.
We were all greatly overpowered with a desire to sleep, which even the
fear of falling off into the water could scarcely conquer. I know that,
though I was steering, I frequently saw the stars dancing before my eyes
and shining in a confused manner on the mirrorlike surface of the water,
while I scarcely recollected where I was or what had happened. At last
I could stand it no longer, and was compelled to tell Boxall how I felt.
Though there was great risk in changing our position, he insisted on
taking my place; and as he was next to me, he told me to stoop down
while he crept over my head. The centre part of the raft was more
secure. Halliday, who had, I found, been sleeping for some time, was
being held on by Boxall, who undertook to help me in the same way. In a
moment after I had got into my new position I was fast asleep; and
though the wind had been increasing, and the sea was consequently
rougher than before, even the tossing of the raft did not awake me.
We had been running on for some time, when suddenly I was aroused by a
violent shock.
"What has happened?" I exclaimed, opening my eyes.
"We have run on a reef!" exclaimed Ben; "and it will be a job for us to
get over it."
The mast had been unshipped, and fell over Ben; but being only an oar,
it did not hurt him. We found ourselves on the top of a level rock,
with the water quite shoal all round us.
"What is to be done now?" asked Halliday.
"We will take our sail to pieces, and resume our shirts and
handkerchiefs," said Boxall calmly. "If the tide is at present at its
height, the rock will be dry shortly, and we can remain and stretch our
legs till we ascertain how far we are off the coast."
"But had we not better drag the raft over to the other side, into deeper
water?" asked Ben; "we may then be able to continue our voyage."
"We must first ascertain where the deep water is," answered Boxall.
"I will soon learn that," said Ben, taking the boat-hook in his hand to
feel his way. He went forward carefully for some distance. At last he
shouted out,--"The reef is higher here than where we struck it, and I am
pretty sure I see a sand-bank at no great distance. I will go ahead and
let you know."
Halliday was so stiff and worn out that he was unable to move, and
neither Boxall nor I liked to leave him. As Ben was strong, and a good
swimmer, we felt sure that he could manage by himself.
We now refreshed ourselves with another orange; and I felt that I had
still some strength left for any further exertions we might have to
make.
After waiting for some time, we thought we heard Ben shouting to us.
"Yes, I am sure that is Ben's voice," said Boxall. "Come, Halliday, are
you able to move?"
"I will do my best," was the answer; and getting up, we made our way
over the rocks in the direction from which Ben's voice proceeded. After
passing over a dry ledge we found the water again deepening; but I took
Halliday's hand, and together we waded on, followed by Boxall--who was
ready to give either of us assistance, should we require it. The water
was growing deeper and deeper, till it almost reached our chests.
"We shall have to swim for it," I said; "but I don't think it will be
far." Just then we again heard Ben's voice. "He would not call to us
if there was any danger to be encountered," I observed. The next
instant we all had to strike out; but we had not gone twenty fathoms
when we found our feet touching the bottom, and once more we waded on.
"I see him," I cried out, as my eye caught sight of a figure standing,
apparently on dry land. "It may be the coast itself which we have
reached--sooner than we expected."
We had still some distance to go, but the water gradually became
shallower. Halliday, overcome with fatigue, cried out that he could go
no further; but Boxall, overtaking us, made him rest on his shoulder.
The water being now no higher than our knees, we advanced more easily;
and we soon caught sight of Ben, who had gone some distance over the
sand, running to meet us. When at length we reached the dry land, we
all three sank down exhausted.
"But have we really reached the coast of Africa?" eagerly asked Boxall
of Ben.
"I am sorry to say we have not, sir; we are on a sand-bank ever so far
from it, for not a glimpse have I been able to get of the coast--though
we may perhaps see whereabouts it is when the sun rises."
This was disappointing intelligence.
"Still, we ought to be thankful that we have a spot of dry land on which
to put our feet," said Boxall. "As we have been preserved hitherto, we
ought not to despair, or fear that we shall be allowed to perish. At
daylight, when we shall ascertain our position better than we can do
now, we may be able to judge what we ought to do."
Of course, we all agreed with him, and at once made our way up to the
highest part of the bank, which was covered with grass and such plants
as usually grow on saline ground seldom or never covered by the sea.
Exposed as it was, it afforded us space on which to rest our weary
limbs. Led by Boxall, we returned thanks to Heaven for our
preservation, and offered up a prayer for protection in the future; and
then we stretched ourselves out on the ground. Having no fear of being
attacked by savage beasts or equally savage men, in a few minutes we
were all fast asleep.
The sun had risen when we awoke. We all felt ravenously hungry, and
were burning with thirst. Our thirst we slightly quenched with another
orange apiece; but as we gazed around the barren sand-bank, we had no
hopes of satisfying our hunger. Unless we could quickly reach the land,
we felt we must perish. Standing up, we looked eagerly towards the
east; a mist, however, which the sun had not yet dispelled, hung over
that part of the horizon. The sand-bank, we judged, was a mile or more
long, but very much narrower. It had apparently been thrown up by a
current which swept round it inside the reef; while the reef itself
appeared to extend further than our eyes could reach to the southward,
and we supposed that we were somewhere near its northern end.
Halliday and I sat down again, not feeling inclined to walk about. We
asked Boxall what he proposed doing.
"We must return to our raft, and try and get her round the reef," he
answered. "The weather promises still to be moderate, and I think we
shall have no difficulty in doing so."
"But how are we to get on without food?" asked Halliday. "If Ben would
give me another piece of biscuit I might pick up a little; but I never
could stand hunger."
We looked round for Ben, but we found he had walked away, and was, as it
seemed, sauntering idly along the beach. The tide had by this time gone
out, and a considerable space of rocky ground was uncovered. We none of
us felt inclined to move, but at the same time we knew that we must
exert ourselves or perish; we wanted water more than anything else.
"We have no chance of finding it on this barren sand-bank," I observed
with a sigh.
"I am not so certain of that," said Boxall. "I have heard that in the
driest sand, provided the sea does not wash over it, drinkable water may
be procured by digging deep down. Let us try, at all events."
Agreeing to do as he proposed, we got up and walked along till we saw
some tufts of grass; they were thin, and burned brown by the sun.
"Let us try here," said Boxall. "This grass would not grow without some
moisture; and possibly, by digging down, we shall find it at the roots."
We set to work with our knives, but soon found that we could throw out
the sand more rapidly with our hands than with these. We worked away,
eagerly scraping out the sand. The roots ran very deep. "This is a
most encouraging sign," said Boxall. "Observe how much cooler the sand
is here than at the top." It continued, however, to roll down almost as
fast as we threw it up, and we had to enlarge the circumference of the
hole. Still no appearance of water; but the roots extended even further
down than we had yet gone, and we persevered. We had got down nearly
three feet, when we saw that some of the particles of sand glistened
more than those at the top, and were of a brighter hue.
"See--see! they are wet!" exclaimed Halliday, digging away frantically.
We now got down into the hole, and threw the sand up behind us.
Halliday at length brought up a handful which was moist, and pressed it
to his lips. "It is free from salt!" he cried out; and again we all
plunged down, till we came to a patch of wet sand. By keeping our hands
in it, a little water at length began to trickle into them, which we
eagerly drank. But this process appeared a very slow one. Had we
possessed a cup of any sort to sink in the sand, we might have filled
it; as it was, we were compelled to wait till we could get a few drops
at a time in the hollow of our hands. Slow as was the proceeding,
however, we at length somewhat overcame the burning thirst from which we
had been suffering.
"Why should we not try to fill our shoes?" I exclaimed, as the thought
struck me.
"We might try it; but it will take a long time to fill _one_ of them,"
said Boxall; "and I am afraid that the water will leak out as fast as it
runs in."
"I am ready to devote mine to the purpose, at all events," I said,
taking them off and working them down into the sand--though it was
evident that a long time must elapse before water could flow into them.
"But what has become of Ben?" I asked; "we must let him know, as
probably he is as thirsty as we were."
We looked round, and at last caught sight of him stooping down, as if
picking up something at the edge of the water. We shouted to him, but
he was so busily engaged that he did not hear us.
"He has found some mussels or other shell-fish," exclaimed Halliday,
setting off to run; "I am desperately hungry."
"Depend on it, Ben will give us a due share of whatever he has found,"
said Boxall, as we followed our companion.
"Have you found any mussels?" Halliday was asking as we drew near.
"Better than mussels--oysters," answered Ben. "It's a very hard job,
however, to get them off the rock. I intended to surprise you, thinking
you were all still asleep, and so I waited till I could get enough for
all of us."
He showed us his ample pockets already full; and, hungry as he was, I am
certain that the honest fellow had not touched one of them. We retired
to the dry sand, and sitting down, eagerly opened the oysters with our
knives. How delicious they were! meat and drink in one, as Ben
observed--for we could scarcely have swallowed any dry food just then.
We found our strength greatly restored after our meal.
Having told Ben of the means we had taken to find water, we advised him
to come back with us and get a drink.
"No, no, gentlemen," he said; "it will be wiser first to collect as many
oysters as we can secure before the tide comes back, for we shall not
then be able to get them."
So we all set to work to collect oysters, filling our pockets and then
carrying them on shore, and there piling them up beyond high-water mark.
We knew that we should require a large number: indeed, Boxall reminded
us that we could not expect to live long upon them and keep up our
strength. It was tantalising, also, to reflect that we could not carry
any quantity on our intended voyage.
Boxall then proposed that we should return to our water-hole. "Though I
am afraid, Charlie, we shall not find your shoes very full," he
observed.
"Perhaps not; but if we take a few of the deepest of these
oyster-shells, we may get water more quickly," I answered. The thought
that they would be of use had just struck me.
Away we went, our pockets loaded with as many oysters as we could carry.
When we got to the hole I was disappointed to find that Boxall was
right, and that there was only just sufficient water in my shoes to
enable Ben partly to quench his thirst. By further increasing the hole,
however, and putting down our oyster-shells, we found that we could
obtain a much larger quantity of the precious liquid than by means of
the shoes. Still there was only just enough to quench our thirst; and
even had we possessed a bottle, it would have required some hours to
fill it.
The tide had already begun to rise, and we agreed that no time was to be
lost in crossing the channel to our raft, as we should now have the
advantage of shallow water; whereas, if we waited, we should have to
carry the raft a considerable distance over the rocks to launch it.
"I won't disguise from you that I consider our expedition a dangerous
one," said Boxall. "Heavy weather may come on before we reach the
shore; or a current may sweep us either to the north or south on to
another reef. And when we do gain the shore, we cannot tell how we
shall support life, or what treatment we may receive from the
inhabitants, should we fall in with any, in that desert region. We can,
however, trust to One above to take care of us. Let us pray to Him for
protection."
We knelt down, and Boxall offered up a heart felt, earnest prayer, in
which we all joined. Then we rose from our knees, with strong hearts to
encounter the dangers before us.