The presence of a ship's topsail-yard thus bestridden plainly proclaimed
that a ship had been wrecked--although no other evidence of the wreck
was within sight. Not a speck was visible upon the sea to the utmost
verge of the horizon; and if a ship had foundered within that field of
view, her boats and every vestige of the wreck must either have gone to
the bottom, or in some other direction than that taken by the
topsail-yard, which supported the three midshipmen and the sailor Bill.
A ship had gone to the bottom--a British man-of-war,--a corvette on her
way to her cruising ground, on the Guinea coast. Beguiled by the
dangerous current that sets towards the seaboard of the Saara, in a dark
stormy night she had struck upon a sand-bank; got bilged; and sank
almost instantly among the breakers. Boats had been got out, and men
had been seen crowding hurriedly into them; others had taken to such
rafts, or spars, as could be detached from the sinking vessel; but
whether any of these, or the overladen boats, had succeeded in reaching
the shore, was a question which none of the four astride the
topsail-yard were able to answer.
They only knew that the corvette had gone to the bottom--they saw her go
down, shortly after drifting away from her side; but saw nothing more
until morning, when they perceived themselves alone upon the ocean.
They had been drifting throughout the remainder of that long, dark
night, often entirely under water, when the sea swelled over them--and
one and all of them many times on the point of being washed from their
frail embarkation.
By daybreak the storm had ceased, and was succeeded by a clear, calm
day; but it was not until a late hour that the swell had subsided
sufficiently to enable them to take any measures for propelling the
strange craft that carried them. Then, using their hands as oars, or
paddles, they commenced making some way through the water.
There was nothing in sight, neither land nor any other object, save the
sea, the sky, and the sun. It was the east which guided them as to
direction. But for it there could have been no object in making way
through the water; but, with the sun now sinking in the west, they could
tell the east; and they knew that in that point alone land might be
expected.
After the sun had gone down, the stars became their compass, and
throughout all the second night of the shipwreck they had continued to
paddle the spar in an easterly direction.
Day again dawned upon them; but without gratifying their eyes by the
sight of land, or any other object, to inspire them with a hope.
Famished with hunger, tortured with thirst, and wearied with their
continued exertions, they were about to surrender to despair when, as
the sun once more mounted up to the sky, and his bright beams pierced
the crystal water upon which they were floating, they saw beneath them
the sheen of white sand. It was the bottom of the sea, and at no great
depth, not more than a few fathoms below their feet.
Such shallow water could not be far from the shore. Reassured, and
encouraged by the thought, they once more renewed their exertions, and
continued to paddle the spar, taking only short intervals of rest
throughout the whole of the morning.
Long before noon they were compelled to desist. They were close to the
tropic of Cancer, almost under its line. It was the season of
midsummer; and of course at meridian hour the sun was right over their
heads. Even their bodies cast no shadow, except upon the white sand
directly underneath them, at the bottom of the sea. The sun could no
longer guide them; and, as they had no other index, they were compelled
to remain stationary, or drift in whatever direction the breeze or the
currents might carry them.
There was not much movement any way; and for several hours before and
after noon they lay almost becalmed upon the ocean. This period was
passed in silence and inaction. There was nothing for them to talk
about but their forlorn situation; and this topic had been exhausted.
There was nothing for them to do. Their only occupation was to watch
the sun until, by its sinking lower in the sky, they might discover its
westing.
Could they at that moment have elevated their eyes only three feet
higher, they would not have needed to wait for the declination of the
orb of day. They would have seen land, such land as it was, but sunk as
their shoulders were, almost to the level of the water, even the summits
of the sand-dunes were not visible to their eyes.
When the sun began to go down towards the horizon they once more plied
their palms against the liquid wave, and sculled the spar eastward. The
sun's lower limb was just touching the western horizon, when his red
rays, glancing over their shoulders, showed them some white spots that
appeared to rise out of the water.
Were they clouds? No! Their rounded tops, cutting the sky with a clear
line, forbade this belief. They should be hills, either of snow or of
sand. It was not the region for snow: they could only be sand-hills.
The cry of "land" pealed simultaneously from the lips of all--that
cheerful cry that has so oft given gladness to the despairing castaway,
and, redoubling their exertions, the spar was propelled through the
water more rapidly than ever.
Reinvigorated by the prospect of once more setting foot upon land, they
forgot for the moment thirst, hunger, and weariness; and only occupied
themselves in sculling their craft towards the shore.
Under the belief that they had still several miles to make before the
beach could be attained, they were one and all working with eyes turned
downward. At that moment old Bill, chancing to look up, gave utterance
to a shout of joy, which was instantly echoed by his youthful
companions: all had at the same time perceived the long sandspit
projecting far out into the water; and which looked like the hand of
some friend held out to bid them welcome.
They had scarce made this discovery before another of like pleasant
nature came under their attention. That was, that they were touching
bottom! Their legs, bestriding the spar, hung down on each side of it;
and, to the joy of all, they now felt their feet scraping along the
sand.
As if actuated by one impulse all four dismounted from the irksome seat
they had been so long compelled to keep; and, bidding adieu to the spar,
they plunged on through the shoal water, without stop or stay, until
they stood high and dry upon the extreme point of the peninsula.
By this time the sun had gone down; and the four dripping forms, dimly
outlined in the purple twilight, appeared like four strange creatures
who had just emerged from out the depths of the ocean.
"Where next?"
This was the mental interrogatory of all four; though by none of them
shaped into words.
"Nowhere to-night" was the answer suggested by the inclination of each.
Impelled by hunger, stimulated by thirst, one would have expected them
to proceed onward in search of food and water to alleviate this double
suffering. But there was an inclination stronger than either, too
strong to be resisted--sleep: since for fifty hours they had been
without any; since to have fallen asleep on the spar would have been to
subject themselves to the danger, almost the certainty, of dropping off,
and getting drowned; and, notwithstanding their need of sleep, increased
by fatigue, and the necessity of keeping constantly on the alert--up to
that moment not one of them had obtained any. The thrill of pleasure
that passed through their frames as they felt their feet upon _terra
firma_ for a moment aroused them. But the excitement could not be
sustained. The drowsy god would no longer be deprived of his rights;
and one after another, though without much interval between, sank down
upon the soft sand, and yielded to his balmy embrace.