Now, as I have said, we came at last in safety to the open sea, and
so for a time had some degree of peace; though it was long ere we
threw off all of the terror which the Land of Lonesomeness had cast
over our hearts.
And one more matter there is regarding that land, which my memory
recalls. It will be remembered that George found certain wrappers upon
which there was writing. Now, in the haste of our leaving, he had given
no thought to take them with him; yet a portion of one he found within
the side pocket of his jacket, and it ran somewhat thus:--
"But I hear my lover's voice wailing in the night, and I go to find him;
for my loneliness is not to be borne. May God have mercy upon me!"
And that was all.
For a day and a night we stood out from the land towards the North,
having a steady breeze to which we set our lug sails, and so made very
good way, the sea being quiet, though with a slow, lumbering swell from
the Southward.
It was on the morning of the second day of our escape that we met with
the beginnings of our adventure into the Silent Sea, the which I am about
to make as clear as I am able.
The night had been quiet, and the breeze steady until near on to the
dawn, when the wind slacked away to nothing, and we lay there waiting,
perchance the sun should bring the breeze with it. And this it did; but
no such wind as we did desire; for when the morning came upon us, we
discovered all that part of the sky to be full of a fiery redness, which
presently spread away down to the South, so that an entire quarter of the
heavens was, as it seemed to us, a mighty arc of blood-colored fire.
Now, at the sight of these omens, the bo'sun gave orders to prepare the
boats for the storm which we had reason to expect, looking for it in the
South, for it was from that direction that the swell came rolling upon
us. With this intent, we roused out so much heavy canvas as the boats
contained, for we had gotten a bolt and a half from the hulk in the
creek; also the boat covers which we could lash down to the brass studs
under the gunnels of the boats. Then, in each boat, we mounted the
whaleback--which had been stowed along the tops of the thwarts--also its
supports, lashing the same to the thwarts below the knees. Then we laid
two lengths of the stout canvas the full length of the boat over the
whaleback, overlapping and nailing them to the same, so that they sloped
away down over the gunnels upon each side as though they had formed a
roof to us. Here, whilst some stretched the canvas, nailing its lower
edges to the gunnels, others were employed in lashing together the oars
and the mast, and to this bundle they secured a considerable length of
new three-and-a-half-inch hemp rope, which we had brought away from the
hulk along with the canvas. This rope was then passed over the bows and
in through the painter ring, and thence to the forrard thwarts, where it
was made fast, and we gave attention to parcel it with odd strips of
canvas against danger of chafe. And the same was done in both of the
boats, for we could not put our trust in the painters, besides which they
had not sufficient length to secure safe and easy riding.
Now by this time we had the canvas nailed down to the gunnels around our
boat, after which we spread the boat-cover over it, lacing it down to the
brass studs beneath the gunnel. And so we had all the boat covered in,
save a place in the stern where a man might stand to wield the steering
oar, for the boats were double bowed. And in each boat we made the same
preparation, lashing all movable articles, and preparing to meet so great
a storm as might well fill the heart with terror; for the sky cried out
to us that it would be no light wind, and further, the great swell from
the South grew more huge with every hour that passed; though as yet it
was without virulence, being slow and oily and black against the redness
of the sky.
Presently we were ready, and had cast over the bundle of oars and the
mast, which was to serve as our sea anchor, and so we lay waiting. It was
at this time that the bo'sun called over to Josh certain advice with
regard to that which lay before us. And after that the two of them
sculled the boats a little apart; for there might be a danger of their
being dashed together by the first violence of the storm.
And so came a time of waiting, with Josh and the bo'sun each of them at
the steering oars, and the rest of us stowed away under the coverings.
From where I crouched near the bo'sun, I had sight of Josh away upon our
port side: he was standing up black as a shape of night against the
mighty redness, when the boat came to the foamless crowns of the swells,
and then gone from sight in the hollows between.
Now midday had come and gone, and we had made shift to eat so good a
meal as our appetites would allow; for we had no knowledge how long it
might be ere we should have chance of another, if, indeed, we had ever
need to think more of such. And then, in the middle part of the
afternoon, we heard the first cryings of the storm--a far-distant
moaning, rising and falling most solemnly.
Presently, all the Southern part of the horizon so high up, maybe, as
some seven to ten degrees, was blotted out by a great black wall of
cloud, over which the red glare came down upon the great swells as though
from the light of some vast and unseen fire. It was about this time, I
observed that the sun had the appearance of a great full moon, being pale
and clearly defined, and seeming to have no warmth nor brilliancy; and
this, as may be imagined, seemed most strange to us, the more so because
of the redness in the South and East.
And all this while the swells increased most prodigiously; though without
making broken water: yet they informed us that we had done well to take
so much precaution; for surely they were raised by a very great storm. A
little before evening, the moaning came again, and then a space of
silence; after which there rose a very sudden bellowing, as of wild
beasts, and then once more the silence.
About this time, the bo'sun making no objection, I raised my head above
the cover until I was in a standing position; for, until now, I had taken
no more than occasional peeps; and I was very glad of the chance to
stretch my limbs; for I had grown mightily cramped. Having stirred the
sluggishness of my blood, I sat me down again; but in such position that
I could see every part of the horizon without difficulty. Ahead of us,
that is to the South, I saw now that the great wall of cloud had risen
some further degrees, and there was something less of the redness;
though, indeed, what there was left of it was sufficiently terrifying;
for it appeared to crest the black cloud like red foam, seeming, it might
be, as though a mighty sea made ready to break over the world.
Towards the West, the sun was sinking behind a curious red-tinted haze,
which gave it the appearance of a dull red disk. To the North, seeming
very high in the sky, were some flecks of cloud lying motionless, and of
a very pretty rose color. And here I may remark that all the sea to the
North of us appeared as a very ocean of dull red fire; though, as might
be expected, the swells, coming up from the South, against the light were
so many exceeding great hills of blackness.
It was just after I had made these observations that we heard again the
distant roaring of the storm, and I know not how to convey the exceeding
terror of that sound. It was as though some mighty beast growled far down
towards the South; and it seemed to make very clear to me that we were
but two small craft in a very lonesome place. Then, even while the
roaring lasted, I saw a sudden light flare up, as it were from the edge
of the Southern horizon. It had somewhat the appearance of lightning; yet
vanished not immediately, as is the wont of lightning; and more, it had
not been my experience to witness such spring up from out of the sea,
but, rather, down from the heavens. Yet I have little doubt but that it
was a form of lightning; for it came many times after this, so that I had
chance to observe it minutely. And frequently, as I watched, the storm
would shout at us in a most fearsome manner.
Then, when the sun was low upon the horizon, there came to our ears a
very shrill, screaming noise, most penetrating and distressing, and,
immediately afterwards the bo'sun shouted out something in a hoarse
voice, and commenced to sway furiously upon the steering oar. I saw his
stare fixed upon a point a little on our larboard bow, and perceived that
in that direction the sea was all blown up into vast clouds of dust-like
froth, and I knew that the storm was upon us. Immediately afterwards a
cold blast struck us; but we suffered no harm, for the bo'sun had gotten
the boat bows-on by this. The wind passed us, and there was an instant of
calm. And now all the air above us was full of a continuous roaring, so
very loud and intense that I was like to be deafened. To windward, I
perceived an enormous wall of spray bearing down upon us, and I heard
again the shrill screaming, pierce through the roaring. Then, the bo'sun
whipped in his oar under the cover, and, reaching forward, drew the
canvas aft, so that it covered the entire boat, and he held it down
against the gunnel upon the starboard side, shouting in my ear to do
likewise upon the larboard. Now had it not been for this forethought on
the part of the bo'sun we had been all dead men; and this may be the
better believed when I explain that we felt the water falling upon the
stout canvas overhead, tons and tons, though so beaten to froth as to
lack solidity to sink or crush us. I have said "felt"; for I would make
it so clear as may be, here once and for all, that so intense was the
roaring and screaming of the elements, there could no sound have
penetrated to us, no! not the pealing of mighty thunders. And so for the
space of maybe a full minute the boat quivered and shook most vilely, so
that she seemed like to have been shaken in pieces, and from a dozen
places between the gunnel and the covering canvas, the water spurted in
upon us. And here one other thing I would make mention of: During that
minute, the boat had ceased to rise and fall upon the great swell, and
whether this was because the sea was flattened by the first rush of the
wind, or that the excess of the storm held her steady, I am unable to
tell; and can put down only that which we felt.
Now, in a little, the first fury of the blast being spent, the boat
began to sway from side to side, as though the wind blew now upon the one
beam, and now upon the other; and several times we were stricken heavily
with the blows of solid water. But presently this ceased, and we returned
once again to the rise and fall of the swell, only that now we received a
cruel jerk every time that the boat came upon the top of a sea. And so a
while passed.
Towards midnight, as I should judge, there came some mighty flames of
lightning, so bright that they lit up the boat through the double
covering of canvas; yet no man of us heard aught of the thunder; for the
roaring of the storm made all else a silence.
And so to the dawn, after which, finding that we were still, by the mercy
of God, possessed of our lives, we made shift to eat and drink; after
which we slept.
Now, being extremely wearied by the stress of the past night, I slumbered
through many hours of the storm, waking at some time between noon and
evening. Overhead, as I lay looking upwards, the canvas showed of a dull
leadenish color, blackened completely at whiles by the dash of spray and
water. And so, presently, having eaten again, and feeling that all things
lay in the hands of the Almighty, I came once more upon sleep.
Twice through the following night was I wakened by the boat being hurled
upon her beam-ends by the blows of the seas; but she righted easily, and
took scarce any water, the canvas proving a very roof of safety. And so
the morning came again.
Being now rested, I crawled after to where the bo'sun lay, and, the noise
of the storm lulling odd instants, shouted in his ear to know whether the
wind was easing at whiles. To this he nodded, whereat I felt a most
joyful sense of hope pulse through me, and ate such food as could be
gotten, with a very good relish.
In the afternoon, the sun broke out suddenly, lighting up the boat most
gloomily through the wet canvas; yet a very welcome light it was, and
bred in us a hope that the storm was near to breaking. In a little, the
sun disappeared; but, presently, it coming again, the bo'sun beckoned to
me to assist him, and we removed such temporary nails as we had used to
fasten down the after part of the canvas, and pushed back the covering a
space sufficient to allow our heads to go through into the daylight. On
looking out, I discovered the air to be full of spray, beaten as fine as
dust, and then, before I could note aught else, a little gout of water
took me in the face with such force as to deprive me of breath; so that I
had to descend beneath the canvas for a little while.
So soon as I was recovered, I thrust forth my head again, and now I had
some sight of the terrors around us. As each huge sea came towards us,
the boat shot up to meet it, right up to its very crest, and there, for
the space of some instants, we would seem to be swamped in a very ocean
of foam, boiling up on each side of the boat to the height of many feet.
Then, the sea passing from under us, we would go swooping dizzily down
the great, black, froth-splotched back of the wave, until the oncoming
sea caught us up most mightily. Odd whiles, the crest of a sea would hurl
forward before we had reached the top, and though the boat shot upward
like a veritable feather, yet the water would swirl right over us, and we
would have to draw in our heads most suddenly; in such cases the wind
flapping the cover down so soon as our hands were removed. And, apart
from the way in which the boat met the seas, there was a very sense of
terror in the air; the continuous roaring and howling of the storm; the
_screaming_ of the foam, as the frothy summits of the briny mountains
hurled past us, and the wind that tore the breath out of our weak human
throats, are things scarce to be conceived.
Presently, we drew in our heads, the sun having vanished again, and
nailed down the canvas once more, and so prepared for the night.
From here on until the morning, I have very little knowledge of any
happenings; for I slept much of the time, and, for the rest, there was
little to know, cooped up beneath the cover. Nothing save the
interminable, thundering swoop of the boat downwards, and then the halt
and upward hurl, and the occasional plunges and surges to larboard or
starboard, occasioned, I can only suppose, by the indiscriminate might
of the seas.
I would make mention here, how that I had little thought all this while
for the peril of the other boat, and, indeed, I was so very full of our
own that it is no matter at which to wonder. However, as it proved, and
as this is a most suitable place in which to tell it, the boat that held
Josh and the rest of the crew came through the storm with safety; though
it was not until many years afterwards that I had the good fortune to
hear from Josh himself how that, after the storm, they were picked up by
a homeward-bound vessel, and landed in the Port of London.
And now, to our own happenings.