William Gale was astonished at the fury of the tempest, and the
wildness of the sea. Although, at the workhouse, he had often heard
the wind roaring round the walls, there was nothing to show him the
force that was being exerted. There were but few trees in the
neighborhood, and William had hardly ever been without the walls,
except in fine summer weather. He was, therefore, almost bewildered
by the force and fury of the gale; and by the noise, as it shrieked
through the rigging, and howled across the water. The occasional
flapping of the sails, and the rattling of the heavy blocks added
to the din; and it seemed to him that the Kitty which, like all
fishing smacks, was very deep in the water, must be completely
engulfed by the great waves which swept down upon her.
Several times, indeed, he was obliged to leap down into the cabin,
to avoid being swept away by the great masses of green water
which--pouring over her bows--swept aft, carrying away all before
them. But the Yarmouth smacks are admirable sea boats and, pounded
and belabored as she was, the Kitty always shook off the water that
smothered her, and rose again for the next wave. In twenty-four
hours the gale abated, the scattered fleet were assembled--each
flying its flag--and it was found that three were missing, having
either foundered, or been driven away from their consorts.
With the return of fine weather the fishing began again, and
William thoroughly enjoyed his life. The skipper was kind and
forbearing; he neither ill treated the boys, himself, nor permitted
any of the crew to do so; and everything went on regularly and
comfortably. There were a few books on board and, of an evening,
after the trawl was lowered and before the watch below turned into
their bunks, William--who was the best reader on board--would be
asked to read aloud for an hour. Sometimes there were songs and, as
the Kitty was fortunate, and her taking of fish good, the men were
all cheerful and good tempered.
Once every three or four days, the collecting steamer came in
sight; then there was a general race, in the fleet, to put the
trunks of fish on board her. Each did his best to be in good time
for, when the catch had been heavy, the steamer was sometimes
unable to take the whole of it; in which case the portion left
behind would be wholly spoilt, before the arrival of another
steamer. The whole of the fleet, therefore, ran down towards the
steamer as soon as she was seen; the heavy boats were tossed
overboard, and the trunk lowered into them, and two hands jumped in
to row them to the steamer. Round her a swarm of boats would soon
be collected, each striving to get alongside, to deliver the fish.
In calm weather the scene was simply amusing but, when the sea was
high, it was exciting and even dangerous; indeed, in the course of
a year more lives are lost, in the process of taking the fish from
the smack to the steamer, than in vessels foundered by gales.
Sometimes the fleet will be joined by Dutch trading smacks, who
exchange fresh bread and meat, tobacco, and spirits for fish. This
traffic is the cause, alike, of loss to the owners, by the fish
thus parted with; and of injury to the men, by the use of spirits.
Fortunately the skipper of the Kitty--although not averse to the
use of spirits, on shore--was a strict man at sea, and saw that no
one took more than a single glass of grog, of an evening.
Over and over again, Will congratulated himself that he had the
good fortune to make his first voyage under such a skipper; for he
shuddered at the stories Jack told him, of the cruelties and
barbarities with which apprentices are treated on board some of the
smacks. Although, however, there is no doubt many brutal skippers
hail from Yarmouth; the fleet from that town bears a good
reputation, in comparison with that of Grimsby--where the number of
apprentices returned as drowned, each year, is appalling.
One night, when the wind was high and the fleet trawling lower down
the North Sea than usual, Will--who was on deck--was startled at
seeing a great ship bearing down upon the smack. He gave a shout of
terror and warning, which was joined in by the crew on deck. One
ran for the hatchet to cut the trawl, and thus give steerage way to
the smack.
It was too late. In another moment the great ship bore down upon
them with a crash, and the Kitty sunk beneath the waves. The
bowsprit of the vessel projected across the deck, just at the point
where William Gale was standing and, in a moment, he caught at the
bob stay and quickly hauled himself on to the bowsprit. Climbing
along this, he was soon on board.
Two or three sailors were leaning over the bows, peering into the
darkness. They had not seen the smack, until too late to avoid it;
and the collision, which had proved fatal to the Kitty, had
scarcely been felt by the ship. Will was at ones taken to the
captain, who spoke English. The boy implored him to turn back, but
the captain shook his head.
"It would be useless," he said; "the sea is heavy and, in these
long boots--" and he pointed to the sea boots, up to the thigh,
which all fishermen wear, "--no man could swim for two minutes; nor
would there be a chance, if they could, of our finding them on so
dark a night. I am very sorry, my lad, but it cannot be helped. It
would take half an hour to bring the ship about, and go back to the
spot where the smack sunk; and we might not get within half a mile
of it. You know that, as well as I do."
Will had been long enough at sea to recognize the truth of what the
captain said. As he was led forward, he burst into tears at the
thought of the loss of his kind friend the captain, and the rest of
his mates. The sailor who accompanied him patted him on the back,
and spoke cheeringly to him in a foreign language; and he was soon
between decks with the crew. Several of these could speak English,
and Will found that he was on board a Dutch merchantman, bound with
troops for Java.
The wind got up and, in the morning, it was blowing a heavy gale
from the east; and the vessel, with reefed topsails, was running
for the straits between Dover and Calais, at twelve knots an hour.
After breakfast, the captain sent for William.
"I am sorry, for your sake, that the state of the weather will
prevent our communicating with any ship we may meet. But I promise
you that, if the gale breaks before we are fairly out from the
channel, I will heave to and put you on board a homeward-bound
ship."
Such a chance did not occur. For four or five days the gale
continued with great severity and, before it ceased, the ship was
well down the coast of Spain, on her way south. When the captain
saw that there was but small chance of his being able to transship
his involuntary passenger, he said to him:
"Look you, my lad. I fear that you will have to make the voyage
with me, for we shall not touch at any port, until we arrive at our
destination. If you like, I will ship you as a hand on board, as
from the day of the collision. A hand, more or less, will make no
difference to the owners; and the money will be useful to you, when
you leave the ship. Of course, you can return in her, if you think
fit; but it is likely enough that, when we reach Java, we may be
sent up to China for a homeward cargo--in which case I will procure
you a passage in the first ship sailing for your home."
Will gladly accepted the offer. He was, however, by no means
penniless for, upon the morning after his coming on board, the
Dutch officers and passengers--hearing what had happened in the
night--made a collection among themselves, and presented the boy
with a purse containing fifteen pounds.
It was a long voyage, but not an unpleasant one for William. His
duties were not very heavy--he had far less to do than had been the
case, on board the smack. A month on board the Kitty had done much
towards making a sailor of him, for there are no better seamen in
the world than the Yarmouth smacksmen. Going aloft was, at first, a
trial; but he soon learned his duties and, being a strong and
active lad, he was quickly able to do efficient work; and speedily
gained the good opinion of the Dutch sailors, by his good temper
and anxiety to please.
They ran some little distance to the south of the Cape before
shaping an easterly course, to avoid the bad weather so frequently
met with there and, beyond encountering two or three gales, of no
exceptional severity, nothing occurred to break the monotony of the
voyage, until the coasts of Java were in sight. Upon their arrival
in port, they found no vessel there about to sail for Europe; and
the captain's expectation was fulfilled, as he found orders
awaiting him to proceed to China, when he had landed the troops and
discharged his cargo. Will determined to continue his voyage in her
to that place.
Among the ship boys on board was one between whom, and Will Gale, a
great friendship had been struck up. He was a year or two Will's
senior, but scarcely so tall; upon the other hand, he was nearly
twice his girth. He talked but little, but his broad face was ever
alight with a good-tempered grin. He spoke a few words of English;
and Will had, when first picked up, been given specially into his
charge. Will's superior activity and energy astonished the Dutch
lad, whose movements were slow and heavy; while Will, on his part,
was surprised at the strength which Hans could exert, when he
chose. One day, when Will had been plaguing him, and ventured
within his reach, the lad had seized and held him out at arm's
length, shaking him as a dog would a rat, till he shouted for
mercy.
The two were soon able to get on in a queer mixture of Dutch and
English and, when words failed, they would eke out their words by
gestures.
The vessel had sailed but a few days from Java when there were
signs of a change of weather. Hitherto it had been lovely; now a
slight mist seemed to hang over the sea while, overhead, it was
clear and bright. There was not a breath of wind, and the sails
hung listlessly against the masts. Will--who was leaning against
the bulwarks, chatting to Hans--observed the captain, after looking
round at the horizon, go into his cabin. He reappeared in a minute,
and spoke to the officer; who immediately shouted an order for "all
hands to shorten sail."
"What is that for?" Will said, wonderingly; "there is not a breath
of wind."
"I egzpect captain haz looked at glass," Hans said, "find him fall.
I egzpect we going to have ztorm--very bad ztorms in dese zeas."
Will ran aloft with the sailors and, in ten minutes, every inch of
canvas--with the exception of a small stay sail--was stripped from
the ship. Still, there was not a breath of wind. The sea was as
smooth as glass, save for a slight ground swell. Although the mist
did not seem to thicken, a strange darkness hung over the sky; as
if, high up, a thick fog had gathered. Darker and darker it grew,
until there was little more than a pale twilight. The men stood in
twos and threes, watching the sea and sky, and talking together in
low tones.
"I don't like this, Hans," Will said. "There is something awful
about it."
"We have big ztorm," Hans replied, "zyclone they call him."
Scarcely had Hans spoken when the sky above seemed to open, with a
crash. A roar of thunder, louder than ten thousand pieces of
artillery, pealed around them while, at the same moment, a blinding
flash of lightning struck the mainmast, shivering it into
splinters, and prostrating to the deck five seamen who were
standing round its foot. As if a signal had been given by the peal
of thunder, a tremendous blast of wind smote the vessel and,
stripped though she was of sails, heaved her over almost to the
gunwale.
For a moment, the crew were paralyzed by the suddenness of the
catastrophe; stunned by the terrible thunder, and blinded by the
lightning. None seemed capable of moving. Will had instinctively
covered his eyes with his hands. It seemed to him, for a moment,
that his sight was gone. Then the voice of the captain was heard,
shouting:
"Helm, hard up. Out axes, and cut away the wreck, at once!"
Those who were least stupefied by the shock sprang, in a dazed and
stupid way, to obey the order. Will drew out his knife and, feeling
rather than seeing what he was doing, tried to assist in cutting
away the shrouds of the fallen mast--it had gone a few feet above
the deck. Presently he seemed, as he worked, to recover from his
stupor; and the power of sight came back to him. Then he saw that
the vessel--taken on the broadside by the gale--was lying far over,
with several feet of her lee deck under water. So furious was the
wind that he could not show his head over the weather bulwark. The
sea was still smooth, as if the water was flattened by the force of
the wind. The stay sail had been blown into ribbons.
In order to get the ship's head off the wind, the head of the jib
was hauled up a few feet. It happened to be a new and strong one
and, although it bellied and lashed, as if it would tear itself
into fragments, it still stood. Again the captain gave an order,
and the sail was hauled up to its full height. Still further the
vessel heaved over; and Will expected, every moment, that she would
capsize. Then, gradually, her head paid off, and slowly she
righted, and flew before the gale.
"That was a near squeak," Will said.
"What is zqueak?" Hans shouted.
"I mean a close shave," Will replied.
Hans' blue eyes opened wider than usual.
"A zhave!" he repeated; "what are you talking about zhaving?"
"No, no," Will said, laughing, "I mean a narrow escape of being
capsized."
Hans nodded. There was no time for talk, for orders were given for
getting preventer stays on the foremast. The jib, having done its
work, had been hauled down the instant the ship payed off; and a
small storm sail set, in its place.
The men now had time to attend to those who had been struck by
lightning. Three of them were found to be dead, but the other
two--who were stunned and senseless--still lived, and were lifted
and carried below.
Serious as the disaster had been, Will felt that the stroke of
lightning had saved the ship. The pressure of the wind, upon two
masts and hull, had nearly sufficed to capsize her. Had the main
mast stood, he felt that she must have gone over.
The sea got up in a very few minutes but, being now only in light
ballast, the vessel rose easily over them. Four men were at the
helm, for the waves soon became so high that the ship yawed
dangerously on her course. The gale seemed to increase, rather than
diminish in fury; and the sea, instead of following in regular
waves, became a perfect chaos of tossing water, such as Will had
never before seen. He understood it, however, when--half an hour
after the outburst of the gale--he heard one of the men, who had
just been relieved at the wheel, say that in that time the ship had
already run twice round the compass. She was therefore in the very
center of the cyclone, and the strangely tossed sea was accounted
for.
The motion of the ship was extraordinary. Sometimes she was thrown
on one side, sometimes on the other. Mountains of water seemed to
rise suddenly beside her, and tumbled in great green masses over
the bulwarks. So wild and sudden were her movements that even the
oldest sailors were unable to keep their feet; and all clung on to
shrouds, or belaying pins. Will and Hans had lashed themselves by
the slack of a rope to the bulwarks, close to each other, and there
clung on; sometimes half drowned by the waves, which poured in
above them; sometimes torn from their feet by the rush of green
water, as the ship plunged, head foremost, into a wave, or shipped
one over her poop.
Presently there was a crash that sounded even above the fury of the
gale--the fore top-mast had gone, at the cap. The axes were again
called into requisition, for a blow from the floating spar would
have instantly stove in the side. While engaged upon this, the
captain called two of the men with axes aft. These were set to work
to chop through the shrouds of the mizzen and, in a minute later,
the mast snapped asunder on the level of the deck, and went over
the side with a crash, carrying away several feet of the bulwark.
This act was necessitated by the loss of the fore top-mast, as the
pressure of the wind upon the mizzen would have brought her head
up, and laid her broadside to the gale.
The motion of the vessel was now considerably easier, and there was
no longer any difficulty in keeping her dead before the wind. She
was now describing much larger circles in her course, showing that
she was farther removed from the center of the cyclone. After five
or six hours, the extreme violence of the wind somewhat abated, and
it seemed to settle down into a heavy gale.
For two days the vessel ran before it. She had made a good deal of
water, from the opening of the seams by straining, and the pumps
were kept going. They were, they found, able to prevent the water
from gaining upon them; and all felt that they should weather the
tempest, provided that they were not dashed upon any of the islands
in which this portion of the ocean abounds.
The crew had had no regular meals, since the gale began; for the
caboose had been broken up, and washed overboard, soon after the
commencement of the storm; and they had been obliged to be content
with biscuits. There was little to be done on deck and, the watch
over, they passed their time in their bunks.
In the afternoon of the third day of the tempest, the cry was
raised of "Breakers ahead!" Will, with his comrades of the watch
below, sprang from their berths and hurried on deck. Far ahead, as
the vessel lifted on the waves, could be seen a gleam of white
water.
In anticipation of such a danger, a small spar had been erected
upon the stump of the mizzen, and steadied with strong stays. Sail
was now hoisted upon this, and an effort was made to bring the
vessel's head to wind. Watching for a favorable moment between the
passage of the heavy seas, the helm was put down and, slowly, her
head came up into the wind. Under such sail, the captain had no
hope of being able to reach out, in the teeth of the gale; but he
hoped to be able to claw off the shore until clear of the land,
which lay to leeward of him.
That hope soon vanished. One of the mates was sent to the top of
the foremast, and descended with news that, as far as could be
seen, the line of breakers stretched away, both on her beam and
quarter. As the minutes went by the anxious crew could see, but too
clearly, that the ship was drifting down upon the land; and that
she must inevitably be wrecked upon it.
The outlines of the shore could now be seen--a forest of tossing
trees, behind which high land could be made out, through the
driving clouds. Orders were now given to prepare to anchor, but all
knew that the chances were slight, indeed. The water is for the
most part deep, close alongside the islands of the Eastern
Archipelago and, even were the holding ground good, hemp and iron
would hardly hold the vessel head to the gale, and tremendous sea.
When within a quarter of a mile of the breakers, the man with the
lead proclaimed a depth of ten fathoms. This was better than they
had expected. The jib was lowered, and her head brought dead to
wind. The captain shouted "cut," and, in an instant, the stoppers
were severed, and two heavy anchors dropt into the sea. One had a
heavy chain cable, the other hemp; and these were allowed to run
out to the bits. The vessel brought up with less shock than could
be expected. A wave or two passed under her, and still her cable
held.
A gleam of hope began to reign, when a mountainous sea was seen,
approaching. Higher and higher it rose and, just as it reached the
ship, it curled over and crashed down upon her deck. The cables
snapped like pack thread, and a cry of despair arose from the crew.
The captain was calm and collected, and shouted orders for the jib
to be again hoisted, and the helm put up; so as to run her, head
first, on to the shore.
As they neared the line of breakers, they could see heads of jagged
rocks rising among them while, beyond, a belt of smooth water--a
quarter of a mile wide--extended to the land. The ship's head was
directed towards a point where no rocks appeared above the surface.
Everyone held their breath and, clinging to the bulwarks, awaited
the shock.
The vessel lifted on a great wave, just as she came to the line of
broken water and, as she settled down, struck with a tremendous
crash. So great was the shock that she broke in two, amidships, as
if she had been made of paper; the portion aft going instantly to
pieces and, at once, the sea around was covered with fragments of
wreck, bales, boxes, and casks. Another great sea followed, filling
the now open ship, forcing up the deck, and sweeping everything
before it.
William Gale and Hans had gone as far forward as possible.
"Come out to the end of the bowsprit," Will said to Hans; and the
two lads crawled out together, and sat on the end of the spar.
The sea beneath them was white as milk, with the foam which poured
over the reef; but Will thought that they were beyond the rocks.
Every sea which struck the wreck added to the disaster; until a
larger one than usual struck it, and broke it into fragments. The
lads clung to the spar, as it fell. It sank deep in the water, but
they retained their hold until it came to the surface, and Will
looked round.
They were safely beyond the edge of the reef. The sea was still
rough and broken; but it was quiet, compared to that beyond the
reef. He saw that the fore mast was floating near and, to it,
several were clinging.
In a quarter of an hour the spar floated to land, the boys felt the
bottom with their feet, and soon scrambled ashore. A few minutes
later the fore mast also drifted up; and several men, clinging to
fragments of the wreck, were also cast ashore. In all eleven men,
including the first mate, were saved.