It was the last week in the month of November, 18--, when the event
occurred which proved to be the _primum mobile_ of the following
adventures.
The weather, for some days previous, had been unusually boisterous for
the time of year, and had culminated, on the morning on which my story
opens, in a "November gale" from the south-west, exceeding in violence
any previous gale within the memory of "the oldest inhabitant" of the
locality. This is saying a great deal, for I was at the time living in
Weymouth, a most delightful summer resort, where, however, the feelings
are likely to be more or less harrowed every winter by fearful wrecks on
the far-famed and much-dreaded Chesil Beach, which connects the
mis-named _island_ of Portland with the mainland.
We had dined, as usual, at the primitive hour of one o'clock; and with
Bob Trunnion--about whom I shall have more to say anon--I had turned out
under the verandah to enjoy our post-prandial smoke, according to
invariable usage. My sister Ada would not permit us the indulgence of
that luxury indoors, and no conceivable disturbance of the elements
could compel us to forego it altogether.
We were pacing the verandah side by side, quarter-deck fashion, with our
hands behind our backs and our weeds between our teeth, making an
occasional remark about the weather as the sheeted rain swept past us,
and the trees in the distance and the leaf-denuded shrubs in the garden
bowed before the fury of the blast, when a coastguardman, whom I had
occasionally encountered and spoken to in my rambles, came running past,
enveloped in oilskins and topped by a sou'-wester.
As he went by, seeing us, he shouted, "Ship coming ashore in the West
Bay, sir!" and was the next minute at the bottom of the hill, _en
route_, as fast as his legs could carry him, for the town.
Our house was situated in a pleasant suburb called Rodwell; the
high-road which passed our door led direct to the Smallmouth Sands, at
the farther extremity of which was the Chesil Beach; and we conjectured
that the coastguardman had come from the beach along this road to give
notice to the chief officer stationed in the town.
To run indoors, don our foul-weather rigging, and notify my sister that
we were off to the scene of the anticipated wreck, was the work of a
moment. The next we were in the road, inclined forward at an angle of
forty-five degrees against the wind, and staggering slowly ahead in the
direction of the sands. The coastguardman had a fair wind of it, and
was going a good eight knots when he passed us; but just at the top of
the hill, as we were exposed to the full strength of the gale, we did
not forge ahead at more than about one knot. However, matters mended
soon after, for we surmounted the brow of the hill, and began the
descent on the opposite side; here the road took a slight bend, which
brought the wind well abeam; so keeping close under the hedge to
windward of us, we rattled away as fast as we could go.
After nearly an hour's severe exertion we reached the beach. The vessel
which was expected to come on shore was a full-rigged ship, apparently
of about eight hundred or a thousand tons, and evidently a foreigner, by
her build and rig. Some conjectured her to be French, some Spanish, and
others avowed their belief that she was a German; but she was still too
far off, and the weather too thick, to enable any one to form a clear
judgment as to her nationality.
"Whoever she is," said the chief boatman, "the skipper of her is a
downright good seaman, and doesn't intend to lose his ship whilst he can
do anything to save her. He drove into the bay about two hours ago,
sir," said he, turning to me, "and this is the second time that he's
tried to fetch out again; but, Lord! he don't know this place so well as
I do, or he'd be as sartain as I be that she'll never go outside o' the
Bill o' Portland again. The ship don't float that, with her sails
alone, could get out of the bay, once she got into it, with the wind and
tide the way it is now; and afore the tide turns he'll be knocked into
matchwood, or my name's not Joe Grummet. There he comes round again,"
continued the man, who had kept his eye on the vessel all the time he
was speaking; "but it's no good; he's more 'n a mile to leeward of where
he fetched last time, and he'd better give it up and run her ashore
whilst 'tis light enough to get the hands out of her, if so be as it
please God to let any on 'em come ashore alive."
The vessel had, as Grummet remarked, altered her course; running off
rapidly before the wind, and consequently towards the land; and those
who knew nothing about nautical matters would have supposed that her
commander had at length given up the contest, and was about to run her
on shore.
But we knew better. The vessel had merely been kept away in order to
_wear_ her; _staying_ in such a tremendous gale and sea being utterly
out of the question. And as we watched we saw her come slowly to the
wind on the opposite tack; her yards were braced sharp up, her sheets
flattened in, and once more the battle for life was resumed against the
hostile elements.
But it was evident that the noble ship's career was ended. The
operation of _wearing_ had brought her into fearful proximity with the
land; and though she carried reefed mainsail and foresail under
close-reefed topsails, and fore and main topmast staysails, it was
evident that she was driving to leeward at a frightful rate, and that
the period of her existence must now be measured in minutes.
"Now, lads! bear a hand!" shouted Grummet, "and let's signal her to run
in here. The beach is steeper here than anywhere within the next three
or four mile; and if he happens to come in on the back of a sea, he'll
run up pretty near high and dry; and we may get some of the poor souls
ashore alive, and cheat Davy Jones out of the best part of his bargain
this bout, anyway."
A large red bandana handkerchief was produced and seized to the end of a
boat-hook; this extempore flag and staff Grummet took in his hand, and,
proceeding to the summit of the beach, commenced waving it to and fro,
to attract the attention of the people on board the doomed ship. She
was now so close that we could see the two men at her wheel, and a man,
whom we supposed to be the master, standing by the mizen rigging.
Just abaft the mainmast, and huddled together under the shelter of the
weather bulwarks, we could see some seven or eight more of her crew, and
others were doubtless cowering elsewhere out of sight.
Grummet waved his flag energetically from the crest of the beach, and
the coastguardmen busied themselves in making such slight preparations
as were in their power to assist the crew in escaping from the wreck.
Several coils of line had been brought down to the beach; one man who
announced himself to be a good swimmer, had secured an end of the
smallest of these to his waist; he now stood prepared to divest himself
of all his superfluous clothing at a moment's notice, and to attempt the
hazardous experiment of rushing into the boiling surf, to drag out any
poor unfortunate whom he might be able to reach. Others were engaged in
various ways in preparing themselves to render what assistance was in
their power, when a cry from Grummet announced that the crisis had
arrived; on looking up we saw that the stranger's fore-topmast had gone
in the cap; and now hung to leeward, with the topsail and topmast
staysail thrashing to ribbons; the latter threatening at every jerk to
take the bowsprit out of the ship. The foresail was also split from
head to foot; and, even as we looked, the overstrained canvas gave way,
and, fluttering for a moment in the furious gale, parted from the
bolt-ropes, and came flying like a shred of cloud to leeward.
The ship, thus deprived of her head-sail, luffed into the wind: and the
moment that the rest of her canvas shook, away it came also, leaving her
helpless and unmanageable, with the sea sweeping her deck fore and aft.
"Now stand by, men," shouted Grummet, "and each one do his best for the
poor souls; for they were never nearer to death's door than they will be
in another two minutes. If he had run her stem on to the beach they
might have stood a chance; but I fear it is all over with them now, for
she'll come ashore broadside on, and all on us knows what that means."
Fortunately, the catastrophe had happened immediately to windward of
that part of the beach on which we stood; a spot, as Grummet had
observed, where the shipwrecked crew would have a better chance of
reaching the shore alive than they would have had if stranded on any
other part of it for some miles on either side; but the loss of their
sails had rendered the prospect of their escape considerably less than
it would have been had they been able to watch their chance, _sail_ the
ship in on the crest of a wave, and so beach her.
The next half minute or so was one of most intense and painful
excitement to us spectators on shore. Each man moved nearer to the
water, and cast off some article of clothing, or gave a last look to the
line, or a final adjustment to the life-buoy round his waist. For
myself, I had stripped off my jacket and waistcoat, and placed them,
together with my hat, in the hands of my friend Bob, who could not swim;
and I now stood with the end of a line, knotted into a bowline, in my
hand, ready to do anything which the emergency of the moment might
require.
The master of the vessel appeared to be aware of our intention, and the
meaning of the signal which Grummet had shown; and as it was now
impossible to run the ship _stem_ on upon the beach, he did the next
best thing; and waving his hand to the men who, like true seamen, still
stuck to the wheel, they put the helm hard up, that she might come in
stern on.
The manoeuvre was partially successful; but unfortunately she came
ashore between two seas; and the undertow of the one taking her stern,
whilst the succeeding sea struck her bow, she fell broadside-to in an
instant, her three masts went by the board, and the sea made a clean
breach over her.
One poor fellow was seen to leap overboard at the moment that the ship
struck; and half-a-dozen of the men on the beach rushed down into the
water, making frantic efforts to get at him. But he could not swim; and
those who tried to reach him were flung back, bruised and senseless,
upon the beach, only to be dragged away again as the sea receded; and
had it not been for the ropes and life-buoys round their waists, by
which their comrades hauled them on shore, they must have lost their
lives. As it was, one of them, in some way or other, got out of the
life-buoy, and we saw him swept away almost from our very feet.
I was an expert swimmer; and as soon as I saw the poor fellow being
swept away, I slipped my head and shoulders through the bowline knot I
held in my hand, dashed into the surf, and, resorting to my usual
tactics of diving through the breakers, managed to get hold of the man
with one hand, while I raised the other above my head, as a signal to
those on shore to haul away upon their end of the line.
As soon as I felt the line tighten round me, I grasped the man round the
body, and in another moment we were both on the beach, in the arms of
those who had run down to meet us. By these we were dragged up out of
reach of the sea, and, on staggering to my feet, I had the satisfaction
of seeing the man who had jumped overboard from the wreck being hauled
on board again.
Loud were the thanks and praises I received for my conduct in bringing
the other on shore; but without waiting to listen to them, I hastily
explained that I would try to take a line on board the wreck, as, if I
could succeed in this, there might possibly be some chance of saving the
major portion, if not the whole of the crew. Accordingly I dashed into
the surf once more; and at length, after the most superhuman efforts,
though the distance was barely thirty yards, I reached the ship's side,
and was drawn on board by a line which her crew threw to me. The men
crowded round me, rapidly talking in some language which I could not
understand, and looking as much relieved as though I had the power of
taking them all on my back at once, and swimming on shore with them. I
stood for a moment to recover my breath; and at the same time looked
about to see what resources might be at my command. I noticed a towing
hawser coiled away upon what had originally been the deckhouse forward,
but which was now stove in and battered almost out of recognition. An
eye was spliced in one end of this hawser; and taking it up, I signed to
the men to pass it over the stump of the foremast.
They understood me, and, seeing my object in wishing it done, they had
it over in a twinkling; in another moment, they had the heavy coil
capsized, the other end bent on to the line which I had brought on board
with me, and were paying it rapidly over the side.
As I turned to address the master of the vessel, who, I noticed as I was
hauled up the side, was then standing at the break of the poop, issuing
instructions to his crew, I saw him in the act of descending the
poop-ladder, and I stepped towards him. At this moment the ship was
lifted up by a perfect mountain of a sea, and hove over on her
beam-ends; all hands of us were flung violently to leeward; and before
apparently any of us had time to recover our feet, another sea swept
down upon us; there was a terrific--an ear-splitting crash, a wild,
agonised cry, and I found myself clear of the wreck, struggling wildly
for life, with the body of the master within arm's length of me.
He was apparently dead, and floating face downwards; but I grasped him
by the hair, turned him on his back, and struck out for the beach.
Twice were we flung like corks upon the pebbles of the strand, and twice
dragged off into deep water again by the merciless undertow. The first
time I dug my fingers, knees, and the toes of my boots into the pebbles,
in the hope of bringing myself and my senseless charge to an anchor; but
I might as well have attempted to grasp the air. The whole of that
portion of the beach which was exposed to the action of the sea was a
vast moving mass, the shingle being alternately thrown up and sucked
back again in tons, as the water hurled itself high upon the beach and
then rushed back into the foaming abyss.
The second time we were thrown up with such violence that I was stunned;
but the third time the brave fellows on the beach, who had been making
the most frantic efforts to get at us, would take no denial. They
watched their chance, and as they saw us again drifting in two, with
ropes round their waists, rushed into the sea, grasped us, one each,
firmly round the body; and, though they were lifted off their feet and
dragged away to seaward like feathers by the retiring breaker, never let
go their hold until we were hauled up high and dry, clear beyond the
reach of the heaviest wave.
The efforts made to restore me to consciousness were soon successful,
but my fellow-sufferer, the master of the vessel, appeared to be
seriously injured. It was nearly half an hour before the faintest signs
of returning animation were perceived; and when at length consciousness
returned, the poor fellow appeared to be suffering the most excruciating
agony.
As soon as I was once more able to look about me, I found that the wave
which had washed the master and me overboard, had broken the wreck in
two just abaft the mainmast, flinging the stern portion much nearer the
shore, whilst it had turned the other half fairly bottom up,
precipitating, of course, all the poor fellows, who were so busy paying
out the hawser, into the sea. The people on the beach watched eagerly
for their reappearance above water, but not one of them was ever seen
again. It afterwards transpired that there was not a swimmer amongst
the entire crew, which, all told, amounted to fifteen hands.
The intelligence of a wreck had attracted a large concourse of people to
the spot, notwithstanding the discomfort attendant on being abroad in so
violent a gale; and one gentleman had taken upon himself to despatch
omnibuses from the town, well supplied with blankets, etc., for the
relief and benefit of any poor sufferers who might reach the shore
alive. Into one of these vehicles the unfortunate master of the ship
was now placed with the utmost care, a couch being extemporised for him
in the bottom of the 'bus by piling together all the blankets which had
been sent. In spite, however, of the utmost care in driving, the jolts
were frequent, and sometimes rather heavy, and the poor fellow's groans
indicated such intensity of suffering, that by the time we were half way
to town I decided I would take him to my own house, whereby he would be
spared nearly half an hour of anguish.
It fortunately happened that, just as I had come to this resolution, a
gentleman rode up, and learning who we had inside, volunteered his
services. I immediately accepted them, desiring him to ride back to the
town, and despatch to my house the ablest physician he could find. When
the 'bus drew up at our door, the doctor was there in readiness for his
patient, whom we lifted out, apparently in the last stage of exhaustion,
and carried carefully into the house and upstairs into my own room,
where my sister (advertised by Bob, who had made the best of his way
home on foot) had a cheerful fire blazing in the grate, hot water in
abundance, and everything else ready that her womanly sympathy could
suggest.
Volume One, Chapter II.