party. But at least I should see once more assembled in their glory the
kind creatures on whom I depended for pleasant recollections. I should
be able to see whether any of them appeared sorry to leave us, who had
borne them company in so many a deed of mirth. And as at all events I
should escape a fair portion of the twice twenty-four hours' moping
that otherwise must be endured, I determined to go, though at the risk
of sharpening the regrets of parting.
There was also another reason why I was the readier to go; and as
thereby hangs the adventure of this present inditing, I may as well
explain at once. This was the last day on which I could write myself
owner of my pretty little Mudian boat, the Wave. I had sold her off
with my nag and the usual encumbrances, and the next day she was to be
the property of a new master. Any one who knows the island within the
last few years will remember the Wave, that used to beat every thing in
her waters. The only thing that at all came up to her was the launch of
the old Bucephalus. This was the fancy boat of the first lieutenant,
who after many experiments had hit upon the lug as the becoming rig.
With the wind well on the quarter, the old launch would beat me, and
close hauled I would beat her; but which after all was the better boat
was a question we could never settle. However, it was for no want of
trying. As surely as it blew at all fresh, so surely would the little
Wave be seen cruising about among the shipping, and passing under the
stern of the Bucephalus; and so surely also would the launchers be
piped away on board the big craft. Many was the prophecy uttered that
the little barkey would be my coffin, and so once she certainly would
have been, had we not had water ballast aboard, when she capsized in a
heavy squall, to which I would not shorten sail.
I liked mightily the idea of a farewell cruise in my poor little
boat, in such pleasant company. Objections touching her unprovisioned
state were met at once by Hamilton, who had laid in abundance, and
was carrying about him some of the odd trifles forgotten in the first
instance. He had fully bargained to go in my boat, and as my companion.
Boating was no usual fancy of his; but somehow he had a great idea
of my nautical skill, and a high opinion of the craft herself, that
made him sometimes willing to enlist as my companion. He was a very
good fellow, but, I am bound to say, more useful and agreeable on
shore than at sea. He would sit down in the little hatch and smoke his
pipe rationally enough when all was smooth. But directly we felt the
wind, and began to lie over the least bit in the world, you might see
him eyeing the dingy's skulls, or any stray bit of plank as a stand
by in case of capsize. Once I saw him pull his jacket off for a swim
ashore when well out of soundings. Put all this together, and you will
understand my friend to have been of a temperament nervous as touching
the water. However, he was a very good fellow; more particularly one
to whom I least feared to communicate any little romantic episode that
might turn up. A good deal in this way I had already told him; and, far
from laughing at me, he had seriously set himself to help me at my need.
We settled then that we should go together to take this last day's sail
out of the Wave, and to make the most of the ladies' society, before
the act of severing should take place. It would be difficult to say
what were the hopes that seemed to peep out at me from the prospect
of our arrangement; but plainly enough I did encourage the hope of
some good that was to come of it. Perhaps I was brightened up by the
change for the better that my lively and somewhat whimsical friend had
introduced into my morning society. Certainly he was much wittier, and
more amusing than my own thoughts, which had been my only companionship
before. At any rate, having once agreed to the convention, I set about
the preparation of myself and my traps with a good will. The day was
lovely, and by happy accident not too hot. A light breeze was springing
up which would carry us nicely out of the harbour. The only difficulty
in the way of a start was touching the due manning of my craft, as
Pierre and his little son Antoine, who had composed my former crew, had
been paid off the day before, and were shipped aboard another craft
by this time. Right sorry, too, they had been at the change, for both
skipper and craft had been exactly to their taste. I was not up to
navigating the boat entirely by myself, and had no great opinion of the
value of my friend Hamilton as a watch-mate. However, he volunteered
with such hearty good will, and the weather promised to afford so
little room for seamanship, that I thought he might do at the pinch. It
was the first time we had ever been out alone, for, frequently as we
had been together, he had been constant to his character as a passenger.
"Now Hamilton," said I, "you must work your passage. You must stand by
to clap on a rope, or run to the tiller."
"Ay, ay," said he, "never fear; I'll not shirk my work. I've had a wet
jacket before I saw your craft. Did I never tell you about my cruise on
the Cam?"
"Never, Tom."
"Then you do not know half my nautical experiences. Let me ask you how
often you have been capsized in one day?"
"Never but once, I am happy to say, and that was when Pierre held on
too long at the sheet, against that old launch of the Bucephalus."
"I've been before this twice fairly foundered, and once hard and
fast ashore in one day. I was on a visit to Bob S----'s brother at
Magdalen, and among the amusements of the season was boating: most
unseasonable work it was just then, for the weather was bitter cold.
We started, a lot of us, intending to navigate the river as far as
Ely. None of us happened to know any thing about nauticals, so we
blindly submitted ourselves to the guidance of a fresh-man who wore a
remarkably hard-a-weather pilot-coat, and waddled in walking like a man
unused to terra firma. He took the command as naturally as possible;
never dreaming of so far doubting our judgments as to mistrust his own
ability. We had hardly got well away, when a squall laid us right over,
and fairly swamped the boat. This we regarded as an accident that might
overtake the most skilful; and I verily believe that we even the more
highly esteemed our Palinurus on account of the coolness which, we must
all do him the justice to say, he exhibited. But when, soon after, he
ran us regularly under water, we began to be suspicious, and hints
flew about that he had undertaken more than he was up to. On this Mr
Tarpaulin, with all imaginable complacency, asked us what the row was
about, and whether we thought that any of us would have done better, if
this had been the first time in our lives that we had exercised naval
command. After this confession, we were no more surprised at accidents.
We regarded it as rather an easy let off that the concern was driven
hopelessly hard ashore, in a stiff clayey soil, that allowed no idea of
getting her off that night. All this may sound very little to a regular
old salt, like yourself; but add to this little sketch the idea of a
driving sleet, and a seven or eight miles' walk to Ely at midnight,
without shoes, which the greedy loam sucked from off our feet, and the
_ensemble_ of hardship is enough to satisfy a landsman like myself.
Since that time I have been little given to boating, and, as you know,
never go out except with you."
"Well I'll try never to play you such a trick as did your tarpaulin
friend. But the sea is a ticklish element, and the sky is a treacherous
monitor."
"They never, either of them, promised better than they do to-day, so
let us be off, or Virginie will start in search of pleasure with a
cloud on her pretty face."
We bundled up our traps and started accordingly. The distance between
my quarter and the little mole where the Wave lay rocking in the gentle
undulations was soon passed over. I felt the influence of feelings far
more serious than I wished to have perceived, and Hamilton evidently
respected them. Like a good fellow, he pulled away at his cigar and
said nothing. His little animal, under the guardianship of one of
the ragged _gamins_, had preceded us to the waterside, and was there
waiting our arrival, in order to the due discharge of its burden.
Poor little Wave! she was not accustomed to be lying in harbour when
her sister craft were under weigh. One might have fancied that, with a
sentiment of desolation, she allowed her burgee to droop listlessly,
flapping it against her mast, as a bird makes sorrowful action with her
wings. It did seem too bad to sell her;--and again I went over in my
mind the bargain I had driven, and the price I had taken for her. After
all, the conclusion was unavoidable, that I could not take her with
me,--and, besides, I was going where could not use her.
All the rest of the fellows had started, and already were hidden from
us, as we then stood, round the rocky point. There was no one to hail
for a dingy, and we were beholden to a dusky gentleman in a country
boat for a passage alongside. We had a job to get the anchor up; for it
had so happened that when last we came in all the buoys were occupied,
and as I had little idea of wanting to use her again, I had let go
her anchor. When we were fairly under weigh, I began to look a little
into our capabilities. She had been sold "all standing," so that the
general complexion of her gear was much what it had been under my
catering. But there were already some symptoms of a change of masters.
The sail locker was empty; and I remembered that her old suit had been
exempted from the general bill of sale, and made over as a legacy to
old Pierre. He had walked off with them; and thus we were left with
no second suit of sails in case of accident. Those on deck were all
she had to show. However, this deficiency was far from causing me any
alarm; nothing in the way of sea accident seemed less probable than
that we should carry away any of her rags that day. We were going,
merely for easy locomotion, amidst a fry of small craft, some of whom
would be sure to lend us whatever by any accident we might want. My
present mate, moreover, had a special objection to "carrying on." There
was a convention between us, by virtue of which it was understood that
whenever he came with me, we were to slope along on an even keel. His
apprehension of disaster comprehended nothing but fear of a capsize
from carrying too much sail. I think he would have preferred going
unprovided as we were, to leaving it in my power to make sail in case
of accidents. All he realised was, that without sail a craft would
not "turn the turtle;" and as to her fetching port, he had in this
particular a blind confidence in the skill of his skipper for the time
being.
There was scarcely enough wind for us to work out of the harbour,
as the set of the sea carried us strongly towards the bluff of rock
that stretches nearly across the entrance. But as I have said, there
were few boats could go to windward of the Wave, and perhaps none
that "went about" more readily, and with less loss. So we managed to
shave past, and came into full view of the little squadron. We were
signalised at once, not by the ordinary bits of bunting, but by general
acclamation, and waving of handkerchiefs by our fair friends. On board
the largest yacht, a committee of ladies had established themselves,
with plenary powers of command. This was the Queen Bee, whose motions
the rest were to follow. At the moment of our coming in sight she set
the example of making sail, and making the best of our way to our
rendezvous; and forthwith all the rest, who had been lying-to for
us, followed her motions. The idea of the party was to get, as best
we could, with the light breeze that then served, to the rendezvous.
For our return, we were almost sure of the land-breeze, which would
help us along homeward without any trouble. They were all in tip-top
spirits,--especially, I thought, on board the Commodore. In about half
an hour we ranged up along-side of her, and there we found collected
what might be called the bouquet of the party. Among them was Virginie,
whom I had half hoped to find, but whom I could not flatter myself
that I really did find, subdued at the parting with so many of her
friends--more especially at parting with myself. She bore the air of
happiness triumphant. Still I could not but fancy, when she waved her
pretty hand to me, that it was with something of _empressement_. I know
that I must have been considerably _empressé_ in my salutation; for a
host of latent associations stirred within me, at this, as I deemed
it, farewell meeting. I had no desire to make myself ridiculous; so I
kept my own counsel as well as I could. But I felt seriously unhappy,
and repented for the moment that I had obeyed the invitation. I will
not detail the history of the fête--it passed with every advantage of
weather and sociability. The poor sentimentalists, if any there were
besides myself, must have felt themselves sadly out of their element.
All seemed as jovial as though no such thing as parting existed as a
human necessity. Amid all I grew sadder and sadder, and blamed my own
folly in coming. Already I thought that many of the damsels showed an
unaccustomed disregard of my presence, as though it were no longer
worth while to distinguish with attention a man who was on the eve of
leaving them for ever. Virginie was unequivocally an exception to this
rule. She was, as she ever had been, kind; and made many inquiries as
to my future movements, even speculating on our meeting again. But she
seemed thoroughly content that I should go, and as though no such dream
had ever entered her head as that I might, under any circumstances,
remain with her. Altogether I was so far from entering into the spirit
of the party that I suffered an access of misanthropy. In my own mind
I condemned her as having been utterly spoiled by education and early
associations. She had been used to intimacy with so many, and such
constantly changing friends, that she was utterly incapable of the
stability of friendship. The devotion of love could not, I thought, be
found with her; and without this devotion hearts are not given.
On the melancholy pasturage of my own thoughts I became at last so
visibly doleful, that I acted quite as a wet blanket on the party.
Some of the giddier among the girls rallied me, more wittily than
compassionately, on my love-tokens; and wished to try me by a sort of
jury, to discover which of themselves it was that caused my grief. The
effect of this badinage on me was to kindle no little exasperation
against the principal persecutors, and to make me pretty considerably
unamiable to all. I felt that I was behaving in a way that would be
likely to leave behind me no good impression, and yet I could not
constrain myself to propriety.
Thus far my expedition seemed to have answered ill. I have now to tell
how it anon seemed to threaten worse, and then turned out in the happy
issue which I at present enjoy.
The time came for us to think of returning. There was every probability
of our finding this an easy task, as we were able pretty well to
calculate on the rising of the land-breeze. The wind had fallen during
the day, and for some hours there had been a dead calm. The breeze
that was to succeed it was very long in coming. The revellers were so
well pleased with their entertainment that no thought was breathed of
getting ready for a start, till the gentle sighing of the neighbouring
sugar canes told us that the elements would serve our turn. Such a
large and straggling party was not got together and re-embarked without
difficulty; and the upshot of all was that, by the time we were under
weigh homewards, it was well on in the evening. This gave us little
uneasiness; the nights were clear, the breeze was generally steady, and
as the land lay pretty well astern, the only difficulty that occurred
to me was concerning the orderly behaviour of some of the men, who had
taken too much wine to be quite manageable.
As it concerns our subsequent adventure, I may as well say that none
of the uproarious ones were on board the Wave. They none of them
would patronise a craft (so they said) which was commanded by such
a long-faced skipper. So Hamilton and myself were the complement
returning, as we had been coming. He was as sober as a judge, and just
as much disposed as ever to be "handy Billy," or, in common language,
to do a turn of work wherever he might be useful. I should think that
we must have numbered, in all, at least twenty boats. It did not seem
unlikely that some of them might fall on board of each other, as they
were crowded very thickly, and some of them kept poor watch. Some of
the steersmen were too jolly to be careful, and the girls did not by
any means call them to order. It is almost a peculiarity of colonial
girls to be without fear. Perhaps it is because they see so much of
change, that few things strike them as strange,--and it is strangeness
that generally terrifies. As I had sold my yacht, and bargained for
her price, I felt that I ought to be particularly careful of what had
become another man's property. I was unwilling to run the risk of
injuring even her paint-work, which I supposed to be about the extent
of damage threatened by a collision. So I held on till the whole set
of them were started, and then got under weigh, keeping in their wake.
There was no great distance between us, only just sufficient to keep
us well clear of them.
Merry sounds of song and talk resounded from the tiny specks that
floated on ocean. Good-humoured hails were sent back to me, and many
an offer made of a tow-rope to help me to my station. Some of them had
musical instruments with them, and gave the harmony of voice and string
to be blended with the evening air. A happier or securer party never
enjoyed themselves, nor any, I should say, that fancied for themselves
a more perfect exemption from the possibility of danger.
Things went thus for about an hour and a half, the gradual change
of evening into night being scarcely perceptible in the lengthened
twilight. The wind, which had been gradually falling, seemed then
fairly to expire. Nothing more was to be done by sailing, and the boats
remained bobbing up and down in the slight swell, without the least
homeward motion. It was plainly a case of "out oars." Sadly against
the grain did it go with us to pull off our jackets and set to work;
but there remained no choice. We could not stay there all night, and
if we meant to fetch our port we must pull. Some of them managed very
well, as they were helped by the man-of-war boats that had joined the
cruise. They got considerably ahead, and thus a division was produced
in our little flotilla. The Wave was amongst the sternmost, as for want
of hands we had been able to do but little; and besides that, we were
in no working humour. One by one they all forged ahead so far as to be
out of sight at that time of night; yet still not so far but that we
occasionally heard them hailing, or singing at their oars.
As we had no fancy for a hard spell at pulling, we took things coolly
as they came. We kept all sail set to take advantage of any little
breeze that might come, and meanwhile waited as patiently as we could.
Some three-quarters of an hour probably passed in this way, and then
the face of the night began to undergo a change. The clouds showed a
disposition to concentrate in a particular point over to landward, and
light catspaws to play upon the water. Soon the breeze steadied a bit,
and allowed us to lie on our course; and before long we were going
through the water at the rate of five knots. We held on thus, till I
knew that we must be coming close on to the ugly reef that lies about
three miles S.S.W. of Port St Louis. The clouds had become blacker,
and without doubt a squall was brewing. Judging from experience, I
fancied that it would be only of rain; and, at any rate, it seemed
not yet to be so near as to require us to take in canvass. So we held
on everything, and I ran forward to look out for the reef, and left
Hamilton at the tiller. I at no time particularly liked to have him for
a steersman, but now I had no choice, for he would not by any means
have done for a look-out man.
"Now Hamilton," I said, "look out, keep her as she goes a bit, and have
one eye to windward, for there is a regular sneezer brewing, and we
shall have it hot and strong in a jiffey."
As I ran forward, I looked at him to see whether he appeared to be at
all in a stew, but was rejoiced to find him cool as a cucumber. He
stepped confidently to his post, and looked out to windward like a
regular sea-dog.
We had now come to that point of our course where the wind ceased to
be right astern. The head of the coast makes it necessary to beat up
a bit, in order to weather the headland. We were perfectly able to do
this, and to have even a point or two to spare, only we should want a
more skilful helmsman than Hamilton. However, we were just clearing the
reef, and in a minute or so more I should be able to return to my post.
Meanwhile, I kept her as she was a bit, till I should be able to put
her round myself.
I had been for some minutes too much occupied with the pilotage to
think of the weather, so had implicitly trusted the observation of this
to my watch-mate. He ever and anon reported things looking worse and
worse.
A fine dust of rain, as it were beating into my face, made me look up,
and I saw that we were in for it.
"Stand by there," I sang out.
"Ay, ay," said Hamilton, and he did stand by with the air of a regular
blue jacket.
This was all the caution for which I had time. The same moment the
squall broke heavily upon us, and the poor little Wave was thrown
nearly right on her beam ends.
"Luff there," I cried, "luff, man, quick."
"Ay, ay," was the ready rejoinder, but alas! just the contrary was the
thing done. Whether Hamilton was flurried, or whether he never rightly
knew what luffing meant, he put the helm hard up. In swinging off
before the squall, she caught the full force of the wind, and for one
moment I thought all was over with us. She went so far over that it
seemed impossible that she should not capsize. But at the same instant,
and before one could well think of the predicament, a jerk was felt,
an explosion as of a pistol was heard, and the little craft righted.
The mainsail had been blown clear away from the stay-rope, and was
fluttering about in ribbons.
In a moment I saw the danger of our position. The squall had been the
first burst of a regular built gale, which was now blowing tremendously
off shore. Had we been all a-taunto we might have managed to beat
against it, but even then it would have been a tedious business, and
would have required careful steering. At present, with only our jib
standing, it was perfectly impossible to dream of such a thing. No
earthly power could prevent our drifting out to sea.
Does any man who has not been placed in such a position, think that
he can realise the feelings of two human beings thrown thus, like us,
waifs on the wide ocean. I believe that no man can; but to assist the
imagination of such a one, let him consider one or two things. The
waters before us came, with scarcely the break of an island, from the
ice-fields of the south pole,--and behind us the waste might almost
be called boundless. In a few minutes we should, as things went, find
ourselves clear of the lee of the land, and then the Indian coast might
be considered the nearest breakwater. The billows that would roll after
us would come with all the force collected within such mighty limits,
under the excitement of the gale. Had our bark been of proportions to
combat the elements, we could have found no safety in an unvictualed
refuge. She would at most have afforded us the means of prolonging
agony. But I cannot say that the want of provisions seemed to me then
to enhance the horrors of our condition. Our death by drowning seemed
so certain, and so immediately imminent, that no room remained for
remoter apprehensions.
For one moment, I believe, we both lost our self-possession. Hamilton
was alarmed at the heeling over, and at the noise, but, when the boat
righted, he seemed to think all the danger was over. My blank look,
however, somewhat alarmed him, and he did not quite understand why it
was that we were sailing off shore at such a rate. "Halloo," said he,
"what makes you look so grave? A miss is as good as a mile. We're all
right now, a'int we?" I did not answer him in words; but leaving him to
gather intelligence from my looks, I ran to the tiller to see whether
there remained any hope of getting her sufficiently near to the wind to
enable us to fetch any part of the coast.