LOOKING FOR THE ISLANDER.
The captain of the bark was a man of about fifty. He was bald, and his
hair and whiskers were sprinkled with gray. I had no doubt that the
violent storm had made an end of his vessel, for the wreck was exposed
to the full fury of the sea, tenfold more violent after we left it than
before.
"Good morning, Captain; I hope you are quite well this morning," I
began.
"I am well enough, thank you; but I cannot forget that I have lost my
ship," he replied. "You had a rough night of it on deck; and I don't
think I ever knew a vessel to pitch and roll so badly as this one did."
"It was a terrible blow, and this is a very small vessel, though she is
as strong as wood and iron could make her. If she had not been well
built, the sea would have taken the house off this deck."
"I thought it was going to do so as it was. I think she was exceedingly
well handled, or she would have gone to the bottom," continued the
captain. "I have no doubt there are scores of wrecks along the Keys
this morning, and many a good fellow may miss his mess after this."
I gave him a full account of the storm, and of our being carried so far
out of our course by the wind and the current. I told him that we had
been delayed so long by the wreck and the storm that we probably should
not reach Key West till three or four in the afternoon.
"I suppose we shall be lucky to get there at all after all that has
happened to us," replied the captain. "What you say about drifting so
far out of your course strikes me as being a little strange."
"What was the name of your vessel, Captain?--I have not even learned
your name," I continued. I intended to point out to him the way in
which the bark had been lost; but I wanted to know something more about
the voyage of the unfortunate vessel.
"Captain Mayfield; and the bark was the Olive, of New York, from New
Orleans, with a cargo of cotton from the latter port," replied the
captain. "I owned a third of her myself; but she is well insured, and
so is her cargo. My wife and daughter were with me, and are now in the
after cabin."
"I think you were fortunate to escape with your lives," I added.
"I know we were, Captain--I don't know your name any better than you
did mine; and it strikes me that you are a very young fellow to be in
command of a steamer, though she is a very small one."
"My name is Alexander Garningham, and I am generally called Captain
Alick. I have been on the water most of the time since I was ten years
old, either on the sea or on the great lakes. I have had as rough a
time on Lake Superior as we had last night, if not a rougher." I told
my story as briefly as I could.
"Your education has not been neglected, Captain Alick," continued
Captain Mayfield. "If you had not managed the Sylvania so well last
night, most of us must have perished; for I have no doubt that the
Olive went to pieces before midnight. She was a well-built vessel, but
rather old. The gale kept forcing her up to the sharp coral rocks, and
she was grinding off her timbers at a very rapid rate when we left her.
If there had been any chance for her I would not have left her. I had
reduced sail at dark, when it began to freshen into a gale. We had the
wind on the beam, and the bark was behaving very well."
"It began to blow the heaviest about six bells," I added.
"We did not get the worst of it. We had the foretop-mast staysail, fore
and main topsails, and the spanker set. The Gulf Stream was with us,
and we were making not less than ten knots an hour. I expected soon to
see Carysfort Light. Our course was north, a quarter east, and I had no
doubt I was making it good."
"I am afraid not."
"Of course I know now that I did not make it good; but I can't see any
reason why I did not."
"I can," I interposed. "It was for the same reason that we were drifted
so far to the northward and westward. When the wind comes strong from
an easterly direction the current of the Gulf Stream is partly turned
to the westward."
"I have read that in the Coast Pilot; but I have been through these
waters so many times without noticing anything of the kind, that I did
not think of it last night. The first hint I had that anything was
wrong was when the Olive struck on the rocks. I knew from the sound of
the crash that she had stove a hole in her bow. She flew back, and then
the wind jammed her on again. I sent hands aloft to furl the topsails,
and others to haul down the jib and take in the spanker. But she drove
on the rocks all the same; and I knew that would be the end of her."
I invited the captain to visit the cabin, for I thought he would wish
to see his wife and daughter. Our passengers were all at breakfast, and
engaged in talking over the events of the night. Captain Mayfield was
invited to join them, and I advised him to do so, while I went back to
the deck to attend to the wants of the rest of the ship's company of
the Olive. The sailors were all on deck, and the mate was in the
pilot-house with Washburn. Gopher had made provision for feeding the
addition to our passengers. I invited the two mates of the Olive down
into the fore-cabin to breakfast, while the cook and steward were
supplying the sailors on the forecastle. I found that Gopher had been
liberal in his supplies, both as to quantity and quality, for the
wrecked people.
By eight o'clock breakfast had been served to all on board. I had not
slept above four hours in two nights, though my short nap had refreshed
me a little. Washburn and all the rest of the crew had been on duty
most of the night, and they were very much fatigued. Moses Brickland
had served a double watch, and Ben Bowman had worked like a trooper
most of the night. I decided, as it was pleasant and plain sailing, to
send all hands to their berths, and take the helm myself, with Ben at
the engine; for he declared that he could stand it with only two hours'
sleep a week. Captain Mayfield and his two mates soon joined me in the
pilot-house. I was so sleepy myself that I could not help gaping and
yawning.
"You've had a hard night of it, Captain Alick, while I have had a whole
night below," said Captain Mayfield. "Myself and my mates have all seen
service in a steamer, and we should be very glad to relieve you."
"Thank you, Captain. I acknowledge that I am rather worn out; but a
little steamer like the Sylvania has her ways, and is peculiar," I
replied.
"Let Beach take the wheel, and you shall see whether he can handle
her," persisted Captain Mayfield.
Beach was the second mate, and I assented. I gave him the course, and
he kept her steady to it. I lay down on the bench abaft the wheel, and
before I knew it I didn't know anything. But I slept only a few
minutes, and when I waked I found the first mate at the wheel. He was
simply trying his hand at it. A little while after the captain took his
turn. We could see the Keys, the spindles and buoys on the reefs, and
it was hardly possible for any mishap to occur on board.
I asked one of them to help me heave the log, as I had sent all my
ship's company below to make up their sleep, except the second
engineer. Captain Mayfield would not permit me to do anything about it.
He called a couple of his seamen, and went aft to do it. He soon
reported twelve knots, with the remark that he did not suppose the
steamer to be capable of such a high rate of speed. He then begged me
to turn in. He was perfectly familiar with the coast and the soundings.
He sent two of his men on the topgallant forecastle to serve as
lookouts, and declared that the mates should keep the wheel all the
time. I was too sleepy to resist, and I turned in. I was soon fast
asleep. The motion of the vessel was now quite steady, though she rose
and fell upon the long seas.
It was two o'clock in the afternoon when I woke, for the new captain
would not permit me to be called. Gopher had dined all on board but the
crew, who had turned in before I did. Ben Bowman had waked himself, and
gone to the engine-room to relieve Moses, at eleven. The attentive cook
had a fresh dinner ready for me; and before I had finished it most of
the other sleepers appeared.
I went to the pilot-house and looked at the log-slate. It had been
faithfully kept during the absence of Washburn and myself. The last
entry was American Shoal, with the time of passing it.
"Where are we now, Captain Mayfield?" I asked.
"Do you see that beacon with a big B on the vane?" he said, pointing to
the beacon, which was within fifty yards of the steamer's bow. "That is
the Eastern Sambo, about a dozen sea miles from Key West."
"You have been making time since I went to sleep."
"We have logged twelve knots every time," he replied. "We shall have a
head wind after we have passed the Western Sambo, or soon after, and we
must take in sail."
I directed Washburn to call all hands and take in sail, with the
assistance at the sheets and halyards of the crew of the Olive.
"Where do you suppose the Islander is about this time?" I asked of
Washburn, after he had taken in sail and squared the yards.
"She may be at the bottom," replied the mate.
Captain Mayfield asked me what I meant, and I told him all about the
Islander.
"Her captain must have understood the navigation, or he would not have
gone inside on such a night as last we had," added Captain Mayfield. "I
don't think you will see the other steamer till you get to Key West, in
little more than an hour."
"He may have gone to the bottom in the hurricane," I suggested.
"He could make a harbor in several places; at Tavernier, for instance.
He may even have run through some opening to the other side of one of
the Keys, and been entirely protected from the heavy sea. He had to be
pretty well acquainted in there to do this. Do you know where he
shipped his crew?"
"At Jacksonville, Florida," I replied.
"Then very likely he had one or more of the Conchs, or natives, who
come from the Bahama Islands, on board. They are fishermen and
wreckers, and know every inch of bottom all along the reefs. I think
you will see the other steamer as soon as you get to Key West, for I
have no doubt she has got there first, if she was going there at all.
Western Sambo, three, five," continued Captain Mayfield. "Make a note
of it, Mr. Dana."
After some further conversation with the captain, I was confident the
Islander could not get by Key West without being seen by Cornwood, if
the steamer in which he was to come to Cedar Keys had not been detained
by the storm. Captain Mayfield did not believe the steamer with
Jacksonville passengers on board had been detained, as she had an
inside passage during all the worst of the hurricane. It was probable
that the agent of Colonel Shepard had arrived in the fore-noon, if not
in the morning.
Our pilot ran the Sylvania about two miles beyond the Western Sambo,
and then headed the vessel to the north-west. He asked me the draught
of the Sylvania, and I gave it to him as nine feet, which was her depth
in the water when her coal-bunkers were full of anthracite coal. The
course was varied considerably to avoid shoal places and reefs; but
Captain Mayfield gave me the sailing directions as we went along, and I
compared them with those in the Coast Pilot. All the passengers had
come on deck when it was announced that we were close in to Key West.
Colonel Shepard was very anxious about the Islander.
The city of Key West is located on the western end of an island of the
same name. Near it is Fort Taylor, a vast structure built on an
artificial island, and connected with Key West by a long bridge. On a
hill is Whitehead Light, and on the north side of the island are
several observatories. The town, consisting mostly of cottages, is near
these towers.
When we were off Fort Taylor, we had a full view of the harbor, but the
Islander was not to be seen.
"There she goes!" exclaimed Washburn, pointing to the north-west.
She carried no sail; but when I looked through the glass I made out her
rig, though she was four miles away.