The brig put to sea, as I had supposed, in about an hour after he had
left the watch. This was on the twentieth of June. It will be
remembered that I had then been in the hold for three days; and, during
this period, there was so constant a bustle on board, and so much
running to and fro, especially in the cabin and staterooms, that he had
had no chance of visiting me without the risk of having the secret of
the trap discovered. When at length he did come, I had assured him that
I was doing as well as possible; and, therefore, for the two next days
he felt but little uneasiness on my account--still, however, watching
an opportunity of going down. It was not _until the fourth day_ that he
found one. Several times during this interval he had made up his mind
to let his father know of the adventure, and have me come up at once;
but we were still within reaching distance of Nantucket, and it was
doubtful, from some expressions which had escaped Captain Barnard,
whether he would not immediately put back if he discovered me to be on
board. Besides, upon thinking the matter over, Augustus, so he told me,
could not imagine that I was in immediate want, or that I would
hesitate, in such case, to make myself heard at the trap. When,
therefore, he considered everything, he concluded to let me stay until
he could meet with an opportunity of visiting me unobserved. This, as I
said before, did not occur until the fourth day after his bringing me
the watch, and the seventh since I had first entered the hold. He then
went down without taking with him any water or provisions, intending in
the first place merely to call my attention, and get me to come from
the box to the trap--when he would go up to the stateroom and thence
hand me down a supply. When he descended for this purpose he found that
I was asleep, for it seems that I was snoring very loudly. From all the
calculations I can make on the subject, this must have been the slumber
into which I fell just after my return from the trap with the watch,
and which, consequently, must have lasted _for more than three entire
days and nights_ at the very least. Latterly, I have had reason, both
from my own experience and the assurance of others, to be acquainted
with the strong soporific effects of the stench arising from old
fish-oil when closely confined; and when I think of the condition of
the hold in which I was imprisoned, and the long period during which
the brig had been used as a whaling vessel, I am more inclined to
wonder that I awoke at all, after once falling asleep, than that I
should have slept uninterruptedly for the period specified above.
Augustus called to me at first in a low voice and without closing the
trap--but I made him no reply. He then shut the trap, and spoke to me
in a louder, and finally in a very loud tone--still I continued to
snore. He was now at a loss what to do. It would take him some time to
make his way through the lumber to my box, and in the mean while his
absence would be noticed by Captain Barnard, who had occasion for his
services every minute, in arranging and copying papers connected with
the business of the voyage. He determined, therefore, upon reflection,
to ascend, and await another opportunity of visiting me. He was the
more easily induced to this resolve, as my slumber appeared to be of
the most tranquil nature, and he could not suppose that I had undergone
any inconvenience from my incarceration. He had just made up his mind
on these points when his attention was arrested by an unusual bustle,
the sound of which proceeded apparently from the cabin. He sprang
through the trap as quickly as possible, closed it, and threw open the
door of his stateroom. No sooner had he put his foot over the threshold
than a pistol flashed in his face, and he was knocked down, at the same
moment, by a blow from a handspike.
A strong hand held him on the cabin floor, with a tight grasp upon his
throat--still he was able to see what was going on around him. His
father was tied hand and foot, and lying along the steps of the
companion-way with his head down, and a deep wound in the forehead,
from which the blood was flowing in a continued stream. He spoke not a
word, and was apparently dying. Over him stood the first mate, eying
him with an expression of fiendish derision, and deliberately searching
his pockets, from which he presently drew forth a large wallet and a
chronometer. Seven of the crew (among whom was the cook, a negro) were
rummaging the staterooms on the larboard for arms, where they soon
equipped themselves with muskets and ammunition. Besides Augustus and
Captain Barnard, there were nine men altogether in the cabin, and these
among the most ruffianly of the brig's company. The villains now went
upon deck, taking my friend with them, after having secured his arms
behind his back. They proceeded straight to the forecastle, which was
fastened down--two of the mutineers standing by it with axes--two also
at the main hatch. The mate called out in a loud voice, "Do you hear
there below? tumble up with you--one by one, now, mark that--and no
grumbling." It was some minutes before any one appeared: at last an
Englishman, who had shipped as a raw hand, came up, weeping piteously,
and entreating the mate in the most humble manner to spare his life.
The only reply was a blow on the forehead from an axe. The poor fellow
fell to the deck without a groan, and the black cook lifted him up in
his arms as he would a child, and tossed him deliberately into the sea.
Hearing the blow and the plunge of the body, the men below could now be
induced to venture on deck neither by threats nor promises, until a
proposition was made to smoke them out. A general rush then ensued, and
for a moment it seemed possible that the brig might be retaken. The
mutineers, however, succeeded at last in closing the forecastle
effectually before more than six of their opponents could get up. These
six, finding themselves so greatly outnumbered and without arms,
submitted after a brief struggle. The mate gave them fair words--no
doubt with a view of inducing those below to yield, for they had no
difficulty in hearing all that was said on deck. The result proved his
sagacity, no less than his diabolical villany. All in the forecastle
presently signified their intention of submitting, and, ascending one
by one, were pinioned and thrown on their backs together with the first
six--there being in all, of the crew who were not concerned in the
mutiny, twenty-seven.
A scene of the most horrible butchery ensued. The bound seamen were
dragged to the gangway. Here the cook stood with an axe, striking each
victim on the head as he was forced over the side of the vessel by the
other mutineers. In this manner twenty-two perished, and Augustus had
given himself up for lost, expecting every moment his own turn to come
next. But it seemed that the villains were now either weary, or in some
measure disgusted with their bloody labour; for the four remaining
prisoners, together with my friend, who had been thrown on the deck
with the rest, were respited while the mate sent below for rum, and the
whole murderous party held a drunken carouse, which lasted until
sunset. They now fell to disputing in regard to the fate of the
survivers, who lay not more than four paces off, and could distinguish
every word said. Upon some of the mutineers the liquor appeared to have
a softening effect, for several voices were heard in favour of
releasing the captives altogether, on condition of joining the mutiny
and sharing the profits. The black cook, however (who in all respects
was a perfect demon, and who seemed to exert as much influence, if not
more, than the mate himself), would listen to no proposition of the
kind, and rose repeatedly for the purpose of resuming his work at the
gangway. Fortunately, he was so far overcome by intoxication as to be
easily restrained by the less bloodthirsty of the party, among whom was
a line-manager, who went by the name of Dirk Peters. This man was the
son of an Indian squaw of the tribe of Upsarokas, who live among the
fastnesses of the Black Hills near the source of the Missouri. His
father was a fur-trader, I believe, or at least connected in some
manner with the Indian trading-posts on Lewis river. Peters himself was
one of the most purely ferocious-looking men I ever beheld. He was
short in stature--not more than four feet eight inches high--but his
limbs were of the most Herculean mould. His hands, especially, were so
enormously thick and broad as hardly to retain a human shape. His arms,
as well as legs, were _bowed_ in the most singular manner, and appeared
to possess no flexibility whatever. His head was equally deformed,
being of immense size, with an indentation on the crown (like that on
the head of most negroes), and entirely bald. To conceal this latter
deficiency, which did not proceed from old age, he usually wore a wig
formed of any hair-like material which presented itself--occasionally
the skin of a Spanish dog or American grizzly bear. At the time spoken
of he had on a portion of one of these bearskins; and it added no
little to the natural ferocity of his countenance, which betook of the
Upsaroka character. The mouth extended nearly from ear to ear; the lips
were thin, and seemed, like some other portions of his frame, to be
devoid of natural pliancy, so that the ruling expression never varied
under the influence of any emotion whatever. This ruling expression may
be conceived when it is considered that the teeth were exceedingly long
and protruding, and never even partially covered, in any instance, by
the lips. To pass this man with a casual glance, one might imagine him
to be convulsed with laughter--but a second look would induce a
shuddering acknowledgment, that if such an expression were indicative
of merriment, the merriment must be that of a demon. Of this singular
being many anecdotes were prevalent among the seafaring men of
Nantucket. These anecdotes went to prove his prodigious strength when
under excitement, and some of them had given rise to a doubt of his
sanity. But on board the Grampus, it seems, he was regarded at the time
of the mutiny with feelings more of derision than of anything else. I
have been thus particular in speaking of Dirk Peters, because,
ferocious as he appeared, he proved the main instrument in preserving
the life of Augustus, and because I shall have frequent occasion to
mention him hereafter in the course of my narrative--a narrative, let
me here say, which, in its latter portions, will be found to include
incidents of a nature so entirely out of the range of human experience,
and for this reason so far beyond the limits of human credulity, that I
proceed in utter hopelessness of obtaining credence for all that I
shall tell, yet confidently trusting in time and progressing science to
verify some of the most important and most improbable of my statements.
After much indecision and two or three violent quarrels, it was
determined at last that all the prisoners (with the exception of
Augustus, whom Peters insisted in a jocular manner upon keeping as his
clerk) should be set adrift in one of the smallest whaleboats. The mate
went down into the cabin to see if Captain Barnard was still
living--for, it will be remembered, he was left below when the
mutineers came up. Presently the two made their appearance, the captain
pale as death, but somewhat recovered from the effects of his wound. He
spoke to the men in a voice hardly articulate, entreated them not to
set him adrift, but to return to their duty, and promising to land them
wherever they chose, and to take no steps for bringing them to justice.
He might as well have spoken to the winds. Two of the ruffians seized
him by the arms and hurled him over the brig's side into the boat,
which had been lowered while the mate went below. The four men who were
lying on the deck were then untied and ordered to follow, which they
did without attempting any resistance--Augustus being still left in his
painful position, although he struggled and prayed only for the poor
satisfaction of being permitted to bid his father farewell. A handful
of sea-biscuit and a jug of water were now handed down; but neither
mast, sail, oar, nor compass. The boat was towed astern for a few
minutes, during which the mutineers held another consultation--it was
then finally cut adrift. By this time night had come on--there were
neither moon nor stars visible--and a short and ugly sea was running,
although there was no great deal of wind. The boat was instantly out of
sight, and little hope could be entertained for the unfortunate
sufferers who were in it. This event happened, however, in latitude 35°
30' north, longitude 61° 20' west, and consequently at no very great
distance from the Bermuda Islands. Augustus therefore endeavoured to
console himself with the idea that the boat might either succeed in
reaching the land, or come sufficiently near to be fallen in with by
vessels off the coast.
All sail was now put upon the brig, and she continued her original
course to the southwest--the mutineers being bent upon some piratical
expedition, in which, from all that could be understood, a ship was to
be intercepted on her way from the Cape Verd Islands to Porto Rico. No
attention was paid to Augustus, who was untied and suffered to go about
anywhere forward of the cabin companion-way. Dirk Peters treated him
with some degree of kindness, and on one occasion saved him from the
brutality of the cook. His situation was still one of the most
precarious, as the men were continually intoxicated, and there was no
relying upon their continued good-humour or carelessness in regard to
himself. His anxiety on my account he represented, however, as the most
distressing result of his condition; and, indeed, I had never reason to
doubt the sincerity of his friendship. More than once he had resolved
to acquaint the mutineers with the secret of my being on board, but was
restrained from so doing, partly through recollection of the atrocities
he had already beheld, and partly through a hope of being able soon to
bring me relief. For the latter purpose he was constantly on the watch;
but, in spite of the most constant vigilance, three days elapsed after
the boat was cut adrift before any chance occurred. At length, on the
night of the third day, there came on a heavy blow from the eastward,
and all hands were called up to take in sail. During the confusion
which ensued, he made his way below unobserved, and into the stateroom.
What was his grief and horror in discovering that the latter had been
rendered a place of deposite for a variety of sea-stores and
ship-furniture, and that several fathoms of old chain-cable, which had
been stowed away beneath the companion-ladder, had been dragged thence
to make room for a chest, and were now lying immediately upon the trap!
To remove it without discovery was impossible, and he returned on deck
as quickly as he could. As he came up the mate seized him by the
throat, and demanding what he had been doing in the cabin, was about
flinging him over the larboard bulwark, when his life was again
preserved through the interference of Dirk Peters. Augustus was now put
in handcuffs (of which there were several pairs on board), and his feet
lashed tightly together. He was then taken into the steerage, and
thrown into a lower berth next to the forecastle bulkheads, with the
assurance that he should never put his foot on deck again "until the
brig was no longer a brig." This was the expression of the cook, who
threw him into the berth--it is hardly possible to say what precise
meaning was intended by the phrase. The whole affair, however, proved
the ultimate means of my relief, as will presently appear.