"BLOWN TO BITS."
The sight that met their eyes was well calculated to shock and sadden
men of much less tender feeling than Van der Kemp and Captain Roy.
The water had assumed an appearance of inky blackness, and large masses
of pumice were floating past, among which were numerous dead bodies of
men, women, and children, intermingled with riven trees, fences, and
other wreckage from the land, showing that the two great waves which had
already passed under the vessel had caused terrible devastation on some
parts of the shore. To add to the horror of the scene large sea-snakes
were seen swimming wildly about, as if seeking to escape from the novel
dangers that surrounded them.
The sailors looked on in awe-stricken silence for some time.
"P'raps some of 'em may be alive yet!" whispered one. "Couldn't we
lower a boat?"
"Impossible in such a sea," said the captain, who overheard the remark.
"Besides, no life could exist there."
"Captain Roy," said Van der Kemp earnestly, "let me advise you to get
your foresail ready to hoist at a moment's notice, and let them stand by
to cut the cable."
"Why so? There seems no need at present for such strong measures."
"You don't understand volcanoes as I do," returned the hermit. "This
lull will only last until the imprisoned fires overcome the block in the
crater, and the longer it lasts the worse will be the explosion. From
my knowledge of the coast I feel sure that we are close to the town of
Anjer. If another wave like the last comes while we are here, it will
not slip under your brig like the last one. It will tear her from her
anchor and hurl us all to destruction. You have but one chance; that
is, to cut the cable and run in on the top of it--a poor chance at the
best, but if God wills, we shall escape."
"If we are indeed as near shore as you think," said the captain, "I know
what you say must be true, for in shoal water such a wave will surely
carry all before it. But are you certain there will be another
explosion?"
"No man can be sure of that. If the last explosion emptied the crater
there will be no more. If it did not, another explosion is certain.
All I advise is that you should be ready for whatever is coming, and
ready to take your only chance."
"Right you are, sir. Send men to be ready to cut the cable, Mr Moor.
And stand by the topsail halyards."
"Ay, ay, sir."
During the anxious minutes that followed, the hermit rejoined Winnie and
Nigel on the quarterdeck, and conversed with the latter in a low voice,
while he drew the former to his side with his strong arm. Captain Roy
himself grasped the wheel and the men stood at their various stations
ready for action.
"Let no man act without orders, whatever happens," said the captain in a
deep powerful voice which was heard over the whole ship, for the lull
that we have mentioned extended in some degree to the gale as well as to
the volcano. Every one felt that some catastrophe was pending.
"Winnie, darling," said the hermit tenderly, as he bent down to see the
sweet face that had been restored to him. "I greatly fear that there is
soon to be another explosion, and it may be His will that we shall
perish, but comfort yourself with the certainty that no hair of your
dear head can fall without His permission--and in any event He will not
fail us."
"I know it, father. I have no fear--at least, only a little!"
"Nigel," said the hermit, "stick close to us if you can. It may be
that, if anything should befall me, your strong arm may succour Winnie;
mine has lost somewhat of its vigour," he whispered.
"Trust me--nothing but death shall sunder us," said the anxious youth in
a burst of enthusiasm.
It seemed as if death were indeed to be the immediate portion of all on
board the _Sunshine_, for a few minutes later there came a crash,
followed by a spout of smoke, fire, steam, and molten lava, compared to
which all that had gone before seemed insignificant!
The crash was indescribable! As we have said elsewhere, the sound of it
was heard many hundreds of miles from the seat of the volcano, and its
effects were seen and felt right round the world.
The numerous vents which had previously been noticed on Krakatoa must at
that moment have been blown into one, and the original crater of the old
volcano--said to have been about six miles in diameter--must have
resumed its destructive work. All the eye-witnesses who were near the
spot at the time, and sufficiently calm to take note of the terrific
events of that morning, are agreed as to the splendour of the electrical
phenomena displayed during this paroxysmal outburst. One who, at the
time, was forty miles distant speaks of the great vapour-cloud looking
"like an immense wall or blood-red curtain with edges of all shades of
yellow, and bursts of forked lightning at times rushing like large
serpents through the air." Another says that "Krakatoa appeared to be
alight with flickering flames rising behind a dense black cloud." A
third recorded that "the lightning struck the mainmast conductor five or
six times," and that "the mud-rain which covered the decks was
phosphorescent, while the rigging presented the appearance of Saint
Elmo's fire."
It may be remarked here, in passing, that giant steam-jets rushing
through the orifices of the earth's crust constitute an enormous
hydro-electric engine; and the friction of ejected materials striking
against each other in ascending and descending also generates
electricity, which accounts to some extent for the electrical condition
of the atmosphere.
In these final and stupendous outbursts the volcano was expending its
remaining force in breaking up and ejecting the solid lava which
constituted its framework, and not in merely vomiting forth the
lava-froth, or pumice, which had characterised the earlier stages of the
eruption. In point of fact--as was afterwards clearly ascertained by
careful soundings and estimates, taking the average height of the
missing portion at 700 feet above water, and the depth at 300 feet below
it--two-thirds of the island were blown entirely off the face of the
earth. The mass had covered an area of nearly six miles, and is
estimated as being equal to one and one-eighth cubic miles of solid
matter which, as Moses expressed it, was blown to bits!
If this had been all, it would have been enough to claim the attention
and excite the wonder of the intelligent world--but this was not nearly
all, as we shall see, for saddest of all the incidents connected with
the eruption is the fact that upwards of thirty-six thousand human
beings lost their lives. The manner in which that terrible loss
occurred shall be shown by the future adventures of the _Sunshine_.