What a change it was from the quiet cottage, with my sweet Susan by my
side, to the lower-deck of the big ship, crowded with people, not only
her own seamen and marines, but some hundreds of visitors, women and
children! some of them the honest wives of the men, but others drunken,
swearing, loud-talking creatures--a disgrace to their sex. Quarrelling
and fighting and the wildest uproar were taking place; and then there
were a number of Jews with pinchbeck watches, and all sorts of trumpery
wares, which they were eager to exchange for poor Jack's golden guineas.
Some of them went away in the evening, but many more came back the next
morning to drive their trade, and would have come as long as coin was to
be picked up.
I am not likely to forget that next morning, the 28th of August. It was
a fine summer's morning, and there was just a little sea on, with a
strongish breeze blowing from the eastward, but not enough to prevent
boats coming off from Portsmouth. I counted forty sail-of-the-line, a
dozen frigates and smaller ships of war, and well-nigh three hundred
merchant vessels, riding, as of course we were, to the flood with our
heads towards Cowes.
You will understand that under the lower-deck was fitted a cistern, into
which the sea-water was received and then pumped up by a hand pump,
fixed in the middle of the gun-deck, for the purpose of washing the two
lower gun-decks; the water was let into this cistern by a pipe which
passed through the ship's side, and which was secured by a stop-cock, on
the inside. It had been found the morning before that this water-cock,
which was about three feet below the water line, was out of order and
must be repaired.
The foreman came off from the dockyard, and said that it was necessary
to careen the ship over to port sufficiently to raise the mouth of the
pipe, which went through the ship's timbers below, clean out of the
water, that he and his men might work at it. Between seven and eight
o'clock the order was given to run the larboard guns out as far as they
could go, the larboard ports being opened. The starboard guns were also
run in amidships and secured by tackles, the moving over of this great
weight of metal bringing the larboard lower-deck port-cills just level
with the water. The men were then able to get at the mouth of the pipe.
For an hour the ship remained in this position, while the carpenters
were at work. We had been taking in ruin and shot in the previous day,
and now a sloop called the _Lark_, which belonged to three brothers,
came alongside with the last cargo of rum; she having been secured to
the larboard side, the hands were piped to clear lighter.
I had been on duty on the main-deck; several ladies had come off early
in the morning, friends and relations of the officers. Some of them
were either in the ward-room or gun-room, and others were walking the
quarter-deck with the help of their gentlemen friends, as it was no easy
matter, the ship heeling over as much as she was then doing. They
thought it very good fun, however, and were laughing and talking as they
tried to keep their feet from slipping. I had been sent with a message
to Mr Hollingbury, our third lieutenant, who was officer of the watch;
he seemed out of temper, and gave me a rough answer, as he generally
did. He was not a favourite indeed with us, and we used to call him
"Jib-and-Foresail Jack"; for when he had the watch at night he was
always singing out, "Up jib," and "Down jib"; "Up foresail," "Down
foresail"; and from a habit he had of moving his fingers about when
walking the quarter-deck, we used to say that he had been an
organ-player in London. Just as I got back to the main-deck, I caught a
glimpse of a young lady in black, leading a little boy; she turned her
face towards me, and I saw that she was the very same who had come to my
wife's cottage the previous evening--indeed I should have known her by
the little boy by her side. I had to return to the quarter-deck again,
and when I once more came back to the main-deck I could nowhere see her;
but whether she went into the ward-room, or had gone below, I could not
learn. I asked several people, for I thought she might have brought me
off a message from Susan, and I might, I fancied, have been of use to
her in finding the person she wished to see. While I was looking about,
Mr Webb, the purser's clerk, who had received orders to go on shore in
charge of a boat, came up and ordered me to call the crew away; a couple
of midshipmen were going with him. This took up some time, and
prevented me from finding the young lady. Just then, as I went up to
report the boat gone to Mr Hollingbury, Mr Williams, the carpenter,
came up from the lower-deck, and requested that he would be pleased to
order the ship to be righted, as she was heeling over more than she
could bear. The lieutenant gave one of his usual short answers to the
carpenter, who went below, looking as if he did not at all like it. He
was back again, however, before I had left the deck, when he said in a
short quick way, as if there was not a moment to lose--
"If you please, sir, the ship is getting past her bearings; it's my duty
to tell you, she will no longer bear it."
"If you think, sir, you can manage the ship better than I can, you had
better take the command," answered Mr Hollingbury in an angry tone,
twitching his fingers and turning away.
About this time there were a good many men in the waist who heard what
the carpenter had said, and what answer the lieutenant gave. They all
knew, as I did, that the ship must be in great danger, or the carpenter
would not have spoken so sharply as he had.
A large number of the crew, however, were below; some on board the
lighter, others at the yard-tackles and stay-falls, hoisting in casks;
some in the spirit-room stowing away, others bearing the casks down the
hatchway, all busy clearing the lighter. The greater number, it will be
understood, were on the larboard side, and that brought the ship down
still more to larboard. There was a little more sea on than before,
which had begun to wash into the lower-deck ports, and, having no
escape, there was soon a good weight of water on the lower-deck.
Several of the men, not dreaming of danger, were amusing themselves,
laughing and shouting, catching mice, for there were a good many of them
in the ship, which the water had driven out of their quarters. It's my
belief, however, that the casks of rum hoisted in, and lying on the
larboard side, before they could be lowered into the hold, helped very
much to bring the ship down.
There stood the lieutenant, fuming at the way the carpenter had spoken
to him. Suddenly, however, it seemed to occur to him that the carpenter
was right, and he ordered the drummer to beat to quarters, that the guns
might be run into their places, and the ship righted.
"Dick Tattoo" was shouted quick enough along the deck, for everyone now
saw that not a moment was to be lost, as the ship had just then heeled
over still more. The moment the drummer was called, all hands began
tumbling down the hatchways to their quarters, that they might run in
their guns.
Just then I saw a young midshipman, whom I had observed going off with
Mr Webb, standing at the entrance-port singing out for the boat; he had
forgotten his dirk, he said, and had come back to fetch it. The boat,
however, had got some distance off, and he was left behind. Poor
fellow, it was a fatal piece of forgetfulness for him.
"Never mind, Jemmy Pish," said little Crispo, one of the smallest
midshipmen I ever saw, for he was only nine years old. "There is
another boat going ashore directly, and you can go in her."
He gave an angry answer, and went back into the gun-room, swearing at
his ill-luck.
The men had just got hold of the gun-tackles, and were about to bowse
out their guns, which had been run in amidship, some five hundred of
them or more having for the purpose gone over to the larboard side,
which caused the ship to heel still more, when the water made a rush
into the larboard lower-deck ports, and, do all they could, the guns ran
in again upon them. Feeling sure that the ship could not be righted, I,
seizing little Crispo, made a rush to starboard, and, dashing through an
open port, found myself outside the ship, which at that moment went
completely over, her masts and spars sinking under the water. Somehow
or other, the young midshipman broke from me and slipped over into the
sea. I thought the poor little fellow would have been lost, but he
struck out bravely, which was, as it turned out, the best thing he could
have done, as he could swim well.
I had just before seen all the port-holes crowded with seamen, trying to
escape, and jamming one another so that they could scarcely move one way
or the other. The ship now lying down completely on her larboard
broadside, suddenly the heads of most of the men disappeared, they
having dropped back into the ship, many of those who were holding on
being hauled down by others below them. It was, you see, as if they had
been trying to get out of a number of chimneys, with nothing for their
feet to rest upon. Directly afterwards there came such a rush of wind
through the ports that my hat was blown off. It was the air from the
hold, which, having no other vent, escaped as the water pouring in took
up its space. The whole side of the ship was, I said, covered with
seamen and marines, and here and there a Jew maybe, and a good many
women and a few children shrieking and crying out for mercy. Never have
I heard such a fearful wailing. One poor woman near me shrieked out for
her husband, but he was nowhere to be seen, and she thought that he was
below with those who by this time were drowned; for there were hundreds
who had been on the lower-decks, and in the hold, who had never even
reached the ports, and some who had fallen back into the sea as it
rushed in at the larboard side. She implored me to help her, and I said
I would if I could. We could see boats putting off from the ships all
round us to our help, and here and there people swimming for their lives
who had leaped from the stern-ports, or had been on the lower-deck. I
could not help thinking of our fine old admiral, and wished that he
might be among them; but he was not, for he was writing in his cabin at
the time, and when the captain tried to let him know that the ship was
sinking, he found the door so jammed by her heeling over that he could
not open it, and was obliged to rush aft and make his escape through a
stern-port to save his life. This I afterwards heard.
As the ship had floated for some minutes, I began to hope that she would
continue in the same position, and that I and others around me on her
side might be saved. I hoped this for my own sake, and still more for
that of my dear wife. I had been thinking of her all the time, for I
knew that it would go well-nigh to break her heart if I was taken from
her, as it were, just before her eyes. Suddenly I found, to my horror,
that the ship was settling down; the shrieks of despair which rent the
air on every side, not only from women, but from many a man I had looked
upon as a stout fellow, rang in my ears. Knowing that if I went down
with the ship I should have a hard job to rise again, I seized the poor
woman by the dress, and leaped off with her into the sea; but, to my
horror, her dress tore, and before I could get hold of her again she was
swept from me. I had struck out for some distance, when I felt myself,
as it were, drawn back, and, on looking round, I saw the ship's upper
works disappear beneath the water, which was covered with a mass of
human beings, shrieking and lifting up their hands in despair.
Presently they all disappeared. Just then I felt myself drawn down by
someone getting hold of my foot under the water, but, managing to kick
off my shoe, I quickly rose again and struck out away from the spot,
impelled by instinct rather than anything else, for I had no time for
thought; then directly afterwards up came the masts almost with a bound,
as it were, and stood out of the water, with a slight list only to
starboard, with the fore, main, and mizzen tops all above water, as well
as part of the bowsprit and ensign-staff, with the flag still hoisted to
it. Many people were floating about, making for the tops and rigging,
several of them terrorstricken, who could not swim, catching hold of
those that could. I thought, on seeing this, that it would be wiser to
keep clear of them, till I could reach a boat coming towards the wreck
at no great distance off. I was pretty nigh exhausted when I reached
the boat, in which were a waterman and two young gentlemen, who happened
to be crossing from Ryde to Portsmouth at the time. They soon hauled me
in, and I begged them to pull on and save some of the drowning people.
As neither of them could row, quickly recovering I took one of the oars,
and was about to sit down to help the waterman, when I saw, not far off,
several sheep, pigs, and fowls swimming in all directions, while
hencoops and all sorts of articles were floating about.
"Let us save the poor beasts," cried one of the young gentlemen
thoughtlessly, just as young people are apt to speak sometimes. We, of
course, took no heed of what he said, when our fellow-creatures had to
be saved, and were pulling on when my eye fell on one of the sheep
swimming away from us, which seemed to have someone holding on to its
back. We put the boat round and followed, when, what was my surprise to
see a child hanging on with both its hands to the sheep's back! On a
second look, it struck me that he was the very same little boy I had
seen at my cottage, and who had come on board that morning with the
young lady.
"Gently, now," I cried out, afraid that the little fellow might let go
his hold before we were up to him, but he held on bravely. In half a
minute we were alongside the sheep, and I had the child safely in my
arms. The young gentlemen hauled the poor sheep into the boat, for it
would not have done to let it drown after having saved the child. I now
saw that the little fellow was the same I had supposed, for he had his
hat fastened on under his chin, and his sailor's jacket and trousers on;
he looked more astonished than frightened, and when I asked him how he
had got into the water he could not tell me.
"Where is the young lady? is she your mother or aunt?" I asked.
He had no answer to give, but only gazed about with a startled look. He
might have been younger than I had supposed; at all events, not a word
could I get out of him to let me know who he was. One of the young
gentlemen wished to hold him in his arms, so I gave the little fellow to
him, and, taking the oar, we began to pull back towards the wreck to try
and save any who might be still swimming about. The tops and rigging
were by this time full of people who had managed to reach them, while
several hanging on by ropes were still floating in the water. A number
of boats from the men-of-war had, however, got up to the spot, and they
were better able to go in among the spars and rigging than was our light
wherry with the sea which was then running. Now that I was safe myself,
I was anxious to learn who among my shipmates had escaped; but then I
had the little boy to look after, who was all wet and shivering, and I
knew too that the news of the accident would soon reach Susan, and that
she would be in a fearful state of alarm if I did not let her know that
I had been preserved. I told the young gentlemen this, and begged them
to let the boatman put me and the child ashore at Ryde, promising him a
guinea if he would do so. They were strangers who had been making a
tour on the island, and, though they were in a hurry to get back to
Portsmouth, they at once consented to do as I wished.
As we had a fair wind we hoisted the sail, and, soon getting away from
the scene of the disaster, quickly reached the hard at Ryde. After
thanking the young gentlemen and the waterman, I had jumped on shore
with the child in my arms, and was stooping down to get hold of the
sheep which I thought ought to be mine, or rather the little boy's, when
the waterman stopped me.
"No, no, master! you are not going to have that animal," he said; "I
want him."
"We should not have stopped to pick up the sheep if it had not been for
the little boy," observed one of the young gentlemen; "and so, as the
sheep's life was saved on his account, the animal should go where he
goes."
The waterman, however, seemed determined to have the sheep.
"Come, master," said I, "I will give you half a guinea, and that is as
much as you will get for the animal."
The waterman still held out.
"Come, you shall have a guinea," said I, getting the money out of my
pocket.
"And we will give five shillings apiece," said one of the young
gentlemen.
"Come, that must settle the matter," said the other, giving the sheep a
lift out of the boat.
Still the man grumbled, wanting to get more, but, handing the guinea to
the young gentlemen, for the little boy being wet to the skin,--as of
course I was, though that did not matter,--I wanted to be off home. I
got hold of the poor sheep and dragged it along, thinking thus to settle
the matter. What had come over the waterman I do not know, but,
springing out, he was going to catch hold of the sheep, when his foot
slipped, and in he went between the boat and the hard.
"Go on, sailor, go on," cried the young gentlemen, laughing, while the
waterman, now wet as I was, scrambled out, and, seeing that there was no
use in following, got into his boat. Feeling very much obliged to the
young gentlemen, and sorry I could not stop to thank them again, I
hurried up as fast as I could to my home.