DECEMBER 18th to 20th.--On the 18th the wind freshened a little, but as
it blew from the same favourable quarter we did not complain, and only
took the precaution of putting an extra support to the mast, so that it
should not snap with the tension of the sail. This done, the raft was
carried along with something more than its ordinary speed, and left a
long line of foam in its wake.
In the afternoon the sky became slightly overclouded, and the heat
consequently somewhat less oppressive. The swell made it more difficult
for the raft to keep its balance, and we shipped two or three heavy
seas; but the carpenter managed to make with some planks a kind of wall
about a couple of feet high, which protected us from the direct action
of the waves. Our casks of food and water were secured to the raft
with double ropes, for we dared not run the risk of their being carried
overboard, an accident that would at once have reduced us to the direst
distress.
In the course of the day the sailors gathered some of the marine plants
known by the name of sargassos, very similar to those we saw in such
profusion between the Bermudas and Ham Rock. I advised my companions to
chew the laminary tangles, which they would find contained a saccharine
juice, affording considerable relief to their parched lips and throats.
The remainder of the day passed without incident. I should not, however,
omit to mention that the frequent conferences held amongst the sailors,
especially between Owen, Burke, Flaypole, Wilson, and Jynxstrop, the
negro, aroused some uneasy suspicions in my mind. What was the subject
of their conversation I could not discover, for they became silent
immediately that a passenger or one of the officers approached them.
When I mentioned the matter to Curtis I found he had already noticed
these secret interviews, and that they had given him enough concern to
make him determined to keep a strict eye upon Jynxstrop and Owen, who,
rascals as they were themselves, were evidently trying to disaffect
their mates.
On the 19th the heat was again excessive. The sky was cloudless, and as
there was not enough wind to fill the sail the raft lay motionless
upon the surface of the water. Some of the sailors found a transient
alleviation for their thirst by plunging into the sea, but as we were
fully aware that the water all round was infested with sharks, none of
us was rash enough to follow their example, though if, as seems likely,
we remain long becalmed, we shall probably in time overcome our fears,
and feel constrained to indulge ourselves with a bath.
The health of Lieutenant Walter continues to cause us grave anxiety, the
young man being weakened by attacks of intermittent fever. Except for
the loss of the medicine-chest we might have temporarily reduced this by
quinine; but it is only too evident that the poor fellow is consumptive,
and that that hopeless malady is making ravages upon him that no
medicine could permanently arrest. His sharp dry cough, his short
breathing, his profuse perspirations, more especially in the morning;
the pinched-in nose, the hollow cheeks, of which the general pallour is
only relieved by a hectic flush, the contracted lips, the too brilliant
eye and wasted form--all bear witness to a slow but sure decay.
To-day, the 20th, the temperature is as high as ever, and the raft still
motionless. The rays of the sun penetrate even through the shelter of
our tent, where we sit literally gasping with the heat. The impatience
with which we awaited the moment when the boatswain should dole out our
meagre allowance of water, and the eagerness with which those lukewarm
drops were swallowed, can only be realized by those who for themselves
have endured the agonies of thirst.
Lieutenant Walter suffers more than any of us from the scarcity of
water, and I noticed that Miss Herbey reserved almost the whole of her
own share for his use. Kind and compassionate as ever, the young girl
does all that lies in her power to relieve the poor fellow’s sufferings.
“Mr. Kazallon,” she said to me this morning, “that young man gets
manifestly weaker every day.”
“Yes, Miss Herbey,” I replied, “and how sorrowful it is that we can do
nothing for him, absolutely nothing.”
“Hush!” she said, with her wonted consideration, “perhaps he will hear
what we are saying.”
And then she sat down near the edge of the raft, where, with her head
resting on her hands, she remained lost in thought.
An incident sufficiently unpleasant occurred to-day. For nearly an
hour Owen, Flaypole, Burke, and Jynxstrop had been engaged in close
conversation and, although their voices were low, their gestures had
betrayed that they were animated by some strong excitement. At the
conclusion of the colloquy Owen got up and walked deliberately to
the quarter of the raft that has been reserved for the use of the
passengers.
“Where are you off to now, Owen?” said the boatswain.
“That’s my business,” said the man insolently, and pursued his course.
The boatswain was about to stop him, but before he could interfere
Curtis was standing and looking Owen steadily in the face.
“Ah, captain, I’ve got a word from my mates to say to you,” he said,
with all the effrontery imaginable.
“Say on, then,” said the captain coolly.
“We should like to know about that little keg of brandy. Is it being
kept for the porpoises or the officers?”
Finding that he obtained no reply, he went on,--
“Look here, captain, what we want is to have our grog served out every
morning as usual.”
“Then you certainly will not,” said the captain.
“What! what!” exclaimed Owen, “don’t you mean to let us have our grog?”
“Once and for all, no.”
For a moment, with a malicious grin upon his lips, Owen stood
confronting the captain; then, as though thinking better of himself,
he turned round and rejoined his companions, who were still talking
together in an undertone.
When I was afterwards discussing the matter with Curtis I asked him
whether he was sure he had done right in refusing the brandy.
“Right!” he cried, “to be sure I have. Allow those men to have brandy! I
would throw it all overboard first.”