THE "CHANCELLOR" RELEASED FROM HER PRISON
NOVEMBER 21 TO 24.--There was assuredly no time to be lost before we
ought to leave Ham Rock reef. The barometer had been falling ever since
the morning, the sea was getting rougher, and there was every symptom
that the weather, hitherto so favorable, was on the point of breaking;
and in the event of a gale the Chancellor must inevitably be dashed to
pieces on the rocks.
In the evening, when the tide was quite low, and the rocks uncovered,
Curtis, the boatswain, and Dowlas went to examine the ridge which had
proved so serious an obstruction. Falsten and I accompanied them. We
came to the conclusion that the only way of effecting a passage was by
cutting away the rocks with pikes over a surface measuring ten feet by
six. An extra depth of nine or ten inches would give a sufficient
gauge, and the channel might be accurately marked out by buoys; in this
way it was conjectured the ship might be got over the ridge and so
reach the deep water beyond.
"But this basalt is as hard as granite," said the boatswain; "besides,
we can only get at it at low water, and consequently could only work at
it for two hours out of the twenty-four."
"All the more reason why we should begin at once, boatswain," said
Curtis.
"But if it is to take us a month, captain, perhaps by that time the
ship may be knocked to atoms. Couldn't we manage to blow up the rock?
we have got some powder aboard."
"Not enough for that," said the boatswain.
"You have something better than powder," said Falsten.
"What's that?" asked the captain.
"Picrate of potash," was the reply.
And so the explosive substance with which poor Ruby had so grievously
imperiled the vessel was now to serve her in good stead, and I now saw
what a lucky thing it was that the case had been deposited safely on
the reef, instead of being thrown into the sea.
The sailors went off at once for their pikes, and Dowlas and his
assistants, under the direction of Falsten, who, as an engineer,
understood such matters, proceeded to hollow out a mine wherein to
deposit the powder. At first we hoped that everything would be ready
for the blasting to take place on the following morning, but when
daylight appeared we found that the men, although they had labored with
a will, had only been able to work for an hour at low water and that
four tides must ebb before the mine had been sunk to the required depth.
Not until eight o'clock on the morning of the 23d was the work
complete. The hole was bored obliquely in the rock, and was large
enough to contain about ten pounds of explosive matter. Just as the
picrate was being introduced into the aperture, Falsten interposed:
"Stop," he said, "I think it will be best to mix the picrate with
common powder, as that will allow us to fire the mine with a match
instead of the gun-priming which would be necessary to produce a shock.
Besides, it is an understood thing that the addition of gunpowder
renders picrate far more effective in blasting such rocks as this, as
then the violence of the picrate prepares the way for the powder which,
slower in its action, will complete the disseverment of the basalt."
Falsten is not a great talker, but what he does say is always very much
to the point. His good advice was immediately followed; the two
substances were mixed together, and after a match had been introduced
the compound was rammed closely into the hole.
Notwithstanding that the Chancellor was at a distance from the rocks
that insured her from any danger of being injured by the explosion, it
was thought advisable that the passengers and crew should take refuge
in the grotto at the extremity of the reef, and even Mr. Kear, in spite
of his many objections, was forced to leave the ship. Falsten, as soon
as he had set fire to the match, joined us in our retreat.
The train was to burn for ten minutes, and at the end of that time the
explosion took place; the report, on account of the depth of the mine,
being muffled, and much less noisy than we had expected. But the
operation had been perfectly successful. Before we reached the ridge we
could see that the basalt had been literally reduced to powder, and
that a little channel, already being filled by the rising tide, had
been cut right through the obstacle. A loud hurrah rang through the
air; our prison-doors were opened, and we were prisoners no more.
At high tide the Chancellor weighed anchor and floated out into the
sea, but she was not in a condition to sail until she had been
ballasted; and for the next twenty-four hours the crew were busily
employed in taking up blocks of stone, and such of the bales of cotton
as had sustained the least amount of injury.
In the course of the day, M. Letourneur, Andre, Miss Herbey, and I took
a farewell walk round the reef, and Andre, with artistic skill, carved
on the wall of the grotto the word Chancellor--the designation of Ham
Rock, which we had given to the reef--and the date of our running
aground. Then we bade adieu to the scene of our three weeks' sojourn,
where we had passed days that to some at least of our party will be
reckoned as far from being the least happy of their lives.
At high tide this morning, the 24th, with low, top, and gallant sails
all set, the Chancellor started on her onward way, and two hours later
the last peak of Ham Rock had vanished below the horizon.