The welcome breeze that wafted us out of the neighbourhood of the
ill-starred _City of Calcutta_ held good, and, gradually freshening and
working round more from the southward, eventually resolved itself into
the south-east trade, under the beneficent influence of which, with our
larboard tacks on board and our yards braced flat up against the
starboard rigging, we merrily wended our way to the southward.
One morning, when we were about in the latitude of the islands of Martin
Vaz and Trinidad, we discovered, at daybreak, a large ship broad on our
weather-bow, the topsails of which were just clear of the horizon. The
trades were at this time blowing fresh, and the barque was thrashing
along under her main-topgallantsail, with the flying-jib stowed. No
sooner, however, did Roberts come on deck and espy the stranger--which
was steering the same way as ourselves--than he must needs give orders
to loose and set the fore-topgallantsail and flying-jib; and while I was
in the saloon at breakfast, I heard him give orders to set the two
royals. Under this additional canvas, which caused the little hooker to
bury her lee side to her covering-boards, and to plunge to her
hawse-pipes into the long ridges of swell that came rolling up from the
southward and eastward, while she sent an acre of milk-white foam
roaring and hissing away from under her lee bow, we rapidly overhauled
the strange sail until we had brought her square abeam. Then, having
allowed us to reach this position, her people gallantly responded to our
obvious challenge, and made sail until they showed precisely the same
canvas to the breeze that we did. The stranger, ship-rigged, was at
this time about eight miles away from us, broad on our weather-beam, her
hull just showing above the horizon when she rose upon the crest of a
sea; and, after taking a good look at her through our glasses, we came
to the conclusion that she must be a vessel of about twelve hundred
tons. That she was a remarkably smart craft under her canvas soon
became evident, for though we were going eleven and a half knots by the
log, we found it impossible to gain an inch upon her after she had got
her additional canvas fairly set and trimmed; indeed, there were times
when it seemed impossible to resist the conviction that she was, if
anything, gaining the merest trifle upon us. If so, however, it was
only when the breeze came down with a little extra strength; for so
surely as it softened at all we immediately appeared to recover the
trifle that we seemed to have previously lost.
But though we were unable to forereach upon our big neighbour, it became
evident, as the morning now wore on, that the two craft were very
gradually nearing each other, the extraordinary weatherly qualities of
the _Esmeralda_ coming conspicuously into notice in this thrash to
windward on a taut bowline, now that we had the opportunity of comparing
them with those of another vessel. At noon the stranger showed her
colours, British, and, upon our responding, exhibited her number; from
which and other signals we learned that she was the _Northern Queen_, of
Glasgow, bound to Cape Town. Then followed an exchange of latitude and
longitude, ours and hers agreeing within a mile or two; and before the
signal flags were finally hauled down and stowed away we had
accomplished quite a long conversation, to the intense delight of my
passengers, especially the fairer members, to whom this sort of thing
was still quite a novelty.
Thus the day wore on, the bright and pleasant hours being whiled away in
a friendly trial of speed that, though we guessed it not, was hurrying
our companion onward to a strange, sudden, and awful doom.
At length the sun went down in a bewildering blaze of gold and crimson
and purple splendour; and almost simultaneously the full-orbed moon rose
majestically above the eastern horizon, flooding the sea that way with
liquid silver, and showing our friend, the _Northern Queen_, hull up in
the very heart of the dazzle, the entire fabric, hull, spars, and
canvas, standing out black as an ebony silhouette against the soft
blue-grey and ivory of the cloud-dappled sky. She was at this time
square upon our weather-beam; but with the rising of the moon the breeze
acquired new life, as it often does, and came down upon us with a weight
sufficient to render it advisable to clew up and furl our royals--which
we did; the _Northern Queen_ continuing to carry hers, as of course she
could, being a much bigger craft than ourselves, and fitted with much
stouter spars. She was thus enabled to draw gradually ahead of us, much
to the chagrin of our worthy chief mate, who asserted, with quite
unnecessary vehemence, that it was absolutely the first time that the
_Esmeralda_ had ever been beaten by _anything_ in moderate weather. It
thus came to pass that at midnight our companion was dead to windward of
us, and about seven miles distant.
My lady passengers had retired to their berths about an hour before; but
Sir Edgar, tempted by the beauty and cool freshness of the night,
lingered on deck, and--both of us being shod with rubber-soled shoes in
order that we might not disturb the repose of the sleepers below--was
pacing the weather side of the poop with me, and relating some of his
former adventures as a traveller, before he had settled down as a sober,
steady, respectable Benedict--as he laughingly put it. Suddenly, as we
turned in our walk, within arm's length of the binnacle, we became
conscious of a vivid increase of light, and at the same moment an
indescribable, deep, hurtling roar smote upon our ears above the
startled cry of the helmsman, the loud hum of the wind in our rigging,
and the sobbing wash of the sea. The sound and the light so obviously
came from overhead that we both involuntarily halted and directed our
gaze aloft, when we became aware of an enormous meteor, fully four times
the apparent diameter of the moon, and of such dazzling effulgence that
our eyes could scarcely endure the brightness of it, while the whole
ship, with every minutest detail of spars, rigging, and equipment, was
as brilliantly illuminated as at noonday. It was passing, at no very
great apparent speed, immediately over our mastheads, in a
south-easterly direction, leaving a long trail of evanescent sparks
behind it, and as we watched we could see that it was falling toward the
sea.
"God of mercy--the ship, the _ship_!" gasped Sir Edgar, clutching my arm
in a grip that left its mark on the skin for days afterward; and, as he
spoke, the huge incandescent mass fell full upon the hull of the
_Northern Queen_. There was a flash like that of a bursting shell on
board her, and ere we could draw a breath the stately fabric of her
spars and sails collapsed and vanished into the deep before our eyes!
For some seconds we were all, fore and aft, so paralysed with horror and
dismay that not a sound escaped our lips. Even the weird night music of
the wind and sea appeared to be hushed for the moment, or our startled
senses failed to note it, and presently there came floating down to us
upon the pinions of the breeze a muffled, booming _crash_, as
confirmatory evidence of the appalling disaster.
"Gone--in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye!" ejaculated Sir Edgar,
with quivering, ashen lips, as he strained his eyes toward the point so
recently occupied by our companion. "Oh, captain, can _nothing_ be
done? Is there _no_ hope that out there some few survivors at least may
be floating on a scrap or two of wreckage? You will go there and see,
will you not?"
"Assuredly I will," said I. "I will tack the moment that I think we can
fetch the spot where the ship disappeared. Meanwhile," continued I, to
the second mate, who had charge of the deck, "get up three rockets and
fire them, as a signal to the possible survivors that we have observed
the disaster, and intend to look for them. They will, no doubt,
understand what we mean."
The rockets were brought on deck and fired; by which time I judged that
we had gone far enough to justify us in tacking ship. We accordingly
went about, and two hands were then stationed on the fore-topsail yard
to keep a lookout for wreckage, while a third laid out as far as the
flying-jib-boom end for the same purpose.
We had been on the starboard tack some three-quarters of an hour, and I
had just hailed the lookouts, warning them to be especially vigilant, as
we must now be near the scene of the catastrophe, when the man on the
flying-jib-boom end cried out with startling suddenness--
"There's something floating out there to wind'ard, sir; broad on the
starboard bow!"
"Yes, yes," added both the men aloft, with one consent. "It looks like
something alive--like a man, sir, waving his arm!"
"Don't take your eyes off it for an instant, either of you, on any
account," I answered, with a strange thrill in my voice at the idea of
our being perhaps close to one or more survivors of that awful
visitation of God that we had witnessed. "Back your main-topsail, Mr
Forbes, and then man and lower the port quarter-boat."
"Ay, ay," was the brisk response. "Man the weather main-braces, my
lads; lively, now. Cast off to leeward; round-in to windward. Well
there; belay. Shall I take charge of the boat, sir?"
"Certainly," I said; "it is your turn this time, Mr Forbes, and I hope
you will be as successful as Mr Roberts was when we last had occasion
to lower a boat. You will probably not be able to see the man when you
are in the boat and under way, so I will stand on the wheel grating
abaft, where you will be able to distinctly see me, and will indicate to
you how to steer in accordance with the directions which I may receive
from the hands aloft. If you can only manage to pick up the man they
have seen, he will, perhaps, if he is still sensible, be able to direct
you how to prosecute your further search. Now, if you are ready, go;
and God speed you."
The boat pushed off, and in less than ten minutes had picked up the man,
who was found to be floating comfortably enough in a life-buoy.
Questioned as to whether he thought there were any more survivors, he
replied that he feared not, as, feeling sure that the catastrophe had
been observed by us, and that we should make for the scene as promptly
as possible--which assurance had been quickly confirmed by the sight of
our rockets--he had simply clung to the life-buoy without making the
slightest effort to shorten the distance between himself and us,
believing that his best hope of deliverance consisted in remaining as
near as possible to the scene of the disaster; and that, if there were
any other survivors, they would most probably act in the same way, in
which case he would almost certainly have seen or heard something of
them in the interim; which had not been the case. Forbes, however, very
properly pulled about the spot for more than an hour, the boat's crew
shouting at intervals, and then lying on their oars and listening for a
reply. But it was all of no avail; for, though he fell in with and
picked up two buckets marked with the name of the _Northern Queen_, and
passed through a few small fragments of floating wreckage, clearly
indicating that he was prosecuting his search in precisely the right
spot, nothing more was found, and he was at length reluctantly
constrained to abandon further efforts.
The rescued man--who, when brought on board, appeared not an atom the
worse for his terrible adventure--gave his name as Joe Martin, and
informed us that he had held the rating of carpenter on board the
ill-fated _Northern Queen_. He gave us full particulars concerning the
port of registry of the ship; the port from which she had sailed; the
number of days out; the number of the crew, and their names, so far as
he knew them--in short, all the information necessary to the
identification of the ship and those on board her; and then he described
the catastrophe as it had impressed itself upon him. He said that at
midnight the deck had been relieved in the usual manner; and that, it
being his trick at the wheel, he had arrived aft just in time to hear
the "old man" (the captain) bid the mate good night, after laughingly
enjoining him not to go to sleep and allow the little barque to leeward
to slip past him. The night being fine and the breeze steady, the watch
on deck, with the exception of the lookout, had quickly found snug
corners for themselves, in which they had coiled themselves away for a
quiet cat-nap; the mate had lighted his pipe and established himself in
the skipper's wicker armchair; and perfect peace and quiet reigned
throughout the ship. Suddenly the whole sky seemed to brighten, and,
glancing involuntarily over his right shoulder--from which direction the
light appeared to emanate--Martin saw the meteorite in the sky
immediately over our mastheads, and at the same moment became conscious
of the screaming roar of its passage through the air.
"The moment I set eyes on it," said he, "I knew--I felt _certain_,
somehow--as the thing meant to strike us; and I shouted to the mate, to
warn him; and then--not knowin' why I did it--I let go the wheel and
makes a spring for the life-buoy hangin' at the taffr'l, whippin' the
knife out of my sheath at the same time. I'd got hold of the buoy, and
the edge of my knife was on the seizin', when it seemed to me as if the
sun hisself was a-bearin' down on us, the light and the heat got that
dreadful fierce; then there came a most fearful smash as the thing
struck us fair atween the fore and main masts, cuttin' the ship clean in
two, if you'll believe me, gentlemen; and as my knife went through the
seizin' by which the buoy was lashed to the iron rail, I felt the poor
old hooker double herself up together, just as if she was writhin' with
the pain of her death-wound; and with that, holdin' the buoy in my hand,
I makes a single spring overboard; and the next thing I knows, I finds
myself bein' sucked down with the wreck. If you'll believe me,
gen'lemen, it seemed _years_ afore I felt that dreadful suction let go
of me, and found myself risin' to the top of the water again; and when I
got there at last and caught my breath once more, it seemed to me as if
another single second 'd ha' done for me. I remembers congratulatin'
myself as the water was so warm and pleasant, and the breeze the same,
as I settled myself comfortable in the middle of the buoy; and then,
when I'd cleared the water out of my eyes, and slipped my knife back
into his sheath, I set to work to look round and see if there was
anybody else that had escaped besides myself. But I couldn't see
nobody; and while I was peerin' round here and there into the black
hollows between the seas, I catches sight of another flash in the sky,
and looks up fully expectin' to see another o' them awful fire-balls.
But it was only one o' your rockets burstin' up aloft; and lookin'
underneath the place when I floated up to the top of a sea, there I sees
your to'ga'nts'ls and the upper half of your taups'ls; and I understood
in a minute as you'd obsarved what had happened and meant to come and
see if there was any of us left. Then I began hailin', in hopes of
hearin' a reply from some of the lads; but there weren't a sound come to
me exceptin' the moan of the wind and the hiss of the sea round about;
so at last I knew that all hands exceptin' myself had gone to the bottom
with the good ship, leavin' me alone to tell the tale."
"What an extraordinary class of men sailors are!" remarked Sir Edgar, as
the man Martin, having brought his narrative to a conclusion, and being
dismissed by me, turned and shambled away forward with the usual
careless, leisurely gait affected by forecastle Jack. "Here is a man
who has just escaped--and is, moreover, the only survivor of--a
catastrophe absolutely unique, I should say, in naval history, yet he is
as unconcerned and undemonstrative over it as though the destruction of
a ship by a meteorite were quite an everyday occurrence. Is such
extraordinary _sang-froid_ usual, or is this an exceptional example?"
"Oh dear, no," I laughingly replied; "there is nothing in the least
unusual in Martin's demeanour, which, however, is doubtless partly
assumed. It is not regarded as quite correct form to exhibit any
excitement whatever over an adventure of which one's self has been the
hero; but, apart from that, sailors are so accustomed to carry their
lives in their hands, and become so hardened to danger by being
constantly brought face to face with it--often without a second's
warning, and sometimes in the most unexpected shapes--moreover, they
witness from time to time such startling and inexplicable phenomena,
that it is really difficult to provoke anything like a display of
genuine, unmitigated surprise or excitement on their part. Whatever
happens--unless it be something very distinctly suggestive of the
supernatural--Jack is always prepared for it."
"So it would appear," assented the baronet. "But candidly now, captain,
is not this present voyage of ours rather an eventful one?"
"Undoubtedly it is," replied I. "Singularly so, thus far. A man might
follow the sea all his life without witnessing so many casualties as
have come under our notice since we sailed. Yet such casualties are
constantly occurring in some part of the world. The only remarkable
thing about those of which we have become cognisant is that so many
should have occurred in so short a time, and within an area so small as
to have permitted of our being in the vicinity of each just when it
happened. Even the dreadful occurrence that we witnessed to-night,
though it is the first case of the kind that I ever heard of, may be
after all nothing very unusual in kind, and may possibly explain the
loss of many of the craft that disappear and leave no sign behind them.
For instance, it is safe to say that the only human eyes that witnessed
the destruction of the _Northern Queen_ are on board this ship, and if
we had not seen it the chances are a hundred to one that her fate would
never have been known. Martin's prospects of escape would certainly
have been remarkably small; for although, in this fine weather, he might
have remained afloat for some time, he might have been passed unnoticed
by a ship within a very short distance. Then, after exposure in the
water for a certain number of hours, his strength would rapidly fail
him, and he would die miserably of starvation, if he did not lose his
hold upon the buoy and sink, or be dragged out of it by some hungry
shark."
"Upon my word, you would be an uncommonly cheerful companion for a
nervous man," remarked Sir Edgar, half jestingly, half in earnest. "I
declare I shall never in future be able to look at that man without
recalling the grim picture you have sketched of him floating helplessly
in his life-buoy. You sailors certainly ought to be exceptionally
religious men, for it seems to me that not one of you--not one of _any_
of those who go down to the sea in ships--can count with certainty upon
his life from one minute to another. Just look around you now, for
instance. How gentle and peaceful is the whole aspect of nature at this
moment, and how absolutely _safe_ we seem to be! It was just as
peaceful--just as apparently safe--three hours ago; yet in the interim a
noble ship and her whole crew save one has perished; and what has
befallen her may befall us or any other ship that floats, or ever will
float, quite as suddenly, quite as unexpectedly. I hope that what we
have witnessed to-night will enable us to realise more fully and vividly
than ever, how completely we are in the hands of God, and how absolutely
dependent upon His mercy. Good night, captain!"
I returned the salutation; and, as the baronet slowly and thoughtfully
descended the companion, I mechanically turned away and began to pace
the deck, with my thoughts busy upon the solemn words I had just heard,
and the occasion that had given rise to them. And, as I did so, albeit
I am perhaps no worse than the average man, the carelessness and
indifference of my own conduct in the past rose up in judgment against
me and condemned me of the grossest ingratitude for countless past
mercies; the most shameful disobedience; the most criminal neglect to
render to my Creator that honour and glory which is His due. And I
there and then registered a solemn vow that from that moment I would
lead a new and a better life; a vow that, I grieve to say, was
afterwards far too frequently forgotten.
On the following day, after breakfast, Mr Roberts informed me that
Martin had asked to be put into a watch; and he wished to know whether I
was willing that such an arrangement should be made. I, of course, had
no objection whatever to the proposal, as I by no means believe in idle
people in the forecastle. So I told Mr Roberts to arrange the matter,
and at the same time to keep an eye on the man; it being my intention to
regularly ship him, if he proved worth having and should be willing to
sign articles; the second mate's being one hand weaker than the larboard
watch.
About a week after this, little Edgar Desmond came up to me and,
slipping his hand into mine, as was his wont when he desired to have a
chat with me, began, in the straightforward way usual with children--
"Captain, where do you think will be a good place for me to sail my
boat, when she is finished?"
"Your boat?" said I. "I didn't know that you are making one."
"Oh no," said the child; "I am not making one; it is that new man,
Martin, who is making it for me. And he is making it _so_ nicely; just
like a _real_ boat. Come and see it, will you?"
Willing to humour the child, I walked forward with him; and on reaching
the forecastle found Martin busy about some ordinary job connected with
the usual routine work of the ship. As we halted before him he touched
his forehead with his forefinger, in the usual style of the forecastle
hand, and paused in his work to hear what we had to say to him.
"Good morning, Martin," began Master Edgar. "I have brought the captain
to see my boat. Will you show it him, please?"
"Well, you see, sir," remonstrated Martin, obviously embarrassed by my
presence, "'tain't hardly fair to ask me to hexhibit the boat until
she's finished. There ain't much of her yet, and what there is, is all
in the rough. It's a little job, sir," he continued, turning in an
explanatory way to me, "as I've undertook to do for this young gentleman
in my afternoon watch below; and, as I said, she's all in the rough at
present--what there is of her."
"Never mind that, Martin," said I, seeing a shade of disappointment
resting upon the child's features; "bring her up, and let us have a look
at her."
Thereupon, the man dived below into the forecastle, and presently
reappeared, bearing in his hand the skeleton of a miniature yacht, about
two and a half feet long, half planked down. My first sensation, when I
set eyes on the model, was surprise at the dainty, delicate character of
the workmanship exhibited in it, which was greatly increased when, upon
taking it into my hands and more closely inspecting it, I had an
opportunity of examining its lines. They were as nearly perfect as
anything I had ever seen; in short, it was evident that, when finished,
the model would be a faithful miniature reproduction of a crack racing
yacht of the most approved form.
"Why, Martin," said I, greatly pleased at this example of his skill,
"this is excellent. Where in the world did you learn to model lines
like these?"
"Well, sir," explained Martin, "you see, I was five years in the yard of
the Fifes at Fairlie, yacht buildin', before I shipped in the _Northern
Queen_; and before that again I was more than three years with Summers
and Payne, of Southampton; so I ought to know a little about the shape
of a yacht, didn't I, sir?"
"Assuredly you ought," said I; "and evidently you _do_, if one may judge
by this." And I replaced the model in his hand, fully determined to
regularly ship him if I could, now that I had seen what a handy, clever
fellow he promised to be. For I may here tell the reader, in strict
confidence, that there is nothing I more thoroughly enjoy than
boat-sailing, and very few things that I more highly appreciate than a
good model of a ship or boat. A few days after this I made the
proposition to Martin that he should ship for the remainder of the
voyage, offering him the same pay that I was giving our own carpenter;
and he at once gladly assented. This arrangement, as will be _seen_
later on, was destined to lead to more important results than either of
us at the moment anticipated.
At length, after a phenomenally good passage as far south as the
twenty-eighth parallel, we lost the trades, and immediately picked up a
strong westerly wind, before which we bore away, under every rag we
could spread, to round the Cape. When off Agulhas the wind southed upon
us, and we fell in with the tremendous swell that is almost invariably
met with about this spot. I had passed over the same ground ten times
already--five times outward-bound, and five times on the homeward
passage--and had _always_ found a heavy swell running, but on this last
occasion it was far heavier than I had ever before beheld it. To convey
some idea of the enormous bulk and height of these liquid hills I may
mention that while off the Agulhas Bank--where the swell was by no means
at its highest--we overhauled and passed a barque of about our own size,
at a distance of less than a cable's length, yet so high was the swell
that, when we both settled into the trough, she was completely hidden
from us, to her topmast-heads!
In longitude 26 degrees East, with a moderate breeze from south-east, we
bore away for the Straits of Sunda; and a few days afterwards met with a
piece of exceptional good fortune. It was during the forenoon watch,
the weather being beautifully fine, and a very gentle breeze blowing,
under the influence of which we were slipping through the water at a
speed of about five knots. The watch were busy, in a deliberate
fashion, about various odd jobs on deck and aloft; and the occupants of
the poop were lounging in their deck-chairs, amusing themselves
according to their several fancies. As for me, I was engaged--as was
indeed often the case--in a severe mental effort to find the key to Dick
Saint Leger's cryptogram. The gentle motion, the warm, genial sunshine,
and the soft splash of the water along the bends, with the absence of
any hurried movement on board or sharply spoken orders, seemed to have
wrought in the entire ship, fore and aft, a condition of half-dreamy,
blissful listlessness, from which we were suddenly startled by a man
crying out, from halfway up the lee fore-rigging--
"Luff! luff hard! down with your helm, or you'll be into it!"
"Into what?" shouted I, springing to my feet and running forward.
"I don't know, sir, what it is, but it is something floating. Here you
are, sir; it is just coming abreast of us now."
As the ship shot up into the wind, with all her canvas flapping and
rustling, I sprang upon the lee rail, and saw a mass of dirty
greyish-white substance, mottled and streaked like marble, floating
slowly past at a distance of some half a dozen yards from the ship's
side. Of course everybody else on deck must needs, in the excitement of
the moment, rush to the lee rail, to gaze upon the cause of the sudden
alarm; and, among them, the boatswain, an old whaler, who no sooner set
eyes on the object than he exclaimed--
"Why, sir, that's a lump of ambergrease, worth more'n a hundred pound,
I'll be bound. That's worth pickin' up, that is!"
I had never before seen a piece of ambergris, but had, of course, often
heard of it, and knew it to be valuable; I accordingly ordered the
mainyard to be laid aback, and sent the boatswain away with a crew in
the gig to pick up the piece of "flotsam." In about a quarter of an
hour they returned to the ship with their prize, which proved to be a
large lump--much larger than it had appeared to be when floating past--
of hard, fatty matter, of a light, dirty grey colour, veined and mottled
somewhat like marble, and giving off a peculiar sweet, earthy odour.
Its weight seemed to be, as nearly as we could estimate it, about one
hundred and fifty pounds; and the boatswain--who claimed to be an
authority--confidently asserted that I should have no difficulty in
getting a sovereign per pound for it at Hong Kong. Ambergris--I may as
well mention, for the information of those who do not know--is said to
be a secretion formed in the intestines of the sperm whale, as a result
of disease. It is greatly in demand in the East generally, for a
variety of purposes--medicinal, among others--but its chief use seems to
be in the manufacture of perfumes. It is not often found, and, the
supply being very limited, it commands a high price in the market.
Strangely enough, we fell in with and secured a second and still larger
piece a few days later; the total quantity amounting to no less than
three hundred and twenty-seven pounds, which I afterwards disposed of
without difficulty at twenty-five shillings per pound, remitting the
proceeds home to my old friend, Mr Richards, in part liquidation of my
debt to him.