To seize one of the long, heavy ash oars that formed part of the boat's
equipment, fling the blade over the stern, and jerk the oar into the
sculling notch, with the idea of sculling the boat back to the wreck
was, with me, the work of but a second or two; but although I contrived,
with some labour, to get the boat's head round toward the _Dolphin_, and
to keep it pointed in that direction, I soon discovered--as I might have
had the sense to know--that to scull a big heavy boat like the longboat
to windward against such a strong wind and so heavy a sea was a task
altogether beyond the power of a single man, however strong he might be;
for every sea that swept down upon the boat sent her surging away a good
half-dozen fathoms to leeward.
Finding this attempt useless, I at once hauled the oar inboard again,
and proceeded to ship the rudder, which task I at length accomplished,
with some difficulty owing to the violent motion of the boat; then I
shipped the tiller; and next proceeded to loose the boat's canvas, with
the idea of beating back to the ship. But here again I found myself
seriously hampered and delayed by the circumstance that, when equipping
the boat, the men had only half done their work. The boat was rigged as
a fore and aft schooner, setting a main trysail, fore trysail, and a
staysail secured to the head of the stem; and while the masts had been
stepped and the shrouds set up hand-taut, I found, upon casting loose
the sails, that they had omitted to obey my instructions to close-reef
them, and since the wind was still blowing altogether too hard for the
boat to carry anything more than close-reefed canvas I lost quite ten
minutes in reefing and setting the mainsail and staysail--I dared not
attempt to set the foresail also, for I did not believe that the boat
could carry it. And when at length I had got the canvas set and the
boat fairly under way, I found, to my consternation, that I had driven a
good half-mile to leeward of the ship, by which time, their quarrel, I
suppose, being over, the men had left the forecastle and, finding that I
had gone adrift in the longboat, were making frantic signs to me to
return.
But I soon discovered that, even now, with the boat under canvas, to
beat back to the ship was an impossibility; for the boat had not been
built for sailing to windward in a strong breeze; she was the ordinary
type of ship's longboat, constructed to carry a heavy load in proportion
to her dimensions, with a long, flat floor, bluff bows, and with only
some three inches of exposed keel; and while she might possibly, with
skilful management, have been made to work to windward in very moderate
weather, she now, with so strong a wind and so heavy a sea to battle
with, drove to leeward almost as rapidly as she forged ahead. Nor did I
dare to press her with any more canvas, for she was already showing more
than was at all prudent, the stronger puffs careening her to her gunwale
and taxing my seamanship to the utmost to prevent her from filling.
Under such circumstances, with the boat demanding my utmost vigilance to
keep her afloat, it will be readily understood that I was only able at
intervals to cast a momentary glance toward the ship to see how she was
faring, and even then it was not always possible for me to catch a
glimpse of her because of the mountainous seas that interposed
themselves between her and me. At length, however, when I had been
adrift about half an hour, I got a chance to take a fairly long look to
windward at a moment when the longboat was hove up on the crest of an
unusually lofty wave; but the ship was nowhere to be seen; nor did I
again catch sight of her, or even of the raft; and the only conclusion
at which I could arrive was that she had gone down and taken all hands
with her.
But, in such a mountainous sea as was then running, the horizon of a
person in a boat is naturally very restricted, and I knew that, although
I had failed to catch a glimpse of either the wreck or the raft, the
latter at least might be afloat, and my plain duty was to remain in the
neighbourhood so long as there was any chance of falling in with it; I
therefore watched my opportunity and, seizing a favourable moment, wore
the boat round on the other tack and, again bringing her to the wind,
went back as nearly over the ground I had already traversed as was
possible. But although I kept a sharp look-out, and wore round every
half-hour, I saw nothing, no, not even so much as a fragment of floating
wreckage, to indicate what had actually happened; nor did I ever hear of
any of my late crew being picked up.
It was about four bells--two o'clock--in the afternoon watch when I last
saw the wreck; and I beat about, remaining as near the spot as I could,
until sunset. Then, having failed to fall in with or sight either the
wreck or the raft, I came to the conclusion that I had seen the last of
my mutinous crew, and that the time had arrived when I was quite
justified in abandoning any further effort to find them, and might look
after my own safety.
The weather, by this time, had improved very considerably; the wind had
been slowly but steadily moderating, and the sea, although still
tremendously high, was not now breaking dangerously; the sky also had
cleared and was without a cloud; there was therefore every prospect of a
fine night, with a further steady improvement of the weather; the boat
was no longer dangerously pressed by the amount of canvas that she was
carrying, and I felt that I need be under no immediate apprehension
regarding the future. Moreover my clothes had by this time dried upon
my body, and I felt quite warm and comfortable. But I was both hungry
and thirsty, for the so-called dinner that I had snatched aboard the
_Dolphin_ had been a very hasty and meagre meal. I therefore hove the
boat to, by lashing the tiller hard down and hauling the staysail sheet
to windward, and then, finding that she rode quite comfortably and was
taking care of herself, I proceeded to rummage among my stock of
provisions, and soon had a hearty meal set out before me on the after
thwart.
By the time that I had finished my supper night had fallen, the stars
were shining with the brilliance that they only display in the tropics,
and I was beginning to feel the need of sleep; I therefore took a final
look round, satisfied myself that all was right and that nothing was in
sight, and then, heartily commending myself to the care of my Maker, I
stretched myself out on the bottom-boards, and was almost instantly
asleep.
To say that I slept soundly that night would scarcely be speaking the
truth; for, although I had pretty well satisfied myself before I lay
down, that the weather was improving and that therefore I had little or
no cause for immediate apprehension, a sailor quickly acquires the trick
of maintaining a certain alertness, even in the midst of his slumbers,
since he knows that the weather is his most formidable and treacherous
enemy, against which he has always to be on his guard; and this faculty
of alertness is of course especially active when, as in my own case, he
has only himself to depend upon. Consequently I never completely lost
consciousness throughout that night, the rush of the wind, the hiss of
the sea, the occasional sprinkling of spray were all mechanically noted,
and whenever the heel of the boat appreciably exceeded its normal angle
I at once became momentarily awake; yet, notwithstanding this, when on
the following morning--the first rays of the newly risen sun smote upon
my closed eyelids, informing me of the arrival of a new day, I at once
arose, refreshed and vigorous, and ready to face any emergency that the
day might bring.
My first act was to kneel down and return thanks for my preservation
through the night and seek the protection and guidance of God throughout
the day; after which I leaned over the boat's gunwale and freely laved
my head, face, and hands in the clear salt-water. Then I set about
preparing for myself the most appetising breakfast that my resources
would permit; and while I was doing this and discussing the meal I
carefully reviewed the entire situation, with a view to my arrival at an
immediate decision as to my future proceedings.
The chart which I had with me showed the position of the _Dolphin_ at
the moment when my last observations were taken; and from this
information I was able to deduce the approximate position of the spot
where the vessel had foundered. This spot, I found, was, in round
figures, one thousand miles from Sierra Leone, and fourteen hundred
miles from the island of Barbadoes; but whereas Sierra Leone was almost
dead to windward, Barbadoes was as directly dead to leeward; and a
little calculation convinced me that while it would take me about
thirty-six days to beat to windward the shorter distance, I might cover
the longer, running pleasantly before the wind, in about twenty-four
days, allowing, in both cases, for the boat being hove-to throughout the
night to enable me to obtain necessary rest. Fortunately, I had with me
not only the chart of the North Atlantic, but also a chronometer,
sextant, nautical almanac, and boat compass; I was therefore equipped
with every requisite for the efficient navigation of the boat, and had
no fear of losing my way. I could consequently without hesitation
choose what I considered to be the most desirable course, and it did not
need any very profound reflection to convince me that this was to make
the best of my way back to Barbadoes. I accordingly put up my helm,
kept away before the wind, shook out all my reefs, and went sliding away
to the westward, easily and comfortably, at a speed of some six knots
per hour.
The weather had by this time reverted to quite its normal condition; the
trade-wind was blowing steadily, the sea had gone down, and I had
nothing worse than a somewhat heavy swell to contend with; I therefore
felt that, unless I should be so unfortunate as to fall in with another
gale, there was no reason at all why I should not reach my destination
safely, and without very much discomfort. My only trouble was that,
running, as the boat now was, with the wind so far over the starboard
quarter, I dared not release my hold upon the tiller for an instant,
lest she should broach-to and, possibly, capsize. Whenever, therefore,
it became necessary for me to quit the helm for the purpose of taking an
astronomical observation, or otherwise, I had to heave-to, and,
occasionally, to shorten sail while doing so, which kept me pretty
actively employed, off and on, all day. Thus, about nine o'clock in the
morning, I had to heave-to and leave the boat to take care of herself
while I secured observations of the sun for the determination of the
longitude; the same procedure had to be adopted again at noon when I
took the sun's altitude for the determination of the latitude; and the
preparation of a meal involved a further repetition of the manoeuvre.
Thus I had no time to feel lonely, at least during the hours of
daylight; but after nightfall, surrounded and hemmed in by the gloom and
mystery of the darkness, with no companionship save that of the
multitudinous stars--which, to my mind, never betray their immeasurable
distance so clearly as when one is in mid-ocean--with the sough and moan
of the night wind and the soft, seething hiss of the sea whispering in
one's ears, the feeling of loneliness becomes almost an obsession, the
sense of all-pervading mystery persistently obtrudes itself, and one
quickly falls into a condition of readiness to believe the most
incredible of the countless weird stories that sailors love to relate to
each other, especially when this condition of credulity is helped, as it
sometimes is, by the sudden irruption of some strange, unaccountable
sound, or succession of sounds, upon the peaceful quietude and serenity
of the night. These sounds are occasionally of the weirdest and most
hair-raising quality; and while the startled listener may possibly have
heard it asserted, time and again, by superior persons, that they
emanate from sea birds, or from fish, he is perfectly satisfied that
neither sea birds nor fish have ever been known to emit such sounds _in
the daytime_, and the strain of superstition within him awakes and
whispers all sorts of uncanny suggestions, the sea bird and fish theory
being rejected with scorn. Moreover, those harrowingly mysterious
sounds seem never to make themselves audible save when the accompanying
circumstances are such as to conduce to the most startling and thrilling
effect; thus, although I had now been knocking about at sea for more
than three years, and had met with many queer experiences, I had never,
thus far, heard a sound that I could not reasonably account for and
attribute to some known source; yet on this particular night--my second
night alone in the longboat--I was sitting comfortably enough in the
stern-sheets, steering by a star--for I had no lantern wherewith to
illuminate my compass--and thinking of nothing in particular, when
suddenly a most unearthly cry came pealing out of the darkness on the
starboard beam, seemingly not half a dozen yards away, and was twice
repeated.
I felt the hair of my scalp bristle, and a violent shudder thrilled
through me as those dreadful cries smote upon my ear, for they seemed to
be the utterance of some human being in the very last extremity of both
physical and mental anguish, the protest of a lost soul being wrenched
violently out of its sinful human tenement, cries of such utter,
unimaginable despair as the finite mind of man is unable to find a cause
for. Yet, despite the agony of horror that froze my blood, I
instinctively thrust my helm hard down and flattened in the sheets fore
and aft; for the thought came to me that, perchance, a few fathoms out
there, veiled from sight in the soft, velvet blackness of the night,
some poor wretch--a victim, like myself, to the fury of the late gale--
clinging desperately to a fragment of wreckage, might have caught a
glimpse of the longboat's sails, sliding blackly along against the
stars, and have emitted those terrible cries as a last despairing appeal
for help and succour. Accordingly, as the boat swept round and came to
the wind, careening gunwale-to as she felt the full strength of the
night breeze in her dew-sodden canvas, I sprang to my feet and, clapping
both hands funnel-wise to my mouth, sent forth a hail:
"Ahoy, there! where are you? Keep up your courage, for help is at hand.
Where are you, I say? Let me but know where to look for you and I'll
soon be alongside. Shout again; for I can see no sign of you. Ahoy,
there! _Ahoy_!! Ahoy!!!"
The sound of my own voice, coming immediately after that terrible
thrice-repeated cry, seemed somehow comforting and reassuring, and I now
awaited a reply to my hail with a feeling in which there was more of
curiosity than horror. But no reply came; and I once more lifted up my
voice in tones of appeal and encouragement. Then, since I failed to
evoke any response, I put the boat's helm down, and tacked, the
conviction being strong within me that I could hit off, to an inch, the
exact spot from which those dreadful sounds had come. So firmly
convinced, indeed, was I of my ability to do this that when the boat
came round I left the staysail sheet fast to windward, eased off the
fore sheet, and stood by, leaning over the lee gunwale, in readiness to
seize and haul inboard the drowning wretch who, I was fully persuaded,
must be now almost under the boat's bilge. But, although the starlight
was sufficiently brilliant to have betrayed, at a distance of seven or
eight yards, the presence of such an object as a man clinging to a piece
of floating wreckage, I could see nothing, no, not even so much as a
scrap of floating weed. That I was bitterly disappointed--and also
somewhat frightened--I freely admit; for I had somehow succeeded in
convincing myself that those terrifying sounds had issued from the
throat of a human being so close at hand that I could not possibly fail
to find him; yet I had _not_ found him; had failed, indeed, to find the
slightest suggestion of his presence; and if those sounds had not a
human origin, _whence came they_? It was the mystery of the thing, as
well as the weird, unearthly character of the cries, that sent a thrill
of horror through the marrow, and made me almost madly anxious to find
an explanation. I worked the boat to and fro athwart those few square
yards of ocean for a full hour or more, and shouted myself hoarse, until
I at length most unwillingly abandoned the search, and squared away to
place as many miles as possible between myself and that unhallowed spot
ere I attempted to sleep.
It must have been past midnight before I had so far thrown off the
feeling of horror induced by the uncanny experience that I have related
as to admit of my contemplating seriously the idea of securing some
rest; and even when at length I did so, and had completed all my
preparations, such as shortening sail and heaving-to, it was still some
time before oblivion came to me. But when it did, it was complete, for
the weather was fine and had a settled appearance, the boat lay-to most
admirably and took perfect care of herself, and altogether I felt so
absolutely safe that there seemed to be no need at all for that peculiar
attitude of alertness during sleep to which I have already alluded; my
need of sound, refreshing slumber was great, and I lay down, determined
to satisfy that need while the opportunity presented itself, and let
myself go completely.
Yet, although I had surrendered myself to sleep with the settled
conviction of my absolute safety, and the feeling that my repose would
continue until broken by the first rays of the morrow's sun, I awakened
suddenly while it was yet quite dark and when, as it seemed to me, I had
only been asleep a very few minutes. And my awakening was not that of a
person who gradually passes from sleep to wakefulness because he has
enjoyed a sufficiency of rest; it was an abrupt, instant transition from
complete oblivion to a state of wide-awake, startled consciousness that
caused me to leap to my feet and gaze wildly about me as my eyes snapped
open to the star-lit heavens. And as I did so I became aware of a
rapidly growing sound of leaping, splashing, gurgling water, and a
humming as of wind sweeping through tightly strained cordage, close to
leeward. There was no need for me to pause and consider what was the
origin of these sounds; I recognised them instantly as those given forth
by a sailing ship sweeping at a high speed through the water, and I
sprang forward clear of the mainmast to where the stowed foresail
permitted me a clear and uninterrupted view to leeward. The next
instant three dreadful cries in quick succession--exactly reproducing,
tone for tone, those terrifying sounds that had so startled and unnerved
me only a few hours earlier--burst from my lips; for there, almost
within reach of my hand, was the black, towering mass of the hull and
canvas of a large ship bearing straight down upon the longboat, and
aiming accurately to strike her fair amidships. So close was she that
her long slender jib-boom, with the swelling jibs soaring high among the
stars, was already over my head, the phosphorescent boil and smother
from the plunge of her keen bows already foamed to the gunwale of the
longboat. A startled shout rang out upon the heavy night air from
somebody upon her forecastle in response to those weird cries of mine,
and above the hissing wash and gurgle of the water under her bows I
caught the sound of naked feet padding upon her deck-planking, as the
rudely awakened look-out sprang to peer over the topgallant rail. But
before the man could reach the spot for which he sprang the ship was
upon me, and as her cutwater crashed into the frail hull of the boat,
rending it asunder and flinging the two halves violently apart to roll
bottom upward on either side of the swelling bows, I leapt desperately
upward at the chain bobstay, caught it, shinned nimbly up it to the
bowsprit, and made my breathless way inboard, to the terror and
astonishment of some twenty forecastle hands who had evidently been
startled out of a sound sleep by the sudden outcries and commotion under
the bows, and into the midst of whom I unceremoniously tumbled.
The excited jabber which instantly arose among my new shipmates at once
apprised me that I was aboard a vessel manned by Frenchmen. A single
quick glance aloft sufficed to inform me that she was barque-rigged, and
probably of about three hundred and fifty tons measurement. The excited
and astonished watch crowded round me, regarding me curiously--and,
methought, with looks not wholly devoid of suspicion. They were, one
and all, beginning to deluge me with questions, when an authoritative
voice from the poop broke in with a demand to be informed what all the
disturbance on the forecastle was about. Whereupon an individual among
the crowd who surrounded me, and who might have been, and indeed proved
to be, the boatswain, took me by the arm, and bluntly suggested that I
had better accompany him aft to Monsieur Leroy, the chief mate, and
explain my uninvited presence aboard the barque.
It was, of course, the only thing to be done, and I accordingly turned
and walked aft, with my arm still firmly grasped by the individual who
had made the suggestion, and who seemed to regard me as his prisoner,
until we reached the poop ladder, up which I was somewhat
unceremoniously hustled, to find myself in the presence of a broad,
sturdily built man of about middle height, who stood at the head of the
ladder, with his feet wide apart, lightly balancing himself to the roll
and plunge of the ship. There was a lighted lamp hanging in the
skylight some two or three fathoms away, and as this man stood between
me and the light, which somewhat feebly gleamed out through the skylight
on to the deck, I was unable to see his features or the details of his
dress; but as he stepped back and somewhat to one side to make way for
me the light fell full upon me, and, feeble as it was, it sufficed to
show him my uniform.
"Ah!" he exclaimed sharply, "a British naval officer, if I am not very
greatly mistaken. Pray, monsieur, where did you come from; and are
there any more of you?"
"I came in over the bows, a minute ago, out of a boat that--thanks to
the blind look-out that your people seem to keep--you ran down and cut
in two. And there are no more of us; I was the only occupant of the
boat," I answered.
"The only occupant of the boat!" he exclaimed in astonishment. "You
amaze me, monsieur. Is it permissible to inquire how you, a British
officer, come to be adrift, quite alone, in a boat, in the middle of the
Atlantic?"
Whereupon I told him briefly the story of the loss of the _Dolphin_,
very imprudently adding the information that she was a unit of the Slave
Squadron, and that I was her commander.
"Ah!" he commented, incisively, when I had finished. "An exceedingly
interesting story. Captain Tourville will be pleased that we have
picked you up when he hears the news to-morrow. Meanwhile, by lucky
chance we happen to have an unoccupied state-room into which I will put
you for the remainder of the night. Thoreau,"--to the man who had
conducted me aft--"take this gentleman below to the cabin; then turn out
the steward and tell him to put some bedding into the spare state-room,
but to be silent about it lest he disturb the captain. And now,
monsieur, permit me to bid you good-night. I trust you will rest well."
The man Thoreau, who seemed to be an individual of exceedingly glum and
taciturn disposition, thereupon signed to me to follow him, and led the
way down the poop ladder and through an open door in the front of the
poop which gave access to a narrow passage, some eight feet long, at the
end of which was another open door giving access to the ship's main
cabin. This was a fairly roomy and comfortable apartment, plainly but
tastefully fitted up, with a mahogany table running lengthwise down the
middle, through the centre of which the mizenmast passed down to the
depths below. A row of seats upholstered in red Utrecht velvet, and
with swinging backs, was secured, on each side of the table, to the
deck, between which and the sides of the cabin ran narrow strips of
carpet. The sides and ends of the cabin were formed of bulkheads, the
fore bulkhead being occupied by a sort of sideboard on each side of the
entrance door, while against the after bulkhead stood a very handsome
pianoforte, open, with a quantity of music in a stand beside it. There
was a door to the right of the piano, which, I conjectured, led to the
captain's state-room, right abaft; and the side bulkheads, which like
the rest of the woodwork of the cabin were painted in white enamel, were
each pierced by two doors, close together, which, I had no doubt, gave
access to state-rooms. My surmise as to this arrangement was proved
true, a few minutes later, by the steward, an ugly, shock-headed,
taciturn individual, who, still more than half asleep, presently came
stumbling into the cabin with a bundle of bedding, which, having with
silent care opened the aftermost door on the port side, he flung into
the dark state-room and then motioned me to enter; it appeared that he
intended me to make up my own bed. Well, that was no very great
hardship; but I should have liked a light to enable me to see what I was
about, and I turned to ask my surly friend for one, but he had already
turned his back upon me and was in full retreat to the forecastle to
finish his interrupted night's rest. I therefore opened out the bundle
and found that it consisted of a straw mattress, a flock pillow, and a
pair of blankets, all of which I at once proceeded to arrange in the
bunk, as best I could, by the dim light which entered the open door from
the main cabin. Then I most thankfully removed my clothes--for the
first time since the springing up of the gale--tumbled into the bunk,
and at once fell fast asleep.