whale-boat, scudded well and no longer shipped any water; our condition,
therefore, was greatly improved, and running before the gale, as we now
were, the strength of the wind was not so severely felt, nor did the
chill of the blast penetrate our saturated clothing so cruelly as while
we were hove-to. Our clothes gradually dried upon us, we baled out the
boat, and in the course of an hour or so began to experience something
approaching a return to comfort. Meanwhile, at frequent intervals, the
bearing and distance of the strange sail was ascertained, and our
spirits rose as, with every observation, the chances of our ultimately
succeeding in intercepting her grew more promising. Another result of
these observations, however, was the unwelcome discovery that the
stranger was travelling at a considerably faster pace than we had at
first credited her with; and that only the nicest and most accurate
judgment with regard to our own course would enable us to close with
her.
That in itself, however, was not sufficient to occasion us any very
grave anxiety, for we had the whole day before us; and what we had most
greatly to fear was a further increase in the strength of the wind.
Unhappily there was only too much reason to dread that this might
happen, if, indeed, it was not in process of happening already; for the
sky astern was rapidly assuming a blacker, wilder appearance, while it
was unquestionable that the sea was increasing in height and breaking
more heavily. This last was a serious misfortune for us in a double
sense; for, on the one hand, it increased the danger of the boat being
pooped, while on the other it materially reduced our progress, our low
sails becoming almost completely becalmed, and the boat's way slackening
every time that we settled into the hollow of a sea. So greatly did
this retard us that at length, despite the undeniable fact that the gale
was increasing, we shook out our last reef and attempted the hazardous
experiment of scudding under whole canvas. And for a short time we did
fairly well, although my heart was in my mouth every time that, as the
boat soared upward to the crest of a sea, the blast struck her with a
furious sweep, filling the sail with a jerk that threatened to take the
mast out of her, and taxing my skill to the utmost to prevent her from
broaching-to and capsizing. But it would not do; it was altogether too
dangerous an experiment to be continued. It was no longer a question of
skill in the handling of the boat, we were tempting Providence and
courting disaster, for the wind was freshening rapidly, so we had to
haul down a reef again, and even after we had done this we seemed to be
scarcely any better off than before.
Meanwhile, however, in the midst of our peril and anxiety we had the
satisfactory assurance that we were steadily nearing the ship; for we
had risen her until, when both she and the gig happened to be
simultaneously hove up on the crest of an unusually heavy sea, we could
catch a glimpse not only of the whole of her canvas, but also of the
sweep of her rail throughout its length, and we might now hope that at
any moment some keen-eyed sailor might notice our tiny sail and call
attention to it. Nay, there was just a possibility that this had
happened already, for we presently became aware that the ship had taken
in her topgallant-sails. Of course this might mean nothing more than
mere ordinary precaution on the part of a commander anxious to avoid
springing any of his spars; but it might also point to the conclusion
that a momentary, doubtful glimpse of us had been caught by somebody,
and that the officer of the watch, while sceptical of belief, had
shortened sail for a time to afford opportunity for further
investigation. But whichever it might happen to be, it improved our
prospects of eventual rescue, and we were glad and thankful accordingly.
The question now uppermost in our minds was whether we had or had not
been seen by anyone on board the ship. Some of us felt convinced that
we had--the wish, doubtless, being father to the thought; but, for my
own part, I was exceedingly doubtful. For, as a rule--to which,
however, some most shameful and dastardly exceptions have come under my
own notice--sailors are always most eager to help their distressed
brethren, even at the cost of very great personal inconvenience and
peril; and, knowing this, I believed that, had only a momentary and
exceedingly doubtful view of us been caught, steps would at once have
been taken on board the ship to further test the matter. Some one, for
instance, would probably have been sent aloft to get a more extended
view of the ocean's surface; nay, it was by no means unlikely that an
officer might have taken the duty upon himself, and have searched the
ocean with the aid of a telescope, in either of which cases we should
soon have been discovered; when the sight of a small boat battling for
life against a rapidly increasing gale and an already extremely
dangerous sea would doubtless have resulted in the ship hauling her wind
to our rescue. Nothing of the kind, however, happened, and we continued
our perilous run to leeward upon a course that was slowly converging
upon that of the ship, with a feeling of growing doubt and angry despair
at the blindness of those whom we were pursuing rapidly displacing the
high hopes that had been aroused in our hearts at the first sight of
that thrice-welcome sail.
The ship held steadily on her way, and all that we could do was to
follow her, with the wind smiting down upon us more fiercely every
minute, while each succeeding wave, as it overtook us, curled its angry,
hissing crest more menacingly above the stern of the deeply-laden boat.
It was a wild, reckless, desperate bit of boat-sailing; and the
conviction rapidly grew upon us all that it could not last much longer,
we should soon be compelled to abandon the pursuit, or succumb to the
catastrophe that momentarily threatened us. If we could but hold out
long enough to attract the attention of those blind bats yonder, all
might yet be well; but when at length our desperate race had carried us
to within about two and a half miles of the ship, and an occasional
glimpse of the whole of her hull could be caught when we were both at
the same instant hove up on the ridge of a sea, there was no perceptible
indication whatever that we had been seen by anybody aboard her. There
was no truck, and no flag-halliard fitted to the mast of the gig, and we
consequently had no means of hoisting a signal; but even if we had
possessed such means they would probably have been useless, because if
the sleepy lubbers had not noticed our sail, the exhibition of a
comparatively small flag would hardly be likely to attract their
attention.
We were still in the midst of an anxious discussion as to what we could
possibly do to make ourselves seen, when an end came to our pursuit. A
furious squall of wind and rain swooped down upon us, there was a crash,
and the mast thwart, unable to endure the additional strain thrown upon
it, gave way, the mast lurched forward and went over the bow, sails and
all, and at the same moment an unusually heavy sea overtook us, broke in
over the boat's stern, and filled her half-way to the thwarts.
I thought now that it was all over with us; fully expecting that the
next sea would also break aboard, completely swamp the boat, and leave
us all to swim for a few brief, agonising moments, and then to vanish
for ever; yet with the never-slumbering instinct of self-preservation, I
put the tiller hard over as the crest of the wave swept forward, and
then frantically threw out an oar over the stern, with which to sweep
the boat round head to sea. How it was achieved I know not to this day,
but so furious a strength did I throw into my work that I actually
succeeded in almost accomplishing my object; that is to say, I got the
boat so far round that, when the next wave met us, the bluff of her
starboard bow was presented to it, and although more water came aboard,
it was not sufficient to very materially enhance the peril of our
situation. Meanwhile the rest of the occupants seized the baler, a
bucket that somebody had been thoughtful enough to throw into the boat
when preparations were being made to leave the burning Indiaman, their
caps, or even their hoots--the first thing, in fact, that came handy--
and began baling for their lives.
CHAPTER FOURTEEN.
THE SHADOW OF DEATH.
The mast and sails of the boat had gone clean over the bows into the
water, and would in all probability have been lost to us but for the
fact that the shrouds still held; and, this being the case, the boat
rode to them as to a sort of floating anchor, keeping her stem-on to the
sea. Her trim was such that her bows were considerably more above water
than her stern, which may have had something to do with the fact that,
although the sea was now higher and more dangerous than ever, the water
no longer broke into her. Dumaresq and I, however, were both of opinion
that the floating mast, with the sails attached, served in some measure
as a breakwater for the seas to expend their most dangerous energies
upon, and after discussing the matter a little further it was determined
to submit our theory to the test of experiment. The shrouds were
accordingly unbent, and the mast hauled alongside, when the boat again
began to ship water; moreover, an oar over the stern at once became
necessary to keep her bows on to the sea. This experiment satisfied us
that our impression was something more than a mere fancy, and we at once
went to work to further test it. There were six oars in the boat, and
another portion of her equipment was a painter, some six fathoms in
length. We securely lashed together the whole six of the oars and the
mast, with the sails still attached, in a sort of bundle, by the middle,
using the end of the painter as a lashing, and when everything had been
made secure we veered away the painter until the whole of it was out,
and the bundle of oars and what-not was floating about five fathoms
ahead of the boat. This served as a drag, again bringing the gig's bows
on to the sea, and a comparatively short period of observation sufficed
to convince us that the arrangement did indeed serve also as an
appreciable protection to the boat. By the time that this was done the
rain had nearly ceased, and presently it cleared up to leeward,
revealing the ship once more, under double-reefed topsails, now broad on
our larboard quarter and hopelessly beyond all possibility of being
overtaken, even had we dared to resume the chase, which, after our
recent experience, and in the face of the terrible weather, none of us
dreamed of attempting.
It was a cruelly bitter disappointment to us all to reflect that we had
been so near to the possibility of rescue, and yet had missed it, and I
caught the rumbling notes of more than one sea-blessing invoked upon the
heads of the crew, who ought to have seen us, but apparently did not.
It was useless, however, to cry over spilt milk, or to murmur against
the mysterious decrees of Providence. Our business now was to do all
that lay in our power to keep the boat afloat and enable her to ride out
the gale; so we baled her dry, trimmed her a trifle more by the stern to
enable her to present a bolder bow to the sea, and then piped to dinner.
And now arose fresh cause for distress and apprehension, for when we
came to look into the state of our provisions, it was found that pretty
nearly everything that was spoilable had been ruined by the salt-water
that we had shipped, our bread especially being almost reduced to pulp.
We picked out the least damaged portions, however, and ate them, with
some chunks of raw salt beef, washing down the whole with a sparing
libation of weak grog, after which we felt in somewhat better spirits.
But, oh! the cold and misery of it all! We were drenched to the skin,
and the wind seemed to penetrate to our very marrow. Moreover, there
was no hope whatever of the slightest improvement so long as the gale
continued, for even though the rain had ceased, the air was full of
spindrift and scud-water that fell upon us in drenching showers; while,
cooped up as we were within the circumscribed dimensions of a small
boat, there was no possibility of warming ourselves by exercise or
active movement of any sort. The sea was running too dangerously high
to admit of our taking to the oars and keeping ourselves warm by that
expedient, and all that we could do to mitigate our misery was to huddle
closely together in the bottom of the boat, and so shield ourselves as
far as possible from the piercing wind and the drenching spray. Had we
been able to smoke, matters would not have been so bad with us, but we
had no means of obtaining a light; so there we crouched, hour after
hour, our teeth clenched or chattering with cold, our drenched clothing
clinging to our shivering bodies, and the gale howling over our heads
with ever-increasing fury, while the sheets of salt spray lashed us
relentlessly like whips of steel. So utterly miserable did we become
that at length we even ceased to rise occasionally to take a look round,
to see whether, perchance, another sail might have hove in sight. I
believe that some of my companions in suffering found a temporary refuge
from their wretchedness in short snatches of fitful sleep; at all events
I caught at intervals the sound of low mutterings, as of sleeping men;
but, as for me, exhausted though I was, I could not sleep. My anxiety
on behalf of these poor wretches, who were in a way under my command,
and who were certainly dependent to a great extent upon my experience
and judgment, seemed to have driven sleep for ever from my eyes.
And so we lay there, hour after hour, now flung aloft until the whole
ocean to the limits of the horizon lay spread around us, anon sweeping
down the back of some giant billow until it seemed that the boat was
about to plunge to the ocean's bed, and the passage of every hour was
marked by an increasing greyness and haggardness in the faces of my
companions, while a more hopelessly despairing expression came into
their eyes.
At length, however, shortly before sunset, a welcome break appeared in
the sky to windward; a gleam of watery, yellow light spread along the
horizon; the pall of murky vapour broke up into detached masses; small
but gradually widening patches of blue sky appeared here and here; and
finally we got a momentary glimpse of the sun through a break in the
clouds, just as the great luminary was on the point of sinking below the
western horizon. We greeted the blessed sight with a cheer of reviving
hope, for we knew that the gale was breaking, and that with the
moderating of the wind and sea we should once again be able to take some
active steps toward our preservation; while, apart from that, the finer
weather would at least afford us some relief from our present suffering
and misery. About half an hour later there was a noticeable diminution
in the strength of the wind, which by midnight had become merely a
moderate breeze. The sea no longer broke dangerously, the sky cleared,
the stars beamed benignantly down upon us, and there was every prospect
of our being able to resume our voyage on the morrow. But although, so
far as the weather was concerned, matters were greatly improving with
us, our suffering from cold was still very acute, for the night wind
seemed to penetrate right through our wet clothes and to strike colder
than ice upon our skins that were now burning with fever.
As for me, I envied my more fortunate companions who were able to sleep.
I was deadly weary, worn out with prolonged watching and anxiety and
exposure; my eyes were burning and my head throbbing with the fever that
consumed me, while my teeth were chattering with cold to such an extent
that I could scarcely make my speech intelligible. Wild, fantastic,
irrelevant fancies were whirling confusedly through my brain, and I
found it simply impossible to fix my mind upon the important question of
the direction in which we ought to steer upon the resumption of our
voyage. For the impression now forced itself upon me that poor Captain
Chesney had committed an error of judgment in adhering to his
determination to make for the Azores, after the breeze had sprung up
from a direction which placed those islands almost dead to windward, and
his only alternative of making for the Canaries appeared to be open to
the same objection, although in a considerably lesser degree. Then
arose the question: If he was mistaken in thus deciding, what ought he
to have done? But to this, in the then disordered condition of my
mental faculties, I could find no satisfactory reply. At length, while
mentally groping for a solution to this knotty problem, I sank into a
feverish semi-somnolent condition that eventually merged into sleep, and
when I again became conscious, the sun was flashing his first beams
across the surface of the heaving waters, now no longer scourged to fury
by the lashing of a gale, but just ruffled to a deep, tender blue by the
gentle breathing of a soft breeze from the north-east. A very heavy
swell was still running, of course; but it no longer broke, and there
was nothing whatever to prevent our resuming our voyage at once, saving
the question--Whither?
The matter, however, that called for our first and most imperative
attention was our own condition. We were still suffering greatly from
the effects of prolonged exposure in our still damp clothes, and we
could hope for little or no amelioration until our garments were once
more dry, and the healthy action of our skin restored; so, to facilitate
this, I suggested that we should all strip, and spread out our clothing
to thoroughly dry in the sun's now ardent beams, and that, while the
drying process was in progress, we should all go overboard and indulge
in a good swim. The greater portion of our party thought this advice
good enough to be acted upon, and in a few minutes seven of us were in
the water and swimming vigorously round the boat; the other three were
unable to swim, but they imitated us so far as to strip and pour buckets
of water over each other. The water felt pleasantly warm in comparison
with the temperature of the air, and we remained overboard for nearly
half an hour; then we scrambled back into the boat again, rubbed
ourselves and each other vigorously with the palms of our hands, while
our bodies were in process of being dried by the joint action of the sun
and air; and finally we donned our clothes again, they being by this
time quite dry, feeling much refreshed and in every way considerably the
better for our bath. Our next business was to go to breakfast, but our
bread was by this time so completely destroyed as to be quite uneatable.
We therefore threw it overboard, and made a meagre and unpalatable meal
off more raw salt beef, washed down as before with weak grog.
And while the meal was in progress I brought up the question that had
been vexing me during the previous night; namely, the direction in which
we should steer. I had been giving this matter my best consideration
during the time that I had been overboard; indeed Dumaresq and I had
been discussing it together as we swam industriously round and round the
boat, and we both agreed in the conclusion that the appearance of the
sky warranted the belief that we were on the very margin of the north-
east trade-wind, if not actually within its influence. And if this were
indeed the case, it appeared that the proper course for us to adopt
would be to bear up and run for the West Indies, instead of attempting
to reach the Azores or even the Canaries. For while Corvo was only
seven hundred and twenty miles from the spot where the Indiaman was
destroyed, while Teneriffe was about thirteen hundred and eighty miles,
and Saint Thomas, in the West Indies, fifteen hundred miles from the
same spot, we could reckon with tolerable certainty upon reaching the
latter island in about twelve days if the breeze now blowing actually
happened to be the young trade-wind; while, under the same supposition,
it was exceedingly doubtful when, if ever, we should succeed in reaching
either the Azores or the Canary Islands. It was altogether too
momentous a question for me to settle off-hand and upon my own
responsibility, so I laid the matter before the whole boat's company,
inviting them to decide it by a preponderating vote. I found that the
majority agreed with me in the opinion that we might be on the fringe
of, if not actually within, the influence of the trade-wind, but when it
came to the question of bearing up and running for the West Indies, the
great distance to be traversed seemed to frighten them. They were
hardly prepared to face the prospect of nearly a fortnight in an open
boat, even although we might reckon with tolerable certainty upon a fair
wind and moderate weather all the time. They pointed out that our stock
of provisions was wholly inadequate for such a voyage, unless we were
all prepared to go upon an exceedingly short allowance forthwith, and
they appeared to consider that, by adhering to Captain Chesney's plan,
we should stand a better chance of falling in with and being picked up
by a ship. As to whether we should make for the Azores or the Canaries,
we were pretty unanimously of opinion that, despite the much greater
distance of the latter, if we were, as we supposed, within the influence
of the trade-wind, we should stand a much better chance of fetching it;
and after some further discussion it was definitely determined to shape
the best course we could for Teneriffe.
This important matter settled, all that we had to do was to lash the
mast thwart in its place again, haul the mast and oars alongside, get
them inboard, and make sail, which we did forthwith.
For the next five days we sailed comfortably enough to the eastward,
making on an average, about eighty-five miles in the twenty-four hours,
during which not a single sail had been sighted; and then the wind
gradually died away, and it fell stark calm. This obliged us to take to
the oars; and whereas during the gale we had suffered greatly from cold
and wet, all our complaint now was of the intense heat; for the clouds
had passed away, leaving the sky a vault of purest blue, out of which
the sun blazed down upon us relentlessly for about eleven hours out of
the twenty-four. This, coupled with our exertions at the oars--and
possibly the profuse perspiration induced thereby--provoked a continuous
thirst which we had no means of satisfying; for immediately upon our
determination to make for Teneriffe, we had carefully gauged our stock
of provisions and water, and had placed ourselves upon a very short
allowance of both. And, to make matters still worse, the setting in of
the calm immediately rendered it imperatively necessary to still further
reduce our already far too scanty allowance.
There was nothing for it, however, but to toil on, hour after hour, with
ever-decreasing strength; the only redeeming feature of our case being
the knowledge that, should we now chance to sight a ship, she could not
possibly sail away from us so long as the calm lasted. But when the
calm had continued for twenty-four hours, during which we pulled
continuously to the eastward, relieving each other at frequent
intervals, this reflection almost ceased to afford us any comfort, for
we found that short commons and hard work together were exhausting our
strength with such alarming rapidity that, unless we sighted the hoped-
for sail pretty speedily, we should have no strength left with which to
pull to her. And when another twelve hours had passed over our heads,
and another cloudless, breathless, blazing morning had dawned upon us,
the men with one accord laid in their oars, protesting their utter
inability to any longer keep up the exhausting work of pulling the boat
I argued with, entreated, and threatened them alternately, without
avail; they turned a deaf ear to me, and lay down in the bottom of the
boat, where they almost instantly fell into a restless, troubled sleep.
All, that is to say, except Dumaresq, who recognised as clearly as I did
the vital necessity for us to push onward as speedily as possible; after
discussing the situation for a while, therefore, we threw over a couple
of oars, and, placing the boat compass between my feet where I could see
it, paddled wearily and painfully onward until noon, when we ceased,
that I might have an opportunity to take an observation for the
determination of our latitude. While I was still engaged upon this
operation the men awoke; and as soon as I had ascertained our latitude
we went to dinner; if dinner that could be called which consisted of a
small cube of raw meat, measuring about an inch each way, and as much
tepid, fetid water as would half-fill the neck of a rum-bottle that had
been broken off from the body to serve as a measure.