Strong breezes, and cold and thick weather, showed us that we were
getting out of the genial latitudes, in which, without much success, we
had been for some time cruising, and were approaching those icy regions
which encircle the Antarctic Pole. Newman had made such progress in his
knowledge of seamanship, that he was not only considered competent to
undertake all the ordinary duties of a seaman, but was more trusted than
many of the older hands. He soon gave evidence that this confidence was
not misplaced. He and I were in the same watch. This was a great
satisfaction to me, as I benefited largely by his conversation, which I
was now beginning fully to appreciate.
One night we had the middle watch, and were together on the look-out
forward. It was unusually dark; neither moon nor stars were visible,
and the clouds hung down in a thick canopy over us. A strong breeze was
blowing from the southward and eastward, and we were standing to the
south-west with our port-tacks aboard. The sea was not very heavy, but
it struck me at the time that it was somewhat uneven and irregular, and
this made me suspect that we might be in the neighbourhood of land or
fields of ice. Newman was talking of the Aurora Australis, and telling
me how much he longed to see its effect in its fullest brilliancy, when
suddenly he seized my arm with a firm grasp.
"Williams!" he exclaimed, "do you see that unusual whiteness glimmering
there ahead, and on our starboard bow? I hear the surf beating on it!
I'm sure it's an iceberg! Starboard your helm! Luff all you can!
Starboard for your lives!" he shouted, rushing aft to see this done. I
meantime called on those on deck to get a pull at the head-braces; an
inch might save the ship.
There was no time for ceremony; no time to announce the fact in set form
to the officer of the watch. This was the second mate. He was,
happily, a sensible man. He at once comprehended the emergency, and
gave the necessary orders to brace up the yards, and bring the ship
close upon a wind. We were not a moment too soon in anything that was
done. The white glimmering appearance grew every instant more distinct,
till it resolved itself into a vast massive iceberg towering high above
the mast-heads, while the roar of the breakers which dashed against its
sides increased in loudness. The ship heeled over to the gale till her
yard-arms seemed almost to touch the floating mountain. Still she stood
up bravely to her canvas, closely hugging the wind. Had a rope been
rotten, had a spar given way, our fate might have been sealed. In one
instant after striking, the ship and everything in her might have been
dashed to atoms.
The man with firmest nerves among all our crew watched that lofty berg,
as we rushed by it in our midnight course, with feelings of awe and
anxiety, if not of alarm, and drew a breath more freely when he looked
over the quarter and saw the danger past. It was not the only one we
encountered that night. Sail had been shortened; but it was evidently
necessary, after the warning we had received, to keep the ship as much
as possible under command.
On, on we flew through the murky night, the gale every moment increasing
in force, and the sea rising and breaking in unexpected directions. We
had again kept away on our course. Sail was still further reduced. The
cold had before been considerable; it now much increased, and our decks
were covered with ice. Captain Carr had, the moment we sighted the
iceberg, come on deck; the watch below were called, and every one was at
his post. It was not a time for anyone to be spared. We had evidently
got into the icy regions sooner than had been expected. Intending to
get out of them, the captain gave the order to keep away; but scarcely
had we done so when an ice-field was seen extending away on our lee-bow
and ahead, and we were again obliged to haul up, hoping to get round it.
On, therefore, we sailed; but as we advanced we found the ice-field
extending away on our starboard-beam, the sea breaking over it with a
noise which warned us what would be the consequence if we should strike
it.
Let our position be pictured for an instant. The fierce waves dashing
wildly and irregularly about us; the storm raging fiercely; the ship
driving onwards through pitchy darkness; wide, massive fields of ice
extending on every side; huge icebergs floating around we knew not
where; no lighthouse, no chart to guide us; our eyes and ears stretched
to the utmost, giving but short warning of approaching danger. Such are
the scenes which wear out a commander's strength, and make his hair turn
quickly grey. We knew full well that dangers still thickly surrounded
us, and heartily did we wish for the return of day to see them. Newman
and I were again forward. I was telling him that I had heard of a ship
striking a berg, and of several of her people being saved on it, while
she went down, when he startled me by singing out with a voice of
thunder, "Ice ahead!" At the same moment old Knowles cried out, "Ice on
the weather-bow!" and immediately I had to echo the shout with "Ice on
the lee-bow!" and another cried, "Ice abeam!"
To tack would have been instant destruction; to wear, there was no room.
Every moment we expected to feel the awful crash as the stout ship
encountered the hard ice. Captain Carr rushed forward. We must dash
onward. Though no opening could be seen, there might be one! Onward we
careered. Every man held his breath; and pale, I doubt not, turned the
faces of the bravest. Suddenly, high above us, on the weather-side,
appeared another iceberg. The sea became almost calm; but it was a
calmness fraught with danger rather than safety. The sails, caught by
the eddy-wind, were taken aback. In another moment we might have been
driven, without power of saving ourselves, under that frowning cliff of
ice. The storm raged above us--before us--behind us--on every side but
there we lay, as if exhausted. Still the ship had way on her, and we
continued our course. The channel was too narrow to allow the helm to
be put up.
Just as she was losing her way, and would inevitably, through the force
of the eddy-wind, have got stern-way on her, her headsails again felt
the force of the gale, and, like a hound loosed from the leash, she
started forward on her course. Again we were plunging madly through the
wildly breaking seas; but the wind blew steadily, and the ice-fields
widened away on either side till they were lost to view. Once again we
were saved by a merciful Providence from an almost inevitable
destruction. Still, we had some hours of darkness before us, and an
unknown sea full of ice-islands through which we must pass. Not an eye
was closed that night. Again we were close to one, but we were now
better able to distinguish them than at first. This time we had to keep
away, and run to the northward; but before long, there arose ahead of us
a fourth iceberg. Again we sprung to the braces, the helm was put down,
and, once more close-hauled, we weathered the danger.
Thus we hurried on--narrowly escaping danger after danger till daylight
approached. Before, however, the sun arose, the gale fell; the clouds
cleared away; and a bright gleam appeared in the eastern sky. Up shot
the glorious sun, and never shall I forget the scene of gorgeous
magnificence his bright rays lighted. Both sky and sea became of a deep
blue--the water calm and clear as crystal--while all around us floated
mountains of brilliant whiteness, like masses of the purest alabaster,
of every varied form and size. Many were 200 feet high, and nearly a
third of a mile in length. Some had perpendicular sides, with level
summits--fit foundations, it might seem, for building cities of marble
palaces, or fortresses for the kings of the East. Some, again, were
broken into every fantastic form conceivable--towers and turrets, spires
and minarets, domes and cupolas; here, the edifices found most commonly
under the symbol of the crescent; there, those of the cross: Norman
castles, Gothic cathedrals, Turkish mosques, Grecian temples, Chinese
pagodas, were all here fully represented, and repeated in a thousand
different ways. Others had been broken or melted into the forms of
jagged cliffs, gigantic arches, lofty caverns, penetrating far away into
the interior. Scarcely a shape which is to be found among the butting
crags, sea-beat headlands, or mountain summits, in every part of the
world, was not there represented in the most brilliant and purest of
materials. Whole cities, too, were there to be seen pictured; squares
and streets, and winding lanes, running up from the water's edge, like a
ruined Genoa, with marble palaces, and churches, and alabaster
fountains, and huge piles of buildings of every possible form standing
proudly up amid the ocean, the whole appearing like some scene of
enchantment rather than a palpable reality. Here was seen a lofty
mountain rent in two by some fierce convulsion of nature; there, a city
overturned: here, rocks upheaved and scattered around in wild confusion;
there, deep gorges, impenetrable ravines, and terrific precipices;--
indeed, here Nature, in her wildest and most romantic forms, was fully
represented. The beauty of the wondrous spectacle was heightened when
the sun arose, from the varied gorgeous tints which flashed from
mountain-top and beetling cliff, from tower, turret, and pinnacle, where
its bright rays fell on them as they slowly moved round in their
eccentric courses. No words, however, can describe the dazzling
whiteness and brilliancy of the floating masses. From some of the most
lofty, fountains might be seen gushing down, as from a mountain's top
when the fierce rays of the sun melt the long-hardened snow; while in
and out of the deep caverns the sea-birds flew and screamed, peopling
those dreary solitudes with joyous life.
The sun soon melted the ice from off our decks and rigging, and as we
sailed onward the air became warm and genial. The most insensible of us
could not but admire the scene; but Newman could scarcely repress his
exclamations of delight and surprise. His sketch-book was brought out,
and rapidly he committed to paper some of the most remarkable portions
of the beautiful scene. Still, no pencil, no colours could represent
the glorious, the magnificent tints in which the sea and sky, and the
majestic varied-shaped icebergs, were bathed, as the sun, bursting forth
from his ocean-bed, glided upwards in the eastern heavens. Numbers of
birds came circling round the ship in their rapid flight, or were seen
perched on the pinnacles of the bergs, or flying among their caverned
recesses--albatrosses, snow-white petrels, penguins, and ducks of
various sorts.
The albatross--Diomedea, as Newman called it--is the most powerful and
largest of all aquatic birds. Its long hard beak is very strong, and of
a pale yellow colour. The feet are webbed. I have seen some, the wings
of which, when extended, measured fifteen feet from tip to tip, while
they weighed upwards of twenty pounds. It feeds while on the wing, and
is very voracious, pouncing down on any object which its piercing eye
can discover in the water; and many a poor fellow, when swimming for his
life, having fallen overboard, has been struck by one, and sunk to rise
no more.
The snow-white petrel is a beautiful bird, and in its colours offers a
strong contrast to the stormy petrel, (_Thalassidroma_), the chief part
of whose plumage is of a sooty black, and others dark brown. Instead of
being dreaded by seamen, it ought to be looked upon as their friend, for
it seems to know long before they do when a storm is approaching, and by
its piercing cry and mode of flight warns them of the coming danger.
Seamen, however, instead of being grateful, like the world of old, the
world at present, and the world as it ever will be, look upon these
little prophets with dread and hatred, and in their ignorance and
stupidity consider them the cause of the evil portended.
Penguins are found only in the Antarctic Ocean. They derive their name
from _pinguis_, "fat," they being noted for that quality. Their legs
are placed so far back that, when on shore, they stand almost upright.
Though on land their movements are very awkward, yet when in the water--
which, more than the air, must be considered their natural element, as
their wings are too small to allow them to fly--they are bold birds, and
will bravely defend themselves or their young when attacked, and will
advance on a retreating enemy.
We had not been long in these icy regions before we reaped an ample
reward for all the dangers we had encountered. As we looked over the
side, we observed the water full of animalcules, while vast quantities
of shrimps of various sorts were seen in the neighbourhood of the
icebergs; but what still more raised our hopes of finding whales, were
the numbers of large squid, or cuttle-fish, on which, as I have said,
they chiefly feed. We were watching a huge fellow floating near the
ship, with outstretched tentaculae, of arms, extending an immense
distance from his head, and with which he was dragging up into his
voracious mouth thousands of animalculae every moment--and from his size
he seemed capable of encircling the body of any unfortunate person he
might find swimming--when the cry was heard from aloft of "There she,
spouts--there she spouts!"
In an instant Newman's lecture of natural history, which he was giving
us, was brought to a conclusion. All hands were on deck, and four boats
were manned and lowered, and pulled away after no less than three fine
bull whales, which appeared at the same instant round the ship. There
is a danger in attacking a whale near an iceberg which is avoided in the
open sea. When he is fast, he may sound under it, and come up on the
other side; but instinct warns him not to come up so as to strike his
head against it.
Newman and I had already gone in the boats, and had proved ourselves no
bad oarsmen on the occasion. He, indeed, had been allowed by the
captain to use the harpoon when one of the officers was ill, and had
succeeded in striking his first fish in a way which gained him much
credit. On this occasion, however, we both remained on board.
Suddenly, not far from the ship, another whale rose to the surface, and,
in a most extraordinary manner, began to turn, and twist, to throw half
his huge bulk at a time out of the water, and furiously to lash it with
his tail till he was surrounded with a mass of foam. The boats were in
another direction, or we should have thought he had been wounded, and
had a lance or harpoon sticking in him, from which he was endeavouring
to free himself. He swam on, however, and approached the ship, still
continuing his extraordinary contortions. As he drew near, he lifted
his enormous head out of the water, when we saw hanging to his lower jaw
a large fish, twenty feet long or so, from which he was thus in vain
endeavouring to free himself! We had no little cause to be alarmed, as
he drew near, for the safety of the ship herself; for, in the blindness
of his agony, he might unintentionally strike her, or he might rush
against her side to get rid of his pertinacious enemy. More than once
the whale threw himself completely out of the water; but the fish still
hung on to his bleeding jaw. Together they fell again into the sea,
while all around them was stained of a crimson hue from the blood so
copiously flowing from the worried monster.
"That's a killer!" cried old Tom. "He'll not let go the whale till he
has him in his flurry, and then he and his mates will make a feast of
him. They have great strong teeth, bigger than a shark's, and are the
most voracious fish I ever saw. They bait a whale just as dogs do a
wild beast, or a bull, and seldom fail to kill him if they once get hold
of him."
This killer had a long dorsal fin, and a brown back and white belly. On
came the whale and the fish, twisting and turning as before. We all
stood ready to try and send them off--though very little use that would
have been, I own. Happily they floundered by just astern of the ship;
but so violent were their movements, and by such a mass of foam and
blood were they surrounded, that it was difficult to observe the
appearance of the killer. Equally impossible would it have been to have
approached the whale to harpoon him without an almost certainty of
losing the boat and the lives of all her crew. We could, therefore,
only hope that the whale might be conquered when still within sight, so
that the boats might carry off the prize from the relentless killer.
Away went the monster and his tormentor. Soon we could no longer
distinguish them from the deck; but on going aloft, we again caught
sight of them, still floundering on as before.
"That fish gives us a lesson of what pertinacity will accomplish, even
in conquering the greatest of difficulties," observed Newman, laughing.
"I admire the way in which he sticks to his object. He has made up his
mind to kill the whale, and kill the whale he will."
"Ay, and eat him too, Ned, as he deserves," said old Knowles. "Some of
us might learn a lesson from that fish, I'm thinking."
"I have been killing whales all my life," Newman remarked to me with a
forced laugh. "But somehow or other, Jack, I never have found out how
to eat them."
"Overcoming difficulties, but not benefiting by them!" said I. "There
must be a fault somewhere."
"Ay, Jack, ay--a fault in myself, and a curse well-deserved," he
answered, bitterly, and then was silent. I never before had heard him
speak in that way, and I did not venture to ask for an explanation.
That saying of Newman became common ever afterwards on board, when we
saw a man determined to do a thing--"Kill the whale he will!"
I have often thought since, how seldom sailors, especially, learn to eat
whales. What sums of money they make and throw carelessly away!--amply
sufficient to enable them to pass the end of their days in comfort on
shore, or to provide respectably for their families, instead, as is
often the case with the merchant-seaman, ending their days in a
poor-house, or leaving their families to the cold charity of the world.
Brother seamen, learn wisdom! Prepare for the future of this life; and,
more than all, prepare for the life to come.
Two of the whales chased were captured and brought alongside, when we
set to work to cut-in and try-out with all the rapidity we could exert.
In those high southern latitudes the weather is very variable, and we
knew that a change might come and deprive us of our prey. We were,
however, fortunate in securing both whales, and between them they gave
us one hundred and sixty barrels of fine oil. Before, however, the
boats had returned with their prizes, the whale and the killer had got
far out of sight even from the mast-head. We continued for some time
fishing in those quarters, amply rewarded for the dangers we had
encountered by the success we met with. Sometimes, however, we were
days and days together without even seeing a whale; and several were
lost, after chasing them with much toil and difficulty.
Newman contributed much all the time to keep the people in good humour,
by always finding them employment; and Captain Carr, unlike some masters
I have met with, afforded him every assistance in his plans. Among
other things, he established regular classes below, and, with the
exception of one or two very idle, stupid fellows, all the crew belonged
to one or other of them. Besides a reading and writing class, he had an
arithmetic and geography class, and a music and a drawing class. His
singing class was the most numerous, and he very soon taught nearly all
hands to sing together in admirable tune and time. I at first
exclusively attended the reading and writing class, devoting every
moment I was off duty to my books; so that, much to my own surprise and
delight, I soon found that I could read with ease and satisfaction.
Writing was a more difficult task: to one whose fingers had never been
accustomed to the cramped position required for holding a pen. Still,
Newman had a way of overcoming that difficulty. Making me throw the
weight of my body on my left side, he left my right hand and fingers
free, and kept me for some time with a dry pen simply moving up and down
across the page. Even when I had begun to form letters, at the
commencement of every lesson he made me follow this plan for a few
minutes, that, as he said, I might get my fingers into training before I
disfigured the paper and became disgusted with my own performance. He
himself seemed never to grow weary of teaching. No ignorance or
stupidity daunted him; and it used to surprise me that a man of such
extensive information and extraordinary talents, should take the trouble
of imparting knowledge to people who were so immeasurably his inferiors.
I used to observe, from the first, that he was never for a moment idle.
"Ned must always be doing something or other," old Tom observed of him.
"It's all the better for him that he is afloat. If he were on shore,
he would be doing mischief." His great object seemed to be to fly from
himself. Sometimes, when I was talking with him, from the strangeness
of his remarks, and from his bursts of feeling, I thought that there
must be a touch of madness about him; but then, again, immediately
afterwards, he would say something so full of thought and sense, that I
banished the idea.
To me he proved the greatest blessing. I was becoming a new character.
I had discovered powers within me of which I before had no conception.
I had gone on through life, if not rejoicing in my ignorance, at least
indifferent to it. I had picked up a certain amount of knowledge from
the conversation of others, but it was ill-digested, and I was full of
the grossest prejudices. I have scarcely, indeed, given a correct
notion of what I was up to this time. I might describe myself just as I
once heard a shipmate spoken of--as _just an ignorant common sailor_.
Such I had been. I could now read. I could dive into the rich stores
collected by other minds, and make them my own. Without robbing others,
I could appropriate their wealth, and enjoy all the benefits it could
afford. Once having begun to read, the taste grew on me. I read
through and through every book Newman possessed.
After a time, as his talents came to be known and appreciated by the
captain, and officers, and surgeon, he was able to borrow books from
them, which he allowed me to read. Although not many of them were very
enlightening, they served to show me my own ignorance from the allusions
they made, which I was totally unable to comprehend; and this only made
me desire to gain further information, which it was somewhat difficult
to obtain. As to Newman himself, he literally devoured every book which
came in his way. He soon read through every book to be found on board;
and whenever we fell in with another ship, he used to borrow all he
could, or exchange his own books for others. Unfortunately, the
literature in those days to be found at sea was generally of a very
inferior character, and not at all calculated to improve its readers.
Still, some knowledge was gleaned from all but the worst, and some
errors and prejudices corrected. Newman had, however, certain
favourites among his books, both English and foreign, which he would on
no account have parted with. These he used frequently to read to me in
our spare hours, or when we were engaged in such work as required our
hands alone to be employed. I observed, indeed, after a little time,
that we had far less employment found for us than had been the case in
other ships on board which I had served; and this, I suspect, was
because we found it for ourselves, or rather Newman found it for us. I
never met with men so contented and happy as we all became; and this I
could only account for by supposing that we were interested in our
various occupations.
Newman was also the great peacemaker on board. Whenever a dispute
arose, he always inquired the point at issue, and, without allowing time
for the temper of either party to become irritated, he generally
contrived to settle the matter. If he could not manage that, he used to
try and raise a laugh by some absurd observation, or would place the
position assumed by one man or the other in so ridiculous a light, that
he seldom failed to show him that he was wrong.
One thing I remarked about Newman was, that he never alluded to any
religious subject. I never saw him pray. He had no Bible or
Prayer-book with him. I never heard him give utterance to a sentiment
of piety, or of trust in God's mercy or fear of his anger. I did, on
the contrary, frequently hear him praise the Greek and Roman
philosophers of old, and he often spoke of the stoicism and heroism of
the heathens. Still he neither blasphemed, nor cursed, nor swore, nor
did he ever attempt to instil any infidel notions into the minds of any
of us. However, I fear that he was, to all intents and purposes, a
heathen. I doubt, indeed, whether he ever had any religion. I suspect
that he was brought up without any; and that at no time, during the
period he was gaining his education, did he meet with anyone to instruct
him. I could not even then help contrasting the confiding piety and
true religion of my old shipmates, Peter Poplar and Captain Gale, with
the entire want of it which he displayed.
Indeed, Captain Carr, though a kind and worthy man, and a good sailor,
was sadly unenlightened as to the truth; and all the years I served with
him we neither had prayers nor any religious observance whatever on
board. On a Sunday, if the weather was fine, and no whales were in
sight, we put on clean clothes, mended and washed our old ones, and had
an additional glass of grog served out, with less work than usual given
us to do. On board most South-Seamen every day in the week was much the
same. It was a fact, I fear, and one painful to contemplate, that
Newman, with all his great and varied talents, lived on as if there were
no God in the world. I do not mention this without a purpose. It seems
strange that it was from such a man I received the instruction which
enabled me ultimately to attain to a knowledge of, and active belief in,
the truth. It shows by what varied instruments God works to bring about
his gracious purposes. It convinced me of the power and effect of
grace. Here was I, sunk deep myself in ignorance, and living among
those who were equally unaware of the truth, called out of darkness into
His marvellous light. But I am anticipating events.
We continued cruising near the Antarctic Circle during the few short
months of summer with unvaried success. We had frequent displays at
night of the Aurora Australis. Sometimes the whole southern hemisphere
would be covered with arches of a beautiful straw-colour, from which
streamers would radiate, both upwards and downwards, of a pure
glittering white. The stars would be glittering brightly overhead;
while, from east-south-east to west-north-west, a number of concentric
arches would appear, forming a complete canopy in the sky; then suddenly
they would vanish, again shortly to appear. Some nights it appeared in
the form of cumuli, tinged with pale yellow; and behind them arose
brilliant red, purple, orange, and yellow tints, streaming upwards in
innumerable radiations, with every combination of shade which these
colours could produce. Another night we saw a bright crescent, and from
it feathery-edged rays, of a pale orange colour, branched off in every
direction, while across it a succession of the prismatic colours
appeared rapidly to flit. Indeed, it is difficult to describe the
various forms which the Aurora assumes.
One of the most curious sights I ever beheld we witnessed some time
after this. It was the appearance of the sun and moon above the horizon
at the same time: the moon, which was nearly full, throwing her light--
stolen from the sun, which blazed forth at the same time--on the world
of icebergs. It was as if we had been looking on two distinct scenes.
On one side, the bright rays of the luminary of day were throwing a
golden hue on the vast mountain masses of ice which floated on the blue
waters; on the other, the pale orb of night cast a silvery fringe on the
clouds which surrounded it. There was, indeed, no night; the
binnacle-lamp was not even lighted; and we were able to continue,
without cessation, trying-out a whale, whose carcase floated alongside.
Among other curious things I observed, were large masses of rock--
boulders they are called--embedded in the base and centre of icebergs.
It shows that they must originally have been formed on shore, and then
floated away by some unusually high-tide or commotion of the sea. It
explains also the appearance of boulders in places where it would be
difficult otherwise to account for their being found.
I have seen birds in great numbers on rocks in the ocean, in different
parts of the globe, but never have I beheld so many as there were on an
island we one day sighted before steering north. There was but little
wind, and as the captain thought a supply of birds, although of a
somewhat fishy taste, would be an acceptable addition to our daily fare
of salt junk and salt pork, he directed the third mate, with Newman, me,
and four other men, to take a boat and bring off as many as we could
kill. Calm as it was, the surf rolled so heavily in on the rocks that
it was a work of no little difficulty and danger to approach them so as
to gain a footing out of the reach of the waves. The mate ordered an
anchor to be let go, and, veering away on the cable, we dropped
gradually in; and while, boat-hook in hand, one at a time leaped on
shore, the boat-keepers with their oars kept the boat head to sea, and
as soon as we had landed, which we did not succeed in doing without a
thorough ducking, they hauled the boat off beyond the breakers.
The island on which we stood was a wild, desolate place. Not a tree or
a shrub was to be seen; but the hills, which rose to a considerable
height above the ocean, were covered with a long thick grass, of a
character similar to what grows on the Falkland Islands. Here and there
dark rocks cropped out, and the sides of the island were formed in many
parts of lofty, precipitous cliffs; while in others, such as the place
we had landed on, were rugged rocks sloping gradually down to the sea.
A thick fringe of kelp, a slippery sort of sea-weed, added somewhat to
the difficulties of our landing. As we advanced, we were assailed by
the most frightful gabbling, and screeching, and quacking I ever heard,
from thousands and thousands of wild-fowls, chiefly penguins of various
species. The whole hillside was literally covered with them and their
eggs in dense masses. Nothing daunted at our appearance, when they
found that the hubbub they made could not compel us to retreat, they
commenced a fierce attack on us with their beaks, pulling at our
trousers and pecking at our flesh. In our own defence we were obliged
to lay about us with the boat's stretchers, and to knock them right and
left on the head. Some, however, took warning from the fate of their
companions; but while those at a distance gabbled and screeched louder
than ever, those in the front waddled boldly up to the assault. As far
as we could judge, we must have slaughtered the whole colony, or been
pecked to death by them if we had attempted to sit down to rest. Every
inch of their native soil, like true patriots, they bravely disputed
with us; and when any of us, for fun, retreated, to see what they would
do, they advanced erect and determined, rolling their heads from side to
side in the most comical way, their power of vision residing only in the
lower part of each eye. Then they would throw their heads backwards,
and utter sounds very like the braying of a jackass; from which
circumstance they have been called the Jackass Penguins. All the time,
their little wings were actively employed as legs to expedite their
movements. When in the water, they use their wings as fins to dive.
When they rise again after a dive, they come up with so sudden a dash,
instantly being down again, that it is often difficult to say whether
they are fish or fowl. The most acceptable part of the spoils were
their eggs, which we picked up in great quantities, and stowed away for
safety in our caps and hats. Newman and I being in advance of the
party, came upon a large rock, on and about which were perched a number
of much larger birds than those we had seen below. They sat quietly
looking at us till we approached, and then they commenced scolding us as
the others had done. They appeared to be arranged in the most perfect
order, in ranks like those of an army, each class being by themselves.
In one place were hen-birds sitting on their eggs; in another, the
mother-birds tending their newly-hatched young; while their mates were
away over the ocean fishing for their dinners--a labour in which the
hens very soon assist their partners. The moulting birds sit by
themselves; and the bachelors, I conclude, have also to dwell in
solitude. When we frightened the sitting-hens, we observed that they
had a peculiar way of lifting up their eggs between their legs, and
waddling off with them. These birds which were much larger than those
seen below, are called King Penguins. We each carried off one over our
shoulders as trophies.
After we left the ship, another boat was lowered to attack some
sea-lions, which had been observed on a rock a little way off. We saw
our shipmates commencing the attack as we went up the hill. Several
were harpooned. One huge monster, notwithstanding a severe wound,
managed to make his escape. As we returned down the hill, we found
ourselves at the edge of a deep gully, into which the sea dashed,
leaping up on either side, but leaving in the centre a space of
comparatively clear water. As we looked down into it, we saw it
curiously disturbed, and soon there rose to the surface two monsters,
which seemed to be attacking each other with the greatest fury. We
could have no doubt that they were sea-lions; and from the blood which
flowed from the neck of one of them, we guessed that he was the one we
had seen wounded. No animals on shore could have fought more
desperately, although their teeth alone could be used as weapons of
assault. They swam at each other, seizing each other's snouts, and
fins, and lips, and struggled, and turned, and floundered about, till a
big sea rushing up, carried both of them out of our sight.
"Such are human combats," observed Newman, with one of his peculiar
laughs. "The sharks or the birds of prey will alone benefit by their
folly."
While we were speaking, we saw several huge albatrosses flying, at the
speed almost of lightning, towards the island. Instantly they pounced
down on some of the birds we had killed; but finding that they had not
yet a sufficiently high flavour to suit their palates, they picked up
some of the eggs which we had compelled the jackass penguins to desert,
and flew off with them, it was impossible to say where. We returned to
the ship with a boat-load of birds and eggs, but not without a thorough
ducking.
While I am on the subject of natural history, I will describe another
species of seal, which we found on some islands on which we landed. We
went on shore, as we had before done, armed with clubs and lances, to
capture some of them. It required a knowledge of their inert and
slothful character to give us courage to attack them with the weapons
which we possessed, for in size and appearance they were most
formidable-looking monsters. They were from twenty-five to thirty feet
long, and some eighteen feet in circumference. Their heads are armed
with large tusks and formidable teeth, and the male has the power of
elongating the upper lip into the form of a proboscis, from which
circumstance they are called sea-elephants. They are only found in
those regions in the summer, as they migrate into warmer latitudes in
the winter. We very quickly dispatched a number of them with blows on
the head, and then towed them off to the ship, where each produced some
eighty gallons of oil. Their skins also, which are of great use for
many purposes, were preserved.
The nights were again shortening, when, just before dark, it came on to
blow hard. Sail was taken off the ship, and those with the best eyes on
board were stationed on each bow and at the bowsprit-end, to give notice
of any dangers in sight. We were standing to the westward, going free,
our captain intending soon to haul up for the northward. It was the
darkest part of the still short night, when the lookers-out ahead gave
notice that they heard the crashing sound of ice grinding together.
Directly afterwards the words "Ice ahead!" echoed along the deck.
Immediately the starboard tacks were hauled aboard, and the ship was
kept to the northward.
Again the startling cry was heard, "Ice on the lee-bow!" then "Ice
ahead!" The ship had good way on her. The helm was put down. We flew
to the tacks and sheets, and about she came, her counter actually
grazing a sheet of ice, against which in another moment she would have
struck! We could now only steer to the southward, where we knew more
ice must be found, so that we must speedily be about again. It was
necessary to keep sufficient sail on the ship to enable us to work her
quickly.
On we stood into the darkness, with a knowledge that danger was ahead of
us. "Ice! ice ahead!" was again the cry. We wore about, but just in
time to escape contact with it. We could not tell all the time whether
the ice-fields might not be closing on us. Every tack we made was
shorter and shorter. Still, our only hope was to beat out of the narrow
passage into which the ship had run.
Many tacks were made. A huge iceberg, dimly glimmering through the
obscurity, towered up before us; yet, though dim, not the less terrific.
The helm was put down. There might be space between it and the
field-ice to the southward of it. The southern field hove in sight; we
tacked, but just in time. Then on we rushed towards the iceberg,
beating closely into the wind. Again it appeared on our lee-bow; the
ship heeled over to the breeze. On we rushed--a flaw of wind heading us
would send us to destruction. The wind held steady.
On, on we rushed, the foam flying over our bows and freezing as it fell.
A towering cliff of ice appeared over our mast-heads--still we hurried
on. There was a loud thundering clash. The stoutest held their breath
for fear. Our deck was deluged with spray. Several quickly-following
seas struck our stern, lifting the ship before them. The summit of the
vast iceberg had fallen--perhaps by the concussion of the air as we
moved under it. A moment later, and we should have been crushed to
atoms--driven far, far down into the depths of the ocean! The iceberg
was passed. It seemed to be guarding the portals of that narrow inlet.
As the dawn came on, we could discover the ice trending away to leeward.
All day we stood on, gradually increasing our distance from icebergs
and fields of ice, till we had, to our no little satisfaction, left them
far astern.