should be cut through the deck to introduce more buckets into the hold,
and all the sail-makers were employed, night and day, in making canvas
buckets; and the orlop deck having fallen in on the larboard side, I
ordered the sheet cable to be tossed overboard. The wind at this time
was at west, and being on the larboard tack, many schemes had been
practised to wear the ship, that we might drive into a less boisterous
latitude, as well as approach the western islands; but none succeeded;
and having a weak carpenter's crew they were hardly sufficient to attend
the pumps, so that we could not make any progress with the steering
machine. Another sail had been thrummed and got over, but we did not
find its use; indeed, there was no prospect but in a change of weather.
A large leak had been discovered and stopped in the fore hold, but the
ship appeared so weak from her labouring that it was clear she could not
last long. The after cockpit had fallen in, the fore cockpit the same,
with all the store-rooms down: the stern post was so loose that, as the
ship rolled, the water rushed in on either side in great streams, which
we could not stop.
"Night came on, with the same dreary prospect as that of the preceding
day, and was passed in continual labour. Morning came (the 22nd) without
our seeing anything, or any change of weather, and the day was spent
with the same struggles to keep the ship above water, pumping and baling
at the hatchways and scuttles. Towards night another of the chain pumps
was rendered quite useless, by one of the rollers being displaced at the
bottom of the pump, and this was without remedy, there being too much
water in the well to get to it; we also had but six leathers remaining,
so that the fate of the ship was not far off. Still the labour went on
without any apparent despair, every officer taking his share of it, and
the people always cheerful and obedient.
"During the night the water increased, but about seven in the morning of
the 23rd I was informed that an unusual quantity of water appeared, all
at once, in the fire hold, which, upon my going forward to be convinced,
I found but too true; the stowage of the hold ground tier was all in
motion, so that in a short time there was not a whole cask to be seen.
We were convinced the ship had sprung a fresh leak. Another sail had
been thrumming all night, and I was giving directions to place it over
the bows, when I perceived the ship settling by the head, the lower-deck
bow ports being even with the water.
"At this period the carpenter acquainted me the well was staved in,
destroyed by the wreck of the hold, and the chain pumps displaced and
totally useless. There was nothing left but to redouble our efforts in
baling, but it became difficult to fill the buckets, from the quantity
of staves, planks, anchor stocks, and yard-arm pieces which were now
washed from the wings and floating from side to side with the motion of
the ship. The people, till this period, had laboured, as if determined
to conquer their difficulties, without a murmur or without a tear; but
now, seeing their efforts useless, many of them burst into tears, and
wept like children.
"I gave orders for the anchors, of which we had two remaining, to be
thrown overboard, one of which (the spare anchor) had been most
surprisingly hove in upon the forecastle and midships when the ship had
been upon her beam-ends, and gone through the deck.
"Every time that I visited the hatchway I observed the water increased,
and at noon washed even with the orlop deck; the carpenter assured me
the ship could not swim long, and proposed making rafts to float the
ship's company, whom it was not in my power to encourage any longer with
a prospect of their safety. Some appeared perfectly resigned, went to
their hammocks, and desired their messmates to lash them in; others were
lashing themselves to gratings and small rafts: but the most
predominant idea was that of putting on their best and cleanest clothes.
"The weather, about noon, had been something moderate, and as rafts had
been mentioned by the carpenter, I thought it right to make the attempt,
though I knew our booms could not float half the ship's company in fine
weather; but we were in a situation to catch at a straw. I therefore
called the ship's company together, told them my intention, recommending
them to remain regular and obedient to their officers. Preparations were
immediately made for this purpose; the booms were cleared; the boats, of
which we had three, viz., cutter, pinnace, and five-oared yawl, were got
over the side; a bag of bread was ordered to be put in each, and any
liquors that could be got at, for the purpose of supplying the rafts. I
had intended myself to go in the five-oared yawl, and the coxswain was
desired to get anything from my steward that might be useful. Two men,
captains of the tops of the forecastle, or quarter-masters, were placed
in each of them, to prevent any person from forcing the boats or getting
into them till an arrangement was made. While these preparations were
making, the ship was gradually sinking, the orlop decks having been
blown up by the water in the hold, and the cables floated to the
gun-deck. The men had for some time quitted their employment of baling,
and the ship was left to her fate.
"In the afternoon the weather again threatened, and blew strong in
squalls, the sea ran high, and one of the boats (the yawl) was staved
alongside and sunk. As the evening approached the ship appeared little
more than suspended in water. There was no certainty that she would swim
from one minute to another; and the love of life began now to level all
distinctions. It was impossible, indeed, for any man to deceive himself
with a hope of being saved upon a raft in such a sea; besides that, the
ship in sinking, it was probable, would carry everything down with her
in a vortex, to a certain destruction.
"It was near five o'clock, when, coming from my cabin, I observed a
number of people looking very anxiously over the side, and looking
myself, I saw that several men had forced the pinnace and that more were
attempting to get in. I had immediate thoughts of securing this boat
before she might be sunk by numbers. There appeared not more than a
moment for consideration; to remain and perish with the ship's company,
to whom I could not be of use any longer, or seize the opportunity,
which was the only way of escaping, and leave the people, with whom I
had been so well satisfied on a variety of occasions that I thought I
could give my life to preserve them--this, indeed, was a painful
conflict, such as, I believe, no man can describe, nor any have a just
idea of who have not been in a similar situation.
"The love of life prevailed. I called to Mr. Rainy, the master, the only
officer upon deck, desired him to follow me, and immediately descended
into the boat, at the after-part of the chains; but not without great
difficulty got the boat clear of the ship, twice the number that the
boat would carry pushing to get in, and many jumping into the water. Mr.
Baylis, a young gentleman fifteen years of age, leaped from the chains
after the boat had got off, and was taken in. The boat falling astern,
became exposed to the sea, and we endeavoured to pull her bow round to
keep her to the break of the sea, and to pass to windward of the ship;
but in the attempts she was nearly filled, the sea ran too high, and the
only probability of living was keeping her before the wind.
"It was then that I became sensible how little, if any, better our
condition was than that of those who remained in the ship; at best, it
appeared to be only a prolongation of a miserable existence. We were,
all together, twelve in number, in a leaky boat, with one of the
gunwales staved, in nearly the middle of the Western Ocean, without a
compass, without quadrant, without sail, without great-coat or cloak,
all very thinly clothed, in a gale of wind, with a great sea running! It
was now five o'clock in the evening, and in half an hour we lost sight
of the ship. Before it was dark a blanket was discovered in the boat.
This was immediately bent to one of the stretchers, and under it, as a
sail, we scudded all night, in expectation of being swallowed up by
every wave, it being with great difficulty that we could sometimes clear
the boat of the water before the return of the next great sea; all of us
half drowned, and sitting, except those who baled, at the bottom of the
boat; and without having really perished, I am sure no people ever
endured more. In the morning the weather grew moderate, the wind having
shifted to the southward, as we discovered by the sun. Having survived
the night, we began to recollect ourselves, and to think of our future
preservation.
"When we quitted the ship the wind was at north-west or
north-north-west. Fayal had borne east-south-east two hundred and fifty
or two hundred and sixty leagues. Had the wind continued for five or six
days, there was a probability that running before the sea we might have
fallen in with some of the Western Islands. The change of wind was death
to these hopes; for, should it come to blow, we knew there would be no
preserving life but by running before the sea, which would carry us
again to the northward, where we must soon afterwards perish.
"Upon examining what we had to subsist on, I found a bag of bread, a
small ham, a single piece of pork, two quart bottles of water, and a few
of French cordials. The wind continued to be southward for eight or nine
days, and providentially never blew so strong but that we could keep the
side of the boat to the sea; but we were always most miserably wet and
cold. We kept a sort of reckoning, but the sun and stars being somewhat
hidden from us, for twenty-four hours we had no very correct idea of our
navigation. We judged, at this period, that we had made nearly an
east-north-east course since the first night's run, which had carried us
to the southeast, and expected to see the island of Corvo. In this,
however, we were disappointed, and we feared that the southerly wind had
driven us far to the northward. Our prayers were now for a northerly
wind. Our condition began to be truly miserable, both from hunger and
cold; for on the fifth we had discovered that our bread was nearly all
spoiled by salt water, and it was necessary to go on allowance. One
biscuit divided into twelve morsels for breakfast, and the same for
dinner; the neck of a bottle broken off, with the cork in, served for a
glass, and this filled with water was the allowance of twenty-four hours
for each man. This was done without any sort of partiality or
distinction; but we must have perished ere this, had we not caught six
quarts of rain water; and this we could not have been blessed with, had
we not found in the boat a pair of sheets, which by accident had been
put there. These were spread when it rained, and when thoroughly wet
wrung into the kid with which we baled the boat. With this short
allowance, which was rather tantalising than sustaining in our
comfortless condition, we began to grow very feeble, and our clothes
being continually wet, our bodies were in many places chafed into sores.
"On the 13th day it fell calm, and soon after a breeze of wind sprang up
from the south-south-west and blew to a gale, so that we ran before the
sea at the rate of five or six miles an hour under our blanket, till we
judged we were to the south ward of Fayal and to the westward sixty
leagues; but the wind blowing strong we could not attempt to steer for
it. Our wishes were now for the wind to shift to the westward. This was
the fifteenth day we had been in the boat, and we had only one day's
bread and one bottle of water remaining of a second supply of rain. Our
sufferings were now as great as human strength could bear, but we were
convinced that good spirits were a better support than any great bodily
strength; for on this day Thomas Matthews, quarter-master, the stoutest
man in the boat, perished from hunger and cold; on the day before he
complained of want of strength in his throat, as he expressed it, to
swallow his morsel, and in the night drank salt water, grew delirious
and died without a groan. As it became next to a certainty that we
should all perish in the same manner in a day or two, it was somewhat
comfortable to reflect that dying of hunger was not so dreadful as our
imagination had represented. Others had complained of these symptoms in
their throats; some had drunk their own urine; and all but myself had
drunk salt water.
"As yet despair and gloom had been successfully prohibited; and as the
evenings closed in, the men had been encouraged by turns to sing a song,
or relate a story, instead of supper; but this evening I found it
impossible to raise either. As the night came on it fell calm, and about
midnight a breeze of wind sprang up, we guessed from the westward by the
swell, but there not being a star to be seen, we were afraid of running
out of the way, and waited impatiently for the rising sun to be our
compass.
"As soon as the dawn appeared we found the wind to be exactly as we had
wished, at west-south-west, and immediately spread our sail, running
before the sea at the rate of four miles an hour. Our last breakfast had
been served with the bread and water remaining, when John Gregory,
quarter-master, declared with much confidence that he saw land in the
south-east. We had so often seen fogbanks, which had the appearance of
land, that I did not trust myself to believe it, and cautioned the
people (who were extravagantly elated) that they might not feel the
effects of disappointment, till at length one of them broke out into a
most immoderate fit of joy, which I could not restrain, and declared he
had never seen land in his life if what he now saw was not land.
"We immediately shaped our course for it, though on my part with very
little faith. The wind freshened, and the boat went through the water at
the rate of five or six miles an hour; and in two hours' time the land
was plainly seen by every man in the boat, at a very great distance, so
that we did not reach it till ten at night. It was at least twenty
leagues from us when first discovered; and I cannot help remarking, with
much thankfulness, the providential favour shown to us in this instance.
"In every part of the horizon, except where the land was discovered,
there was so thick a haze that we could not have seen anything for more
than three or four leagues. Fayal, by our reckoning, bore east by north,
which course we were steering, and in a few hours, had not the sky
opened for our preservation, we should have increased our distance from
the land, got to the eastward, and of course missed all the island. As
we approached the land our belief was strengthened that it was Fayal.
The island of Pico, which might have revealed it to us, had the weather
been perfectly clear, was at this time capped with clouds, and it was
some time before we were quite satisfied, having traversed for two hours
a great part of the island, where the steep and rocky shore refused us a
landing. This circumstance was borne with much impatience, for we had
flattered ourselves that we should meet with fresh water at the first
part of the land we might approach; and being disappointed, the thirst
of some had increased anxiety almost to a degree of madness, so that we
were near making the attempt to land in some places where the boat must
have been dashed to pieces by the surf. At length we discovered a
fishing canoe, which conducted us into the road of Fayal about midnight,
but where the regulation of the port did not permit us to land till
examined by the health officers; however, I did not think much of
sleeping this night in the boat, our pilot having brought us some
refreshments of bread, wine, and water. In the morning we were visited
by Mr. Graham, the English consul, whose humane attention made very
ample amends for the formality of the Portuguese. Indeed, I can never
sufficiently express the sense I have of his kindness and humanity both
to myself and people; for I believe it was the whole of his employment
for several days to contrive the best means of restoring us to health
and strength. It is true, I believe, there never were more pitiable
objects. Some of the stoutest men belonging to the _Centaur_ were
obliged to be supported through the streets of Fayal. Mr. Rainy, the
master, and myself, were, I think, in better health than the rest; but I
could not walk without being supported; and for several days, with the
best and most comfortable provisions of diet and lodgings, we grew
rather worse than better."
THE LOSS OF THE _ROYAL GEORGE_.
BY G. H. WALKER.
When the brave die in battle, the ardour which impels them to glory and
renders them insensible of their danger leaves a brilliance behind,
which mitigates, in a great degree, the grief of their relatives and
friends. But nothing can be more distressing than to behold a multitude
of gallant men in a moment of inactivity, perhaps in the midst of
amusements and the height of enjoyment, anchored on their own coast, and
riding in smooth water, overwhelmed in a moment in the liquid abyss, and
precipitated into an awful eternity. Such was the fate of the crew of
the _Royal George_.
The _Royal George_, one hundred and eight guns, the flag ship of Admiral
Kempenfeldt and one of the best ships in the navy, had just returned
from a cruise in which she had sprung a leak which demanded attention.
The carpenter and others, after a strict survey, finding that the leak
was not more than two feet below the water-mark, and supposing it to be
occasioned by the rubbing off the copper sheathing, it was resolved, in
order to save time, instead of sending her into dock to give her a
slight careen, or in the language of the seamen, "a parliament
heel"--that is, to lay her to a certain degree upon her side while her
defects were examined and repaired at Spithead. It was meanwhile
discovered that the pipe, for the occasional admission of water to
cleanse and sweeten the ship, was out of repair, and that it was
necessary to replace it with a new one. As the ship required to be
heeled very much for this purpose, the greater part of the guns were
removed from one side to the other; but the vessel heeling more than was
intended and the crew having neglected to stop the scuppers of the lower
decks, the water came in and for some time she stole down imperceptibly.
During this time many of the crew were at dinner; but as soon as they
discovered their dangerous condition they beat to arms to right the
ship. They were, however, too late, and all their efforts were in vain,
for in a few minutes the _Royal George_ fell flat on one side, filled
with water, and the guns, shot, etc., falling to the under side, she
went to the bottom, August 29th, 1782, before any signal of distress
could be made.
At this fatal moment there were nearly twelve hundred persons on board,
including about two hundred and fifty women and several children,
chiefly belonging to the seamen, who had been permitted to go on board
when the ship cast anchor at Spithead and to remain there until the
order for sailing arrived. The people who were on watch upon deck, to
the number of two hundred and thirty, were mostly saved by the boats,
which were manned with the utmost expedition by the ships near the
_Royal George_ when they observed that the vessel was going down. Their
assistance was, however, delayed for some time by the swell occasioned
by the sinking of such a large body, which produced a temporary
whirlpool in the water. About seventy others, who rose after the ship
disappeared, were also picked up; among these were four lieutenants,
eleven women, and the rest seamen.
One of the officers thus rescued was Lieutenant Durham, who fortunately
was the officer of the watch and upon deck when he observed the vessel
going down. He had just time to throw off his coat and scramble on the
beam from which, as the ship sank, he was soon washed and left floating
about among men and hammocks. A drowning marine caught him by the
waistcoat and held him fast, so that he was several times drawn under
water. It was in vain to reason with the man: he therefore clung with
his legs round a hammock, with one hand unbuttoned his waistcoat, and,
sloping his shoulders, committed it, together with the unfortunate
marine, to the waves. He then got to some of the top rigging; a boat
came to him, but he nobly declined the assistance offered by those on
board her, pointing out to them where Captain Waghorne was in great
danger, and desiring them to go to his relief, after which the gallant
youth was taken up and brought in safety to the shore.
Mr. Henry Bishop, a young man about nineteen years of age, experienced a
very extraordinary preservation. Being on the lower deck at the time of
the fatal accident, as the vessel filled the force of the water hurried
him almost insensibly up the hatchway, when at that instant he was met
by one of the guns which had fallen from the middle deck. Striking him
on his left hand it broke three of his fingers; he, however, found
himself a few seconds later floating on the surface of the water, where
he was ultimately taken up by a boat.
By this sudden and dreadful catastrophe nearly nine hundred persons
perished. Among the rest, the loss of Admiral Kempenfeldt, whose flag
was then flying on board the _Royal George_, was universally lamented.
He was the son of Lieutenant-colonel Kempenfeldt, a native of Sweden,
whose character is preserved in the _Spectator_, under the name of
Captain Sentry. He entered very early into the service of the navy, for
which profession he soon discovered uncommon talents. In the year 1757
he was appointed captain of the _Elizabeth_, and proceeded with
Commodore Stevens to the East Indies, where he distinguished himself in
three several actions against the French squadron, being always opposed
to a ship of superior force. His skill was of the utmost importance
during the blockade of Pondicherry as well as at the subsequent
reduction of Manilla by Admiral Cornish in 1761. After serving a
considerable time in the West Indies he obtained leave to return to
England. During the peace he constantly spent part of the year in
France, not in the pursuit of pleasure, but in search of professional
knowledge, in which, if he did not excel, he at least equalled any naval
officer in Europe. At the commencement of the American war he was
appointed to the _Buckingham_, and served as first captain under the
Admirals Hardy, Geary, and Darby; and his gallant conduct contributed in
no small degree to the capture of the convoy under M. Guichen. His
character in private life rendered his acquaintance an enviable
acquisition, and as an officer his death was a very severe loss to his
country.
The _Lark_ sloop victualler, which was lying alongside the _Royal
George_, was swallowed up in the vortex occasioned by the sinking of the
vessel, and several of the people on board her perished.
The _Royal George_ was the oldest first-rate in the service. She was
built at Woolwich; her keel was laid down in 1751 and she was hauled out
of the dock in July 1755, it being unusual, at that time, to build such
large ships on slips to launch. She was pierced for one hundred guns,
but having recently had two additional ports, including the carronades,
mounted one hundred and eight guns; she was rather short and high, like
all the old first-rates, but sailed so well that she had more flags on
board her than any vessel then in the service. Lord Anson, Admiral
Boscawen, Lord Hawke, Lord Rodney, Lord Howe, and several other
principal officers, repeatedly commanded in her. She carried the tallest
masts and squarest canvas of any English built ship in the navy, and
originally the heaviest metal--namely, fifty-two, forty, and
twenty-eight pounders--but they had been changed, on account of her age,
to forty, thirty-two and eighteen pounders.
THE MUTINY OF THE _BOUNTY_.
The circumstances detailed in the following narrative are altogether of
so singular and romantic a character that but for the undeniable
authenticity of every particular, the whole might be considered as the
production of the ingenious brain of a Defoe. Some of the incidents
indeed surpass in impressive interest anything to be met with in the
fictitious history of Alexander Selkirk's solitary existence and
adventure.