Our chronicle takes us back to the time when the fight between the
English and Portugal fleets was raging most furiously, and when, to an
inexperienced eye like that of Edward Raymond, on finding his ship
surrounded, it might naturally have appeared that victory was siding
with his foes rather than with his own party. He believed, however,
that by a desperate effort the day might be retrieved, and he gallantly
resolved on his part to make the effort, trusting that others would be
doing the like at the same moment. Just then he caught sight of
Waymouth repelling the boarders from one of the Portugal ships, and so
calling on all the men near to follow, he led them on to the deck of
another of the enemy's ships which had at that moment run alongside. So
fierce was his attack, that the foe gave way, and before many minutes
were over he found himself master of the ship; but in the mean time she
had broken clear of the Lion, and was drifting down on another Portugal
ship coming freshly into the fight. The two were soon locked together,
and while he with his handful of followers was endeavouring to defend
his prize at one end of the ship, a party of Portugals rushed on board
at the other. In vain he fought with the greatest heroism. Most of his
followers were cut down. Pressed on all sides, he had not a prospect of
success. Another Portugal ship came up. His prize, so gallantly taken,
was already recaptured. Unable to parry a stroke made at him, he was
severely wounded, and dropping the point of his sword, he yielded
himself a prisoner to the reiterated demands of a Portugal captain who
had headed the chief body of his assailants. The three Portugal ships
had, however, fallen within the fire of the Red Dragon and the Serpent,
whose shot crashing on board made them glad to set all the sail they
could spread and draw off. As Edward stood on the deck and saw the
shattered condition of the English ships, he could scarcely believe that
the enemy were really drawing off; but when he afterwards saw some of
the Portugals actually sinking, and others with their masts gone, he
could not refrain from uttering a cheer, faint though it was, at the
thought that his countrymen had gained the hard-fought victory. In this
he was joined by the few survivors of his brave followers, all of whom
were more or less wounded. On hearing the cheer, some of the Portugals
came towards them with threatening gestures, one of them exclaiming, in
tolerably good English--"You are impudent fellows indeed to cheer when
you are miserable prisoners on board the ship of an enemy. Do not you
see that we are victorious?"
"Running away is a funny mode of proving it, Senhor Portugal," answered
Dick Lizard, one of the seamen, cocking his eye at the speaker. "If you
had cheered, now, we might have thought you had won the day; but I
sticks to my opinion that it's we have won the day; and so I say, one
cheer more for Old England. Old England forever!"
The Portugal's rage was so great that he would have given Dick a clout
on the head which would have finished his shouting, had not Raymond,
weak as he was, stepped forward to defend his follower, who was much
hurt.
"Shame on you, Senhor Portugal," he exclaimed, standing over Dick with a
broken spar which he had grasped to defend him. "What! would you strike
a wounded man simply because he knows the satisfaction he feels that our
countrymen are free, if not the victors, and not as we are, prisoners?"
"You crow loudly for a cock with his leg tied," said the man, desisting,
however, from his attempt to strike poor Dick.
Some more seamen had now assembled, threatening to punish the English
for their audacity, when their captain made his appearance among them,
inquiring the cause of the disturbance.
"Senhor," he said, turning to Edward, "you are my prisoner, though I
wish to treat you as a brave man and a gentleman; but I cannot always
restrain my people, who are somewhat lawless in their notions; and I
must therefore request that, whatever may be the feelings of your
countrymen, they will keep them within bounds."
So many of the Portugals were wounded, that it was some time before the
not very skilful surgeons of the ship could attend to the English, who
had, and perhaps fortunately for themselves, to doctor their own hurts,
which they did, one helping the other in their own rough but efficacious
way. It was pleasant to see the hardy tars helping each other like
brethren, washing and cleansing each other's wounds--several of them
tearing up their shirts to bind up their comrades' limbs, or letting
their heads rest with tender care in their laps. Those who had still
strength to stand anxiously watched the fast-receding fleet of the
English till their loftier masts sank below the horizon, and all hope of
being pursued and retaken was abandoned.
"Troth, sir, I suppose, then, we must make the best of a bad job," said
Lizard, shrugging his shoulders. "That's my philosophy. I learned it
when I was a little chap from my father, who was a great philosopher,
seeing that he was a cobbler, and have stuck to it ever since, and never
found it fail. What's the odds? says I. Why should a man sigh and
groan if he can laugh? why should he cry and moan if he can sing? If
things are bad, they can be mended--just as my father used to say of the
old shoes brought to him. If that isn't a comfort, I don't know what
is."
Most of the Portugal ships escaping from the fight kept together; but
meeting the same hurricane which caused such fearful havoc among the
English fleet, they also were separated, some going where so many proud
argosies have gone--to the bottom--the Santa Maria, the ship on board
which Edward found himself, being left alone to pursue her voyage.
Edward suffered much from his wound, and had far from recovered his
strength when the Santa Maria arrived at Goa. Goa was at that time the
largest European settlement in the East; and here the Portugals, to
impress the natives with the beauty of the faith they professed, had
established that admirable institution, the benign Inquisition. Here
those edifying spectacles, _autos-da-fe_, frequently took place, when
men of all ages, women, and even children, were paraded forth, dressed
in hideous garments, to be burned alive in consequence of their
unwillingness to confess their belief in the doctrines held by the
Church. Our chronicle does not decide whether the Portugal priesthood
were right or wrong in their proceedings; but, undoubtedly, very few
converts were made to the Christian faith, and the influence of their
country in the East has long since decreased to zero. The appearance of
the place, though deceptive, was in its favour, and innumerable large
churches, monasteries, and other public buildings reared their heads on
its sandy shores. Those were the days of old Goa's grandeur and
magnificence, soon to depart for ever.
Instead, however, of being landed here, the prisoners were conveyed to
the Fort of San Pedro, to the south, lest inconvenient questions might
be too often asked as to how they came to be there, and what had become
of the rest of the fleet which captured them.
The Castle of San Pedro was a strong fortress with high walls and
towers--a gloomy-looking place, as gloomy as any spot in that land of
sunshine can be, but gloomy undoubtedly it appeared to poor Edward and
his companions, as, strongly guarded, they were conducted through its
portals, not knowing when they might repass them and obtain their
liberty. They were first conducted into the presence of the governor, a
surly old don of the most immovable character; his face was like
smoke-dried parchment, with beard of formal cut, and eyes so sunk that
nothing could be seen but two small spots of jetty hue, overhung with
grey shaggy eyebrows. Without the slightest expression of courtesy or
commiseration, he at once commenced interrogating Edward in the Portugal
tongue, ordering a yellow-skinned trembling clerk, who squatted at his
side with a huge book before him, to write down his replies.
Edward answered succinctly to all the questions put to him, requesting
that, as prisoners of war, he and his men might be treated with the
courtesy usually awarded to persons in their position, by civilised
nations, among whom the Portugals stood prominent.
"Call yourselves prisoners of war!" exclaimed Don Lobo, pulling his
moustaches vehemently. "You are pirates--you and your countrymen--
nothing better; and as such deserve to be thrown from the top of one of
the towers of this castle, or dangled from one of the turrets by a rope,
or shot, or drowned--any death is too good for you; burning at the stake
as heretics--ay, vile heretics as you are--is most fit for you. See
that such is not your lot."
Edward made no reply to this address, feeling that such would only too
probably exasperate the petty tyrant. Dick Lizard was, however, not so
judicious. Having had a good deal of intercourse with the Portugals, he
knew enough of their language to understand what was said; so, putting
his left arm akimbo, and doubling his right fist, he exclaimed--
"Call us pirates! I'll tell you what you and your dastardly crew are,
Senhor Don Governor: you are a set of garlic-eating, oil-drinking sons
of sea-cooks, who rob the weak when you can catch them, and run away
from the strong like arrant knaves and cowards as you are. You are--"
What other complimentary remarks poor Dick might have uttered it is
impossible to say; for as he was beginning his next sentence, a blow
from the butt-end of an arquebuse laid him prostrate on the floor.
Edward, afraid that his bold countryman had been killed, knelt down by
his side. But Dick's head was too hard to succumb to the strength of a
Portugal's arm, even when wielding a heavy weapon.
"All right, sir," he said, opening his eyes. "I'll be at them again,
and give 'em more of my mind, and my fist too, if I can get at them."
Edward, however, advised him under the circumstances to keep both one
and the other to himself, and, as he did not feel disposed to be polite
to his masters, to hold his tongue.
"Masters! Marry, masters, indeed!" cried Dick. "If you says they are
masters, sir, I suppose they be; but they'll find me a terrible
obstinate servant to deal with, let me tell them."
"No, don't tell them, Lizard, that or any thing else," said Edward
soothingly. "You see that at all events we are in their power, and
unless they let us go we may have some difficulty in escaping."
"Not if we can get some planks to float on, sir," whispered Lizard.
"That notion of yours, sir, has brought me to sooner nor any thing. I
thinks as how now, sir, I can keep a civil tongue in my head to those
baboon-faced, sneaking, blackguard scoundrels."
"Get up, then, man, and remember not to speak a word while I explain
your sentiments," said Edward, glad by any means to save his follower
from ill treatment.
The Portugals, who fully believed that the blow must have inflicted a
mortal injury on the man, fancied that his officer was receiving his
last dying words, a message to his distant home, and did not interfere
with him. Their surprise, therefore, was proportionately great when
they saw him got up on his legs, give a hitch to his waistband, and,
after sundry scratches and pulls at his shaggy locks, once more address
the governor.
"An' may it please your honour, Senhor Don Governor, I axes your
reverence's pardon for calling you and your people yellow-faced sons of
sea-cooks (because as how to my mind your fathers and mothers were never
any thing so respectable," he added in a low tone). "Howsomdever, as
your honour knows, I am but a rough seaman who's followed his calling on
the salt water all the days of his life, and will follow it, maybe, to
the end, and therefore much manners can't be expected; and so, Senhor
Scarecrow, or whatever is your name, I hope you'll not log down against
my officer here or my shipmates any thing you've heard."
Edward, as soon as he could put in a word, began to offer an
interpretation of what had been said. It was not very literal, but
interpreters are seldom exact in translation. He remarked that his
follower had forgotten himself, that the blow had brought him to his
senses, and that he now wished to render every apology in his power to
one like Senhor Don Lobo, who so greatly merited his respect.
The old governor pulled away at his beard for some time, and twirled his
moustaches, but was at length pacified sufficiently to order the
prisoners to be carried off to the ward prepared for them.
Edward, determined to maintain a courteous demeanour in spite of the
harshness with which he was treated, bowed to the governor as he was
marched off between two guards, who seemed to think that the pugnacious
Englishmen would by some means or other break away from them, and effect
their escape. For that reason Dick Lizard had no less than six guards,
one on each side, and two in front, and two behind; and certainly, as he
rolled along with his sea cap stuck on the back of his head, his brawny
arms bare, and his broad chest exposed, he appeared capable of
successfully accomplishing any design he might conceive on his captors.
The rest of the seamen imitated him with more or less effect, and were
evidently customers of whom the Portugals stood greatly in awe.
The ward in which the English prisoners were placed was a room in a
tower on a third floor overlooking the sea. It might have made a not
unpleasant chamber if nicely fitted up, but as the only aperture to
admit light and air was strongly barred, as the walls were of rough
stone, the floor dirty, and heaps of not the cleanest straw were made to
do duty for beds, the state of the case was very different. There were
no chairs or tables; so that when the prisoners got tired of walking
about they were obliged to betake themselves to their heaps of straw.
Here day after day passed by. Edward, however, with the aid of Dick,
who firmly believed in his power of escaping, kept up the spirits of the
party by inducing them to tell their long and astounding yarns, and
singing a variety of songs. Sometimes their guards came in to inquire
why they were making so much noise, but they were not generally
interfered with. Occasionally they received a visit from the surly old
governor, when Edward, instead of asking for better quarters, as he
might reasonably have done, treated him with the same respect as at
first. Dick Lizard pretended to do the same; but as soon as the stately
don had passed him the expression of his features and his gestures
showed that his respect was not of an enduring quality. As the governor
passed along the ward, Dick would imitate his strut and would give a
stately bow, now on one side, now on the other, his countenance all the
time in a broad grin. Even the warders and guards were amused by his
antics, and for fear of putting a stop to them only gave way to their
laughter when they saw that the governor was not looking towards them.
"All right, sir," said Dick to Edward one day, after he had been
indulging in more than his usual facetiousness, and the governor had
taken his departure. "To my mind these Portugals care very little for
their old don, or they wouldn't laugh at him as they do; and it's my
belief that we shall be able to bribe them to let us slip out one of
these fine nights without making any noise about it, and when the
morning comes we shall be gone."
Edward's heart beat with joy at the thought, but after reflecting a
little he answered, with a sigh--
"A bright idea, Dick, but I fear me much the wherewithal to bribe is
sadly wanting. The rogues have left us little else but the clothes on
our backs."
The seaman gave a well-satisfied hitch to his waistband--a movement
indicative of satisfaction or hesitation, as well as other emotions of
the mind, among nautical characters in all ages--and observed--
"The dons are not quite as clever as they think, sir. They left us our
clothes, but I and two more of us had lined them pretty thickly with
good lots of yellow-boys, and there they are all safe. You know, sir, a
seaman never knows what may happen, and to my mind it's a wise custom
among some of us. To be sure, if we comed to be cast away on a desolate
island, all the gold in the world wouldn't help a man to get off so much
as a sharp axe and a chest of carpenter's tools; but among people with
manners and customs, though I can't say much for either one or the other
of those hereabouts, there's nothing like gold!"
"True indeed, Lizard," said Edward, partaking somewhat of the confidence
of his follower, at the same time that he saw more clearly, probably,
the difficulties in their way. He therefore entreated Dick and the rest
to act with the greatest circumspection, and to appear to submit with
perfect readiness to the rules and regulations of the place. The good
effect of this conduct was apparent by the greater liberty which the
prisoners obtained, and they were now allowed to take their exercise in
the open air on the flat roof of part of the castle. Thence in a short
time they were allowed to descend to a terrace overlooking the sea,
where, however, they were watched by several lynx-eyed guards stationed
above them.
It is seldom that those shores are visited by storms, but when the wind
does blow it makes ample amends for its usual state of quiescence. In
spite of a gale which had sprung up, Edward, with Dick Lizard and
several of the other prisoners, was walking up and down on the said
terrace, when Dick, whose eyes were of the sharpest, exclaimed that he
saw a tall ship driving on before the gale, which set directly on the
coast.
"Alas for the hapless crew!" exclaimed Edward. "I fear me they will all
be lost!"
"Not a doubt about it, sir, unless some true-hearted seamen venture out
to their rescue when the ship strikes, as strike she must before many
hours are over."
"Are you ready to go, Lizard?" asked Edward.
"An' that I am, sir, and all the rest of us, I'll warrant, if a boat can
be found to swim in such a sea," answered Dick.
"Then I'll lead you, my brave lads!" said Edward warmly. "I'll go seek
the governor and get from him a boat fit for our purpose. Whoever they
are, I could not bear to see our fellow-creatures perish without an
effort to save them. But perhaps the Portugals themselves will be eager
to go, and not thank us for making the offer."
"Not a bit of it," answered Dick sturdily. "I've seen brave Portugals,
I'll allow, but when they come out to this country all the good gets
burnt out of them."
Dick was not far from right. Edward got access to the governor, who at
once inquired if any one was ready to volunteer to go to the rescue of
the crew of the ship now closely approaching the land; but when it was
understood that the English prisoners had offered to risk their lives in
the undertaking, no one was found willing to deprive them of the honour.
A fine seaworthy boat was placed at Edward's disposal, and at the head
of his men, who were in the highest spirits, he walked out once more
from prison.
Of what nation was the approaching ship was the question. To the honest
tars and the brave gentlemen they followed it mattered nothing whether
she was friend or foe. The Portugals had, however, discovered her to
belong to their own people, and this, although it did not make them the
more disposed to risk their own lives, induced them the more willingly
to allow the English to do so to any extent they might see fit. Great
was the eagerness they exhibited in bringing oars, and tholes, and
boathooks, and ropes down to the boat, and still more, when the English
had got into her, in launching her into deep water. This could not have
been done on the open beach, on which the sea broke with terrific force,
but she was hauled up on the shore of a natural harbour formed by two
ledges of rocks rising a considerable height above the water. As the
outer ends circled round and overlapped each other, the water inside the
basin thus formed was comparatively smooth. Outside, however, the sea
broke with terrific fury, threatening to overwhelm any boat or other
floating machine which might get within its influence.
Some way to the north was another wide extending ledge of rocks, towards
which it appeared that the unfortunate ship was drifting; but even
should she escape that particular lodge and drive on the beach, the
chance that any of those on board would escape was small indeed, for so
high were the rollers and so powerful the reflux that once within their
influence the stoutest ship could not hold together many minutes, and
should any living beings washed towards the shore escape being dashed to
pieces or killed by the broken planks and spars, they would be carried
again out to sea and lost. Edward and Dick Lizard saw clearly this
state of things, but they were not in consequence deterred from
attempting to perform their errand of mercy. They also saw that if they
would be successful there must be no delay. Each man having secured his
oar with a rope, and himself to his seat by the same means, Edward gave
the sign to the Portugals to shove off the boat. With loud shouts they
placed their shoulders under her sides, and then, shrieking and grunting
in concert, they almost lifted her along the sand till she floated, when
the English prisoners bringing their oars into play shoved her off into
the middle of the basin. Dick Lizard took the helm, while Edward stood
up to judge of the best moment for crossing through the breakers. The
crew went, steadily to their work. No one was ignorant of the danger to
be gone through. At the entrance of the little harbour a white wall of
water rose up before them, curling round and topped with masses of
glittering foam, which fell in dense showers, blown by the gale over
them, tending to blind and bewilder even the most experienced seaman of
the party. Edward was at first in despair of finding a channel through
which the boat could by any possibility pass and live. Some of the
Portugals had, however, assured him that at times between the intervals
of the heavier seas he would be able to get through, and he resolved to
persevere if his men were ready to do so.
"Ready, ay, ready, every one of us, Master Raymond," answered Dick
Lizard, after the briefest of consultations with his comrades. "Where's
the odds? We can but die once, whether with a Portugal's bullet through
us, or by the _vomito preito_ or under yonder foaming seas--what matters
it? An' you wish to go, we, to a man, will go too."
"Thanks, my brave lads; and now, when I order you to give way, give way
you must, or be ready to back water at the word," exclaimed Edward,
standing up in the stern-sheets of the boat so as to command a view over
the mass of seething, raging, roaring water which rose before him. Sea
after sea rolled in, and with a voice of thunder broke on the rocks with
a force sufficient, it seemed, to dash them to fragments; but, placed
there by the hand of Omnipotence to curb the fury of the wild ocean, the
proud waters were hurled back upon themselves again and again, unable to
gain a foot on their fixed confines, shattered into minute atoms of foam
which the wind bore far away on its fleet wings, while the iron rocks
remained fixed as of old, laughing to scorn their reiterated attacks.
The ship meantime was approaching nearer and nearer to the shore. Had
she been drifting directly on it, she would by that time have been cast
helpless on the stern rocks, but happily part of her foremast was still
standing, on which a sail being set, her course was somewhat diagonal,
and she was therefore longer in reaching her impending fate than had at
first appeared likely to be the case. Now she rose on the summit of a
foaming sea, now she sank into the hollow, seemingly as if never to
appear again; but bravely she struggled on, like a being endued with
life, resolved to battle to the last, yet knowing that destruction was
inevitable. Edward observed that although at first there appeared to be
no difference in the height of the rollers, yet that after a time
several of less apparent strength came tumbling in unbroken till they
actually touched the rocks, leaving a narrow yet clear space between
them. Through this space he determined to urge his boat. He pulled
down to the very mouth of the harbour; the crew lay on their oars. A
huge sea came roaring on majestically, and breaking into foam almost
overwhelmed the boat. Directly afterwards the clear channel appeared.
"Give way, give way, brave lads!" shouted Edward.
The boat sprang on. Immediate destruction or success awaited them. The
blades of the oars were concealed amid the seething waters on either
side, and the foam came bubbling up over the gunwales, but the boat
still held her course outward. She rose towards the summit of a lofty
sea; the men strained every nerve. Up she climbed; then downward she
slid rapidly to meet another sea, up which she worked her way as before.
Another and another appeared in rapid succession; she surmounted them
all, and the open ocean was gained.
Having gained a sufficient distance from the land, they had to keep
along shore with the sea stream--a dangerous position, as, should the
boat be caught by a roller, she would most certainly be turned over and
over till she was dashed in fragments on the beach. On they came to the
ship, plunging through the seas, and appearing as if every instant would
be her last, even before she could reach the fatal strand. As they drew
near they could distinguish the people on board in various attitudes
indicative of despair. There were many hapless beings--sailors,
soldiers, civilians, and women and children, some infants in arms, all
full of life, and yet, ere many fleeting minutes could pass away, to be
numbered with the dead. One last desperate effort was, it was seen, now
made by the crew of the ship to save their lives. Two anchors were let
go, the cables flying out like lightning from the bows, while at the
same moment gleaming axes cut away the remaining part of the foremast,
which plunged free of the ship into the sea. It was a well-executed,
seamanlike manoeuvre. The stout ship was brought up, and although she
plunged with her lofty bow almost under the seas, it seemed that her
anchors were about to hold her. Hope revived in the breasts of those on
board. Edward and his brave companions pulled alongside; ropes were
hove to them, and they maintained the position they had gained, although
in the greatest possible peril of being swamped. To climb up to the
deck of the ship was almost impossible, but Raymond shouted out that he
was ready to convey as many of the passengers to the shore as were
willing to trust themselves to his charge. Many of those who but a
short time before had given way to despair were now unwilling to leave
the stout ship which still floated under them for a small open boat.
Some who had less confidence in the power of the anchors to hold the
ship, hurried to the side, and showed by their gestures that they wished
to enter the boat. Without assistance, however, to make the attempt
were madness, and the Portugal seamen exhibited no intention of helping
them.
"I'll do it, Master Raymond," cried Dick Lizard, seizing a rope which
hung over the side, and with a nimbleness which alone prevented him from
being crushed between the boat and the ship he climbed up over her
bulwarks. Two seamen followed his example.
Several more persons came crowding to the side of the vessel on seeing
the hardihood of the British seamen in venturing to their assistance.
Dick seized the person he found nearest to him as he leaped on deck. It
was a young girl. She was clasping the arm of a grey-headed, tall old
man, who seemed to be her father.
"No time for ceremony, fair lady," cried Dick; "bless your sweet face,
I'll make all square when we gets you safe on shore; just now, do you
see, you mustn't mind a little rough handling. There! there! let go the
old gentleman's fist; we'll lower him after you, never fear. Hold on
taut by the rope, as you love me. A drop of tar won't hurt your pretty
hands. There! there! away you go! Look out below there! Gingerly,
lads, lower away. Now, old gentleman, you follows your daughter, I
suppose?"
These exclamations were all uttered while Dick and his companions were
securing a rope round the young lady's waist, and lowering her into the
boat. She gazed upward at her father with a look of affection as she
felt herself hanging over the raging ocean while the boat seemed
receding from her. A loud shriek of terror escaped her. Dick waited
till the boat had again risen, and just as it was about to descend into
the trough, he let the young girl drop into the arms of Raymond, who
stood ready to receive her, and with a sharp knife cut the rope above
her head, not waiting to cast it loose. The next comer was, as Dick
promised, the old gentleman, who, even less able to help himself than
the young lady, was treated much in the same way.
A young mother with her child, whom with one arm she clutched
convulsively to her bosom, while with the other with a parent's loving
instinct she endeavoured to prevent the infant from being dashed against
the ship's side, was next lowered. Not a sound did she utter. Once the
ship, gave an unexpected roll, and she was thrown rudely against the
side, but she only clasped her infant the tighter, and heeded not the
cruel blows she was receiving. Barely could Edward with all his
strength secure her and free her from the rope before the boat was
dashed off to a distance from the ship. Again, however, the boat was
hauled up alongside. Lizard had now slung two little boys together.
Though pale with terror, they bravely encouraged each other as they hung
over the foaming ocean till the position of the boat enabled them to be
lowered into her.
Their father stood on the bulwarks watching them with all a father's
affection, he himself wishing to follow immediately, but being
prohibited from making the attempt till some more women and children had
been lowered. Lizard and his companions laboured on unceasingly, for
none of the Portugal's crew would render them any assistance. Several
other people were thus conveyed to the boat, but many who seemed at
first inclined to leave the ship lost courage as they saw the hazard of
the undertaking. Some, again, as they gazed towards the foam-covered
shore, and heard the roar of the seas as they dashed on the wild rocks,
or rolled up on the shingly beach, showed that they would rather trust
their safety to the boat than to the labouring ship. Among them was a
young man who pushed forward requesting to be lowered.
"No, no, senhor don," said Lizard. "Do ye see that there are more women
and children to go first? We must look after the weaker ones, who can't
help themselves. That's the rule we rovers of the ocean stick to."
The young man, either not comprehending him, or so eager to escape as to
forget all other considerations, sprang up on the bulwarks, and, seizing
a rope, attempted to lower himself without assistance. Miscalculating
the time, he descended rapidly; the ship gave a sudden lurch, the boat
swung off, and the foaming sea surging up tore him from the rope, and
with a fearful cry of despair he sank for ever. He was the first victim
claimed by the ocean. His fate deterred others from making a like
attempt.
"Come, senhor," said Lizard to the father of the little boys, "if you
wish to go with us it's fair you should, seeing that others are thinking
about the matter instead of acting. You just trust to me, and I'll land
you safely."
Comprehending what Lizard meant by his gestures, rather than by his
words, he submitted himself to his guidance, and was placed by the side
of his boys. At that instant a cry arose on board the ship that the
anchors were dragging. Lizard soon saw that the report was too true.
Now numbers were eager to jump into the boat. She might have carried
three more persons, but in the attempt to receive them scores might have
leaped in, and the boat would have been swamped. Dick and his
companions had no fancy to be wrecked with the ship; so, seizing ropes,
they swung themselves into the boat. The next moment the rope which
held the boat was cut, and she floated clear of the ship. The oars were
got out and hastily plied by the sturdy seamen. Good reason had they to
exert all their strength, for the ship, while dragging her anchors, had
already carried them fearfully near the roaring line of breakers among
which she herself was about to be engulfed. With horror those who had
been rescued contemplated the impending fate of their late companions.
Slowly the boat worked her way out to sea, while the ship, with far
greater rapidity, drove towards the shore. Now the wind, which appeared
for an instant to have lulled, breezed up again. Hardly could the boat
hold her own. Edward and Lizard had to keep their eyes seaward to watch
the waves in order to steer their boat amid their foaming crests. The
hapless people on board too well knew what must be their own fate. In
vain they shrieked for help; in vain they held out their arms; vain,
truly, was the help of man. A furious blast swept over the ocean. A
mass of foam broke over the boat. Raymond believed that she could not
rise to the coming sea, but, buoyantly as before, she climbed up its
watery side, struggling bravely. As she reached its summit a cry
escaped the rowers--"The anchors have parted! Good God! the anchors
have parted!"
In an instant more the raging seas, foaming and hissing, broke over the
stout ship, ingulfing in their eager embrace many of those who were till
then standing on the deck full of life and strength. Still the waters
seemed to cry out for more. Each time they rushed up more and more were
torn from their hold. Some strong swimmers struggled for a few moments
amid the boiling surges for dear life, but the shrieks of most of them
were speedily silenced in death. The stout ship, too, stout as she was,
quickly yielded to the fury of the breakers. The high poop was torn
away as if made of thin pasteboard; the wide forecastle, with the
remainder of the crew still clinging to it, was carried off and speedily
dashed to fragments; the stout hull next, with a wild crash, was rent
asunder, and huge timbers, and beams, and planks were dashed to and fro
amid the foaming billows, speedily silencing the agonised shrieks of
those who yet hoped--though hoped in vain--to reach the land where
hundreds upon hundreds of their fellow-creatures stood bewailing their
fate, but unable to render them assistance. But a few minutes had
passed by since the tall ship had struck on those cruel rocks, and now
her shattered fragments strewed the ocean, some carried back by the
receding waves, others cast, torn and splintered, on the beach with
tangled masses of ropes, and spars, and seaweed. Here and there a human
form, mangled, pallid, and lifeless, could be discerned, surrounded by
the remnants of the wreck, now approaching, now again dashed off
suddenly from the shore; now an arm might be seen lifted up as if
imploringly for help; now the head, now the very lips, might be seen to
move, but it was but the dead mocking at the living. No sound escaped
those lips; for ever they were to be silent. Most of those thus
momentarily seen were swept off again to become the prey of the ravenous
monsters of the deep. A few of the poor remnants of frail mortality
were cast up and left upon the shore, whence they were carried up by the
pitying hands of charity to be interred in their mother earth, but by
far the greater number were among those who shall rest in their ocean
graves till the time arrives when the sea shall give up her dead, and
all, from every land and every clime throughout all ages since the world
was peopled, shall meet together for judgment.