The _Pocahuntas_ continued on her course to the northward, with variable
weather. I believe we had got a considerable way to the eastward of
where we should have been; but of that I have no certain knowledge, as a
foremast man has no means of ascertaining the ship's position, except
when she makes the land, unless the officers choose to tell him. At
last a fine westerly breeze sprung up, and we went gaily along.
Now, however incredible what I am going to relate may appear especially
as happening to O'Connor, yet it is, I can assure my readers, perfectly
true. Terence had been sent on the fore-topgallant-yard--what to do I
do not recollect, for I was aft at the time--when by some means or other
he lost his hold and fell over the yard. Another man, who was on the
yard and saw him fall, ejaculated, "Poor Terence, this time it's all
over with him!"
Falling from that height on the deck, his brains would inevitably have
been dashed out of his head; but, as he fell, the hitherto sluggish wind
filled the foresail, on the bulge of which, at the very instant his body
striking, it was thrown with considerable force forward right into the
sea. As before, Terence preserved his consciousness, or, at all events,
recovered it as he struck the water. He struck out bravely alongside
the ship.
"Heave us a rope, shipmates," he sung out. I ran to the side, and was
just in time to throw him a rope as he dropped past. He caught hold of
it, and hand over hand he hauled himself on board into the
mizzen-chains. From thence jumping into the waist, he shook himself
dry, like a Newfoundland dog, and went forward again to his duty, as if
nothing had happened.
"Peter," he observed afterwards to me, when we were together, "if I
never had any religion before, I think I should have some now. You see,
when I felt myself going, I thought it was all up with me, and never was
so surprised in my life as when I found myself in the water. Tell me,
Peter, do you think it was God who made the foresail belly out at the
moment it did?"
"I think it was by His will it so happened," I answered. "I don't think
chance did it."
"But do you think He would take the trouble to look after such a poor
fellow as I am?" he asked.
"A sparrow, we are told by the Bible, falls not to the ground that He
knows not of," observed Andrew Thompson, who had sat himself down near
us. "Then don't you think, messmate, He would look after a human being,
with a soul to be saved?"
"I feel that He preserved my life; but I don't understand it," replied
Terence.
"No, messmate, none of us can understand His mysteries. We see the
earth and the sky and sea--the sun and moon rise and set--we feel the
wind blow, and the snow and the rain fall. But we cannot comprehend how
all this is ordered, though we must acknowledge that it is for our good;
and we feel that the power of the Ruler of all is so much greater than
we can understand, that it is hope less to attempt it. But I say,
messmate, that is no reason why we should not believe that all these
things are; but, on the contrary, that God, who creates and cares for
the smallest birds, watches over us also."
We both acknowledged the truth of Andrew's creed; and let me assure my
young friends that a blessed comfort it was to us afterwards, when
dangers, such as few have surmounted, surrounded us.
We continued standing to the northward; and, as far as we could learn,
we were considerably to the eastward of Newfoundland. The change of
temperature made us glad of warm clothing; but as yet there was no cold
to be complained of. We might have guessed that we were approaching the
arctic regions, by the character of the numberless sea-fowl which at
times surrounded us. We were now, I believe, in latitude 54 degrees or
55 degrees; but I am uncertain, from the reasons I before stated.
Our officers had their guns on deck, and amused themselves by shooting
as many of the birds which came in their way as they could; but my
messmates called them by the various names of shearwaters, boatswains,
kittiwakes, dovekies, Mollymokes or Mollies, gulls, buntings, and many
others, whose names I forget. Those the officers did not want were
given to the crew, who were in no ways particular as to the nature of
the fresh meat they could procure. The shearwaters especially we found
very good, particularly when made into pies. For the purpose of
enabling us to make crust, a greater quantity of flour than usual was
served out. At first our pies had a very oily and fishy taste; but
Andrew showed us that this fishy flavour is confined to the fat, the
whole of which is under the skin, and chiefly near the thighs. By
carefully skinning the birds, they tasted like ordinary land-fowl; and
before the officers found out the secret, we had a capital pie every day
for dinner.
Our most constant companions were the Mollies; for which bird the North
Sea men have as great an affection and veneration as sailors round the
Cape of Good Hope have for Mother Carey's chickens or the superb
albatross: They have an idea that the spirits of the brave old Greenland
skippers, the successors of the fierce sea-kings, have, when quitting
their mortal frames, entered these fleet denizens of the air, still
desirous to wander over the scenes of their former exploits. They are
very strong and graceful on the wing and though they scarcely seem to
move their gracefully-rounded pinions, they can fly in the teeth almost
of the fiercest gale--now swooping into the dark troughs of the sea--now
skimming over the white foaming crests. They seldom, except during calm
and moderate weather, alight on the water, being ever constant on the
wing; and they will fly so close to the ship, that I have fancied I
could catch them with my hand.
One calm evening, as I was stationed on the poop, one of these birds,
with noiseless wing, came flying so close to me that he almost brushed
my nose; but before I could lift my hand to catch him, he was gone.
Several times some of the pretty little snow-buntings attempted to
alight on our rigging; but, like thistle-downs, before they could reach
it, they were blown to leeward, and, exhausted and weary, were soon
overwhelmed by the waves.
We had fishing-lines on board; and one day, the wind being light, we
were told we might try them, when, to our no small satisfaction, we
caught some excellent cod and halibut. We were, in fact, passing over a
fishing-bank.
The weather now altered for the worse. Sleet, fog, and rain succeeded
each other with unvarying rapidity, with an addition generally of a
strong gale, coming from the north round to the north-west. For two
days it was impossible to lay our course, so we remained hove to, hoping
for an abatement of the storm.
I am now coming to one of the most perilous incidents of my life. I
think I said that Thompson, O'Connor, Stokes, and I were in the same
watch, though we were stationed in different parts of the ship. It had
been blowing very hard from the northward during the day; but towards
the evening it moderated a little, and the ship was carrying her three
whole topsails close-hauled, and looking up to the north-east. No moon
or stars were visible, for heavy masses of clouds covered the sky, and
seemed to descend till they filled, as it were, the whole space between
sky and ocean.
There were look-outs stationed forward, though, as we were supposed to
be in the open sea, no danger of any sort was apprehended. Other ships
might, by possibility, be crossing our course, but that was not likely;
and if, by any wonderful chance, we came near each other, we should
probably see and be seen in time to prevent a collision. The larboard
watch, to which I belonged, and of which Mr Dunning, the second
lieutenant, was officer, had the first watch, namely, from eight o'clock
till midnight. At four bells, or ten o'clock, it came to my turn to
take my trick at the helm. The weather had become bitterly cold; so I,
with the rest, had donned all the warm clothing we could command. I had
on a flannel shirt and drawers, with worsted hose and comforter, and
over all a thick Flushing jacket and trousers; a Welsh wig, under a
south-wester, covered my head, and a thick pair of lined boots my feet,
while my hands were encased in woollen mittens--so that I little cared
for the inclemency of the weather, provided I had not to face it. This
I had to do while at the helm; and I remembered Andrew's account of the
Moravian missionaries having their eyelids frozen together, and thought
mine would suffer in the same manner.
To say that the night was very dark would not give an idea of the inky
obscurity in which we appeared to be sailing. One could scarcely see
one's hand with one's arm held out at full length; and as for discerning
anything ahead, that appeared impossible. I say appeared, because there
is much difference having something to look at and nothing. In the
latter case you fancy, because you see nothing, that nothing could be
seen if it were there. I heard Mr Dunning, as he passed me,
apostrophising the night as dark as Erebus.
The quarter-master, who was conning the ship, was continually
exclaiming, "No higher," as I kept her luffing up into the wind, unable
to see the shaking of her canvas, which rose dark and towering above me,
till it seemed to be lost in the clouds. Indeed, as we sailed on, we
seemed literally to be sweeping the sky with our mast-heads. Thus we
ploughed our way, ignorant of what was ahead, through the boiling seas
during the whole time I had the wheel.
I had just been relieved, and was finding my way forward, knocking my
hands against my sides to warm them, when there was a loud cry from the
look-out men of "A ship ahead, standing right for us under all sail."
"Under all sail--impossible, in a night like this!" exclaimed the
officer of the watch, rousing himself from a reverie.
"Luff all you can luff, and we may weather her," cried the voice from
forward, in a tone which showed the emergency of the case; but the
lieutenant had seen what he thought was a sail, and exclaimed, "Keep her
away--hard up with the helm--hard up." The commands of the officer were
obeyed; the spokes of the wheel were turned a-weather; the ship, falling
off, felt the full force of the gale, and flew with redoubled speed
through the water.
Andrew Thompson, who was standing next to me, had been peering into the
gloom ahead. "A sail!" he exclaimed: "that's no sail, but an iceberg--I
see its light. We might have weathered it; but now we are on it--and
Heaven have mercy on our souls!"
As he spoke, a loud, fearful crash was heard--the stout ship shook and
trembled in every timber. I was thrown, as were all near me, to the
deck with stunning force. Shrieks and cries arose from every part of
the ship; and the watch below, in their consternation, came hurrying up
on deck, many without their clothes, others with them in their hands.
All was dismay and confusion; while the terrific noise of the wind, and
the sea dashing over the ship, and the ship striking against the iceberg
(for an iceberg it was in truth against which we had struck), added to
the cries of the people, the groans of the ship, and the creaking and
crashing of the masts, almost drowned the voices of the officers, who
were rushing here and there as they came from their cabins, in a vain
endeavour to restore order. Many of the people in their fright sprung
overboard, and were instantly swallowed up by the waves. The ship rose
and fell with tremendous force as the sea lifted her, and the loud
crashing forward showed that her strong bows had been stove in. The
fore-mast went by the board, the heel probably lifted right out of its
step. Then a terrific cry arose that the ship was sinking, and that all
was lost.
The sergeant of marines, a rigid disciplinarian, had at the first alarm
collected his men, and by the command of the captain brought them, with
their arms in their hands, on the quarter-deck, ready to enforce his
orders. No sooner was the cry raised that all was lost, than many
rushed forward, with the intention of getting on the iceberg.
"Let no man quit the ship," shouted the captain through his
speaking-trumpet. "Beat to quarters, marines; fire on any who attempt
to leave the deck."
Andrew Thompson, O'Connor, and Stokes were close to me, just abreast of
the fore-mast. Andrew looked round when he heard the bows of the ship
being stove in. "My lads," he exclaimed to us three, "the ship won't be
many minutes more above water; so if you'd have a chance for your lives,
follow me."
This he said just as the captain had ordered the marines to fire on any
who should quit the ship. We did not stop to see whether they would
obey or not, but, jumping on the forecastle, ran along the bowsprit and
down by the dolphin-striker--a spar which hangs perpendicularly under
the bowsprit--from whence we dropped down one by one on to a part of the
iceberg which the waves did not reach. The ice was very rough, and we
were thus enabled to scramble up perfectly clear of the sea.
Several others attempted to follow our example; and the marines, even at
that awful moment, obedient to their orders, commenced firing on them.
By the flashes of their muskets, as well as from three or four guns,
which the gunner and his crew had time to discharge, the whole dreadful
scene was disclosed for an instant, never to be erased from my memory:
The ship, with her bow run high upon the berg; her tall masts, with
their yards and sails going by the board; the dark ocean and the
white-crested seas dashing over her stern, amid which stood a mass of
human beings, in all the attitudes of agonised despair and dismay,
except those few drilled to obedience, who knew not the danger. Then,
again, above our heads, rising to the clouds, the white shining iceberg,
which at every flash seemed to glow with flames of fire--the bright
light reflected from pinnacle to pinnacle, and far into the caverned
recesses of its stupendous sides.
Can I ever forget the dreadful despairing shriek which rent the skies,
as the bow lifting high in the air, it seemed, the stern sank down, even
at the instant the marines fired their last volley: it was a volley over
their own graves! Slowly the proud ship glided from the icy rock, on
which she had been wrecked, down into the far depths of the ocean. Soon
all were engulfed beneath the greedy waves. No helping hand could we
offer to any of our shipmates. The taller masts and spars followed,
dragged down by the sinking hull; and in another instant, as we gazed
where our ship had just been, a black obscurity was alone before us. I
say we, for I saw that others were near me; but who they were I could
not at the time tell. I called out, and Andrew's voice answered, "Is
that you, Peter? I am glad you've escaped, lad. Who is there besides?"
"I'm here, Andrew, thanks to Providence and your advice," cried Terence.
"And so am I; but I don't think I can hold on much longer," exclaimed
poor Tom Stokes, who had fallen on his side and hurt himself. Terence
and I, who were near him, on this grasped hold of him, and dragged him
up to the broad ledge on which we were seated, from the rough points of
ice--to which he had been clinging. We then all huddled together as
close as we could, to keep ourselves warm.
"Perhaps there may be some one else saved," observed Andrew; so we
shouted at the top of our voices, "Shipmates, ahoy! are any of you
there?" We listened. The only answering sound was the lashing of the
waves against the base of the iceberg; and we were convinced that, out
of that gallant crew, who lately trod the deck of the beautiful ship
which was now, fathoms down beneath our feet, we four were the only
beings left alive.